#who needs a red lightsaber to be a menace

[delugenal]

𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 a sky like this. blacker than the grave and more bountiful than the dead, a murder of clouds turned the night into an event horizon. their voluminous bodies, so swollen and opaque, extinguished the ceaseless brilliance of the seven moons, and refused to relinquish its captives to the morning fire that rose without notice behind the dour curtain. it felt like the end had finally come to hapes. a superstition born from an animal brain. still, fear, no matter how misplaced, was contagious. nerves and whispers accompanied the artificial light that flooded the interior to keep the darkness at bay.

      out of curiosity, rain slipped his hand through a paneless window. it was as if the portion of his limb outstretched was severed clean the wall of morning-night was so thick. like all members of his species, lowlight meant a fresh horde bruises or a deadly tumble off something with a ledge. but only because most hapans used only their eyes to see. rain’s senses spoke to him differently. microspheres of moisture in the atmosphere illustrated the world when sightlines could not. so even if the sensation of his extended limb was denied, rain would still see how his wrist waved as he turned it over, his fingers flowing in a gradient of motion. clearer than the sparkling rays of dawn in the vision behind his eyes.

      rain retrieved his arm and tested its movement. translucent scars left behind by downpour glistened in the hungry light. he was about to continue on, following the line of windows to his destination when an invisible current he’d trained himself to recognize any shift in its flow suddenly dammed his attention. rain found her right where he expected. the newly returned heir, still lacking the unique . . . shine of her lineage. hard to call the young woman glittering, but with each day this rey-shaped kira ka was looking more and more like her family. in facial structure alone. the rest remained untamed.

      a trend rain prayed continue. if not for the sake of sindel’s designs than for all the wrinkles ta’a chume’s granddaughter was no doubt carving with her willpower.

      ❝ seems i misjudged you, ❞ watery reflections circled the room as the orb suspended above his staff rotated like a shrunken world, ❝ i expected you take advantage of this. ❞ along with the top of his hood, rain’s brows nodded towards the windows. ❝ or at least attempt to. ❞

a storm swallows the sunrise for @graysistance

[high-mackrels-musings]

In Defense of Ki-Adi Mundi … Again

Look at that, one of my favorite Jedi from legends is relevant again … for all the wrong reasons. But regardless I’ll take any chance I can to talk about my favorite Cerean.

With that said I’ll just say two things with regards to the acolyte and Mundi, I’ve watched two episodes and have little interest to watch anymore, canon isn’t my cup of tea, if you enjoy it good for you, Star Wars is a big enough fandom that both old EU and canon fans can enjoy their respective parts of it. And please understand that Ki-Adi Mundi of legends is not the same as canon, unfortunately people are woefully ignorant of who he was in canon.

With all that let me go ahead and repost one of my old posts from reddit where I defend the now seemingly popular Ki-Adi Mundi. Original post found here.

Introudction:

In recent days it has become quite common to bash the jedi for their perceived arrogance, hypocrisy, and coldness. Seemingly a few jedi are always quick to be singled out for their actions Mace Windu is directed plenty of ire for his role in ousting Ahsoka, as is Shaak Ti for her inaction in the clone chips, and Luminara for her response towards the death of the Martez sisters’ parents. However, I shall be focusing solely on one whom has recently been getting a lot of attention with (reddit posts like these), (articles like these), and ( videos like these).

This is a horrible video, please don’t watch this.

It seems apparent to many that Ki-Adi Mundi deserved his death and that he is a prime example for the Jedi losing their way. However, I felt it necessary to attempt to put things into some perspectives. Not only because I feel people are taking things heavily out of context, but also Ki-Adi represents one of the best Jedi Masters of his era in my opinion.

Common Criticisms:

Mundi’s denial of the Sith Existence (The Phantom Menace):

One of first instances that many will bring up will be the hubris that Mundi’s quick denial that the sith might have returned as Qui-Gon reported to the council. While it is true that Mundi was perhaps just a little too quick to judge. However, one needs to consider the viewpoint of his and the rest of the council. As he states, the Sith are believed to have been extinct for a millennia, following the supposed death of Darth Bane in Darth Bane: Rule of Two. But while the Sith had believed to be extinct there were plenty of examples of Dark Jedi and other Dark Side users well into the clone wars, as exhibited in the stages before the Clone Wars such as Aurra Sing and Komari Vosa, and before The Phantom Menace as seen by Qui-Gon’s own former apprentice Xanatos.

Red lightsaber, familiar in the Jedi arts, but not a Sith.

Thus, to the Jedi on the council it would have made much more sense that Qui-Gon had been attacked by a possible fallen Jedi, rather than a long believed to be dead group.

While Mundi was at times sure of himself, this is not such an example that can be used to discredit him. Rather what we can see here is an example of the arrogance of Qui-Gon to always listen to his first instinct. The Jedi Council rightfully so declares that such a matter should be looked into more closely with Mace Windu stating, “We will use all our resources to look into the matter more closely.” Of course, it looks bad in hindsight, but as viewers we have more information than the characters on the screen.

Mundi’s defense of Count Dooku (Attack of the Clones):

In Attack of the Clones following a failed assassination, Padme is quick to bring up the name of Count Dooku for whom might be responsible for the attempt on her life. This is quickly followed by the Cerean master’s words, “He’s a political idealist not a murderer.” It is backed up by the words of Mace who describes him as being a former jedi. One needs to remember the context of this. Dooku while having left the Jedi Order, did so amicably as seen by his statement when leaving the Jedi as found in Jedi VS. Sith The Essential Guide to the Force where he states:

It is my plan to return to Serenno and serve my people as a philanthropist. It is my last request as a Jedi Master that you Respect my decision, as well as my privacy. Good-bye old friends, and may the Force be with you.

Further as seen in the deleted scene Jocasta Nu states, “He disappeared for nine or ten years and reemerged as the leader of the separatist movement.” Dooku thus is thought of as only being a political leader, which would fit the description of him in the Revenge of the Sith novelization, where he is described in the common consciousness as:

The political heart of the Separatist Confederacy, Count Dooku, is known for his integrity, his principled stand against what he sees as corruption in the Senate. Though they believe he’s wrong, many respect him for the courage of his mistaken convictions.

Thus, this viewpoint by both Ki-Adi Mundi and Mace Windu is well supported in universe. They have yet to see any reason for such a quick accusation that Padme makes, instead they must stand behind the evidence at hand, that being that the attempt on her life was that of spice miners as intelligence pointed. It should be kept in context that Dooku was still seen at this time, by the Jedi at least, as a good friend who had simply become disillusioned by the Jedi and the Republic.

Ahsoka’s Trial (The Clone Wars Season Five):

Perhaps one of the most spoken criticisms against Mundi, is his role in expelling Ahsoka from the Jedi Order. With Ahsoka being a well-beloved character of the fanbase, it’s no wonder everyone would come to her defense against what most would consider an unfair treatment of a fan favorite. Yet, should one look at the evidence that was available to the character’s it is not so cut and dry. Indeed, should one look at this without any outside insight they would have come to such similar conclusions.

Indeed, the case against Ahsoka was much stronger than some might very well remember. In the second episode of the arc The Jedi Who Knew too Much the murder of Letta, the one responsible for the explosion, was caught on camera. The visual for anyone would have been obvious. Ahsoka is seen holding out her hands while Letta floats in the air visibly running out of air. This is just the first piece of damning evidence. Further there is the statement that Letta makes in plain earshot of the clone commander to Ahsoka, “I was told if I ever needed help you were the Jedi to contact,” further implementing Ahsoka into the role of mastermind of the temple bombing. In this same episode Ahsoka is let out of prison, though to anyone apart from the audience it appears that she has fled, along with reportedly killing a few clones. And then there is Ahsoka being spotted, by Anakin nonetheless, with Asajj Ventress, a known separatist and war criminal. Finally, when Ahsoka is captured by the clone and Jedi team, she is found next to more explosive nano droids. All this culminates in showing Ahsoka in the worst possible light.

Furthering the matter is the fact that this was no longer a Jedi Matter that could be investigated internally. As Admiral Tarkin explains to Anakin and Ashoka in *The Jedi Who Knew Too Much* Letta was moved because the matter was now in the hands of the military, “Clones were killed, which makes this a military matter.” A statement Anakin agrees with. And as mentioned in the same episode, Palpatine had made sure to remove the Jedi from such military matters. It further complicates the matter. And thus, one may see that the Jedi had little choice but to expel Ahsoka. Not only did all the evidence point to her. But they simply were not in a position to set up their own trial.

Further it should be noted that Mundi had very little involvement in the decision to expel Ahsoka other than simply voting, a vote that was split according to Yoda in the final episode of the arc stating, “Reached a decision the council has, though not in total agreement are we.” Indeed, Mundi himself never actually voices an accusation against Ahsoka. In To Catch a Jedi he simply asks Anakin if there was any chance to stop Ahsoka. And in The Wrong Jedi he merely asks that everyone consider that the evidence points to Ahsoka being the mastermind behind the attack, which is correct. Perhaps why everyone holds it against him is that he is the one who reads to Ahsoka what the consequences are for her being expelled from the order are. Regardless Mundi himself is not solely at fault for Ahsoka’s leaving of the order. Nor, was it outlandish for Ahsoka to be accused of said crime, as all there was strong evidence against her.

But what about the droid attack on the Wookie’s (Revenge of the Sith)

It seems a bit odd that this is constantly brought up as a point as to why the Mundi was an idiot. The Council were the military command of the republic. It was their duty to plan out the movements of the republic army, and where best to send them. While the scene first begins with Anakin’s appointment to the council, it quickly shifts to discussion about military matters, with Mundi informing the council that they do not know where General Grievous is. This prompts Obi-Wan to mention how little ships they have to spare. Naturally with how thin they are spread; Mundi asks what they will do about Kashyyk. As should be known Yoda volunteers to go to the aid of the Wookiees, stating, “Good relations with the Wookie’s I have.”

Some might see this as Mundi indirectly helping Palpatine’s plan. However, it should be noted that Obi-Wan is not exaggerating. Kashyyk really is a system that the Republic could simply not be allowed to lose. As noted in the Starwars.com encyclopedia, “Kashyyyk was of prime strategic importance, serving as a major navigational point for the entire southwestern quadrant of the galaxy.” There were also several oil refineries located on the planet which the confederacy wanted to take control of. One can also make an argument for the Humanitarian reasons to get involved. The Wookiee’s had always been loyal to the republic and were a group often targeted for slavery and hunted down. They were a marginalized group, and thus it makes sense for why Ki-Adi would want to support the Wookiee’s.

And it should be noted that Yoda himself volunteered in his desire to go and aid the Wookies, as he states he had very good relations. And it makes sense that he would want to go, and help them. The Jedi Council thus made perhaps the best decision that they could in sending not only their most experienced Jedi, but one who would have had the trust of the natives.

Common Misconceptions:

Mundi did not love or care for his family:

One of the most notable differences between Mundi and most Jedi of his time was that he had a family. As Cerean’s generally had a low birth rate, and because males were outnumbered one to twenty per *The New Essential Guide to Alien Species.*Thus, Mundi was granted a special exemption from this rule taking on one bond wife and four honor wives. Between them Mundi had seven daughters. He would spend much of his time with them as he was the appointed Jedi watchman of the sector which Cerea formed a part of. Strangely one of most common misconceptions is that Mundi somehow did not care for them.

However, in Star Wars: Prelude to Rebellion one can see quite the opposite in fact. In Part 1 we see him openly comfort his honor wife Mawin, after their daughter has run away. And he states with regard to his bond wife Shea the narration states:

”Four honor wives have given him seven daughters. He loves them all, but his heart longs for a son. He can hide his disappointment from the others. But from Shea, if she should bear him another girl? No, not from Shea. He can hide nothing from her.”

This quote shows two things. It demonstrates for us the love that Ki-Adi Mundi actually had for his family. And that he loved his bond wife Shea so much he could not bare to let her see any semblance of disappointment in his eyes. This shows the actual empathy of Mundi. And in Part 5 of the comic, we again see him demonstrating his fatherly love towards his daughter Sylvn saying, “He had not realized until she was brought so close, and then wrenched so cruelly away. How much he loved his daughter.”

Mundi demonstrates in these early comics just how much he loves his family. And indeed, it goes contrary to the popular opinion that Mundi somehow did not care for his family.

Mundi was cold and lacked empathy.

Mundi has also been characterized as lacking empathy or feelings for others. Indeed, one of the most common examples of why Mundi is a prime example of everything bad with the Jedi of the Rise of the Empire era. Mostly I have seen people point to one scene in Star Wars: Republic 62 where following the supposed death of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mundi relates to Anakin how he felt about the death of his family saying, “I cared for them, but tried to remain unattached.” I have seen some point to this being proof that Mundi did not care for the death of others. One can get into a debate about the Jedi and their views on death, however as noted above, Mundi absolutely cared for his family. And his advice was to tell Anakin that while death is hard one can move on from it.

Further we have evidence of how deeply Mundi cared for the deaths of other sentient beings as seen in Star Wars Clone Wars Adventures Volume 6 we see Mundi mediating under dripping water. His exact words as to why he does this are: “It helps my meditation in these dark days. Each drop reminds me of every life that has been lost.” This shows us once more how much Mundi felt empathy for the death of every single life that had been lost.

In the same comic, Mundi shows concern for the life of the young Jedi Knight Rivi-Anu who runs to try to save the lives of clones and Jedi. Mundi sees her goal of stopping a crash landing Venator from crashing knows that she is trying to save them all, following her death Mundi states, “Greater love has no being than to lay down their life for a friend. Rivi-Anu is now one with the living force. It will make me proud to one day join her.” Mundi shows once more how much the death of others matters to him when he thinks of Rivi-Anu while mediating under dripping water once matter.

These two examples demonstrate that Mundi was far from a cold unfeeling Jedi some portray him as. While it is true Mundi did not stop to weep at the death of everyone, he undoubtedly felt every death touch his heart. His attempts at teaching Anakin the difference between mourning and holding onto these feelings is evident. And indeed we see that Mundi concentrated on the death of his fellow Jedi.

Conclusion

While it is entirely possible that one may have feelings towards Mundi, still perhaps you may feel he was incompetent or the single embodiment of everything wrong with the jedi. I would hope that this little essay does a decent job of trying to correct some of the possible misconceptions that have faced the Cerean Master. I believe it’s important to contextualize many of these criticisms. To try to make one see things from the perspective of the character, and indeed to provide direct quotes from many of his most famous stories. Ki-Adi Mundi is a character I grew up with falling in love with his stories in early comic run.

I certainly believe that Mundi was a very noble Jedi holding up the ideals of one. Growing from a young arrogant Jedi Knight. Into an introspective master. Who after losing every one of his daughters and wives still remained on the Jedi path. Who did his best to pass on wisdom to the young Jedi who would follow him. And who wanted nothing more than to preserve the republic all the way to the end. Hopefully putting some context into such claims can quell the ire driven against one of my favorite characters in Star Wars.

[illuminatedquill]

Sabine Wren x Ezra Bridger

The Last Promise

End of the War.

Thrawn’s command ship, The Chimaera, is boarded by Jedi Knights, Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren.

Lightsabers ablaze, they enter the bridge. Thrawn is alone, watching his fleet burn by New Republic forces.

Thrawn: A victory well earned. Even I didn’t see it coming.

Sabine advances on him, Ezra close behind.

Sabine: Well, we aim to please. Although it is strange to see you, of all people, be impressed with what’s happening.

Thrawn: It was well done. I am not so egotistical to not commend your plan when it works.

Ezra scans the room and then Thrawn.

Ezra: He’s unarmed, Sabine. No one else here.

Sabine: Good. Get on the comms and let Hera and the New Republic fleet know.

Ezra hurries over to the comm station.

She turns to Thrawn, a grim smile on her face.

Sabine: It’s over, Thrawn. The Empire is well and truly dead after this.

Thrawn: And so it is. But, I’m afraid you will share the same fate, Sabine Wren.

Sabine: What’s that supposed to mean?

Thrawn: You plan to arrest me, yes? Put me on trial?

Ezra: Yes. You’ll answer for your crimes.

Thrawn: Along with all who aided me in my plans.

Ezra pauses and looks at Thrawn. Sabine looks to Ezra.

Sabine: Ezra. It’s okay.

Thrawn: What will the New Republic do when they learn that one of their own was the reason for my return? Will they show you leniency?

Sabine raises her lightsaber to Thrawn’s chest.

Sabine: Be quiet.

Thrawn raises his hands in mock surrender. His smile is almost gleeful; red eyes glowing with all the menace he can muster at this last revenge on his personal enemy.

He’s enjoying this.

Thrawn: Will you kill me? Not very Jedi-like. In fact, I’m counting on it. The Empire will fall but I’ll make sure it takes every last one of you with it. Starting with you, Sabine Wren.

Ezra is silent. Sabine looks to him again, her eyes full of sadness . . . and resignation.

Sabine: I know what I did was wrong. I accept that. I’ll face the consequences.

Thrawn: There will be no peace for you. They will drag you through the streets of Coruscant. Mock and curse your name. You’ll be hated. Exiled from every New Republic world. I’ll see to it that every waking day from here on is filled to the brim with misery and pain -

There’s the sound of blaster fire. A sizzling hole appears in Thrawn’s chest.

Sabine whirls around only to find Ezra, holding one of her blasters.

She lowers her lightsaber, shocked.

Sabine: Ezra?

He doesn’t answer. His face is unreadable as he steps forward to catch a collapsing Thrawn.

Thrawn looks surprised. Blood leaks from a corner of his mouth as he coughs.

Thrawn: . . . Unexpected. You continue to surprise, Ezra Bridger. This is not the act of a Jedi.

Ezra, sadly: I know. I’m not doing this as Jedi.

Thrawn: Then . . . why?

Ezra looks away and finds Sabine’s eyes.

Ezra: You wouldn’t understand.

Thrawn looks between the two of them and nods to himself.

Thrawn: No, I think I do now. Both of you. Why she did it. Why you did this. Mysterious how it can move people to act outside their normal parameters . . .

Ezra: You mean the Force?

Thrawn: No.

The Grand Admiral shudders once and is still.

Ezra closes his eyes and lays him down. Sabine just watches, not knowing what to say.

Ezra: It’s finished. We need to call Hera.

Sabine: Ezra. Why - why? I was ready to -

Ezra: You did it for me. I’m doing this for you. We’re even.

Sabine: It’s not right. None of it was the right choice!

Ezra: I know! I know.

Sabine takes a step back, surprised at his outburst.

Ezra looks at her. Smiles sadly.

Ezra: We’ll have to make up for what we did. Rotting in a New Republic cell won’t do it.

He steps to Sabine and holds her hands.

Ezra: And we’ll do it together.

Sabine, so soft. Looking into his eyes and seeing the endless devotion and care pouring out. She didn’t need the Force to tell how he felt in that moment.

Sabine: It could take a while, you know. To fix all this.

Ezra, nodding: Probably. Could take the rest of our lives. Lots to do.

Sabine smiles, tears forming.

Sabine: Is that a promise, Ezra Bridger?

Ezra smiles back. He answers, but not with words.

[a-sin-to-be-rin]

Choices and Consequences

*****JEDI FALLEN ORDER SPOILERS AHEAD*****

Cere failed. She failed, and nothing she does can undo that. It’s just so much harder to accept that when she’s staring her failure in the eyes. When the padawan she swore to protect, warped and twisted due to her own failures, crumples under the deadly blade of a crimson lightsaber.

---

Cere is not herself. She isn’t a Jedi or even a person.

Right now, in this moment, she is pure rage. It bubbles and seethes and crushes her ribcage. It removes every Jedi lesson, every moral belief, every aspect of her being, and replaces it with smoldering incomprehension. Force so bright and hot and confusing and clear that Cere can’t see anything but the sparking, double-bladed red of corruption.

But it’s so familiar that she doesn’t even mind. The anger feels right. It’s freeing.

“I won’t let you take those children,” she growls.

The lightsabers clash once, twice, more, more, more-

For Trilla. For Trilla, for Trilla, for Trilla. For the little girl with such a zest for life. For the kind hearted child who would never kill spiders and who loved muja fruit. For the teenager who had to watch her world fall apart. Who was tortured and manipulated and warped into someone so hateful that she didn’t even recognize her face in the mirror.

That is who Cere fights for. Cere fights so it won’t happen again.

Never. Again.

A sudden backhand from the Sith Lord sends Cere sprawling, but she is back on her feet in an instant.

This is the man - the machine - who took Trilla from her. Who gave Trilla back to her, twisted and lost and hateful. Who made Cere fall away from the Light. Who made Cere…

She can’t even think about it. She can’t think about what she’s done.

“Such hatred,” the mechanical voice mocks. “You would have made an excellent Inquisitor.”

“She’s stronger than that.” Cal’s voice is sudden and unexpected. Cere can’t… She’s been so wrapped up in fury that she didn’t even sense his presence.

And she can’t pay attention to him. Not now. Right now, she needs to do what must be done. She will do what she must to stop this monster from hurting another child.

With a flash of sparks, the tunnel begins to narrow, metal crushing under Cere’s rage. The Sith Lord falls to his knees.

“No,” Cal chokes out. “No!”

Cere will stop the Sith Lord. She has no choice. She will never allow him to hurt again. She will stop him.

“Yes,” the Sith muses. “Strong with the Dark Side.”

“Cere-”

“I can feel it inside of her.” He stands, seemingly unaffected now.

Cere pushes harder. Why isn’t he falling? Why can’t she hurt him?

“Cere? Cere!” Cal’s voice is rough. “Hey, listen to me! You still have a choice!”

Choice? Of course she has a choice. She chooses to stop this mechanical menace. She chooses to protect the children from the Empire. From the influence of the Dark Side.

… from the influence of… the…

Cere slipped. She swore off the Force. She swore it off forever, and yet the moment she connected with it again, she chose the Dark. How can the children be safe from the Dark Side if Cere is drowning in it?

Her hands shake. She lets go of the Dark. She prepares to block everything out. She is ready to give in. If it requires her to become a monster, she will not stop the Sith Lord.

But the moment she lets go of the Dark Side, her mind clears. The world returns to her at breakneck speed. Cal is behind her, a mysterious swirl of Light. The Sith is before her, swinging his lightsaber down in a killing blow. And somewhere hidden within the fabric of the Universe is Trilla. Cere can hear her laugh. See her bright eyes.

And it’s so easy. It’s so easy that Cere almost cries in frustration. As the deadly red blaze arcs towards her head, she holds her hands out, and a dome of Light shimmers between her and the Sith. The lightsaber bounces harmlessly off a Force barrier.

But the Sith realizes what has happened. He goes in with conviction, stabbing where her shield is weakest. The Force guides Cere, muscle memory taking over as she strengthens the shield. The Sith is strong, though. As he advances, she tires. She won’t be able to hold this up for long.

There’s a crash. Then a sea of water floods the tunnel, and Cere knows no more.

---

Cal grabs Cere before she can drift away. The type of Force shield she just used, the amount of effort that would require, would drain any Jedi in mere seconds. Cere is no different, and Cal is left with the task of saving them both.

There’s no sign of the Sith Lord. Cal can still feel him - his presence reeks of death and hatred - but even if he could see him, he’s in no shape to fight him. So Cal swims as quickly as he can, ignoring how the saltwater stings his side. Ignoring how he can feel his own strength quickly fading.

Cal digs his rebreather from his pocket and presses it to Cere’s lips. He swims upwards, but with only one free hand, it’s a slow battle. He isn’t sure he’ll make it to the surface. Already, his lungs burn, dark spots invading his vision.

Cal keeps swimming. He doesn’t even realize that he’s stopped swimming until he sees Cere drifting away. Until he realizes that the surface isn’t getting any closer.

The last thing he sees is a dark figure moving towards him, threads of green magic trailing from their fingers.

---

“Cere? Hey, Cere?”

Cere opens her eyes, and she’s greeted by the Mantis’s artificial glow. Greez leans over her, expression worried, maybe even fearful.

“Cere? You hearing me?”

“Greez,” she says, sitting up slowly. She’s situated on the couch in the main cabin. Her head pounds, her arms and legs feel weak, and she’s drenched to the bone. “What happened?”

And here, Greez has the audacity to look annoyed. “Well, last I heard, you were dead. So alls I know is that Cal is a dirty rotten liar.”

Cere pinches the bridge of her nose, trying to will the headache away. “That’s not helpful.”

“Fine, sorry, whatever.” Greez doesn’t sound particularly sorry. “Cal said he had the Holocron. Next thing I know, half the Inquisitor ship is blown up. Merrin pulled you and Cal out of the water.”

“Right.” Cere blinks. “I remember… water.” It’s not all she remembers, but that’s all she really wants to remember.

“Cal’s in pretty bad shape,” Greez offers, watching her carefully. “Merrin’s with him now, but… I dunno, Cere. It’s not looking good. What happened down there?”

What happened down there? Cere doesn’t want to discuss. But concern overtakes her stubbornness. “What’s wrong with Cal?”

“Dunno.” Greez shrugs, though Cere can feel the unease radiating off of him. “He won’t wake up. Like I said, Merrin’s taking care of him for now. I woulda offered, but she’s… witchier than I am. Probably for the best. I’m supposed to watch you, so…” He tips his head. “So you wanna tell me what really happened?”

No. She doesn’t.

“Hey.” Greez takes a seat beside her, wincing only slightly at the wet couch. “Whatever happened, you both made it out. I don’t… You know I don’t get this Force stuff. So whatever messed-up Jedi thing went on down there, I’m not gonna judge you for it.”

Cere wonders if maybe Greez is more Force-sensitive than he lets on. That, or he’s just incredibly perceptive.

“We found Trilla,” Cere explains.

“Oh.” Because that’s the only proper response. “Did she… Did she try to stop you?”

Cere can only assume she did.

Trilla, kneeling on the ground, drained and shaking and stricken. Cal, with the Holocron, lightsaber blazing. The Force, bent and stretched so far throughout the room that Cere almost thought one of her… one of her former padawans was dead.

“She was lost,” Cere laments. “It was too late, but… but I tried. I tried to bring her back. Maybe it was selfish to think she'd come with me, but… but I couldn't just leave her there. I needed her to know.”

“You love her,” Greez finishes. It's not a question.

Cere doesn't comment on it. Carefully, she tries to soothe her headache with the Force, but even when she was at her strongest with the Force, she’s always been hopeless at healing. All she manages to do is shift the pressure from her forehead to her temples.

After many moments of silence, Cere takes a measured breath. “I failed her, Greez. I led the Empire to her. I did that to her. Everything she's lost - everything she's suffered - is my fault.”

Greez doesn't deny it, though Cere can hear his argument.

They tortured you. You didn't have a choice.

But Cal said it best. You still have a choice. And now that the regrettable decision is over, Cere can only choose how to react to the consequences.

“But she… she isn't suffering anymore. She's returned to the Light.” Cere knows this for a fact. Trilla is the strongest Cere has ever felt her.

“Wait, wait.” Greez looks officially lost. “The way you talk about her makes it sound like she's dead.”

The silence confirms Greez’s suspicions. His eyes go wide. “Did… Did the kid-?”

“No,” Cere snaps. “It was the Sith. The one who-”

Who broke her. Who used Cere to hurt Trilla. Who took her padawan away from her.

“-who interrogated you,” Greez finishes for her. “Kriff, is that guy everywhere or somethin’?”

“I’m not sure. But he didn't hesitate. The moment Trilla came back to me… The moment she let go of the Dark Side, he killed her.” The words only solidify the truth. Trilla is dead. She's dead. She's dead-

“I’m so sorry, Cere,” Greez hums.

Cere nods numbly. If only that were her main concern.

“How’d you escape? The evil Empire wizard, I mean.”

“I… slipped.” She hadn’t intended on telling Greez everything, but she also hadn’t intended on giving up Trilla’s location to the Empire. Such is life. “I used the Force.”

“The Force? Isn’t that s’posed to be a good thing?”

“Not this kind.”

“Oh. Evil Force. Got it.”

“I was just so… so angry. In that moment, he was everything I hated about the Empire. I saw him hurting those children and I saw Trilla and I saw-” She stops to take a breath. To collect herself. “I tried to hurt him, but he was too strong. And then I… It was the first time I’d connected to the Light Side in years. I made a shield. And then… water.”

Greez is quiet, but he watches her with rapt attention. He doesn’t look judgmental or angry or pitying. He just hears her, processes the words, and lets them go.

Cere dares to stand, knees still a bit wobbly.

“Long night,” Greez muses. “Real long night.”

“Yes,” she agrees. “I’m going to go check on Merrin and Cal. I might be able to help.”

They both know she can’t help, but neither questions the excuse.

“Oh. And Greez?” Cere turns towards Greez, the faintest of fond smiles flickering on her lips. “Thank you. For listening.”

“That’s what family’s for.”

[nerdieforpedro]

Wednesday WIP

Hello! 👋🏽 Nerdie here, I am working on a few things:

1. A second entry for @undercoverpena ‘s April Showers Challenge (maybe featuring an agent I haven’t written for a bit). I had a burst of an idea which was different than the original one I had. Such is a Nerdie brain. Don't get lost in there, but there are cookies.

2. Finally progress of my “Wedding 101 with Dieter” fic! I had been having trouble with it. I’m happy to have more Maya, Dieter and Daisy. 🤭 I apologize to @angelofsmalldeath-codeine in advance for any undue stress I shall cause you.

3. Going to finish up my short Frankie body part series which sounds menacing but is the opposite. 😂 Very much so lol It’s called “Only Parts of you Mr. Morales.”

4. I’m working on a Javier Peña series because I feel like I need to give him something nice. Just one thing. 😆 It's very sweet, I have 2 chapters and no idea what to call it. Pfft, go figure. No idea how long it will be - sorry, won't be ready for a bit. Between Javier P and Joel recent. I need to be nice to them. They’re both very haunted. 😖

5. I'm still working on both Din fics and Benny. I'm redoing the outlines. Bullet points are friends and not our enemies. I think. Will there be more random Star Wars people? Is Obi Wan Kenobi a children’s author and Luke that old man who swings his lightsaber in the yard?! Both these things are true. 😌 Messing with Star Wars canon one character at a time. 😂😂😂 The sweet Din fic will remain so. My walking pile of nervous Beskar. 💚

And that's about it, I've cut back a bit on writing to do more school work (papers...ugh...writing about not Pedro. 👀 Eww...)

Previews under the cut:

Anyway, somehow, I went from being stuck in chapter five for 'Weddings 101 with Dieter' to now being in chapter six. I'd like to thank Hemmy for being so encouraging and @megamindsecretlair for discussing Pedro and Oscar with me the other night. I feel like I should make notes and keep both of those in mind for future fics because it's the right thing to do.🫡 Just thinking about it is… 🫠

This is a small excerpt from chapter six, we should all know Nerdie's humor by now 🤣:

“Who’s banging on my door this damn early?! You better get out of here!” “Dee at least ask who it is.” “I don’t care, it could be the president, pope or, no Beyonce could come in.” “I am not meeting Beyonce in my robe. My hair is a mess, my face is puffy, I haven’t showered yet…that’s not who it is!” “I mean, if she shows up on this door, she’s gonna have to be okay with my bare ass, balls and your robe with your cute puffy face. It’s just us. You don’t need one. I’m just going to take it back off to eat you for-” “MR. BRAVO IT’S ME ZACK! YOUR ASSISTANT!” He screamed, he didn’t need to hear Dieter removing anything off of Maya or eating her in any capacity, they can do that after he leaves later. Never any filter with this damn man, he just needs to remind himself of his loans. This job pays the loans.

Gotta love how....open Dieter is with everything. Even Sasha Fierce is not safe. 😭

Second is from my pending Javier Peña fic (I'll think of a good name, I swear!):

Meeting his gaze had her mouth run dry, the sandy tone to his skin contrasted with more papaya tones in his neck. Dark hair and kind eyes behind a gold pair of aviators perched on his curved nose. Tourmaline waves parted on the left side of his crown were matched by his bold eyebrows and thick mustache. His lips were a lace pink and plush. The sunlight made the sweat along his neck glimmer, accentuating its definition. The light blue shirt made the reds and browns in his skin stand out even more. “Did you need to get some fresh air too?” She asked, he could be doing that, escaping someone like she was doing or something else entirely. Now she was curious too, about this man who’d chosen to sit next to her.

I very much enjoy my description of Javier, hehe 😉

That's it! Normally I have more, but it's either still in bullet form or in my head. 🤭

NPT: @maggiemayhemnj @604to647 @connectioneverywhere @morallyinept @rhoorl

@goodwithcheese @soft-persephone @djarinmuse @pedroshotwifey @magpiepills

@secretelephanttattoo @tinytinymenace @inept-the-magnificent @soft-girl-musings @mysterious-moonstruck-musings

@laurfilijames @grogusmum @alltheglitterandtheroar @jessthebaker @musings-of-a-rose

@julesonrecord @wannab-urs @schnarfer

[ospreyeamon]

For the life of me, I cannot work out what Palpatine’s actual plan was in Attack of the Clones. The Phantom Menace’s core plot is relatively straightforward (though the film forgetting to let the audience know Sidious and Palpatine are the same person leaves it appearing unhinged); Darth Palpatine persuades Trade Federation to invade Naboo to manufacture a crisis -> Senator Sidious persuades Padmé to call for Vote of No Confidence when current Chancellor can’t fix crisis -> Big Bad is elected head of state. In Attack of the Clones though, it feels like the evil schemes are missing some connective tissue. I can see what Palpatine’s goals were, but I have no clue how he was planning to achieve half of them, so it looks like he just got unreasonably lucky.

Sub-objectives of Palpatine’s evil plan for galactic domination;

The Jedi need to discover the clone army on Kamino (as close to the beginning of the war as possible; too far before will make it more likely the Jedi will seriously investigate the army’s origin or decide clone slave armies are bad).

Ideally, the Jedi should also discover the existence of the Separatists’ secret droid army because that will make them much more likely to deploy the clone army.

Get someone in the Senate to put forward a resolution to grant emergency powers to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (as close to the beginning of the war as possible; if Palpatine has emergency powers when there isn’t a war, he’s more likely to be asked to give them up).

Have tensions between Separatists and Republic Loyalists continue to rise until things turn violent somewhere triggering the start of the war – but both sides need to look both plausibly reasonable and culpable.

Ideally, the Jedi should appear as the aggressors in the first battle of the Clone Wars because this will help turn public opinion against them.

Dooku needs to wave his edgy red lightsaber around in front of the Jedi so they will peg him as Count Evil McBadguy and ignore everything he says because it’s obviously a Sith trick. Convincing the Jedi that the Separatists are bad actors wilfully following their ancient enemy will go a long way to prevent them from attempting diplomatic solutions rather than violent ones.

Ideally, it shouldn’t become public knowledge that the Jedi had no idea about the existence of the clone army that was ordered in their name. If people don’t know the Jedi weren’t aware of the army, they will assume the Jedi have known for the last decade and hid the army on purpose because it was their secret army.

Kill Padmé because she’s blocking the Military Creation Act from passing through the Senate and because Palpatine doesn’t want her pulling any more solutions that he hasn’t predicted and can’t counter out from under her wig, like she did in the previous film by allying with the Gungans.

Maybe kill Jango Fett too. He was hired by “Tyranus” which is Dooku’s super-secret Sith name. If he knows Dooku was involved in commissioning the clone army, he might let that slip – and that information is horribly suspicious.

(Kill Obi-Wan because he’s Anakin’s competing father-figure. If Obi-Wan dies, Anakin won’t become attached to his new Jedi Master to the extent he was Obi-Wan, leaving him more vulnerable to Palpatine’s manipulations in his grief. Not super practical at this time because his main proxy is Dooku who would prefer to kill Anakin and keep Obi-Wan.)

Events play out perfectly to Palpatine’s advantage, with the exception that Padmé survives the film. But it seems implausible that he could have known those chains of events would or could occur.

Did Palpatine really know that the Kaminoans manufacture a unique style of poison darts? And that Jango Fett would add those darts to his arsenal and use them to kill Zam Wesell in front of the Jedi instead of shooting her with a blaster? And that Obi-Wan’s friend Dex Jettster would be able to recognise a Kaminoan dart? If Jango Fett leading Obi-Wan from Kamino to Geonosis was part of the plan, then why did Fett try to kill him so hard with the energy bombs instead of pretending not to notice he was being followed? Why try to kill Obi-Wan at all? Obi-Wan only sent the message about the clone army back to the Jedi Council on Geonosis, so him dying before that on Kamino would have been grossly inconvenient.

Does anyone have thoughts on what the hell is going on here? Was Taun We eventually just going to show up at the Temple with a clipboard to ask the Jedi which one of them was going to sign for delivery of their five million identical human men? How does a plan like that give Dooku the opportunity to show off his new red glowstick?

[tobiasdrake]

omg. Dagan Gera. I hadn't heard of this guy before you mentioned him and now I long for the blissful state that was ignorance of his existence. Why are so many wannabe darksiders complete clowns? I mean I absolutely love KotOR but Darth Malak was just such a complete twat. Why can't we get Sith that aren't either smarmy, stupid or both? I am not asking for much, just an actual personality, an aura of menace and some motivation that makes a minimal amount of sense.

The problem of engaging Dark Siders is pretty heavily baked into the Dark Side itself. Not in a sense that it's impossible to write interesting Dark Siders but rather in a sense that it's incredibly easy not to. The Dark Side makes it super easy to just slap a red lightsaber into the hand of a clown and then point and go "BAD GUY", and put not a single ounce of further effort into it.

Dark Siders don't need an interesting motive. They can have an interesting motive. You don't have to write them with weak motives. But they don't need to have one because at the end of the day, their motive is "Dark Side". They're bad because Dark Side. They're literally compelled by evil to do evil and there doesn't have to be anything more than that to them.

This makes for an ocean of cheap, one-dimensional villains with writers more concerned with showcasing just how evil they are than actually exploring them as characters in any serious capacity. An entire religion of "Stab this puppy and prove your evilness!"

By itself, that's not necessarily a problem. Not every villain has to be complex or multi-faceted to serve their story. Sometimes you're just hyping up a boss fight against a smug prick. That's fine. As long as the boss is menacing and present and doing things to make the audience go, "Awwww, yeah, it's gonna be so sweet to kick his teeth in," it can still work.

But there are two issues Star Wars has with that. The first is that Star Wars creators can't get over how cool Darth Vader was, and so a bunch of their attempts at a cool Sith character design is to just try and make Vader happen again. And so many Sith just feel like a cheap imitation of a better villain.

Commonplace standards of design like all-black outfits, universally red lightsabers against the rainbow of Jedi colors, full-face helmets, echoing voices through a speaker, raspy breathing sounds, all serve to turn Sith villains into an unengaging sludge of samey nonsense. It's hard to be interested in Darth Vader Knock-Off #47.

A further problem created by serialization and video games is that if your villain's just hyping up a boss fight, then it's hard to be hyped after a boss fight with them has already taken place.

Cal Kestis beats the shit out of Dagan Gera literally minutes after we meet him. Just fucking whales on him. And then we're supposed to spend the rest of the game being all freaked out about this guy anyway.

The Grand Inquisitor is the leader of the Inquisitorius, #1 top of the line hypeable boss of an entire organization of boss fights, was overpowered. And he was killed by a half-trained Padawan and his kid sidekick in the first season of the show in which this whole concept was introduced. And somehow we are still, to this day, supposed to gasp in shock and be terrified whenever an Inquisitor shows up.

The Kenobi show actually thought we would believe that these clowns were a credible threat to the greatest and coolest Jedi who ever lived! It's a very good show and I enjoyed it very much but it's still funny that they thought "Obi-Wan has to fight Inquisitors" would ever, at any point, make us feel worried for Obi-Wan's safety.

So the Dark Side makes it incredibly easy to write bland and uninteresting characters, but that's okay as long as they can be cool and exciting monsters. But if you're going the route of one-note cool and exciting monsters for your villains, you can't treat them like Team Rocket.

This is why Star Wars is an ocean of weak villains.

[tragedybunny]

A FATE WRITTEN IN INDIFFERENT STARS - CHAPTER 5

The Republic has fallen and the Empire has risen. Obi-Wan lives in exile on Tatooine, the distant guardian of Luke Skywalker. Amidst the desperation and desolation, the mysterious appearance of a Nightsister draws his curiosity. As he tries to piece together her true intentions, he finds himself more deeply entangled with her than he ever intended.

Hello again, I'm back with another chapter. Things are certainly getting interesting for poor Obi-Wan and Zelena. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read, I really appreciate all of you.

The four of them crept from the shadows of the surrounding buildings, blasters drawn. Dulled senses and the distraction of Zelena meant he'd never detected them. The building at their back prevented retreat, and the four blasters suggested stepping forward would be unwise. Zelena tensed beneath his palms, slowly pulling herself from his grip. She frowned, coming to the same conclusion he had.

"I bet you thought you were really tough back there," the leader spoke with a cocky grin, the rest of his crew looking eager for the fight. 

“Don’t do this.” The only course of action was to diffuse the situation. They couldn’t fight, not outnumbered and the Force no longer there for him to rely on. There had to be a way to satisfy the armed and leering group, or send them on their way. Next to him Zelena shifted, and the air filled  with energy - like a gathering storm. 

“Trash like you aren’t allowed to get away with that behavior. Do you know who I am?” Frequently he'd found that when someone felt the need to ask that question, they weren’t worth recognizing. Obi-Wan did not know who he was, and would not have particularly cared if not for the current, rapidly deteriorating, situation.

“My apologies for the misunderstanding. Let’s not do anything rash.” Not a single hand in the group wavered, and he longed for the lightsaber that was once always by his side. 

“Too late for that.” He  glanced at his three companions, an unspoken command passing between them. “Leave her alive.” 

With attention rapt on their would be assailants, he almost missed the flash of red from the corner of his eye that was Zelena stepping forward. He fought a powerful instinct to push her back behind him, any sharp movement could provoke things. “No,” he said quietly, to her or the group, he wasn’t sure. 

The hand Zelena had hidden within her cloak emerged, a vial of green liquid clutched in her fingers. It shimmered with its own light and, in one swift motion, she chugged the contents. Darkness brushed against the edge of his consciousness. “Leave,” she ordered, her voice filled with menace and power. The Ichor of Dathomoir, that which fueled the power of the Witches. There was no doubt to him what had been in that vial. 

A wiser member of the group trembled, blaster losing its aim. “Maybe we should let this go.” 

Whatever power she had conjured must be palpable, even to them. “Enough.” The leader tightened his grip on his blaster, prepping for a point-blank shot;instinctively Obi-Wan grabbed his wrist. Pulling him forward, he directed the man's mass over his hip and sent him sprawling to the ground.,He wrenched the blaster from the leader’s grasp before he recovered. 

Around him, green tendrils snaked through the air as Zelena whispered words that sent shivers through his spine. Two of their attackers collapsed, eyes rolling into their heads, knees buckling, as the phosphorescent menaces encircled them. Hands clutched at their skulls while their mouths hung open in a silent scream. Instinctively he recoiled at the display of the Force twisted through the Witch's Magick, but fought against it. Later, he told himself, right now their lives were at stake. 

The last of them, the wise one from earlier, appeared as though in stasis before finally breaking free and making a desperate charge at Zelena. Reacting, Obi-Wan pulled up the stolen blaster and took aim. One shot sent him tumbling forward, lifeless and still. Obi-Wan turned his  attention back to the writhing pair; her defense had become torture. "Zelena, that's enough."

"Fine," she hissed, releasing the spell with a final pulse of green light. It seemed his plea for mercy annoyed her, another thing to worry about later. For now, he searched the two for signs of life, finding that whatever Zelena had done finished them off. "Don't waste your sympathy," her words dripped with venom, "they're sc-" 

A shocked gasp had him turning back sharply. He found Zelena now struggling with the leader. Careless. He hadn't made sure the man was out of the fight permanently. The vibroknife he now brandished swung wildly as she struggled, trying to pull away from the grip he had on her arm. As he made another chaotic lunge, his hand loosened enough for her to pull free and dodge. It put space between them, but his hands grasped desperately at her cloak, trying to regain his advantage. Zelena had proven herself more than capable, but he felt the cold grip of fear as he watched her struggle. The momentary space between them was his best chance to protect her. With tenuous hope that it was still possible, and silent pleading to the Force, he desperately reached out his hand. Somehow, in the midst of his desperation, it answered him. A wave of energy threw the man into the building with a wet snapping sound. 

“Zel, are you alright?” He’d started towards her but froze,realizing  she was staring at him wide-eyed. 

“You’re a … Jedi.” Her face screwed up in revulsion and his heart stuttered.

Hesitantly, he took a step toward her, trying to plead his case. “I can explain.” 

Her hand came up as though to ward him back; her other, he noticed with alarm, clutched at her ribs. Something wet stained the cloth beneath it. “Stay away from me, Jedi deceiver." 

That stain was spreading quickly. She'd need help soon, which meant he needed her to see sense. "We both weren't honest. You never mentioned Dathomir." It was an attempt to put them back on equal footing, to throw off her indignation long enough to see to that wound.  

"You know? Why would a Jedi talk to a-" There was a long pause and he watched her piece it together with a heavy heart, realizing the tactic had taken a turn against him.  "You're not my friend, you've just been watching me." Zelena's voice sounded so small, and he realized just how deeply he'd hurt her. There wasn't long to think on it though as a gurgling cough punctuated her words, blood dripping from her mouth in its wake. 

There was no time for debate, she could hate him all she wanted later. "Please Zel, you need help-"

He caught her as her knees buckled, and she collapsed into his arms. “I don’t even know who you are,” she gasped out through a wracking cough. 

There wasn’t any denying her comment so he let it pass, focusing  on the need at hand. “I’ll find a doctor.” Her silver skin had turned bone white. 

“No time. My apartment.Trust me.” He owed her that much at least, so he complied, holding her tight as she attempted to push forward. Even with his support, the steps she tried to take were stumbling and weak. 

They would never make it time. “Forgive me.” Scooping her legs out from under, he gathered her into his arms and  rushed through the deserted street. Zelena didn’t have the strength to protest, instead she wrapped an arm around his neck and closed her eyes. "Stay with me Zel.” His voice remained calm despite the circumstances, though he was on the brink of running. 

“I’m trying,” she snipped at him. Though she was quiet, it was feisty enough to know she was still fighting. 

By some mercy of the Force, there was not a crowd of neighbors in the courtyard when they made it to her apartment. Zelena stirred when they reached the door, slapping at the keypad until the door slid open. “Bedroom,” she ordered, eyes now open, strength saved for this moment. It only took seconds and a few steps in the dim light to get her settled on the bed, resting against a pile of pillows. Turning she gestured toward the shrine in the corner that she had been so protective of. “That box you found irresistible that day.” 

Without hesitating, he rose and retrieved it from its resting place. The ancient wood still resonated with dark power as he placed it beside her. Reverently, her fingers traced the multifaceted star engraved in the lid while she whispered in Dathomirian. A faint light emanated from it in the wake of her touch, and the sigil slowly rotated.It stopped with a click, the lid rising. Whatever was contained inside whispered to him about ancient and sinister things. Unsteady hands reached in to pull out a small jar and almost sent it tumbling back in as it escaped her grasp. Deftly, he snatched it from the air before it was lost, and gently handed it back to her. With another weak cough, she shut the lid of the box and gestured for him to set it aside, fighting to open the jar as he did so. 

"Here, let me." Delicately taking it from her hands, he pulled the stopper out to reveal a pale, viscous liquid. Despite its plain appearance, it thrummed with the same energy as the box - a thing made of Nightsister magick. 

"The wound," she said breathily, fighting to remove her cloak. 

Carefully, he took the worn, frayed material in hand - her loved reminder of home - and helped her remove it before guiding her to lay on her side. The juxtaposition of the ridiculous Famina's uniform against the grim circumstances made the scene border on absurd. She didn't resist or argue, letting him do what needed to be done. The wound was jagged and raw; he gave her credit for enduring the pain. "Just pour it in,." she whispered, eyes now closed. She was fading again. Without a second of hesitation, he upended the bottle into the hole in her flesh.  The reaction would’ve been fascinating in other circumstances. The pale liquid glowed that familiar green as her body seemed to drink it in, ethereal voices whispering around them as the wound scabbed over. Zelena whimpered.

"I'm here Zel, I won't leave," he spoke softly, brushing a hand through her curls. It was possible he wasn't actually comforting to her, but he didn't want to think about that. Unsure what else to do, he removed the bright gold heels that were part of her work uniform. The gold ribbons that laced up her calf required a bit of fussing. Zelena lay still and quiet throughout it and he decided to believe she was healing.  

Sitting beside her, Obi-Wan took her hand in his and gently held it, remembering the few times she'd gripped his arm roughly with her long black nails. He'd never had the heart to point out the sudden pain of them biting into his flesh. Usually, the carelessness was caused by exuberance over something and he hated to ruin her mood.

Just after they had kissed, she'd claimed he'd always had feelings for her. While that wasn't entirely true, after the night's events he could finally admit that he'd come to care for her some time ago - his vivacious, exasperating, wonderous Zelena. To think, that soft moment hadn’t been more than an hour ago, and now…there was nothing for it but to wait and see, so he made himself comfortable and kept watch. 

Time crawled as he observed the labored rise and fall of her chest, she was still in pain, though the glowing wound seemed smaller each time he glanced at it. Through it all, he held her hand and told her over and over that he was at her side, that she wasn’t alone. After what seemed like hours, Zelena inhaled sharply, eyes fluttering open. “Zel, you’re awake.” Releasing her hand, he reached out to cup her cheek with his palm, the warm rush of relief momentarily making him forget all that had happened earlier. She was alive and well, and that was all that mattered. 

Reality came crashing back in painfully when she swatted away his hand. “Awake and fine, no need for you to be bothered any longer.” Pushing herself into a seated position, she made it known she didn’t need his help. “You can go now.” 

A hollow ache settled in Obi-Wan’s chest. She hated him. He should’ve known it would end like this after their night under the stars and how she spoke of Jedi. Why would she have found him to be an exception? “There’s no way we can talk about this?” He offered, one last grasping attempt. 

"Absolutely not Ben, or whatever your name is," she sneered.

"Obi-Wan." It slipped out so quickly, desperation to appease her making him careless.

A noise of frustration escaped her. "Just go. We're done talking," she practically growled.

Standing slowly, he gave her one last lingering look. Even after everything they'd been through tonight, she was still breathtaking. He was going to miss her. It’s for the best he told himself, no attachments. "I'm so sorry, for all of it," he said, turning away and hearing no reply. Without further hesitation, he fled her apartment into the darkness of the night.

The Black Sun safehouse was an old factory, what it once produced was a mystery as the space had been emptied of most equipment in favor of storage and living space for the gang. Confidently, Zelena led them through the structure, seemingly unbothered by the occasional gang member sporting a blaster and leering at her. Again he found himself questioning her need for assistance to get out of this situation as none of them seemed to give her a second thought more either. They moved swiftly through the cavernous space, barriers of old equipment created dimly lit makeshift rooms, sounds echoed off aged metallic walls, and shadows twistred around them. Several gonk droids ambled past them headed in the direction of what appeared to be the main factory floor. He could hear and sense through the Force a number of beings in that direction. Whatever was going on he hoped it would prove a sufficient distraction when he and Zelena made their move. 

Zelena led them to a series of small rooms tucked away and isolated. The leftovers of a computer system remained scattered about, along with rough-looking furniture. Once this must have been the central control system for the plant, now he wasn't sure if it was meant to be a spot for private business or to contain someone they didn't trust. Vinox gestured inside with a dubious smile and Obi-Wan complied.

The Falleen and Zelena followed, the door sliding shut behind them. "I'll leave you here with Zee while I look into arrangements for your business endeavor. Don't test her though, she can be a feisty one." Obi-Wan felt a flash of anger coming from her at his patronizing tone. 

Without a sound, Zelena slipped behind Vinox while he still faced Obi-Wan. Their eyes locked and she gave him a slight nod. "I'll make myself comfortable then," he gestured to the worn couch in the corner. 

Vinox turned in Zelena's direction and inhaled as though he were about to speak. The chance never came. Green dust filled the air around him, spreading from Zelena's palm with one soft exhale from her. Wracking coughs shook his body and he fell forward with a thud. Obi-wan was thankful the room was so remote from all the activity they had seen. "How long will he be out?"

"A few hours. And is that how you're going to say hello after all this time?" Despite the years that had passed, it seemed almost like how they once had been, hearing her tease him and seeing her smile.

"Forgive my manners, I thought we were in some sort of life-and-death situation." He'd barely finished the snappy comeback before her arms wrapped around him and he was pulled tight against her. 

"It's good to see you Obi," she murmured softly and overwhelmed his senses with her presence; the feel of her against him, the scent of smoky incense she somehow always had, and the mesmerizing cadence of her voice.

Reigning in his emotions, he forced himself to focus. "You too, Zel." Letting go he took a step back from her, it wouldn't be wise to let things get confused between them. "I suppose we should get out of here." He glanced over at the downed Falleen. Again, it all seemed too easy. 

Leaning down, Zelena took hold of Vinox. "Help me real quick," she gestured to a corner.  

The two of them wedged him into thr corner and pulled a couch across it. "There wasn't much of anyone around, do you think we'll encounter much resistance sneaking out?" The sense of misgiving had settled into the pit of his stomach, a sinking feeling. "Honestly, I'm a little surprised you needed help."

"Well…" At least she had the decency to look contrite. 

Sighing he gripped the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "What is it Zel?"

"It's not just me that needs rescuing." Of course there was someone else, did he expect her to live her life completely alone forever?

"And where are they holding them?" Stay on task, he told himself, focus on what needs to be done. 

"It's my daughter," Zelena said in a voice that was suddenly small and weary. 

"Oh…," feeling foolish and irritated with himself, he took her hand, ready to be the strength she needed. "We'll get her out, I promise." 

"They keep her locked away on the upper floors. I don't even get to see her every day." Now her words came in a torrent, rushing together while her eyes looked watery. "They put a slave collar on her to make sure I stay obedient." Tears flowed freely down her cheek. "She's just a little girl, Obi-Wan." 

It was heart-wrenching to listen to her, and any frustrations he'd had were long gone. Instead, he was thankful she'd reached out to him and not anyone else, he was her best shot at getting them out of here and off planet safely. Squeezing her hand, he reached up and wiped the tears from pale skin and dark tattoo lines. "Zel, we'll get her out, I promise." 

The conviction of his words strengthened her, tears drying. “I can never thank you enough for this, you know that right?” There was a look in her golden eyes, one he knew well. A look he could get lost in. 

“Let’s focus on getting it done first.” Slowly, he released her hand. “What’s our best option for getting to her and getting out without too much trouble?” 

His head ached, that was the only thing Obi-Wan was sure of. The rest, including where he was and the time, was a mystery. He moved slightly and his stomach heaved. He groaned. Akkani made an indignant noise from somewhere behind him. He’d fallen asleep in the stable. That’s what his life had come to it seemed. 

Slowly, he sat up reluctantly opening  his eyes. The bight daylight seeping into the small stall he’d rented for the Eopie nearly blinded him. Sounds of Mos Eisley’s daily life began to seep through his haze, and with it the last few days. Images started filtering back to him in snatches, like clips from a holovid playing out of focus. “Zelena,” he whispered, irritatedly to himself. 

Ever since she’d thrown him out of her home, and her life, he’d been wandering Mos Eisley, drinking and feeling miserable and embarrassed for himself. Things between them should never have gotten as far as they did. Pulling his knees to his chest, he leaned his head against them. Besides what his behavior could have endangered, he couldn’t find himself worthy of the comfort of another. He’d failed so much, so deeply. He should remain alone and focus on the one thing he might still do right. The diversion, even if it had been pleasant at times, was rightly over. 

The first place he’d found had been another cantina, far away from the gaudy neon of the noisy district around Famina’s. He’d been shaking, his breath coming rapidly as he wandered through the streets, nearly colliding with a few errant speeders. That first drink had done wonders to calm him. Zelena’s eyes had burned with contempt and in them, he’d seen the specter of Anakin’s dying hatred. Another he’d lost, not dead, but gone as surely as his other failures: Qui-Gon, Satine, Padme, Anakin. 

When that place eventually forced him back into the streets as it closed, he’d found something to eat and a deserted alley to sleep off the drink. Sobriety had made his pain fresh and sharp though, so he’d wandered to the next place to hole up and drink more of her away. He’d spent several broken, foggy days in that self-destructive cycle. The last place he came to eventually kicked him out when he’d run out of credits and become a nuisance. 

He needed to get out of the city, to get back to the cave and check on Luke. Standing slowly, smells and sounds overwhelming his senses, he started to sort through Akkani's saddlebags. At least there were enough spare provisions to make it back and he was pleasantly surprised by the rattle of credit chips from deep down inside one. He hadn't been daft enough to take everything with him. There was one thing he felt he should do before leaving though. "Sorry my friend, you have to wait a little while longer to get out of here." His stomach gave another rough lurch. Maybe there were a couple of things he should do before heading out. 

Food would have to wait though. It was still early enough that his first errand might go without any unwanted encounters. So, head still throbbing and mouth dry, he headed back to Zelena's apartment building. The little courtyard was still thankfully nearly empty. He really didn't want to answer any of her neighbors if they had heard anything. With resigned melancholy, he ventured a glance at her door which may as well have been lightyears away.  She was still likely asleep at this hour, dreaming serenely and blissfully unaware of his sad presence. 

Turning away he focused on an apartment one building down. Only once before had he seen the inside of it. Kyrsta and Zelena had shared a whole shift that night, a rarity since Malk preferred to split them, up insisting they chatted too much. Obi-Wan had walked them both home and Kyrsta had reluctantly invited him inside with Zelena. She'd never completely warmed to him after spotting him that first day. When he'd asked Zelena about that moment she'd shrugged and answered, "she said you looked like a broke drifter and there were a lot of that sort around to watch out for." Then she teased him about it not exactly being untrue. 

For today, he hoped Kyrsta could put aside her dislike. With one last look around to make sure he wasn't noticed, he rang the buzzer and waited awkwardly. The door opened a moment later, accompanied by an annoyed voice. "Oh, it's you, great." The Mirialan wore nothing but an oversized dark shirt she clearly had been sleeping in. "What do you want”, she demanded, not just suspicious but also slightly aggressive. 

"I'm just making sure she's alright." It wouldn't do him any favors to dance around the subject. Kyrsta seemed the type to pull a blaster on him if she got annoyed enough. 

She rolled her eyes but unexpectedly moved back from the door to wave him in. "Better to talk in private, she might get offended if she sees you here." Thankfully she was feeling merciful. He stepped inside to an apartment identical to Zelena's, and probably every other unit in the housing block. Once the door slid shut and they were cut off from any outside eyes and ears, she spoke. "She's fine, all things considered." Kyrsta beckoned him towards the kitchen where she started a small caf machine which started gurgling with a rough clank. "Still pretty karking mad at you. And no, she didn't say why and I don't want to know." 

That was a relief at least. "It doesn't matter as long as she's fine." His head was still hurting but it was no longer the most prominent pain he was feeling.

"You too huh," she gave him a look of knowing pity. 

"What's that supposed to mean," he asked, genuinely not knowing what she was getting at. 

"You're not the first to become infatuated with her. Zelena tends to have that effect on people. It's like she's the right mix of mysterious and vulnerable. Didn't think you were the type though." The caf finished its cycle with a hiss and she poured them a couple of mugs while he contemplated her accusation.

"Black is fine," he remarked as he saw her hesitating. "I don't know what you mean, she's just a friend. Or was." Taking the mug from her hands he clutched it as though he were drowning and it was the only thing keeping him afloat.

"Sure." Obi-Wan chose to ignore that her tone sounded like she was dealing with a child caught in a lie. "To be honest, there is one thing though." She hesitated a moment, maybe second-guessing confiding in him. "She's missed her last couple of shifts. Malk has decided to not fire her since he was still mad about the whole incident. He said it's good space for both their sakes."  Pausing, she took a sip from her mug.

"That doesn't sound like she's fine," he prodded, concern returning. 

"She'll get there. I've known her long enough to be sure of that. It'll just take a little more time. I'm more worried about her making the rent." 

Perhaps fate had intervened, or perhaps deep down this had been what he intended all along. Either way, for the second time, he was relieved that he hadn't burned through every credit he had. Opening the pouch on his belt, he pulled out most of them and dropped them onto the counter between them. "Take them and make sure she gets them if need be."

Kyrsta looked skeptical. "You know she won't accept it." 

"Don't tell her. Say you've been saving them, say a customer left them for her, say whatever." It wasn't much but it was the last kindness he could do for her. At this point, he didn't even want her to know where they came from. If guilt were to reunite them he wouldn't be able to live with himself. 

"If you insist," she shrugged and for a moment they stood silently sipping caf. "Look, I'm sorry about whatever happened." It was begrudging and he could tell it was mostly done out of obligation for the gesture of the credits.

"You don't have to be. It was my mistake. Just make sure she's taken care of." Obi-Wan contemplated asking her to pass along a last farewell but it would likely just upset Zelena again. Setting the mug down, he looked back up at Kyrsta. "Thanks for the caf, I should be on my way." 

Nodding, she followed him to the door. "See you around."

"Right." He doubted that would be the case.

Once he had collected Akkani, he started back towards the cave. He should pick up extra shifts in the mine. After his misadventure and gift to Zelena he’d diminished any spare funds he had. First rest, then Luke. Turning back he gave Mos Eisley one last look. Whatever happened, he hoped she was alright and that she would find the sense of belonging she was searching for. 

[themattress]

The Sequel Trilogy Rewatch

I watched all the movies again recently, and here are my insights after getting to experience the trilogy as a whole unit together, separated from the context of the previous two trilogies.

The Force Awakens - As I’ve said recently, it’s overrated and suffers the most from being derivative. Every rehashing of A New Hope is eye-roll inducing and threatens to take me out of the movie; by the time Starkiller Base enters the picture (”It’s another Death Star!”) it’s really grinding my gears. I understand completely why it was done, but with the thrill of the initial theatrical release gone, the movie suffers for it more and more. The Phantom Menace is a worse film by far, but at least Lucas’ stance of “it’s poetry, it rhymes” wasn’t taken to such a literal extreme there as it is here, making it feel like a more unique, if bad, trilogy opener.

But with that said, let’s give this movie the credit it’s due: everything about the new characters and elements and how they interact with the updated old characters and elements is done legitimately brilliantly. Rey, Finn, Poe, BB-8, Kylo Ren, General Hux and Maz Kanata are all just so captivating and interesting and enjoyable to watch on screen, as are the aged Han, Chewie, Leia, C-3PO, R2-D2 and - at the very end - Luke. The actors are giving it their all and the characters come alive as a result; you connect with them and want to follow them. And even though we all know they were made as Mystery Boxes, J.J Abrams truly is a master at making you want to know what’s in those boxes all the same. Who are Rey’s parents and why did they leave her on Jakkuu? Why is Rey so proficient in the Force right away? Is Finn Force-sensitive? Who is Snoke, how did he turn Ben Solo to the Dark Side and what’s his beef with Luke, the Jedi and the Light Side in general? What exactly are the Knights of Ren? Is there some kind of deeper connection between Kylo Ren and Rey? Why did Luke go to Ach-To and split the map that leads there? What’s the deal with Maz? How did she recover Luke’s old lightsaber? What in the fuck was that Force vision Rey experienced when she touched said lightsaber? And just why did C-3PO get a red arm grafted onto him? OK, that last one’s a joke, but you get my point. Questions are raised, and you want to see them answered even if Abrams himself isn’t completely firm on what those answers even are.

Also, this movie has the best pacing in the trilogy. It opens where it needs to, progresses in a natural flow, and ends at exactly the right point it should. Hats off to the editors on this one, and to Lawrence Kasdan, whose experience with writing Star Wars movies helped greatly.

The Last Jedi - I guess this movie is destined to always confound me. Throughout it, I just keep asking “Why?” Why did Rian Johnson do so exceptionally well with the storyline surrounding Luke, Rey, Kylo Ren, the Force, the Jedi, Ach-To and Snoke, only to then do...whatever the Hell he did with everything else in the movie? I love returning characters like Finn, Poe, Maz and Leia, and I love new characters like Paige, Rose, Holdo and DJ. but the story they are a part of and the things they are used to make happen is so dumb. And to quote Rian Johnson’s later (and stronger) work, it’s not “so dumb, it’s brilliant” - it’s just dumb! Seriously, I cannot believe Kathleen Kennedy signed onto what he did with Leia in this movie. If the reasoning was it would be made up for with her in the following film, then...um, whoops. This also creates a huge pacing problem, dragging the movie out longer than usual for Star Wars and having two climaxes. Cutting down on the dumbness would have done wonders.

That’s not to say everything in the better half is perfect, mind you - Luke is way too unlikable before he agrees to teach Rey and I totally agree with Mark Hamill’s concerns about this, some good decisions are marred by bad ones (ex: killing off Snoke so that Kylo Ren can ascend, which is good, without offering the remotest hint as to what his deal even was, which is bad), and God bless Daisy Ridley for keeping Rey an engaging heroine you follow and root for since her writing is a lopsided mess: she fucks up and fails miserably yet is also just perfect as is and needs no real training, she is drawn toward the Dark Side and a big deal is made over it only for her to have zero actual temptation to join Kylo Ren when he offers it, and the revelation of her parents being nobodies who abandoned her for no good reason is meant to be the most devastating thing she can hear yet then her next scene has her happily manning the Falcon’s guns cheering “Woo! I like this!”, and the parents are never brought up again and Rey simply partakes in a happy ending that just feels phony all things considered.

And yeah, doing either nothing with those Mystery Boxes from The Force Awakens or giving them the most purposefully anti-climactic answers possible was...a choice. I can’t entirely blame Johnson, since Lucasfilm didn’t have a firm plan in place and he wasn’t under any obligation to answer anything in any specific way, but it’s still odd that he goes this far in subverting expectations, to the point where it actually shuts off avenues for the subsequent film to explore. He’s treating the middle chapter of a trilogy like a standalone; it’s so bizarre. 

But hey, what’s done right is done so very right. The cinematography is the most gorgeous to ever be in a Star Wars movie, the atmosphere in every scene (particularly the good scenes) is on point, the action in the film’s last hour is amazing, and as I said before the writing for the film’s core narrative is strong. I especially adore Luke’s character arc once it really gets going; him feeling like a failure because he didn’t live up to “the legend” built around him is the kind of development that makes perfect sense both in-universe and out-of-universe, and seeing him finally learn to embrace himself as the failure of a person he is and as the legend he is regarded as because he recognizes that both are valuable to saving the galaxy...it’s perfect.

The Rise of Skywalker - So, watching it again, did I finally see how bad this movie truly is? Am I ready to eat all my words about enjoying it and defending it? Am I ready to accept that the critics and fandom are right in it not sticking the landing and being a bad conclusion?

Seriously; the editing (especially in the first third) is wonky just to fill a mandatory runtime despite the previous film running overlong, the exposition is often laborious and cringy (“Somehow Palpatine returned.”), and what it all amounts to is just so over-the-top stupid and crazy it’s almost hard to believe. It’s a big, bloated, popcorn movie shlockfest and I love it!

There are three huge things to consider with this movie. One: it had the rawest deal of the trilogy production-wise for multiple reasons and you need to take that into account when considering any choppiness; honestly with the situation J.J Abrams and co. were in, it’s amazing the film came out as coherently as it did! Two: is any disappointment you feel really this film’s doing, or is it the whole trilogy’s and Lucasfilm’s lack of an overarching creative vision for it? Because it feels like most detractors are actually experiencing the latter kind of disappointment and then pinning the blame on this movie for making them realize it. When applying logic, The Force Awakens which started the trilogy with a lack of a firm plan in mind and The Last Jedi which tossed aside all set-up and veered off into a wildly different direction that left the following film facing something of a dead-end have more share of the blame.

And three: this movie actually IS “so dumb, it’s brilliant”. If you read any interview with J.J Abrams and/or Chris Terrio, you’ll see they did their homework. They weren’t interested in trying to conform to an endlessly unpleasable fandom’s serious business vision of what Star Wars is / should be, they were just going to work with what Star Wars actually was when conceived: a goofy hodge-podge of film serials, B movies, comic books, fairy tales and ancient myths, given the most basic of spiritual undertones, and packaged as a feel-good entertaining thrill-ride for all audiences, particularly the young and the young-at-heart. Only as this was the conclusion of a nine-film saga, they took it a step further and made it primarily a goofy hodge-podge of previous Star Wars movies and even some other Star Wars projects like TV shows and comics. They deliberately brought Star Wars full circle, because they knew and loved Star Wars as it truly exists, not as the sacred thing so many fans build it up as. George Lucas himself said it: they’re just movies, you’re just meant to have a good time with them and not think too deeply about it, even if the movies do offer you things to think about (which is how/why expanded universe projects are made). You’re just meant to have fun.

That’s why this movie will always by my favorite one in the trilogy, warts and all. It’s so fun.

But on that note, yeah, the Sequel Trilogy is fun. It’s flawed and uneven, but so are the other trilogies, which also received histrionic flak in their days. I find it morbidly laughable that people, whether they be Star Wars fans or professional film critics, have learned nothing after all this time. Those who don’t learn from history truly are doomed to repeat it, I suppose.

SIDE NOTE: There is one consistency in the Sequel Trilogy that I really feel deserves more appreciation, and that’s Kylo Ren. He gets criticized for us not getting to see his backstory compared to Anakin’s three movies and a TV show showing how he became Darth Vader, and for making some wild swings in terms of actions and plot usage depending on the movie, but I believe that Adam Driver’s performance combined with him being one of the few things in the new trilogy that did have something of a road map attached to him from the beginning counteracts that. He truly is Darth Vader in reverse, and that creates an entirely different sort of antagonist: not a cold, machine-like being that used to be human and became this way as a psychological response to his feelings causing him great trauma and tragedy, but a human who desperately wants and is actively trying to be a cold, machine-like being to escape all the pain that his feelings cause him. And as close as he gets to successfully crossing that line, he never fully does. In the end, he not only surpasses Vader by betraying his master and ruling his empire, but he also surpasses Anakin: rather than his mother’s death leading him down a path that ends in a fiery damnation, his mother’s death directly leads to a watery cleansing and salvation, which culminates in him actually saving the woman he loves from dying rather than trying to do so only to end up killing her. He’s a wonderful character and I adore him.

(Also: these skits. How can you not love the guy for these?)

[david-talks-sw]

Why is Count Dooku's characterization vastly different in The Clone Wars then Attack of the Clones? In AOTC he's all like, "I'm sorry old friend" and "Back down", in TCW he seems to take pleasure in killing Jedi. What happened?

Okay, so I lightly touched on this back in this post where I compare the Dooku we see in the Legends continuity to the Dooku we see in Canon and in this video. George Lucas quotes used as sources can be found at the end.

To start with: there's a dichotomy to Dooku.

On the one hand... he makes good points. His concerns are the same that many Jedi share: the Senate is corrupt, and its representatives are abusing their power for their own selfish needs, sometimes even using Jedi to do so.

On the other hand... Dooku's a Sith. Which means he - like the Senators - is also after power, if not moreso. He's greedy, selfish and ambitious. Sure, he makes good points but he’s part of the problem; he knows it, but he doesn’t care.

More importantly, like Maul and Grievous, the primary purpose of Dooku, as a character, is to show us who Anakin is going to turn into:

An evil, corrupted old man. A prodigal son of the Jedi Order (with closet fascist-leanings) who, in his unquenchable thirst for power, was reduced to being a slave of Darth Sidious.

One of the big differences between Dooku and Anakin, however, is that Dooku was always more politically savvy.

Count Dooku has a public image.

He uses his past as a Jedi to cultivate this persona of a wise intellectual, a rational man with fair and just demands, one who fights for the little guy.

He is the head of the Separatist movement, a charismatic figure known throughout the galaxy for his political idealism, even giving lectures at universities.

But it is just a persona.

I mean, that's probably how he started out, sure, but by the time we see him in Attack of the Clones, Dooku is a Sith Lord, and he's been one for over 10 years, because we know he was going by "Tyranus" while ordering Sifo-Dyas' death and hiring Jango Fett a few months before the invasion of Naboo.

QUICK NOTE: In Canon, Dooku left the Jedi Order 10 years before Qui-Gon’s death. So chances are, he's actually been a Sith for almost 20 years, as we know he was already a darksider 8 years prior to The Phantom Menace because he tried to recruit Rael Averross at the end of the book Master & Apprentice.

Which means he's pure evil.

Deep down, Dooku's the guy we see in The Clone Wars: Darth Tyranus, a ruthless, sadistic killer whose only goal is to destroy the Jedi Order and bend the galaxy to his will.

But the galaxy can't know this, right? They think he's Count Dooku, a kind-hearted man whose beliefs are controversial but ultimately altruistic. Hell, even the Jedi remember him fondly.

So, like Palpatine, he keeps up the facade.

He does this with Obi-Wan, as he secretly tries to recruit him to overthrow Sidious (who Lucas compares to Vader trying to do with Luke in Empire Strikes Back):

He does this with the Jedi, calling Mace "old friend", telling him he's sorry he's about to have them executed.

He plays this charade up to the very end...

... but when Obi-Wan still won't back down, he is left with no choice but to kill him the fastest way he can: with a lightsaber.

A red-bladed lightsaber, in signature Sith fashion. One he’s been careful to keep a secret.

But Obi-Wan's seen it, he's seen the Force Lightning... he's been given a peek behind the curtains, so now he has to die. 

And you see the change in Dooku’s behavior. He starts to taunt Obi-Wan, he’s grinning, there’s a sadistic glimmer in his eye. For a brief moment, he drops the mask and goes to town.

Oh and Anakin joins in, whatever the more the merrier. But then Yoda joins in... and Dooku can't beat Yoda. Crap, he's gonna tell everyone. 

The secret of him being a Sith Lord is gonna get out...!

But this is Palpatine and Dooku we're talking about. Political geniuses, masters of spin and flipping the story. If the secret got out... who cares?

Seriously, who cares if the Jedi know he’s a Sith, now? The war's already started, Order 66 is right around the corner. He won't even bother pretending he's a good guy, with the Jedi.

Him playing the role of the "villain" when facing the Republic also makes it so that the Senate will want to keep the war going until he's captured or dead.

And because they're at war, he can simply wave the fiendish acts the Republic lays at his feet as "slanderous propaganda" in front of the Separatists, they'll just eat it up.

Furthermore, Dooku being his true, ruthless self when engaging with the Republic also has a second perk: it'll make the Jedi look bad.

'Cause the galaxy doesn't really get what a Sith Lord is, they think it's just some Jedi variant. So that's still a Jedi, right?

As such, Dooku's cruel actions and cruelty then feed into the anti-Jedi conspiracy theories about them "starting the war" and the growing distrust that'll make it so that - when the Jedi are eventually wiped out - the general public will just go "good riddance".

Which was the main goal of the entire Clone War conflict.

TLDR:

The guy we see in most of Attack of the Clones is Count Dooku, political idealist, AKA who he presents himself to be.

The characterization we see at the end of Attack of the Clones, in The Clone Wars and in Revenge of the Sith is that of Darth Tyranus, Sith Lord, AKA his true self.

George Lucas Quotes:

About Dooku’s valid points:

“I wanted a more sophisticated kind of villain. Dooku’s disenchantment with the corruption in the [Republic] is actually valid. It’s all valid. So, Chris plays it as, “Is he really a villain or is he just someone who is disenchanted and trying to make things right?”” - Starlog Magazine #300, 2002

“The confrontation between Obi-Wan and Dooku originally was a confrontation between Padmé and Dooku, and it was a political thing. I decided, after seeing the movie, that I didn’t need that scene with Padmé and Dooku, it was in the wrong part of the picture, and this one, with Obi-Wan, would be more appropriate. It would work better if Dooku would actually tell the truth about what’s going on and then create a situation where nobody believed him. And it also allows you to kinda have some sympathy for Dooku in that he carries the sympathies of most of the Jedi which is that the Senate is corrupt and is incapable of carrying out any meaningful actions because they argue about everything all the time.” - Attack of the Clones, Director’s Commentary, 2002

About the similarities between Anakin and Dooku:

“[In the garage scene, Anakin] sort of lays out his ambition and you’ll see later on his ambition and his dialogue here is the same as Dooku’s. He says “I will become more powerful than every Jedi.” And you’ll hear later on Dooku will say “I have become more powerful than any Jedi.” [...] And Dooku is, kind of, the fallen Jedi who was converted to the Dark Side because the other Sith Lord didn’t have time to start from scratch, and so we can see that that’s where this is going to lead which is that it is possible for a Jedi to be converted. It is possible for a Jedi to want to become more powerful.” - Attack of the Clones, Director’s Commentary, 2002

“I needed to get across the point that Jedi can leave the Order, to set up what happens with Anakin later on. Also, in the end when you realize that Dooku is Darth Tyranus, it explains what Darth Sidious did after Darth Maul was killed: he seduce a Jedi who had become disenchanted with the Republic. He preyed on that disenchantment and converted him to the dark side, which is also a setup for what happens with Anakin.” - Mythmaking: Behind the Scenes of Attack of the Clones, 2002

About Dooku’s true nature:

“If you put two Sith together, they try to get others to join them to get rid of the other Sith. Dooku's ambition here is really to get rid of Darth Sidious. He's trying to get Obi-Wan's assistance in that [...] so that he and Obi-Wan could overthrow Sidious and take over. And it's exactly the same scene as when Darth Vader does it with Luke to try to get rid of Sidious.” - Attack of the Clones, Commentary Track 2, 2002

“In the midst of this turmoil, a separatist movement was formed under the leadership of the charismatic former Jedi Count Dooku. By promising an alternative to the corruption and greed that was rotting the Republic from within, Dooku was able to persuade thousands of star systems to secede from the Republic. Unbeknownst to most of his followers, Dooku was himself a Dark Lord of the Sith, acting in collusion with his master, Darth Sidious, who, over the years, had struck an unholy alliance with the greater forces of commerce and their private droid armies.” - Shatterpoint, Prologue, 2004

[obiwanobi]

Catch me thinking about sith Anakin who got in a fight w/ Palps (did Palps cross a line? Did Anakin decide he had nothing to lose? Idk), barely managed to win and is now seriously hurting and a little freaked out winding up outside Obi-wan's quarters and Obi-wan doesn't have time to draw his saber let alone figure out how a sith lord managed to get so far into the jedi temple unnoticed and Force is that blood? before Anakin's passing out with only a murmered request for help.

LISTEN you can’t keep sending me perfect prompts, how do you know I can’t resist bloody men on their knees begging for salvation, how do you know me so well??? anyway here’s 2.3k of always-a-sith!Anakin who could have been the new ruler of the empire but said ‘no thanks, this is too much responsibility, I would like to be pampered by my favourite jedi now’ (with a bit of Ahsoka as Obi-Wan’s padawan!)

 He didn’t mean to kill him.

Well, not at first.

He didn’t mean to kill Sidious, but pulling his lightsaber from his lifeless corpse only felt like complete satisfaction. A weight on his shoulders he didn't know he carried disappeared, letting him stand up above the body of his master— former master, and gaze upon what was left of him. A shapeless form on the ground. A dark cape around an old man playing at being a god. A begging mess of futile promises when he realised it was the end for him.  

As mindless fury leaves him, his ragged breathing slows down and his fist unclenches around his saber. Sidious is dead. Now that the adrenaline rush is gone, his knees start shaking. His Master is dead. His face is wet with sweat and blood and tears. Dead and now Anakin has no one.

And then...  And then fear.

"You know," Ahsoka groans as the water starts boiling, "I don't understand how you got your reputation of Cool Jedi Master. Other padawans think I'm lying when I tell them you wear the ugliest slippers at home and gets excited by new tisanes."

"You gifted me those slippers."

"As a joke. And you still wear them."

"I'm not going to throw away perfectly good slippers." Obi-Wan wiggles his toes under the red and yellow fuzzy monstrosities, just to see his padawan rolls her eyes. "And they're really comfortable."

"So you're just going to stay there, then? Your whole battalion is out celebrating our first day of leave since forever, but you prefer to drink your tea alone and go to bed at 22:00?"

"No one wants an authority figure around when they're letting loose and celebrating, Ahsoka," Obi-Wan says, pouring hot water in his cup. He raises the kettle towards his padawan as a question, to which she shakes her head. "I thought you would be happy to see me putting sleep before work for once."

"I am, Master, but I thought it could be..." She trails off, fidgeting with the hilt of her sabers. For once, she looks like a typical padawan, just like he was at her age, dying to enjoy one night away from the temple and any kind of responsibilities.

"It's alright my dear," he sighs, "you can join them if you want."

Ahsoka suddenly perks up. "I can?"

"If you're old enough to be sent to the front, I think you can handle yourself for one night on Coruscant."

"Thank you Master! I promise I'll be careful and not come back too late!"

"You do that, and-- wait, Ahsoka," he adds as she's already halfway through the door, "make sure to stay around Cody! And no alcohol of any kind! And don't lose your lightsaber at sabacc again!"

"That was you!" she yells from the end of the corridor, "don't worry, I'll be fine! Don't wait for me to go to bed! Goodnight Master!"

Obi-Wan smiles, blowing on his cup. He already sent a message to Cody earlier to keep an eye on her, so he knows she's in good hands.

He has his herbal tea, his ugly slippers, no reports to read or write, and no immediate Separatist menace to plan for. For once, a perfectly good night to catch up on sleep and meditation.

So, of course, something has to be wrong.

The Force is bright. The Force is lighter than it has ever been for the past few years.

And Obi-Wan can't understand why.  

It's not just him that can feel it: Ahsoka has acted chipper since, more like the teenager she is, laughing with the clones and playfully teasing him the whole fly back to Coruscant. The temple has felt livelier than ever when they arrived, Jedi from all ages going about their day with a new spring in their step, greeting each other warmly in the corridors. Even Master Yoda has taken a few minutes during their Council meeting to note the shift in the Force. No Master could pinpoint the origin of this change, but all agreed that something good happened somewhere in the galaxy, and they were just feeling ripples of the effect in the Force.

Still now, the whole temple feels a bit more like it used to, before the war, and all Jedi are a bit happier without knowing why.

Only Obi-Wan feels like a noose tightening around him. Whatever it is, it's slowing making its way around his presence in the Force. Focusing on him and him alone. Doesn't matter how much Obi-Wan tries to hide himself, it's getting closer and never slowing down or losing interest.

Needless to say, Obi-Wan has a bad feeling about this.

But after almost three years of war, sullen faces and grim expressions, he doesn't feel like dampening the sudden good mood around the Temple just with a few words. He can probably deal with whatever it is by himself.

His tisane is cold when he finally emerges from his meditation. Nothing is clearer than when he started: the Force is deaf to his questions and inquiries, still light as a breeze. An airy unconcern for his restlessness. And yet, a thick pressure still looms around him, getting heavier each passing second now.

His fingers start pulling on his collar.

The clock on the wall indicates that he lied to Ahsoka when he said he was going to bed at a respectable time today. No diurnal Jedi would still be up right now, but he still considers going out to knock at Mace's door. Narrowed eyes and a very long sigh will be his first answer, but Obi-Wan knows that Mace would never refuse to hear him out. Yes, he finally decides when the pressure seems to creep even closer to him, it's worth waking up Mace.

He opens his door, wondering if he should take his robe with him, and instantly stops walking.

There, in the empty corridor of the Jedi Temple, at his door and on his knees, is a Sith. He knows it's a Sith only because he recognises this specific mass of hair, the large shoulders, the dishevelled dark robe. He knows it's a Sith because he has crossed path with this one enough times on the battlefield to recognise him anywhere. Outside of it a few times too. He isn't sure it's a Sith when the Sith raises his head up, bloody and bruised face torn in an agonizing expression, and his eyes are blue.

"I— I didn't know where to go," Darth Vader says quietly, with the kind of voice expected from a lost child. It gives Obi-Wan a second shock to hear his voice, making his presence suddenly real. "You said... You said if I ever wanted to, if I needed help one day, you would— I could—"

Obi-Wan remembers it. He remembers all the times he offered his help. His pleas for him to stop the violence, the appeals to reason, the multiple suggestions of a gentler path. His hand continuously outreached but never taken. He remembers the burning gold of the Sith's eyes too, and his black cape floating above the dead clones at his feet.

His laughter the first time Obi-Wan brought up the idea of lowering their blades and talking around a cup of tea. His sneer the third time Obi-Wan tried to change his misconceptions about the Jedi Order and play-flirt with him in the same breath. The silence the fifth time Obi-Wan asked him his name, his real name, the one a parent gave him.

The tears the last time he gave it to him.

"And you're always trying to save me," Vader adds more forcefully now, like the words anger him, "you're always here, showing up almost every time I'm sent somewhere with your stupid smile and stupid words, and you're always nice, and... and teasing, and disappointed when I kill someone, like you expect me to be better, and I don't understand you, but..."

Vader raises his hand towards him, and it's only this sudden move that shakes Obi-Wan out of his stupor. Before the Sith can touch his leg, Obi-Wan calls his lightsaber to him, ignites it in one fluid motion, half-expecting Vader to be up and swaying his saber in his face by now. But the Sith is still on his knees, and it's only now that the blue light of his blade is above him that Obi-Wan realises the state he's in. His face isn't the only thing bruised and battered: his dark tunic is stained with blood and ripped in more than one place, one of his arms is bent in an unnatural way, and it looks like a cut above his hairline is still bleeding, making his curls stick to his face in a mess of wet hair and burned skin.

"Vader," Obi-Wan says slowly, when his thoughts finally regain a semblance of coherence. A rapid investigation through the Force assures him that no other enemy is around and the calm and quiet of the night in the Temple isn't a prequel for a storm. "How did you get in here? What are you doing here? How—"

Vader's hand, stuck in the space between them, reaches once again for Obi-Wan. Foolishly, Obi-Wan lets him. His fingers twist themselves in the fabric of his pants.

"He made me killed them all.” Vader wobbles on his knees for a second, the hand on Obi-Wan's leg gripping it tighter. “No platoons, no battle droids. Just me. He sent me to the power station and I cut through them so easily, so quickly, they didn't even fight back, and I didn't think that..." he trails off, panting. "Until.... until I saw the electro-whips." 

"Are you talking about Naphtla?" he asks when Vader doesn't seem to be able to continue.

Naphtla. Outer Rim. Barely on the Republic radar until this afternoon, when nearby troops answered a distress signal and found a hidden Separatist power station operated by slaves. A third of them were dead, killed only a few hours before, and the survivors turned to the Republic for immediate support. Slaughtered like animals, the rescue team reported to the Council only a few hours ago, by one single man wielding a red lightsaber. According to witnesses, the darksider cut through the slaves like bantha butter, killing everyone in his path without discrimination, until he stopped for no apparent reason and abruptly left.

"You were the one who killed the people at the station there," Obi-Wan realises out loud, horrified, "the slaves from Zygerria."

Vader snaps his head up and his fingers tighten painfully around Obi-Wan's knee. "I DIDN'T KNOW!"

All Obi-Wan's senses and logical thoughts urge him to back out, put an end to this nonsensical charade, raise his lightsaber between them, get away from the dark, hungry void Vader generates in the Force.

But his eyes are looking up to him. Gripping his gaze with the same intensity as his hand on his leg. Bloodied face and pleading, on his knees. Full of tears.

Obi-Wan doesn't push Vader's hand away.

"I didn't know they were slaves, I didn't!"

"Vader."

"He never said! He sent me without telling him, he knows I don't—" A small noise sounding suspiciously like a sob swallows the rest of his words.

"Vader, who sent—"

"When I came back," he tries again, quieter. Obi-Wan opens his mouth to ask about this he, but Vader's head lolls for a second, too heavy to support, before butting gently against Obi-Wan's leg. Vader makes no effort to move, content to stay there, and after a second, a small, almost timid nuzzle against his thigh sends a series of shivers through Obi-Wan's spine. It shuts him up instantly. "When I came back, he looked at me for so, so long, before saying that he knew, he knew I was going to fail, that I was... just like them after all, and that I could never... And I was so mad, so angry at him, so I... I..."

The last words are muffled by the fabric Vader clings to. Hides into. There's blood on Obi-Wan's pants now.

"What have you done, Vader?" Obi-Wan asks, softer than he intended. "Vader," he asks again when no reply comes, without success. The hand not holding his lightsaber moves, hesitates for a moment, then settles lightly on Vader's hair, mindful not to touch any open wounds. His fingers nudge him to tip his head back, gently, carefully, and settle on his cheek to hold his face up, looking at him. "Anakin." His name, his true name, makes him blink a few times. "Anakin, what have you done?"

"I killed him," he finally admits, barely audible. He looks exhausted, more like a child in need of rest than ever.

"Who did you kill?"

"My master."

"Dooku? You killed Dooku?"

"No," Vader— Anakin frowns, like Obi-Wan should know better. "Sidious."

It's a bit much to process in one day. Another Sith Lord, Vader's master, concealed and kept a secret, now dead, killed by his apprentice —and does that make Vader the ruling Sith Lord now? Do Sith have rulers?— the lightness in the Force the same day, a half-dead Vader begging for help in the middle of the night in the Jedi Temple, and all of that while Obi-Wan is still wearing his ugly slippers.

He's so glad he sent Ahsoka away for the night.

Anakin doesn't let him time to feel the migraine coming.

"I can't do it, I can't be my master, I can't— and Dooku hates me, he will never help me, even if I let him have it all, he will never..." Vader seems to run out of steam, and lets his eyes close as his head falls once again against Obi-Wan's thigh. Closer. "You said you could help me. You said I could come to you at any time. You said you would always be there if I didn't want to... do this, anymore."

"I did," Obi-Wan assures him, his hand lightly petting his hair again.

Anakin lets out a long breath. His fingers tighten on the fabric of Obi-Wan's pants, loosen, and tighten again.

"You're the only one I trust," the Sith quietly tells the Jedi, and it's the saddest thing Obi-Wan has ever heard.

[allronix]

Carth and Force Sensitivity (crossposted from Reddit r/kotor)

This is for @k-she-rambles:

Okay, so while we're shooting the bantha crap over on KOTOR fan theories, u/134340Goat mentioned my all time favorite "Have you been chewing spice?!" fan theory when it comes to KOTOR: Is Carth Force Sensitive?

So this one starts with a story. I mentioned my brother in law, who is pretty much Keeper of the Jedi Archives. Seriously, he's an English teacher and my sister is a librarian. They met at a sci fi convention and their first date was Phantom Menace. We're taking not just geeks, but geeks who can throw the damn bookshelf at you. Brother in law bought KOTOR on the day it launched and turned it into a week long binge watch at his house. And because brother in law is that kind of geek, he's translating the characters into the West End D6 system. I'm watching him do a playthrough, and he's got Canderous and Zaalbar at Ajunta Pal's tomb.

Allronix: Huh. That's odd. Why aren't commenting on anything when Ajunta is speaking?

Bro in law: Oh. They can't even see Ajunta. You have to be Force Sensitive to see a Force Ghost The stronger your Sensitivity, the better you can see it.

Allronix: Really? Then how come Carth can see it?

Bro in law (gets the "holy shit, I gotta confirm this" look): Really?! He just sees something out the corner of his eye or something?

Allronix: No, he sees Ajunta just fine. Understands what the dude's saying too.

Bro in law instantly rolls back to his last save, swaps Zaalbar for Carth, and sees the bit in question.

Bro in law: Oh. Dear. (Goes over to make some quick scribbles on Carth's character sheet)

Okay, so maybe that was a lore fail. I didn't really think about it too much until I hit that False Level Up glitch and ran around with Carth and Mission as Sentinels. Now, while I couldn't really see Mission as a Sensitive, that little bit with my bro in law nagged at me. And became a "once you see it you can't unsee it." Apologies to TV Tropes, where some of these were my additions to the Wild Mass Guess entry on this topic.

Any one of these on its own is pretty easy to blow off. After all, man is career military, and knows All this Shit is Weird. I also like to think of Sensitivity as a spectrum and not a switch. If all life is connected by the Force, then all life would be Sensitive to some degree or another. It’s just a matter of to what degree. It’s only as the list gets longer and longer does the case start looking damning...

What are the odds of surviving that attack on the Endar Spire, getting to the escape pods, sharing the last escape pod with the mindwiped Sith Lord, piloting through the chaos, landing in what passes for the "good" part of town, remaining uninjured, pulling the badly injured mindwiped Sith Lord from the wreck, evading Sith detection while all this is going on, and just happening to find a dump of an apartment where the landlord's not asking questions? That is one amazing string of coincidences and good luck. Get that many in Star Wars, and it's definitely The Force sticking its nose in things.

Piloting the escape pod to land in the Upper City, piloting the Hawk through the Sith Blockade of Taris, the random Sith patrols, the escape from the Leviathan, and the fleet around Lehon along with the crash landing that left the ship easily repairable. Now, compare to Atton who we know to be an excellent pilot and drawing on The Force who still manages to crash the ship at least three times.

He's a scary good judge of character if you're interacting with other NPCs. If you watch him with other NPC characters, he's got a pretty good compass as to which characters are being helpful and which ones are full of shit. The only one he calls incorrectly is Rukil, who is probably also an untrained Sensitive (the age, the "marked" comments) and half senile, which is probably throwing him.

Related to that, his distrust and wariness about something not adding up with the PC, the Jedi Council feeding the party a line of bull, that things just aren't adding up. And on all of it? Dead on. He's 100% right about the Player Character, he just expected something a little less crazy than "that's Darth freaking Revan."

If you play Female Revan, then Carth's the one who gets fried in the torture cages on the Leviathan. Saul comments how strange it is that Carth takes so much punishment and still remains conscious. Now, this is a low level thing, but in lore, Force Sensitives have drawn on it to keep them alive or conscious under duress. Explicitly, the first sign we got that Leia was a Sensitive when she withstood the Imperial torture droid.

Another of his scary ass judge of character feats? In the comics, Zayne (who is on the run from the Jedi, who framed him for the murder of his classmates) has a vision that Mandalorians are coming for Serroco. Saul? Laughs it off, throws Zayne in the brig. Zayne's own friends don't even believe him. Carth gets one of those creepy hunches and starts calling in "duck and cover" sirens as far as he can broadcast, which sends seventeen cities and millions of people heading for shelter. It saves their lives and Carth is called a hero for it. Armed with another hunch, he disobeys Saul (remember this is before Saul nukes Telos) and lets Zayne "escape" from custody. Mind you, not even the Jedi or his party members believed Zayne. Carth did.

Carth makes a lot of creepy weird offhand predictions about the future. He says he knows on some level he'll be there when Saul dies. That certainly pans out. He makes an offhand prediction that the Jedi have set the party up to take a fall. Right again. He tells a female PC that she'll have to make a choice soon, one she can't walk away from. And then we get the temple top. He even blurts out that "I sensed you would have to make a choice soon, and that was it*, I can feel it!"* If you specify a LS Female Revan, his recording for T3-M4 says he's had a hunch Revan would leave without warning. Again, spot on.

Specify a LS male Revan, and Carth will remark to Bastila that seeing the Exile reminds him "there are worse things to lose." The only other people who can see just how screwed up the Exile is are the Jedi Masters, Chodo Habat, and the Force Sensitive party members.

Specify a LS female Revan, and Carth will insist that he would know if Revan were dead (again, scary ass intuition) and that there's an "emptiness" where she used to be. Now, remember one of the things about a broken Force Bond? It would simply be "empty, a wound."

You know how your party members in KOTOR 2 feel upset or even horrified as they realize they feel compelled to protect Exile and can't being themselves to leave, even when said actions are kicking puppies? And how they swing wildly from being crazy, almost stalker level possessive of them to being scared out of their wits and clamming up when you try to pry anything out of them? And the more potent (and untapped) their Force Sensitivity, the more they get hammered with the effect? (Mira and Atton in particular) Yeah. Now, Carth's "I don't wanna talk" looks a bit different, doesn't it? It could also account for that romance arc, especially if you roll a DSF Revan and go for that "everyone dies" ending.

Again, Ajunta Pal. Seeing a Force Ghost? Yeah. Some degree of Sensitivity needed. Understanding what he's saying? Yeah. Takes a bit more than that. And Carth makes a weirdly insightful comment about the Dark Side on top of it.

Notice that this a wall o text argument already, and I'm now just getting to the "Yeah, his kid is able to throw around mid-level Dark Side powers and packing a red lightsaber." Given the jawline and the muleheaded attitude, no way Morgana was fooling around with the pizza delivery boy. That's definitely Carth's kid, and that's definitely Force Sensitivity. Now, while it can skip a generation (see Theron Shan), it tends to run pretty heavy in families.

Lastly? Gee. He comes from a planet settled by and heavily populated by descendants of Force Sensitives who failed their training. I'm also willing to bet some bastard children of Jedi get passed off as "foundlings" and "orphans" and dumped there, too. Jedi are forbidden attachments, but not sworn to celibacy, so...yeah, bastard kids are gonna happen. There's probably a Jedi or two in that family tree. It's circumstantial evidence at best, but it still supports the case.

Now, any arguments I missed? Counterarguments?

And the million credit question: If there's a character who gets to break this news to poor Flyboy, who do you think would actually take that on? How do you think Carth would take that kind of news? And what, if anything, would come of it?

I kinda figure Jolee might be the only one nuts enough to poke that with a stick...I also kinda figure "Sentinel" would fit best. Consular? Hell no. He hired Mical for that. Guardian works with the feats, but the whole "ferreting out deceit and injustice?" Yeah. That's Carth.

[furiosophie]

maybe a little more oh the things we left behind epilogue fluff??? ;u; i know the entire epilogue was fluff but i am insatiable

yes very good thinking anon and sorry for the long wait my brain is just a heap of goo right now but here we go - some ottwlb fluff set between the Mandalorian war and the very last scene of the fic, a small compilation of how Din found the rest of their family:

oh the things we found

small TW for mentions of blood and trauma

Din doesn't in any way plan on becoming a magnet for Force-sensitive children, he really doesn't, but it happens regardless, something about his unique combination of Force-null beskar, Force-conduit darksaber, and Force-bond husband drawing them in like moths to a flame.

He finds Rey first, on a recon mission out to Jakku, casing a distress signal from a lost covert. She can't be any older than Ben, who is seven now and an absolute terror, but in comparison to him, she doesn't listen to Din one bit, her whole life just a series of defying the authority figures around her. She dangles from a rope above him, in the hollowed-out remains of an Imperial Star Destroyer, sticking out her tongue at him. "I'm not coming with you!" she declares while Din tries to position himself in a way that will allow him to catch her if she slips. "I'm waiting for my family. They're coming to get me!"

He doesn't have the heart to tell her no one in their right mind would ever willingly come back to a place like Jakku. He places all his rations, most of his credits, and, just for good measure, some bacta spray on the ground below her like he's making some offering to an ancient feral god and leaves with an ache in his chest.

"She won't come with me," he complains to Luke later, pacing up and down in the living area of the Mudhorn while Luke brews tea. They don't technically live in the Mudhorn anymore, have their own quarters in the ruins of Yavin's temple, but they always end up here regardless, whenever one of them comes back from a mission, whenever they need it to be just the two of them, away from everyone's worries.

Luke hands him a steaming cup and places a soft kiss on his temple. "Don't worry," he says, in that cryptic tone of his, the one he uses to tease Din when he's being daft about something that's impossible for him to know. "She will." And that's that.

Din goes back. Once, twice, three times, until the sparse crowd of locals looks at him with pity in their eyes. She does come with him eventually, after his eighths visit, when he draws the darksaber on a dune beast and turns around to find her looking at him with the type of recognition in her eyes that he's only ever seen in the way Luke looks at Ben and Grogu.

"She's like you," he accuses when Luke greets them at the bottom of the Mudhorn's ramp, Rey perched high on his shoulders, her arms wrapped around his helmet so tight it's hard for him to see. Luke just smiles and reaches out so Rey can tentatively take his hand. The change is instant - as soon as their palms touch her whole body relaxes as if something in her is finally at peace and Din has to reach up to keep her from sliding off his shoulders. And well. That's that.

Finn is next, standing tall in front of a group of terrified kids, in a backroom of the imperial laboratory they just raided, his eyes ablaze and lips turned up into a snarl. "I'll fight you," he snaps even as Din can see his hands shaking around the mop he fished out of the supply closet as a makeshift weapon. "I'm not scared, I'll fight you!" And really all Din can do in response is pull his helmet off and fall to his knees with his hands raised above his head.

It seems to work because he gets all of them into the Mudhorn eventually, Finn curled up on the copilot's seat, staring out in wonder at the endless expanse of space while the rest of the kids are rolled up into every available blanket in the captain's quarter. It's a bit of a rough start - where Rey felt turmoil because of the things swirling inside her without guidance, all Finn has ever known is supervision and people telling him to be something he's not, his connection to the Force tempered down in all the wrong places, too silent and too loud all at the same time, and in the first weeks, Din spends a lot of time hugging him close to the beskar plating of his chest, taking strolls under the quietness of Yavin's trees like he used to do with Ben. Finn quiets eventually, just as Rey did, the two of them getting on like a house on fire.

Shara is the one who brings Paige and Rose Tico, two sisters left stranded and alone by the still raging unrest of the remnants of war, and there is barely a discussion before she decides to take them in herself, the two of them glued to Poe the second they step off Shara's ship.

He finds Armitage last, standing over the dead body of an Imperial officer, blood on his hands and all across his face, just a sliver of yellow in the green of his eyes. Din has bruises on his arms for a week from how hard the kid strains against him as he tries to drag him out of the Star Destroyer before it self-destructs, but he figures, all things considered, they'll be able to handle that too.

He turns out to be a menace, of course, too smart for his own good, and way too stubborn to let Ben get away with his teasing, which always seems to end up Luke and Din having to physically drag them away from each other. Din tries to do for him what he did for everyone else, to hold him close and comfort him, but he only ever succeeds in the quiet of the night when he finds him at the very top of the temple wrapped up tightly in Luke's arms, both of them holding onto each other for dear life, eyes red-rimmed and cheeks tear-stained, darkness hanging around them like rain clouds.

Armitage takes a shine to Bo-Katan though, amidst all of his defiance, a fact that seems to confuse her as much as it does Din, and he knows that that will probably spell disaster in the future given how fast and feral Armitage takes to swinging a lightsaber, but to his relieve the Armorer steps up to pull him to her workshop by the back of his neck and balances the murder in his eyes with ever-evolving engineering challenges.

And so it takes a bit, quite a while in fact, but they find their balance eventually, their weird ever-growing family, all of them slotting into each other in a way that sometimes makes Din wonder if this was their doing too, Luke's and his, if in bending the universe around them, and in becoming one in the Force they somehow became a beacon for all those who are lost.

He wonders about it on the nights when, even after Han settles down on Yavin more or less permanently to be closer to Ben, and even after Paz bashfully asks to officially adopt Rey who's been glued to his shoulders for months, and even after Armitage makes it very clear that he doesn't plan to ever be adopted by anyone, Luke comes back from an excursion to find Din pilled into their bed with a bunch of wayward Foundlings.

"Sorry," Din mumbles sleepily as Luke steps over a snoring Paz who's taken up guard in the hallway, "It just happened."

"Is there room for one more?"

"Unlikely," Din sighs as he always does, but Luke finds a spot anyways, shuffling the kids around until they are just awake enough to demand a story from him.

"It's late," Luke smiles as Din pulls him closer to lean their foreheads together in greeting, Grogu climbing up from where he was tucked beneath Ben's chin to settle in between his dads. "I'll tell you all about it tomorrow."

"Just one!" Rey pleads from her spot at Din's side, Finn's head popping up behind her in a show of support and Luke raises a warning eyebrow as Poe and Rose scoot closer from where they were sprawled over Din's legs. "You always say we need to be curious about the world around us!"

"It will help us sleep," Armitage argues from his spot at the end of the bed, the one he takes to pretend he doesn't care about any of this, and starts scooting close too, shoving at Ben to make space.

"They make a good point," Din interjects gently and pulls Armitage out of the way and between them before Ben can get up enough to headbutt him with Din's helmet, which is a constant on his head on those nights where they all feel pulled towards each other.

"Traitor," Luke laughs, letting Armitage nestle in closer to him, but he'll tell them about his travels anyways until they are all knocked out and snoring peacefully and Din can press a quick kiss to Luke's lips without having to listen to a cascade of "ew" and "gross".

And so, in the end, he always drifts asleep knowing he doesn't fully understand it, not really, how they all manage to fit so perfectly into each other's lives, how he managed to find this, this place that is domestic in a way nothing in his life has ever been, but he figures he doesn't have to understand it, not when he also knows with absolute certainty that they are all exactly where they are supposed to be.

[firewins-the-fangxrl]

Building Anew

Now that May The 4th Be With You Excange has revealed I’m crossposting my fic! so here’s some fluffy Grogu and Luke bonding! (also can be kinda dinluke if you want)

(link to the fic on ao3 in the notes cause tumblr sucks and will hide posts with links!)

---

In his efforts to rebuild the Jedi order Luke finds himself learning many new things, some were expected such as old Jedi teachings and methods of finding force sensitives, others things he had not expected, such as the favourite colours of his younger students.

"Wait Master Luke, lightsabers can be purple?" a tiny Twi’lek pipes up.

"Yes there's a multitude of different colours that lightsabers can take depending on the users connec-"

"Can they be rainbow? Rainbow is my favorite colour!" comes another voice.

"My favorite is yellow!" from a Nautolan boy.

The ensuing lesson turned into a session of sharing favourite colours. Which, if Luke is being honest, is surprisingly enjoyable.

Teaching turns out to be one of Luke's favourite parts of resurrecting the order. Each of his students is different and helping them find and control their connection to the force is rewarding. The kids are also interesting to talk to, they're happy to tell him, with the honesty and excitement that comes with childhood, about a variety of things from a cool bug they found to what sensing presences in the force feels like.

Luke learns a lot about each of his students, both mundane and not.

Grogu is probably one of the most interesting to communicate with. Luke learns a number of things about Grogu, firstly that the kid has had a long life.

A really long life.

The first time Luke really gets a sense of Grogu's age is a few weeks after he was first brought to the small temple that acted as the youngling teaching quarters. He and Grogu are meditating together when he's hit with a rush of unfamiliar memories.

Huge sprawling temples filled with the bustle of people going about their day. The sound of children playing and distant lightsaber practice. The sight of adults hurrying past, lightsabers strapped to their hips, some with padawans trailing behind trying to keep up.

It takes him a few seconds to piece together that the memories are of the old Jedi order at its height. He turns to observe the small green child, struck by the fact that the people from that memory are probably all long gone.

"You're a lot older than you look, aren't you?" he murmurs quietly.

The child doesn't move, still deep in meditation, so Luke returns to meditating as well. They settle back into peaceful and companionable silence.

The second thing he learns about Grogu is that he loves his dad. Though Luke only met him briefly he can see that they have a strong bond.

Grogu is also more than willing to share stories of his and his dad's adventures with Luke. Every memory Grogu shares is laden with warmth and adoration.

The adventures are also seemingly extremely dangerous, which is how Luke quickly learns fact number three.

Grogu's father is a stone cold badass. From risky rescues snatching Grogu from the clutch of Imperials to killing a fully grown krayt dragon (something he is honestly in awe of) the man seems to be an unstoppable force powered by protective instincts.

As the stories go on Luke starts to wonder if part of the reason Grogu's father is so unstoppable is because he never stops to think anything through.

Of course Luke isn't exactly one to judge since he's nowhere near the picture of restraint himself.

But still, for force sake the man let himself be swallowed whole by a krayt dragon!

Even Luke isn't quite that dumb… well for the part he's not.

Grogu, it seems, has inherited his father's lack of regard for consequences, as he's quite willing to attempt to eat anything without waiting for Luke to check if it's poisonous or not.

However Grogu's favourite foods by far are frogs and cookies. Luke isn't quite sure what those two things have in common but he does know that cookies must be protected from the green bean (especially if they belong to another student) and that most of the frogs on Draay 2 aren't poisonous.

Except for the tiny yellow ones.

Chasing down Grogu to remove frogs from his mouth to scan for edibility becomes a daily struggle.

This is when Luke first realizes that Grogu is a menace.

The child has more chaotic energy than should feasibly fit into such a small being. Most memorably in the lightsaber incident. The less said about that the better but Luke has certainly learnt his lesson about leaving his lightsaber in a place that small green toddlers can reach.

He's glad to still have his legs.

A fact that he has not been at all prepared to learn came during one of Grogu's father's visits. Which was that Din was apparently a king.

Din lands his ship at the small landing platform adjacent to the temple. Grogu is practically vibrating with excitement by the time the loading door opens and the man walks out, beskar armour glinting in the sunlight.

Unlike his previous visits he is flanked by two other Mandalorians, both wearing blue armour.

Din turns to one of the Mandalorians and says something, too low for Luke to overhear at this distance, and the two Mandalorians turn to go back inside the ship.

As Din walks closer, Grogu wriggles free from Luke's arms and runs to his father. Din drops down and scoops the excited child up into his arms. Luke can hear Grogu making excited squeaks as Din murmurs something to the child.

“Who are your friends?” Luke asks as Din walks closer.

“Royal guard.” is Din’s only response.

“Royal guard?”

“I’m technically the Mand’alor”

“Technically?”

“It’s… complicated. I don’t suppose you’d want a second laser sword?”

“Uh, no thank you” Luke says, noticing one of the blue clad guards glaring at him from the ship. Her helmet is off and he can see short red hair and a slightly terrifying expression that reminds him of Leia when some poor soul angers her.

“Yeah that’s probably for the best,” Din says wryly.

The rest of the visit is fairly normal, except for the bodyguards hovering over Din. Luke gets the distinct impression that the guards are more interested in ensuring that Din doesn’t make a run for it than protecting him from danger.

Something he learns after a while is that Grogu has nightmares.

Grogu is more than happy to share snippets of memories and stories about his life before the fall of the old order. However he avoids the topic of the fall itself. Luke doesn’t push Grogu to share anything he’s not comfortable with.

Luke is pretty sure that's what the nightmares are about since Grogu refuses to tell him anything about them.

He’s okay with that. He doesn’t need to know the specifics to comfort the small scared child that comes to him. Luke just holds Grogu and murmurs reassurances.

Sometimes, if it’s really bad they start a holo call to Din, he always answers no matter the time. They stay up late talking about whatever they can think about until Grogu has fallen asleep, comforted by the presence and voice of his father.  

Once when Din is visiting Grogu, Luke wakes to a knock on his door in the middle of the night. He finds a very tired looking Mandalorian carrying Grogu.

“He had a nightmare?” Luke asks.

Din nods clearly suppressing a yawn.

“Come on in. I’ll make some caf.” Luke says, stepping aside.

They stay up talking long after Grogu has fallen asleep, Din tells Luke about the struggles of being a king and Luke shares some stories he’s collected from being a teacher.

He tells Din about the lightsaber incident. Din finds it funny and Luke would probably be more annoyed if the man’s laugh wasn’t so pleasant.

By the time Din leaves, the sun is just starting to crest over the horizon and Luke realizes that he has to go set up for his morning class.

He decides that there are much worse ways to spend the night than with Din and Grogu.

Grogu apparently agrees with him based on the number of crayon drawings he makes of the three of them after that.

Luke is pretty sure Din gets a few of them framed.

[weareallstoriesintheend]

Protector (OC!Knight of Ren Reader x Kylo Ren)

You are Keless, a Knight of Ren, charged with the position of being Kylo Rens right hand. His Protector. After the events in the forests of Ilum you and your Commander are called to see Supreme Leader Snoke.

Word Count: 2,014

Warnings: Violence; set in The Last Jedi

The image of your master on his knees brought bile to your throat. The other Knights had been told to leave as you’d made your ascent to the throne room but you? You were still here on the orders of Supreme Leader Snoke. Your berating had already happened so now you stood by and waited; Snoke had laid into you about your failings in the forest on Ilum and you had no choice but to stand, head bowed, and take his words. The Praetorian Guard were a menacing frame to your disgrace, your breath came thick and fast as you tried to contain your words. Despite your innate wish to talk back you knew better in this particular moment. Also… it wasn’t like you didn’t, in some way, agree with his anger. It was your job to serve Kylo Ren, your job to stand by his side as his protector and you’d let your duty slip. The result of that was a gaping lightsaber wound that split his body and had almost killed him. You never wanted to revisit the sickly panic you felt finding him, lying in white snow that was slowly turning red. That scavenger had somehow got a hold of your master mind, body and soul and she’d used that power to hurt him. Your blood boiled with the need to find her, hurt her and make her pay for almost making you lose the one thing that meant the most to you in the galaxy. The second you’d got Kylo into the medical bay you had gathered the other Knights and pre-emptively concocted the plan you instinctively knew the Commander would want - find the girl.

Kylo Ren was your home, your duty and, despite dealing with his frequent rage, he was a friend. All of the Knights protected Kylo of course but since you had joined the First Order Supreme Leader Snoke had appointed you personally to stand by his side - his right hand. Snoke had also made it clear that this was the only reason you, a resistance runaway, were still alive. You had failed and it made your heart heavy in your chest.

-----------------

Kylo knelt in front of Snoke, face littered with deep cuts and scrapes. The covered scar severed his face angrily – the dark bruises under his eyes stood out against pale skin making you long for him to feel better. Your force connection to your master was palpable but because of this his pain was all you had felt since it had happened, you could barely sleep with the ache that had made its home deep in your chest. You tried not to focus on his eyes, sad pleading and confused. You raised your own eyes to the ceiling knowing how he would flinch at you seeing him this way. But Snoke would not let you leave, almost like he wanted to embarrass Kylo in front of you. You stood at the back of the room, shuffling on your feet, holding the Commanders helmet in your slightly unsteady hands. In any other circumstance your demeanour would be steely and your nerves calm but when it came to your master nothing was ever so easy. He had been asked to remove the mask by Snoke and he had thrust it behind him, into your waiting hands, without as much as a look in your direction. You could feel pain rolling off him in waves, a tinge of guilt but underneath all of it you could sense his fear. Kylo knelt before his master like a child at prayer, hurt circled around him as Snoke criticized him in raised, hateful tones.

You had zoned out, trying not to focus on the cruel words dripping out of Snokes mouth but you jolted into action as Snoke struck Kylo with a burst of energy. You stepped forward, weapon raised, body thrumming with anger towards the Supreme Leader. How did Kylo not see what he was doing to him? Kylo just took every beating from the Supreme Leader as if he deserved it. As Snoke turned his back to you both you rushed forward to help Kylo from the ground but he shrugged you away grunting quietly as he pulled himself up to his feet.

Your contempt towards Snoke was well known in the Order; you disagreed with what he had done to Kylo with every fibre of your being. Kylo was strong and capable and you made it clear to him you did not think that was due to any credit given to Snoke. More and more your protectiveness toward your master was overtaking your duty to the Supreme Leader and it was becoming a problem. Your skin was prickling with fire, like every sinew in your muscles was begging you to move – to protect him. But you stood your ground not wanting to interfere knowing how irate Kylo would be if you pushed his humiliation too far.

“You’re just a child in a mask” Snoke seethed. Something inside you had to snap, “Enough!” you shouted, stepping forward once more into place beside Kylo. His eyes shifted to you beside him but he did not speak, he knew better than to speak in front of Snoke without being spoken too first. You on the other hand were done – you knew this would come back to you. You knew Snoke would make you pay for your insolence but right now the pain on your friends face was enough to make you want to drive your weapon through Snokes heart and watch the blood bubble and pour over your hands. Kylo could sense your rising anger and he turned to you with a still face but eyes that portrayed a strict warning. You grabbed him by the arm and spoke quietly now “Commander, we should go. You are required on the bridge”

Kylo bowed to Snoke and you did the same, as Kylo turned back to the elevator you raised your eyes to Snoke. His contorted face was seething pure anger at your outspoken nature and you returned a similar look, one of utter disgust lip curled over your teeth. Your voice was low so only Snoke would hear you, “You underestimate him Supreme Leader. The Commander will do everything you have asked and more. And be assured, it will be no thanks to you”

--------------------

“Sir?” you spoke hesitantly into the uncomfortable quiet of the elevator as the doors slid closed behind you. He startled a little, deep in thought, but you lowered your eyes so he wouldn’t think you had seen. The elevator wasn’t moving, no floor had been chosen, but you decided to give him time. Silently he thanked you for that. Kylo sunk onto one knee like his body had given out, back arched forward and elbow resting on his thigh. His breathing was laboured and sweat sat in a thin layer on his face.

“Sir we have to go to the bridge, I’ve heard word that we’ve found the rebel ships” you said quietly, reaching forward and pressing the elevator button.

He didn’t respond, his body trembling with a shudder that would make his bones rattle. “Kylo, you have to let me help you. If nothing more than because it is my job to do so. I know I failed you on Ilum but you have to let me back in” you pleaded; bending down to put yourself eye level with him. You knew what plagued his mind but you couldn’t see far enough to ease his turmoil “Sir please, let me in”

“I can’t!” He shouted back, his voice breaking at the end, unshed tears creating a gloss over his eyes.

He had reached his limit, he can’t do it anymore.

“Kylo, get up!” you barked this order as you pushed yourself to your feet. Frustration at his inability to listen to you boiling over in your heightened panicked state; this was a rare occurrence so his eyes scorched into you, as curious as they were angry, as he struggled to his feet. He snatched his helmet from your grasp. Since you two were alone you didn’t worry so much how this may seem, a Knight of Ren shouting orders at her master.

“It’s your mother, she’s here! We have to do something” Kylo let out an explosion of rage, slamming his helmet repeatedly into the wall of the elevator. Anger burst out of him like currents of electricity, you did not flinch but you stood well back from the sparks. You knew better than to get in his way when he was in this sort of mood. Snoke had pushed him too far; you didn’t see this ending well. When he had stopped you moved an inch closer to him, cautiously watching the way he shook from head to toe. Your heart ached in your chest for him and you knew he could feel it. “I know what the plan is Sir. But y-you can’t. She’s…” he raised his hand to silence your stuttering. You knew the plan was to lay siege to the rebel ships, which would mean his mother Leia would be killed – possibly by Kylos own hand. Snoke was right about one thing, killing his father had split Kylo to the bone; you had no idea what killing Leia would do to him too. Tears bristled in your eyes and you blinked them back. You weren’t like the other Knights, they had a grow colder in their years but walking beside Kylo had only built your empathy for the broken man who’s care was your sole reason for staying alive. You knew this made you the least trusted Knight, not seen as strong or capable like the rest, your weakness was your compassion. But you knew your kindness to your master made you trusted by him. And to you that’s all that mattered.

“Let me help you Master, please” you begged, reaching out to place a hand on his arm; a gesture of warmth. He didn’t flinch or shrug you away; he paused in your sign of kindness for a split second – more than you had ever seen him do before. But then his face turned to stone. He growled your name “Keless enough!”

The elevator doors opened suddenly and two first order officers stood nervously waiting. Their eyes glanced from the two of you to the shattered mask on the floor. Kylo turned to you, eyes dark “Prepare my ship” You nodded in compliance and watched as he stormed off towards the hanger. Your stomach filled with dread but you pulled together your most threatening face and the officers dashed past you, avoiding your eyes. He couldn’t kill his mother, the effort would destroy him. You prayed to whoever could hear you that by the time he sat in his ship his mind would be changed. “Please” you silently begged “Let Kylo find the compassion I know he has. Let him use it in this moment. Change his mind”

You followed in his footsteps, calling to technicians in the hanger to prepare the Commanders ship as you stepped in to oversee them. Kylo shouted an order towards an engineer and they immediately disagreed “C-Commander Ren, sir, I don’t think that’s possible” He threw them a simple look that made them physically cower and you smiled to yourself. As he stalked off you took his place, not quite as menacing physically but with words enough to get them moving “Are you really going to argue with the best pilot in the Order?” “N-no ma’am” they stuttered and scuttled off to complete the request.

Your eyes searched for him across the hanger and you saw him staring out the large glass window, back turned to the room but you knew his eyes were wide with fear in a moment when no one could see him. As a nervous officer approached him his anxious shoulders dropped and he pulled himself up to full height to address them.

“It’ll be alright sir” you reached out through the force to him “I promise”

[dragonbabezee]

Fictional Crush Series No. 10

Now, hear me out.

You probably don’t know this about me, but I was born into the fug of Star Wars Mania, raised, verily, on the tales of the Galaxy far, far away. I was taken to see The Empire Strikes back at a cinema before I was old enough to wipe my own arse. “Oh, who’s the crush she’s going to talk about?” I hear you thinking. “Is it Luke? Is it Han?” No, friends, it is not. It is in fact...

Anakin Skywalker.

As much as I loved the characters in the original trilogy, for whatever reason I never developed crush levels of fascination with them. Even back then, though, the most fascinating and complicated character in George Lucas’s tale was Darth Vader’s. When he announced that he would be creating a prequel series, that would be a Vader/Anakin origin story, I was primed to go wild. However, the first film of the prequels was of course, The Phantom Menace, that delivered equally on the Wow Factor and the WTF factor. Anakin was a 9 year old boy, and annoying as heck. 

I have a complicated relationship to the prequel trilogy. All three of them deliver great visuals, good looking characters and character designs, fascinating underling themes, broad-stroke compelling plot and character arcs, but all three also deliver overly complicated plots, poorly written pivotal scenes, bad dialogue, bad acting and some unintentionally funny moments. That’s neither here nor there, but I just had to say it. 

I did not particularly crush on Anakin when Attack of the Clones hit the screens, either. I have too many issues with the way he was written in that movie. He was pushy, creepy and entitled during his wooing of Padme. It was amazing that she fell for him, and really, I thought that the movie should have made more of Padme’s possible loneliness and emotional immaturity for someone as worldly and responsible as she to have fallen for him. The girl must have issues if “I killed them all, even the women and children,” doesn’t raise a major red flag.

I guess, in the end they were just really horny for each other, and I can respect that.

Plus there was that terrible rat’s tail hair-do! Unforgivable!

I don’t care. I’d been imagining how their relationship would come about for three years, I could continue reimagining.

However, then came 2005 and The Revenge of the Sith. It was time for my fall for the Dark Side. It is undoubtedly the best of the prequels, and also undoubtedly the best of the Anakin. Here we see him run a gamut of complicated emotional situations making decisions that many of us could imagine making, all inevitably leading him to his darkest place - the liberation and the tyranny of life on the Dark Side. Which is to say, I watched this shaggy, audacious Jedi, who had finally grown into his overconfidence go from this:

to this

to this

to this

My fav and beau was manipulated, emotionally tortured and ultimately mutilated into sacrificing the last of his goodness to protect Padme. Does that make me a horrible person?

And this thing is, Anakin is only a shade off the usual characterisation of a hero, but that’s not where he ends up. I could talk all day about how the film fails to properly set up events like the slaughter of the younglings to make it actually believable as a step on the journey, but with my careful mental rewrites I can get behind this story of a character so denied the love and affection he needs a human, that he clings harder to the love he does have than any sane person would. It’s the story of repressed love conquering all, including good, compassion, morality, decency and even the object of the love. A love so fierce it burns everything it touches to ash.

I guess I like a tragic figure. And I guess I like to watch them lose their legs in a lightsaber duel and go up in literal flames. 

But also I liked to watch this gorgeous young man splashed across the silverscreen giving us an amazing performance with his swoon-worthy face. 

Say what you like about the dialogue, but his acting was top notch - Hayden Christiansen, I salute you!