#while his wife believes people are basically evil and likes them lots

[17yearslatewithlattes]

I don't remember if I've made this post before but. I love how Sam is the big picture optimist who believes there is an essential goodness to the universe/humanity, but on a one to one level he finds your average person kinda annoying :/ Meanwhile Dean has a far bleaker veiw of the universe and a more black and white take on justice and punishment. But when it comes to individuals he talks to for ten-to-thirty seconds he thinks most of them are pretty neat :D

[funhouse-mirror-barbie]

How I would re-write Stella Goetia, Backstory + Season 1

Probably my most popular posts on this blog are about Stella from Helluva Boss. I like to talk about her because I think she had the potential to be a really nuanced character, and I really would’ve loved to see her and Stolas have a more complicated relationship.

So I’d like to talk about the direction I would’ve taken her characterization and story in.

I do need to stress that this is NOT a writing “fix-it” post. Canon Stella may be an evil bitch, but she’s MY evil bitch and I LOVE HER. I’ve already talked quite at length about how her character and conflict with Stolas being purely black and white is not a bad story decision, but to me is less interesting than having a grey or nuanced conflict.

I just want to go over a rough outline of what I would’ve done with her as a character. Just because it’s different, doesn’t mean it’s better or is “fixing” the canon story. I also am not trying to make Stella inherently more sympathetic/likable/or “woobify” her—this is just a ROUGH outline of what I’d do to flesh Stella out as a person, and ideas I’ve had for her character that would make her (and her relationships with Stolas and Via) more appealing to me personally.

I just really wish Stella had gotten more depth, and wanted to talk about it.

(LONG) Rewrite Summary below!!!

While I think there’s also an interesting re-write where Stella and Stolas are not in an arranged marriage, and may explore this idea as well, this time around I am going to be sticking with the canon background that their marriage was arranged.

Instead of having Stella be an evil heartless spoiled child who strangles puppies, I would give her a very strict upbringing where from birth she was groomed to be the “perfect noblewoman and wife”—I would base her upbringing and the expectations placed on her on what was expected of Regency noblewomen.

Basically, Stella would be raised to be able to run the house/estate when Stolas was away, be accomplished in the “domestic arts” (hosting events such as parties and balls, being able to do embroidery and other hobbies “befitting” of her class, and being involved in charitable efforts). She would be taught to be quiet, graceful, courteous, and to always anticipate the needs of her husband.

Stella’s “true” personality as a young child would be boisterous, loud, and precocious. Stella loved playing outside, singing loudly, and dancing.

She would have gotten in trouble with her parents often due to this (“Dancing for fun is what the poor do, Darling. You should only dance to find a suitable husband”) and would be punished by her Father by his ordering the rest of the family and their staff to ignore Stella completely and act like she didn’t exist. This would usually result in Stella acting out even more to try and MAKE everyone pay attention to her, until she’d get too tired to continue and start acting “proper” (I.e. quiet, not speaking too loud or speaking out of turn, being obedient, etc.)

Her relationship with Andrealphus would have been strained, as he would have been the “golden child” while Stella would be the scapegoat. I’d also like to give Stella magic fire powers. Because honestly why does Andre get Ice Magic and Stolas get space magic and Stella is the same type of demon as them apparently and gets nothing??? Boring.

Maybe this is basic, but honestly I love characters with fire powers who have to learn to control them. As child, Stella would have difficulty controlling her fire abilities, and would be not be taught how to use or maintain her powers, but would be taught to suppress them.

As an aside—again, I’m not giving Stella a traumatic childhood to make her more likable and more pitiable. I have two reasons I’m giving her this backstory—1) I believe that even people with great parents still end up with some childhood trauma, because being alive and growing up *is* traumatic. And 2) I think that there’s a lot of pretty good evidence that ROYAL upbringings, and the expectations and restrictions that come with them, are especially traumatic in a very particular and very intense way.

Doesn’t mean that they’re not extremely privileged, but that privilege also doesn’t take away that trauma.

I think it’s very realistic for both Stella AND Stolas, as children of royalty and nobility, to have a lot of childhood trauma surrounding their upbringings, and that’s something I really want to explore in my rewrite—how they cope with their traumas and how it impacts their relationship and their ability to raise their daughter and navigate conflict.

By an older teen to young adult, she would have learned how to behave as a “perfect noblewoman”. This is when she would meet Stolas for the first time (with a a Chaperone of course).

There would be a little bit of time shortly before and after their marriage where they would have their “honeymoon” period—both Stella and Stolas were very infatuated with each other and mistook that infatuation for “true love”.

This time where they were extremely infatuated with each other would last about a year, after which they would slowly begin to realize that the idealized images they had of one another was false. They would start to argue more, have a harder time compromising etc. until they finally realized they fell out of love, and maybe were never in love in the first place.

Even though the two of them would have come to this realization, it would be separately, and due to their upbringings (where you don’t really talk about your feelings and push them down) they would NOT talk to each other about it.

This would be the first big crack in their relationship, and they would both have a lot of guilt over it.

I like the idea of the two of them really, really want to stay in love with each other, but after they get to TRULY know each other they just…never fully “click”. They realize they don’t have the same interests, they can’t really find anything to talk about, and they just. They don’t stay in love.

Stella would be very in denial about her true feelings after this turning point, and would still try to convince herself that she really loves Stolas. She would have a lot of deeply buried guilt over not loving him, and see it as a failure of her “duties” as his wife.

After this, they would find a way to keep their relationship would be cordial and respectful, but it would always tinged by an unspoken awkwardness. It would be almost business-like in nature, and they would start spending more and more time apart.

To cope with this lackluster relationship that they were both now stuck in, Stolas would throw himself fully into his duties (which I would want to show a little more of…seriously what does…what does he do??? What does he use the grimoire for????) and Stella would do the same—throwing herself into her duties as the lady of the house and a Goetia Princess.

Stella would host parties and balls, she’d make sure manor was always clean and orderly, she’d become a patron of the arts.

The basis of their relationship would become one of them sticking to the roles that were thrust upon them since birth.

Things WOULD change for the better though after Octavia’s birth.

Because for a while, Stolas and Stella would have something, someone, that brought them together, that they both loved and cared for dearly.

Something that Stella and Stolas would have spoken about before having Octavia is that they did NOT, under any circumstance, want to raise Via like they were raised.

As I already went over, both Stella and Stolas would have dealt with abuse and neglect growing up—Stolas’ abuse stems from his parents being LARGELY absent in his life and him being very neglected as a child, while Stella’s stems from her parents being extremely controlling and giving her very little, if any, freedom.

They would firmly agree on letting Via be her own person, on making time for her, on not putting too many expectations on her.

And, in this rewrite, I would not have them be abusive or neglectful parents. But I would have them be very flawed parents, whose own traumatic upbringings negatively affect their ability to raise Via.

I would want to explore Stella and Stolas fighting to break the cycle of abuse they went through, but still struggling because they don’t have a good frame of reference for what being a good parent looks like.

Stolas doesn’t realize that he’s not always giving Octavia all the time with him she needs, because in his eyes he’s spending tons of time with her—it doesn’t occur to him that he’s actually being neglectful towards her, because to him, spending any long amount of time with her is more than he ever got from his father. He’ll spend time with her, and talk to her, but not really LISTEN to what she’s saying she needs, and doesn’t understand why she doesn’t like the things she used to, or is mad at him for not taking more time for her.

Stella doesn’t realize she’s still being controlling or pushing her expectations onto Octavia by making passive aggressive comments suggesting she wear more “appropriate” or “feminine” clothing, or take up a “nicer” hobby like needlepoint and drop taxidermy. She gives Via the freedom to choose what she wants to do, but doesn’t fully SUPPORT those choices, and doesn’t understand why that’s so important, since in the end Octavia is still enjoying freedoms that Stella only dreamed of as a child.

Still, they manage to be a fairly functional and loving family towards Octavia. And Stolas and Stella maintain their cordial and business like relationship for Octavia’s sake, and to keep up appearances.

During Octavia’s teen years, when she’s 14-17, is when more cracks begin to show—Stella and Stolas have been keeping their relationship together, but it’s stagnating more and more. Stolas throws himself even more into his duties with the stars (or whatever) and Stella begins to become gradually more and more concerned and anxious about making sure her family maintains a “perfect” reputation among the other royals of hell.

Stella begins to throw more balls and parties for Hell’s charities (if this version of hell has banks, and police and prisons, they can have charitable organizations, okay.) As her and Stolas’s anniversary starts to get closer, she begins planning a HUGE ball for Hell’s nobility to celebrate. It’s hugely important to her.

While she’s doing all of this, Stolas is beginning to have an early-to-mid-life crisis. His work and duties that used to be engaging and fun are feeling more and more like a chore, his relationship with Stella has stagnated and is purely for show, he’s getting more and more anxious about Octavia approaching adulthood, and his whole life is beginning to feel more and more claustrophobic.

So. Stolas decides to do something wild, spontaneous, and very selfish, before he loses it. On a night where Stella is attending an Opera, and Via is spending the night with friends from school*, Stolas dresses in clothes he assumes “the common folk” would wear, and goes to shady bar in IMP city, with the goal of meeting someone to hook up with.

This is where Stolas meets Blitzø. (Sorry, I’m. I’m not doing the whole “paid childhood friends for one day” background.)

They have what both assume will be a one night stand at Blitzø’s place. It goes. MUCH better than either of them would have expected sex-wise. The two start meeting up more and more when they’re able to. Stolas begins to open up more to Blitzø, but it stays VERY sexual—eventually Stolas comes clean about who he is and they start to hook up at Stolas’ place whenever Stella is out. Stolas is very much infatuated with Blitzø (and the sex they have). Blitzø thinks they’re having non-complicated fun.

During AAALLL of this is when Blitzø learns about the Grimoire, and asks if he can “borrow” it for I.M.P. Stolas is impressed with Blitzø’s confidence and drive, and agrees to let Blitzø use it anytime, with the one exception being the night of the full moon. There is no full moon “deal” beyond the agreement that Blitzø cannot accept clients on the full moon because Stolas needs the book back that night.

During all of this is ALSO when Stella begins to notice Stolas acting differently, he’s slightly more energetic, he’s spending less and less time in his study and the manor in general, he doesn’t look her in the eyes when they do have time to chat briefly. It’s odd, and she’s suspicious of SOMETHING going on but she’s not sure what.

Stolas DOES feel guilty about cheating on Stella, but justifies it by telling himself that they’re not in a “true” marriage, and it’s “just sex”, so he’s not really cheating on Stella.

The night of Stella and Stolas’s anniversary ball arrives. To Stella, everything goes as expected, and it’s a huge success.

During the ball, though, we get the same scene we get in the Circus—Blitzø gets caught trying to sneak into Stolas’ room. Instead of the guards bringing him into the party, they call Stolas outside privately to deal with it (because why would the disrupt the party by dragging a party-crasher through the middle of a fancy ball?? I didn’t really understand why they did that in the og episode)

Stolas dismisses the guards, and we learn that Blitzø has been sneaking in (with Stolas’ permission+ knowledge) to get the grimoire after the full moon when he and Stolas don’t have time to meet up in person. Like tonight.

Instead of just handing off the grimoire like usual, Stolas and Blitzø end up hooking up (mutually and wholly consensually). Stolas does not return to the party.

Stella is really concerned about how Stolas’ absence looks, especially at a ball she planned with so many high profile demon lords present, but she’s able to wave it off as Stolas feeling a little tired and retiring early, due to it being the day after his full moon duties and all.

Instead of returning to their room, that night, Stella sleeps in one of the many guest rooms. She doesn’t know where Stolas is, but she’s mad at him for leaving early without saying anything on such an important night, and is hoping not coming to their bed will send a message—she’s tired anyway and doesn’t want to get in a big fight before bed that will tire her out more.

The next morning she has tea in the garden with some close friends. And this is where we get the infamous “Sorry, I fucked your husband!” scene.

After this, well. Stella kinda loses her shit. She had been pushing down all of her negative feelings and thoughts and frustrations surrounding her life and relationship for YEARS, because in her mind, as long as she was able to maintain the facade of having a “perfect” life, it would be worth it.

And now in a moment she’s lost the thing that, after her daughter, mattered to her the most.

She essentially explodes in fury in a way Stolas has never seen before—they get in a huge argument—Stella’s fire powers come out and burn down the manor’s garden, things just really get out of hand.

So. What would follow would be most of what we see of Stella in season 1 of HB—now that that floodgate has been opened, she finds she’s struggling to control her feelings, she’s mad and sad ALL THE TIME, and she’s deeply deeply hurt in a way she didn’t know she could be.

She can’t show her face in society, she doesn’t know WHAT to say to Octavia, she can’t believe Stolas could be SO SELFISH after EVERYTHING she had done to make sure their family was in high standing—and she can’t push down her feelings anymore. She’s never been so furious in her entire life.

And so she contacts a hitman, Striker.

I really like the old fan theory that Stella hired Striker in a moment of irrationality and anger because of how hurt she was—obviously her hurt does not justify trying to have her husband MURDERED, but I like the idea that she called the hit because she was deeply hurt and unable to cope with those feelings—not because she just hates him to the core of his being and has for their entire marriage. Her anger would be a coping mechanism, if she’s so busy feeling furious she doesn’t have to actually sit with her feelings of betrayal and sadness and hurt.

From here, the rest of season one would play out like in canon, we don’t see Stella in person again, just the apparition of her in Ozzie’s.

I’m going to stop here because this post is already way too long, it it’ll help me to think more if I split it up.

If you read this far please tell me what you think! I think I’d like overall for Stella and Stolas’ relationship to mirror Blitzø and Verosika’s, or maybe become a foil to it. From here we could honestly go either way—either Stella becomes a true villain, or she becomes an antagonist turned hesitant ally like Fizz, Ozzie, and Verosika.

I can see both being interesting, so maybe I’ll do a rewrite for both. We’ll see I guess.

*it weirds me the FUCK out that we don’t know anything about what Hell’s kids do, like I assume schools exist but ???anyway in this rewrite Stella and Stolas send Octavia to a fancy private school—cause the thought of her having NO friends or social circle makes me so sad)

[tessarionbestgirl]

I think the reason Team Black love Jace so much is because although they love to brag about how they "won" they ended up with two of the worst Targ kings. Aegon III is dull as dishwater and is the reason House Targaryen doesn't have any more dragons whilst Viserys II is plain evil.

So with Jace they can project their ideal Targ king, declaring that unlike Aegon III he wouldn't let the dragons die out and unlike Viserys II he wouldn't claim Rhaenyra is proof to why women shouldn't be allowed to rule nor would he force his daughter to marry his rapist son.

Look I think Jace is a nice character, and even....how I am going to say this? One of the reasons Ryan is so pro team black sometimes in his writing, is because he has a producer mentality, that means he believes to maintain big audience, he will write characters that the normies can root for. That are not so morally gray. Some people call Hotd the mcufication of asoiaf and they are not out of line because just like the comic books are way more philosophical with their story (the end civil for example) Hotd takes away the little nuance that fire and blood give of the war and character and leans completely to one side.

Season one we had Viserys, and worked so well that in S2 he basically wrote Rhaenyra personality in the same way. Jace falls under that wing.

And while tb eat that shit for a lot reasons, including the one you said, like I also see them getting defensive towards Aegon III, although I have a feeling they've only been like this with them since his relationship with Jaehaera became popular.

Viserys in S1 was constantly shit talked and for good reasons. This season, because the fans loved him, he is acclaimed, even for the wife he constantly disrespect groomed. Rhaenyra acting like him . And that is not the reason why people liked her in the first place. Remember the girl that flew to Dragonstone without her dad permission and faced her uncle? That is the Rhaenyra people like it.

This all backfire and Aegon of all people become a fan favourite.

Ryan desperately needed to create a character where the normies would root for, but he end up making Rhaenyra boring and so he underdeveloped Jace and make him palpable for teen girls thirsty over.

Ignoring there is one character in the book that is coded to be the "Jon snow" the guy the people would root for. And Martin wrote him to be that so, because when adapted people like him. And Ryan cut him almost him completely if wasn't for George complaining in his door. And that is fucking Daeron.

[pruneunfair]

Characters I hate the most in remarried empress

5:Heinrey

A lot of people dislike him now for being a cruel bastard to the point of torturing foreign nobles just so he can favor his wife. While that is messed up I'll take that over his constant "UwU my queen~" persona that he displays 90% of the time because at least the former is the remnants of his inital personality. It goes from kind of funny to straight up cringey, I do not see what Navier likes so much about his puppy guise, he's so low because to be fair, he was introduced as a scumbag (kind of), he just spends so much time simping that it's basically tossed to the side

4:Lebetti

I know a lot of fans say Lebetti is young and can learn better, she's 17 sure but it took her entire family being executed just so she'd be inclined to care about Ian. She's basically a mini me of Lotteshu and when's she not doing that, she's another blind Navier worshipper who is used for as a stand in for the reader, I don't know how fans didn't realize their stand in is a slave owner but I digress. The only reason she's at number 4 is that while I do find messed up she gets to raise Rashtas child and likely feed a biased view of her to Ian, if she really wanted to be evil, she would've let Ian become a slave for his mother's crimes so I guess there's that.

3:Kaufman

Jesus christ this man is a walking, talking manifestation of second ML syndrome. He's essentially a plot device for no other purpose other than propping up Navier as so beautiful that multiple royal guys want her and so shit can go down , And of course the obvious slipping love potions in others for no other reason then "the plot calls for it", he doesn't even face the consequences. He's fucking creepy as well since he's STILL in love with Navier even after she's married and pregnant GET OVER IT MAN! In the end he just gets with Charlotte (Kosairs ex fiancé) so writting wise: his whole "nice guy" problems can be solved

2:Alan

I really just have a personal vendetta against the whole Rimwell family. The moment I lost all hope in remarried empress is when I was expected to sympathize with a rapist. The narrative wants readers to believe Alan was wronged even though he was the one to participate in keeping Ian away from Rashta until she got rich, even though it was HIM who decided to abandon Rashta after she wanted to run away with him. Yeah he's a good father so what? Wow! A dad actually raising his kid how amazing, it's almost like that's called the bare minimum. The moment he tried to say that Ian deserved to be treated like a prince because he was Rashtas son is when the comments finally saw him for what he was, he makes up for all this by getting executed in the end

1:Laura

Your probably wondering out of all these scumbags, why is a random side character on top? Well, the characters below at some point had personality traits that made then complex characters in the past or they did something to make up a little for it making them a tiny bit more tolerable. Laura however has never once shown any signs of any other personality other than "Your majesty! Your so wonderful and the best! That slave needs to know its place around you!" At least all Naviers other ladies in waiting have some sort of gimmick to them or in rare cases they have other stories going on with just them. Laura's gimmick is that she is willing to hit a slave for Navier even if said slave made a genuine mistake and isn't used to palace intrigue. Her face pisses me off everytime I look at it and everytime she speaks it's never anything besides love for the leads and hatred for anyone against Navier. she needs to get off her glazing and go back to bullying Cinderella with her evil stepsister design she's got.

Anyway let me know if there's any other manhwa/comic to rant about because I'm sure everyone's probably tired of me bitching about remarried empress

[allforone-appreciation]

I like that everyone sees Afo in their own way. Someone thinks that he understood, family is what Afo always wanted and decided to leave the evil empire. Someone thinks that he knows little about feelings, but wanted to be loved, so this led to the creation of a family, but in the end he left her due to the fact that she prevented him from becoming the “demon king” as his love for his wife and son began to grow. Someone believes that an event simply happened in the Midoriya family because of which Afo left, perhaps he couldn’t stand the fact that All Might had taken over his life and when Izuku wanted to play heroes in the All Might costume, he accidentally got a slap in the face, so Hisashi left so as not to harm the family. I have already asked this question to others. I want to hear your version)😊

AFO is the kind of character that will always have a huge range of interpretations to him. Just because of how dishonest he is in nature we can never truly know his feelings or true intentions. So we can only piece what his actions say and the few thoughts he has.

I note how you are mentioning a lot of DFO so I'm assuming you want my opinion on that too? Because as you know I'm a big fan so will be super happy to give you my interpretation on AFO especially in relation to that.

When it comes to AFO, I always imagined him with no empathy even as a child. This is NOT a born evil thing or anything as just having a lack of empathy doesn't mean you are automatically evil. As there are ways to teach people like that how to get along and have Logical empathy, basically a skill where you can logic out how said people can feel which he clearly learned later in life. But I digress. Basically because of his lack of empathy growing up in a survival of the most violent era would shape his personality. It honestly more a miracle that despite doing anything to survive he kept Yoichi around. Likely Yoichi agrees with this as in the end Yoichi was not benefitting AFO as he had to provide for two while Yoichi couldn't do anything.

Just this fact shows that AFO didn't really care that Yoichi didn't provide any actual benefits. This throws a point that he can be 'caring' to those he deems as company he enjoys. However his lack of empathy makes it so he always ignores Yoichi's input especially after struggling to survive for so long with never being cared for or loved. Without any idea of love or affection in his background, is it any surprise all he equated this illogical attachment too is just not wanting to lose his possession? His first gift? Especially as it been shown he is very envious of everyone having thing that he never had. Like a home, cars, and that includes a happy family. The last one he ends up losing after basically throwing his little brother in a vault for being unruly then seeing red when he leaves with the rebels. Accidentally killing his brother.

All this fact is important as we see he never process or got over losing his brother. Pursuing OFA just for his brothers vestige but likely after over a 100 years he got lonely. Desperate but he would never be honest or claim such a thing, but would allow a 'family' to occur to try and fill the void in his own heart.

I do not believe AFO would hurt his own son directly. Even in a rage after what happened to Yoichi, likely if he realized was becoming blinded by anger that would be a signal for him to leave. As likely he wouldn't be able to live with the idea of murdering his only family again because of rage. BUT making the excuse it because was holding them back.

However, I don't believe that's why he left. I legit imagined he kept up his double life for a long ass time almost shamelessly. Acting like a normal man using the fact he says he 'works over seas' as an excuse to not be around often. While still enjoying the benefits of a family whenever he does come by to visit, hell he was still kidnapping kids you see Tomura and Touya up till Izuku's birth.

And with his lack of empathy sees nothing wrong with a double life as long as he keeps the normal family happy and content. Then they would remain his family forever.

....Then during one of those visits All Might found him. It implied AFO was caught off guard which is what gave All Might the edge likely because AFO was trying to pretend to be a normal guy. But after getting caught was forced to fight and likely was trying to evacuate, only to get his head smashed in and technically killed.

Without his face there was no reasonable explanation he could give that would allow him to see his family. I imagine the quirks to 'change' appearance still required there to be a FACE to be changed. And that is what he's referring too when he claims AFO stole something precious from him. He stole his family away just like Kudou did, hence his hatred being quite strong.

Any interaction with the family likely is by email, mail and with checks just so they are alive. But he can't talk or interact with them at all in the state he is in. Still believing they are his but unable to interact with them like he used to with his face utterly destroyed. Hence his small pestering about being fixed likely was not actually meant in playful jest and something he hounded the doctor several times about.

He left his family not because he wanted too, because he NEVER gives up what he believes is his, but because he was forced too. Unless wished to get another Detroit smash to the face by showing he's alive or reveal to his family his actual job and get them running away like Yoichi.

So basically I see him as a man who lives a double life, an actual legit monster and yet also casually a normal man with said family. What would cause dissonance in others he saw no issue with since his family are his while other people are only useful or not. Until was suddenly crippled and could no longer have the joy of family he had craved, becoming more submerged in his hatred of All Might. Because while didn't care about such a tiny part of his empire falling.

His family is something he will destroy the earth and even the family itself if he must to keep them safe and at his side. And that's how I enjoy him to be in my interpretation.

[dangermousie]

would you happen to have thoughts about the acting/casting and/or depth of characterization in rise of ning? i'm watching it and wanna be more into it but fsr most of the cast (besides wanyi and the stepmom) are not very...charismatic? to me 😧 would love a convincing mousie blog on the topic if you have one up your sleeve!

I am a terrible person for this kind of question because (a) I tend to watch most shows for the mains and supportings are less important to me in general and (b) I am not really a person who wants to convince others to like what I like because all my liking means is I enjoy it; others may or may not - I am no arbiter.

This said, while the OTP are the shining stars of the show for me, I do find the rest of the characters interesting (even if a lot of them are not likable - I dare anyone to find Dad likable.) I think it's because they all feel like real people to me - in their good and their petty. Even minor characters like First Aunt - I knooow women like this. Or the Dad - too many men are like that. Or take oldest daughter of First Aunt - so many other narratives would make her evil or besotted stupidly to the end but she is not - she ends up doing the sane thing and moving on from her crush and repaying FL's favor; but they don't become BFFs, they basically a nicely tolerant, which is a realistic thing in families.

And it allows characters both greyness and consistency. Take Lady Qiao. Awful person but loving mother and you really understand how Dad and societal structures pushed her into what she is. Or, even better, grandma - she is very much a grande dame of society, I am sure she was a good wife, but it's clear she is part of all the generational trauma and dad got his tendency to favoritism from her. And I love that she's consistently so - no magic change of heart vis-a-vis ML. It's realistic.

As to non-Luos, the only ones we really see are Ci Sha's sinister sexy marquis and his nephew. I am interested in the former not just for the hotness (tho mmmm) but because I want to know what his deal is, and nephew is interesting enough for a minor character.

(I am leaving actors out of this write up because I think they all do fine jobs, but mainly because unless acting is truly bad, I care about the characters only.)

This said - this is (a) very much a costume take on slice of life or, perhaps better, a cdrama take on something like a Gaskell novel - I love that small but wonderful subgenre but depending on one's taste, it just might not be one's bag (no matter how well a proper harem drama is made, for example, I just don't like them) and (b) this is all my very subjective take - I am a big fan of "clicking." I believe things either click for us or don't, somewhere in the lizard brain; we can then write a long explanation as to why but it really is an attempt to explain after the fact. And this just might be a situation where those characters/narratives just don't click for you. I mean, plenty of people enjoyed Are You the One this year and I felt like it poisoned my puppy - not even 100 essays could ever make me like it because it's so subjective. I could very well go "I get why X likes it" but it would, alas, not make me like it any more than I do now. I am one of probably three people who dislike the main premise of Nirvana in Fire (could write essays on it!) and the fact that everyone else loves it has not changed my mind.

I can perhaps explain (badly) why I think the click happened for me here, but I have no eloquence to make that click happen for anyone else (if I did, mwhahahahahaha I would take over the world and adapt every good danmei out there :P)

[buthearmeouttho]

This Game I Made Because I’m Bored

so basically. You choose a scenario or thing or something for my characters to react/interact to/with. It can be you it can be you doing something it can be someone else it can be an object or like I said a scenario etc etc blah blah blah. And I’ll like. Draw it:3 because I’m bored. You can just like send an ask or something idk or reblog this post. Here’s the names but that’s all you get your welcome. Unless you want to know them so that’ll be under the like keep reading thing

Esmeralda

Fern

Fawn

Queen Lilay (pronounced Lila)

Trix

Rosa

Lux

Cora

Queen Numa

King Daylor

Queen Rihania

Drannor

Veria

King Eluric

Maximus

Matthew

Maryona

Calypso

Elena

Xavier

Axel

Luna

Drake

Esmeralda (Future Queen of the pixies, tries to be organized, really the one person keeping her kingdom together under the rule of her mother. Very good person, empathetic, problem solver, kind etc)

Fern (Esmeralda’s youngest sister, the sweetest person alive, pansexual, technically dating Lux, very kind, optimistic.)

Fawn (middle child between Esmeralda and Fern, the voice of the people, willing to stand up for anyone if she believes them to be right, was starting a rebellion against their mother the queen.)

Queen Lilay (not exactly evil but really just kind of lazy. A lot like Queen magnificent from WoF yk? Like… mostly self interested, lazy, not quite evil but annoying and neglectful of the kingdom. Not her daughters but she’s just kinda… yk.)

Trix (Esmeralda’s bestie, will commit small crimes, chaotic good/neutral, comic relief kind of. Likes baking.)

Rosa (Esmeralda’s other bestie, more level headed than Trix, diplomat between the other enchanted kingdoms.)

Lux (Born with a crippled wing and is unable to fly. Scared of heights. Very sweet but also very shy. Born into a poor family. Bi)

Cora (mer person, was also starting a rebellion. With Fawn. They’re both lesbian. You can see where this is going. Cora’s the oooo you wanna kiss me so bad in the not yet relationship)

Queen Numa (a fair queen (of the mer folk), but has more of a ‘land problems are land problems, ocean problems are ocean problems’ and that’s why Cora needed the rebellion. Because they couldn’t just cut off from the land bla bla bla. She comes through.)

King Daylor (King of the elves, good and wise king. Been around for a while. Helps Esmeralda where and how he can because he sees that she’s really the only thing keeping her kingdom together)

Queen Rihania (Queen of the elves, ver good queen and liked by all her subjects. Likes gardening. Very nice person.)

Drannor (likes exploring. Elf. Great dude. Funny. Strong. Brave. Blah blah blah. Very nice guy.)

Veria (Blackmailing her bother, horrifying levels of mind control magic, manipulative, smart, dangerous, and goddess level beautiful but like. Still. Also she’s a perfectionist.)

King Eluric (King of the Fanged. Veria’s brother. Fell in love with a human and used a spell to turn her fanged (that’s what he’s being blackmailed with) anyway she died (his wife) but his entire image would still be ruined if anything got out and that is how she’s still blackmailing him. Father of Elena, Maryona, Maximus and Matthew)

Maximus (very formal. Smart. Pretty quiet. Tall. Not much to say about him he’s the eldest brother tho)

Matthew (Technically inane. Pyromaniac. Middle child. Funny dude. Still evil but like. Sense of humor.)

Maryona (Main villain. Identical twin sister of Elena. Hates her sister. Also hates Matthew because he calls her Mary the Scary sometimes. Really pretty. Also manipulative. Also dangerous. Smart and stuff)

Calypso (Cousin of Mary distantly. Owns a Casino. Used to be a pirate. Lots of other things too. Very adventurous. Kinda funny and stuff. Still evil. Tricks people into rigged deals/games and whatnot. Two different eye colours, one orange-gold, one deep purple. Banned from the ocean by loosing her own rigged deal with the sea spirit (she had it rigged but her power was outplayed by him because he’s basically a god.))

Elena (High levels of anxiety. Self worth issues. Very sweet and kind. Scared for good reason. Terrified of her family. Very pretty but she feels guilty about being that pretty. So many issues. So so many issues. But she’s so sweet too. And an empath (like the power). Became mortal from Fanged after her mother died because she didn’t properly fit in with enjoying suffering.)

Xavier (main character, dating Elena, worries about her, basically Bucky from the mcu. Face claim personality the lot of it. Mind controlled for unnatural amount of years by evil people blah blah blah you know the story)

Axel (Xavier’s best friend, the only one who learned proper coping, very nice guy, always just kinda shows up with the *knock knock* hey, are you ok? Etc)

Luna (more trauma than the main character, was sold as a child after her mother died to the evil society but their mind control didn’t work so she had to be forced into doing what they said. Seriously unhealthy training patterns. She won’t eat or sleep until she passes out from exhaustion. Also anger issues.)

Drake (take Nick Fury, give him dreadlocks, take away the eyepatch, make him a medieval knight dude, etc. sarcastic. Don’t mess with him. A good guy and stuff but still.)

[beecreeper]

Since I'm completely out of the loop; what's the deal with all your Tavs and Durges? Who are they? What are they like? Do any of them belong in the same timeline?

(Basically go ham and tell me everything, I wanna knooow)

I have the basic rundown of my main three OCs in my pinned post but I'll also give you the lowdown on everyone under the cut because I looooooooove yapping

SO I got five Tavs/Durges, but I do way more with the first three than the other two. Briar and Ferox are durges and Molli, Myrala, and Poppy are tavs.

Briar is a spore druid and full evil. She finds her urges to be the only thing that gives her a purpose and identity, ESPECIALLY after the lobotomy memory wipe leaves her with practically nothing but the urges left in her head. She loves manipulating and messing with people and is just the wooooooorst I love her so much. Loves mold so so much. She also loooooooved being a toxic messy bitch with Gortash >:3

Ferox is my redeem durge. He's an oathbreaker paladin (broke his oath pre-tadpole when he durge murdered his wife). He's fuuuuuuull of guilt and considers himself a monster and is constantly yearning to be someone different but feels like he can't (spoiler: he can!). I still haven't actually uuuuh played him past the prologue yet but I'm probably gonna have him romance Lae'zel

Molli is my most self indulgent oc and a blatant self insert. She's a silly little guy! A bard who made a warlock pact while panicking and trapped in the nautiloid. Also she used to be held captive by Gortash because uuuuuhh don't worry about it. Normal reasons. She's got two alternate romance paths -- either Karlach or Astarion depending on whether she leans towards her good ending or her bad ending.

Myrala is actually Ferox's dead wife! I loved her so much I decided to make an AU where she never meets him and thus doesn't get durge murdered. She's a cleric/rogue. She grew up as a street rat thief in Menzoberranzan (lost her hand as punishment for stealing) until she hit rock bottom and converted to Eilistraee and fled to the surface. In her tav AU she moves to Baldur's Gate to try and establish a branch of Eilistraee worship there and help out drow refugees and stuff but she has a haaaaaaard time of it because of discrimination from the citizens and apprehension from the refugees who low-key believe that Lolth is gonna strike them down if they openly switch religions. She swore off stealing when she converted, but things are getting so difficult that she's getting a little tempted to take Nine Fingers up on her recruitment offers... And that's roughly where she's at when she gets tadpoled. She's gonna romance Wyll!

Poppy is my last tav and the least specific to BG3 because she's actually an old D&D character of mine but I am DETERMINED to play in BG3 eventually because this is exactly the type of BS she'd get pulled into. She's mostly a rogue with like one or two levels of ranger (in D&D proper she was the scout rogue subclass but we don't have that here). She was raised by a group of misfit outcast mercenaries that all treated her like their adopted daughter (her mom was the group's resident weaponsmith). At round about 17 she left the group to go "find herself" and is essentially traveling as far and wide as she can. She has the vibes of someone taking a gap year to backpack around Europe but she's been doing that for like 7 years. She also collects surrogate parents like playing cards and is going to LOVE Jaheira and Minsc so so so much.

Officially their "canon" universes are all separate, but I love to throw around aus in my head all the time. Particularly with Molli crossing over with either of my durges, because her past with Gortash means that she would recognize them and that changes A LOT of things.

Also thank youuuuuuu for asking. If you wanna DM me about OCs I would LOVE to hear more about Aurora and Jay 👉👈

[bohemian-nights]

I know for a fact that If Daemon was a woman he would have done ANYTHING to be married to Viserys. They way the show runners hell even the books show clear as day that Daemon loves that man and yes it could be because they lost their father but Daemon has always wanted his attention and affection, then he marries the closest thing to Viserys and that’s Rhaenyra then after Viserys dies look at his age attitude shifts he’s more hostile, he chokes his own wife, he’s planning behind her back and basically their relationship dies out the “flames of their love and marriage dies out”. I do believe Daemon loved Laena and loves Nettles but not like fire more like a calm sweet love but his love for Viserys was the biggest flame for him.

The books don’t even hint at Daemon being in love with him romantically or wanting him sexually, and he certainly didn’t want to be a woman so as to marry him(that’s show canon).

In fact, he seemed very bitter towards him after the Mysaria situation. Remember Mysaria was actually pregnant while they were at Dragonstone, but he was forced to leave her by Gollum, sent her back to Essos, and then she lost the baby. This was all conveniently cut out of the show(along with a whole bunch of things like his relationship with Laena cause what was on the screen was nothing like in the books).

I think a lot of his actions(being extremely chaotic, trying to seduce an underage Missy Anne and ruin her reputation, his marriage to Laena, his marriage to Miss Maegor, etc.) after that were subtly geared towards “getting back” at him.

If Daemon was gay, bisexual, or felt trapped in the wrong body and wished to have been born a woman, GRRM would've mentioned this. He doesn't hide his gay characters or ones with gender issues.

Show!Daemon loves Gollum, but that love in large part is obsession/possessive “love” which isn’t true love either IMO. It’s really just tied to his Targaryen/Valyrian supremacy views(which might be even worse than the books) and probably his mommy/daddy issues.

He treats him pretty sh*tty too because if he cared about him like that he a. Wouldn’t have used Miss Maegor as a pawn, b. Undermined him at every turn, or c. Wouldn’t have abandoned him for sixteen years with no real care for his health.

(I'll be damned if I leave someone I love in the care of people I think are “evil” or self-serving for a day let alone six years).

Toxic love ultimately isn't love because it goes against the core tenements of love (fidelity, selflessness, tenderness, caring, affection) in the first place.

I think Ryan Condal is crazy for trying to make this jacked-up relationship into even a one-sided “love” story. Daemon comes off like a hurt child(which is probably what he is) who is obsessed with his brother noticing him and being his everything and lashes out when the spotlight isn't on him.

Basically, they (so far) have screwed over a lot of Daemon’s arc in the show because Ryan Condal is obsessed with queer baiting, making certain characters into professional victims cause he doesn't know how else to make them sympathetic, among other things.

As far as Nettles goes, she shouldn’t even enter the chat yet show-wise (cause we do not know what they are doing), and book-wise, she’s the only person Daemon didn’t actively try to use or screw over. Even his marriage to Laena was (in part) politically motivated (initially).

People don’t want to admit it cause for some odd reason it’s hard to picture him loving someone or someone who isn’t Valyrian, let alone someone like Nettles, but that was his purest most selfless relationship. Take that as you will.

[fantasyinvader]

I'm watching V, the 1983 miniseries, right now after having finished the book it was based on, It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis.

The book was based on Lewis's wife's experiences in Germany during the rise of Hitler. She saw him come into power and how quickly he changed the nation. She also saw what was happening in Italy and Lewis compared it to some of the things being said in America during the Great Depression. It was written before WWII came about, and was meant to serve as a warning. A warning about the threat of charismatic leaders who use the system to empower themselves, as well as the importance of fighting such figures. President Buzz Windrip manages to win the 1936 election through promises of aid, fixing the economy, and a lot of prejudice against blacks and Jews. His followers are organized into his own militia, and using them he quickly concentrates all power on himself. He betrays his allies, gets people to turn on their neighbours who criticize him, turns people against learning, causes a lot of people to flee to Canada and other countries (where the population begins getting sick of taking in refugees), even sets up work and concentration camps. His supporters even begin arguing that democracy was an old-fashioned system and that America needs to get with the times and have a dictator. Towards the end, his regime begins making moves to conquer Mexico, he believes that the Americas are his by right of manifest destiny and that he'll be their emperor, before his strategist turns on him, leading to America going into another civil war. It also heavily goes into the nature of propaganda and information control.

V is a spiritual successor to the original story, and kinda reads like a wet dream for Edelgard's supporters. Human-looking aliens arrive, make themselves out to be benevolent, really begin taking over in the shadows while making themselves out to be the victims, turns out they're lizard people seeking to enslave/destroy humanity. While the themes of resisting totalitarian forces is still there, the threat switches from an internal one to an external one and brings with it it's own connotations. Rather that the fragility of democracy and how it can be abused to put the wrong people into power, instead it's an alien invasion story but there are also genuinely good aliens as well who help humanity so it's not complete xenophobia. But it's also very on the nose with it's allusions to Hitler. There's the good resistance, and the humans who collaborate with the aliens.

But, if we look at Houses it feels like a spirtiual successor to the original novel as well as a flip on V. As the creators said, the world of Fodlan was made to support Silver Snow's story. The resistance group isn't the humans fighting the alien lizard people, those guys are the imperialists seeking to conquer the entire continent under a flimsy pretense of liberation. Edelgard is charismatic, with symbols tying her to the idea of attraction, yet her victory is supposed to be the one leading Fodlan to tyranny. She's the one collaborating with the shadowy evil group that are really behind the world's problems, and makes use of propaganda. The twist on V, however, is that the game goes the same route as the original story, the threat is not an external invader (except if you play VW or AM, where Imperial forces try to conquer other nations and the player's army has nobles who collaborated with Edelgard's forces for their own benefit). The threat is HUMAN, and the aliens are actually benevolent however they are used as scapegoats, othered by those who view them as lesser animals to themselves, much like how V used scientists as the scapegoats or It Can't Happen Here is not subtle that Windrip will basically reenslave black people while going after the Jewish community.

Of course, you can always be a collaborator yourself in Houses. Buy into the propaganda, side with Edelgard because her path looks attractive, believe her empty promises and ignore the evidence that you've been played. Houses gives you that experience as well, though this was undermined by the translation.

Our society has warned about potential Edelgards time and time again. It's nothing new. I mean, ffs we just had a two-movie adaptation of Dune for crying out loud. Yet people think they're punk rock for joining her, not understanding that they've become puppets of the system.

[florwal]

I’m playing your save file and I appreciate how realistic it is! Out of curiosity I have few questions. What made you want to create the save other that the fact that it’s based off where you live? Also Love it but a lot of your sims aren’t the best of people and do bad things. Why is that? English is not my first language sorry for mistakes ♥️

here’s a very long answer! there’s a lot of good saves out there, but there weren’t any i could find that were realistic, centered around crime, regular lower income families, builds that were old and dingy etc. basically i just wanted a hood ass save file that felt familiar to my actual life/friends/hometown. it was just gonna be a personal save but i joined simblr to share my builds and people started asking me if i’d ever make a save file, since i already was i decided to share it w everyone. if i never joined simblr i don’t think i’d finish the 3 portsim worlds as fast as i did/keep expanding to other worlds but seeing people enjoy something i’ve created and adding their own spin to it makes me so :’) it makes things a lot more fulfilling/enjoyable <3

when it comes to my sims and their stories, real people aren’t 1 dimensional. to me, doing (certain) bad things or making wrong decisions ≠ being a “bad” person, it’s more complex/circumstantial than that. i guess i just want my sims to feel like real people or at least as real as sims can feel while having shitty ts4 ai. most of them aren’t meant to be seen as good/bad honestly, it’s subjective to each person that plays the save. obviously some things are dramatized to keep it interesting but overall i want things to be grounded in reality.

examples:

- charles boyce is my most extreme/one of my only inherently bad characters, i wanted him to have generic serial killer vibes. he got brain washed and manipulated into a cult which resulted in him becoming a paranoid evil person that killed his wife, jerrod banks’ mom, other pregnant women, and eventually even his own daughter for the mother plant (which canonically doesn’t exist) that the cult worships because 1. he was already misogynistic and had shitty morals and 2. he’s been brainwashed into believing that’s what he has to do to have eternal life.

- jerrod banks. he doesn’t know his mom was murdered, he and his dad (the police chief) just think she left without any explanation when jerrod was a teenager. that caused him to have trust issues and be emotionally closed off to avoid being hurt by people. his dad tried to be there for him, but he was also dealing with his wife leaving him to be a single dad, a demanding job, and a son that acted out. that’s a lot for one person. jerrod also grew up in portsim. being young and impressionable living in a place full of poverty, surrounded by the glorification of drugs, guns/violence etc causes it’s own issues. fast forward a few years later, jerrod and his childhood best friend deven have big plans. they both love creating music and want more out of life so they form a rap duo hoping to be successful and get out of portsim. but when a local record label takes interest in/only wants to sign deven… shit gets real. deven takes the deal, and jerrod is upset. the person he loved and trusted the most betrayed him, that’s his biggest fear. jerrod ends up shooting deven, which is obviously a terrible thing to do. but it wasn’t for no reason. i wouldn’t want to personally be around someone like jerrod, but i also wouldn’t view him the same way i would see someone like charles boyce.

[magpiecrust]

What is Red Revenge?

Basically, it's a WW2 superhero story that actually goes into alternate history instead of pretending modern day would be unchanged from the real world after all these events and despite all these supernatural and superscientific elements.

I can't think of anything to compare it to. Über? The Specialists? There is also some inspiration from Inglourious Basterds. But Red Revenge is not as gory as Über or Basterds, the aforementioned inspiration i don't mean Tarantino's voyeuristic gore. Also nobody is as OP as Über's supersoldiers. Still, it's obviously very dark.

It's supposed to become a webcomic eventually. I've seen writing advice that tells you to make incorrect quotes, playlists, moodboards, etc. about your characters to get a hang of them, which is what i'm doing on this blog. I'm also still workign on the character designs. Researching armies, history, involved real people, and the weather so your alternste history that spans over a decade is realistic is a lot of work and takes a really long time (even withiut indecisiveness and procastination). While the unrealistic elements are the point of divergence, i want the events unfolding from their presence (and other interference) to be realistic and make sense. I need to do other stuff besides research every once in a while too.

Tom Handschin/Carmine Avenger is the main character, a young german antifascist whose adoptive father Hans Leonhardt is murdered by the nazis in 1940 when they're found in Paris. Tom becomes sort of a superhero, though he's propably more similiar to the pulp characters The Shadow and The Spider. Like them, he doesn't have any superpowers. He's also autistic and gay ace, like me. I might change his name to Red Avenger.

Like The Shadow, Tom has a bunch of other people working for him. The most developed ones, whom i've already mentioned on this blog, are Emese Nacht/Pine, Horst Dießl/Crow, and Arthur Tangemann/Star. They all have single-word codenames that are supposed to look like legit surnames.

Sascha Schwinghammer, Basti Brandt, and Karl Barbier are Hans' friends and compatriots who are alive (at least for the time being), Renate Brandt is Basti's wife and Hannah Barbier is Karl's wife (Hannah, Karl, and Sascha are secretly all together). Hans, Sascha, Basti, and Karl are all disabled WWI veterans, they met during WWI, remained in contact, and opposed the nazis together.

Detlev Herr is Tom's former friend from the orphanage and a current frenemy. The frenemy thing is because Detlev joined the communist party in the late 1920s and believed KPD's narrative that all non-KPD leftists are evil. And since Tom is an anti-USSR and anti-KPD socialist...

The other superheroes of Red Revenge, besides Tom, are the generically superhuman Louisa Kinge/The Catalyst, pretty low-level psychic dhampir Miyako Hasuike/Wisteria Woman, the hydrokinetic and potential nixie Tadpole, the vampire Noah Ashford/Grey Howler, and generically superhuman Orville Holm/Freedom Fighter.

The main villains of Red Revenge are, obviously, a group of nazi supervillains; their leader The Lightbearer, the robot soldier Living Inferno, speedster Falk Bernhardt Rot/Thunderlight, telekinetic Adele Siemon/The Maiden, and hydrokinetic maybe-nixie/human hybrid Romano Marchegiano, generically superhuman Byron Ashford, and sniper Jan Messer who i don't have codename ideas for yet. The Lightbearer's girlfriends Gretchen Wagner and Kreszentia Glasner might also get mentioned. I've already decided how and when all these people die, at least tentatively.

(Yes, Noah and Byron are related. There's a whole british upper class family drama with them)

(Tadpole and Marchegiano are not related. Neither are Miyako and Noah)

[shipcestuous]

The Visitor

So I followed up on this ask and watched The Visitor. It has some pretty major brother/sister incest but I can't quite call it a happy ending.

This is a supernatural horror film. So Robert (played by Finn Jones) moves with his wife Maia into the house she grew up in following the death of her father.

Robert is British and the couple having been living in London. Robert never met Maia's father and has never been to her hometown. He's welcomed by the townsfolk enthusiastically, and he begins to notice that things are a little off. Then he starts finding paintings around town from the past with a man in them, referred to as the Visitor, who looks just like him.

Major spoilers to come.

Eventually it is revealed that in the 1700s, I believe, one of the founders of the town sacrificed his blood line to an evil power (I think it's implied to the devil himself) in order to save the town, which was in desperate times because of disease, etc. So now every first born son in this family line looks just like that man did (and like Robert), and is a vessel for this evil power. And we see throughout history that the past “Roberts” have been involved in some pretty heinous stuff. And the town is basically a cult around this demon, Maia included.

We also learn that Maia's father looked just like Robert. But more than that, Robert was actually Maia's brother who was kidnapped as a baby by a group of people who had figured out what was going on. Maia's father sent Maia out to go find him.

So she knew Robert was her brother the second she met him, got together with him and married him for the purpose of bringing him home and having a child with him.

Robert becomes like the others. There was talk of a choice but it didn't seem like he every really had one, it seemed like it just happened. And there's talk of him becoming a vessel, but it's a little ambiguous, because the past Roberts didn't just go out and do demon-y things, they also lived as members of the town and raised families and all that. But it seems like Robert as we knew him for most of the movie is no longer himself. I suppose the whole “Visitor” thing makes it clear enough that it's not really him anymore.

Maia gives birth to their son, the next “Robert”. But then something happens to her, and we saw it was the same with her mom. Her eyes go all white and she might be slightly zombiefied.

It was hard to tell what was going with her mental faculties. It's surprising she would willingly make that sacrifice, but it seems clear that she knew what was coming. (She also terminated her first pregnancy because it was going to be a girl.) So, while the movie ends with full-blood brother and sister married (happily married?), it's to really Robert and Maia may not be herself either. But prior to the last part of the movie, brother and sister are married.

And obviously the fact that he's identical to her father is pretty interesting. Was she raised by a human man or by a demon? I don't know. But whoever it was, she would have seen him as her father and apparently had no issue marrying someone who looked exactly the same, and who was also her brother.

When he finds out, he's kind of in denial. We don't get to spend a lot of time with his honest, full reaction to the fact that she's his sister, because it's during the climax, and there's just too much else going on. The incest takes a backseat to the whole devil thing.

It was never made clear if Maia had to be the one to bear the son, and/or if incest was practiced in the line all along. If anything was said about that, I missed it. But I don't think it was explained. But there also does seem to be something special about the new baby Robert, he's going to be the Anti-Christ or something. End of the world stuff. Don't know why the townsfolk want that but it's implied it would be good for them somehow.

This is after Robert is no longer himself, but it's a pretty interesting exchange between him and Maia, right after the birth:

I think that's all the relevant info.

Ironically, the last thing I wrote about was Carnival Row, and Carnival Row is like the subversion of this one. But they both suck because they couldn't have given us so much more.

[perexcri]

5, 15, 28, 37 I was gonna be evil and do one every 10 for the book asks but then I gave up bc there were so many

well well well. you come to me in my ask box, on this, the day of my daughter's weddin[GUNSHOTS]

5.) something in fiction that reads like poetry

this is an excerpt from It by Stephen King that i have pinned to my wall (as you have probably noticed since it's right in front of my desk lol) that i read last year and it gutted me and left me for dead on the side of the road:

So you leave, and there is an urge to look back, to look back just once as the sunset fades, to see that severe New England skyline one final time – the spires, the Standpipe, Paul with his axe slung over his shoulder. But it is perhaps not such a good idea to look back – all the stories say so. Look what happened to Lot’s wife. Best not to look back. Best to believe there will be happily ever after all the way around – and so there may be; who is to say there will not be such endings? Not all boats which sail away into darkness never find the sun again, or the hand of another child; if life teaches anything at all, it teaches that there are so many happy endings that the man who believes there is no God needs his rationality called into serious question.

You leave and you leave quick when the sun starts to go down, he thinks in this dream. That’s what you do. And if you spare a last thought, maybe it’s ghosts you wonder about…the ghosts of children standing in the water at sunset, standing in a circle, standing with their hands joined together, their faces young, sure, but tough…tough enough, anyway, to give birth to the people they will become, tough enough to understand, maybe, that the people they will become must necessarily birth the people they were before they can get on with trying to understand simple mortality. The circle closes, the wheel rolls, and that’s all there is.

You don’t have to look back to see those children; part of your mind will see them forever, live with them forever, love with them forever. They are not necessarily the best part of you, but they were once the repository all you would become.

Children I love you. I love you so much.

So drive away quick, drive away while the last of the light slips away.

idk if that's what the question was asking for but it is poetry TO ME

15.) a book rec you really enjoyed

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Steifvater

this was a rec from @cherryisgone that i absolutely adored!! this author writes so beautifully, and this book read almost like a modern folktale. plus, it's about miracles (kind of like encanto, if that can be a selling point to you, dear friend 👀). i read like half of it while sitting by the beach one cloudy weekend and really enjoyed it

28.) a book you wish you could read as a beginner again

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

ok i don't actually want to reread war and peace. i think i'd impale myself on a bendy straw before i ever did that (especially since i read this as a challenge to myself and, perhaps you can recall, dear friend, spent most of the last two months of junior year preoccupied with while nobody in our classes would shut up :))))) ). the only reason i would even remotely want to reread it is because i have such a better grasp on the background of the events in this book, of the writer himself, and just the culture and society of Russia itself than i did in high school when i basically knew Nothing. not to say i'm an expert ofc, because i sure as hell am not, but i do have a lot more context for it and feel like i would understand it on a better level now than i did then

but alas, i'm not willing to put myself through that again :) listening to natasha, pierre, and the great comet of 1812 is all i need to get through the rest of this life i think

37.) your favourite heist book

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

you asked this just so i would have to admit you were right, huh 😔

tbh i don't think i've actually read a lot of heist books. this is the only one i could really think of, but still, it would beat out any others. also, this book has Matthias Helvar, and that's not something other heist books can say

anyway, thank you for stopping by bestie :3 here's to many more books in our future :D 💜💜💜

[aikoiya]

I actually have some ideas!

Also, I'm thinking that, for the Maddie & Jack situation, we could go a similar route to the Ao3 fanfic series A Phantom In New York City. Or even take a couple of cues from Shadow of Doubt & Phantom of Truth where, yes, Maddie & Jack really freaking mess up. And they mess up bad, but they legitimately love their children. Thing is, they are egotistical & tend to have difficulty taking other people's opinions into account.

Not to mention, I see them as having issues with their senses of object permanence. This, as well as my hc that Jack & Maddie are both neurodivergent in some shape or form, results in them getting wrapped up in their own heads, wrapped up in each other, laser focusing on their fixations (namely ghosts) &, at times, results in them being unintentionally negligent despite really & truly adoring their family.

They are also the scientists who managed to prove without a shadow of a doubt that ghosts are real. And this is after having been disregarded for years as crackpot within the scientific community.

As a result, now they tie their pride to being right. Especially when it comes to ghosts.

And we all know their initial thoughts on ghosts. All of them are evil.

Now, because of this, if the reveal doesn't take place correctly, it can result in them reacting in the exact worst way possible.

In other words, I think in order for it to go well, I believe that they both need to be convinced that Phantom & Danny are the same person or they will incorrectly believe that he is either being possessed or has been replaced by Phantom. Or at least, that Danny a/o Phantom ‘believe’ they are.

If they aren't convinced, then they will do what I'm sure a lot of angst phans believe, attempt to capture him & either torture him until he tells them where Danny is or attempt to ‘purge him of Phantom’s influence.’

Now, at the end of the day, even if the reveal goes the exact wrong way, I still think it's possible for things to get better. However, again, the key is them realizing that Danny & Phantom are the same person. Though, if it isn't via the use of science to, like, scan his DNA or something, then they're liable to believe that Danny died in the portal & may not even contemplate the possibility that the residual electricity may have resuscitated his body, thus returning him to life.

As such, they'd believe that his ghost was possessing his own corpse. Or, if they do think of it, they might think that the ‘ectoplasmic imprint of consciousness’ created by his own death was possessing his body & may try to expunge it.

Either way, they might try to separate his ectoplasm from him via the Ghost Catcher. However, I'm of the opinion that due to literally being half-ghost, this would divide his personality, though in different ways depending on what he wants at the time.

And, while the 2 halves would be okay for a while, as time would pass, both would begin to degrade until the ghost destabilizes & the human dies.

Basically, bad times.

But yeah, back to the idea I have for the actual story.

I'm also thinking, instead of just going outright Pat O'Brian, what if I literally go the angle of merging the characters of Pat O'Brian & Ralph Dibny here? So, I'm going with the initial name, Pat Dibny & a merging of their backstories & powers.

Like, I really enjoyed Ralph in the Flash show & I especially enjoyed his sleuthing, but joking nature. If I remember rightly, he was actually legitimately good as a detective & was, evidently, a talented chemist, just not the best at being very serious, is all. I also liked his love for mysteries.

So I very much like the idea of merging the 2 & maybe having his wife also be a detective too to sort of go a similar route to Joshua & Margaret from Adventure Time. Like, literally make it a family business.

In such a situation, as Plastic Man, he'll have all of Plastic Man's powers, but plus Elongated Man's enhanced sense of smell.

Regardless, he'll end up in a happy, healthy, & supportive marriage. Because Ralph should get at least 1 iteration where he gets to be happy.

I also like how Pat O’Brian continued to maintain his connections with the criminal underworld to gather information despite having reformed. It'll be useful both as a hero & a detective, so I'm keeping that.

My thoughts are that Pat Dibny was initially a corrupt cop in Gotham, who was using his connections to help him as a crook (Kite Man). But after everything with his nieces & nephew, as well as the accident that turned him into Plastic Man, plus his encounter with the monk who turned away the police when he sensed in him a greater capacity for good, he realized that he'd been completely dissatisfied with his criminal life & remembered his childhood dream of one day becoming a detective. And the original reason why he became a cop.

It'd been so long since he was that bright-eyed kid absolutely enthralled with mysteries & a desire to help clean Gotham up... He guessed that all the corruption in the force had just... it got to him... beat him down... In a way, Kite Man was his way of getting out his frustration…

His gang didn't know it, but he tended to donate his portion of the loot to the many orphanages around Gotham as he'd been one since 10.

As a P.I., he does a lot of work involving things like kidnapping & child trafficking. That isn't to say that he doesn't also do murder cases, stolen items, & other things, but he definitely tends to get a lot more driven when the victims are kids. Which, he tends to be really good with due to his personality.

But I do like the idea that he initially adopts them illegally, but after the accident, meeting the monk, & deciding that he wants to change & be better. Batman notices & helps him to create a new identity & legally adopt his nieces & nephew.

Which, would make it easier for him to become a P.I. because if he has a new identity, then he can't be a cop anymore. Because only Pat Dibny was registered as a cop. But, now, he's Ralph O'Brian & he can finally pursue his own dream of solving mysteries & cleaning up Gotham, but without the corruption saturating the GPD getting in the way of his every attempt.

I can also see him, Dick, & even Gordon becoming drinking buddies that often commiserate over the sorry state of the force & plot how to root out all the corrupt cops in the precinct, which Ralph can act as an anonymous source for.

Oh! I love the idea of them & Jason all coming over to play cards with the Villain Fam on weekends after they move to the new house!

I want a fic where Danny is adopted but not by the JL but a villian. BUT! It is a very minor villian to the point where people are absolutely gobsmacked when he calls the villian dad, like everyone just stops what they're doing and watch the interaction. Bonus points if they find out that Danny is an absolute powerhouse monster and wonder what entity away from God's light did they fuck to have him.

"That's your son?"

"Yes."

"The glowing white haired teen?"

"Yes."

"The same glowing white haired teen that just froze a star and then ate it?..."

"Yes! And?"

"THE FUCK YOU MEAN "AND?", HE JUST ATE A STAR!!"

___________

Danny in a less than human form: *screeching*

"Scream all you want but you still have school tomorrow and you're going."

Danny: *leaves taking the cold and weirdness with him*

"Sorry about that, he gets a bit cranky when he has to take a nap."

The rest of the villians in the meeting terrified: Oh...

___________

"It would much easier if you got your son to help with your task."

"Absolutely fucking not! He's not going to do ANY vigilante/villian bullshit if I have any say in it."

"You have the ultimate weapon at your side and you-"

"My son is blessing not a weapon, I advise you to NEVER speak about him like that ever again."

____________

Villian, threatening JL Hero: Tell your kid stay away from my son, he doesn't need any of that shit yall bring into his life.

JL Hero: What?

____________

Personally I like to imagine this somebody as Kite-Man but that's just me, use whoever yall like.

[phoenixyfriend]

Fake Sith TCW Trio

I have another fucked up time-travel AU! Who’s surprised? (Nobody.)

So like. Have you guys read that one fic where Luke and his students go back in time and pretend to be Sith Lords and are super hammy about it? (Sith Lord Swell by AMournfulHowlInTheNight)

This AU has contributions by @atagotiak, @the-lunar-system, @purronronner, @gelpenss, @creepingthroughthistidalwave, and @thisarenotarealblog.

I want TCW trio (plus Rex and Cody) to go back to several years pre-TPM and, since the Council DEFINITELY won't believe them about the Sith being back... they'll force the issue.

Anakin is weirdly excited about things and building up their backstory.

Anakin: Okay so I can definitely be a Maul type, with the unhinged ranting and manic laughter, Obi-Wan can be the whole Refined Rich Guy type like Dooku, where you can't even tell he's evil until he starts talking about getting out the eyeball scoops, maybe toss in a bit of mad science stuff? Ahsoka could play up like Ventress OR, oh oh, she can be the Light Side Child we need to PROTECT who's publicly begging us to return to the Light after our big dramatic Falls where we murdered like eighty people to save her, and-- Obi-Wan: Why are you never this enthusiastic about actual undercover missions. Ahsoka: Did you just have all this ready to go, or...? Anakin: WE COULD GET YELLOW CONTACT LENSES FOR ME.

Obi-Wan: How's my evil laugh?

Anakin going “Okay.. so if any of us need to murder someone to sell the bit it should be me, I think I could handle it the best. Why? No reason.”

Obi-Wan: I'm not sure a complete Fall could come from protecting Ahsoka, really-- Anakin: No, no, it could.

Obi-Wan: Surely you’d hold back because you realize neither of us want that for you. Anakin: Uh. Sure. Definitely.

Obi-Wan points out that none of them can channel the dark side to Prove they're Sith and Anakin just goes "Okay, give me like two seconds to stew in my negativity and--right, you can stop staring in horror, please."

Anakin rambles on that they can TOTALLY make the galaxy a better place while playing at being Sith! He's got a whole LIST of slave empires to "take over" and disassemble!

Anakin has a whole excited spiel about how EVIL soldiers and assistants are minions, in this case partly because Cody and Rex are too good at what they do to be mooks. Cody could pull off evil minion very well. Facial scar? Looks good in black? Quietly competent and sarcastic?

He also pushes for Obi-Wan to lounge in a fancy throne with a glass of wine while Anakin stalks the shadows and Ahsoka hangs out on the window ledge. The disaster lineage is dramatic, okay, Anakin’s just leaning into it, he’d appreciate it if everyone stopped looking at him like that.

Qui-Gon, surprisingly, ends up a skeptic about all of this. Everyone is freaking out about the Sith and he’s like “y’know I’m not even sure they’re darksiders.”

Some Jedi, possibly Qui-Gon for his conspiracy board, gets in a real risky situation and one of the Fake Sith saves them, but also panics and kinda drops character for a bit.

Jedi: You saved me! Why’d you do that? Anakin: I uh... just wanted the pleasure of killing you myself?

"You saved me. Why?" "Mmmm. Jedi." [walks away]

Qui-Gon: [trying to figure out what is up with these people semi-competently (from his perspective) pretending to be Sith] Dooku: [trying to protect Qui-Gon from Sith influence]

The gang is the most successful at pretending to be Sith to Dooku. Sure, they’re not gonna punish him for something he hasn’t done, but it’s not hard to act menacing and angry around him.

(They really do have so much fun irritating the heck out of Dooku. He hasn’t Fallen yet, but they want to keep an eye out.)

At some point, future Obi-Wan definitely drops that little tidbit of "What, you didn't think the Banites were the only Sith running around did you? You... didn't even know about the Banites. How... disappointing."

They REGULARLY use Ahsoka as an excuse to be marginally less terrible. They claim that if Ahsoka pouts, they stop. ‘Soka also uses them as an excuse for why she’s a lil feral. (To be fair, that one is accurate. She was already a lil feral before but it’s not like they did anything to stop it.) Ahsoka gets her "breaking into people's offices" jollies by bugging Nute Gunray's office.

The Jedi keep trying to Rescue Ahsoka.

Rex and Cody end up in real beskar, there's a whole Thing with Mandalore and Jango and Satine.

Obi-Wan is CONSISTENTLY worried about Anakin Falling for real, which... hey, at least he knows to be worried about Anakin Falling. Step up from canon, really.

Anakin is WAY too into killing the Hutts but like. It does... technically sell the bit.

Obi-Wan: Sure, I’m not sad that they’re dead, especially because we’re not connected to the Republic, so we don’t need to worry about starting a war and all that. But. Anakin is disturbingly cheerful about this. Rex: Wasn't he a Hutt slave? Obi-Wan: Well yes, but-- Rex: I'd kill Nala Se if I could get away with it.

Cody and Rex are very supportive of Anakin's murderous intentions.

Obi-Wan does understand anger, even killing someone in anger. Like Maul (the first time at least) and D’nar and a few others. All the same, like... y’know. The level of bloodthirst from the others is a little off-putting.

At one point, Anakin accidentally addresses young Obi-Wan by name, despite never having met before, and to cover it up, he... panic-flirts. He panics, and so he flirts, with young Obi-Wan.

(He will later blame this on old Obi-Wan, because he had to pick up the habit of flirting with the enemy from somewhere.)

Anakin vaguely implies that he's a wee bit obsessed with young Obi, and that the padawan should "get used to being the target of a dark-sider's interests," because he’s scrambling for Ominous Shit and, well, future Obi-Wan was pretty frequently a fixation point for darksiders, right?

The second he gets out, he just starts screaming into a bucket while Rex pats him on the back.

For the next however many terrible months, possibly years, he has to keep up the act while having an ongoing meltdown about how That's My Dad As A Twenty-Something.

(It doesn't help that young Obi-Wan reflexively flirted back.)

Old Obi-Wan, meanwhile, is just very "you dug this hole yourself, padawan."

There is an argument at the beginning about Obi-Wan’s outfit. If he’s gonna be a Sith, he can’t just go around in beige, but he’s like “I like this and it’s comfy.” Sure, he’s changed clothes for undercover stuff, but that’s always been temporary, y’know? He likes his beige.

We have a number of options.

My first instinct? Beige linen three piece suit, like a southern lawyer. "Now I may just be a simple Outer Rim force adept--"

And, of course, you can TOTALLY make the beige sinister: he’s impersonating a Jedi! Jedi impersonation would also explain why nobody has a red saber.

“Sure is good that the Jedi don’t seem to realize most of the galaxy doesn’t know red sabers are different and bad.” “Shhhh, stop poking holes in our story where a Jedi might overhear.”

Like.... if you do enough doublethink, it works! How would a Sith hide? In plain sight. Also, it’s a GREAT way (if they were actually assholes) to try to slander the Jedi name.

(Anakin and Ahsoka still think he could stand to put a little more effort in. Add a splash of color, for pity's sake!)

Though tbh part of me is like “What if Old Obi wore, like... a split skirt suit...” Victorian womenswear inspired because he misses his robes, but he has to look Professional, and like he's MOCKING Jedi instead of BEING one, so he wears a vintage-y split skirt thing over his leggings. Ends up looking a lot like what Ventress had for a while, but Beige. I also keep wanting to put him regency menswear.

Anyway. Obi-Wan’s wardrobe aside...

Anakin builds up his Tatoo accent again. It helps him with the (mostly true) "slavery helped me fall" backstory.

Either Cody or Rex offhandedly mentions being made to serve them (the Fake Sith) and now the Jedi are somewhat concerned about brainwashing. Are these Mandos the victims here?

“No like. Literally made for this. In a lab.” This is even more horrifying. So...

On the one hand good! The Jedi should be scared about Sith! On the other hand... it makes the Jedi more determined to stop them, specifically. They keep on getting in the way, just, all the time, and they’re not investigating the actual Sith problem, which is decidedly not great since the Team doesn’t actually know who’s a real Sith right now, except Maul, and who even knows where that guy is.

Obi-Wan, at some point: Do you think we've succeeded at this ruse... a little TOO well? Anakin: I don't follow. Obi-Wan, gesturing at the truly obnoxious amount of wealth they've collected, including "trophies" of their kills: Really? Because I'm a little worried! Anakin, planning out a battle to take on Nar Shadda: ...I'm not.

"How many people do we realistically we need to take over Hutt Space? Apparently... five."

(Mostly because Anakin is ridiculously op.)

ANAKIN AND YOUNG OBI GET KIDNAPPED BY PIRATES TOGETHER. It's tradition.

Anakin: Okay, so, I need to get really angry about something to pass as a Sith... time to think about my WIFE and how I'll NEVER SEE HER AGAIN.

Since Anakin’s life never goes as planned... this does not work. Instead of getting properly angry, he makes himself sad. There are tears. There is wailing. There’s a distraught rant or two. Young Obi ends up awkwardly trying to comfort him.

“Oh no, this… Sith?? Is crying on me. What do I do???”

Later on, when the Council wants intel: "So... one of the Sith cried on me about his wife. I think she's dead? He wasn't very clear about it but it, uh... it sounded like it might have contributed to his Fall. Also the relationship was a little unhealthy? He basically worshiped the ground she walked on and kept ranting about how he would have given her the galaxy on a platinum platter of she'd only asked, but that might be new and inspired by the Dark."

One of the random Jedi is REALLY good at detecting the truth Through The Force, and asks Anakin how he Fell...

Anakin just. Tells the Tuskens story.

They don't get pinged as lying, but oh boy does old Obi have a LOT of questions for Anakin once they're in private.

There are other things happening to help sell the ruse. Some of them are necessary! Some of them are... not.

Obi-Wan: What's the best way to show we're rich and kind of evil, but like... classy about it? Anakin, immediately: I sit on the floor next to the throne, leaning against it, and you call me pet names while stroking my hair, and then when you need something killed I get to do it for you and then I go back to the floor and you thank me for the directed violence, and then you go back to Negotiations with criminals while I’m sitting there covered in blood. Obi-Wan: ...is there something you want to TELL us, or...?

"You're all going to get a glimpse of something normally kept hidden about me." "Anakin, you don't have to do that." "No, I'm gonna."

(Anakin has decided hes going to peel his kink tomato to sell this ruse, and the others are slightly uncomfortable with that.)

Anakin: Okay, I cannot keep flirting with you. Young Obi: Wait, what? But that's the best part of any time we run into you! Anakin: You look WAY too much like my Master did when I met him. Obi: O...kay? If someone looked like my master when HE was young, I'd-- Anakin: My Sith Master half-raised me. He's basically my dad. Obi: ... Anakin: What's that look for? Obi: I mean, you spend a lot of time lounging at his feet, and, like, given how much you hate slavery, I... kind of assumed it was a kink thing? Anakin, brightly: Oh no, I just have a LOT of trauma. And neuroses. Snips says they’re neuroses.

Young Obi is a little upset because he was actually getting REALLY into Flirting With The Enemy and was hoping it would go somewhere. He mopes to Qui-Gon about it. Qui-Gon isn't sure whether to be proud about Obi breaking rules, or worried over Obi-Wan falling for a Fake Sith.

(As Tia put it: "You enjoy making young Obi-Wan have a completely unrequited crush on Anakin, don’t you?")

Fortunately, one of those attractive Young Mando boys very kindly helped him tape up his ribs this one time, and has thus caught his eye...

I feel like having Cody date Young Obi would court an entirely different kind of (internet) drama because clone ages, but whatever.

Also please imagine an element of "so I'm dating the genetic identical of my boss... who's dating the man I'm a genetic identical of..."

(It's probably not actually Jangobi but man would that be funny and also stupid.)

Somehow Young Obi figures out that the "Sith Master" is a future him before he realizes that they're not actually dark. In his defense, Anakin was pretty convincing. Especially with the wife rant. It makes HIM more obsessed with Anakin, in a reversal of the implied earlier dynamic, which is all kinds of weird. Less romantic but like. Still weird.

"Future Me Scares Me" with Extra stupid. "Future Me Annoys Me." "Future Me acts like grandmaster Dooku, but more sass." "Future Me raised a really hot evil guy that refuses to bang Present Me." "Future Me might be a Sith, but I'm getting more and more convinced he's just fucking with us all." "Future Me is really rocking that beard, and I can't BELIEVE we figured out a way around the babyface."

"I’m kinda concerned about the whole evil thing, but I���m also glad that I know I’ll stay hot as I get older."

Quinlan approves of the priorities.

Also a lot of interactions with older Obi are very Anakin: [does/says something deeply unhinged] Obi-Wan: So, do you want to…. Talk about that? Maybe? Anakin: What’s there to talk about?? I’m fine, everything’s fine! Anyways how about those plans for tracking down Maul?

Anakin later, like way after the ruse is lifted, just blankly tells everyone that he did Fall, once, and Older Obi made him get therapy about it after the truth came out between the two of them a few months into the Fake Sith thing.

Where'd they find a therapist? I'm sure there's one SOMEWHERE around. Denon and Herdessa are close enough, and they've done enough "your criminal empire now belongs to me" that they can pay well. They make sure to find one that takes confidentiality real seriously.

It's all very "we need some more time to unpack all that."

Therapy helps get Anakin to figure out Sheev’s whole deal. They don't necessarily figure out he’s a Sith from it, but they figure out he’s sketchy and they need to look into that more. Obi-Wan probably already thought he was sketchy, but the whole active gaslighting campaign was a little surprising. They realize that he kinda benefited a lot from a lot of Sith plots and they still probably don’t think he’s a Sith but Obi-Wan is definitely starting to think he’s working with one.

"Okay, we're already bugging Gunray, should we bug Palpatine just to be safe?"

They get away with a lot of slicing because Anakin is a technical genius from twenty years in the future.

The reasons they're so good at Taking Over Hutt Space: 1. They know parts of the future. 2. They have superpowers and FAR less reason to not use them, now that their actions aren't going to reflect on the Republic. 3. They have Cody and Rex, who are two of the greatest military minds in the galaxy, and know EXACTLY how to wage a war that covers a solid third of the galaxy, starting from a position of relative weakness. 4. Anakin's charisma is scary high, and his knowledge of slave culture means they gain a lot of trust from the people they free, and they just... keep acquiring volunteers for the army they didn't plan to have. Obi-Wan doesn't know what to do. He thinks they might have started a cult?

In his defense, Dooku sort of started a cult, and Komari got kidnapped by a cult, brainwashed into joining it properly, and then took it over as head figure of said cult. It's practically tradition!

Comics Vader is the central figure of like three different cults, it was really just inevitable.

Anakin: Aw, don't worry master, it's not a cult, it's a revolution! Ahsoka: They're worshiping him, though. Anakin: ...it's still a revolution! Just... with some misunderstandings.

Also, if they got wind of people trying to keep people from being able to leave and other culty stuff like that, they’d probably put a stop to it pretty damn quick.

Names! Time for names. As per usual, it's easiest to keep track of Obi-Wan's alternate Older Self by just calling him Ben.

Darth Ben.

Ahsoka: You should be Darth Boring. Obi-Wan: I can still make you run laps, you know.

Anakin: The Force is telling me to call myself Darth Vader. Obi-Wan: ...why? Anakin: I dunno, but it sounds cool, I'll run with it.

Someone: Ben has all the answers; we shouldn’t question him, ever. Ben: One time I lost a planet, and a five-year-old found it for me.

More options: Going with the "evil word with the prefix 'in' chopped off" that we get with Sidious and Vader: Darth Surrectus (as in insurrection) Just random Latin words: Darth Temporus (time) Darth Commenticius (fake)

Anyway, back to Nonsense:

Maul goes after young Obi early, because the Fake Sith are really invested in this one random Padawan (Sidious is saying he might be a cousin of the false Sith Master? They do look similar enough) so someone needs to investigate. Naturally, Anakin shows up with some wild screeching to fight Maul, and when someone questions why he got involved it gets very "Kenobi is MINE!" and like. Okay. So.

Anakin means it in a very Sith "to toy with" and "to torture" way, or the ‘my chosen opponent!’ way, just the same kind of Obsession as Maul had with Obi-Wan in the original timeline. Unfortunately, Anakin’s a weird-ass person who flirts with Young Obi against his own better judgement, so there's some awkward "Like... your boyfriend?" from young Obi. Anakin just screeches in SOME emotion that nobody wants to interpret, and couldn't even if they wanted to, and starts whacking away at Maul again.

(Anakin hasn't explained the "you look exactly like my dad, sorry, it's just too weird" thing yet, and he is HAVING MANY REGRETS.)

There's definitely at least one instance where a person asks Anakin if he's planning on dating That One Jedi Twink, or at least banging out the tension. At that point in time, Anakin doesn't actually know who the fuck they're talking about, because "Obi-Wan + Twink = Does Not Compute" for dear, dense Ani, and instead he just ends up ranting about how he is LOYAL TO THE MEMORY OF HIS LATE WIFE, how DARE anyone so much as INSINUATE that he would TARNISH HER PERFECT MEMORY and UNWAVERING KINDNESS and WHOLESOME BEING, and the person who asked doesn't end up lightsabered but they do end up with a LOT to tell whoever they're reporting to.

Young Obi-Wan definitely hears Anakin mutter the phrase “something to discuss with my therapist later” a few times, and he’s a little bewildered because darksiders definitely don’t seem like the type of people to go to therapy. They’re the type of people to need therapy, sure, but not the type to go to therapy.

I think it would be very fun for Young Obi to continue sighing over Anakin (who's pretending to be fine with it and even flirting back because he's in too deep to stop and hasn't worked up the courage to explain the elephant in the room) while Anakin is covered in grease and infodumping while having a slightly manic hyperfocus on engine repairs while the two of them Somehow got stranded together in the middle of bumfuck nowhere (it's Plagueis's doing, he finds the interactions between THESE two in particular to be the most informative regarding the fake Sith).

Anakin, at some point while stranded with young Obi-Wan, and having actually started unpacking some stuff in therapy, though he’s def still got a ways to go: I’m pretty sure Ben cares about me. He acts like he cares, like he’ll do stuff like put extra blankets in my quarters in the spaceship because I get cold real easily or track down those droid parts I need for a project and he always has my back in a fight but y’know it’d be nice to hear him say he loves me once in a while. Especially because we kinda had a rough start and idk I don’t think he wanted me around at first.

And uh. Obi-Wan definitely relates to that a bit too much, y’know?

I want to say that Young Obi ends up mentioning All That to one of the clones or Ahsoka later, because they seem probably invested in Anakin's well-being, even if Ben is, well, a Sith, so Obi-Wan's a little worried the man's affection really is fake, but at least Ahsoka...

(Ironic, given what Anakin's actual eventual Sith would-be-Master was like.)

Young Obi mentions Anakin’s most recent rant to Ahsoka, and she just goes "Wait, is that why Skyguy likes to sit by the throne and get called pet names?" "Uh... I don't... know... but it sounds like all of you have a LOT to unpack there, Miss Apprentice."

Later on: "Master Kenobi, you need to tell Skyguy you love him 'cause apparently he's been having a lot of emotions about you not telling him you care and he's been talking to mini-you about it whenever they get stuck together and--"

Young Obi-Wan is just constantly the "Now we don't have time to unpack all of that" John Mulaney gif. Anakin in particular is a mess, and young Obi-Wan slowly goes from "I want to date that" to "I want to study that" about him.

Obi-Wan gets stuck somewhere with Ben, tries to small talk, gets on the topic of Vader, and spills the drama. He gets an awkward “Thank you for bringing that to my attention.”

It’s followed by a fairly frustrated “I try, but Anakin refuses to communicate his needs to me, and it feels like I’m always falling short.”

At least one member of the group is in therapy, probably all of them, but they’re still using young Obi as a sounding board for all this stuff. On the bright side, this is probably good for impressing the importance of good communication on Obi-Wan.

Good for Obi-Wan! And... whatever Padawan he eventually has.

As for baby Anakin, who is approximately age four, I want to go with "Anakin decides to be his own uncle, and Shmi just rolls with it because fuck it, she’s not a slave anymore, and a Fake Sith is a solid defense against anyone trying to re-enslave them."

[This is a backstory I've had them use before (see here and here).]

Seeing Big Ani and Little Ani in the same space might be what finally pings the "oh shit, that's future me" thing for Obi-Wan... you know, if he’s ever allowed close enough to see Little Ani in the first place.

Little Ani stays with the fake-Sith and is sorta jointly trained by all of them, and young Obi-Wan teaches little 'Soka at the Temple. Ani and 'Soka still end up friends somehow, but it is fairly different.

Every time little Ani addresses Old Obi as "Dad," it's just like ten kinds of awkward. The one time someone tried to explain that Ben wasn't his new dad, Shmi glared them down. She is of the opinion that, all the gods be damned, Ani deserves to refer to the most mature man in his life, who raised another him in another timeline already, as a father.

Ani doesn't NEED a father, Shmi herself is more than enough, but he does deserve to have this if he wants it.

An alternative conclusion to the time travel is uh. So the Mandalorians are genetically identical (give or take a hair gene) and really resemble Jango Fett, though whether anyone notices that is up in the air. Then the three ‘Sith’ (two fake Sith and their morality chain tag-along) have three younger, identical copies show up….

It could be really weird cloning shenanigans. Now, it makes no sense that they’d make clones, and stagger their production like that, and leave them as babies on various planets for Jedi to find. IDK what reasons Obi-Wan would come up with for that, but it’s a fun little detour before he gets to time travel.

There's a really painful moment (for the audience, who know about canon Vader) where someone tries to convince Ahsoka to leave the Sith and she's just like "no way, they'd never hurt me!” Then she clarifies that “someone has to keep them from doing stupid Sith shit whenever they get bored, you know?"

A bunch of Jedi probably think she’s delusional, but the few that have seen her get into trouble that is legitimately too much for her, which isn't often, have then seen Anakin show up like the devil himself to save her, and it's like. Oh. This is why she isn't scared of them hurting her.

We’ve discussed how Anakin does get concerningly in character with the fake Sith thing. However, Anakin and Ahsoka are, just once in a while, surprised by how Ben gets sometimes when playing the bad guy.

After all, he stabbed a dude with a fork and threatened to eat him during his time as Hardeen…

He has the same dramatic streak as all the rest of the lineage. He can be vindictive and creepy and scary as fuck.

HOWEVER:

Obi-Wan: I know I'm supposed to be playing at evil right now, but how do we feel about me making that evil a little... fruity? Ahsoka: Fruity, master? Anakin, who knows where this is going: [buries face in hands] Obi-Wan: You know, the... [limp wrist] Ahsoka: ... Obi-Wan: I mean, I'm already bisexual and well-groomed, I can play it up.

What’s the point of being evil if you can’t be flamboyant?

Anyway, I had to put in a lot of thought for what to do with Rex and Cody, because there's a solid place for them in terms of strategy, but it doesn't do much to give them independent narrative arcs, and 'young Obi-Wan has a crush' isn't much of an arc, you know?

So, basic info first: Cody, Rex, and Anakin all hold the rank of General in this AU because, like... who else is gonna. Ahsoka remains a commander because everyone declares her Baby, and also to keep up the "I'm a morality chain" ruse.

Cody maintains a very stern and unyielding public persona, but the second they're behind closed doors, he's roughhousing with his little brother.

Rex has some fun pretending to be a sadist whenever he and Anakin have to team up, because hamming it up as an evil bastard in front of Jedi is actually really fun... but usually, he's a competent fucking professional.

Because here's the thing: someone has to be.

They both kind of hate the army they've gotten, because these people don't even have proper trigger discipline, let alone any actual discipline.

This army? Tragic. They hate it. Give them the clones.

They have to be drill sergeants for months before they have anything worth sending onto the field.

I think that might be how/when they end up reaching out to Jango. Like, the first inroad is absolutely "we're your clones from the future and you were a Shit Dad so you owe us," but then they actually talk him around into letting the Fake Sith hire him. He brings along all the Mandalorians he can get to answer his calls, and on suggestion from Those Mando Twins, joins the army Ben doesn't even want.

Darth Boring doesn't want an army! Unfortunately, Cody thinks that's stupid as hell, and is overruling Ben so they can actually work on this 'cleaning up the galaxy of slavery' thing with actual resources.

Cody and Rex are super competent, and it shows in their horrified disdain for the state of their troops.

Rex: Fucking natborns. Anyone who isn't in the know: What's a natborn? Rex: [leaves without answering] People: WHAT'S A NATBORN???

(I'm assuming that the word smush is harder to parse in Basic.)

I think young Obi-Wan's new crush on Cody should also be unrequited. Cody's just like... bemused. Very "Okay, then, that sure is an Affection you've decided on."

Cody and Anakin both: Sorry, it’d just be too weird. Obi-Wan: Why would it be too weird? Cody and Anakin: Reasons.

Rex has to deal with the "whyyyyy" from both his brother and his (former?) General.

Young Obi-Wan just likes cute boys that fight good! Is that so wrong???

Ahsoka: So since we're not officially Jedi anymore-- Obi-Wan: We're still Je-- Ahsoka: Can we date? Can I date now? I want to date someone before we go back to the Code. It's a classic life experience for most teenage girls, and I want to Have That Experience before we're back at the Temple. Obi-Wan: You're not... you can date, Ahsoka, that's not actually banned by the Code. I mean, you'd have to keep it casual, but-- Ahsoka: I CAN DATE!!!

(Great priorities, Ahsoka.)

An idea I'm toying with is that one of the clones ends up Legally Engaged to Satine for political reasons, and young Obi-Wan is just like ???? because not only can he not date the hot boys, but one of said hot boys has become Mr. Steal Yo Girl.

Young Obi-Wan is suffering, and Quinlan is the worst friend ever because Quinlan is laughing at him.

There is obviously the question of

"How would Satine ever end up agreeing to that, given what their public personas are like and all that? She puts duty ahead of personal feelings but all indications are that it’s a terrible decision both ways." (as stated by Tia)

Which, yes, I forgot to actually say that I was imagining Jango had declared "those twins" his heirs after telling people they were his younger* cousins. Because reasons.

* Jango is about 27 when they land in the past, and I’m going to say the accelerated aging ended after hitting physically twenty because no, I don’t want to deal with that. As far as anyone knows, Cody and Rex are about five years younger than Jango. They’re less than year apart, which isn’t very visible, and most people assume they’re identical twins (except Rex’s hair), and that Cody just looks slightly older because of the scar.

Darth Boring had convinced Satine that the way to keeping Mandalore peaceful was to work with Jango (because Darth Boring, which is not his actual title but it is what Ahsoka insists on calling him in private, has a vested interest in keeping Mandalore and all interested parties calm), and he... maybe accidentally set up a political marriage between her and one of the clones.

It wasn't on purpose! Satine never married in his timeline, okay, he didn't expect her to ever get married here, either! He didn't even suggest it! This just happened!

(I want to say that Cody would be more competent at having a political marriage? But IDK.)

Do I do the Satine thing? It has potential, but also it's a bit of a cop-out. Do I have Cody be a diplomatic representative for their pseudo-Sith empire? He could be, but I think he'd hate it. Do I have Rex date one the Chaos Entities (Anakin or Ahsoka), or is that too repetitive with my other works? THERE'S JUST TOO MUCH GOING ON.

Part of me wants Quinlan to get a crush on Cody, and the crush gets bigger specifically in response to the fact that Cody refuses to take him seriously and/or just doesn't give him the time of day.

Based on their one interaction in TCW, they probably let get along ok. Cody maybe likes him back, buuuuuuut internally he's just a little "you were tolerable at almost-forty; early twenties you is obnoxious."

Just imagine the absolutely puppyish attempts at gaining approval and Impressing The Hot Mando General. Quinlan keeps having vague daydreams of seducing someone to the side of the Light. He really leans into the bodice ripper fantasies of saving someone evil with the power of love! (And also the power of really good sex.)

Bant looks at Quin and Obi and wants to throw them both into the nearest pond because they're idiots, but on this topic they are the same flavor of idiot. She considers calling up Reeft and Garen to help her knock some sense into them.

Quinlan: Can I volunteer to go undercover to the Sith? The Council: No. Quinlan: ...what if I-- The Council: No.

Tholme tries to get Qui-Gon to commiserate over their Padawans getting obsessed with Hot Sith Boys, but Qui-Gon just finds the whole thing funny. He knows from the chats he has with Ben that Anakin feels so completely, utterly, incredibly awkward about all of this.

(Ben continues to hold to "Anakin brought this on himself.")

(Ben also “kidnaps” Qui-Gon a lot.)

Also, hey, at least Quinlan isn’t actually into hot Sith boys! He’s into hot Sith minions which is... probably a step up. At least Cody’s not a Sith himself!

It's a step in some direction but Tholme has no idea which one.

(Quinlan sees Cody in dress uniform once and just keeps the mental image for Ages. It’s in his dreams. Sometimes said dreams overflow to Tholme via Force Mind Magic and Quinlan wakes up to someone smacking his face with a pillow.)

Arguably, Quin's also a lot more romantic about his crush than Obi-Wan is, in this case. Quinlan: I want to save him... Obi-Wan: Hey, hey, cute boy. Look at me. Let’s bang.

Cody: There are currently two future Jedi generals having some form of absurd romantic fixation in my direction. I don't know how to feel about this. Rex: Bed them. Cody: ...I'm not saying that's not eventually an option, but one of them is the younger Kenobi, and I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that. Rex: Pat him on the head like a tooka and then bed his friend, it'll be funny.

I think the Quinlan thing and also general exasperation of leading an absolutely useless army can function pretty solidly as the basis for Cody, but I have another idea for Rex now.

Komari is currently brainwashed in a cult, yes? So.

I keep bouncing around back and forth on what to do with Rex, but part of me suddenly really likes the idea of, after Team Fake Sith finds and dissolves the cult (as one does), and takes Komari into custody (because she's dangerous and deeply unwell), Rex kind of ends up her touchstone to being a decent person. He’s not a morality chain, and it’s not really a redeemed-through-love thing, just This Is A Solid Dude who doesn't pity her or thinks she's irredeemable (however you choose to define such a thing), but actually relates to the kind of conditions living like that can involve, and just kind of...

I don’t know. I think Rex's arc in this AU could be very heavily grounded in something to the effect of "You're not the worst darksider I've met. You're not the only person who was in a cult. You're not even the only former Jedi I know that's committed awful, horrible crimes. My question is just this: What are you going to do moving forward?"

Later Anakin: Wait, who do we know that was in a cult? Rex: What did you think Kamino was?

(Rex isn't as chill as he'd like her to think, but he's trying, and she's fairly reliant on the Force to understand emotions, and is currently in nullifying cuffs, so he can bluff.)

Komari needs someone solid and dependable to rely on for at least conversation, and I think Rex needs to feel needed.

I’m not sure if it’d be romance or friendship, but I think there's a solid basis to work with, potentially.

Per Tia:

One thing about Rex and shipping is like. If you want to do Rexwalker again that's fine, but if you're worried about repetitiveness but still want to like. Ship him in a non-political-convenience way. Rexsoka here actually would be different than your other stuff.

I'm trying to figure out if I can make it work because Ahsoka thematically fits very much into a little sister shaped hole here? She feels younger than in other works, despite not actually being younger than she is in, say, Commander Buir. In those other fics, she has some time alone to function and prove herself independently of Anakin and Obi-Wan.

I usually pluck Ahsoka out at sixteen if I'm pulling her from TCW, so she's got most of her competence but hasn't gotten quite all the trauma yet. Commander Buir, in particular, also has baby-shaped Anakin for contrast.

That said, I can see a decent source of narrative conflict in her wanting to experiment with romance and all that, and Anakin trying to tell her she's too young.

A year into this whole time-travel mess, she wants to give the dating thing a shot, and it spirals into "You were only two years older than me when you got married!"

I think I could build a plot out of Ahsoka wanting to do these things, and Anakin as an audience insert not quite processing that she's old enough to make these decisions. If she's choosing to date Rex, whose age works out as being close to hers when one takes into account Kamino fuckery, and whom she trusts absolutely, it’s arguably extra weird for Anakin to be upset with it.

"Senator Amidala was five years older than you, and you married her when you were nineteen and had only really known her for a week! I can go on a date with a guy we both know is one of the most trustworthy people alive if I want, Skyguy!"

I can definitely see Ahsoka getting annoyed with Anakin being overbearing and controlling at some point before that unrelated to romance, too. It’s not exactly a new fault of his.

My god, just imagine someone snidely asking Anakin "where's your little shadow?" and Anakin, being Himself and also a Fake Sith, has an emotional breakdown about how Ahsoka yelled at him for micromanaging her and not trusting her to make her own decisions in life and so she got herself a multi-month solo mission from Ben that Anakin isn't allowed to know any details about, and--

It's another one of those "oh, you have PROBLEMS problems with your mental health" incidents for the Jedi to add to the file, because Anakin having emotionally charged rants about his issues at seemingly terrible times is how they get a lot of information.

Some of the rants are planned.

Many of them, actually.

They want the Jedi to know these things.

Just, well. Anakin.

He really is a little Like That.

On that note, I'm low-key imagining that Anakin gets put on mood stabilizers by the therapist in this context, and he's doing good! He's handling his issues! He's--been captured with Obi-Wan the Younger again and his medication was confiscated.

Anakin is... not great. He's a little out of practice managing his unmedicated self, and when adding withdrawal symptoms onto that... poor Anakin.

(Poor Obi-Wan.)

I think it would be best if Anakin makes a bunch of ominous blustery comments at their captors about how they won't like what's coming to them if they take his belongings (AKA the fanny pack that has his backup pills), and then Obi-Wan just gets to watch Anakin get more and more erratic, because like. Yes, Anakin is using the Force to compensate, but unfortunately he's mostly cut off, and the stress of the situation is pushing him away from depression and into the beginnings of a manic episode.

Anakin is aware of his issues to the point where he's mostly managing, and he keeps asking Obi-Wan "would it make sense for me to [slightly deranged, very impulsive action]," and Obi-Wan realizes he's being the morality sounding board for the Hot Sith because ??? reasons?????

Eventually, Anakin does flop back in bed and dramatically throws his arm over his eyes, and says he needs his meds back, he's absolutely going to lose it, and Obi-Wan tentatively asks what kind of medication. There are levels to worry about. Mild allergy medication is one thing, but heart medication that needs to be taken every four hours is another, you know? He wants to know how much panic is appropriate.

Anakin lets him know that it's Psychiatric In Nature. Obi-Wan suddenly realizes that he really, really, really doesn't want to know what a properly erratic, unmedicated Anakin is like.

(An unmedicated Anakin really isn't nearly as bad as Obi-Wan fears. Anakin's been dealing with this for a while, and knows what his issues are and some of how to deal with them. He'd need to be running on no sleep and higher levels of stress, or to have been drugged with something meant to increase his aggression, to really lose his shit and do something worthy of Vader. RotS levels of stress and sleep deprivation is required to pull RotS levels of manic paranoid delusion.)

Tia asked:

How long does it take the Jedi in general to catch on to how like. They have opportunities. But these Sith never seem to harm any Jedi. And it’s not just like, the past timeline parts of the disaster lineage. They probably get opportunities to hurt other Jedi. Ones that are less skilled at saber work. And more importantly ones that they don’t seem weirdly interested in."

I'm not sure, really. The Jedi don't spend as much time in the Outer Rim as they could, and that's where the Team operates, so actually running into them by accident is unlikely for anyone other than Shadows.

Fortunately, it's really easy to toy with Shadows with the excuse of "I want to see how long it takes before you Fall with us."

I do want like... okay. Here’s the mental image:

Qui-Gon calls them out on being Fake Sith pretty quickly, so Ben just sort of eyes him, dramatically, and orders out "Leave us" to all non-team people. The threat of torture is implied but not stated. He gestures with wine to keep in character. He definitely makes sure Young Obi-Wan is ushered out, so it's just five time travelers, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Ahsoka's immortal force birb.

"...so, what's the reason for the farce, Obi-Wan?" "How in all the hells did you figure it out so quickly?"

(Qui-Gon cheated a bit. He could feel the broken training bond that was never properly severed due to Traumatic Death Of A Master on Ben's end)

Ben didn't realize he'd feel it! Young Obi-Wan can't feel his older self or a training bond with Anakin or Ahsoka, so why could Qui-Gon?

IDK if there would be anything on the level of crying and hugging it out, but I think it would be very funny if, every time young Obi and Anakin are getting captured by pirates or something, Ben and Qui-Gon are just having a nice afternoon tea and checking their watches to see if their respective walking bundles of neuroses are done with their adventure yet.

The Council is So Done, because Qui-Gon continues to insist that they're Not That Bad, but every time anyone other than Qui-Gon brings up the friendship, Ben laughs and makes a comment about how absolutely gullible Master Jinn is.

Obi-Wan is skeptical of his own experiences with Anakin, at least, if only because he's skeptical about Anakin's everything.

"I don't know if Vader is telling me the truth. I don't know if he's telling himself the truth. I don't think he's a great source of information even when he thinks he's being honest."

Anakin could tell Obi-Wan the full and complete truth, and Obi-Wan would worriedly put a hand to his forehead and start doing tests for hallucinations and paranoid delusions. In his defense, this is a very reasonable assumption to make with an individual like Anakin. It's just also not accurate, this time. I don’t know if Anakin hallucinates in canon without a weird inciting incident like Force Nonsense or getting drugged by the enemy, but paranoid delusion is pretty much all of RotS.

"I’m your time-traveling padawan who’s pretending to be a Sith to catch some other Sith who’re going to start a galactic civil war and those Mandalorians you like are from a clone army based on a template of Jango Fett made to serve the Jedi (because that’s totally something he’d sign up for), and one of the Sith is your grandmaster but he doesn’t seem to have fallen yet, it’s probably fine," is hard to believe.

Honestly, even if he seemed stable before saying that, which he doesn’t, it’s all real far fetched. There's a lot going on and Obi-Wan wouldn't even begin to believe it without evidence.

I've had it in my head that he and Bant and Quinlan have been gossiping about the mess for months if not years about these idiots, and at one point it became common knowledge that Ben was a Kenobi, and Bant convinced them (since the two were among the most likely in the entire Order to encounter the Fake Sith) to get a DNA sample, probably hair or blood since that's easiest so they can figure out HOW these two are related, if they are, and then there's a whole big thing.

Bant: No, no, this must be contaminated, it's coming up as Obi-Wan! Are you sure you didn't accidentally grab some of your own hairs? I know it's a little long for most of your hair, but the braid-- Quinlan: Wait, they keep claiming stuff about cloning, right? Maybe someone's a clone? Check for artificial telomeres! Bant: ...okay, so, there aren't any artificial telomeres, but the ones from apparently-Ben are... a lot shorter... um... I don't know what to do with this. It's like I have two samples from the same person, twenty years apart. Quinlan: Obi-Wan, what's that face? Why are you-- Obi-Wan: Vader told me he was a time-traveler. I thought it was the fever talking, but...

That’s how he finds out that Ben is future-him before finding out about how he’s not evil!

"Master Jinn... I think... I think the Sith controlling the Outer Rim is me from the future." "Oh, you finally figured it out?" "I AM HAVING A CRISIS HERE."

Obi-Wan, after a few hours of dazed realization, runs screaming to Quinlan and Bant like 'GUYS GUYS THIS EXPLAINS WHY VADER KEPT SAYING IT WAS WEIRD AND THAT I LOOK LIKE HIS MASTER AND THAT IT WOULD BE LIKE DATING HIS DAD.'

You know, the important stuff.

I think Qui-Gon tells him that Ben isn't evil because, like, That Sure Is A Crisis Obi-Wan's Having. He could hold off for shits and giggles, sure, but Obi-Wan’s on the edge of something Really Concerning, mentally. Best help calm him down on at least one or two things.

Obi-Wan’s maybe still a little skeptical until he confronts them over it. Because their Sith act was real good and also like. Maybe Qui-Gon just wants to believe the best of his Padawan, y’know?

Quinlan runs into Ben before Obi-Wan does, after this whole mess, and gets to observe as money changes hands and people act like sore winners about bets made for When Does Obi-Wan Figure It Out.

Anakin was saying 'soon' because he really didn't think the fever-fueled rant would be discounted as easily as it was.

Cody was of the opinion that it would take at least a few more years since they're actually pretty damn good at this whole schtick.

Quinlan: Wow, he's... going to be really disappointed that you have such a low opinion of his intelligence. Cody, gesturing at Ben: Experience. Darth Ben: ಠ_ಠ

Cody just rattles off some of the Extremely Stupid Shit that Ben's done in their time working together.

Rex cheerily offers up "You didn't even realize General Skywalker was married, sir! And they weren't subtle!" "I knew they were together, I just didn--" "Everyone knew they were together, sir. Everyone."

(Rex had the lowest opinion of their deductive capabilities. He claims it would have taken until Baby Ahsoka showed up at the Jedi Temple.)

-Once Obi-Wan accepts that they're decent people after all- Obi-Wan: Wow, Anakin, you're real good at acting unhinged! Anakin: Haha. Yeah. Thanks?