#Anakin’s Dark Deeds at the end? Nice

[marierg]

Of Light and Darkness: Ch 27

Pairing: Obi Wan Kenobi X Reader

WARNINGS!: +18 and DO NOT ENGAGE IF THE FOLLOWING WILL CAUSE YOU PAIN OR TRIGGERING!Violence, Anxiety, Language, Angst, murder/ death, anger, delayed stress responses, mentions of exposure and sexuality, dark past....It's gonna be a ride. There's some nice fluff at the end though.

A/N: This is a more Anakin centric chapter, Him and Glitch and how they affect one another and those around them. We meet up with everybody towards the end. Again I know that some of these don't look like important details, it'll come in later. This is going to be an uncomfortable chapter dealing with Rules of engagement, battlefield morals and shades of gray, and also how stress can effect the best of people. The real question that would plague anyone is given the circumstances what would you do? DO NOT READ IF THIS WILL TRIGGER YOU!!!!

Picture Credit: Pinterest and Artstation.com

Words: 2414 ish

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The speeder bike was perched just over the ridge, two shadows making silent approach towards the enemy camp. The bombing run on the mortar positions had been a resounding success. Anakin was glad for all his pod racing experience, dodging explosion debris was a lot easier under a fighter canopy than an open cab. He knew that Master Y/n would be nervous that he and Glitch were taking longer than expected to return.

As the two infiltrated close to the droid control center Glitch held him back. “Hey you know what to do right? Ok, meet me back here in 10.”

“Are you crazy we should stick together.” Anakin was annoyed that she was changing the plan. “Where are you going?”

But the pink haired hellion had already dashed off into the darkness. Anakin crept into position, popping the control panel on the droid control and storage. Slicing into the matrix, reprograming the droids to turn and fire at each other as opposed to the rescue crews was easy enough. “This ought to do the trick.”

Glitch knew what needed to be done and since her hands were already filthy what was a few stains more she figured. There were only three Nikto males to watch the droid station and with them gone it would take time to reorganize for the Mercs. Glitch could deal with the simple creatures. As her old instructor on Vallan had taught her early and often, “Show some cleavage, flash them a smile and a wink, and they fall easily at your hands. We use what weapons the Gods granted us.”

Unzipping the front of her flight suit to show an ample amount of skin and setting her hair loose she approached the fire. The three glanced up just as the firelight danced an outline on her figure. She quirked her lips up, voice becoming breathy. “Hi boys...boss said you could use a little...relief.”

All three were too stupid to question their good fortune, even more foolish for allowing her in close. Tempting each one to come closer then slitting their thick throats. Glitch threw up her guts but finished the job, she swore that she would not do this again, yet here she was. Covered in blood she returned, grabbed Anakin and made the march back to the bike in silence. She could tell the kid was upset, but when he did finally look her in the eye Glitch felt all the worse. Not for the deed, no those Karks deserved what they got. No it was the utterly shocked and pale sick look that Anakin had.

Glitch sighed, “Just spit it out kid.”

Anakin swallowed thickly, not wanting to believe that there was blood all over his friends' clothing. The Glitch he knew was a kind, good person. The cold, dead eyed assassin who looked back at him was a stranger. Shaking his head he couldn't reconcile the sight. “Why? How could you just...?”

“To buy more time so that we can all go home. You're a good person Anakin, you deserve to sleep at night.... I gave that up a long time ago.” Glitch never let slip the reason she'd left home so young to anyone, it was dangerous enough getting close to others. Rubbing over the tattoo on her inner elbow nervously she could still see the young man was not satisfied. A chill overtook her, the tears falling regardless of permission. “Anakin... For those I care about, I would do terrible things. I hate and will never forgive myself for it, but I won't hesitate to do them. Doesn't matter if I make it out of this kid, no one would care or mourn. But you got a shot at life... you all deserve that shot.”

Anakin took a moment to breath and thought over some of his past missions with both of his Masters. Master Y/n rarely raised her saber and sought peaceful resolution, though when provoked she was efficient as any blademaster in the Temple. Lethal force was a last resort always, but it was an option that had come into play a fight or two since she had taken him as a Padawan. Master Obi Wan's style while different still sought peaceful resolution to any conflict. He still held a deathly edge to any encounter when words did fall short, whether with his fists or his saber the end was swift and finite. It made sense in a way that Glitch, who grew up on the lower levels, would act so drastically. Growing up on Tattooine he had seen similar, it was simple yet terrible math.

“I would care Glitch.” Holding out his hand she took a firm hold. Anakin let out a breath he hadn't known he held, “You did what was necessary."

“Thanks Speedster.” They both hopped on the bike and headed back to camp, stopping at a river so Glitch could clean up first. While Anakin may not like what his friend had done she was still his friend. He only hoped that his Sabac face would hold.

You were anxious the entire time Anakin and Glitch were away. Had you sent them to their deaths, were they hurt, had they been captured? You could sense them in the Force, but something felt like Anakin was distressed. Finally they came barreling through the front gate, dirty but unharmed. You had run to the two, crushing them in a hug, “Oh thank the Force you're both ok!”

Anakin smiled weakly and nodded, “Of course Master. Besides if either of us was foolish enough to die...”

“You'd raise us back up just to kill us for being insubordinate little shits!” Glitch finished sarcastically.

“Have I become that predictable? Well Glitch why don't you park that and join me in the tower for a bit. Come on Anakin let's go show Obi Wan you're safe.” At the young man's raised eyebrow you guiltily sighed. “He's still pretty steamed at me for letting you go.”

“But we were successful? Why would he...”

“You mean a lot to him kid,” It was a whispered reply given the nature of the admission. Jedi shall hold no attachments, yet here within this little family you three had managed to bend that. “He cares about both of us, sometimes more than for himself. Just don't tell him I said anything.”

Anakin was splitting off to head for the observation post when he turned back, “And you Master.”

“Oh Anakin.... What can I say, you're my minion.” you nodded and huffed a laugh at your apprentice's smile. Later though you would need to talk with Obi Wan. So preoccupied was your mind that you didn't notice Master Windu watching Anakin's pink haired accomplice.

“Yalvaberg.” Mace called after the young girl who had just parked the bike and now sat resting on a pilon. He had sensed Skywalker was holding back something in front of his Master. “What happened out there?”

The girl sat up straighter, cleaning her hands with a rag. “We blew shit up.”

“That's not what I mean young one,” Mace could feel the irritation as much as see it cross her face. “Did something happen with Skywalker?”

“Anakin did what he needed too.”

“And that was?” Mace probed at her mind only to find a wall there.

The girl dropped to the ground and faced him better, “That won't work on me Windy, I'm Vallandian. Don't worry his hands are clean if that's what you wanted to know.”

“So he was protecting you.” Mace could see the unease cross your face. He started to place the pieces together, narrowing his eyes at the girl.

“I had him hack the droids so they wouldn't be a problem.”

“And the guards that were likely there watching them?”

Glitch chuffed under her breath then started to walk by, pausing. “Don't tell me your conscience is any clearer than mine, I know the darkness in your eyes.”

“Is that why you were exiled?” He saw the answer when you stiffened. “Does Y/n know.”

Glitch swallowed, gritting her teeth. “Yeah...and despite all that she still likes me. So I owe her enough not to get Speedster involved in what happened.”

“Then why did you...”

“Like I said he didn't see anything,” she glared at Mace, “But I won't put anymore kids into those karking bags either.”

Mace shook his head, for one so young she was more hardened than some adults. “See to it that it stays that way.”

“Yes Sir.”

The explosions from the mortar positions were big enough to be felt at the LZ where evacuations were ongoing through the night. With the specialized night vision gear from Couriscant to aid the pilots better and quicker night flight operations expedited the evacuation. If all kept to schedule then the last of the rescuers could ex filtrate by the appointed time. No one was counting their luck just yet though.

When the enemy had tried to counter attack a few hours after the mortars were hit, their droids had indeed malfunctioned. The living mercenaries were angrier than a pack of wet nexu, reacting with mallace. They had surrounded the landing zone on the two higher plateaus, shooting at any approaching or departing craft. Additionally they kept the loading area under fire. The blasts and explosions in the night terrified the civilians to the point that two of the transports had almost become over run from the crush of bodies trying to escape. Master Windu, Obi Wan, and Anakin had to take over the check point to ensure the safety of all involved, even then a few poor desperate fools had tried to climb on the ships by hanging onto the landing gear. One had been found dead on arrival to the larger craft, others were lost to the darkness.

Obi Wan wasn't sure what time it was, long past midnight for certain. He had needed a respite, weary in body and mind right down to his bones. He knew you hadn't meant to snap at him, he knew that you were under a great deal of pressure, it still stung none the less. Truthfully he had avoided your presence somewhat from that, but also because he knew you had made the right call, loath as he was to admit that. He pulled up a crate in the pockmarked shelter at the bottom of the control tower. Most of the equipment that couldn't be broken down was being incinerated, including the command tent. He could feel that you were up above in the tower itself, still reaching out to him as always. Maybe it was time to let you in again...

You hated fighting with your Obi Boy, stars knew that... So when you did start to feel the lightest flicker of his signature against yours again you were relieved beyond words. Walking down to the little stairwell alcove you found him on a crate. You walked over, hands meekly in your pockets, till you stood before him. He was as dirty and damp as the rest of you, when he opened his eyes though your heart grew heavy. The light was dimmed again and you were at fault for that. Kneeling down, folding your hands and placing them on his knee you rested your chin atop them. “Hi Obi Boy...”

“Hello wee one.” Even his tone was tired, Obi Wan wasn't certain how to proceed so he let you take the lead.

“Kark I don't... I should never have yelled at you dear man, I'm so sorry.” Again the mental tirade against your actions was looping on repeat. As harsh as you were on yourself though seeing how much it hurt him was all the worse. “You always watch out for us, Maker knows how...”

“Y/n...”

“No, no I need to … You are the best of us and if Anakin turns out to be as amazing as everyone predicts then it'll be because of what you taught him. And probably a bit of what you had to un-teach him from me.” Swallowing thickly you sighed at the feeling of his hands on the crown of your head, slowly undoing your hair tie and finger combing the strands.

“You act as if I weren't also at fault. I shouldn't have undermined your command,” he kept combing through the strands.

“Doesn't matter, I shouldn't have yelled.” you mumbled, trying not to cry.

“Shh, shh none of that now.” He kept his tone neutral, inside though Obi Wan was starting to feel the familiar warmth he always did in your presence. You weren't always the first to start an argument, but you always were the first to apologize. He also well knew by now the mental brow beating that you delivered unto yourself. Obi Wan felt how you were holding partly back from him, waiting for him to accept and permit you in. As he combed the mud clods out of your hair and braided it he heard you continue.

“You're going to be a great council member one day... enduring continual headaches from me getting dragged before you for something stupid I'm sure.” This finally earned you a chuckle and a few fond caresses.

“Or for that temper of yours.”

“Yeah,” choking on the word you bowed your head, kissing his knee cap finally feeling his warmth intertwine with your own. “Don't know how it is you've put up with me this long... but I love you and I'm sorry for hurting you... I never meant to...”

“Wee one I know you are sorry and I forgive you. Can never stay mad at you.” Obi Wan tilted your head up to meet his gaze, stroking your head gently. “Though if you truly feel badly, my shoulders are a tad out of sorts.”

“I think I could definitely help with that.” You let out a small laugh, settling to sit behind him on the crate. As your hands kneaded the tension out occasionally Obi Wan would let slip a sigh or moan of satisfaction. After a bit you began dotting his neck and shoulders with light kisses, wrapping your arms around and holding him close. “When we get home I'm going to scrub and massage every inch of you properly.”

“I'll hold you to that darling,” Obi Wan was enjoying the comfort of your body holding onto his. All too soon though the crack of the comms interrupted the peaceful moment, calling them both to return. With a kiss they parted, back to the mission and if they were all lucky... home.

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[gch1995]

The Sith genozide shows that the Jedi are just as willing as the Sith to cross very morally questionable lines for their cause KOTOR lore has recently been deemed canon by Lucasfilm (January 2020), so the Jedi’s genocide of the Sith species is therefore canon now

I mean, even if an SW fan knows nothing about the KOTOR video game, which, admittedly, I’ve never played either, everything we see throughout all six movies of the OT and PT saga and TCW pretty much confirms that the old Republic and Jedi Order are willing to cross every reprehensible boundary that they consider to be moral horizon events/deeds in their enemies. The only difference is that they have better PR in the galaxy backed up by the Republic government superpower and put in more effort to be more subtle about their abuse of power than the Sith because they care about being seen as “above it all.”

While Anakin is darker and less empathetic as Darth Vader in his methods, even by comparison to the average Jedi of his time because he’s learned to care less about being seen as a “nice” warrior “for the greater good” of the galaxy on the high of the dark side fueling his anger and his depression, you’ll also notice he’s actually more like the Jedi of his time in terms of how he compartmentalizes his guilt and justifies his crimes with that whole “greater good” and “necessary evil” excuse, rather than the typical chaotic evil Sith who is just evil for shits and giggles like Darth Maul. He falls into the lawful evil category instead.

The Jedi of the old Republic are only somewhat above him in terms of morality after he becomes Darth Vader because they still care about being seen as superficially “nice” to the general public of their recruits and Republic government, in spite of actually being just as ruthless as their enemies when they realize it’s easier to force people into submission to get their way from them “for the greater good” than taking the risk to do the right thing.

Anakin is still a Jedi of the old Order in mindset in the sense that he is convinced by both Sidious (a Sith who knows how the Jedi and Republic members think because he spent a lot of time with them) and himself that committing these crimes out of anger towards those who hurt him or his loved ones, a desire for freedom, fear of the unknown, fear of losing loved ones, and paranoia are serving worthy ends for protection of the Empire, Palpatine, his loved ones, himself, and the galaxy as Darth Vader, but he’s more brutal and less concerned about being subtle by playing nice in his application of that abuse of power over those he victimizes to do it on the high of the dark side, which is more Sith like.

However, in spite of being more subtle about it, I’d argue that most of the Jedi of the old Republic really weren’t that much better than most of their enemies in the Sith race. At least not after they defeated the Sith the first time around.,We spend the entirety of the prequels following the Jedi as they are basically plotting another genocide against the Sith race on their home planets. Yes, you can make a valid point that killing the Sith in self-defense when they attack first is necessary, but plotting to destroy their entire civilizations before and/or without offering them any sort of benefit of the doubt, any sort of opportunity to surrender peacefully, any sort of opportunity for rehabilitation, and any sort of warning ahead of time that they could get out of this if they stopped terrorizing the galaxy is not fair.

That is really fucked up, and we get no indication throughout the movies that the “peacekeeping” Jedi ever even considered any less violent and lethal alternatives to dealing with the Sith when their army attacked than immediate execution of them all

You’d think that at least Yoda would try to talk to the Republic Senate to find a more peaceful way to deal with the Sith. You’d think he’d consider trying to negotiate with them. He’s been alive the longest to have an idea of what the Jedi was like before the Sith. But no…He still thinks that mass murdering them is the answer.

It’s the same moral issue that U.S. government created when they decided to drop two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan in WWII completely out of the blue in the 1940s, killing and/or injuring millions in the process, so they could force their army to surrender without offering them any sort of warning ahead of time or better options than this mass destruction of lives to the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

It’s the same moral issue that Palpatine and Dooku created when they plotted a genocide of the Jedi Order/Republic without any sort of warning.

Yeah, I know the Sith culture is deeply fucked up and violent on the whole, but they are still sentient beings. The children on their planets are still going to be innocents. They deserved to know they could have had an option to atone for their crimes, be rehabilitated, reform, or surrender peacefully. The innocent civilians kids didn’t deserve to have their lives taken from them as collateral damage of the Jedi’s elimination of the Sith.

For “peacekeepers,” the Jedi of the prequels before Luke don’t really seem to be too interested in taking the necessary risks and steps to create it by being brave enough to offer any sort of compassion, patience, or understanding for those who oppose them before going straight to murder as the answer. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and many of the other Jedi of the prequels develop a very similar mindset after being recruited, not just because their government is under the control of the Sith Lord in disguise, but because of how deeply dysfunctional the Jedi system was being run/implemented. They weren’t taught how to be normally functioning independent adults with a healthy sense of security, self-confidence, self-worth in their own personal agency and personal beliefs, how to have healthy relationships, or how to think critically. They were actively cut off, discouraged, and forbidden from having any sort of personal independence, personal hobbies, interests, relationships, occupations, or lives of their own outside of the Jedi Order because Yoda was too afraid of losing control over them and potentially facing the dark side by allowing them normal freedoms, relationships, and agency.

Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and many of the other Jedi of the prequels were taught to use an exceedingly hostile and paranoid black-and-white us vs them mentality in the Republic/Jedi Order and the Empire/Sith in regards to enemies, outsiders, and potential threats to the “greater good” of the causes they served, the safety of themselves or those they were loyal to within that cause, and their critical thinking skills, open-mindedness, and self-awareness diminished as a result.

When you can’t fathom the possibility of even trying to take the risk to use peaceful non-violent alternatives to dealing with enemies by allowing them the chance to a fair trial, hearing them out, giving them a chance to surrender, giving them a chance to atone, then that’s a serious problem that often ends up perpetuating a cycle of fear-driven systematic abuse, crime, distrust, resentment, and oppression more than necessary, rather than breaking it. You can’t really break a cycle of systematic abuse, crime, distrust, and oppression by enabling and perpetuating it whenever it’s safer than taking a risk to stand up for what’s right, especially when you go around calling yourself a “peacekeeper.”

That was Anakin’s, Obi-Wan’s, Yoda’s, Qui Gonn’s, and the majority of the rest of prequel era Jedi Order’s biggest personal moral failing. They became so afraid of facing conflict and opposition under these corrupt cult-like institutions and governments under these shitty circumstances that they ended up becoming willing enablers and perpetrators of the very same crimes they sought to destroy to fit in under pressure to try to remain safe at all costs because it was easier than taking a risk to be vulnerable that was required to ultimately be able to do better.

No, it’s not just their faults they ended up growing up to be that way. The Jedi Order and Sidious were abusive, manipulative, and isolating systems that seriously compromised their agency to be able to feel reasonably safe doing better through finding better escape and healthy support. The government they worked for was corrupt. Anakin seemed to develop C-PTSD, BPD, ADHD, and substance abuse symptoms that never got properly treated. The Sith army definitely did strike against the Jedi first a millenia ago, and most of them were very corrupt. However, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and the other Jedi of the old Republic did still have enough sense to be able to understand what was objectively right versus wrong. They had consciences, and not every crime they committed were things they were coerced into doing by the Republic, Sidious, and the Jedi Council. They developed personally selfish and vindictive streaks, too. They eventually did stop trying after some time, so I can’t just pretend they’re wholly innocent either.

The biggest take away from Star Wars OT and PT sagas is how easy it can be for the fear under systematic abuse, crime, enemies, warfare, and oppression to destroy both yourself and others around you when you don’t deal with it healthily by taking the risk to be emotionally vulnerable and open, and instead continue the cycle of abusing power to try to deny, take control of, and/or eliminate those people and/or things that cause you fear instead.

If you guys want to comment, you can.

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[kefalion]

Best fanfics 2021. Star Wars Obi-Wan/Anakin

I read almost 14,5 million words worth of fanfics in 2021 (Most of it Star Wars). That’s a lot. (Embarrasing or impressive? You decide!) I write comments for myself on everything that’s longer than 5k words so I know what I thought of them, what they were called, how long they are etc. As a way to remember them all and honour these fic writers, here’s a list of my favourite ones from 2021. Sorted into categories for your convenince. Some authors will feautre multiple times. Some people are just that good.

List divided into several posts becasue it got too long and Tumblr couldn’t handle it.

Gen Pt. 1

Gen Pt. 2

Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker - You’re here!

Other pairings

Stranger Beneath by SisyphusRising Status: in progress Words: 20 012 Synopsis: Anakin never left Tatooine. He’s working as a hitman for Jabba. Now Jabba has imprisoned a Jedi and wants Anakin to interrogate him Thoughts: Anakin’s a dumbass who’s entrenched in the dark side and also immediately gets infatuated with Obi-Wan. Very amusing.

wicked thing by @imaginaryanon Status: in progress Words: 117 412 Synopsis: AU. Qui-Gon lives (longer) He trains Anakin. Obi-Wan falls to the wayside, and then to the dark side with Dooku as his master. During the clone war they meet. They are attracted to each other and Obi-Wan seduces Anakin away from the Jedi Thoughts: I adore that it is only Anakin’s pov. And how much of a disaster he is and the connection between him and Obi-Wan. They got a bit too close too quickly to be perfect fro me, but how flaming hot it is makes up for that several times over.

as good a place to fall as any by @glimmerglanger Status: complete Words: 106 634 Synopsis: A/B/O dynamics. On a mission to a planet where the alpha and omega instincts run rampant, Obi-Wan and Anakin get together. Their changed relationship makes it more difficult for Palpatine to manipulate Anakin Thoughts: This was a ride. Such long chapters. So much pining. Such good care of how it affected everything around them. And epic at the conclusion.

Various Applications of Salves and Oils by @glimmerglanger Fandom: Star Wars Status: complete Words: 16 282 Synopsis: Obi-Wan gets sunburn on a mission. Anakin can’t stop looking at his skin and wanting to touch Thoughts: the pining is strong with this one. Lovely to see the mutual pining and the touch starvation getting satisfied slowly but surely. So much build up and such a release at the end because of it!

asked for and received (prompt fills) by @tennessoui​ Status: in progress Words: 20 025 Synopsis: short story collection. 1) Anakin is hit on the head on Mustafar and loses his memories. He joins the rebellion. Obi-Wan is traumatized. 2) Obi-Wan joins the AgriCorps, gets a penpal in Anakin and they fall in love 3) actor au where Anakin’s encouraged to have a romance with another lead actor in the film. They meant Padmé. Obi-Wan’s a better option. 4) soulmate and deamon au 5) Modern pining as a marrid Anakin is introduced to Obi-Wan Thoughts: 1) so angsty. So awesome. Would want more 2) very nice and fluffy 3) this rose in temperature very quickly 4) nice and cute 5) kinda sad then flipping to hot. This is a collection to follow

nothing compares to you by @ragnarlothcat​ Status: in progress Words: 24 431 Synopsis: Anakin’s upset about Obi-Wan faking his death. Upset enough that the Force Interferes and puts him into a time-loop Thoughts: such a fun troop. Well executed. Has inspired me to write.

put your money where your mouth is by @tennessoui​ Status: complete Words: 4 364 Synopsis: Anakin’s been cursed to sleep until his dearest love kisses him. It’s Obi-Wan, but Obi-Wan assumes it’s not and has everyone else try, until the Council figures it out and order him to do the deed Thoughts: so so so cute. I remember vibing so hard with this story. It was such a dumb Obi-Wan thing to do.

me and my man, we get on like a house on fire by @tennessoui​ Status: complete Words: 14 848 Synopsis: Modern AU. Obi-Wan’s a famous singer-song-writer. Anakin’s a firefighter. They meet when Obi-Wan’s house burns down and have chemistry Thoughts: hilarious and smoking hot. I should reread this soon. It really was a blast. (Trying to come up with more puns on fire and flame and hot but giving up cause they wouldn’t do the story justice anyway). 

hold me fast or kill me quick by @tennessoui​ Status: in progress Words: 6 246 Synopsis: Anakin and Obi-Wan are soulmates. They meet on Tatooine when Obi-Wan’s arrived there for an undercover mission. He has to leave because of war and doesn’t feel worthy when it’s over, by which time Anakin’s come to the Temple. Married. To Qui-Gon. Thoughts: spectacular. It got right into the thick of it. They are super dramatic and I love it.

War Drums by @intermundia Status: in progress Words: 60 315 Synopsis: Vader dies and gets to go back in time to his nine-year-old body. Obi-Wan has a terrible day that keeps going and going, until it starts getting marginally better. Helped along by a found family of misfits. Thoughts: This is one of my favourites of late 2021. So far it’s been a delight to follow along with each update. It’s quickly risen in intrigue with many threads and characters. There are emotional turmoil galore and consequenses to the chracters’ actions that are felt. Great charactarization. Lovely tiny Vader-Anakin hybrid. Promises to get spicy later on. Very entertaining on many levels.

tongue-tie me so tightly i cannot tell you the truth by @tennessoui Status: complete Words: 33 237 Synopsis: Soulmate mark au. Obi-Wan is tired of waiting for his soulmate so he decides to get his soulmate name tattoo covered up. Anakin works at the place he goes two. Some miscommunication later, Anakin is scheduled to give him other tattooes. Anakin knows. Obi-Wan doesn’t. Thoughts: keyboard smash. Very hot. Very hot mess. Very messy. *Fans self* Another of my late 2021 favourites. It’s soulmates, so I’m super onboard and the miscommunication makes me want to shake some sense into Anakin, but at the same time it was too enjoyable to watch the train wreck that I wouldn’t have wanted to step in. The resolution was beautiful and hot of course. Let’s not forget about that.

Burnt Edges by cadesama Status: complete Words: 33 359 Synopsis: Anakin and Obi-Wan are drugged by Ventress who’s trying a drug that will break the Jedi. It makes Obi-Wan need sexual release. Anakin is seemingly not affected. It complicates things with Padmé Thoughts: they are so very human in this story. I like that. It was also hot

[merrysithmas]

I wanted to share this thought even canonically it probably wouldn't of happened. I don't think it is known what happened to Obi wan's light saber after he died and I was thinking what if Vader had it on him when he died? Like maybe he was going to bleed it or destroy it personally but never got around to it. Maybe that tiny bit of Anakin that still exists in the back of Vader's mind wanted something to remind him of his former master and Vader tells himself that he is keeping it as trophy?

I ALWAYS wonder what happened to Obi's lightsaber. Sometimes I think Luke must have had it (Leia's saber resembles Obi-wan's a ton, maybe she broke it down and reworked it).

I think it may turn up again in canon at some point, but overall I think I favor the idea of lightsabers being retired after their original user dies.

Who the Skywalker Legacy Lightsaber "belonged to" was a huge point of contention in the sequels. It was kind of like the sword in the King Arthur legend, but they didn't exactly poetically expand on it. It could've been done much more nicely. I really like how it was broken in the sequels (but then reforged..) and how Rey buried it and put it to rest, so to speak.

I think the Skywalker saber (Anakin's!) should remerge every so often in diff ways, for specific acts to be taken, like a noble weapon of the gods... but always get "lost" after that, until it reappears again mythically. Granted to people only for certain acts or time periods, for deeds of utmost Force importance whether they are aware of it or not.

But at the end of the day I don't like the idea of "passing down" lightsabers to other characters in general. I think each person having their own identity is important, exemplified by their own saber and signature in the Force.

As for Obi's right after his death, I think it's clear Vader kept it - which was essentially another piece of Vader breaking down and shattering which began from the moment he learned Padme (and presumably his kids) died, to Obi-wan's challenge of faith to "Darth" in the finale of OWK, to the last second Luke begged Vader to save his life.

All of that slowly pried apart the phantom Vader and the prison of the Dark Side to enable Anakin to emerge yet again.

But as for Obi's saber now? I'll stick with the headcanon its parts became Leia's saber - until proven otherwise ;)

[jedimasterbailey]

Below is another sneak preview of my “The Padawans” fic. Next chapter up should be by tomorrow! With the help of Quinlan Vos confronts her inner darkness and learns to let go of her past in order become the Jedi she was always meant to be 💙 Link to the fic below! Thank you @devondeal for helping out this story together 😊

Side note: How epic would it be to see Barriss confront a Sith version of herself?

You want me to do what now?” Barriss nervously asks.

The two Jedi were sitting cross legged across from each other inside the cave Quinlan has taken residence in. They had just returned from a morning Jar’kai training session as Barriss admitted to needing some refinement in wielding two lightsabers. Quinlan’s lessons were as tough as his looks as Barriss’s body ached in a way she hadn’t felt since her early lightsaber training days. She had hoped they would take a break and talk more about the mission at hand, but the Jedi Master had other plans.

Quinlan raises a brow, “Meditate. You haven’t been doing that have you?”

Barriss shakes her head,“Not since the trail. I tried once in my cell and it felt...so dark....cold...I couldn’t go through with it. It’s almost as if the dark side is a disease I injected myself with, it has yet to go away.”

Quinlan sighs,“I understand what you mean. I only just got rid of it just before you arrived.”

“Really? Even with my Master’s help?” Barriss asks, surprised. If there was anyone that could soothe anyone’s aching spirit, it was Luminara. It’s what Barriss adored the most about her Master. The older Mirilan’s calming voice and demeanor is what kept Barriss grounded through her apprenticeship.

Quinlan takes a long drink from his flask before answering. He then looked Barriss straight in the eye, his expression unreadable.

“Yeah...you see kid, the darkness came to us when we decided to not take control of something we had no business in. We made the easy choice, the one that felt right in the moment, but we failed to consider the consequences. There’s a reason why the ancient Sith died young or were sickly looking. It’s because the dark side of the Force is corrosive. To be fueled with rage and fear non-stop takes a toll on the body and soul.”

“Even when I returned to the Order, I still felt the darkness in me. I couldn’t meditate without being reminded of my sins and I was quick to anger on the battlefield. When I felt Aayla die...I completely lost it. I killed every single Clone within my reach, forgetting that these were men I considered to be my friends. I never considered the possibility that there was something bigger at play because the dark side doesn’t allow you to think clearly. I was completely blind to everything and had I had my head screwed on tight, maybe I could have saved Luminara.”

“When I finally came to, the guilt and grief was overwhelming, so overwhelming that I completely cut myself off from the Force and from my mind. I mean could you really blame me? I lost my Padawan and every one I loved just like that! And for what?! What was the point of any of it?! All the sacrifices we made all those years were all for nothing. I became a monster for nothing. We were all just pawns in Palpatine’s game.”

“I lived off the land for a while until I found a Wookie settlement not too far from here, that’s where I’ve been getting my supplies and food. I was content with just going through the motions. I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t feel nice to just be free from everything, to pretend I was never a Jedi or Sith or a war general. But the void was always there. It wasn't until I had a vision of Luminara being tortured in an Imperial cell that I realized that I needed to set things right for her. “

“So I confronted my past and refused to give up until I made peace with it. It was the most painful and difficult challenge I’ve ever taken on, but it’s worth it. I can’t undo what I’ve done, but I can decide how to live going forward. What got me through it was the promise I made to myself. I’m going to live the life that was taken away from my Aayla. Be a good man and help where I can. It’s the best way to celebrate her memory.”

“And then you came along and now I know how to repay Luminara back for all she’s done for me. Pass on what I’ve learned to her student so that she can be the Jedi the galaxy needs right now. You are Luminara’s only hope.” Quinlan finishes with a smile.

“You don’t believe you could save her?” Barriss says despite knowing the answer.

“You and I both know that only you could set your Master free.” Quinlan replies sincerely.

The validation weighed heavy on Barriss. As determined as she was to rescue her Master, the Padawan was still anxious on the obstacles she may face. Barriss owed it to Luminara to be successful. She needed her Master to know how much her apprentice loved her.

Quinlan breaks the silence,“I’m not sure what kind of evil you’re gonna face, but I know one things for sure. You’re gonna have to master the hardest lesson a Jedi ever has to learn, to let go. If you can’t let go of your guilt, your shame, your anger; you will not be successful. The Empire is counting on you to lose yourself to your emotions again. Make peace with your demons and you’ll become more powerful than their best fighter. That is how one grows from a Padawan to a Knight.”

“A Knight?” Barriss squeaked.

Quinlan nods, “Yes, Barriss. If I can return as a Jedi Master, there’s no reason why you can’t be a Knight. It’s time to complete your training Padawan, welcome to the beginning of your trails.”

“The Trail of Spirit.” Barriss concludes now that Quinlan’s meditation request made more sense.

“Exactly. You won’t be able to conquer the other ones until you’ve passed this one.”

With a deep breath Barriss accepts the challenge. Besides wanting to be reunited with her loved ones, Barriss’s greatest desire has been to rid herself of her past deeds despite feeling unworthy of redemption. Only now after hearing Quinlan’s story did Barriss feel ready to try.

“Tell me what I have to do.”

“Give yourself into the darkness and face your fears. Luminara is counting on your success, remember that. I’ll be right beside you the whole time.” Quinlan instructs, squeezing one of Barriss’s hands.

“And if I fail?” Barriss asks, chewing her lip.

“You’ll only fail if you allow for it and I know Luminara did not raise a quitter.” Quinlan reassures with a wink.

“May the Force be with me.” Barriss says, gripping tightly onto her knees.

“It always is.” Quinlan gently reminds.

Not even thirty seconds after Barriss closed her eyes and took her first deep breath, she was brutally reminded why she had avoided meditation all this time. The faces of all the Jedi killed in the bombing came to view as the voice of Anakin rang in her mind.

“Ahsoka trusted you!”

“Traitor!”

Her blood then ran cold as the all too familiar dark side energy began to fill her being. It was as if someone was squeezing her very heart with both hands making it hard to breathe as the pain was staggering. Barriss then snaps her eyes open and shakes her head, breathing hard as if someone were just choking her.

“I can’t do this!” Barriss pants, the darkness still brewing inside.

“Yes, you can.” Quinlan says sympathetically, gripping Barriss’s shoulders. “I know it’s hard, but you have to accept the pain. Whether you like it or not, it’s there. If you keep running from it, it will only fester. You just have to breathe through it and then you’ll be able to fight it. Now try again, I’ll breathe with you….trust me.”

With a weak nod, Barriss pulls herself back into position and begins to breathe deeply again, hissing through the ache blossoming from her chest. She could barely hear Quinlan’s own breathing over Ahsoka’s voice repeating the very line that has been a thorn in her heart since she first heard it back in the Jedi Temple. It was these words that replayed when she dueled the Togruta in the underbelly of Coruscant and what caused the thousands of tears she shed in her prison cell.

“...this woman is going to pay for what she did!”

Ahsoka had said this after Barriss tried to open up to her after the memorial service honoring the Jedi she accidentally killed. With Luminara gone and her sanity slipping more with each day, Barriss had hoped she could release to someone she thought wouldn’t judge her too harshly. A large part of Barriss believed that her one friend, the woman she grew to love, would have held that space for her, but she was wrong. Anakin’s hypocritical advice blinded Ahsoka to her silent plea for help. Although Barriss did not blame Ahsoka for feeling the way she did at the time, the words still stung nonetheless. Had Ahsoka been more receptive, Barriss was positive she would have confessed to her crimes right then and there.

But what’s done was done and now Barriss was left to relive that moment and hear those words over and over. The pressure in her chest has yet to let up as hot tears began to stream down olive cheeks as Barriss continued to breathe through it. Right before Barriss was about to give up, she remembered what Quinlan had said before her second attempt.

“...you have to accept the pain.”

Barriss then reached an epiphany. She allowed her muscles to relax and stopped crying, blocking out the sadness her memories ensued. As if she were falling backwards into a bed, Barriss allows herself to face the darkness she’s been shoving down for so long. In her mind’s eye, an image of Ahsoka looking at her after Anakin announces her guilt to the court appears, looking just as vulnerable and hurt as she remembered.

“Barriss? Is that true?” Ahsoka’s voice asks.

Barriss then said the answer she wanted to say at that time, but couldn’t.

“Yes, Ahsoka. It was me. I made a selfish decision and because of it I ended up hurting the very people I was trying to protect.”

Barriss then no longer felt the pressure or the cold and Ahsoka’s face disappeared. A new vision began to unfold into what looked to be a throne room. Though Barriss had never been anywhere like it, the space felt familiar. The grandious hall was dark with only moonlight peeking through the circular window that was behind a large black chair that was turned backward. Beneath her feet was a long blood red rug that ran up the steps to the seat, matching the large tapestries that hung from massive pillars.

“Welcome home.” a cool voice hissed from behind the throne.

“Home?” Barriss questions, her hand resting on top of her lightsaber hilt.

The chair then turns to reveal what appeared to be a clone of herself causing Barriss’s breath to hitch at the sight. Unlike Barriss, her duplicate peered at her with bright yellow eyes that shone brighter the moons in the sky complete with sunken cheeks and a paler green skin tone with purplish veins that pulsated just underneath the skin. Instead of Barriss’s usual blue hood, the darker version of herself wore a red one, with a more revealing, flowy black dress underneath. Her heart shaped belt was replaced with a solid black one with two lightsabers hanging from it. Barriss became nauseated, recognizing the lightsaber hilts to be Ahsoka’s white sabers.

The Dark Barriss then rose from her throne with a wide grin, “Why yes, don’t you recognize it? We grew up here!”

Barriss’s jaw and heart dropped now realizing that she was back in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, a renovated one.

“What are you?” Barriss asks shakily as her twin walks toward her, her long dark hair floating in the air like her skirt and cloak.

The clone laughs, “I’m what you know you could become. You’ve done a superb job ignoring me, but you see… you need me more than you think.”

Scrunching her face in disgust, Barriss scoffs, “If you think I’m going to give into the dark side again and become a Sith, you are sadly mistaken. I am here to end this!”

Sith Barriss cackles, “You are a fool if you really think you can still be a Jedi! Have you forgotten that the Order failed you? That Ahsoka abandoned you? That you're responsible for the death of innocents? But you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself, they all deserved it.”

Before Barriss could retort, the Sith continued to speak, “It was the Order who made us into a soldier and kept our Master away from us. It was the Council who didn’t trust us or respect us. They only cared about their precious “Chosen One” and his friends. You were suffering and no one cared! Not even Ahsoka! We gave everything to the Order and for what? Nothing!”

“You’re wrong! Ahsoka cared and so did Luminara!” Barriss argues, swallowing a massive lump in her throat.

“Need I remind you that Ahsoka only rescued because she was ordered to?” her counterpart sneers.

Barriss deflates, “She could have rejected the request.”

“And lose her only protection against the Empire?” Sith Barriss snickers. “No. To Ahsoka, we are nothing more than a heartbreaking reminder of her past. We’re the reason why she lost everything. She could never love us the way we love her!”

Barriss couldn’t argue against her clone’s words as Ahsoka confirmed them when they argued during their journey to Dantooine. She just wasn’t sure if she could really go through the rest of life without Ahsoka being a part of it or worse, if Ahsoka did fall in love with another and cut Barriss completely from her life.

A cold hand caresses her face, forcing Barriss to look at her darker self once more, “It hurts doesn’t it? To know that after everything you’ve done for her, she could still leave us behind. It’s unfair… that’s why we need to do what must be done to make it all better.”

“I will not kill Ahsoka.” Barriss affirms, slapping the hand away from her face.

“Oh, but you will.” Dark Barriss replies, circling Barriss as she spoke. “She deserves it after what she’s said to us! If our love isn’t good enough for her, then she’s of no use to us! You can keep lying to yourself that you can go on without Ahsoka’s affections, but there is one thing you cannot deny. If you fail your mission, if Luminara dies… you will never forgive yourself.”

Barriss bows her head, “No… I will save her...I will not fail…”

“You will, it has already been foreseen.”

Barriss’s head shoots back up, “What do you mean?”

“The galaxy is under the control of two Sith lords; the Emperor and his apprentice. They are the ones holding Luminara hostage. They torture her just to get your attention and once you fall into their trap, they will kill her. You don’t have the power to eliminate them both...not yet at least.”

“The dark side of the Force is a pathway that may be unnatural, but it has its rewards. If you let me in, you can overthrow them both and ensure Luminara’s safety. It is the only way. You wouldn’t want to fail your Master again, do you?” probed Dark Barriss.

Now, Barriss was at a loss for words. She was not ready to face the possibility of Luminara dying. They needed to reconcile, Barriss had to prove to her Master’s that her decisions were her own and not her mentor’s. Turning to the dark side again would completely ruin her chances of earning forgiveness.

“You’re implying that my Master would want that for me.No! I will not let you in!” Barriss shouts with resolve, igniting her blue lightsaber. “I will rescue her without you and if I die trying then so be it!”

Gold eyes narrowed as Dark Barriss then snapped her fingers, causing two Stormtroopers to walk in with a shackled Ahsoka.

“Ahsoka!” Barriss cries out, her heart breaking at the amount of physical injuries the Togruta had.

Ahsoka then repeated the same lines Barriss once told her when she was possessed by a Geonosian parasite.

“Kill me… please….”

“I won’t!” Barriss says glaring back at her double.

“If Luminara isn’t enough for you to agree, then perhaps this will!” Dark Barriss threatens before raising a hand to Ahsoka. A red glow radiates from the hand causing Ahsoka’s life force to wither away.

“NO!” Barriss screams, clashing against the twin red blades her dark self wielded.

Her opponent then began to laugh again. With every strike and blow to their surrounding environment, Dark Barriss’s amusement grew. After what seemed to be an eternity of dueling, the dark side wielded raised Barriss into a choke hold.

Gasping for air, Barriss quickly came to her senses and realized what she was doing. She was making the same mistake she made the day Letta died. She was allowing her emotions to dictate her thoughts instead of making peace with them.

“It’s over Barriss. You have relinquished control over to me, you failed. You can kiss your dreams of redemption goodbye.”

Knowing exactly how to outsmart her enemy, Barriss lets her body go limp and closes her eyes to give the impression of defeat. She is then released, falling to the ground. Assuming that Barriss was no longer in control, the dark entity drops down to beginning fusing itself with Barriss’s body. A green lightsaber blade hidden from Dark Barriss’s view then spears her midsection causing the world around them to begin fading away.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” Dark Barriss screams before disappearing.

With a smile Barriss confesses, “I’ve let go. I cannot change what I’ve done and I still have a lot to learn, but none of that is worth turning to the dark side. I will free my Master and I will cherish Ahsoka’s presence in my life regardless of how she feels about me. I’m a Jedi and I won’t anyone or anything take that from me again, including myself.”

Barriss then wakes up to a worried Quinlan hovering over her. A significant amount of time had passed as Barriss could see stars outside the cave entrance. Despite her clothes being drenched in sweat from the day’s events and her body feeling stiff from laying on stone for several hours, Barriss never felt lighter. The weight that she had felt for nearly two years was finally gone.

“You alright kid?” Quinlan asks, offering a hand to Barriss.

Looking more serene than the Jedi Master has ever seen her, Barriss answers, “Never better.”

[ninasfireescape]

The ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ review no one asked for

I wanted to enjoy it. I really did.

I was one of the people who didn’t dislike The Last Jedi. Sure, I didn’t love it. When I watched it, I thought it was too long and had made certain characters choices I wasn’t too happy with, but overall it was enjoyable and left me feeling satisfied. It was not as good as The Force Awakens however and hearing JJ Abrams was returning, I thought he might be able to restore the final episode to its former glory.

That indeed seemed like the case for the first hour. The gang were back together, it was quick-paced, I had an emotional investment in what was going on (and it seemed like they were taking the Finnrey route I wanted them too). I couldn’t exactly follow every plot specific but does that really matter in Star Wars when it’s so exciting? The bit on Star Killer base was genuinely inspired, I was laughing away at once again what terrible shots the stormtroopers were and at Hux being the spy. Every scene with Lando in was gold.

It was just after they got to the water planet that things started to go wrong. I’m not sure quite what it was exactly that made it so disappointing from this point onwards. Perhaps the gang splitting up or the rather horrifically done Leia death scene. I know they didn’t really have much choice with what footage they had but having watched each member of the original trio died, this death was devoid of emotion and predictable. And she died to make Kylo Ren hesitate for one moment. What a waste!

Then the pointless force ghosts! Seeing Luke was nice but it felt like he was just there to add clunky explanation since the plot made so little sense at this point. And when Han appeared, I actually laughed. It was so inconsistent with the tone of the film and he appeared all while Kylo Ren was standing in the middle of a stormy sea that he could fall into at any moment, right in the most climactic section of the film, just to have a conversation with the son who killed him! It was the most outrageous example of a fan service cameo that just didn’t assimilate with the rest of the film.

I don’t actually have a problem with Rey Palpatine. If anything, I thought it was really cool she was a Palpatine. I really didn’t want her to be a Skywalker because I felt it would be predictable and repetitive. Her being a Palpatine also sends the message to young viewers that blood relations don’t make a family which I think is very important for children to hear. Honestly, the only problem I have with it is that it means some poor lady had sex with Palpatine. I agree that it was a ridiculous retcon of The Last Jedi but then I didn’t like the reveal about her parents in TLJ anyway because of how it was executed. Another thing that bothers me about it is the utter lack of information we get about Villanelle Rey’s mother. Already we don’t know much about her father other than that he’s Palpatine’s son but with her mother, we get nothing. With Rey having wondered about who her parents were for so long, surely it would make sense for her to want to know more about her mother and maybe even take her surname in place of ‘Palpatine’. I also firmly believe Rey’s mother should have been played by Hayley Atwell because she looks so much like Daisy Ridley. And while Jodie Comer is an amazing actress, I think 1. She deserves a bigger role in the Star Wars franchise and 2. Her casting as Rey’s mother exemplifies Hollywood’s fear of casting older actresses as mothers. A twenty six year old as a mother!?

About Zurii, I always appreciate new female characters in Star Wars and I thought she had a great design. However, it is blatantly clear what her purpose in the film was. It was to stop people calling Poe gay, inserting a female character for one scene (she barely spoke in her other scenes so I’m not counting those) with no backstory of her own, just to prove he is attracted to women. Well, first of all, he can be bi, secondly, that’s not going to stop people shipping Finnpoe at all. I didn’t clock until afterwards when I saw people talking about it online, but it was super problematic to make Poe a former drug dealer. Sure, the only Latino character in this trilogy. Also, it in general complicates the little we know about Poe’s backstory so far.

With Rose, all our worst fears were confirmed. She just wasn’t there. She appeared in a couple of scenes and had some lines but you’d think she was no more than another miscellaneous rebel, no more significant a role than Billie Lourd’s character. Did they really give into the white fanboy pressure? How could they erase Rose when she was such a good character? She was tough and fought strongly for her beliefs, but she was also compassionate, sensitive. Now, I never particularly shipped Finn and Rose in TLJ. I thought it seemed a bit of a rushed romance and Finn didn’t seem that invested in the kiss they shared. However, you can’t just pretend they didn’t kiss in the last film. They interacted a few times but there was no sense of any bond between them. Where there relationship stood was unclear. Were they now a couple or had they had an offscreen conversation where they decided they were better off as friends? Who knows?

And now onto the worst part of the film: Kylo Ren and more specifically that kiss. Gross. Okay, to be clear, I wasn’t entirely opposed to a redemption arc for Kylo Ren. Sure, it would be predictable, but it’s not like Kylo Ren’s crimes are any worse than those of Darth Vader and he was still capable of redemption. I liked Kylo Ren as a villain. He perfectly depicted that type of whiny, entitled white man who we see so commonly in real life, but again, he could have achieved some redemption if it were implemented correctly. What we got in the film was not this. He was still committing genocide at the start and carried out one good deed which was saving the woman he had a crush on. For this one good act, he was entirely forgiven and somehow all of the genocide wasn’t his fault. And he got rewarded with the woman! If anything, I’d call that act selfish since he only wanted to save the woman he liked. Adam Driver did the best he could with it but everything about it was awful. And it was out of character for Rey to kiss him and forgive him. She stabbed him little more than half an hour earlier! At the end of the last film, she slammed a door in his face. It makes no sense to me how she could suddenly be so invested in him becoming a better person. There’s also the fact that wasn’t included in the films that Rey and Kylo Ren are related (aunt and nephew to be exact). I wasn’t aware this was Game of Thrones! And according to Wookiepedia, Rey was 18 at the start of the films and is now 20 whereas Kylo Ren is now 30. A ten year age different would be fine if Rey were older but at this point, the age gap is uncomfortable and very borderline.

If they’re going to make the claim that it wasn’t actually Kylo Ren who was doing the evil deeds but some dark force corrupting him, they should have explained how the mechanism works. At least in the prequels, we got some sense of Anakin slowly being corrupted. To me, it reads like in some horror films when the abusive characters are found to have been possessed by demons or something. It trivializes abuse which is something very real, acting instead as if no abusers can actually be responsible for their actions and it is the cause of some supernatural force instead. I suppose the kiss doesn’t have to mean anything. After all, Leia and Luke kissed in the original trilogy and Finn and Rose kissed and apparently that meant nothing.

I firmly believe the series intended a Finn and Rey romance. Lest we forget The Force Awakens, Finn awkwardly asking Rey if she had a boyfriend. That was clear coding for him having a crush on her. In that film, the two developed such a strong bond, and they have so much more chemistry than Rey and Kylo Ren ever had. All the scenes with Rey and Finn (and Poe) were full of light and emotion. The scene at the end where the three of them hugged was honestly the high point of the film. Now, when I left the cinema, what was plaguing my mind the most was that throughout the film, Finn had a secret he wanted to tell Rey. It was first suggested when they thought they were going to die in the quicksand. “Wait, Rey, I never told you!” It had to be that he loved her. What else could it be? Supposedly, it was that he was force sensitive. I don’t believe that for one second. If he needed to tell her that, why couldn’t Poe be included? And why did he never get the chance to tell her? It was a build-up I got invested in with no payoff. It must have been that he loved her. So, if that was the case, that leaves us with two options. Either there was a Finnrey subplot that got cut but they forgot to cut these scenes out (or simply couldn’t be bothered to), or they thought it would be funny to have the black supposed male lead chasing after the white female lead who didn’t love him back because she was instead in love with the genocidal white villain. I ship Finnrey so much and find the second option so horrific but I wouldn’t put it past the writers. Finn played such a significant role in the first half of the film, as he should since he’s meant to be the male lead in the series, but after that, he was dangerously underutilized. At least the ending where no one ends up with each other is compliant with my headcanon that Rey, Finn and Poe (and I don’t mind Rose being in the mix too) all end up married to each other and adopt a bunch of porgs.

And lastly, the lesbian scene. Pathetic. We don’t know the character names and I can’t even find out who the actresses were that played them. Okay, they kissed which is a pretty big deal (even though kisses apparently mean nothing in Star Wars) and it’s certainly a step forward from the Avengers: Endgame ‘’’’representation’’’’, but it’s still rather useless considering the big deal JJ Abrams made about how there would be representation.

[keensers]

1, 4, 15, 18, 20! for the fic writing meme

you delight me, anon! (from here) this got... hmm, pretty long, so most of it’s going under a cut!

1. Tell us about your current project(s) – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

back in december, after being wildly disappointed by tros, i thought to myself: none of this bullshit would have happened if they’d just let ahsoka and her irritating ghostly older brothers show up and train finn, who is in fact a [last name redacted] for reasons.

then i started actually plotting it out, realized my 50k concept (“Finn wakes up with a massive headache and, apparently, the ability to see dead people. Then the dead people in question start talking to him.”) needs approximately 300k of background to fully be what i want to be (an anthology love letter to the star wars universe, if it was nicer to my faves), opened a nice fresh word doc and started plotting the whole damn thing. it is called “ahsoka tano’s rules for rebels, rogues, and renegades.” in my head i call it atr4, and my tag for it is “death shall have no dominion” because, ghosts. it is very dear to me right now because i get to invent assorted relationships out of wholecloth between my favorite characters who never met in canon, which is my favorite thing to do.

so, i have two (2) actually in-progress WIPs in that universe:

the actual “Ahsoka trains Finn” headliner fic of this ‘verse, which is currently 6000 words of disconnected scenes i have typed in intermittent fugue states over the last six months

the “Obi-Wan is sad in the desert, but maybe not as sad as in canon, because, well, You Know” fic which is also the “wtf happened to Cody in this ‘verse” fic which is currently 1600 words of imperial!cody Suffering

and a list of ten (10) more that i swear are all connected. i swear it! (highlights from the list include “four almost-padawans of ahsoka tano + one who was” and “rex earns his jaig eyes at least twelve times over during the empire, and another five after.”)

the other (star wars) fic i have on my roster for codywan week (if i can swing it in time) is going to be shorter (why do i feel like i just cursed myself with that word) and the working summary (which has existed only in my head up until now) is: “fives, on the lam from the coruscant guard, the chancellor, and, worst of all, anakin skywalker, runs into cody and an unfamiliar trooper on his way to the meeting point. this has galactic consequences.” who is the unfamiliar trooper/Person In Clone Armor? 3 guesses and the first two don’t count. what are the consequences? well… we’ll see!

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

i first wrote this as a jocasta nu line in her cameo in hear me through the hum, but i liked it so much that i’ve incorporated it into atr4: “And besides, the Jedi are not made up of lightsabers and holocrons, are we? We are made up of the strength in our hearts, the deeds of our hands, and the Light which we follow.”

i think this is maybe the best way i've found of phrasing my own personal view of the jedi (not my own view of the jedi order, but my view of the jedi), which is that they’ve got access to this immense power but what actually makes you a jedi is what you do with it. it’s not the trinkets or the ancient wisdom or the code or whatever, it’s taking the power that lives in you and using it to do good even when the world is dark and the work is thankless. you can be a jedi without the order, but you can’t be a jedi if you aren’t striving for the light.

on a lighter (?) note, i’m also quite proud of the whole “obi-wan keeps trying to talk about the mission report while he’s slowly bleeding out. cody is losing his fucking mind” scene in there, because ah… that’s love, babe!

15. Which is harder: titles or summaries (or tags)?

aw jeez. titles, since i'm usually picking from a list of 10 lines from songs or poems (or, veeery occasionally, making one up) and a lot of the time the line that is my working title isn’t the line that ends up being the final title!  

18. Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?) Tell us about them.

to be completely and honestly tbh, not… really? especially with characterization, i tend to write about characters who i have Very Firm ideas about who they are and how they would act in whatever given situation. this is good for writing (because i usually know exactly what a character would do, facing a particular choice) but sometimes bad for reading (because sometimes i'll read something and think, “that character would never do that!” even though, of course, that’s just like, my opinion, man).

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

a difficult question! because there’s so much. i include tons and tons of references in everything but for the sake of (relative) brevity i’ll say that especially in atr4 where i’ve got 2500 words JUST OF NOTES FOR THE ‘VERSE i am constantly thinking about the way everything is connected. for example, because of the comparisons i’m aiming to draw there, i currently have most of a duel between ahsoka, kylie renner, and finn written which is a close parallel of the qui-gon, maul, and obi-wan duel. (except, spoilers, ahsoka won’t get killed by a punk bitch like kyle, because reasons.)

part of this is that i love some aspects of the cyclical themes in star wars (“same eyes in different people,” legacy lightsabers, death-yet-the-force) and hate other aspects (i loathe that every sw movie is like “blood isn’t important, anyone can be a hero!” but then every freakin time it turns out that in fact, blood is important, and maybe the most important). so i tend to want to emphasize the ones i like and toss the ones i don’t.

plus, after years of writing, i have realized that there are a few well-worn themes i always circle back to, and one of those is the notion that family doesn’t define you, that it is more than blood, that you have agency over what you do and who you are and who you choose to surround yourself with. i believe in free will and have trouble with characters who think certain outcomes are Destined, but it’s a lot of fun to mess around with the concept of fate, especially in sw where it’s so ingrained in canon. screw destiny! write your own story! said every story i ever wrote.

[padmsanakin]

Silky brown hair wound into a bun, stray strands framed her face. Her warm amber brown eyes were inviting and kind.

Anakin never wanted to let go. His eyes were locked with hers, grass surrounded them and the wind was gentle against their skin.

Her smile could light up million more stars and Anakin couldn’t help but think that this was perfect.

***

Padme’s warm amber was now a vicious yellow. Her expression hardened as she saw Anakin. Anakin looked heart-broken, shocked, surprised.

“Anakin,” Padme began silkily.

Anakin’s jaw was set in determination,”I am going to save you Padme, no matter what!”

Padme raised her eyebrows, she straightened her posture. She carried a sort of regalness as she walked towards the man she loved. Padme sensed the uncertainty and fear in Anakin. She was unflinching and headstrong. She knew what she was doing.

Darth Sidious had told her that this was for the greater good. She can bring peace, security and freedom to her Empire.

Anakin was in a defensive stance, his blue lightsaber acting as a barrier between them.

”Anakin, we don’t need to be on opposite sides. We can leave our lives behind, raise Luke and Leia together...we can be emperor and empress!”

Anakin’s heart clenched as he looked at the woman he loved. All the warmth and kindness had drained away from her, leaving anger and fear.

”Why are you doing this, Padme? I thought we were happy with what we had! We could stop this right now and return to the light side! Take care of Luke and Leia!”

”Anakin… I turned to the dark side to protect all of you! From my people to you, I can bring back democracy!” Padme frowned, her hands fingering the hilt. However, she stood tall, her chin held up.

This was for the greater good. The Jedi were ruining the galaxy. She knew what she was doing.

Padme swiftly took out her lightsaber from the holster as red and blue clashed. The lightsabers whirred and whined.

Deft strokes of red and some parries from blue, blocking the red lightsaber from cutting through. They clashed once more, locked in earnest before parting once more.

Anakin gave a pained expression to his wife. He held his lightsaber tighter.

”I can’t believe this… Darth Eeris,”

Padme’s expression darkened, her lips contorted into a frown at the mention of her Sith name.

Jedi are evil. I do not fear the dark side. I will embrace this. Only my powers can save my family, my friends and my people.

Anakin swiftly began rotating and swinging his lightsaber, Padme stepped back, dodging with her lightsaber. The contrasting colors clashed, a sharp reminder of the opposite sides they were on.

Anakin’s heart pounded. The lava roared and so did Padme’s anger. Her stark yellow eyes glaring at him, anger still very apparent.

The lightsabers begin with a flurry of movements. They whirred and they were once more locked together for a split second before Padme struck a blow. Anakin blocked it, flipping back. Their lightsabers were soon a splash of colors like a lightshow during Life Day. Anakin looked at Padme, Padme looked back.

Their lightsabers locked together for a nice few seconds, before Anakin took an opportunity to twirl his lightsaber in a daring attack

Spinning was always a good trick, Anakin had said many times.

Colors clashed as the lava crashed against the red molten rocks. Lovers to Enemies, their gazes harsh and unyielding. Their love long forgotten. The force thrummed within their veins, one feeding on anger, the other feeding on hope.

Sith and Jedi, once lovers, the concept was hilarious. The sheer irony...they were supposed to be sworn enemies.A slave boy and a queen… poor and rich, Jedi and Sith, good and evil, masculine and feminine… they all said it would never last anyway.

In a painful way, it was true.

Opposite ends, pushed to their brink. Anakin and Padme’s plasma blades locked once more, one pushing the other further away from each other. Their teeth gritted, animosity radiated from them. Pushed back as their blades parted once more.

“I loved you, Padme. Always did...why?”

Anakin’s eyes glassy, all the starry eyed ambitions and child-like hope drained away from his eyes. It made Padme rethink her actions… almost.

Padme growled, unlike Anakin had seen her before. She was seething, her eyes glowed with fierceness. She sprinted head first, her red blade pointed towards him.

“I-I won’t fight you,”

Anakin’s blue blade vanished with a whine, he clipped the hilt to his belt. He closed his eyes. This was it. He was going to die.

The Chosen One. Hero with No Fear. The Last Hope. Gone.

However, the finishing blow never came. Just a strong gust of wind, his head hit against the wall, the sweet embrace of darkness coming over him and he grasped onto it. Giving up on the remaining life-force he had left.

The last thing he heard was someone shouting at him to stay awake and he felt himself drifting away.

Blackness.

***

Luke and Leia were wailing.

Anakin’s force signature was waning.

Obi Wan stood still, feeling detached and old.

He can’t believe it was Padme.

From being the mother to Anakin’s children and a sith.

For once, he felt there was no hope.

Luke and Leia continued wailing, they probably had sensed their father’s distressed state. They were not stopping no matter what.

Their little arms and legs were kicking, their cradles shaking.

They shrieked and wailed and Obi Wan wanted to too.

He crossed his fingers and he hoped Anakin would make it.

***

Padme strode forward, the legion of stormtroopers marching behind her like the obedient little clones they were. Padme had no respect for them. After all, they were unnatural. Padme enjoyed the united clatter of their footsteps as they walked to find any remaining Jedi that might have escaped Order 66.

This is so wrong. What am I doing?

Satisfaction pooled through her as yet, another Jedi had fallen. The once bright force began to diminish, tendrils of darkness taking hold of it. Padme clenched her fists as the Jedi Padawan begged for mercy, her grip tightened and she heard gagging noises and silence. The child fell down, right onto her master.

Padme smiled sardonically.

You have become the very thing you have sworn to destroy.

Blood of millions smeared in her hand. Something about that was fulfilling. The anger, the fear, the violence...they felt...right. She felt powerful, strong, big, important!

Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

No, no! NO! That was not true. This was the best she felt in years.

How about Anakin?

He meant nothing to her.

Padme walked away, she turned her lightsaber off. She motioned her troops to split and look for any other Jedi. Padme walked and walked and walked. She did not know where she was going. But, there was something about the particular path she was taking.

The Force was calling to her.

She stopped when she looked at a familiar face.

No, not Anakin...Obi Wan.

Padme did not flinch or move, her red blade still ignited. Her gaze darkened. It was him. He who turned Anakin against her. He ruined her plan. A newfound fury erupted from her very core, it made her feel powerful and rejuvenated.

Obi Wan steadied himself, in his grip was his own lightsaber. He had a tight expression on his face. It betrayed displeasure, anger and sadness. And yet, it was kind of pathetic of him for not using those feelings.

However, Padme had other plans. She disengaged her sanguine lightsaber, the man looked visibly confused. It seems as if he was not making an effort to hide his emotions. Padme stood tall in her black robes.

She looked so different from what Obi Wan had known her for. Once she was wearing elaborate, elegantly colored dresses and now, she was wearing dark robes, her yellow eyes stood out amongst them all.

“I don’t know you anymore,” Obi Wan’s gaze was steady, undisturbed.

If Anakin’s force signature was a windstorm, Padme’s one was a thunderstorm. The sheer power she emitted. Unchecked raw anger was flowing within her. Her power was raw, untamed… no wonder Sidious took her in.

“Obi Wan… I am still the same Padme you know,” Her voice was soft, sweet, enticing… Obi Wan shook his hand and yet, a small part of him wanted to believe her. However, she was the same woman who hurt Anakin way beyond what he knew.

Years of manipulation and betrayal is not something that can be forgotten within a day.

Padme was unflinching, her hand outstretched as if she was expecting him to accept her hand. Obi Wan hesitated, his eyes darting from Padme’s hand to the unmoving Master-Padawan Duo on the floor.

“I sense your hesitation,”

Padme’s voice was calm, like the wind before a tornado. Obi Wan’s heart pounded against his chest. If another Jedi was here, they would be ashamed of him. Obi Wan reached out, slowly and carefully.

His hand touched Padme’s soft and rosy palms. It was cold. Obi Wan waited for the fatal strike but it never came.

“Wise choice, Master Kenobi,” She purred. Something that she usually would have reserved for Anakin but it’s not like Anakin would know…

***

Padme’s apartment smelt of fresh violets and peaches.There was no sign of Anakin that would have given away he lived here except for one tiny detail. It could have been easily overlooked if it were not for the fact that he knew Anakin from young.

The clutter of mechanical tools and the spare parts could have been easily attributed to Padme being a natural mechanic but Obi Wan knew that Padme was not much into tinkering as Anakin was. Padme gestured to Obi Wan to take a seat as Padme poured a cup of Jogan fruit juice into a clear glass.

Padme took a seat next to Obi Wan. She took a sip from her cup as Obi Wan eyed his skeptically. After all the unscrupulous deeds she had done, can she really be forgiven?

Padme remained quiet, the lightsaber left on the top of her dresser. Obi Wan took a measured sip from the drink. It did not taste anything weird.

“It’s not poisoned if that’s what you are wondering,” Her voice was curt and professional. Obi Wan felt like a padawan all over again.

Clumsily, he put back the glass on the table, it clinked against the tray, disturbing the uneasy silence. Padme hummed to herself, something that sounded distinctly Nabooian, as if she was not a Sith Lord, Anakin was not injured, and everything was normal.

However, her dark cloak proved otherwise.

“Obi Wan, I would like to ask you...it might be a little unorthodox considering you being a Jedi. Would you like to become a Sith? You may be able to escape this Order 66 and maybe, even become the Emperor’s right hand man?”

Obi Wan stopped, his mind screaming at him to run. His fight or flight response triggered as he stood up abruptly. Padme raised her eyebrows, her lips quirked into a frown.

“I assume not,” Padme asked. She reached for her lightsaber, her thumb brushing against the button.

Obi Wan’s comm beeped, a sigh of relief escaped from his lips.

[sobi-fans]

Thoughts on TROS

So I’ve received a few asks asking about my thoughts on The Rise of Skywalker, and I haven’t replied because I have many thoughts and I’m still processing stuff. But yesterday @riselioness messaged me to ask the same, so I thought it was time to try and organise them on a page.Yes, I am very, very late to this party. 

Obviously spoilers, so I’ll put it under a cut. Also, I’ve only seen the movie once, and that was back in December, so my memory might be a little hazy. I probably need to see it again.

For the sake of context, I have no OTP for the sequel trilogy, but I have been known to read Reylo and Damerey on occasion. (And randomly Gingerflower – aka Hux/Rose – purely because of that TLJ deleted scene where she bites him!) Let me tell you, being on the outside of the shipping wars has been very interesting, and it seems abundantly clear to me that your enjoyment of TROS depends greatly on who you ship, or whether you ship at all. I would have been happy if Finnrose endured or Stormpilot became a thing, but ah well. Onwards!

I’ll try and keep this somewhat cohesive, but I feel like it’s going to be all over the place. Apologies.

Let’s start simple. Stuff I liked that doesn’t have a ‘but’ attached:

- Lando (where’s he been all this time?)

- Wedge (where’s he been all this time?)

- Finn being able to show his individuality with clothing and hair that’s his choice

- Purely for shallow reasons, Poe’s outfit

- Poe and Rey channelling Han and Leia with their bickering at the start

- The Force bond stuff was visually stunning with the dual locations

- Luke’s expression after he raises the X-wing, like ‘Yeah, finally nailed it!’

- Ben Solo channelling his father – also Adam Driver in general for making Ben so very different from Kylo with just body language and facial expressions alone. He literally moved like a huge weight had been lifted from him, and it was pretty amazing to watch

- The fact that Rey’s mother is Villanelle from Killing Eve

- Kaydel looking like Endor Leia at the end

- LGBTQ representation!

- Seeing young Luke and Leia

The stuff with Leia was very poignant and emotional, but I can’t exactly say it was good. It’s tricky. I don’t feel like I’ve separated Leia from Carrie in my mind, so it’s really hard to look at it objectively. I do know that when Chewie howled after Leia’s death, I teared up pretty much immediately!

I have mixed feelings about the trio interaction. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to see them together, and I love their banter, BUT it felt incredibly forced. Shoving them together for the sake of them being together does a disservice to all three characters. This was the last movie. They should all have been developing their individual stories at that point. Rey with her Jedi stuff, (which she does get to go off and do, but not without Finn traipsing after her like a lost puppy), Poe finding his feet as a leader of the Resistance, and Finn doing literally anything else other than running after Rey yelling her name all the time.

There was a lot of stuff that I wanted to like, but mostly it came across as missed opportunities. Such as:

- Jannah and the other former stormtroopers – this would have been such an interesting idea to develop, and would have given Finn a cool storyline of his own that didn’t involve Rey. I would have liked to see Finn reaching out to current stormtroopers, persuading them that they had other options. That would have been cool. A stormtrooper revolution turning the tide of the final battle!

- Finn’s Force sensitivity – where did this come from? Okay, so maybe it was hinted at in TFA, but it wasn’t carried over to TLJ, and JJ should have respected that in the interest of cohesive storytelling. And as interesting as it could have been to see, it doesn’t take any strength away from Finn to have him not be Force sensitive.

- Hux being the spy – this is such an interesting idea, and it’s hilarious to me that he would go to such lengths to be petty towards Kylo, but it was executed in a rush, much like a lot of other stuff in this movie. They could have made Rose his handler, which would have been a nice change in their dynamic after TLJ.

Stuff I did not like: (warning, rants ahead)

- Completely unnecessary new characters – elaborated below

- Pryde – what was the point of him? Hux could have easily fulfilled that role if they didn’t want to develop his spy storyline.

- Zorri – could have been cool, but seemed shoehorned in to remind us that Poe Dameron is straight, thank you very much!

- Poe being a former spice runner – just why? Poe already had a perfectly good back story.

- Palpatine being back – I know opinions vary on this, but I’m not a fan. Doesn’t it just cheapen Anakin’s entire story arc? (This is not to take anything away from Ian McDiarmid’s performance, which was amazing as always.) Also the complete lack of a reasonable explanation for how he returned. In fact, doesn’t someone even use the word ‘somehow’ at some point?

- Rey Palpatine – again, I know opinions vary, but I hated this so much. I’ve been team Rey No One since the beginning! This is our first female protagonist, and in my opinion the thought that she came from completely humble beginnings was fascinating. To link her to a powerful name – a powerful male name, at that – and for it to be literally stated that her power comes from him was just kind of deflating, to be honest. Also, it makes no sense. Are we expected to believe that Luke there-is-good-in-Vader Skywalker writes off his own nephew because of his potential darkness but is A-OK being a mentor to Rey Palpatine?

- Leia knowing that Rey is a Palpatine – this makes no sense either to me. Leia accepts and nurtures Rey despite her bloodline, sensing that there is good in her, yet thinks that her own son is irredeemable? The sense of ‘we had a bad child, but we found a better one’ is just…ugh. And this happens throughout the ST, even with all the Jedi standing behind Rey having abandoned Ben for years. Even if you believe that Rey is more deserving of that attention, the callousness just doesn’t seem very Jedi-like to me.

- Leia’s reasons for giving up her Jedi training made no sense.

- The sidelining of Rose – it seems painfully clear that JJ had no idea what to do with her character, so she’s just kind of…there. I refuse to believe that they couldn’t have come up with something, even if it was just her accompanying Finn or Poe on their storylines. That wouldn’t have given her a whole lot of agency, but it would have been something.

- Rey ending up alone on a desert planet, exactly where she started. Yes, I know she’s likely not going to live there, but visually the movie is showing us that nothing has really changed. We know Rey wants a family, and the hug with Finn and Poe was lovely to see, but to have the last image of her be her alone on a desert planet is actually kind of depressing.

- Rey calling herself a Skywalker – like the Palpatine thing, it’s linking her to someone else’s legacy. I think it would have been more powerful for her to declare herself ‘Just Rey’. No one’s on at Finn to declare his surname, are they?

Now on to the big one. Bendemption and Reylo.

I have been hoping for Bendemption from the beginning, because redemption, compassion and forgiveness were key themes of the OT for me. But I had a feeling that if Kylo did get redeemed, he’d be doomed to die, because as we know, JJ likes to follow the exact same patterns that we’ve already seen before. I have issues with Vader’s ‘redemption’ on the grounds of it being a ridiculously quick turnaround, (quicker than Kylo’s, even), plus he gets an easy way out just returning to the Light and then dying straight after. Lo and behold, the exact same thing happens here. What would have been really interesting to see, in my opinion, is Ben living to atone for what he’s done. That would have been true redemption, and I think the same is true for Anakin too.

Now, as we know, Kylo is much worse than Vader, even though Vader spent literally half his life on the Dark Side, murdered thousands of people, including children, chopped off his son’s hand, tortured his daughter and her future husband. We know this because Kylo killed Han Solo, the fanboys’ favourite. Therefore, he is much worse, despite only having been on the Dark Side for about six years after being mentally manipulated from birth by the most evil man in existence. Don’t get me wrong, I am not apologising for Kylo. I’m aware he did terrible things, hence why Ben should have lived to atone, but I do believe that he gets an unfair level of hatred, largely stemming from killing Han.

As mentioned above, I have occasionally delved into Reylo fics to see what was out there. I’ve always been a supporter of watching their story play out, because enemies to lovers was something new for a Star Wars movie, and it’s a cool idea to explore. We’d previously seen it with Luke and Mara in Legends. (Mara, incidentally, being someone who was redeemed and lived to make up for her bad deeds.) I loved Ben Solo for the short amount of time we got to see him. The interactions between him and Rey over the bond were so cool to watch. Ultimately, though, I don’t feel like their story was particularly well handled in this movie. I buy it because Adam and Daisy were so brilliant, but I can’t help but feel that Ben’s death was a giant cop-out.

I have mixed feelings about Rey facing Palpatine alone. I can see that there’s some kind of strength to her battling alone there. (Except she wasn’t, because she had every Jedi standing metaphorically behind her.) That said, to have Ben out of the fight felt…weird. Since TFA certain people have said that Rey and Ben/Kylo were two halves of one protagonist, which makes me think that he should have been present there instead of tossed into a pit. Also, after the mental mind games that Palpatine has been playing for his entire life, he pretty much deserved to be. But I don’t know. I think I need to watch it again and see how I feel.

This ended up being super long and ranty, sorry. I’ve probably missed a lot. Maybe I’ll change my mind on a few things when I see it again. I thought writing this out might help to organise my thoughts, but I’m not sure it has!

[lovecanbesostrange]

Okay, it’s almost been a week, the discourse is cluttering my dash already, so here’s that other list of things I’d like to change in TRoS:

(sidenote: people that annoy me 1. Kylo/Ben-stans 2. Kylo/Ben-antis. Only Siths deal in absolutes...)

As mentioned before, the complete sidelining of Rose Tico as a character is bullshit. JJ Abrams ignoring anything from TLJ is the biggest pile of crap ever. You, sir, chose to only do Ep VII, left your precious mystery boxes nobody gives a flying fuck about, because it’s a horrible narrative devise if you yourself don’t have a plan to follow from the get go... it’s your own fault.

It’s such a stupid way to start the film with the crawl and just sprinkling in “so Palpatine is back, has secretly been behind everything and our heroes now try to find and destroy him”. I’m okay with a little jump and skipping a few steps that are easily dealt with with a bit of exposition. But there is so much tell instead of show, it’s not even funny. We skipped a whole movie worth of plot. (And I know it’s tragic we never could see Rey’s whole training.)

I am okay with the overall plot and structure of the film. Mostly being an adventurous scavenger hunt. BUT with just a few tweaks that don’t piss on what TLJ gave us, it’s easily made into a coherent story.

Something I really loved was that ending with the kid using the Force to move the broom. Build on that. Kylo has one thing right - let the past die. Luke was right when he talked about the failures of the Jedi. It’s actually a terrible concept. The Force is everywhere.

You know who is clearly pretty force sensitive? Finn. Holy fucking shit, use that for crying out loud. Yes, Rey’s power is almost unrivaled. It’s raw. The Force likes to run in familes. Same with Kylo. They’re both rather angry people. With extremely different views on how to achieve the somewhat same goal. Kylo puts himself in the center and has no problem killing everybody in his way (civillians included), whereas Rey is the type of person to even help a tiny droid she just met. So let Rey share her power, talk about sharing it, helping Finn to understand what little he has.

Finn doesn’t need to become an adapt fighter doing backflips and making stuff fly. But his intuition, his feeling for right and wrong despite the brainwashing - that is important and a good thing.

A very important moment in the end is when the other ships show up. Lando and Chewbacca rallied the troops, that aren’t actual troops, but ordinary people who have had enough. So just put aside like 10-14min of screentime on this whole sideplot. Let Rose and Finn talk about this, about how common people are affected and that they can rise. Send Rose with Lando and Chewie, give us that kid again with the broom. There is a disturbance in the Force. Because it’s no longer just for a chosen few, it spreads.

Which is something that makes Palpatine shit his pants. Because he is the antithesis to that. He has all the power like nobody before him. This could be an actual theme. (Rey wouldn’t even need to be a Palpatine herself, imagine an truly unremarkable person to have this deep bond with the Force. But the Palpatine-thing makes sense and can work in other ways.)

As great as Keri Russell’s eye make-up is, cut down on the stuff with Zorii Bliss (who is just there as the biggest no-homo for Poe possible -.- ) and focus on the Force spreading and the people rising. Because the Resistance is more than just that bunch of people surrounding Leia. Show me that TLJ ignited a spark.

So, yes, I am very okay with Ben dying. To me this all reads as a parallel to Vader. And well, Ben wanted to be like Vader so much and in the end he learned the important lesson - don’t follow the Dark Side.

Yes, I think Ben had had it rough. His parents shoved him to his uncle, who struggled to built up something he never saw for himself (Luke only knows about the Jedi Order from a bunch of ancient texts, but we needed something new). And Palpatine whispered in his ear, seduced him to the Dark Side. It would’ve been nice to take up the thing from the comics that explained that Ben in fact did not burn down Luke’s temple. Yes, he collapsed a building in self-defense, but he didn’t kill the other students.

Oh, right, dear JJ Abrams, the Knights of Ren. Explain. You brought them up in your first movie and left them shrouded in mystery. Now you brought them back. Without any kind of further explanation. This is what you should’ve shown in your own damn movie.

I like Kylo as the villain. And stop fucking whoobifying him. The whole point of TFA was that Kylo WANTED to choose the Dark Side. And it wasn’t easy. Yes, there is good in him. It took his own willpower to go against that. While I believe that he was seduced, manipulated and mentally abused, he chose to murder people. In secret he hated Snoke and wanted to kill him, which he did, yeah, sure, but he was okay with all the killing that came with it. He is a villain. Built up by the system he seeks to destroy and thus being a part that in the end needs to go.

Sorry, I don’t mind that he dies. Because the thought the movie could make it look like Ben Solo gets to live a life in peace now... yeah no, I didn’t want to see that with Anakin, I don’t want to see that now. He died, vanished and can be a Force Ghost now. Kylo died and Ben was allowed one last heroic deed. I’m very okay with that. Otherwise we would need to have a very long conversation about accountability.

The Skywalkers are dead now and the universe is kinda better for it. Except Skywalker is the name that Rey chooses needs to live on. And here we are back to my main problem - bringing balance to the Force. Such a big topic throughout all the movies. And fucking bring that balance now. I want to believe that this is the legacy in the end. Not one super powerful woman running around, but lots of normal people finding ways to incorporate the Force in their daily lives. (I like that Rey’s saber is yellow, so it is something new.)

I don’t care about the kiss btw. I don’t care if it’s just another moment of passion or a declaration of true love. I don’t have any energy to feel one way or another about it. I’m absolutely neutral. I only feel sorry for people who either think that Rey lost all her happiness and purpose with Ben dying or write long think pieces that Rey is tricked into forgiving someone completely beyond any kind of redemption. See above: stans and antis are annoying the hell out of me alike. More than one onscreen smooch could.

I would’ve liked a smooch between Finn and Rose. A nice sign that they are building a relationship, but then there is this talk where Finn is a bit torn, because he doesn’t want to be separated from Rose, but he also feels this strong pull to be by Rey’s side. And Rose just gets it. She has her own mission, but they are doing it for the same goal and she knows they’ll be reunited. And the thing Finn needs to tell Rey has to do with his force-sensitivity. Because you can’t have this thing of “I need to tell you something” and then never follow through. And then Finn finds the other ex-Stormtroopers and now he understands why he needed to follow Rey. Jannah and her band are a good addition and that should lead us back to Finn’s own backstory.

I don’t want to dissect every scene and change the whole film. Just tighten it up and tying it into the changes TLJ gave us.

Oh right, there is one thing. What if Anakin’s lightsaber stays destroyed (or tell us how that was mended at least -.- ) and Rey would use Luke’s green one instead. So in the end Luke and Leia’s sabers get buried, as the good thing remaining from the Skywalkers. There could’ve been a speech about that. Anakin’s lightsaber snapping in two was an important symbolic scene. But well, Abrams didn’t care... (I know it would’ve required some more work around with the Leia moments. :( )

[co-mixed]

TROS: How should Ben’s redemption work?

Minor spoiler warning, but by this point, we’d be surprised if you haven’t heard the news.

Fans of Kylo Ren/Ben Solo did get something they wanted in The Rise of Skywalker. A redemption arc, that not all of us found truly satisfying. Not everyone was sold on that, and it ended in death.

That was both lazy and emotionally empty. Kylo’s scene with Han, him dealing with his memory, is a good start, but him sacrificing his life and losing it is not a great ending.

Ben Solo is a character for this, young generation. He lives in the world his predecessors “left” for him, he blames them for the state it is in. He struggles with himself, and reality surrounding him. In a way, he embodies all three types of storytelling conflicts in one (they define 6 or 7 now, but we’re taking the three main ones). This is why nearly every single person these days can relate to Ben.

Kylo Ren is a comfortable mask, that covers his emotions, but doesn’t truly destroy them.

People look at him in the light of killing Han Solo, but that’s what falls flat in the context of war. It’s war. Rey killed people (stormtroopers, who were like her buddy Finn), buddy Finn kills his former friends, the ones he grew up with. Body count for any of them is quite long. But Ben kills his father, the person he is emotionally attached to, as well as the audience. For us this is a worse crime than killing people you don’t know. I am not defending patricide here, but I will say, that there are cases in which even law sides with the accused. This might not be one of them though, even considering that in the middle of war he was killing an enemy perpetrator.

We don’t even know if his parents forgive him in the end, because none of the ghost cared enough to show up, and drop him a line.

So Ben is very imperfect, like many of us are. He takes one wrong turn after another, sometimes to save his own life, sometimes to prove to himself and the others just how far he’s gone. But does he deserve a second chance?

Who gets a second chance?

My first analogy is Bucky Barnes. Brainwashed by Hydra, forced to carry out various evil deeds, murder people etc. What Marvel does is they redeem him, and leave him to reflect on his mistakes and correct what he can.

Marvel, the guys probably comfortably hanging down the hall, made this choice.

While we can’t say that Ben wasn’t programmed to kill people, we can argue that from a very young age, he was exposed to all kinds of influence. Be it Snoke, Palpatine, or even Dark Side Luke. So he wasn’t entirely in his right mind, especially considering what Dark Side does to people. Imagine if Luke finished his night chat and killed his nephew? And then let’s not forget Rey, who’s killed a bunch of people in the shuttle discovering her lightning, and stabbed Kylo. We just forgive her, because stormtroopers are evil (except are they?).

But that’s just throwing blame around.

Who doesn’t get a second chance?

Let’s see two more examples of redemption arcs, and why exactly this one had to be different.

Natasha Romanoff. Even though Marvel movies seem more lighthearted, they also don’t dismiss death. Natasha jumps on Vormir, because she believes that this is where all her actions were leading her. She knows that to save the world, to save people, someone needs to die. And she chooses to do so, because Hawkeye in her eyes deserves to live more. He has people, he has family, and he has a future despite his recent murder rampage (again, evil people are still people). She does it knowing exactly what she’s doing, and she is not forgotten.

Tony Stark. Again, Tony does the snap, because he has sins to repay for (Ultron, for starters), and he has a family to save and a future to give to his daughter. I know that many people are still hurt that Marvel made this call, and it is a very emotional moment, but death in the MCU, as well as in Marvel Comics, is just a word. No one is gone. Besides, it’s just Earth-199999, and everybody knows that the true canon is the mainstream Earth-616.

So as much as these deaths hurt the fans, they can always dive into more stories, find out what the characters are really like. Learn how many things the movies got different, for example.

You have options, and they don’t include the need to write or read fanfiction, and trick you brain into believing them more than canon. There are movies, and they can be good, but the characters themselves are safe, and if they die, you know it’s Marvel, so there is always hope (usually measured in sales).

Back to Star Wars. Movies are our undeniable canon. So much so that story group has to rewrite everything to fit them. Whatever happens to a character there, stays as concrete history. I don’t know how many people were devastated, and couldn’t move past it for at least a week, but the stories you hear honestly make you question sanity of those responsible. There was a way to not kill off one of the most beloved (and most marketable) characters in the Sequel Trilogy.

Three ways this could go

The main question is What does Ben do after him and Rey defeat Palpatine?

Path 1.

Ben is not a coward, so we immediately dismiss the idea of him running somewhere far far away. He has to face the others, and he has to accept his own evil deeds. The only way for him to disappear is for Rey to convince him to do so. He has no ties to the rebellion, he doesn’t have to show up there. But she wouldn’t want to find out how far the angry mob could go. Besides, no reason to ruin the celebration by bringing that guy everyone hates.

I don’t really believe this would be the best course of action, but it’s possible.

Path 2.

He is still technically the Supreme Leader, so it’s up to him to reform the galaxy. This was not all the fleet the First Order has, they have forces on every conquered planet. There are governments to consider, alliances, etc. This also allows him to free the slaves, and truly finish what Anakin had started.

Then, if he gives up the power to let’s say, senate, there will likely be a trial. And would he defend himself? No. That’s not in his character. Would anyone else do this? Only the Force Ghosts and Rey can truly explain what was all that mess and how he got there. He’s either gonna need one hell of a space lawyer, or a great public speaker, who could convince everyone that the best possible choice is exile (let’s make it a nice one on Naboo). This is where you pull the writer card, and come up with a bunch of excuses as to why death penalty and prison is not an option.

Path 3.

Same as path 2, but he doesn’t give up the power, he represents the First Order, but he creates an Alliance with other planets. He makes a great compelling speech, he surrounds himself with people who are trustworthy, and together they come up with a solution of how to protect the galaxy from wars. It would’ve been a better option, if we didn’t have a time jump, because that would just mean that he’s done it as soon as he got the power, but well, we can’t get everything.

There is a moral side to this path, but how many people in the galaxy really know who Ben Solo (Skywalker) is? If he is prepared to deal with the past, and make up for it, this would be perfect for his actions to truly matter.

You may agree or disagree, and we hope you have better, more logical ideas. If you do, please share them! If you disagree, and have questions, ask away!

[blue-mint-winter]

Review: Jedi Quest 1 - Path to Truth by Jude Watson

After the success of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon books the next series by Jude Watson, Jedi Quest, picks up a few years after TPM and describes the adventures of Anakin and Obi-Wan. The first book in the series nicely reintroduces readers to the characters and keeps continuity with Jedi Apprentice.

Anakin and Obi-Wan first go to Ilum where Anakin builds his first lightsaber. In the caves both master and padawan confront their greatest fears. For Anakin it’s the fear of being unable to save his mother and so he faces temptation of the dark side wearing the face of Darth Maul. For Obi-Wan, he fears failing Qui-Gon by not being a good master to Anakin. But their actual mission comes next and it’s escorting a Colicoid ship to protect it from a pirate and slave trader Krayn.

For a kids book, it doesn’t pull punches, first with exploring Anakin’s long-standing fear for his mother motivated by a past attack of Krayn on Tatooine, then making Anakin face his trauma again when he’s forced to become a slave again. Thankfully, he has Siri on his side, who’s working undercover to bring down Krayn. I actually really liked that they so quickly started getting along after the misunderstanding was cleared up between them.

I’d say the ending of the book is pretty indulgent towards Anakin - he frees the slaves on Nar Shadda and kills Krayn. However, the book does everything to make this act look very questionable. Obi-Wan shouted to stop Anakin, but he didn’t. The explanation that Anakin killed Krayn in self-defense because the villain was still holding a blaster sounds like a weak excuse that Obi-Wan tells himself to stop worrying. From Anakin’s perspective, he was propelled by righteousness - Krayn had to die for his crimes, but Obi-Wan saw in Anakin’s face something dark and feral, then blank and empty. Krayn’s death was a good thing of course, but Anakin doing the deed himself casts a shadow on him, especially since he’s ONLY 14. Jedi or not, no one should be executing criminals at this age. Interestingly, I’m pretty sure in Rogue Planet Anakin also killed someone in the end of the book and he was even younger. I need to read more to see if this pattern of young padawan Anakin killing bad people will continue in the EU.

Jedi Quest - Path to Truth was a very pleasant and quick read. It scores 7/10.

[arielsojourner]

I love Luke goes back in time and saves everyone and leading a Jedi reform. I love Darth Vader going back and redoing his life. But what if they went back in time TOGETHER? I know it is implausible. Time travel always is but I just cannot get this plot bunny to leave me alone till I write out an outline at least.

So this is what I have so far: Luke and Vader in the Original Trilogy decide they are going to team up to kill the Emperor/free Vader and because of SOMETHING they end up being back in time together. After a few minutes of “WTF? Where are we?” Luke adapts faster than his father and decides, they will just have to do this now and save everything before it goes to hell. Yes he has “lost” his friends but he has his father and he can make a better life for everyone if Vader works with him. Imperial education *cough propaganda cough* being what it is on Tatooine (to the extent Luke even went through his Imperial home school courses), it is up to Vader to tell them where to go and what to do. They are on the Outer Rim during the Clone War sieges and they end up joining up with the 501st while Pong Krell is leading them.

I see: - Vader ending Krell with extreme prejudice and Luke allowing it.

- Luke focusing on the difference between Clone vs. Storm troopers and being disgusted with Krell and bonding with the 501st by just being the deadly ball of sunshine, sweet cinnamon roll he is. The clones pretty much adopt him and he adopts them.

-Vader wants to just vent his fury on everyone and kill Krell and then kill Palpatine. He could care less about the Order (he won't purge them, he won't be tricked into that again, but there is little love there, there is just enough for those precious few), he just wants Padme and Ahsoka  and Luke safe. (He doesn't know about Leia, neither does Luke; they went back in time before Luke went to Dagobah but after Jabba is dead and Han is rescued).

-Vader is so happy to have competent troops. Imperial troops are really hit and miss and so few clones remained after a few years in the ranks. He does miss the Executor and his Admiral though.

-Luke wants to get to know what the Order was like in its heyday but after seeing Krell and with Vader disclosing some of the campaigns of the Clone Wars and how the Order operates, Luke has decided that the Order is not for him, thank you very much. No attachment? Marriage and kids forbidden? To say nothing of only taking toddlers and the fact that the Republic is not the shining beacon that Leia always claims it was (Luke already had his doubts, he grew up in Hutt occupied space after all). He figures the Order is hardly likely to embrace him as a Jedi so he will be a Jedi on his own. He will help his father and defeat Palpatine.

-They will end this puppet war, free the clones, kill Palpatine, and ensure Anakin and Padme live happily ever after. Vader is satisfied in knowing that Padme is happy and alive (he cannot bear to even think of facing her, just knowing his Angel is alive and with Anakin Skywalker is fine by him). He has Luke who will not leave him now or ever. They will make a life together somehow.

-The clones while thankful are also a bit conflicted. Krell is dead, yay! There is a Force user, a red lightsaber, a Sith?! But he is hanging around someone who clearly is a Jedi (such a nice Jedi!) and they are working together. Is this our new Jedi general? But then, Krell was a Jedi and got them killed. Wait, did the Jedi just call the Sith father?!

-The Separatists are routed. Vader and Luke work seamlessly together. They are not the same as Obi-Wan and Anakin, how could they be? Luke's training is minimal (lightsaber forms, what are those? and by Order standards Luke in thought, deed, and existence is heretical to say the least) but his instincts and strength are astounding and as for Vader, just think "Vader Down" but times 100 because Vader is fighting with his son and Padme is still alive and there is still hope. Vader is no longer a slave to any man. He can make things right.

-Luke and Vader get to work on the clone control chips. Vader slices the program and Luke uses field surgery (learned in the hidden rooms on Tatooine doing emergency surgery on escaped slaves) along with Kix and others to deal with the physical reality of the chips.

-Perhaps  throw some EU Force use in there and have Luke just experimenting with the Force and figuring out how to use it to help the clones with their accelerated aging or like in the “Darksaber” novel, Luke asking Vader to work with him to literally pick up entire Separatist ships and throw them out of they star system. Vader is a bit stunned by Luke's innovation, but decides he is not going to tell Luke what the Force can or cannot do or be used for and just encourage his son to use it however he wants. With Luke having seen Vader in action and Yoda on Dagobah, he doesn't have any concept of what should be beyond him and working with the "Chosen One" makes them nearly unstoppable.

-Vader has Luke with him, having Luke Fall is irrelevant so long as he has his family with him. Plus Luke is what Vader always imagined a Jedi should be back when he was just a boy on Tatooine. Sometimes Vader thinks of the dreams he had of Jedi freeing everyone and wonders if it was Luke he was really foreseeing.

-Luke decides that with him being a Jedi and Vader nominally a Sith they will just have to command both sides of the war to stop fighting. Fake it till you make it, kind of thing. War is what Palpatine wants so they are just going to decide to stop. Sith love to play games where they win regardless of the outcome. The only way to fight a Sith is not to play the game. The clones can find new vocations (hunting slavers perhaps?) and the droids can be reprogrammed. Vader and Luke have 20 years of technological war time improvements they have lived through and they plan to bring that to bear on both sides of the puppet war.

-The Order starts getting bizarre reports from the front lines. Peace is breaking out, being enforced by Vader and Luke. Jedi teams show up to what they think are war zones and find peace. (details escape me, but just go with it!) Vader knows what will happen next and Luke is so unpredictable Palpatine is caught off guard. All his plans are falling apart.

-I want some Force sensitive clones. Perhaps if the chips are out and the aging fixed, one or two in each division or so has the potential to be Force sensitive. Luke is all for training them. Vader balks for a moment and then just decides to go with it. I see Fives as a Force user and Luke trains them enough to help free their brothers.

-Vader and Luke only use those names. They give no last names and no titles They frequently refer to themselves as father and son to the bewilderment of all.

-They run into some Jedi on a few of their missions. The Jedi are a bit confused by Luke and grow more and more suspicious but when Vader shows up behind him, a black sun of icy cold fire more than a few lightsabers are lit but Luke just stands between them and tells them that "Oh, him? Yes, he is a Sith, no you cannot kill him. Why? Because he will kill you and we don't need that, we are all on the same side here." Vader makes a sound that without his mask would definitely by a snort of derision "No, really father, we are nominally on the same side." "If we are on the same side son, tell the Jedi to put their blades down. I won't have them accidentally hurting you or I will tear them apart and paint the walls with their blood."  And Plo  or Aayala or Kit or whoever they are meeting is just  like "WTF? Are we, are we going to fight? Father, did you say father? Your father is a Sith lord and you are a Jedi? Jedi don't have fathers, well Jedi have fathers but they don't have fathers if you know what I mean." And Luke is all "Jedi have fathers. I have a father. Being a Sith or a Jedi doesn’t mean people don’t have fathers. Now we have more important things to talk about. The war is over because we say it is over so put down your weapons and let us just go about our business."

-And since Jedi don't attack unarmed people (not that Vader is ever unarmed; even without his lightsaber drawn he could kill them all), they just put down their weapons and Luke quietly, inexorably bulldozes them into following his lead, Vader looming over his shoulder, daring anyone to disagree with his smol but mighty son. "My son says we are now at peace and the clone troopers are free. Argue and I will choke you."

-They are not at peace yet, but Luke takes a page out Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's book of proverbs that used to have him rolling his eyes as a kid and one of them was if you keep insisting something is true, it becomes true. Granted his aunt and uncle were talking about having fun while doing his chores, but Luke is nothing if not adaptable. War is over because Luke says it is and Vader agrees with him, so there.

-Ventress joins their little band. Luke figures Yoda was wrong about the "dark side dominating your destiny" with regards to his father so he can just be wrong about every other dark side user.  Luke insists Vader can teach Ventress or they can all three of them learn awesome Force things together, just Luke will avoid the dark side, no dark side for him, thank you. 

-Luke and Vader take down Savage before Satine can be killed. I think Luke and Satine would get along well and Vader of course would inform Luke about Obi-Wan’s connection with her and I see Luke wanting to match-make, Order rules of attachment be damned. He wants Obi-Wan to be happy. Vader gets a vicious thrill out of how this will torture his old master. Luke plans to rehabilitate Maul too (think Maul from Star Wars Rebels) into his growing band of Force misfits - Vader, clone force sensitives, Ventress, maybe even Dooku, it is all good.

-Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ashoka keep missing Luke and Vader but Palpatine sends Padme into the mix, desperate to figure out what is going on with his carefully constructed Sith master plan. Vader gets one inkling that Padme is on her way and goes into stealth mode (he does have stealth mode, no shut up, he does. Just because he is 7 feet tall and has distinctive breathing doesn’t mean he cannot do stealth). He is still hovering near Luke, he is not leaving Luke alone but he cannot bear to see her see her, to have her see him: her plans to never ever EVER tell her who he is, just watch her from afar. Sigh.

-Luke is all earnestness and light when meeting her. He doesn't know ahead of time that she’s "mom" -Vader still cannot bear to give details other than to say she was his whole world --but he is intuitive and very powerful in the Force so he puts two and two together and is at his dotting farm boy best with her and Padme seeing peace is really happening, throws her full support behind this strange Jedi. Vader stalks them both and not so secretly foils whatever nonsense Palpatine had cooked up for their meet and greet event with large explosions. "Master Jedi, that explosion, don't we need to investigate?" "No, Senator, everything is fine. My companion is keeping up with all the security while we talk. Now what can Naboo do to ensure the sentient rights of the clones are honored now that the war is over? Do you think you could arrange a meeting with me and the Chancellor?" 

It is all just piecemeal and I don't think it could ever be coherent enough to be a full story (too many plot holes and character crack) but it is such a wonderfully tasty idea with all the substance of cotton candy I just had to share.