#I want more people to love Quinlan he deserves it

[kcrabb88]

So many of my fandoms are like, classic books or TV shows off the air or musicals, that I haven't had to handle fan theories much in recent years until jumping into Star Wars fandom, and now with Previously Last Seen Dead Ventress appearing in the TBB trailer people are reading Dark Disciple and I SHOULD be happy since that book made me cry my eyes out (I have a couple crits of the book, and by a couple I mostly just mean the Mace characterization was off, but loved it so much overall) and it's like The Quinlan canon book (and to me, a QuinObi book in large part in addition to Quintress like it was what made me read the older comics (which I loved) and really fall into shipping them after the OWK mention + TCW where my interest was piqued) and now everyone is picking up Dark Disciple and slinging fan theories and I'm like yesss read the book! But also ahhhh now I will see theories of all kinds about My Guy Quinlan and be nervous about What Will Occur while also not even knowing if he'll actually appear in the show.

[droolingvenus]

People Who Deserve To Kill Palpatine and Who They Have Celebratory Sex With On His Desk After

Commander Fox: Guys, you KNOW this man deserves to off his shitty boss, thus living the fantasy of many, many people. I think that Senator Chuchi is an obvious choice, but she strikes me as not quite that type of lady, she would consider it, but I think she'd be more scared about getting caught than turned on by the possibility of it. Quinlan Vos would definitely be game to bang on Palpatine's desk, and if not with Fox, well, the Senate building should invest in some Jedi-proofing security measures, Quinlan would also be the one to leave some kind of evidence. He wants someone to know there was people doing the dirty on the dead man's desk, he strikes me as the type to get off on a little law breaking being involved.

More under the cut!

Padme Amidala: This woman trusted Palpatine immensely, and though that trust didn't last until her death, she still never expected Palpatine to be that kind of corrupt. Depending on what way things went, Anakin and her would be there to kill Palpatine together or Padme would do it herself because he took her beloved husband away from her. Afterwards, she and Anakin defile Palpatine's desk, or his desk chair, or both, or she finds someone else, probably someone she has a history or affection for, and lets herself feel some good feelings, knowing that she at least got the biggest threat to her galaxy out of the picture. And she's probably getting good sex afterwards, so she enjoys the day.

Bo-Katan: Palpatine basically allowed Maul to kill her sister and terrorize her people, and what happens to Mandalore after the end of the Clone War? Horrific. Palpatine can rot in hell just for that. I think, if she had Pre Vizsla around somehow (AU maybe?) he would be her first choice, because I do believe that she loved him, no matter how misguided that love was. If Vizsla wasn't available, Obi-Wan would be an option in her mind, he was screwed over by Palpatine too and it might not be out of the question for him to be the one helping her kill Palpatine. Proximity to the location and each other, the adrenaline of assassinating a Sith Lord, it's plausible to me.

Pretty much everyone Clone Commander/Captain and their Jedi General: Definitely Cody and Obi-Wan would assassinate Palpatine if given the chance and then have passionate sex on the desk and desk chair to celebrate the occasion. Bly and Aayla probably wouldn't be the ones likely to do it in canon, but we ignore canon a lot around here, so I think they deserve to stab and shoot the hell out of the wrinkly bastard and then have sex on every possible surface in the office. Wolffe and Plo Koon deserve to assassinate Palpatine, but they would probably (Definitely) bring their own partners to do the deed with. Plo, for once, pulls his rank card so he gets first dibs on the defiling, and Wolffe concedes, though he was pouty about Plo not letting him go first.

Lastly for now, Bail and Breha Organa: Just because it wasn't predicted or known at the time that their planet would become an asteroid field doesn't mean that Bail and Breha don't have their anger and bitterness towards Palpatine. Yes, Bail and Breha can be imperfect, and I think they should be allowed to have sex on Palpatine's desk, and probably renew their wedding vows at some point, they seem like the type.

I might add more later, but these are the ones who came to my mind first!

[phoenixyfriend]

Star Wars Omegaverse Recs

Here's a couple solid omegaverse fics. This list is shorter than most of the ones I write but Meh.

Stars are for my favorites.

⭐ The Rain Fell Already by @loosingmoreletters: variation on Jedi Indentured AU containing omegaverse. Xanatos is omega Qui-Gon's bio kid but nothing changes, depressing but poignant

House Call by @elthadriel: two idiots knot while on medication that requires no knotting because it can get stuck for literal hours. Kix has to help and he is very annoyed about it

Status Quo by @captainkirkk: (G-rated) Anakin responds to Obi-Wan in a "you are my dad" way and the clones are surprised pikachu about it

⭐ Temporary Like Achilles by @intermundia: standard-ish fuck-or-die scenario where both sides are like "I can't take advantage of you/I just took advantage of you" because of course they are. (This author has a lot of solid Obikin, but they have me blocked (no I don't know why) so I can't tag them.)

⭐ He Said Yes by @threebea: (G-rated) B!Quinlan and O!Obi-Wan get mated for Obi-Wan's safety, the nature of their relationship is unclear to basically everyone (romantic? qp? other? unclear)

venus flytrap by IntoThineHands: Sith!Obi, role reversal of trope standard (omega deliberately takes advantage of an alpha)

Bite of Caramel by @thewriterowl: A!Jango needs a date to the family reunion, asks O!Obi-Wan to accompany him

⭐ good things in threes by @galateagalvanized: Codywan accidental pregnancy after O!Obi-Wan's implant gets nullified by an overpowered EMP (along with Cody's brain chip)

all my roads lead back to you by @tennessoui: idiots to lovers comedy (modern au, Obi-Wan got pregnant in a one-night stand across the country with a bartender who kind of looked like Anakin, because he's in love with his roommate but can't come clean and so hooks up with guys who look like him, and Anakin is in love with Obi-Wan enough that he's decided to be the Dad Who Stepped Up to this kid because anything Obi-Wan makes is part of Obi-Wan and obviously deserving of adoration)

The Theory of Letting Go by @ifonlyweknewwhatiwasdoing: never a Jedi!Anakin, Padme dead of uterine rupture, Obi-Wan hormonally addled and insistent on taking care of the twins like they're his own

The Swan Serenade by @shatouto: heavily AU, Mando!Anakin and Jedi-but-more-like-real-world-monks!Obi. (Has the most adorable art in the end of chapter notes, btw)

For Safekeeping by @glimmerglanger: Sith O!Obi-Wan feels safe because of the army of clones, which is the first time he's felt safe enough to have a heat, ends up fucked by his army of betas

when the snow falls we will wrap ourselves in furs by @hornet394: the fic I reread that had me going "I want Rex with O!Anakin but being in character" because this is one of the few omegaverse Rexwalkers that hits that button for me (though it's technically Anakin/501st poly stuff)

⭐ Find a little stranger by @obimanletkenobi: Villain!Obidala, both alphas, find Anakin at an omega auction, decide to ask him to play surrogate for their child since they can't do it themselves (with the offer to drop him off on a random planet with a wiped memory and enough cash to start a new life as a free man if he doesn't want to get pregnant), followed by smut

Belonging by IronCannon: this is the OTHER solid omegaverse Rexwalker

⭐ Conceal Me by @himboskywalker: longfic that is VERY good imo and builds the tension incredibly. Anakin is an omega pretending to be an alpha (literally the only people alive that know he's omega are his mother and the midwife). Senator Obi-Wan is an alpha pretending to be a beta (for weird reasons relating to his parents being kind of insane). They get married for politics, suggested by Palpatine because he found out about Obi-Wan being an alpha but not about Anakin, and decided a forced alpha/alpha marriage was going to self-destruct and help destabilize the Republic further.

Both by @obimanletkenobi: Anakin is the omegaverse equivalent of intersex and this explores the ways he's fetishized and discriminated against by the culture around him.

Peachy the Series by @the-writing-mill: IDK what to say, if you want 15k of O!Obi-Wan getting absolutely railed by two alphas, this is the fic for you

⭐ Packed Together Like Test Tubes also by @the-writing-mill: Jangobi, forced on both sides. Neither of them wants to mate, but the Kaminoans are forcing the issue with synthetic pheromones. It takes several weeks to get to that point and they are both fighting it with every ounce of willpower they have.

⭐ [Only] Think of Me by @inferior-fairy: Empress Amidala and Emperor Kenobi need Anakin to not go off the rails again, but they need a reason for him to want to stay because they love him too much to force the issue (and make him hate them) with chains or the like. So they give him Babies.

⭐ unfortunately it seems I have written more by @gaily-daily: Look at me. LOOK at me. This is fucked up and ugly and horrible and awful and messy and triggering and so incredibly well written as a dawning horror situation. Dead Dove at its finest. It is incredibly good as a story, but it is also really bad, and you need to go in accepting that. Without details, it's messy/triggering in the GoT sense.

⭐ terribly inconvenient and incredibly terrific by @tennessoui: A classic "Anakin wants to do something he is in no way qualified for and then suffers the consequences for his idiocy" plot, very fun.

I can fill those places in your heart no else can by @pontah: modern au post-breakup revenge sex I guess???

Ba’jurir by @mockingjay34: Rex/Fives, explores the intersection of anti-clone bigotry and anti-omega sexism.

Out in the Corner of the Dark with You by kazmir: a 5+1 fic about Anakin giving Obi-Wan a bunch of soft things as courting gifts

instincts by amidnightlove: just some fun and funky 'cycles make people go a little feral' stuff

EDIT: I missed a bunch so there's a Part Two!

[blackkatmagic]

If you’re still doing the ask meme, 2-3-12-18 for Luke and/or Leia?

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Luke - I think I love his sense of duty. Like, at the beginning of ANH he has all these goals and big dreams, but he stays because Beru and Owen need him and he knows that. It's a thread that carries all the way through to his confrontation with Vader, too, and it's just such a good character beat, I love it.

Leia - I really love how Leia is 110% heart only just barely covered by her temper. She's driven and passionate and she cares so much, to her very core. Given how much she feels about everything, I can imagine Bail didn't have much of a choice but to wind her up and let her go, even in the Imperial Senate. She's only a teenager when the OT starts, and she's still one of the main figures of the Rebellion. She's just amazing.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

Luke - Hm. Maybe the fact that he's kind of mopey and a little whiny at the beginning of the movie? But also it's understandable, given that the people who raised him just died and he does get better once everything starts happening.

Leia - Kissing Luke to make Han jealous. It's not even that she and Luke are twins, since neither of them knows at that point, but I just tend to find that kind of...playing people's emotions against each other to be kind of aggravating.

12. What’s a headcanon you have for this character?

Luke - I like to think that a few years after the Emperor kicking it Quinlan shows up to finish training Luke, and Luke ends up getting as much of the history of the Jedi Order as Quinlan has access to (a lot, given that he knows where T'ra is) shoved into his head, so he can rebuild the Order the way Obi-Wan would have wanted to see it.

Leia - I love the headcanon that she ends up becoming known pretty widely in the Outer Rim as the Huttslayer, and it ends up making people trust her far more than most politicians, especially after the fall of the Empire. Every time she gets sent on a diplomatic mission somewhere important, the fact that she killed Jabba invariably gets spread around the planet just as much as her status as a hero of the Rebellion.

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

Luke - Ngl I adore Luke and Yoda's relationship. They're both gremlins and they're both so wholesome underneath it and I just think they work perfectly as mentor and student. Yoda deserved to get to train another swamp gremlin, and Luke deserved a mentor who would unleash his gremlin tendencies.

Leia - The only nice things the ST gave us besides Finn in the first movie is the relationship between Amilyn Holdo and Leia. But if we're not counting the ST and we shouldn't, the Bail-Leia relationship is just so beautiful and makes my heart feel three sizes too big. They have so much love for each other!! So much faith in each other!!!! How can you not be touched by that??

[rancidjuno]

8,9, 12,13,14, 32, 37, 41, and 48 for the Kenduli ask game! 💚💙

tysm for the ask again!!! Any excuse to talk about these losers hehe – if anyone wants to play bailey’s ask game I’ll link it at the bottom <3

8.) Obi-Wan’s favourite thing about Luminara.

Probably her compassion, insomuch that most people who don’t know her wouldn’t immediately recognise it. She’s canonically accused of being uncaring by Anakin—a lot of people don’t like her because they perceive her as callous in my experience—but I have found the opposite to be true, and I think Obi-Wan would see that too. She goes to great lengths to protect people, too great lengths he would sometimes argue, but it comes from a place of care and selflessness.

Also, she just kind of funny? She’s clever and quick and can make him laugh in a way few can.

9.) Luminara’s favourite thing about Obi-Wan.

Patience. She watched him raise Skywalker and has endless admiration for him because of it—Luminara would not have survived with Anakin as her padawan. He stays very calm under almost every circumstance—even when she’s got a mind controlling worm on her face, but his joking was more to calm her than to cause stress—and it’s something she tries to emulate.

12.) Have they ever been caught in a compromising situation by either their Padawans, Clones, or fellow Jedi?

Oh, god, yes. Master Qui-Gon used to tease them about lack of subtly all the time, Quinlan inviting himself in for threesomes, Anakin rushing into the room without warning, poor Barriss at the wrong place at the wrong time. Luminara finds it hideously embarrassing each time, she’s got a rep to maintain after all, but Obi-Wan mostly finds it funny. Except for when it was Barriss. No one was laughing after that incident, Barriss was scarred for life and has had nothing but stilted conversations with Obi-Wan ever since.

13.) Luminara’s favourite physical feature on Obi-Wan.

I think she’d quite like the beard, but that’s a newer development. His hair in general then I guess, it’s a shade you would never find on Mirial so she sees it as unique and pretty. Also his massive dick, probably.

14.) Obi-Wan’s favourite physical feature on Luminara.

I think her eyes, which is super cliché, but she has very pretty and expressive eyes. She’s very good at keeping a neutral façade so it’s hard to tell what she’s thinking most of the time, but the second he makes eye contact it’s a dead giveaway. I hc that she practices makeup on him sometimes and he does it on her in return, he likes to give her orange eyeshadow and winged liner to make the colour really stand out. He’s gotten so good at that whenever there’s a formal event she makes him do her makeup for her.

32.) If Order 66 never happened, what would their futures look like?

I think Luminara would be pretty focussed on Barriss if Order 66 never happened because she still would have bombed the temple, something like rehabilitation and desperate attempts to prevent execution. This would probably be deemed dangerous attachment by the council and put a dent in her future as a member. Don’t get me wrong, Luminara’s as Jedi as they come, but that would put some distance between the Order—though Obi-Wan would be with her every step of the way.

Anakin would probably leave, Ahsoka already gone, so there would be very little keeping Luminara and Obi-Wan there too without the war. I think they’d allow themselves a relationship whether they left or not. If they left they’d probably leave Coruscant altogether for somewhere cooler, maybe Stewjon (I’d say Mirial but Obi-Wan doesn’t deserve another desert lmao). Maybe get a cat. Be Luke and Leia’s kooky aunt and uncle.

37.) Share your Kenduli headcanon.

They’re both bisexual. Maybe that’s me projecting but I mean it’s basically canon when it comes to Obi-Wan and Luminara looks like she’s kissed girls idk what to tell you.

41.) Describe what Kenduli fanfic you’d love to read.

I’d love to read ANY kenduli fanfic, that’s the truth—I’ll take any content because it’s so sparse. I have a few stories I’ll probably write at some point though if no one else does: non Jedi au because it’s fun to see everyone’s ideas about what they’d be up to if they weren’t Jedi, any post order 66 au (I’m writing one rn it’s horrifically angsty but I live for that) and anything with Barriss, Ahsoka and Anakin too.

48.) Obi-Wan’s favourite memory of Luminara and Luminara’s favourite memory of Obi-Wan.

I like to imagine that, whenever she could, Luminara was always over at Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s apartment and they’d spend long evening just talking on the balcony and looking over the city. Obi-Wan remembers these evenings particularly fondly because Luminara was never that carefree again.

There are lots of memories from their childhood that Luminara treasures—sneaking around and getting into trouble, him stealing her favourite dessert from the mess for her, building their lightsabers together—but her absolute favourite memory is later on as Masters watching how hard he worked to make Barriss like him. He cooks meals with her in mind if he knows she’s going to be around, offers to help with her form or research, sends her articles he thinks she might find interesting. He’s like an awkward stepdad trying to relate to his teenage stepdaughter and it’s not going well but just trying is a very quick way to Luminara’s heart.

[friskynotebook]

All the Wasted Time Ch. 7

An Obidala GFFA AU slow-burn romance ❤️

CW: age gap, food, bed-sharing, hurt/comfort, grief, death of a loved one, caretaking, handkerchief use, pining, crying

Summary: Padme helps Obi-Wan through a deep tragedy.

Also on AO3!

In the weeks following Padme’s recovery, she and Obi-Wan continued seeing each other socially—tea at each others’ apartments, walks in the park, browsing hole-in-the-wall libraries.

And Padme was fine with this, totally fine with her pathetically pining after him while just being friends, because he was being nice to her when she got hurt, and they’re still hanging out because they’re friends, nothing more.

She was absolutely fine with this.

Except.

All she wanted to do was tell him how she felt, how much she loved him. But she knew she would scare him off. He was barely ready to acknowledge he deserved any kind of good in the world—even though he’s one of the best people she knew. How could he possibly manage a friend telling him she loved him?

She was pretty sure he would combust.

But then again, if she didn’t tell him how she felt soon, she would combust. Especially since she was convinced she was falling more and more in love with him every time they met.

So, who will break first?

##

Padme got her answer sooner than she wanted.

A few days after their most recent outing—breakfast at Dex’s Diner—Padme was working in her office when her desk comm rang.

Without a second thought, Padme answered. “Senator Amidala.”

“Hi Padme,” Quinlan sighed, sounding distant and muted.

She frowned. Why is Quinlan calling me? “Quinlan, hi. What can I do for you?”

He swallowed, as if he were calming himself. “Qui-Gon passed away this morning.”

“What?” Padme gasped, her heart sinking. “I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks,” he choked, clearing his throat. “I actually called to ask you a favor. For Obi-Wan.”

She immediately started packing her desk. “What is it?”

“Will you go with him to Stewjon? For the mourning period?” he asked. “Bail is needed in the Senate, Mace has to stay for the Council, I’m stepping in for Obi-Wan on his mission with Anakin, Ahsoka, and Cody—”

“Of course I will,” she cut him off. “Of course. I can fly out within the hour.”

Quinlan breathed out a sigh of relief. “He’s on Chandrila.”

“I should be there in about three standard hours.”

“I’ll let him know,” he confirmed. “Padme?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

She furrowed her brow. “You don’t have to thank me.”

“It means a lot. You going with him. He’ll never admit it, but he’ll need someone during the mourning period. He and Qui-Gon were very close.”

She swallowed the lump down her throat. “I’ll take care of him, Quinlan.”

“I know you will.”

##

Two and a half standard hours later, Padme landed her shuttle on a nondescript docking bay in Chandrila. As soon as the engines shut off, Padme darted off the ship, her eyes scanning the bay for Obi-Wan.

She spotted him standing with Anakin, Cody, and Ahsoka. To the naked eye, he appeared to be as unruffled as ever. But to Padme, the slump of his shoulders and dark circles under his eyes told a different tale.

He seemed smaller somehow, like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Like he would crumble under the weight of his grief.

She made a beeline towards him. 

“Obi-Wan,” she breathed, pulling him into a firm hug. He sank against her embrace, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

“Hello, Padme,” he murmured into her neck before pulling away.

“How are you?” she cooed.

“As well as can be expected,” he reassured her, giving her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Cody placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s alright, sir.” He turned to Padme. “Thank you, Senator.”

“Yeah, thank you, Padme.” Anakin gave her a meaningful look, stepping closer. “Having you there will be good for him.”

Padme swallowed back her tears. “I’ll do my best, Ani.”

He gave her a crooked grin. “Trust me, just being there is enough.”

She turned to Obi-Wan. “Ready to go?”

He nodded. “As I’ll ever be.”

##

Padme set the course for Stewjon and fiddled with the controls, Obi-Wan beside her. Normally for a flight of this length, she’d set the ship on autopilot and read a holonovel or work on one of her many pitiful crochet projects, but she sensed he wanted the company and she wasn’t about to abandon him.

“Obi-Wan?” she asked about halfway through the trip.

“Hmm?” He looked lost in thought, but he turned towards her, open to some conversation.

“Why are we going to Stewjon? Was Qui-Gon from there?”

Obi-Wan smiled softly. “No, he doesn’t know—rather, he never knew—his home planet. By the time the rule on attachments was lifted, he didn’t have any real connection to his home world. So, my family adopted him, in a way.”

“They did? That’s lovely.” Padme smiled.

“They were grateful to him for training me and caring for me as if I was his own . . .” Obi-Wan’s voice trailed off.

Padme covered his hand with hers. “You were his own, Obi-Wan. He loved you so much.”

“I know,” he whispered. “I felt it in the Living Force, every day. It was so strong . . .”

“I could feel it too. We all could, even without the Force.”

“Padme, did he know? How much I loved him?”

“Of course he did,” Padme replied, squeezing his hand. “Of course he did.”

##

They landed on Stewjon the next afternoon.

As they stepped on the docking bay, Padme gasped. “Oh Obi-Wan. It’s so beautiful here. So green.”

“It’s quite green on Naboo, too.” His eyes sparkled as he looked out at his home world. 

“Yes, but this is a different green. A lush green.”

“I suppose it is.” The corner of his mouth quirked upwards.

“Obi-Wan!”

An older woman with a shock of red hair came barreling towards them. 

“Mum!” Obi-Wan grinned, catching her in his arms.

“How are you, darling?” The woman cupped his face in her hands, her voice more of a rough brogue compared to her son’s clipped elegant accent.

“Alright, I suppose.” His face softened. “I haven’t had much time to think about it.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Obi-Wan,” she murmured. She turned towards Padme. “And you must be the Senator Amidala we’ve all heard so much about.”

Padme’s eyebrows shot up. “You’ve heard about me?”

Obi-Wan’s face turned bright red. “I’ve told my family about my life on Coruscant, of course you would be mentioned.”

“Oh yes, Obi here brings you up constantly.”

“I wouldn’t say constantly, Mum—”

“I feel like I know you myself!”

“Well, it’s an honor to finally meet you, Mrs. Kenobi,” Padme smiled.

“None of this ‘Mrs. Kenobi’ business! Call me Jemmila.”

“Jemmila it is.”

##

There are a lot of Kenobis, Padme learned.

She lost count after meeting forty of them—cousins, aunts, uncles.

The only ones she could remember by the end of the day were his mother Jemmila, his father Fenn, and his younger brother Jeshi, the latter of whom helped her and Obi-Wan with their bags.

“You’ll be sharing a room,” Jeshi said, hauling one of Padme’s large bags up the stairs. “I hope that’s alright with your majesty.”

Padme blushed. “I’m not royalty anymore, Jeshi. Padme is fine.”

“Oh, sorry,” Jeshi apologized. “It’s just, Obi would tell these stories about the Queen of Naboo saving her planet and ruling her people—”

“Jesh, I told you other things about Padme too,” Obi-Wan interjected.

“Yeah but I remember the ones you told me when I was wee the best,” he said. Padme recalled Jeshi was seventeen years younger than Obi-Wan—a lovely surprise, Jemmila had said.

“Perhaps I can tell you other stories while I’m here,” Padme said. “Ones your brother doesn’t know.”

Jeshi perked up. “Really? That’d be grand!” He dropped the bag inside the door of the . . . cozy spare room.

“Thank you, Jeshi,” Obi-Wan said.

“Clean towels are in the ‘fresher. I’ll be next door if you need me?” Jeshi ended his sentence as a question.

“We should be fine. Goodnight,” Padme said.

“Yes, goodnight,” Obi-Wan smiled, watching his brother as he left the room.

As soon as they had privacy, he turned to Padme. “I’m so sorry about this.”

She frowned. “Sorry about what?”

“This. Sharing a room, a bed. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I’ll talk to my mum—”

If only he knew. “Obi-Wan, we’ve shared a bed before,” Padme pointed out.

He blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, yes, but the circumstances were different then—”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m fine sharing a bed if you are.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Now let’s get ready for bed.”

##

The next morning, the sounds of talking and banging downstairs woke Padme. She flipped over and found Obi-Wan gazing over at her, his face masked in sleepy confusion.

“Hey,” she rasped. “How are you feeling?”

Padme’s heart shattered as she watched the memory of the previous day return, the pain of grief clouding his features.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “All things considered? Alright, I suppose.” He rolled onto his back. “Is it childish to admit I had hoped it was a bad dream?” he whispered.

“Oh, Obi-Wan, I’m so sorry,” she said, blinking back tears. It pained her to see this strong, patient, consummate Jedi in so much distress. She wished there was more she could say, more she could do to help him—if there was anything she could do to take away his pain, she’d do it in a heartbeat. Anything for Obi-Wan.

She gently brushed her fingers against his arm. “Is there anything you need? Anything I can do?”

He covered her hand with his, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. “No . . . Just you being here . . . it helps more than I can say. Thank you, dearest.”

Padme swallowed. She could picture herself so clearly crawling across the bed, straddling his waist, and pulling him in her arms, holding him close as if she could heal him through the sheer strength of her love.

“Let’s go downstairs,” she suggested.

##

Stewjoni mourning traditions were more . . . celebratory than Padme had been anticipating.

Obi-Wan’s older brother, Duran, had arrived with his partner, Elias, and their children, Sovi and Terral—and they brought the raw bantha, ready to roast for Qui-Gon’s wake.

“Is roasting a whole bantha part of the funeral traditions?”

Elias laughed. “Oh no, lass. This was Qui-Gon’s favorite meal.”

“On Stewjon, funerals are a celebration of the person’s life, not a mourning of their death,” Jemmila added. “Of course it’s normal to feel sad at someone’s passing. But it’s more important to remember the joy they brought us in life.”

Padme smiled. “That’s a lovely thought.”

“Qui-Gon Jinn loved his food,” Fenn said. “A perfect fit for our family.”

“Remember when he demolished that tray of butter-basted land shrimp?” Jeshi laughed.

Duran cackled. “He didn’t realize it was a party tray!”

“He was rather embarrassed,” Obi-Wan grinned. “He couldn’t look at a land shrimp for months after that.”

“But every time he visited, your mother insisted on making it for him,” Fenn laughed, looking like the spitting image of his middle son.

“What?” Jemmila played innocent. “He clearly liked it! I’d be a bad host if I didn’t make it.”

Padme giggled. “I’m not much of a cook, but I’ll do what I can to help—everything smells wonderful.”

“Hopefully you’re better in the kitchen than Obi here—he almost burned the house down twice!” Duran said.

“The second time was not my fault!” Obi-Wan protested.

“That’s what you said when you tried to make grilled crupa breasts at the palace in Aldera and Qui-Gon had to Force-throw water from the pool before you set the entire palace on fire,” Padme laughed.

Obi-Wan’s family burst out in a roar of laughter.

Elias grinned, turning to Obi-Wan. “We like this one, a bhobain—don’t scare her off.”

Obi-Wan turned bright red. “I’ll try not to.”

##

In the days leading up to the funeral, members of the Kenobi clan took shifts sitting with Qui-Gon’s body after preservation.

“It’s tradition to watch over the body before the funeral,” Jeshi told Padme. “To protect the spirit from falling to the dark of night—Obi-Wan would call it the Dark Side.”

She nodded. “I imagine it’s also a chance to say goodbye.”

“Yes,” Jeshi agreed. “That’s what most of us use that time for. To say thank you and goodbye.”

During Obi-Wan’s shift, Padme walked over to his place beside the wrapped body, holding two mugs of hot sucosa.

“Want some company?” she asked.

He smiled up at her and shifted over. “I’d like that, Padme.”

She sat beside him, handing over one of the mugs. “Your mother’s secret recipe is delicious.”

He sipped his drink. “Kenobi family secret.”

“So she said.” Padme sipped her own drink. “How are you feeling?”

“Better than I did when we arrived,” he said, staring ahead at the pyre. “It’s strange. I miss him so deeply and yet he’s right in front of me. But it’s not him.”

Feeling brave, Padme rested her head on his shoulder. “He’s gone, even though he’s right in front of you.”

“Exactly,” Obi-Wan agreed, his hand casually resting on her thigh. “I still catch myself thinking of him in the present tense.”

“That’s not a bad thing,” she replied. “He’ll always be alive in you, in Anakin, in the Jedi Order. He’s probably alive in the Force, too—wait, is that how the Force works?”

He snorted. “Yes, more or less. We believe he is one with the Force now—that’s what the burning symbolizes.”

She nodded. “It doesn’t make it easier, though, does it?”

“Not in the short term, no.”

They sat in companionable silence, neither ready to be alone, watching over Qui-Gon.

“Padme,” Obi-Wan began, his voice raspy from disuse. “I know you must feel like you aren’t doing enough, or not doing anything . . . But you must know, my dear, this is everything.”

She looked up, her heart sinking at the tears filling his eyes. Even when he’s in the depths of his own grief, he still feels the need to make her feel better. “Obi-Wan—”

“Being here with me, my family, dropping your entire life to be by my side, it means more than I can say. Staying with me makes all the difference.” He paused, trying to maintain his composure. “I cannot thank you enough.”

“You don’t have to thank me at all. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” I’d do anything for you in a heartbeat.

He drained the last of his drink. “Still. I hope one day I’ll have the opportunity to return the favor in some way.”

Padme stood, taking the mug back. 

“You already have,” she replied, leaving him to grieve in private.

##

The night before the funeral, Padme watched Obi-Wan go through his katas before bed—part of his usual routine, she noticed.

Still, she pretended to read her holo novel as he went through his routine, keeping a watchful eye on him to make sure he wasn’t over-tiring himself.

When he finally came to bed, Padme reached over to her nightstand to shut off the light.

“Goodnight, Obi-Wan.”

“Goodnight, Padme,” he replied, his voice soft. “Sleep well.”

She couldn’t help but smile. Always caring and kind. 

Padme kept herself awake, listening to Obi-Wan toss and turn beside her. She knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep if Obi-Wan wasn’t sleeping.

After half an hour of his restlessness, Padme turned towards him. “Obi-Wan? Are you alright?”

He sighed. “I can’t sleep,” he admitted. “I feel this . . . weight in my chest that won’t go away. I can’t sleep with this pain, Padme.”

She turned over to face him. “That’s your grief. It’s normal to feel that.”

“I haven’t been able to cry, not really, since we arrived. I’m trying to be strong for everyone else who loved him, I want to be there for them—”

“But you need to process your feelings too. It’s okay to cry, Obi-Wan.”

His chin wobbled, and his breath started shaking, his tears glistening in the moonlight. “Padme,” he choked.

“Come here,” she cooed, pulling him in her arms as he quietly wept against her chest.

She stroked his hair and rubbed soothing circles on his back, shushing him softly. He pulled her impossibly close, needing to be comforted as much as she needed to comfort. 

I’m here, Obi-Wan. I’m here.

After a while, his sobs eased and turned into sniffles, though he still kept her close. Padme reached over to her nightstand and grabbed a handkerchief for him. He accepted it gratefully, wiping his eyes and blowing his nose before discarding it on his own nightstand.

When he finished cleaning himself up, he settled back into her embrace.

“Padme?” he whispered, his voice heavy with sleep.

“Yes?”

“You’re my best friend.”

Words that only a week ago would have broken her heart now comforted her and touched her in ways she never thought possible. Being Obi-Wan Kenobi’s best friend meant more to her than any other title. It was an honor to hold a special place in this beautiful, brilliant man’s life, and even if he never returned her love in the way she wished, she would never give up her relationship with him.

She still wanted him to know how she felt, but she no longer threatened to burst with her feelings. Rather, they had settled between them like a warm blanket, ready to support and comfort him as he needed.

And that was enough. Loving Obi-Wan in any way he needed was truly enough for her, and that knowledge eased her mind and her heart.

“Let’s get some sleep,” she cooed. Obi-Wan was asleep before she finished her sentence.

No-pressure tags: @wickedscribbles @obiknights @labyrinth-runner @your-dose-of-obidala @mxster-jocale @cypanache @celestial-alignment @alabama-metal-man @written-musings

[vivalavili]

Growing up, Vader never really thought he had many friends in the Temple. He really wasn’t sure if he was his own friend, considering how much he struggled with his identity. 

But if he had one enemy worse than all of them, it was you. You, the other perfect little blonde kid who was infinitely smarter than him and had friends of your own- Aayla, Quinlan, Obi-Wan. He never had that friendship with any of them. 

And now, you’re the leader of the Rebellion. The leader. Somehow the people decided that they would all willingly listen to you. And you’ve been killing his men. Destroying his bases.

Now, as he stares at the news story alerting the galaxy of your nearly fatal injury, he can’t help but make sure he’s the first one there. Well, perhaps not the first- but definitely the last one to see you before you end up living in his palace. 

The second he enters the scene, people clear the way for him- whether it’s out of fear or something else, he doesn’t care. He waves off the medical examiners crowded around you and scoops your body up, giving them a nod as he passes back around them to get back to his ship. 

“Gentlemen,” he drawls, “Thank you for your cooperation.” 

He holds you the entire ride back to the palace, deciding that he’s earned the right to stare at your unconscious body since you’ve made his life a living hell for so long. In fact, he gets so enamored with your beauty - which he now recognizes as genuine beauty - that when he lands back in the hangar of his palace, he doesn’t want to get up. But he does anyway, because he wants Kix to check you out. A hit to your head that hard surely means you’ll have a severe concussion, maybe even… amnesia. 

“Kix,” he greets the man as he finally makes his way into the medical center just a few minutes later, “I have a task for you.” 

“Anything,” Kix shrugs.

“Do a full examination on this woman. Find out everything that’s wrong with her- particularly focused on her head and memory,” Vader nods. “If she doesn’t remember anything… good.” 

He leaves you with Kix for however long it takes the man to do a full checkup on you, grinning sharply to himself as Kix makes the call that you do in fact have severe damage to your memory. Apparently you’d already woken up and told him you barely remember anything. Time to enact his plan. 

When he arrives in the medic center and finds your room, he gives Kix a nudge with the Force as a warning to not act surprised. Because the next thing he does is give you a fond smile as he hurries to sit next to your bed, taking your hand in his own. 

“My love,” he breathes, brows furrowing, “I’m- I’m so sorry. Are you… feeling better? At all?” 

Step two of his plan, if you fall asleep soon, will be to contact Zyn and let her know she has some homework from him. And then Cody will help him enact the rest of his plan, when it comes to alerting all the clones that you will be joining them for now. 

Oh! And Ruhn! What an excellent idea to bring someone into Ruhn’s life as his mother. The two of them could use a female figure in their home- even if it means bringing in his enemy. But you deserve it. You deserve this torture and punishment. This is all for you. If this is the last thing he’ll ever do, it’s worth it. 

Gods, Cody is going to love this plan. And so will Ruhn. Ruhn has actually been asking about a mama, even at his cute little young age. He’ll have to bring Ruhn in when you’re more rested. 

I stare at him in confusion, frowning, “what- what? I’m sorry. I don’t know you.” I carefully try to pull my hand from his.

[antianakin]

I mean, in all seriousness, Anakin's the main character of an entire trilogy and arguably an entire TV show in this franchise, a main villain of another trilogy, and a major side character in a recent miniseries, not to mention the protagonist of multiple novels and comic books at this point. He's made to be enjoyed, in whatever way you choose to enjoy him. I don't really care that people like him, if he compels you, that's the point.

I personally don't find him compelling because there are aspects of him that I don't find well-written and because he's the kind of person that really really repulses me in real life and I love the Jedi that he genocided and disrespected. But that doesn't mean that I don't generally understand why fans are drawn to him. We've spent a LOT of time on Anakin, on his backstory and motivations, his journey is the impetus behind the entire six film story, it literally moves everything.

I think I love the Jedi SO MUCH MORE than I am fascinated by Anakin, though, so his fall doesn't hurt because it's a tragedy for Anakin, his falls hurts me because it's a tragedy for the Jedi. And Anakin "coming back to the Light" in the end isn't as impactful for me then because wow does it not do anything for the Jedi really. They're all still genocided and persecuted and in hiding.

But it's not like I DON'T love some of the villains in Star Wars. I am personally very amused by Palpatine, I love how much that man just loves causing chaos and misery, I love how melodramatic he is every time he swoops in to ruin everyone else's day, he's just plain FUN.

And I was compelled by Ventress to some degrees, I absolutely ADORED Reva (who was arguably not a true villain but she was definitely an antagonist), so it's not like I'm entirely immune to characters who are or go dark for sympathetic reasons and struggle to find their way back. Anakin just doesn't do it for me lol.

The reason this post came about was just because a lot of fans (generally rightfully so) feel so so bad for Anakin and his tragic life and get caught up in it and yet everyone else who goes bad (Palpatine excepted) in actuality has immensely more sympathetic reasons for having done so. The narrative presents Anakin as an incredibly sympathetic and tragic character, but when put up against the others, he's just... not quite as sympathetic and tragic.

But Anakin having the immensely selfish and stupid reasons for going dark that he does is, in many ways, the point of Anakin, as well. Yeah, he's selfish and greedy and absolutely never really needed to save Padme from anything to begin with and his actions proceed to cause her death anyway. It's stupid, it's an immense failure on Anakin's end because he's a selfish greedy bastard, and that's kind-of the big core of the entire choice he makes. Anakin cares exclusively for himself and gets away with that for a while right up until he doesn't and it blows up in his face. Anakin causing his own misery is completely the point of his story. He's a selfish asshole and gets what selfish assholes deserve: a lifetime of loneliness and misery and pain.

A few of the examples I utilized above are explicitly foils to Anakin's story. Quinlan in particular, Barriss to some degree, Dooku certainly, Ventress. They're ALL put up against Anakin to show what it looks like for others to go dark, what would motivate THEM to do dark deeds, and while for a lot of them it ends up being selfish desires for power same as it is for Anakin, a lot of them don't also START selfish which is where Anakin loses me. Quinlan wants to risk his life to stop a war, Dooku wants to bring justice to the Republic and his people, Barriss also wants to stop a war and is having an identity crisis. Anakin... wants to save his wife from a thing he can't prove is even going to happen because he refuses to live without her.

The others ARE better than Anakin. They're almost ALL better than Anakin, they began as better people, and even when they made the choice to go dark they were doing it for better reasons.

I don't know that I agree that this means none of them could commit the atrocities Anakin does, Maul and Dooku absolutely could and very much do. Dooku is literally helping start and run a GALACTIC CIVIL WAR for years. Dooku builds an entire slave army that they plan to mind control into being living weapons to take out the Jedi. Dooku's dead by the time that plan gets executed, but he was very instrumental in making it happen at all, so I feel like Dooku gets an equal 33% of the blame for the genocide of the Jedi along with Palpatine and Anakin. Maul is literally out there to commit chaos with violence and regularly commits massacres because he physically cannot care about anything or anyone that isn't himself. If handed the opportunity to commit the atrocities that Anakin was asked to commit, he would 1000% have done it.

So yes, Anakin's a compelling character because he is inarguably the character we as an audience have spent the most time with and whose choices define the story's biggest beats. It's not unsurprising how many people relate to him and sympathize with him after the story worked so hard to make sure you did. I'm not ignorant of it, I just... can't relate I guess.

It's hilarious that a lot of the main darksiders and Sith all have WAY more sympathetic reasons than Anakin does for why they're Sith, or why they Fell.

Maul apparently was literally stolen (or given away) as a child and raised by a Sith, he had zero choice in becoming one.

Dooku became disillusioned with the corruption in the Republic and how it was taking advantage of and hurting its own people that he had sworn his life to protecting and then got lost in searching for the power to try to protect those same people.

Savage is literally magicked into being Dark against his will because he sacrifices himself to spare his younger brother the same fate.

Quinlan Vos's falls (one in the comic, and one in the novel) are both about trying to end the war by infiltrating Dooku's inner circle as his apprentice and not realizing how far he's fallen in the process.

Barriss Offee becomes disillusioned with the way the Senate has taken advantage/control of the Jedi Order and gets lost in her own grief over what she's been asked to do in the war.

The closest to Anakin's bullshit reasoning is actually Asajj Ventress who becomes a slave as a baby, spends some years learning to be a Jedi, and then goes dark after she loses one person because misery loves company.

But Anakin literally commits whole genocides because he's scared of losing someone who's NOT EVEN DEAD YET. He's not even reacting to a loss that's HAPPENED TO HIM, he's just searching for power to stop someone from ever dying who is perfectly alive and in good health with no signs of kicking the bucket any time soon.

Like. Talk about an unsympathetic backstory. And it didn't help that every other Darksider (aside from Palpatine) managed to have a WAY more sympathetic reason for them having turned Dark than Anakin does.

What a weak-willed pissbaby.

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

Here's my halfway coherent, shoot-I-wish-I'd-actually-write-all-of-this no-Order-66 universe I've been mulling over for like two or three years:

Dead Palpatine (the hows to determine)

Kit, Agen and Saesee are NOT dead

(Adi probably isn't either tbh bc I love Adi)

People are touchy about Anakin and he's kind of absent (left? is in prison for killing Palps? not killing Palps? for turning? anyway it's a Sensitive Subject) (in the interest of limiting angst he probably helped kill Palps and left to be with Padmé but is kinda bitter about all of it, that way Liberosis fits into this and I don't have to think about it too much. the point is, things are strained and remain that way for a while)

The world is absolutely not all unicorns and sparkles but it's getting somewhere. The Jedi are Very Tired and overworked and stressed but also they get to just sit and watch sunsets and that warms them up inside

A random Senator becomes Chancellor (not Bail, Padmé or Mothma). The Republic is still licking its wounds but at least it's there

The CIS kinda collapsed without Dooku or Grievous so there's a lot of independent systems but they're not united anymore and— boring stuff. The point is: an absolute metric ton of diplomatic missions for the Jedi

Many Clones decide to stick around and get sort of folded into the Order Antarian Rangers style (the others are very happy napping on a warm planet somewhere)

Shaak Ti and Stass Allie are on Kamino helping to raise/relocate all the Clone babies so they can grow up somewhere nicer (tbd - I've written a micro fic about this one so far)

Most Jedi ditch the armor (as do a few Clones) and get the baggiest, gigantest robes they can get away with. A few others keep the armor but like, engraved and decorated

Ahsoka comes back after a lot of thinking and gets knighted

Two Jedi who got stranded on a deserted planet during the war had a baby and the Organas adopt her (very important!!! and half written and lingering in my drafts - since like, two years ago)

Obi-Wan takes Katooni as his Padawan

Ahsoka takes either Petro or Reva as her Padawan a few years later (probably Reva)

Ganodi is either Stass' or Adi's Padawan I think

Zatt is either Kit's Padawan or Jocasta's

Petro is probably Aayla's (or maybe she picks Mari Amithest and Quinlan picks Petro.)

Gungi is Plo's Padawan

Byph is Luminara's (he's a precious little duckling and deserves to be CHERISHED okay)

Barriss gets help and healing

If Dooku isn't dead, then he spends the rest of his life in a cell playing dejarik with Obi-Wan and Yoda and having tea with them and bitterly regretting his choices (while struggling to come to terms with Yoda's forgiveness and love especially - I've got a couple of very short fics toying with the idea on here and Ao3 I think)

Maul probably gets the same kind of treatment? Then I imagine he escapes and goes back to Dathomir and then to some desert to have 274 identity crises about stuff (he might also just be dead sadly - but if not he def gets to have more encounters with Obi-Wan)

Ki-Adi takes O-mer as his Padawan and Mace takes either Jinx or Tai Uzuma, in which case Cin takes Jinx (yeah, Mace and Tai, definitely. That way Caleb gets to hang out with her)

Either Shaak Ti or Bultar Swan takes Ashla

Caleb is still with Depa, Cal with Jaro, and Trilla with Cere

I want to find Masters for Ran Deezy and Farn Klin and their siblings (because they each seem to have a twin which!!! I LOVE!!! okay they could just be from the same species and not be related but idc) but I'm coming up kinda short so Agen for Farn, Rig Nema for Ran, Tiplee for Farn's twin, Eeth (who didn't left, comics can gtfo) for Ran's twin

Korkie is Duke of Mandalore (which is ALL ABOUT PACIFISM, AGAIN, because I want it that way. The Jedi drop by to say hi and help sometimes. It should be noted that he's not Obi-Wan's kid.)

The Jedi keep running into Hondo who loves them and therefore loves to make trouble for them (hey, I actually wrote that one!)

Boba is a precocious mercenary/bounty hunter trying to get noticed by some big clients like the Hutts and every so often he runs into some Clones or Jedi and a little angst ensues

A lot of time and writing is dedicated to how deeply fcked the war was and how tired and sad everybody is

BUT

like twice that is about chilling in the gardens, planting things, watching grass grow, sleeping and rebuilding and how happy and lively the children are

Yoda privately cries when he realizes that his vision of a world at peace (the one he had to let go of) did come true - and didn't. The world isn't as perfect as he dreamed but it's infinitely better because it's real

windchimeswindchimeswindchimes

Obi-Wan and Cody get to have buddy comedy solo missions

Same for Obi-Wan and individual Council members. Just hijinks all around

It is very important to me that Cody chaperones a bunch of Jedi babies going to Ilum (probably Clan Bear? but also I want it to be like 10+ years down the line so he can complain about being too old for this shit even tho he's 23 - I WANTED TO SEE CODY WITH THE YOUNGLINGS AND GRIEVOUS ROBBED ME OF THAT)

Oh also Cody was made a General after the war and immediately retired from the army. For no other reason than I think he deserves it

Idk how Qui-Gon fits into all of this so for now his only purpose is to make Dooku angst some more but in a cathartic way

Padmé occasionally drops by with the twins - and vice-versa once Anakin is either free or over himself - and Yoda is their favorite person in the world. They're not being trained as Jedi and they kinda resent it a bit but they're doing fine. They see Uncle Bail and Aunt Breha pretty often, and Aunt Sola and Uncle Darred and Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru regularly, and they're besties with Ryoo, Pooja, and Bail and Breha's adopted Jedi daughter

Some quiet domestic moments where, say, Reva comes up to the slightly older Katooni & friends to get some help with her hair because she wants to do it like Tai's but is too shy to ask directly bc Tai is intimidating, but Katooni is obviously stumped so they try to find some Masters, and the first they come across are like Stass and Shaak Ti who also don't really know how to help, and it's Luminara and Cere who save the day

Quiet Master-Padawan moments in some of the smaller Temples, learning to meditate and be in the moment

A weird period of time before Ahsoka is officially knighted where she just hangs out with Obi-Wan and repairs her relationship with him. In the years after she is knighted but before she takes her own Padawan, she mostly stays with Obi-Wan and Katooni and he's having early days of the war flashbacks with his 'two' Padawans

Animal friendship. 80% of all Jedi missions involve it

PLANTS. PLANTS AND GREENERY AND DIRT AND GREEN THINGS. BECAUSE THE JEDI NEED THOSE

[gffa]

Last time I went about five months between doing a set of STAR WARS fic recs, this time it’s only been three months! Hurrah! It helps that, as always, this fandom puts out an incredible amount of excellent fic, so I feel like I’m never hurting for fics I want to yell about and shove at people, which is something I continue to appreciate as it often feels like so much of the world is such a huge tire fire. It helps to be able to find fics to retreat into, to have fun with, to express joy and creativity with, and so many of the authors in this fandom are just so good at this! To the point that these sets sometimes take awhile because there are always more fics I want to add, until the post starts threatening to be overly long instead of a decent length–in my defense, no seriously, you guys are just too good! Also, I forced myself to stop at 69 fic recs, because yes I do think it’s funny. (Nice.) STAR WARS FIC RECS: PREQUELS RECS: ✦ a comedy in four acts by jesuisdeux, obi-wan & dooku & yoda & qui-gon & cast, time travel, 4k    This was what time-travel is: staring at the dark sockets of skulls everywhere your gaze lands on. Being haunted by ghosts long gone. The apprehension of the slow yet sure approach of the inevitable which is sending chills down your spine. ✦ No Rest for the Weary by Peach_Bitters (peachybitters), obi-wan & anakin & jedi & ocs, 61k    Needing a break from life at the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, visit a Jedi AgriCorps settlement on the Midrim planet of Helia. There they encounter new friends, new enemies and have new adventures, all while attempting to navigate their sometimes turbulent relationship as Master and Padawan. ✦ Stars of Tatooine by Be_Right_Back, ahsoka & kanan & mace & rex & obi-wan & cast, 10.5k    After the end of the world, Ahsoka more or less kidnaps a child, has to air some old grievances, and tries to find whatever peace the universe can still offer. All paths in the Force lead home, eventually. ✦ Festival of Light by dendral, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka & rex & cast, 8.7k    During his first year at the Jedi Temple, Anakin learns that even the Jedi celebrate holidays. ✦ the master, the padawan, the Force by skatzaa, depa & caleb, 1.4k    Caleb expects things to be different after Master Depa takes him as her padawan, but really, it feels like nothing really changes. ✦ desecrate my lungs by loosingletters, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka & padme & cast, 16k wip    Time-travel fix-it in which Mustafar haunts Anakin decades after it happened and years before it would. ✦ Grace by dismantlingsummer, obi-wan & anakin, 2.3k    Shortly after Mustafar, Anakin realizes what he has done. He finds Obi-Wan to beg for death. ✦ Fifth Migration by wrennette, yoda & mace & obi-wan & ki-adi & yarael & coleman & plo & palpatine & cast, 2k    How about an AU where the Sith’s Grand Plan accounted for everything -everything that is, except the fact that the Jedi temple is actually an very ancient spacecraft and the second word got to the Jedi about there being clones on Kamino, all Jedi are called back inside and they take off immediately? Just imagine the dear chancellor’s face… ✦ fill pages with scribbled ink by magneticwave, obi-wan/padme & sabe & mace & quinlan & cast, 9.8k    A year after the Invasion of Naboo, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi is invited by Queen Amidala to return to Naboo and participate in a rite known as the Night of Fireflies. Things kind of snowball from there. ✦ Mind Your Words by Peach_Bitters (peachybitters), obi-wan & anakin, spanking, 7k    Obi-Wan reminds Anakin that there are consequences for careless behavior for young Jedi on missions. ✦ (you taught me) the courage of stars by grumpyhedgehogs, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka & cast, 5.1k wip    Ahsoka Tano flees after a warrant for her arrest is issued, but not before receiving aid from an unexpected ally. (Ahsoka proceeds to go on a road trip filled with a bunch of strangers who all say the same thing: Obi-Wan Kenobi is much more than he has ever appeared to be.) ✦ they faked it (guess everything’s complicated) by katierosefun, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka, 4.5k    Ahsoka temporarily loses memories of the events of Obi-Wan’s fake death. To help with the healing process, Anakin and Obi-Wan have to pretend that they’re okay. ✦ programed to dream by ghostwriterofthemachine, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka, body horror, 1.3k    The spaceship Comet-rider is the fastest, most efficient vessel in the galaxy, and is crewed by Separatist-funded pirates. Anakin Skywalker is missing. Unfortunately, these two things are connected. ✦ Unpleasant Truths by hellowkatey, obi-wan & anakin, 2.1k    Obi-Wan and Anakin are stuck in a room with one another while waiting for truth serum to wear off. ✦ moment’s silence by skatzaa, obi-wan & owen & beru & luke & leia (pre-obi-wan/beru-owen), 2k    Owen had long since resigned himself to trouble, whenever Beru got that particularly stubborn set to her jaw. ✦ hold gently and let go by shatou, obi-wan & anakin (pre-slash?), 1.7k    A troubled Anakin comes to Obi-Wan to discuss attachments. ✦ sun child by Ro29, obi-wan & anakin, 2.1k    (or; sometimes being so tied to the Force causes problems, Obi-Wan helps his Padawan as best he can) ✦ A Dinner Out by Peach_Bitters (peachybitters), obi-wan & anakin & cast, 1.6k    Obi-Wan can’t get his young Padawan to eat much, so he tries something new. But trying something different has unintended consequences. ✦ Shades in the Desert by loosingletters, obi-wan & anakin & luke & owen/beru, 10.8k    Not even from a certain point of view did Darth Vader kill Anakin Skywalker. He wished he did, but the specter of the Jedi’s light escaped before he could finalize his fall to the dark. Meanwhile, Anakin is raising his son on Tatooine. ✦ somewhere along in the bitterness by CallToMuster, obi-wan & anakin, major character death, 3.8k    It was probably the twelfth day floating alone in space that Obi-Wan and Anakin realized no one was coming for them. ✦ Songs for Little Jedi by soft_but_gremlin, mace & younglings, ~1k    The initiates are having nightmares, so Mace sings a lullaby to comfort them. ✦ atmosphere level by softredscrunchie, obi-wan/satine & qui-gon, 1k    As a joke, Satine tells Obi-Wan she thinks Mandalore is flat. He doesn’t take it well. ✦ on sith holocrons and misunderstandings by billowypants, obi-wan & anakin & mace & yoda & cast, de-aged!obi-wan, 7.2k    or, de-aged!Obi-Wan has the same Force bonds as adult Obi-Wan, and he does not react well. ✦ Perseverance & Resilience by loosingletters, obi-wan & anakin, 1.1k    In the aftermath of Naboo, Obi-Wan realizes he needs strength to protect his new Padawan. Growing up, Anakin needs peace. ✦ A Delicate Balance by Peach_Bitters (peachybitters), obi-wan & anakin & yoda & jedi, spanking, 9.6k    As Anakin’s skills grow, so too does his penchant for getting into trouble. After a training mishap, Obi-Wan struggles with his role as Anakin’s master. ✦ mirror, mirror by CallToMuster, obi-wan & anakin, 5.4k    Obi-Wan has been rescued by Anakin after being rather embarrassingly kidnapped on the remote planet of Ilnuria during his investigation of rumored kyber crystals deep beneath the planet’s surface. …But is all as it seems? ✦ Mace Windu Appreciation Week by Redminibike1, mace & obi-wan & anakin & ponds & cody & jedi & cast, 12.5k    Set of unconnected ficlets for Mace Windu Appreciation Week, because he deserves it :) ✦ begin again as a quiet thought by skatzaa, obi-wan/quinlan, d/s, ~1k    Cool, smooth leather touched his jaw—gloves. Because of course Obi-Wan had thought of that as well. ✦ Drunken Lullabies by Siri_Kenobi12, obi-wan & anakin & siri & quinlan & aayla & garen & bant & ferus, 6.5k    “Do I really have to go to this thing?” Fourteen year old Anakin Skywalker dramatically sighed. “It’s sooo boring!” ✦ heaven knows how I love you by the_13th_battalion, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka, 1.2k    Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka are stranded on an unfamiliar planet overnight. They spend their time exploring the community- and maybe they get a little closer to each other along the way. ✦ A Reckless Padawan by Peach_Bitters (peachybitters), obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka, spanking, 3.9k    When Ahsoka upsets Anakin with an act of reckless disobedience, it falls to her grandmaster to help her see the error of her ways. OBI-WAN/ANAKIN RECS: ✦ Too Hot by secretsolarsystem, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 4.8k    Too Hot: A game where two players kiss without stopping and without touching each other. If one player touches the other, that player loses. The winner gets to do whatever they want to the loser. ✦ Nostos by intermundia, obi-wan/anakin & padme, NSFW, 17k    Or, how Obi-Wan and Anakin discover that there are many ways to come home. ✦ to touch the light, darkest by treescape, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 1.9k    Obi-Wan begins to fuck Vader back to the light ✦ encode by loosingletters, obi-wan/anakin & padme & handmaidens & cast, 26.3k wip    Instead of being accepted into the Jedi Order at the age of 9, Anakin Skywalker became a ward of Naboo. ✦ Hunting the Homeward Light by GreenQueenofClubs, obi-wan/anakin & mace & ahsoka & shmi & padme & cast, 31.9k wip    When Anakin Skywalker was nine, he left his whole life and mother behind to follow Qui-Gon Jinn to Coruscant and the Jedi Temple. When Anakin Skywalker was twelve, he left his whole life and Master behind to follow Mace Windu to the Outer Rim and away from the Jedi Order. When Anakin Skywalker was twenty… ✦ use my body to break your fall by tennessoui, obi-wan/anakin & cast, NSFW, sith!obi-wan, 44.7k wip    Obi-Wan Kenobi is too good at being a Sith Lord general of the Separatist army. The Jedi Council approaches Anakin with an offer he can’t refuse. These things are, actually, related. ✦ Over and Over by obiwanobi, obi-wan/anakin, 1.4k    “I love you,” he blurts out, loud and impossible to miss. Obi-Wan blinks once, twice. And freezes. The first time Anakin tells him is a mortifying experience. ✦ Exceptions by rinverse, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & mace & quinlan & cast, NSFW, modern au, 23.4k    Young and brilliant, Anakin is the mind behind JEDI Tech’s latest innovation. Obi-Wan is the company’s perfectly composed Director of PR & Marketing. And last night, they were just two strangers at a bar, looking for something quick and easy. But life had other plans when it crossed their paths again the very next day. ✦ Here There Be Dragons by Ghost_Owl, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka, 10.1k    Anakin knows why he can’t shift into his animal form like every other Jedi. It’s because he doesn’t want to, it’s because he’s had a vision of what he would become, and he doesn’t want it. ✦ Waiting in a Sea of Stars by Peach_Bitters (peachybitters), obi-wan/anakin, ~1k    Stranded in deep space, Obi-Wan and Anakin wait for rescue. ✦ Tristitia by JSwander, obi-wan/anakin & cast, NSFW, sith!obi-wan, 5k    An alternate timeline where Palpatine focuses his attentions on Obi-Wan Kenobi instead of Anakin Skywalker after the attack on Naboo. ✦ Prompted - Chapter 11: Communication, What Communication? by intermundia, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, modern au, mobster au, 7k    a 7k obikin PWP that is somehow a prompt mashup of a mobster au, an accidental sugar daddy au, with a soupçon of an anakin never left tatooine au, and a pinch of qui-gon was anakin’s dad au ✦ who a person truly is cannot be seen with the eye by RexIsMyCopilot, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, d/s, spanking, 3.6k    Anakin purposely avoids doing what Obi-Wan tells him to do. ✦ Prompted - Chapter 12: Potidaea, 432BC, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, historical au, 4.3k    Here is a short smutty scene inspired by all those classics asks, Alcibiades praising Socrates in Plato’s Symposium, and this vase c.490-480 B.C. depicting standing, face-to-face intercrural intercourse between a bearded man and a youth, which as far as we can tell was the most common and accepted position for it in Ancient Greece. ✦ Prompted - Chapter 13: Minikin and Tiny-Wan by intermundia, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 5.4k    Happy May the Fourth! In honor of this happy day, I have written the fluffiest, crackiest, vanilla-flavored smut imaginable. Based on long discussions on discord with tomicaleto about her adorable Tiny AU. ✦ to hold until brightness by treescape, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 1.4k    Obi-Wan feared that it drew out the darkest in him, to bring Vader to these flashes of light, but it was a trade he would make again and again without hesitation. ✦ May Be Found, If Sought by ghostwriterofthemachine, obi-wan/anakin & mace & quinlan, magical academy au, 2.3k    In which Quinlan, Mace, and Obi-Wan teach Non-Traditional Magical Philosophy in an institution rampant with academic snobbery and discrimination, something dark is stirring in the nearby forest, and no one is ever prepared for Anakin Skywalker. A small story about first meetings in magical academia. ✦ infinitely varied by loosingletters, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka, modern au, 2.2k    Also known as Obi-Wan and Anakin teach a tiny program called A.H.S.O.K.A. how to be something more than lines of code via the power of linguistics. ✦ recipe for disaster by tennessoui, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka, modern au, 9.8k    When Ahsoka tells Anakin she doesn’t want to learn piano anymore, Anakin is heartbroken. He doesn’t care about the instrument, obviously, but he’s practically in love with her teacher. Obi-Wan offers up a solution to their impending separation, and it’s not dating like any normal person would suggest. Instead, he’s gonna teach Anakin how to cook. Except Anakin’s a pretty well-known chef, and Obi-Wan is absolutely awful in the kitchen. ✦ Pretty Kitty by GayCheerios, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 2.2k    “Master, you always take such good care of me,” Anakin says, a little chirp coming after his sentence, as his thumb rests on Anakin’s plump bottom lip. ✦ As One, Into Eternity by Pseudonymoose, obi-wan/anakin, force ghosts, 3.1k    Death comes, but the man who was, and is, and will be Anakin Skywalker is not gone. And in the Force, he will never be alone again. ✦ does he make you laugh? by y0u_idjits, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & cast, fusion fic, 3.6k    “Tell me it’s not about screwing the guy who’s screwing your husband.” ✦ Rotten Work by secretsolarsystem, obi-wan/anakin, 2.8k    Obi-Wan: I’ll take care of you. Anakin, with bloodshot eyes and a broken back from hours of terrible posture: It’s rotten work. Obi-Wan, who needs to bathe this man for his own sanity and health: Not to me. Not if it’s you. ✦ afterimages by shatou, obi-wan/anakin, 1.3k    Mustafar is nothing but a bad dream. ✦ understanding is honoring the truth beneath the surface by RexIsMyCopilot, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, d/s, 7.3k    Anakin asks Obi-Wan to take control. ✦ The strongest stars… by Tomicaleto, obi-wan/anakin & beru & cast, NSFW, 7.4k    The war’s end seems to be close, with everyone looking forward to it. And when Anakin is doubting himself the most, an unexpected visit arrives at the Temple. ✦ home has a heartbeat by izazov, obi-wan/anakin, 5.6k    Or: Anakin and Obi-Wan are together, but there are still some things left unsaid between them. ✦ turn back now (i’m haunted) by tennessoui, obi-wan/anakin & padme & quinlan & ahsoka & cast, modern au, ghosts au, 25k wip    Anakin Skywalker’s house is haunted. Luckily for him, Padmé knows a ghost hunter. Unluckily for him, it’s the hottest, most english-professor ghost hunter he’s ever seen. And extremely unluckily for him, he’s starting to get the feeling he understands maybe ten percent of what’s actually going on here, not to mention what’s at stake. ✦ game plan by treescape, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 11.2k    Or, Vader keeps capturing Obi-Wan during the Wars. Obi-Wan keeps escaping. It’s kind of a thing. ✦ Provocation by ToolMusicLover, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 4.9k    Or: Obi-Wan and Anakin attempt to navigate their complicated relationship with barbed words and wilful ignorance. It wasn’t going well. ✦ Languages by Crowgirl, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 6.5k    So Anakin pulls out a map and makes a list. REBELS RECS: ✦ The Scent of You by ambiguously, kanan/hera & cast, a smidge of nsfw, 2.9k    Everything changes after Malachor, and Kanan has trouble finding his balance. ✦ Heard It in a Love Song (Can’t Be Wrong) by ambiguously, zeb/kallus, 2.7k    Kallus can’t quite figure out what makes Zeb tick, but he keeps trying. ORIGINAL TRILOGY/MANDALORIAN RECS: ✦ A Discussion of Choices by Peppermint_Shamrock, luke & mace, 2k    Mace Windu has traveled the galaxy since the fall of the Republic, keeping out of the Empire’s sight and teaching where he can. Upon the request of a ghost of an old friend, Mace finds himself instructing Luke Skywalker, who is still reeling from the truth of Vader’s identity. ✦ staring down the barrel of the hot sun by magneticwave, luke/din & obi-wan & grogu & mace & cast, 25.7k    “Gone to a Child of the Watch, the Darksaber has,” Grand Master Yoda announces in his creaky little voice. “Peace, there is not, and yet peace, there must be.” ✦ Released by Peppermint_Shamrock, cody & rex & luke & cast, 6k    Nearly two and a half decades late, Cody’s chip is finally removed. Adjusting to having his mind returned to him after so long takes time, and Cody struggles with questions of his purpose of the past, present, and future. Fortunately, he does not have to struggle alone. ✦ A Tatooine Rainstorm by skatzaa, leia & luke & shmi, 1.7k    Leia meets a ghost. ✦ Dealing with the Darksaber by Peppermint_Shamrock, din & bo-katan & cara, 1.3k    After her recovery, Bo-Katan contacts Din to challenge him for the darksaber. Din is still very much not interested in the whole affair. FULL DETAILS + RECS HERE

[kcrabb88]

For the 🔥 ask game, can I ask for 16, 17, and 20 for Star Wars? 😃

16. You can’t understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

There are a lot of answers to this question because Star Wars is a huge fandom, HOWEVER, on that bothers me a lot personally are the crimes in the Quinlan Vos tag here and on Ao3. Quinlan IS funny and he IS flirty and he's really chaotic which I adore about him, but the last thing he is is stupid? And I see that characterization a lot? Either that, or he's just there to be the chaos guy. He's a Jedi Master! A legendary spy! He has insecurities about how close he has to walk to the dark side to do his job sometimes (and insecurities about his fall and return to the light). Quinlan has a grin that can kill, but he also has a lot of complex stuff going on underneath that grin. I get so frustrated when characters like him get reduced down to (1) trait. He's one of those characters where fanon really interrupts a much more compelling canon portrayal.

17. There should be more of this type of fic/art

I wish there were more fics about Obi-Wan and his friendships with Padme and Bail? I love his relationships with them, and they aren't as common as you'd think they'd be?

20. Part of canon you found tedious or boring

I really, really, really do not care about Mandalorian warrior culture? I like Din, I love Sabine, and while I have my issues with some stuff Satine does re: how she treats Obi-Wan and interacts with the Clone War as a whole, she was RIGHT about Mandalore. That planet doesn't need more warrior culture!! It needs what she was trying to bring: peace. The third season of Mando made me see red for how much it erased that part of the planet's history and held up Death Watch (a former terrorist group!) like it was totally normal, and brought back the warrior culture that was responsible for centuries of war like it was no big. I found it all so deeply boring and I wanted Din to leave tbh.

(This is not to say that the Mandalorians deserved what the Empire did to them, because no one does!)

[phoenixyfriend]

Hondo Saves the Galaxy

I have a VERY stupid fix-it idea

So you know that one scene in Leverage where Parker just picks pockets on reflex while passing some dudes with guns in the rehab facility?

And you know how Hondo (or someone on his crew, but let's say Hondo) somehow nicked Dooku's lightsaber without him noticing?

Right, so.

I want Hondo to brush past Palpatine during a chance encounter, attempt to pick his pocket for whatever rich politicians have on them, whether credits or expensive communicators or data chips with highly sensitive information, and instead grabs Palpatine's sabers.

And walks a few steps, then looks down at his hands and realizes that this is NOT what he intended to steal, but significantly worse news, and the Chancellor didn't notice, which is... uh...

Huh.

"Kenobi, my old friend!" "It's four in the-- where did you get this number?" "Little details, little details, you need not worry, for Hondo has some very important questions!" "If they aren't important, I'm arresting you myself." "To be sure! I would, after all, only submit to one as--" "OHNAKA." "Is the Chancellor allowed to have lightsabers?" "What." "I just lifted two of these fiddly little laser swords off of him. Maybe they're antiques, but I thought I should ask my favorite je--" "Where are you? I'm coming and I'm bringing a friend and if this is a setup, Anakin's coming after me and you KNOW he doesn't bluff." "I'll take that as a 'no, my amazing and most talented friend, captain Hondo Ohnaka, Prince of Pirates, the Chancellor should not have laser swords.'" "For pity's sake, Ohnaka, YOU'RE GOING TO DIE. RUN."

Hondo only knows a few Jedi but one of them is KENOBI, so.

Also the vibe here is very... this video.

The friend is Quinlan, since they're both on planet for plot reasons and psychometry's a neat shortcut to confirming what the FUCK is up with these sabers.

Obi-Wan's just like THERE ARE NO GOOD REASONS FOR HIM TO HAVE THOSE WITHOUT THE JEDI COUNCIL KNOWING, GET OUT OF THERE.

@lizasweetling suggested:

what if Hondo went to a political mixer? they're supposed to be open to people with connections, but hondo is not really who they meant

so he's got like 9 lbs of politician pocket brick a brak and also 2 lazer swords he got those and thought to himself Whelp, that is officially where I stop pushing my luck and left to phone a friend* * friend here meaning Obi Wan

Which I love.

Anyway.

OBI-WAN DOESN'T HAVE TO HUNT DOWN QUINLAN BECAUSE THEY WERE SHARING A BED. Platonic or romantic, don't care, the comm was loud and obnoxious and woke up Quinlan too.

Liza:

they were cuddling, sleeping so tired from everything in their lives being frought now Kenobi deserves to make death threats for disrupted sleep right now

Also Hondo got himself squirreled away in the hour or so between Stealing A Saber and Calling Kenobi. He's is going to get so many pardons for discovering this, after the mess is cleaned up. Savior of the galaxy! A new title to add to his collection!

Dooku and Palpatine in adjoining cells and Dooku just snidely commenting that it's not so easy to avoid that pirate's sticky fingers, now is it.

I also like the idea of Obi-Wan calling Anakin, also upset at being woken up, with "got a lead on the Sith Lord but it's coming from Ohnaka, I'm bringing Quinlan a backup. If this is a trap, come wreck shop to get me out."

But more polite, of course

Anakin's upset that HE isn't backup, and there's bitching about how Anakin isn't even AT THE TEMPLE and this is time-sensitive, so he's backup-backup, since Quinlan was closer and they need his psychometry anyway.

Why did you wake him up if it's not to COME WITH YOU on the stabbing mission. (Because it's not a stabbing mission, Anakin.) (It's not a stabbing mission yet.)

They don't mention to Anakin that it's about Palpatine, and that's part of why he's not invited. It's technically secondary to "Quinlan was right there and I need his hands anyway" but only barely.

This leads into Obi-Wan having to introduce Hondo to the entire council when explaining how he got this information, and defending his trust of that info with "Master Vos corroborated it!"

Part of the issue, of course, is that the Temple is an information/logistics hub for the war effort, and bringing in any kind of visitor is a security nightmare, but especially someone like Hondo.

Hondo offers to wear handcuffs but only if Obi-Wan leads him in [Flirting]

Obi-Wan wants Quinlan to jump in with "hands off my man" but Quinlan's too busy laughing at him in a pained attempt to distract himself from the Awful News

Liza again:

on the bright side: they get through this fast enough, it's entirely possible the counsil could confront Palps when he doesn't have semi secret weaponry Quinlan is finding everything funny right now he's coping pretty well all considered

"Did you remember to tell Anakin he doesn't need to come rescue you?" "I sent Ahsoka with instructions to drag him to Dex's." "Shouldn't be be here? He's one of our most skilled dueli--" "Palpatine." "...quite."

Anyway I'm going to clean this up and get it posted as a proper one-shot at some point, probably.

[transmalewife]

Alright, let's talk about attachment

I can’t find clear information on when exactly the non-attachment rule was added to the code. It was either soon before or soon after the great sith war. Either way, for the VAST majority of the existence of the Jedi, it wasn’t a thing. Jedi got married and had families for over 20000 years, then added the non-attachment rule, which ultimately led to their destruction. And before anyone tries to tell me I believe they deserved to be genocided, I don’t. I have never actually seen anyone say that, but I see people argue against it constantly, and imply anyone who doesn’t think the Jedi were perfect and blameless thinks that. I don’t think they deserved to die, I think they needed to change. And Yoda says that himself, many times. The Jedi weren’t prepared for the return of the sith, or the war. They had separated from the military 1000 years before, and the galaxy was in relative peace all this time, so the order’s role changed to one that worked very well with their rules. Detachment meant they could be impartial when overseeing political disagreements, lack of possessions meant they would be focused on the mission at hand and not prone to taking bribes, and distancing themselves from the general population meant they were more or less uniform, and could be trusted not to side with someone for personal reasons.

All of this falls apart once they become an army again. Impartiality is a flaw when they have to defend one side at all cost and not even allow themselves to consider compromise. Lack of possessions and attachment to people means they are prone to taking unnecessary risks, because they have nothing to lose, and do things like send 14 year olds into battle, thinking of the “greater good” over the safety of children. And the order being a monolith, with set rules and philosophy distinct from the rest of the population meant the Jedi trusted Dooku long after they should have stopped, because he used to be a Jedi after all, surely he still follows the code.

Now, I am not saying non-attachment is always bad, I think it served a very specific purpose in the order, and to some extent worked for many years. However.

Humans are a social species. Human babies NEED physical contact and affection to develop physically. Children need a stable, strong, and supportive relationship to their caregiver to properly develop psychologically. And after last year I don’t think anyone will argue that adults don't need connection with other people just as much. And not just shallow interactions, but open affection and love. Love of any kind, because claiming that the Jedi only forbid romantic love is just untrue. I think people tend to forget that "Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is essential to a Jedi's life. So you might say, that we are encouraged to love." isn’t the actual doctrine, it’s a literal pick up line that Anakin uses on Padme.

Ahsoka and Obi-Wan both get criticized by other Jedi for their entirely platonic attachment to Anakin, and vice versa. Now, humans are the most common species in the galaxy, and in the Jedi order. Many other species are near-human, so it’s safe to assume at least some, if not most of them also need that companionship and affection to develop and live happy and stable lives. I do believe that non-attachment is a valid philosophy and chosen path in life if done carefully and within reason, I just don’t think we have a single major character that actually applies to. And chosen is an important word here. Jedi don’t get much of a choice. I’m not trying to start the baby-stealing debate here. I hear the argument of ‘force sensitives are dangerous if left untrained, and said training should start as early as possible’. I think finding a way to deal with that problem was an insanely complicated decision, and taking children into the temple as young as possible is not a bad solution. I don’t entirely agree with not letting them see their families later, (especially since in legends Obi-Wan was allowed to visit his family, which implies Anakin couldn’t go free his mother specifically because he was already too attached), but the idea is sound. I do also understand that no one is forcing Jedi to stay in the order and they can leave for whatever reason at any time. But that isn’t exactly a free choice either. Leaving the order means leaving the only home you remember, the only people you know to make your own way in the galaxy, and staying with those people means you can never fully love them. It’s a difficult solution to a complicated question, and for the most part, it worked (not always, and not exactly as intended, but I’ll come back to that.) Children grew up in the order, were trained to control themselves and the force, and became Jedi who were impartial, patient, and balanced. But everything falls apart when you introduce someone who wasn’t raised in the temple.

In The Rising Force, 13 year old Obi-Wan had barely been off Coruscant in his life. He describes himself as sheltered and unaware of all the pain in the galaxy, and says it was done on purpose, so younglings wouldn’t have to face the dark side before they were ready for it. But Anakin had seen nothing but darkness, pain and injustice before he joined the order. He was severely traumatized, and while the temple might have had some ways of dealing with trauma and PTSD in adults, they had no experience in treating the same in a child, because their children were kept safe and protected. The idea of letting go of your pain and fear only works if you know you have a safe place to come back to, if you’ve spent the first decade or so of your life in the most protected place in the galaxy. Anakin spent the first decade of his life as a slave. He couldn’t let go of his fear, because fear was what kept him alive. Fear is not irrational if you are constantly in danger, it’s what protects you, keeps you aware of the limits you can push before you get punished. And that mindset doesn’t fade just because you’re out of that situation, especially if your only family, the closest person to you, is still facing that danger every day.

I’ve seen people use every excuse possible to explain why Anakin didn’t see his mother again to avoid blaming the council, including, and I shit you not, “He just didn’t have her comm number”. But to me that seems disingenuous, when we see in his first meeting with the council that they already consider him too attached. It's one of the main reasons they don’t want him to be trained, so it seems logical that they wouldn’t allow him to see her once he became a padawan. I also want to mention that what Yoda says, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” Is just… blatant catastrophizing. Right? Like we can all see that the escalation is not rational there at all. Maybe it could apply to something else, but not to a child who just left his mother for the first time in his life and went from a tiny dustball in the middle of nowhere to the most populated planet in the galaxy, and is now being tested by a bunch of old people with the power to decide his future. Obviously he’s afraid, and obviously he’s not dealing with it the way Jedi younglings do. That, in and of itself doesn't doom him to fall. Also what Yoda misses there is that suffering leads to fear. This is a closed loop, and one that has defined Anakin’s entire childhood.

Let’s come back to how the system doesn’t always work. The way I see it, most of the characters we see are attached. Obi-Wan is considered one of the greatest Jedi of his time. Windu describes him as “our most cunning and insightful Master—and our most tenacious”. And yet, he was not insightful enough to look past his love for Anakin, his attachment, and see how close to falling he was. Ahsoka was so attached to Anakin she refused to listen to Maul on Mandalore, refused to even consider the posibility he could fall. She was arguably the person with the best shot at preventing the empire forming at that point, and she loved anakin so much she doomed him and the entire galaxy. Aayla admitted to thinking of Quinlan as her father, and also, apparently in legends had a long relationship with Kit. Even Mace didn’t follow the code when he decided to kill Palpatine, which directly led to his death and the empire. He also indirectly caused the war to start. According to wookiepedia “Windu viewed Dooku as the shatterpoint of the entire Separatist movement, which meant striking Dooku down would theoretically end the imminent clone war before it even began. However, Windu's prior attachments to Dooku clouded his judgment.” I’m not even going to mention Kanan and Ezra, who are obviously family.

So basically everyone is attached and lying about it. How has no one thought that maybe this isn’t the healthiest way to live and tried to change the code? Well, I have a theory, and it’s Yoda. He was 900 years old when he died, and was on the council for the vast majority of his life. I can’t find when exactly he became grand master, but it’s safe to assume he held some degree of power over the entire order for most of a millennium. At the end of TPM he tells Obi-Wan “Confer on you the level of Jedi knight, the council does. But agree with your taking this boy as your padawan learner, I do not.” Then he reverses that decision by himself. So either he has the power to veto the council’s word, or who gets trained is entirely up to him. Either way, not great, considering his lifespan is so much longer than most Jedi, and therefore his approach to life is vastly different. Humans need love and closeness to live. However, while we don’t know much about Yoda’s species, it probably isn’t a social one. You could count all the characters of this species on two (human) hands, and Yoda lived in complete isolation for 20 years on Dagobah, and only went a little bit insane. They are naturally rare, and therefore probably lead solitary lives in nature. Moreover, Yoda outlived every master who trained him, and almost every padawan he trained himself, (there’s a great post about that here) so even if he wasn’t naturally predisposed to non-attachment, he would have had to learn it to deal with all the loss he had to live through over the years.

A lot of people think that Anakin fell because he had attachments, which is not true. He fell because of how his attachments played out and/or ended. The most obvious example being Palpatine, who used Anakin’s trust and friendship to groom him for over a decade and actively undermine Anakin’s trust towards anyone else, especially the order. (more on that here). Obi-Wan refused to take on the role of a father figure that Anakin tried to shove him into, so he turned to someone who did accept it. It’s not Anakin’s fault that it turned out to be the worst person alive, nor can we expect him to notice when he’s known Palpatine since he was a child. Another failure of jedi non-attachment, because a loving parent or guardian would not let their child be used as a bargaining chip when the most powerful politician in the galaxy blackmailed the order into allowing him to meet Anakin regularly, but a distant teacher and detached knight thinking of the greater good might. The other attachments Anakin had were taken from him (Shmi and Ahsoka, the last orchestrated by Palpatine who was fully ready to give her the death penalty to make Anakin more unstable), or he was forced to lie and hide them, compromising his vows as a Jedi (Padme) or refused to choose Anakin over the order/their principles (Obi-Wan, and again Ahsoka, and to some extent Padme, but he’d already fallen then). All these people had every right to make the choices they made, but it wasn’t the act of loving them that made Anakin turn to the dark side, it was how those attachments played out.

I think everyone agrees that Yoda is as detached as a Jedi should, if not can, be, and that didn’t prevent Dooku from falling. We see that explored in more detail with Barriss and Luminara. Luminara is detached and distant, she’s fond of Barriss, but their relationship is not familial in the slightest, and she repeatedly shows her willingness to put the greater good and the mission before Barriss’ safety and even life. And yet Barriss still falls. A complex combination of events and choices caused each of those characters to fall, not the simple presence or absence of attachment.

And lastly, just as attachment can make you unstable if your relationship with that person is unstable, it can also make you stronger. There is a reason Anakin and Obi-Wan were the face of the army. Not only did their obvious attachment (the strongest between two jedi we are shown) make them more relatable to the public, but they, when working as a team, are shown repeatedly to be more or less undefeatable. They spend half of aotc flinging themselves off great heights because they know the other will be there to catch them. They know from years of experience that they have backup and they know each other well enough (or force bond communicate) that they can trust the other will be where he needs to be to help/save them. Contrast that to how Windu and Palpatine fight in rots once the window breaks- very carefully, clearly holding back to keep themselves safe. Neither of them has backup until Anakin arrives, but until the last second they can't be sure which one he will choose. Anakin and Obi-Wan fight the same way on Mustafar, especially when balancing on that thin bridge. No acrobatics, swinging arms to keep balance, keeping their distance, being almost uncharacteristically careful compared to how they treated heights in aotc, in tcw, and on the invisible hand in rots, because they both know the other won't catch them if they fall this time.

[calltomuster]

Star Wars Fic Recs Take 5

[first fic rec list] [second fic rec list] [third fic rec list] [fourth fic rec list]

Hope you're having a lovely day, friends! Here, take some more fic recs to make it even better!

Infinite Sadness (what does your heart tell you?) by @the-last-kenobi (gen, one-shot, 12.5k words) This fic definitely lives up to its title, not just in what happens to Obi-Wan, but in the sheer, pervasive sadness and desperation and subtle despair that plagues him as he lives life after life over and over again, trying to make things better each time. But it's not a flashy despair, it's muted and ongoing and never over-the-top, and well, it's infinite sadness. I definitely think this fic is slept on, it's absolutely amazing and I highly encourage you to check it out.

How Qui-Gon Accidentally Adopted a Baby by @the-last-kenobi (gen, WIP, 18/? chapters, 26.6k words) Oh, did the first fic on this list make you sad? I have the perfect remedy: another fic by @the-last-kenobi! To say that this fic brings me immense joy is an understatement. This fic makes me smile when nothing else will. You get the premise from the title, and I'll admit it may look a little crack-fic-y based on that, but the sheer cuteness of this fic and the quality of the prose elevates it beyond anything else. I'm not even kidding, this fic makes me want to have kids, that's how adorable baby Obi-Wan is in this.

The When Duty Is Done series by thosenearandfarwars (Obi-Wan/Cody, incomplete, 14/? parts, 90k words) I recommended the first story in this series way back in my third fic rec list, and it's only gotten better since then. I really like this series because it imagines -- well, I don't want to just say an ideal post-ROTS universe, because that implies that things are just magically all better, but I think it's a realistic ideal post-ROTS universe. The Jedi Order reforms itself, the clones get reparations and the ability to govern themselves, Anakin doesn't join Palpatine, etc. Through it all is an absolutely wonderful story about two people and their love for each other. It's just lovely.

Fire to ash, present to past (who knows for tomorrow?) by blueberrywizard (Obi-Wan/Cody, one-shot, 11.6k words) One day, Qui-Gon's apprentice completely changes. Or at least, that's how it seems to Qui-Gon, who has no idea that his Padawan is actually now a much older version trapped in this young body. This fic is told from many different points of view and I really like the prose. Definitely one that sticks with you.

|nothing quite like this| by littlekaracan (gen, one-shot, 6.6k words) Don't read this unless you want to feel like your heart has been ripped to pieces. This fic is a piece of experimental fiction, framed as a class reading for Jedi students in the future who are learning about the Purge. It's just devastating, truly devastating. Even though it features no characters we'd be familiar with, you just get so drawn into the world of this Purge survivor, and hearing their experiences is brutal.

In The Afterman, Solitude by kanerallels (gen, one-shot, 2.2k words, Obi-Wan & Quinlan) Obi-Wan is in a cantina on Tatooine after ROTS and runs into Quinlan Vos. What follows reminds him that he's not alone in the galaxy, not like he thought he was. I really like the progression of this fic, how real it seems to the characters. Obi-Wan doesn't just immediately blurt out what happened, and Quinlan is much more subtle than he usually is in fic. I really enjoyed this one.

Ghost Company by existentialAF (Obi-Wan/Cody, one-shot, 2.2k words) Cody's chip gets removed and he makes it his mission to find Obi-Wan and help him in the way he couldn't when Order 66 went down. A fascinating and touching AU of what could have happened post-ROTS if things had gone a little differently. I'd absolutely love to see more in this 'verse but it is a one-shot so I'll be content with what we're given!

The Morning Star series by Kurenaino (4 parts, 1.7 million words, incomplete) I first read this series back in November of 2020 and it has lived in my head rent free ever since then. I'm not kidding, I have to limit myself to only rereading this every couple of months so that it doesn't become too much of a good thing -- and make no mistake, I do reread it every few months, all 1.7 million words of it. To make what is clearly a very long story short, this series charts Obi-Wan's fall to the Dark side post-Naboo and follows him throughout the entire Star Wars saga (TPM, AOTC, Clone Wars, ROTS, Rebels, etc.) I feel like that description doesn't do it justice, though. The sheer breadth of this series takes my breath away. It feels expansive in a way that no fic I've ever read before has, oscillating from large-scale politics to heart-pounding action to sweet and tender love, both romantic and familial. (Oh, and this might be obvious from the whole "Sith Obi-Wan" thing, but just a warning that in these stories, Obi-Wan does some absolutely despicable things, just because he can. Murder, rape, mind control, etc, so take care.) But though he's Sith, he's still got such a heart in him, just like the Obi-Wan we know and love, and you can't help but feel for him at times. And this might not be as much a selling point for you as it was for me, but this series has some absolutely fantastic Thrawn content. He's going toe-to-toe with Obi-Wan and it's glorious, a true match. I'm in the middle of my latest reread of this series, and truly it just makes me so happy. I never see anyone talking about this series and I'm sad it doesn't get the attention it deserves. It really only gets better and better the further into the series you get. Cannot recommend enough!!

There is no Ignorance, there is Knowledge by @sirikenobi12 (gen, one-shot, 4.1k words) A wonderful installment for Jedi June! This fic follows Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, and then Obi-Wan and Anakin and Ahsoka, as they teach and learn lessons on what knowledge means to them. It was an unexpected tearjerker for me, there's one scene in particular that makes me tremble just thinking about it. I just love the way each relationship is portrayed here, and the care that is put into every word. Amazing!

Keeper of the Force by @pandora15 (gen, WIP, 19/20 chapters, 84.4k words) I can't believe I haven't put this on a rec list before, but since there's only the epilogue left, now is the perfect time. This fic starts out small-scale Obi-Wan whump (not saying that in a derogatory way, that's my exact favorite thing) and grows in size as it goes to eventually become a ROTS AU that is oh so good. It's touching, and inspiring, and lovely, and every time a new chapter posts I drop everything to read it. Can't believe the end of this ride is almost upon us!!

If you like any of these fics, please consider reblogging so they can get more exposure! And if you noticed I missed someone’s Tumblr account, or linked the wrong one, please let me know!

[iidigestive-readerii]

The Mandalorian and the Mandalorian

*

A long silence stretched between them as they walked down the halls from the landing bay. It could have been awkward, but the Jedi master beside him was so at ease with himself that it made it difficult to be quiet for long. There was something about him that made everyone want to tell him everything.

Maybe that was some Force thing. 

"Rebuilding going well?"

Luke shrugged, tucking his arms behind his back. "As well as it can, given how much damage the Empire did…" he shook his head, giving a small laugh.

"You're not just talking politics?"

"It didn't even twenty years for thousands of years and history to be wiped out. It's astonishing, how manipulative the Empire was, and not to just the Jedi. Piecing together of what was with what remains… it feels like a near impossible task sometimes."

"People like Lady Tano and Bo-Katan Kryze are still alive," Din pointed out. He found himself briefly touching against the Dark Saber attached to his belt. It was still a strange sensation. "Surely they are a wealth of information."

"Oh they are...though some of them associated are a pain in the ass," Luke added under his breath. 

Din raised his eyebrows, looking out the window of the Coruscant traffic before leaning against the wall. He was antsy for his son's class to end to go see him, but this conversation was... enlightening. "How many Jedi survived the purge?"

"...there were ten-thousand Jedi living in the Temple alone before the Clone Wars… the Clone Wars depleted about three-fourths of the population…" Luke tapped his fingers, thinking. "I would say a few thousand survived the purge, and several more Force sensitives across the Galaxy went into hiding."

"There are Jedi Temples besides here on Coruscant?"

"Yep."

"... incredible."

Luke looked at him, his expression softening for the first time since they'd met at the landing dock. "Grogu is doing really well Din. I'm not surprised, considering how he did live in this Temple in his early childhood. His classmates love him, and he loves them as well."

Din made a noise at the back of his throat, not responding immediately. He had his helmet off and tucked under his arm, which was an incredible feat in itself, but he trusted the man that taught his son. "Good...he deserves to be around those of his own kind."

Luke chuckled, glancing down the hall and frowning. A moment later, a few children ran past them, bowing their heads quickly before scurrying away. His blue eyes glimmered with the light coming through the windows. "Mandalorians and Jedi have a long and intricate interwoven history. I'm sure you've realized that."

"That's an elegant way of putting things," a Coruscanti lilted voice sounded while footsteps approached.

Shoving his helmet back on, Din whirled around at the newcomer. 

He failed to miss Luke rolling his eyes. 

The stranger before them was tall and slim, dressed in black and red Mandalorian armor. A Jedi robe covered the armor...with a lightsaber attached to his belt. The sun hit his ginger hair, highlighting the bits of blond sprinkled through his head and well trimmed beard. 

But his eyes were far more unsettling than Luke's ever were. 

Like they knew everything, had seen everything. So incredibly sad, but so hopeful for the future. Wanting the best for everyone while knowing that happiness was never for him, not for long. 

"Hello there," the newcomer said wryly. He smiled, and it made Din want to both punch him and invite him for tea. "Din, I'm glad we're finally on planet together. I've heard quite a bit about you."

"How do you know my name? And why are you wearing Mandalorian armor?"

"...Korkie."

Din looked between the two men. It didn't take a Jedi to feel the tension between them. 

Luke gave a small sigh, composing himself. "Din Djarin, meet - "

"Prince Kladius Robert Kryze-Kenobi," the newcomer said with a sweeping bow. 

"Kryze?" Din echoed. "Lady Bo-Katan is the last of her line."

Korkie snickered. "Oh she's saying that now? Well," he looked at himself dramatically, patting his forelimbs. "I'm alive, despite the Empire's best efforts. As is a good chunk of my clan. I'm her nephew."

"You're next in line or something to lead your clan?"

"I lead my clan - and most of Mandalore, in her absence." Korkie leaned against the nearest pillar, crossing his arms while he glanced at Luke. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Not at all, Your Grace," Luke muttered sarcastically. The smallest of a bemused smile was on his face.

"No one rules Mandalore. It's a hellscape."

"Ever been to the system?" Korkie snapped. His eyes narrowed to the Dark Saber on Din's belt. "It takes more than the saber that killed my mother to rule it."

"Pardon?" 

"I'm gonna leave you two be - " Luke began before being stopped by both men. He stepped back, raising his hands in surrender. 

"I won this blade in combat. Your aunt agreed the Mandalorians would not accept a false ruler."

Korkie barked out a harsh laugh. Energy crackled off of him, a fierce energy that came from someone bred and raised to rule, to protect his people with whatever means necessary. "Mandalore goes through rulers every ten years. We're a warring batch, it's what we do...but one of us is the son of Duchess Satine and Obi-Wan Kenobi. One of us stands a chance with it's politics on the intergalactic stage."

Din cocked his head, then stepped forward. He kept his voice low. It was habit, despite the fact he knew that both men with him could kill him without batting an eye. 

And he knew that only one of them would not feel guilty, and it certainly would not be Luke. 

"Mandalore is a way of life. I chose to become a Mandalorian. You were born into it."

Korkie smiled sadly. "And yet we both had our parents killed and our childhoods ripped away. There's no point comparing how Mandalorian we are. It takes more than a saber to rule. My mother knew that...my aunt has yet to learn that."

Somewhere in the Temple, an old fashioned school bell rang several times. 

"Classes are done for the day," Like interrupted passively. "If you two are not done, I suggest finding a conference room before a few hundred people flood these halls - half of them children. There should be one available on the fourth floor, second wing from the lifts."

"Don't care to mediate Skywalker?" Korkie asked, a smile curving on his face. "Or is a Sith assassin calling your name?"

"I'd like to spar with my wife without being mentally exhausted from your negotiating, Kenobi."

"Funny - say hi to Mara for me."

Luke gave a two-fingered salute, getting a laugh from the prince. He walked away, joined by an ancient Kiffar. The men were seen laughing, and the Kiffar turned around to wave enthusiastically at Korkie, who waved back with delight. 

"Who was that?" Din asked lightly. 

"Quinlan Vos? Oh, one of my dad's best friends. He survived the purge and came back to teach at Skywalker's request."

One thing that Din had realized into his introduction into Jedi culture...everyone knew everyone. It was a family. 

...a family that he would never be apart of, no matter that Grogu and him were a clan of two.

...and Grogu would outlive him, probably wouldn't even remember him, probably would live for nearly 900 more years if the rumors of Yoda and Yaddle were true. 

There would always be a connection to both worlds, Jedi and Mandalorian, he would not understand. 

"You don't feel welcome by either of your cultures, do you?" Din asked, the thought dawning on him as the information processed. 

Korkie didn't turn from looking out the window, but he cracked a small smile. "I'm the son of a Mandalorian pacifist and a Jedi that wanted to be a warrior no matter what he said. One doesn't get to where I am without struggling."

"How come I never knew you existed? You rule our people."

"Did Luke mention that the Empire erased decades and centuries of history?" Korkie finally looked at him, his eyes glistening. "I teach the history of Jedi and Mandalorian interactions across the Galaxy. I'm trying to fill in the blanks that were destroyed. That's why you haven't heard of me. This Galaxy is fractured."

"Sounds like a big job for a one man. Poor bastard."

"It isn't so bad. I have two whole communities to help me." Korkie pushed himself off the pillar, dusting imaginary dust off himself. "You're welcome in either community, Din...you have to remember that."

"I just can't rule?" 

Korkie smirked, a glint in his eyes that could be called mischievous. "You rule your own clan, Mandalorian."

Din jumped when he felt something tugging his cloak, and glanced down to find his son looking up at him. "Hey kid," he muttered, squatting down to be eye-level. "Miss me?"

He heard the prince walking away, footsteps growing quieter. 

Grogu had on a small knapsack, and shrugged it off before reaching his arms up. His smile was wide while Din picked him up, holding him close. 

Clan of Two...that sounded good.

"Wanna show me your room?" 

[antianakin]

Yeah, I mean, Quinlan was theoretically on Tatooine to do SOMETHING, investigating the Hutts maybe, or helping with abolition movements, who knows. There's no reason to think the Jedi WOULDN'T be willing to have somebody out there giving assistance of some kind if there's no war and they have someone to spare. I like to think Anakin could manage negotiating with the Tuskens himself, just for the poetry of it all and the fact that he DID have a certain amount of Jedi training already and basic negotiation should be relatively within his wheelhouse. But the Jedi could help in terms of investigation or infiltrating Jabba's court and things like that. And of course could ultimately help with bringing in Republic resources when that becomes something the abolitionists need/want and help in making sure the Tuskens get the representation they deserve if Tatooine enters into the Republic.

I think Anakin honestly would've been just fine with the Lars family. He might've struggled with the adjustment initially, might've taken some time to warm up to Cliegg and Owen and sharing his mother with them, but his actions in TPM while on Tatooine all point to the fact that Anakin was generally willing to trust people if he had good reason to do so. And he'd have Shmi there as a trusted authority to help him work through that. I think ultimately Anakin probably would've loved having a normal family and a regular home and working on a farm and having a brother to play with. He would've recognized how happy his mother was and done what he could to not ruin that for her. His flaws mostly start to come out when he meets the Jedi Council, that's where we see his mistrust of authority come in and his unwillingness to face his own fears and how that comes out as anger and defensiveness. But he's also on his own and has left behind the trusted figure of his mother that allows him to handle that kind of situation better. Otherwise, his flaws while on Tatooine seem to be fairly basic "9-year-old kid" flaws.

And yeah, both options I think would lead to Anakin being a perfectly good father if he chose to go that route. One of hte things I think that isn't done super well in the Prequels is emphasizing whether Anakin truly even WANTS kids or not. My personal interpretation tends to be that Anakin wants ONE PERSON to create a little family of two where that person's life sort-of revolves around him and him alone. Because that's the life he had with Shmi, that's what he associates with the concept of family and love. But adding kids into the mix sort-of ruins that by forcing his partner to share her attention away from him, something we can see in both the films and in TCW that Anakin doesn't tend to like at all. Anakin is a jealous lover who never wants Padme to love anybody more than him or focus her attention anywhere that isn't him. I don't see canon Anakin actually WANTING kids at all.

But part of the reason for that is because canon Anakin never deals with his own issues and so gets stuck on this really toxic attachment-filled version of love and family that presumably gets encouraged by Palpatine. A version of Anakin that has the opportunity to really work on himself and figure out healthier ways to love people and understand what it is he truly wants in life and what might genuinely make him happy could easily end up at a place where he realizes he DOES want kids. Perhaps not right away, he wants to do some work first, wants to let himself grow some more, but he DOES want kids. He wants to give Shmi grandchildren to dote on, he wants to give his children the same happy family experience he had, etc. And he'd be a perfectly wonderful father, specifically BECAUSE he either was allowed to grow up happily with the Larses or with the Jedi and passes on the lessons he learned from them to his own children.

They don't even have to be kids WITH PADME, necessarily (don't tell my friend that lol). He could adopt several orphans, take on some of the slave kids they free who don't have families to go back to. He could end up in a relationship with literally anybody else and have kids with them instead. The options are limitless! And that's the best part of both AUs is that you can really expand upon what a happier life for Anakin might look like without feeling limited to the things he thinks he wants in canon. He wants Padme because he clung to Padme as a replacement for Shmi and he idealized Padme into this unrealistic person that didn't truly reflect Padme at all. Would Anakin actually truly fall for Padme if he didn't have either of those things pulling him towards her? Would it be like Sabine and Ezra in Rebels where he has a crush on her at first but ultimately the two of them grow into a really strong friendship instead?

The sky is the limit!

Sorry if this isn't the kind of thing you want asked, you can ignore this if it isn't.

But in a no Palpatine AU, let's say Anakin matures just enough to realize that Jedi life isn't for him and leaves the Jedi Order. What do you think he'd do with his life after leaving? And do you think he'd stay friends with people like Obi-Wan?

This is totally the kind of thing I want asked!

Okay, so, the way I see it, there's two options for this AU.

Option 1: Everything stays the same up through TPM but Palpatine like slips on the stairs before Padme arrives on Coruscant or something, so he doesn't become Chancellor and never meets Anakin.

Option 2: Palpatine died before TPM or just never existed, and so the events of TPM go radically different or just don't happen at all, which has a lot of ripple effects on the entire storyline.

I think Option 1 is probably the scenario you were imagining with this ask, and it's the easier one to answer, so I'll do that one first.

I think Anakin could really mature a LOT via the Jedi lifestyle, actually. Anakin in TPM as a 9 year old is a genuinely kind, compassionate, sweet kid who seems to just want to help people and has a somewhat child-like naive idea of how that would actually work in reality. Living as a Jedi without the intervention of Palpatine telling him he can't trust the Jedi would allow him to really benefit from all of their lessons. He'd learn to be more than just mature, he could learn real mindfulness, he'd learn to let go, he'd learn to be at peace with the world around him and with who he is and what he was.

I think Anakin could leave at a few different points, but I usually assume that in this kind of situation, Anakin would leave probably shortly before he gets Knighted. Because I think Anakin would have benefited so much from the Jedi's teachings that it would feel wrong to him to take those oaths, knowing that he doesn't truly mean them and can't truly commit to them. But he stays as a Padawan as long as he can because he does LIKE a lot of things about being a Jedi and the longer he stays, the more he can learn. If Obi-Wan and the Council trust him to be a Knight, he can trust that he's probably gotten about all he can from the experience and it's time to move on. He might not even entirely consciously REALIZE that he's doing this until the moment comes and he has that particular epiphany that he's just been waiting for that validation to know that it's okay to leave.

And in this scenario, there's probably no Darth Tyrannus, either, and likely no Separatists, so there's nothing putting Padme's life in danger which means Anakin and Obi-Wan probably don't end up coming back into her orbit before Anakin leaves the Order. There's no secret relationship of any kind. But on Padme's end, this means there's no WAR and a lot fewer difficulties in the Senate probably which might mean she feels more comfortable stepping away from being a Senator than we know she does in canon.

As for what Anakin does after he leaves, there's SO MANY options. A lot of people assume he'd go into engineering, which is valid. It'd be a pretty easy job to pick up after leaving, maybe on a ship that needs a mechanic on the crew or something so he gets to travel around a bit. He could be a pilot, get a ship of his own and get some kind of piloting job. He could just go into racing I guess, although I feel like his time as a Jedi and his desire to help people would keep him from making that a whole career.

My favorite option though is that he goes back to Tatooine to try to do some abolition/grassroots work out there. It'd be really interesting as a parallel universe storyline if one of the things he actually ends up focusing on when he goes back to Tatooine is learning to understand the Tuskens better and trying to build a better relationship between the Tuskens and the settlers. I think he'd obviously focus a lot on the slavery issue, but it'd be interesting if the Tuskens got folded into that at some point, too. Maybe that work eventually leads him into politics and back to Coruscant and the Republic Senate at some point and that's how he gets back in contact with Padme. Or maybe Padme leaves the Senate and starts working with grassroots organizations herself afterwards and ends up remembering her time on Tatooine and deciding to go there to help and that's how they reconnect.

This also allows Anakin to reconnect with Shmi who, if we take into account the deleted dialogue that implies Palpatine and Dooku were behind the capture by the Tuskens that led to her death, is alive and well and doing just fine on the Lars homestead. So not only does Anakin get his mother back, he gains an entire step-family along with her. Anakin and Owen might butt heads occasionally, but they do love each other and consider each other family. Anakin and Beru get along SWIMMINGLY, much to Owen's irritation. Maybe the Tusken connection happens via his family and their struggles with the local tribes.

And in this AU, there's no reason he WOULDN'T remain friends with Obi-Wan. It might be a more "Jedi-like" friendship in the sense that they don't necessarily see or speak to each other super often, but they share an unbreakable bond from the years they spent together as Master/Padawan and do reach out when they have the time or are in the same area, etc. There's no attachment, no obligations or expectations that either of them has to live up to, just... compassion and friendship and respect.

And this brings us to Option 2 which runs into a lot more speculation and can go any number of ways.

If Palpatine dies prior to TPM or just plain doesn't exist at all, this likely means that the events of TPM don't even happen. So whether Anakin ever even becomes a Jedi is completely questionable and if he does, his route to becoming one could be radically different which would impact the kind of Jedi he becomes and his relationships to both Padme and Obi-Wan. It's entirely possible he'd never even MEET Padme until he was either fully a Jedi or had left the Jedi, so whether he'd end up in a relationship with her is completely up in the air. He might not even be into her depending on what kind of person you assume Anakin and Padme end up becoming in this particular AU. Maybe Obi-Wan doesn't become his Master. Maybe Qui-Gon DOES become his Master because he doesn't die on Naboo and survives to the end of Obi-Wan's apprenticeship. Maybe Anakin stays on Tatooine and when Cliegg comes along, he frees both of them and Anakin grows up a Lars for a while and meets Beru and joins her in abolition efforts. Maybe he becomes a celebrity via the podracing gig and this gets him enough money to leave Tatooine to pursue a career doing something else. Maybe Quinlan is involved in discovering Anakin since he's halfway canonically on Tatooine at the same time as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.

Option 2 is kind-of a free for all, take your pick sort of option, so it's a little harder to definitively answer your questions about what he'd do and how his relationships would end up.