#it is no wonder why jedi taking children to their temple

[panic-in-the-multiverse]

Attachment of a Child [part 1]

Pairings: Obi-Wan Kenobi x child!reader (includes Kit Fisto)

Imagine: one of the children in the Jedi temple seems to have formed an attachment to Obi-Wan and follows him around all over the temple whenever he’s there

Warnings: fluff, Obi-Wan hugs, Obi-Wan taking care of a child (that needs a warning for real), Obi accidentally adopted you, otherwise none, I think, it’s just fluff, Not proofread

A/N I couldn’t stop myself from writing this, it just came to me randomly and I had to write it, I don’t even know if it’s good or not I just had to write it bc just imagine Obi-Wan being followed by a child who copies his movements, that’s so adorable 🥰 <3

If you have any ideas for Obi-Wan x padawan!reader (platonic obviously) please feel free to send them to me, I love writing Obi-Wan x padawan

The first time Obi-Wan had stepped into the room filled with younglings after “defeating” Darth Maul, he wasn’t too surprised when he saw all of the children’s eyes light up. Big eyes stared at him with amazement and wonder, as well as curiosity and excitement.

The now Jedi master had gained some kind of fame with the younglings ever since he became a master and defeated a Sith Lord. Not to say that the children didn’t love him before (they sure did), but now they all seemed to look up to him as some sort of war hero. Look at him for wisdom more so than the other masters, Yoda being the exception.

One youngling in particular had taken a shine to the newly made master. You. Obi-Wan had nothing against you, he quite liked taking care of you from time to time, it was a distraction from all the chaos in the galaxy at the moment. He found it rather calming and he would never say no to teaching anyone something new, especially younglings who had the curiosity that could go on for forever. You were no different from those younglings except you didn’t ask your questions (too shy to do it) but rather listened intently to any information Obi-Wan would tell the class. It was one of the reasons why you loved classes with Master Kenobi. He was calm and could talk for hours and had most of the answers to all of your classmates questions (therefore your questions were answered as well, for the most part).

Nights were often spent with the younglings as he told them one of his many stories from another planet. He lulled them to sleep with his calm voice as he talked about facts he picked up from his reading about the planet, or missions he had with Anakin or his former master. Obi-Wan hadn’t stopped you when you crawled up onto his lap, nor did he stop any other of the younglings as they cuddled into the warmth he radiated to their sleepy forms.

More than one time you had been the child to sit on his lap, for some reason the Master nearly always picked you up and placed you on his lap, or he just let you plant yourself on his lap without a single complaint. He knew he made your anxieties calm down as he let you cuddle into his side. If he could help the younglings in any way, he would to the best of his abilities. He was once one himself after all and knew how the life of a youngling could be. The anxiety that could be brought to any of them at any moment if they failed, the strict rules or the doubt they felt, the rumors of danger. Especially with what everyone knew was an upcoming war and the betrayal of Dooku and the death of Darth Maul. Along with those rumors and facts they were supposed to study and become a future Jedi while not forming attachments and nor were they allowed to act on their emotions, especially the fear and anger that they felt. So yes, Obi-Wan would gladly let you sit on his lap if it helped you calm down while he told you and the other children a story before they were supposed to sleep.

It’s safe to say that it wasn’t uncommon for any one in the temple to see any of the younglings run up to Obi-Wan for help, especially if something troubled them. Nor was it uncommon to see you walking beside the master. Which was what happened today.

Obi-Wan had just walked past the room in which you and your classmates had just finished up your first lesson of the day. Some of the younglings had already rushed out of the room before Master Yoda could even finish his sentence, you were one among them. You had felt Obi-Wan’s force signature and you saw him through the slightly opened door walk past the room and you had sprinted out of the room not willing to lose him in the many halls of the temple. Luckily for you the temple was relatively empty at this time in the morning so it didn’t take you too long to find the brown cloak and his auburn hair among those walking the corridors.

The Jedi Master heard small feet sprint towards him but he made no indication of turning around towards the person or to wait for the child to catch up, he already knew it was you, how could he not, he was way too familiar with your force signature. He knew where you were at any time of the day, your force signature rather strong for a child.

If he had turned around he would have seen that you had mimicked his actions. You put your hand behind your back like he had done, you tried to walk in his pace as well as in the same way he walked. This proved quite hard even if the master had slowed down a tad bit for you as he felt you walking beside him, but the long strides were still too fast for a child to catch up entirely to. Any Jedi master that walked past the two of you thought they saw a mini kenobi as you mimicked his every action, even when he rubbed against his beard (even though you didn’t have beard yourself you still did it)

“Hello Master Kenobi” In watching Obi-Wan and trying to mimic him you had completely forgotten to look at where you were going and so you didn’t notice when Obi-Wan stopped in front of Kit Fisto.

“Hello Master Fisto” Kenobi answered politely, giving a smile back towards Master Fisto who gave his signature charming smile. By the time Obi-Wan said that you had looked up and the Nautolan turned towards you as he noticed you standing next to the jedi master you were still mimicking. He studied you for a second, a puzzled look grazed his future before his smile was back.

“And hello to you too youngling, I see you’ve taken a shine to Master Kenobi” A blush spread itself over your cheeks as you got called out by the Jedi in front of you.

The words stumbled out of you as you quietly said “Hello Master Fisto”.

After the words left you, you hid away behind Kenobi's robes not wanting anyone to see your embarrassed state. To this Obi-Wan, like a natural instinct, put his left arm to shield you. Kit Fisto’s reaction to this was what every jedi had told you and Obi-Wan a lot of times before.

“Be careful with the young one Obi-Wan, they might become a bit too attached to you otherwise”

The master like everyone else knew you were already attached towards the master that you hid behind. He could have stopped it all, right there and then, so could Obi-Wan and the rest of the order, but somehow they allowed it, they let it slide by them, if they didn’t see anything then it wasn’t their problem, and if they saw they opted to ignore it. You were like a bright shining cyber crystal in the temple as you cutely followed the auburn haired master around. And it seemed like everyone needed something bright at the moment, with the darker times that were approaching. No, Kit Fisto wouldn’t be the one to stop your attachment towards the newest member of the council, but what he could do was give a warning. He did not want an innocent child or Obi-Wan to fall, not that either of you would, but he could still give the occasional reminders, like Master Windu seemed to give away way too many times.

You were attached, and nothing would stop that. Obi-Wan noticed when he looked down at you, that you were still mimicking his movements. He gave you a fond smile as he studied your stance. You stood in the same posture as him and frankly you looked like a mini him, not that he complained about it, Obi-Wan found it quite amusing how you seemed to want to act like him any chance you got. Not only was it amusing to him but he found it adorable. But so was the thought of every other person in the Jedi temple who had seen you walk after the Jedi master any chance you got since you got old enough to walk.

[spell-cleaver]

Portrait of an Empire

Flufftober

Day 13: Attic, Cellar, Hidden Room

Luke, like many children, enjoyed a sense of adventure. It occurred to Sheev one day that the mystery and adventure holos the boy so enjoyed might be of use to him. Secret tunnels… hidden rooms… dramatic, magical contents…

The Sith Temple was full of that stuff!

The voices of the Sith were already nipping at the corners of his mind. Get him out of here, they hissed. We will kill him—he bodes doom for us all—send him away!

“Just a little farther,” he coaxed, placing a hand on Luke’s back. Vader was on a mission in the Outer Rim, which was why he’d taken the chance, right now, to do this. “You’ll love this room.”

Luke already looked excited. “It feels like you!”

“…yes.” That had been the ongoing issue. Luke kept trying to sneak toward the Sith Temple when he couldn’t find them, because he got confused. “That is the dark side. You will learn it one day.”

This seemed to go right over Luke’s head. His eyes had landed on the door.

The temple had been long buried beneath the Jedi’s own temple, so it had taken a concerted effort from Sheev’s architects to construct access and passage to it, including a functioning turbolift. But they’d not taken away from the majesty of its surviving arched door. The keystone was dark grey, lined with red veins, and carved with sigils even Sheev only distantly recognised. Lights that switched on automatically at their approach rather detracted from the overall gloom, but still those crimson veins in the rocks of the archway and the stone that engulfed them as they stepped through… They seemed to glow.

Retreat! Now! Take the beast and flee!

The beast in question reached out to poke one of the veins. From the clamour in his head, Sheev half-expected them to squirm like worms away from his touch, but it was stone, after all. Luke just shuddered and retreated into Sheev’s hide. He hid his face in his robe.

“I don’t like it,” he whispered.

Sheev hadn’t expected that.

He bent down. “There is hidden treasure here,” he promised. “And all the mysteries of the Sith! You can find magic.”

“I can feel magic,” Luke insisted. “It’s not nice magic.” He looked around. “The temple wants to eat me.”

Sheev blinked. “Temples do not eat children.” Then he wondered at the fact that those words had actually come out of the mouth of the greatest Sith who ever lived.

We will consume his soul, the voices declared. Make him part of our chorus—yes, yes, that is the only way to avoid our fate…

“You have no power in my realm,” Sheev said.

Luke looked up at him, eyes shining. “Grandpa?”

“I will protect you,” Sheev promised him. He knelt down fully, so he was eye-to-eye with this small child. Luke really did look frail, sniffling and shrinking in on himself. “Do you trust me to protect you?”

The boy might dream of adventures. But that didn’t mean he wanted to live one just yet.

There was so much more in this temple Sheev could show him. Lost treasures, grimoires, even the skeletons of a few former acolytes. But if Luke was frightened by just the front door, none of that would help.

Luke said, “I trust you,” his voice wavering with terror. He squared his shoulders. “I can go with you.”

And the boy trusted him to protect him.

Despite himself, he would.

Sheev smiled. “It’s alright. We can go back. I didn’t know it would be so scary.”

It wasn’t what he had intended. It undercut all his plans, in fact. The Sith screamed at him: Weakness! Soft, lovelorn fool! Let us take care of this threat if you are too puny to use your own bare hands—

--and cut off as they left the temple.

Luke skipped back down the corridor, smiling again. Sheev smiled after him.

[devilfic]

the acolyte episode 5 spoilers/theories

I'm a star wars casual and by no means am I an expert on all the lore and history of star wars outside of the movies. that being said-

after the latest episode I am so certain that master indara was leading some sort of crusade around the galaxy, forcing children who were force-sensitive to join the jedi and decimating entire alternative sects of force-users for fear of them becoming/aligning themselves with the sith

I also don't think the "mae" that set fire to the temple was actually mae. torbin takes osha's blood sample for the test, so I can only assume he also took mae's, and if there is some way for them to mimic the appearance of a person using their blood, I think either indara herself was able to take on the appearance of mae or she had torbin do it with the intention of wiping out the entire sect (especially if the blood sample showed they were created through the power of the force, much like anakin was)

it struck me how odd mae's reaction to osha was when they found each other on the bridge. mae looked confused, heartbroken, and I remembered wondering why she'd feel that way if she was already going so far as to kill her sister. it would make sense if it wasn't mae, and it would also make their exchange of "what have you done?" "what have you done?" come across differently. osha believed the person who set the fire was really mae, and mae believed the fire was set by the jedi and it was all osha's fault for telling the truth and allowing them in. by all means, the plan was working perfectly... the only problem is sol did not want to go along with the plan.

he rushed in to save osha and mae, feeling guilt for what indara (and maybe torbin) had done, and was only able to save osha. I also find it odd that we never get a close up of any of the bodies of the coven.

they're all laid out as if they all just... died? from smoke inhalation? there are pieces of the ceiling that have fallen but it's not like the thing caved in and killed them all in one spot. I feel like they were killed before the fire started to prevent anyone from stopping it or surviving. if it weren't for sol's guilt, it would have worked

according to the wiki, we also know that indara suggests osha's jedi training be terminated later in life, and it would explain why when osha confronts mae in episode 5, mae specifically says the jedi have brainwashed her but doesn't admit to setting the fire. mae knows the lie that was fed to osha, and she was willing to throw away her allegiance to the master because she could not give up on osha. mae could not have started that fire!!!

[burnwater13]

Grogu greeting R2-D2 on Moff Gideon's ship after Luke Skywalker's arrival on the ship. Image from The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 8, The Rescue. Calendar from DateWorks.

Grogu recognized R2-D2 immediately. It had been a long time since he'd seen the mech roaming around the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. A long time. So many things had happened since then. Grogu hadn't really expected the mech to survive it all. Even back in those days, R2-D2 was known to be risk taker. But somehow, here it was tootling a ‘hello there’ as if they had just missed each other at the flight training center canteen.

Grogu replied ‘Long time, no see' or words to that effect and the mech had laughed, as mechs do, in a stream of binary that was far too fast for the humans to understand. Grogu asked R2 who had trained the ‘Kid’, because it was clear to him that the young human male was not what he would have called a Jedi.

R2 shared what it knew. Grogu was impressed. Obi-Wan Kenobi? Master Yoda? A holocron? Wow. He kind of wished he'd been able to do things that way. Instead, he had to deal with the old fashioned go to classes, take tests, practice, practice, practice method. It did at least explain why Luke was wearing the wrong colors. No Jedi worth their kyber crystal ever dressed all in black. That's what had Grogu worried about going anywhere with the youngster. Obviously no one had bothered explaining how the exterior was a reflection of the interior. 

R2 commented that the Kid was in mourning. Huh? That was a reason to dress plainly Grogu supposed, but given the number of people he had lost, his coverall’s color should have duplicated a Sith’s heart. Grogu had often imagined that was like looking into a void in the space/time continuum. But you couldn't just order your robes in the color of despair, so you put up with what you had and made do. 

Grogu asked who the Kid was mourning and was surprised at the answer. Vader? Why would anyone mourn Vader? He looked at the Kid again and wondered if he could just slowly back away? But the Mandalorian really wanted him to go with the Kid and learn something. Grogu chirped at R2 and asked him the obvious question, was the Kid a Sith?

A gale of laughter met his ears when the mech replied. Of course Luke wasn’t a Sith. He was Anakin Skywalker’s son. Anakin had become Vader and had never known he had children until it was too late. 

Oh. Alright then. Huh?

Grogu asked R2 to explain it to him like he was back at the Jedi Temple. It took a few moments because R2 streamed the information to him at a frequency that Grogu could hear but the humans simply ignored. To them it probably looked like the two of them were just sizing each other up, but that was just a convenient cover for their intense discussion. 

So Luke (Grogu still thought of him as ‘the Kid’) was Anakin’s son, had a sister, Anakin’s daughter, and had grown up on Tatooine, not far from Tosche Station. Ben Kenobi (Obi-Wan’s cover name) kept an eye on Luke and eventually helped him reunite with his sister, Leia, while helping her escape from Imperial captivity, thwarting Darth Vader's plans to get the princess (princess? Yup) to betray the Rebel Alliance. Kenobi helped them escape by tricking Vader into fighting him instead. That hadn't worked well for Obi-Wan, but then it wasn't supposed to. Anyway, then there was a bunch of running around with the Rebel Alliance and eventually Luke went to Degobah to train with Master Yoda. On the plus side, Master Yoda recognized R2, on the downside, Luke really struggled with balance. A lot. A lot a lot. That made sense. After some training from Master Yoda, Luke had to go back to the Rebellion, met Boba Fett, sort of, and ended up not being able to finish his training after he returned to Degobah and Master Yoda became one with the Force. But Luke still had to help the Rebellion because he was the only Jedi anyone knew about. Wow. That’s how he ended up meeting Vader again. Again? Yup, the first time he met him was when he was trying to help his sister and her friend Han. It turned out that the whole thing was a trap! R2 had done what he could to help, but Luke ended up getting his hand cut off by Vader's lightsaber (Grogu had wondered about the gloves) and had to recover from it. It had been a tough first meeting. 

Grogu had wanted to know more, but he sensed that all the humans in the room were getting a little antsy. Was he staying or going? He sighed. He really didn't want to leave the Mandalorian. Din Djarin needed a friend and that’s what Grogu was. His friend. But… he really wanted to know what happened when the Kid met Vader the second time. He felt like he would learn something pretty important. It felt just like the the time he met the Mandalorian. That had worked out pretty well, all things considered. 

This is the Way?

R2 whistled to him that they needed to go. It was a long flight to Ossus. 

Ossus! Why didn't the mech lead with that?! Ossus had amazing history within the Jedi Order. Of course Grogu wanted to go there. He could go for a couple of weeks and check things out, get the rest of the Kid’s story from R2 and then head back to Nevarro or Tatooine or wherever the Mandalorian was at the time. Grogu would find him. They were part of the same clan. You couldn't keep them from finding each other, even if you tried. 

This is the Way.

[hannibalzero]

for the Star Wars asks. what are your head cannons for Preg bunnywan and proud papa nynakin. Because they’d be sooo cute together.

Ohhhh such a good question ❤️🐰❤️🐰❤️

Bunny-wan and Nynakin headcanons let’s go!

In early stages of pregnancy, Obi-wan isn’t aware he is pregnant yet. His more animal instincts kick in, he had no idea why he’s doing curtain things. Like the urge to dig. The Jedi temple has a gym that allows Jedi to fulfill animal instincts. So Obi-wan is just digging a hole, pushing out the dirt and making a burrow. Nynakin is worried but gets his ass into the hole to help dig.

Master Che finally stops the pair from digging and asks if they need a nesting box. A wonderful idea and brings Anakin and Obi-wan to the idea that they are expecting.

They’ve been talking about children and padawans as of late so it’s a joyous moment. Hugs and kisses, Anakin spins Obi-wan around in a huge hug.

Anakin is protective, no shit but so careful with Obi-wan. A hand to help him stand up, keeping people from crowding the bunny, making sure Obi-wan eats and naps. Handing Obi-wan his prenatals, good daddy mode.

Obi-wan is over joyed that Anakin is so caring for him but is annoyed at times that he’s not as self reliant as he used to be. It’s a hard change.

Obi-wan is a vegetarian but has allowed himself to eat a bit of meat because his babies will need it. Obi-wan isn’t a fan of meat but the way Anakin prepares it and gives enough that Obi-wan finishes it’s all. It’s very good.

Because he is pregnant, Obiwan has become fluffier than he normal is. Thick rich fur, he has a winter coat constantly. He can’t grow a beard at this time because of the estrogen but he’s enjoying how he looks.

Anakin grooms Obi-wan himself, taking pleasure in the feeling of the soft fur. Using all sorts of brushes and combs, keeping knots away and makes sure his fur will not mat.

Anakin has taken to napping with Obi-wan, they have a fluffy bed in front of a good sunbeam

The nesting box is filled with the softest blankets, clothing and pillows the new parents could find. Obi-wan sleeps in it a lot

Both parents are working in the temple, both are off from missions until the children are two.

[cryptid-killjoy]

Flotsam had a short list. He was getting it checked off all while adding events to it he never knew were exciting enough to write down.

Go to Blarney Castle

Kiss the Blarney stone

Steal plants from the Poison Garden

Add in WENT TO THE JEDI TEMPLES please and thank you very much and you're welcome.

Thomas Laveau was a God damned genius for that one. All hail the stone boobie gods slash beehive fortresses.

It was on to a new day though. It was babysitting day. That's what Flotsam was referring to it as even though they were getting grown adult visitors because of the way Caim spoke of them as his children. It was the chimera boy the Hellbird had a real protective demeanor about. He had a boring name, Adam. But, the demon was often religiously symbolic like that. Valerie recalled meeting the kid shortly at Caim's dinner, but it wasn't like they got to know him. Valerie also recalled him being rather quiet and moving like he was in pain and having a cover on his nose.

"If he has the other guy to watch him I wonder why Caim wants us to watch him too?"

The other guy. That was Silvain, the one that actually wanted to come see the Titanic display. Much like Bastien, much like Eeyore, Silvain had a hobby of similar mindsets. Silvain was a self professed tragedy collector. He would tell almost anyone he met he collected tragedies if they asked him what his hobbies were. The Titanic was one of his favorites. So of course when Caim mentioned his dear friends the Laveaus going Silvain suddenly needed to go too. This caused a whole ruckus in which Caim found himself simply calling Flotsam right up about it. Watch my people. I got shit to do. Where Flo found himself saying okay then. Cool. Sure thing.

Silvain and Adam are best buds and have been for years. Caim doesn't trust them alone or as far as a ten foot pole. This is why he loves them. Their chaos is grand, but with both their lives so fragile Caim doesn't want their souls getting into another demon's hands when they croak, not for a second. So this overprotectiveness has to do with their soul contracts, and one lack thereof. Flotsam doesn't understand any of this, but what he does know is they feel they owe that demon a big debt for helping them with the gender change and having kids, so a little babysitting for a day for the guy's chimera kid and his pale friend with the red eyes while they're at a museum doesn't seem like such a big favor to him. What's a little extra company?

The two were conversing outside the museum waiting for Laveaus as instructed when Flotsam caught the sight of them. They were both so different. If they hadn't come from Nola their appearance might have given them a double take.

While Adam was working the kink out of his shoulder Silvain approached. He handed Flotsam a letter with Caim's seal in wax.

Flotsam glanced over at Thomas and decided they should open it before going further in case it was instructions for the day. He broke the seal and leaned so Thomas could read it at the same time as him.

"Dear Laveaus,

Thank you for taking care of my family today. I'm counting on you to see their bodies get back to me. If for any reason they should perish in your presence pray instantly to alert me. Do not hesitate. Hesitation is bad.

Silvain knows Adam's medication schedule. If for any reason something happens to his pack with his supplies due to damage or human or supernatural interreference, pray. This is the fastest way to alert me of any emergency.

If for any reason Silvain perishes without Adam I've attached his medication schedule in case you have to continue without him.

Thank you again, President Caim

PS. If Adam does bite anyone there's antivenom to use in the med pack if you think they deserve it. I leave that solely up to your discretion."

Flotsam's lip drew down and had a hard time not laughing, but he held it in. "Fun." His eyes shifted over to Thomas passed his kids again. "So, who's up for Celine Dion cheesiness all over true remnants of historical tragedy?"

Two of the newbie hands went flying up like me, me, me. Then little baby hands were waving around. Maybe it was a coincidence and weren't really doing it for that, but Flotsam decided they were.

"Votes are in, Dad. They want to go in too. What do you think?"

[destinykarmasans]

I was quietly reading wonderful stories by Miles Quaritch on AO3.

To then be interrupted by an acquaintance, who in ignorance of him, dragged me into the Star Wars fandum despite my complete happiness at being in the Avatar fandum.

Despite the dizziness of the trip, I managed to orient myself to put on my pro Obi-Wan Kenobi flag, Pro Jedi Order, Pro Jedi Council, Pro Light Side of the Force, Pro palpatine deserves to die, Pro Anakin and his noises in his head can go to shit etc...

As long as I wear my flag. I notice the other person start the usual chatter about Anakin Skywalker and how the damn universe, the force and whatever divine being failed him.

I'm like "Hey dude, that again?"

As I listen to a sudden wandering thought I come to mind. Did the Jedi order fail him?

I mean seriously, I got kicked out of the blue arms of Miles Quaritch for this.

Then comes the typical it's not Anakin's fault but his upbringing. Yeah buddy, nine years living on tatooine invalidates the eleven years you spent in the Jedi temple, a temple came from amalgamations of cultures from across the galaxy.

No. Anakin never left tatooine in his mind.

After how Obi-Wan failed him. WOW? Are you talking seriously? Of all the jedi out there, so many master almost desperate to give life advice. And Anakin preferred to listen to the strange old man who is not a Jedi but apparently knows more than the Jedi masters.

I mean, when it comes to doing things like a Jedi, Tatooine's education shows up, but when you need Tatooine's distrust, you turn into a naive Padawan when you're in front of this creepy old man.

In the end. Why are they trying to get me out of the arms of Miles quaritch to talk about Anakin?

I try to finish to return to my blue paradise. They take out the last argument.

Anakin is the most human character. Dude no, shut up. What kind of human beings do you know for you to say that?

Does genocide make you human? Does chronic lying make you human? Does killing innocent children to save your pregnant wife make you human?

Friend, the human being has not fallen that much, and if he does, they are not humans, they are monsters.

Ok, let me continue to worship Miles Quaritch's fabricated body!

Thanks to Anglotron for your wonderful Miles Quaritch stories. Give me a thousand years of life~

I know Miles isn't a saint either, but at least he doesn't make himself holier than you.

[acewizardinspace]

At times I wonder why Anakin was written as a slave. Like I don't get George's decision here. His childhood has basically no relevance on the rest of the story.

He is never shown to have ptsd or other issues from this upbringing. Not to say this headcanon is bad, quite the opposite actually, this headcanon makes more sense than what we get. But the reality is this headcanon just isn't shown in the films.

So why make him a slave at all? If you wanted to play into the trope of a 'poor boy becoming an unlikely hero', you didn't need him to be a slave for that. He could have just been from a poor family.

It almost feels like George just wanted a reason he was forced to leave his mother behind. Which I feel like could have been done in other ways because even her slavery is basically written off and not made a big deal out of.

Why wasn't Anakin the son of a poor single mother who couldn't afford to take care of both of them or something? Maybe she didn't want to leave the rest of their family but wanted him to have a better future. Him being a mechanic/pod racer can still be explained by the family being so poor even Anakin, as a child, had to work.

George has said that if Anakin had been raised in the temple like other jedi children he wouldn't have these issues with attachment and wouldn't have fell. Which, okay, cool, that makes sense. But if that was the case why did he barely have his childhood come up in the story? Why wasn't his childhood as a slave an important character detail that kept coming up in the following two films?

Idk, I love the prequels so much, I think they are great! But this writing decision makes me scratch my head because I feel like so much more could have been done with it. And if he didn't want to engage with the consequences of slavery, why did he put them in their in the first place?

(To be clear this is a doylist analysis not a watsonian one. I am not looking for in universe discussion or explanation but exclusively examining writing decisions. Why did Lucus write the story this way? What was he trying to accomplish? Did he succeed? Could that same goal be better executed differently? Ect.)

[stellanslashgeode]

WiP Wednesday

Here's a little snippet from Way of the Mynock

She stood in the royal gardens in front of a trellis of candlewick flowers. Twilight was giving way to full evening’s dark. The night insects were conversing. She nudged a blossom with a knuckle of her index finger and admired how an iridescent glow traveled down its petals. Soon they all would open in bloom and cast this corner of the gardens in a soothing orange glow.

There was a tightness in her chest. She was lost in the memory of when she brought Ahsoka up to the Temple Gardens to admire the night bloom. She recalled the look of wonderment in her eyes and wished she could travel back there to a more innocent time.

“Magnificent, aren’t they?”

Barriss glanced over her shoulder.

“Yes, your highness. These were Master Lumiara’s favorite flower. I never thought I would see them in their native environment.”

Queen Breha nodded and motioned for Barriss to walk with her. It was a local holiday. Most of the staff were visiting their families. Which permitted them to meet above ground and in the open for once.

“Miss Offee, I would like to discuss your latest intelligence communique.”

“Certainly.” Barriss matched the older woman’s stride. This must be something important to require her presence. Her staff had finally arrived at Ansion she was only halfway through their multi-week training course.

“I don’t usually go over them in detail, but one bullet point stood out to me. These agents of the Force, these Inquisitors. Are they really taking children from their families?”

“Yes. That came straight form an agent I have in deep cover so I can vouch for its authenticity.”

Ahsoka passed the datacard into her hand personally. They’d clashed on Telos this time. A protracted fake duel from rooftop to rooftop, lightsabers clashing. The farce suited both their purposes. They showed Ahsoka’s Imperial handlers that she was still perusing her foe and allowed Barriss to show the public that some Jedi remained in the fight.

“Why? For what purpose would they be taking children?”

“My source did not know. In hindsight this have a program in place for some time. There was an incident of kidnapping in the middle of the war.”

Queen Breha looked up at the sky and exhaled out her nostrils. She was clenching and unclenching her jaw. “It is barbaric. Unholy. See if you can get to the bottom of it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Something picked at Barriss’ curiosity. “You’re really upset by this.”

Breha glanced down at her. “Are you not?”

“No, I am, but…” She tried to figure out this puzzle. “It’s personal for you. Are your harboring Force-sensitive refugees here on Alderaan?”

“No!”

There was a violent stir of emotion this time. Barriss could not tune it out if she tried. It was vital to the Queen. Highly personal.

“No. It’s not that.” She pondered for a moment. “It’s not your adoptive daughter, is it?”

The Queen’s eyes went wide and wild. “Get out of my mind!”

Barriss stooped in contrition. “I wasn’t in your mind; it was your emotions! They were hard to tune out.”

“Perhaps some distance would help.” She quickened her stride. “You are dismissed.”

“Your highness, if it is your daughter she needs to be protected.”

“She is protected. She is a princess of House Organa. Leave before I call the guard!”

Barriss clenched her hands. A few years ago she would have fled and had her insecurities haunt her for many nights thereafter for being so rude to a superior. But she was a different woman now. She knew she should obey but her, but sometimes your superiors needed to hear unwelcome advice.

“She must be trained.”

Breha wheeled around and glared at her. “What did you say?”

“If you want her to stay hidden and safe, she needs to learn how to use the Force to hide her abilities. Younglings amongst the Jedi could sometimes manifest wild outbursts.”

“You stay away from my daughter!”

“Ma’am, if I were to do so it would be for her protection and in your service.”

“I do NOT want some renegade Jedi interfering.”

“Ma’am, I could not train her as a Jedi as I am no longer worthy to claim the title.”

“Then what sort of instruction would you hypothetically provide?”

Barriss pushed back her shoulders and raised her chin. “I would train her as a Mirialan.”

Confusion flashed across her features. “I don’t know what that means, but the answer is still no. I trust you to be our spy but there are limits to that trust.”

Barriss’ conscious was screaming at her to apologize, to grovel, to ask forgiveness. Or just to shut up. But ever since her fall there was another urge that welled up inside her. To confront and question authority. It was a curious boldness, but one she sometimes could not deny.

“Why?”

“Why don’t I trust you?” Breha grinned in exasperation and shook her head. “You betrayed Ahsoka Tano.”

Barriss tilted her head and frowned. She knew Ahsoka had visited the planet as security detail for a peace conference. But just the once. “Were you close?”

Breha leaned slightly closer. “She was a friend of a family friend. Senator Amidala.”

Barriss nodded gravely. “I see… Ahsoka was my friend too. My reasons for framing her are personal and complicated. I was not in a sound mental state at the time.”

“You are not making a good argument as to why you should be interacting with my daughter.”

She closed her eyes and tried to collect her emotions. “You and your husband are my one shot at balancing the scales after all the pain I have caused. That means everything to me right now. It is my singular purpose. It is that spirit in which I am offering my help. But she is indeed your daughter. The decision is yours.”

Breha looked her up and down, her eyes flashing in the moonlight. “This conversation is over. You shall not speak of it to anyone, ever. Leave.”

“Understood, your highness.”

She curtseyed but Breha was already off to rejoin her family for the remainder of holiday celebrations. Barriss Offee felt a pinprick of fear and hoped she had not alienated the patron who was giving her an opportunity for redemption.

.

[livinlavidavili]

“You don’t have to worry about that,” I whisper, “‘cause you’re gonna be the best Jedi ever. ‘M sure of it.”

Anakin nods a little and closes his eyes, thinking of all the ways he'll make his mom proud as a Jedi. And then when the time is right he'll come back to Tatooine and free her. Bring her with him to Coruscant. She'd love it there, probably.

His start to being a Jedi is... rocky, and emotional, to say the least.

The rest of the mission on Naboo ends with a solemn goodbye to his newest dear friend, Qui-Gon Jinn. As he stares at the fire that slowly claims Qui-Gon's body, he can't help but feel... angry. Why do such bad things happen to good people? Why did the Force decide to take him, and not the loser who was trying to kill him?

When you get back to the Temple with Ben, Ben fights for the rights to train both you and Anakin. He not only declares that Qui-Gon's last wish was for him to train you both, but also lays out the facts: his lineage, as Yoda very well knows, is one of the most educated lineages to ever make its way through the Jedi Order. Even before Dooku, there were researchers in the lineage who spend their time in the archives, studying whatever they found interesting.

After a grueling, several-hour discussion with the Council, Ben is granted rights to become yours and Anakin's Master. The youngest Jedi to ever train and mentor a dyad pair. Who knew he would be making such history as early as his twenties?

And... training Anakin isn't always easy. He says you are his easy one- sure, you ask a lot of questions or second guess some of the teachings that have been long-standing. Some of the teachings Ben would even agree should be... tweaked. Adapted. But through and through, the two of you follow the Order and its code religiously.

Anakin, on the other hand... has such trouble controlling his emotions. Some days, even the slightest things can set him off, and Ben never really knows why exactly that happens. Anakin also has trouble with meditation. His mind is always churning, his body always moving- to sit with you and Ben on the balcony in the mornings for daily meditation is just as difficult for Anakin as the Literature tests he has to take throughout his courses.

Year after year, Ben feels a growing sense of unrest within his padawan- and though he reaches out to friends and other lineage members for advice, and tries to teach Anakin new ways to cope with his emotions, it never quite works. Anakin is unique. Anakin is... darker than Ben expected- he's never really had to teach someone so dark before. It's easy to be stunned about Anakin, though, when Ben compares him against the bright light you radiate each and every day. But, that's what dyads are all about, he figures. Light and dark. Even if the dark does concern the Council.

As Anakin gets older, he starts to turn further away from the loud, outgoing person he was as a child. He becomes a bit more mature, a bit quieter- he's still just as fun and caring with you and Ben as he ever was, but with strangers, he's more apprehensive.

Probably because even from the first week he got to the Temple, and word spread about where he was from, the children decided to call him Slave Boy. Always a wonderful nickname to hear when all he wants to do is exist and train and learn.

By the time the two of you are in your early teens, you're closer than ever before, still sleeping together most nights. Ben often wonders if he should... do something about that, perhaps split you up or limit sleeping together to just a few nights per week. But he remembers what it felt like to lie next to Satine the few times they enjoyed each other's company overnight... before things ended... and- well, he doesn't really wish loneliness upon anyone. Especially two of his favorite people in the galaxy. To have a companion to sleep next to, to feel safe next to- it's something that should be cherished. Even if it goes against the Code that he loves so dearly.

Through it all, Ben loves and cherishes every moment he gets to spend with the two of you, coming to know more and more about you with each day that passes.

On the night before your shared sixteenth birthday, Ben stays up late baking cakes- two different ones, each tailored to your specific preferences. He also finishes wrapping the presents he bought both of you and tucks them away neatly in the closet for the next day.

When you wake up in the morning, Ben comes into your room, having waited for both your presences to stir before barging in. You're both growing- the sleep is important.

He carries in a tray absolutely stacked with all kinds of foods for breakfast, grinning as he sets it down carefully at the foot of the bed and sits next to it.

"Good morning," he hums, "Happy sweet sixteen to you both. I've got big breakfast, cakes for later, anddd presents. I believe we're having a small party later too, so clear your schedules."

He grabs two of the plates and holds them out to each of you, taking his own once those are given away. "I figured I'd... sit here and eat with you? If that's alright?"

"More than fine, Ben," Anakin grins, "Thanks so much- it smells delicious."

[lovelessdagger]

The Fall of the Jedi | Chapter Six: The Revenge of the Sith

Pairing: Hunter x OFC

Rating: Mature

Summary: “In order to assure the security and continuing stability,” Palpatine says, “The Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire!”

Slow Burn, Canon Divergence

WARNINGS: Explicit Language. Sith Nonsense. Angst. Generational Trauma. Implied Abuse.

Words: 5.4K

Masterlist | Daybreak Masterlist | AO3 | Prev | Next

“Thank you for agreeing to come with me Master,” Odella grins, walking down the hall of Senate Office Building. The black strand of her newly formed Padawan braid swings with every step.

The delicate hand of Jedi Knight Elenia Tarré touches the back her head. “You’re quite welcome, Odella. Thank you for inviting me.” Together, they approach the office of the Chancellor, and the Padawan stretches her legs to match steps. “Though I can’t understand why Palpatine insists on meeting with you today.”

“He likes to have lunch with me once a week,” Odella says.

“Every week?”

“Yes.”

“How long has this been going on?”

Her head cocks to the side. “Since forever. Usually Ani—um, Anakin comes with me. But he’s busy with Obi-Wan—I mean Master Kenobi.”

Elenia chuckles, shaking her head. “You don’t have to be so formal Odella. They’re your friends, I understand.”

“Sorry,” she says, bashful.

“You apologize too much,” the Jedi laughs. “I understand you and Anakin have only known one another for a couple cycles, but I’ve been told how close you are. Obi-Wan and I have been friends since we were children as well. I used to call Master Jinn, Qui-Gon all the time.” 

“Master Windu says informal addressing is unbecoming.”

“Can I tell you a secret?” Elenia whispers. “Mace Windu has a training saber up his rear.” Odella bursts into laughter, covering her mouth. “You call Anakin whatever you want, and I promise Obi-Wan will be horribly disturbed if you suddenly start calling him Master.”

“What should I call you?”

“You may call me Elenia if it makes you comfortable,” she says. “Though, in front of the Council we should probably stick to Master Tarré.” She winks. “You are my Padawan now Odella, but I find it vital that we be friends first. I plan on treating you as an equal as much as I can. I’ve never had a Padawan before, so I may make many mistakes; but it’s important that we trust each other. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Odella nods. “I’ve never had a Master either, so… we can learn together,” she giggles.

“That, is the second best idea I’ve ever heard,” Elenia says, stopped outside the door of the Chancellor’s Suite.

“What’s the best?”

“That I take you as my Padawan.”

“Sweet Odella, please come in.” Chancellor Palpatine smiles at the entrance to his office, waving a hand in. His glance to Elenia is short. “I don’t believe we’ve met. Thank you for escorting Miss Thoren, but she’ll be fine now. I’ll have a driver return her to the Temple.”

Odella enters the office first, nodding for Elenia to follow. The blonde Jedi frowns, cautiously stepping behind. “Actually Chancellor—“

“I assumed you would arrive with Anakin,” Palpatine says to Odella. Back turned he walks to the rooms center, set with a full table and chairs. “Is he on his way?“

“Oh, um… no Sir,” Odella says. “He’s on a mission with Obi-Wan right now, he won’t be able to make it.”

“That is quite disappointing. I do enjoy your visits together. Oh well,” he sighs. “These things do happen. It will be just us then.”

“Well, I was wondering if Elenia could join us today,” she says shy.

“Who?”

“That would be me,” the Jedi speaks, a tight smile on pink lips. “Odella was kind enough to invite me to join you both today. I hope that’s not an issue.”

Palpatine’s tongue clicks the roof of his mouth, brows raised. “Certainly not. Elenia, was it?”

“Master Tarré,” she corrects, a hand on Odella’s shoulder who looks in confusion.

“Of course.”

“Odella is my Padawan.”

“Is that right? I wasn’t told of this development.”

“It happened two days ago,” Odella offers. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“Consider me surprised indeed. This calls for a celebration then! Please sit, both of you.”

Odella runs ahead to the table, climbing in the chair with an empty spot to her left. She pats the seat, beckoning for Elenia.

“This is quite the set up for expecting two children, Chancellor,” the Jedi says, taking her seat. Blue eyes scan the arrangement; roasted pheasant, sliced fruit, and juice in champagne flutes. “It’s very intimate.“

“Anakin and Odella are extremely close,” Palpatine says. “Isn’t that right Odella?”

She nods, popping jogan fruit into her mouth. “We’re best friends.”

“For now, yes. But I believe friends will become an understatement between the two.”

“I’m curious,” Eleina says. “How have you come to know Odella so well?”

“I’m sure you know your Padawan is from Naboo. I attended school with her parents years ago.” 

“Is that right?”

“In fact, I remember her mother’s pregnancy. Her parents had trouble conceiving for years. You can imagine their shock when their daughter ends up being one of your kind. I like to let them know of her progress. They’ll be very proud to hear she’s avoided the Service Corps, and will become a useful asset to the Order.”

“Chancellor Palpatine, there is no shame in joining the Corps. I find that work through and for a group can often be more rewarding than that on ones own.”

“My, aren’t you an altruist?”

“It’s important to have connections to something greater than yourself. To know the value of a team, to learn the care of community. My plan is for Odella to work alongside the AgriCorps and the Archeological and Research Division to help expand her skills. She’s a very smart girl who loves to learn, and from my knowledge her innate skills with nature is wildly underdeveloped. She can make flowers bloom with a touch, that is just as valuable as her psychometry.”

“I would argue that’s hardly as useful. She is to be a Jedi, Master Tarré, train her as such. There’s no need to bog her down in the work of failed initiates.”

“The members of the Service Corps do wonderful work that goes unrecognized, Chancellor. I ask you, what is a play without the ensemble?”

Palpatine scoffs. “A room full of talent, my dear.”

“It’s not the Jedi Way!”

Odella Thoren wakes with a start and the greatest pain she has ever known. Matched and beaten to that she experienced from the death of her Master almost four years ago. Her head pounds as voices scream through the Force. 

Her eyes shoot open into the black of the room. She gasps as if her soul reenters her body, chest lifting off the ground. With all the strength she can find within the Force, Odella sits and pants into the stale air.

She isn’t dead, that much she’s sure of. Jedi don’t teach about the afterlife, they only give speeches of becoming one with the Force. Returning to the natural state of things. This certainly isn’t that.

Or she hopes.

Her right hand reaches into the air. Fingers splay and close until the hilt of her lightsaber soars into her grasp. Purple lighting returns, the room as it was.

Okay, not dead, she decides. But if not that, than what?

“He must live!”

“Anakin?” Odella whispers.

“I need him!”

She repeats the name, startled, jumping to her feet while dizzy enough to tempt falling again. “Anakin!”

With her left hand, Odella feels for the holoprojector on her belt, pressing every button in a panic. “Come on,” she grumbles. “Work, work!”

Nothing.

Swearing to herself, Odella pockets the thing. Despite her weakened state, she breaks for the stairs. Her foot lands on the first step when the bellowing screams of Mace Windu enter the room. It circles like a tornado, stronger by the second.

Fear strikes into heart. How long was I out? A question she didn’t realize she asked aloud. Never mind the answer, that doesn’t matter. What matters is calling Master Yoda, Obi-Wan, anyone who will listen. To tell them everything she saw, to sit in meditation with the Council and share everything through memory.

Odella sprints up the stairs, back into the office and out of the home of Palpatine, the home of Sidious. The thought of the name alone threatens the soup she had on the civilian transport to spill out of her mouth.

She can’t think of that now. That doesn’t matter.

What matters is saving Anakin. 

She can’t be too late. 

She has to try.

Odella’s feet fly against Naboo soil the fastest they’ve ever gone. In a haphazard attempt for concealment, she wraps her headscarf with one hand. The other signals her commlink, rushed words into the microphone.

“Emergency Code Nine Thirteen,” she says. “Master Yoda this is Odella Thoren declaring Emergency Code Nine Thirteen. I’m requesting an immediate pick up. I repeat, this is Jedi Knight Odella Thoren declaring Emergency Code Nine Thirteen. I repeat this is Emergency Code Nine—”

Panicked shouts call from a cantina down the main road Odella occupies. Her feet skid to halt, now with the realization that she is alone. Typical bustling night market stalls stand empty, couples of civilians and wandering children no where to be seen. 

Before leaving Coruscant, Odella met with Padmé Amidala. The reason was forged in innocence, the Jedi claiming curiosity of their shared home. Known for their disguises, Jedi and Senator met in secrecy, bonding over grease covered ronto wraps. Padmé told her everything. Customs, dress, history, holidays. She made claim to a promise take Odella with her in the near future.

“I’ll need protection yes, but I’ll also need to stay hidden,” Padmé laughed. “Who better than a Thoren to act as escort? I’ll show you everything in person. You’ll love the nightlife, there’s always something to see.”

Apparently not.

Hair on Odella’s arm rises with the wind, more screams—now horrified, sounding. It would be simple now, yes, to ignore this. Continue onto a starship, circle back to Coruscant before the worst comes to reality. But for now, she is still a Jedi, and she cannot ignore this fact. 

Pocketing her comm, the choice of action is made without there ever being a choice at all. 

The entire population of Naboo crammed into the cantina, and Odella finds herself at the front of it all. Sentients of all nature crowd the center holocaster. Screens above the bar present the same image in color.

The Jedi Temple on fire.

“…Coruscant like the hard workin’ people that live ‘ere. No clone ain’t ever gonna understand what it’s like to protect a family.”

Bottom text of the broadcast on a scrolling banner details the little information known. Odella’s stomach sinks to depths within her she didn’t know she had.

At the same time, the small Republic issued communicator around her wrist lights up. It’s pattern flashes the yellow light three times, then one, than an other three. A call to return to the Temple as soon as possible. 

“What’s going on?” she asks to no one in particular, scanning the room.

“It’s Coruscant,” the woman beside her says. She looks older than Odella, only by some few years. “The Jedi Temple has been burning for hours. They’re saying the clones attacked, completely unprovoked.”

“That’s impossible. The clones and the Jedi are friends. They would never do this.”

“Maybe they’ve a chance of heart.”

In one hand, Odella holds her head, her body starts to sway.

“Are you okay miss? You don’t look so good.”

“Something’s not right…” she mutters. “I’m sorry I have to go.” Turning she almost falls, caught by the stranger.

Her hand presses against her temple, cringing. “You’re burning up… Can we get a chair over here?” She calls over the noise of the bar.

“No, no I have to go,” Odella protests.

“You’re in no condition to go anywhere,” she says, seating the Jedi. “Do you have family we can contact?”

She overhears someone to her left, another patron entering. “What horrible accident,” they gasp.

But Odella knows better.

The Jedi Temple, her home, is burning, and it’s no accident.

It’s a deliberate attack against the Jedi.

“No,” she says. “No family.”

It’s a declaration of war.

She’s handed a cup of water with ice, paired with a half smile. “I’m Nedora,” the woman introduces. She stays at Odella’s side, patting her arm like a mother to a child. “How are you feeling?”

“Not much better,” Odella admits. “But thank you. I’m sorry for causing a scene.”

“Nonsense.”

“Recent polling indicates Galactic City residents believe it was a matter of time before war finally came to Coruscant,” the HoloNews plays. “And some say, the Jedi are to blame…”

“I don’t know if I believe all that,” Nedora scoffs. She throws her dark braided hair over she shoulder. “If we’re blaming anyone for the war, I say we start with that Dooku and work our way down.”

“He’s already dead,” Odella mutters. 

“Is he? When did that happen?”

“Couple days ago. The Jedi killed him after he captured the Chancellor.”

Was that planned as well? Odella wonders. Had Palpatine genuinely orchestrated an attack on his own home to benefit his war? Did Grievous know it was his master he trapped aboard his ship? Was Dooku’s death a setback or a needed advancement? Was it even an accident at all?

“I must have missed the announcement,” Nedora says. “Still. I don’t blame the Jedi. The war has reached every other planet in the galaxy. I’m surprised it didn’t come sooner.”

“It doesn’t look like it’s come here. The only clone troopers I’ve seen work at reentry points.”

“That’s because the war already came here with the Trade Federation. It was only a decade too early.”

“I remember that,” Odella says. “I didn’t understand why it was so important then.”

“That feels like child’s play now, doesn’t it?”

“A bit,” she nods, “Yeah.”

“So what’s your name?”

“Abigail.”

“Abigail…”

“Just Abigail. Abby,” Odella says. “Like I said, I don’t really do the family thing.”

“Fair enough,” Nedora nods, “How long have you been in Naboo?”

“Got here this morning.” Her story goes exactly as crafted by her and Obi-Wan. “It was a spontaneous trip. I’ve only heard stories of Naboo, figured I’d see it for myself.”

“Well, you’ve certainly picked quite the day. What have you done so far?”

“Sight seeing. I visited the Thoren House… can’t say it’s like anything else here.”

“Neither are they.”

“Really?”

“I frequently work with the middle sister. Mara. She’s quite the character.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“They aren’t known for their hospitality, I’ll leave it there.” Nedora stands, glaring around the bar. “Listen. You seem like a sweet girl and, I’d blame myself if anything happened to you while you’re alone. I own a dress shop just down the road, okay? If you ever need something while you’re here, don’t be afraid to ask.”

“Thank you,” Odella says. “But I’m used to doing things on my own.”

“Maybe,” Nedora shrugs, “But that doesn’t mean you should.”

Odella sits at a hightop table, she swirls the same glass of petty liquor given to everyone else. 

“Mind if I sit?” Someone asks, a girl.

She shrugs, captured by the on going report. 

“For those who may not be aware, the Jedi Temple has been a longstanding landmark here in Coruscant for over four-thousand years…”

“Go for it,” she says.

Chair legs scratch against the wooden floor, a matching glass is placed by Odella’s.

“It’s actually burning?” The girl asks. “Word got back home and—I didn’t believe it.”

“Yeah,” Odella mutters.

“Do they know how?”

“No… they think there’s been another attack.”

The girl sighs, flagging down the bartender for a drink. She doesn’t speak until glass hits wood and swigs the brown liquid in one go. “My sister’s in there.”

Odella’s head snaps right. What she’s met with is a face exactly like her own. Same brown eyes, same arched brows and dark hair, same sun kissed skin. 

“Cain Thoren,” she introduces.

“Abby,” Odella says. “I’ve heard your family looks similar. I thought it was an exaggeration, but it’s actually uncanny.”

Cain middle finger stirs the delicate straw. “That’s the Thoren curse for you.”

“Thoren curse?” Odella repeats dumbly.

“Naboo legends say the gods created the perfect woman in the first Thoren. We’ve looked the same since the Grizmallti because there’s nothing to improve. Mother calls it a blessing though.”

“For those who may not be aware,” the newscaster says over the sounds of the bar. The Thorens turn back to it, head cocking the same way. “The Jedi Temple has been a longstanding landmark here in Coruscant for over four-thousand years.”

“Your sister may not be in there,” Odella says. “I hear the Jedi are scattered all over the galaxy. Maybe she’s safe.”

Shaking her head, Cain takes another drink. “I want her to be in there,” she admits. 

“What? Why?”

She sets the glass down, now empty. “Nothing I’ve done will ever be good enough for my parents because I’m not my sister.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

“Do you know why there are eleven Thoren children?” Cain asks. “My parents have everything anyone could want. Maids, servants, butlers, cooks, riches. Our home is a goddamn tourist attraction,” she snorts. “We are founders of Naboo and they still worry about legacy; about being forgotten; about being stuck to this planet; about being powerless. My parents believe having a Jedi carry the name will cement the Thorens as the greatest, most perfect family in the galaxy. They never wanted children, they wanted a trophy.”

“You’re certain of this?” Odella whispers.

“Blood exams are done the moment any of us are born to find those… M things the Jedi have. Ten times my parents have been disappointed by the numbers they saw. My oldest sister raised eight kids because my mother was too busy being knocked up. She almost died giving birth to me. The doctors said she could never get pregnant again and it broke her. My father threatened to leave us because of it.”

“I had no idea,” Odella says. “None of you should have been treated that way.”

“I was three when my mother got pregnant again. They called it a miracle. They made us pray every night for the Force to give them a Jedi. The second Odella tested positive? They call for the Temple to collect her and throw a party when she leaves.

“You have no idea what it feels like to be compared to someone you’ve never met.” Cain continues. “Every day all I’d hear from my parents was Odella eats her vegetables. Odella wears her hair in braids. Odella doesn’t wear makeup. Odella is thinner. Odella is prettier. Odella’s a Knight. Did you hear that? Our perfect Odella Avana is finally a real Jedi.”

The inclusion of a second name takes the Jedi by surprise, having never been told of it. She repeats the word silently behind her mask.

Avana.

Odella Avana.

“How would they find out that information?” she asks. “I always heard the Jedi kept all of that secret from families.”

“The Chancellor is her godfather,” Cain mutters. The admission sinks rocks into Odella’s lungs, drowning her in the air. She feels sick and faint, gripping the edge of the table until her knuckles turn white. “Every week for years he’d call and tell us all about how perfect my sweet sister is. He sent us photos of her when the war started. She looked like a model and now they’re plastered all over our home. I can’t turn a corner without seeing her. I can’t even look in the mirror without seeing the one person I will always be beneath.”

Odella can find no words within her but four. “I’m so sorry Cain.”

Her sister shrugs, turning to the HoloNews. “The Jedi have made being a Thoren a curse,” she says. “If my sister is in there, I hope she burns.”

Sunken against the bar, Odella holds her knees to her chest. The Anthem of the Republic plays as patrons of the cantina slowly trickle out while the sun rises on Naboo. She catches its rays in her eyes, squinting. 

Knuckles knock by her head. “Hey.” The bartender, rag draped over his shoulder. “We’re closing up. You have to leave.”

“Of course.” Despite the absence of liquor in her system, she stumbles to stand.

The Jedi Knight follows the crowd outside, while everyone retreats to their home or their speeders, she’s alone. Left on the cobble road, staring at the lavender sky. She raises her commlink to her mouth. “Master Yoda?” She whispers. “Are you there?”

Against her better judgement and pitted against desperation, Odella does the only thing she can think of. A small bell above a doorway chimes as she enters Nedora Adorations. The shop is a cute little thing, tucked away on the corner of the street. Even with the lack of sun the space is bright and colorful, an assortment of beads and jewels draped on mannequins.

“Excuse me?” she asks into the empty space. “Hello?”

“Sorry love, I’m afraid I’m not opened yet!” Calls a woman from the back.

“I’m looking for Nedora?” Odella replies. “I met her last night, in the cantina. She said I could find her here.”

“Abby?” Nedora comes into the room, pins placed on the cuffs of her sleeves, thread between her dark lips. “What happened to doing things on your own?”

“I’m sorry for intruding. I know it’s early, but I don’t have anywhere to go.”

“Were you in that bar all night?”

“Yes. I haven’t slept.” Odella rubs her arms, shifting her weight. “I was wondering if you had a ration bar by chance? Or a cot I could use? Only for a few hours.”

“Well,” she chuckles, opening her arms as if to say look around. “I don’t run a military operation, so cots and rations are short supply here.”

“Oh.”

“But, I do have a bed upstairs and a pack of oats I can prepare. If you’ll accept that is.”

“Yes, yes I would.” Odella breaks a smile under her covers. “I very much would. Thank you.”

Nedora points to the stairs, waving her off. “Second door on your left. Make yourself comfortable and take as long as you need. I have to set up for opening, but don’t be afraid to shout.”

“Thank you,” Odella says again. “I promise I’ll get out of your hair as soon as I can.”

“Darling, it’s five in the morning. As far as I’m concerned you’re staying in my hair whether you like it or not. Now go upstairs and rest.”

“Of course. I’m sorry again.”

Nedora laughs. “Has anyone ever told you apologize too much?”

Odella nods, swallowing a collection of spit. “Once or twice.”

“Master Yoda,” Odella whispers into her commlink. Hours later the sun has fully risen on Naboo, passing through Nedora’s thin white curtains. “Master Yoda? Master Windu?”

She’s met with radio silence and almost crushes the device in her palm. Her rest lasted all but two hours, too panicked and woken by another jolt of fear.

Her bracelet continues to blink its emergency signaling. Outreach to the Temple itself is too dangerous, for fear of communications being compromised. She’s tried to call Jesse through their emergency line, hopeful Ahsoka had news. But the line was completely disconnected without static to share. The only person left is Anakin.

Thinking of him alone is enough to bring a lump into her throat and tears to her eyes. Years. For years she watched him bond with the Chancellor with no question and no protest. She sat with him every week at their gatherings until Elenia request Odella no longer attend.

She never spoke kindly of Palpatine… not in front of Odella at least. Openly questioning his intentions, his politics. Had she known something was amiss all along? Why wouldn’t she speak up to the Council then? Why wouldn’t she tell Obi-Wan that it was no longer safe for Anakin to around the Chancellor.

Odella shakes her head and wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. She can’t worry about this now. Elenia did everything she could, and Odella refuses to blame her for anything that has happened. 

If Anakin is alive… No. Anakin is alive. She would know it with every part of her if he died. He is alive. The question is whether he’s been captured by Sidious or not. Her fading vision provided little context, but he sounded in trouble. If he’s hiding, a contact could compromise his position. If he’s captured, it would compromise her. Maybe hurt him more.

It wouldn’t be safe.

“Master Yoda,” Odella whispers, pressing the metal to her forehead. “Yoda please answer. It’s Odella.” She sniffles. “I’m sorry I’ve been so difficult lately, but I really have to talk to you right now. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

He says nothing to her, if he is there at all. And for the first time since the Outer Rim Sieges, having to recount the betrayal of Quinlan Vos, Odella Thoren weeps.

“I met one of the Thorens,” Odella says. She walks around Nedora’s shop, fingers dancing on the fabric of dresses. “Cain.”

Nedora snorts, shaking her head. “Lucky you. You got the evil one.”

“Evil?”

“She’d kill her Jedi sister if given a chance, though I can’t say the rest of the girls are better. If you think the sisters are shit, wait until you meet the brothers. You’ll never see men with a bigger or more fragile ego.”

“You said you work with one of them. Is she nice?”

“Mara?” Nedora laughs. “No. But I guess you don’t have to be when you’re Naboo’s closest thing to royalty. Their parents treat them horribly, but they get everything they want.”

“Cain said there was a curse? That that’s why they all look alike.”

“The perfect woman,” she mocks, cutting thread. “If that’s true I can tell you now the gods spent all their time working on that pretty face of theirs, but they left their hearts ugly. They weren’t always like this, the past Thoren families that is. My nana used to say Novalise Thoren was the nicest woman to exist in Theed. Her beauty was inside and out. But she fell in love with a man who ended up having an evil soul and… I don’t know. They had Paloma and her brothers. Her father was furious none of the children had his last name. Paloma was the only girl too, so everything depended on her to keep the Thoren name alive. After her mother died, her father drilled into her that power is what matters. Legacy. I hear that while he was dying he told her that marrying Nova was his biggest mistake.”

“That’s awful,” Odella says.

“Paloma’s plan was to prove him wrong by making the Thoren name the best in the Mid-Rim. But all she’s done is make her children resent her and stop tradition.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Thoren name is passed through the women. You’d think with seven daughters it would never die out. But six of them have declared intent to or already have taken the name of their husbands. The only daughter to live and die as a Thoren is their Jedi, and it isn’t like she’ll be having children. In Paloma’s greed to bring glory, she’s killed every chance she has.”

“That’s unbelievable,” Odella says. “It’s horrifying to hear what happened to the grandmother alone. To think the behavior continued to her daughter too… and now their children…”

“I take it your family problems aren’t as bad as that?”

“My family problems?”

“Stars,” Nedora swears. “I’m sorry. You mentioned last night you didn’t do the family thing and—I shouldn’t joke about it.”

“No,” Odella reassures. “No it’s alright. If I’m honest, I have a great family.” Her vision focuses on the rhinestones scattered across a skirts hem. “I have a big brother. He can be a little pushy and he’s sensitive, but he’s my best friend. And I have a little sister. She left home recently though. And well, there’s my brother’s best friend. He’s the kindest man you’ll meet. And my grandfather is… the craziest guy ever,” she giggles. “And then there’s—“ she stops, shaking her head. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Nedora says, smiling. “Who else?”

“I had an uncle. After my… mom died, he was the only one to step up. He was always there for me, you know? I felt like I would never enjoy anything ever again, and he just let me be a kid. For so long I could never be upset around him.”

“What happened?”

“Addiction,” Odella mumbles. “He met someone who gave him a taste of something he shouldn’t have had. He ended up hurting a lot of people because of it. So I cut him off completely. Everyone says he’s recovered now and he’s working himself but,” she swallows, “I still can’t forgive him. I don’t know if I ever will.”

“Is that why you ran away?”

The question stumps Odella, who frowns. Is she running away? Was that why she was so eager to take the mission to begin with?

“Yeah,” she finds herself saying. “That’s part of it.”

“Any word from your family?” Nedora hands a cup of oats, cooked and filled with fruit to Odella. The latter stays hunched on a windowsill, obsessively tapping at her communicators.

“No.” Odella groans, chucking the thing across to hit wood paneling. 

“Do you know what the time would be there? Maybe they’re sleeping.”

Her head shakes. “It’s morning there, they should be up.”

“Where are you from?”

The truth slips. “Coruscant.”

“No wonder the Temple fire freaked you so much. I’m sure they’re okay.”

“You don’t know that.”

“It’s not like they’re Jedi,” Nedora says. “They’re probably listening the Chancellor’s speech.”

Odella’s eyes widen like saucers. “The Chancellor!” she gasps. “Do you have a radio?”

“Yes,” Nedora answers with an ere of suspicion. She pats the metal block beside her on the counter.

“Quickly, turn it on. I have to know what he says.”

The empty shop fills with a crinkling static, Nedora turning dials until a proper signal is caught.

“…our enemies showed their true natures,” says the voice of Chancellor Palpatine. “The Jedi hoped to unleash their destructive power against the Republic be assassinating the head of government and usurping control of the clone army.”

Odella jumps off the window, jaw fallen. “He’s lying,” she says, approaching the radio. “The Jedi are peaceful, they would never think to do such a thing.”

“…Our loyal clone troopers contained the insurrection within the Jedi Temple and quelled uprisings on a thousand worlds.”

“Holy shit,” Nedora swears. “Did he say thousands of worlds?”

“The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated!” Palpatine shouts.

Odella sprints to the nearest bin. Throwing off her headscarf, she drops to her knees and spills out everything she’s had inside. 

“Abby!” Nedora calls, rushing to her side. “Take a breath love, it’s okay. Why don’t we try calling your family again?”

“It’s not use,” Odella gasps, face first in the can. “It’s no use. It—It doesn’t matter anymore. I can’t go back.”

“What are you talking about?”

“They’re dead,” Odella says, lifting her head. “They’re all dead. All of them.”

“The Separatists have been defeated, and the Jedi rebellion has been foiled.”

Nedora pulls away, face mimicked in shock. “You’re a Thoren!” Then, she leans closer, heavy brows pinched together. Her expression falls to awe all at once.  “You’re the Jedi!”

“In order to assure the security and continuing stability,” Palpatine says, “The Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire!” 

Sounds of the Senate echo through the channel. The screams come so loud, the speakers dare to rupture. And Odella Thoren realizes what she should have many years ago. 

The Clone Wars could never have been conducted through the Senate and between meetings with tea. Because there was no war. There has never been war. There has only been one man sat playing chess with himself, turning the board at every move. Not caring for consequence, but the end result.

The grand conspiracy of Sith echoed within the Temple has always led to this moment, right now. To watch Jedi Knights, as they stand scattered across the galaxy, remain helpless to defend their home. To be turned into villains and murdered with no remorse. To know that everything lost to the war, every information; every life; every civilian; every home; every clone; every Padawan; every Jedi, never mattered.

The Clone Wars served one purpose, and one purpose only. A purpose which has finally been fulfilled to its perfect intention. To act as the grand finale in the revenge of the Sith.

“For a safe and secure society.”

Next: SUPPLEMENTAL DATA II

[makiruz]

Feel like elaborating a bit more on this.

So it's like this, one day in the middle of the Clone Wars a woman goes to the Jedi Temple claiming to have crucial information about the War and the Sith that can only be heard by the Jedi Council. Now Plo Koon knows who she is, she's Xinia Masís, the mother of initiate Rania Masís; so naturally the Council wonder if this is something to do with her daughter, Xinia is like "what? Oh, yeah, I guess; actually could I see her? I don't need to talk to her, just see her" The Council actually agrees with giving Xinia a meeting with Rania, and it's very emotional, Xinia asks her daughter if she's happy and excited about being a Jedi Raina says yes and Xinia gets very serious, looks at her daughter's eyes and promises she will become a Jedi; absolutely no one has any idea what's up with that but moving on, Xinia claims that Chancellor Palpatine is a Sith Lord and he orchestrated the whole war to destroy the Jedi and take over the Galaxy.

The Jedi Council is understandably skeptical about Masís's claims and conferring what to do about this information when out fucking nowhere they receive a secret message from some Separatist Planet claiming that the whole war is a sham and Chancellor Palpatine is a Sith who created the entire situation to take over the Galaxy, and we need to meet to discuss more details. First off what? and second the fuck? So they meet with the Planet's leadership and bring Xinia along because someone feels in the Force that it's a good idea and her story matches theirs so something's clearly up

Anakin is in this meeting, I don't know why, but he has to because Rex has to be on this meeting; so in the meeting they ask the Separatist Planet where they got their information and the leader points out to a guy and goes "from Pallas here, he's from the Future" and the Xinia who's in the back jumps from like "Duck? Is that you?" and Pallas is like "Xin? Oh my god! You're here too! Amazing!" Xinia is like "You travel back too? And told everyone?" "Yes, of course I did, didn't you?" "NO! you gotta be careful, you don't know what might happen if you tamper with the Past" "I do know, the Empire won't be formed". So Xinia admits that yeah, she's from the Future too, and they know each other, and Pallas knows she's from the future because he got that nickname in the Rebellion and no one in this era would know about it.

Anakin is like "oh my god, this is ridiculous" but then Rex is like "well, actually" and steps up, takes his helmet off and greets the travelers like "Xinia, Duck, good to see you" and they're like "O_o Rex? (Pallas) :D Rex? (Xinia)", Xinia then hugs Rex like "oh goddess you're here too! You look amazing!" "You look good too" and Pallas is like "Wait, Rex is Clone Trooper?" "Yeah, didn't you know that?" "Huh. So, why haven't you killed the Emperor?" "You can't just walk into the Emperor and shoot him in the head" "Have you tried?" (Rex: Jesus Christ this idiots)

Anyway, the people from the Past are like, "wait what the fuck?" So Rex explains that he's also from the Future and has been trying to alter the past without being noticed.

So eventually everyone sits down to talk, and the Jedi and Seps are honestly horrified by how non-nonchalantly the time travelers talk about the horrors of the Empire, like how the fuck is this stuff so common that you are no longer surprised? You can't even keep track of all the genocides! (it's like, Pallas mentions 3 genocides, and Rex hadn't hear of 1, and mentions 2 more and neither Pallas nor Xinia had heard of one of those and Xinia knows 2 other genocides neither man had ever heard off)

Also we find out why Xinia got so emotional with Rania, Rex asks her about her daughter and she responds that she met her! She's so beautiful! And did you know the Jedi Temple is full of children? Just full of them! And we all know about the Assault on the Temple at the end of the Clone Wars, and they are so small and innocent; it's okay Xinia, we won't let it happen this time, they will get to grow up (Obi-Wan and Mace Windu in the back like "that the Kriff????")

Oh! Also turns out the trio don't just know each other, the last thing all remember was being on a ship together traveling to some rendezvous point for the Rebellion they are all part off, and saw some space thing and woke up in the Past; which makes wonder about the pilot, do you think she's in the Past too? I dunno, she'd be like 12, maybe we can track her down (spoilers, she traveled back too, but she's 12 and stuck in her home planet unable to do anything because she's 12)

Okay, that's how far the story goes; but since now everyone knows Xinia is from the Future she asks for a blaster, because she's from the Rebellion, she doesn't feel safe without one. Also Clone Troopers, Jedi and Former Separatist alike are slightly weirded out by how comfortable this presumed civilians are with weapons and barracks, and what do you mean you go to war without armor? "Look the Rebellion doesn't have resources, we do what we can"

Oh and and none of these folks know who Darth Vader is, they just know he's the Emperor's pet Sith Lord

Got a dumb, completely self-indulgent Star Wars Time Travel idea:

A Rebel ship, from about 15-17 years into the Empire, experiences space shenanigans and the passengers all mentally travel back in time to the middle of the Clone Wars. Of course one of them is Rex, another is my OC Xinia Masís, whose deal is that her daughter was a Jedi youngling who was killed in the assault at the Jedi Temple and she wants to prevent that, there are at least 2 more people, one was a kid during the Clone Wars and the other an adult from a Separatist planet, I don’t know much about the Rebellion era, so I don’t know who to fit here, but that’s the general idea

The point is that all of them end in different corners of the Galaxy not knowing if they are alone so they proceed to change the future, taking different strategies (keeping it secret, telling everyone, telling only the Jedi, etc) until they reunite and those in the know now realize that this time travel stuff is probably real, we have 4 different people sharing the same information

[burnwater13]

Boba Fett speaking to Fennec Shand (out of frame) while standing in the burned out hulk of Garsa Fwip's Sanctuary. Image from The Book of Boba Fett, Season 1, Episode 6, In the Name of Honor. Calendar from DataWorks.

Grogu wondered why Boba Fett felt so strongly about Mos Espa. Was he really worried about the people there or was he worried about his reputation? He’d decided, when he met up with Bib Fortuna, according to Fennec, that he wanted to retire from bounty hunting because the clients were a lot of trouble for a small amount of gain. Bib Fortuna apparently being a good example of that.

Grogu could understand the problems that any bounty hunter had with bad the clients. The really bad ones. The ones that asked you to bring children in and the truly evil ones that asked you to bring them cold… you know… permanently cold. Uff. What kind of bounty hunter would take a job like that? A droid maybe? Or someone who was just evil. 

As far as Grogu could tell, Boba Fett was about the least evil bounty hunter he’d met, next to his dad. And Fennec. Grogu understood from the stories his dad had told him about Fennec that she had a heck of a reputation, but it seemed like the people she dealt with would have ended up that way sooner or later. He counted that in her favor, although he was sure that his masters would have scolded him. 

Jedi did not become bounty hunters and they did not hire them. If there was a person they needed to find… well… they found them. The Force was very useful for that sort of thing if you knew what you were doing. That was one of the first things that Grogu learned to do. He had too. It was the easiest way to find his way around the Jedi Temple. 

Imagine, if you will, being less than a third of a meter tall. If you were walking, and Master Yoda certainly thought that your character would be built better if you were walking, everything that might be useful as a landmark for you, was of no use to all the people there who were significantly taller. Since there were no Anzellans at the Temple, everyone was taller than Grogu. So asking for directions from any of the other younglings, padawans, or masters was complete waste of time. Take for example this exchange with Master Obi-Wan, one of the most sympathetic and considerate masters.

“Grogu, I need you to bring this data pack to Master Drallig. I believe he’s at the exterior training ground at this time of day.”

Grogu took the data pack, which was half his size and began to trot off.

“No, Grogu. Not that way. Master Drallig is at the exterior training ground. Go south down this corridor, turn left at the statue of Master Draebeert, and then proceed to the doors at the end of that corridor.”

Grogu, knowing that Master Obi-Wan meant well, nodded his head, turned around and began to trot down the corridor, also knowing that the tall human was watching him every step of the way now. 

“I appreciate you doing this for me, young one. It is very important that you don’t delay bringing the data pack to him. Thank you.”

Of course he hadn’t planned on delaying giving Master Drallig the data pack. That’s why he wasn’t going to the exterior training grounds because Grogu knew it was pouring rain outside. He’d seen the rain while he’d been doing work in the arboretum. When it rained, Master Drallig conducted classes in the small basement area of the gymnasium which was meant for practicing the physical arts, like wrestling, boxing, and martial arts. Grogu often went there just to watch the padawans train because everyone had already agreed that Grogu was not going to taking advantage of physical strength to win any argument. At least the kind that didn’t depend on the Force. 

So off he trotted and dutifully went down the hallway looking for a statue of someone he’d never heard of. Grogu suspected that Master Kenobi thought that Grogu would simply glance at the plaques that had been positioned on or near each statue. Of course they were all placed approximately 1.5 meters above the floor. For Grogu to be able to read them he’d have to across the hall from them and standing on a plinth that was about a half a meter tall. Needless to say, those plinths did not exist in the temple. 

So there he was  jumping up every time he reached a corridor and statue to see whose it was. After doing that three or four times, Master Drallig came up to him from the cross corridor and asked him what he was doing. 

Grogu had replied that he was looking for the Master to give him a data pack from Master Kenobi.

“I see. I think. In the future, simple close your eyes and reach out with the Force. Think of me and you will know my location. This works the same way as when you are ‘somehow’ locating any spare snacks in the training rooms.”

Master Drallig was almost smiling at him and Grogu returned the smile as he handed the tall human the data pack. He’d just thought he’d been lucky finding those snacks. Now that he knew it was the Force there was no end…

“And do not use that technique to avoid people or get into mischief with Ian. The two of you remind me of one of my padawans from years ago. If I didn’t know better I would say one or the other of your was Seb’s child. Now, back to your lessons.”

Grogu had tried not to laugh at the notion that any one padawan could out do Grogu and Ian at any sort of mischief, but if there was one, he wanted to meet them. Which brought him back to thinking about Boba Fett and why he became Daimyo of Mos Espa. It was the people. He’d met them. Listened to them. Promised to help them build a better life. Much like Master Drallig who had helped Grogu that day, so long ago. A life devoted to helping others. 

Grogu sighed. The people of Mos Espa had no idea how lucky they were.

[cienie-isengardu]

[kanansdume]

It's absolutely an issue in other major franchises helmed by men. I hadn't really considered Padme in light of the idea that she'd make a better Jedi than Anakin before. I think the claim could be true inasmuch as if she'd been found and brought to the Temple early, she'd make a perfectly good Jedi, but the same is true of Anakin anyway. Padme is generally more inclined to try to help people for the sake of helping people rather than because she wants to be a hero and is, in general, less genocidal than Anakin. So sure, she'd make a better Jedi than Anakin, but not by a hell of a lot. It's an interesting thought experiment for me to take characters like Padme and Anakin who are so defined by their selfish choices and attachments and try to figure out what kind of people they would be if they were more normal Jedi who had been brought to the Temple as babies. How do you keep the aspects of their characters that make them who they are while changing them enough to fit the new circumstances? Who is Anakin without his fear of authority and his attachment to his mother and his desire for commitment in his relationships and his dream of being a hero? Who is Padme without her seething rage at injustice and her dream of having a family she can raise on Naboo?

But that's getting off topic.

I think "well-rounded" might be pushing how I think of characters like Luminara, Aayla, Shaak Ti, and Depa just because we see so little of them that we truly don't know them all that well. Particularly if we stick only to high canon or Lucas canon. They're wonderful characters, but I just don't know that I'd call them "well-rounded." I agree that it's nice that the narrative manages to acknowledge when they're wrong sometimes without vilifying them for it, though. The height of grandeur for a female character in Star Wars lol!

Characters I might utilize instead would be Hera and Sabine in Rebels, who I WOULD count as "well-rounded" due to how much we get to know them and how many more struggles we see them go through and overcome. They're absolutely allowed to be wrong about things and have flaws without being vilified for those flaws, too. If we want to use TCW characters, I'd probably go for Trace and Rafa from season 7 even though we only get those four episodes with them. Within the Lucas years of TCW, though? Female characters tend to fall into one of two categories: perfect heroes, or villains/antagonists.

I think the fact that the rest of TCW seems to take the Jedi's side in their choices during the war when Satine isn't around kind-of is why I don't believe she's intended as a foil for him. It's not that it was intended that way and didn't work, but that that just was never her purpose. She opposes him because they want her to come across as his intellectual match and one of the easiest ways to do that is to have them argue with each other on opposing sides of a topic and try to present them as equally valid. A thin line and a slight difference, maybe, but I don't know that there's much more to her opposing opinion than just trying to make her look like she's equal to Obi-Wan in wits. Narrative foils for me need some kind of grander thematic element to them that Satine and Obi-Wan just... don't have.

Obi-Wan and Padme I might be willing to budge on, particularly within ROTS based on your argument. Mostly because it's obviously intended as a parallel between Padme and LUKE, with Obi-Wan on a particular side of that argument, but there's still a thematic throughline with Obi-Wan giving up on Anakin while Padme and Luke do not. And where Padme failed, Luke will succeed.

I think giving Obi-Wan a romance is lazy, to be perfectly honest. Like sure, it's a valid thing to explore with him, but it's also been done to death and it's boring. I think that's part of why I love the Jedi Apprentice books' Melida/Daan arc and how they explore Obi-Wan's relationship to the Jedi via his relationship to Qui-Gon and other children in the galaxy. I think giving Obi-Wan a romance, even if done in a more respectful and in character way, doesn't tell us a hell of a lot about Obi-Wan as a character that we don't already know. It's just there because audiences like romance plots and they're comparing him to Anakin.

I think TCW still generally has a lot of Lucas's ideas and themes in there given the influence we know he had over it and that he WAS able to override a lot of Legends ideas people wanted to bring in (see how different TCW's Mandalorians are to Legends Mandalorians and the ways Filoni immediately changed them in Rebels and now The Mandalorian once Lucas was out of the picture, and also Grievous's backstory completely changing in TCW as well to make him entirely unsympathetic). I think the Jedi, as you've noted before, still generally come across as noble and doing the right thing in the war. Right up until season 7 which was obviously done after Lucas had sold Star Wars to Disney and Filoni had more creative control and now we get things like Trace and Rafa shitting on Luminara and Ahsoka calling the Jedi TOO political, etc. Ahsoka is absolutely Filoni's personal mouthpiece, but I do think she mostly becomes that after Lucas leaves. Her reason for leaving in Season 5 is "I can't trust MYSELF anymore" which changes by season 7 to be more accusatory towards the Jedi.

I've got plenty of issues with the way they characterize Anakin (I think it focuses much more on Anakin's anger than his fear which was done to make him more likable) and the way their female characters get girlbossified to death, but at least most of TCW still seems to be ON THE JEDI'S SIDE as long as Lucas was involved. I think Filoni believes he likes the Jedi, I don't think he sees himself as anti-Jedi at all, he's just coming into Star Wars with a lot of the same opinions and interpretations of them that came from Legends where the Jedi were closer to medieval knights than warrior monks and so the closer he can get them to that portrayal, the happier he is. It's an incredibly common perspective on the Jedi, but one that's very frustrating to have to deal with from someone who is as involved in Star Wars as he currently is.

I do think Filoni is MOSTLY there on the Jedi, his writing of both Kanan and Ezra in Rebels is pretty good! There's a lot of stuff in there that really works with the way Lucas would have written them, to be honest. They're obviously existing in a world where the institution of the Jedi Order from the prequels is gone and so they are able to sort-of exemplify both what Lucas understood the Jedi to be and what Filoni WANTS the Jedi to be, but there's enough of Lucas's Jedi in there to make them work. I think we see this, as well, in the way Luke is portrayed in The Mandalorian with his handling of Grogu's situation. And that's in some ways what's most frustrating to me about Filoni's interpretation of the Jedi and this particular perspective in general: they get it right like 75% of the time, they LOVE the Jedi and do mostly understand some of the concepts Lucas was trying to get across, which makes that 25% seem all the more of a betrayal when it happens.

Of course, thinking about how Bo-Katan and Satine's father's treatment of them influenced Bo-Katan's terrible choices actually starts to shed some light on SATINE'S terrible choices, too.

Because as much as Bo-Katan would've dug her heels in and refused to compromise on her beliefs regarding traditional Mandalorian values and what their father would've wanted, Satine would've dug her heels in just the same and refused to compromise on her OWN opposite beliefs.

Which leads us to how Satine treats Obi-Wan and her disregard and dismissal of the Jedi and the situation they're in. There is nothing Obi-Wan could ever say that would convince Satine that the Jedi fighting in the war is a necessary evil. Nothing. He'll NEVER be able to convince her otherwise because Satine likely got completely dismissed by her father for her choice to be a pacifist or her arguments that Mandalorian infighting was supremely stupid. She was her father's EMBARRASSMENT and she likely knew it just as well as Bo-Katan did. I imagine she was asked to change her mind a lot or to just give up and compromise because she was the heir or something to that effect and she never ever allowed herself to because she knew that she was RIGHT.

But this leads to her refusing to see any kind of nuance in the Jedi's situation. It leads to a VERY limited definition of what it means to be a "peacekeeper" that doesn't take into account what you do what someone else attacks YOU. She claims she's not against the idea of defending herself, but cannot wrap her head around the idea that the Jedi fighting on behalf of the Republic IS them defending themselves and their people. Obi-Wan TRIES to argue his side of it, tries to make her see that refusing to fight would do nothing but allow the Separatists to kill and enslave and oppress everyone in the Republic, and Satine will hear NONE of it. She's completely and entirely convinced that she's right and refuses to budge on the topic to the point that she's willing to get into a screaming match with Obi-Wan about it in public.

This doesn't excuse or condone her arrogance and refusal to compromise or understand someone else's situation, but it at least adds some context to it to help make that unfortunate aspect of her personality make more SENSE. I know where it comes from now, and that lets me see it in a different light even if I still don't agree with her. Because while she was right about the Mandalorians (mostly), she was WRONG about the Jedi. She was wrong about the Separatists.

[sarcastic-sketches]

Order 66 Aftermath

Context for the Kitsune!Anakin AU here and a direct continuation of this.

Order 66 has kicked off and the Jedi are in chaos, along with the rest of the Galaxy. Meanwhile, Padme has been pregnant with Luke and Leia for the past few months.

Despite the casual FWB relationship she had with Anakin - and the emphasis both of them put on being safe with the physical side of it - Force Fated Twins are gonna happen whether you like it or not. Whoops. Padme was not that worried about it when she found out and decided she would like to keep them, especially as they were with a friend she was still in regular contact with. She’s more than financially stable and has a good support network. Anakin was slightly more worried about it because he’s now got a thing for Rex he was intending to commit to after the war and this complicates matters but he’s gotta be upfront about it. Also, all those times he wondered about what it would be like having his own children come back full force.

Rex, however, has no prior expectations of relationships or the implications of having sex within said relationships so he has a complete non-reaction to the news other than how his General feels about it.

Rex: Is this Congratulations or Condolences sort of news? Anakin: Well that answers my next question. Anakin: I’m happy about it Rex: Oh, then Congratulations!

Padme still never goes to see a doctor (only had droids) because she’s worried the parentage would have become obvious. She’s picturing them randomly showing up with tiny little fox ears or tails on a scan and people to be like ‘hmm, wonder who that could have come from?’.

Which is something Obi-Wan picks up on when he comes back to Coruscant after everything and does the rounds to try and find out what the fuck happened. Only to encounter Padme who is still on Coruscant despite everything with a very confused R2. I think Obi-Wan probably knew about the pregnancy too because it genuinely was an accident despite both parties trying to be careful and Jedi having accidental kids cannot be unheard of. So, Obi-Wan’s less ‘I’m so sorry’ about the whole thing and more ‘how are you doing?’ before he then fucks off to find Anakin. Taking R2 with him.

He’s still gonna side-eye his former Padawan hard for why he didn’t just ask to bring Padme to the Temple for a check up. Any child of his would undoubtedly be force-sensitive.

Anakin: She said she was handling it!

Padme retreats to Naboo in preparation to have the babies because yikes the Republic just succumbed into an Empire.

Meanwhile, Anakin has been playing eeny meeny miny mo with which planet to hide out on since he’s travelling with a pack of vulnerable children when Obi-Wan finds him. Given the lack of Skywalker Twins to commandeer his attention in this universe, he teams up with Anakin who feels so much better that the kids now have a Jedi Master because holy shit. Playing with the younglings in the Creche is one thing, being the designated adult is very different. It’s nothing like being a General or a Teacher to Ahsoka..

I’m not actually sure where they go to be honest. Maybe Florrum so Obi-Wan can bully Hondo into keeping them safe because that sounds hysterical. Probably Tatooine though because it’s literally the last place Sidious would expect Anakin to run to and he doesn’t think Anakin would attempt a double bluff. Also Anakin wants to see his mother, sue him.

Owen and Beru are surprised to say the least when not one but two fully grown Jedi tumble out of the massive ship that’s just parked outside their farm. Then they see all the displaced children.

Owen: We are not keeping them all Beru: Not all of them.

She is absolutely going to be adopting at least one though and Owen cannot stop her. Especially not when she has Shmi as back up. Cliegg had died sometime after the events of AotC but Shmi had already grown to deeply care for Owen and by extension Beru so she stayed. They are delighted to hear that there is about to be a new baby Skywalker soon though.

Shmi: I hope you can bring them here. I’d like to see them. Anakin: Mother, of course! Shmi: I can’t believe I’m going to be a grandmother… Anakin: How do you think I feel?!

There’s probably a joke in there about Anakin at least having a reasonable expectation of children happening so it’s not too much of a shock. Compared to y’know, immaculate conception out of fucking nowhere. He is slightly mollified by this, but then they can both celebrate the fact that this child is about to be born free and he’s going to do his damnedest to keep it that way.

Anakin tries not to make it obvious that he's trying to find Rex and Ahsoka because he knows what Obi-Wan will say but he's not subtle and the kids are nosy and talk loud. But Obi-Wan is totally on board with locating them and trying to see if they can reverse Rex's conditioning if he's still alive. Anakin does not almost throw up at that.

They get lucky though when Ahsoka pings through their bond again and they manage to slice the last known coordinates of the Resolute. It's a tracking mission from there and all the younglings are very eager to help out and make it into a lesson of sorts. They are a little hesitant about looking for a clone after what they faced in the Temple but they are assured by Obi-Wan that they will be safe. They will try to save Rex if they can but he will not let any of them come to harm for his sake.

Anakin is… less sure. Sure he dealt with the clones from his 501st in the Temple before but this is Rex. His Rex.

Then again, if Rex tried to harm any of the kids, Anakin would know it was no longer him in there. And these are His Kids. In the end, Anakin never has to find out how he'd react because Rex finds them and saves them from Bounty Hunters.

I'm just picturing The Team stopping on some planet to pick up supplies and news. Anakin has taken some of the younglings with him into town because they're getting cabin fever and they're trying to be low key. Robes on, hoods up, no lightsabers, and keeping to the edges but Anakin is still highly recognisable (those tails are hard to hide and he still can’t shapeshift them out fully). They get the attention of prowling Bounty Hunters who have a list of unaccounted for Jedi and Anakin's trying to keep himself between them and the kids. Teeth and claws out. Only for a shot to come out of nowhere, nailing one of the Hunters and spooking the other into running. A clone comes out of the dark. A clone with blue painted Jaig Eyes on their helmet.

Rex had been on planet searching for rumours of escaped Jedi that he could then put in touch with Ahsoka, and was planning to steal the Bounty Hunters list. Until he saw who they had cornered. He's not about to look a gift horse in the mouth if the Galaxy just wants to hand him back his General. Who is alive.

Anakin just rips that helmet off and then there’s crying and a lot of kissing before they get back to the ship.

This of course then puts everyone back in contact with Ahsoka. There’s more crying. Everything has gone to hell in a handbasket but the crew is back together (minus Cody, I’m sorry lad, we’ll get you back) and they’re all doing OK. Plus, Anakin managed to save a fraction of the Jedi Order.

A call comes for them a few days later from Bail on the Tantive IV with a set of coordinates. Padme has gone into labour. Ahsoka leads the way immediately, since Anakin is about to be responsible for two more kids and hot damn does she wanna be there for that.

Padme has the babies - surprise twins! - and at first they both seem human, until one of them sneezes and suddenly there’s a different pair of ears on their head (if you’ve ever seen Wolf Children, yeah it’s like that). They are both also incredibly bright in the Force.

Then Padme is handing them off to Anakin.

She can't have two obviously force sensitive children with her on Naboo when it’s the homeplanet of the newly self-titled Galactic Emperor. Especially not Anakin's kids - the former target of said Galactic Emperor - with parentage that obvious. She, Bail, and Mon Mothma are about to build a Rebellion. He can stay with them at the base of operations they are establishing when not in the Senate and help if he wants or he can go into hiding with the twins. Plus, he's had a lot of experience with children because of all the time he spent in the creche. He’ll be fine.

He chooses to stay and help form a Rebellion. Him, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Rex, the little twins. Plus a dozen or so young Jedi.

Rex is suddenly a dad. He takes it rather well, even if he keeps referring to them as ‘tubies’.