#it's a break from the skywalker saga

[americankimchi]

god i wish they hadn't retconned maul's death. i get wanting to explore more of his character because he was, objectively, one of the coolest star wars characters to ever hit the big screen and didn't get much screentime prior to his death, but also his role was fulfilled perfectly within those constraints so i wasn't too upset by it.

but by retconning it and making it so he never died it's like. okay. what now? the whole point (well, to me, ymmv of course) of the theed generator fight was that it was the first ever fight between the jedi and the sith in thousands of years, and that in the end even though the jedi (obi-wan) won the fight, a jedi (qui-gon) and a sith (maul) still died. a master and an apprentice dying together to herald the start of a new age/the return of the sith. perfectly paralleling the way in rotj a master (palps) and an apprentice (anakin/vader) died together to herald the return of the jedi. in both instances, a father figure (qui-gon/vader) dies in the arms of their son (obi-wan/luke) as a sith (palps/maul) is cast down into the abyss to their deaths. (palps being alive in the ST and retconning his death in rotj is also annoying for this reason)

i mean i like maul. don't get me wrong. he's an incredibly compelling character and i enjoy seeing more of him... but there's always the thought hovering in my mind like "he should be dead though. he should 100% be dead. this wouldn't be happening if he was dead, but i honestly would rather it not if it meant that maul was dead."

like the tpm fight just doesn't hit the same knowing that canonically he's just. going to become a robot octopus at some point. (shoutout to palps becoming sith glados in the ST) it cheapens the moment for me. it was supposed to be a moment of triumph marred by the deep and soul-crushing loss of a loved one and it's just... not, anymore. or at least not to the same extent. AUGH i'm just. frustrated. wish star wars as a whole wasn't constantly reframing/retconning what's been established. just puts a bad taste in my mouth.

[arcadianmoonshadowjedi]

Callum & Viren: Are they similar? Is Callum on the same path as Viren? - Star Wars Analogies

I know there have been posts made before in the Dragon Prince fandom comparing characters from tdp to Star Wars characters, esp Callum to Anakin/Vader as someone who will eventually get corrupted/turn to the dark side and become a potential apprentice to Aaravos, as well as Rayllum to Anidala in terms of Callum being seen as being bound to doom the world for Rayla.

I wanted to share a different perspective of mine as to which characters/relationship dynamics (outside of romantic ones included) from tdp I believe compare the most to which Star Wars characters as a massive fan of both sagas myself.

The number one character from Star Wars that I see Callum being most similar to is Luke Skywalker, whereas a character I think is the best comparison to Anakin/Vader, especially after watching Season 6 of the Dragon Prince, would be none other than Viren himself. While I do know for a fact that the tdp characters aren’t carbon copies of the SW characters I’m comparing them to, I still think that their overall arcs are quite matching.

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Starting with Callum and Luke, on the surface, both are the hero who prevails and saves everyone & the whole world/galaxy from doom, but on a deeper level, they both struggle with a dark side inside of them & temptations to give in to it. And before I continue, I wanted to emphasize that I DO NOT see Callum as someone who’s morally dubious, as there are several instances in canon which prove otherwise, specifically his immense guilt over using dark magic and his fear of becoming corrupted and consumed by darkness in S6 (his nightmare at the beginning of episode 3 perfectly illustrates this), the latter of which is a challenge we also see Luke dealing with in The Empire Strikes Back.

Throughout the Original trilogy, mainly in ESB & Return of the Jedi, we see so many “hints” and “indicators” that Luke might turn to the dark side, who unlike Callum, actually shares many personality traits with his father such as his impatience and recklessness. We see Yoda fear that he might follow in his father’s footsteps before reluctantly training him, we see Vader and eventually Palpatine try to lure Luke to the dark side, even pointing out that they could sense his anger which is a major precursor for that. But in the end, despite all of those temptations, despite all of his anger and eventual fear & rage for his sister’s safety, he ultimately resisted and refused to join the sith.

Along with seeing many protagonists who may be put in similar situations or even in some cases share some similarities with the main/major antagonist, such as Harry and Voldemort being another example of this, this is why I am a firm believer that Callum will be tested in Season 7, he may be faced with temptations to use dark magic again perhaps as a quick means to defeat Aaravos or potentially save Rayla if it gets to that, or even Aaravos trying to bribe him to join him, but in the end he will ultimately resist, since dark magic, as stated several times before, is merely a shortcut that leads to much bigger long term harm (which I don’t think there would be enough time to even flesh this out in the final season of the Mystery of Aaravos arc). As we’ve seen Callum reject succumbing to his dark side after he used dark magic for the first time, and seeing him willingly do the purification ritual to rid himself of his darkness/corruption in his soul, I do believe that Callum has the power to reject dark magic once and for all and do the right thing (this does not necessarily mean he would sacrifice Rayla if the plot does get to that, but I do think he would find a third option aside from dark magic to save her, like he did back in S3 when he cast the mage wing spell to save her). After all, a major theme in the Dragon Prince is breaking cycles and not repeating previous mistakes, so what would be the point in having those themes or specifically Harrow’s letter in the first place, or better yet have the whole “destiny’s a book you write yourself” line be brought up multiple times if Callum’s just fated keep repeating past mistakes over and over again?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now onto my next analogy: Viren & Anakin/Vader, the characters who I genuinely saw as those whose corruption & downfalls may have started out of desperation to save a loved one from dying, but ultimately grew into greed and hunger for power.

I could go on about the complexities of Anakin’s character, specifically the ones that got fleshed out even more in the Clone Wars and how there are multiple factors that led to his turn to the dark side, but that’s not the whole point of this post. I know that there are some differing factors between both Viren and Anakin in terms of their dark sides/stories, but ultimately the last straw that led to their corruption was the fact that they were both terrified of losing an important loved one and both were completely unwilling to let that happen, whatever the price they had to pay. We also see them seek some sort of counsel/beg for help, like when Anakin vaguely told Yoda about his visions and fears, and Viren telling Kpp’Ar about Soren’s condition and needing the staff, ultimately both Anakin and Viren were told that there wasn’t really anything that could be done and they both needed to learn to let go. However neither of them were having that, so we somewhat see them both resort to another counsel, both very different but leading to same outcome. Anakin starts to open up more to Palpatine, who in turn manipulates him and convinces him that he has his “solution.” While Viren on the other hand, may have offered advice to Harrow to “do what he must” over his own dilemma, he in turn used that same advice but in a more twisted, corrupted manner. So then, both Anakin and Viren resort to darker approaches to solve their own problems and completely give in to their own darknesses.

I won’t go into deep detail about what they each did, since you can just rewatch these scenes in Revenge of the Sith and Episode 6 of TDP for that, but now I wanted to talk about how despite having the desire to save their loved ones, they ultimately caused massive harm to them. Anakin desperately did whatever he could to save Padme, but in the end, when he thought she betrayed him, he force-choked her then afterwards, she was shattered and heartbroken over his downfall that it led to her death, the very thing that Anakin tried so hard to prevent. While Viren on the other hand may have succeeded in healing and saving Soren, he grew to treat him coldly and abusively to the point where he completely damaged & even destroyed his relationship with his very son that he corrupted himself completely to save in the first place.

Even though I primarily focused on the similarities between Viren saving Soren & Anakin trying to save Padme, I also wanted to point out how similar the impacts were on Lissa and Padme as well, namely how they were both horrified when they saw what became of their husbands.

Sadly both of them ended up getting assaulted by their corrupted husbands, which then led up to the destruction of their families. And ultimately both Viren and Anakin continued on their dark paths and grew more ruthless, evil, and corrupted until they finally reached their eventual redemptions (I know not everyone thinks that Viren got redeemed but I do believe that his redemption arc was him accepting that he’s done far too much and accepting the consequences for his actions).

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So far these are the thoughts that I have on which Dragon Prince characters/relationships I think compare best to which Star Wars ones. And I know that Claudia would also be a good comparison to Anakin since she too struggles a lot with loss and refuses to let go, but at the same time, I see her still being in Anakin’s early villain phase during Revenge of the Sith, not yet having reached the Vader levels that we see during the Original Trilogy era. The way I see Vader & Viren relationships with Luke and Callum’s characters, it’s that the former two represent what the latter two fear of becoming if they do not overcome their dark sides.

But to answer my questions in the header, I do not think that Callum is bound to be on the same path as Viren or that he will let himself be consumed by darkness. Season 6 dealt with his overall guilt over using dark magic, his fear of being consumed by it/being used as by Aaravos, and ultimately his choice to purify himself of his darkness and understanding the consequences of doing dark magic again beforehand. Just as many protagonists get put through the wringer in their final battles, but ultimately persevere and do the right thing, I do believe that Callum will win and not fall victim to his temptations once again.

That’s all I have folks! Thanks for reading this far if you have! And an important friendly reminder (as mentioned already in my bio) if you have differing opinions and would like to disagree and discuss, please be sure to do so respectfully. Otherwise scroll by or I’ll be more than glad to press that block button! 😊🙌🏽

(Screenshot+caption of Lissa scene by @stuck-in-jelly)

[kiss-me-muchoo]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 || 𝐊𝐲𝐥𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐧 𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

part one: the albatross

part two: little old her

part three: no name yet

Summary_ As the force awakens, what you know as the truth starts to crumble and the sudden change of emotions for Kylo Ren also interfere with your destiny.

Warnings_ age gap? lol (reader 20, Kylo 28), slowburn, ? to almost lovers to enemies to lovers xd, eventual angst, fluff and dramaaa

A/N_ this is exactly how I imagine myself in the Skywalker Saga bye. song recs: the albatross (Taylor Swift) and psycho (EMM).

♪ ♫ my Adam playlist (awful) ✰ index (masterlist/ other works there)

⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺ ⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺ ⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺ ⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺ ⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺

There was a crack in the glass. A straight line was visible in the glass separating you from the stars. Was it dangerous enough to break the whole thing with pressure? Not your business. You had been part of the First Order long enough to know that by the next days over, that crack was going to be gone. They cared a lot about their surroundings. No wonder why their floors were always shiny and squeaky.

A pair of boots can be heard. You remain looking at the glass. The pair of boots do not sound squeaky against the black floors. These are angry steps, confident and threatening.

“You were expected to lead a division of stormtroopers along Phasma. I was clear enough about meeting you in Jakku” Kylo Ren says through his well-known modulated voice. You can hear his breathing, he’s angry.

In four years of knowing him, you got used to his terrible anger control. So you remained calm. Or at least tried to do so.

“And you knew that I had an important dinner in Canto Bight. Supreme Leader Snoke said you were notified of my departure.” You respect him, a lot. But ever since you were saved by The First Order at eleven years old, Snoke told you to cover your face until you were old enough to show your face to the galaxy. Whatever that meant, you obeyed him. And refused to turn around and face the masked man. On rare occasions, you had seen his face, as well for him. It was a weird dynamic.

“Supreme Leader Snoke might have the last word, but you always come and report to me first, not him.” You sigh, tired of never being able to get a compliment from him. Four years, and you feel like time has slowly passed. You have so much to give, but nothing to rely on that thought.

“This is the last time I want to hear about you not following my command. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Master Ren.”

There’s more. You already know that little pause he tends to make before adding more.

“Dinner is over, get changed and ready. The map to Skywalker is in a droid, it should be back with us soon.”

He leaves and you finally turn, looking at his tall and imposing figure walking away. Then you look down, checking at your dress, all black and covering you. You liked feeling dressed up, wearing heels, using exotic makeup, and letting your hair free. But you weren’t a fancy woman of Canto Bight, you were a force user with a military ranking in The First Order. You were a young woman who knew nothing other than lies, which remained unknown to you. But not for so long…

…

You look at General Hux and your master arguing once again. The BB unit droid being unable to be found was transforming into a big issue for everyone. You hadn’t had time to train, you just looked at your superiors sending daggers through each other’s eyes. When Ren left, you walked towards Hux. You notice how tense and tired he is, holding his serious and professional facade as long as he can.

“How can you stand him after all this time? I’ve been here longer than him, but I haven’t known him long enough like you” The red-haired man makes a face of disgust at your words.

“I’ve learned to not care enough, I just care about Snoke preferring my techniques rather than his. After all, he is just the Supreme Leader’s puppet” You frown, but you then remember. Snoke took Ben Solo under his wing, there was no Kylo Ren before. You were still eleven when he joined, he had killed the original leader of the knights of Ren and everyone started fearing him. Except for Hux who was just starting to lead his father’s legacy at the time.

“Do you think I’m a puppet as well?” Hux shrugs, then looks at you. He has known you since you were a teenager and he was a young adult. For some reason, he knows you very well.

“I cannot tell what you are to Snoke. But you are Ren’s albatross” he says, making you smile. You avoided causing trouble, but it was evident that all you did was annoy your master, instead of bonding with him like you wanted. Because Phasma was not mean to you, Hux was something like a friend, but you wanted to not feel alone. You wanted to feel the warmth of a bond.

“All I want is from him is to not make me feel like a burden”

“Stop caring about what he thinks. Your goal should be to prove yourself to Snoke”

Maybe he’s right.

…

Hux's advice keeps coming back to your thoughts. You shut your thoughts to your master, who is sitting beside you, piloting a ship.

“Was the next step in my training necessary to be outside of the Starkiller base?” Later that day, Ren and you met with Snoke. His hologram assured you were ready to take another step in your training. Then your master literally dragged you to a ship and quietly started a route unknown to you.

“Yes.” He says uninterested, mask fixated on the control of the ship.

“Oh.”

He takes a small glimpse of you. Your black attire partially covers your face with a delicate transparent fabric, it was difficult to see if he had given you bruises over the years of training. You have sad eyes, and he can’t help but feel a little like the cause of it. He doesn’t hate you like you believe. It just was so fucking difficult to have someone under his mentorship when Kylo Ren himself still felt like his training wasn’t over.

“Can you still see your surroundings if you cover your eyes with that thing?” He suddenly asks, making you frown in confusion.

“Uhh… yes. Why?”

“It’ll be better if you cover your whole face when we get to our destination?” He made you believe it was to be in disguise but actually, it was because he was taking you to a place that was used by ancient Jedis. Snoke couldn’t know where the mission happened, just that it was completed. He was taken there by his father when he was a kid. Ren knew he shouldn't be there, but something from the place was calling him.

“Oh, okay.” You limit yourself to say. He nods and you know you are in Dantooine once he enters the planet. There is an orange sunset covering the empty land. It was only a field that you saw after your master carefully and perfectly landed the ship.

“Master Ren, this is beautiful.” You say as soon as your boots touch the yellow grass, breathing the fresh and almost pure air.

“This isn’t the reason why I brought you here”

He can see some strands of your hair flying around the edges of the fabric covering your face. He can sense you are in a state of pure relaxation. It surprises him to see you like this. Even he feels… peace?

“Aren’t we gonna train here?” He sighs under his helmet.

“Follow me.” He guides you towards the little mountain. It’s a simple hike. At the top, there’s a curve and the entrance of a cave. He gestures for you to walk inside. It confuses you enough to frown and stop moving.

“You want me to go in?” You just know he is rolling his eyes inside the helmet.

“Correct. You go alone and pick a crystal. Remember… you’ll know once it’s calling you” You can’t hide your surprise. But knowing who your master is, you just nod, entering the cave. The day you would build your lightsaber was coming, but it shocked you to know it was already happening.

As soon as you start venturing inside the cave, some crystals start sparkling in blue, yellow, dark green, purple, and indigo. The force feels incredibly strong inside the cave. And you know that isn’t how the dark side feels. It was peace, balance, order. Some blue crystals shine brighter than others. But finally, one starts pulling you towards it. It’s a bright green, like lime and mint mixed. It was beautiful, it transmitted a feeling of wisdom. Your hand touched it, and a shiver ran through your spine. The voice of a man clearly echoed suddenly.

The light is closer than you know, y/n.

You pulled the crystal quickly and looked around, the cave became dark, as all the crystals stopped shining, except for the one in your hands.

That wasn’t the voice of Ren. Perhaps it was just the cave. But it felt very personal. Almost like the voice knew you.

When you get out of the cave, it’s almost dark. What you thought it was a couple of minutes had actually been almost an hour. And Ren is there, holding his helmet in his hand. His face takes you aback. Sometimes you forget he is also a human like you.

He glares at you and starts looking, probably for the crystal. So you show it to him.

You know what's next, and honestly, you weren’t ready.

“This is where I suppose I have to make it bleed” Kylo almost wants you to keep the crystal-like it is, it was certainly beautiful. And your happiness was resulting infectious.

“Do it when you’re alone. It’s not easy to do so, you need to concentrate…”

“And let the pain take over me, I know, master,” you say, almost angry at him suddenly. You just hated the process. It was enough to feel alone already.

“I can help you… If you want.” The fabric in your face had been brushed aside, showing most of your features. Ren sees each mole, the dryness in your lips, the hope in your eyes. And he understood you just wanted someone to bond with. He felt it a while ago, a little after you two officially met and started working together, but he wasn’t just ready to share anything of himself. Yet, when you stare at his full lips, sad eyes, and non-expressive face, he knows he can have a potential ally staring at him in that empty valley.

“I would like that…” he nods, starting to go down the little mountain once again.

“Wait, master Ren” he turns to face you.

“When I touched the crystal, I heard a voice, it was a man. I thought it was the cave, but it just felt weird, like it was meant to be for me”

“What did the voice say?” He asks you to stay quiet. He senses you are unsure whether to tell him or not. He walks back again, staying just inches away from you.

“You can tell me…” he meant it, staring through your lashes, he expects your answer.

“That…that the light was closer than I know” you admit looking at the hem of his black robes.

“I’ve felt it too, a pull towards the light” his words leave you shocked. You gulp, blinking a few times before staring at his brown eyes again.

“We can’t fail…” the way you said, it made him feel like… he wasn’t alone.

…

The room is cold, and dark and has a peculiar smell of humid rocks. Snoke appears in a hologram form, sitting on a throne that makes him look impossibly taller.

“Dear child, What is it that has your thoughts running unstable?” His raspy voice echoes everywhere, you focus on his face, trying to see anything, but Snoke has never shown signs of emotion.

“We haven’t received any news from the ambush in Takodana…” Your voice trembles a little bit, and Snoke notices it.

“You are quickly caring too much for your master suddenly”

Busted.

“I want to care for him… and as much as I hate to admit it, I want him to care for me” you accept, looking down, embarrassed.

“But of course, you need to build a connection with your master. Is there anything conflicting with you?” You certainly don’t want to tell him about the incident in the cave. But you know the supreme leader must’ve already sensed it.

“When I was searching for the crystal for my lightsaber, a voice called me, saying that light was closer than I knew. Supreme leader… What could that possibly mean?”

“When I found you, my dear child, your home was already a living hell. But the lands where you came from were once filled with so much light. Your roots will always call you, it is in yourself to keep being on the right path” It might have been a comment, but it felt like a threat. A warning that you had to remain faithful to the dark side.

“Go and find your master. Gain his trust and guide each other towards your mutual goal; finding Skywalker and destroying the hope of the Jedi.” You nod, lowering your head as his hologram disappears.

In the silence of that empty room, you meditate on what just happened.

Your inner voice was clear; Snoke was keeping some details to himself. You never thought of your past. You lounged a family because you knew you had one, but… it didn’t matter anymore. Only that the curiosity was inevitably growing.

Quietly you leave the room. The hallways of the base are filled with troopers walking and moving in different directions.

They came back from Takodana.

You start walking faster, pacing till you stumble upon a dark tall known figure. Kylo Ren looked incredibly intimidating with the mask and hood together. He gestures to you to go inside an empty planning room and you open the door. He was looking for you too.

He follows quietly, closing the same door. His hands remove his helmet and place it on a table. You are just analyzing each movement he does.

“Did you get the map?” you ask straight to the point. Ren actually wanted to ask if you had finished building your saber. But you had other questions.

“In a certain way, yes.” You cross your arms, confused at him.

“Can you be more specific?”

“The scavenger, she has seen the map.” you huff in disbelief.

“What? You brought a dirty scavenger instead of the droid?” his face covered in moles sighs, quickly losing patience, you can tell.

“I’ll take the map from her”

“Don’t underestimate that girl. She has been able to get away so far, she might be more dangerous than we thought” he rolls his eyes.

“Stop it.”

“This is nonsense. We were supposed to have the actual map with us and-“

“ENOUGH!” He yells, his hand rises and you are quick to suppress his use of the force, making him bend half of a chair that was near.

Shocked, you realize he was going to choke you. Anger quickly builds up, and Hux’s advice rings into your head; Stop caring about what he thinks. Your goal should be to prove yourself to Snoke.

“You are my master but I will never be tired to remind everyone I’ve been here long enough to know what is convenient for us and what isn’t. You just might have invited the whole Resistance to the base and it won’t be my fault, Master Ren.” You push past him and you leave the room slamming the door. You take off the fabric in your face out of anger.

Some minutes pass and you are still mad. He was such an asshole. Always giving you the cold shoulder instead of listening to you. You were younger, but you had almost the same training from Snoke as him. Ren was difficult and very stubborn. Whoever was the famous scavenger, you could feel she was going to be a problem.

Out of nowhere Phasma appears, holding a blaster and looking down at you.

“Lieutenant y/n, your command is required by General Hux” You nod, calming yourself as you start walking with the woman. You pass near the throne room and you are able to hear Snoke and Kylo’s voices. You stop Phasma and she seems taken aback, but soon you tell her to hear and she relaxes.

“We’re going to get caught” she whispers. The woman was known to be on her business and on no one else’s.

“I’ll be quick” you whisper back.

Then Snoke starts saying Kylo is going weak. He reminds your master about his father; the infamous Han Solo. That the scavenger resisted him and that he isn’t putting your training on his priorities.

You hear Kylo say he always thinks back on you. And you know you shouldn’t have blushed or felt your heart racing, but you did. He made it sound like he cared for you.

“There are many mysteries surrounding us that she must not know,” Snoke says and it triggers you. Thankfully Phasma pulls you away and forces you to keep walking. Probably just in time so Kylo wouldn’t see you overhearing.

Snoke isn’t telling you everything. Ren knows something too.

“Everyone heard your argument with Commander Ren,” Phasma says teasing, but also commenting to warn you. It didn’t surprise you that the argument was loud. Any argument with Kylo ends up being in the news of the First Order. Also, Phasma doesn’t say anything about the conversation you two just overheard.

“I’m getting tired of being his apprentice. I want to succeed by myself, not by being his shadow.”

“Your time will come. A little treason wouldn’t hurt. Everyone here is dying to escalate in ranking” she admits. You look at her chrome helmet with curiosity.

“You seem happy with your position forever”

“I am.” Phasma must’ve been smiling under the helmet.

She disappears as soon as you both reach the command center.

Hux is there, along with other officials who monitor the aftermath of the weapon that had just attacked the Republic.

“The girl escaped and Ren must be angrier than ever,” the red-haired man says looking straight at you, with his hands behind his back.

“She is force sensitive…” Hux nods.

“I knew this was bad. I told Master Ren, but he didn’t listen…” An anxious feeling starts creeping into your stomach.

“Yes. And thanks to his little outburst and obsession with the girl, we are closely monitoring if we have a sudden attack from the Rebels” Once again, you sigh.

The feeling in your stomach grows, making you frown. Hux also frowns, caressing your shoulder.

“Are you alright?” You feel a sudden pain in your chest and you describe it. It was Kylo, someone he loved who died. It had to be his father or mother.

“Something's off, I can feel it” you manage to say. At the same time, a loud explosion is heard, the floor is assaulted by a little tremor and alarms start sounding.

You exchange worried looks with Hux and both run to see what just happened.

The chaos quickly envelops the Starkiller base, there are troopers moving everywhere, officers getting in and out to report things to you and Hux. And still, you are only thinking about your master. Was he safe?

Your guts were telling you he wasn’t safe.

With the invasion of the Rebels, everything was getting trickier.

“We need to evacuate. The base is about to collapse, lava is going to consume the surroundings at any time” Hux says hurriedly.

“I won’t leave without Ren. I will go for him!” before you can leave, the man grabs your forearm.

“Be quick, a boarding ship will be waiting for you both… but not for long” You nod, offering a serious smile before leaving.

The base was enormous, you had no idea where could Ren be. Each step feels unsure because you don’t know where you’re going, you try to concentrate but the constant explosions and screams from people entering in panic don’t help at all.

Master Ren, please, guide me towards you, you repeat in your head, hoping he’d hear.

Through the wide crystals, you can see TIEs and X-Wings flying around, and you grow impatient.

You stop when another tremor comes. Holding onto a wall, you close your eyes, trying to reach for Ren one last time.

You call him. Doesn’t matter if he doesn’t want your help, or if he’s mad at you for yelling, you just know you don’t want to leave the base without him.

Snow, droplets of blood in the white snow. The scream of a woman and the sound of sabers colliding.

He answered.

…

The lava makes you hurry, time is running out. The snow is fresh, it makes your boots sink and turn your steps slower. The beating of your heart grows as you distantly see a purple light, created by a blue and a red lightsaber.

They don’t notice you yet, but you are able to see a man unconscious near the woman fighting your master; the scavenger.

She’s skilled, fearless and you have to admit it impressed you. But the thought is quickly gone when you arrive, witnessing how the woman sliced your master’s face.

“KYLO!” You scream in horror when he falls, dropping his saber. The woman turns to look at you and you send her flying, making her skull collide against a rock. You run towards the man and kneel beside him.

His face was covered in blood, it was a deep wound, part of his attire was ripped, and you could see his shoulder bleeding.

“I’m here… I’m here.” Your desperate attempts to make him gain stability fail. But he slowly blinks, holding onto your hip to clear his vision and stop feeling like everything is spinning. His face hurts, his head pulses and he feels on the verge of fainting. But he’s able to clearly see your face. You came to help him.

“I’m not leaving without you.” You say touching his chin, trying to calm him.

A lightsaber ignites and you know the scavenger was still there. Your little moment of vulnerability was enough to make her recover.

You stand, turning to face her. She looks pissed, desperate to run, but so you are.

You grab your freshly made lightsaber. It’s dark chrome and with tiny details that resemble constellations and stars. And it’s cold, but soon turns warm when you ignite it, revealing a red double-sided saber.

The scavenger runs, confident that she will attack and target you. But you’re quick, you remember Kylo saying you had the ability to use your reflects too quickly.

The double sides of your weapon trigger the young woman, who is already tired. You can see how she huffs annoyed. But you take that to your advantage. You keep hitting her blue saber until she starts giving up. She is conflicted, she is a nobody, and you can feel how alone she has been.

Her weaknesses are your strength, and in the blink of an eye, you have burned her leg, making her scream and fall. And before you can do anything, a trail of lava appears, and the whole base is about to disappear. The scavenger gives one last curious look before running away. And finally giving you time to run back to Kylo, who is still breathing and wants to fall unconscious.

“Stay awake, hold onto me. We need to get to the boarding ship to leave” he seems to have nodded, his strong arms feel heavy and weak. It’s difficult to walk with his massive weight relying most of it on you.

With each step, he keeps leaving a little trail of blood. You need to hurry, the snow is slowly melting, drenching your boots.

Kylo is in shock, he tries to process everything but he can’t, because it isn’t over, he needs to get to that ship. But somehow, he holds onto you. He feels slightly better knowing that you came for him. That you are guiding him through the woods.

To him, the sudden change of getting closer to you was abrupt. He wasn’t used to talking much or looking out for someone. Not even with his knights.

He succeeded for a long time having no issues with you. But now, you dragged his body into the ship, his body lying and a droid immediately checking him. He hears distant voices and through blurred vision, he sees you talking with Hux.

He overheard the annoying General saying how much of a trouble you were for him. You started twisting his thoughts, the need to feel closer to you, the attraction towards the light. Hux was right.

You were Kylo Ren’s albatross.

_______________________________________________

To keep going with this mini series or not lol

[charmwasjess]

If Lucasfilm hires you to develop a project what do you pitch?

(Happy Thanksgiving btw 🦃)

Forgive me o’ Geode, friend and sender of fun asks, but the pitch would be me asking to use the restroom and then sneaking out through an open window.

I know! I know! What a boring answer! That sounds so cynical and unfun! Jess LOVES Star Wars content!! So why is she crying?!

Problem is, I think I would want to pitch The Acolyte. 

Of course, I disagree with Leslye Headland’s take on the Jedi Order completely. But I can’t say I didn’t have fun with that show, or that I wouldn’t have tried to do the exact same thing she did with some meaningful differences: get a Jedi-centric story away from the Skywalker Saga, explore weird places, make it dark and edgy and sexy, diverse leads, LGTBQIA+ characters treated like real characters, big tasty lightsaber fights. And it would get cancelled just like The Acolyte did, as none of the things I wanted to fix about the show were the reasons for its failure. 

I don’t think it’s just Star Wars, by the way. It is ROUGH out there for creative people working on projects, big or small. The industry is changing in ways that are still being realized as stories change to franchises which change to corporate properties managing streaming conglomerates. I imagine it will get a great deal worse before it gets better as companies start to cheap out on AI. I’ve talked to Netflix producers, friends who write for Marvel projects, and closer to home, my partner just realized the creative dream of a lifetime: the book he’s worked on for seven years got published by THE publisher in his scene. It’s a success! His fans are fantastic! The reviews are great! He’s sold so many copies so quickly that he would qualify for NYT bestsellers criteria if they listed his genre. His experience with the process was like pulling fucking teeth. He was unsupported with the book on every level by his publishers, fought for every good decision, and the whole process was exhausting and demoralizing.  

I can’t imagine how quickly the dream turns into a nightmare for someone taking on a Lucasfilm project, getting the chance to tell a story they’re deeply passionate about, and then it fails utterly for reasons entirely outside of their control.  

Anyway, without invoking Apollo’s red ball, I do want to talk about a Dooku: Jedi Lost adaptation for a second. Because of course, imagining well done cinematic scenes of certain favorite moments in that book - the Tirra ‘taka or Sifo-Dyas’s sandstorm while Dooku’s blue blade is just cutting down foes left and right - make my nips so hard they just break off and go flying around the room, smashing up the furniture. It’s impossible not to dream “well, what if they just did it really well?” 

But here’s where I think it falls apart. Regardless of how you view the platonic or romantic nature of Sifo-Dyas and Dooku's relationship, a good half the book is two male characters having intimate, affirming conversations about their feelings. Can you imagine a Star Wars property where the male leads look at each other and say lines like “you’re here. With me.” or the whole “I’m in.” “I”m in” exchange as their ship literally falls burning from the sky? Disney would probably turn it into a lightsaber fight, and yeah, I’d reblog the shit out of those gifs, but I think it would erase something core that I love in the narrative that is perfectly captured in the medium it’s in right now. Something tender and understated and rare.

....And even if they captured that aspect perfectly, part of the “fandom” that hadn’t seen a Star Wars film since May 2005 would bleat “woke” and complain that their wife left them because someone (me) ruined Count Dooku.

[thewriterowl]

Chapter Fourteen: The Trials

Luke’s self-promised timeframe for his father is coming to an end and it does not seem like Anakin Skywalker is ready to break free from the grasp of Palpatine nor the Dark-side. Now fearing for his own safety, unable to trust his father, fourteen-year-old Luke does something thought to be impossible that changes the whole of the Force itself...a change that may become uncontrollable and more dangerous than originally believed.

Running into familiar, and unfamiliar, faces in the next step of his journey, Luke's own sanity is starting to fray as he questions every move he makes and realizes the depth of depravity the Empire will take to find him.

--

Moonblight update! :D Man I missed writing this fic. Hopefully it will stay fluid and easy to do for a while. It's fun and a great way to vent lol

Read the tags again this time too! There are still some horror elements and PTSD and just a lot. It should ease up next chapter as this is final bit of this "trial saga" but I want people to be aware of what may happen/be mentioned if you have any triggers!

I hope you enjoy! Please let me know what you think!

[clover-blossom]

ANIDALA FIC RECOMMENDATIONS- Part 1*

Realized I inadvertently left off several great fics. Stay tuned for Part 2!

Snowbaird has inspired me to revisit a favorite ship from my younger years. Inspired by @burntblueberrywaffles list, I put together one of my favorites. The vast majority of these are on ff.net BUT BUT BUT remember you can convert them here for download to your Kindle.

The Anakin Saga by geo3

A five part series published before all the prequels were released (so this is an OG). The first two are one shots. The last three are multi-chapter.

The Hour of Souls

The padawan and the Senator find that it is very difficult to be in love when everyone is watching and a shadowy figure is pulling strings....

Step into My Parlor

At the end of Episode II, why, oh why did they let Anakin travel back to Naboo with Padme? It turns out that a certain Dark Lord had something to do with it...

Children of Circumstance

A story about Anakin, his love and his path.

Winds of Change

Early days of the fall... Anakin's path after he is secretly married and returns to the Temple.

Ring of Fire

The final story in the Anakin Saga Series.

Living a Lie by Leah Naberrie

After the forbidden wedding, the reality of living a lie hits the Skywalkers. 

Slight of Hand and Twist of Fate by irnan

"I suppose we should just be grateful they're not planning to televise the investigations," Anakin grouses. "Hmm," Obi-Wan says, too busy playing with Leia to answer him

Purgatory by HelenT

As if the comment Obi-Wan had made to Luke about Anakin ‘dying’ when he became Darth Vader was literally true, a newly dead Vader wakes in a strange world—as a twenty-three year old again. Post ROTJ

Kratisto by Irnan

Collection of ficlets about Anakin Skywalker

Pulse by froovygirl

AU for ROTS. As Padme's life hangs in the balance on Mustafar, a stream of brilliant light causes Anakin to reconsider his choices.

Into the Archives by skygawker

After hearing the legend of Darth Plagueis the Wise from Palpatine, Anakin decides that his best chance to save Padme is to break into the restricted Holocron Vault of the Temple Archives to search for information about Plagueis. Predictably, all does not go according to plan. Revenge of the Sith AU.

No Real Affection  by Meredith Bronwen Mallory 

After the second attempt on Padme's life, the young senator and Anakin find themselves getting to know each other again.

Underneath by CrazyAni

After feroscious duel on Mustafar, ObiWan Kenobi and Darth Vader are given a chance to go back and save Anakin. The Force sends them back to the past, but they wake up in each other's bodies...RotS AU*

*unfinished but worth a read

Part 2

[generalpierrotdameron]

👉 Renew the Acolyte - Sign the petition!

For all the inconsistency the studio has had with its release schedule, there’s one area in particular Lucasfilm has been largely consistent on for the worse: its inability to speak out and defend its creative talent from bad faith attacks and harassment. Ever since The Last Jedi created a moment in the “culture war,” any Star Wars project that even vaguely makes aspersions to questioning the series or fronts diverse talent has faced withering waves of bad-faith assaults about the so-called “woke agenda.” [...] Ahead of The Acolyte‘s release, Lucasfilm’s president Kathleen Kennedy made a big to-do about supporting the series should it face similar campaigns, considering its diverse lead cast and its status as the rare Star Wars series showrun by a woman. “Operating within these giant franchises now, with social media and the level of expectation—it’s terrifying,” Kennedy said in a May New York Times profile. “I think Leslye [Headland, The Acolyte’s showrunner] has struggled a little bit with it. I think a lot of the women who step into Star Wars struggle with this a bit more. Because of the fan base being so male dominated, they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be quite personal.” And yet, Lucasfilm again remained silent when the series and its creatives, especially Headland and lead star Amandla Stenberg, were subjected to multiple waves of targeted harassment over its purported “breaking” of Star Wars continuity [...] or how the show’s approach to the Force did not align with certain preconceived notions. The fact that the show’s abrupt end has sparked a wave of celebrations by certain online circles (including Elon Musk, of all people) over how the series was an example of “go woke, go broke” speaks to how thoroughly unprepared Lucasfilm remains when it comes to addressing Star Wars‘ volatile presence in the ongoing culture war. [...] Making movies and TV is hard, especially in the moments of tumult studios find themselves currently in—even a studio backed by the fully armed and operational firepower of Disney, as Lucasfilm is. Plans will shift and change all the time, series won’t perform well and come to an end, things will be announced, scrapped, or pushed back constantly. Star Wars is certainly no exception to this rule, just as it hasn’t been in the years since The Rise of Skywalker. No doubt as Lucasfilm returns to the convention circuit with next year’s Star Wars Celebration in Japan, we’ll get to hear a little more about some of that future, both immediate and further on. And again, there’s similarly little doubt that much of that future will remain in flux. But the abrupt decision over The Acolyte puts the franchise at a grim crossroads going forward: a future where Star Wars is even timidly experimental in the face of cultural grifting and finding a place for itself beyond the stories of the mainline movies, or a future where it places all of its focus on mining the one particular vein that’s worked since the end of the Skywalker Saga that prioritizes the familiar above much of anything else.

[alverrann]

I was thinking the other day, and listening to these songs - comparing and contrasting the death themes of two of the most iconic characters from two of the most iconic franchises, and how their themes reflect the themes of the franchises themselves.

Vader's (which starts at 42 seconds in)

And Spock's

John Williams did a masterful job with Vader's theme. It gives us tragedy, introspection, a warning against falling to the dark side ... a feeling of longing - a longing for peace, and a pale reflection of his his earlier themes (notice the descending scale in the back, bringing the power of the Imperial March down to its very lowest - letting us see behind the mask musically as well as physically)

James Horner worked just as brilliantly on Spock's death theme, which denotes a peace that already exists - a certainty of thought and knowledge that transcends one's own desires, because there are greater things than oneself and they are worth dying for (with ascending scales in the back, giving it a hopeful, almost uplifting feeling. Though there's still a soft tragedy there - I would even say gentle - as Kirk says goodbye)

It would be impossible to really talk about their themes without mentioning the one that they share, and that is sacrifice. Though both of them come at it from different angles, they are ultimately giving their lives for the ones that they love.

We know as an audience that Spock would give up his life for any innocent, but that does nothing to diminish the gravity and the import of his sacrifice. He cared for his crew just as he cared for Kirk and McCoy, and we don't begrudge him the love that he feels for them any more than we begrudge them their reactions.

On the opposite end we have Vader, who wouldn't have sacrificed himself for anyone but Luke, which is part of what makes the breaking of Palpatine's shackles so immensely satisfying to watch. Luke succeeded where no one else did, correct that Anakin Skywalker was still alive, and - somewhere deep down - was still a Jedi.

And then their funeral themes

Vader's is the Force theme, which is the through-line for the whole saga

A reminder that we're all connected and that death isn't the end

Vs Spock's Amazing Grace, which reflects gratitude for life, and hope for the future

And it ends with an echo of his earlier death theme, just in case you weren't already crying

Even the lighting of the scenes kind of complement each other. Vader's is all dark but for the fire, the flames of his pyre licking the black of his suit and illuminating the look of longing/loss on Luke's face

And Spock's is all dark but for the Enterprise (and any shots done in the ship, ofc, all of his mourning family and friends) as his body is launched to the planet, which turns just enough to show the star behind it

Anyway.

Just some thoughts I was having as I listened.

[avocadotoast0]

You know the cancellation was a mistake when even traders and big publishers are saying the show should be given a chance and is worth the risk. A lot of Star Wars fans are probably exhausted of the endless milking of the Skywalker saga, and The Acolyte was the perfect opportunity to usher in a new, independent era.

They had a show that could have taken Star Wars to new heights and drawn in a broader audience, as many people started watching Star Wars for the first time because of it. This show had the potential to finally break free from George Lucas's shadow and the nostalgia-driven focus on his characters—but instead, they let some men on YouTube scare them away from it.

[vibrantbirdy]

No Survivors: Kylo Ren x Female Reader Fic

Title: No Survivors Fandom: Star Wars: Skywalker Saga Genres: Sci-Fi; Action/Adventure; Enemies to (almost) Allies; Hurt/Comfort; Romance if you squint Setting: Pre The Force Awakens Characters: Kylo Ren x Female Reader Chapters: 1/1 (Complete) Word Count: 3k Warnings: Detailed (probably inaccurate) descriptions of injury/aftermath of injury (non-fatal impalement); descriptions of (probably inaccurate) emergency/makeshift medical treatment; mild descriptions of death from a crashed ship; mild sexuality; mild/canon typical swearing

Summary: You are Resistance fighter who has been captured. You are in transit aboard a First Order transport destined for an Imperial prison on the swamp moon of Delka 6. When a violent electromagnetic storm brings down the ship, you appear to be the only survivor. That is until you come across Supreme Leader Snoke's primary warlord, Kylo Ren, amid the wreckage. The volatile Ren is injured and you have to decide whether you can put your reservations aside to help him in the aftermath of the crash.

You open your eyes and your vison is blurry. Your head pounds. As the world languishes into focus, you realise that you are staring up at the clear night's sky.

But something is wrong. The constellations look strange tonight. Where is Sheyn's bow? And why does Terrin's saber have several stars missing from its hilt?

Slowly, you realise you are not lying on the soft grass in the meadow by your family's farm. Your sister is not here beside you. You are not laughing as you star gaze together and make up silly names for your own constellations.

Pekka's left knee. Channa's wonky nose.

You are not at home on Bakura at all.

Instead, you are wet through and frozen to your bones. You are lying in a marshy puddle, and sharp, thick reeds are stabbing uncomfortably into your flesh. Your saturated clothes are plastered unpleasantly to your cold skin. With each inhale, the damp smell of rot and sodden earth fills your nostrils. A cloud of tiny insects swarm around your face and bite at your skin, feasting on your blood. Then, you notice that your ankle is throbbing dully. You sit up to examine it, cringing and shivering as filthy bog water drips from the tangled mess of your soaking wet hair and down your back.

Not broken. Good.

The fuzzy outline of your memories start to take shape. This must be Delka 6, your destination. You remember the storm already raging as the prison transport juddered through orbit and into the moon's atmosphere. The sky alight with white fire flashing violently through the slit of a window in your cell. You hear the shouts and cries of others, the unholy metal screeching cacophony of the ship as rips itself apart around you spiral down helplessly into the black abyss.

You must have been thrown clear of the wreckage.

The transport had been moderately sized, equipped for long journeys with living quarters and communal areas for the Troopers and cells for twenty prisoners. Only six of these were filled by the time you reached Delka 6.

You didn't know any of them, at least not to begin with. But stuck with nothing else to do in a miserable cell for days on end, you'd joined in sharing tales through the bars with the rest of them. Stories of your family and friends and life before the First Order when you thought you might one day complete your medical training and become a doctor.

Your heart breaks for the lives lost. God speed rebels. Brave men and women of the Resistance, fighting the good fight, just like you.

That is until a botched recon job on a backwater world in the Outer Rim lead the First Order right to you...

You spot a flash of brilliant white a few meters in front of you, shocking against the grim landscape. You realise it's the helmet of a Stormtrooper, broken and smashed and sullied by the thick mud. You're surprised to feel a twang of of unexpected sympathy for the Trooper and his fallen comrades.

As you stagger to your feet, you wander aimlessly for a time, feet sinking and sticking in the marsh. Amongst the debris you come across the bodies of more Stormtroopers and fellow prisoners alike.

Here and there, fuel fires still burn ferociously, eerie little funeral pyres in the dark water.

Suddenly, a drawn out howl of pain and rage echoes across the marsh. You spin around, trying to pinpoint the location of the cry and spot a torn-off section of the transport.

You wade through the bog. It's unpleasant, especially with your aching ankle which complains as you have to rip it free of cloying, stinking mud with every step.

As you reach the remnant of the the vessel, you have to duck and weave under sparking wires and clamber over and under pieces of jagged metal. When you finally make it inside, the interior is surprisingly intact - an officer's personal quarters - and it's an odd and surreal juxtaposition to the hellish wasteland outside.

A tall young man, about your own age is half sitting, half lying on his bed. He is barefoot, clothed in simple sleeping attire of three-quarter length black pants and a loose long sleeved shirt.

He has a full head of thick, shaggy raven hair which falls in waves around his long, interesting face. His prominent, aquiline nose sits well with his other features - deep set eyes, full lips and a sharp well-defined jawline.

Under normal circumstances you would have considered him to be handsome, but you recognise him immediately even without his fearsome mask.

Kylo Ren.

You've heard the stories. Ren is Supreme Leader Snoke's formidable dark apprentice. Powerful with the Force, an elemental warrior driven by a mixture of blistering internal rage and radical First Order doctrine.

It all makes sense now. The strange, tense atmosphere between the Stormtroopers on the ship. They'd been so uptight, hardly deigning even to making a passing jest at the expense of their prisoners. All because Ren had been on the transport. Kriff knows why he needed to visit a backwater swamp like Delka 6.

Ren is propped up at an uncomfortable angle as if he has been interrupted while rising from the bed. Oddly, he is framed by a variety of metal spikes, as if the bed has been designed to resemble some dark, otherworldly throne.

After a moment, you realise that these spikes are actually durasteel rods from the ship's internal frame work. They must have slammed through the wall of Ren's sleeping quarters on crash impact.

With a jolt of horror, you suddenly understand that one rod is jutting upwards through his back and out through his left shoulder.

Ren is panting with exertion, breathing hard through his teeth. His brow is ridged in a deep furrow of pain. Sweat is dripping from tendrils of black hair into wild, anguished eyes and down his neck.

Sensing your presence, he looks up at you. His face is unguarded and softened by distress. In this moment, he appears disarmingly like any other young man.

"Please," he says quietly.

His tone is low and firm, but it is filled with a humility you don't expect. Still, you hesitate in the doorway, saying nothing. Your resolve solidifies and you stare coldly at him, wondering at the Universe's poetic sense of justice.

Ren's face hardens. Any hint of vulnerability present in his expression vanishes in an instant. His eyes darken like storm clouds as he comprehends that you are not going to help him out of his well deserved predicament.

He turns his attention back to the rod embedded in his shoulder . He puffs out his cheeks and gives a long, juddering exhale through his lips before wrapping two large, shaking hands around the pole and wrenching upwards.

It budges, but marginally, the slight movement serving only to send a new wave of agony tearing through his body. Ren snarls in pain and slams his head back against the wall in frustration, eyes squeezed shut.

After a moment, he plants both palms flat against the mattress and draws his knees up towards his body, positioning his feet flat on the bed below his bottom.

Your stomach lurches as you realise that in his desperation, he is going to try and push his body up and off the rod.

Kriff knows what he'll do to himself if he tries that and gets it wrong.

"Don't!" You shout out before you can help yourself, moving towards him instinctively, palms outstretched.

Ren looks up, narrowing his eyes and squinting at you, clearly startled to realise that you're still there.

You curse your medical training for kicking in automatically, but you know you can't leave him like this. As much as you'd like to. As much as it would be a fitting punishment for Snoke's war dog.

But you've made your decision. You stride over to him and put a hand on his heaving chest.

"Stop moving."

You are surprised as he immediately does as he is told. You look down into his pain clouded eyes and are surprised to find that they are not the black, emotionless pits you'd expected. There is a golden, amber light behind them and you realise that he really is just a man.

Climbing up on to the bed, you straddle Ren as if you are lovers. You rest a knee either side of his hips, sinking into the soft mattress and bringing yourself to rest gently on his lower abdomen. You are careful, but you feel his whole body vibrating with pain beneath you.

He looks surprised, but you ignore it. With how Ren is positioned and the need to avoid the other sharp pieces of metal jutting out dangerously from the wall, this really is the best and easiest way to assess the damage. You have a direct view of the exit wound in front of you, and you can appraise the entry wound in his back by leaning over his shoulder, all with a low chance of impaling yourself in the process.

Still, you can't help but feel a flash of satisfaction as his uncertain face flushes when you move around on top of him.

The placement of the wound is not the problem. There will be no permanent damage and Ren is extremely lucky that the metal didn't pierce a lung, or his heart.

If he has a heart, you think sourly.

The real issue, you realise, is that the pole is stuck fast through the back of the durasteel wall, gripped tightly in molten, twisted metal. No wonder he couldn't move it. You'll have to cut it and he'll have to pull it out in quick succession.

Now you know what you're working with, you grab the front of Ren's shirt and tear it open, revealing a chiselled torso. You can't stop the heat that creeps up into your cheeks and despite the pain he must be in, the most irritating ghost of a smirk flickers across Ren's face.

Now it's your turn to feel uncomfortable.

You strip him to the waist, carefully working the fabric away from the areas where the foreign element is impaled in his body.

"Where's your laser sword?" you ask.

"What?"

Ren speaks the word so quietly, but there is a sinister, cold edge to it. Suddenly the energy in the room feels heavy and oppressive.

"We need to cut this or you're not getting out," your words tumble from your mouth and you are furious that you've allowed this sudden change in his demeanour to ruffle you.

You clear your throat and the next time you speak, you've regained some composure.

"I haven't come across any actual medical equipment in this hell hole, so your lightsaber will have to do."

His expression is full of suspicion, but you hold his gaze defiantly. After a moment, he appears to acquiesce that he has no real choice.

"By the door."

He lifts his chin in the direction of the twisted sheet of metal that had once been the door to his quarters, and you see the weapon hanging from a belt on a hook on the wall.

Carefully, you extract yourself from Ren, trying not to hurt him further. It's difficult as the soft mattress bends and shifts under you. He places a big hand on the curve of your waist to help guide you and you try to ignore the glance that passes between you.

You walk across the room and unclasp the weapon from it's belt. You examine it, fascinated. The black hilt is an odd shape, roughly made, with its wiring exposed. It is far from the elegant thing you've heard described in the old tales of the Jedi Order.

But then, Kylo Ren is no Jedi.

You take up some of Ren's torn shirt, rip a length off and coil it into a something for him to bite down on. He looks at you, weary and resigned, before he takes it and positions it into his mouth, pliantly.

You make sure he understands that when he comes to pull the metal out, he must do it all in one go and make sure he follows the exact angle of the rod's path through his body.

You get him to sit up slightly. A growl, low and long resonates in his throat as he gingerly props himself up. The gap he has manged to make between his upper back and the wall is small, but you should be able to cut through the pole quickly without catching him with the blade.

Ren grips the base of the rod as close to the exit wound as he can. He takes a couple of deep, heaving breaths, clenches his jaw, then nods.

You flick the activation switch on the lightsaber's emitter and the laser roars into life, crackling and sputtering. You are suddenly overcome with an ugly feeling of power as you wield this deadly weapon. And you suddenly understand how vulnerable Ren is right now. Paralysed and defenceless before you. You could end his life in a second right here and no one would be any the wiser.

You'd be a hero of the Resistance... And a murderer and a coward for striking down an unarmed, wounded man.

So you don't.

Instead, you use the spluttering, fiery blade to quickly cut through the durasteel pole which impales Ren to the wall. The metal gives way like butter under a knife.

Ren doesn't hesitate. In one swift movement, he rips the pole from his shoulder as soon as you sever it. He gives a roar of anguish which hitches in his throat somewhere, and throws it across the room where it lands in a corner with a metallic clang.

Finally free, he leaps up from the bed as if distance from the place of his injury might help quiet the white hot pain flaring through his body. He staggers wildly and you step back out of the way, realising for the first time the enormity of his height. He collapses in a heap on the ground with a thud then rolls onto all fours, spitting the cloth out of his mouth.

Ren lets his forehead come to rest against the cool metal of the durasteel floor. He is gasping in deep, shuddering lungfuls of air, nostrils flaring with each ragged breath. You get the distinct impression he's trying not to throw up. His dark hair cascades about his face. One hand is pressed flush against the wound in his shoulder, the other, supporting his body weight, is clenching open and shut against the floor, fingers clawing at the metal tiles.

"Thank you," he utters, finally.

He doesn't move, he doesn't even look at you, but you are taken aback by the sincerity in his voice. He means it.

"Don't thank me yet," you snip coolly, "that's bound to get infected. Bacta spray?"

Ren shakes his head, although in his exhaustion, he doesn't bother to lift it from its resting place against the floor. The tip of his long nose graces the metal tiles with the movement. Ren is bleeding freely down his back and rivulets of crimson are seeping through his fingers where he is pressing against his shoulder. Bright red drops spatter on the metal floor.

You need to do something soon.

The hilt of Ren's lightsaber is still in your hand and you reignite it. Ren's head snaps up and you realise you've made a dangerous mistake by arming the blade without consulting him first.

You've heard stories about how he can hurt people, throw them about like ragdolls with just with his mind.

"We need to cauterize the wound," you explain quickly, "I can't see another option right now."

You think you see a shadow of panic cross his face, but he quickly composes himself and he nods once in reluctant ascent. With great effort, he pushes himself up to his knees and sits back on his heels. With resigned, laboured movements, he reaches out and picks up the throng of twisted fabric, placing it back between his teeth.

You move behind him. His shoulders rise and fall rapidly as his heart rate quickens and adrenaline surges through his body. Just a touch should do it, you don't want to cause more damage.

Grimacing with concentration, lightsaber feeling clumsy and unwieldy in your hand, you press the searing blade lightly against the entry wound in his back.

Ren throws his head backwards, muscles tensing down his long neck. A muffled scream escapes through the material in his mouth, but he doesn't move. He is gripping his knees tightly and you notice his knuckles are white.

You crouch down in front of him and prepare to cauterize the exit wound. He locks his gaze on you, the unstable red beam of his weapon dancing like fire in his golden eyes. He reaches out grasps the emitter, large hands coming to rest upon yours, enveloping them. His touch is almost gentle.

It's a silent plea for a moment to brace himself. It's back again, you realise, that sliver of humanity in his expression.

He inhales deeply, readying himself, then lets go of you. Without wasting time, you press the blistering blade against his shoulder once more.

This time he makes little sound, save for a low keening in his throat as he grits his teeth against the twisted length of fabric in his mouth. He keeps his penetrating gaze fixed on your eyes. You don't look away.

After it's done, you give him a small nod of approval and allow the trace of a smile to form on your lips. He did well.

You both sit down on the bed again and you set to work, using the rest of his tattered shirt to fashion a sub-par bandage which wraps around his wounded shoulder and across his muscled back.

"You're a medic."

It's not really a question, but a statement.

"I was," you say sharply, "before the First Order turned the hospital I was training at into ashes."

Silence.

You finish your work on his injury.

"There, try not to move it too much."

Once you've finished, he rises and you notice in alarm the way he towers above you. He looks down with an odd, appraising look on his face, as if he is trying to make a decision.

"Come with me."

You don't see how you can argue. You both clamber outside and you recoil as the stench of rotting vegetation from the swamp hits your nostrils. Still, you welcome the cool air on your face after the heat of your exertions and the metallic smell of Ren's blood.

"A rescue vessel will arrive soon," Ren states.

You say nothing. Some rescue.

"There is a settlement ten klicks west of here," he muses, almost casually.

"I came to look in to reports of a Resistance faction operating on this moon," he continues, "But having had the opportunity to thoroughly investigate, I will be able to report back to the Supreme Leader that this is no more than mere rumour. For now."

Ren turns to you. There is a smirk on his face and a spark of humour in his eyes. It makes his expression boyish and almost charming.

There it is again, you think. That light in the darkness.

You can't bring yourself to thank him. The words refuse to leave your mouth. But you do allow yourself to give him a reluctant half-smile of your own in return and an inclination of gratitude with a bob of your head.

With that, you set off across the bog and into the unknowns of Delka 6.

**************************************************

Kylo Ren watches as you limp westwards across the marsh. You disappeared into a cover of stunted trees and out of his sight.

Behind him, a Lambda shuttle descends. He holds the emitter of his lightsaber in one hand and his mask in the other, both salvaged from the wreckage.

Boarding the ship, Ren ignores the almost imperceptible turn of heads from the Stormtroopers who line the durasteel ramp as he traipses slowly up it bloody, filthy, shirtless and barefoot.

As he passes the Captain at the top of the ramp he utters two words in a flat, level monotone.

"No survivors."

[spectordameron]

i hate the filoniverse because when I try to look for star wars out and about, all I see is ahsoka shit now or grogu. and like fine I like din and grogu just fine they're my blorbo-in-laws, but it is a fucking embarrassment that all you can find for star wars these days is shows that are often poorly designed, constructed in far worse ways than the MCU ever gets criticized for, and look like exceedingly bad fan films. As opposed to anything for the lovingly crafted multimillion dollar making, record breaking trilogy of films that an entirely new generation grew up watching because Lucasfilm are a bunch of pussies who got scared because they got a loud reminder of how fucking toxic the fandom is and decided to play it safe with increasingly lower budget, giving Filoni free reign to do his Frankensteined sequel trilogy that ignores the importance of the Skywalker Saga as what Star Wars actually is, or stories that are just Gritty and Grimdark because hey that sells also doesn't it?

It has been ten years since the first teaser trailer for the Force Awakens came out, and nine since it hit theaters, and every time Lucasfilm opens their mouths it's to spit out something that has been done a fazillion times over or completely misunderstands what Star Wars is, while completely ignoring their still popular characters from the sequel era — to instead focus on characters that are either alien or you never/rarely see their face or characters that have been whitewashed as hell, because it's better to appease a bunch of middle aged white men and stroke their dicks for what they think star wars is like, rather than sticking to your guns and doing more and doing better with your actually inclusive set of films.

But yeah hey. Let's listen to the Battle of Jakku for a fazillionth time or pretend that Ahsoka is an interesting character or like a tv show needed to be made into a movie. Why care at all about a trilogy of movies that came out very recently and were largely successful, despite fandom toxicity?

[dalekofchaos]

I think if I had any issues with GOW:Ragnarok is 5 things.

No mention that Thor killed his mother. In GOW 2018, Mimir tells the tale of Fjörgyn, Thor's mother and one of Odin's great loves. It is implied that Thor killed her. It would give depth to why Odin is abusive towards Thor, his hatred of Atreus, self-loathing(aside from failing his sons) and explain why Faye went nuclear against Thor. Also? This would give context to why Thor is the way he is.

Odin doesn't use Kratos actions of murdering his family in turning Atreus against Kratos. I'm sure Kratos tells Atreus off screen, but does he? You'd think he would've told Atreus in the last game's ending or somewhere in Ragnarok. As far as we know all he told Atreus is killing Zeus and "I've killed many who were deserving and many who were not" implied, but never said. Kratos telling Freya was an important moment for them to understand each other. I don't think Kratos told him and considering how much of an abusive manipulative gaslighting prick that Odin is, it just felt like a missed opportunity not to have Odin use that to turn Atreus against his father and also a missed opportunity to have Kratos struggle to tell Atreus from his perspective on what he did.

Atreus darker personality never returned. I had this theory that Atreus "We're gods, we can do anything we want" phase would return as his Loki personality. Atreus quest to prevent Kratos' death would lead him down a dark path and lead his Loki personality to return. He would play both sides only to let Asgard burn in Ragnarok. There would be a boss battle between Atreus and his Loki side and Atreus personality would win and remain dominant. What we got was great, but I feel like Atreus' darker personality returning was a missed opportunity.

Kratos and Thor's final fight seemed tame. When I envisioned Kratos and Thor's final battle. I imagined this bombastic battle that would realm shift throughout the Nine Realms and would be the climax of Ragnarok. What we got was great. but I strongly feel like their final fight was underwhelming and it could've been more. I get the game was trying to show Thor is more than what the lore of the Norse saga and Ragnarok as a whole is showing us, but Kratos and Thor's final fight SHOULD HAVE been more.

Killing off Thor and Odin too soon. To me it's unsatisfying that Odin and Thor are killed off so soon. Thor has this great character arc and Odin was built up as this master manipulator and schemer and they die in the second game in this trilogy. Imagine how unsatisfying it would be if Luke Skywalker killed Darth Vader in Empire Strikes Back and the Rebels killed the Emperor in the second act of the trilogy. Yeah that would've been so disappointing, wouldn't it? The story they told was great and I trust SMS. But it still feels like to me that they should have done a sort of cliffhanger ending. After Brok is killed, Kratos follows Odin, Thor and Odin kills Kratos. Kratos is sent into the realm into the tear, basically the realm where the dead gods go who cannot come back. He'd see Magni and Modi and Baulder and finally Faye and Faye sends Kratos back. Then it ends with Kratos pledging to lead Ragnarok and burn Asgard. For more in depth to this idea, watch the video down below. Point is I strongly feel like it was a mistake to kill off Odin and Thor in the second act of the Norse trilogy.

Bonus 1:Atreus not even looking into the tear with the mask was just bad. All they had to do was Atreus sees into the void, one minute later he takes the mask off, breaks it and tosses it into the void

Bonus 2. Odin's design. Thor's design is perfect, but part of me feels like he should have had armor

Compared to the stories Mimir told, I imagined Odin looking something like this down below. The story for Odin is great, but imo the final fight should have been more. Like, King of the Aesir should have been more. The contrast between him and Zeus is he is the master manipulator, but Odin in Norse Mythology is the strongest of the gods and this game didn't show it. He had powerful magic to display but it didn't feel like this grand final boss of the Norse saga, like Thor it could have been more.

Bonus 3. The Ragnarok itself is disappointing. Ragnarok was so built up to, but it honestly felt like the mission to actually get Surtr on-side was longer than the mission for Ragnarok. We saw nothing of the actual battle, Fenrir wasn’t there, and we didn’t even see the Army of the Dead! We could've gotten the Elves, army of the dead, the Dwarves lead by Sindri & Durlin, Vanir and even an army of Vikings/Raiders to represent Midgard. But we didn't. Plus in myth, Ragnarok was largely a battle between the Gods and the Jotnar - and yet the latter weren’t even present. I was fully expecting after heading to Muspel that Atreus would tell Kratos about the secret giants with Angrboda; that would have been an element of surprise that Odin didn’t know about! I’d been hoping to fight Thor on the back of Jormungandr or something, and for Fenrir to be involved in fighting Odin. So yeah. The Ragnarok in the game called God Of War:Ragnarok is disappointing.

[aigoos]

Home for the Holidays | Oneshot Fluffy Modern AU Military Obikin | Rating: G | Words: 2,500

Summary: Anakin is deployed, and to his and his family's disappointment, he will not be home for the holidays.  But then that changes, and Anakin decides to surprise his family with his unannounced return.

Artwork is by the amazing @kana7o.  The military in this ficlet is based on the US Army.  Many thanks to @veloursdor for betaing!  Happy holidays to you all!

Captain Anakin Skywalker did everything he could to keep his face stoic as he took in what Lieutenant General Mace Windu just told him.

"So my leave for the holidays is cancelled, sir?" Anakin gritted out as respectfully as possible, despite the anger boiling inside of him.

"Yes. We need you to oversee the training for your company," Mace explained with a raised eyebrow.

"Roger that, sir." Mace dismissed him, and Anakin saluted and left the briefing room without looking back.

Once in his office, he stopped in front of his desk, putting both hands on top of it as he leaned over and let out a deep breath. He stared at the photo of his family, took in their smiling faces, and wished nothing more than to be with them.

A knock broke through his reverie. Still leaning on his desk, he let them in.

"Enter."

The door opened, and Anakin turned his head to see Rex Fett standing in the doorway and saluting. "Sergeant Fett reporting, sir."

"At ease, Sergeant," Anakin commanded. "Everything is all right. Looks like you'll be stuck with me for the holidays."

"Oh." Rex relaxed his posture as he gave him an understanding look. "I am sorry to hear that, sir. I know you were looking forward to going home."

Anakin let out a small sigh. "Yes . . . and now I have to let my family know."

"That is never easy," Rex said gently. "Please let me know if you need anything."

"Will do, Sergeant. Thanks and dismissed."

Rex left his office with another salute, and Anakin turned around and walked over to his window to stare outside at the Tatooinian desert. The sun was at its peak, making Anakin feel the heat despite the air conditioning inside powered at full blast. He glared at the sand -- he kriffing hated sand and everything about this deployment. Even though they were fighting against the Hutts, whom he hated even more than he hated sand, he hoped that what they were doing would bring peace to his home country. Yet what he really wanted to see outside his windows were the Alderaanian trees and greeneries, the rolling hills near the mountainside, the beautiful blue rivers and lakes . . .

But most importantly, what he wanted most was to see and be with his family once more. He missed Obi-Wan and their nine-year-old twins, Luke and Leia, so much. He'd been looking forward to the holidays -- he'd had all their gifts ready and wrapped in his luggage -- but now he'd be staying deployed, away from them. Even though he wouldn't be alone, as he would be accompanied by his men -- the 501st Company was the best he could have hoped to command -- he still wished to return home.

Later that night, he'd have to break the unfortunate news to his family, and he was not looking forward to that one bit.

*****

"Hi, Daddy!" Luke and Leia exclaimed, their faces increasing in size on the screen of his tablet, both giving him wide grins.

Seeing his two children softened his disappointment a bit as he took in their happiness. "Hello, munchkins! Snatched the tablet from Papa again?"

"We did no such thing, Daddy," Leia said indignantly. We were both playing Sweet Sagas when you called."

"Yeah! We are up to level 369 now!" Luke chimed in, and Anakin could feel his son's eyes on him, studying him.

Ah, nothing gets past him.

Luke turned around and called, "Papa, come here."

Obi-Wan came into the frame, and Anakin stared at his handsome face, whose grey-blue eyes were happy yet carried a hint of exhaustion. His fingers twitched and clenched into fists as he forced down the urge to reach out and touch Obi-Wan's bearded cheek. He wanted to wrap his arms around Obi-Wan's waist and bury his face on his husband's chest, their children sandwiched in their hug as they all lay in front of their fireplace to enjoy the warmth and togetherness, while they listened to holiday music from Dotify.

Anakin swallowed hard, knowing he had to tell his family the truth sooner rather than later.

"Hello, my loves. I'm afraid I've got some bad news." He watched all of their cheery expressions drop, and he had never hated himself more than in that moment. "I will not be coming home during the holidays. My leave got cancelled."

All three of them reacted differently. Leia gasped loudly as she frowned deeply, while Luke pouted as he remained silent. For his part, Obi-Wan just closed his eyes and breathed in deeply several times.

It was Leia who said, "Who cancelled it, Daddy? Can I go and beat them up?!"

Anakin laughed at her determination, despite the threat it carried. Leia was always serious when making such statements. "Well, honey, it was General Windu who told me about the cancellation."

"Oh." Leia's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "I guess I cannot beat him up. Probably a bad idea to beat up your superior."

"Yes, please don't do that, for all of our sakes," Obi-Wan said dryly.

There was another round of silence before Luke broke it. "Then when will you come home, Daddy?"

Anakin's heart sank as he responded, "I hope soon, buddy"

"Maybe Papa can talk to General Windu? He's got pretty good negotiating skills," Leia suggested, a hopeful glint appearing in her eye.

Obi-Wan let out a soft chuckle. "Sweetheart, I don't think that will work quite as you think. I'm not in the military -- I'm just a university professor."

"But Daddy says you got the best negotiating skills!" Luke interjected next, his stubbornness mirroring Leia's. "Even Uncle Bail says you should have become a politician."

"I see Uncle Bail has been telling lies about me. Again."

The twins giggled and started a discussion about whether their papa was a better professor or a politician. With the twins distracted, Anakin took the time to talk to Obi-Wan. "I'm sorry, darling . . . I really thought I'd be going home in a few weeks."

"Oh, my dear one, it is not your fault," Obi-Wan insisted, though his eyes looked sadder than before. "Just please stay safe and come back to us when you can. That is all I ask of you."

Anakin smiled fondly. "I love you -- I love you all so much."

"I love you, too, my dearest. We all do." Obi-Wan made their love hand signal and told the twins to say goodbye. "We will talk to you soon."

Anakin returned the hand signal and said one more time, "I love you all. I will call you all again soon!"

*****

"Sir? Is my leave truly approved?" Anakin's mouth dropped open at Mace's announcement, confused but excited at the unexpected news.

"Hard of hearing now, Captain?" Mace teased with a slight smirk. "If you want to stay here, feel free."

"No, sir!"

"Then dismissed. Just make sure you brief Captain Veld on the training plans before you leave. Happy holidays to you, Captain Skywalker."

"Sir!" Anakin saluted and left as calmly as possible. Once he was in the hallway, he pumped his fist while he cheered loudly in his mind. He grinned like a maniac and returned to his office so he could arrange his travel plans back home and work on his briefing for Tru.

When he finished both, he called Rex to his office. Once his second-in-command arrived, Anakin handed him a copy of his flight itinerary. "Here, just so you know where I'll be, what flight I'll be on . . . "

"Very good, sir. Did you tell your family?"

"No, I'm going to surprise them."

"Understood," Rex said, looking over the itinerary before grinning at him. "Well, sir, I wish you a wonderful holiday. And if you could bring back some of those cookies your husband bake, that'd be great. Corporal Fives will not shut up about them."

Anakin laughed. "Obi-Wan will be happy to hear that as those are really the only things he can make. And I had no idea Corporal Fives loved my husband's cookies that much."

"They were quite tasty."

"Sergeant, tell our men that I'll bring back five pounds," Anakin said, his blue eyes twinkling with mirth.

"Looking forward to it, sir!"

"And happy holidays to you, Sergeant."

*****

Anakin stared blankly out the window of the airport. His connecting flight in Mandalore was delayed. It had already been four hours since his arrival, and the last he had heard was that it may take another four hours until they departed.

Kriffing hell. Just my luck for the flight to get delayed for who knows what reasons!

His trip had started off well. He double-checked that everyone's gifts were packed, and his taxi driver was a friendly gentleman who used to also serve in the military, so they had a nice chat. He'd even been able to get some good Alderaanian wine at the lounge, which he enjoyed sipping as he waited to board his flight back home.

But it was the second leg of his trip that was turning into a nightmare, with everything going from bad to worse. All the waiting around in the airport made him edgy. He could finally understand why some people were absolute grouches in an airport, as he was certainly turning into one.

He picked up his tablet and thought about contacting his family -- surprise be damned -- just so he could hear them and see them to ease his stress. Even if they couldn't help with his situation, they would at least help the time go by faster. He wasn't sure he could stomach another movie, game, or even another cup of coffee as he waited for news on his flight.

No, no, no. Come on, Skywalker -- just hang in there and surprise them. That's what you want.

Putting his tablet down and leaning back in the uncomfortable airport chair, Anakin allowed his mind to drift as he thought about surprising his family.

He imagined quietly entering their home around breakfast time. Obi-Wan would have made them a simple breakfast of toast and eggs, with orange juice for Leia, apple juice for Luke, and a cup of darjeeling for himself. While they ate, Anakin would enter the room, and they would all stop what they were doing in stunned silence.

Then the chaos would start, with Luke and Leia shouting with joy, running around him in circles, as they demanded hugs and kisses -- hopefully without them knocking over their plates or cups. He would happily oblige them, giving them hundreds of kisses as he hugged them both with all the love he had for them. And after satisfying the twins, he would then grab Obi-Wan and pull him into a deep kiss, uncaring that the twins were simultaneously saying "ewww" and "awww" at watching their parents kiss.

Anakin smiled to himself as he imagined the rest of their holidays together. He ached to be with them, but he was completely at the mercy of the airlines and their frustrating delays.

Soon, Skywalker. Soon, you'll be home.

Anakin picked up his tablet and looked for a military history book to read, hoping he could concentrate on strategies and tactics, hoping the words would distract him from thinking about the miserable delay.

*****

Anakin was -- as Private Echo would say -- so over it. The delay ended up being ten hours long, and all he wanted to do was go home, change out of his uniform, and take a long shower, preferably with Obi-Wan. Then he'd sleep for about twenty hours -- most likely less, since Obi-Wan can only do so much in holding the twins back from entering their room -- and then he'd finally get to spend time with his family as a refreshed, well-rested father rather than as The Thing from Dagobah's swamp that he currently was.

"Kriffing hell," he muttered as he saw the long line at immigration. It was the holiday passenger traffic at its finest, and Anakin had to reach deep inside of him for his last reserve of patience.

He trudged through immigration, dragged himself through customs, and tapped his foot impatiently at the baggage claims. With everything finally done, all he had left to do was ride the escalator down to the ground floor, where he could get into a taxi and head home. With his eyes half-closed, he wearily stepped onto the escalator as it slowly took him down. Halfway down, however, his eyes sprang open as he heard a familiar, "Daddy!" shouted in his direction.

He frantically looked around and his eyes zoned in on the spot where his family stood, and he himself nearly toppled over the escalator. "Karking Hutts' spit," he said to himself softly. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, thinking he might have been dreaming, but no, his eyes and mind were not deceiving him.

Luke and Leia were standing in front of Obi-Wan, both holding onto a very wide sign that read, "Welcome home, Daddy!!!", accompanied with colourful marker art and scribbles. There was nobody in front of him, so with a rush of adrenaline, Anakin hurried down the escalator, not caring that his luggage banged on his knees and hips. When he reached the bottom, he sprinted towards his family, and Luke and Leia dropped their sign and they both ran towards him, with Obi-Wan following them with ease, a fond smile on his handsome face.

When he was within arm-reach of them, he dropped his luggage and fell to his knees as he welcomed the twins into his embrace. All three were crying, with Luke and Leia burying their faces into his chest, and Anakin kissed and rubbed his cheeks on their heads. Then he felt another warm pair of arms enveloping him, and he looked up to see Obi-Wan, who was also teary-eyed, leaning over and giving him a long and deep kiss.

When they broke the kiss, Anakin whispered in awe and happiness, "How? I was going to surprise you all . . . "

"It was Sergeant Fett, Daddy!" Leia proclaimed, giving him a teary grin.

"Yeah! He wanted us to surprise you!" Luke said into Anakin's chest, content to stay there.

" . . . And now he owes me 500 push-ups."

"Oh, my dear one," Obi-Wan said, giving him another kiss on the cheek. "Don't be a scrooge and just let this slide."

Anakin gave his husband a very warm smile and he nuzzled his nose against Obi-Wan's nose. "Fine, fine. But you owe my men, Corporal Fives especially, five pounds of your cookies."

All four of them burst out laughing, and they all hugged again. Anakin was home, even if it was only temporarily, and his heart was filled with so much love and joy. They were going to have a great holiday together, and he looked forward to everything they would do.

~ Fin ~

A03 URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51846994

[katyakazanovas]

all about me 🎀

you can call me: rachel 🪩

age: 22 🌺

birthday: october 18th ♎️

favorite color: give it your best guess lmfao

favorite animals: cats and fennec foxes

favorite tv shows: archer (<3), bob’s burgers, what we do in the shadows, family guy, american dad, breaking bad, bojack horseman

favorite movies: the parent trap (1998), sixteen candles, return of the jedi, back to the future, postcards from the edge, little shop of horrors, heathers, temple of doom, beetlejuice, the wizard of oz, the room

favorite music: ghost, olivia rodrigo, green day, chappell roan, cherlene, lana del rey, the beatles, paul mccartney, mitski

favorite games: lis, lis2, gta v + online, the sims (2, 3, 4, ds games, my sims) pokémon (switch and ds games, pokémon go), nancy drew games, road 96, lego skywalker saga, little kitty big city (lmfao), i also love jackbox games! just wish i had more people to play with/time to play them.

***you can message me if you'd like to be friends but please don't message me if you're just gonna be weird to me or hit on me. i have a boyfriend so i promise you, i'm not interested in you. anyone who breaks my respect and trust in this way will be immediately blocked***

[thisaintascenereviews]

Thks Fr Th Mmrs: A Mid-year Checkin

The summer is a mark of many things, whether it’s being outside, longer nights, the Fourth of July, fireworks, hotdogs, beaches, summer break, and the middle of the year. We’re over a week into July by this point, and while new releases have slowed down for a moment (I’m writing this on the 7th, but it’ll be later when I post this), we still got a ton of great pieces of media within the last few months. Whether it’s TV shows that people can’t stop talking about, movies that win audiences over, or albums that we’re all sure to be spinning by the end of the year, we’ve been eating good when it comes to new media. There are plenty of things to talk about, especially new stuff that I didn’t talk about in the last checkin piece I made back in April. Just like last time, however, I’m not doing this alone! I’m bringing along my buddy Jake, so we can talk about all things fandom, whether it’s music, movies, or TV. Hell, even video games aren’t off the table, but if you’re looking for new stuff that you haven’t heard, seen, or played in the first half of the year, or want to see what we’re into, you’re in the right place! We also talked about stuff that wasn’t necessarily new, but it may be new to us, since you don’t have to spend the year getting into stuff from that year, you can consume whatever you want from whenever you want.

With that said, in case you missed our first piece back in April, we talked about TV shows and movies like Fallout, Invincible, X-Men ‘97, and the Mean Girls musical, as well as talking about video games like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Mafia III, and Fallout 4, and the new albums from bands like Cory Wells, Too Close Topic Touch, Bayside, Sum 41, The Ghost Inside, SeeYouSpaceCowboy, Neck Deep, Fluorescents, Dustin Kensrue, Lil Dicky, and Justin Timberlake, among others. We got plenty more to talk about today, however, so to welcome you aboard, let me first kick to you, Jake — how have the last few months been for you in terms of consuming media? Has there been a lot that you’ve been really into that’s come out since we last discussed our favorite things, or have you still been sinking into your teeth into some, if not all, of the same things we talked about back then?

It’s funny, because in terms of music, so much new and exciting stuff has come out in the last couple months, and I’ve been all over it, but in terms of other forms of media, I’ve been kind of stuck in a bit of a rut. For example, I’ve been sitting on the last couple chapters of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth for almost two months now after 160 hours, but it’s been a struggle to get myself to finish it, which in turn has made me hesitant to really start anything new. Same with TV shows; while I did watch the new Star Wars series The Acolyte and mostly enjoyed that, and I’m really loving this current season of the Criminal Minds revival, I haven’t really felt motivated or energized to start a new thing. That being said, I do wanna touch on both of those things at least briefly. The Acolyte was a super fascinating look into a new era of Star Wars removed from the Skywalker saga, and while I think it suffered from some pacing and format issues (mostly in that it felt like a movie cut up into 8 pieces), I loved the bold swings it took and hope we get to explore more of that in a potential second season. As for the Criminal Minds revival, the original series is a major comfort show of mine, so I was bummed when the original series ended in 2020, but also okay with that, because 15 years is a long time, and the show was past its prime. But, when it was revived just a couple years later for streaming as opposed to network TV, it was just the shot in the arm the series needed. Because it’s on streaming, the creative team isn’t beholden to the rigid network procedural format, and they’re able to tell darker stories and really dig deep into both the main BAU agents and the killers they’re chasing, and they’re also able to be way more serialized in their storytelling, versus the case-of-the-week format they did originally. The second season of the revival has been particularly awesome, because they’re really running with the new format to dig into the entire series’ history, and I’m super stoked to see how it wraps up with the finale that’s airing the week of writing this.

Throwing it over to you, Bradley, what have you been getting into since the last time we did this?

You know, I can sort of say the same thing, because aside from a few TV shows that just wrapped up recently, I’ve been diving headfirst into a lot of music. A lot of new music, mind you, but I’ve also been revisiting some stuff I used to be into around a decade ago, and it’s been a pretty cool experience. I’ll talk about that in a bit, however, but I’ve been mainly watching The Acolyte and fourth season of The Boys. I feel the same way about The Acolyte; I love this new era of Star Wars we’re exploring, and despite issues with pacing, it was an interesting show about a mystery that didn’t amount to a whole lot, and I had a lot of questions in the finale, but it left a lot open for another season. The Boys, however, has been ramping up with its penultimate season, because as far as we know, season five is the last one, but the characters are getting more unhinged and the political commentary is more on point than ever (even having its last episode mirror something that just happened while being written and shot months before). It’s getting good, so it’ll be interesting to see where the last season goes.

Aside from those two relevant shows that just wrapped, I’ve also been watching the 1998 anime Cowboy Bebop, because I’ve been getting more into anime, and it’s been a fun ride of watching one of the most influential and critically acclaimed anime series of all time. I’ve been a couple games, too, including the first Kingdom Hearts game, which is fitting with Final Fantasy, and that’s been a lot of fun, but I’ve recently taken a liking to playing online multiplayer on 2018’s Battlefront II, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s nothing special, just being either a clone, stormtrooper, rebel, or battle droid, and playing what amounts to capture the flag, but it doesn’t get old to me for whatever reason.

Now it’s time for the reason we’re all here — music. A lot of new music has come out in a last few months, and despite it being relatively slow the last couple of weeks, it’s still been a great summer for new and exciting music. Before we talk about that, however, are there are any albums from the first time that we did that you’re still really into, or have your thoughts changed on some? I’ve got a couple of albums that were in my top ten that I’ve changed my thoughts a bit on, not necessarily in a bad or dramatic way, but the more you listen to something, the more your thoughts can change one way or another.

I wouldn't necessarily say that there have been any albums that I've changed my mind on, but as more stuff has come out, albums that I thought were gonna be really high on my list may not be anymore, or may eb off my list entirely. I still really like all of those albums, but I think it's a testament to just how strong the last few months have been in terms of music. I will say this, though; while my number one album is still Bayside's There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive, pretty much the entire rest of my top 10 has shifted pretty dramatically, and I'm excited to talk more about that!

How has that been for you, though?

That’s actually what I was going to say, too, because while I’ve changed my thoughts on a few albums (mainly loving them when they first came out to not loving them as much now, but still enjoying them; the new JT album is a good example of that, actually), it’s more so that a bunch of new albums came out in the last few months to replace a lot of what I originally had in my top ten! I’ve got three ealbums from the last we time did this still in my top ten, and one of them is the new Bayside album as well! I’ll spoil it a bit early, but even that album isn’t my frontrunner anymore for AOTY, which shows how strong this year has been so far. With that said, a lot of my honorable mentions are albums that originally appeared on my list a few months back, but my overall list has changed dramatically. What are some albums from the last few months have crept their way into your overall favorites?

I have a feeling this one might end up on both our lists, so I'll start with the new Bimuri album, American Motor Sports. This thing almost has no business being as good as it is, and yet every time I listen to it, I just have the biggest smile on my face. It's really a perfect album for this time of year; you have infinitely catchy hooks, heartfelt lyrics, and a sound that on paper, perhaps isn't the most unique, but Johnny Franck pulls it off flawlessly. If you haven't, check out the album with all the visualizers/musicvideos, too; they're so ridiculous but they only add to the enjoyment for me. I also wanna give a big shout to The Home Team and their new album The Crucible of Life. I think you put it best in your review when you said that these guys are carrying the torch from Issues (RIP), their self-described heavy pop sound is fully refined here, and while I don't think it quite makes the upper half of my list, it's a damn great album that I've been going back to quite a bit. Finally, I'd like to at least briefly touch on the new Bring Me The Horizon album, Post-Human: Next Gen. This thing was all I listened to for the first two weeks after it came out, and I think a lot of that had to do with how the album felt both fresh but also very much like a loving throwback to that early and mid-2000's hard-rock/alt metal that I grew up with. It's absolutely a nostalgia thing for me, but I also think, a few nitpicks aside, BMTH really made something unique and memorable in a genre that so desperately needed it.

How about you? I think I know what a few of them are, but I'm curious if there might be some unexpected ones on your list.

Oh, man, you know the new Bilmuri album is on there! American Motor Sports is a fantastic album, and like you said, it’s not a super unique album, but the songwriting is top notch. I need to check out some of the music videos, too, because if there is one thing I know about his music, it’s that he loves memes and ridiculousness. The Home Team’s new one is good, too, but what kept it from my top ten is how some of the songs fade into the background, despite being so good. The new BMTH album is the same, actually, but both of those are some great picks, and a couple of highlights in a crowded year.

As for me, most of my list is composed of new albums from the last time we sat down and did this! For starters, the new Knocked Loose album, You Won’t Go Until You’re Supposed To, is a big one; they came back with a super heavy album, as well as a really short one, but it’s a blast. Rapper turned country artist Shaboozey dropped a cool album a couple months back with Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, but a lot of the new stuff on my list are all rap albums.

I didn’t listen to much in that vein last year, but what I’ve heard this year is great. For starters, Childish Gambino dropped two albums this year, and while I enjoy his latest (and final) album, Bando Stone, I enjoyed the finished version of his 2020 album, now entitled Atavista, a lot more. Denzel Curry’s recently released King Of The Mischievous South, Vol 2, and that’s easily in my top three of the year, and because of that, I listened to That Mexican OT’s newest album from in the beginning of the year, because he’s featured on there. My (current) favorite this year, however, has become the new Lupe Fiasco album, Samurai. I’ve always been a fan of his stuff, but this is such a short and sweet album, it’s easily listenable and you can listen to it whenever and wherever.

Man, even if it's not totally my thing, that new Knocked Loose album goes hard, you really can't deny that. Same with the new Lupe Fiasco album; it's a genre I'm not super entrenched in, but I really don't see how you listen to that and not at the very least respect the hell out of it.

Before we close this thing off, is there anything coming up that you're looking foward to? The main one for me is probably the upcoming Four Year Strong album. I've had a blast with the singles I've heard, and they always bring the goods, so I'm pretty confident about that one. I'm also really looking forward to the new Siamese album. They're a very solid and criminally underrated band, and I've really enjoyed what they do in the heavier rock scene.

Honestly, the new Four Year Strong album comes to mind, as I’ve been a huge fan of them for years, so it’s crazy that they’re still putting stuff out, but I saw that Siamese announced a new album! That could be good, especially since I enjoyed their debut quite a lot back in the day. I’m not looking forward to anything else in particular, and I think part of the fun is just seeing what comes out every week, and being surprised. As I write this, rapper Yung Gravy dropped a country album today, and for the record, it’s pretty fun, but I had no idea that was even coming out today. I know there are some albums I’m looking forward to, but they’re albums coming out in the next few months, versus August.

I think you raise a pretty good point there, actually; it has been a ton of fun just kinda browsing the new releases and seeing if anything sticks out. It's not quite the same, but it reminds me a lot of going to FYE back in the day and just picking up a random CD that'd grab my attention, especially on release weeks when not a lot came out that was on my radar.

In any case, though, it was a blast getting back together to do this, man! I'm excited to do it again in the fall, and finally at the end of the year for our big year-end celebration.

Man, you and me both. I loved going to stores and just browsing to see if anything caught my eye, especially when a lot of those stores had more CDs. Nowadays, most of these stores don’t have anything at all, or the couple of bigger new releases, and that’s so depressing. It’s still exciting to see new stuff, nonetheless, especially when you’re not anticipating anything, kinda like this week, actually. Anyhow, it was certainly a blast getting back together to do this, for sure! I’m always pumped for these pieces, because there’s nothing like nerding out and fanboying over the stuff we’ve been loving throughout the year.

[dynastymuses]

now you're just a page torn from the story I'm building  

selective, mutuals only indie rp blog. i am over 25, so anyone under 21, i prefer not to interact with 

all I gave you is gone tumbled like it was stone

canon divergant pirate based colin bridgerton @pirtecolin edits blog @dynastymusesedits resources such as gifhunts, psds, and templates blog: @dynastymusesresources II rules II what i do II

thought we built a dynasty that heaven couldn't shake

as such all muses are over 18 (some have been aged up) 

thought we built a dynasty like nothing ever made

i am very open to crossovers, as well as oc’s, but plotting must be done.  if i am not following you, please do not send me in character memes. i am mutual only! 

thought we built a dynasty forever couldn't break up  

fandoms include: bridgerton, various period drama, star wars, lord of the rings/rings of power, wheel of time, shadow&bone/gisha verse. 

It all fell down, it all fell down, it all fell down 

all of my characters as of now (🍊 is high muse) (🌊muses i want plots for) (🧁new muses) starter calls open starters

Bridgerton Verse

anthony bridgerton 🍊

benedict bridgerton 🌊

colin bridgerton🍊

daphne bridgerton🌊

francesca bridgerton🌊

gregory bridgerton🍊

penelope featherington🍊🌊

philip crane🍊🌊

michael stirling🍊

brimsley🌊🧁

sophie baek🌊

kate sharma🍊

gareth st.clair🍊

prince freidrich hohenzollern🍊🌊

king george freidrick 🍊

lady agatha danbury🌊🧁

queen charlotte of mecklenburg-strelitz 🍊🌊🧁

felicity featherington🌊🧁

posy reiling🌊🧁

lucy abernathy 🧁

viloet bridgerton-ledger

shadow&bone/grishaverse

alina starkov 🍊🌊

kaz brekker🍊🌊

inej ghafa🌊

nina zenik🌊

wylan van eck🌊

genya safin🌊🧁

nikolai lanstov🌊

tolya yul bataar🌊🧁

matthais helvar🌊

lord of the rings/rings of power

galadriel🍊

elrond🌊🧁

bronwyn🌊🧁

aragorn🌊🧁

samwise gamgee🌊🧁

wheel of time

rand al’thor🍊🌊

lan mandragoran🍊🌊

siuan sanche🍊

egwene al'vere🍊

elayne trakand🍊

Star Wars

luke skywalker🍊🌊

qui gon jinn🌊

obi wan kenobi🍊🌊

padme amidala🍊🌊

finn🌊

poe dameron🌊🧁

han solo🌊

Rey of Jakku 🌊🧁

osha 🧁

mae

master sol🧁

the musketeers

d’artagnan 🍊

athos

aramis

queen anne of austria🌊

Sanditon

charlotte heywood (sanditon)🌊

lord babington (sanditon)🌊

young stringer (sandtiton)🌊

Marvel

Yelena Belova

Kate Bishop

Tandy bowen

Karolina Dean 🍊

Marcos Diaz 🍊

Esme Frost 🍊

John Proudstar🌊

Hank McCoy 🌊🧁

Chase Stein 🍊

Scott Summers 🍊

Charles Xavier🌊

Jennifer Walters

Sersi 🍊

wade wilson

DCEU

Barry Allen 🍊

Beth Chapel🌊

Barbara Gordon 🍊

Dick Grayson🍊

Mary Hamliton 🍊

Virgil Hawkins 🍊

Pamela "Poisin Ivy" Isley 🍊

Kate Kane🌊

Clark Kent (dceu) 🍊

clark kent (smallville based) 🍊

jenny kord🌊🧁

Selina Kyle 🍊

Dinah Lance 🍊

Gar Logan🍊

M'gann M'orroz 🍊

Tommy Merlyn🌊

Sophie Moore🌊

Yolanda Montez

James Olsen 🍊

Anissa Pierce🌊

milagro reyes🌊🧁

Donna Troy 🍊🧁

Bruce Wayne🍊

Courtney whitmore  🌊

Jinx🌊

Komand'r🌊

hank hall/hawk 🧁

dawn granger/dove 🧁

oliver queen(non arrowverse)

ollie queen (smallville)

garth (titans/dceu)

TVD Verse

Marcel Gerald 🍊

Elena Gilbert 🍊

Jeremy Gilbert🌊

Tyler Lockwood🌊

Elijah Mikealson 🍊

Hope Mikealson🌊

Lizzie Saltzman 🍊🌊

Shadowhunters

Magnus Bane 🍊🌊

Clary Fray 🍊🌊

Simon Lewis🌊🧁

Alec Lightwood🌊

Fate:The Winx Saga

Terra Harvey🌊

Bloom Peters 🍊🌊

Beatrix 🌊🧁

Flora🌊

Musa🌊

Riven🌊

Sky🌊

Stella🌊

Narnia

Edmund Pevensie 🍊🌊

Lucy Pevensie🍊🌊

Peter Pevensie🌊🧁

Jill Pole🌊

Eustance Clarence Scrubb🌊

the umbrella acaddemy

Deigo Hargreeves🌊

Five Hargreeves 🍊🌊

Klaus Hargreeves 🌊

Sloane Hargreeves 🍊🌊

Lila Pitts🌊

one tree hill

Julian Baker

Jake Jagelski

Nathan Scott 🍊

Clay Evans

Degrassi

Sav Bhandari 🌊

Fiona Coyne🌊

Clare Edwards 🍊🌊

Jake Martin🌊

Drew Torres🌊

Wednesday/Addams Family

Wednesday Addams🌊

Enid Sinclair

what we do in the shadows

colin robinson 🌊🧁

Guillermo de la Cruz🌊🧁

nadja of antipaxos🌊🧁

laszlo cravensworth 🌊🧁

nandor the relentless 🌊 🧁

the boys/gen v

hughie campbell🌊🧁

annie january / starlight 🌊🧁

billy butcher🌊🧁

kimiko miyashiro🌊🧁

queen maeve🌊🧁

other period drama muses

francis valois (reign with some historical influences) 🍊

Sebastian de poitiers (reign)

tom jones (tom jones 2023)🌊

henry tudor (7th) (the white queen/the white princess/the spainsh princess with some historical influences) 🍊

richard plantagent  (the white queen with some historical influences)🍊

elizabeth woodville (the white queen/the white princess with some historical influences)

elizabeth of yorke (the white queen/the white princess with some historical influences)

anne shirley cuthbert (anne with an e) 

marie antoinette( marie antoinette (itv/pbs 2023) with some historical influences) 🍊

(king) louis bourbon (16th) ( marie antoinette (itv/pbs 2023) with some historical influences) 🍊

captain henry ossroy  (mr malcom’s list)🌊

selina dalton  (mr malcom’s list)🌊

dido elizabeth belle (belle 2013)🌊🧁

john Davinier (belle 2013)

camlia dunne (daisy jones&the six) 🌊🧁

tim laughlin (fellow travelers) 🌊🧁

jane bennet (pride and prejudice) 🧁

elizabeth bennet (pride and prejudice) 🧁

emma woodhouse (emma) 🧁

nan st.george (the buccaneers)

Other Scifi/Fantasy

lucy carlyle-lockwood&Co🌊

Anthony Lockwood-Lockwood&Co🌊

Wendy Darling-Peter Pan/Disney 🍊🌊

Elinor Fairmont-First Kill🌊🧁

Juliette Fairmont-First Kill🌊

Kat Harvey-Casper🌊

Harvey Kinkle-Sabrina The Teenage Witch/Archie comics🌊

Wyatt Logan-Timeless🌊

Arthur Pendragon-Merlin🌊

Scott mccall-teen wolf 🌊

marnie piper (halloweentown)

percy jackson (percy jackson & the Olympians)

Luna briggs (wolf pack)

Blake navarro (wolf pack)

prince eric (the little mermaid)

fiyero tigelaar (wicked)

OUAT/Fairytales

david nolan/prince charming-once upon a time 🌊🧁

graham humbert/the huntsman-once upon a time 🌊🧁

mary margret blanchard/snow white-once upon a time 🌊🧁

Rapunzel (various media)🌊🧁

other medias

Alexander Clearmond Diaz-red, white, & royal🌊

Lacey Porter-Twisted🌊

Henry Stuart Fox -red, white, & royal🌊

Glimmer-She Ra🌊

comedy

Haley Dunphy (modern family)🌊🧁

Alex Dunphy (modern family) 🌊🧁

Janine Teagues-Abbott Elementary🌊

Clare Devlin-Derry Girls🌊

Gregory Eddie-Abbott Elementary🌊

Jim Halpert-The Office🌊

Ben Wyatt-Parks and Recreation 🌊

chidi anagonye (the good place)🌊🧁

eleanor shellstrop (the good place)🌊🧁

janet (the good place)🌊🧁

original characters

elisabeth barlowe 🍊🌊🧁

jacquetta covington 🍊🌊🧁

maxwell danbury 🍊🌊🧁

dylan lyons 🍊🌊🧁