#it would have been easier for palpatine to get his hands on him sooner

[fellthemarvelous]

I think people have this weird notion that Jedi are emotionless because they don't react to things the way normal people do, and it's because they've been trained to view every situation from an outside perspective without bias, and when they become angry, they don't hide from the anger. They find healthy ways to channel their anger.

It's not surprising that even the strongest minds will break when flung into a war orchestrated by their enemy. The Sith existed in silence for a thousand years after their last war against the Jedi. One Sith survived and created a legacy based solely on revenge against the Jedi. The Clone War was brutal.

Darth Sidious, manipulative and extremely patient, was able to lull the Jedi into the trap he'd set for them. None of them wanted to fight in the war, but the Force was clouded. Their path was clouded. They see through the Force and choose the light, but their paths became clouded as the choices they were forced to make became more and more questionable. I imagine it would be like looking at a map in a brightly lit room before getting hit by a storm of darkness with brief flashes of light passing through. Darth Sidious sent the Jedi to their own deaths because he knew the Jedi would stop at nothing to protect the galaxy from the Sith, but the people lost faith in the Jedi. Without the clone troopers, the Jedi would have been fighting that war alone, but the catch that came with using them was that the clones were ticking time bombs set to go off upon the execution of Order 66.

The Jedi trusted the clones. They trusted the clones with their lives. The clones considered the Jedi their best friends, and if you don't believe me, listen again to what Fives says to that cab driver on Coruscant when he's running from Palpatine. He was horrified to learn that they were created to kill the Jedi and he did everything in his power to try and tell the Jedi the truth, but his own brothers were hunting him down on Palpatine's orders. He died at the hands of his own brothers so none of them would find out the truth.

The only other clones he spoke to before he died were Kix and Rex.

We recognize that the clones were victims in this war, but it was Count Dooku who paid for them. The Jedi were also victims in this war. They were not the villains. They were never the villains. They did the best they could without any help at all from the rest of the galaxy. Palpatine put all the pressure directly on the Jedi to fight their way out of this one with an army of three million or so sleeper agents.

The Jedi life isn't for everyone. The galaxy is vast and the Jedi are but a few small blips devoting their lives to others when you look at the big picture. The numbers will show you that the Jedi were indeed overwhelmed because they were the ONLY THING standing between the Republic and the Empire.

What happened when the Jedi were wiped out?

[crispyjenkins]

Can we get a fic where Jaster somehow gets sent to the future or something and him reacting to the clones? (Being pissed off that his ad would do something like this to these poor kids/ just reacting to them?)

(this one was so. fecking. hard. to write, i’ve been struggling with it for weeks, but i’m glad i did, because this is by far the best version i made of it. it’s interesting in how much my opinion of jango’s decision to be the template has changed since i first got this ask, and i was definitely coming at it with this post in mind for their characterisations here.

i love hondo. so you get hondo knowing jaster from pre-civil war days, and i don’t care if canon disagrees: hondo ohnaka has been terroising house mereel for three generations.

also i’ve already had a few people donate to my ko-fi and i’m completely floored by your kindness and generosity, and i sat down with this fill knowing i wanted to get it out as soon as possible. i sincerely love you all, i hope you’re all healthy and being as safe as possible.)

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  “Oh, Jango? We keep him here.” —Lama Su, AotC

-

  By some will of the Ka���ra, it’s Boba that finds him.

  The possibility of dying in his ad’s arms hadn’t exactly crossed Jaster’s mind until it happened, like a nightmare he had never even had. For the first time since the Fett farm burned, Jaster cursed the Ka’ra, and he curses them again when he wakes up not marching* to the stars, but standing knee-deep in the snows of Galidraan

  And the Ka’ra make sure he knows it’s Galidraan though he had never been there, just as he somehow knows Jango is long-since dead. That he is a dislocated bone in the universe, snapped out of time and place and thrown into a future where Jango’s face stares at him from a body that is not his.

  “Oh,” the teen with Jango’s nose says, the snow coming all the way up to their thighs, and they don't look dressed nearly warm enough for this biome. “Did Hondo send you?”

  Jaster blinks at them. “Did...? No, ad’ika, I have not spoken to Hondo in many years.” Maybe he shouldn’t be surprised Hondo is even still alive, Maker knows Jaster’s tried to kill him enough times himself, but if the number of years since his death on Korda Six is as many as he thinks it is, surely someone would have shot him by now.

  The teen doesn’t wear beskar’gam —it’s unlikely they’re even old enough to— but the style of the armor they do wear cannot be inspired by anything else, just reminiscent enough of evaar’gam that Jaster can’t help comparing every little detail about them with the faded image of Jango in his mind.

  “Then who the kriff are you?” They eye Jaster warily, left hand twitching towards the vibroblade at their hip.

  Promising to strangle every one of the Ka’ra when he can finally march away, and throwing the last of his caution down to the snow between them, Jaster simply says, “Jaster Mereel.”

  Impossibly, though maybe not entirely, not-Jango doesn’t laugh at him, or call him crazy, or even try to shoot him with the rifle slung over their shoulder. No, they straighten to their full height, and—

  And swear so colorfully in Huttese that Jaster knows this hell-child has absolutely been raised by Hondo Ohnaka.

-

  Boba takes him to the ruins of Kamino first, where the kriffing Sith Empire has destroyed another one of his people’s homes. 

  The growth labs were all blown into the ocean by imperial ilk soon after the formation of the empire, but the barracks and some of the training rooms still stand above the waves. In the ship he says belonged to Jango, Boba steers them to a dilapidated landing pad, controlling the Slave I (Maker, had Jaster really left Jango to that fate?) far too easily through the rubble for this to be his first time to return, and Jaster tries not to think about what that means.

  Walking the dark, grimy white halls, seeing the narrow bunks and bare req rooms, he then tries not to think about a child being raised in such a place, about hundreds of thousands of children being raised in such a place. How had Jango... chosen this for them?

  “I only have his stories,” Boba tells him quietly, when he shows Jaster the tiny apartment the Kaminoans had given them to “keep Jango close”. It’s bigger than most captain’s cabins, to be sure, but it is just as plain and white as the rest of the facility. “But he couldn’t even get one hundred Mandalorians to come and train the... clones.” He shuffles his feet uncomfortably as Jaster looks into the cupboard-sized kitchen and tries not to break down at the package of Mandalorian chiles rotted away on the counter. “Everyone else was New Mandalorian or Death Watch.”

  “And the rest... they fell at the Battle of Galidraan?”

“Buir always called it a massacre,” he looks away. “Only a handful of the Cuy’val Dar even considered themselves True Mandalorians, buir was there when the Jedi killed the rest.”

  Jaster inhales deeply, takes a few moments to steady himself, and is sickeningly, horrifyingly relieved. By the Maker, but knowing Jango had had no one left before his Kamino contract, that not even Skirata followed the codex anymore, that Jango had only taken the job after forcing Tyranus to give him an unaltered clone, makes Jaster guilty for having doubted his foundling. It doesn’t excuse anything, of course, but knowing Jango had done it all for aliit, well, it does make it easier to swallow.

  Boba leads him back out of the apartment, he had already stripped it of anything important years ago, and they don’t stick around after reboarding the Slave I. Only after they’re out of atmosphere with hyperspace coordinates for Tatooine in the astronav system does Boba join Jaster in the tiny galley with a bottle of tihaar that Jaster should probably reprimand him for, but won’t.

  “He tried to pretend he didn’t care, about the others,” Boba says and doesn’t even bother to find them glasses, “I think some days he even believed it.”

  “He always was stubborn as a rancor.”

  Boba takes a long pull from the bottle before passing it across the table. “Tyranus scared the shit out of me back then, he was too... put together, too fancy. Buir didn’t like him, I don’t know why he even did the tryout for him, the pay wasn’t even that great?”

  Rubbing his left eye until he sees stars, Jaster stares down into the bottle until he can come up with a way to explain core Mandalorian beliefs to a child that had barely a decade of living as one before that, too, had been taken from him. “If Jang’ika took that job intending to come out on the other side, I’ll kiss whatever Vizsla is left.”

  Boba’s mouth twists and he kicks his heels against the floor, not waiting for Jaster to hand it to him to grab the tihaar back. “Buir was an idiot,” he says, like the solve to a simple math problem, and Jaster can’t but agree.

  He sighs. “Unfortunately, he probably got that from somewhere.”

  “I mean, at least Montross didn’t live long enough to end up as the template? Kriffing fuck, can you imagine if the Jedi had had to work with that shabuir’s clones?”

  “Maybe the war would have ended sooner,” he muses and accepts the bottle, “surely this Emperor would have tired of his face much sooner than Jango’s.”

  “Or the Coruscant Guard would have shivved Palpatine in his sleep and tried to take over the Republic; what’s one betrayal of your leader to another?”

  “Then I’d like to think Jango would put him, them, in their place for a third time.”

  Snorting, Boba pushes to his feet to, presumably, check on the autopilot. “If buir would have even let it get that far, then I’ll kiss Vizsla.”

-

  “Old friend!” Hondo shouts as soon as he sees them, and Jaster winces, nursing his first hangover since his twenties.

  “Ohnaka,” he returns, and pretends he doesn’t notice the subtle way Boba brightens as Hondo comes to clap them both on the shoulders.

  The old pirate just chuckles and starts to steer them both back across the hangar bay to his latest junk ship. “I heard you died, Mand’alor,” he says casually, like the title isn’t cursed to the ka’ra and back, like it hadn’t been three decades since anyone had dared call someone from his house such a thing so sincerely.

  “I did.”

  “I found him on Galidraan,” Boba offers. “Is that why you told me to go?”

  Hondo scoffs, and Jaster would say he was flustered if he didn’t know him better. “No, I told you to go because Aurra had a job for you, that you seem to have forgotten about in your haste to bring my long lost best friend back to me.”

  Boba scowls. “Aurra wasn’t at the meeting place, laandur, it was a kriffing mynock chase and you know it.”

  Jaster side eyes his old “friend”, and wonders again about his preternatural... luck in all things pirate-related, despite being a boisterous mess of a man most of the time. If this Aurra had even been on the planet when Boba got there, Jaster will kiss Vizsla twice. 

-

Mando’a: Ka'ra — an ancient Mandalorian story, ruling council of fallen kings, “stars” ad — “child”, gender neutral 'ika — diminutive suffix, similar to the suffix “ita/o” in Spanish. generally used only by close family and friends beskar'gam — Armour made of beskar, “Mandalorian Iron” that was actually probably a steel alloy evaar'gam — lit. “youth armour”, fan name for the interim armour/garb Mandalorians would have worn before building their kit of beskar’gam buir — “parent”, gender neutral  Cuy'val Dar — “Those who no longer exist”, group of 75 Mando’ade and 25 others put together by Jango to train the clones aliit — “clan”, “family” tihaar — Mandalorian strong clear spirit made from fruit shabuir —  an extreme insult, mostly accepted in fandom to be an insult of an individual’s ability to parent (from buir), which is an intrinsic part of Mandalorian psyche and identity  laandur — used here as “weak”, “pathetic”, but is usually used as “delicate”, “fragile”

*in reference to the Mando’a word for the dead/deceased “taab'echaaj'la”, or “marched far away”, best explained in the Mando’a tribute to dead comrades, “not gone, merely marching far away”. 

[swbumblebee]

Plo looked fondly at his usually so formal companion, lounging on his sofa during one of their weekly brainstorming sessions. Well, Mace called it brain storming, Plo thought of it more as chatting. Despite the seriousness of their situation, he found he rather enjoyed them.

There had been a real moment for both Jedi, after the shock of their post-mortem time travel had mostly worn off, when they realised just how much they had to do, and how much they didn’t know. It was an almost insurmountable task, to save the Galaxy and the Force as they know it, and Plo was infinitely glad of Mace’s steady, safe presence beside him every step of the way.

He leaned forward to top up said fearless leader’s glass as Mace’s face pinched and he rubbed his forehead. Since their return Plo knew his friend was suffering the effects of near constant headaches of shatterpoints as well as the strain of the day to day running of the order and the extra responsibilities of their “mission”, and Plo had taken it upon himself to make him as comfortable as possible for their weekly catch ups.

Currently the only light in the room was a few candles, and the rich red wine Plo had…procured he knew was a favourite of the Korun Jedi’s.

Mace nodded at him gratefully.

“You know you really can turn your atmosphere back on and I’ll wear a mask” he offered, as was now tradition. And, in as per their routine, Plo ignored him.

“We need to act sooner rather than later to deal with the Palpatine problem” he stated instead, drawing them back on topic.

“I know” Mace nodded.

They’d meditated on this one at length. They both knew, deep in their bones, that the Sith was too dangerous to be left alive, but the very thought of murder made Plo’s stomach turn. Was that who they were now? Were they not Jedi?

The other Master sighed.

“He’s already attempting to get his teeth into Anakin” he said unhappily. Plo felt a familiar anger bubble up in his stomach, only somewhat quelled by the joy he felt at hearing his serious friend refer to the boy as “Anakin” instead of “Skywalker”.

“We could take advantage of that” Plo said slowly, releasing his anger into the Force. “It may be enough that we take him out politically and, perhaps leak his…grooming” Plo nearly spat the word “to the press?”

Mace shook his head.

“I thought of that, but it would upset the boys too much” he dismissed the idea and took another sip of his drink.

Plo gave the equivalent of a smirk into the Force. He wondered when “Kenobi and Skywalker” had become “the boys”. Where was “You coddle them too much” “Plo he’s twenty-two for Force sake” now? It appeared their plan to insert themselves into the lives of The Team had rather worked both ways.

“Oh shut up” Mace drawled without looking at him as Plo chuckled.

They sat in silence a moment.

“I think were going to have to assassinate him.” Mace said, and something in his voice sounded so final, old and sad.

Plo said nothing for another moment, simply moving to squeeze the other man’s shoulder.

“We’ll need to do it away from Coruscant, and make sure no other politicians or known organisations can be blamed.” He said quietly.

Mace nodded.

“I’ll see if I can get a copy of his schedule.”

They sat in silence again. It was well within their combined abilities to take out a normal individual in this manner, and with the Force, foresight and careful planning on their side Plo was confident they could at least do serious harm to the unsuspecting sith Lord.

“If we can at least put him in the medicentre it will be easier to finish the job” Mace appeared to be thinking along the same lines and finished the thought in a hollow voice.  

Neither could look at each other.

Was this the price? They could save everyone they loved, re-shape the Galaxy into something better, safe and kinder, but loose themselves.

The Force is all about balance, Plo mused, rather as if he was no longer occupying his own body, take out a Sith Lord, loose two Jedi Masters.

For they wouldn’t be Jedi after this. They could remain in the Order, follow the Force. But they wouldn’t be able to erase purposefully taking a life.

Mace ran a hand down his face, clenching his jaw. Large brown eyes met Plo’s goggles, and he reached out a hand, lying it on the sofa between them.

As if grabbing a lifeline, Plo squeezed it tightly.

“We should meditate” Mace said contemplatively, before letting out a big sigh.

“But lets get drunk.”

The unexpected remark startled a laugh out of Plo, and once again he found himself infinitely grateful for his friend.

“I will dig out my adaptor” he said, squeezing the hand once more before summoning the apparatus with the Force.

Mace raised his glass in the air.

“To…” he trailed off.

“A better Galaxy, no matter the cost” Plo finished for him.

The clinked Plo’s best glasses and drank with just a tiny amount of desperation.

“For our boys and everyone else” he finished, in an unashamedly teasing tone.

“Plo!” Mace groaned.

[spacegirlinorbit]

Help Me Understand

Part 2

Obi wan x reader

Angst, fluff

Takes place during ROTS. Y/n there to be by Obi wan side as he discovers the truth behind the abrupt turn of events in the war, Anakin becoming darth vadar, and eventually how he will come to fight him.

Angst prompts :“I don’t want space. I want you. ...I need you, please stay with me.” “You don’t have to face him alone, you’re not alone.” 

SIDENOTE: ‘//’ when its one parenthesis's they are talking through the force and when its double ‘’ like normal its being said aloud 

Help me understand part 1

“Well it looks like you took all the fun.” I say more to Obi than Yoda.

“Master y/n.” Yoda responds and I give him a bow. “Master Yoda.”

“Y/n.” Obi wan looks at me with wide eyes and rushes over to pull into a tight hug. I return his hug gratefully. Anyone could see it and anyone could feel it. We have an unformidable bond. That’s all that mattered. We are safe and we have each other.

We part and I give him a somber smile, “I heard Anakin was here.”

Obi wan sighs and looks to Master Yoda whose head goes down casted. We make our way into the temple. I can feel intensely the echoes of screams and blasters and lightsabers going off all around. A massacre.

The masters talk amongst themselves as I bend down and reach out to the force and see the events play out. It’s like a rock in the pit of my stomach. I fear I already know. As I see him come into view cloaked and feeling possessed. This is no Anakin. He has a new awakening inside giving his entity a new identity. Darth Vadar.

“Who could have done this?” Obi questions. I look to Master Yoda and then back to Obi keeping it impassive. Doesn’t he feel it? Doesn’t he know? Is he trying to be ignorantly blind? No. Not Obi wan Kenobi. He knows deep down. He’s just not ready to face it.

Me and Obi work on reversing the code but as Master Yoda claims ‘a long time it will take’ to recalibrate the clones.

‘Cody was with you wasn't he?” I ask quietly not sure if I should bring it up.

“Yes.”

“I made contact with Ashoka. She’s managed to help Rex through the force. I fear for what might become of her if she sees Anakin.”

“Do you think...do you really think he is our enemy?”

“No.” I can’t hesitate. I do my best not to lie either. I need to have hope. You can win wars built on hope.

“How did it come to this? I don’t understand.”

“I can only think of one person. Palpatine.”

“I must know the truth.” He walks out of the room and I quickly follow.

“Master. There is something I must know.” He says and walks over to the channel recording tables.

Yoda warns him, but knowing Obi this is the only way he can bring himself to do it. The recording plays out. It confirms everything and breaks everything as well. Obi is conflicted once again and in pain that is hard to keep under control on the inside as I reach out to blanket him.

Master Yoda says the words no one wants to hear now. “Destroy the sith we must.”

Obi wan claims he can kill the emperor but not Anakin and I can’t help as my heart yearns at the sentiment. Anakin has turned to the dark side. He is sith. He is Darth vader. He is no longer Anakin and it pains me to even think about it. It pains me to see Obi-wan in turmoil about it.

“I don’t know where to look. Do you know?” He turns to me now. I sadly put my head down and shake my head no.

“I didn’t hear that part of the conversation. You will have to go to Padme. She will probably have an easier time telling you.” I say trying to hide my discomfort. I wasn’t jealous of Padme but I didn’t understand how Obi wan was more compelling to be more open with her than with me. Someone who has been by his side more often than not. We did our first mission together. One of many. We have a force connection only we share more powerful than most. I was there when Quin Gon died and he was crying in his room all night. Then he took on the responsibility of Anakin Skywalker.

“You’re right as ever.” He says and gives me a small smile and a squeeze on my shoulder.

“I’ll continue to figure out the code. You go speak with Padme.” I say trying not to grind my teeth with every word that comes out of my mouth. The last thing I want is to be alone. Not when he has finally come home.

“I’ll fetch you when I’m done.” He replies before he leaves with one last stare that could say a million things.

It feels like an eternity since he left but I reach out slightly on the parameters of his force line. Padme is in shock and disbelief. She doesn’t end up telling him where despite how much he pushes in her head but he does sense the child she carries is Anakin’s. Thank the stars I don’t have to keep that a secret anymore. Padme didn’t tell me, but it was easy prying into Anakin’s mind when he asked me to watch over her. That and how she was eating more and the belly was starting to show.

I sense his presence coming closer to me and I meet him out on a small landing dock where no one would detect us.

“You’re just going to have to sit sideways in my lap.” He explains with a bit of cough and the tips of his ears tinge pink. He’s embarrassed. My heart is pounding but I do it anyway.

We go to the senate building and disguise ourselves to a hanger where Padme's ship is being ready for take off. Obi grabs my hand and we sneak onto the ship undetected by Padme and C3PO. Obi wan informed on the way here that she didn’t tell him where Anakin is but has been sensing she is going after him. We hide in a compartment together on the ship. I settle for sitting down and hugging my legs to my chest. Obi takes a Jedi kneeling stance across from me.

‘Did you know about the baby?’ He projects into my mind.

‘Yes. I knew.’ I begrudgingly say.

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ He questions.

‘It wasn’t my place to tell. I read Anakin’s mind and found out my suspicions were true.’

‘Ah.’

‘Why did you say that when the war broke out?’ I ask timidly. I wish there was a wall between us. I don’t dare look at him when I ask this question.

‘What do you mean?’ I can feel him start to close off.

‘You called me, “my love”. What did you mean?’

‘...’ he is silent at first but then sighs and rubs his hand down his face. ‘I suppose I can’t hide it any longer. I don’t need to. I meant I love you. Because I do. I have loved you for a long time now. I just knew we couldn’t give in. We were always passing each other too. The missions together became less and communicating became more silent. It wasn’t the Jedi way. Now there is no Jedi.’

‘Oh Obi there is Jedi. There’s you, me, Yoda, and hopefully we can save Anakin.’

‘Yes.’ I can feel the hesitation. He’s on edge but blurts it out bluntly through the force. ‘Do you love me?’

I try not to smile big seeing as my heart will burst but all I feel right now for Obi Wan is love. We are about to enter a battlefield with a friend turned foe and yet none of that matters as much as I feel for Obi Wan Kenobi.

‘Yes.’ I say this time meaning it with my entire heart. Probably the first real truthful yes I’ve said all day. I can feel the love he has kept hidden, flow through me and it’s bliss and would leave me in daze if I didn’t know what we were about to do.

Landing in disguise was probably the hardest and easiest part. Padme didn’t know we were there and anakin’s energy was too high off the charts to focus on multiple things at once. His sole focus was Padme that much we could feel. We waited until she made it off the ship and then as we snuck out of our little compartment I looked to see 3CPO spot us and I gave him a signal of silence and for once he didn't make a sound. I hear Anakin’s voice and look back at obi wan at the entrance exposing his presence.

Everything after that happened so quickly. Padme being choked and falling unconscious. Anakin and Obi Wan start to negotiate but no real negotiation takes place. Obi wan in his mind tells me stay on board, Padme is still breathing, and Anakin could hurt me if i expose myself now. I stay back until I hear them start to duel and leave the scene. I run out to Padme whose unconscious but through the force I can feel she's under a lot of stress she can’t handle and I fear the baby-no babies it seems: twins, will be coming sooner than expected. I get 3CPO’s help to load Padme back into the ship and let her rest. I want to call out to Obi wan but I fear it would distract him.

I reach out to have my force barely touch Obi wan’s as I feel a sudden anguish overwhelm me in my meditation in the force. Obi wan felt nothing but pain as he had to leave his brother, someone who was the closest thing he had to family being left to die. He wasn't looking to make Anakin suffer but as we all know that wasn’t Anakin anymore but Darth Vadar. I send 3CPO to inform Obi wan as he makes his way back to the ship. I can feel he is miserable and tired. 3CPO sets the coordinates as I make the call for a medic droid to be ready once we arrive. Obi Wan pays Padme a visit to Padme. I hear her ask about Anakin as she did when I helped her lay down for rest. She will never be the same again, but at least she has her children.

Obi wan makes his way to the front of the ship, silent. I can feel the indifference of pain within him. I think to myself he must need space right now and make my way back towards Padme. If only I could help relieve some of the pain he’s feeling.

“Come back…” I hear softly called out. I’m almost at Padme’s door when I faintly hear the voice. I turn around and see Obi wan looking at the ground and running his hand down his face as he does when in hard times.

“Did you say something?” I ask, wondering if I heard wrong.

“I don’t want space.”

“Oh.” Was he mind reading me earlier?

“I don’t want space. I want you. ...I need you, please stay with me.”

I feel my heartbreak a little at the crack of his voice. He is doing his best to stay strong, but he just did the impossible and shouldered the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders. No one will understand, but I’ll be damned if I don’t at least try or help him one way or another.

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thAT WAS THERAPY FOR ME LMAO i hope u enjoyed reading this late night and perhaps forgotten story i wrote. 

[padawanlost]

Pt. 1: Do you remember the politics episode with Ahsoka, Padme, and Mina (and briefly Anakin)? When Ahsoka asks Anakin about the politics of the Clone Wars, he replies by telling her that the Separatists find the Republic corrupt, so they left, but they’re wrong, so it’s up to the Jedi and the clones to bring them back. (I can’t fit my whole ask in here so I’ll put another if that’s ok)

Idk if this is an OOC moment or not, because on one hand I feel Anakin would have problems with the Republic because of how it lets things like slavery in the outer rim thrive. That’s why in the picnic scene in AOTC he talks about how the system isn’t working, progress isn’t being made, etc. On the other hand, maybe he’s just blinded by people like Padme and Chancellor Palpatine being in the Senate and not paying attention to the intricacies of the political situation because he hates politics? 

I think Anakin’s behavior on that particular situation is a mix of TCW trying to turn Anakin into an inept comic relief and Anakin’s own complex views on politics and loyalty.

Anakin *KNOWS* the Republic is not perfect.

I should have done it before now. Wasn’t that my other childhood dream? Become a Jedi and free the slaves. Instead I became a Jedi and let myself forget. Let them convince me that it’s not our job to remake the Republic. The Jedi were keepers of the peace, not legal enforcers. That was the Senate’s job. How many times had he been told that? He’d lost count. But the Senate was falling down on the job, wasn’t it? What was the use of having anti-slavery laws if the barves who broke them never paid for their crimes? It was enough to shake his hard-won and harder-kept faith. If scum like Watto and Jabba and the other Hutts kept on making their fat profits on the backs of living property—and if the Senate continued to turn a blind eye—how could anyone believe in the Republic? How could he? Padmé says she understands, but she hasn’t pushed for a Senate hearing. And Palpatine—he’s promised he’ll tackle the problem but nothing’s been done. It’s too political. Too corrupt. Too complicated. There are credits in slavery—and credits trump justice. Always have. Always will. And the Jedi? They didn’t want to get involved. Even Qui-Gon …[Karen Miller. Star Wars: Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth]

But he’s also loyal, extremely loyal.

“For Anakin,” Obi-Wan said at length, “there is nothing more important than friendship. He is the most loyal man I have ever met—loyal beyond reason, in fact. Despite all I have tried to teach him about the sacrifices that are the heart of being a Jedi, he—he will never, I think, truly understand.” He looked over at Yoda. “Master Yoda, you and I have been close since I was a boy. An infant. Yet if ending this war one week sooner—one day sooner—were to require that I sacrifice your life, you know I would.” 

“As you should,” Yoda said. “As I would yours, young Obi-Wan. As any Jedi would any other, in the cause of peace.” 

“Any Jedi,” Obi-Wan said, “except Anakin.” 

Yoda and Mace exchanged glances, both thoughtfully grim. Obi-Wan guessed they were remembering the times Anakin had violated orders—the times he had put at risk entire operations, the lives of thousands, the control of whole planetary systems—to save a friend. More than once, in fact, to save Obi-Wan. 

“I think,” Obi-Wan said carefully, “that abstractions like peace don’t mean much to him. He’s loyal to people, not to principles. And he expects loyalty in return. He will stop at nothing to save me, for example, because he thinks I would do the same for him.” [Matthew Stover. Revenge of the Sith]

I guess we could say it’s cognitive dissonance. Anakin knows the Republic is broken but he’s also fighting a war to protect the people he so desperately wants to save. So he can’t allow himself to dwell to often on the political intricacies of the war.

Unlike most, I don’t see Anakin as this politically inept being without a single original thought. Anakin is brilliant, and he knows how the Republic is failing people (especially on the Outer Rim). But he also loves the people defending the Republic and knows that turning his back to it would mean turning his back on them, and that’s something Anakin is utterly incapable of doing.  Because of his trauma and his lackluster political education, Anakin can’t be rational about it. he doesn’t understand that he can recognize the Republic is deeply flawed at the same time he can fight to keep it alive.

To be fair, most people can’t grasp that politics is usually not an all or nothing game. That you can support someone at the same time you recognize they are not perfect, or you don’t even fully agree with them.

I think that scene is the result of people not fully understanding Anakin’s behavior during the picnic scene. I mean, it’s so easy to watch it from Padmé’s perspective and see nothing but a naive kid with authoritarian dreams. But once you put yourself in Anakin’s shoes it becomes easier to understand why a kid who grew up in slavery and poverty would want power to stripped from the elites in a desperate attempt to level the field and improve the lives of the disenfranchised.

I see TCW’s scene as a (dumbed down) attempt of turning Anakin’s complicated political views into an easier to understand, black and white comic relief moment.

[mightydragoon]

Tiny Luke and Dad Vader fanfic recs

As of @silvereddaye request . 

1 A Simple Twist of Fate By: TheRealThing

Destiny brings Darth Vader's twin son and daughter, who he has believed dead for ten years, into his life unexpectedly.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4292852/1/A-Simple-Twist-of-Fate

2.   Force Bond 1: Orphan By: KittandChips 

AU After Owen and Beru are killed by a mysterious stranger, young Luke ends up as an orphan on Coruscant. It's a race against time as Obi-Wan struggles to find Luke before Vader realizes the boy is his son.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/347383/1/Force-Bond-1-Orphan

3.  Force Bond 2: Threat By: KittandChips 

Luke finds himself moving in with a moody, secluded Sith Lord who is also his newly found father. Vader has his own set of challenges to overcome, as he struggles to come to terms with his fatherhood.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/388791/1/Force-Bond-2-Threat

4.  Force Bond 3: Son By: KittandChips 

Third in the series of an AU where Luke is raised by Vader on Coruscant. Luke is getting older and struggling to come to terms with what awaits in the future.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/562682/1/Force-Bond-3-Son

5. Force Bond 4: Jedi    By: KittandChips 

AU. Fourth in a series where Luke has been raised by Vader on Coruscant. Luke is caught between his loyalty and love for the man who raised him, and his desire not to become a Sith.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1037550/1/Force-Bond-4-Jedi

6. The Father By: frodogenic 

Ten years after ROTS, tormenting nightmares of his unborn child drive Darth Vader to extraordinary measures with unexpectedly drastic consequences. Clearly, experience has taught Darth Vader nothing... L/V, the gang, and a few OCs for flavor. COMPLETE!

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3092590/1/The-Father

7.  Dark Father By: JoieMaris 

Four years after ROTS, Vader is haunted by nightmares from the Force. His dreams lead him to two special children. AU.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10806023/1/Dark-Father

8.  Silence By: Shy Snootles 

AU story, set four years after ROTS. Darth Vader has become the Empire's very image of death and destruction. But a fortuitous encounter with a little boy will shake the until then rock solid foundations of his Darkness and hatred.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2946568/1/Silence

9.  Free to Fly  By: Mahina 

Luke is nine and a slave in Jabba's palace when Darth Vader returns to fulfill an old promise. LV list challenge.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7045903/1/Free-to-Fly

10.  Dissociative Identity Disorder By: T. Alana M 

Formerly titled "The Good Son". DID: a condition wherein a person's identity is fragmented into two or more distinct personalities. Or, where Anakin Skywalker makes it his life's goal to drive Darth Vader to the brink of insanity. His four year old son spectates.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9706778/1/Dissociative-Identity-Disorder

(Note* Incomplete) 

11.  Darkness's Son One: But Light Was Always the Son of Darkness By: The Hope Lions

After getting caught at a rebel rally, ten year old Luke Skywalker is arrested and brought to Coruscant. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan Kenobi will do anything to prevent Darth Vader from discovering his son's existence, but will the Jedi be too late?

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11850017/1/Darkness-s-Son-One-But-Light-Was-Always-the-Son-of-Darkness

12.    Darkness's Son Two: The Darkness Is There By: The Hope Lions 

Sequel to "But Light Was Always the Son of Darkness" Luke Skywalker has been living with his father for four years, but that doesn't mean it's gotten any easier. Now that Luke is no longer a child he has to deal with a whole host of new problems. Sooner or later he's bound to crack under the pressure of what it means to be Darth Vader's Jedi son. Updated daily!

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12011466/1/Darkness-s-Son-Two-The-Darkness-Is-There

13.  Far From Over  By: Above the Winter Moonlight 

COMPLETE AU, Eight years post ROTS. When Darth Vader learns that his son is still alive, he is determined to find him. All the while, Obi-Wan Kenobi is struggling to hide the young boy from his father's prying eyes…FS inside, R&R

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5445132/1/Far-From-Over

14. Second Time  By: Brievel 

Darth Vader finds a five-year-old Luke Skywalker wandering the dunes of Tatooine, lost, and realizes the child is his son. What is he to do with the boy?

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11326985/1/Second-Time

15. every planet, every star, every single grain of sand --- loosingletters

In which Darth Vader finds 9-year-old Luke on Tatooine, proceeds to have a breakdown, kills Palpatine and makes his preteen son Emperor, as you do. Otherwise known as the Adventures of Teeny Tiny Emperor Luke and his Royal Dad Guard Darth Vader.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22714810/chapters/54283174

16. In Which the Force Finally Becomes Proactive --sparklight

Better late than never, right? This has gone on long enough, and the Son of the Suns need some help to get out of that poisoned swamp he's stuck in. What better help than his own son, and the planet he was born on?

Luke starts out dreaming, first about his father, then about his grandmother. She wants him to help save his father, but his father is dead, isn't he..?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/9109462/chapters/20705959

17. Skywalker Family Values --Ariel_Sojourner

Camp Chippewa is proud to be the Empire’s foremost camp resort for privileged young adults. Located on the picturesque forest moon of Endor, your child will have the opportunity to participate in wholesome outdoor activities and socialize appropriately with their peers. We invite your offspring to join us for the experience of a lifetime and a bright future in service of the greater glory of the Empire.

On opposite sides of the galaxy, on opposite sides of a civil war, Darth Vader and Padme Amidala unwittingly send Luke and Leia to the same camp during school break. Chaos naturally ensues.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14258124/chapters/32883750

(note* Comedy freaking gold) 

18. The Necklace  By: Ellisaed 

What if Padmè's japor snippet hadn't been buried with her on Naboo? What if it had somehow been able to bring together the children that had been torn apart? And with her husband - now a notorious Sith Lord - on a endless search to regain the necklace back, will it end up being the galaxy's greatest mistake? *NEW: Chapter 10!*

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8765936/1/The-Necklace

19. Chiaroscuro -- SpellCleaver

A series of oneshots focusing on Luke and Vader's relationship, with other characters occasionally thrown into the mix.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16363772/chapters/38293637

20.  Visiting Shmi Skywalker’s Grave --Iva1201

Darth Vader decides to visit his mother's grave one last time to finally get rid of all his attachments. Can he succeed when there is one more person visiting the tomb at the same time, this person being his own young son? Or will Anakin Skywalker resurface when meeting the boy?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/8239112/chapters/18881579

21.  Glove --Superheronerd_1

It wasn't as though he wanted to murder the younglings, that he wanted to murder those around him that he had seen in battle. Those who have had his back, who have saved him and he then countless of times.

But sacrifice was necessary.

“-dodged a large rock-”

Yet this, this he could not sacrifice.

He will not sacrifice.

“-flew over, no Luke, don't nibble my cape.” Vader said, amused.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/6430528/chapters/14719456

22.  Imperial Babysitters -Laivaaja

Star Wars Fan Comic: Luke Skywalker is raised by his father Darth Vader on a star destroyer. The young officers Piett and Veers are Luke’s awesome uncles who constantly end up babysitting him (and worrying too much when he gets into trouble).

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11621658/chapters/26131065

23. Between the Light and Shadows: Luke & Vader One-Shots -SilverDaye

One-shot collection focused on Luke and Vader. All AU.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15128117/chapters/48583628

(Note* Silver has a bunch of these so here we go, not all but godamn I would say the vast majority of these are.  ) 

24. Sent Out for Safety-- throwawayflames

At the age of eight, Luke Skywalker and his sister, Leia, are split up for their safety. Leia stays with their Uncle Ben, and their mother, to learn how to be a Jedi. Luke, on the other hand, is sent to the Organa's, where he will pretend to be their adoptive son who was orphaned. Ben had only given Luke one rule to live by while he was away from his family, don't tell anyone his last name, and he followed that.

It wasn't his fault that Darth Vader sensed that he was a Force Sensitive and now he wants to train him, as a Jedi no less. That's the complete opposite of what Ben had told Luke. And after asking Darth Vader about his dad, Luke can't help but say yes to Darth Vader training him. After all, Luke's always wanted to be a Jedi like his father.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22659655/chapters/54159751

25. For Want of a Skywalker --acuteneurosis

After the miracle of having survived Bespin, Piett does not ask why they are stopping on Tatooine. Or why Lord Vader suddenly has acquired a small child. Or why this child's name is Luke. Or how long they are going to keep him.

He probably should have.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22044874/chapters/52612567

26. Where Our Intrepid Hero Doesn't Get Away- sparklight

One-shots surrounding either AU situations of canon/legends works where Luke would normally have gotten away (or Vader is simply inserted into the action to come pick his child up) but in these instances doesn't, or completely new scenarios of the same. Any time an AU is mentioned to be based on a comics issue it's from the new Marvel Star Wars comics (2015) (unless otherwise noted).

There are no deep ruminations on consequences of the situations here, just our awful Sith dad picking his son up when he'd rather not be.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/4837094/chapters/11078918

(note* again not all include Little Luke but they do involve Luke and Vader) 

27.  Runaway SilverDaye

Imperial Prince Luke runs away from home to escape his overprotective father Emperor Vader. Jumping from planet to planet he finds himself creditless on Tatooine. While working for more money to leave the planet, Luke meets an old man named Ben Kenobi. But Luke knows he can't stay in one place for long for surely his father is hunting him down.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14630196/chapters/33813027

28. Bring Him Home -- KeeperofSeeds

Vader is sent to Tatooine by his Master after a series of failures. While there he discovers the existence of Luke. He meets Luke, convinces him to come with him off planet, and manages to hide him away for a while. He knows his Master won't tolerate a powerful force sensitive like Luke running around as a free agent once he's old enough to be a threat, and he also knows exactly how horrible it is to serve Palpatine. He won't let Luke be taken and used like that.

Eventually though, his deception is discovered.

Vader knows he isn't powerful enough to protect Luke on his own, and he isn't ready to overthrow Palpatine yet. He decides the only safe place for Luke is with the Rebel Alliance, the very people who've managed to stay out of his reach so far. So he takes Luke and defects.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15994967/chapters/37317818

29. Stranger Danger LadyVader23

When Vader is suddenly given custody over the five year old son he didn't know he had, he attempts to get his daughter, Leia to befriend him. But as soon as his back is turned, Luke runs away, hiding in the mall that Vader owns. Vader tries frantically to find his son while Luke enjoys exploring the mall on his own. Shenanigans ensue.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23010670

30.  A Mother's Decision -- Valerie_Vancollie

What if Padmé had brought Luke to Vader when Luke was only nine months old?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12915687

Other Links 

Luke and Vader

Founder: Moyima - Stories: 198 - Followers: 573 - Staff: 3 - id: 5265Stories featuring the father and son relationship between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader a collection of fics inspired by the vivicious yahoo group: The Luke Vader Writers.

https://www.fanfiction.net/community/Luke-and-Vader/5265/

(Note these ones include Luke and Vader though not all are Tiny Luke. Good place to start though) 

Luke and Darth Vader Tag 

https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Luke%20Skywalker%20*a*%20Darth%20Vader/works

[glimmerglanger]

Sooo we know Anakin and Ben went to a wedding for Nith and Padmé but BEN WAS UNDER A HOUSE?! I’m gonna need some further context on how those two idiots are passing the time. I’m sure it involved a nonchalant Ben and Anakin clawing his eyes out at being driven to heroism for this man. Basically I just wanna know how and what they’re doing (other than each other), what are they doing post-war for an occupation, I’m just checking in on the boys okay :P

:D OH THEY’RE GETTING INTO TROUBLE. This ended up ALSO hitting a request I got for Anakin Proposing to Ben, so it’s a two-fer. Thank you for asking about these fooooools! :D

Anakin had dreamed of going home at the head of an army for nearly as long as he could remember. The Hutts, all the other slavers, stirred a disgust in him that had never slept. They were a blight on the galaxy, and he’d never understood the Senate’s reticence to do anything about them.

The fact that a Sith had been leading the Republic around by the nose for almost two decades explained a lot, he supposed, but there had been corruption, even before Palpatine rose to power. Senators who saw their pockets lined by the slavers, who were inclined to look the other way and pass off the problems in the Outer Rim as… minor issues, of no concern to Core worlds.

Anakin wondered, briefly, if Chancellor Organa planned to uphold that status quo. It would have been easy to relax. To claim that they needed to recover after the war. To sweep aside other problems and claim only victory.

Anakin told Ben all his concerns, all his worries, pacing around the small space they’d been allocated on Coruscant in the immediate aftermath of the war, and Ben raised an eyebrow and said, “Aren’t you friends with Senator Amidala?”

Anakin paused in mid step, frowning at him. “She’s an old friend, yes. Why?”

Ben shrugged, reaching out to grab Anakin’s belt, tugging him closer to say, “Why don’t you talk to her about this, then. She’s got a lot of power right now, you know.” And it was a good idea, but one that Anakin didn’t pursue right away, because he was, abruptly, more focused on other concerns.

#

Somehow, Anakin didn’t expect that Ben’s suggestion would actually work. Somehow, he figured the entire thing would be delayed, put off, once more. But it wasn’t. They were allocated resources. They were sent off. And, suddenly, after years of waiting, no one was telling him that he had to keep swallowing all the injustice, the cruel unfairness of the galaxy.

Something inside Anakin eased with each fight, with each organization they disrupted, with each person they freed.

It was a difficult slog, miserable and dangerous each day. They drew bounties almost immediately, slavers offering insane amounts of credits for their heads. A bounty hunter blew up a building with Ben in it, and Anakin--

Killed him, dug Ben out, took him somewhere relatively safe and patched him up.

Their little campaign had a cost, taken out in sweat and blood, and Anakin paid it willingly, but, brushing Ben’s hair back while he slept… Well, sometimes Anakin wondered if he’d asked too much.

#

They made terrible progress. The bounties on their heads grew higher. It felt almost inevitable that, eventually, they’d miss a step. Luck was bound to turn against them, sooner or later. When it did, it was on Tatooine - of course, Anakin should have expected that - and he was alone, and when they took him, he spared a moment to be grateful that Ben wasn’t there.

The bounty hunters didn’t kill him. He was, apparently, worth more alive than dead. Wanted for questioning, he was told, when he woke, groggy, in an overheating cell. There was a collar around his neck, shut too tight around his skin, so he felt each beat of his heart. He couldn’t feel the Force at all.

He said nothing, nothing at all, on the entirety of the trip to whoever had bought him, no matter how hard they asked their questions. He thought about Ben, about his smile, the brightness of his eyes, going somewhere else in his head.

#

The bounty hunters brought him to a Hutt. It wasn’t a surprise, truly. The Hutts had their fat, slimy fingers in every aspect of the slave trade. Anakin was dragged in covered in chains and blood. They forced him to his knees in front of the giant, ugly worm, who spoke in a low rumble to the bounty hunters. He spoke in Huttese; Anakin hated the language, but knew it. “Where is the other, the partner?”

“We couldn’t find him,” one of the hunters said, shrugging. “But we got--”

“My orders were that they both be brought to me,” the Hutt said. Anakin didn’t recognize him on sight, but he was one of the biggest Anakin’d ever met.

“And we’ll bring the other.” The hunter shrugged. “Give us half the bounty now; we’ll be able to--”

“You’ll receive your bounty when you’ve completed the job,” the Hutt said, and for a moment Anakin thought they might all fight. But the hunters only inclined their heads and left, leaving him in the Hutt’s stinking presence. The worm said, not looking at him, “You’ve been causing me no end of irritation, Jedi.”

Anakin sneered up at him, his mouth remembering how to speak Huttese. He left the comment about being a Jedi alone. It wasn’t the Hutt’s business. “I’m just getting started.”

The Hutt laughed, shaking all over as he threw back his large head. “You’re finished,” he said. “And so will be your little friend. He’ll be brought to me, and then you will both be executed. I’m almost glad they haven’t found him yet. It will give me more time to decide what to do about you. The only question is…” the Hutt looked at him, huge golden eyes narrowed. “How shall we pass the time?”

#

They passed the time with pain. Anakin hadn’t expected anything else. He sank into his head, into his bones, going away from it. He had long experience with that. It was easier, when he could access the Force, but not impossible without.

He held onto the bright memories of Ben and gritted his teeth while the Hutt’s servants worked over his body, asking questions he wouldn’t answer. He lost track of time. Lost track of everything but thirst and hunger and pain.

The Hutt visited, frequently. He liked to lounge across the room, slaves hand-feeding him wriggling delicacies, breathing heavily while he stared. Anakin ignored him, ignored the questions about where Ben might be, and the suggestions that he would be fed, alive, to a Rancor, ignored them all, until the screams finally started.

He laughed, then, listening to blaster fire and explosions. The Hutt stirred, across the room, demanding of one of his guards, “Go, find out what is going on, right now.” The guard slipped from the room as Anakin grinned, tugging at the bonds around his arm. “Why are you smiling, Jedi?” the Hutt demanded.

Anakin looked up at him, met his eyes. “Because,” he said, “you spent all this time worrying about finding my partner.” Someone screamed, briefly, much closer to the room. Anakin’s gut tightened with anticipation. “When you should have been worrying about him finding you.”

The Hutt sneered, huge, wet mouth twisting as it moved. Anakin never found out where it intended to go, because that was the moment the doors slammed open. The air carried the stench of blaster bolts and blood. “Guards!” the Hutt snapped, for all the good it was going to do him.

Anakin watched the door, heart kicking in his chest when Ben stormed through. He was grim-faced, both sabers lit and moving. He moved impossibly. Anakin couldn’t feel him, couldn’t sense him, with the collar on, but he knew what it looked like when Ben was drawing on the Force.

His movements were crisp. Perfect. He flowed through the guards like water around rocks, expression unchanging the entire time. “Stop,” the Hutt snapped, moving forward, towards Anakin, with a surprising burst of speed, “or I will kill--”

Ben didn’t even slow down in his march across the room. He just kept coming, leaving the Hutt behind in several pieces. Anakin stared at him, breath getting shallow, as Ben deactivated one lightsaber, hooking it to his belt almost absently.

He waved a hand, and metal screamed around Anakin’s wrist before the shackle snapped. Another step and the other shackle was gone. Anakin pushed to his feet, dizzy and ignoring it, full of pains all down his back and body, but barely feeling them.

Ben reached him, then, touched the collar and Anakin felt it sparking, but didn’t care. The Force came flooding back into his body and his mind. He saw the way it bent and spiraled around Ben, thrumming against his skin, and exhaled, hard.

“Ben,” he said, panting, and Ben was putting a careful hand to his face even as Anakin put hands on him and pulled him closer. Ben’s fingers twisted into his hair, holding tight as Ben rocked up onto his toes. Kissing him felt like grabbing the Force with both hands.

They stood, clenched together, in the middle of all the destruction. Anakin shifted back, just enough to look at Ben’s expression, his bright, clear eyes, the blood splattered across his skin. Ben had found him. Had carved a path to him. Had just killed a room full of slavers without breaking his stride. Anakin gazed at him, heart clenched time, and said, helplessly, “Marry me.”

[gabriel4sam]

Has anyone requested Cody yet for the "I ship Obi-Wan with ______"? If not, can I???

Under the cut, some CodyWan!

The sad thing is, DarthVader didn’t really understand Obi-Wan Kenobi. Oh, he thought he did. He thoughthe caught his treachery, recognized the plot of the Jedi, brought peace to thegalaxy, and all that self-satisfied bantha crap he let Palpatine purred in hisear until his brain had turned into some sort of gelatinous substance capableof everything except independent thoughts.

The sad thing was,everybody who really knew and understood Obi-Wan Kenobi was dead, those whoreally did, like Satine, who knew he would be unhappy at the end, if she askedhim to stay, like Bant, the friend of a lifetime gunned down in the middle ofthe war, like Mace Windu who saw the attachment of his friend and knewSkywalker would one day break his heart.

Even those who knew himalmost enough, like poor Padmé who would have perhaps lived if she had searchedhis help sooner, like Kit Fisto, killed when they were building a friendship asequal, Master to Master.

That’s why nobody thoughtof searching him on Tatooine.

Until the moment wherethe thrice damned chip died a quiet death in CC-2224’s head, one day like every other, where theclone had been thrown against a wall by an explosion, on a world the Empire waspacifying.

It was CC-2224’s trembling fingers who searched forthe release button, but it was Cody who took his helmet off, Cody who breathedfor the first time in years, carefully touched the blood who dripped from hisnose.

Eyes that were so much like Jango Fett’s , like BobaFett’s, less for the shape and the colour, even if they were almost identical, morefor the piercing way they dissected the world, observed the battlefield.

“Kriff that,” he said,very matter-of-fact.

Two months later, BenKenobi opened his door to an irate clone with a bad sunburn on his nose and alot of questions.

“Oh dear,” he said.

“Exactly,” snappedCody.

“Oh dear,” Obi-Wan saidagain.

“Living alone isgetting your silver tongue rusty, General.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Yes, you certainlyaren’t him anymore, because my General wouldn’t let my surviving vode live as puppets, worse thaneverything, worse than slaves.”

His voice has risenuntil he was almost shouting, but the two months necessary to find his oldcommanding officer his anger at the state of the galaxy and the fate of hisbrothers had nicely festered. Something hard passed on Obi-Wan’s face but itcould have been a trick of the light, because he was almost immediately calmagain, and he opened the door wider.

“Come in, if you wantto yell.”

“Yes, that would be awkwardif the lizard population heard me, I suppose. Couldn’t you find somewhere morein the middle of kriffin nowhere? I almost needed more time to find you in thiskriffin desert that to find the planet, and I had to steal another speederbecause mine melted!”

Obi-Wan made a faceagain but didn’t add anything and started to make them tea.

“Don’t you have somethingstronger?” Cody asked, struggling to not yell again. He hadn’t realized howdisappointed he was in the other man before seeing him.

“I confess I indulged alittle too much at my beginning here and thought prudent to not stock liquoranymore.”

Cody said nothing andaccepted the tea, sitting on a low pillow, observing his General.

“When did your chipstopped working?”

“Two months ago.”

“It didn’t take long tofind me.”

“Oh please, I neededless than that. I’m late because I found the Rebellion first. I thought…Ithought you would be there. I thought you would fight for my brothers.”

Once again, there was awhisper of emotion other than that infuriating calm, right at the corners ofthe Jedi’s eyes, but he squashed it again.

“Some people couldthink I wouldn’t want to help them, considering my brethren’s terrible fate andthe role the vode played.”

Cody shrugged.

“I know you better thanthat.”

“Do you?”

“Found you, didn’t I?”

“Yes. Yes, I supposeyou did.”

“And you don’t see merolling at your feet asking for forgiveness for the canyon, do you?”

“You aren’t responsiblefor that day”. And even if Cody refused to feel guilty for being brainwashed,because it was a violation, and the Force should be ashamed to have let all ofthat happen, still, it eased something deep inside him.

“See? I know youbetter.”

Obi-Wan abandoned histea and touched Cody’s hand, after a second of hesitation.

“The fate of the vodeis horrible. But I know what you want of me, and I can’t go with you. I can’t leavethis planet, not yet. No, don’t yell. Let me show you first”

And Cody obeyed, likehe always had. He saw and he understood and it didn’t make anything easierbecause who would fight for the vode, now, if his General was tethered here byyoung Luke.

“You will,” Obi-Wansaid in the quiet of the night, watching the fire instead of Cody.

“You’ll save thesurvivors because you’re you, the highest ranking, the big brother, becausethey are other who will help you, because…” He sighed.

Cody made a face andgroaned something not very polite. He didn’t feel angry anymore, just tired andthe task before him seemed helpless, endless. Kriff, he probably needed a mindhealer, but he doubted they were people trained in helping brainwashed victimsmanage their anger. Or perhaps they were. He couldn’t be the only vod free ofthat damn chip. And he was pretty sure the Alliance would be interested infreeing people who would certainly want to join after, so he knew where hewould start.

Obi-Wan took his hand.

“I have contacts in theRebel Alliance, some who could help you,” a silence during which Cody felt somevindictive pleasure in knowing their ideas could still run the same course, ��andbetween missions, you could come back here.”

Cody turned in hisdirection and attacked his mouth, without any prelude. It wasn’t a very goodfirst kiss, it was too desperate to be anything less than sloppy.

But it was perfect,because it had been years coming, because Obi-Wan pushed himself into the kisswith the same hunger, because the bed, even too small as he was, was just a fewfeet away, ready to welcome them. It was perfect even if too quick and fuelled inpart by anger and perhaps a little too much bruising. And when Obi-Wan yieldedunder him, lost in pleasure, Cody swore to himself that he would come back toTatoine again, and again and again…

[shadowsong26fic]

Coming Attractions!

No, I did not forget to do this! ...exactly...

I am super late again this month—buuuut I wanted to wait until I’d posted the delayed Precipice chapter, so.

Fanfic:

Precipice:

Sorry, sorry, sorry for all the delays in the last couple of updates—the last two weekends were super-busy, and then last week ended up being slammed at work and my brain just went pfft. Anyway, there will be another update this week/weekend (probably Rex and Leia), and I’ll hopefully meander back on schedule after that.

And I finally finished Commander! \o/ It was a fun arc. I’m very fond of that arc. But…yeah, it’s a long one, particularly given that very little in-story time passes. (Seventeen chapters to cover one very eventful week…)

So, yeah. Lessons is going to be a much quieter arc, something along the lines of Homecoming in terms of content/pacing. Resetting ourselves, establishing our new patterns, etc. Leia starts getting trained, Luke starts helping Mamma at work more, and bonding with Lavinia/actively being the human ray of sunshine he is. Probably Winter will turn up, too. I’m going to try and focus more on the Coruscant/Imperial Center thread this arc, particularly since Commander was so heavily about our Jedi friends…anyway, I’m guessing this will be a relatively short arc (8 or 9 chapters), and not much Drama/not very Plot-heavy. Other than Infernalis introducing himself. (He’s a lot of fun—there’s a bit I have half written where he’s all “yeah, I know Sidious is using me, but a) that’s what sentients do; we use each other and b) I’m using him too and c) I get to do ALL THIS AWESOME SHIT. So I kinda feel like it’s worth it.” Like…I don’t write unapologetic/Always Chaotic Evil/for the LULZ villains very often, but Infernalis is in that mold.)

Also! As of this Thursday, I will have officially been posting this behemoth for a whole entire year. I’m going to do a bonus fic (I’ll probably put up a prompt call post later tonight or tomorrow), and I’m hoping to commission art as well, either a full cover or one or more arc covers (for completed arc(s)). [Eventually, I probably will want ALL of the covers (i.e., main title/all planned arcs); but that’s a long range project because lol budget.]

ANYWAY if you have any specific requests for bonus fic and/or are interested in getting paid to draw pretty things/know someone who does this kind of thing and is open for commissions (since I do not know how to draw pretty things), let me know!

Distaff:

I FINALLY CONQUERED THE OPERA HOUSE \o/ ::throws confetti::

...heh.

Anyway, yeah. So, that’s moving again! Next chapter should not take nearly five months to come out, as it’s a lot less…mmmm…I’m trying to figure out how to word it. The Opera House was hard, because—look, it’s kind of dumb; Anakin is being really really dumb, we make fun of that scene for a reason, but it’s also one of if not the most important scenes in this entire arc? In terms of what Palpatine’s trying to do, I would argue that it’s even more of a key moment than the final revelation in his office some indeterminate time later, after Grievous is killed. Or, at least, it’s a bigger risk—once he gets Anakin past this point, the next one will come much easier.

Plus, you know, having to figure out an alternative Sith Legend™ to throw at her, since Plagueis doesn’t really apply. And Palps’s hand, so to speak, isn’t quite as strong as it is in canon (but, I mean, we’re talking if canon was, like, a straight flush, in Distaff he’s playing four of a kind or a full house; so still almost certainly a win). So there’s all of those factors to consider, too. (Also, it was his POV, which is…a fun headspace to get in, let me tell you, internet. Although whining about that at my ever-patient roommates did lead to me nicknaming him Skeev Palpatine which honestly I’m surprised I hadn’t thought of sooner.)

Buuuuuuut anyway. I make no promises for exactly when the next chapter will be out, but it definitely won’t take quite so long. Should be sometime this month. Fingers crossed, anyhow.

Masks:

…blaaaaaaaaaaaah. I don’t want it to die. I really don’t. On the other hand, I’ve got a whole lot of other projects ongoing, plus RL and all, plus I’m still having trouble getting into ANH!Vader’s head, so…ehhh, IDK. Essentially, I’ve decided that this is really super back-burner for the time being. Possibly I’ll do it in AU Outline form at some point, if I don’t manage a proper update, but for now, it’s on a vaguely-defined “if my brain cooperates” hiatus. I am (probably) locking canon for it as of TFA (meaning it won’t be as much of an In Spite of a Nail AU past that; and more just an…AU AU, if that makes sense?), though, because I like the plot I have. Though I reserve the right to change my mind on that after TLJ. Anyway, I’ll probably stop talking about this one (unless I use one of the spinoff versions of it as an AU Outline or something) until I actually write/post more.

Auxiliaries:

Update will be up very soon! Not a direct continuation of the last bit I posted, because I’m still working on that, but still something! (Ahsoka is involved because I love her.)

AU Outline:

…yeah, I dropped the ball on this one again. It was going to be the Mask of Zorro/California Gold Rush AU No One One Person Asked For, but I need to sit down and watch Zorro again to put that together, and I haven’t gotten around to that. Also, Ventress and her Tiny Time-Travelling Conscience were speaking to me. …well, less them and another thread of that same AU, plus a couple unrelated AUs... Anyway, I’m going to try and put something up sometime in the next couple days. It’ll probably be the continuation of the Ventress and Luke one but we shall see.

Original fic:

…yeah, I didn’t actually write any this month, lol. I’ll do better in October.

Miscellaneous Other Things:

[In a generic list format because why not]

- Epic Crossover RP OF DOOM! I’ll keep posting snippets from time to time, because it entertains me. And my RP partner and I think we’re funny/clever.

- NaNo is coming up next month! I’m probably going to do the same thing I did last year—set myself an ambitious Total Word Count goal for the month, rather than focusing on a single project. Possibly give myself a list of projects to choose from; probably set a minimum amount that must be on original work/not fanfic. More on that when we actually get close, probably.

- I’ll probably do another Open Question Night sometime halfway through the month, because those are always fun.

- …should I do something Special for Halloween? (Like I did holiday bonus fics for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day?) If I did, what would y’all want to see?

Goal Lists:

September Recap:

1. Keep up with Precipice updates.--not so much

2. Opera House.--FINALLY \o/

3. Another Auxiliaries snippet--missed

4. Work on Masks--missed

5. Another crack outline--missed

6. Update Lux and Farglass Cycle archives--someday I will actually do this

7. At least 5k on projects that are not Precipice--not quite, but I think between half-finished snippets and 3k worth of Distaff text I churned out, I got to like 4k or so?

8. At least 15k total on any/all projects--Not quite, no.

9. At least two pieces to Rainbowfic.--Nope.

10. Put some text down on something publishable.--Nope.

October Goals:

1. Keep up with Precipice updates.

2. Update Distaff.

3. Update <i>Auxiliaries.</i>

4. AU Outline--Mask of Zorro fusion and/or continuation of the Ventress one unless something New and Exciting comes up.

5. At least two pieces to RF.

6. Update the Lux and Feredar archives.

8. Write at least 15k total, at least 5k must not be Precipice

9. Write at least 10k on Precipice (bonus fic counts, meta/answered asks do not)

10. Put some text down on something publishable