#and that's all a senator's revenge can amount to

[aurora-starwars]

Ooh I just saw a cute little AU prompt I wanna see if it can be used! So it’s the soulmate au where the reader shares eye color in one eye with their soulmate. I’d love it if you could do an angsty fluffy Anakin x reader would mate au with Anakin in his revenge of the sith era? Also, I was wondering if you write for Stargate or know any writer who does on here? There’s not enough Stargate love and it makes me sad 😞. Thanks lovely!

The Look of Terror In Your Eyes

Pairing: Anakin Skywalker x fem!reader; Soulmate au!!!!

Summary: Reader is one of padmé’s handmaidens, and while joining her on Mustafar, she finds a familiar pair of eyes. Eyes that shouldn’t be as red as they are…

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: fire, sobbing, sith, evil anakin, star wars stuff, related violence (not really) Idk, you let me know…

A/n: Thank you so much for waiting and requesting! Took a while to get out but I was feeling the angst after ep 7 of The Last Of Us. 😭😭😭 Also, sorry, I don’t know any writers for stargate! i had to look it up 😭😭, but if anyone has any recommendations, comment them. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, sorry for the long break y’all!!! <33333333

P.s: I love the soulmate au trope!!!!! <3

Masterlist

[Name] always loved the idea of a soulmate. The mere thought of a perfect person for her, a soul that perfect for hers sounded marvellous. Two hearts connected by the grace of the universe, or as the Jedi believe, the force. Many people debated the origin of this special connection between organisms; specifically humanoids. Some thought it was their planet’s deity that blessed–and in some cases, cursed– the living beings with companionship, others thought it wasn’t real, that it was all just some trick of a decease or parasite. But most have concluded and agreed that it was the work of the seemingly magic that holds the universe together; the force.

[Name] was a big fan of any theory or story she could hear about soulmates. Free time was spent asking the people around her about their second eye. She always wondered how other’s knew which eye was whose, and she was always met with, “You only know when you meet them, when you lock eyes.” [Name] often liked to imagine what her soulmate looked like. Which eye would be her soulmate’s and which would be her own? What would her soulmate look like with a body around her matching eyes? Would they be brunette? Blond? Would they be a man? Be a woman? What would it look like when they eventually locked eyes? Would their eyes fill with the amount of love [Name] knew that she would feel for them?

Thoughts of her special someone flooded her mind every moment she had time to think. And as much as she loved to think about it, she hardly had time too. [Name] was a busy girl as she was a handmaiden of Padmé and often was travelling, doing one of the other girls make up or switching places with Padmé in order to keep her safe. The senator was the girls main priority and honestly, she was their pride and joy.

This busy job didn’t keep [Name]’s thoughts from wandering at night and like a magnet, her mind would gravitate to her soulmate. She only began to think more about it after a trip to Naboo, where [Name] learned of two of Padmé’s previous handmaidens who were soulmates and had met each other through the former Queen’s protection program. While a wonderful story, [Name] couldn’t help but think about if she would meet her soulmate on the job, if ever. It was a large universe and more often than not, soulmates die before they are ever able to meet the soul destined for them.

Days in the senate were quiet and beyond mundane. And while every once and a while Padmé and her causes would get a win, those times were few and far in-between. Majority of days were spent in the rooms that were provided for the senators, pouring over documents and finding information on how to fix the wrongs of the galaxy, diplomatically.

But these issues are never resolved overnight, and after years of tireless hours of dedicated work within the senate, [Name] found herself less and less hopeful of the wonderful life she pictured outside of the senate. She dreamed of a life with her soulmate, back on Naboo, where she could be with her family and friends. Somewhere nice, somewhere where she could live out the rest of her life out in peace surrounded by everything she has ever loved.

Those dreams always seemed silly once she was sat in the senate, watching over Padmé time and time again, no hope that this life would cease. That the war would end and they could go back home once they finally had did all they could in repairing the senate. That [Name] could finally live out her happily ever after with the one she dreams of, but knows nothing of. Nothing but what one of their eye’s looks like.

Although soulmates could come as romantic or platonic, [Name] never cared. [Name] would be happy to not be lonely. To have someone by her side for the rest of her life. That was all [Name] dreamed of. Not being alone.

That was why she took the job after all. Of course, when the former Queen calls, it is hard to decline the honour of protecting the one and only Padmé Amidala. But that deal becomes a whole lot sweeter when there is a promise of a group of girls accompanying you. A promise that you will not be alone. That was very incising for [Name].

And while most of the senate meetings were snore inducing and late nights reading and rereading documents was beyond tedious, it was made incredibly better by the girls who had also agreed to lay their lives of the line for Padmé. They had become a sisterhood of sorts, a unbreakable friendship formed between them and there was an unspoken understanding that while they worked with Padmé, they were in for anything. That meant life or death, they stood together in order for Padmé to prosper.

That security meant everything to [Name]. In fact, that was everything to [Name]. Since she joined Padmé on her trip to Coruscant all of those years ago, [Name] has practically forgotten who she used to be, and was convinced that a part of her lied in this job. And that part would be ripped from her if she ever left the job, and she would be left alone.

Her dreams of meeting her soulmate never died though. In fact, that is what got her through every day. Every day that she spent with the people she loved so much, every day she dreaded them being taken from her. Thoughts and dreams of a perfect world, with her perfect person. No war, no slavery, no crime, just two souls meeting and living out the rest of their lives, just one day at a time.

But as she stood in front of the mirror of the fresher, all of those thoughts flew out the window. Traveling with Padmé as her escort, [Name] ended up on a J-type Naboo star skiff headed towards Mustafar. [Name] didn’t know why they were going to Mustafar or what would be waiting for them on the old mining planet, but she did know that she wasn’t ready.

It didn’t matter what met them on Mustafar, because all that really mattered to [Name] in the moment, was her reflection. Or more specifically, her right eye that had turned a gnarly, fresh blood red, with irises the colour of acid.

It only took a matter of moments before [Name] found tears running down her face. She pulled at the skin of her cheeks, moving in closer to look if what she had seen was right before closing her eyes. It was a vicious loop; pull, look, cover. She wasn’t sure how long this went on for, finding herself heaving on the floor what felt like a century later. What was she going to do?

She had heard of Sith eyes. Many had, especially if one had spent any time on Coruscant. The tales of Jedi going to the dark side were relatively popular in the upper-levels of Coruscant. The nasty evil that had become a cataclysmic emergency in galaxy had ruthlessly killed millions with no regard for life. That was of course until the Jedi Order vanquished them. The nasty plague that was the Sith had been thought to have been defeated, extinct, as of many, many years ago. But yet, her [Name] was, with her right eye as bright as the sun, glowing so bright, it was as if it was haunting her.

What does this mean?

Am I going to die?

Am I Sith?

Will I hurt innocent people?

Am I evil?

Thoughts infiltrated her mind without mercy and terror tore through her brain like a violent hurricane. Her mind was spinning.

Millions of lives have been lost at the hands of the Sith. Millions of innocent caught in the reign of terror the Sith brought where ever they went. How could [Name] be like them?

Then it hit her like a freighter.

Her soulmate.

Her soulmate, the one she had dreamed and fantasized about her whole life, a Sith. Pure evil, working for causes that only bring harm to the universe. Lying on the floor, [Name]’s sobs wracked through her body, the only rest she got is when she started to violently leave heave before more tears and loud sobs found their way from her lungs.

It made sense though, she was never a Jedi, never force sensitive. So why would her pair of eyes be the distinct aggressive colour of the force sensitive Sith?

The Sith wasn’t her, so that only left her soulmate. Her wonderful, beautiful soulmate of which she has never met. And as she curls deeper into herself, [Name] questions whether she would actually meet them.

And whether or not she wants too.

Just as [Name]’s sobs and shook started to subside, [Name] felt the familiar jolt of the ship landing. A cool chill shot up her back as she made her way to her feet. Looking into the mirror once more, she found that both the eyes were back to how she remembered them to be. What they had always been her entire life. Wiping her eyes, [Name] tried to clear all evidence of her tears and break down.

[Name] closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. The sound of the ships engine shutting off reminded her of where she was. Right, Mustafar; the place where Padmé was rushing to in order to help a friend. Letting out a breath, she made a promise to herself to help Padmé out with whatever.

[Name] stood next right next to Padmé as the hatch lowered and the red hazed glow of the lava coated planet overwhelmed her vision. As she was momentary blinded, Padmé ran down the ramp towards a cloaked figure. From the distance, [Name] couldn’t hear much but she could make out a faint conversation as she slowly approached.

“I saw your ship, what are you doing out here?” The brunette man spoke as he leaned into the hug Padmé was giving him, before pulling away and holding on to the sides of her arms.

“I was worried about you, Obi-wan told me terrible things,” Padmé looked up at him, and from her tone of voice, something [Name] knew very well, it was evident that Padmé was very upset.

“What things?” He questioned, not harshly, but certainly not in a tone of voice one should use with a senator.

“He said that you’ve turned to the dark side. That you…” Padmé began, before pausing, struggling to find the strength within her to whisper the words.

“Killed younglings,” She muttered in horror. Terror was set in her eyes, but there was not quiver of disbelief in her tone, no indicator to [Name] that this man wouldn’t do such a thing.

“Obi-wan is trying to turn you against me,” The man spoke after a moment, his voice deep with the familiar feel of unnerve that Padmé and her handmaidens have become so used to in the senate.

“He cares about you, Anakin,” Padmé argued, although it didn’t sound like an argument, more like a plea. “He wants to help you.”

Anakin’s eyebrows furrowed, “Nothing can save me, only my new powers can do that.”

Padmé took a step back and [Name] took two steps forward.

“At what cost?” Padmé looked into his eyes once again, and as [Name] could see, she was begging. “You’re a good person. Don’t do this.”

“I am becoming more powerful than any Jedi has ever dreamed of,” Anakin's gaze was intense, his eyes narrowed on Padmé as if at any point she would stab him and run away.

“I am more powerful than the chancellor. I-I can over throw him,” Anakin began taking steps forward and quickly Padmé started taking steps back.

“And together you and I can rule the galaxy, make things the way we want them to be,” Anakin stops moving, watching Padmé eagerly in hopes that she will agree.

Taking another step back, Padmé shakes her head, “I don’t believe what I am hearing. Obi-wan was right. You’ve changed.”

Anakin scuffs, shaking his head before raising his finger, “I don’t wanna hear any more about Obi-wan. The Jedi turned against me, don’t you turn against me,” That sounded like a command.

“I don’t know you anymore. Anakin, you’re my best friend, you are like my brother,” Padmé plead, her voice broken and littered with heartbreak. It might not have sounded like it, but those few words meant everything to Padmé. Those words were like a code that only one of her handmaidens could crack. That [Name] could crack.

The words whispered of betrayal, of heart break and of a familiar love that she cannot part with. She truly loved Anakin, the sister in her seemed to shine through as she spoke with the man.

“You’re going down a path I can’t follow.”

“Because of Obi-wan?”

“Because of what you’ve done,” Padmé sobbed, her voice raising as she neared her breaking point. [Name] finally made her way behind Padmé as she spoke again, “Because of what you plan to do.”

And as [Name] laid her hand on Padmé’s shoulders, bring her back slightly, Anakin’s eyes were back on the ship. [Name] rubbed Padmé’s arms gently in attempts to comfort the distressed girl and as she did so, it was almost as if she could feel the rage from the man behind her. [Name] tried to pay no mind, busying herself with the sobbing girl before her. Padmé’s head raised, looking up from the spot she marked on the ground, and gasped as she made eye contact with you.

“Liar!” Anakin yelled, bring the attention back to him. And when [Name] eyes drifted over to the simmering man, she found herself looking into a very familiar set of eyes.

Her eyes.

The same pair of eyes that stare back at her in her reflection every day, mirrored.

A gasp left [Name]’s throat, bringing his attention to her. As his gaze connected with hers, his eyes faded from one red, and one of [Name]’s to just infectious red. A wave of comfort went through [Name]’s body as she stared into the eyes that she has been dying to meet.

But instead of relief, or joy, [Name] only felt gutted. The harsh heat from the surrounding lava did nothing to sooth the soaring stinging in her eyes as she watches the man before her look behind her again. She hardly even notices when another man, a Jedi, passes her. As angry words were exchanged and she found herself losing focus, standing by the side as she watches the Jedi and the Sith duel to the death.

Her world just flipped its axis, leaving her body to adjust. Emotionally, physically. The biological reaction to meeting one’s soulmate was to release serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin, all chemicals in one’s brain responsible for happiness. But in this moment, those hormones were only adding to the increasing feeling of emptiness growing in her heart.

She had just watched her supposed soulmate turn to the dark side before her eyes. Choosing to assist the death of others rather than assist the quality of living for others. Everything [Name] and Naboo has ever help to fix in the senate could be destroyed in a snap of her own soulmate’s fingers.

How was she going to live her life know what she was tied to? Would he come back to the light? Would he die? Would she?

Or would she give up everything she has ever known for the chance of a life partner? Someone who will never leave her.

[Name] drops to her knees, a suppressed sob managed its way to the surface, bringing sharp tears from her eyes.

The famous Anakin Skywalker, former Jedi knight, [Name]’s soulmate, leaving tears in her eyes. And as she watches the blurry two duel, she finds that not only is there tears in her eyes, but also terror.

A/n: I got a little carried away with this, and it might have gotten a little off topic, but I hoped you liked it. I haven’t edited it yet, but I will get to it! Thank you so much for reading and waiting!!! <333333 Let me know what you think! Love y’all to the stars!

Master-list

Taglist: @luvlykrispy

[independence1776]

Acolyte Eps. 1 & 2

Cutting for spoilers and a fair amount of negativity. Also discussion about antisemitism in the show. (I'm tagging this solely for organizational and avoidance purposes; I'd rather not have it in the tags at all but oh well.)

Episode 1:

In the first episode, there is very little that engaged me in a positive way. I really don’t like how the Order is characterized; it feels like some of the worst of fanon. It continues to boggle me that people— including the writer(s) of this episode!— think that leaving the Order leaves someone with no marketable skills. (Need I remind you that Anakin was trusted as a nineteen-year-old Padawan to be the sole bodyguard for a senator at active risk of assassination? Sounds like a pretty transferable skillset to me.) Nor do I think the writers know what attachment actually means.

Nor do I like the good-twin bad-twin angle in the plot; I don’t care that it seems likely she’s killing Jedi who took her sister from her. As a twin, I am very tired of that trope.

Am also shocked that Indara died in the first five minutes; I thought she’d be a much more important character.

Also: who the heck decided Osha was a good name? Every time my suspension of disbelief breaks because all I can think about is OSHA the federal government agency.

The antisemitism is, of course, the horrible icing on the cake. A dybbuk is an evil spirit from Jewish folklore. I really, well and truly do not like the mining of Jewish mythology to name a monster— to be specific: a parasitic species— used to subdue violent criminals that “does weird things to your brain” (to quote a character). What were the writers thinking?

That said, there are a few things I like: Osha, Sol, and the little glimpses of non-hideboundness in the Order.

Episode 2:

Despite what I said about being tired of the trope, I am in fact interested in the overall plot.

I don’t think I saw any non-human species on that planet apart from the speeder driver. I know it’s easier from a budget standpoint but… it feels lacking.

Acolytes? Are there more than one? How does that mesh with the Rule of Two? Or is it more like Palpating keeping Dooku in reserve when Maul was his apprentice and then Anakin for Dooku?

Okay, maybe the writers do understand a bit more about Jedi philosophy than I gave them credit for in the first episode, based on that conversation about grief and revenge. Aaaaand then back to hidebound Jedi. I’ve read the High Republic books and am not convinced at Vern’s character here.

How did Mae not know Osha was alive given the connection-thing from the earlier?

Jecki has grown on me 100% from the first episode.

[ospreyeamon]

RotS deleted scenes: trust and paranoia

Rewatching Padmé and the Delegation of Two Thousand’s deleted scenes from Revenge of the Sith has illuminated a couple of parallels between Padmé and Anakin’s relationships with Palpatine, and the Jedi Order and Republic Senate’s mutual mistrust.

“I can’t believe it has come to this. Chancellor Palpatine is one of my oldest advisors. He served as my ambassador when I was queen.” Padmé Amidala “Senator, I fear you underestimate the amount of corruption that has taken hold in the Senate.” Giddean Dani

Padmé is far more friendly towards Palpatine than I had remembered her as being. Even this late in the game, she really doesn’t want to believe the worst of him. She doesn’t want to believe Palpatine will need to be forced to do the right thing – that he is a bad actor, rather than a well-intended person making mistakes.

Padmé was probably introduced to Palpatine during her time in the Youth Legislature – before she was elected Princess of Theed at nine – so she first met Palpatine at a similarly young age to Anakin. They have both known Palpatine more than half their lives. He was one of the few people Padmé and Anakin already knew on Coruscant when they moved there. Padmé left her family behind on Naboo when she became Senator and, as he had served in her position for many years before her, Palpatine would have been a natural person for her to look to for guidance. To become, if not a political father-figure, then at least a surrogate uncle.

So, the way Padmé relates to Palpatine probably has similarities to the way Anakin relates to him. A reliable fixture of their lives. Not someone they meet every day or every week – more like every month or three – but someone who will reach out if they haven’t met up in a while to invite them out with him. Someone who always stops to greet them and have a little chat if they run into each other unexpectedly. Someone who openly expresses how fond of them he is; someone who doesn’t hide that he worries about their wellbeing. It’s Palpatine who successfully persuades Padmé to go into hiding after the assassination attempts against her in Attack of the Clones by making a personal appeal rooted in his affection for her.

Both Padmé and Anakin’s initial reaction to discovering Palpatine’s duplicity is to turn on him. The first thing Anakin does after Palpatine reveals himself as the Sith Master – reveals himself as having deliberately orchestrated the Clone Wars – is run to the Jedi Council and tell Mace Windu. After Order 66, when Palpatine makes his proclamation of empire, Padmé realises that anyone in the Senate to vote against it will be the next to be purged saving future rebel leaders like Bail Organa and Mon Mothma.

Padmé and Anakin’s revelation that turns them against Palpatine is that the person they believed was their friend was a mask who never really existed at all. That it was all a lie, that they were played right from the beginning. It’s only after Padmé is dead and Anakin has lost everything that his loyalty reattaches itself to Palpatine, now Anakin’s sole close relationship.

“I know a Jedi that I feel we should consult.” Padmé Amidala “That would be dangerous.” Bana Breemu “We don’t know how the Jedi fit in to all this.” Mon Mothma “I only wish to discuss this with one – one I trust.” Padmé Amidala “Going against the Chancellor without the support of the Jedi is risky.” Giddean Dani “The Jedi are not any happier with this situation than we are.” Padmé Amidala “Patience, Senator.” Chi Eekway Papanoida “We have so many Senators on our side, surely that will persuade the Chancellor.” Fang Zar “When we present the Petition of the Two Thousand to the Chancellor, things may change.” Bana Breemu “Well then, let us see what we can accomplish in the Senate before we include the Jedi.” Bail Organa

This snippet of conversation between the leaders of the Delegation of Two Thousand mirrors the scene with the Jedi Council discussing what to do about Palpatine. Giddean Dani’s line about the danger of going against Palpatine without the support of the Jedi is one I find particularly telling, especially coming after Bana Breemu’s and Mon Mothma’s. There are two reasons why it would be risky to make a play against Palpatine without gouging the support of the Jedi Order. One is the risk that the Delegation might not have sufficient clout to successfully pressure Palpatine without the Order’s additional support. The other is the risk that the Order might side with Palpatine.

While Palpatine’s relationship with the Jedi Council chills considerably between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, in Attack of the Clones it is very cosy. Palpatine regularly inviting the Jedi Council into his offices to confer with them and ask for their advice; Palpatine giving the command of the Grand Army of the Republic to the Jedi Order; Palpatine publicly defending the Jedi against rumours circulating about them (in a way that adds fuel to those rumours). One reason Palpatine does these things is to persuade the Jedi Council that he trusts them; believing that somebody trusts you makes you more likely to think they are trustworthy in turn. Another reason is to cement the image of the Jedi Order as a bastion of his support.

It works. The Delegation of Two Thousand keeps their plans secret from the Jedi because they aren’t sure that the Jedi aren’t Palpatine’s trusting followers, who will report their intentions to him rather than support the Delegation’s attempt to shame him out of power. The Jedi Council mistrusts the Senate which they perceive as being under Palpatine’s thumb and make no effort to test those waters for potential allies against him. Notable Senators in the Delegation are members of the Chancellor's Loyalist Committee – he has played the same trick with them. Palpatine keeps his enemies divided and divided they fail.

Even Anakin and Padmé being married to each other isn’t enough to break the barrier of mistrust, and they aren’t the only Jedi-Senator pair keeping secrets. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bail Organa may be friends, but we never see them even consider reaching out to each other. Maybe Bail suggested it offscreen and was, like Padmé, talked down. Maybe Bail was genuinely unsure where Obi-Wan’s political loyalties lay; his old Padawan and best-friend sees no problems with Palpatine becoming Supreme Chancellor For Life. Maybe Obi-Wan departed for Utapau before Bail considered approaching him.

The smog of paranoia weighing over Coruscant is so thick it effects relationships between characters of the same faction. “If what you've told me is true, you will have gained my trust” is an odd line because it is said by Mace right as he is embarking on a course of action that demonstrates considerable faith in Anakin. You don’t burst into your head of state’s office to arrest him on the word of one guy if you don’t trust that one guy’s word. But I don’t think Mace implying that he doesn’t trust Anakin while making a choice which shows that he does trust Anakin is a writing mistake; I think it is a symptom of the suspicious mindset that has suffused through the cast.

[fanfic-obsessed]

Perchance to Dream

Ok, before we get into what is happening here there are a few facts that I need to have entered into evidence pertaining to this universe.  Please indulge me and take note, every one of these facts will be critical later. 

Fact 1:  In this universe Sheev Palpatine is not a Sith.  

He is what he claims to be in canon, a career politician trying to do his best. He is no saint, he is still a career politician after all, but he is not the ultimate evil. He is still force sensitive, with a sensitivity that is enough that he could have trained as a Jedi if his parents had given him up, but not so high that he is a danger to anyone without training. But he does not keep it a secret from the Jedi, and has essentially been tutored by a few Jedi in the ways of the Force.  He does not let on in the Senate about his sensitivity (Which amounts to a better than average sense of people’s emotions, and a good sense for danger and being able to move very small items with his mind.).   

Fact 2: Yan Dooku is the Sith Master, as of the clone wars, Hugo Demask was his master.

Hugo Demask survives 5 years longer than in canon, he corrupts Dooku, is Maul's Master and is ultimately killed by Dooku.  The background steps needed for the clone wars to happen, that in canon were Palpatine, were performed by Demask or Dooku. 

Fact 3: The Clones are not chipped.

There is no project Knightfall, no Order 66. The clones were not a co-opted project by Sith. Master Sifo Dyas did commission them, but (like with Palpatine), they are not a trap for the Jedi. While Jango Fett still died on Geonosis, he had been there on a bounty, separate from his job to be the progenitor and trainer of the clones.  He trains them because he is paid, rather than for revenge. 

Fact 4: Anakin Skywalker does not slaughter the Tuskens.

Shimi still dies, though it is an accident rather than being captured by the raiders.  Anakin still has grief and horror and loss but it is tempered here because there is no group of beings that can blame, and he is not one to turn that anger inward.  He does see his mother one last time, but there is closure rather than murder.

Fact 5: Jedi can get married. 

It’s not common. Marriage as a legal institution doesn’t actually make sense to most Jedi.  The rights and protections that a marriage grants by and large are not applicable to Jedi. Even as an expression of love, it just tends not to occur to most Jedi to want a wedding. They are more than happy to have the ceremony if their partner or partners want, but won’t seek it out.  

There are only a few Jedi that end up with partners outside the Jedi. There are two reasons for this. The first is that most of the galaxy has some weird ideas about Jedi and Jedi relationships. Most of the time it is not worth the effort to navigate. The second is a bit more convoluted. There is a higher rate of asexuality and aromanticism, or the equivalent, in Jedi than in their native populations (of Jedi whose species has sexuality), by a significant amount (Something like 10%-20% of the Jedi, with a sexual identity, identify as either asexual or aromantic, as opposed to the galactic standard of 1%). Incidentally there is also a higher rate of polyamorous leanings. This combines with the fact that the Jedi truly are a melting pot, different species growing up alongside each other, going through reproductive maturity together. Relationship Norms and Mores for Jedi look nothing like anywhere else in the galaxy.

Fact 6: Anakin Skywalker's marriage is  ‘secret’ and causes much giggling in the Jedi temple.

The secrecy is actually part of Naboo wedding traditions. Nabooians are expected to elope, and the longer the marriage is considered a ‘secret’, the more luck the marriage is said to have. The Jedi are well aware of this tradition and try to adhere to reasonable traditions when possible. So when Anakin effectively broadcasts to every Jedi in the galaxy that he was now Mister Padme Naberrie (the legalities of being married may not matter to Anakin as neither the Jedi nor the slave culture really have any use for it, but the idea of giving someone else their name as a way of giving them belonging was very important in Tatooine slave culture), approximately 45 seconds after their marriage, there is a collective silent agreement by the Jedi to let newlyweds have their ‘secret’.  There is a semi-formal betting pool as to who is going to give in and give away the secret first (Shortest odds are on ‘Anakin, finally doing something that is so obvious that the Jedi can’t ignore it anymore’, ‘Obi Wan, after Captain Rex is forced to lie badly to him again about what Anakin is doing’, or ‘Mace Windu after he catches Anakin and Padme in the Room of a Thousand fountains for a third time that day).     

Ladies, gentleman, and everything in between of the jury, now that we have established these facts in evidence it is time to turn our attention to the reason we are here today.  Without the Sith Master at the head of the Republic the Clone war does take a slightly different trajectory, faster in some ways without their intelligence leaking quite as easily(The Senate still leaked intelligence like a sieve but at least the Separatists weren’t getting it right from the source), slower in other as there was no real overarching goal. No one is actually sure what victory would look like for either side. 

Some members of the Separatist leadership decide that the best way to be victorious is to take out the GAR leadership, the Jedi High Council.  A chemical weapon was created, then tailored to each member of the High Council so it could be released and only affect the targets. It took a year to develop and tailor (so specific that it included the genetic code of each member of the council), then another to maneuver the release mechanisms into place.  This chemical weapon included a powerful hallucinogen and a chemical agent that links the hallucinations of everyone affected (through the Force).  Once deployed it would create a shared hallucination of the worst possible case scenario that could be created by the group. The aim being to hobble the GAR without their high command. 

That shared hallucination is Canon, starting with the Jedi confronting the Sith Lord. 

It is entirely possible that the Separatists greatly underestimated the amount of horror the mind of a Jedi could generate.  And how well they would be able to keep moving when under the hallucination. 

When a Jedi died in the hallucination, they would fall comatose and though none did, the chemical weapon would, for lack of a better way to explain, go a step further and try to convince them to give up(which would kill them in the real world) by continuing to show them this hallucinatory world as ‘part of the Force’.  Until this comatose state they would act in the real world according to the hallucination, including reacting as if injuries within it existed in the real world.  

The High council is spread throughout the galaxy when weapons are deployed. The members of the council that fell to Sidious immediately fall into a coma, while the rest begin to act in varying degrees of strangely (Depending on where they were and how different that place was from where they now thought they were). Mace Windu drops into something that is not quite a coma as his body reacts to having his wrist cut off and falling from a high window, with all the trauma therein.  As Order 66 goes out in the hallucination, more of the council drop until the only ones left moving are Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda, both of whom escape the planets they were on. It is only luck that neither hurt anyone in escaping. 

There is immediate confusion, that is true.  The unexplained coma of 9 members of the Jedi High Council, Mace Windu’s collapse (Physically nothing is wrong but brain scans and the healers say that his brain is acting as if he is in severe pain, as well as severe shock), and the disappearance of Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda. 

The Officers, both clone and nat born, rally quickly and it becomes very obvious, very rapidly that the separatist were responsible for what happened to the Jedi Councilors.  This gives the GAR, particularly the personal battalions of those same Jedi, a new vigor and driving force.  In trying to destabilize the GAR, the separatist actually provided them with a rallying point (Fighting for freedom or protecting the innocent is a great tagline but hard to turn from concept to reality. Fighting because someone fucked with our generals is much easier to put a face to).

It takes eight months to track down the architects of the chemical weapon, who never developed a cure (During this time the war is categorically won by the Republic). Before being captured they managed to destroy about a quarter of the notes regarding the weapon. Using what is left, it takes two years to recreate the missing portion of the notes and another 15 months to synthesize an antidote. 

By this point Mace Windu had to be under constant sedation to alleviate the strain of the injuries he sustained in the hallucination. Because of this it was Plo Koon who woke first. 

Yoda and Obi Wan were still missing.

Plo commented that the Force felt so much lighter. He jolted when he saw Commander Wolffe sitting next to his bed. Thankfully he accepted that he had been in a hallucination easily. And as he described what had gone on within the hallucination (As he had died early, he was cursed with the helpless knowledge of exactly what was going on: the chips, Anakin's fall, The march on the temple, all the evils of the galactic empire) the horror only increased. No one could even blame his slight flinch whenever Anakin spoke, not even Anakin after Plo described the march on the temple in devastating detail and the fight on Mustafar (It only takes a few moments to realize this was a worst case scenario specifically from the Mind of Obi Wan, who could not think about much worse than his beloved brother becoming Falling and becoming Vader).

Eventually Plo is asked if he knows where Obi Wan and Yoda are, even as the other members of the council begin to wake. 

He does, but he recommends that it is not the Clones or Anakin Skywalker that go after either. For a moment Anakin considers being offended, this was his lineage after all, but after hearing what had happened in the hallucination, what Obi Wan and Yoda currently remember him doing, it only makes sense. 

And Cody may be chomping at the bit to go after his general (he was only on Coruscant to see the antidote be administered in hopes that it would give them a clue as to where Obi Wan was, he has spent all of his time since the war ended with the rest of the 212th,searching the galaxy for their general) but he can also see the wisdom of not spooking the general.  

Unfortunately the cure had to be administered intravenously, so there was no gassing the planet. 

Aayla Secura is sent to Dagobah to make contact with Yoda. He is not able to sense her, because she is dead in the hallucination.  He sees her and hears her but believes her to be the hallucination, come to torment him with his failures (Look I imagine that Obi Wan and Yoda have really similar headspaces regarding the genocide of their people and the self isolation that they enacted because of it.).  She is able to administer the cure and get him back to the ship and headed toward Coruscant.

The thing is this hallucination has been active in his mind for 3 years. For the comatose Jedi there was an extra degree of separation from the hallucination (Because they could only watch, the horror was somewhat muted). So while the cure works, breaking Yoda of the hallucination he is utterly changed by three years of horror and isolation and the press of a created darkside. He abjectly refuses to take any seat of power (The entire order has been restructured by necessity since they had no idea when they would cure the high council) and retreats to the creche. It takes years before he stops being hypervigilant when he sees trooper armor in the temple (particularly if that armor is 501st blue). The troopers never begrudge how he stills at the sight of their armor, and it becomes a policy that troopers who want to enter the creche will change into anything but their armor. 

Mace Windu also needs years to recover, having spent three years ‘healing’ from having his hands cut off and being thrown from the Chancellor office.  His mind expects his hands to be gone, which causes all kinds of issues (Kind of the reverse of having a phantom limb). Sheev Palpatine was a friend of Mace’s (It was friendship born of being leaders, doing their best and knowing that their every decision held the weight of a galaxy) and a frequent visitor while they were working on a cure. The first time he enter’s Mace’s room after the cure, Mace lashes out with the Force and throws him through the door in pure panic. This wild panic reaction lasts for three months (with countless attempts by Mace and the mind healers to break it) before Mace growls and decides that it would not happen again.  He then would go to camp out in Palpatine’s apartments for two weeks to train himself out of the reaction. 

It is Quinlan Vos that is chosen to lure Obi Wan out of hiding. Now that they know that the hallucination is affecting Obi Wan’s ability to sense with the Force, the 212th insist that they will provide Vos with hsi transportation to Tatooine, though they do agree not to actually set foot on the planet.  

As far as the residents of Tatooine are concerned, Ben the hermit showed up one day to wander into the Wastes and give himself heatstroke.   He is considered crazy but mostly harmless, and slightly obsessed with the Lars family. In this world Beru and Owen Lars did adopt a baby born right around the time Ben arrived. This little boy, whom they do name Luke, is the son of an escaped slave woman who died in childbirth on their farm. Like many slaves and children of slaves, she took the last name Skywalker. 

Ben thinks he is watching over the son of his brother, and that Owen hates him for failing Anakin. Owen is leery of the strange hermit that watches their farm (particularly Luke) from afar and vanishes into the Jutland Wastes when approached.  Particularly since the few times they have talked to him, he hasn’t actually made much sense.  Every so often other moisture farmers would come to the farm to chat and ask Owen or Beru about Ben. Both are forced to nod and go ‘yep, he’s still out there raving about a galactic empire and apologizing for killing Owen's brother. No, Owen doesn’t have a brother’ (Having only met Anakin once, and though he knows that Shimi had another son, really doesn’t connect Shimi’s son to this brother). 

Vos is eventually able to track Obi Wan/Ben down. It takes some trickery for Vos to administer the cure (Ben tries to kick him off the planet three times, hissing that Vos can’t draw the empire’s attention to Tatooine) but once it does, it knocks him out enough for Vos to carry him back to the spaceport. 

The Lar’s happen to be in town when Vos comes through carrying Ben. Beru asks what Vos is doing with Ben.  Vos responds that he is bringing him home. Owen asks if Vos will be able to get Ben the help he needs. Vos answers yes, and they all go about their day. Ben the hermit will remain a story told on Tatooine for years, particularly after High General Obi Wan comes back a decade later and awkwardly thanks the Lars for the kindness they exhibited.  

Like Yoda and Mace, the time in the hallucination affected Obi Wan deeply.  He keeps a constant ‘watch’ though the Force on his men (within the hallucination their force presence flattened and fell away in the wake of Order 66) and feels deeply protective of all these individual lights that died just as surely as the Jedi did.  He also clings to Anakin’s force presence, but cannot stand to be in a room with Anakin and children. He knows it is irrational but can’t quite help it. At times even stepping foot on Coruscant or at the temple is difficult. 

Obi Wan decides to take a step back from being a knight and Master. He and many of the clones, primarily of the 212th though there are others, plus a few Jedi and others they pick up along the way decide that they will take a survey mission to begin to map some of the wild space beyond the outer rim. He, Cody, and Rex end up entering into a relationship that forms the base for a polycule with the majority of the crew (with the exception of the children they acquire, those all call each member of the polycule some variation of mom/dad/parent).  

They all eventually find happiness, though it does not always look like everything else.

[laurabwrites]

Plotting out loud, because I can. Glimmerglanger/Star Wars edition.

I read a fun smut Padmé/Obi-Wan piece from @glimmerglanger (another author I will read basically anything they write) that had a an interesting author end note:

....and the galaxy is saved because when Anakin tries to flirt with Padmé she goes, "Sorry, kiddo, not interested," because she's busy trying to arrange a time and place when she, Obi-Wan, and anyone else who wants to get down can all meet up.

And being me, I decided to plot out how this AU changes the timeline/plot. Because I can. And maybe if I do, it’ll stop knocking around my head.

So, relevant ‘plot’ points to this exercise for those who don’t want to read smut:

In Attack of the Clones, Anakin took a minor injury chasing Zam Wesell and went back to the Temple for treatment.

Padmé and the handmaids had crushes on Obi-Wan in The Phantom Menace.

Most of Padmé’s sexual experience up to this point has been with her handmaids (and they with each other).

Padmé initiates; the sex is very good; Padmé’s reaction is “I should see if he’s up for an orgy with the handmaids, they deserve something this nice.”

So! How I would plot out what comes next:

1) Anakin still tries to flirt with Padmé. It’s just as embarrassing as in the movies. Padmé decides to bring one of her handmaids with her to Naboo, hoping she’ll act as a buffer with Anakin. Let’s pick Dormé.

Dormé tells R2 to hang around Padmé when Anakin is there & don’t be afraid to use his arc welder/taser if he gets too pushy

2) The sojourn on Naboo is going to include fewer picnics and more Anakin bugging Padmé while she’s working with Dormé on Senatorial work. I see this leading to at least one argument about political structures.

Dormé totally yells at Anakin that he’s proposing fascism

How can a former slave think the scaled up version of what he suffered is a good idea?!?

Well the Chancellor could get so much more done if—

Dormé slaps massive history tome down on table

3) Padmé has good memories of Shmi, so they still go to Tatooine once Anakin shares he’s having nightmares.

4) Anakin does a Mass Murder™️ out of Revenge™️

5) When Anakin has his little ranting confession to Padmé (because he’s thinks they’re closer than Padmé feels), R2 starts pretending to be shutdown in the corner and gets a recording of his confession. Because Padmé is not interested in Anakin romantically, her little “anger is human” part of the speech also includes a “and I’m going to be very careful not to trigger the anger of this person who can throw things with his mind and has a sword that can bisect people easily.” mental clause. It’s a textual medium instead of a visual one. I get to include internal thoughts.

6) MEANWHILE, Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan got a nice dose of happy brain chemicals before starting his hunt and has gotten a decent amount of sleep while bouncing around the galaxy chasing down this attempted assassin. Obi-Wan digs in a little further at Kamino compared to the movies canon. He gets a copy of the contract from the Kaminoans. He ducks meeting Jango until after talking to some of the Alpha class (who introduce him to a couple of their proteges). Jango cannot hurry luring Obi-Wan to Genosis because he cannot find Obi for a couple days. 

When Obi-Wan does talk with Jango there’s a lot more “why are you building an army for the Republic” and more paying attention in the Force to his answers.

Obi-Wan has concerns™️

Obi-Wan sends his concerns to the Council and Anakin with instructions to boost his signal to the Council and make sure it gets there. Also DO NOT COME.

7) Genosis. Obi-Wan sneaks around Genosis for a little bit longer before getting caught. He gets a little more information back to the Council. When Dooku says “there’s a Sith in the Senate”, Obi-Wan says “evidence or I think you’re lying to sow discord and ignore you.”

8) Padmé and Anakin get caught on Genosis just as fast as in the movie. Dormé and R2 do not get caught. They feed technical info about the droids and on the ground tactical information to the arriving Jedi and clone rescue force. The rescue force tries a more diversionary attack expecting Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padmé to get themselves out of the arena. Fewer clones and Jedi die. It’s still a shitshow with terrible numbers of casualties. Just fewer than in the movie.

9) Anakin still goes after Dooku. He still looses his arm. Dooku still gets away. Padmé and Anakin do not kiss, and do not sneak off to Naboo to get married.

10) Anakin is brought back to the Temple to start healing and doing PT for his new space-future prosthetic arm (see recent writing advice re:arm amputations and why they’re portrayed unrealistically). Obi-Wan is sent off on a mission with Alpha-17. Padmé, Dormé, and R2 speak with the council about Tatooine — the council diverts a Shadow to Tatooine for more evidence to back up the decision they know they’ll have to justify to the Senate.

11) Obi-Wan’s mission goes badly. He and Alpha-17 are captured and tortured by Ventress. Word of this reaches the Council and Anakin...

12) After his mother’s death, Anakin has slotted Obi-Wan into the ‘must not die, will burn down the Galaxy’ slot that Padmé occupied in movie canon. Padmé has made herself unavailable for the role since they’re not in a romantic relationship (although Anakin would like to and plans to continue pursuing her). So Anakin subconsciously choose the other parental figure in his life, instead of the female person he cares most about.

13) Anakin freaks the fuck out, runs off to Kamino, grabs the 212th being assembled for Obi-Wan’s return from this mission (which includes Rex and Cody), says he’s the General’s Padawan/Commander, and they’re going to go rescue Obi-Wan.

14) Anakin did not have an assignment to do this. Anakin is disobeying direct orders to come the fuck back to the Temple. Anakin takes the 212th and runs silently. No one in the 212th knows that they’re not in communication with the rest of the GAR and are in danger of being declared AWOL.

15) Obi-Wan or Alpha escape long enough to send a transmission to the GAR before getting recaptured. The 212th pick up the signal and rescue Obi-Wan and Alpha. Obi-Wan contacts his superiors (the Council and GAR military) and gets informed of the situation with Anakin. Obi-Wan orders them all back to Coruscant.

16) The dressing down of Anakin is a) in the medbay before Obi-Wan is dunked in a bacta tank and b) EPIC. Phrases used include “My life is not worth all of these men!” and “Do you have any idea what happens to AWOL clones?!” Obi-Wan has to arrest Anakin for fear the boy will accidentally start a mutiny by ordering the ship NOT to go to Coruscant.

17) The Jedi Council. Anakin and Obi-Wan think they’re there for Anakin’s punishment for absconding with the 212th and disobeying order. Nope. Surprise. You done did a mass murder. Into Jedi jail you got to go Anakin. “It’s not fair! You need me in this war!” excuse me? “They’re just animals” excuse me? “The chancellor didn’t think I did anything wrong?” ex-fucking-cuse me? say that one again.

18) So yeah, Anakin goes to Jedi jail, the Jedi Council decides to hide that fact to figure out the Chancellor’s involvement in that and prevent him from ordering the Jedi to release Anakin, Shadows start investigating the Chancellor (plus keep an eye on the Coruscant guard who have to interact with him), and sad Obi-Wan goes back to war while trying to investigate his concerns™️ about the Kaminoans and the clones (which is where I want the discovery of the chips to come in, but like, later. In a different story in the series. One where Ahsoka is Obi-Wan’s Padawan.

And yes, Padmé and crew do occasionally meet up with Obi-Wan during the war for some mutually fun sex.)

[silver-heller]

♣Guns & Flowers Master list/Timeline

This is a canon divergent universe, and anything written here is of course subject to change!

Characters

Silver May - August 4th 1900

The only daughter of the Argenis family. Later adopted by Atlas and Mitzi May. Known for being quite the skittish recluse.

Mordecai Heller - March 28 1899

Atlas' golden boy, unforgiving and relenting, though Atlas claims he is more than that. Cold and professional by default.

Viktor Vasko - April 16th 1886

A mysterious and grumpy man who keeps his past and his secrets close to his chest. Though can be quite playful and teasing to loved ones.

Mitzi May - September 25th 1885

A musician who falls in love with Atlas and ends up helping out with the café and speakeasy. Overall friendly and playful, but isn't afraid to say it how it is.

Atlas May - January 3rd 1884

The owner of The Little Daisy Café and the Lackadaisy speakeasy. Known as an opportunist that is slowly collecting a menagerie of misfits. Known to be quite interested in the human nature and often pries into the psychology of those around him.

Rocky Rickaby - December 19th 1904

A rather rambunctious member of the crew who ends up asked by Atlas to look after Silver. Atlas, however, wonders what fate he has designated Silver to, seeing as Rocky is not entirely there.

Serafine Savoy - 1902

Mordecai's coworker at The Marigold, along with her brother, Nico. She had a short fling with Mordecai that ended up being a more permanent arrangement. Confident, spiritual, and appears to know more than she lets on at times.

Wick Sable - January 11th 1895

The man Mitzi has an interest in after Atlas' death. Has a fascination with rocks and is considered a pillar of the community, stopping him from financially supporting the Lackadaisy despite frequenting the speakeasy.

Timeline

1916

♣A Light In The Shadows

M | Two | Mordecai/Silver & Atlas | 1916/1920

When fleeing from New York, Mordecai is nearly killed for embezzling funds from the gambling rink he used to work for. Given a gun by Atlas, he is forced to kill the gamblers to save himself, marking his first kill.

♣First Days

M | Two | Mordecai/Silver & Atlas | 1916/1920

Mordecai stays with Atlas in Washington as he recovers. Atlas observes him in the meantime, while Mordecai begins suffering from lucid dreams.

Atlas encourages Mordecai to travel with him back to St. Louis, stopping at many cities along the way in the process. Mordecai notices Atlas often gets caught up in opportunities when he spots them.

1917

Prohibition is proposed in the Senate.

Atlas offers Mordecai a job as his bookkeeper, and tells Mordecai to think about it. Mordecai is extremely reluctant considering what he's seen from Atlas so far, though feels he is destined for this life.

Atlas begins training Mordecai in some of his ways.

Mordecai continues helping Atlas in his various travels, but is still yet to accept the job in all this time.

1918

Silver, reluctantly, is married to Valentin.

With a fair amount of money now, thanks to Atlas, Mordecai parts ways with Atlas to deal with some "unfinished business".

Atlas meets Viktor during this separation.

Mordecai returns briefly to New York for revenge. Receives bullet related head injury in the process.

Mordecai is taken back to the Little Daisy to recover.

1919

Prohibition is ratified.

Atlas can see Mordecai is cracking and coming to a decision, so he asks him that fateful question; "who are you?"

Mordecai accepts Atlas' offer for a job at the very end of the year. Atlas is thrilled, though curious what made him accept then.

1920

Atlas converts the limestone caverns under his café into a speakeasy.

Atlas hires Viktor and stops him from making a drastic decision.

♣It's a Short Drive

M | One | Viktor & Atlas | 1920

Mordecai begins working with Viktor distantly. The lodge incident shown in Gravediggers through to Momentum occurs.

Mordecai goes back to St. Louis with Atlas as his shadow, while Viktor takes a break.

Atlas meets and courts Mitzi. Mordecai meets Asa and Mitzi.

The band begins working at the Lackadaisy.

Mordecai becomes a bookkeeper for the Lackadaisy.

♣A Light In The Shadows

M | Two | Mordecai/Silver & Atlas | 1916/1920

Silver is admitted into an asylum after attacking Valentin. Silver is soon taken into Atlas' and Mitzi's care months later.

♣First Days

M | Two | Mordecai/Silver & Atlas | 1916/1920

♣My Bloody Valentin

M | One | Mordecai/Silver & Atlas | 1920

Dress To Impress

M | One | Mordecai & Atlas & Tawny | 1920

Atlas becomes curious about Mordecai after noticing a few of his quirks concerning love and romance.

Lovemaking

M | One | Mordecai & Atlas/Mitzi | 1920

Viktor and Mordecai work together again specifically for the Lackadaisy back in St. Louis.

Mordecai and Viktor become rather close, spending nights together and doing the dirty work of run-rummers/triggermen together. Mordecai is confused by this, though thinks it's nothing more than a friendly business partnership.

♣Lackadaisy's Ghost

M | Two | Mordecai/Silver/Viktor & Atlas | 1920

Mordecai's lucid dreams become worse after starting the job.

Mordecai develops feelings for Viktor around the end of the year.

♣Daughter of Mine

M | One | Mordecai & Atlas/Mitzi | 1920

Mordecai is informed May and Atlas have a daughter. However, he is not permitted to meet her.

1921

Atlas and Mitzi get married.

Viktor and Mordecai's love for each other becomes more evident.

1922

♣Love As a Scheme

M | 12 | Mordecai/Silver/Viktor & Atlas/Mitzi | 1922

Silver joins Viktor and Mordecai on the job after being introduced to them by Atlas.

Mordecai and Viktor make a promise that Mordecai will explore his feelings for Viktor if things with Silver do not work out.

Calm

M | One | Mordecai/Silver | 1922

I've Got Your Back

T | One | Silver/Viktor | 1922

1923

♣Love As a Scheme

M | 12 | Mordecai/Silver/Viktor & Atlas/Mitzi | 1922

Mordecai confesses more properly to Silver.

Mordecai asks Mitzi and Atlas for permission to marry Silver.

1924

Silver is accidentally shot in the head by Mordecai during a job, and presumed dead after being left in a house fire afterward.

Silver is saved and kept in hiding within the caves of the Lackadaisy.

1925

Rocky joins the band, and the Lackadaisy, in extension.

Mordecai and Rocky become friendly acquaintances.

Silver reads the Great Gatsby. Rocky accidentally lets slip that it's Silver's favorite book now and, despite coming out that year, is able to convince Mordecai it was always that way and he heard it from the others.

♣The Day Met The Night

T | Two | Mordecai/Silver & Rocky & Atlas | 1925

Rocky is introduced to Silver and asked to look after him.

♣Mordecai's Rocky Road

T | Two | Mordecai/Silver & Rocky & Mitzi | 1925

♣The Day Met The Night

T | Two | Mordecai/Silver & Rocky & Atlas | 1925

Rocky's drug trip makes Mordecai curious about the rest of the caves in the Lackadaisy.

♣Guardian Angel

T | One | Rocky & Silver & Atlas | 1925

♣Oh Sweet Violin

M | One | Mordecai & Rocky | 1925

Atlas goes traveling for a while. He meets Serafine at a station while she is left waiting for her brother.

♣A Line Without a-

M | One | Mordecai & Atlas | 1925

Mordecai has a fling with Irene before breaking up and finally accepting his sexuality.

♣Miss Irene

T | One | Irene/Rocky & Atlas | 1925

Rocky begins dating Irene.

1926

Atlas is killed mysteriously one night.

Silver is relocated by Rocky to hide in an apartment, via Atlas' instructions before his death.

Mordecai leaves the Lackadaisy to work for the Marigold, but not before kneecapping Viktor in an attempt to convince him to retire.

1927

Mordecai begins working with Nico and Serafine.

♣Right Here

M | Three | Mordecai/Silver & Serafine & Nico | 1927

♣Prophetic Bubbles

M | One | Mordecai/Serafine | 1927

♣Mr. Sweet's Tidbits

T | One | Mordecai & Asa | 1927

♣Silver Bullets & Black Dandelions♣

M | 29 | Everyone | 1927

Mordecai realizes Silver is alive when he is given the task to kill Silver by Asa. However, he can not do it and freaks out on his coworkers instead.

[stopthatmyhandsaredirty]

Star Ware Rebels Bechdel Test Rewatch- 3x18 'Secret Cargo'

Plot

The Ghost crew must escort Senator Mon Mothma, now wanted by the Empire, to a meeting that can change the galaxy.

Female Characters: 3

Hera Syndulla, Mon Mothma, Arihnda Pryce

Male Characters: 8

Ezra Bridger, Zeb Orrelios, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Jon Vander, Erskin Semaj, Kassius Konstantine, Vult Skerris

Droid Characters: 1

Chopper

Does it pass?

Yes, this episode has always been a favorite of mine and I'm happy to say it passes with flying colors! I love Mon Mothma, ever since I saw her in Return of the Jedi. I wanted to know more about this woman who was leading the Rebel Alliance. She popped up in The Clone Wars, Rogue One, and is a background character in Revenge of the Sith since all of her scenes were deleted. At the time this episode aired, this was the biggest showcase for her story we had gotten on screen. Now, we have Andor so we know quite a bit more about her. I loved revisiting this episode with knowing her backstory. The episode passes throughout as Her and Mon Mothma talk in the cockpit of the Ghost. They discuss the Rebellion and what it means to fight behind the scenes vs the front lines.

I love seeing the formal formation of the Rebellion here. It is more meaningful knowing how narrowly she escaped the Imperials to get there. Gold Leader himself, Jon Vander, is also here and gets some fun scenes fighting the TIE Defender with Ezra.

This episode is notable in that it is the first episode featuring Hera but not Sabine. Sabine is off with her family at this point, so we won't be seeing her for a few episodes. This is also the first episode that hasn't featured Kanan. I'd also like to mention the character of Gold Two, one of the female pilots escorting Mon Mothma. She has a decent amount of dialogue before she is unceremoniously knocked unconscious when the Rebels fall under attack. She is never named, not even on Ye Olde Wookieepedia, so I can't count her as a named character. To be fair, none of the members of Gold Squadron are named in the episode.

[oobie-doobie-kenoobie]

Yes, Qui-Gon Jinn is a certified Problem Child��

But not in ✨THAT WAY✨

Qui-Gon Jinn is not a bad Jedi, nor is he the perfect example of what a Jedi SHOULD be. He is not an abusive monster, nor is he a hippie maverick that smokes the Star Wars equivalent of weed and thinks the Council should fuck off.

We must remember that Qui-Gon Jinn exists only as a device to further the plot. He is supposed to cause problems. He is supposed to die. All to further Anakin’s journey. He’s there to get the ball rolling. He’s there to fuck around and find out because it is a MOVIE. SOMEONE has to do it. In A New Hope, it’s Obi-Wan, Mystical Tatooine hermit who picks up a daydreamer blonde kid and plops him right in the middle of a rebellion. 30 something or so years before that, Qui-Gon Jinn, Mystical Jedi Master, picks up a daydreamer blonde kid and plops him right in the middle of an invasion.

It’s meant to function as a parallel, and I don’t know where people abandoned basic media comprehension and decided “nah, fuck it, here’s what really happened…” and then they go off on some bullshit you could honestly liken to the opinions of Andrew Tate about how the Jedi were bad and deserved genocide.

So yeah, Qui-Gon Jinn is a fucking problem. And I love him for it. He’s a massive pain in the ass to the council, but you know what else he was? A Jedi Master. If the Council hated him that much, they could’ve kicked him out any time before then. They clearly have no issue with rejecting people, they literally denied Anakin entry in the first place.

You know what else was going on at that point? The Sith had established a massive power base within the Senate and had been actively manipulating the rule of the galaxy, AND THEREFORE THE JEDI, WHO OPERATE UNDER THE INSTRUCTION OF THE REPUBLIC SENATE, to its ultimate downfall.

Qui-Gon served as the earliest example of: do your best to help who you can, and you get fucking got by the Sith. He is the earliest reminder in the prequels that the Republic is going to fail, the Jedi are going to die, and they can’t do anything about it. Mace Windu becomes a Problem in Revenge of the Sith. He very nearly destroys their entire coup! What happens? He gets fucking GOT. Obi-Wan becomes a Problem, and it takes a long time, but he gets fucking got too!

So yeah, Qui-Gon’s a Problem. And it gets him killed.

Because. That. Is. The. Fucking. Point.

The good guys (the Jedi, btw, for some of you dummies) make decisions that are neither good nor bad. It isn’t as black and white as that. Sure, there’s good guys and bad guys, but there’s good in bad and there’s bad in good. The characters have to make decisions that they feel will ultimately work in the favour of their greater good. For example: Qui-Gon cannot save EVERY slave on Tatooine, but he CAN save one and at least TRY to save two (yall forget that he attempted to bargain for Shmi and was turned away). Betting on a podrace WAS a stupid decision, but what else could he do with Republic credits in Hutt space? It was not so Good and very dangerous, but it was the best they could do in such a short amount of time. Don’t forget that all of Naboo was at stake at this point.

Qui-Gon did his best. The Jedi did their best. And in the end, it wasn’t enough. The corruption of the senate, the power of the Sith, was larger than them.

Also, these tags are perfect:

I saw The Phantom Menace last night (in an empty theater!! after a couple beers!!!! my life is complete) and now I'm coming to you with the most rancid-ass takes!! Let me first just say that it was so beautiful to remember the core message of that film: Qui-Gon Jinn Is a Problem

Not in a bad way!! Let the man be a problem!! He's thriving, flourishing in his role as one! The sheer multi-second "this bitch" look between Mace and Yoda after Qui-Gon interrupts arguably the largest intergalactic crisis in a decade including the removal of a Supreme Chancellor and reemergence of the Sith to talk about some kid he met and ramble about the prophecy again. Obi-Wan's multiple, failed attempts to get his Master back on track. "Don't defy the Council, Master - NOT AGAIN!" The sheer pleading in that last part. "I'm not allowed to train you, Ani" proceeded by him going into a training lecture on the Force and then taking him into battle at his side like a Padawan. FOURTEEN YEAR OLD PADME sitting there being the only adult in the room going "hey, maybe don't bet MY ship on a 9 year old's street racing when we're in the middle of a desperate mission that relies on me getting back to Coruscant to tell everyone my planet is being invaded and people are being killed!"

Seriously, straight up half the screentime in that film is people doing a doubletake at Qui-Gon's big ideas and going "what the fuck did you just say" while he gazes serenely into the middle distance, thinking about something else, and I'm so here for it. Never change, king.

[cc-0420]

sometimes i feel like obi-wan was meant to fall

the emotional kid in the crèche and had a tough time controlling his anger

rejected by qui-gon

sent to bandomeer and ended up being a slave in the mines

finally becomes a padawan

then, the mission to melinda/daan

he leaves the jedi order (the place he tried so hard to belong) to help the young in the war

the amount of distrust that grows between him and qui-gon

when anakin comes along, obi-wan is basically disowned publicly by qui-gon so he could take on anakin as a padawan

(not that he blames anakin, because he is a kid who has no clue what’s going on)

yet when maul comes to fight, obi-wan is still willing to die for qui-gon because he is so loyal (and attached)

the fight with maul is the first time he touches that anger to use the dark side. there is no way a padawan can just beat a sith apprentice without the dark side

when the fight ends and he “kills” maul, i think he suppresses it enough because he wants to complete qui-gon’s final wish to train anakin

(wtf, why would you put that burden on him it’s basically a soon to graduate high school kid now having to raise an elementary student)

so obi-wan suppresses any darkness to become the perfect jedi to train anakin

when the war starts, things begin to change

when arriving at kamino, obi-wan feels the millions of lights, with different personalities

obi-wan is introduced to his commander, cc-2224, who, when asked a name, is hesitant due to pure fear of what happened to past troopers

he slowly learns of the horrors of kamino, the reconditioning and decommissioning of former troopers. the clones are afraid of the jedi due to stories heard from the kaminoans, i mean, they’re just products to be sold

obi-wan goes out of the way to make an effort to learn all of the 212st’s names. yet as the war goes on, he feels the lights blink out on the battlefield

then his ex-padawan gets his own padawan. now, ahsoka is bright, but her training is very different from past generations. instead of learning about cultures and preserving life, they are taught to fight separatists and serve the republic (and that is the exact reason he got kicked out in melinda/daan)

than umbara happens. right under obi-wan’s nose. he was on the planet, sending his troops into massacre

pong krell was a jedi, yet treated the clones like droids, not the life forms they were. while filing the report, obi-wan let himself truly grieve for the first time in the war

when before, obi-wan was rolling down a hill to the dark side, he begins to fall on kadavo

each action obi-wan did wrong became punishment for the tortugas. as they worked pointlessly for “training” the tortugas lost all hope on the jedi. they were the ones to blame for the punishment

the mission was to get the citizens of kiros back. any other action could be seen as an act of war for the republic

this is what the order has become is all obi wan can think, the republics slaves. jedi are supposed to protect the people, not whatever the republic demanded

his spirit begins breaking down. no physical torture can match the guilt of not being able to save others.

unlike bandomeer, he is not the one getting punished for his actions

when he and rex get free, obi-wan wants to kill agruss and his eyes flicker yellow for a moment. but, like canon, rex does it for him

afterwards, rex and obi-wan talk about the horrors of the facility and the lack of faith for the republic and what they are fighting for

rex points out that the clones are a slave to the republic anyway and that they have no other options with their lives (he would never say it straight out to a commanding officer, but this is a headcanon)

“what would you do if we weren’t fighting this war?” “i wouldn’t exist, but i sometimes think many of the vod would prefer that”

that’s when obi-wan snaps. the clones deserve rights more than anyone, yet they will never get it from the republic

the 212th join him with no questions asked cody would follow obi wan till the end of time

obi-wan offers the idea to anakin. he says he is betraying the republic and the chancellor. obi wan says anakin is betraying his troops, yet makes sure he knows that he and ahsoka would always have a place with him

“why?” “the jedi have lost their path. in zygarria, it was get in and out with the tortugas, yet so many remain in slavery.”

“what about my mom?” “what about your mom?” obi-wan was never told anakin was a slave

“i need to stay here. padmé, the chancellor, ahsoka. they need me.” “ok anakin. i am always here for you if you want to reach out about anything” ahsoka stays for anakin

rex wouldn’t leave anakin and ahsoka, but allows for the vod to make their own decision and half of the 501st leaves

so obi-wan, with a battalion and a half leaves the gar and the jedi unannounced. he travels the galaxy picking up clones (who want to join) as well as anyone in need

it is uncalled for and brings the senate and the order to chaos. how can the perfect jedi leave?

as a sith, he isn’t fighting for power or revenge. he is fighting for freedom and justice for the people in the galaxy

the only reason he would fall would be to help others

(he tried so hard to be the perfect jedi, which makes it impossible in his eyes to leave, but is also a great excuse for falling)

he wears armor b/c he wants cody to be happy (the only reason he wasn’t before was b/c it was unjedi-like and straying too far from his beliefs)

he keeps the blue saber, yet also uses blaster now because he became uncivilized

he does read about the powers of the sith and explores what he can do

obi-wan was always good at force suggesting people

while the senate and the public panics (how could they not, the great negotiator has deflected with the best battalion in the galaxy), the order uses the time to reflect. no one joins obi-wan, but there is an unspoken agreement to support his cause

he never explicitly fights against the republic, but doesn’t mind fighting separatists when ever he gets a chance

if a jedi was asked, they didn’t get mysterious help when they were previously losing. yeah, a bunch of clones disappeared, but we won. the senate doesn’t know the difference

falling is a disgrace, but that doesn’t mean plo koon and shaak ti doesn’t send some troopers kenobi’s way as the vod’s honorary buirs

palpatine’s plans begin falling apart

it allows windu and yoda to sooner recognize the flaws in the order and in the senate

barriss leaves the temple sooner, but goes to obi-wan instead of bombing the temple

anakin is now able to trust obi-wan with his and padmé’s relationship, in which he can voice his approval and anakin doesn’t have to feel guilty

when palpatine promises anakin a way to save padmé, he asks obi-wan if that’s true

obi-wan kills palpatine for being a pedo (or he lets fox a clone do it if they want ceaser style)

everyone lives happily with palpatine dead

anakin leaves the order to become a trophy husband (and learn more from obi-wan)

as does ahsoka

the clones get a vacation

i got this idea from @curioscurio ‘s sith!obi-wan fan art

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

Okay but I would LOVE to here your heretical opinions on Padame if you ever want to share them or any of your other views on star wars prequel characters. Your character analysises are INCREDIBLE and really fun to read <3

Oh boy, are you sure about that? Well, the ask has been made so here, we, gooooooooooooooo!

Padme’s one of those strange characters who appears as one thing but in actuality is quite different. Because she appears as the first thing, and it’s something people really like, most people accept that at face value and if she’s not always consistent--well, she came from a series of screenplays written by George Lucas.

Padme comes across as a very noble, kind, and courageous character who is also quite politically savvy. At fourteen, against all odds, she saves her planet from invasion when the Senate did nothing, secured herself an ally in the chancellor (nevermind him being secretly Palpatine), and even after relinquishing her title as queen remains a major player in the senate for years and is seen as enough of a threat to warrant several assassination attempts (one so bad she has to be guarded by Jedi and sent home to Naboo for several weeks). 

And I’m not saying she’s not any of these things. Padme is very courageous, is one of those odd politicians who... believes she stands for what she believes in (more on this later), and has a remarkable political career.

However, she’s also romantic to the point of being completely and utterly delusional, self-centered, and frankly a little nuts.

(Yeah, you knew you were waiting for me to say something terrible, WEREN’T YOU?!) Right, so what’s wrong with Padme?

Well, if you look closely at a few of her choices, the ones that never seemed to make much sense, then you can look at her other choices and... Well, it all sort of comes together. 

That’s right, I’m talking about “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith”.

Attack of the Clones we have the very lackluster and strange romance of Anakin and Padme.

On Anakin’s end, his infatuation with Padme makes a lot of sense. She was part of the party that rescued him from slavery, she was very kind to him, and was the prettiest girl he’s ever seen in his life. Ten years later, always having harbored a crush on her memory and keeping it alive through whatever news he hears of her, she’s grown into a very beautiful woman and Anakin is by chance introduced back into her life. I get why Anakin falls head over heels for Padme, I’ll get more into this later and how their relationship has some major issues (aside from the obvious), but I understand why he marries this girl out of nowhere even when it could get him thrown out of the Jedi. (As an aside, since this is more of a Padme post, I think Anakin was spurred on in part also by the death of his mother and his massacre of the Tusken Raiders. Anakin’s life was flipped upside down in a very short amount of time, one of his great emotional ties is suddenly gone, and I think he has this internal crisis that culminates in him deciding to marry Padme. Without this, he and Padme may have become lovers, but I don’t think he’d marry her).

On Padme’s end... it’s a little less clear. Anakin has grown into an attractive young man, yes. Take out all of George Lucas’ dialogue, and maybe Padme finds Anakin very charming. However, Padme secretly marries a Jedi she’s known for three weeks. Now, I’d be a bit more forgiving of this, love is love and we can’t always think rationally, but there’s some other things.

Unlike Anakin, Padme hasn’t been spending the past ten years romanticizing her memory of Anakin Skywalker. When they met in Phantom Menace, Anakin was not only five years younger than her, he was nine-years-old. To fourteen-year-old Padme, Anakin was not then dating material and was instead this poor boy in slavery. Which means while Anakin has build up justifying this rapid romance, Padme really doesn’t. What this means is that her romance with Anakin reads a lot more like a romantic fantasy. Cute dashing bodyguard shows up, saves her life, through contrived circumstances they’re sent back to beautiful Naboo where they spend time together, only cute bodyguard is a Jedi and can’t marry, which makes their love excitingly taboo! 

Everything Padme does, before and after this point, lends itself to this overdeveloped sense of romance. Padme wants to be whisked away, wants to have this secret unsustainable marriage with a man who cannot be married, she’s in love with the idea of being in love. Given how little time she spends with Anakin, how little they really know of each other, I’d say she’s more in love with the idea of Anakin than Anakin Skywalker himself. And this isn’t a bad thing necessarily, or at least not a grievous flaw, however, that’s not all. 

Padme chooses to marry Anakin knowing he murdered an entire village of men, women, and children. She marries him almost immediately after the massacre of the Tusken Raiders. Note, she does not learn about this later and have to come to terms with it, she is right there. She is on Tatooine with him and sees him go to do it and then return. 

Padme doesn’t take it... particularly well, that said, she also seems to shove it under the carpet immediately. She, first, marries Anakin within days after this event. She second, never really has a “holy fuck, Anakin” conversation with him. And worst yet, she never confesses to anyone else. Padme is a hypocrite and willing to sacrifice everything she believes in, albeit I believe unwittingly, for her romantic fantasy.

She tells no one about what happened. An entire village was brutally massacred, those who are already poor and oppressed and have no voice, by a man who is supposed to be a protector of all people in the galaxy. I’m sorry, Anakin, but if Padme was who you think she is then she would have to tell the Jedi Order at the very least if not the Republic. Instead, there are no consequences, only Anakin’s descent into guilt and madness as three years pass with it festering in the back of his mind.  Padme does not stand for the poor, for the people, or for justice. She only does so when it does not conflict with her own interests, i.e. her actions regarding the invasion of Naboo. More, I do not believe Padme has the introspection to realize this about herself, she never realizes that not narking on Anakin was very very very bad. Three years pass and she lives the whirlwind romantic fantasy that she and Anakin both want. They’re secret lovers/spouses, meeting up at the oddest hours of the day and... This is three years of this ridiculous affair. Three years to come to terms with the fact that something must change. And then the kicker, Padme gets pregnant, and this is where the extra delusional comes in.

The child should have been a signal of the end. There can be no more secret now. Padme is having a child, presumably out of wedlock, and even if space is very very very different from our society I imagine this would be quite the scandal that could even get her thrown out of the senate. I believe Padme mentions as much to Anakin. More, Anakin is no longer a lover, he is now a father. What’s supposed to happen now? They raise this secret child, instructing them that Anakin is only a father in private, never in public?

Anakin and Padme briefly flirt with the idea of Anakin leaving the order. Anakin even wants to do so, but it... never happens. Now is the time it absolutely should happen. Yes, Anakin’s a big part of the war effort, but he could at least start talking to the Order and they could decide if it’d be a slow or fast exit. 

My theory, Padme’s too in love with the fantasy. Anakin leaving means he’s no longer a Jedi, it means he’ll come to Naboo, be unemployed and be around. Anakin visiting will no longer be this romantic, fraught with the danger of being found out, passionate, short lived event for Padme. It’ll become real life. He’ll be a real, ordinary man, she’ll be a real, ordinary, woman, and that spark of romance will be gone.

I don’t think Padme wants that. 

Which is why, even with the child on the way, we see Anakin and Padme continue to play out this ridiculous secret lovers fantasy. And then, of course, Anakin goes insane off screen.

Padme is told that, once again, Anakin has murdered dozens of children. Of course, this is a terrible thing to be told and she can’t process it. She needs to find Anakin and confront him, but people always criticize Lucas here and feel it’s out of character for Padme to have run to Anakin in sobbing hysterics with no plan of enacting vengence.

Frankly, I think it’s very in character. She did nothing about the Tuskens, remember? I think at the end of the day, the murder of the Jedi children means very little to her. What hurts Padme the most is that the fantasy of Anakin she married is not real. The Anakin she married would never murder the Jedi children, betray the Republic, or do any of what he’s done. And I think Padme only has that strong, iron, will when she knows the world she’s in. With the Trade Federation, her stance was obvious. Her people were being oppressed, butchered, and invaded. In this case, the world she knew no longer exists.

The Republic is gone, perhaps hasn’t existed in thirteen years, as it turns out the senator who had always been her biggest supporter was a Sith Lord. The Jedi are gone, children murdered by Anakin while those in the field are picked off by their own clone soldiers. Padme’s world has fallen apart, and I think that makes it much harder for her to be the girl we saw in Phantom Menace. In time, perhaps, she would have joined the rebellion but... I do think Padme might have also given into despair.

So, yeah, that’s Padme for you.

[milfbailorgana]

The one of my favorite Star Wars aus might be role swapping Breha and Bail with Padmé and Anakin

All of this is going into a read more because I accidentally wrote an insane amount <3

Imagine an Anakin who has never been touched by the force. An Anakin who still grew up on Tatooine, but was never whisked away at nine years old to become a Jedi. An Anakin who, as devastated as he was by his mother’s death, was never able to inflict any fucked up revenge fantasy on an entire tribe of people.

This Anakin is angry and scared and every part of his planet reminds him of his mother, so he leaves. He goes to Coruscant, unsure of what he’s to do once he gets there, but knowing that he has nothing left for him on Tatooine. He spends time working for room and board on Coruscant before running into a very fancily dressed woman. They get to talking and exchange comm codes, and Anakin, as tired as he is, doesn’t realize he’s talking to the ex-queen and senator of Naboo. A comical reveal scene happens, as does a longwinded romance full of pining.

Anakin becomes the wife of a senator and whilst not becoming one himself, he becomes a voice in politics. He speaks in the senate and campaigns strongly against slavery, in and out of the republic. Padmé and he grow to have a strong relationship, Anakin is taught to handle his emotions by a professional, and the two of them become well known figures in the galaxy.

Now imagine a Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan who are transporting a young princess instead of a young queen. Who are shot down as they try to exit Alderaan’s atmosphere, halfway across the planet from the palace they left from. Who land next to a small home in the mountains belonging to a senator, his wife, and their little nine year old son.

Imagine a little Bail Prestor, excited to learn about the Jedi who crashed outside of his door and enthralled with the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen in his entire, short life. Who’s bashfully trying to show Breha all his model starships and big books in his room whilst Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan speak in hushed voices outside about the strongest force presence either of them have ever felt.

Imagine a Bail who, after witnessing the death of one of the Jedi he looked up to so much, vows to be the best Jedi he could be. Imagine padawan Bail, who pushes himself too hard and buries himself in every Jedi text he can get his hands on. A Bail who when seeing learns to sass and trade barbs as good as his master. A Bail who uses form one when sparring because he truly believes in the philosophy "the defeat of a foe without inflicting serious injury as the highest form of victory" that comes with it.

Bail and Obi-Wan are put in charge of protecting senator Amidala and her husband Skywalker from an assassination attempt and whilst Obi-Wan goes to Kamino and learns about the clones, Bail turns into a glorified babysitter for two full grown adults. Bail hears Obi-Wan’s comm from Geonosis and goes to save him, and is joined by two very insistant passengers. They are inevitably captured and put in the area, but they all escape when the clones arrive.

Bail gets his hand cut off in a duel with his great grandmaster in a bid to protect his master from having to fight another sith. Whilst he is stuck in the temple recovering, Breha learns about what happened to the kid who she had met those ten years ago and sends him a card wishing him well, with her comm code attached. They start talking and fall for each other pretty quickly, eventually marrying.

I haven’t actually thought about the events of rots yet, but I have been daydreaming about this all day at work and will likely continue

It really started out as a funny “what if” sort of thought, but I started thinking about Anakin channeling the pain and anger from his childhood as a slave into politics and I was hooked

And then Bail! His lightsaber is orange and there’s a muted orange glow from his prosthesis that match Breha’s pulmonodes! And his last name is Prestor because I think he should take Breha’s name <3

Anyways, older and wiser Anakin and Padmé paired with younger and brasher Bail and Breha for the win

[disneydreamlights]

Fallen Star: Chapter 1

AO3 | FFN

[Previous Fic] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]

Summary: The Clone Wars have raged on for three years. With Dooku dead, the war's end is finally within reach, and peace may come to the galaxy.

For Jedi Knight Padmé Amidala, Senator Anakin Skywalker, and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, the world seems to have too many other plans to let it.

[Or, a Revenge of the Sith Roleswap AU]

A/N: I explain a bit of why it took me so long in the author's note on AO3. I don't have an excuse. Next chapter drops Friday.

The battle above Coruscant had been raging for several days. Anakin was surprised that the Separatist forces were getting that bold, or maybe they were sure that the Jedi were weak enough to let an attack on the planet through. Both were a possibility. He hadn’t heard from Padmé in almost a month and a half, maybe more, and she’d been distressed over the state of the outer rim and already beyond tired. It was likely the other Jedi were in similar states.

If he was being honest with himself, it wasn’t just the Jedi who needed a break. Everybody was tired, and it was why the Senate meeting today was so important. For once, it seemed as though the Republic Senate was finally getting its act together to discuss restarting peace talks, a goal Anakin had tried several times over the course of the war to get going if for no other reason than to bring his wife home.

Despite the importance of the meeting today, Anakin was finding it difficult to focus on what was going on in the Senate. He was worried for Padmé and Obi-Wan, and his meetings with members of the delegation to discuss knocking Palpatine off his seat as Chancellor were keeping him too busy to try to take naps to catch up on the sleep he was missing while worrying when there wasn’t work to keep his mind off everything.

“Ani?” He was pulled from his distracted thoughts by his mother’s hand on his shoulder, grabbing his attention back to the world around him as opposed to his distracted thoughts. “Ani, you should rest.”

“I have to be here.” Not a lie. “But if you could meet with Bail later about…” he let his voice trail off, Shmi knew exactly what he was going for, the treasonous words that could not be spoken in the Senate Hall. “I’d appreciate it.” Sleep was off the table, but he could come up with some small amount of rest at least.

Shmi nodded, and Anakin almost collapsed there in relief, almost. “See if you can get in contact with Padmé and Obi-Wan, an update on the war situation would be helpful, and I know you must be worried.”

“Senator Skywalker, we know you’re the face of the peace talks, perhaps you have an idea for all this?” Anakin turned back from his mother to face the Chancellor. Perhaps paying attention would have been beneficial. The entire Senate knew that Anakin, Bail, and Mon were the center of the talks for peace, him knowing exactly what was being discussed would’ve been nice.

“My mother and I have been discussing which Senators in the Separatist council might be most open to peace talks.” Something he had researched earlier in the war, back when Senator Bonterri had still been alive. His focus may have been elsewhere at the moment when it came to the inner workings of the Senate, but peace was still a part of his goal. He could only hope that it was somewhat relevant to the conversation at hand. “We’re still coming to conclusions ourselves who might be willing to open channels after our last attempt.”

Palpatine nodded, and Anakin almost let out a sigh of relief. “An important task, I agree. Perhaps you can come to my office afterwards, and we can go over your list.”

Even now, years after Anakin had turned down his tutelage in politics and instead turned towards others like Bail, Palpatine was still trying to get Anakin alone to speak to him. It made his skin crawl, but there was nothing more he could do. “Of course, Chancellor.” He would have to attempt to pay more attention for now to the discussion, rather than simply be present in the meeting.

“If that is settled, I believe–” Before anybody else could react, the ground shook beneath them all, a possible stray attack from the battle in space hitting the ground near Coruscant, and an ill omen.

It didn’t take long for any feelings of dread Anakin had been feeling to come to a head, as within moments the Senate Dome flooded with Battle Droids, with General Grievous leading the attack. “I believe your talks of peace won’t be happening today.”

Anakin turned behind him at the sound of a click in the Senate Pod to see one of the battle droids at the exit, a blaster aimed at him and his mother. He stood in between the two of them, his hand going for the blaster he kept on his belt.

“This is madness.” Shock and disgust colored Palpatine’s tone, though Anakin couldn’t help but wonder just how much of it was faked.

After all, an interruption of the talks of peace would just make the war go on longer, and that seemed to be all that Palpatine wanted.

More battles. More war. More power for him to sink his claws into.

“Chancellor Palpatine, if you wish to protect your senators, you will come with us.”

The sound of a lightsaber igniting brought Anakin’s attention back to the pod. One of the Jedi Masters on the council, Shaak Ti if he remembered her name, was pulling out her lightsaber, ready to defend the Chancellor. “The Chancellor won’t be going anywhere.”

“Very well.” Grievous let out something that sounded like a mix between a laugh and a cough as he indicated the droids. “Take out the Jedi, so she understands just how serious our threat is.”

Red blaster fire rained down from the pods, aiming for Jedi Master Ti. She started off blocking the blasts, but it wasn’t long before even she couldn’t keep up with the attacks, and she fell to the ground. Anakin was unsure if she was alive or not. The blaster fire stopped as soon as she hit the ground.

“Next time, each of those blasters will be trained on the senators if you do not come with.” For a moment, there was silence. Most of the Senators were aware of the Moffs that Palpatine had put into place only a few weeks prior as military leaders (or replacements for the Senate, a small voice whispered in his mind). It was possible they could be released with no lasting harm to the chain of command. It was entirely possible that Palpatine could decide to…

“I do not need another demonstration, General Grievous.” Palpatine lowered his pod, and Anakin almost let out a sigh of relief. “I understand the threat you pose is quite serious. I will come with you. I trust in the Jedi to be able to come to my aid before it is too late.”

And with that, Palpatine was gone, the droids following after him and Grievous. The Senate was quiet, as though they couldn’t quite believe what had happened.

Before Anakin was aware of what was happening, he’d already taken several steps forward, and it was only his mother grabbing hold of his arm that stopped him. “Anakin…”

“We don’t know when the Jedi will get here. We can’t afford to wait.” It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the Jedi, he might’ve been one of the few supporters they had left, it was that he knew that they were spread thin if even Padmé and Obi-Wan hadn’t been able to escape from the front in months. “I’m going to see what I can do in the air.”

“Right now, you’re needed here.” Shmi insisted. “We need to notify the Jedi of the attack so they can mobilize a clone squadron. Going out there alone would be suicide.”

Anakin frowned. “Then I’ll let the Jedi know, and then I’ll join in the battle.”

His mother hugged him, and Anakin knew she wasn’t happy with his decision. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“I never do.” Although both mother and son knew it was a lie, he waved to her before running out of his pod, ready to start taking out the Droids as they came. It wouldn’t be a long drive to the Jedi Temple, so he just had to hope it’d be alright.

-x-

“Senator Skywalker, we’re surprised to see you here and not in the Senate Building?” Anakin was relieved to find Master Windu at the entrance to the temple, heading out. “I’m guessing you’re here about what happened?”

Anakin nodded. “The Chancellor’s been kidnapped by General Grievous. He managed to get into the Senate somehow.” Somehow...that was something that would be bothering Anakin for a while. Security was tight there, and the clone battalion stationed on Coruscant were top recruits, with only Padmé’s own 501st coming even close to their skill levels. There was no chance that they just managed to get through that easily…

Still, Anakin couldn’t focus on that for now. “I came to request Jedi help in rescuing the Chancellor.”

“We’re already taking care of it. We’ve called in several clone battalions from the front. Two of our finest generals will hopefully be here soon.”

Anakin dared to let himself hope for a moment that those two generals being summoned were Padmé and Obi-Wan, but for now held off on asking. Instead, he simply nodded again. “Do you have enough ships in the sky until they arrive?”

Master Windu nodded. “Enough to keep further landing parties from Coruscant and to hold the battle.”

“Got room for one more?”

“Senator Skywalker, I don’t think–”

Anakin shook his head. “I’m a trained pilot. I can fly those ships and give cover until the Jedi come back from the front.” And he was a powerful force sensitive, but holding that over Master Windu’s head didn’t seem fair, not at the moment. War had been a powerful driving factor in making peace with the fact that they wouldn’t train him. “I’ve helped the Jedi in air battles in the past whenever my ship ends up in the area, and I already know how to fly around in any ship you’ve got in that temple.”

Master Windu seemed to hesitate for a moment, as though appraising Anakin in front of him for the first time. “You have fifteen minutes to find the hanger. After that I notify the guards of a break-in in the temple.”

Anakin grinned. Even if the Jedi had thought him to be unteachable, they still trusted him, at least in that regard. He was grateful that his piloting skills spoke for themselves. “Thank you, Master Windu.”

“Don’t get yourself hurt. Explaining why I let a Senator steal one of our ships to join in the battle is going to be enough work if you do come back alive, let alone if you don’t.”

Anakin saluted him. “Sir.” And with that, he entered into the temple, noticing the small smile on Master Windu’s face.

When the war was over, he was really going to have to address his grudge against the Jedi once and for all. Perhaps he’d find that some of his anger and blame towards them was incorrect after all.

-x-

The sound of fire all around her alerted Padmé to the fact that they had finally left hyperspace and arrived in the space around Coruscant. She heard Artoo’s beeps behind her as the light speed ring detached, allowing her greater mobility as she began taking aim at the enemy fighters in front of her, shooting down the droids to keep what remained of the 501st with her from taking too much heavy fire.

A small holographic projection of Obi-Wan appeared on her dashboard. “Padmé, the Chancellor is located on General Grievous’s ship. We’ll need to fight our way through quickly if we want to ensure he doesn’t escape into Separatist space.”

“Always one to deliver easy tasks.” Padmé smiled. Admittedly, she was a bit nervous to be involved in an intense battle. Even six months pregnant, Droids in a space battle were no challenge. General Grievous however would be significantly more difficult. “Any other news?”

“Some preliminary reports say that Dooku should be on the ship as well.” Padmé tightened her grip around the ship’s controls, trying not to let that news bother her given all he’d put her through throughout the war. She needed to release those emotions to the Force and a battle was not the time or place. Maybe later.

“Well, we don’t have much time, we’d better get going before the skies become worse.” Padmé smiled. She and Obi-Wan flew straight into the battle in front of them, firing at the enemy ships without much thought, letting the Force guide her as it always had and letting Artoo focus on the flying around them. Thankfully, the droids weren’t advanced, and it was easy flying. The challenge, of course, would come from the ship in front of them.

After a few minutes, Artoo started beeping quickly at her. She’d never gotten as good at understanding binary as her husband, but she did have a basic grasp. “What is it Artoo?”

“I believe we’re getting a signal from...the Twilight?” So Obi-Wan was getting it too?

Padmé stared for a moment. “That can’t be. I know that ship’s still in the Temple. Anakin would’ve killed me if I took his pet project while we were in the sieges.” Though the ship was legally in the possession of the Jedi, Anakin had liked to work on it with Ahsoka back during the war. It rarely saw combat, but it saw his tools sometimes even when she wasn’t home on Coruscant. “Patch it through Artoo.”

A new voice appeared through the headset, one achingly familiar and alarming to be sending a signal from the battlefield like that. “About time you showed up. I was beginning to doubt that the reinforcements Master Windu sent for weren’t going to show.”

“Anakin?” both she and Obi-Wan said at the same time.

“Padmé? Obi-Wan!?” Padmé could practically hear the grin in his voice.

“Anakin, what are you doing in the sky like this? You’re a civilian. You’re in danger up here.”

Anakin laughed. “Don’t worry Obi-Wan, I’ll be fine. Master Ti was injured in the Senate building and unless you wanted Master Windu or Master Yoda in the air–” Both of which Padmé wanted to argue were fully capable of fighting this battle, “–then there was nobody skilled enough to pilot one of these things to help keep things under control.”

“And they approved?” Padmé pulled her ship out of the way of the fire, attempting to keep her focus on the battle rather than her reckless husband.

“My record precedes me. Master Windu was willing to let me with a little bit of persuasion.” That was almost as hard to believe. Mace Windu letting the Senator pilot any ship in the Jedi’s fleet in a battle was unlikely. Then again, the war had been taking a toll and if there really wasn’t anybody else available at that moment…

What was the war even leading the Jedi to become? Padmé wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“Anakin, I’m pretty sure Padmé and I will both be having it out with you after this. You’re going to–”

“Obi-Wan!” Padmé hissed. Anakin didn’t know about the child yet. Obi-Wan shouldn’t have even known about the baby growing in her and if she hadn’t found out in a panic while they were in the other rim he still wouldn’t know. Telling Anakin about this in the middle of a battle was not the way she wanted her husband to learn about his future son or daughter. “I think Anakin’s aware he’s in trouble. Right now, we need to focus on the battle ahead.”

Obi-Wan sighed. “Very well, but Senator Skywalker please hold some regard for your own safety in the future.”

Obi-Wan closed the communication channel, likely to give the two of them an ounce of privacy so she could tell Anakin about their child. Anakin, at least, was willing to take full advantage of it. “You’re really here.”

Padmé smiled slightly. “I’m really here Ani. I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” She could hear the smile in his voice, followed by a curse moments later. “Sorry, thought the droid was farther away.”

Padmé shook her head. “Anakin.”

“I know.” He chuckled, embarrassed. “I’ll see you back on the surface, let’s end this.” Anakin closed the channel as well, leaving her to focus on the battle, but unable to ignore how much lighter her heart felt even after that brief exchange. Six months away from Coruscant was longer than she ever wanted to take ever again.

But for now, there were more pressing issues than her time away from her husband. She fired off at a ship tailing Obi-Wan.

“Thank you, my Padawan.” Obi-Wan’s voice meant he’d opened back up the channel.

“Thank me by staying alive.” That was really all she wanted, the two most important people to her to come home safely. Before they could say anything more, Artoo spun her starfighter (much to her annoyance. Going upside down was not good for developing humans and it was only by the Force she had a chance at protecting them) just in time to help her avoid two rockets chasing after her as the two smashed into each other.

“Hey Artoo! No fancy flying. Baby, remember.” The droid beeped back in response and Padmé sighed, just knowing that he was complaining for her not appreciating him saving her life. “Thank you, Artoo.”

Finally, there was an opening in front of them. “We can get through!”

“I see our opportunity as well.” Obi-Wan started flying towards the ship, only to miss the cluster of buzz droids heading towards him.

“Master!” Padmé shouted, but her warning came too late as the droids attached themselves to the side of Obi-Wan’s ship, beginning to work their way through the metal. “Master are you alright?”

“Get to the ship Padmé. We need to get in and rescue the Chancellor.” He was right, of course he was. Padmé knew she needed to get into the ship as quickly as possible, but that meant leaving her friend…

She shook her head. “Not without you.” She rammed into the ship, attempting to take off some of the buzz droids. Which had minimal impact and no positive effect as rather than take out the buzz droids on Obi-Wan’s ship, it simply allowed them onto hers. She watched Artoo push one off with one of his tools, thankfully keeping her and the ship safe from harm.

“Padmé, you’re going to get yourself killed too. I’m already done for, just head to Grievous’s ship.” Obi-Wan was determined to get her moving, but Padmé frowned as she pulled back, there had to be something she could do…

“I’ve got this.” Anakin’s voice came back over as the Twilight swooped in, firing a singular beam at each of the droids, taking them out one by one. “Padmé, you need to shoot as well.”

“If this kills Obi-Wan, it’s your fault.” But she did as she was asked, and before long she and Anakin had gotten the remaining buzz droids off the Starfighter.

“I’ll cover you until you get on that ship. Afterwards, I’ll return to Coruscant to let Master Windu know.”

“Anakin, are you certain?” Obi-Wan asked.

“It’s our best move. I may be good here, but in the ship itself I’ll slow you both down.” Anakin was right about that. He was gifted with a blaster, but going up against a Sith and a cyborg who made it a habit to steal as many lightsabers as possible would make even his skills near useless, and this time there was no lightsaber for Anakin to steal. “Besides, I know you both can handle it.”

Padmé smiled at the vote of confidence. “Thank you, Ani.”

“I’ll see you both after you finish this mission.” Anakin shut off the channel, and Padmé and Obi-Wan began their flight towards the hanger. Without a second thought, Padmé shot at the sides, disabling the shields so she and Obi-Wan could get through the door, their ships crashing to the ground and running over the battle droids within the ship’s hanger.

Obi-Wan launched out of his ship, lightsaber already lit as he began slicing through the droids, and Padmé followed suit, and before long they were deflecting blaster bolts left and right until only the two of them remained and Artoo remained. “Artoo, see if you can locate the Chancellor.” The droid beeped a confirmation of understanding his orders in response that neither of them needed a translation to understand. “While he searches, we should get going.”

“You sense it too?” That cold feeling that only came from the dark side of the Force, from a Sith, pervaded the room and everywhere that Padmé could feel. “It looks like your info was correct.”

Obi-Wan nodded, a frown on his face. “Dooku’s here. This is probably a trap.” She agreed with the assessment, but before she could ask anything further, Obi-Wan spoke up again. “Are you sure you want to continue with the mission. I’m sure I can handle Grievous or Dooku alone.” Ahsoka had wondered the same thing too when they’d rushed off towards the mission while she had gone to Mandalore.

“Master, I know you’re good, but I’m not sure you can face Count Dooku alone.” Padmé smiled, though she had the same thoughts herself. Her fear for Obi-Wan facing the Sith alone was far greater. He was a gifted duelist, and had had little trouble defeating herself and Obi-Wan in the past. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“It’s not just you fighting this if you come with me.”

“I know. And he’s important too.” Her hand briefly rested on her stomach to focus on the life growing inside, the large glow of light. “But I’m not about to let you fight Dooku without me.” For all his faults and any fights they may have had, Obi-Wan was her best friend. “You won’t be able to talk me out of this.”

Obi-Wan sighed, shaking his head. “Honestly, you’re just as reckless as Anakin.” He tossed a comm unit to Artoo who caught it before starting to head off into the ship. “If I can’t convince you to stay, then you’d better stay close. After all, we have a trap to spring.”

With that, Padmé followed after Obi-Wan with a smile, and the two entered into the main halls of the ship.

Their mission to rescue the Chancellor had begun.

[levitatingbiscuits]

For the Obi-Wan prompt, he is undercover somewhere for shadow work and meets jango, they have a fun time, and then years later they see each other on Kamino and instead of thinking Obi-Wan is actually a Jedi jango thinks he’s pretending to be a Jedi

“What the kriff are you doing here?” Jango hissed, once Taun We had left his quarters.

Ben, the karking idiot, had gone the color of spoilt milk at the sight of him. He was lucky Jango hadn’t blown his cover and gotten him tossed into the ocean or executed by clone firing squad for impersonating a Jedi.

“Dad?” Boba asked, losing the cute but ineffectual glower he’d been giving the supposed interloper.

“Everything’s fine, Boba,” Jango said, watching the fascinated glance Ben cast at his son. Ben was honorable, as far as bounty hunters went, but Jango would make sure to threaten him just in case. A lot of people would pay an obscene amount for something to hold over his head, and Jango had very little in the galaxy he cared for other than Boba. “Go work on your modules, we’re gonna talk shop.”

Boba’s eyes sharpened with interest, knowing by now what his father’s trade entailed, and he gave Ben an assessing look. Ben was unassuming when he wanted to be--disguising himself as someone important wasn’t his style, but he’d done a damn fine job with his cover, as he always did. He was carrying himself like a Jedi. He even had what looked like a kriffing lightsaber hilt tucked into his belt, though Jango wasn’t sure if it was a replica or if Ben had somehow managed to get his hands on the real deal. It wouldn’t exactly surprise him if he had; Ben was good at what he did, even if Jango was better.

“It was good to meet you, young one,” Ben said, in that stilted but sincere way he had with kids. Boba rolled his eyes as he left, and Jango didn’t bother to stifle his smile. He doubted that Boba had made Ben’s first few minutes on Kamino especially pleasant.

“Answer the question, Ben,” Jango said, once Boba was safely in his room. The little womp rat probably had his ear pressed to it, just like Jango used to do when Jaster held war counsels, way back when. “What are you doing here?”

Ben still looked a little like he’d been cold cocked at the sight of him, but he was getting over it quickly. It was a trait Jango appreciated just as much as he mistrusted. Ben had never screwed him over before (at least not in a way Jango hadn’t enthusiastically reciprocated and participated in, at any rate), but Jango had been in the game too long to trust a bounty hunter who was good at their job.

“I was hired to track down the person who put a hit out on a senator. I wasn’t aware it was you I’d be dealing with or I wouldn’t have come.”

Jango smiled again at that; Ben had the oddest way of pulling those out of him without even trying. Most bounty hunters would never admit to something like that, because they worked in an industry where you really couldn’t afford the resultant loss of face, but Ben had always been an oddball. It was a breath of fresh air to hear someone self-deprecate when most bounty hunters preferred to self-aggrandize.

Of course, Ben was too skilled, and Jango too smart to fall for it--but he admired Ben’s dedication to his cowardly, pragmatic facade. He might have believed it if Ben hadn’t saved his life in situations where he stood to gain nothing from it. The man was about as noble as a bounty hunter could be, with a healthy serving of death wish, to boot.

“That quick, huh. Hadn’t known you were on Coruscant. If I did I would’ve subcontracted to you instead of Wesell.”

“Yes, well, I’m currently in the employ of your target, and I won’t be swayed without a much more significant percentage of the payout than you’re willing to give.” He hesitated, tugging contemplatively at his beard, then said, “Naboo is a very wealthy planet, you know--”

“Not happening for me either, though I appreciate the offer. My employer isn’t someone I want to cross.” Yet.

“I see,” Ben said. “Well, I don’t suppose you’d be willing to talk about your... other contracts?”

He sent a significant glance at Boba’s door.

“Boba’s not a product,” Jango said sharply. “He was the reward.” That’s what the others are. Products. I have only one son.

“I didn’t mean to insult your family in such a way,” Ben said delicately, though he almost certainly had. Jango let it slide; up until a few minutes ago, he hadn’t known his colleague, rival, and occasional fuckbuddy had a son. All things considered, he was taking everything very well.

And the Jedi might receive the intel better if it was Ben selling it to them. After all, a clone army with the Jedi Killer’s face was always going to be a hard sell, and Ben was a born salesman. Jango had worked too hard for his revenge for it to falter now.

And... he found he wanted Ben and Boba to get to know each other. As it stood, the only other bounty hunter Boba knew was Aurra Sing, and as much as Jango respected her she was hardly a role model. He still had his Mandalorian sense of honor, and Ben was the only other bounty hunter he knew who had even a semblance of a moral code.

That was the only reason he wanted Ben to meet his son.

Besides, they hadn’t slept together in years, and Jango was nothing if not an opportunist.

“Why don’t you stay for dinner, and we’ll see if we can work something out.”

[padawanlost]

So I'm curious, Dave Filoni has been quite critical of the prequel era Jedi at times (and has got hate for it), but I wondered was the element of criticism of the Order that comes over the prequel movies intentional on Lucas part? A lot of people insist it wasn't and the Jedi are perfect, but I'm not so sure Lucas intended that, at least not in the prequels.

The Jedi Order’s fallibility was necessary for the prequels to exist. I know I’ve posted this many times already but George Lucas said on multiple occasion that he was going for political themes, specially themes about how the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

The story being told in ‘Star Wars’ is a classic one. Every few hundred years, the story is retold because we have a tendency to do the same things over and over again. Power corrupts, and when you’re in charge, you start doing things that you think are right, but they’re actually not. – George Lucas in 2005

[The Jedi] sort of persuade people into doing the right thing but their job really isn’t to go around fighting people yet there are now used as generals and they are fighting a war and they are doing something they really weren’t meant to do.They are being corrupted by this war, by being forced to be generals instead of peacemakers. – George Lucas for E! Behind the Scenes - Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith

The prequel trilogy is based on a back-story outline Lucas created in the mid-1970s for the original three “Star Wars” movies, so the themes percolated out of the Vietnam War and the Nixon-Watergate era, he said. Lucas began researching how democracies can turn into dictatorships with full consent of the electorate.

In ancient Rome, “why did the senate after killing Caesar turn around and give the government to his nephew?” Lucas said. “Why did France after they got rid of the king and that whole system turn around and give it to Napoleon? It’s the same thing with Germany and Hitler. "You sort of see these recurring themes where a democracy turns itself into a dictatorship, and it always seems to happen kind of in the same way, with the same kinds of issues, and threats from the outside, needing more control. A democratic body, a senate, not being able to function properly because everybody’s squabbling, there’s corruption.” 

George Lucas has admitted that one of the biggest influences on the series was the Nixon era. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Lucas said Star Wars “was really about the Vietnam War, and that was the period where Nixon was trying to run for a [second] term, which got me to thinking historically about how do democracies get turned into dictatorships? Because the democracies aren’t overthrown; they’re given away.”

There’s a clear difference between the Jedi being fallible and the jedi being evil, but that is a line fandom stan culture has erased. Because of the strong stance people are taking ‘in the defense of the jedi order’ we are living in a environment where recognizing they made mistakes is considered being ‘critical’ or an ‘anti’.

The main difference between the clone wars and the movies is on how these themes were explored. Where George had a limited amount of hours to explore them as the plot moved forward Filoni had years. It’s a big difference, one that allowed to Filoni to consider multiple POVs. The movies focused on Anakin’s journey, Filoni could give a lot more time to the clones, jedi padawans, senators, citiznes, etc. That’s why TCW feels more ‘critical’ of the Jedi order.

The truth is both explored the fallibility of the Jedi Order, but it’s much easier to pretend that wasn’t the case when you only watch the movies. for anyone who has studied gffa history and politics will notice right away how messy everything was and how so many mistakes were made by all sides involved. It’s not just a case of TCW vs movies. If we are being real, it’s a case of comics, novels, shows, movies and creators vs people who can’t admit their fave fictional characters have human flaws.

It’s kind of ironic. The more we see of the Jedi order the easier it becomes to see the cracks the allowed Palpatine’s evil to spread. But instead of enjoy the themes being explored the fandom reaction is Why are you showing me this?!

[stonefreeak]

OH WOW, LOOK AT THE TIME. AHAHAHHAHAHAAAAA... oops?

Anakin can't believe what he's hearing and seeing. He can't believe that the investigation really would find something on Palpatine. The man has been nothing but devoted to the welfare of the galaxy for years! There's no way that he would do something like this. There just isn't.

Just then, something Palpatine said to him comes back with a vengeance. "Well, I know my innocence, so I feel that I have little to fear… Unless, of course, someone has tampered with evidence or files to implicate me, of course."

He feels cold, shudders and shivers running through him and immediately it's as if a hand is holding his throat. Not squeezing, just holding there, like a threat, making his throat feel clogged and his breathing speed up.

Could someone have interfered with the investigation and planted evidence against Palpatine? It is possible that all of this is a sham of a trial, held on false evidence? Palpatine suggested the possibility after all, surely that must mean that he suspected he might have a political rival willing to stop at nothing to smear him?

... It... It can't have been Obi-Wan, can it?

All of this began with Obi-Wan, after all. Obi-Wan took over Palpatine's position, ousting him from office without a shred of remorse. Obi-Wan locked himself in his room after that Senator had suggested it... Was he plotting something? Working on how to make his plans proceed even as he pretended that he was just an unwilling Jedi Master being put in an impossible situation his sense of duty wouldn't let him ignore?

Because... Obi-Wan was the one who confiscated Palpatine's possession and it was Obi-Wan who started this infernal investigation in the first place! Maybe he planted information while he did his "research" into Palpatine's conduct?

Maybe... Maybe this has all been a bid for power and Obi-Wan's been lying to Anakin all along. Maybe that's why he hasn't given up his place on the Jedi high Council or his place as a High General of the GAR.

Pressing his palms against his eyes, Anakin grits his teeth and breathes harshly through his nose, trying desperately to get it together. Is it really possible that Obi-Wan would do such a thing?

... He would if the Council ordered him to. But that... that doesn't make sense either, does it? Why would the Jedi want to be in charge of the Republic anyway? There's nothing in it for them, not really.

And the only thing Obi-Wan's really done since coming into office is being a stabilising influence on the political scene, start investigations he doesn't participate in, and send laws out to be deliberated on by groups of senators without his presence. Padmé has said all of that, has talked at length about what good she thinks Obi-Wan is doing in the Senate.

But... What if... What if...

He pulls his hands away and straightens, suddenly feeling the way Padmé's hand is rubbing his shoulder. He glances up at her, but her eyes are still trained at the screens.

There's a smile on her face. She looks pleased. There's a light in her eyes and Anakin can tell that she thinks this is right, that she doesn't harbour any sort of suspicions against the investigation.

But... But it all fits so neatly together. It makes sense that Obi-Wan would have set everything up.

Except then, like lightning from clear skies, he remembers something incredibly important, something he had overlooked.

Senator Mandai is a Naangni from the planet Haa'ndu.

All Naangni are impervious to Force suggestions.

There is no way Obi-Wan could have influenced her into doing what she did, not unless he did it entirely without the Force. But that would have taken time and effort, and Obi-Wan had been off Coruscant almost as much as Anakin had before that session ever happened.

It's as if a huge weight is lifted from his shoulders, and he almost wants to cry.

Obi-Wan hasn't orchestrated all of this in some mad bid for power.

It's such a relief to realise that he'd simply jumped to conclusions that Anakin nearly forgets that it means that Palpatine really must be guilty of these crimes. That he really must have abused his position and accepted bribes.

Anakin feels cold, like he can't breathe.

That means that Anakin was wrong.

And Obi-Wan was right.

~~~~

Padmé feels like she's torn between satisfaction and dismay as she watches the results of the trial come in. On one hand, she feels like this further proves that her realisation that Palpatine used her when she was still Queen is true, because clearly it was not the only time Palpatine decided to ignore convention, the law, and his duty to do something that improved his own standing above everything else.

On the other hand, however, she's watching a man she long considered a mentor be proved a corrupt liar, who missed the fact that his close colleague and the Vice Chair of the Galactic Senate was beyond corrupt.

It makes Senator Mandai's words during that fateful emergency session ring painfully true: "He’s been inefficient, slow to act, and allowed his own term to be dragged out without a new vote for far longer than any competent politician should have allowed! The war has dragged on because our Chancellor has done nothing to stop the powers that drive it, and it is the Jedi and the Clones that shoulder the weight of his incompetence!"

She has long since harboured worries regarding the usage of a Clone army, creating living and sentient beings simply for the sake of throwing them into war for a Republic they have never known... And this is just another layer of anxiety on top of that.

If Palpatine had been a better Chancellor... Would the war have ended already?

Or...

Perhaps the war never would have begun in the first place...

~~~~

The news are all over the Holonet as soon as the sentence is dropped. Some quite large fines, but no jail time.

The people seem conflicted, as many of them had been holding on to what they've been told throughout Palpatine's time in office: that he's a hard working man who's doing his very best for the Republic to even his own detriment at some times.

Some are weeping and in denial, claiming that it cannot be true.

Others are mounting protests, that the punishment is too little for someone who abused the highest political office in the entire Republic.

And Palpatine...

Palpatine is locking down all of his rage and disgust, down as deep inside himself as he can, lest he ends up killing multiple people in an explosion in the Force.

As satisfying as he would find it, he can hardly expose himself like that.

Regaining his reputation will be hard work, harder than he ever expected, but he cannot create more bodies to bury with no control. There are enough people that need to die without him adding random pathetic rabble to the list.

He'll take his time, things will blow over...

And when they do, he'll mount a charm offensive that will make everyone forget about these pesky little convictions. They're barely anything at all—though he's almost impressed that the investigation managed to pin them on him. Seems he might have underestimated the Jedi just a small amount.

It's not a mistake he will repeat.

And they will come to regret ever taking part in this farce in the first place.

Not that they would have been spared even if they hadn't put their noses where they don't belong.

Death to all Jedi...

Just as soon as he can formulate and enact a plan to enact Order 66. There must be some way...

As long as he can activate the chip in the mind of just one single commander, he can ensure that commander spreads it to the others and then the destruction of the Jedi will commence.

And the revenge of the Sith will finally be complete.

—

(Supreme Chancellor Obi-Wan Kenobi masterpost)

[justalitlecreacher]

Anakin Skywalker Deserved Better

Ive made this post before but it was really rough and i meant to edit it later and its later now but its been so long that i don’t feel like finding the og post so here we are. If it’s not obvious i care more than a normal amount about Anakin Skywalker.

Tl;Dr: I firmly believe that there are so many points in the prequel series, the clone wars, and even the comics that some level of intervention could have steered Anakin away from falling in Revenge of the Sith.

The Phantom Menace 

This is our first encounter with Anakin, and it does a decent job at introducing us to him. This movie sets up his tragic backstory™️ and gives us a good look at his personality; Anakin appears selfless and eager to help complete strangers in return for nothin when he first brings Qui-Gon and crew to his home to give them shelter, and then risks his life in the podrace to help them afford the part they need to fix their ship. Aside from introducing and developing Anakin not much else happens until Qui-Gon brings Anakin before the Jedi Council where they decide he is too old and there is already too much anger in him to be trained as a Jedi. Qui-Gon disagress, but we move on to Naboo where 9-year old Anakin blows up a very large ship all; by himslef w/ autopilot ( they grow up so fast), Qui-Gon dies, and we get our first look at Palpatine being creepy in hindsight, “And you, young Skywalker, we will watch your career with great interest.” not all that weird out of context but uncomfy when you remember who Palpatine is.

Before we move on i actually want to flashback to Anakin’s first encounter with the Jedi Council. For a group of people who constantly take in and raise children, the Jedi seem to do a poor job interacting with them. A kind of infuriating thing about this scene is that the Jedi seem to shame Anakin for being afraid (no matter how much Anakin himself denies that fear). This scene does a really good job at setting up how the Jedi consistently fail to take into account that Anakin is fundamentally incapable of being a “normal” Jedi. Anakin has had a fundamentally different childhood than any other Jedi and absolutely needed more help and support than the average Padawan from the very beginning. Granted it is possible that the Jedi tried to get him the help and support he needed, but if they did we can infer they failed from Dooku’s line in Revenge of the Sith, “I sense great fear in you, Skywalker. You have hate, you have anger, but you don’t use them.”

Obi-Wan And Anakin Comic

The Obi-Wan and Anakin comics take place sometime between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. The story focuses on Anakin and Obi-Wan investigating a distress signal on a planet that has been destroyed by war. The comic also flashes back to reveal that Anakin is thinking of leaving the Jedi Order after Palpatine shows him the dark side of Coruscant, and tells him that neither the Jedi nor the Senate will be able to do anything about it. We get more creepy (not just in hindsight this time) moments out of Palpatine here. The first one is when he uses his position as Chancellor to gain access to Anakin under the guise of “helping” him.  “Why young Skywalker is a Jedi, is he not? The Jedi are under the Senate’s jurisdiction. And as I am the Chancellor of the Senate...”. Palpatine proceeds to take Anakin to a club of some kind where they see a corrupt senator gambling; Palpatine also mentions how “Lives are bought and sold here everyday” he then makes a show of apologizing for bringing it up considering Anakin’s past.Without context this would seem harmless enough, but with the context of Palpatine’s true identity it is more likely a ploy to subelty remind Anakin of how the Jedi and Senate are unable or unwilling to intervene on Tatooine or the rest of the Outer Rim. Palpatine reminding Anakin of the Senate and Jedi’s inability to help everyone seems to be a running theme in their meeting as the series continues. 

Aside from Palpatine being a creep; we see that Anakin is still just as willing and eager to help as he was in The Phantom Menace. His skills in mechanics result in him being briefly kidnapped so that he can fix weapons that will help one side to win the war that has destroyed the planet. Seriously Anakin is just so ernest in these comics that i shed tears because i know how his story ends. 

One character that Obi-Wan and Anakin team up with to reach the distress signal first mistakes Anakin for Obi-Wan’s son, and then tells Obi-Wan, “He [Anakin] doesn’t think so. Kid idolizes you. You can see it” when Obi-Wan admits that he’s not sure he is the best suited to teach Anakin, and fears he has failed him in some way. As the story progresses, it is revealed in a flashback that after Anakin told Obi-Wan he wanted to leave the Order, Yoda sent the two of them on the mission they are currently on to give Anakin a chance to reconsider his decision, and Obi-Wan tells Yoda that if Anakin returned from the mission still wanting to leave the Order, Obi-Wan would leave with him to continue his training and keep his promise to Qui-Gon. 

Attack of the Clones

Back to the movies. Attack of the Clones reunites Obi-Wan and Anakin with Padmé Amidala when they are assigned to protect her from an assassin. One of ( if not the) most important elements to this movie are Anakin’s dreams/visions of his mother. Towards the beginning of the movie Anakin doesn’t explicitly say what the dreams are about, but it can be assumed that the dreams are unpleasant as he says, “I don't sleep well anymore.” in response to Obi-Wan commenting on him looking tired; going on to claim that he cannot sleep because of his dreams. Anakin later admits to Padmé that he worries about his mother. This is one of the key moments in Anakin’s life that set him up to fall in Revenge of the Sith. There is no reason i can think of that Anakin should not have been allowed to check on his mother if he was having dreams about her that prevented him from sleeping properly and made him worry for her safety. As Anakin says, “Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is central to a Jedi's life, so you might say we're encouraged to love.”. If compassion truly is central to a Jedi’s life, then surely they could at the very least send one of their 10,000 Jedi to check on Anakin’s mother if he could not? Is it compassion to deny someone the help they need? I find it hard to believe that Anakin would not have told Obi-Wan that he was worried about his mother going off of how close they appear to be in the previous comic. Especially after Anakin responds to Obi-Wan joking about Anakin being the death of him one day with, “Don't say that Master... You're the closest thing I have to a father... I love you. I don't want to cause you pain.” 

Anakin and Padmé arrive too late to save Shmi, and she dies in Anakin’s arms. This is a crucial moment leading up to Anakin’s fall as it shows Anakin that his dreams have a very real potential of coming true and likely results in him blaming himself at least partially for not insisting on checking on his mother or getting there sooner or doing anything different that may have allowed her to survive; it’s also the first time we see Anakin really lose control. There have been instances of him lashing out in anger before (turning a pair of padawans’ lightsabers against them when he hears them making fun of him behind his back), but nothing like what happens in the wake of Shmi’s death. Anakin wipes out the entire village of Tusken Raiders; children included. And while Anakin does express genuine remorse for his actions, he never faces consequences for them. It’s not even clear if anyone but Padmé ever finds out; Yoda claims to feel Anakin’s pain in the wake of his mother’s death, but does not appear to see Anakin’s actions, and is not shown to discuss what happened on Tatooine with Anakin at all.

Some light googling on my part revealed that in the novelization of Attack of the Clone, while Anakin did tell Obi-Wan about his mother’s death it was Padmé who told Obi-Wan how she had died, but Obi-Wan is unaware of what happened afterwards. “Anakin had told him of Shmi’s death; that was why he and Padmé had gone to Tatooine, he said. Obi-Wan had talked to Padmé later, and she had explained that Shmi had been kidnapped and killed by Tusken Raiders. Neither of them had been willing to go into much detail, and from what Obi-Wan knew of the Tusken Raiders, he didn’t blame them. It was no wonder Anakin seemed shaken, if his mother had been tortured and killed. One day, perhaps, Anakin would be willing to tell him the whole story.” Obi-Wan appears to know that there is more to the story than he has been told, but it content to wait until Anakin is ready to talk about it. I wonder if they ever had that conversation.

Anakin’s inability to save his mother even after the warnings he receives in his dreams likely leads to his desperation to save Padmé form the danger he believes her to be in later in Revenge of the Sith. He has been shown once before that his dreams can easily come true, and he is desperate to prevent this dream from coming true no matter what the cost may be. 

The Clone Wars

This is gonna be a long one; it’s gonna have to cover the most relevant episodes of The Clone Wars and oh boy that’s not a small amount. Im gonna try to go chronologically but bear with me (if you actually read this far you know what you got yourself into)

Assassin s3ep7

In this episode Ahsoka begins having visions of Padmé being assassinated similarly to how Anakin dreamed of his mother’s and later Padmé’s deaths. The difference with Ahsoka is that she is able to prevent the visions from becoming reality.  What i want to focus on in this episode is the reaction Ahsoka gets when she tells Yoda about her dreams. Yoda explains to her that her dream may be telling her something and provides her with the means to act on her visions to prevent them from becoming true.

When Anakin approaches Yoda about his dreams in Revenge of the Sith, Yoda simply tells him that death is natural and he must train himself to let go of everything he fears to lose. We could chalk this up to just a writing inconsistency, but i dont think i will. I would instead like to wonder why Yoda treats Ahsoka’s visions like they are something that can be changed but then treats Anakin’s like they are set in stone. Anakin has already proven himself capable of having true visions, and is more force sensitive than any other living Jedi. It makes no sense to dismiss Anakin’s feelings like this. All this to say looking into and helping Anakin to examine his dreams instead of telling him to let go when he has proven over and over to be incapable of doing so would likely have been significantly more helpful in the long run.

The Mortis Arc S3 Ep15-17

Honestly i dont have a lot to say on this arc aside how much psychic damage it dealt to see Anakin briefly turn to the dark side because he was so desperate o avoid the future The Son had shown him ( really hope everyone had the common sense not to bring that up to Anakin after the fact though).

 The Deception Arc S4 Ep15+18

In this arc Obi-Wan fakes his death in order to go undercover as the bounty hunter Rako Hardeen and uncover a plot to kidnap the Chancellor. This wouldn’t be a problem if they had brought Anakin in on the plan; instead they use Anakin’s reaction to Obi-Wan’s “death” to better sell the illusion. Obi-Wan even says, “Keeping Anakin on the outside was critical. Everyone knows how close we are. It was his reaction that sold the sniper. I'm sure of it.” Obi-Wan and the Council are fully aware of how much Obi-Wan means to Anakin, yet they all decide to use those feelings to their own advantage with little regard for the consequences.

On top of betraying Anakin’s trust; this move leads Anakin to doubt the Jedi Council and wonder what else they may be keeping from him if they  were willing to let him believe that Obi-Wan was dead as long as it suited their interests. “How many other lies have I been told by the Council? And how do you know that you even have the whole truth?”. 

I just cannot imagine why they thought they even had to use Obi-Wan for this plan. In the Obi-Wan and Anakin comic, Obi-Wan claims that there are 10,000 Jedi; surely there is someone less connected or with less attention on them who would be more suited to go undercover without the element of faking their death. Or if faking their death was necessary, surely they could have picked a Jedi who was not closely attached to arguably the most emotionally unstable Jedi in the Order. Anyone else would have been better. I don’t doubt that Anakin was telling the truth when he said, “If it was up to me I would kill you right here! But lucky for you, the man you murdered would rather see you rot in jail.”.

The Deception Arc just really grinds my gears because it really is almost like the Council wants Anakin to fall. There really is no excuse for how they use his bond with Obi-Wan against him for their own gain. The Council and Obi-Wan know full well how much Anakin loves Obi-Wan (see Anakin referring to Obi-Wan as the closest thing he has to a father in Attack of the Clones), and chose to use this vulnerability against Anakin in the worst way possible. 

This arc really sets Anakin to later doubt Obi-Wan and the Council in Revenge of the Sith, and make it easier for Palpatine to convince Anakin that no Jedi would understand him and that they would likely kick him out of the order and not help him. ( heck he even has a recent memory of the Jedi expelling a 14 year old from the Order for the sake of not looking bad in the eyes of the Senate. “I understand your sentiment, Obi-Wan, but if the Council does as you suggest, it could be seen as an act of opposition to the Senate. I'm afraid we have little choice.” i might go more in depth on this one later but this doesn’t feel like the right place as this is a post about Anakin and i don’t want to make and Ahsoka centric arc all about him).  

That wraps up the Clone Wars! Finally!

Revenge of the Sith

Ok big finale. Revenge of the Sith; so close to being my favorite Star Wars movie, but it almost made me cry in the library so its my second favorite (Attack of the Clones is my favorite). 

I’ve already touched on the dreams Anakin has of Padmé’s death in the Clone Wars segment, but it bears repeating and i have more to touch on. Im not 100% if im misremembering or not but i cannot recall Anakin ever explicitly telling Palpatine about his dreams, but Palpatine knows that Anakin fears for Padmé’s life anyway. It’s possible that Anakin just told him off screen but a fic i read recently ( It’s called give me one more night by Spongyllama on AO3 and it is so worth the read) introduced me to the theory that it had been Palpatine sending Anakin the dreams to begin with.

This theory has a good amount of legs to stand on honestly. As mentioned previously, Anakin never tells Palpatine about his dreams, but Palpatine still knows exactly what to tell Anakin to best manipulate him. Furthermore; Anakin’s dreams very likely would never have come true if Anakin hadn’t fallen; Padmé reportedly dies of heartbreak, something that could not have happened had Anakin not fallen. All signs point to Palpatine being behind the dreams (and we know that Anakin and Palpatine are close by the time Attack of the Clones occurs so it’s not out of question that Anakin may have told Palpatine about the dreams about his mother, giving Palpatine the idea to use those dreams against him later)

Conclusion

Honestly the biggest thing i think the Jedi could have improved on was just trying to understand Anakin better. The average age for entering the order is 2 to 3 compared to Anakin’s 9. Anakin entered the order years after any other Jedi, and because of that was able to remember his mother and had formed attachments (or attachment but i digress) before he had even reached the order. It should have been obvious from the start that if Anakin were to ever become a successful Jedi he would need significantly more help than the usual padawan.

We frequently see Anakin scolded for forming attachments or being too emotional (see Clone Wars s1e6-7 where R2-D2 goes missing and Anakin suggests taking a squad out to look for him “Anakin, it's only a droid. You know attachment is not acceptable for a Jedi.”(Obi-Wan) “Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”(Yoda). etc etc)  But, to the best of my knowledge, we never really see anyone showing Anakin how to let go. Anakin lacks the tools he needs to properly deal with his emotions, so the best he can do is shove them down and pretend they don’t exist because to him that’s what a proper Jedi does. No one has ever told him otherwise. The explosion was inevitable.

Anakin Skywalker was a traumatized child who was most likely never taken to therapy or told how to deal with/ healthily show his emotions in any way other than to ignore them or push them aside on top of being manipulated by Sith Lord from a young age. With all these factors is it really a surprise that Palpatine was able to turn him?

ok im done; see yall next time ig