#but they aren’t Sith in Canon or Legends

[i-have-zero-social-skills]

How Darth Plagueis Goes Off The Deep End In My Time Travel Fix It AU

Okay so these are my thoughts about how Darth Plagueis goes crazy in my fic, and what he does when he goes insane. Okay so from his perspective, everything is normal when his Apprentice Darth Sidious suddenly gains memories from the future, so Plagueis has to acknowledge that Sidious is also a Master, and that he will be killed by Sidious in the future.  This unsettles Plagueis greatly, so it’s the first step on Plagueis’ downward spiral.  Then Plagueis learns from Sidious that four Jedi Masters also have memories of the future, and they have to eliminate all four Masters and obtain the extremely powerful Force-Sensitive infant under the Masters’ protection, or be exposed as Sith, and thus have the Grand Plan be ruined.  Then despite their many attempts to stop the Masters from reaching the Temple, Plagueis and Sidious both fail to stop the Masters, and capture the Force-Sensitive infant.  This sends both of them into a panic, because they know the Jedi are coming for them, as they were too obvious in their attempts to stop the Masters.  After that, the Jedi send a team of the best Masters to confront the Sith, and during the fight Sidious is killed while Plagueis is barely able to get away.  This is the turning point for Plagueis because everything he believed in was shattered.  The Grand Plan was supposed to be at its endgame.  The Sith were supposed to win.  And the Jedi weren’t supposed to discover the Sith.  The Rule of Two was supposed to work, but now everything is ruined, and Plagueis is the last of the Sith.  Even worse than that, he now has to hide because the Jedi are looking for him.  In his panic, he comes to believe that the Rule of Two is too vulnerable, and he needs to get as many Apprentices as he can so there will be safety in numbers.  He doesn’t see that even if he can train his Apprentices undisturbed, the Apprentices will eventually band together and kill him.  Of course, that’s not what happens.  The Jedi discover him because his experiments caused a Disturbance in the Force.  He spends the rest of his life in a constant state of paranoia, knowing the Jedi could find him anytime.   Plagueis believes that he needs to use his Midi-Chlorian manipulation to create an army of Apprentices, because it’s too risky for him to search for Force-Sensitive children while the Jedi are looking for him.  So he first sends his first Apprentice, Darth Gemeen to search for potential Apprentices, then once he feels he has enough Apprentices he sends his most trusted Apprentice, Darth Nashtah to collect samples for his experiments.  Another note is he was so desperate for Apprentices that he gave all ten of his Apprentices the title of Darth, just because all of them were willing to follow him and not because they all earned it.  

These are his ten Apprentices:

Beel Acton, or Darth Gemeen. Aurra Sing, or Darth Nashtah Sly Moore, or Darth Sombra Regera Girwan, or Darth Reisender Kar Vastor, or Darth Akk Sev'rance Tann, or Darth Arcanum Alysun Celz, or Darth Mendax Volfe Karkko, or Darth Nosferatu Reess Kairn, or Darth Getarnt Komari Vosa, or Darth Evlerel

Another note is that two of his Apprentices got to choose their own Sith names.  Darth Nashtah and Darth Akk.  

[broitsf-ckingfreezing]

You know what

I think it’s really sad the way we treat Dooku as a Jedi Master. Not as a Sith, fuck that guy; he fell to the dark side and he fell HARD. He is irredeemable in that respect.

I’m talking about Jedi Master Dooku, who only interacts with Qui-Gon Jinn in Legends and fanon (because in TOTJ he had already fallen and was actively taking steps towards the downfall of the Jedi/Republic and becoming the apprentice). *Even then, I don’t really respect TOTJ as canon because of the awful way it paints the Jedi, but I will concede it as canon from the perspective of Dooku as an unreliable narrator. I just hate THAT bit where he straight up THROWS Qui-Gon and force chokes a guy and GETS AWAY WITH IT because “uwu the Jedi awe bad and cowwupt and Dooku was a victim 👉👈”

I always hated that because Obi and Dooku meet for the first time in AOTC, then clearly Enlightened MaverickTM Qui-Gon (see my opinions on THIS in @antianakins beautifully worded post) must have been abused by his master and kept Obi-Wan away from him to “protect him from evil” yadda yadda yadda, whatever. That Qui-Gon specialised in Ataru instead of Makashi like his master because Dooku was EvilTM and Qui-Gon wanted to “get back at him” or “escape trauma” or some shit like that, never because it is perfectly normal for a Jedi to find their strength in a form that is different from their teacher’s (see Anakin, Obi-Wan, WINDU, Dooku himself).

Or that because Master Dooku wore relatively regal looking robes (again, the only canonical proof of this we have is in TOTJ and COUNT Dooku, AKA ruler of Serenno) then he had a taste for “the finer things in life,” words used by EVERY fanfiction author, and was always either straight up a Sith the entire time or, at the very least, a bad Jedi who followed his own rules like Anakin. I disagree.

It has NEVER been canonically established that Dooku was an abusive man. In fact, remember that the Jedi consider Dooku a FRIEND? Even in AOTC when Padme rightly accuses Dooku of attempting to assassinate her, they extend to him the benefit of the doubt. Because he was a Jedi Master. A good one. So good, in fact, that when he outright aligns himself with a faction looking to actively separate from the Republic and the Jedi, they trust that his judgement is that he is doing right by his people. Not that he is plotting a galaxy-wide takeover.

(Don’t even get me started on Ki-Adi Mundi, the voice of reason, frequently being abused by the fans just because SOMEONE had to say this line. Clearly he’s evil! He’s an idiot! He’s corrupt! *rolls eyes*)

But why then did Dooku never meet Obi-Wan as a padawan, you ask?

It HAS been canonically established that Obi-Wan is a powerful Jedi and a powerful diplomat even before he became The Negotiator (they wouldn’t send any run-of-the-mill padawan and master duo to dispute the Naboo conflict, they sent DIPLOMATS). And he is Busy As Fuck. Remember, as a padawan he spent a YEAR on the run with Satine and Qui-Gon. And if you were to accept the Melida/Daan and Bandomeer arcs from Legends as canon, that probably adds up to another YEAR spent away from the temple, NOT including recovery time after those periods because we don’t have any real basis for how long it takes a Jedi, or even just Obi-Wan, to bounce back from the physical, mental, and Force trauma induced by these hefty skirmishes. Don’t forget, in two of these instances, Obi-Wan is only 13-14, and in the other he’s presumably about 18. And bacta tanks aren’t a magical fix-all. They don’t heal starvation, extremely long-term physical neglect/hurts, just like they don’t grow back limbs.

Dooku was also probably busy as hell. It is very likely that the two teams were never in the temple at the same time, or if they were, they were probably busy. Like teaching their respective padawans (remember a master can have more than one padawan, just not at the same time, and now that I think about it, it is pretty odd we never (hardly ever?) canonically see masters who have clearly had more than one padawan in their lifetime). Or healing from traumas. Or hanging out with friends. Or researching, or writing reports, or literally ANYTHING that could make someone busy enough to forgo introducing a child to their grandmaster. I mean, how many times did you visit your grandparents as a teenager? Probably not very often compared to the big picture that is your life.

Why didn’t they meet when Obi-Wan was knighted, then? Well, TOTJ shows us that Qui-Gon’s death was at least a little traumatic for his master, and that was his last straw. Dooku left. And after that, he probably didn’t want to see the child Qui-Gon raised. The boy who got to hear his pseudo-son’s final words and who died IN HIS ARMS. We also have NO IDEA in canon exactly how many missions Obi-Wan and Anakin went on, nor how long they lasted, but we can guess that they were an extremely busy pair knowing Obi-Wan’s prowess in diplomacy PLUS the recent reemergence of the literal thought-extinct Sith PLUS the frankly horrific ratio of Jedi to Force Null beings in the galaxy (meaning there just aren’t enough Jedi to get around to all these places) PLUS teaching a rescued slave child with childhood memories of the outer rim the ways of the Jedi and core worlds. We also know that by the time of AOTC, Anakin being probably about 17-18, possibly on the cusp of 19 which is his Knighting age, the pair have been on at least 9 missions where Anakin had to rescue Obi-Wan. Knowing Obi-WAN’s skill and power, and that these missions most likely occurred when Anakin was old enough to do things like save Obi-Wan from a whole NEST of gundarks, this is NOT a common occurrence. Even if consistently in 1 of every 5 missions Obi-Wan has to be rescued by Anakin, that adds to at least 40 missions where he didn’t. That’s a lot of missions in a ten year span on top of all the other things Jedi have to do that aren’t considered missions, again, like teaching, attending functions, researching and learning because Jedi must be a wellspring of knowledge to successfully mediate/placate/please whomever it is they’re interacting with.

[teecupangel]

Tee, I'm re-reading Esama's glorious Sailing the Stars again and, a few chapters in, I thought- if the Desmond who could Hear Us got caught up in this scenario, many of us would be screaming at each other. Some in panic, some in excitement, and a few/one of us are starting to sound slightly unhinged from how long we've been laughing (read: cackling) for and how it's been growing so loud that's it's more like mad howling and it starts to drown out everyone else through sheer Awkwardness and how Unnerving it is.

Meanwhile, Desmond is just standing, awkwardly, before either a couple of Jedi or the entire Council- who are also slightly frozen in awkwardness because the Force is being as unhinged as the Cacklers but less Awkward and Unnerving and more, laughing/howling at a joke that it's decidedly Not Explaining. To Anyone.

And then the cackling suddenly stops and someone says, with a slasher grin you could almost hear: "Hey Des baby, can you go ruin the entire fucking careers of some Siths for us? Pretty please?"

Not sure which time Desmond would come out of, but I find it hilarious if Desmond manages to appear during a time when Qui Gon Jinn and Dooku were having problems later in their relationship but before he takes Vosa as his padawan and now Jinn has to deal with not only the knowledge that His Master Fucks but also has, and does occasionally, Fuck with Sifo Dyas and Madame Nu when the time and preference arises. The mental damage alone has some of Us laughing our asses off. Not to mention the implicated existence of Actual Gods/Patrons and the multiverse.

Sailing the Stars by esama (If you love Star Wars and Desmond Miles, go give it a read if you haven’t… or reread it if you already have XD)

This… isn’t exactly a fanfic of a fanfic because this can be summarized more as “Desmond gets awaken in the Star Wars timeline during maybe the Tales of the Jedi series? and he can still hear us”. I don’t think you need to have read Sailing the Stars to get this little snippet, at the very least.

.

.

Desmond has no idea what to do.

By this point, the voices in his head, the capricious ‘watchers’, would be giving him directions or suggestions but they were all still freaking out.

Because, according to what he could actually understand from their freak outs, he was not supposed to be here and this was a ‘crossover’ and “OH MY GOD” and the occasional “I don’t know enough about this!” sprinkled here and there would imply that he wasn’t in his ‘universe’ anymore.

Even the first who talked to him had fallen silent after a dreadful “fuck, this isn’t my fandom” and that was definitely not a good sign.

The other voices he could recognize were too busy freaking out and they were arguing where Desmond.

To be more exact: they were questioning if Desmond was in ‘canon’ or in ‘legends’… whatever that meant.

There a low chant of “Desmond for Darth Revan!” that was being shushed once in a while

And here he was… just… standing.

This council of what they call Jedis was staring at him with furrowed brows, something about how the Force was surrounding him and was… very ‘chaotic’?

But not in a bad way?

Like the kind of giddy chaos that children would get into?

At least, that was what that short green… alien?

Is it racist for Desmond to call him an alien?

Aren’t they all aliens anyway?

Isn’t Desmond an alien too because, apparently, he’s different from the other humans that the Jedis have on record.

Being both more primitive and also too ‘different’ to be considered one of the older ones, whatever that means.

Desmond would have assumed that it was because of his Isu-human gene ratio but the more logical reason would probably be because he was…

Well…

Not from this universe.

Not that he was going to say that.

Even if he did, they would probably just assume he meant not from this specific ‘galaxy’ or whatever.

Desmond would take any kind of distraction at this point and he finally got his wish when the door slid open and two more men entered the room.

The voices were silent for a moment before some of them began to shout, “Oh my god. Is that Count Dooku?! He’s soooo young.”

“Oooohhh, Qui Gon Jinn! Look at him! He’s so baby!”

Desmond’s eyes met the older man that he was certain was supposed to be Count Dooku and the voices hushed for a moment before someone whispered.

“300K, slowburn, corruption arc, hurt and comfort, BAMF Desmond Miles, Good Count Dooku.”

Desmond wanted to sigh.

Maybe he should just run away at this point?

[grilledcheese-savage]

Unironically loved The Acolyte. Got some genuine questions on why so many Star Wars fans hate it though. As someone who knows a DEEP amount of lore from both the movies and the non canon books, I feel like I’m inclined to speak on this.

Here’s some questions to ask yourself

1. Do you hate the acting and the “plot holes” or do you just hate women and gay people?

2. Does it actually break the Star Wars lore? Or does it just add more to the general universe?

3. Have you ACTUALLY watched the show up to now? Or did you just assume it was going to suck as soon as you saw Disney made new Star Wars content?

Listen, if you hate that Disney keeps throwing away shows for money, I AGREE. I hate that they seem to put 3% of effort into my favorite universe. But some of the discourse I am hearing on this show is getting eerily close to a hate crime.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, and you can tell me a definitive answer on the first three, I’d love a could discussion on this show. Free from preemptive opinions.

Spoilers now

Here’s what I liked about this show:

- I liked that they showed someone else created by midichlorians. They insinuated in the prequels that it was how Anakin was born and some people are saying that makes him not special anymore. I disagree with this because palpatine was not the first sith, if you listen to the darth plagueis story, he says “He could even use the force to influence the midichlorians to create life.” They never said he was the only person. They just said “ITS A SITH LEGEND”. Don’t you think a cult of sith lesbians would know the story of darth plagueis the wise? I mean yeah, it makes for some grey area in terms of timeline but we have 300 year old Jedi masters and he’s a sith that gets a clone in the sequels it’s not that impossible.

- I love the idea of twins when it comes to Star Wars. One dark one light.

- The costumes!!! The costumes tell a story. For one, I actually love that they aren’t weathered because this was a time of peace for the Jedi, most Jedi wouldn’t have as much time in the field to weather their clothes, so they’re very bright and colorful.

- The settings were so beautiful, and gave me MAJORRR dark fantasy vibes. Especially the space suit, it was giving a different vibe for Star Wars yet still get very George Lucas to me.

- And of course, I have to talk about the fight scenes. They are so fast it really feels like these people know what they’re doing. You can understand their train of thought in every move. It’s fun to watch.

- The lightsabers. I love seeing more yellow lightsabers and more variety. I love seeing the lightsaber whip, I need more of it tho.

- I loved Jecki and Sol, they were pretty fun and original characters. I like how morally grey Sol is, and jecki is my fave type of character… rip.

Here’s what I didn’t like:

- why did that one chick have a purple lightsaber? I was fine with it at first but now it kinda messes with how I saw purple lightsabers. I know the colors don’t technically have a meaning, or at least a set one. Especially since Samuel Jackson just wanted a purple one. But I always saw it as someone who was morally grey and walked the line between the dark in the light. Someone who has a code, but will kill for their own obligations. Which would actually work for this character… it’s the fact that the color is supposed to be rare. I always thought Mace was the first and one of the only to have a purple lightsaber. I’m not against there being multiple purple lightsabers, I just wish they explained it a bit more. Idk. This one’s just me.

- The acting isn’t necessarily bad… it just isn’t great either? Idk, I got mixed feelings. Because there are some episodes where I think “Amandla’s doing pretty good this episode playing two people.” And then I see another scene and think “Damn… I wish they chose some different actors because this is just clunky.” ESPECIALLY the children. I thought there acting was rough, but I’m pretty lenient when it comes to that because they’re kids and they’ll grow with age. Plus, it’s hard to find twins who look like amandla who can act.

-the dialogue is not great a lot of the time. But I’m a Star Wars fan, so I know for a fact that’s never been just “The Acolyte”’s problem. I think we were spoiled Andor.

- I was kinda nervous about the addition of sith witches, but that’s again, just a personal opinion. It’s not that I’m against just sith witches, I just had to get used to the idea of people other than the Jedi, understanding the force but using it differently. Which, wasn’t just an acolyte problem for me. It was a Dave Filoni adding witches to sci fi problem. It’s just, when I think “witches” I don’t think “Star wars”. Because the force isn’t really magic. But I’ve gotten more used to it the more they developed all the different tribes, and especially after watching rebels and clone wars a while back. I’m actually pretty okay with it now, it just took some getting used to, which the live action only haven’t had to deal with until Ahsoka the series, which was less of a problem because they were focused on Hayden coming back. At least in my opinion that’s how I saw it.

- I didn’t like that jecki used ahsoka moves, despite it being the past, it being the first time they duel blade, and the fact that THEY DIE so they can’t even teach these moves to people who then show ahsoka etc. It leads to my next problem,

- it kinda seemed like they were too focused on references. Like they wanted to prove themselves, like “Hey, this isn’t breaking canon, see, I know a ton about Star Wars lore!” It felt like hand-holding. It was cute the first couple times, but it wasn’t spread out enough.

- Yoda is pretty old, and this show is only 100 years in the past, right? So where is he? In fact, where are most of the Jedi masters. I’m sure a lot of them would be babies, but isn’t Shaak ti like, 240? Huh??? Where is everyone? This is probably why I was so confused in the first episode, thinking it was like, 2000 years in the past.

- and lastly, they run into the problem many prequels run into, which is, not knowing what the past of a futuristic world would look like. It’s hard to come up with, old looking lightsabers when lightsabers are inherently futuristic. Etc.

Other than that, I didn’t actually notice it breaking any canon. It should be obvious to most viewers that it’s going to end with everyone who saw the Sith, dying with his secret. That would fix the “plot hole” that they are apparently making.

Also the number one complaint I’ve been seeing is that they have a black main character, who’s a women and they automatically assume that Disney is being woke. They haven’t done anything remotely woke about this. I’ve also seen people complain that two women had a child.

They’re Sith, wouldn’t that be the OPPOSITE of being woke??? Also this is the future, why do you think that a galaxy of aliens with all kinds of genders would be homophobic? That makes less sense than them moving a birthday around. Also please remember clones exist and Anakin’s mother was a Virgin Mary.

😭💀💀💀 Some of the haters are NOT Star Wars fans and get all of their points from Star Wars theory.

[alexilulu]

GAMES I PLAYED OF THE YEAR 2023, #2

(Previously: #1)

Razzies Award Runner-Up For Most Baffling Game Of 2023: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Respawn Entertainment)

(I know, I thought the colon was after Star Wars, too)

I didn’t know where Respawn would go after Fallen Order. I mean, obviously, they had to make more of it, they made a pretty damn competent video game. Fallen Order has a certain panache for combat, the feeling of being one dude against an army never being more clear than the fourth time I get domed by a Stormtrooper with a rocket launcher because I was too busy parrying the melee guy he’s gonna murder in the backblast to remember to force push it away in time. Playing on Jedi Master actually made me feel the same way that Dark Souls did, a feat so rare in the space now that we’ve expanded the universe of Soulslike beyond all comprehension that it was actually delightful to eat shit to some of those bosses.

Mostly.

But the ending of that game gave me so much joy that I couldn’t really fathom a second entry, at first. Sure, the expansion of the post-Order 66 era of Star Wars is continuing under the new leadership, but it’s a fairly small era (17 years, just about, thanks to the whole “Luke and Leia born after Order 66” thing). How much room do they have to play here, really? And what could really be told now, beyond the continued adventures of Cal Kestis and BD-1? 

Well…

They came up with something. It was an idea they had, all right. But maybe it should have stayed on the drawing board. 

Okay, if we’re gonna talk about this, I have to get this off my chest first. I’m a Star Wars dweeb.My favorite Star Wars movie is the Last Jedi, because of how it muddies the waters and says ‘hey, the Jedi were an anachronism in their own time, and the world has moved on’ and ‘the lines of war are not so clean in the modern era’ and ‘fuck, that shot of the hyperdrive crash was so sick’. My favorite Star Wars game is Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Obsidian Entertainment)! I’m not like other girls! 

And I have strong opinions about the Post-Revenge timeline, or more specifically, how many Jedi survive Order 66. For me, this comes down to a thing I find really interesting in media, and how the world works: How people find direction when they aren’t given any way to go. 

Post-Revenge, the Empire is ascendant, having just won the fake war and successfully crushed every element of dissent in the galaxy under a swift military expansion that has given the evil man in power, George Bush Jr With A Skin Condition, unlimited power to rule the galaxy with an iron fist. The world is different now than under the Republic, and everywhere you turn, the Empire looms. What do you do to meaningfully oppose something you disagree with that is omnipresent and powerful beyond reckoning, besides oppose it and die trying to do anything at all?

Ultimately,There’s a lot of hay to be made here, but we’ll keep it simple so this doesn’t go crazy. The Jedi who survive Order 66 issue is pretty cut and dry, if you’re a movie purist: Yoda says that Luke will become the last Jedi in the galaxy when he dies in RotJ. It’s pretty simple! No more Jedi! Last of his kind, etc etc etc. But it’s been 30 years since that movie aired, and we’re a few hundred pieces of Star Wars media away from where it started, Legends canon or no. Some of them are even primary canon now, like Ahsoka Tahno, the erstwhile apprentice of Anakin Skywalker.

But how many Jedi are alive just in Fallen Order? And how many more make it to Jedi Survivor?

We have Cal Kestis, our ginger protagonist, a padawan who survived Order 66 with his Master’s lightsaber and hid for a decade to grow up, get found out and run around the galaxy fucking up. There’s Cere, the new master he finds along the way. There’s Trilla, the fallen apprentice of Cere, now Second Sister. There’s Ninth Sister, the big hulking one who you fight all of twice and survives the game. There’s a one-note fallen Master on Dathomir, who turns up out of nowhere and gets chumped. And there’s Merrin, the Dathomiri Nightsister who practices Magick (the k is important) using the Force, so she counts. And Vader comes in for a splashy send-off to the game in a brutally scary no-win fight and escape sequence in which you are carefully reminded why that guy is the scariest motherfucker in the galaxy. That makes 7. 

A bit more than the Last Jedi, eh?

Ultimately, this is a victim of the fact that they’re making a video game. You can fight stormtroopers with cortosis shock batons all day, but if you’re playing a Jedi game, you want to cross sabers with another Jedi/Sith. It’s just the order of the day. It makes sense! The Jedi fights in Fallen Order are good! I dismissed the one-note Master but he actually had a good fight in a Dathomiri temple that felt good to go back to every time i got fucking dumpstered.

It makes things more fun to have a Jedi thrown into this time of lawlessness and oppression, where the strong are taking the chance to crush the weak with the Empire’s tacit blessing; raiders on the Outer Rim are bleeding the territories dry, often at the Empire’s behest. Throwing the tattered Jedi remnants into that world makes sense instinctively with the world they’ve made, and with the influences Star Wars draws on.

The average person knows by now that Star Wars is drawing equally from Westerns that influenced George Lucas, but also the samurai movies coming out of Japan that influenced those Westerns. A world of fallen morals and people barely surviving gets so much more textured when the Last Good Samurai enters the equation. Putting someone with an unflinching moral code in a bad position and telling them not to blink is fun storytelling! Watching them contort themselves into knots to survive it is so fun! We love that shit! Hell, I love that shit, as much as I’m complaining about it!

So, in Jedi Survivor, we have Cal, Cere returns, Ninth Sister finally dies, Merrin returns with gusto (great expanded role for her here, though it baffles me that she’s straight), the High Republic fallen Jedi Dagan Gera (more on him later, but he dies), Eno Cordova (was dead in the last game, but turns out he wasn’t, but then he dies again, so okay), and Bode Akuna, the final deuteragonist-to-antagonist of the game. And Darth Vader again, in a what feels like obligatory role where he fights Cere to a draw. So…7, again. But…

The Hidden Path debuts here (OKAY, LOOK, the Hidden Path debuts in Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Disney+ show. But I fucking hope you didn’t watch that. I did. And I regret every minute of it I spent watching it), an underground railroad for Jedi. It’s basically not referred to beyond that Cere and Eno are running a cell of it and that there are other cells, but it DOES mean that there are enough other Jedi who survived that they are actively forming whisper networks to get Jedi out of bad places and into the dilapidated ruins they were meant to be living in (it’s their native environment). 

So we have 7 + (1±X, where X is the number of other Jedi in the galaxy, minus already-named characters) Jedi in Jedi Survivor. So basically, Palpatine is a fucking rube who didn’t even get his perfect felling blow right, I guess? So…not great, but fine. It’s…acceptable. The number even goes down significantly more in this one, because 5 of those original 7 in Fallen survive, but only 4 survive in Jedi Survivor! It’s a miracle, we killed 1 net Jedi! Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on Palpatine, they’re clearly a fucking pain to make die for real.

Anyway. This is all besides how I feel about the actual plot of Jedi Survivor. 

Yeah.

The plot…is kind of stupid. Cal Kestis is working with Saw Gerrera, the Partisans (faction of the Resistance, not yet the Rebellion, natch) figure who went on to use a weird tentacle monster to brainfuck Riz Ahmed in Rogue One and then died when they fired the first Death Star test shot at him. He’s stealing info, and his op goes bad and all his boys get murdered besides newfound buddy Bode Akuna, a jetpacking charming rogue with two pistols and a lot of chest. Cal goes and gets into some hijinks with his old buddy who used to fly his ship until everyone parted under mysterious circumstances a few years ago (after the end of Fallen Order, when they swore to find as many potential Jedi as they could together). 

This is where the High Republic intrudes. Ancient ruins on the planet they’re on point towards a long-forgotten Jedi presence on this planet, with hints leading to another planet hidden in a nearby nebula that is considered unnavigable and a death trap. They learn that that planet was an abandoned Jedi temple in the High Republic, where Dagan Gera fought for a Jedi temple on a fount of Force power to be built until it was mysteriously raided by an unknown force that somehow also got to the lost planet. Cal wakes up Dagan Gera, who literally turns evil in front of you and runs off to complete his centuries-old evil plot to…go back to that planet and just live there?

A lot of this story is about the toll being A Survivor takes on you. Cal watches a bunch of really good buddies he totally knows a lot about die in the tutorial level on Coruscant, and he’s still got all his old hangups about surviving his master, being a Jedi in a galaxy ruled by the Sith, yadda yadda. He’s lost his drive to fight the Empire, having summarily abandoned working for Saw Gerrera in the interest of just taking a break, and into his lap falls the ultimate leave forever button in the form of this lost planet. He sees it and he can’t help but think “hey, I did my part, I sacrificed a lot for the cause, and I’m done”. 

Bode Akuna agrees on this! He’s a tough guy and he’s got a tough daughter and a dead wife and he just doesn’t want to deal with any of this anymore. He wants to bring his daughter home and create a life with her away from all this Empire shit. It gets where it wants to pretty quick here: This planet Cal found is the ultimate chance to just say No to everything and give it all up. Just live a clean, simple life away from it all, forever.

It’s an interesting thing, sort of. Fallen Order is a game so concerned with survival, that Jedi Survivor basically has to be about finding any meaning at all in a galaxy ruled by evil. It feels like it’s actually got something to say here…but it doesn’t, really. 

The turning point of the game is roughly ¾ of the way through, when Dagan Gera is defeated and you claim the mcguffin that will help you fly to Treasure Planet. But before that happens, you meet Cere and Eno and learn about the Hidden Path, the selflessness of the non-Jedi who are fighting to help them survive. And Cal, he’s a Jedi through and through, for better or worse. So he says to Bode, hey, we’re going to turn this planet into a safe haven for the Hidden Path, and we’ll bring everyone we can here to create a stronghold against the Empire.

This is when Bode (every time I think about his name, i think about (INSERT PHOTO OF BODE.JPG HERE) reveals that he is a former deep cover infiltrator Jedi who was undercover when Order 66 started, who avoided every bit of the Empire that chased him with stealth and subterfuge, until an Imperial Security Bureau he worked with outed him and he became their pet Jedi to do evil missions with. So he’s compromised every moral he has to survive, and will do anything to take his daughter back from the ISB and flee this hellish galaxy with her, so that she can be raised safe.

He’s the Jedi Survivor, not you (I literally said out loud to myself OH, HE’S THE JEDI SURVIVOR as he had his big heel turn speech).

This is when Bode kills Eno Cordova, takes the mcguffin, and flies there with his daughter after you have a big temper tantrum about it and unlock the power of the dark side for yourself a little bit. So you go hunt him down after some double mcguffin reacharound bullshit to get there, and you tell his daughter some nice platitudes and Merrin takes her out of the room so you can put him down like a dog.

The end of the game is him burning on a pyre while you, Merrin and his daughter watch. 

Ultimately, it was a game that at least had some kind of a semblance of a full story ready from beginning to end. It had plenty of things to do (the collectible quotient was WAY higher this time, to its detriment) and the newly added stances, a crossguard lightsaber that is straight up just Kylo Ren and a blaster-and-saber stance that i spent 100% of the game playing once acquired, were great fun to play around with.

I just don’t think it was very good, is all. I don’t know what in god’s name the third Star Wars will be, but I know it will be fought with lightsabers and blasters. 

(sorry. Sorry. I’m trying to delete it)

[aurora-light-blog]

The Work of the Nightbrothers

Despite the new name of Nightbrothers, I fear they’re treated similar to legends as mere slaves to the Nightsisters. It makes sense that the Dark Side wielders of the Force aren’t going to be sweet, so Nightsisters aren’t going to be all cozy with their males. They’re things to be used for the Nightsisters’ goals and agendas. In legends, male Dathomirians were second class citizens at best (unless they were powerful Force users). Even in the new canon of the Star Wars Clone War series, they’re seen doing hard labor with pikes and being punched and abused by Ventress. Savage was also transformed into a monster to suit Mother Talzin’s agenda. Like Siths, the majority of Nightsisters aren’t kind nor loving especially to ones that they dispose of after mating.

In my fanfiction “Song of Despair,” I wanted to highlight a typical life of Nightbrothers. I had them do chores like working in the fields and spinning thread. They do menial labor, which the Nightsisters don’t wish to do. *Spoiler* For this tale, I have my Nightbrothers gather redweeds for food and thread (kinda of like rl flax). New canon doesn’t provide any edible plants, so I reference Star Wars Galaxies and legend stuff to fill in the gaps.

To read the fanfiction, please click here https://archiveofourown.org/works/48418399

[starswarthecloneswar]

I’m a jedi apologist for almost everything, but I really think that becoming a padawan should start at like...17.

or later honestly, you should not be sending 13 year olds into war zones. or the agricorps for that matter, the fact that you can age out of being a space wizard is simply the most baffling thing to me.

like of course they are struggling with attachment and aggression, they’re in middle school that’s what happens, they’re brains aren’t done cooking. people aren’t more likely to have a stable relationship with attachments when they are at the point in their lives when they need strong bonds the most.

a 30 year old with a office job is probably way more likely to be able to properly emotionally regulate than a teen who’s more hormones than person.

real world monastic practices and martial arts traditions have people who come into it in their 70s, that’s just a normal thing that happens.

I know in legends that these guidelines about age were from after the Jedi-Sith war, and apparently worked for the most part in the canon. but i don’t think it would work out as well if we were going by what works in the real world.

tl;dr I think star wars/jedi don’t understand child development that well

[sithskywalkerr]

quarantine all of those secrets in that black hole you call a brain before it's too late.

Summary: Padmé and Anakin start grappling with the emotional strain caused by their separation and his downfall. Meanwhile, Leia is skeptical of his intentions and is unsure if he can be trusted to stay with them. Leia decides to discover his whereabouts to ensure he isn't harming Alderaanians when he leaves their late lunch unexpectedly, only to find him feeding on one of those lost in the attempted siege. After facing Padmé, Leia sneaks out to the shooting range, eventually discovered by Bail as she attempts to vent her frustrations. Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, Bail Organa, Original Sith Character Warnings: graphic depictions of violence, minor character death Ships: Anidala Word Count: 11.6k A/N: So, officially, there is no months named for the galactic calendar, but we know that 1) it’s 365 days, 2) there’s 12 months, and 3) no leap years. Personally, I enjoyed the Legends calendar idea more than what is canon now, so since this is an AU anyways where (again) the “planets” are just regions on a planet, I’m going to just use the Legends calendar. Translating that into FNB, they’re going to have the 5 weekdays: Primeday, Centaxday, Taungsday, Zhellday, Benduday. Each of the ten months will have 7 weeks, and the celebrations that would be still part of this timeline is the New Year and also the Festival of Life. Festival of Stars celebrates interstellar space travel, but since the vehicles they have only transport them around the planet rather than a galaxy, that won’t make sense. Also! They do still have the traffic we’re used to seeing in Coruscant with the speeders and such still in the sky, they just don’t have hyperdrive or long-distance spacecrafts such as a Destroyer and such. I know, I know, part of the nice part of the galaxy, but again. It’s just a planet so that wouldn’t make sense either. One more thing: because of the circumstances of his fall being different than canon, Anakin’s journey back to the Light will also be different. I want to explore really the want to be near his family and the twins, but the absolute fear of fucking up where he’s either locked away or killed by orders of the Jedi haunt him. HOWEVER, considering again that Padmé is alive, he will not be ready to turn the twins over to the Emperor. Her being alive still would vastly change his actions IMO!!! read on AO3!

“R2, show us the footage again,” Luke said, head tilting as he adjusted his position on the floor of his room as the droid beeped. Leia lifted her head from her tutoring workbook at the desk, pausing as she saw the holo of her father again - before everything happened. Their mother often said “when he was happy.” Though, she often wondered if it was when Padmé was happier too. The recording soon flickered to life in front of the droid of Anakin working closely on the mech over a decade ago in full size.

His tongue stuck out in determination while blue eyes scanned over the scanner box he had attached to the droid’s system. “Well, it looks like you did fry your circuits a little in the last battle, but that’s an easy fix. Besides, how many times at this point have I disassembled you?”

A sassy line of beeps came from the droid, and Anakin laughed softly,” hey, you’re still in one piece, aren’t you? I know what I’m doing - otherwise you’d be scrap.”

R2 rocked back and forth a little while stressed beeps escaped, and Anakin lifted his gloved hand, chuckling,” calm down. I couldn’t sell you. You’re my friend.”

It was strange, seeing how nice he was to the droid, yet 3PO couldn’t recall any relationship similar to what R2 had, at least after the wedding it had changed. Still, Leia turned her gaze away from the video when a knock came from their door, seeing their parents within the large doorway with 3PO as R2 beeped curiously. The recording kept playing, but Luke’s attention shifted away from it while a golden hand smacked the blue and white dome of the mech.

“You don’t recognize Master Ani? How rude. See, I told you some circuits are still loose.” He looked over to Anakin as R2 made soft beeps, unsure while scanning over his features as Padmé looked up to her husband, grinning with a small motion of her head to coax him in.

Yellow eyes watch her for a moment before he made a soft exhale, finally moving into the room,” R2, stop the recording.” The twins watched him approach, before he crouched down in front of him. The droid was still wary, unsure while scanning over the scarred features and dark circles around the unnerving gaze. The uncertainty was enough to make him roll back a little while looking to Luke who gave an enthusiastic thumbs up to him. Anakin’s lips momentarily pursed,“ Play the recording of Kelu 8th, 7955CRC. Sunset.”

R2 scanned his memory bank before surprised beeps escaped - “Anakin, you are back!” - while he rocked back and forth as Anakin faintly smiled. The droid opted to play the recording, moving to the side as Padmé came closer with softened eyes at the familiar sight of the two of them on Naboo in their wedding. Luke and Leia’s eyes widened. Placing the workbook to the side, Leia cautiously moved closer to watch the recording, glancing to her mother. Looking back to the holo of the couple and minister, she watched him the most. Features unscathed from fighting, but tanned from adventures with Obi-Wan, a grin permanently on his lips while he said his vows.

“I told you it was Master Ani,” 3PO says while moving closer, watching the recording. That was a good day, he knew that much even if he didn’t particularly feel emotion — though everyone would say otherwise with his anxiousness. Hopefully since Master Ani has returned, there could be more memories to store.

Luke’s eyes stayed wide, trying to take in every detail he could as he moved closer to crouch beside Anakin. They look so happy.

Lightly stepping closer, a hand moved to rest on Anakin’s shoulder while Padmé softly smiled,” still one of the happiest days of my life, but knowing that you’re alive and with us … today is another.”

Staying crouched down, he glanced up to her with a small smile forming before he watched the holo. The smile faded, glancing down to the exposed cybernetics. How would it last? The recording soon stopped, and he glanced back to her,” Until I have an episode.”

Blinking at the recording suddenly gone, Luke looked up to him, quiet for the moment as he moved back to be closer to Leia at the table.

“I believe there’s still even a piece of you when you’re like that,” Padmé softly said while squeezing at his shoulder. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have hesitated with them,” she said, motioning to the twins. “Perhaps you recognized something of me in that moment through it all. Or, perhaps it was the Force’s will. Whatever it was, I am grateful it led to this.”

Looking to the twins briefly, he looked back to Padmé while standing, arms loosely crossing over his chest as she pulled her hand from his shoulder. He seemed hesitant for a moment, glancing over to the twins again. “They smell like us, but I do not remember.” Looking to them fully, the bittersweet sight of seeing how Luke was a mirror image of himself only made him think of his mother. Could she see from the Netherworld how her grandson looks like him? Looking to Leia, he only saw Padmé’s familiar eyes, but they had his fire. He was quiet for a few heartbeats, looking back to Padmé. “If I had known…”

Her heart ached deeply for him, that for fifteen years, he didn’t know that their children survived - that she had survived. She had thought for a moment he had, until Obi-Wan’s report of Mustafar and then the incident in Kuat. Even after, Obi-Wan still sensed the new signature in the Force, but she couldn’t. When she had seen him, all she felt was Anakin’s familiar force before hell broke loose. “You’re here now, my love. We can make things better - for them. For us. For everyone.”

“The Empire will not fall easily,” he said simply. “Sidious is a powerful man.”

She looked up at him, letting her arm move around his waist while she gave a smile. “So are you.”

“I am nothing compared to him.”

“Did he tell you that?” Padmé asked then, brows raising as she seemed to bristle with anger.  She could only hope to gather more clues about what the past fifteen years had been like for him, even if he couldn’t remember. Though, at understanding that Sidious had been shielding them from each other in the Force, she could only imagine what else he was doing to prevent Anakin from having any hope of escaping. If he had wanted to.

Anakin glanced to the twins, lips pursing before looking away,” it is true. Lesser organic matter has prevented my body from having as many midi-chlorians as I had. I am weakened. It does not help that Obi-Wan has joy with removing them while we have fought.” 

“Did he do that to you?” Leia asked then, her brows furrowing while she turned more towards her parents in the chair.

“Who?”

“The Emperor. Did he sever your limbs?”

“No. Though, he was there after Kuat when I was burned. He oversaw the modifications personally.”

Thin brows furrowed as Leia turned in the chair better,” modifications?”

“Yes,” there was some humor in his tone as he glanced between the twins. “Do you truly believe I look like this just from being infected?”

“It has been mutating oddly, but if it’s not from the virus, then what is it?”

Pausing, he hummed softly in thought while trying to remember what he could. “If I recall correctly, my ears are from other infected once I was feeding. My cheek was caused by Count Dooku from Serreno. The fire was Kuat. Various scars from various fights … as for my limbs, the Jedi Master Luminara took my left leg, I cannot remember when I lost my left arm or my right leg.”

Leia’s eyes scanned over her father’s features as he held the gaze with brow muscles slightly raising as if to ask her what else she wanted to know. It felt like she was searching for something, eyes narrowing at him before she asked,“ Before that, if you were going to interrogate me, what would happen?”

“What answer are you searching for?” His head tilted while his arms stayed crossed over his chest, glancing to Padmé as her brows softly furrowed as Leia simply shrugged.

“Would you have hurt me?”

“Only to retrieve information, but I believe I would have noticed your scent.” Eyes moved to Padmé, lips pursing while he knew he would have done whatever was necessary to get any information regarding the Rebellion.

“Eventually, he would have met me trying to locate the both of you,” Padmé held onto his waist, leaning into him while he curled an arm around her waist. “Though, I also don’t doubt that the Emperor would know I am still alive. There’s been an alarming increase of close calls with the infected recently.”

Now blue eyes glanced down to her while a slow, steady hum came from Anakin’s throat. “Well, that would have been my doing to try to secure Alderaan for the Empire, but I’m sure he has a part of it due to being unable to sense you through the Force.”

Padmé nodded, but she didn’t want this moment to be just about the Rebellion, the Empire, and anything else in between. She wanted it to be about her family, and only her family. Glancing to the twins, she gave him a soft smile while gently lifting her hand to cup his uninjured cheek. Her thumb brushes along the ridges of scar tissue along his cheekbone,” How about we go outside for a little bit? We can have a little picnic… though, we don’t really have anything you could eat.”

She bit her lip while he shook his head, voice soft,” do not worry of me. Though, caff seems fine to consume as long as it’s black.”

“Really?” Surprise came to her features while she rubbed her thumb against his cheek. “Only that?”

He leaned into the touch, turning his head to press a soft kiss against her wrist. She watched the tendons in his cheek move, worried at how exposed his teeth were. Still, he seemed … fine. She could ask later, for now, it was important the first meeting was good.

Gently pulling back with a faint smile, her eyes glanced between the twins. “Come on, we’ll have an early dinner.” They both trailed their parents out into the bright hallway of art and marble, watching them curiously as he grabbed onto her hand, intertwining their fingers. They could finally be together. Not living a lie, not in secret. There was no possible way he would be able to return to the Order — even if there was one. Padmé brightened with the touch, squeezing her hand softly with a glance to her.

Entering the kitchen, Padmé greeted the staff softly while they bowed at her arrival. The warm welcome melted into surprise and horror at the sight of Anakin beside her, but still, they listened as she reassured them.

“It’s alright. We’ll be sitting outside to have early dinner. Only three meals, please,” she instructed the chef who nodded, giving her a soft smile. Padmé led her family outside then, the air heavy with humidity as the clouds still rolled in with soft crackles of thunder. Glancing to her husband, she smiled more,” I know how much you enjoy the rain.”

The twins followed curiously, exchanging a glance while they watched their parents to see any glimpse of what the wedding recording had shown. They had looked so young then. Before the wars, before the Empire, and infection, but perhaps after all of the horrors, there could still be something.

A brief smile tugged at his lips while he nodded, glancing out to the dark clouds. Trailing his wife, Anakin soon wrapped thick arms around her waist, holding her close while resting his jaw on her head with low purrs escaping his throat. Her eyes widened momentarily at the sound of affection, grinning as she glanced to the kids before lifting her eyes up towards him,” you’re like a Loth cat.” Their eyes slightly widened at the sound, exchanging a glance between themselves before Luke grinned brightly. That was a good sign, definitely a little strange, but still good.

The sounds abruptly stopped then while he gave a soft scoff,“ Do not compare me to a cat.”

Padmé only grinned more, managing to turn in his hold to cup his face in her hands. Her thumbs softly brush over the scarring and tight skin on his cheekbones, eyes soft as she felt his arms tighten around her softened waist. “You have to admit, it did sound a bit like a purr,” she laughed softly, adoring how his features softened at her teasing.

“Remember, cats have claws,” he teased back, leaning down to press a soft kiss to the top of her head. Her fingers curled into the black fabric of his robes, and buried her face into his broad chest while the familiar warmth of her love returned to her chest.

“You have always had claws, Ani,” she moved to look back up to him, smiling softly as he shook his head.

He grew more animated as he spoke, more glimpses of Anakin coming through the stoicism of Vader,” oh, really? I’ve always had them? I think we can agree I was more docile in the Clone Wars.”

Luke watched them both, a grin starting to spread on his lips as Padmé only laughed as she was lifted up slightly by Anakin. “Put me down. Our food should be out soon.”

He glanced past her, turning so she could see the table while easily holding her up,” table isn’t set. I don’t have to put you down just yet.”

Leia moved carefully past them, getting herself seated as a soft rain began to fall as thunder grumbled. Watching Padmé melt into his touch still made her uneasy, and she couldn’t shake what she had witnessed two months earlier in Inquisitorius. “How did you become infected?” She settled better on the chair, shoulders squared while her eyes constantly searched over her father’s features. How can we trust him? He had created the very thing her mother was trying to destroy — how could they know he was seeking atonement?

He could sense her apprehension, and slowly, he set Padmé’s feet back onto the ground. The attempted invasion of Alderaan had been horrific even though the battle lasted merely twenty-seven minutes. Both sides suffered catastrophic losses - by the two sides and by Vader’s part in it. Blue eyes moved to meet hers, glancing over her features. Her eyes had every aspect of Padmé’s he loved, but the anger … that was the dragon he had tried to subdue for so long. The anger was his.

Long, black cybernetic fingers softly curl into Padmé’s waist as he kept his gaze on his daughter, humming lowly as he decided to divulge the information. He already experienced hell, he doubted that a fifteen year old could make him suffer the way that Sidious had. His chest still ached though, and he couldn’t help but think of his mother. Shmi would have adored her - and Luke. She would have loved more Skywalkers, and more for her son. Pushing the thought away, his voice came out smooth, glancing to his wife momentarily while he thought back to what he could piece together. “Geonosis. I was infected on my arm on a mission in the factory where the original set up for virus production was. After Mustafar and Kuat, I do not remember many events.”

Leia was observing him just as much as he was to her, round eyes scanning over the scarring and gash in his cheek. Her gaze was as unwavering as his, and her thin brows furrowed. Just like his used to. “What happened in Mustafar and Kuat?”

“Mustafar was the Jedi trying to intervene after I was infected, and Kuat is where Obi-Wan set me on fire.”

Leia’s eyes widened slightly as she looked to Padmé then to corroborate the information, but her mother only faced him more, voice soft,” Ani, Obi-Wan did not deliberately set you on fire.”

“He made no attempt to extinguish it.” He replied simply, hand moving from her waist as his gaze moved to her as his arms crossed his broad chest.

Padmé looked at her husband, lips briefly pursing as she took a moment to recall Kuat. “While I believe that you would have been alright near me, he was making sure the twins and I were safe. Isn’t that what you wanted at the time, Ani?” Maybe she would just have to manipulate him back from where Palpatine had dug him into. She reached up again, and for a moment, her heart ached at the realization she couldn’t brush her fingers through his curls. His gaze scanned over her features while she softly held his face, careful of the open cavity on his left cheek while she brushed her thumbs along the scarring on his cheekbones. “You wanted to make sure I was safe. After I got hit on my bicep from a saber, you were only trying to protect me, and in the chaos of it, you made the wrong step. He never did it deliberately, and I would never lie to you. What would I have to gain from it?”

Leaning into the touch, he took a slow, deep breath while his eyes shut. “I do not trust him.”

“Then trust me.”

A slow sigh escaped as he let his eyes returned to his wife, voice soft,” very well.” Though, he doubted he would be able to.

Leia spoke up then,” we need a meeting with resistance leaders to determine what will happen.” Even at the sight of him relaxing from Padmé’s comfort, she was still wary. Vader could not be trusted, and her father still had yet to prove his penance. She could let it go - for now. Though, if she needed to stop him in order to protect her family or the Rebellion, she would.

Padmé looked over to her, voice soft,” Leia, let’s focus on celebrating all of us finally being together. We’ve had enough action for the day.”

Luke was watching curiously, seated beside his sister while watching the interaction. Leia wasn’t in the wrong to be cautious, but he was their father, and Inquisitorius showed at least he knew something about them was different when he wasn’t conscious. Their mother was right though, this was a time for celebration, not interrogation. He glanced to Leia, big, blue eyes returning back to Anakin while he still was in awe. He had been through so much, and yet, he was still gentle to his mother and towards them. Though, Luke could even sense the apprehension of joining for the picnic, straightening up as he opted to change the subject. “Mom said you used to podrace in Tatooine.”

Anakin’s gaze moved to his son, the blue seeming to brighten as he gave a small nod. “Yes. I used to when I was nine.”

“Nine?!” His own eyes widened more, looking between his parents as Padmé softly laughed while leading Anakin over to the table.

“Yes. My mom didn’t enjoy me racing, but I loved it. It’s how I won my freedom.”

That caught the attention of Leia, looking between Luke and Anakin. “Freedom?”

Pulling the chair out, he motioned for Padmé to sit while he looked at Leia. “Yes, I was a slave. When I was nine, I raced in the Boonta Eve and won. A Jedi Master had made a bet with my owner that if I would win then I would be freed.”

“And then you became a Jedi?” Luke’s eyes widened more while Anakin pushed Padmé’s chair in before sitting beside her.

“Yes. I began training with Obi-Wan shortly after. The Council did not want it though, saying I was too old, too angry and fearful.”

“But you still did it, and became one of the best the Order’s had - according to the HoloNet.”

“One would argue I was the best only in battle. I rarely lost during the Clone Wars.” He hummed, settling down on the seat as Padmé rested a hand on his thigh beneath the table.

“We’ve watched some footage,” Luke nodded enthusiastically while Leia only rolled her eyes absently. The stars in his eyes was more than enough for her to know he was going to blinded by his admiration for their father.

Leia glanced to Anakin briefly,” you were a slave, and yet you believed the Empire would bring order?”

“Leia,” Padmé softly warned, brows slightly furrowing while she rubbed her thumb softly against the dark fabric on her husband’s thigh in an attempt to keep him more relaxed. Though, he gave no reaction as he watched his daughter quietly.

“Do you know why you’re named Leia?” Anakin asked simply, opting to not argue for the sake of the first meeting. His hand moved beneath the table, gently grabbing Padmé’s hand to give a soft squeeze of reassurance.

She was wary at the diversion, eyes narrowing at him. “No. I don’t.”

“From Tatooine folklore, Leia was one of the first slaves to successfully escape and become free. Though, this was before transmitter chips were made to be implanted in slaves, but my mom would tell me the story to keep me hopeful.”

Padmé smiled as food was brought and set in front of everyone but Anakin who only held up a hand to stop the plate being placed for him and motioned to Padmé. The new staff member softly apologized, trying to keep the plate steady while moving to the other side of the couple. “Here you are, my lady. Apologies, sir.”

“Thank you, it looks delicious, and you’re alright. He’s a new guest, and it’s good you want to ensure he is accommodated for.” Padmé smiled at her, and with more grumbles of thunder, the family was soon left alone on the balcony.

Leia waited until she was sure they were alone again, glancing over her plate,” transmitter chip?”

Anakin curiously looked at the food delivered to them, flicking his eyes to her briefly. “Yes, slaves are given a chip at birth or purchase to prevent them from running away. If they do, the owner will activate the chip and it will detonate like a bomb.”

Luke stopped his enthusiastic eating to stare up at his father with widened eyes,” what? Was yours removed?”

“Yes, it was removed from my back after we returned from the Boonta races.”

Leia’s brows furrowed, glancing over while her brother took another sizable bite of his food. “Chips are usually on limbs.”

“Usually, but in Tatooine, it’s placed in the torso after many failed amputations led to deaths and a mess to clean up.” He gave a brief shrug of his shoulders,” after enough people taking the chance, they began to place it between the shoulder blades and implementing a self-destruct feature if someone attempts to remove it.”

Leia looked back to him, making a small sigh as she nodded, finally taking some bites of her food before she spoke. “Have you done podracing since the Boonta circuit?”

“No, though, I wish I had time for it.” He looked past the twins to watch the rain begin to fall, soaking into the blood-stained earth. His nose twitched at the scent, lips pursing momentarily before he looked to them again.

“Maybe you’ll have time now,” Luke grinned to him, eyes brightening at the idea of maybe being there while he worked on things. That would be fun, and he could finally work on things with him.

A slow hum came from Anakin’s throat as he let his gaze go back out past the twins to the rain as it dripped along the balcony’s covering. He looked over the ivy that curled around the pillars, and a squeeze from Padmé moved his attention to her.

Her eyes were worried, searching his unreadable features as he gave her hand a soft squeeze in return. Lifting her from beneath the table, he pressed a soft kiss against the rough, tanned skin of her knuckles. “Your hands have gotten rougher.”

“I’ve had to help in the Rebellion. I won’t force others to do all of the manual labor if I can help. I won’t sit idly by anymore.” She melted at the kiss, quiet while he watched her for a moment in thought.

Though, the beginning of a pang of hunger in his belly was more than enough for him to interrupt the picnic. “Were bodies recovered from earlier?” He murmured, voice lower as his eyes moved to hers, attempting to avoid the twins from hearing.

She only nodded, glancing to the twins while they watched curiously. “Later.”

Letting go of her hand softly, he moved to stand,” I’ll find it on my own. Keep eating.”

“Where are you going?” Luke asked, eyes darting between his parents as he lowered his fork.

“I also need to eat. You two stay with your mother. I will find you after if you leave the balcony.” Large hands braced the edge of the table, pushing his chair back. Pausing, he leaned over, giving a soft kiss to Padmé’s head, murmuring softly in her ear,” do not let them out of your sight. Employ Keyti if you must.”

The formality worried her, but she nodded as she watched him stand and tower over her. How tall did his cybernetics make him now? How did it also look so good … No, Padmé. He needs to eat, not deal with your hormones. “Be safe, Ani.”

He raised a hand to softly brush the thumb against her cheek, only nodding before he moved away and through the large doors. Luke watched him leave, glancing to his sister who only seemed to relax with his departure. Though Luke was curious, he knew more than well to not be around feeding for any of the infected - his father included. He would rather talk to him about it than seeing him during the act, but his sister … she wanted to always know more about the virus, and if that led her to finding him while he was eating, then it wouldn’t be good. She gave a small glance to her brother, giving him a quirk of her left brow which only made Luke begin to dread after their own meal. He had no doubt she was going to find a way to sneak away from Padmé, and he only opted to continue to eat to avoid their mother noticing.

Leia had waited at least thirty minutes before leaving the library when Padme’s back was turned while she spoke to Bail about some Rebellion movements, sliding out into the large hall quietly. It wasn’t long until Luke was at her side, voice a whisper as they walked down the hall,” we’re going to get in trouble, or worse.”

“I want to make sure he isn’t making any fresh kills.”

“He asked if bodies were recovered. He wouldn’t kill anyone to eat, not if there’s some from the attempted siege.”

Leia glanced up to him, rolling her eyes,” do not let yourself be blinded by your admiration of him. We can’t trust him, even if he is our father. He’s still Vader.”

“And he’s still Anakin. People are complicated, Leia, but what you’re doing is suicide. He told us to stay with Mom.” He motioned back to the library as he still followed, brows furrowing tightly. “I have a bad feeling about this. We should go back.”

“You’ve always wanted an adventure, and there is one. You can either come with me, or you can go back and try to cover me. Your choice.”

Luke frowned,” I hate it when you do that. I’m coming along … only so I make sure you don’t get yourself killed.”

“Oh, you think Dad will kill me?”

“You know the infected are unstable while they’re feeding, and territorial. This,” he motioned to her,” is a disaster waiting to happen. I do not think Dad would kill you, because we already know he isn’t like the other infected. It’s still dangerous either way.”

Leia rolled her eyes,” until he proves otherwise, I do not trust him. I also would not be surprised if he kills a few guards to have a snack.” She paused when they reached a two-way point, pausing as she glanced down either path. Left. Moving from her brother, she headed down the left corridor, using the Force to guide her.

Anakin had visited the bodies kept in refrigeration for identifying, glancing over the damage done to the various Imperial troopers, clones, and Rebels that occupied the morgue’s body slots. He found one with minimal blaster damage, pulling the body out of the slot and hoisting it over his shoulder easily. A small squeal of hunger came from his belly, and another frown came to his features as he ducked beneath the door frame to leave. He poked his head out around corners to avoid being seen, unaware of the twins currently making their way through the levels of the palace to find him. Getting to the heavy door that led outside, he paused when he saw the torrential rain, sighing slowly. He had already had enough rain-soaked meals to know he didn’t enjoy the blood being washed away constantly.

Adjusting his hold on the body, he made sure the cloth covered it up, making his way out of the morgue and up a level to the few prison cells that Alderaan had. Though, at this point, it was mostly made for storage for three out of six cells. He moved into one of the empty ones, getting the body down with a soft sigh, looking over the blood soaked linen. Maker bless the soul who’s body is my meal.

Broad shoulders fall as the reality set in again without the burning hunger and loss of consciousness, and once again, he couldn’t help but think of the disgust Shmi would have at seeing the man he’s become. Yet, to him, she wouldn’t have. Her love would have still been strong even with everything he has done and has to do in order to survive. What does Padmé truly think of me? Now, he couldn’t imagine what that would fully entail, but with Leia’s apprehension, he didn’t know what to believe.

Crouching down, he started to undo the buckles on the straps that kept the linen in place, opening it to see a clone’s body. For a fleeting moment, he wondered about Rex. Was he safe? Was he retired? Was he fighting for the Rebellion? If Ahsoka was okay, then he only hoped that Rex was too. His eyes scanned over the familiar yet new features of this clone, seeing the genetics were still the same. Perhaps some bribing happened with Kamino to keep the DNA. His head tilted while he moved a hand to pull the linen over the face, letting out a slow breath as he looked away.

Leia followed the pull and successfully had led Luke down to towards the morgue, peeking into the holding to see the empty slot. “Fine, you were right this time, Luke.”

“Yeah, I know, because he asked Mom if there were bodies recovered. Now, let’s go back, okay? No one’s hurt.”

“I’ve never seen a feeding happen.”

Luke stared at his sister then in disbelief,” Really? Our father is not one of your little experiments, Leia. You do not need to see someone feeding.”

“No, but it would show me how he feeds normally. We know he takes bodies from a battle, but what if there are no battles? What then, Luke? Even then, I am just curious. This whole time, the Rebellion has been focusing on the politics and social aspect of the war, but what if what we need is the biology? Then half of the Empire’s army and attacks would be halted if we had a cure.”

“You are spending too much time near the war room.” He shook his head, a hand moving up to rub at his face briefly. “Leia, he is not an experiment. He is our father, and if he wants the privacy, then he should at least get it. You’re already suspicious of him even though he’s never hurt us. What do you think will come from this? He’s gone through enough shit, and he doesn’t need you being such a kriffing brax.”

She whirled around to glare up at him,” at least I’m not stuck up his ass worshiping the ground he walks on. We can’t trust him, Luke, and whether you like it or not, I’m going to track what he’s doing to make sure he’s not lying to Mom again. How else do you kriffing think the Republic fell?”

The teenage squabble had definitely caught Anakin’s attention while he had begun to feed, hearing their voices through the walls - though, he also noticed their Force signature had gotten stronger. Moving through the halls, he hadn’t bothered to clean himself up. Lights started to flicker around the morgue as he moved, and Luke grew quiet as he noticed the bulb glint as Leia continued to talk.

“What? Know you’re in the wrong this time?” She huffed out, stopping as she noticed the lights around him before she moved closer to his side. Her voice came out uncertain, brows furrowing in worry,” Luke…”

“I know. Let’s just be quiet for a minute, okay?” He glanced to her as he watched down the hallway, tensing when the bulbs started to go out along the hall. Flinching at the sharp pops, he lifted an arm to shield himself and Leia from the glass shards. Opening his eyes again, they adjusted to the new low light as he saw a hulking figure at the end of the hall.

Anakin watched them for a moment, glancing to the bulbs before he unclipped his saber to ignite it. “What are you two doing down here?”

Luke jumped at the sudden red blade, eyes wide at the paled color compared to the other blades he had seen. His eyes moved to take in the blood that dripped from his father’s jaw and the pieces of flesh spattered on the dark fabric that only seemed to swallow light more at being soaked with blood. Swallowing hard, he glanced to his sister before his voice came out shaky and meek,” Leia wanted to see.”

“See what?”

Luke gave her a nudge and her fear had subsided at seeing him conscious and aware unlike Inquisitorius. “I wanted to see how the infected usually eat so I can have a better comparison to unusual times.”

The fear was strong for a moment within the Force from her, but Luke’s lingered even when she had pushed hers away. He glanced between the two of them,” I tried to tell her it was a bad idea.”

“Enough,” he said simply, lifting his free hand up to stop either of them from talking. “Go back to your mother, Luke. Leia, come.”

Luke hesitated, glancing between them,” I would rather stay with her.”

A brow muscle lifted up briefly at Luke’s determination to stay beside his sister’s side, but Anakin was relieved to see it. They both protected each other to the ends of the earth, and that was reassuring that perhaps, something better would come if he allowed them to join. “I did not linger for your meal, why do you want to linger for mine?”

“I want to know if we can trust you,” Leia said simply, taking a few steps forwards from her brother. “Why did the lights go out?”

“… I do not know,” Anakin murmured, glancing between the various sockets. “It happens sometimes, I suppose. I do not understand why.” Taking heavy steps back, his boots scrape along the metal flooring briefly as he turned back towards the hall. “Do you want to join? Eventually, you will see it.”

“Yes,” Leia said simply, stepping into the gradual darkness as her eyes slowly adjusted. She kept a wary distance from the saber even though it was the only source of light beside him, glancing up at her father. “What does it taste like?”

He watched her silently for a moment while humming in thought,” Have you had a zucca boar?”

The both of them shook their heads, and Luke tilted his head,” is that from Tatooine?”

“Yes,” he paused a moment while glancing between the twins. “Have you been raised with Nabooian customs?”

“Sort of,” Luke shrugged,” mostly Alderaanian so no one would know who our parents were. Well, at least for Leia since she got caught when we were five, and Senator Organa had to make up a story that she was their adopted daughter.”

Glancing between the two of them, he let out a small hum,” good. It’s better that not many know of your existence and heritage.”

Leia frowned then,” people will know eventually.”

Looking down at her, he only moved back down the hallway,” have either of you had the stew then?”

“Yes,” they both said unanimously, following him down the hall. Leia paused at the smell, covering her nose with her sleeve. “The meat that is in it is similar to human?”

“Not quite. Human flesh is more … gamey. The health of the individual also determines flavor. From what I have noticed over the years, those who are more athletic are more difficult to eat from. Especially if they take supplements,” he joked, glancing back to them.

Leia listened as her eyes constantly scanned the space for any sign of damage, glancing over to him with a frown from behind her white bell sleeve. “Everyone has a different taste?”

“Of course. Humans aren’t organically made like livestock, nor do they have similar diets. Different environments will create a different outcome.”

“So what do you find to be the best parts?” She glanced over the cell once he stopped near the doorway, looking at her.

“Interrogating me, Leia?”

“Eventually we will see it. You said it yourself. So, what are they?” Morbid curiosity had originally started her dive into the virus, but now it had consumed most of her thoughts like a sick obsession. Apart from wishing the Empire would collapse, though, she wondered what a cure would do to the impact. She knew it would take out a substantial amount of power from the Empire on a global scale, but if her father had been genetically altered, then it opened up more possibilities unknown of. She could say that it is all for wanting to see if she can catch onto signs of a rampage or see if it can help in the development of a cure, but truly, she just wanted to understand. It only just so happened to double as a really fucked up bonding experience between the twins and their father.

Anakin reentered the prison cell, turning the saber off once the light started to hit the mangled body more,” Livers, thighs, fingers, and the hips are the best if there’s some fat instead of lean muscle. Easier to chew, especially with a hole in my face.”

Luke lingered in the hall with Leia as she held onto his arm to make sure he was still beside her in the darkness. Their father’s voice came from somewhere in front of them, and she cursed at herself for never venturing to this part of the palace. Then she would have been able to better envision where they could be through the pitch black. “That came from Count Dooku, right, and he was the previous apprentice?”

“Yes. Sidious - at least you would know him as Chancellor Palpatine - had many apprentices before I became his. Dooku was one of them, and he was one of the more admirable ones. On Genosis, he cut my cheek with his lightsaber, and since the blades are extremely hot, the flesh cauterized almost immediately.”

“Does it make it harder to eat?” Luke asked softly, hating how his eyes struggled in the darkness while he tensed at hearing a bone crack.

Anakin tore off the rib, eyes well adjusted in the darkness to see the lean flesh on the bone. Too bad the training for clones was so extraneous. Still, a meal is a meal. Biting into the flesh, he glanced over to the two of them,” yes, but I try to chew on the right side instead. My mouth is usually dry because of it too, but it’s just one more thing I deal with. It could always be worse.”

Leia frowned, shaking her head,” is that what you tell yourself to make it easier?”

He bristled then, eyes moving over to her as a low growl escaped his throat. Her fear returned in the Force, staining it as she tensed and held onto Luke’s arm more. “Enough. Return to your mother.”

“I can’t see anyt—” Her voice cut off as the saber ignited again, his face only inches from hers while his eyes bore into hers. Luke jumped beside her at the sudden light, putting her behind himself.

“I’ll get her back to Mom.” He brushed his fingers along the wall as he led Leia away, glancing back to see their father watching them as he stepped into the hall. Once Leia saw the few remaining lights of the morgue level, she ran to it, heart hammering in her chest while Luke trailed her. Smacking her arm, he shook his head,” I can’t believe you.”

“He has to face it some day.” Shoving his arm away, she made her way to the elevator with a shaky breath.

Anakin listened to their voices fading, frowning as he moved back to the cell after clicking the saber off again. It felt better to be in the darkness, and it made it easier to stay hidden. Returning to the body, he started to tear into the flesh once more while kneeling beside it. The black metal of his fingers soon were bright crimson once again, the color staining the black and silver of his lightsaber, and blood began to pool out from the body steadily again while he broke more organs apart.

Leia didn’t stop until they were back on the ground floor, moving from the elevator with a shaky breath as she turned to face Luke again. “Do you think he can see in that kind of darkness?”

“Where the hell have the two of you been?” Padmé was relieved to see them together, but considering they were near an elevator, she didn’t expect a good or honest explination. She made her way over as they turned to face her in surprise, Luke’s eyes widening as he held his hands up. “It was Leia’s idea. She wanted to watch.”

Padmé’s eyes widened as she came closer, looking to her daughter,” watch? Watch what, Leia?”

“… An infected person eating,” she said slowly, biting at her lower lip briefly as she glanced back to the elevator as the door shut.

“Your father tells you to explicitly stay with me, and you follow him?” Padmé grabbed onto their arms, steering them away from the elevator as she headed back to the bedrooms. “What has gotten into you, Leia?”

“I wanted to know how he usually eats so we know if something is going on.”

“I will worry about that. You’re not supposed to worry about politics or the infected. I just want you to be a teenager.”

“I am one!” Leia argued back, yanking her arm from her,” I can take care of myself. I know how to use a blaster. You can hope for us to have a normal childhood as much as you want, but we won’t. Not with the state of the world and our father being the cause of most problems. I can’t sit to the side and watch people die when they could be helped.”

Padmé let go of the both of them, brushing her hair back as her brows scrunched,” I know you won’t have anything normal, this family isn’t normal, and it didn’t start out normal to begin with. I don’t want you to see something you can’t forget, or be hurt. If your father wants privacy, please give him that. We are only trying to protect you, Leia. That is all we’ve ever wanted to do.”

“He didn’t know I was born! How can he want to protect me or Luke?”

Padmé straightened up, jaw momentarily tightening,” he has loved the both of you from the beginning. While he didn’t know that I was carrying twins, he was still at beck and call for me. He wanted the best for me and for you two while he could. Being infected was going to make it difficult, but we would have managed if he just came home.” The mask she had been holding up for so long was beginning to crack as Leia stopped for a moment, biting her lip.

“Mom...”

“Go to your rooms and stay there,” she said sharply, motioning them off as Luke looked like a wounded puppy. He gave a small glare to his sister before making his way down the hall by himself, and Leia watched as her mother struggled to keep the tears back.

Why didn’t he just come home with me? She loved him, so dearly, so deeply, and yet, he questioned everything in Kuat. She didn’t know who her husband had become, and she would only hope that his return would help her understand more, but it didn’t heal the pain. She jumped when she felt a hand on her arm, turning to look to see Leia concerned.

“Mom, I’m sorry. I just … I don’t know if I can trust him.”

“I’m not asking for you to trust him, Leia. I’m asking you to at least respect him enough to give him privacy and to listen to him when he tells you to stay with me. He most likely doesn’t enjoy the fact he has to survive off of corpses, and you barging in on him trying to eat to keep us safe from that hunger isn’t helping.”

Leia’s gaze fell, glancing out the windows as lightning flashed across the sky. “I just want to understand him.”

“Then don’t observe him like he’s an feral animal in a cage.” Padmé let out a soft sigh,” please. Go to your room.” For once, Leia listened.

Anakin had finished eating finally and was working on first getting some of the bulbs replaced with a slow, heavy sigh. Once an adequate amount of light had returned, he worked on the clean up of the cell first, discarding the remains of the corpse. Returning back to the cell to begin cleaning, he crouched down to grab the shreds of fabric that he had torn to get to the torso. His nose twitched as a floral scent suddenly came, turning to see Padmé standing in the hall as she watched nervously.

“I wanted to wait until the body was at least removed.”

Anakin softened, giving a small nod before he resumed his cleaning. “Our children are troublemakers.”

Padmé laughed softly, nodding while stepping into the cell,” they are. I heard they interrupted you. I’ve sent them to their rooms for the evening. Not the best play, but you need to clean up… and we need to speak about the future.”

He nodded while using rags to clean the blood as best as he could, glancing to her. “The lights shattered. They witnessed nothing save for seeing me covered in blood and gore.”

Her eyes lifted to glance around the area, nodding,” I was curious to why a few lights were missing. Does that happen with every feeding?”

“No. I do not know why it happens,” he scrubbed at the metal flooring more, getting an unused rag to wipe his face off as best as he could.

Watching her husband, her eyes softened,” That’s alright. I wanted to ask you if we could have a med droid look you over. No procedures, no blood analysis, I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“A blood sample would be needed, but I am fine, Padmé. I don’t need to be looked over.”

“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice for this . I want to know what was done to you, but I want to also know what to expect. Rebellion leaders won’t be willing to stay if they aren’t able to trust you. No one else will be in the room when it happens. Just us.”

His gaze lifted, looking her over with a slow exhale. “Fine, but nothing else. I will not be an experiment of the Rebellion.”

“Don’t worry, you won’t be, my love. Though, our daughter is trying to do some of her own little tests.”

“I noticed.” He frowned then, glancing over to her,” I answered what she asked.”

Padmé leaned against the wall while she put her arms around herself. Her eyes scanned him, voice soft as she rested her head against the stone. “What did she ask?”

“What my preferred parts are, and if I keep telling myself that it could be worse in order to deal with everything.” He glanced over to her, breath softly catching while he spotted her watching. Truly she would believe the same by now, think he was vile and disgusting - a wretched creature cursing the earth. “At that point, I sent them back up to the main levels.”

“She can be … a lot sometimes, but she has your passion. I’m not surprised that the two of you are clashing.” Chocolate eyes softened at him, still able to see his familiar features through the scarring. While she would dearly miss who he was, she was glad to have him back. Moving from the wall, she came closer, lifting up her dress before she crouched down beside him. Leaning her head against his shoulder, she handed him the cleaner. “I tried to search for you in the Force multiple times, but it was like something was blocking me. Until I saw you in the tank.”

He looked over to her then while grabbing the bottle,” That was you?”

She peeked up at him, giving a little nod against his shoulder, nuzzling into the fabric after. “Yes, it was. I knew I wanted to see where I could find you if possible. Obi-Wan was scared that Kuat would happen again, or worse, but I just wanted you home with me and the twins. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, Anakin.”

“I should have gone with you.” He murmured, leaning his head against hers momentarily while getting some cleaner on a rag. “We cannot change what happened … seeing me now, do you still wish to have me here?”

Her brows furrowed while lifting her head, feeling her heart begin to break again. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I’m not the man you married.”

“Yes, you are. You will always be Anakin, but you will always be Vader. Regardless of the virus’s impact on you, or the scarring, I still love you. I will always love you. I said my vows, and I’m going to stay beside my promises.” A flush rose to her cheeks as a pleased purr escaped his throat, a heavy arm moving around her waist to pull her into his side.

“Promise?”

“I promise, besides, I was nervous about seeing you again.”

A soft sound of surprise came from him, pausing his cleaning. “Why?”

“Carrying twins left some physical changes, but we can talk about this away from where you’ve eaten. Would you like some help?”

Pausing, his eyes moved to scan over her, her features softened in adoration while she smiled at him. A hint of a smile came to his lips, nodding,” I would. Though, most of it is done.”

“I’ll get a waste bin. I’ll be back.” Leaning over, she kissed his shoulder, smiling while she stood. “Hopefully we have more lights as well.” She glanced around, heading out of the cell as he continued to get the blood.

He heard her humming as she walked away, smiling a little before it faded as he let out a slow sigh. Shaking his head, he stood back up, rolling his shoulders absently while glancing around the walls and ceiling. There was some spatter, but luckily it wasn’t dripping this time as he started on getting the ceiling wiped down.

She returned with a bin and box of bulbs in hand, pausing as she saw him easily reaching up to clean a grate. A flush came to her cheeks at realizing just how tall he was now, and she slowly came closer. “Here.” Setting the bin down, she moved to begin replacing the bulbs before he could notice her flush. “I wonder if it’s because of your emotions that the lights break. Did you hear them or sense them in the Force?”

“I could hear them from the morgue.” He glanced to her, head tilting as she seemed to hastily get away from him. “I’ve obtained strange attributes since becoming infected.”

“As if you weren’t strange before?” She teased, turning to look at him with a grin. The familiar sight warmed his chest as he finished cleaning the ceiling spatter. “Though, I knew about the lights because of Obi-Wan’s account of meeting you multiple times. He’s also mentioned the flowers, which I saw during the attempted invasion. I’ve never seen anything like it before. They’re beautiful, and I’ve noticed they’re some of my favorite species.”

“They are. I wish they wouldn’t wither so quickly.” Blue eyes glance over to her, voice soft,” I’ve missed you. Every day without you has been a new level of hell.” Watching her replace some bulbs, he made his way closer after he had finished the ceiling. “I thought you were dead.”

“I had to make it believable. If I could have had you beside me, I would have, Anakin. You didn’t follow.”

“I wanted to protect you, and finding out how to utilize the dark side was going to stop the premonitions.”

“No, it wouldn’t have. Nothing would have stopped it, but by the Maker’s will, I survived. You should have been at their birth.”

Pausing, he watched her carefully unscrew a broken bulb,” How could I have been when I was newly infected?”

“You say that as if Palpatine has given you a new chance with the ‘enhancements’ you have, but he didn’t. You recognized me from the beginning, and while it was more primal and frightening, you knew.” She stopped to turn to him better, lips pursing,” He’s ruined you with this idea of the Empire compared to what it is. Are you truly his second in command, or just on a leash?”

“I do his bidding as he requests. He is the voice of the Empire, and we keep the order we’ve established.”

“There was order before the war.”

“It was failing.”

Her hold on the box tightened as her jaw tightened momentarily,” Only because he had been plotting to destroy it all. How can you be so blind to see that this is just a larger scale of enslavement? People are fearful and many are dying because of lack of adequate resources to many regions because of the virus. The Empire’s ecological impact has destroyed numerous countries, and continues to do so - Corellia is on the brink of a collapse. How can you be so blind, Anakin? Palpatine has destroyed everything. He’s even ruined Lady Keyti’s life to some degree!” She motioned down the hall, some strands of her hair falling around her face from the half-braided bun it was in.

For once, he was silent. Eyes staying on her while she spoke, and within the Force, he could sense the fear. He could utilize it, corrupt her and pull her into the darkness. But she’s my wife who’s always wanted to help others. Just as his mother did, and just as their children do.

“The system was unjust because of the wrong people being in power, but that doesn’t mean it should have crumbled into fascism. Please, tell me what was going on in your kriffing brain.” She looked back to him, watching as he straightened up.

“I wanted to stop my premonition from coming true - to save you from dying. I wanted the infected to be taken care of properly, not shoved into cells with minimal meals to keep them alive. I wanted everything to stop.” Padmé watched him as he moved out of the cell and into the brighter hall, features still smeared with blood. “When I became infected, I knew that I would be either placed in one of those cells, or I would be killed.”

A soft scoff escaped her while she shook her head,” no. You wouldn’t have been. Obi-Wan would not have allowed it - despite what you believe of him. I would not have allowed it, even if I had to let everyone know we were married. I wanted you just as safe as you wanted me. Then you vanished.”

“They abandoned me on Geonosis in favor of their own lives.”

“You know there were too many infected to attempt to save you,” she shook her head, looking down to the floor. “I wish we could have things back to what they were by the lake. Before the wars, before the Empire, but we can’t. I can only hope now that you realize that Palpatine has only hurt you. People who truly care about you do not do that intentionally. They do not manipulate you.” Lifting her gaze back to him, she held the familiar intense gaze, a hand moving to gently rest on his arm. “You should have come with me.”

“I should have.” He simply said, making sure his fingers were clean before brushing some hair from her face. “I should have put our family first and not my fear.”

“What did he tell you?”

“He spoke about giving me power to save you and bring you back if you did with the dark side. That the Jedi sell off the infected when there’s bounty, and that I would face the same fate.”

She wasn’t that surprised that it didn’t take too much to sway him, not when he had already been getting into more arguments with Council members before Geonosis. Still, she only shook her head while moving back from his touch. “Why would they Jedi sell you off when they gave your freedom?”

“They never trusted me.”

“Yes, they did, Anakin. Until you devoted yourself to Sidious.” She pressed the bulb box against his torso, and she ignored the confused sound he made while grabbing onto it. He watched her turn away and head down the hall, her brows furrowing.

“Where are you going?” Putting the bulbs down, he trailed after her while his mind began to race. Was she going to send him away? Was she going to leave him like everyone else had?

Stopping, she turned to face him, causing him to stop a few steps from her as she looked up at him,” to find Obi-Wan. I want to know from him what happened on Geonosis. Do you remember what happened?”

“… No.”

“Then how do you know what happened? Your gracious Master told you?” She watched him stiffen, only confirming her suspicion as she shook her head. “You stand by his word so easily. Did he tell you I was dead?”

“Yes.” He lowly murmured,” I couldn’t sense you within the Force anymore.”

“I couldn’t sense you either, but I have no doubt it was Sidious’s doing. Did you sense the twins’s birth?”

“No.”

The protection Yoda and Obi-Wan did worked… maybe Sidious is oblivious to the twins. She pursed her lips, shaking her head,” I can’t believe you would easily listen to him.”

“I went to your apartment.” He murmured, gaze down briefly before looking back to her.

She paused, straightening,” you did?”

“Yes. You left in a hurry, but there wasn’t anything else for me to follow.”

“I couldn’t risk Sidious knowing.”

He thought for a moment, frowning,” you’ve stayed hidden for this long, and you’ve never sought me out.”

“I didn’t know your new identity. We honestly had believed you died.”

“Obi-Wan knew.” He simply said, arms crossing over his chest.

She looked at him, lips pursing,” we have all made mistakes. You’re here now, and that’s what matters. I can have others clean the rest, please, come with me.”

There was some apprehension from her telling him to follow, unsure of where they would be going since she had mentioned Obi-Wan. Noticing he didn’t follow immediately, she looked back, pausing as her heart ached with his apprehension. “Ani?”

“How can I trust you?” His brow muscles furrowed while his straightened, arms staying crossed. “How do I know that I won’t be sedated and wake in a cell?”

Her lips pursed, and her chest ached while she looked down again, shaking her head. “You can’t, but I suppose you’ll just have to learn to trust me again. You’re free to roam the palace, but when my husband is back, I’ll be waiting.”

She turned, making her way down the long corridor as he stayed at the mouth of the stairs down to the lower levels. Through the years, she knew that he often had irrational feelings, and perhaps that is what contributed to the fall, but seeing the shift in his beliefs began to worry her. Had their love not been enough? No, not in this cruel world where their family was torn apart.

Leia sat on the window seat with her arms crossed as she leaned her cheek against the cool glass. Watching the rain, she let out a slow sigh as she tapped her fingers along her bicep in thought. Her father invited her to a meal, and as expected, it went as terrible as it could have. Though, it was probably better the lights weren’t working. With the few bodies dumped on the border of the forest by the infected, she had no doubt that someone of his strength would cause a worse scene. Still, she did feel a slight pang of guilt. She would apologize to Luke later, but really, she was still angry. Angry at the Emperor, the Empire, her father, and nearly everyone around her. Sitting up, she adjusted her dress while getting her golden shoes back on.

Manicure nails tapped absently on her hip before she moved to her nightstand, getting her blaster and holster out before she got her hair in a long braid for the time being. Poking her head out of the door, she scanned the hallway to make sure it was empty before she slipped out quickly, making her way out to the gardens. Her steps were light as she moved quickly, holding her dress up after securing the holster on before ducking behind a pillar as 3PO and R2 started to come down the hall.

The golden droid listened to R2 for a moment, looking at the smaller in shock,” I do not doubt that the Lady will need further medical care. Master Kenobi seemed pleased at Master Yoda announcing he would be in charge of her.”

Leia paused, listening to the droids as R2 beeped while the light flashed, and 3PO paused walking while watching the mech,” You are too trusting of her.”

That resulted in sassier beeps from R2 while the duo headed towards Padmé’s room, and Leia slowly moved around the column to avoid being seen, turning to make her way down the hall to one of the service doors for the staff. Slipping outside, she paused to watch the rain, smiling a little as thunder softly rumbled. Drops soon soaked her as she ran through the courtyard to get to the shooting range, ducking beneath it’s awning with a sight. Strands of dark hair stuck to her face, making her frown as she brushed them back with a shake of her head. “Kriff.”

Bunching up some of the fabric, she twisted it to get some of the water out, glancing around the range. At least she was alone. Moving to a firing line, she used the controls to move the target back more to twenty four meters away, absently nodding to herself. Fifteen meters and under was fine, but the longer ranges … well, she wasn’t the best at it. Getting into a better stance, she ignored the thunder and lightning while she aimed, brows furrowed in focus before shooting a few blue blasts with the all too familiar sounds.

She grabbed the electrobinoculars hanging in the stall, using them to inspect the fresh damage that sizzled out of the metal beneath the painted cross target. Leaning against the stall more, she saw she was in outer most ring of it with a huff. At least she hit the target. Lifting the blaster up, she aimed higher, shooting a few more rounds before looking through the binoculars. Okay, now she hit the blue, that was an improvement.

“I thought you might be out here.”

She jumped at the voice, turning to see Bail standing a few feet away beneath the awning with soft eyes as she glanced over him. “Mom send you?”

“No. I heard the shots, and I know of only one person that would come out in a storm to shoot,” he chuckled softly while stepping closer. “What has you angry enough to be out here after an Imperial thread?”

“The leader of the Imperial threat.” Brown eyes glanced back to him as he nodded while coming behind her to see the shots.

“Yes, it is worrisome he’s being allowed to roam freely, but I doubt that placing him in a cell would be beneficial. Regardless of his actions, he has been through a considerable amount of trauma.”

“I don’t give a kriff about his trauma. Obi-Wan has trauma, but he’s never massacred people.” She placed the blaster down before crossing her arms, looking to the target. “We still don’t know how the virus has impacted him, and he’s tried to conquer Alderaan.”

He nodded, moving to the stall beside her while he got a hidden blaster from his coat,” yes. He has, but you must remember, that was before he knew that your mother was alive as well as the two of you. Perhaps Padmé was right - that could change everything in itself. Otherwise, we would have been swarmed by more Imperial troops by now. Right?”

She watched a few green blasts hit the other target as she frowned,” He could kill anyone and say it’s because he’s hungry.”

“He could, but he won’t.” More blasts were fired, hitting the yellow and red of the innermost rings on his target as he smiled at himself.

“Yeah? What makes you so confident he won’t?”

“He looks thin,” Bail replied simply, lips pursing while glancing to her stall’s wall.

Her brows furrowed, head shaking as she rolled her eyes,” no, he doesn’t.”

“He does. Yes, he’s more built than he was before, but the muscles are more prominent than usual. He barely has fat on his body, so that tells me, he isn’t eating adequately either by design of the Empire, or by himself.”

“Why are you looking at him so closely?” She arched a brow, glancing to the wall that divided them.

“It’s been over a decade since I’ve seen him, Leia. I know how different he looks just as Obi-Wan and Padmé have noticed. He doesn’t look well, but he refuses treatment.”

“Why? Wouldn’t he want to be healthy in order to destroy everything?”

“You should ask him yourself.” He watched as she shot five more rounds into her target, hitting the edge of it. “Brace your arms more, and raise your aim. The rain will also hinder the blaster’s speed and trajectory.”

Tucking the blaster into the holster instead, she leaned against the stall’s railing, putting her head into her hands while thunder crackled closer to them. “Why did he do this?”

“He would do anything to keep Padmé safe, even if it led him down a dark path.”

“Why? It’s stupid. It only hurts everyone else in his life.”

“People do incredibly stupid things when they’re in love and scared.” He moved to peek at her around the wall, chest aching at the sight of her. “Leia, what are you truly scared of?”

“Losing Mom and everyone to him or to Lady Keyti.” She said simply, glancing to him briefly.

“Lady Selus is not a threat to your family. She is devoted to what her instructions are from Vader, why would she hurt his family?” He said softly, trying to show her the rational side of the situation,” as for your father, his love is a blessing and a curse. Though, I hope that now since he’s older, perhaps he is wiser.”

She sighed through her nose as she lowered the blaster, facing the Senator more. “He wanted to destroy Alderaan.”

“Per the Emperor’s orders,” Bail reminded, his eyes glancing up with the thunder before he motioned back to the palace. “You should return before you get in further trouble.”

“I don’t care if I do. I don’t trust him. The Rebellion can’t trust him.”

“He’s a powerful ally to have, Leia. If the Rebellion wants to win, we need him on our side. Alderaan is only safe from your mother stepping from the shadows - so to speak.”

Leia crossed her arms, glancing over to him,” how can we trust he won’t expose everything to the Emperor?”

“The Emperor lied to him about his family.”

“That’s just one lie of many.”

“Yes,” Bail said while nodding, letting his eyes move back to hers,” but it’s more powerful than Palpatine could have realized.”

[gffa]

Oh, friends, there is so much good Obikin fic about our two favorite idiots in the STAR WARS fandom out there and I have a huge back archive of recs to show for it, but sometimes it’s hard to know where to start when you’re new or haven’t read anything in awhile, so I wanted to put together a list of Starter Recs that I think are great places for a beginner who’s just dipping their toe into the waters! There are many, many fics that are often times some of my favorites that will not be on this list, because these are the ones that I think are specifically useful to those who are just kind of figuring out what they like or aren’t really sure they 100% ship it and just kind of want to test things out. And also because if you made me list my actual favorites, it’d be literally thirty times as long as this, and that might be just a bit overwhelming. So, here, have my suggestions for where to start! Joinnnnn usssssssss. OBIKIN RECS - CANON-COMPLIANT UP TO BEFORE EVERYTHING GOES TO SHIT: ✦ Equinox by lilyconrad, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, sith!obi-wan (sort of), d/s, 95.9k    During the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan and Anakin crash on a remote planet and take shelter in the ruins of a grand estate only to find they are not alone. ✦ Upfall by bell (belldreams), obi-wan/anakin & some obi-wan/satine & ahsoka & cast, NSFW, 166.8k    Anakin is doing just about everything he can to hold himself together; it won’t last. ✦ the sound of your voice (helps me find peace) by izazov, obi-wan/anakin, 34.7k    Five times Anakin had to ask for a story. And one time Obi-Wan offered it freely. ✦ Lex Talionis by intermundia, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & cast, NSFW, sith!obi-wan, sith!anakin, 187k    How Obi-Wan and Anakin fell to the dark side, obtained their revenge, and saved the galaxy in the process. ✦ starbird by imaginarykat, obi-wan/anakin & cast, 8.8k    Anakin thinks he knows everything about Obi-Wan but doesn’t. Anakin thinks a lot of things, actually, and he’s wrong about most of them. Anakin’s whole world view is turned upside down. Obi-Wan is having the time of his life. ✦ small gestures and grand vows by loosingletters, obi-wan/anakin & cast, 6k    Five times Obi-Wan and Anakin show how devoted they are to each other, and one time somebody demands proof and they are insulted. ✦ Across the Stars by unfortunate17, obi-wan/anakin & cast, NSFW, time travel, 14k    A story of how Obi-Wan and Anakin have thousands of firsts between them, fates intertwined by the will of the force across space and time. Or, Obi-Wan is the Time Traveler’s Wife. ✦ love is a battlefield (not a one-night stand) by izazov, obi-wan/anakin, 15.5k    For all his skills as a negotiator, Obi-Wan does a poor job of handling the aftermath of spending the night with his former Padawan. (He gets better at it. Eventually.) ✦ what heaven did you leap from, dear love? by loosingletters, obikinn, obi-wan/anakin, 3.2k    Surely Obi-Wan hadn’t meant to call him that. It was just a slip of the tongue, he told himself. But that didn’t stop his heart from racing and his palms from getting sweaty. ✦ Abyssus Abyssum Invocat by Burning_Nightingale, obi-wan/anakin, 10.3k    While searching for Separatists on the very edge of the Unknown Regions, Obi-Wan and Anakin discover three things. A Chiss pilot in desperate need of their help; a Jedi Temple more ancient than the Republic itself; and a dire warning. ✦ Into the Archives by skygawker, obi-wan & anakin (& some anakin/padme) & palpatine & cast, 104.9k wip    After hearing the legend of Darth Plagueis the Wise from Palpatine, Anakin decides that his best chance to save Padme is to break into the restricted Holocron Vault of the Temple Archives to search for information about Plagueis. Predictably, all does not go according to plan. Revenge of the Sith AU. ✦ Satellite Mind by intermundia, septemberist, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 19.3k    Five times Obi-Wan heard Anakin’s thoughts, and one time Anakin heard Obi-Wan’s ✦ Aggressive Negotiations by RagnarLothcat, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 15.7k    Five times Obi-Wan makes use of Anakin’s beauty in a negotiation, and one time someone turns the tables on him. ✦ It’s How You Learn by Is0lde, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 10.6k    Anakin and Obi-Wan spar in Jar'Kai and it ends up exactly how they both planned. ✦ Moment’s Silence (Common Tongue) by Gwendolyn (storiesofchaos), obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 8.1k    Three occasions in which Anakin comes in his pants. ✦ Seed by bell (belldreams), obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 44k    When Anakin falls prey to a lethal poison, Obi-Wan has no choice but use all his resources to heal him– no matter how reluctant he is in administering the antidote. ✦ Over and Over by obiwanobi, obi-wan/anakin, 1.4k    “I love you,” he blurts out, loud and impossible to miss. Obi-Wan blinks once, twice. And freezes. The first time Anakin tells him is a mortifying experience. ✦ hey there by retts, obi-wan/anakin, 4.6k    ‘Sick,’ says Anakin, stood in the doorway of Obi-Wan’s room aboard their ship. 'You’re sick.’ 'No need to sound so delighted over it,’ grouses Obi-Wan, bringing his fist up to his mouth to cough feebly into it. Damn. 'I’m not, Master.’ ✦ O Trespass Sweetly Urged by Artemis_Unbound, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 8.6k    Anakin and Obi-Wan witness a sex ritual while on a mission. Obi-Wan doesn’t understand why Anakin is so scandalized by this, until Anakin admits that he’s never had sex. Obi-Wan…might need a minute to process that. ✦ Too Hot by secretsolarsystem, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 4.8k    Too Hot: A game where two players kiss without stopping and without touching each other. If one player touches the other, that player loses. The winner gets to do whatever they want to the loser. OBIKIN RECS – THE DARTH ASSHOLE CAT DYNAMIC THAT’S CLOSER TO THE SHOW’S RELATIONSHIP POINT (SOMETIMES FIX-IT, SOMETIMES NOT): ✦ Sear me by thedunesea, obi-wan/vader, NSFW, suitless vader, 9.9k    “So here we are, a failed Jedi, a Sith, and our imminent deaths. I leave it to you to choose how we will meet our demise, whether fighting or doing something else entirely.” ✦ Make Your Siren’s Call by intermundia, obi-wan/vader, NSFW, 4.5k    After a visit to check on young Luke, Obi-Wan spends the night in a cave nearby. He struggles to fall asleep, his mind reaching out into the Force, and is surprised by a visit from his old apprentice in his dreams. ✦ to touch the light, darkest by treescape, obi-wan/vader, NSFW, 6.5k    Obi-Wan begins to fuck Vader back to the light. ✦ Mirage by intermundia, obi-wan/vader & obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, time travel, omegaverse, 17k    The Force switches AotC Anakin with Kenobi-series era Darth Vader. ✦ (Un)happy Reunions by izazov, obi-wan/vader, 4k    After defeating his former Padawan but sparing his life on Mustafar, Obi-Wan had hoped that their paths would never cross again. He should have known better. ✦ Homestead by JSwander, whohatessand, obi-wan/vaderkin & cast, NSFW, 46.2k    Obi-Wan deals with a troubled newly widowed Anakin, two twins, and desperately needs a hug. ✦ game plan by treescape, obi-wan/vader, NSFW, raised as a sith!anakin, 11.2k    Or, Vader keeps capturing Obi-Wan during the Wars. Obi-Wan keeps escaping. It’s kind of a thing. ✦ Neutron star collision by thedunesea, obi-wan/anakin & cast, 66.2k    In the aftermath of Order 66, Anakin Skywalker’s miraculous survival after his confrontation with the new Sith Apprentice Darth Vader ignites a sparkle of hope in the remaining Jedi, in the fledgling rebellion and, above all, in his former Master, who had thought he had lost everything to darkness. ✦ love is not a victory but neither is it pain by Himboskywalker, obi-wan/vader, NSFW, 4.7k    Five years after Anakin Skywalker falls Obi-Wan Kenobi helps lead the Rebel Alliance against the Empire.But hope has reached its end,and General Kenobi confronts Vader in a desperate effort to save his men and the last threads of the rebellion. ✦ nothing compares to you by RagnarLothcat, obi-wan/anakin & cast, nsfw, time loop, 40.5k wip    Sometimes you only get one chance to make things right. But when you’re Anakin Skywalker, Chosen One, sometimes the Force intervenes to give you a second chance. Or a third. Or a fourth. ✦ Prompted - Chapter 5 by intermundia , obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, spanking, rough sex, 2.3k    5. suitless!Vader / resentful!Obi-Wan (Spank a Sith back to the Light AU) ✦ Don’t go blindly into the dark by obiwanobi, obi-wan/anakin, 3.5k    Anakin falls to the dark side earlier than expected, gets scared by his own impulses and decides to hide somewhere nobody will look for him. It doesn’t stop Obi-Wan from finding him. ✦ Replaceable by ibex_ascendant, obi-wan/vader, nsfw, ~1k    He buries hands of flesh in thick, auburn-colored hair. He knows this is a dream. ✦ Pivot by Phosphorescent, obi-wan & anakin, 1.3k    “What would you have me do, Anakin? Just… walk away?” “Or you could join me.” OBIKIN RECS - DO YOU WANT THEM TO KISS BUT DON’T WANT TO WADE THROUGH THAT GROSS PLOT WHILE STILL GETTING INSIGHTFUL CHARACTERIZATION? I GOT YOU: ✦ Collar by bell (belldreams), obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, d/s, 9.4k    “You have to be sure, Anakin. Once we’re in, we’re in.” “I think I can handle being your sub, Obi-Wan.“ ✦ This Was Obi-Wan by Himboskywalker, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 5.3k    With how proper and refined his master is,Anakin just can’t figure why he sits like that, all spread-legged and obscene.But after a mission goes awry and he sees Obi-Wan naked for the first time,the question isn’t why,but more like how he’s possibly going to survive with the knowledge. ✦ Home Again by lilyconrad, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, d/s, mild bondage, 1.7k    When Anakin’s emotions overwhelm him, Obi-Wan is always there with a firm hand and clear eye to help him find his way back from the dark. ✦ It’s How You Learn by Is0lde, obi-wan/anakin & cast, NSFW, 10.6k    Anakin and Obi-Wan spar in Jar'Kai and it ends up exactly how they both planned ✦ Good Form by ranianke, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 15.1k    Obi-Wan needs help shooting a training video. What could go wrong? ✦ Lifeblood by Himboskywalker, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 8.3k    The ancient people of the Zeffo contact the Jedi in a cry for help,they need force users who can connect to the living force,who can save something dear to them. But the price of life is itself something dear,and one Obi-Wan is not sure they can pay. ✦ Persistence is Key by ToolMusicLover, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 2.2k    Anakin has been making suggestive remarks all day, when they’re finally alone together Obi-Wan finds himself succumbing to Anakin’s persistence. ✦ Bloom the want by ToolMusicLover, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 13.5k    Upon being reunited with Obi-Wan after a number of months apart, Anakin struggles with his Master’s continued distance, but perhaps there is something he can do to get his attention. ✦ Exile Vilify by nessa_j, obi-wan/anakin, nsfw, 1.4k    Anakin struggles with the horrors of war, Obi-Wan tries to offer comfort. ✦ that which rages in the place of dearest love by shipwrecks, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 4.4k    He loves Obi-Wan but he’s not going to let him tell him to calm down like he’s still a padawan who doesn’t understand anything about the galaxy. He understands plenty—the galaxy is cold and unforgiving, dark and pain, he’s known this longer than anyone. OBIKIN RECS – IF YOU WANT TO GET YOUR FEET WET IN A WORLD WHERE THEY WEREN’T TEACHER AND STUDENT TO SEE IF IT’S FOR YOU: ✦ wicked thing by imaginarykat, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & cast, nsfw, sith!obi-wan, 117.4k wip    There are rumours of yet another Sith Lord hiding among the Separatists. The Council sends Anakin to investigate. Anakin has a bad feeling about this. or, the story of how Anakin exists in a perpetual state of intense embarrassment, Obi-Wan is enjoying it a little too much, and everything is, generally speaking, a gigantic mess. ✦ Conceal Me What I Am by Himboskywalker, obi-wan/anakin & cast, NSFW, omegaverse, senator!obi-wan, 108.3k    Separatist Propaganda is turning the Republic against the Jedi Order and the Senate sees no choice but to join in a political alliance to fight dissent on a unified front.An alliance is proposed through an arranged marriage,between a Jedi Knight and Republic Senator. Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are chosen as representatives of the political union by Darth Sidious, meant to bring ruin to the marriage and the public’s support of the Jedi,for Obi-Wan Kenobi is not the Beta he claims. But even Sidious does not know of the secret Anakin Skywalker keeps, that he is not the Alpha the galaxy believes him to be. ✦ Needing/Getting by chapstickaddict, obi-wan/anakin & luke & leia & ahsoka & cast, NSFW, alternate canon, 198k    Anakin is a paranoid, over-protective hot mess doing his best to raise his weird pack the way Padmé would have wanted. How the hell is he supposed to do that when his kids and not-apprentice make him haul a half-dead Jedi Master home like a lost pet? OBIKIN RECS – LOOK, JUST TRUST ME, IT’S GOOD: ✦ à la carte by RagnarLothcat, obi-wan/anakin & cast, NSFW, modern au, 55.6k    Anakin Skywalker is a perfectly normal grad student. He spends his days at the robotics lab, his evenings working at an upscale restaurant and his weekends on inadvisable hookups. That is, until Obi-Wan Kenobi saunters into his workplace and sweeps him off his feet. ✦ The Snowball Effect by Ghost_Owl, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka, modern au, 11.3k    Anakin had not meant to nail the cute guy from his building in the face with a snowball. Obi Wan had absolutely meant to hit him back. ✦ when all we have are shadows by tennessoui, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, modern au, 8.3k    Anakin’s gone when Obi-Wan wakes up. He’s left a note, a little cutesy message with a smiley face and awful handwriting. He has a class he can’t miss, it says. Obi-Wan’s gone and fucked a college kid. ✦ Too Hot by secretsolarsystem, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 4.8k    Too Hot: A game where two players kiss without stopping and without touching each other. If one player touches the other, that player loses. The winner gets to do whatever they want to the loser. OBIANIDALA RECS – BECAUSE ANAKIN SKYWALKER HAS TWO HANDS AND REALLY, REALLY WANTS IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT SANDWHICH, AND WE HAVE FEELINGS AFTER ALL THOSE PADME MENTIONS: ✦ Only Ones Who Taste by maravilla, obi-wan/anakin/padme, NSFW, 3.4k    "Have I ever noticed what?” she said, half smiling and fixing him with a stare. “That Anakin – he – I mean, we’re not here to talk about Anakin.” ✦ more than a candle by jenmishe, obi-wan/anakin/padme, NSFW, 50.3k    How Anakin, Obi Wan, and Padmé realize many things, which include, most notably, how they feel about each other and how to handle said feelings. Oh, and in the meantime, they deal with a megalomaniac Sith Lord. ✦ Exposure Therapy by septemberist, obi-wan/anakin/padme, NSFW, 10.1k    Anakin struggles to overcome jealousy in his relationship with Padmé and Obi-Wan. They decide to help him in an unconventional fashion. ✦ Only Ones Who Taste by maravilla, obi-wan/anakin/padme, NSFW, 3.4k    “Have I ever noticed what?” she said, half smiling and fixing him with a stare. “That Anakin – he – I mean, we’re not here to talk about Anakin.” ✦ Diplomatic relations by Tenillypo, obi-wan/anakin/padme, NSFW, 6.2k    It was late when Padmé Amidala got home, and there was a Jedi sitting in her living room.

[queen-breha-organa]

Tbh one of the things I hate the most about the new Star Wars canon is the lack of development for the Jedi Order.

Like I was joking earlier about the Service Corps, and the Medical Corps, but genuinely the new canon is lacking so much.

For example, Jedi Healers aren’t really a thing anymore. Sure they’re mentioned and stuff, but in Legends, Jedi Healers were this phenomenal and fleshed out branch of the Jedi Order and it was so interesting to see.

And Jedi Mystics are seen as this ancient relic in the new canon, where as in many of the legends books, Prophecy is mentioned in the present tense. Anakin talks about it a bit in the Revenge of the Sith novelization, but all the new books (especially Master and Apprentice) say that Mysticism is far removed from the Order.

I just wish we had a more complicated Jedi Order in the new canon. So much of it just appears to be scrubbed clean and I really miss all the weird subsections of Jedi.

[david-talks-sw]

The Jedi allow themselves to feel more emotions than the Sith do.

Was thinking about how, usually, the general audience interprets the difference between the Jedi and Sith as:

“The Jedi don’t allow you to feel your emotions, the Sith encourage you to embrace them with a passion. The Jedi can’t be in a relationship, but the Sith can” and more stuff along that line.

And... I disagree. Mainly because a lot of what we’ve seen in Star Wars material so far suggests that it’s basically the other way round.

First off: they aren’t emotionless.

Jedi are allowed to feel any emotion. We see this mentioned multiple times, both in Legends and current canon:

They simply can’t act out of emotion, keeping the peace needs to be the priority because that’s their job, as Jedi. Hence the line in the Jedi code: “Emotion, yet peace” or “there is no emotion; there is peace”.

For example: Anakin and Obi-Wan’s fight against Dooku in Episode 2.

They didn’t stand a chance against Dooku to begin with. But if they had taken him together, they would have kept him there long enough for Yoda to arrive and take care of Dooku. And then, they wouldn’t be wounded, so Dooku wouldn’t be able to distract Yoda, he would’ve been captured, and the Clone Wars would have ended before it even started. They would’ve had peace.

Instead, Anakin was angry that he had to leave Padmé behind, he was angry that about 80 of his Jedi friends were brutally murdered on Dooku’s orders, so he rushes at Dooku, gets taken out, leaving a tired Obi-Wan to fend for himself against a guy who was once the 2nd/3rd best duelist in the Jedi Order. And, when Yoda finally DOES arrive, the wounded Obi-Wan and Anakin become a burden, forcing Yoda to let Dooku go.

If Anakin had kept his emotions in check at that moment and focused on doing his duty, there would have been peace.

What a Jedi needs to is accept their emotions, face their fears and overcome them. This is a theme we see in many episodes of The Clone Wars, Rebels, and even in Jedi: Fallen Order.

As Luke puts it in The Rise of Skywalker:

“Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi.”

So when Obi-Wan or Padmé ask Anakin if he wants to talk about his feelings, about why he’s angry or jealous…

… and Anakin says stuff such as “I’m fine, I’m not angry!”, when he so clearly is, Anakin is basically running away from his emotions, repressing them, which is the opposite of what a Jedi does.

In fact, I’d argue the Jedi feel emotions on a whole other level. Their sense of compassion is so strong, they allow themselves to feel so much, that when a group of living beings begins to suffer, they just perceive all of it, and they open themselves up to the pain, they endure it.

How many times have we seen Yoda react to the pain someone else is going through? Like when he’s suffering because Anakin just lost his mom, or when he feels the Jedi dying during Order 66.

Also about being in a relationship...

The problem, for a Jedi, isn’t really being in a relationship. I mean, yeah, the rules say that you can’t get married because technically, if you’re a Jedi, you’re ‘married to the Order’. If you’re openly in a relationship, holding hands in the temple etc, that’s definitely gonna be frowned upon.

The spirit of the rule is that you can’t compromise your better judgment, your efficiency on a mission. And the book Master & Apprentice (my favorite canon novel so far) shows us that a Jedi trying to loophole their way out of these rules is basically inviting disaster.

But, on the other hand... we see in TCW that Mace Windu and Yoda clearly know there’s something going on between Anakin and Padmé, because they ask him for advice regarding Padmé (we see they know something during the Clovis episodes, plus the deleted Episode 2 scene between Obi-Wan and Windu).

And, like… they’re not giving him any crap for it.

It’s not as if he’s great at hiding it either!

If you watch any of the scenes where Anakin is talking about Padmé (because “they’re just really close friends”) to the Jedi in the Clovis arc, he is so blatantly lying and the masters are so obviously aware and just let him believe they don’t know.

They do tell him to watch out for his greed and keep his head together. But they don’t tell him “How dare you be in a relationship?! You are expelled!” or anything like that.

They trust that he’ll keep his head in the game, warn him to make sure he does.

Because, really, the problem isn’t loving someone, or being in a relationship. That’s fine. It’s about getting too possessive and toxic with that relationship. It’s about not causing others to suffer, directly or indirectly, because of your relationship.

The bottom line is: if a Jedi need to choose between the person they’re in love with and saving the galaxy, they need to save the galaxy, because that’s their duty.

As George Lucas said, on BBC News in 2002:

“Jedi Knights aren't celibate - the thing that is forbidden is attachments - and possessive relationships.”

And in Rolling Stones, in 2005:

“The story is not about a guy who was born a monster – it’s about a good boy who was loving and had exceptional powers, but how that eventually corrupted him and how he confused possessive love with compassionate love. That happens in Episode II: Regardless of how his mother died, Jedis are not supposed to take vengeance.”

And in 2019:

“He was kind, and sweet, and lovely, and he was then trained as a Jedi. But the Jedi can’t be selfish. They can love but they can’t love people to the point of possession. You can’t really possess somebody, because people are free. It’s possession that causes a lot of trouble, and that causes people to kill people, and causes people to be bad. Ultimately it has to do with being unwilling to give things up.”

Now, the Sith?

The Sith frame themselves as “the guys who will let you feel whatever you want”. And that’s just not true.

Sith are allowed to feel one kind of emotions. Anger, selfish pleasure, greed. The negative emotions, the ones that give you a brief boost in power/pleasure when you indulge them, but ultimately leave you empty inside.

Any other kind of feeling is seen as pointless, a distraction from the Sith’s goal of achieving unlimited power.

In the book From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back, we get a glimpse into Sidious’ mind:

“Some might have felt a shadow of fear upon recognizing the disturbance, but Palpatine knew better than to ever give in to something as trivial as emotions. Those types of risks were shed long ago, in another lifetime. All he cared about was the source of the disturbance. ”

And in Darth Vader #6 (2020), when Vader was sad and depressed after seeing a recording of Padmé dying for the first time… Palpatine did this to him:

Because, like, how dare Vader have *gasp* a natural reaction to an emotionally hurtful event? Hell no! He needs to get his shit together and be a ruthless murderer again, amirite?

Cherry on the cake: in Legends, Sith Lord Darth Malgus killed his wife, Eleena, because he came to the conclusion that she was a weakness that he couldn’t afford to have.

No sadness or fear allowed, for the Sith. Just anger and suffering. Just lust for power. That’s it. Anything else is trivial, it’s a weakness.

So a Sith can’t be in relationship. Because they’re technically already in a relationship with themselves, with their master, and with the Dark Side. There isn’t any space for anyone else.

As Lucas puts it in this video:

“Being selfish, following your pleasures, always entertaining yourself with pleasure and buying things and doing stuff — you're always going to be unhappy. You'll never get to the point... you'll get this little instant shot of pleasure, but it goes away and then you're stuck where you were before, and the more you do it, the worse it gets. You finally get everything you want and you're miserable, because there's no... there's nothing at the end of that road.“

Finally, there’s this thing I saw, the other day… which is very heart-warming.

In 2015, Colin, an autistic 7-year-old, wrote to LucasFilm (thinking George Lucas was still there) asking for a rule change in the Jedi Order: he wanted to be able to get married, one day, but he reaaaallly didn’t wanna be a Sith.

This is what LucasFilm replied to him:

“To be a Jedi is to truly know the value of friendship, of compassion, and of loyalty, and these are values important in a marriage.

The Sith think inward, only of themselves.

When you find someone that you can connect to in a selfless way, then you are on the path of the light, and the dark side will not take hold of you. With this goodness in your heart, you can be married.”

This is in no way an official confirmation… but the spirit of it does echo George Lucas’ thoughts on the matter, I think. Take from it what you will.

So yeah, bottom line: Jedi can totally feel emotions. The Sith only allow themselves to feel a specific kind of emotions.

After comparing the two, I’d say that the Sith are the ones with the more limiting ideology.

[phoenixyfriend]

Commander Buir

Follow-up to this post. Not in any particular order, just spitballing ideas, with contributions from several friends on discord.

Like presumably it takes long enough for them all to meet up again that Anakin and Cody do, in fact, end up treating each other like family, just so I can have that good good "well, guess I'm Dad now" energy. Shmi isn't entirely sure what's going on but she's not a slave anymore and her kid seems to like this rando mando, so.

Anakin gets to have a mom and two dads, though one of the dads is arguably younger than him.

Also when they all meet up again and Cody explains the "General Skywalker got shrunk" thing, there are three reactions: (General) Obi-Wan: Oh, Anakin. Obi-Wan: [gestures to take him, ends up with an armful of clingy padatoddler] Anakin: You can't blame this on me, Obi. Obi-Wan, a little teary, because babies cause emotions: Of course I can, you absurd human being. ------ Rex: That's... my general. Anakin: I am, Captain. Rex: Cool cool cool I'm gonna go stand where I can't, uh, break you. Anakin: I'm not THAT fragile! ------ Ahsoka: [gasp] Skyguy is SKYKID! Anakin: Padawan, this is-- Ahsoka, grabbing him and cuddling: Oh my goodness you're adorable this is the best day ever. Anakin: This is humiliating, Snips, put me down. Ahsoka: Never.

Anakin hates being a toddler because of the lack of independence but Cody keeps picking him up when he's cranky and just holding him until he falls asleep and that's... nice.......

- The brain limitations aren't quite as bad as the situation with Sokanth and Ylliben in the other AU, but - Even if his brain is mostly adjusted he’s still got a tiny body with different needs that he’s not used to. Like, he needs to sleep more but he’s got more energy than usual when he’s awake and it’s all weird.

Cody carrying around toddler Anakin like "God you give me ulcers but you're adorable, you little shit."

Inconveniently tiny body aside, Anakin has a pretty great time in this au. His family are all together and safe and within reach. His wife isn't around, but toddler brain means he doesn't have the Romance Drive, so that's not as bad as it could be It could be significantly worse.

@atagotiak asked: Does Anakin get annoyed about being called cute? - To which I say, He bites the first few times but Shmi tells him that's Naughty so he stops. - Babies are cute so you packbond with them before they’re annoying, Anakin is cute as a self defense mechanism - He’s extra annoying so he needs to be extra cute

You know how you need to keep an eye on toddlers so they don't, like, fall down the stairs or put something toxic in their mouth? - They need to keep an eye on Anakin specifically so he doesn't rewire the ship they're in while they're in hyperspace. - He has less self control on account of being smol. He still has all the mechanical knowledge! Just less comprehension of y’know, consequences.

Anakin, with a sippy cup: This is demeaning. Ahsoka: Your hands don't work great enough to avoid accidents yet. Anakin: It's still embarrassing.

General Kenobi can't just kill Maul, not when Maul is baby right now (sixteen, which is baby enough) so he just. Kinda. Kidnaps a baby Sith. (It's fine. He's fine.)

General Kenobi (not to be confused with Padawan Kenobi) decides to declare Maul his new padawan because someone has to deal with this teenager, and Plo already claimed the rest of Ahsoka's training. And Anakin's three, so.

"What do we do with Maul?" "Eh, I can handle him. I dealt with teenage Anakin getting arrested for illegal pod-racing twice a month, I can work with this."

Maul bites, but only slightly more often than Anakin, it's fine

Ahsoka definitely bullies Maul whenever possible

Consider: Rex holding very still because Anakin wanted to be tall, so he climbed Rex. Being unexpectedly climbed is better than being unexpectedly yeeted. It's still extremely nerve-wracking. - Cody is perfectly capable of running around with a backpacking toddler General, but Rex freezes like a statue. - Ahsoka finds this hilarious

You know how little kids like to be thrown around and swung in circles and stuff like that? This must get even more ridiculous with force users. Can throw a child real high and catch them safely. - Rex panics whenever Ahsoka throws her chibified Master

Literally everyone except Rex loves being yeeted. Even Maul can appreciate a good tactical yeet no shut up he's not having fun this is TRAINING - Rex is Suffering - Cody, a very Tired Dad, deserves to mock his vod'ika a little, as stress relief - Rex, a certified Little Brother, shoves Cody off something tall. Jokes on him, Cody thinks freefall is fun too.

Tia asked: So the people who didn’t exist yet got flung bodily back in time and Anakin did the mental time travel. Why did Obi-Wan not become Padawan Kenobi? (I mean “because I want it that way” is def a good enough answer I’m just wondering if there’s any reason.) - Which, well, it really was mostly "I want to" but here's two options, both of which come down to Blame Daughter and Father. 1. They figured a responsible adult Jedi Master was needed to convince people. 2. Nobody was supposed to get de-aged but Daughter figured they needed to make Anakin less liable to kill things for a few years. - Also IDK the Force God-Manifestations also took away any risk of rapid aging and early death from the clones because uhhhhhhhhhhh I said so

Rex and Ahsoka are fumbling their way through a relationship where ages are just really confusing and awkward, so they're keeping it to just kisses and cuddles for a bit.

Cody is so tired he doesn't even realize anyone's hitting on him until it's been three years of co-parenting with Shmi and his General. - Somehow Anakin knows Cody is in a relationship before Cody does. Cody has never been so embarrassed. - How did he manage to be less observant than Skywalker? -- it was sabotage; all his brain cells were taken up in managing said Skywalker -- Because Skywalker was up at three in the morning whacking a training droid with a stick so he didn't have the energy for Relationships

Also Shmi's come-ons are super subtle, while the General's are... well, Cody's gotten very used to ignoring anything ambiguous on that end because fraternization rules, and also because Obi-Wan flirts a lot with everyone. So.

Please imagine Cody and General Kenobi walking around with Anakin tucked into a toddler sling while they do whatever work they've ended up with at the Temple. - Yes, Cody is helping the Jedi figure out the best plan of attack to take down this slave ring because his grasp on tactics is phenomenal and he knows how to deploy people at greatest efficiency, but also he's got a nosy toddler on his hip who keeps offering his own insane-but-competent ideas. - General Kenobi ends up with a Council Seat just on account of, like, being the kind of person he is. As often as not, he's got Anakin tucked into his robes, chewing on the ear of a stuffed tooka or something.

IDK what Shmi's doing but apparently Legends had it that some of the administrative and support positions in the Temple were held by non-Jedi civilians? So probably something like that.

GENERAL KENOBI LECTURING PADAWAN MAUL WHILE ANAKIN'S BALANCED ON HIS HIP AND GLARING AT MAUL FOR STEALING HIS DAD

General Kenobi: Ahsoka's babysitting. Anakin: I'm her master, I don't need babysitting, this is-- General Kenobi: Fine, then you need supervision, so that you don't blow up a training salle again. Anakin: And you think Ahsoka would stop me? General Kenobi, eye twitching: Fine, I'm leaving you with Plo.

Even if he’s mentally an adult Anakin always needs supervision Look at canon! Anakin was left without supervision for like two days and he became a Sith

Quinlan gets distracted by how attractive General Kenobi is and tells Obi-Wan "dude, you're gonna be so hot once you can get rid of the stupid haircut" and Obi-Wan pushes him into the nearest pond.

They end up with this weird "Uncle Jango" situation (uncle to Anakin, via weird brotherhood-ish to Cody) because Rex and Cody are just like "Uhhhhhhhhh yeah okay" about him eventually, and Jango just like. Drops by. Trying to Earn Affection Of Blood Kin by bringing weird gifts for them and their (ugh) Jedi.

"Okay, Rex'ika, I stopped by Shili--" "What?" "--and apparently this is a delicacy there, so just... your girlfriend will like it." "She's not my girlfriend." "..." "Okay, I can't call her my girlfriend. Jedi have rules about that sort of thing, and--" "This will make your Jedi happy, probably. Just take it, kid."

Baby Anakin got his arm back but for some inexplicable reason still has The Eye Scar. He matches Buir.

[atamascolily]

Star Wars: Crosscurrent, by Paul S. Kemp (Legends)

Did anyone read this? I'm guessing not, as it is a oneshot novel published in 2010 featuring side characters in the "Legacy" era, right before Legends got rebooted by Disney, featuring time travel and an unexpected, albeit tenuous, Mara connection.

Admittedly, I mostly skimmed this, but the plot followed Kyle Katarn's student Jaden Korr, who is suffering from PTSD and gets a vision of various ghosts (including Mara!!!) telling him "it all begins in a black hole on Fhost". This turns out to be the name of a bar (heh), where Jaden meets a crew of salvagers who take him out to the site of his vision, where they encounter a Jedi from 4500 years in the past and a secret Sith dreadnaught carrying macguffin ore that amplifies dark side powers, all of which got shipped through time through a bad hyperspace jump.

Just in case you thought I was making this up, here is an actual quote:

Khedryn licked his lips. “Just so I know what to tell him: you’re saying I have an old Imperial distress call coming from a moon no one’s charted before, a five-thousand-year-old Jedi aboard my ship, and a five-thousand-year-old Sith dreadnought with some evil ore aboard flying through my sky?”

Oh,yeah, and Jaden's being stalked by an Anzat assassin in the employ of (wait for it) Darth Krayt, because the Anzat are vampires who feed off life energy ("soup") and eating Jedi gets this one high. The Sith want the macguffin ore, because Sith gonna Sith. The past Sith and past Jedi duke it out, and destroy each other, as you’d expect.

Meanwhile, Jade and co. all go down to the nearby planet, which has a secret abandoned lab full of secrets--the Empire under Thrawn was making Jedi-Sith genetic recombinants, which of course ended badly for them.

“I suspect they recombined the DNA of Jedi with the DNA of Sith.”

Khedryn’s lazy eye floated in its socket, fixing on nothing, as if it did not want to see. “Why would they do that? Being a Jedi or a Sith is a choice, isn’t it? It’s not biology.”

Jaden shook his head. “We didn’t know all there is to know about how biology meshes with Force use. Perhaps they sought to create some kind of breakthrough Force-user, one unbound by the limitations of light and dark.”

“How is that possible? Light and dark sides are exclusive, aren’t they?”

Jaden turned off the computer and Dr. Gray disappeared. “The line between light and dark is not as clear as many think.”

Even if the explanation is total bullshit, the laboratory exploration is genuinely creepy, A++. The clones are worshipping the cloning tank, which they call "Mother" and fill it full of bodies. The only one we see is a clone of Kam Solusar, but the implication is there was at least one Mara clone at some point who might still be alive. Jaden kills the "Kamclone," but is distracted by the Anzat assassin, and then the rest of the clones get away, leaving the three survivors to band togther to track them down. And I guess no one thinks to tell Luke or any of the other Jedi anything??

Anyway, this is okay, I guess, but it's hard to get into it because there's such a tenuous connection to the characters I actually care about, AND it's a weird little oneshot that doesn't really make an impact in larger plot. The time travel and the clone plots are two separate storylines that feel like they have very little to do with each other and the former was just there to pad out the story, especially since it doesn’t have any real effect on Jaden’s character or his quest. I was not expecting the tenuous Mara connection, though. I'm also amused that apparently hyperspace time travel was actually canon and not just a thing that fanfic writers made up.

I'm not really sure what the point of this was, but to be fair, Legends was kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel--to be brutally honest, it was due for a reboot anyway. The real problem I have with it wasn't the reboot per se, so much as one that got rid of most of the genuinely good bits of the EU in exchange for its own brand of WTF--but that's a rant for another day.

Here are some more passages that struck me:

The deep snow clutched at their feet, as if trying to slow their advance and give them time to reconsider. Jaden looked up, eyed the slate of the sky, imagined not snow falling but reified evil.

Um...dramatic, much?

Jaden knew that at some top-secret Thrawn-era facilities the participating scientists would be forced to endure surgical alterations of their facial structure while on assignment, changing back to themselves only after their work was completed. None would be able to recognize another afterward. He wondered if that had happened in the facility, and if so, why.

The Empire is a piece of shit, full stop. 

Also, fuck this ageism so hard:

“It means he has an intuitive connection to the Force,” Jaden said. “Were he younger, it would mean he was trainable. But given your age, Marr, even with your mathematical gifts, training is probably out of the question.”

But by the end of the book, Jaden agrees to train him anyway, so I guess that was character development for him? IDK. I still hate it, though.

Also, every time someone says "Grand Master Skywalker," I want to down two shots of vodka, because WTF, Luke. Seriously.

[haltraveler]

Some Headcanons About The Kaleesh

AKA since neither Lucasfilm nor Disney give a shit about this fascinating corner of the Star Wars universe I guess I’ll do it myself. (These aren’t specific to Legends OR Canon since almost nothing about Kalee has been changed between the two continuities)

Physiology

Due to their combination of reptilian, avian, and mammalian features I think non--mammalian synapsids (sometimes called “mammal-like reptiles” despite not being true reptiles) are the best model for Kaleesh biology.

Kaleesh are warm-blooded and lay soft-shelled, leathery eggs similar to that of a platypus or echidna. 

Kaleesh have sclerotic rings within their eyes like most nonmammalian vertebrates.

I generally prefer the digitigrade, avian legs shown in The Clone Wars and Galaxy at War as opposed to the plantigrade, human-like legs shown in Visionaries, New Essential Guide to Alien Species, and Resistance. These legs, along with their blunt, hoof-like claws would make them extremely adept at running at high speeds.

Due to inconsistency in their portrayal I’ve decided that the number of tusks that a kaleesh has varies depending on ethnicity, with all kaleesh having the two large tusks in the upper jaw but with the two smaller tusks in the lower jaw being absent in some ethnic groups. 

Due to their keen smell and sensory pits, they are naturally nocturnal, but agrarian Kaleesh societies have shifted to become more diurnal in their habits. 

Society

As with humans, polygyny is not accepted in all Kaleesh cultures, and some have monogamy or more freeform polygamy as their primary structure for romantic relationships. 

Similarly, the use of terms like Khan and Khagan is normally restricted to Qymaen jai Sheelal’s steppe-dwelling native culture, but it became more widespread once jai Sheelal became General Grievous and united the planet under his Khaganate. 

Abesmi and Shrupak were originally the centers of two entirely separate religions from opposite hemispheres of Kalee, but the two faiths ended up being syncretized during the formation of a pan-Kaleesh identity under Sith occupation back in the 3000s BBY. By the time of Grievous the two religions had fully merged into a single faith. 

Kaleesh naming structure is complex. The first name (i.e. Qymaen jai Sheelal, Ronderu lij Kummar, or Bentilais san Sk’ar) is a given name equivalent to those seen in most galactic cultures. The middle syllable (i.e. Qymaen jai Sheelal, Ronderu lij Kummar, or Bentilais san Sk’ar) is the last syllable of the Kaleesh’s tribe/nation (so a member of the Muja bandit tribe might be named Aitze ja Zahol). The second full name is a patronym/matronym (depending on which parent holds higher status) but is often replaced by an honorific once the Kaleesh has committed deeds worthy of awarding them respected status and therefore establishing themselves as independent from their parent’s legacy (i.e Qymaen jai Sheelal, a name referring to Grievous’s prophetic dreams). 

The Kaleesh have their own force-using religious tradition, similar to the Nightsisters or Bardottans. 

Kaleesh technology levels prior to Grievous’s khaganate varied significantly, with Bentilais san Ska’ar’s people being semi-industrialized with advanced firearms while Ronderu lij Kuumar’s Grendajuan tribe was using steel blades and arrowheads, and Qymaen jai Sheelal’s people still used bone and stone as their primary materials. All kaleesh might buy or salvage offworld technology, like Qymaen jai Sheelal’s Czerka-manufactured outland rifle, but lacked the industrial capabilities to replicate such technology.

History

The Trade Federation were heavily-involved in the Huk occupation of Kalee, selling offworld food supplies at inflated prices to the kaleesh, often in the aftermath of punitive action by the Huk that destroyed the kaleesh’s ability to manufacture their own food. It was this enforced reliance on imported foodstuffs that lead to the deadly famine that killed millions of Kaleesh in the wake of the Jedi-enforced trading embargo. 

Prior to Qymaen and Ronderu the most prominent revolutionary leader of the eastern hemisphere of Kalee was a Khan who died along with nearly his entire fighting force of thousands in an attack against a Huk fort on the shores of the Jenuuwa Sea. One of the casualties in the battle was Qymaen jai Sheelal’s father. It was during a successful second attempt to take the fort decades later that Ronderu was killed by Huk forces and her body swept into the sea.

Sidon Ithano’s Kaleesh helmet came from an officer in a Kaleesh stormtrooper regiment created by Bentilais san Sk’ar during his time as the general of an Imperial strike force, thus accounting for the mask being made of plastoid instead of bone. 

[randomopblog]

How Maul became Sidious' apprentice

(as understood by me)

Legends:

Kycina: *is a terrible judge of character and pretty much just located the nearest force-sensitive she could find to help her rescue at least one of her sons from a life serving an inhumane cult that cares nothing for him because of his gender* I have no idea who you are or if allowing my son to depart with you would land him in circumstances worse than the one he's leaving, but please, sir, for the love of all things unholy, take this before Talzin notices he exists and abuses my baby!

Palpatine: *has just had infant Maul thrust upon him* ...The Fuck am I supposed to do with this?

Plagueis: *narrows his eyes suspiciously as their dynamic duo inexplicably becomes a trio* Have a droid raise it or something; I don't want you catching feelings and becoming overly attached to it, my apprentice.

Palpatine: Yes, 'master'. *is already plotting the muun's downfall because he's just... Like That* You and me, kid, we're going places!

Maul: *drools and nibbles on his fist contentedly, blissfully unaware of the terrible fate that awaits him*

New Canon:

Palpatine: *is a lying liar who lies* Your decision, madam, provide me with your child or forever forsake your position as my apprentice.*practically oozes stranger danger*

Talzin: *apparently wants to join the Sith because 'reasons'*...Ugh, Not especially thrilled about this, but okay. I'm just going to have my other boy murder my youngest anyway. *allows young Maul to be abused by a night-brother after he attempted to run away* Have I mentioned my son is dear to me?

Maul: *is dealing with way too much shit rn* Adults are the kriffing worst.

Palpatine: *sees Maul perform exceptionally during an apprentice acquisition contest* Sike! It is Maul who shall be my apprentice! *laughs as he kidnaps a child and dumps Talzin*

Talzin: Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal! *to the night-sisters* Can you believe that rat bastard stole my precious offspring? I, who value my sons above all things. *kicks Feral's corpse under a rug* They are so, so dear to me. Too bad there aren't any peace-keepers powerful in the ways of the force who I can turn to in my time of need!

Maul: *inside Darth Sidious' chamber of horrors* Hello darkness, my old friend~

[aurora-light-blog]

“Opportunity” Fanfic

The Star Wars legends inspired story ties canon and noncanon elements together and expands with more details. In addition, Force specialties were touched upon in this tale. That’s what I feel is lacking in canon currently. In video games like Star Wars Galaxies and Star Wars the Old Republic, you don’t just simply have Jedi class and Sith class. SWTOR has Sith warrior (which is divided into two specialties) and Sith inquisitors (which also has subcategories). Video games have understood the concept better of having specialties such as dps, healers, and tanks.

Just having light and dark side isn’t enough. In old canon, there were several lightsaber fencing styles. I wanted that for the Singing Mountain Clan. In my previous other fanfics, I had the two Force specialties of the Unifying Force and the Living Force. For this tale, I went further with subcategories for the Singing Mountain Clan which were stolen from SWG. There is a councilwoman, a huntress, a scout and a guardian. Each has their own strengths and weakness.

The Singing Mountain Clan aren’t given many details and currently really not even part of canon. Though the Kage Warriors are part of new canon, they aren’t really expanded much either. I thought it would be cool to have these two gray skinned people meet. What would they have in common? What would be different in their cultures?

Another question answered in this tale is how did people exploit in this evil corrupt Empire to get ahead? It tackled one idea. Accidentally, the fanfic gives an explanation of how some Kage Warriors hooked up with the Partisans. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story. Opportunity - DarthChocolate - Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types [Archive of Our Own]