#also the whole sabine suddenly becoming force sensitive thing is something i just have to accept now

[pandora15]

so yeah I still feel the same way I felt at the beginning of the ahsoka series

there are things I really REALLY liked about it. but there are also things that I find frustrating and like. not really fleshed out at all?

like.

ezra's whole arc was amazing. his dynamic with sabine? him getting to make a new lightsaber that looks like kanan's? him finally getting to go home and reuniting with hera? i was almost CRYING at that part and I literally screamed when it cut away before we could see them hug. all of it was AMAZING.

but I'm also like. frustrated with the way that they didn't really explain sabine's past? or like, the things that connected her from the end of rebels to now. like I feel like I still don't understand what happened between her and ahsoka before the events of this show. there was that moment where huyang talked about it to ezra a bit but it's like. so quick and just like "oh ahsoka was worried about sabine turning to the dark side" and then it's never mentioned again???? it's just like how baylan mentioned mandalore's destruction in ep4 and how it drove sabine and ahsoka apart as like a throwaway line and then it's never brought up again? i'm??????

but I also really REALLY liked baylan and shin, and the fact that the mortis gods are referenced at the very end of this season INTRIGUES me. i need to know where this is going.

every time hayden showed up in this series he was INCREDIBLE. probably definitely my favorite part of the series. episode 5 is definitely my favorite episode.

but I'm also like. not feeling great about how ahsoka seems to think about the jedi at the time of the clone wars. she says this line about how anakin was the only one to stand by her, even when no one else would, when homeboy literally turned to the dark side and later tried to kill her in rebels? did she forget about that?

did she forget about all the jedi who mentored her during tcw? about plo koon, luminara unduli, tera sinube, aayla secura? about obi-wan? we haven't seen her even mention any other jedi from that time other than anakin (and kanan, in today's episode, but that's literally because of ezra).

i'm just hnggggggggggg so conflicted. the show does some things so WELL and I'm in awe of those things but then it also just. completely misses the point or confuses me or just makes me vaguely upset and it just leaves me in this state of being frustrated

anyways.

overall I did enjoy the show, even if it sounds like I didn't. It's just. I think it would've been better if the ahsoka series and the rebels sequel were two different things, y'know? it would've given more time for both of these storylines to be fleshed out more properly.

but here we are, I'm accepting that this is the show that we got, and I think it was good. I'm intrigued to see what happens next.

[gffa]

I don't know if you have read about Filoni saying that anybody/everybody can use the force now, that it was GL's vision on the force which is clearly a misinterpretation imo, to me he's just trying to make excuses for his bad writting about Sabine in the Ahsoka series. I do like the idea of everyone being part of the living force but I hardly dislike to think that anyone can be force sensitive and "become a Jedi" like they are trying to imply now. I mean, being a Jedi is more than being sensitive i know but I hope i make sense in what i'm trying to say here. I do like Sabine in Rebels she is such a good character as she is, a badass Mandalorian, why everyone needs suddenly use the force and be a Jedi out of nowhere? I'd like to know your opinion about it if you feel like answering. Thanks.

I mean, I will give Felony this: I'm pretty sure Lucas did say somewhere along the way that the Force is for everyone/that everyone can use the Force. My issue with Felony isn't that Sabine can use the Force, it's that his writing to take her down that path felt disconnected from her entire established story and that he stretched the worldbuilding too far--being able to grab your lightsaber in battle, okay, sure, maybe I could accept that, but the ability to also give Ezra a massive push across that huge of a distance. The Jedi have always said the Force is for everyone, Yoda gives a whole speech to Jek, Thyre, and and Rhys about how they can use the Force to quiet their minds in the very first episode of TCW. I don't have Lucas' quote on hand, so take it or leave it as you will, but I do think "the Force is for everyone" fits with his themes. I just don't think that Sabine being written as a Jedi makes sense for her character, even given how lost and adrift she felt (not that we actually got to see any of the important part of why she would turn down this path, just suddenly she's here! and only monologuing to tell us what happened), beyond Felony wanted her to be special. And I'm all for female characters getting to be special (male characters get to be special all the time) but not at the expense of breaking the worldbuilding, because now being able to wield the Force means less, because it's being handed out like candy to Felony's faves, rather than something that has worldbuilding and thematic rules. But that's also coming from someone who cares more about the Force and the themes of the narrative than almost any single character in Star Wars, so I treat it as being rather precious, and other people aren't going to feel the same way. A lot of people probably did love Sabine getting to use the Force. If Sabine had genuinely only been able to do small things or used it to quiet her mind/feel connected to the galaxy, I would have been perfectly fine with that. That made sense to me. But that giant push for Ezra to get him on the ship? Blehhhhh, that was more about making a Dramatic Moment than it was about keeping to the themes of Star Wars. So, personally, I'm just kind of compartmentalizing it into "Felony's pet fave gets special treatment, I'm not counting it towards worldbuilding" because I just don't care enough anymore. XD

[fangeek-girl]

My very biased review of the Ahsoka finale

This might thread down the unpopular opinions road. It's all right. That's what opinions are for.

Let me start by saying that I didn't like most of the finale. I had a grand total of 2 scenes I enjoyed: Ezra reuniting with Hera, and the very end scene with Hayden (shocker, I know).

I didn't like most of the show in general, mainly because of the whole clusterfuck with Sabine being trained as a Jedi. I hate it deeply because it undermines Sabine's worth. She was already a great character. She didn't need to be made better or more powerful by becoming Ahsoka's apprentice. She didn't need to suddenly develop Force-sensitivity. The cool thing with Sabine was that she was NORMAL. Yes, she was a Mandalorian and skilled with blasters and explosives, but she was a regular person. She was a non-superpowered human in a galaxy where heroes were known as having superpowers. That's what made her so interesting in Rebels. And this whole season she was at her best when she switched back to what she knew: guns and bombs. Her best scene in the finale (imo) was when she crashed the ship and took 2 TIEs with it. That's who Sabine is.

I'm also mad at how little information we had on Baylann and Shin. They were depicted as the main villains in the beginning, but we never got their back story. By the last two episodes they're discarded to make room for Thrawn, which I understand, but we still don't even know who they are. What's their story? Where did Baylann come from? How does he know Anakin? How did Shin come to be his apprentice? And the worst part is we won't ever get clear answers because Baylann as he was in this season cannot be in the next due to what happened to Ray Stevenson. So this is just a loose thread. And the way it ended doesn't give me hope for Shin either.

Midway through the show it feels like Filoni had a shift and stopped caring about this being the Ahsoka show and just making it a setup for his Thrawn movie. And I hate it. I hate when film and showrunners make what should be a stand-alone (in a previously established universe) into a prequel. It's the crap Marvel did and now Star Wars is trying really hard to copy that. (Yeah I know, it's Disney. Pisses me off all the same.) This show was called "Ahsoka" for fuck sake! And by the end, it was the Thrawn show. We had an entire episode (1x06 Far, Far Away) without Ahsoka in it, except for like one scene in the beginning. Can you imagine a Kenobi episode without Obi-Wan? An Andor episode without Cassian? It makes no sense! It's the same kind of bullshit they pulled with BoBF when it became The Mandalorian s2.5 halfway through. Yes, it progresses the overall story, but in a way to set up something else instead of focusing on your main character.

In the same vein, I hate how Jacen was set up in the beginning, then discarded, how we never even saw Zeb and Agent Kallus, how Hera just became the way to tie Ahsoka back to the New Republic, how Senator Xiono could have been a good antagonist but ended up being an asshole without substance... There were too many things set up for a show this short and most of them ended up fizzling into nothing.

Now, I did like the Anakin parts. Yes, that's because I'm a Hayden stan through and through. Put him anywhere in the GFFA and I'm a goner. The World Between Worlds scenes were absolutely phenomenal, and probably why I'll rewatch this show again. Sorely because of Hayden (although Ariana was incredible too in the TCW scene). His Anakin brought this whole show to another level. No shade to Rosario, I love her. But this show didn't do her justice. Especially not next to Hayden when they had them sparring. The rest of the show I was disappointed in all of her fight scenes because how can I believe the girl who trained under Anakin Skywalker is so slow? They, probably without realizing it, built her up to fail. And it bothers me because we know from the animated series that Ahsoka is amazing in a fight.

I also appreciated the zombie troopers. The rest of the Dathomir storyline is a bit muddy and I'm not sure I love it, but I guess I just have to wait to see how they try to make this fit post-Jedi Fallen Order/Survivor.

I don't even know where I'm going with this by now. I just... I wish this show had been different. The ending is kinda making me cautiously excited for Thrawn. (But only if they bring in the Chiss Ascendancy and Eli. I need my Thranto fix in live action, thank you very much.) There's also all the little easter eggs of Mortis that make me wonder if they didn't pull a Lost and they're all just dead (which I would respect a lot more than whatever else they seem to be building on).

In the end, I am deeply disappointed in what the show ended up being. Apart from a few moments, most of it was "meh" at best for me and I mourn what could be if Filoni stopped trying to make all his female OC the biggest badass that ever was and one-up one another.

[andersoncharm]

And it's My Whole Heart Deemed and Delivered a Crime-Part 1- Thursday, November 12, 2020

MiniPara: And it's My Whole Heart Deemed and Delivered a Crime-Part 1

Rating: PG.

Pairing: Seblaine.

Hunter: @orderofhunter

Blaine: @andersoncharm

Sebastian: @smythesm

When: Thursday, November 12, 2020- Early morning.

Location: Sebastian’s Apartment- Boston, MA

Notes: Hunter and Tony bring warnings to Blaine and Sebastian. (Mostly between Blaine and Hunter, Sebastian has a small part.)

Warnings:  This rp includes; Mentions of death. Parental Death (Blaine’s Mom), Mentions of toxic past relationships. Mentions of brief past Klaine.

Extra Warnings: (This hasn’t been brought up for a bit but, this RP is not Kurt Hummel friendly. You’ve all been warned.)

Blaine’s POV:

Sleep hadn’t come to Blaine Wednesday night, it hadn’t come easy to him since Sam had dropped it on him that Kurt, his spiteful ex boyfriend accidentally knew about his forbidden relationship with Sebastian. He’d been tossing and turning only to make himself get out of bed so that he could recheck the boundaries of Sebastian’s apartment building. He’d reinforce all of his protection and deflection spells every single night. He found himself sitting close by and glancing over at Sebastian as he slept, studying the shape angles of his perfect face, more often than sleeping himself and his body was starting to feel it. He was exhausted yet terrified to make a sleeping draught for himself, what he was to wake up only to find that they’d taken Seb from him? It wouldn’t happen that way, he was sure of it. He had to tell himself that the Council and Order didn’t just harm humans, that they’d only tamper with his memory and only after a fair- hopefully fair, trial for the Witch in question. 

Freya and his own father had been basically MIA for the last three weeks and Blaine was trying not to take it as a bad sign, he knew better than that though. When he did see Freya, she came with warnings and Blaine would ignore her, tell her that he’d manage it and they’d all be okay to which she’d disappear all over again and he wouldn’t see her for days. He’d been dismissed from his work with his father and had only seen him twice since Sam had dropped the news on him and each time Will looked murderous and stressed, and if Blaine were honest with himself, a little like he might burst into tears at any second. Ras, even though he was only a companion for humans, could still sense Blaine’s raw energy and he’d stay up with him sometimes, his chin on Blaine’s knee as Seb slept. Blaine would idly stroke the dog's golden fur to comfort himself just as much as Enjolras and whisper how he’d make sure to keep his papa safe for him.

Needless to say Blaine was prepared when he heard the sharp knocking on the door at 4:46 am on Thursday morning. He knew it was Hunter, he knew the man now and  had become his friend and had learned his energy so he could feel Hunter’s annoyance, anger and fear before he even stood up from the bed. He made his way over to the other side to press a kiss against Seb’s temple telling him it was just Hunter and that he should just stay in bed. He’d take care of it. Blaine knew better, Sebastian would come padding down the little hall after him shortly regardless of what he’d said and Blaine actually wanted him to, wanted to keep him close but didn’t want to disturb him. Just behind Hunter’s energy Blaine could feel Tony, her energy feeling just as angry and fearful but with a side of determination that always followed the woman that his mother had given his life for. His friend and sister that he’d accepted without second thought. 

He gave Ras one last pat and made his way to the front door, his bare feet hitting the cold hardwood as he took deep breaths to prepare himself for the news he was sure to come. The fact that Hunter didn’t just use his key was proof of that. This was formal, this was real. And as he opened the door to their faces he wondered if Hunter would take him now, he wondered if he should have kissed Sebastian harder last night, if he should have held him closer and told him he loved him an extra time… He swallowed hard and stepped aside for the two of them, forcing his voice to steady.

“So... they know, don’t they?”

Hunter’s POV:

Hunter had been called in to an emergency meeting with the High Order. His stomach twisted in knots and his hands would have shook if he didn’t have expert control over his nervous ticks. He knew what this was about and he had been dreading this moment for a long time. Hunter rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and drank a Red Bull in two swigs, pulled on his best suit and made sure his blade was tucked away discreetly at his side. Tony was already awake and ready strapped into her tall black boots and braids pulled back high on her head.They barely spoke as a sober cloud followed them to the headquarters. They were in silent agreement that Hunter would volunteer to go retrieve Blaine if he wasn’t selected and Tony would protect Sebastian.

From the moment he crashed into Seb’s place and met Blaine, he knew this was inevitable. He could cry if he hadn’t been trained so well, because he had worked so hard to protect the two of them. Hunter had risked his legacy and his reputation to delay this process for as long as he could. He and Tony had ignored their better judgement so that they could all pretend to exist in their tiny bubble of friendship and love and laughter. To dance until their legs ache and fall into a pile of limbs on Sebastian’s living room floor, to see his best friend finally smile a smile he had never seen, to see Tony and Blaine finally breathe a sigh of relief. 

The meeting went exactly how Hunter had expected. His father had handpicked Hunter for a mission and announced that The Council had requested a witch be brought in in 24 hours. 

“This is a sensitive case. The witch involved is the Son of Headmaster and East Coast High Council leader Willem Anders, under the guise of Anderson now, and there is also...a human.” Hunter’s father made a point of looking into his eyes. His friendship with Sebastian obviously wasn’t a secret, his father knew the Smythes. His mind had finally (a little too late) made the connection that his father had figured out he was in the middle of everything. Why would Sebastian Smythe, Harvard law student and son of Thomas and Sabine be involved in something the very opposite of himself? Hunter could only imagine all of the things his father was thinking. “The human is not to be harmed. We’ll have agents watching his residence.” And Tony will be stealth on the roof for extra protection, he thought to himself. 

Hunter’s father pulled him aside and made sure to let him know how disappointed he was and to threaten him into making sure this expedition went off without any inconveniences. He had begged for more time but wasn’t allowed. “The Council is agitated,Hunter. Their idol being brought in for a trial? Their leader persecuting his own child? One of our family friends involved? I’ve had to pull a lot of strings. Twenty Four hours. Do not fuck this up.” 

Hunter headed over to the apartment by himself and couldn’t help but shew on his fingernails as the radio growled in the background of his busy thoughts. Tony had already taken off, he was sure she’d be there waiting after doing recon of the neighborhood. If the witches were agitated, who knew what meddling could be happening. Obviously the wrong witch had found out about Sebastian. Blaine had been so careful, though. Hunter’s mind was running in circles. His phone had pinged. No hunters or witches. They needed to get in and out.

Hunter stood in the living room and made sure that his breathing was even and his hands were steady. He was about to speak when Seb padded out into the living room. His sleepy features looked confused and then scared.Hunter thought to himself that he had never seen him look like that before. 

“They do.” He kept his eyes on Blaine because he couldn’t stand to see what would happen to his best friend’s face.

“I’m going to go off book here. You have 24 hours, after that I have to officially tell you that you’ve been summoned and bring you in for trial, Blaine. I tried to get more time.”

Blaine’s POV:

It didn’t matter that Blaine had already known this was coming, it didn’t matter that he’d spent almost every waking hour since he’d met Sebastian trying to keep him and their relationship safe or that he’d done his best to ignore the warnings that something was coming from him and just focus on what he needed to do. However, hearing Hunter say those words and seeing his face and Tony’s face was like a gut punch and it took all of Blaine’s dwindling energy not to sway on his feet. He blinked once, his eyes finding Sebastian’s for a moment for strength, and he wanted to go to him. Wanted to hold his hand and wipe the scared look off of his face. His boyfriend looked so small and childlike for a moment. Confusion and fear evading his normally collected features and there wasn’t a single thing Blaine could do right now to take it away. 

He took another steadying breath as Freya sauntered into the apartment and sat down next to Ras, her energy keeping the nervous pup at bay. She looked at Hunter with momentary disdain, like she was going to do something about him taking her person away. She knew better though. Hunter and Tony were friends. They wouldn't hurt him. Hunter was doing Blaine and Sebastian a service by coming to them first. He could have just waited until 4:30 am tomorrow to come and take him in. He nodded once and looked up at the two of them, pulling his eyes away from Freya and Ras.

“I know you did, Hunter. And I am grateful for the both of you. You’ve already done us a solid by telling us as early as you did. Thank you.” He paused, his brain kicking into overdrive. “I- my dad…?”

He didn’t know what he was asking but Hunter’s subtle nod told him all he needed to know.  It suddenly made sense why he hadn’t seen much of his father for a bit. He was being prepared to head a trial. His stomach dropped and if it weren’t for the fact that he knew Sam had been the one to spill it he would have thought maybe it had been his dad. Did his dad hate him now? Of course he’d know that Blaine was with someone he wasn’t supposed to be with, how could he not know? He’d all but said it outloud. Would he try to help him? Would he turn him away and send him the fire for ashes? It all sounded so very dramatic but it was the way of Witches. He took another deep breath and stepped towards the two of them before pulling Tony into a tight hug. She’d been standing strong but her energy was sadness now and Blaine wanted to take it away.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay. Yeah?” She nodded at him, but didn’t look convinced as she reluctantly let go. He then reached out and shook Hunter’s hand, another thank you, this one silent and for his last day with Sebastian. He kept his voice low so only Hunter could really hear him. “Sebastian first, okay? Keep him safe first...” The thought of Seb’s memories being stolen from him was too much for Blaine. He let his voice trail off and let his hand drop and moved towards Seb, finally allowing his fingers to link tightly with his soulmates. “I know I shouldn’t be asking the two of  you for anything more… but do you think you could not tell me what’s happening with the trial? The less I know the better. A-and maybe if you could give us until the very last minute tomorrow?” He was trying to keep his shit together. Trying to keep calm for everyone else in the room. “I’ll be ready at 4:30 in the morning, not a minute later. I’ll come willingly, but I understand the need for restraint. Especially if we need to save face.” He swallowed hard, his fingers tightening on Seb’s as he struggled to come to terms with the fact that he might only have one day left with Sebastian. Probably forever. 

Sebastian’s POV:

Sebastian’s head was buzzing and he felt like he could throw up. Blaine had warned him about this day. Hunter had chastised them about being careful.They had been in limbo for a few weeks and spending as much time as they possibly could together and yet, it felt too sudden. He held onto Blaine’s hand and squeezed. Sebastian shook his head and mouthed no but of course everybody would be worried about the average, powerless human.

 His eyes welled up with tears and his knees trembled. Seb hated this feeling, hated feeling useless, hated the thought of Blaine being restrained and pulled out of his apartment into an uncertain fate. How was he supposed to not spend the whole night not dwelling on the fact he might lose the love of his life? That his best friend had to be involved in all of this bullshit? 

Seb wrapped an arm around Blaine’s waist and kept him close as Hunter spoke. He gave a weak smile when he touched his shoulder and promised the two of them he’d stay put in the apartment even though it was going to drive him insane.

Hunter’s POV:

Hunter shook  Blaine’s hand and nodded, “Of course, Blaine. We have to do the next part for the show of it. I’m risking a lot being here right now but this is the plan. I’m going to come here at approximately 4:30 am. I’ll be in my official garb and I’ll summon you. I have to restrain you. My dad knows that I know you and to protect as many of us involved as possible, we have to go by the book. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have some...tricks up our sleeves. Tony will start watch tonight and I’m going to do some behind the scenes work.” 

He took a step towards his friends. Sebastian’s eyes were watery and it made him hate the situation that much more. “Blaine, we’re doing everything we can to help you. Bas…” He reached out and gave his friend’s shoulder squeeze, He couldn’t find the words to comfort him. Not because he didn’t want to, he just knew that there weren’t any. Hunter looked the two of them over one more time before stepping away. Fuck, he hoped he could fix this. All he wanted to do was wrap Blaine in a hug and tease him again. 

He cleared his throat and stepped back, he needed to be in business mode. “Sebastian, you’re to stay in this apartment tomorrow. Blaine, make him some droughts to stay calm.” Hunter turned to head towards the door where Tony waited to start her stake out. “4:30 am sharp.” He stepped out into the hallway and exhaled. Tony held on to his hand for a moment before bounding up the stairs. They didn’t need to speak, they both knew what lay ahead and that words were no use at this point. 

Blaine’s POV:

Blaine wracked his brain for an idea, anything that would help his friends help him and Sebastian. All he had was his fierce and sure knowledge that Sebastian was his soulmate, his red string, meant for him and written in the stars. It didn't matter that the rules said a human couldn’t be that. Just like it hadn’t mattered that he’d be sent to the pyre if it were found out. Blaine knew that other witches had been burned for breaking this rule. But, those witches had been only playing with the human in question, and those humans had gone on to live lives and had been made to forget what the sinister Witch had done to their minds. But, Blaine and Sebastian were different. They were real, this wasn’t make believe. And as he watched Sebastian’s green eyes well up with tears he wanted to curse the gods once again. How cruel were they to do this to them? Let him meet this man that he wanted nothing more than to spend his forever with just to rip him away… It was in that moment that he knew- given the choice between Sebastian and keeping his magic he’d give up every wonder he’d ever known from his craft just to be able to grow old with him. Of course it didn’t work like that, they could drain him almost all the way down, weaken him, or completely snuff him out. But, they could never just take away his magic. It was his gift and his curse.

He could feel it, the swell of rage and magic combining in his body over the absolute unfairness of it all. For the first time since his mother had died he felt dangerous. Like he could do something awful, something truly worthy of getting him sent to ashes. He felt the tingle of darkness in his fingertips and for a split second Blaine wanted to fight, wanted to tell the world to fuck off, to hex the elders and runaway with Seb. But, that would mean Sebastian would have to give up his career, and he was so close. It would mean losing Hunter and Tony and his dad and Sam. It would mean giving up the kind, loving nature he was known for. It would mean throwing away his healing powers. He never thought he might have it in him to hurt someone, but right now, just this second, he felt a tiny semblance of why some Witches went bad. He closed his eyes and focused on Sebastian’s hand in his and his mom’s clear quartz that pressed heavy and lovingly against his chest and took a deep breath. Slowly he felt the rage start to subside, he felt it go from his heart and down his legs and into the floor, leaving him feeling sad yet determined. He’d do the right thing, but he’d make damn sure he went down making sure that they knew they were wrong. That he and Sebastian were the real thing. He only wished he knew a way to prove it.

He looked to Hunter and Tony and gave them a sincere smile, trying to show them how grateful for them he was. It tugged at his heart as he watched Hunter squeeze Seb’s shoulder in goodbye, knowing that the next time he saw him he’d be taking Blaine away from him. He stood there for a moment, Sebastian’s arm around him, heavy and comforting as he listened to the door close and heard the click of Hunter’s key locking the door. Not that it mattered, Blaine would be putting up even more protection charms before the next morning. Charms that only allowed Freya, Hunter and Seb and him into this home. He stood there, letting the built up feelings wash over him for a moment. He now had less than twenty four hours to spend with Sebastian and Ras and Freya, he needed to keep his head level. He turned then and looked up at Seb, his arms wrapping around him tightly and his face pressing into his chest.

“It’s going to be okay…” His words were a murmur and he repeated them twice before pulling back and giving Seb a tired smile. “I’m gonna make breakfast for us, yeah? A big one with twice the bacon and strawberries. Since we’ve got to stay in anyway, might as well go all out” He tiptoed up and pressed a lingering kiss on Seb’s lips before turning away to head into the kitchen making sure to pull Seb along behind him, not daring to be away from him even that much.

...to be continued in part 2 within the next couple of weeks.

/fin.