#Anakin does not go to the Darkside

[fanfic-obsessed]

Fundemental Cultural Misunderstanding

Can I just say that there is so much humor potential in Star as far as cultural misunderstandings go. 

Try this AU on for size. 

-Note:Though it is not necessary for this idea, it is important to me for you to know that in this world Anakin did not slaughter the Tuskens. He reached Shimi in time to save her and his focus was getting her to safety. Thus his relationship with Padme is much healthier.-

Anakin on a fundamental, and somewhat deliberate, level misunderstands some parts of Jedi culture. He believes that Jedi cannot get married.  In this world, this is not true.  

Marriage in this Jedi culture includes a marriage bond between all parties that, if not set up correctly, can do a fair amount of damage (and even when set up correctly doesn’t provide more than a sense of the other person's physical condition and emotions; rarely bonded might be compatible enough that that they can track each other through the bond). This is particularly true if one of the parties is not Force sensitive, or one of the parties is particularly Force Sensitive. So there is a lot of pomp and ceremony around getting married in the Jedi tradition to make sure the bond is correctly set up. Also consent is such a large portion of Jedi culture, so extra pains are taken to make sure non force sensitives understand what such a bond might mean…to the point where it freaks out most non force sensitives.  This all culminates in, by the time of the prequels, most Jedi just don’t get married.

-It should also be noted that marriage as a legal institution and marriage as a cultural institution are actually two very different things, though they are often conflated. Marriage as a legal institution means absolutely nothing to Jedi, and in fact many cultures, because the rights granted by the legal institution of marriage either don’t apply to Jedi or are covered by other Jedi related laws.-

This is also misunderstood by the Galaxy at large.  Also, because of this misunderstanding most cultures do not discuss their marriage customs with Jedi, sure it might come up organically but no one thinks that this is a cultural norm that the Jedi need to know. Which means as much as the Galaxy misunderstands the Jedi’s marriage customs, the Jedi misunderstand most other cultures' marriage customs as well.  In fact the Jedi, through generations of a benign misunderstanding, believe that most cultures will not discuss their marriage customs with Jedi, so all they can go on is their own observations. 

Picture if you will, little padawans vibrating their way into the Archives, up to the nearest archivist, who drops everything because the little Padawan wants to report that they ATTENDED A WEDDING. 

This leads to the archives being chock full of conflicting information about the various marriage customs throughout the galaxy, because anything that happens at a wedding now becomes a TRADITION of that planet, even things might be just a preference of the people marrying, or even a happenstance. The Jedi have all collectively agreed that they are just gonna roll with it, no matter how strange the custom or if it contradicts anything else (It is not like they can get information directly from the source after all).

Now when Anakin got married to Padme, he thought that Jedi cannot marry.  He thinks that his elopement would have to be a secret. He does not realize that he broadcasted his joy at marrying Padme to every Force Sensitive in the galaxy (no seriously, there are Force Sensitives on planets that don’t even have space flight yet, on the other side of the galaxy that felt an abrupt and incomprehensible wave of utter joy-some of those were physiologically incapable of feeling joy like near humans and had to lay down for a while). Also, not that he realized it, the part of his Force Signature (which Jedi are taught in the creche how to read) that deals with identity flashed with the equivalent neon lighted dashboard in Times Square that he was ‘Mr. Padme Naberrie’ from that point forward. 

So when Anakin leaves on a mission, unmarried, and comes back very married, but clearly hiding it, it is quickly noticed. But no one thinks that it is Anakin who does not trust them. Of course not, he is family. They decide that this must be some heretofore unknown Naboo marriage TRADITION, elopement followed by hiding the marriage. 

No one, not a single jedi in 10,000, thought to ask Anakin directly. 

Several Archivists promptly write some very well written papers on this tradition, and how it fits into their other knowledge, basically filling in the gaps to create a tradition out of whole cloth (even though they are acting in earnest). 

The war still starts, with all that entrails. But every Jedi knows about Anakin’s ‘secret’ marriage. The little ones all giggle about it. Most are eagerly waiting for the tradition of hiding to be complete, because surely ‘The Man Without Fear’ and his wife would also want to marry in the Jedi tradition.  There was so little to be excited about these days that everyone bought into this notion, even those that had long decided they would not go through the process of the Jedi Marriage. 

The children in the creche insist on making decorations for the eventual Jedi Wedding.  In fact there were multiple sets of decorations, depending on where the happy couple wanted the ceremony performed. Just rooms and rooms of decorations and drawings and artwork of all kinds. 

The High Council, including Obi wan, started researching to make sure they knew all the steps and traditions for the Wedding backwards and forwards whenever they had the chance. The last time a Jedi Wedding had been performed was 200 years earlier and enough had happened since that even those who were alive during that time were a bit fuzzy on the details.  They wanted to be ready to support Anakin and Padme in any way possible.  Padme’s biometrics are quietly added to the Temple’s banks; ready to be activated as soon as the couple is ready. A plan is put together so that Padme can be quickly evacuated if there was an active threat against Anakin specifically, or Jedi adjacent beings in general. 

And the Archivists are practically having duels to see who would get to speak to the happy couple once the period of hiding is done. There is hope throughout the archives that maybe, if they ask really nicely, Padme would be willing to answer a few questions on Naboo marriage traditions (All the Archivists want to learn so badly, all they want to do is be able to learn. Can they please learn).

Perhaps if it had gone on much longer someone would have cottoned on to how stressed this secret was making Anakin. Maybe not.  Perhaps this world still could have ended in unimaginable tragedy. 

Perhaps in another world like this. In this world, we look to humor instead of horror. 

A little over a year into the war several of the youngling clans, ages ranging from about 4-6, got to go on a tour of the Senate.  One of the younglings (Age 4, species was Sabetue and was genderless) got separated and couldn’t find a clone guard or anyone they recognized. They were wandering and scared, but somehow made it up to the level where Padme’s office is. And the Youngling recognized Padme’s Force signature as Master Skywalker’s wife, so they knew they would be safe with her.  

So now Padme has a small Jedi child in her office. Thankfully she was not in a meeting. She manages to get a hold of the Guard, who send up two of creche masters, who had been beside themselves with worry.  While in her office the child said things that made it clear that the child knew about Padme’s marriage to Anakin and how they couldn’t wait to see how pretty she would be in the Jedi Wedding.  One of the Crechemasters very gently reminded the child that Anakin and Padme might decide not to get married in the Jedi Tradition, that it had to be their choice and followed up with:

“And if we forced them…”

The child piped back with a solemn “we would be meanies”

One of the creche masters brought the child back down to the group while the other remained behind. First to thank Padme for finding their lost child. Then also to apologize for the child breaking the Hiding Tradition, expressing a hope that this would not have any negative impact on Padme’s marriage. 

The Crechmaster seemed so proud at saying ‘Hiding Tradition’ that Padme did not have the heart to tell them that she had no idea what they were talking about (they are very proud of remembering what the Archivists were calling this tradition).  They continue to have a brief conversation where Padme learned a number of things:

The Jedi, every single one of them, knew about Padme’s marriage.

They are all, every single one of them, actively supportive instead of the at best disapproving she thought they would be.

The Jedi somehow believe that Padme and Anakin are hiding their marriage over a Naboo Tradition

There are rooms full of crafts created specifically to decorate for her wedding in the Jedi Tradition created by hordes of earnest younglings. 

The Jedi are very into consent. 

Anakin is not due back on Coruscant for another week, and during that week Padme made discrete inquiries (oddly enough these are actually discrete) that told her nothing important about what was going on and driving her to distraction. So Anakin comes back to Padme nearly screaming at him ‘Why do the Jedi think we are hiding our marriage over a Naboo tradition?’

Anakin very much does not know but suggests that they ask the Chancellor (Anakin has very much been conditioned by the Chancellor to turn to him first in any instance of confusion).

Padme stares at him for a moment, tells him that is a stupid idea and to call Obi Wan.

Anakin does not want to call Obi Wan. He does not want to tell Obi Wan about their marriage and get in trouble. 

Padme stares at him with the dead eyes of someone dealing with too much ridiculous information at once, then says ‘Call Kenobi’.

Anakin obeys. 

Obi Wan comes over, they all sit down and Padme very calmly tells Obi Wan that she and Anakin are married. Obi Wan immediately begins radiating blinding excitement.  He congratulates them and starts to ask about having a Jedi wedding before deflating again and asking if not pretending he was surprised would ruin anything. He offers to go out and they can do it again, he can pretend to be shocked. 

Padme reassures him. Anakin starts to express his surprised (in a way that would have made it really clear about why he was hiding his marriage) but Padme quickly interrupts him, asking about Jedi Wedding traditions and lets Obi Wan ramble really happily about the research that the High Council had been doing to make sure they can recreate those traditions if Padme and Anakin want.

Obi Wan leaves with a promise that Padme and Anakin would come to speak with the High Council to make sure all the legalities (making sure everything is set up so that Padme can come and go as she pleases at the temple, and have a login to access the Archives, and would it be possible for her to come in for a baseline check up so that medical their records are up to date) are taken care of. As soon he is gone Padme grabs Anakin by the collar and goes ‘we can never tell them’

Anakin goes ‘what?’ 

‘We can never tell the Jedi why we were hiding our marriage. I’ll contact my parents as soon as it is morning on Naboo. They can back us up. We can say it is an old family tradition to hide the marriage for the first year. It isn’t used much, but after being in the public eye and with the War I was feeling superstitious, ok?’

Anakin goes ‘What, Why?’

Padme shakes at the arm in her hand, ‘telling the other Jedi that you didn’t trust them with your marriage would break their hearts. Do you want to be the reason small children are crying?’

Anakin looked far too considering for Padme's piece of mind, and what little sanity she had left. 

‘Let me put it this way, do you want to be what finally break’s Obi wan’s heart? That man was vibrating with excitement to celebrate our wedding so hard I could feel in the Force.’

Anakin deflated, ‘Oh. No.’

Padme’s parents laugh their ass off that she needs to create a long held family tradition because she doesn’t want to admit to the Jedi that she had thought they would react badly to her marriage.  They agree to do it. 

<Somehow this does derail Palpatine’s plans. Personally I want it to be in a way that leaves people unaware that he is a Sith, so for the rest of his life he needs to maintain the kindly old grandpa look and suffer for it- maybe something that means he has to actually live a clean life; no more crime or torturing for him.>

Twenty four years later Obi Wan helps Leia Naberrie meet up with Han Solo in order to Elope in the long held family tradition (Bringing with them only R2 to follow the actual tradition closer than they realize). Obi Wan very carefully leaves before Han arrives, so that he can truthfully say he does not know that they eloped. 

Leia’s twin Luke does not need to elope, as he followed his Uncle Obi Wan into the Jedi (an unrelated note he also followed Obi Wan into the mindset of ‘Why Monogamy when Harems naturally occur’-From that day the war ends Obi Wan has no less than three clones with him at all times; he also appears to have a lover, a friend, or an antagonist that he has weirdly sexual dialogue with on every planet he visits. Or Hondo Ohnaka, who has a category all his own. The years that Boba Fett comes to the holiday meals as one of Luke’s plus 6’s-He couldn't choose just one and no one would think of making him- are among the most awkward of most of their lives.)

[skywalkr-nberrie]

Definitely the wrong interpretation of Padmé’s character to say that she wouldn’t have stayed with Anakin had she lived. Of course, in the context that he remains Vader, it’s obvious she wouldn’t stay by his side then, she’d be actively against him. But a redeemed Vader, that’s once again Anakin Skywalker? There’s no doubt that her undying love for him overpowers all. He’d have a looooot to make up for, but Padmé is the kind of person who’d be on that journey alongside him. Padmé said it herself that they’d always be “one” no matter what happened. She was always ready and willing to forgive him no matter what he did, or where he went. She was always going to his, just as much as he was always hers.

And we see this very clearly even after what’s happened on Mustafar, and after Padmé found out that everything she heard was the truth. But there’s a reason why she still had unwavering faith in Anakin. She knew he still had goodness in him, and she wanted him back. She didn’t fight tooth and nail on Mustafar to bring him back to her, begging him to stop and tell him that she loves him, only to leave him in the end. She wanted him back more than anything. Why? Because she wanted to be with him. To run away to the lakes on Naboo, where she can live out her days with him and their kid(s).

❉ ❉ ❉

“The most powerful, the most repressed thought of all could have emerged from the darkness: Padmé … and her undying love for someone he once knew well. And despite all the terrible, unspeakable things he’d done in his life, he suddenly realized he could not stand by and allow the Emperor to kill their son. And in that moment, he was no longer Darth Vader.”

[Ryder Windham’s Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novelization]

[marvelstars]

You know I understand the take but I can´t help but see all those headcanons and memes of Anakin blaming Obi-Wan or the Jedi Order for his fall extremely OOC for his character. Vader believes the Jedi and the Republic fell because they abandoned their principles, not because of whatever relationship they had with him.

Vader dueled Obi-Wan on the Death Star(ANH) but he wasn´t even mad at his old master, he actually told him "You should not have come back" and "Your powers are weak old man" and "I was the learner now I am the master" that is it, that´s all Vader has to tell his master(the man he used to see as a father) after being left behind burning alive.

When Luke confronts Vader on Cloud city he tells Luke not to let himself be destroyed like Obi-Wan did, he is aware Obi-Wan used him to die and it doesn´t bother him because he is like ok, he wanted to go but please Luke dont do the same.

This man literal reaction at learning his child had been trained to kill him and his master was to offer him to rule the galaxy together as father and Son because of course he is a monster but he can offer his boy the galaxy and make up for it right?

This is Anakin, he justified his slave owner for owning him and his mom, he justified the Jedi despite separating and leaving his mother behind as a slave and cutting all contact from her, in fact he blamed himself for not going to her before she was kidnapped and murdered and he keep justifying the Emperor until he no longer was able to when he wanted to kill his Son in front of him.

Vader´s problem is the fact he keeps wanting to justify the systems he belongs to even if he finds them unfair but believes if he keeps trying to fix them all those sacrifices he made will be worth something in the end but he is totally unable to recognize to himself the way how living under those systems have shaped or hurt him and while he does see the damage those systems do for others, he believes he can stop that at some point(put order in the galaxy, put Padme in charge, defeat the emperor)

This is why an usual dialogue between Vader and anybody else who opposes him in canon is bassically, yes, I know I am a monster, I understand where are you coming from but it´s my duty to destroy you. Because eventually at some point he wants it be worth something, just like it was worth it to leave behind his mother as a slave, killing for the republic, killing for the Jedi and killing for the Empire, it has to be worth it.

Luke, by refusing to fight him, trusting him and loving him was the only way he could begin to free himself from the darkside, because he found someone who saw him worth living and being loved not for what he could do for them but because he was a person, his name was Anakin and he was worth being saved and he didn´t need to do anything else for Luke besides loving him back and protect him like a father does for his child.

That´s what snapped Vader out of his apathy, which is the actual opposite of the love Anakin used to have for the people in the galaxy, for the Jedi and for his family, that´s the Jedi that came back.

[stealingpotatoes]

Skywalkers apart au! It's so precious that Anakin gets to be a dad, a rebellion general Dad but he gets to be there for at least one of them and Padme survives and gets to be a mom and maybe someday they get to meet and it's so good.

Also the concept of General Skywalker of the Rebellion feels like it has so much potential cause he was such a big figure in the Clone Wars, he was the Hero, the General, he could probably get the various splinter rebel cells (they were very divided in the early Rebellion) to follow him by sheer reputation and charisma. Imagine Anakin being at Hoth, like the attack is going along the usual Imperial imminent victory and suddenly an AT-AT has been thrown clear across the landscape and an announcement sounds out "General Skywalker has entered the field" cue Rebel Counterattack due to morale boost and Imperial Panic.

What happened to the 501st here? Did he go to the Venator's crash site where Ahsoka was during Order 66 what did he think when he saw all the dead folks?

Fun thought, Starkiller being the apprentice in this AU, means that Sidious has probably been comparing him to Anakin (in part because he's bitter he didn't fall, in other part cause it's great for fueling the darkside) for years so the first time they face off he's gonna be full of spiteful hatred (all going according to plan) before Starkiller gets styled on by the Skywalker, cause Anakin isn't crippled by the suit and that means he's still massively powerful in the force and skilled in the blade (Vader was too, but less than a whole Anakin), I could see Anakin pulling a Lightside version of the Rogue One Hallway scene against Stormtroopers (or even inquisitors).

Rebel General Anakin Skywalker would be an Imperial Boogeyman.

Leia would probably appreciate it for a while but also she'd get a bit annoyed about her dad's reputation and "Legend" and the fact that she's probably got that entire thing to measure up to, making her more reckless or foolhardy. That's a big shadow to live under.

Padme on the other hand is probably in a very different situation reputation wise, she was the senator for the new Emperor's home planet, she's the old queen of naboo from the Trade Federation attack, she's a founding member of one of the oldest discrete rebellion cells but that still leaves some stigma. She's probably so very worried about Imperial surveilance on her or Luke or the rest of her family, and it doesn't help that the Inquistorious has probably been sniffing around for a while.

ok this is a veeeeery long ask so i'm gonna have a veeeery long answer which is gonna go under this readmore:

YES!! yes absolutely! tbh i decided a while back he never gets an official promotion to general, everyone just calls him General Skywalker for so long that it sticks loll. BUT YEAH I mean working with a Jedi is rare and awe-inspiring enough for any rebellion cell but working with the hero with no fear??? half the rebels are wondering if they can interrupt this mission to ask for his autograph

its extra funny bc for the first few years of the empire he's lowkey depressed and like agh i failed the order republic AND my family i'm a terrible horrible no good jedi who nearly turned to the dark side and while he's having this spiral there's some rebel standing next to him pointing and pogging

and yeah he's SO useful in big battles like that!! he's half a legend, half a ghost story, given most ppl think he died in the Purge but here he is, enacting justice on the empire!! tho he does struggle on quieter missions (which happen a lot more at first bc gotta hide from the empire) that you cant just blaze into. its a difficult shift to go from clone wars general skywalker to rebel general skywalker

yeah 501st same as canon ): but OHHH MY GOD yes thats SUCH A PERFECT IDEA, Anakin going with Rex and Ahsoka to the site and mourning them all (and probably going into another depression spiral lbr)

youre so right lollll obvs leia loves the one up she has in an argument of "well my dad's general skywalker, beat that" but as u say she absolutely wants to live up to that (+ is a very independent/stubborn person and would like Leia Skywalker, not just "General Skywalker's daughter" lol)

AND YEAH ABSOLUTELY Padmé and Anakin's roles in this au are both so interesting (is that egotistical to say) bc they're these upside down versions of their clone wars roles, both very loud people forced to quieten down and be Discreet about how they go abt helping ppl. Padmé is really struggling hiding so much (luke's force sensitivity, her rebel activities, all relations to anakin) and trying to protect Luke while helping the Rebellion WHILE trying not to seem suspicious. a lot on her plate -- only made worse by palpatine keeping a close-ish eye on her, and she can't tell why (is it bc of luke? the rebellion? anakin? or is it just his old favouritism or patriotism being VERY inconvenient??)

on the inquisitors, obvs you don't see a lot of them on coruscant -- but padmé's SO scared abt ppl (MAINLY SIDIOUS WHO, YA KNOW, TRIED TO TURN LUKE'S DAD SITH) finding out abt him and she hates that she's making him repress this part of himself but what choice does she have???

[ahsoka-in-a-hood]

If we are willing to take the parts of previous movies in the trilogy that remain unsaid in following ones into our interpretation of the one we are watching, then the tusken massacre is relevant in RotS. Shmi is not mentioned by name, Anakin's actions are not spoken, but his dreams of Padme's death form a perfect echo of his dreams of Shmi. We can come up with sensible in-universe reasons for the callback, like how maybe Palpatine knew and induced the dreams to trigger Anakin, or perhaps the Force at work, but maybe it's just a fairytale, a parable, a rhyme.

Maybe it's a fun echo because it induces a sense of dread in both the audience and in Anakin. We've seen this before, we know where it leads. But while he's thinking about Padme, we're thinking about what he will do. Well, I am.

Anakin begins RotS as a liar. First, we watch him lie to Obi Wan about why he killed Dooku. The lie comes easily enough, Obi Wan believes it even more easily. Anakin Skywalker, exemplary jedi knight, hero of the hour, follower of the code. He feels uneasy about it though, he says so to Padme. When Obi Wan give his farewell and tells him how proud he is, and how Anakin has grown to be a greater jedi than he, Anakin cannot look him in the eye. It works on it's own, just about, but back to back with AotC it works better.

Of course, a lot of his lies are about Padme. (A lot more sympathetic, but also a far more absurd reason to clam up in a way; we know that the people who love him will still love him if chooses marriage over the Order.) But as he goes to Yoda and begins to tell him about his dreams, he stops himself. He does not tell the whole story. He cannot. We know why, we just watched aotc. Those dreams led to that death which led to that fall. We've seen it all before. He is so afraid.

I don't think it's controversial to say that Anakin's isolation and unwillingness to go to anyone except Palpatine for counsel contributed to his crisis in RotS. Palpatine definitely took advantage of that, and Anakin eschewed several onscreen attempts to get him to just. open up.

His actions in aotc were a foreshadowing of what was to come, but they also began a pattern of behavior of repression and denial and deceit. If he had come forward- if he had faced his actions which genuinely did cause him some horror at the time- he would have faced more immediate consequences. He would have disappointed and horrified Obi Wan (and the other jedi), he would not have been knighted, and he would not have been given positions of authority, at the least. But considering how much damage he did and how much he lost when he committed to the dark side, I would say the consequences of his deceit were far greater in the end.

Something that comes to mind is both the ending of the OT- with the darkside being something he could choose to just… stop doing, and also Yoda saying 'forever will it dominate your destiny'. I can see how they might sound contradictory, but to me they are in harmony- it is a choice, you can walk away, but there are always consequences. If Anakin had been held to account, there would have been immediate consequences, consequences he desperately wanted to avoid, but that wouldn't have been the end of the world for him either, not really. They wouldn't have actually stopped him from ever being okay again. (let's be real, even if Obi Wan were disappointed, he'd still have loved him, and Padme certainly did. ) Anakin didn't commit to the darkside when first he fell, he wanted to go on as he was- he wanted to keep the things he had- and so he could continue to act as a jedi for several years because he chose to act like one for the most part, but he did not fully commit to being a jedi either, and his dishonesty, and his lack of remorse, eventually had consequences for him. And for everyone else.

[adragonsfriend]

Cultural relationships to Pain: Sith, Jedi, Amavikka

Writing This Story can Kill You, I finally managed to articulate why I think Dooku seems so surprised to be betrayed by Sidious in ROTS, despite the whole 'betrayal is the way of the Sith thing,' and in the process I wrote a smol essay. Anyway,

So I think Dooku’s understanding of the Sith is incomplete not just because he fails to realize that the apprentice is always a slave never a partner of the master, but because he sees the Sith ways of gaining power—drawing from pain, rage, suffering, humiliation (your own and others)—as a means to an end. To him that pain is to be endured on the path to power.

But Sith doctrine properly understood is that the pain has to embraced, and continue to be embraced even when power is achieved. You have to want pain of all kinds to be a part of your being and part of the world. This is the difference between a regular darksider and a sith, the difference between drowning and diving in. A regular darksider falls because they have pain of some kind they can’t escape and can’t deal with, so they reject their experience of that pain so deeply that they project it outward. A Sith has a different relationship with pain. They are not coping with pain by refusing to acknowledge it, but instead by reveling in Pain in all its forms.

‘Passion’ in the Sith Code doesn’t refer to the modern meaning, eg, “I found my passion, and made it into my dream job!” It refers to passion like ‘the suffering and death of <insert your prefered martyr here>.’ They are saying, essentially, Pain is good, Pain is a natural part of the universe, Pain is an end in itself. This is something Dooku fails to understand, and I think it’s what allows him to be surprised that Sidious betrays him: he fundamentally doesn’t understand the paradigm in which Sidious is operating.

Anakin does understand it, and it’s part of what he rejects when he becomes Ekkreth in Shape Changer. I think he absolutely continues to draw on the darkside after that—he really couldn’t get away with not doing so under Sidious’ observation—and his storm-shield is the front of still embracing Pain the way a Sith should, but it has become a lie. In Fialleril's Trophies, Sidious thinks about how it’s disappointing that Vader doesn’t show much spark anymore. He's observing Vader apparently giving in to his depression instead of reveling it, and that’s a disappointment. Just like for Jedi, it’s not really about what the world does to a Sith (eg how much pain you’re in), it’s about how they react to it.

Ekkreth (the spirit) is fundamentally about freedom and an end to suffering. In fashioning himself after Ekkreth, Anakin rejects the Sith relationship to Pain (btw as does cannon Anakin in return of the Jedi by killing Sidious to save Luke, thereby, in George Lucas’ own words, ‘ending the horror’ for the rest of the galaxy). Notably, he also doesn’t embrace the Jedi relationship to Pain, which is that it isn’t an inherent or necessary part of the world and that if you can let go of your attachments, Pain will cease to exist. He says Pain is real, but I am going to end part of it (Sidious). This is the Amavikka relationship to Pain: Pain is always going to exist (Depur always tries again no matter how often Ekkreth frees the people), but it can and should always be fought (Ekkreth) or endured (Leia), not embraced. The Jedi and Sith developed in opposition to each other, while Amavikka culture developed in opposition to slavery.

To be clear: Jedi and Amavikka views are about a thousand times more compatible than Amavikka and Sith. Amavikka is not any kind of middle road between Jedi and Sith, it’s a different paradigm.

[david-talks-sw]

Luke Skywalker in 'The Last Jedi' (1/2)

Luke in The Last Jedi... love it or hate it, it's a difficult subject.

I personally stand somewhere in the middle. I don't think Luke was "ruined"... I'd argue that, from a purely in-universe perspective, his subplot actually tracks with what was previously established in the original films.

There are issues, but I think they are mainly found on an out-of-universe/structural level (which I'll get into in post 2/2). For now, let's take a deep dive and unpack why this portrayal isn't all that problematic.

The most commonly-heard argument is that:

"They ruined Luke's character! He would never go into exile or abandon his sister and friends!"

Simply put, Luke used to be:

an optimist

so brave he'd risk his life to save his friends,

aspired to become a Jedi.

Whereas, in The Last Jedi, he's:

jaded and depressed,

hides/abandons his sister and friends, like a coward,

says the Jedi need to die?!

Now the fact is... Luke is 24 years older when he goes into exile, 30 years older in The Last Jedi. People change, with age.

In Luke's case, he matured from an impatient kid who'd rashly run to save his friends, like in Empire Strikes Back, to a grown-up who makes hard choices and restrains himself from doing that, even though he desperately wants to.

Luke tells himself this is a self-sacrifice, this is for the greater good.

"Because he’s the last Jedi and a symbol of that it then becomes this self-sacrifice, he has take himself out of it, when he knows his friends are dying, when the thing he’d most like to do is get back in the fight." - Rian Johnson, The Empire Film Podcast, 2018

And Rian Johnson didn't want Luke to come across as a coward, so he also gave Luke an argument that initially seems to make sense:

The Jedi way is flawed and inevitably leads to arrogance. Proof: the Sith originally came from Jedi. His own new order is no exception to that rule, even if he thought it was (in his arrogance, he believed his own legend).

So if he leaves and stays in exile? No more Jedi, no more Jedi-turned-darksiders that can mess up the galaxy.

The Force will keep trying to balance itself and a new, worthier source will appear (in the form of Rey).

But while his reasoning that "the Jedi are inevitably arrogant" seems sound and reasonable... it's wrong.

Just like Dooku's reasoning that "the Jedi are corrupt" seems sound, but is ultimately wrong.

Just like Anakin's rationalization that "the Jedi are evil" seems sound nope, that one doesn't even seem sound, it's just plain wrong.

Where is it wrong, in Luke's case?

Well, he's rationalizing his actions by blaming the Jedi religion, instead of admitting his own failure.

"The notion of, 'Nope, toss this all away and find something new,' is not really a valid choice, I think. Ultimately, Luke's exile and his justifications for it are all covering over his guilt over Kylo." - Rian Johnson, The Art of The Last Jedi, 2017

"In his own way, [Luke is] trying to disconnect, he’s trying to throw away the past, he’s saying 'Let’s kill [the Jedi] religion. It’s the thing that’s messing us up, thins thing right here, let’s kill it.’ And the truth is, it’s a personal failure. It’s not religion, it’s his own human nature that’s betrayed him." - Rian Johnson, The Empire Film Podcast, 2018

He fucked up, plain and simple.

But it's not because “he’s a Jedi and that made him arrogant and the Jedi mentality is flawed”, as he claims early on in the movie.

He failed because he's flawed. Luke is human and had a moment of weakness where he was scared shitless and acted on instinct.

Yoda's spirit helps him realize this, and he fixes his mistake by allowing Leia and the resistance to save themselves. And as he does it, he acknowledges the importance of the Jedi and their teachings.

And it's also why, in The Rise of Skywalker, he has the maturity to admit that he wasn't staying on the island out of some self-sacrificial gesture, as he kept telling himself. Truth is, he was afraid. Afraid he'd screw up again.

Do the movies go about this in an emotionally-satisfying way? That's debatable. But, on paper, I don't think Luke's behavior in The Last Jedi is too much of a shark-jump considering how

THE ORIGINAL IDEA CAME FROM GEORGE LUCAS!

In the couple of months after the Disney sale, Lucas developed the Sequels with Michael Arndt in late 2012/early 2013, and concept art was made by artists like Christian Alzmann.

Note: the image on the left got a “Fabouloso” stamp of approval from Lucas!

Lucas’ sequels would feature a Luke Skywalker who was a figure like the jaded, reclusive Colonel Kurtz in the movie Apocalypse Now (which, fun fact, Lucas helped write and was originally set to direct).

The reason why Luke was in self-imposed exile wasn’t specified, all we know is that he was:

hiding from the world in a cave,

haunted by the betrayal of one of his students,

and spiritually in a dark place.

Other concept artists, like James Clyne, tried to illustrate the First Jedi Temple and some of the designs were approved by Lucas, such as the one below.

Eventually, Kira the female Jedi-wannabe protagonist (who eventually became Rey) would seek him out so he can train her.

This Luke would be a much more prominent part of Episode VII (instead of only appearing at the end) but still died at the end of Episode VIII.

For sources and more information about George Lucas’ plans for the Sequel Trilogy, read this post.

The only part that wasn't detailed by Lucas were the specifics of why he went into exile. But all in all, this sounds pretty similar to what we got in The Last Jedi.

"Luke would never try to kill Ben!”

I agree. And he didn’t try to kill Ben. He stopped himself.

And this version of the event?

This didn’t happen.

What Kylo tells Rey is his version of the story. And he thinks he’s telling the truth... but his recollection of the event is warped as this was obviously a very traumatic event for him.

"I don't think he's lying actually. In my mind, that was his experience. [...] I think that it's probably twisted a little bit by Kylo's own anger and his own prejudices against Luke, but I feel like he's actually telling her the truth of his experience." - Rian Johnson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi commentary, 2017

The narrative frames the third version of the story as the one that’s objectively how events went down. Because Rey believes him, and Rey is both the protagonist and a stand-in for the audience.

Now, if you think Luke’s word is unreliable and you have an easier time trusting Kylo’s version of the story, go to town.

But I think that if you actually believe would Luke would never try to kill Ben, you’d take Luke's second retelling of the story at face value.

I know I do.

“Okay, but he would never consider killing a child, like Ben. He saw the good in Darth Vader!”

First off, Luke refers to Ben as "a scared boy" because, he's a middle-aged man. But objectively, Ben was 23 years old.

But also, I mean... with Vader, Luke actually had the luxury ignorance.

Do you think would have truly gone on that Second Death Star if he had actually witnessed Vader:

choke his Padmé,

kill Obi-Wan,

actively try to kill Ahsoka,

murder Jedi younglings,

betray and hunt down his other Jedi brothers and sisters,

and cold-bloodedly kill countless innocents, one by one?

There’s a difference between watching him kill Ben Kenobi (who still ‘lived’ as a ghost and talked to him seconds later) and hearing a couple of rebel pilots get blasted in the trench run, and actually seeing all the horrors he’s committed.

Don't get me wrong, Luke knows Vader is evil, absolutely. But if he had seen this side of Vader, the needlessly cruel side...

... I'm not sure he'd have been as compassionate.

Proof: Obi-Wan, someone who deeply loved Anakin (to the point where he could never bring himself to kill him), someone that genuinely wishes that Luke can redeem him... also feels that, realistically, attempting to do so would be pointless.

And hell, even without really seeing all the massacres Vader committed, the second the latter threatened his sister, Luke went berserk and almost killed him!

So the question becomes:

“What could make Luke - trained Jedi Master, long-time optimist and overall compassionate to a fault - consider killing Ben?”

All we’re told is that he looked into Ben’s mind and saw darkness and the destruction, pain, death, and the end of everything he loves.

The specifics are left to our imagination. They could include:

the sight of Kylo slaughtering his parents and Chewie with a smile on his blood-smeared face,

the smell of Han's burning flesh in the air,

the wails of Chewbacca as he's run through by Kylo,

the faint sound of Leia's tears hitting the ground,

the destruction of the New Republic's citizens and planets.

Whatever it may have been, it was intense. Because Force-induced visions are vivid as hell, as has been shown throughout the franchise.

It's not like watching something on a TV, you're there, all your senses are affected in an extremely powerful way.

And the vision Luke experienced scared him so much that even shortly after it, when looking at a sleeping young man, all he sees is that evil monster from the vision. So he tremblingly draws his saber.

But it's evident that Luke wasn't thinking clearly or rationally.

His base emotions had taken the wheel, he was being tempted by the Dark Side.

"He doesn’t give in to the Dark Side, it’s a moment of temptation to the Dark Side. It reminds me very much of when Vader is tempting Luke, when Luke is underneath the stairs in [Return of the] Jedi, lit with that very beautiful half-and-half, the duality of these two sides of him being pulled. And that’s really what that moment is for me, it’s a moment of temptation to the Dark Side for Luke." - Rian Johnson, IGN, 2017

And yet despite seeing all that... Luke catches himself.

It's not the first time that Luke almost does something horrible to a family member and catches himself. Again, 24 years prior, he almost murdered his own father in a fit of rage.

The scene in Ben's hut intentionally parallels that outburst he has in Return of the Jedi.

A terrible future is presented before Luke.

He reacts instinctively, is tempted by the Dark Side.

He snaps out of it.

Even the angle and framing of the shot is designed to match:

"Some of these parallels are just “it’s a close-up of the same character” but this one was very intentional. It’s why I had him look down at his mechanical hand holding the saber." - Rian Johnson, Twitter, 2019

The only real difference is that, in Return of the Jedi, Luke only comes to his senses after a frenzied onslaught during which he actively tried to kill his own Dad.

24 years later, despite having witnessed that terrible future even more vividly than he did on the Second Death Star, he catches himself merely seconds later. Instead of going on a whole rampage, he stops the moment the lightsaber turns on.

I'd call that "progress".

"But Luke should've learned his lesson and known better than to give in to the Dark Side!"

Resisting the temptation of the Dark Side is by no means a one-and-done thing. It's not a power-up that you get, it's a constant struggle.

"I think it disrespects the character of Luke by treating him not as a true mythic hero overcoming recurring wounds & flaws, but as a video game character who has achieved a binary, permanent power-up." - Rian Johnson, Twitter, 2019

Dave Filoni says so too.

"In the end, it’s about fundamentally becoming selfless, moreso than selfish. It seems so simple, but it’s so hard to do. And when you’re tempted by the dark side, you don’t overcome it once in life and then you’re good. It’s a constant." - Dave Filoni, Rebels Remembered, 2019

Hell, even George Lucas stated something along those lines:

"The Sith practice the dark side and are way out of balance. The Jedi aren’t as much out of balance because they’re the light side of the Force. They still have the bad side of the Force in them, but they keep it in check. It’s always there, so it can always erupt if you let your guard down." - George Lucas, The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005, 2020

Learning the lesson once doesn't mean you've learned it forever. Especially with the Dark Side, which poses a never-ending battle.

In-universe examples: Anakin learned to let go of his attachments during the “Padawan Lost” arc of TCW.

A year and a half later, he’s butchering kids because he can’t let go of his attachments.

And during wartime, Yoda found himself repressing his darker instincts and ignoring their existence. Thus, when he had to face them, he struggled to acknowledge and control them.

So considering Luke didn't go "rampage mode" with Ben, as he did when he tried to kill Vader, I think he deserves some credit.

Finally, I've heard this insane argument many times, as a response to the above points:

"Yeah but Luke wasn't actually trying to kill Vader! He was holding back, he was trying to keep him alive!"

And, uh... no. He wasn't.

He lost his shit, folks. And almost killed Vader.

Like, right here?

⬆️ If Vader hadn’t moved his saber to intercept Luke’s blade, Luke would’ve stabbed Vader in the face.

⬆️ If Vader hadn’t held his sword up in time, SWISH, there goes the top of his helmet AT LEAST, if not the rest of his head.

⬆️ If Vader hadn’t dodged he’d be chopped in two.

⬆️ If Vader’s arm gave out slightly sooner, if his blade faltered just a little lower, if he loosened his grip on his saber a bit, Vader would be cleaved in two.

My point is that if you swing at someone with a lightsaber? They’ll get chopped. And if you aim for the head or the chest? You’re trying to kill them.

Before Luke got a grip, throughout that whole rampage, the only thing that kept Vader alive was his own skill.

Otherwise, Luke would’ve murdered him in a fit of rage.

If Luke was holding back, then the theme of "resisting the Dark Side" completely falls apart.

There's no indication that he was restraining himself, in he script.

And just look at the imagery.

Luke is surrounded by darkness, symbolizing how he's being seduced by the Dark Side, he's being tempted to give in to his anger towards the man who hurt his friends and took his hand.

Then Vader threatens Leia.

And the next time we see Luke, he's silhouetted, his face is all black.

Luke was originally trying to hold back and talk Vader down, but fails to control his instincts and gives in to fear, to anger, to the Dark Side... and goes all out.

He swings at his father furiously and keeps swinging, until he cuts off Vader's hand... and he is about to deliver the final blow…

… when he sees Vader’s mechanical hand and realizes that by giving in to his anger, that path will inevitably lead him to become exactly like this half-machine half-man laying at his feet. That’s where the path to power leads.

And so he makes a decision:

He’s a Jedi. Like his father before him. His compassion for Anakin is stronger than his hate for Vader.

That's the narrative intent.

It has to be.

Because if he had been "holding back" throughout that entire bit, then the stakes are lowered immeasurably, John Williams' saddening score is misplaced, the lightsaber choreography is misleading, etc.

For the above-listed reasons, I think Luke's portrayal in The Last Jedi doesn't really contradict anything in the previously-established lore. It works, it's the typical "old cowboy needs to get back in the saddle" trope. Frankly, I can defend this subject all day long... so where's the problem?

The problem comes in at an out-of-universe level. While it's not inconsistent... it's also not satisfying.

The thing is, if you...

... take one of the most brave and optimistic characters in the franchise, then open the film saying "well, now he's jaded and in hiding", without giving us context on how he became that way...

... take a character whose arc was specifically about controlling his emotions, then show him be ruled by those emotions without providing context for what made him do that...

... then that kills the suspension of disbelief, for a lot of fans.

And, as such, they'll have a much harder time going along with what you're saying.

Because "show, don't tell" is one of the most basic principles in visual storytelling. And we weren't shown:

"Ben being increasingly violent during training",

"Luke sitting Ben down and having a talk with him, only to be ignored" or

"the horrors Luke saw in Ben's head".

I have no doubt that those things happened, in-universe.

But if we're talking about a movie-going experience, many were left emotionally-unsatisfied.

Because all that stuff was in there... but only subtextually. It was up to the fans to imagine on the details. Normally, I'd argue that's what Star Wars is all about: allowing fans to dream and think outside the box. But in this specific case, I think many fans would've rather had a more complete and explicit story. Because it's Luke Skywalker.

And yet... even these structural and writing issues had a logic behind them, and if you ask me... there was no other direction that this story could be taken in.

We'll explore this in more detail in part 2/2.

[radiosummons]

This obviously would never happen in SW canon, but like ... I can't help but love the idea of Count Dooku just continously attempting to convince Obi-Wan to "join the Darkside."

Not for like, potential Sith!Obi-Wan purposes, but for just the sheer comedy of Dooku finding increasingly ridiculous ways to spend time with his grandpadawan grandson on the battlefield, all under the very thin veneer of trying to convert Obi-Wan to the Sith's cause.

Idk just the mental image of Sith Lord Palpatine and Dooku sharing a holocall, and Mr. Sheev is all like:

**Sidious: My apprentice, Kenobi has already turned down your generous offer to join us in our crusade against the Jedi. Why do you continue to toil after him while he clings to the corrupt ideals of his wretched Order?

Dooku: My Lord, Master Kenobi is among the few noble opponents to our righetous cause as well as a potential assest I feel we would be remiss to ignore. While he is indeed intrenched in the mires of the childish idealism of his fellow Jedi, I have sensed great turmoil within him. A turmoil which, if exploited properly, could potentially stoke the flame of awakening that you, my Lord, instilled within me.

Dooku: The longer this war continues, the more Master Kenobi will see through the hypocrisy of the Code he has sworn himself to. I sense that with time, he will cease his meaningless repudiations of the truths of which I have envailed to him, and will thus join us as yet another avatar of the Dark Side's will.

Sidious (not buying it one second but completely resigned to the fact that Dooku will continue purusing this anyway): ... very well.**

Meanwhile, Obi-Wan is getting increasingly confused as to the direction Count Dooku's "tactics" have been going. Dooku never stops, of course, being his hypocritical ass self, and continues to give his extremely opinionated takes on the "failings of the Jedi Order."

But overtime, they'll be locked in a deadly duel and Dooku will just randomly inquire what type of tea is Obi-Wan's favorite and if he'd ever be interested in sitting down together sometime to debate over the philosophical differences amongst various Force wielding cultures and the like.

Obi-Wan, naturally, does not allow himself to fall for this farce of an inquiry into his personal interests. Clearly, the Count is simply trying a new (and completely unorthodox) approach in attempt to throw off Obi-Wan's guard. Surely, this new more "sentimental" Dooku is going for is merely a ploy and nothing more?

Although, he did seem quite genuine in his interest. For what reason, Obi-Wan has absoutely no idea.

Cue several months worth of "coincidental" clashes between Obi-Wan and Dooku, the former seemingly aware of where Obi-Wan will be regardless of how well the Jedi Master goes to hide his whereabouts. The GAR and Jedi Council, obviously, find these "coincidences" to be highly suspicious and concerning. Obi-Wan does as well, but he can't help but try to think of potential ways they could use Count Dooku's painfully obvious interest in him to their advantage.

Nobody (besides Yoda-because of course he would) quite understands Obi-Wan's growing humor with the whole situation, but they can't deny that he has a point.

Anakin can't stop being annoyed that Dooku won't stop dismissing him, but conceeds that he'd prefer the contempt the Sith Lord has for him over whatever the weird quasi-familial relationship that his Master seems to be forming with the traitorous Sith.

Ahsoka doesn't understand much of what's going on either, but she sort of gets where Obi-Wan is coming from. If there's a way that they can keep Count Dooku's focus on one target and away from the rest of their campaign, then surely that's something they should at least try? But, yeah, it is really really weird how amused/excited Obi-Wan seems about the prospect of being Sith bait yet again.

Cody would just like one campaign where he doesn't have to witness his General engaged in a violent physical and verbal spar over where Obi-Wan's loyalties should lie. It would also be amazing if his General would stop making jokes about the Count kidnapping him one day and serving him vintage Serreno wine in his prison cell.

[ohyousillything]

I love the idea of Cody being anakin's superior officer. Like i know anakin is general, but the clones have the only real war training here, so Maybe Cody is like supervisor to generals with no experience.

I imagine Cody loathes anakin at first sight. He dislikes his brash Nature and the way he seems to have obiwan wrapped around his little finger. He hates that Rex worships anakin and that more often than not anakin's leadership choices end up with his vode in danger or injury, and that obi wan is just that tad bit more reckless when anakin is around. I see Cody as this inherently logical, practical guy, and anakin is the absolute opposite.

But i also picture Cody as a selfless, emphatetic person, and i think he wouldnt hold any of his own feelings against anakin. so he challenges anakin's every reckless plan with well Made strategies. He cuts into anakin's rash desicion making process and shows him how to weight odds and calculate risks. He makes him walk through every possible outcome before setting things in motion and teaches him how to deal with the fallout of a Bad desicion. He makes anakin walk through the aftermath of a battle, tend to the wounded, learn about wasted economies and hunger and the pain of civilians in destroyer worlds and helps anakin reach into the part of himself that understands all that, helps him work through his anger and negative Feelings by helping others, running relief missions, doing papaework. Because anakin was a tatooine slave, he knows about pain and poverty, so Cody makes him help people in menial missions between battle and it helps him connect with himself and his past experiences.

Anakin likes Cody Because he takes no shit from anyone and Because he never lets up, even when anakin is a brat or when he blows up after a failed mission. Where the Jedi would give him a lecture about cotrolling his Feelings and the darkside, where obi wan would look at him with dissapointment and guilt, Cody just raises an eyebrow and dares him to do better next time. And so anakin tries harder next time, and he does better.

and maybe they Bond over shared experiences of being belittled, of being treated as less than a person, and over their shared love of obi wan. And maybe anakin learns that having Feelings is ok, so long as You don't let them get in the way of being a good person.

Maybe Cody tells anakin about how the fear of losing his vode is a part of himself, but he never lets it drive him. Maybe he teaches anakin the recitation he says every night, where he lists all his vode that now march the stars. And maybe anakin tells Cody about shmi and about his dreams, and maybe Cody ads her to his list, and they start saying it together. Maybe anakin learns how to grieve without loss becoming a festering wound.

Maybe when he starts dreaming of padme's death he tells Cody first, and maybe Cody actually listens, seeing as the kid's dreams have come true before. Maybe its Cody anakin goes to, when the order makes him spy on palpatine. And maybe Cody tells him about his doubts regarding the Republic and the Chancellor, and maybe anakin listens. And maybe it's Cody anakin calls first, when palpatine reveals himself, and maybe Cody listens to him and trusts him, and they make a plan, they filter the info to obi wan and other Jedi through the vode. Maybe it helps them ride out order 66.

Maybe people still die and things Go to shit, but at least anakin has someone in his corner that gives less than two fucks about the force or the darkside, and who trusts him Because he's anakin and not Because he's the chosen one or whatever, someone who understands, and that helps him make better choices.

Cody's just a good guy doing his job and doing it well, and if that means he has to become a father figure to a guy 10+ years older than himself then so be it. And maybe a bunch of random acts of kindness make the galaxy a better place.

[nobodysdaydreams]

Crack/Crangst idea you want to share?

Once again, a perfect anon, because in anticipation of Star Wars Day, my brain came up with a crack Star Wars AU and now I have an excuse to share it (it’s more crack than Crangst, but I hope you like it!)

This crack au features Anakin and Palpatine as semi-problematic grandparents in an au where Anakin never turns, but Palpatine is never discovered and keeps evilly plotting and cloning himself a son while Anakin and Padme raise their family together. Eventually, Anakin and Padme become grandparents to Ben and Palpatine becomes Rey’s problematic boomer grandpa who shows up at his son’s house on Jakku holidays in order to try to bribe is granddaughter with presents to get her to join the darkside.

Details of this AU include the following in no particular order:

Palpatine cloning himself a son and asking everyone not to question who the boy is or where he came from

Anakin and Padme congratulate Palpatine on his son. Even though Palpatine is fuming because his son is powerless but of course Anakin’s children are some of the most powerful in the galaxy, he has to pretend to be a good father, for the sake of public appearances. He’s really bad at it.

Palpatine initially plans on naming his son “clone attempt 53” or something until his advisors tell him it will look bad if he doesn’t give his son an actual name. Palpatine lazily picks the first name he thinks of and then forgets it and continuously calls his son by the wrong name.

Palpatine’s adult son has to give his dad multiple talks about boundaries and why he shouldn’t be telling his ten-year-old granddaughter Sith legends as bedtime stories

Palpatine (reading a bedtime story to five year old Rey): “Tell me child, have you ever heard of the tragedy of Darth Plageuis the wise? It’s not a story your weak and powerless father would tell you.”

Rey’s Father (yelling from the hallway): “Dad, you know I can hear you, right?”

When it comes to Rey, Palpatine is thrilled that his creepy evil Sith experiments FINALLY created a grandchild with the power he desires, only to discover that power comes with a force bond to, you guessed it, another Skywalker. (Palpatine’s hatred for the Skywalker family grows with every passing generation he fails to turn to the dark side).

Han would for sure make a comment about Sheev being old and say something like “isn’t it weird this guy never seems to die even though he was like super old when Anakin was a kid? And how does he randomly have a son? Where did that guy even come from?” These comments drive Palpatine crazy, but Han is Leia Organa (or Leia Skywalker in this AU)’s husband so he gets away with it. (Also Han regularly almost exposes Palpatine’s plans by making casual jokes. This is not on purpose, Han has no clue what’s going on, and he just sort of roams around the senate building while his wife is in meetings causing trouble and speaking out of turn without a care in the world, but Palpatine grows weary of him and constantly has to change his plans because he thinks Han must be onto him but really Han is just snooping around cause he’s bored).

To Palpatine’s utter disappointment, Rey loves the Jedi. An elderly Anakin specifically takes her under his wing, as she reminds him of a young Ashoka. Plus they both grew up in poverty on a desert planet (because Rey’s dad moved out as soon as he could) so I think they’d have a lot to talk about. I can see Anakin showing up to Luke’s Jedi school specifically to take the kids on fun and dangerous missions and Luke can’t say anything against it because it’s his own dad doing this. I like to imagine Anakin and Rey, impulsive little sand orphans that they are, running around on Jedi missions getting messy and ruining their clothes while Padme and Ben (who would bond over their love of fashion and dramatically stylish capes) always look like they’re trying to be on the cover of a fashion magazine. Also you can’t tell me Padme wouldn’t dress her little grandson, baby Benny, up in the cutest little outfits.

Little Ben, Finn, and Rey go to Jedi training together and Palpatine tries his best to get Rey to spill secrets on Luke and his other students to figure out how to turn them. He teaches her to use force lightening and tries to get her to use it against her classmates but instead Rey teaches her new trick to her friends, who accidentally zap Palpatine in the face. He is not amused. Han accidentally makes jokes about his appearance at a senate meeting in front of a microphone that was left on.

In a last ditch desperate effort to get his apprentice, Palpatine invites himself to Luke’s Jedi school, and when Luke is distracted, he tries to bribe Ben, Rey, and Finn into joining the dark side using the promise of things kids like, including toys and candy. He tried the same thing with Luke and Leia when they were young and it fails both times

There is a point where everyone (eventually) figures out Palpatine is evil, but by then, Palpatine is so old and out of it, it doesn’t really matter. There’s one time where he dramatically tries to stand up and take the energy from Rey and Ben’s force bond at a family party, but then his old man knees give out and he topples over and falls asleep in his chair. I’m not much of a Reylo shipper, but I do think it would be funny if he tried this during the objections portion of their wedding and Poe and Finn have to awkwardly and uncomfortably escort him out like wedding bouncers. I also think it would be funny if during this he yelled something like “Fools! I am all the Sith!” or “You will find that it is YOU who are mistaken!” or “Stand together… die together!” with zero context and shoots forth the teeniest weakest little flash of force lightening he can muster and everyone just writes him off as being an old person who’s starting to lose it.

Might add more later but I hope this finds its target audience.

[homoeroticbetrayal]

Iconic Homoerotic Betrayal: Round 1

Round 1 Directory

Context:

Anakin/Obi-Wan (Star Wars)

"The whole 3rd arc of the "Return of The Sith" movie is effectively just the painful end of the most powerful and committed relationship in all of Star Wars. Obi-Wan even told Yoda that he could not kill Anakin and he was right. He couldn't deliver the final blow to Anakin and just assumed that Anakin's severe burns would do what he could not. Even when he's gone into exile on Tatooine, he still wishes he could see Anakin again. Anakin is never not on his mind, even in the end. The ROTS novel is even more explicit about their love for one another, something that transcends brotherhood, friendship and lovers."

"They are so dependent on eachother like get a room boys. Also they have one of the most iconic fights (when Anakin falls to the darkside in the Revenge of the Sith movie) and Anakin literally takes time out of the lightsaber fight to choke Obi-Wan like hello?? Also this is a quote from an official canon Star Wars book; "Blade-to-blade, Obi-Wan and Anakin were identical. After thousands of hours lightsaber sparring, they knew each other better than brothers, more intimately than lovers; they were the complementary halves of a single warrior."

Macaque/Sun Wukong (Lego Monkei Kid)

Mac + Sun Wukong were the bestest buddies in the whole world until Sun Wukong was forced to go through a character arc road trip and made NEW friends. Mac severely misunderstood the Forceful Character Growth methods and attempts to kill Wukongs friends. So, to defend the new friends, Wukong kills Macaque in return. Now, Macaque does come back Wrong and there is some speculation on how there could be some possible trickery and manipulation regarding Mac's death, but watching LMK it is intensely homoerotic.

[fanfic-obsessed]

Twist The Madness

Master Sifo-Dyas is the change point in this little bit of madness. 

In canon Sifo-Dyas is the Jedi that commissioned the Clone Army, driven mad by visions of a war that would destroy the Jedi, of the Jedi temple burning. It is unclear if he was seeing the results of the Clone Wars and Order 66 (thus, like Anakin, created the visions that drove him mad) or if he prevented his visions and Order 66 was something different entirely. It is also unclear if he was patsy of the Sith from the beginning, or if his plan was hijacked by the Sith at a later point.

But what if his takeaway from his visions and the madness they drove him to was just a bit different. Not an army, but protectors. 

Sifo-Dyas still commissioned 1 million clones but not all at once. Instead it would be an ongoing order for generations. The initial amount decanted would be 100,000 clones, most would grow at a double rate until they reach physical adulthood, then their aging would be slowed to normal for near humans. Their training would be generalized and the calling they would be raised with would be to protect the Jedi Temples. The intention being that they would be spread throughout the active temples and live amongst the Jedi there. Approximately 10,000 had a slightly different charge. Each would be raised for a specific Jedi, their genetics tweaked so that they would be a perfect companion and protector (including aging the clone to either adulthood or to match their assigned Jedi and then matching their aging to their Jedi). 

Jango Fett is still contracted to be the progenitor for the clones, but not because of his ability to kill Force Users. Instead it is his genetics themselves that separates him out from other bounty hunters. Due to the crossbreeding of his ancestors, his genetic code is particularly malleable, meaning that the genetic modifications needed to match Clone to a specific Jedi are that much easier. He was not expected to provide training, thus he simply provided generic material  (enough over the course of one year for all 1 million clones in the order), is paid a massive amount of credits plus 1 son (Boba) and leaves; he has no idea that this order is for the Jedi.  

At his request there is a specific genetic marker that is artificially added to all of the clones but Boba so that none of them can claim to be him or his son. He also signs a truly impressive number of agreements that released him from responsibility for the clones AND guaranteed that he knew that he was being cloned (Look, realistically the ethical issue with cloning a sentient being centers around the being being cloned, not the clones themselves; the ethical issues with the clones and their sentience is sentient trafficking).

I want it to be clear here. Sifo-dyas was still driven to madness before he commissioned the clones. He and master Dooku were working together on this project, sharing the madness. Dooku does not fall to the darkside here, though he does still leave the Jedi Order. Though their machinations see that the Clones on the whole are treated better, as they are meant to be companions and protectors of the Jedi, the clones are very much being raised for a destiny that they were not able to choose (with all the ethical issues that come with that). There is a heavy focus and even heavier propaganda throughout the clones' childhood of how they are, in a very real sense, being raised for the Jedi. It is also very heavily referenced that the Jedi as a whole do not know about the Clone yet, since they were a surprise.

The 10,000 who were being raised for a specific Jedi grew up with every piece of information that could be found about their Jedi. Their training was tailored to the Jedid they were assigned to.  The information/propaganda/brainwashing was so specific for these 10,000 that after about the age of 3 chronologically, (a variety of ages physically, though age 6 is the most common for the clone that are meant to go to the adult Jedi), the clones whose Jedi died before they could meet could not be retrained. Instead their fellow clones consider them to be a living memorial for the lost Jedi (It is a really weird cultural development, but both Sifo-Dyas and Dooku allow it-They want the Clones as a culture to be in a symbiotic relationship with the Jedi and this fit in with that). 

Sifo-Dyas’s plan did derail Dooku’s fall entirely, instead of causing Sifo-dyas’s death Dooku ghosted Palpatine around the time of the Naboo invasion. It never occurs to Dooku to let anyone know that Palpatine is a Sith. 

Fast forward about 10 years, Dooku and Sifo-Dyas construct a far too complicated, dramatic plan to lure Obi Wan to Kamino. As far as they are concerned it is only right that Obi Wan gets ‘his’ clone protector, Cody, first (as Dooku’s grand padawan).  It actually somewhat mirrors cannon, in that Anakin is sent on a mission to escort Senator Padme Amidala to Naboo (this is actually a separate plan by Palptine, who is trying to corrupt Anakin.In this Padme has been little more than a puppet for Palpatine for years-Her will is so strong that she has retained little bits of her own sense of self, as long as Palpatine is not in the equation but nothing like what she should have been)  alone, as a test to see how ready he is to take his trials. Dooku then hires a bounty hunter, not Jango Fett, to lure Obi Wan to Kamino. 

Obi Wan is met on Kamino by the Kaminoans first but also an all but visibly vibrating Cody. This Cody is radiating adoration and glee into the Force at finally meeting ‘his’ Jedi. It should be noted that Cody’s presence in the Force could not have been more perfect for Obi Wan. Cody gives the full tour to a mildly shellshocked Obi Wan; including introducing him to Rex, who has been raised for Anakin (I debated Rex going to Anakin or Ahsoka, but ultimately decided that Echo and Fives (together as twins) were meant for Ahsoka). They end the tour with a meeting with Dooku and Sifo Dyas who explain the clones.  

Now Dooku and Sifo-Dyas deliberately have Cody stay while they explain who and what the clones were meant to be.  Obi Wan already does not want to hurt Cody and there are only so many ways one can say ‘What the fuck do you mean cloned protectors?’ and all of them could be read as a rejection of the clones themselves. Dooku also manages to make it clear to Obi Wan without stating it outright, thus in Obi Wan’s eyes leaving Cody in the dark, that if the Jedi Order rejects the clones they (the clones) will all be killed as defective.

So now Obi Wan gets to make a very carefully worded call to the Jedi High Council about the new 100,000 lives they need to become responsible for (who will be murdered if they don’t), of which about 10,000 have been brainwashed so thoroughly that barring them from ‘their Jedi’ might actually cause very real psychological harm.  Also politically the Jedi appears to have just acquired an army, possibly of slaves.

Like, even without the war, the sheer magnitude of What the Fuck that comes with ‘These people think we own them, their entire sense of self rests on how well they serve us. How do we tell them we don’t without breaking their sense of self’. Also being told that Dooku and Sifo-Dyas, who have not technically broken any laws(they used Dooku’s money instead of the Jedi’s so there is not even any fraud), would continue to have the Kaminoans produce clones and give them to the Jedi Order until the 1 million already paid for have been decanted. 

I am just saying, everyone on the high council needed to take a minute. Obi Wan also needed to take a minute. Oddly enough Obi Wan’s minute of panic came just before Anakin would have slaughtered the Tuskens (Controlled Padme was under orders to get Anakin in as many situations as possible that would cause him to reach for the dark. Including following a vision of his mother dying). That moment of panic disrupted the rage and pain enough that Anakin did not reach for the dark side or slaughter the Tuskens.  He escaped with his mothers body instead. 

They manage to get all 100,000 clones back to the Coruscant Temple without causing a panic or a diplomatic incident with the Senate (in spite of Palpatine watching like a hawk for anything he could use to discredit the Jedi, after his most reliable source of information ghosted him).  Then the Jedi made a point of asking each and every clone what they actually wanted to do (they were truly at a loss as to what else to do). Of the 90,000 generally trained, about 500 did not want to be protectors of the Jedi. As the Jedi’s response is immediately ‘Do you know what you want to do? If not, we can help you figure it out. We can get you education and whatever resources you want to pursue your dream’ with the manic air of someone who really wants help but has no idea how to, caused the remaining 89,500 generally trained clones to not just cement but weld their loyalties to the Jedi. Like they were all ready to die for the Jedi before, because of propaganda,  but now that they were even more amazing than the Clones had thought…now the loyalty of these clones is that much deeper (frankly the Jedi remain worried about this). For the 10,000 clones that were trained for specific Jedi, they actually had to stop asking because without fail the thought of not being able to protect ‘their’ Jedi led to a panic attack. 

So now we have the Jedi who have kinda been forced to accept these protectors and companions.  The adult Jedi are working really hard to figure out a balance between trying to break the brainwashing and letting the clones have the autonomy to act on their own desires (since their desires are ‘protect the Jedi’). The children in the Creche were simply introduced to their companions with the hope that being raised together can mitigate some of the training (This also means that the creche and classes have to be rapidly adjusted so that they can accommodate the clones as well). 

For some angsty flavor, we see the Jedi coming to love (romantic, familial, sexual, platonic, or other) their Clone companions and being constantly beset by thought of ‘how can I act on these feelings, they don’t have a choice’ and ‘they think the belong to me…?’. And as far as the clones are concerned everything that their Jedi does reinforces how they are deserving of the clones' loyalty and love.

Note: I do want you all to know that sudden addition of Rex following Anakin around AND the lack of war did derail Anidala before it began

[sith-obikin]

FINAL ROUND-UP ❤️‍🔥

Here are the last submissions to the first edition of the Sith Obikin Fest! In total we received over 40 works🔥

Stay tuned for our next announcements / thank-yous and a very exciting project coming SOON!

• Birth Astride A Grave (a play in two acts) by nngi_e

After his defeat on the fiery shores of Mustafar, a captive Obi-Wan Kenobi receives four visitors in the darkness of his cell:

a beloved Master long gone,

a beautiful Queen shrouded in blue,

a cruel Shadow covered in scars,

and the Sun at the center of it all.

• Vader Closes In by ArtisticlyBeautiful

Vader finds Obi-Wan in his cave on Tatooine. He will do whatever it takes for Obi-Wan to feel the heartache he has to live with now.

Set during the Kenobi series.

DW: Non-con, bottom obi-wan, ruthless vader

DNW: Piss, sweetness

• Three Measures of Blood by your cheap thrills (eurosthewanderer)

Sith! Obi-Wan stumbles upon a boy in his travels and instantly feels his great potential in the Force.

He snatches Anakin before anyone else can and proceeds to teach him the ways of the Dark Side.

DW: Go wild. Anything like the Jedi Quest or Rogue Planet, but they are both Sith. Perfect excuse to dive into the Sith lore and create their practices. You can make it as long as you want with Anakin of any age. But the world-building of the Sith is essential.

DNW: Only brief mentions of the teachings. Seriously, you can make it as wild as you can, but details are essential.

• wild animals i have known by travellingcircus

Reverse age AU - Set whenever

Sith Obi-Wan (wild and borderline feral), Jedi Master Anakin (always toeing the line of being a darksider but never falling)

Really I just want sith Obi-Wan to call jedi Anakin daddy (no age play). A plot would be nice, but I am far too happy with nothing but smut.

DW: Daddy kink, possessiveness, obsession, top Anakin, bottom Obi-Wan, they're disgustingly cute about each other but not in a healthy way

DNW: piss, scat, vomit, age play, omegaverse, unhappy ending, major character death

• Rage, rage against the dying of the light by Golden_Daffodils

Palpatine miscalculates. Killing Obi-Wan Kenobi is the reason Anakin falls, but he did not expect the boy to rebel and try to kill him in return when Anakin learns who he is and his role in Obi-Wan's death.

Would love a angst filled fic, with Anakin falling because Obi-Wan is dead, as Palpatine thought he would, and that biting Palpatine in the ass lol

Also it's up to you if Obi-Wan is really dead or not. I just want to make clear that the most important person for Anakin will always be Obi-Wan.

If nsfw, bottom Anakin/top Obi-Wan and lots of tender/passionate sex reunion.

No rape/non con, hardcore kinks, Anakin kneeling to Palpatine, Anakin killing other Jedi (I don't want him to be the instigator but he can kill to defend himself should you wish to go on that route), anidala, Obianidala, QuiObi.

• Bound By You by BlueAreTheStars

Reverse Age AU - Takes place in GFFA

Peace in the galaxy. A shaky treaty resulting in a tri-annual competition to see who reigns for a short period of time: the Empire or the Republic. It is not built to last.

Anakin Skywalker, older but no wiser from his Clone Wars escapades, is of course the Jedi's chosen champion, as much as he does not wish to be. There is no match for his power, his skills, anywhere in the galaxy now that peace has been declared but when a lithe young man steps into the arena, with gold eyes and an obvious hard-on for him, maybe Anakin has finally met one.

• mine, always by DPRen

Set in Rots. Canon divergence. Obi-Wan kills Palpatine in a fit of jealous rage at seeing Anakin kneel to be Palps apprentice. And now Anakin has to try and get his master back from the dark side while fighting his own internal battle. No unhappy endings ( happy sith murder husbands pretty please )

[marvelstars]

“You didn’t kill Anakin Skywalker, I did” Darth Vader in OWK

While I believe with some work this phrase could be worked into SW canon, I dislike it´s implications, I think this phrase was the show creators trying to whitewash Obi-Wan role in ROTS when he decided to cut off all of Anakin´s limbs and letting him burn alive, one of the most painful ways to die ever. This tells me not only part of the fandom has a hard time seeing the story as it´s with nuance but also current creators at disney but that´s not how Lucas developed his story.

Obi-Wan may have not groomed Anakin like Palpatine did, owned him like Watto but he certainly tried to kill him on behalf of the Jedi Order and he was convinced he only could kill him off , in fact it´s Obi-Wan the one who started the fight on mustafar activating his lightsaber first while Anakin wasn´t looking at him.

Obi-Wan´s mission on mustafar was to kill off Anakin plain and simple, when he saw him burn alive he didn´t feel pity or mercy, he feel disgusted, in lucas words, Obi-Wan thought he was a thing, a thing of the darkside and when he discovered Vader was alive he planned to train Anakin´s Son, use his memories of Anakin to convince Luke to kill off Vader, his father, then tried to deflect blame when confronted with the truth by Luke.

This doesn´t mean Obi-Wan didn´t love Anakin at some point but he believed in "once a sith always a sith" for someone who told Anakin only Sith deal in absolutes, he had a very "absolute" way of thinking, the only thing Obi-Wan tought he could do for Anakin once he fell to the darkside was kill him off, at no point does Obi-Wan in the OT tries to deny that´s his intention so it´s unnecesary for the fandom and some creators to try to do mental gimnastics over this fact and by the way Obi-Wan learned of Anakin´s actions, you could even say he was justified even if his actions were cruel.

That said the story is clear that there are two types of deaths, the physical one and the spiritual one when people fall to the darkside, the jedi believe killing a sith is ok because they are already dead and so they are not killing the same person, that´s the logic Yoda follows and Obi-Wan when it came to Anakin and Dooku but they are also hypocritical in this choice of words when they act as if revenge wasn´t a big factor on it but at least they accepted they played a part in what happened to Anakin even if they are trying to fix it by killing him.

This is what makes Luke reject their orders, because he doesn´t want to commit patricide for revenge, he respects and loves his teachers but that´s something he knows he can´t do without falling to the darkside as well and despite all the reasons he had to hate Vader, he also has felt his care for him in the force and that´s why he wanted to save him.

Anakin tried to convince himself that he was spiritually dead and lost until Luke went to rescue him and that´s why he told him he already saved him even if he was dying.

Obi-Wan was totally surprised when he discovered Vader turned back from the darkside and when he realized Anakin was going to join the force he realized he wasn´t going to see him as himself again, unless he teached him how to become a force ghost(this is tackled in the novel version of Obi-Wan´s pov in ROTJ), so ironically, it was Obi-Wan´s need to keep Anakin around, on his side, what promted him to teach him how to become a force ghost, because he discovered he still loved him as his friend and wanted his friend back.

It´s pretty clear in the story, this isn´t about criticizing Obi-Wan, this isn´t Jedi bashing, it´s how literally the events happened in star wars and those are part of Obi-Wan´s personality as well as some of the Order povs on the darkside this doesn´t contradict their good intentions or Obi-Wan´s sassy lines and warm demeanor with friends and family.

[threebea]

The only alternative Master for Anakin I will now accept is Saesee Tiin if it isn't Obi-Wan.

He's the only one that I think could theoretically have things work out better for Anakin (but only Anakin).

Obi-Wan determined to train Anakin but the council is worried it might be out of obligation in an attachment sort of way. Then they're like, okay but he's powerful he does need to be trained especially if there are Sith around.

Plo Koon is like: he won a podrace in a ship he built himself? Saesee this is all you buddy.

Obi-Wan accepts but makes sure to stay in Anakin's life as a brother figure. They do lightsaber training together it's very sweet.

Now the reason Saesee works is, like Anakin, he wants to be flying in a ship, any ship will do. If he's not doing that he will be fixing ships while letting Plo Koon do all the people organization.

Being raised by Saesee prevents some tragedy only because Anakin gets to spaceship whenever he wants. What's that the Supreme Chancellor wants to have tea? Why do that when I could be flying? He wants to have dinner? But Anakin's almost worked out how to fix this part he's been working on for a week.

Saesee: ... You should probably go.

Anakin: he complained when I got oil on his fancy chair. Then tried to imply you were making me do menial tasks and stalling my potential I don't like him.

Saesee: use it as an exercise in patience and when you get back we can take this baby for a spin.

Anakin: 🤩 deal.

Palpatine loses interest because there is only one subject you can talk to this kid about. He figures when Anakin hits his teen years he'll calm down about it (he does not).

Sadly Order 66 still happens, but Anakin doesn't turn to the Darkside (be on the council and cut into flying time? His Master had already made that mistake no thanks. Besides he's not ready for that sort of position he's not even a Master. And why stay on planet when he could be in charge of the aerial assault on Utapau?). So he and Obi-Wan get to be Rebel Generals together. He meets Padme again during this time and they have the twins. A few years later get gets to proudly watch Luke blow up the Death Star and his daughter become one of the lead strategists for the Rebellion.

Then he gets to throw Sidious down a pit on the Death Star II.

That's how Anakin's hyperfocus and ADHD saves him from personal tragedy.

[sarcastic-sketches]

Sees another fic that has a potentially good premise about following the fallout of Anakin and Padme's marraige reveal in a Anakin Doesn't Turn to the Darkside setting.

Me: oh, maybe I'll get to see a fic where he leaves on amiable terms with the Order and gets to raise his kids

The fic: Jedi are stubborn and stuck in their ways and should allow attachments

Rolls my eyes and lets out the BIGGEST OF SIGHS. Can this fandom please understand what attachment is before going into Jedi Order critism through their writing jc.

There is no such thing as 'healthy attachment', it does not exist because attachment is unhealthy, it is bad, it is obsessive and possessive in nature. The Jedi way is to prevent yourself forming these attachments for your own good as much as the good as everyone else. Attachment does not equal love.

As a side note if anyone does have any fics where Anakin leaves to raise his kids without the Jedi Order changing their ideological system that would be great and I would be so thankful.