#The Jedi are Good but they're afraid

[faerromagnetic]

Kinda sad thing about the Acolyte, it's Post-Nihil, meaning Guardian Protocols have been implemented. Which means, No Fancy AF lightsabers, those that exist with some artistry would have been antiques by now, and it's already a partially militarized Jedi Order, after the Nihil crisis.

Which would be a good Plot Point if they want to discuss the beginnings of the Fall. With Vernestra being one of the few Jedi from the pre-Guardian days, so I can see her being the voice of de-escalation. Especially since she's the apprentice of THE Pre-Guardian Jedi, Stellan Gios. Vernestra is also a good symbol too, especially with her Lightwhip, so she'll really stand in contrast to the newer Jedi.

It becomes less of a "The Jedi are Evul" and more "The Jedi are being prevented from doing the right thing by the Demands of their Environment" which is a better story I would say.

[gffa]

EVERY SINGLE MOMENT OF THIS WAS SUCH A FUCKING BANGER. Baylan Skoll is reading exactly what Ahsoka fears and sets up this vision for her, that he says her legacy is one of death and destruction--which hurls her into a vision-slash-flashback of the clone wars, where she felt like this is all she learned as a Jedi, because this is what the galaxy was when she was growing up in it. That this is Anakin--or Ahsoka's own mind using Anakin as a proxy, because she STILL emotionally and mentally sees him as the one who teaches her, even if it's not really him, she imagines it to be him, because he's her Master, the one who taught her what she needs to know--but also this is the center of everything she can't let go of, all the hurt and fear and loss, it's all tangled up in Anakin and what he became. That she loves him and fears him in the same breath, that she remembers the good, the charming young man who was teaching her how to survive, who gave everything he had to her, while also remembering what he became, that he was so powerful that he became the worst nightmare the galaxy had ever seen, that neither of these is the whole of who he is, that he is all of this and more. He isn't just Anakin Skywalker, he's also Darth Vader. He isn't just Darth Vader, he's also Anakin Skywalker. He isn't just Anakin and Vader, he's also everything of Obi-Wan, of Qui-Gon, of Dooku, of Yoda--and she has to learn to accept that the same is true of her, too. The potential for tremendous darkness lurks in all their hearts, that's what the Jedi teach. No one is above the dark side. No one is above fear and clinging on and holding too tight. It's a lifelong journey not to give in to those things and you are so much more than just any one moment or even any one aspect. Yes, if she's everything he is, then she does have the potential to become the same kind of nightmare of death and destruction that he did, just as she fears. It's why she's held herself back from the galaxy, from the Ghost crew, from Sabine especially, because she's afraid, and only agreed to train Sabine in the first place because whatever abilities she has, they're so low Sabine can't become another Vader. Grogu does have the potential to become another Vader. Ahsoka does have the potential to become another Vader. She has killed many and destroyed so much. But that's not all she is. She's also saved so many lives. She also gently tucked Roo Roo Page back into her mother's arms. She also taught Petro and Katooni and Gungi and Zatt and Byph about how to get their crystals. She also saved Kaeden's life. She also protected Ezra from Vader. She's all those things, plus more, just as Anakin was all the things he was and more, too. Baylan was right that part of her legacy is death and destruction, but he's a dark sider, he lies and twists the truth, and the truth is--Ahsoka Tano, like every Jedi before her, is more than just one part of her legacy.

[dearanakin]

"I'll be a good boy for you" - Anakin Skywalker x virgin!Reader

Summary: You've been dating Anakin for a while but you were still a virgin. He's willing to take his time and makes sure you're comfortable. Even though you're insecure about your body, he still praises you. Requested by @multifanderhatesai ♥️

Warnings: SMUT! Sex, cursing and fluffiness. 18+ DNI

Word count: 2.6k~

Anakin always had a way of being the most passionate person towards anyone he loved, and that included a very short list of people. He could be endearing but, at the same time, he would be the baddest person with his enemies.

Obviously he had a soft spot for you ever since you found him nearly dead during a fight. He was injured and beaten as fuck. The only way to take care of him was if he was unconscious. Because, the man being so impulsive and intense like he is, it would've been impossible.

When the Jedi woke up, he felt deep inside that you could be trusted. And then he started to protect you from everything and anything, he would sense if anything was troubling you. The man would give up fighting just to be next to you if you needed him.

Then again, he was pretty impulsive and that included being impulsively in love with you. He respected you in every way, he was a gentleman, caring and loving. He didn't even look like the Anakin Skywalker many people, Droid and planet feared.

You were coming back from a nice date outside Naboo, both of you being carried away by each other. The weather was perfect and you were having a great time. He took you back to his place, he was planning to sleep together, cuddle a little and snuggle.

It was a really good idea, but you were pretty nervous as you haven't had sex in your life. You've never had your first time before and you weren't sure you could be doing that anytime soon. Anakin didn't expect you to open up that easily with him, but he was slowly trying. He would never force you to do anything you didn't want.

He was always reassuring you should take your time. In fact, you couldn't wait anymore. The kisses would always start becoming sloppy, the heat between your legs were burning, and the man always had a hard bulge inside his pants.

The only thing you did that was honestly not too embarrassing was give him a blowjob. A mind-blowing, per se. You were just making it up for not fucking, and he loved it. He was afraid he would hurt you, or even make you feel uncomfortable. Many times he offered to eat you out but you refused, saying it wasn't something you were ready for.

You were actually scared. Mind saying that you were probably bursting into flames right now as he was pushing you against his door inside his house. Both of you locking tongues while pressing your hands on his curly hair. Anakin had his metal hand gripped tightly on your waist, the other one cupping your jaw.

And there it was again, the hard rock boner pressed against his clothes, begging to be freed. He was groaning against your mouth, thrusting against your hips, trapping you on the door.

You slowly pushed him and walked towards his bed, watching as he sat on the edge of the mattress. He stared at you, a little confused even, as you sat on his lap, legs resting on either side of his thighs.

As soon as you lean your forehead and nuzzle your noses together, you confess but your voice sounds too shaky. "I wanna do it".

He tries to gather your statement and holds your cheek in one of his hands. "Are you sure? You don’t have to do this if you’re scared. I love you no matter what". Your knees wobble and you know you're getting your pantie more wet with his words.

You just nodded, searching for his tongue in desperation, trying to undress him. He got rid of his tunic and you felt a lump in your throat. Fuck. God fucking dammit. Anakin owns washboard abs, they're perfectly shaped.

The scars make his skin look like heaven, his biceps are perfectly shaped. You start losing your mind at the sight. You've seen him shirtless a few times. But not like that, not right in front of you when you're about to lose your virginity.

You bite your lower lip and he smirks at you. He knows you are almost drooling at him. You pull him for another kiss as you feel his metal hand grab the hem of your shirt, pulling it away. You sure make it easier, your small but well rounded boobs aren't dressed with a bra and Anakin gets to feel his heart skip a beat.

"God, you're so, so beautiful" He melts into you and you blush. You're still not used to getting complimented by him all the time. "Your body is like a wonderland".

Have you watched yourself? You think.

Both chests heaving and bumping into each other. He can't stop looking at your chest and doesn't wait longer when he grabs both with his hands. Hissing at the touch, you almost feel his bulge twitching under you.

It's hard to process the action but it feels too good. It's gentle and lustful, even. He squeezes them slowly, gazing at them with his mouth hanging open. The Jedi looks at you for a second, only to ask for permission for him to try them in his mouth.

He doesn't have to promise it would be good, you can feel it is. The light, but wet touch of his mouth on one of your nipples makes you mewl and urge for more of that. Your sensitivity gives you shivers and it hardens when he makes circles around it.

Anakin uses his lips and his tongue on it, sucking on your skin in the most caring way, lingering with that one nipple inside his mouth. Clueless, you buckle your hips and thrust against his hardened cock and he grunts against your skin.

It just makes you feel dizzy, it turns your body into jelly. You grab a handful of his hair in one hand and pull him back for a kiss. This time, he grasps your lip between his teeth and suddenly growls.

"God, Ani. I need you to be inside me" You beg. You're at his mercy and he likes it. You didn't know where all this needy begging came from, but you're willing to try.

"You're so horny for me now, aren't you baby? I promise I'll be a good guy" His voice is husky and he's trying to keep it together. You just nodded.

He gestures for you to get up only for him to lay you down on the mattress, removing your sweatpants. Anakin does the same and watches as both of you are dressed up only with a piece of clothing between you. He hovers over you, planting soft kisses through your body, marking your skin with his teeth lightly.

You know you were too nervous to do that, but now you're just too turned on. He takes his time on the sloppy kisses, trailing a wet and long lick just behind your ear because he knows it's your sensitive spot.

You dig your nails on his shoulders, listening to his soft chuckle close to your ear, fanning the damp skin. He bites your jaw lightly, grasping both hands on your waist, waiting for you to allow him to undress you finally.

You don't see when he throws the fabric away. It catches you off guard when he presses his bulge against your cunt and it burns you inside. Both of you made a similar noise come out of your mouths. Anakin was never one to honestly show off his emotions to anyone but you. He knows he can be himself around you. But you've never seen him this open.

He kept thrusting against you over his underwear, a wet patch formed on the fabric started to rub against your swollen bud. God, who knows how long you would last when he finally starts fucking you. "You think you're ready, darling?".

You nod and he breaks the contact. You watch as he quickly looks for a condom in his drawer and works himself by getting rid of the last piece of clothing before dressing his cock. Thinking about it now, you've realized you should've done that before, because you know he respects you so much. You can barely hold yourself back from attacking his neck, collarbone, abs and especially his dick.

He looks so hot wrapping himself up and you know you have a slight dizziness at the sight. Before the Jedi leans above you, he places both hands on your thighs and slides towards you, rubbing his nose against yours. "I'll take your time, don't worry" He promises. You suddenly start getting nervous because you know it can hurt.

You know it can be painful no matter how gentle he is. You're just scared it won't be good and you won't feel the pleasure. He makes sure you're going to be ok when he holds your hand using his flesh hand. The other hand is holding his cock, pressing the tip on your entrance, barely touching it.

"Just let me know if it hurts. I'll stop" He places a soft kiss on your chin and aligns himself. He's not big, but he's not small. And he's kinda thick, but that's good. When he slides inside you, your walls start burning slightly.

"Hmmm" You mumble. It's a good sign for you, considering you were already expecting the worst. For him, it's like heaven.

"Fuck, you're too tight" Anakin heaves against your face, his tone barely above a whisper. He doesn't care, he's almost moaning for you.

His cock slides deeper and the discomfort makes you shift your position just a little. He almost pulls back when he realizes. "Does it hurt?".

You shake your head and giggle. "Just getting used to it". He nods, he takes his time and doesn't thrust against you. His cunt is also getting used to your warm, wet hole. It's so good he doesn't know if he's going to last long.

But he's willing to give you the best sex and make it memorable for you. Whilst he waits, he gives you a sloppy kiss, swirling his tongue around yours, breathing against your mouth.

You slide your hands down his spine and rock your hips against him and he responds back. His hips are slowly and gently buckling against yours, sliding in and out of you. He's craving for your cunt in such a filthy way, it makes him breathless. When you're finally used to it, he starts thrusting faster, hitting the one spot you've only had been touching with your fingers.

"Anakin" You gasp. He's resting his head on your chest, slurring sweet nothings while pressing his lips on your nipples.

He groans in response, his hips are hitting yours and the sound echoes around his room. You can still feel a faint pain from his size, but the pleasure takes over your entire body and you feel yourself burning inside.

He holds one of your thighs on his arm and it spreads your folds a little, giving him some space to move inside you without making you feel uncomfortable. You watch as he fucks you affectionately, his body is sweat and there are strands of sweaty hair falling on his face.

"You're doing good, my love" Anakin praises. He can barely speak from how much his cock is throbbing inside you and he doesn't disguise it.

He feels your hips rocking against his, mewling and moaning his name in a low tone. His sight is like heaven for him, the way your breasts bounce and your face flinches in pleasure is pure lust for him.

You feel when the Jedi squeezes one of your boobs and leans forward a little, still banging you like a gentleman. "Such a good girl, taking me so well for the first time" He teases, feeling your cunt clench at his words.

"Y-yes" You try to make sense but you're honestly so cockdrunk. He's hitting you faster, but still makes sure you're not uncomfortable or in pain. It feels so good you don't know why you haven't done it before.

You're feeling lightheaded, watching him thrusting against you, his curls falling over his eyes, his perfectly shaped body going back and forth savoring every inch of you. He leans forward and gives you kisses over your neck, your collarbones and your cheeks.

"Say my name again, darling" He whispers against your mouth and buries himself deep inside you. It rips a loud moan from you.

He speeds up his pace and you stare at his eyes, filled with bliss and lust. Eyes barely open as he takes you in and out. You still feel the burning sensation of his skin rubbing against yours, but everything else just makes it feel good after all. You struggle saying his name, he just smirks at you. It makes you flustered.

Taking your time, you start feeling the growing arousal through your veins, your hips start buckling harder and your cunt starts clenching around him. Your swollen clit felt like it was about to burst out, your hands started shaking in anticipation.

"Harder, please" You beg under your breath, hearing Anakin grunting with your kitty noise. He rocks further and harder, ripping a moan from your mouth.

The boy keeps it fast, but humble, and he hisses when you finally reach your release. You're shuddering under his body, fingers digging deep into his shoulders as you're trembling. You let him thrust until he can't hold it back anymore and he falls down above you.

"Fuck, that was so good" His voice breaks as he tries to composure himself. Breathing heavily, you watch him look at you in awe. "You did so great, darling".

Anakin grins widely at you, cupping your jaw with his metal hand before giving you an open mouthed kiss. You're finally coming down of your own ecstasy, your hands both grab his curls and fix them on the top of his head.

He takes a few minutes before pulling himself out of you, letting a painful hiss leave his mouth from the lack of touch. It makes you feel less discomfort after all, but it wasn't bad. You feel good, delighted. The Jedi makes sure he's gotten rid of the protection and gathers your clothes.

He gives you one of his shirts and holds you your pantie. You watch as he quickly dresses himself with new underwear, still holding a light smile on his face without even noticing. He lays down on your side and rests his head on his hand, placing his warm hand on your stomach.

"Everything okay? I didn't hurt you, right?" It sounds completely off to you. Especially when he's out there killing mercilessly and not giving a fuck about what the others thought of him.

"Mister Skywalker playing nice in bed and a menace at war. Who would've thought?" You taunt him and he scrunches his face in a faint laugh.

"You like a menace, don't you?" He teases you, rubbing his calloused fingers against your skin. "I take it you're doing good".

You nod, in lack of response to watching him being all gentle and all after a little roughness in bed. It's not weird, although it's the first time you've been this close and intimate.

"More than good, my Jedi Knight" You peck his plump lips and smile.

"I'm always gonna be a good boy for you. Only for you" He grips his fingertips on your thighs and it makes you shiver. "Jesus, you're still recovering from your first time and already want a second round?" He mocks.

Sometimes you forget he can sense those things. And he knows the effect he has on you too. "You definitely are a menace".

He doesn't assault you or roll you in bed expecting you to fuck again. He just nuzzles his face on the crook of your neck and keeps petting you, lingering on your skin, savoring your smell.

[david-talks-sw]

What's 'Star Wars' about?

A while ago I got an 'Ask' that concluded with "what is Star Wars about, if not the Jedi, right?" And weirdly enough... I have to disagree.

I mean... to me? Yes. Star Wars is about the Jedi. A Jedi-less, Sith-less, lightsaber-less Star Wars movie or series will struggle to get me on board (which is why I was surprised that I loved Andor so much).

But if you read everything George Lucas said, if you think about the Jedi's place in his two trilogies... they're not front and center, right?

Sure, there's Luke Skywalker... but he's a learner, in the Original Trilogy. Same goes for Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, in the Prequels. They're going through character arcs.

Otherwise, the Jedi are either used as mentors to the protagonist...

... or to deliver exposition...

... but they're mostly vectors Lucas uses to present his thesis.

Functionally-speaking, the Jedi are important in that they embody the Buddhist philosophies the movie's themes are based on.

But when it comes to the plot, they're secondary. That's because the the themes of these films are bigger than the Jedi themselves.

So the question becomes... what's are the themes?

The primary goal of the Star Wars films is to inspire kids to start thinking outside the box and teach them a set of values and psychological motifs that have been passed down through mythology and fairy tales.

These values can be summed up in the dichotomy between greed and compassion / selfishness and selflessness / pleasure and joy.

We all have both aspects and need to strike a balance between the two. After all, being greedy ultimately comes from fear and being afraid can happen to all of us. Problem is, unchecked fear can lead to anger, hate and a whole lot of suffering.

The more selfish you are, the more you want things and the more you're afraid that you'll lose everything you have, you'll get angry when someone tries to take it and that will hurt everyone around you.

In other words, fear is the path to the tempting/addictive Dark Side.

Thus, seeing as we'll be inevitably tempted by the Dark Side and give in at some point (because nobody's perfect), we should aim to be as selfless and compassionate as possible for our own good... but also for the greater good, because we're all connected to a life energy. You can call it Qi or God; in Star Wars it's known as the Force.

As such, we all form a symbiotic circle and working with that in mind is better than putting ourselves first and draining from everything and everyone around us.

But we also need to be careful because there will be people who give in to that selfish side and will try to control everything. When the time comes, we must stand up for what's right.

So that's Lucas' thesis.

If I had to sum them up, the six movies illustrate it as follows:

The Prequel Trilogy is about the consequences of greed, explored through Anakin on a smaller scale and the Senate on a larger one.

The Original Trilogy shows the triumph of compassion, through Luke, Leia & Han and the Rebellion's fight against the Empire.

Lucas talked about it multiple times, the Prequels are about how Anakin becomes Darth Vader and how the Republic becomes the Empire, and in both those cases, it happens because they're greedy.

The Senate is greedy in the more classical sense. They could give a shit about "symbiosis", no they're taking bribes, letting corporations dictate policy, using loopholes to keep themselves in power and halting any meaningful progress out of fear that the new status quo will conflict with their own self-serving goals.

Anakin's greed manifests in a different way. He turns to the Dark Side because of his attachment. He wants to stop Padmé from dying... but not because he wants to save her, rather he wants to save himself from feeling the pain of loss again and will do anything to not have to live without her, her own wishes and the natural cycle of life and death be damned.

In both cases, they cave under pressure orchestrated by Palpatine, but nobody puts a gun to their head. They make a deliberate choice that comes from a selfish place, and neither one takes personal responsibility for it, they blame others, the Separatists in the case of the Senate and the Jedi in Anakin's case.

The Republic becomes an Empire with thunderous applause, betraying the people it was meant to protect.

And when faced between doing something he knows is right and giving in to his selfish desires...

... Anakin elects to do the latter, thus betraying his family and leaving the Force in darkness.

These selfish choices impact the galaxy as a whole, including the only characters in the trilogy who were doing their best to be compassionate and live in symbiosis: the Jedi, Padmé and Bail.

These champions of the Light Side are stuck playing catch-up or helplessly witnessing the events unfold, throughout the trilogy. They're playing by the rules and Palpatine uses this to his advantage.

Thus, as the galaxy tears itself apart because of Palpatine's manipulations, the Jedi and Bail are ignored and gradually weakened until they're either rendered irrelevant or killed.

A new order is born, one built on blood, lies and greed: the Empire.

But a new hope remains.

While before, the Jedi and people like Bail stood alone as everything around them became willfully corrupt... now, a Rebellion inspired by their legacy has banded together to overthrow the current order. But they don't fight for power or personal glory, they fight for altruistic, compassionate reasons. There's a sense of general responsibility that moves them, they're all doing their part.

On a larger scale, we focus on the Rebels, who are tired of seeing people suffer and decided this needs to stop. They have gone from being passive, to proactive.

On a more personal scale, we see the evolution of Luke, from naive farmer to a hero, and guess what? More and more selfish people - like Han or Lando - are inspired to join the Rebellion, after seeing the exploits of Luke, Leia, or even Ben.

It all culminates in the final film, wherein:

The Rebels band together with the Ewoks - literal teddy bears whom the Empire, in their arrogance, never even considered to be a threat - to destroy the Second Death Star and free the galaxy from imperial tyranny.

At the same time, Emperor Palpatine pressures Luke, who is tempted by the Dark Side like his father was.

But instead of giving in to his selfish desire to kill Darth Vader for all the horrors he's done...

... he finds the strength to rise above it, instead showing compassion for his father, which, in turn, inspires Anakin to do the same.

He faces a choice, like he did in Palpatine's office, two decades prior...

... and this time he chooses right.

Children teach you compassion. Anakin lets go of his fear and anger, and saves his son at the cost of his own life, finally bringing balance back to the Force.

Good triumphed over evil. Its champions achieved victory by being selfless, hopeful and fighting together / helping each other.

And that's it, that's how the movies thematically tie together.

As you can see, the Jedi aren't that directly impactful on the overall plot, because it revolves around Anakin, Luke and the respective factions/institutions around them.

But what the Jedi do bring to the table is their ability to teach and inspire others, both in-universe and out. They're spiritually impactful.

The Jedi are the epitome of compassion, and it's partially through them that George Lucas teaches his values to the audience.

[frostbitebakery]

filled prompts for @codywansleepbingo :D we got: spooning, deep sleeper, insomnia! nothing particularly to warn for, though this is set sometime in the HEA phase of I Got My Head Checked, the Sithywan AU. Rest of the ficlet and bingo card under the cut!

Soft Sick Underbelly

“Major or long-lasting stress can lead to chronic insomnia.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Obi-Wan mutters to himself.

It has been… a while since sleep turned away from him in such a snit. He’s not unfamiliar with insomnia. For a long time he had been too afraid to sleep, catching naps here and there during his training—

“Abuse,” Cody would correct him.

His unconventional youth.

Sleep was for doomed prey until he was shaped enough into a predator to grab the luxury and take advantage of it. To take and take until the sleep deprivation was a fond, silly memory of the weak.

To sleep soundly, arrogantly, next to an enemy until the blaster was pressed against his forehead like birdsong. Nothing to concern himself with because he was made to be just that good.

Cody, Obi-Wan mourns to think of their first morning, isn’t anything special in that regard. What made him special, and continues to do so, is that Obi-Wan came back into his arms to sleep, to rest, over and over.

With Cody, he could wake up slow and unafraid. How Cody manages the same is a mystery to Obi-Wan still, on some days. Possibly the insomnia talking him into the spiral of fear, hate…

He doesn’t bother to remember what came after hate in Qui-Gon’s little speech. Cody said it was something to do with toasters.

Cody isn’t naïve. Perhaps he’s still lacking a bit of life experience, down to the few years he’s existed and how, but he’s not going into situations without a plan. Admittedly, he had lost his sight for a tiny bit there when Obi-Wan slithered into his life like the snake he was. Nevermind that it all had backfired on Obi-Wan rather spectacularly, the blind spot for himself Obi-Wan had started to cultivate in Cody had turned out to be mutually beneficial.

Obi-Wan snorts to himself and goes back to reading treatments for insomnia in hopes the irony alone will put him to sleep.

The small data pad is balanced on Cody’s upper arm in front of him, angled away so no light shines into Cody’s face. Obi-Wan is nothing but courteous.

Cody is a deep sleeper, here. In their space, their home, with Obi-Wan. Endearing and humbling. Not naïve. Not even with his back, his neck, to Obi-Wan like a lamb.

It’s trust like a soldier shows. Endearing and humbling, indeed.

Obi-Wan desperately wants to hold his hand, suddenly. The urge rising in his chest. The back of his fingers brush over Cody in substitute, careful not to disturb.

Cody wakes up anyway.

Slow for a minute, then all at once with a jaw-breaking yawn. One of his hands flaps over and behind him, and Obi-Wan offers his own. Like Cody knows.

His hand is guided around Cody, cradled into his chest.

“Bad night?” Cody asks in a murmur.

Obi-Wan fits himself closer into Cody’s warmth, not exactly hiding from the world.

Sleepy eyes turn to him. “Still blue.”

He feels his eyes are blue but it’s a relief to have the confirmation. Sometimes he can’t tell the difference, insides feeling breakable and rotten.

Cody shuffles back into him, a barrier between Obi-Wan and everything else that is not in his head only.

The early morning sun shines on the windows, sneaks through the glass, and plays with Cody’s skin. It's mesmerizing. Charming, in its own way.

The tiredness, the pulling at his eyelids and thoughts, is sudden and unwelcome. It’s morning. They should get up. Routine is good for both of them, after everything. A bit of predictability to stabilize them. They still get up to too many fun adventures. They're somewhat the personified headache of the Jedi Order, especially after their vacation. But this is home. Home is where the masks fall.

Cody latches onto more of his arm, lays his cheek into Obi-Wan's palm. “I’m awake now. Do you want to sleep?”

“Keeping watch for me?” Obi-Wan teases and his wrist is kissed.

“If you want.”

He sighs into Cody’s neck. “If it’s not too much trouble.”

“Never.”

Obi-Wan closes his eyes. Inserts the details into himself, of Cody watching over him like Obi-Wan watches in return. The light behind his eyelids, no suffocating darkness. Cody's stubble scratching over callouses.

Sleep doesn't come immediately. It takes its time. But eventually it's there, welcomes him like Cody's warmth.

[stealingpotatoes]

Invitation to talk about Sayuri and Nymie?

:D CAN OF WORMS: OPENED!! i'll tell u abt how they got found as Jedi

ok so Sayuri is one of the students that doesn't rlly go home bc there isn't much to go back to. Basically her parents were Rebellion pilots (or one was a pilot the other a mechanic. kinda unsure) but were both killed in action against the Empire abt 3-4ABY ish. obvs the Rebellion couldn't look after a 7-8yo while fighting the Empire

so the remainder of the squad manage to get her back to her parents' home village/ where she was born. so having like Everything change all at once leaves her pretty ?? and gives her some serious trusting-her-environment issues. her coolgirl "i dont care" persona is very much a result of this bc she's worried abt getting too comfy in smthn. (which is at odds w the OTHER issue she got from this event which is "deathly afraid of flying" an issue not helped if Master "traffic laws are just guidelines" Skywalker is piloting. but she tries 2 act like shes fine)

this is gonna get kinda long so im gonna smack some unposted art here and then go into a readmore

anyway fast forwarding to when Sayuri's abt 13 (roughly 9aby) she's visiting her parent's old squadron on a New Republic bc they'd all come visit whenever she could and after the Empire's fall they did a lot more pick her up and fly her to a base to ALL see her. and they're like omg Sayuri you came at the PERFECT time bc this rlly amazing pilot war hero who's also some like. mystical whatever is here!! he's on his way to some magic place we heard. maybe u can meet him!! which sayuri meets w her usual whatever bc she's not that gassed abt war heroes.

very worth noting that the squad's probably all seen her move shit with her mind, but theyre like oh you know how it is with teenage girls. the "nobody knows what a jedi is" + "the empire existed for a decent bit of her childhood" thing has kept anyone from being like yeahh sayuri should like. talk to someone abt this.

anyway she goes along when the squad are like c'mon let's see if we can see him. ok the only way i can describe this is you know the spiderverse like... spidey-sense recognition thing? that's basically what happens LOL Luke and Sayuri both have a FORCE USER RECOGNISED?? moment and Luke then makes a beeline for her then realises oh shit tiny teenager not jedi. would you LIKE to be a jedi?? and sayuri who hates her village and is feeling the strongest emotional connection she's felt in forever w this stranger she met 2 seconds ago is like okay fuckin sure yeah. and woo jedi!!

i posted my unposted nymie art yesterday but likkeeee pretend theres some here <3

So Sayuri falls into the "one of the Jedi found them thru the force or by chance" category of students who get found. However Nymie very much falls into the second category, which is "CAN SOMEONE DEAL WITH THIS WEIRD SUPERPOWERED CHILD FOR US????"

So 2 things about Nymie: 1. like i've said before, she's from a very rich high class pantoran family. super stuck up, mostly raised by nannies & tutors, but somehow Nymie just didn't get the stuck-up genes like all her (4!!) siblings who are just obsessed w their social standing etc and is instead just :D all the time. 2. her proficiency ig is the living force esp in the 'good at connecting to animals' way (which I think means I legally need to draw her w Ezra).

so the former often led her to escaping her family's stuffy parties and galas or whatever (usually to whoever's house it is' garden or somewhere she wasnt meant to be) to find something interesting. usually a pet <3 one particular time when she was 9 she was following her Pet Sense but couldnt find anything in the house. so she kinda just reached out more and long story short thats how Nymie managed to call this hugemassive beast (i'd tell u what it was if i knew pantoran animals LOL) out of the nearby countryside to her. massively distressing for everyone, all these rich ppl were like "OH MY GOD I NEARLY DIED" (it didnt attack anyone). very funny exciting time for Nymie who was enjoying this new beastie friend til animal control showed up. saddening. everyone is confused bc HOW did that happen

a dude old (and cool) enough to have seen more than one jedi in their heyday (+ idk uni researcher knows his shit) noticed what happened w it going straight to Nymie and overheard her account and realised what happened and was like hi nymie's parents. i think u need to get into contact w the new republic bc thats a jedi right there (which they take and go oo social climbing. we have a jedi child people will think we're cooler. bc theyre assholes)

and yeah im losing steam now but luke shows up and she joins the academyyay!

[nateofgreat]

Since Baylan's revived the whole " It's an endless cycle of war caused by the meanie Force :( " nonsense I'm going to bring up the same points I did with Darth Traya.

Ahem.

-The "cycle" actually just refers to different authors writing different Star Wars stories. Stories need conflict and thus usually revolves around the Jedi fighting the Sith or another evil force. It's a storytelling trope, not a commentary on the nature of the SW universe.

-The "cycle" (if we insist on calling it such) is honestly not even that bad because the Jedi win everytime and there's centuries of peace after each victory they win. So if there's a cycle at all it's that good triumphs over evil.

-Baylan's method of "ending the cycle" requires him to do the same things that (in his eyes) perpetuate the cycle in the first place, in his case, he's helping restore the Empire when he could help stop it and thus prevent the cycle from continuing in his lifetime.

-The Force doesn't perpetuate the cycle because the Sith abuse the Force; they're not guided by it like the Jedi are. And the Jedi the ones who always restore peace every time. So the logical outcome to the Force being killed is actually more war with all the planet killing weapons we see popping up.

-The Force isn't an alien entity that's inflicting itself upon the Galaxy as presented in KOTOR 2 by an egotistical writer who seems like he's afraid of anything spiritual. it's present in all life and dying is described as becoming one with it. So if you killed the Force, everyone would die, and death is described as becoming one with the Force so I fail to see how that would help.

It's easy to take an innocuous storytelling trope and feign complexity by slapping the word "cycle" onto it. But really the whole universe has to be built around it for it to be effective. Like say the Dragon Dogma's universe, it doesn't work when you shove it into a universe like Star Wars.

Now I'm with a character in-universe having stupid ideas about how everything works but I don't trust modern day Lucasfilm to not present him as being in the right.

[jedi-valjean]

I think George's intended reading of Padmé in AOTC is not that she's creeped out by Anakin (except maybe when he says stuff like "you're exactly the way I remember you in my dreams" because there's no right way to react to that) but that she's got a crush on him from the beginning of the film. She wasn't prepared for him to be hot and she's a little flustered over it when they first meet. She's always liked Anakin as a friend, but now she likes him as that hot friend you secretly fantasize about without the intention of acting on it.

He couldn't be with her anyway because he's a Jedi, so it's not as if she's being presented with a difficult decision, Anakin or her career. He's not an option in the first place. That's why Anakin's advances make her uncomfortable— the choice isn't hypothetical if he's interested. Being with him is supposed to remain a private fantasy; her career is at stake if it bleeds into reality, not to mention his own position. She might even be afraid that she's encouraged this— after all, she does want him to like her, as you do when you have a secret crush. Even if you never intend to confess your feelings to them, you don't want to embarrass yourself and make them think awkwardly of you. (That's why she covered the cameras— what if she made a weird face in her sleep or her hair got messed up or something? Every time they interacted she'd wonder if he was thinking about how weird and unattractive she looks when she's asleep.)

Basically, Attack of the Clones isn't about an obsessively lovestruck boy winning over a woman who isn't initially interested, it's about two people who are crushing on each other like schoolchildren for the whole movie— Anakin's crush having been nurtured for ten years, Padmé's having come on suddenly when she laid eyes on Anakin all grown up. They're both trying to look good in front of each other, but their chemistry is best when they're genuine. Anakin can come off as very mature when he's not trying to prove it, and Padmé even acknowledges it. (Then he promptly ruins it by sulking about his teachers— Anakin hooking Padmé and awkwardly killing the moment is a running gag throughout the film, like when he said she was just as beautiful as he remembered in her dreams and they both cringed and tried to pretend he didn't say that.)

I think Anidala being mutual from the beginning (of their adult relationship) is better than "Padmé was mind-tricked," as it gives both characters more agency. Yes, Anidala is extremely codependent, but from both ends. Yes, Anakin is worryingly possessive, but he tries to conduct himself appropriately in social situations and is sheepish and apologetic when he crosses a line. Yes, Anakin slaughtered men, women, and children, but he's torn up with guilt over it and that tugs at Padmé's heartstrings. He demonstrates real maturity throughout the film— moments of it, anyway. This is what convinces Padmé to marry him. This is what convinces Obi-Wan and Yoda that they don't need to interfere in his relationship with Padmé, because he's shown he can be trusted to put his duty above his feelings. We know, of course, that Anakin is still just as much of a hot mess as his teachers fear he is— more, in fact. Occasional, even frequent moments of maturity do not indicate that he's actually emotionally stable or selfless or responsible, only that he has the capacity to be in certain situations.

[blisss777]

PART 3

Anakin skywalker x fem best friend reader

Warnings:angst, mentions of death, manipulation, heavily pregnant reader. Obi-Wan loses the fight against anakin, sorry to all the Obi-Wan lovers, this hurts me as much as it hurts you🙏🏽

There is a time jump, sorry 🙏🏽 ps, listen to any lana song as you read, or if you'd like Taylor swift. Anyone your little heart desires💕

Her heart sinks to her stomach as 3P0 informs her of how the attack on the Jedi temple, her worry centred around anakin skywalker. She shallows a lump in her throat, fidgeting with her silk robe anakin has brought her as a gift. And she knows she won't be able to sleep tonight, not a wink until anakin is in her arms once more.

So she waits, a painstakingly long wait. She can't stay in one place for to long, but she tries, she truly tries. For her, for her unborn child. She's broken from her dark thoughts once more by 3P0. "Master anakin has returned." A sense of relief floods her, she runs as best as she could while being heavily pregnant.

Seeing Anakin getting of off his ship, his eyes conect with hers and he rushes towards her. Wrapping her up in his strong arms, he takes in her familiar sweet scent. It soothes him greatly. "Oh ani, I was so worried. I heard there was an attack on the Jedi temple you can see the smoke from here"

"I know, I'm sorry I'm alright, see. I came to see if you and the baby are safe." He takes her face in his hands. "What's happening ani?" A now serious look taking over his features. "The jedi have tried to overthrow the Republic." Her eyebrows furrowed in a look of disbelief. "What, why would they do that?" She thought the jedi were the good guys, why would they do that. What purpose would it serve.

"I saw master windu attempt to assassinate the chancellor myself." Anakin says it with such certainty that she believes him, she always would. "Ani, what are you gonna do?" She looks into his eyes, fear filling hers. His eyes narrow in anger but not at her, he turns and faces away from her. "I will not betray the Republic. My loyalties lie with the chancellor."

"And with the senate, and with you." He walks towards her, placing a hand on her bump and rubbing. "What about you're master, obi-wan?" She wondered about his supposed master, someone she hasn't met or even seen with her own two eyes. But anakin has always mentioned him in a good light, as a father to him. "I don't know, Many jedi have been killed, We can only hope that he's remained loyal to the chancellor."

"Ani, I'm afraid." She looks up at him with furrowed brows, anakin tilts his head slightly and caresses her face. "Have faith my love, everything will soon be set right." His eyes softened in adoration. "The chancellor has given me a very important mission, the separatists have gathered on the mustafar system. I'm going there to end this war."

His voice rises slightly before again softening. "Wait for me until I return, things will be different I promise." She nods slightly at anakin's words, he leans in and she closes her eyes. They're lips meeting in a sweet kiss. "Please wait for me." He begs before turning to leave, immediately jumping back in his ship and flying away.

3P0 walks back up the steps and stops in front of y/n. "Well then my lady, is there anything I might do?" She shakes her head slowly, trying to wrap her head around everything that gas happened in a span of minutes. "No thank you 3P0." He muttered something about feeling helpless as he walks away.

Leaving her to her thoughts once more.

🌌

Landing the ship on mustafar, she cradles her head in her hands. A horrid feeling in her stomach as she thinks of what obi-wan has told her of anakin's turn to the darkside. Looking in the distance she sees a familiar figure, anakin. She quickly opens the ships ramp and runs down it to then meet him half way in an embrace.

"I saw your ship." He moves his head back to gaze at her worriedly. "What are you doing out here?" Anakin asks as he rubs the side of her arms, up and down gently. "I was so worried about you, obi-wan told me terrible things." She shakes her head, thinking about her anakin doing those things. She couldn't even fathom it.

"What things." Anakin's voice is aggressive, anger flowing through him like the hot molten lava on mustafar. "He said you've turned to the darkside, that you killed younglings."

"Obi-wan is trying to turn you against me." He whispers as he tries to quell his quickly building anger. "He cares about you, about us." His face drops at her words. "Us?" She grabs his shoulders and squeezes softly, before moving up to his neck and playing with the hairs there.

"He knows, he wants to help you." Anakin just looks down and smiles a sinister smile, and she shivers at that. "Ani, all I want is your love. Please, I need you, we need you." She grabs his hand and places it on her rounded stomach. "Love won't save you y/n, only my mew powers can."

"Ani please, don't do this." She pleads, reaching up to hold his face in both her hands. Pushing his hair out of his face. "I won't lose you, I am becoming more powerful than any jedi has dreamed of." Her arms drop down slowly as he says that, her hope that there is still good in him slowly dwindling. "And I'm doing it for you, to protect you."

"Come away with me, let's leave this all behind. We can raise the baby together in a little house on naboo, like we talked about. Remember?" She smiles but it's covering her sadness, as she tries to believe that he'd listen. That they'd leave like they always talked about.

"Don't you see, we don't have to run anymore. I have brought peace to the Republic, I am more powerful than the chancellor I can overthrow him." She slowly backs away, her eyes tearing up as obi-wan's words prove to be true. And it breaks her heart. "And together you and I can rule the galaxy, make things the way we want them to be."

The smile on his face is alarming, her heart beats furiously against her chest. Making it hard for her to breath. "I don't believe what I'm hearing. Obi-Wan was right, you've changed." Anakin's eyes narrowed and he looks away quickly before looking back at her, his glare sends a shiver down her spine.

"I don't wanna hear anymore about obi-wan. The jedi turned against me, I won't let them turn you against me." His voice is frightening, and he senses the fear in her. She holds a protective hand on her stomach, thinking of making a run for it. "Don't, don't you dare." His words are ominous, and he takes a menacing step towards her. Making her take two back in response.

But he stops suddenly, his icy glare is directed behind her. Making her brows furrow in confusion and she turns to see what has caught his attention, she gasps as she spots obi-wan standing at the top of the ramp. "Ani, no no ani please." She cried out as she sees the deathly look on his face, as he raised his arm. Force chocking her.

He says nothing as she begs, chocking on her words and gasping desperately for air. "Let her go anakin." It's obi-wan's voice, but everything starts to blur and fade around her. And her eyes plead with him to let her go, to listen as tears roll down her cheeks. Her heart shattering into pieces.

"Let her go." At obi-wan's words he does, but it's to late, she falls to the ground on her side. She isn't responding anymore, and obi-wan stares at her form worried. But he senses through the force that she is alive. "You turned her against me!" Anakin shouts out, wanting to end him where he stands.

"You have done that yourself." Obi-wan's words are firm, as Anakin starts to pace. "You will not take her from me!" It's obvious that he's to far gone, the darkside has already sunken it's claws into him. "Your anger and your lust for power have already done that." Obi-wan thows his robe to the ground, as Anakin has done.

"You have allowed this dark lord to twist your mind, until now. Until now you have become the very thing you swore to destroy." They circle each other as obi-wan reaches y/n, laying perfectly still. "Don't lecture me obi-wan, I see through the lies of the jedi. I do not fear the darkside as you do."

Obi-wan kneels and lays a hand on her face, feeling her warmth. The life still seeping through her. "I have brought peace, freedom, justice and security to my new empire." Anakin shouts with his back to obi-wan. "Your new empire?" Obi-wan is shocked at what he says, his thick brows furrowed.

"Don't make me kill you." Anakin's voice is threatening, the darkside of the force flows through him. Goading and prodding at him to attack. To kill. "Anakin my allegiance is to the Republic, to democracy!" Obi-wan sounds almost desperate, trying and failing to get anakin to understand. To stop this nonsense while he can.

"If you're not with me, then you're my enemy." It's silent between them both for a moment, obi-wan breaks the silence. "Only a sith deals in absolutes." He reaches down and grabs his lightsaber. "I will do what I must."

"You will try."

🌌

Anakin walks stiffly to y/n, still unconscious, but alive nonetheless. He reaches down and picks her up in his arms almost effortlessly, taking her inside of the huge and looming building that resides on mustafar. Laying her gently on a medical bed as droids move around her, checking her and the baby's condition. Finding them thankfully healthy and safe, anakin shooed them away and sits on a chair besides the bed.

He leans down and placed a kiss on her forehead, caressing her cheek with his flesh hand. Gazing at her with an almost sickly in love look on his face. "I promised to keep you safe by my side, and I will. No matter what my love." The darkside hums around him, loving and feeding of off his obsession. And he'll never let her leave him, never.

Notes:wow I finally finished this lol, anyways leave a request if you'd like😭🙏🏽

[gffa]

You know why the Jedi are right in this scene? Because it's literally how the Force works, this moment is undivorceable from the very basic worldbuilding fact that: The Force works based on their emotions. That is part of everything to do with the Force in the movies, that is the very first layer of the foundation of how it works! If they use the Force while they're afraid, that is straight up a path to the dark side, that's not just what the Jedi say, it's how Star Wars' worldbuilding functions. “Once you become afraid that somebody’s going to take it away from you or you’re gonna lose it, then you start to become angry, especially if you’re losing it, and that anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering. Mostly on the part of the person who’s selfish, because you spend all your time being afraid of losing everything you’ve got instead of actually living. [....] So that is ultimately the core of the whole dark side/light side of the Force.” –George Lucas Fear is the path to the dark side. It doesn't matter if the fear is justified or not, it's not necessarily a moral or value judgement, but it just is how the Force works. So, the scene in The Phantom Menace goes like this: Yoda:  "Afraid are you?" Anakin:  "No, sir." Yoda:  "See through you we can." Mace:  "Be mindful of your feelings." Ki-Adi:  "Your thoughts dwell on your mother." Anakin:  "I miss her." Yoda:  "Afraid to lose her, I think, mmm?" Anakin:  "What has that got to do with anything?" Yoda:  "Everything. Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you." The Jedi are repeating Lucas' explanation almost word for word in this scene, fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering, this isn't what the Jedi decided was how things work, it's how the Force works as decided by the guy who created the Force, they're absolutely, 100% correct about it. And that's why it's important that Anakin isn't acknowledging his fear here, that it's not that he's afraid that's the problem or what the Jedi are saying is the problem--the Jedi express emotion all across the movies! that whole "there is no emotion" thing is NOWHERE in the movies or TCW! that is something Lucas himself never put in ANY of his canon!--but that he won't even be mindful of his feelings. Being mindful isn't immediately purging them, it's acknowledging that they're there, working through them, eventually letting them go. "But it's normal for a nine year old to miss his mother! How can they say he's bad just for--" They're not saying Anakin is bad. Nobody is saying Anakin is a horrible person for missing his mother! Nobody is even saying that Anakin is a horrible person for not being mindful of his feelings! Nobody is saying that it's Anakin's fault that he doesn't have the tools for better emotional regulation! But they are saying that he's not a good fit for the Jedi. And they're right! He's not a good fit for the Jedi! Not one single Council member even so much as implies that this is any kind of judgement of Anakin as a person or that he's bad for it! They're saying he doesn't have the rock solid foundation that a Jedi needs because that's how the Force works--and they're right. Every commentary Lucas ever makes about Anakin's fall is that he didn't want to regulate his feelings, he didn't want to let go of things.

The Jedi never once say or imply that that would make Anakin a bad person or that he's a failure because he didn't magically have things he wasn't taught, but they're saying that it would make him a bad fit for being a Jedi and they can already feel--given that they're psychic space wizards who can sense others' feelings--that he doesn't really want to change. ("He's nine! You can't judge a character at that--" Girl, it's a fairy tale meant to illustrate Lucas' personal philosophies about emotional regulation via fairy tale logic, not hyperrealistic examinations of characters, come on now.)

Which doesn't make Anakin a bad person or that he's in the wrong for being scared and not having the tools to deal with it. The Jedi can say "He's not a good fit for what we need to be because of the way the Force works." and not have it be any kind of condemnation of him as a person. His later actions, once he has the training and support to know better, sure. But nobody's saying the nine year old is at fault. They're saying the nine year old doesn't have the foundation he would need, which it doesn't matter that it's not his fault, it's still quite literally how the Force works, that you need that foundation.

[antianakin]

I wasn't exactly on team "Anakin Would've Been a Great Dad in a Happy Fix-it AU" before or anything, but I could KIND-OF be convinced via his relationship with Ahsoka that even if he wasn't anticipating being a father and was sort-of not happy about it to some degree, that he might ultimately come around to the idea and be genuinely into being a parent. Because within TCW, that is, for the most part, exactly what happens. He's not always the BEST teacher for Ahsoka and he obviously ultimately entirely betrays her, leaves her for dead, and then actively tries to kill her down the line, but before ROTS he seems... mostly positive and active within that relationship.

But then along came TOTJ.

And all of that goes away.

Because now we have to add in that Anakin actively ABUSES Ahsoka with this horrific and useless training exercise to that relationship. Now we have to take into account that Anakin doesn't even do anything to actively help train her, he brings in the clones to work with Ahsoka FOR HIM, his active involvement in it seems to get less and less as she continues. Now we have to take into account that Anakin can't even be assed to show up on time to an assessment of hers, even though Obi-Wan, Yoda, Mace, Plo, and Depa are all there, among other members of the Council. And even once he IS there, he refuses to even praise Ahsoka for how well she's done in the assessment simply because he dislikes the assessment and refuses to apologize for having been late to something that was clearly important to Ahsoka.

And whoa does that bring SO MUCH of their relationship in TCW into question. Granted, this is set prior to the Phase 2 animation shift, so probably only about a third to halfway through her apprenticeship given that it really only lasts about a year and a half. So there's still things like Mortis and Padawan Lost and the Citadel arc to happen, which do seem to have an impact on Anakin's willingness to trust Ahsoka.

But this is still now a MAJOR aspect to their relationship that changes EVERYTHING for me. A relationship I could kind-of write off as generally positive right up until it isn't is now entirely toxic and tainted, equally as much as Padme's relationship with him. We never see Ahsoka state that she's afraid of Anakin, so perhaps slightly less toxic, but... not by much.

And this changes everything for me about how much I am willing to accept a future happy fix-it AU where Anakin ends up a GOOD father to the twins, the twins who blow up his life, who would force him into a choice between Padme or the Jedi, who would take so much of Padme's attention away from him, who would be SO needy SO much of the time. How often would he actually praise Luke and Leia for doing well at things? How often would he show up late to important events like birthday parties or any sort of education event or extracurricular event? How often would he hand off responsibility of the twins when he's supposed to be watching them to R2 and/or C3PO, or another member of Padme's family? At what point does he start hurting them to try to strengthen them up so they aren't weak, how young are they before he decides they're ready for that? And would he keep that a secret from Padme, or does Padme let him get away with doing it to them?

And worst of all, how does this impact the people Luke and Leia turn out to be later on?

[rose-sophia-isabella-rogers]

Worth the Risk: Chapter I - Before

Chapter Summary: You've known Anakin ever since you were a youngling. It was hard to see one of you without the other. It's different when the Clone Wars start. But then, you're finally paired together for a mission and you're almost always together again. However, an argument after you almost die, may ruin your relationship. Or maybe it will do something completely else?

Pairing: Anakin Skywalker/Reader

Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Reader, Shaak Ti (only mentioned), Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Mace Windu, Ahsoka Tano, Rex, Jesse, Sketcher, Bunker, R2-D2

Word Count: 4338

A/N: This was supposed to be a one-shot. Once again, I'm proving myself I can't write those. Oh well. Anyway, I've got into "Star Wars" a few months ago and this is the result. I haven't watched everything yet, but I couldn't stop myself. I hope you will enjoy this. Happy reading! P.S.: The gif is not mine! Same as the Star Wars franchise. Nor you, for that matter. Oh, and I didn't know if the people on the tag list wanted to be only in my fanfictions about Aleksander Kirigan or in all my works. So, I address you guys now: if you're not into the Star Wars or this pairing, let me know in the comments and I will remove you from the tag list and won't tag you in the next chapter.

Tag list (let me know if you want to be added or removed):

@intothesoul

@mizelophsun11

@pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy

@zeeader

@marrymonrich

@wonderland2425

@chelseyyouraverageluigi

@thehufflepuffavenger1

@drinix

@astro-kitty-launch

Anakin Skywalker has been your best friend since you were little. When he arrived to the Jedi Temple, the rumors about him being the Chosen One quickly spread. Other younglings were a bit afraid of him or treated him as someone amazing already. You were having none of that. During your first training together, you beat him up. He may be the one to save you all, but you were here longer. He was not going to get any special treatment from you.

However, after the training was finished, you hurried to him and took him on a tour of the Jedi Temple. You didn't want to treat him like he was better than you, but you didn't want him to be your enemy either. He was a kid, like you. And you could tell he appreciated that.

Ever since that, you spent every free moment together. Everyone knew that wherever you two showed up, chaos followed. He was advancing quicker in the Order, but you were an apt student and were close behind. After the Initiate Trails you were honored to be chosen by Master Shaak Ti. She's a good mentor and you really valued everything she had to teach you.

Then, the Clone Wars started. Your Master was asked to oversee the Clone production and training. You accompanied her and also took part in some battles, sent as a Commander. Soon after, you took your Jedi Trials and the Council granted you the title of the Jedi Knight. It was time to leave your Master and become a General of the Grand Army of the Republic. Of course, Anakin has been one already for some time, having passed his trials before you.

Because of the war, you and Skywalker have been spending less time together. But wherever you two manage to meet, you always try to take the most of it. But for some reason, the Council have never asked you to go to the battle together. Until now.

*

Anakin is walking through the Jedi Temple with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Master Yoda. They're discussing the new mission Skywalker has been given. He needs to free another planet from the Separatists.

'Don't worry, Master Yoda,' he says, as they exit the Temple. 'Obi-Wan and I will not fail you.'

'Go with you, Obi Wan cannot,' Yoda says, surprising them both. 'A different task, he has. Send someone else with you, we will.'

'Who?' Anakin asks, frowning. At the same moment they notice Master Mace Windu approaching with you. He's saying something to you and you nod, absolutely concentrated. Until your eyes fall on your best friend. Then, you grin. He does the same. But Obi-Wan's face falls.

'Master Yoda, are you sure about this?' he asks. 'The two of them together…'

'What is needed to save this planet, exactly is,' Yoda finishes.

'We'll be fine, Obi-Wan,' Anakin says, already heading your way. Kenobi sighs.

'This is gonna end badly,' he murmurs. 'Or at least in an explosion.'

You and Anakin meet halfway. At once you start talking strategy amatively. Windu passes you and joins other Masters, eyeing you skeptically.

'Are we sure about this?' he asks. 'There is a reason why we haven't paired them up together for a mission. They tend to be… destructive together.'

'To put it lightly,' Obi-Wan adds. But Yoda smiles.

'Trust them, we must,' he says. 'Powerful together, they are. Win the battle, they will.'

And so, an hour later you're at the docks, getting ready to board the Resolute, Anakin's Venator-class Star Destroyer. Anakin's Clone Legion, 501st, is to join you, same as yours, 98th. They greet each other and chat, waiting for you and Anakin to declare you're ready to fly. Ahsoka Tano, Skywalker's padawan, stands a bit to the side, talking with Captain Rex, one of the clones.

'Ahsoka, do me a favor and keep an eye on these two,' Obi-Wan says, glancing at you and Anakin.

'Why?' Tano asks, puzzled.

'Wherever they go together, chaos follows,' Kenobi explains and pats Rex on the shoulder. 'Good luck to you all.'

'Thank you, sir,' the Clone says, already fearing his future.

'All set?' Anakin asks, joining the group.

'We were waiting just for you,' Ahsoka answers and smiles at you, as you approach them. 'And [Y/N]. Hi!'

'Hey,' you say, grinning at the young padawan. 'Shall we?'

'Let's destroy some droids,' Skywalker says, smirking at you. You smirk back and board the ship with him.

'May the force be with you,' Obi-Wan calls after you. You and Anakin turn and salute him.

'And with you!' you say at the same time and head inside. Kenobi sighs.

'Please, be careful,' he asks.

'I'll keep an eye on them, sir,' Rex promises.

'Thank you,' Obi-Wan says. Ahsoka smiles at him and boards the ship with others. She can't wait to see you and Anakin in action together.

*

When Obi-Wan returns from his mission, you and Anakin are still away. The task is going well, but he hears there are some complications. Still, you return not long after him. The Clones from your legions are the first to get out of the Resolute. They all look weary.

'How did it go?' Kenobi, who is there to greet you, asks. The Clones look at him. Rex walks forward and brings his hands together.

'Please, sir, please, never put the two of them on a mission together again,' he begs. Obi-Wan raises his eyebrows.

'That bad?' he asks.

'They were crazy,' Jesse, a Clone from 501 says with wide eyes.

'That bad?' Obi-Wan sighs.

'It was quite fun, actually,' Ahsoka says, joining them with a small smile, also looking tired. 'But… they are something else together.'

'They're chaos, that's what they are,' Jesse mumbles. Just then you and Anakin show up. You're having a bacta patch on your forehead.

'And what happened to you?' Kenobi asks.

'Skywalker,' you answer, but don't sound angry.

'Yeah, well, it worked, so I'm not sorry,' Anakin says. You roll your eyes.

'But we're not doing it again,' you say.

'How about next time you can throw me into a swarm of droids?' Skywalker suggests. Your eyes light up. Obi-Wan's go wide.

'You did what?!' he demands from his former padawan.

'She had two lightsabers!' Anakin defends himself. You grin and decide to quickly evacuate yourself, not wanting to be berated by Kenobi as well. Ahsoka and Clones take that as their cue as well.

While you retreat, Skywalker glares at you, feeling betrayed. You wink at him and walk away gracefully. Until you hit a droid and trip over him. You can hear Anakin's laughter very clearly.

'Damn you, Skywalker,' you murmur and stand up. You stick out your tongue to Anakin and walk away.

'How can one change their personality so quickly?' Jesse asks Rex. 'On the battlefield they both have been professional, focused and very scary. And now they are…'

'Young people having fun,' Rex finishes with a small, sad smile. They observe you walking away in silence, pondering about the cruelty of the war.

A few days later the Clones from 501st and 98th legions get bad news. The Senate and Jedi Council were so impressed and satisfied with how the mission went, they want to pair you, Anakin and your legions for more missions. All Clones groan in unison at the news. Some actually cry.

However, with time it changes. Yes, you and Anakin can still be crazy, not only on the battlefield. But 501st notices that you tend to have a calming influence on Skywalker. And 98th notice that you seem to thaw around Anakin. They're used to see you calm, collected and serious. Sometimes even a bit too much.

501st Legion takes a quick liking to you, not only because you calm down their general's temper. You are fun, compassionate, kind and you are a very warm person. Sometimes, Anakin even thinks they like you more than him. He is probably very right.

98th Legion is fast to warm up to Skywalker, too. They admire his skills, intelligence and strategies. They also love his fun side and to joke around with him. And annoy you with it.

Both Legions have a chance to see more than anyone, maybe with an exception of Ahsoka, the chemistry between you and Anakin. While others see it as some sort of connection, good sync in the Force, they see it's something… more. And they're determined to see what exactly it is. The opportunity for that comes with one of the missions.

*

The Clones stand awkwardly outside the medic bay. They look at each other. No one dares to speak. They wince, hearing something clattering inside.

'So… they expect a report,' Sketcher, one of the Clones from 98th, says.

'Do you want to go in and tell them that?' Bunker, his companion, asks. Sketcher gives him a horrified look.

'None of us does,' Jesse murmurs. Just then Ahsoka, who had to take a shower because she was completely covered in slime, shows up. Everyone looks at her with hope.

'Commander, the Jedi Council expects a report,' Rex quickly says. Tano raises her eyebrows.

'Shouldn't Master Skywalker and Master [L/N] do it?' she asks. All Clones look at the door to the med bay. As on cue, Anakin's and then your voices can be heard:

You could have died!

But I didn't!

'I see your point,' Ahsoka sighs. 'I'll get right to it.'

She turns to go and contact the Council. The Clones hurry after her, no longer feeling guilty for not stepping in. Only Rex and Sketcher stay behind, ready to assist you and help if necessary.

Inside the med bay, you and Anakin are glaring at each other. You're covered in bacta patches. But you don't see why your friend is making such a fuss. You're fine. Nothing serious has happened to you.

'But you could have,' Skywalker says. You roll your eyes.

'What's your deal?' you ask, putting a hand on your hip. 'Usually, you don't hesitate to do things like that. You do even more dangerous stunts.'

'You're supposed to be more responsible one,' Anakin argues. 'Besides… you're not me.'

'I know, but what's that supposed to mean?' you ask, narrowing your eyes. Skywalker clenches and unclenches his fist.

'It's less risky when I don things like that,' he says after a tense moment. 'Dangerous things.'

'And why is that?' you ask, crossing your arms over your chest.

'Because I'm a better Jedi,' he blurts out. 'I've always progressed faster than you.'

He regrets his words the moment they leave his mouth. You look as if he's slapped you. For a long moment you stare at each other. Finally, you huff.

'You can be a really unsensitive jerk, Skywalker,' you snap and march out of the med bay.

'[Y/N], wait, I didn't-!' Anakin starts, panicked. But you push past Rex and Sketcher, and hurry away. The Clones stare after you, then look at Skywalker judgingly.

'What?' he asks. Rex sighs and Sketcher shakes his head.

'What?' Skywalker repeats, annoyed, crossing his arms. 'Come on, spit it out.'

The Clones exchange a look. Sketcher waves his hand and walks away. Anakin and Rex stare at each other. Skywalker raises his eyebrow, waiting. The Clone sighs again.

'You should have just told her you were worried, sir,' he says and the Jedi quickly opens his mouth to protest. 'You and me know she's just as good as you. You're angry with her, because you were scared. You know that, I know that, but she doesn't. So, give her time to cool down and talk about it. But calmly now. And explain your reasoning. And apologize.'

'Are you giving me orders, Rex?' Anakin asks, a bit amused.

'Just a suggestion, sir,' the Clone answers, salutes and walks away. Skywalker sighs and runs a hand through his face. He knows Rex is right. But how to talk to you?

Nevertheless, he gathers his courage, and once you're getting close to Coruscant, he searches for you. He finds you in one of the storages, checking for supplies. The furrow of your eyebrows tells him you're still angry. But he has to clear the air now, before it's too late.

'[Y/N],' he says, walking inside. 'Can we talk?'

'Talk or yell at each other?' you ask after a beat.

'Talk,' Anakin answers, walking slowly to you, and scratches the back of his neck. 'I… I owe you an apology.'

You finally look at him, raising your eyebrows at him. You clearly haven't expected that.

'I am not a better Jedi than you,' he says. 'And I have no right to tell you what you should or shouldn't do. I'm… I'm sorry.'

'I'm sorry, too,' you say after a pause, looking at him with sorrow. 'I… I shouldn't have stormed off like that. You… I… Truth is, I've always been a bit jealous of you being promoted quicker than me. Because I was in the Temple longer than you. Ever since I was a baby. I've tried to get over it, but I guess a part of me is still angry about it. But the truth is, the time spend on the training doesn't matter, but talent does. And you're a natural, Anakin. I just… I just wish you'd trust my skills as well. I may be not as good as you are, but I'm capable of doing risky things, as well.'

'I do trust your skills!' he hastily says, taking a step toward you. 'And you are as talented as I am. I just… I… You…'

'Yes?' you ask when he trails off. He gulps and looks into your eyes. His pulse speeds up. He can do it. He can.

'I was worried about you,' he confesses softly, surprising you. 'When I saw you jumping into that fire… for a moment my heart stopped. I thought… that you're not gonna come out of it. I feared I had lost you. When you emerged, I… I was so relieved. But then I became angry. For you to putting yourself in such risk and for making me so scared. I… lashed out at you and I'm sorry for it. But the thought of losing you is…'

You eye him warily, your heart beating fast. He looks at you like a kicked puppy. There's deep sadness in his eyes and… and something else you don't dare to name. Probably, if you reached out, you could read him. But you don't. And you beg him in your mind not to speak.

'It was unbearable,' he finishes softly anyway. You gulp. His eyes are begging you to say something. Your heart screams at you to answer him. But you can't.

'Well… I'm still here,' you say and smile nervously. 'Still in one piece. But I promise to be more careful. And as responsible as usual at least.'

You stare at him, expecting him to smile back. To finally get rid of this tension between you two. So everything could be back to normal. But he doesn't. He stares back at you, his eyes serious and… Oh, no. Determined.

'What if I do lose you one day?' he asks. You quickly put your guard up.

'You'll move on,' you answer, softly but sternly. He scoffs and looks at you with disbelief.

'Do you really think I can do that?' he asks. 'Could you move on if something happened to me?'

'Yes,' you answer with difficulty, forcing the tears back from your eyes.

'Seriously?' Anakin huffs, narrowing his eyes at you. You gulp, feeling a burning sensation in your throat.

'I'm not saying it would be easy,' you say. 'But I'd have to. That is the Jedi way. No attachments. Letting go of those we lost. Moving on.'

You give him a pointed look and walk past him. You press the button to open the door, but suddenly Skywalker grabs your wrist and presses the button again, closing the door. You stare at it, stunned. Your breath hitches when you feel his chest pressing into your back.

'What if we weren't Jedi?' he asks quietly, straight into your ear, causing you to shiver.

'Then… I'd mourn you,' you answer, also quietly. 'Openly. Letting everyone know how… hurt I am.'

'No, that's not the word you wanted to use,' he says, gently squeezing your wrist.

'Heartbroken,' you whisper. 'I'd be heartbroken.'

Anakin lets go of your wrist. But his hand moves to your waist, his other landing on its other side. He starts to turn you around. You panic and press the button to open the door. But it doesn't budge. You frown, confused. You can't wonder about it, however, because your eyes meet Skywalker's.

'Let me go,' you plead, for both your sakes. But he leans toward you, allowing his eyelids to drop a bit. You want to give in. Oh, you want it so much. But…

'What about Padmé?' you ask. He freezes. He looks at you with a frown.

'You've been going on about her ever since I met you,' you huff. 'And then you were reunited and… you always wanted to be on the missions that were connected to her and I always felt… how much she means to you.'

'She's just a friend,' he says, but you give him a skeptical look. 'Truly. Yes, I thought Padmé is… someone more for me. But then I met you and I realized… She was the first beautiful and kind girl I've ever met. What I felt for her was a childhood crush. Nothing more. I'm certain of it. Because what I feel for you is stronger than what I've felt for her.'

'Don't,' you say harshly, attempting to move away. 'Stop it here, Anakin.'

'No,' Skywalker says sternly, looking at you with passion. 'I've been hiding my feelings for too long. I almost lost you today and I can't… I can't continue without you knowing about them. Without knowing about yours…'

He reaches out and cups your cheek. He wipes out a stray tear you weren't even aware of. You open your mouth to protest more, but he quickly leans to you and your lips touch… and it's everything you've ever dreamt of and so much more.

You've been in love with your best friend for years. You've tried to deny and hide it. Because you are both Jedi and you also believed he has some feelings for Senator Padmé Amidala. But now he's kissing you. He's almost devouring your mouth and you just want more. You don't even realize when you put your hand behind his neck and pull him closer to you.

'[Y/N]…' he groans, deepening the kiss.

'Anakin…' you whisper and finally get enough clarity to push him away. 'We… we can't. The Jedi code…'

'Is wrong,' Skywalker says strongly and cups your face, looking at you pleadingly. 'It must be. Because how can this be wrong? Kissing you is the rightest thing I've ever done. I was made to love you, I'm sure of it. How can this be wrong?'

'Attachments lead to fear,' you say, forcing yourself to ignore what he said. 'Fear leads to hatred. Hatred leads to the Dark Side.'

'I'm certain that if I ever was tempted by the Dark Side, you'd beat that idea out of me.'

'Ha. Maybe. What if I turned to the Dark Side with you?'

'You couldn't. You're too strong for it. Too good.'

'I don't know. I've already broken so many rules for you.'

You look at him softly. His breath hitches. For the first time he can see past your walls. He can see the depth of your feelings for him. He opens his mouth to say something, but then voices destroy the moment:

What are you all doing here?

Uh… nothing! Everything is fine!

Yes, perfectly fine, General! No need to worry!

Alright… Where are Anakin and [Y/N]?

Uh…

Um…

… They're in there, aren't they?

No, General, don't!

They need to clear some things out!

The door start opening and Anakin quickly lets you go, stepping away from you. Once it's open, you're met with Obi-Wan, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. Next to him is Ahsoka, looking at you with curiosity. Behind him are the Clones, looking at you sheepishly. You huff.

'Seriously, guys?' you ask, putting hands on your hips.

'We were just trying to make you up,' Sketcher says, grinning. You roll your eyes.

'Did we at least manage that?' Jesse asks hopefully.

'We're good,' you answer and look at Anakin. 'Right?'

Skywalker nods without a word, staring you in the eyes. You turn your gaze to Obi-Wan.

'You didn't have to come and get us,' you say.

'You've been docked here for minutes and no one was getting out,' he explains. 'I was beginning to get worried.'

'Seriously?' you ask, annoyed, glaring at the Clones. They grin at you. You huff and head toward your room. Kenobi shakes his head and follows you. Ahsoka looks at her master. He snaps out of his reverie and walks away, his padawan close behind him.

Not much later he's getting his things, when Rex shows up in his room. He closes the door behind himself. Anakin raises his eyebrows at him.

'What is it?' he asks. Captain straightens up.

'I just wanted you to know, sir, that none of us is going to tell anything about it to anyone,' he says seriously. Skywalker looks at him, confused.

'About what?' he asks.

'Exactly, sir,' Rex says and gives his supervisor a pointed look. 'We also erased all the recordings from the camera in the storage room.'

Anakin's eyes go white and his face goes pale. He opens his mouth to say something, but the Clone interrupts him by saluting.

'Sir,' he says and turns to leave.

'Uh, thank you, Rex,' Skywalker quickly says. Captain turns his head and smiles.

'To be honest, sir, we all have been waiting for that for a long time,' he says and has an audacity to wink, then chuckle at the dumbfounded look on Anakin's face, and walks out.

'Those Clones,' Skywalker huffs after a moment, running a hand through his hair. He quickly gathers his things and leaves.

He finds you in the docks, talking to R2-D2. He hurries to you. You frown at his flushed cheeks.

'What's wrong?' you ask and look at him alarmed. 'Does Obi-Wan know about…?'

'No, and unless one of us says something, he won't,' Anakin denies. 'Rex and others deleted the recordings from the camera in the storage room.'

'The… camera, oh sweet Maker,' you groan, hiding your red face in your hands.

'And they won't tell anyone either,' Skywalker adds and huffs. 'Apparently they ship us.'

You let out a nervous laugh. But you uncover your face. Anakin looks at you softly.

'I meant what I said,' he says. 'I-'

'Don't,' you interrupt him, looking around. 'Not here. Besides, I got the message.'

'What about your feelings?' Skywalker says and grabs your wrist. 'I won't let you go until I hear about them. Please. I need to know.'

You could tell him you don't feel the same. You'd break his heart but maybe it would allow you two to move on. But you know he'd recognize you're lying. Especially since you kissed him back…

'It has always been you, Anakin,' you decide to say softly and look him in the eyes. 'My heart has always belonged to you.'

'Can we… give us a chance, then?' he asks hopefully, moving his hand so he could hold yours.

'I'd like nothing more,' you admit, your heart literally hurting. 'But you know we can't.'

'If I ever try to turn to the Dark Side, you have my permission to beat me out of it,' he quickly says. You snort.

'What if you already turn to it?' you question.

'I know you'll never let that happen,' he answers, grinning. You scoff and roll your eyes. Anakin takes your other hand in his and looks at you pleadingly. In the corner of your eye, you see your Legions discreetly observing you with bated breaths.

'If the Council finds out, I'm the one taking the blame,' you say after a long moment. 'You're already a controversial figure in their eyes. While I am their favorite.'

'Works for me,' Skywalker says, starting to smile.

'And you also have to let me take risks sometimes,' you insist. 'Trust in my abilities.'

'I will,' Anakin promises hastily nodding. You sigh.

'I can't believe I'm agreeing to this,' you murmur. Skywalker smirks and squeezes your hands.

'I'm that good of a kisser, huh?' he teases.

'Oh, you are,' you confirm, loosing yourself in the memory of his lips on yours… You quickly shake yourself out of it and pull your hands away.

'We will have to be careful,' you say. 'I'd like to remain a Jedi at least until the war is over. And you're needed, oh the Chosen One.'

'We will,' Anakin assures you softly, leaning toward you. 'But can I kiss you again?'

'Someone can see,' you protest.

'There are only Clones and R2, they're not going to tell,' Skywalker says. 'I saw Ahsoka walking away somewhere with Obi-Wan. Please. So I would know you're serious and this is not a dream.'

'Fine, but only one,' you give in after a moment. Anakin quickly cups your face, before you change your mind, and joins your lips for a short, but passionate kiss. He leaves you breathless when he pulls away.

'Damn you, Skywalker, you'll be the death of me,' you say weakly. Anakin chuckles and lets you go.

'I'll come to your room later and take you out on a date,' he says, winks and walks away. You blink and turn after him.

'You'll what?!' you call, but he doesn't stop. 'What have I done?'

You sigh, troubled. You know this is wrong. You should resist the temptation. But you can no longer deny yourself what you've wanted for years. Anakin Skywalker.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Let me know your thoughts! Reblog, like and comment if you could. Every comment makes my day!

This can also be found on Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53898226/chapters/136425739

[attonposting]

Something I don't see many people invoke when writing Atton, and I wish more would, is the fact that his exiled Jedi crush is the General who pulled the trigger on the Mass Shadow Generator. That is a big deal! Him blowing up at the Exile over Malachor is nearly lost in the rapidfire shitstorm that's his whole confession, but Atton's on par with Mira for having personal beef over Malachor V. His headspace beneath the pazaak routine must have been a confused and angry mess once he learned that this ex-Jedi he was carting around was General Meetra Surik, or whichever name you gave your Exile.

Like, Atton was coming to grips with the fact that the Exile used to be a Jedi. They seem decent enough... clueless, and too much of a bleeding heart for their own good, they're the type of idiot who paints a target on their back every time they get out of bed, but at least they were a veteran instead of one of those worthless trust-in-the-Force types and they're not afraid to get their hands dirty when there's people that need to be shot. And hell, if the Jedi kicked them out, that's a point in their favor – maybe even enough for him to worry for them late at night after the juma's really kicked in, because sometimes they just seem so goddamn worn-down and look, he's not totally heartless. Anyone with eyes can see that they're lugging around some heavy shit; of course he's gonna wonder. And then he gets smacked with that.

Malachor V was huge to Atton. It's that theme of all of the crew's stories coming back to that single moment in time. Now, it's important to establish that Malachor is not a single event that broke Atton. He was already in bad straits by the end of the Mandalorian Wars, and heavily disillusioned by all he'd witnessed and done during them. It's not the end-all-be-all of his fall to the Dark Side and it may well have happened anyway. But Malachor was the capstone – a single terrible event that shattered the remainder of his faith. Atton was present during that battle (“You weren't there. You have no idea what happened.” -> “Oh yeah? Shows how much you know. Maybe you're wrong about a lot of other things, too.”) and alludes to trauma over it (“Wish I'd died there, that the storms had dragged me down into Malachor V”). My take is that he was among the forces arrayed for the space battle and barely managed to fly his way out of the gravity well, but you can interpret many different experiences from the loose constraints of canon.

No matter how you slice his involvement, though, Atton felt utterly betrayed by Malachor V. He'd already felt that the Republic was mismanaging its troops, that guys like him were being served up as cannon fodder while useless senators waffled over the measures they desperately needed on the ground and the Jedi sat on their Council thrones offering platitudes of protection while failing to lift a finger in anyone's defense. But here was the absolute worst of it – command straight-up lied to him, him and everyone else in that stars-damned clusterfuck, and sent them out as sacrificial lambs. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers laid out as bait for a goddamn trap. Didn't even get a chance to fucking fight, just a tongue-in-cheek “thank you for your sacrifice”, because if they'd signed up to fight then he guesses that meant they were already dead on paper anyway.

I think it's likely that the way Malachor ends up attributed to Revan was revisionism that happened later, in the same way that Revan accumulated blame for the actions of Malak in the Jedi Civil War. Revan definitely had a lot of blame for what happened at Malachor, but Atton would have hated whoever made that call. Whether he chalked it up to Meetra Surik or Insert Better Exile Name Here or just the Republic in general, he was a furious, bitter mess... and I don't think he would have been so quick to follow Revan if he'd known just how much of a hand they had in Malachor's planning.

Fast forward a decade later, when he meets the person behind that call, the Jedi behind that call, and they're nothing like he would have expected.

And he knows this because he's already seen them in action, gotten to know them a little – likes them, even, and isn't that a damned thing he tries to avoid. Unless your Exile is unusually chatty, Atton probably learns this sometime on Telos; possibly from Lt. Grenn when they get arrested (specifically the fact that the Republic wants to meet with them, that'll set off some alarm bells, and possibly bring in the Exile's full/real name), possibly when they meet Bao-Dur and his habit of using military ranks, possibly from the Handmaiden Sisters when they end up in Atris's Academy, and definitely from the holorecording of the Exile's trial if he hasn't already clued in. If he'd known who they were on Peragus, Atton might've used them to get off the station and planted a vibro in their back as soon as he didn't need them anymore, but now he's seen the kind of person they are – the parts that are just like him, the parts that are better than him – and he doesn't know how to feel.

I like to think that while Atton comes to terms with it, and probably a lot quicker than he was expecting... he doesn't forgive the Exile for Malachor. And it's the same as how forgiving Atton for his crimes is missing the point, and not what he wants anyway. It's more about moving on. The war is always going to be there, but it doesn't matter anymore, because they're not the same people who made those calls. What's important is that he understands. And in the end, not forgiving them might even be comfortable for Atton. He feels closer to them – both on a personal level and an aspirational one – in that they've both committed truly terrible crimes, things that cannot ever be made okay, and the Exile still managed to pick themselves up and keep trying. He's got mixed feelings about the charity act, but the fact that they were able to stop running and face the music for what they did is what captivates him, because that's something he never had the grit to do.

[aestariiwilderness]

Bad Batch Season 3 Ep. 8 SPOILERS

Omega can get Crosshair to do absolutely anything and Hunter is taking full advantage of this

Why was this episode about Hunter and Wrecker bug hunting and Crosshair meditating (what the heck that's hilarious) and learning about psychosomatic issues (CALLED IT! Internally, so it doesn't count. But I know.)

"I'VE EXHAUSTED ALL MEDICAL OPTIONS" in a galaxy of super bacta where people can literally walk off broken femurs and lava dunks but childbirth and unspecified nerve damage (??) are just *shrug* Too Much

They forgot to tell Crosshair about Tech's girlfriend?

Actually a good part of this episode was Crosshair deadpanning "Who" -- or, as a friend says, being an adverb-identifying question the entire time with increasing horror ("Who?" "Where?" "WHEN?" "HOW OFTEN???") -- because SOMEONE was being a brat and hanging out with the Empire

"You don't like anything" "True" Amen

Why is everyone so afraid of a tiny Asian woman? If you didn't know she had plot armor we could have strung her up by her toes and shaken her until M-count knowledge fell out of her pockets and not bothered with the bug-zapping and alligator-wrestling in Space Florida. Elite commandos my foot, they're all so homeschooled. JUST BE MORALLY DUBIOUS FOR HALF A SECOND FOR ONCE. IT'S FOR THE KIDS, HUNTER.

Why was Fennec hiding her clones in her closet

Why did Hunter and Wrecker, elite commandos, allow themselves to be stuffed in Fennec's closet

Man, one televised massacre and suddenly no one knows anything about anything to do with Jedi. Didn't half these guys work with Jedi and the other half deal with galactic-wide government-sponsored infant testing for midichlorians for centuries, how does "no one" know what M-count means all of the sudden

Hunter finally -- and kinda late, buddy -- wising up to the fact that we should NOT take the child hunted by the Empire everywhere we go

Echo and Rex: still Sirs Not Appearing In This Season, which is hilarious because it's not like his voice actor is unavailable

Fennec: "THAT'S going to cost you" Crosshair and Omega, coming in clutch with gambling skills: pfft. how much do you want @clawedandcute

[the-starry-seas]

jango fett is the kind of character that just fucks me up he's perfect truly nobody is in my brain like he is and then to think about BOBA?

jango's outlived everyone and killed for them and his life is vengeance and loss. that's what he remembers when he thinks about his family. when do you stop living with a wound? when the wound is what you become. when the earliest memory you have, any more, is your family dying (loss) and your adopted father asking how you feel about killing the man who killed them (vengeance). the father who stepped in to protect you and you remember everything he did for you but mostly you remember him dying in your arms (loss).

you tell your son about the family you once had (loss) and he asks why they're not with you any more and you have to tell him about how cruel the world can be (loss) and he asks what happened to the people who killed them and you have to tell him what you're capable of (vengeance). he's not afraid of you even though you know he should be. he asks why you're making an army for jedi if you hate them so much and you don't have an answer for that because you don't know if it's hatred or fear and you don't want to live but you haven't killed yourself yet so apparently you also don't want to die.

so you're stuck in the middle and it's so fucking stupid how so many people see the world in black and white when all you've got to work with is greys. you took a job because the alternative was probably going to be getting killed for saying no, but when's the last time you saw someone pointing a blaster at you and thought about getting out of the way?

sure you can trust your armour to take the bolt but maybe this time it won't. your father's armour couldn't stand up to a tank, and maybe enough blaster bolts will start wearing a hole through your shell to the nothing underneath it. maybe that's the legacy you're meant to have. you get shot like your father and you die like your father and you have - what?

you have a son and you want him to be jaster's legacy but maybe you wonder what that legacy is supposed to be exactly. you wonder if leaving your son alone is part of the legacy. if it's the point. the only way to get a legacy is to inherit it and you can only inherit things from murdered fathers. what happens when the story won't stop haunting you? when you know what the end is - because it's the way you want it to end, whenever you're alone long enough to think about it.

what happens when you realise too late that you're part of a cycle and your son is too? when you realise that everyone you love is dead and there's so many people killed in so many ways and you're the only thing they all had in common?

are you proud when he tries to shoot a jedi? is it a good thing that you see yourself in him? is that your legacy, dying in front of the only thing you want to protect? do you see the future? do you see the past? do you realise they're the same thing? do you realise it too late?

[frasier-crane-style]

I think I cracked Gal Gadot

She's the twin to all those 'character actors in leading man bodies' like Chris Pine and Brad Pitt--she's a girl next door in a supermodel body.

She was so good in Wonder Woman because she got to play the character girlishly. She was happy, sad, afraid, concerned, lovey-dovey, hopeful, dispirited. Seeing her express strong emotions made you empathize with her and feel what she was feeling. The same principle as Luke Skywalker in ANH: he may be disparaged as whiny, but he didn't get to be one of the biggest pop culture icons of all time because people didn't relate to him.

The problem is, in everything else, Gadot is either playing a stoic, driven Strong Female Character (Fast & Furious, Heart of Stone, Justice League) or maybe a vampy girlboss (Death On The Nile, Red Notice) and it's just outside her range, not letting her show any of the charisma that made her so watchable as Wonder Woman.

Even in the DCEU, post-origin story, she's generally played Wonder Woman as brooding, reserved, stoic... a little like Luke in Return of the Jedi.

Now, that worked there because it was the end of his arc and he wasn't quite a Jedi. He still had to defeat Vader and the Emperor, he was conflicted, he got angry. Now imagine if they made a Star Wars movie set after RotJ, with Luke as a Jedi Master, and he was still the protagonist. It'd probably be a little boring, right? He'd be all-wise, all-knowing, infinitely patient. A good mentor, sure, but as someone relatable? No, I think it'd be a bit dull.

Which is the problem with Wonder Woman. Yeah, she can't stay a naif forever, but her as a perfectly poised, perfectly controlled badass just isn't much fun.

I think Patty Jenkins realized this was a problem with WW1984 and tried to course-correct, with an overlong first act that gave us Diana in love again, smooching with Chris Pine again, and having internal conflict again, but it didn't work. It was trying too hard to take Diana back to who she was and doing so in a not very effective way. Right idea, but poor execution. Especially since they wanted to start off with Diana brooding, sad, et al, so that her character arc would end in her being happy.

It's a thorny problem. They have Chris Pine die to give her angst, but Wonder Woman with angst isn't very engaging and they can't give him back for realsies and they have to line up with Batman V Superman at least a little. I don't know, I don't think they ever figured it out, even though they devoted the whole plot to fixing this and trying to show off Gal Gadot's very real charisma.

I don't really have a solution myself, I'm just a guy on the internet--I'm saying the problem is that Gal Gadot has gotten so big she can only take A-list parts and modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking says that Strong Female Characters can't be too feminine or show a lot of emotion or be vulnerable--the only emotion they're allowed is to be smug about how awesome they are--and Gadot is notably bad at playing these badly-written parts.

I think she'd actually be great pulling a Leslie Nielsen and making fun of herself, at least a little, but that requires more wit than an algorithm is capable of generating, so I don't think we'll see that for a while.