#and then when they showed Luke putting his hand on Vader/Anakin's shoulder as he died

[whump-adjacent]

Well this killed me...

“Coming back, what I was most excited by was the idea of exploring the character of Darth Vader at this point in the timeline. When we meet him in the series, he’s struggling with his past in a way that he needs to reconcile. He needs to kill Obi-Wan to kill that part of himself and become the Sith that he knows he needs to be.” 

Hayden Christensen, A Jedi Returns, 2022

Welp. I’m a mess 😫

At first I thought “what’s he talking about - Anakin isn’t struggling to reconcile his past, he’s a shell of a man with no capacity to connect with his past life or Obi-Wan. But then I realised what Hayden was saying. 

That Vader, needing to completely destroy the tender, heroic Anakin in order to become this entirely monstrous creature, has to eliminate the one remaining link with his past, a link that he knows could have the power to revive Anakin; his Master, friend, and father figure Obi-Wan.

Vader must kill Obi-Wan because Obi-Wan being alive means that Anakin could be saved 😔💔

[theasexuwhalestuff]

Thoughts while watching Part VI of the Kenobi Series

Obi-Wan's proud smile as he watches Leia cheer another kid up with Lola.

Ex-fucking-cuse me how tf is Reva alive??? Everyone is not fucking Darth Maul, okay? And neither does she have two stomachs like the Grand Inquisitor so what fucking gives?? Guess surviving being impaled isn't a big deal these days, huh? I can just hear Qui-Gon looking down from Force Heaven in utter contempt. He died, but these bitches be prancing around all over the place.

Owen is so gruff but so fond of baby Luke I can't.

Obi finally ready to continue the cycle of sacrificing himself for the greater good. Yay, I guess?? Since that's who he was as a Jedi?? Going back to normal.

Lmao Beru snarking back "Whose fault is that?" when Owen says Obi-Wan's gone.

Beru pulling out a giant blaster and Owen just going O.O is my new favourite thing.

Baby Leia sad that the battered grimy old man is going out to get himself killed.

"You're ten years old. But you won't always be." Excuse you STFU how dARE.

Yay sad parting hugs.

The way he smiles and promises he'll come back. That's the our old Obi-Wan right there. Ewan McGregor go OFF.

See the Grand Inquisitor knows exactly when to STFU and keep his head. But his tiny conceding nod to Vader tho LMAO. Like okay, do as you wish dumbass.

The Lars Parents tryna seem hopeful and putting on a brave face for Luke, but you know that kid knows this might be the last time he sees 'em.

Obi-Wan's twinkly-eyed smile at finding Lola in his robe 😭😭😭 Our man is back.

Lola's nervous beep omg.

"I will do what I must," my ass. Bitch can't kill his son-brother for shit.

Omg omg the old lightsaber-over-shoulder-one-hand-out pose is BACK!!!!!

Oh, so he's suddenly back in his old form now? After being fucking roasted days ago? Nice.

Owen and Beru are such icons. Going up against an Inquisitor for their baby boy.

Okay, but Reva severed a woman's hand for talking back. And you're telling me he left Owen and Beru alive? For what reason exactly?

Run, Luke, run.

Ok NOW the duel's starting to get interesting.

Obi-Wan Kenobi fucking smiling as he flings boulders at Vader with the Force is not something I knew I needed.

What an icon. Yet he still won't be able to kill him. 😒

Reva, you're really gonna stoop as low as Anakin, huh? That's the hill you wanna die on? Killing children? Okay gurl. You do you I guess.

DARTH VADER WHEEZING AND GROANING AND TOPPLING OVER OH MY FUCKING GOD YESSSS

Obi-Wan you are such a fucking wimp oh my FUCKING God. Yes, that's the child you raised and loved. But you saw with your own eyes the kinda destruction and carnage he leaves in his wake. And still you thought he might be worth saving?? And even when you realised he couldn't be saved you just up and left????? Explain this to me. You brought fucking Darth Vader to his knees--one of the few ppl who can even do that--and yet you just chose to not kill him??? Have you learnt NOTHING from Mustafar?? You're just gonna let him crawl wheezing back to his bacta tank so he can unleash the rage he has built up for you on innocent people?? Like WHAT THE FUCK MAN. Make it make sense.

Idk why Obi-Wan and other ppl choose to see it like Vader killed Anakin BS. Vader IS Anakin. That's what he became. That's what he chose. That's who he is now. His upbringing might not have been ideal and he might have been groomed. But the choices we make are ultimately our own. Ppl be actin' like his life trauma absolves him of killing literal children lmfaoo. Carry on.

Wow. Luke lost in the desert is the ONE TIME Owen doesn't look like he's contemplating physical violence when he sees Obi-Wan.

Beru not batting an eye at all at Obi-Wan's appearance pretty much confirms she sees him around often. At the market at Anchorhead, when she's out with Luke, maybe.

Reva showing up with a slumped Luke is a sight. Owen and Beru's faces. Thinking she carried over their child's body. Good God. I'm not even a parent but man the chills. Wondering how actual parents would react upon watching that scene.

Their look of confusion, caution and wtf is wrong with you directed at Reva.

Reva seeing real parents actually loving their kid. Their whole world stopping when they think their kid's dead. 💔💔💔

Owen's final look of pure contempt and what tf do you think you accomplished at Reva. Owen, my man, pls stop being such an icon.

Reva crying and Obi-Wan comforting her is another thing I didn't know I needed.

Reva trying to get revenge by killing Vader's kid, to avenge the kids he killed, but failing cuz Luke is a kid and someone else's family is just poetic.

"He killed them all, and I couldn't do it."

And yet she's afraid of becoming the monster that slaughtered her family.

I'm actually gonna thank Star Wars for showing how deep childhood trauma and hurt run.

Vader abt to force-choke the nearest being and Palpatine just goes you seem agitated, bro.

Palpatine tryna figure out if he needs to have his pet cyborg murdered.

Alderaan my beloved.

Dang nooo why is it so beautiful it's all gonna get destroyed.

Baby Leia getting ready for her next adventure. I need more wholesome scenes like this in movies 😭❤😭❤😭❤

Ok but literally HOW did they think Vivian Lyra Blair was gonna pass for a 10-year-old??? She was eight during filming and she looks even more baby. Look at how smol she is and her chubby baby hands 😭❤😭❤😭❤

I just keep rewatching the scene and laughing. How are her chubby baby hands actually doing any fastening??

How did Breha not see the holster before? No srsly? Did Bail help her hide it? Cuz if not, what in the rich parent BS...

Wow. Imagine having loving, supportive parents when you needed it the most as a kid. Just wow.

I fucking love Alderaan so much.

OMG. THERE IT IS. THERE'S OBI-WAN. It's the same smile from ROTS--the EXACT same smile. Our man is truly back for good holy shit look at his happy smile 😭❤😭❤😭❤

HOLY FUCK his old cadence and playful tone--they're BACK. THIS IS OBI-WAN KENOBI FRIENDS. NOT BEN.

Hugging Bail 😭

Omg him just crossing his arms and giving her a playful smile. THIS is the Obi-Wan we know. This is how he is with kids.

"I think you should sleep." DAMN.

Alderaan is so beautiful, but for what? To just get destroyed. ☹

Obi-Wan's voice breaking as he talks abt the things Leia inherited from her bio parents.

"Both were exceptional people." 🤡🤡🤡

I am so sad. We coulda had so much. If Obi-Wan had just killed Anakin during Order 66, we coulda had Uncle Obi visiting Leia in Alderaan and going on adventures with her. No sad goodbyes. More Alderaan. More uncle/grandpa-niece/granddaughter shenanigans. But nO.

Sad parting hugs. AGAIN.

And Obi's just soaking it up cuz he knows this might well be the last time he sees her. Life is pain.

No. Don't let go. Of her baby hand.

Omg it's the outfit from the comics YESSS. That and the teal outfit are my fave.

He leavin' the cave 😔

Owen looking suspicious, but not as suspicious as usual .

"Take good care of him." Like they haven't been for years. Like they didn't just throw hands with an Inquisitor. Bitch STFU.

Owen doesn't like Obi-Wan. But he knows just how much that boy means to Obi-Wan. He's the son of the boy Obi-Wan himself raised. So he gives in begrudgingly and actually smiles at Obi-Wan. "BEN! You wanna meet him?" Owen Lars. What a man.

Baby Luke immediately starts smiling at him 😭😭😭

HELLO THERE

Really liking Obi's new fit.

Bro, the moment I saw Qui-Gon's blue behind HOLY FUCK. CHILLS. I had to pause and scream into my hands and get up and jump around my room. The adrenaline was too much.

And then he turned around and everything went to shit. They spent the entire budget on TBOBF on a fucking perfect-looking deepfake Luke but here we are with 40-yr-old padawan Anakin, AOTC Obi-Wan just aged up a bit, and Qui-Gon who doesn't even look like Qui-Gon. They couldn't age ANY of them down a little???

Before I bitch abt Qui-Gon, does anyone remember Liam Neeson denying being in this series?? He pulled the same thing as McGregor but that bastard not only said they couldn't afford him, but also pretended to not know abt anything going on w Star Wars rn. He literally went do ppl still like Star Wars? As if he never heard of the sequels or oh idk baby yoda??? Played a bit too dumb honey.

Anyway, back to Qui-Gon bashing. This man. Bitch sees his son for the first time in 23 years and the first thing he says is took you long enough?? No greeting, no smile, no reassurance, comfort or an apology, nothing. Bitch ditched his son with the weight of the world on his shoulders, and now after years of that same son desperately calling out to him he responds, saying Obi-Wan's the one who wasn't ready to see him. Bruh. What a fucking bitch. Srsly Qui-Gon? WTAF.

[ariainstars]

The Mandalorian: Is He “Better Vader”?

This may sound funny, but please hear me out for a moment. 

The further I watch Star Wars’ new live-action tv show, the more I get the impression is that Mando is meant to be a positive version of Darth Vader (the “dark father”). 

Father figures usually don’t have a thankful role in this galaxy - either they are absent like Anakin’s, terrifying like Luke’s, or well-meaning but failing in their primary duty of keeping their child safe, like Ben’s. 

Not a few fans, though a little mockingly, like to call Kylo Ren “better Anakin” since his conflict is more fleshed out and the whole figure inspires more sympathy. My theory: is Mando meant to be “better Vader”? 

It was repeatedly and amply shown that the cause for the never-ending conflicts in the galaxy lie for a large part on the side of the Jedi, whose stuck-up attitude ultimately failed. Their order prohibited personal attachments, and even the wisest among them were not affectionate. This was what drove the all-powerful but passionate Anakin, who desperately wanted to have someone he could love and protect, to his ruin: the moment he finally became a father he also became a ruthless monster. Mando is introduced as a merciless bounty hunter, but as he opens up to the child, he becomes kinder and begins to find friends. He grows even more valiant, but also learns how to be gentle and caring. 

Since the Jedi are almost all extinct, but Force-sensitive children still are born throughout the galaxy, we are left with the question of what is to become of them. Some were brought to Luke’s new temple later, but we can assume that not all were identified. 

Mando’s little protegee is staying and making life experiences with a guy who doesn’t know anything about the Jedi and has no clue of the source of the child’s mysterious powers, but instinctively does the right things: he keeps him safe, instructs him, scolds him when necessary, and offers him friendship and companionship. (The Mandalorian who adopted him probably was a good father figure, too.) The child never sees his “father’s” face, but nevertheless he trusts him explicitly. Mando is the living proof that coolness and fighting qualities are not opposed to being gentle and caring.

Ben Solo’s tragic fate was the result of failed fatherhood: Luke did not know how to be a father because he had no children of his own and had had no role model, while Han did not trust his capacity to protect his son from his own powers.

The Parallels

Both Vader and Mando are soldiers. Though not Force-sensitive, Mando is extremely strong and well-versed in martial arts; he never shows his face; he wears an armor completed by a black cape which does not seem to have much practical use. He usually speaks only in short, clipped sentences and has a wry, sarcastic kind of humor. 

Vader was a follower of the Emperor, factually a slave who had no choice but to obey his master, and wherever he went he wreaked terror. Mando does take jobs from the bounty hunter’s guild, but essentially, he is a free man and often offers his services negotiating on his own terms. Noticeably, he fights against raiders and mercenaries or remnants of the Empire, peace following in his wake.

When he first reaches out for the baby, it looks like the opposite to another famous scene in the saga: here we have the adoptive but good father, while the other was the biological but cruel father.  Luke did not take his father’s hand, while the baby instinctively reached out to the man who had protected him.

Note also the scenic reversal: one figure is standing on the right side, hand with upturned fingers reaching out into a void, the scene is bathed in cold light. The other figure is standing on the left, hand reaching down, illuminated by warm light. 

When we do see his face once, Mando is lying down and helpless like Vader; he is not disfigured though and despite being injured, he is not dying. Shortly after this he finally accepts his task as the child’s father figure, while Vader died a few minutes after his unmasking and could not fulfil his fatherly task any more. Also, in both cases we learned the person’s real name not long before the mask went off: Anakin Skywalker respectively Din Djarin.

Given the saga’s love for cyclical narrative, this would make a lot of sense. Star Wars is telling us once more how important a protective and kind father is for a child, both as a role model and an attachment figure. We do not know yet how baby Yoda will turn out; but it would have made little sense for the storytellers to think up such a figure in the first place if they didn’t want him to go another (possibly better) way than his more famous predecessor. 

Is the galaxy at last healing after the terrible conflicts caused by both Jedi and Sith, and will the good fathers be responsible for a better future, maybe even for the long-awaited Balance in the Force? I hope so.

May the Force be with the Clan of Two. 😉

(On a side note: Vader / Anakin was in his mid-forties when he died. Din Djarin is about the same age.)

After the closure of Season 2, I would like to add a few details that also set Din Djarin apart from Anakin.

 Attachment vs. Affection

Anakin’s greatest weakness was his anxiety to lose the ones he loved. In the end, he sacrificed all of his ideals for the purpose of saving his pregnant wife. Luke also loved his friends and wanted to save them, but in that fateful moment before Palpatine, he realized that he would have had to give up his integrity for the purpose, and that was when he decided to throw away his weapon.

Din suffers deeply when he has to give up “his” child to a literal stranger for an indefinite time. However, he knows that it must be done because he does not have the knowledge to train him. Grogu also, reluctantly, lets go when he sees that his “father” is doing the same. This goes to show, again, that he is much stronger than Anakin.

 Following Rules vs Following One’s Heart

Like Anakin / Vader, Din takes his helmet off the moment he has to say goodbye to his child. The famous sentence “Just once, let me look on you with my own eyes” comes to mind. Vader was a Sith Lord and Anakin had been a Jedi. Both adhered strictly to their code: Anakin was a faithful Jedi until he became a Sith and Vader obeyed to the rules of the Sith until for a brief moment he acted like a Jedi again (and, also, like a father, which was a first). Mando unmasks not only before Grogu but also

-     Luke, who is a total stranger -     Moff Gideon, an enemy -     Bo-Katan, a possible potential enemy since she pursues the Dark Saber -     Fennec, an ally but not a friend -     Cara, a friend who never saw his face.

That he is willing for all of them to witness the moment he lifts his incognito shows that Mando is finally listening only to his heart. The Way of the Mandalore, which was his guideline for his entire adolescence and adult life (i.e. thirty years or more), has become less significant to him than the bond he has with Grogu.

Anakin’s tragedy was that he could not follow his heart but that some rules defined by an outside source always were in control. He wanted to be a husband and father and loyal friend, a mechanic and a pilot, not a Jedi or a Sith.

Ben Solo’s tragedy was the same; though not born a slave, he also had no choice about what to do with himself and his life. It was either being a Jedi or a Sith. But we know that he wanted to be a son and a lover, and a pilot.

The same fate occurred to Luke, many years later: the kind-hearted, affectionate young man from Tatooine, who so easily befriended everyone and always was compassionate and helpful became aloof and detached on being a Jedi, because he thought that was what this task required. But in the end, it was exactly what made him not understand and even fear his nephew, with disastrous results.

Din Djarin chose the way of the heart, he is no longer adhering to “the Way”: he said himself that now he can’t put his helmet back on. (Alternatively, he could put it on again, but that would mean defying the Way otherwise.) Grogu has witnessed that a man can very well choose family over a code that was taught to him, even if he adhered to it all of his life. Luke is the one who carries him away, but Grogu looks over his shoulder to his “father”. Luke may become his teacher, but Grogu’s role model, his hero, will always be Din; as it was for Ben with his father Han.

 Hints at the Future

Anakin died twice: once on Mustafar, where he also lost his blue light sabre, and on the second Death Star, where he had lost the red one. Din Djarin, at the end of this part of this journey, receives a sabre, although he never wanted it.

With the Dark Saber, a new fate is awaiting Mando. Is his destiny that of being the warrior-king, protective and honorable, that ought to have been Anakin’s place? Maybe. As they say, the best leaders are the reluctant ones. 😊

[agent-barnes40]

Watching The Empire Strikes back

The old sounding theme

Didn’t Mark Hamill get into an accident before filming this one?

What is up with the Dalek looking probes?

Mark Hamill looks so young.

He sounds so young.

Bruh, Luke wtf?

Y’all I fucking see it! I paused it at 4:27 and for a moment thought that Han was being played by Adam Driver. I definitely see the resemblance now.

Rip Chewie’s original actor

Wheretf is Leia?

There she is.

SPACE MOM LOOKS SO YOUNG

Rip Carrie Fisher while we’re here

Damn, Carrie talks so quietly during this scene.

Damn, Leia’s sass is amazing.

Leia hiding her feelings. Are we positive that Leia wouldn’t be an awesome Gen-Z?

Everyone walking in-between Leia and Han as they fight, iconic!

The angry “YOU COULD USE A GOOD KISS!” Sounds so much like Ben/Kylo. It’s nuts.

Above scene is at 6:27.

3P0! R2!

“OH SWITCH OFF!”

Han looks feral, that’s all I’m saying.

Han’s concern for Luke and Leia warms my heart.

“Between ourselves, I think Master Luke is in conciderable danger.”

“That’s right. My friends right out in it.”

Han, admit it, you’re attached to Luke.

“Then I’ll see you in hell.”

Damn Han.

Ya’ll I forgot that most of the “cgi” was stop motion in these first three.

The old force theme.

Rancor? Thingy is cool.

R2 willing to freeze for his Skywalker master makes me want to cry.

R2 DONT SOUND SAD!

Are we close to shoving Luke into a tauntaun yet?

The rebellion people being concerned for Leia’s worry over Luke and Han while C3P0 just walks up.

Leia closing the doors to the base and Chewie looks so sad.

I’m legit about to cry. They mimicked Chewies cry from this to put into TROS when they tell Poe, Finn and Chewie that Leia’s dead.

Shelby is joining me in my watch of Star Wars.

We’re shoving Luke into a tauntaun now!

Obi-Wan absolutely dissing Qui-Gon.

Glad to know the Tauntaun died of the cold,

Han wielding the lightsaber!

They’re so happy to have found Luke and Han

The bacta tank

Luke is like, WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED WHILE I WAS ABOUT TO GET EATEN!?

The iconic Laserbrain scene.

Chewie laughing and Han looks so betrayed.

NERF HERDER!

Have I mentioned I love Leia?

The sad look on Han’s face when Leia calls him scruffy.

Luke’s like PLEASE DONT GET ME IN THIS!

I forgot Luke and Leia kiss!

3P0 casually mentioning that it isn’t a rebellion signal

Oop, here comes Anakin “So, do you like my plan?” Vader Skywalker.

The Falcon absolutely wreaking Han.

Han and Luke silently communicating.

Vader’s egg.

Vader casually killing someone while talking.

Have I mentioned I love Leia?

The stop motion is amazing.

THE AT-AT!

3P0 casually reminding R2 to be safe.

Luke trying to save his friend

Han running back for Leia.

Han catching 3P0.

Anthony Daniel’s autotune.

The very old sounding theme.

Luke gets his dumbass traits from Anakin.

Carries scream.

Where in the hell is the scene where 3P0 rips the warning on a door?

R2 being worried about Luke.

“Take Evasive action!” Almost dies.

The scene where Han is on the pole and his ass is on display, thank god Harrison Ford got paid for that.

Leia trying to fly falcon shows that she’s a Skywalker and has that natural ability to fly.

Had to switch over to my computer.

“Never tell me the odds!”

Oof, Dagobah.

Here comes the green dwarf who drinks coke every day.

Luke’s X-wing.

R2 falling into the water

R2 scream

Yoda should show up soon.

Vader’s egg.

Anakin’s crusty head.

Han catching Leia

Leia getting pissed

Han flirting

Here comes Yoda, the coke drinker.

Yoda’s so damn high. I’m meaning weed type of high

R2 getting beat by Yoda.

You know for a fact Yoda was beating R2 because he remembers Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker’s way too damn modified Astromech.

How the fuck is Frank Oz still alive?

3P0 wants his husband.

Oop, here comes the kiss scene with Han and Leia.

Han calling Leia by her first name for the first time.

“Scoundrel?”

“I happen to like nice men.”

Finally!

Fucking 3P0!

Han looks so vulnerable.

Oop Palpatine.

Vader’s egg.

Ian McDiarmid has been playing Palpatine since 1980.

Anakin learning that Luke Skywalker is his son and having to pick between killing him and wanting to finish raising Luke. It’s quite sad actually.

R2 getting drenched scares me.

Luke hiding his distaste for Yoda’s food.

Yoda and Obi-Wan talking.

I’m gonna be honest, I hate Yoda. He’s an old man who is doesn’t want change until literally episode 8. He may have taught Luke something but Luke had to learn the way of the force by himself.

Also, Yoda scares me.

Have I mentioned that I love Leia?

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

C3P0 yelling at the Mynock.

Leia faceplanting into the Falcon.

“I am not a committee!”

I don’t like the Luke/Yoda training scene.

The only thing that I believe that Yoda taught look was to absolutely fear his connection with the force.

The whole under the tree Luke/Vader “fight” was to allude to “hey, Vader is this Anakin guy we keep talking about.”

Is that Boba I see?

The light speed fail x2.

“Shut up!”

I don’t like this Luke/Yoda training scene either.

“No! Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.”

Unpopular opinion: Palpatine should’ve killed Yoda.

The soft flute force theme.

Bruh, I forgot Han landed the Falcon on Vader’s ship.

Leia turning 3P0 off.

“He’s a card player, gambler, scoundrel. You’d like him.

“Thanks.”

You can see Anthony Daniels or his stand in breathing in the 3P0 outfit.

Boba following them.

Again, I hate each and every single Yoda/Luke training scene.

“Han. Leia!”

Yoda constantly belittling Luke’s compassion for his friends that he sees as his family. This is why I don’t like Yoda.

The landing on cloud city.

I forgot how much Cloud city looks like Corucant.

Lando Calrissian

Han pointing to himself, *me?*

Lando Calrissian.

“What have you done to my ship?”

“Your ship? Hey, remember, you lost her to me fair and square.”

They are literal children and I love it.

Lando immediately flirting.

Also, what the fuck was George Lucas thinking on letting 5ft something men get chest to chest with Carrie and try to intimidate her with their height whilst trying to flirt with her?

Wtf was he thinking! Carrie Fisher is 4ft something and I feel bad for her.

“She’s the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.”

Chewie going to look for C3P0.

The soft force theme.

The force theme turning to the imperial march.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, you let 12-year old Ahsoka Tano on a battlefield with Anakin fucking Skywalker, the man who stared General Grevious in the face and basically told him to fuck off, and you’re not letting Anakin’s literal son go save his sister and future brother in law! So shut the fuck up dead guy and let Luke save his friends.

Yoda can go die for all I care. I forgot how much of an asshole he is.

God, I fucking hate Yoda.

Leia’s Bespin outfit.

Leia worried over 3P0 is the sweetest thing. This shows just how great of a mom she’ll be.

“I don’t trust Lando.”

Have I said that I appreciate how pretty Harrison Ford is?

Yo! Mandalorian!

Also, chewie finding C3P0!

Leia covering her body when she realizes Lando is watching her is something I thought I’d never relate to but whelp, here we are.

Lando Calrissian is very creepy actually in how he treats Leia every chance he can get.

Han’s ready to punch him.

“Would you join me for a refreshment?”

“No!” I never realized how protective Chewie is of Leia until this scene. Chewbacca immediately is ready to rip Lando apart.

“Having a problem with your droid?”

Han immediately realizes how vulnerable Leia can get when C3P0 is involved and when people she’s intimidated by. Han drew away Lando’s attention on 3P0 to him.

Han drank his appreciating women juice.

Is Boba wearing a death watch thingy on his shoulder?

Leia looks so damn scared.

Han grabbing Leia’s hand tighter to protect her.

Chewie trying to work on C3P0.

The imperial march.

Han’s super pale. “I feel terrible.”

Leia’s vulnerable and even though Han’s hurting he jumps in to protect her and how angry Leia gets, that’s when everyone knows that Leia’s feeling and anger is her protection emotion.

Honestly, I’m ready to skip the rest of Lando’s scenes.

Carbonite.

Okay so when Vader tells the Troopers to put Han into the carbon freezer, Chewbacca attacks, if you notice, Vader just lets him. It’s not because, “hey let’s not anger the Wookiee more.” It’s because according to a scene in The Clone Wars animated TV show, Chewbacca saved Anakin’s padawan, Ahsoka. I like to think Vader was finally paying his debt to the Shriwook for saving Ahsoka.

Han calming down Chewie by telling him to look after Leia.

Han and Leia’s second kiss

“I love you.”

“I know.”

Leia looks so damn sad and scared.

Chewie literally pulling Leia into his body to try and lessen the pain she was in.

The fact that Luke doesn’t realize that it’s Han.

Luke slowly realizing that he didn’t see Han with Leia and Chewie.

The only lightsaber fight between Luke and a Vader that I remember.

I’m not gonna comment on Chewie chocking Lando.

That force jump.

The biggest plot twist in cinematic history, according to the Internet, is about to happen.

R2 getting electrocuted

R2 going to fix his husband.

Oop, Luke’s hands about to get cut off.

Mark Hamill’s scream.

“Luke, there is no escape. Don’t make me destroy you. Luke, you do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy.”

“I’ll never join you!”

“If you only knew the power of the dark side. Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.”

“He told me enough. He told me you killed him.”

“No. I am your father.”

“No, no, that’s not true. That’s impossible!”

“Search your feelings. You know it to be true.”

The iconic “Noooo.”

“Luke. You can destroy the emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son. Come with me. It is the only way.”

Skywalker men are such idiots and always are so dramatic.

The poor film editor, having to make it look like Luke is falling and is just playing with the footage they got of Mark Hamill writhing around.

And here we see just how powerful Leia and Luke are.

“Leia. Hear me. Leia”

“Luke.”

Luke’s just swinging his legs.

Light speed fail x3

“Luke.”

“Father.”

“Come with me.”

“Ben. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Luke, it’s your destiny.”

Mark Hamill is such a talented actor

Welp, Anakin’s gonna kill everyone.

“May the Force be with you.”

Luke’s fake hand.

The chills I get during the ending music.

And that was The Empire Strikes Back. All in all a good classic.

[smokeybrand]

I Am No Jedi

With season two of Mando over and the entire series in the can, for now, i was still on a pretty high Star Wars kick. Since i have Disney+, and time before WandaVision starts, i figure I'd ride this wave right into another Star Wars show i didn’t have the opportunity to actually get into deep; Star Wars: Rebels. Now, i have REALLY mixed feeling about this show. It’s an odd watch for me because of the conflict between the parts that are clone wars-y and the original content being presented. I kind of hate it when Ahsoka, Vader, Maul, or Thrawn aren’t onscreen but, at the same time, there are some really standout episodes. The Honorable Ones and The Forgotten Droid immediately come to mind. Unlike Clone Wars, however, which is a whole ass masterpiece of storytelling and character development, Rebels feels incredibly flaccid, overall. Still, i did like some things therein. Others, not so much...

The Things I liked

This show is gorgeous, man. The character models are lovely, this soundtrack is one of the best in the entire franchise, and the animation is head-and-shoulders above the first last season of Clone Wars. By that i mean season six. This thing ain’t got sh*t on season seven. Not even a little bit. Even so, this how is f*cking stunning to see. Everything about this aesthetic is just chef kiss levels of kino, as the kids would say.

All things Ahsoka. Look, its no secret i adore Ms. Tano but she really comes into her own with Rebels. You get to see that wisdom she gleaned during the Clone Wars on full display, even if she isn’t a proper Jedi anymore. Watching her reunite with Rex was wonderful but watching her fight Vader? That was hard. That was really hard. That episode, Twilight of the Apprentice, is easily some of the finest Disney Star Wars produced to date. It’s up there with Mando and the seventh season of the Clone Wars, for sure, and is the best episode of Rebels, itself, hands down.

Vader.

Maul in Rebels was exceptional. I enjoyed his turn in Clone Wars, of course, but his relationship with Ezra and his growth over the course of this series was exquisite. I was stunned by how much i liked Maul because, admittedly, i didn’t see the allure. I came to Clone Wars late so watching Maul blossom was a surprise. Seeing that continued evolution through Rebels was a real treat. That last duel with Obi-Wan? F*cking tragic. Beautifully tragic.

The Inquisitors. I like the whole concept of the Inquisitors but, specifically, The Grand Inquisitor and the Seventh Sister are decidedly the superior of the lot. I really enjoyed Grand and felt like his character was a little short-changed but Seventh Sister came along and picked up that slack only a few episodes later. Thanks to Rebels, i got other amazing characters like Second Sister in Jedi Fallen Order, The High Inquisitors in

F*cking Thrawn, man. I knew this dude was the dude from the Thrawn trilogy sequel books and never expected him to actually be canonized. Seeing my favorite blue sociopath show up in season four was a real gas, giving him proper credence as a threat going forward in the canon Disney mythos. The revelation that Ahsoka’s whole mission in her Mando appearance, was just to find a lead on this dude, was one of the biggest geek-outs i ever had for Disney Star Wars and it was Rebels that set all of it up.

Speaking of canonization, Rebels mad Darth Bane a thing and i will forever be grateful of that fact. Darth Bane is a huge deal in the canon and Filoni sneaking his legitimacy into the new lore, right under Kathleen Kennedy’s hating ass sabotage, was genius. I heard that he wanted to do the same for Darth Nihilus, Darth Traya, and Darth Scion, but that script was rejected. I imagine Darth Kennedy didn’t care for the Bane slip and put the kibosh on all other lore.

I actually like a lot of the additional lore. The Bendu, those temples, the mega-weapon on Malachor, The Veil; All of it enriches and expands upon the new canon. It gives it more life, more potential. and i love potential in storytelling. Makes for a ton of different, wonderful, possibilities.

Look, i just really like the Bendu. That motherf*cker is hilarious.

I really did enjoy Hera and Sabine. Those two ladies were a delight. I’ glad they were added t the lore because, particularly Sabine, there is a wealth of potential for them going forward. Hell, we’ve already seen the return of Hera in Star Wars: Squadrons and, with Mando going full anthology, i would be hard pressed not to think that Sabine will have her turn as the titular Mandalorian in a few seasons.

Not going to lie, seeing Zeb in this show was pretty dope. As a Star Wars geek, i knew that the Lasat were basically prototype Wookies that were cast aside. It’s dope seeing that design getting a second wind onscreen and a prominent role in the main cast. Plus, i mean, Zeb is actually a pretty chill character, himself.

The Things I didn’t

What the f*ck are these lightsabers, man? They're supposed to reflect the original concept of the weapons from one of the first Star Wars draft scripts, which is cool in a geek sense, but corny as sh*t in practice. These things look anemic, as f*ck, man.

It’s ridiculous to me that the crew of the Ghost are so goddamn pivotal to the fledgling Rebellion. These assholes cannot be this important, even with all of the plot armor. Like, seriously, I'm supposed to believe that they were the ones who retrieved the B-Wing, founded the first Rebel base, and stole Phoenix Nest from the Empire? Word?

There no stakes to this show. Like, i get that our principals had a lot of plot armor in Clone Wars, i never once felt like Ahsoka, Kenobi, or Anakin were ever in real danger, but there were certain episodes where i thought, for sure, their characters would be totally crippled somehow. Not with Rebels. I don’t expect any of these motherf*ckers to have even a semblance of lasting bruises. Kanan literally dies and nothing of importance was lost. Like, i know this is Ezra’s show but goddamn.

Speaking of Ezra, i hate this kid. I don’t know if that’s by design, like Filoni did with Ahsoka in the first few seasons of Clone Wars, but i grew to love her. She’s literally my second favorite character in the entire mythos, after Vader. Ezra did not grow on me. At all. I hate that so many lore altering events surrounded this dipsh*t. Kid ain’t even all that powerful in the force. I’m pretty certain that Ahsoka is stronger than Ezra is but he gets to be the one to “discover” the Veil of the Force. Like, bro, for real? You telling me Anakin, Yoda, or even f*cking Luke missed out on this sh*t? Word?

This show feels a lot like Avatar The Last Air Bender but worse. I had a whole ass emotional connection to the characters in that show. It broke my heart to see Azula having that meltdown. I did feel that same agony in Rebels, but it was for Ahsoka. When Vader looked up and you heard Anakin’s voice through the filter? “Ahsoka.” F*ck, that broke me. It was like watching Spider-Man getting dusted in Infinity War. I never felt that way about any of the ghost crew. Never. Not when Kanan died. Not when Ezra disappeared. Never.

The best parts of this show, of the actual, Rebels, canon, is either leftovers from Clone Wars or Legends content. Bane, Thrawn, Ahsoka, Rex, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Vader, the Emperor, even f*cking Hondo; All characters that existed before Rebels. Outside of the Inquisitors, Rebels added nothing of worth to the canon. It’s effectively a non-show. I mean, The Veil might be a thing eventually. We’ll see. That motherf*cker is a whole ass retconning mcguffin if I've ever seen one.

It’s weird to say, but nothing about this show feels of consequence. I know, for a fact, there are certain aspects Rebels added to the lore that will be vital to the overall canon but it doesn’t feel like that, you know? It feels like this was a detour, a frolic of, like, three or four episodes but holds no bearing to the grander scheme playing out. Sh*t’s ridiculous because Clone Wars felt like a whole ass problem, Rogue One gave us a legit catharsis, and Mando outdid everything Disney ever made while setting up an entire new age. F*ck, man, even the sequel trilogy gave us Kylo Ren. Rebels feels like Star Wars: The Filler Show and i kind of hate it.

[silvereddaye]

Luke and Vader WIP

Digging through my files and found this old WIP. I think this was an abandoned Luke and Vader one-shot. Not sure. I would like to possibly finish this one day . . . But enjoy it for now:

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

The battle was almost ready to commence. A star destroyer fell into formation with the rest of the fleet. Squads of TIE fighters screamed around the large capital ships. Opposing the Imperial fleet was a rag tag group of Rebel ships. But they were no match for the might of the Empire! It wouldn’t be long now before the Empire had defeated the pesky rebels once and for all! 

The door to the bedroom slide open and the nanny walked in. Young Luke groaned as he looked up from his toy ships. He had just finally arranged them into the perfect spots for his epic space battle. 

“Good afternoon prince,” the nanny greeted. “The Emperor wishes for you to join him for dinner.” 

Luke couldn’t help it. He gave a little jump and shout in excitement, which resulted in knocking over a few of the toys. He could just fix that later. He was going to see the Emperor tonight! Luke let his nanny get him ready. Then she took him by the hand and led him through the Imperial Palace to a private dining room. The Emperor sat at the table in his dark robes. Luke pulled his hand out of the nanny’s, skipped up to the Emperor, and bowed down to one knee.

“Your majesty,” Luke said full of pride.

“Ah! My young prince! Rise! Rise!” the Emperor greeted in his raspy voice. 

Luke jumped to his feet and took his seat at the table. Over dinner the Emperor asked Luke about his studies, and the boy was very eager to tell the Emperor of his progress. The Emperor would nod and say, “Good. Good.” Luke couldn’t help but have a huge smile on his face after each compliment. 

-- ((Keep Reading)) --

“Luke, I will be going off planet for some time,” the Emperor said at the end of the meal. A small squeak left Luke as he dismayed over the news. “Do not fret, young one,” the Emperor continued. “You will be safe here in the palace, but I must go and ensure peace in my galaxy. Let me show you why.”

He dug into his robes and pulled out a holodisc. He placed it on the table and clicked it on. At once a blue holograph popped up. It showed buildings and homes on fire or with walls knocked down. Rubble lay everywhere. 

“Reb- rebels?” Luke asked in a small voice. 

“Yes, my dear boy. Rebels and Jedi,” the Emperor hissed that last word. 

He pressed a button on the disc and the scene changed. The scene was dark. It looked to be night time, but the white stormtroopers were easy to see. They ran along a building firing their blasters. The camera panned to the trooper’s target. It was a dark figure that carried a blue glowing laser sword. Blaster bolts from the troopers rained down on it, but the figure blocked and bounced all the shots. Some of the shots bounced back into the chests or helmets of the approaching troopers. The recording ended as the figure jumped at the first wave of stormtroopers. Its laser sword slicing through the brave troops. 

“Jedi . . . “ Luke said. 

“Yes, Luke. Jedi. The vermin still infest my galaxy. They still seek to destroy it. Still killing innocents like they did to your parents. Like they had tried to do you.”

Luke nodded his head. He knew the story very well. The bad Jedi had tried to take over the galaxy. Had tried to kill the Emperor. The assassination attempt had left the Emperor’s skin all droopy and white. The Jedi had also killed Luke’s parents. His family. Along with trying to kill Luke as a newborn baby. The Jedi were bad, horrible, evil beings. 

“Are you going to go kill Jedi?” Luke asked. 

“That would be nice, my prince,” the Emperor replied. “It is always a good day when a Jedi dies, but hunting down the Jedi is the job of the Inquisitors. No I am going to look into several projects that aim to finally bring peace.” 

Luke knew that the Emperor didn’t go hunt Jedi, but the Emperor was just so strong and brave. If he did go hunt Jedi, then surely they would all be quickly killed. No Jedi could stand up against the Emperor! 

“I have a present,” the Emperor said as he waved his hand. A servant hurried over with a white box and placed it front of Luke. Luke wiggled in his seat as he looked at the box with large eyes. He loved presents from the Emperor. The old man nodded and the young boy opened the box. 

“Another addition to your starfleet, young prince,” the Emperor said as Luke pulled the toy out of the box. A huge smile spread across Luke’s face.

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

Luke followed his nanny out onto the green lawn of the palace garden. The nanny had insisted that Luke needed to go outside and get some sunshine. He wanted to stay inside and play starships with his new toy. But the nanny said Luke could do that outside. She handed him a small black backpack to carry the toys in. He wasn’t able to fit in his entire fleet, but he was able to put his new toy in there along with a few others. 

As the nanny laid out a blanket and placed some snacks on it, Luke thought about what kind of game he could play with his toys. He could play hero general Imperial prince Luke Palpatine flying in his TIE fighter as he chased down the legendary rebel Anakin Skywalker. 

Skywalker was the most feared name in the galaxy. He was a Jedi general who led the Rebellion. The worst of the worst. He was the most wanted man in the galaxy with a huge bounty placed by the Emperor himself. Plus it was Skywalker who had killed Luke’s parents and had almost killed Luke too. One day Luke would like to see Anakin Skywalker dead.

The nanny had finish laying out the snacks. She looked up and was about to call Luke over, but that was when the first explosion was heard. Both Luke and the nanny looked in the direction of the sound. Huge black clouds of smoke poured from shattered windows. Then there were the sounds of blasters, glass shattering, more explosions, and people screaming. 

“Prince!” the nanny shouted. Luke ran over to her at once. She quickly scooped Luke up into her arms and ran away from the scary noises and black smoke. They ran inside the palace. Luke kept slipping in the nanny’s arm. He squeezed her tighter to keep himself from falling. The nanny paused to catch her breath. Two stormtroopers turned a corner, spotted them, and ran towards them. 

“Here,” one trooper said as he holstered his blaster. “Give me the prince! I can hold him!” 

The nanny sighed as she handed Luke over to the the trooper. Luke tightly wrapped his arms and legs around the trooper. 

“Thank you,” the nanny said breathlessly. “We have to get to the-” She was cut off by a green stun bolt hitting her. At once she fell over to the ground. Her dark hair spilling across the floor. 

Luke let out a small yelp and squeezed the trooper tighter. The second trooper, the one that had shot the nanny looked over at him. That was when the blackness fell across him. He shouted and squirmed and realized that it was just a blanket. 

“Shhh,” the trooper holding Luke said. “It’s ok. This will keep you hidden.” Luke stilled as the trooper fixed the blanket. Then the trooper started to run. Unlike the nanny, the trooper had a strong grip on Luke. But the boy was still scared. 

“We’ve got the prince,” came a voice. The second trooper? “We’re moving to the rendezvous location.” 

Luke didn’t know what that place was, but hopefully it would be safe. Hopefully the Emperor would come back home and everything would be fine. Luke could play with his toys. He could hear his ships bouncing in the backpack he still wore. 

A few times he tried to pull the blanket off of his head to see what was going on. There was a lot of running and sounds of blasters and shouts. There was even a strange humming and hissing noise from time to time. But each time he whimpered and wiggled against the trooper, the trooper just squeezed Luke tighter. 

This went on for what felt like forever until finally the trooper pulled Luke away. At once Luke pulled the blanket down. It pooled around his shoulders. Luke had been put into a seat. The trooper stood over him and was frantically buckling the boy into a set of crash webbing. The webbing was too big and didn’t buckle correctly on the small body, but the trooper tightened the straps as far as they could go. 

The trooper finished and gently patted Luke on the head. Luke glanced around. A line of seats were against the wall with another line of seats against the wall across from him. There was only a small aisle between them. Most of the seats were filled with troopers or palace aids or servants. He didn’t see his nanny or any of his servants. Suddenly he was bounced off his seat, but the belts held him tightly in place, and then he slammed back into the chair. 

The trooper in front of Luke had thrown his hand out to the wall to steady himself. He cursed and then stormed off down the aisle to a door. Again the whole room shook violently. That was when Luke realized he was on a ship. He gripped a strap of his webbing and squeezed his eyes shut.

He didn’t like this. This was scary. He wanted the Emperor. The Emperor could make all this bad stuff go away because he was strong and good and kind. The Emperor would get Luke out of this scary spaceship. Tears started to form in his eyes. He sniffled, but otherwise made no noise. Not that he would have been heard from the loud noises of the ship rocking and the other passengers grunting or cursing. 

Finally, finally, the ship gave one last shudder before everything fell still and silent. There was a wave of relief that washed through the room. People sighed. Others unbuckle themselves. Others shared smiles with each other. One voice said, “Looks like we made it to hyperspace.” 

Luke looked around the room with his blurry tear stained vision. He glanced up at a trooper who was sitting to his right. The trooper wasn’t wearing his helmet and smiled down at Luke.

“Doing alright there kid?” he asked. 

Luke let out a soft squeak. He brought his legs up, the best he could with the crash webbing still tight around him, and curled up. He pulled the black blanket over his head. He just wanted this all to go away. He squeezed his eyes shut. 

He could feel the other people in the ship looking at him. He hated when people stared at him though he was used to it. People always seemed to stare at Luke. He recalled the big parties the Emperor held. All the adults would look at him. And just like now, Luke hated it. Luckily he was under the blanket where they couldn’t see him. 

He heard a door open and heavy steps approach. Someone shouted, “Nice flying there, Skywalker.” 

“You’re welcome,” a familiar voice shouted back. “Like to see you get us off Imperial Center through the whole First Fleet in one piece.” 

The steps stopped right in front of Luke, who curled up tighter in his ball. 

“How’s he doing, Rex?” the voice in front of Luke asked. Luke realized it was the same voice from the trooper who had carried him here. 

“He held it together, sir,” the trooper to Luke’s right said. “Barely made a noise. He’s been curled up like that since we jumped to hyperspace.” 

A hand gently rested on the top of Luke’s head. Luke jumped a little at the touch. The hand slowly pushed the blanket off of Luke’s head. Luke looked up to see the trooper. He still wore his armor, but no longer wore his helmet. Luke blinked a few times to clear the tears from his eyes. The trooper knelt down on the ground in front of the boy. His hand returned to the top of Luke’s head and gently stroked the boy’s blonde hair. 

“Hey there,” the trooper said softly. There was a smile on his lips. “How are you doing?” 

Luke didn’t reply. He only looked around the trooper at the other people in the room who had all gone quiet. Everyone was looking at him. Most of which were smiling. But Luke still hated it. He looked down at his lap. 

“Here let’s get you more comfortable,” the trooper said as he pulled Luke’s legs down. Then he started to unbuckle Luke from the crash webbing. Once the buckles were undone, Luke wiggled the rest of the way out of the straps. He readjusted his black backpack filled with his toys. He rubbed his face with his sleeve allowing him to see much clearer. 

He looked up at the trooper kneeling in front of him. The man had tan skin and long wavy dark blonde hair. There was a scar by one of his blue eyes. Luke knew this man . . . from somewhere. But the boy couldn’t place where he had seen him before. Luke’s attention was drawn away from the trooper to the other people. Everyone was still watching. Luke frowned.

“Here,” the trooper said. “Come here.” 

He picked Luke up and brought him into his arms. Luke wrapped his arms and legs around the trooper the best he could with the bulky armor. The trooper stood up and carried Luke down the small aisle. The door swung open and then shut behind them. Finally the stares were gone. Luke sighed as he rested his cheek against the hard armor shoulder of the trooper. 

The trooper carried Luke down a short hall and through another door. Luke realized at once this must be the cockpit. There were two chairs in front on a large control panel that wrapped around the walls and ceiling. A pilot sat in the copilots seat, but Luke’s attention was on the viewport and the blue swirls of hyperspace. He let out a small gasp. 

“Is this your first time seeing hyperspace, Luke?” the trooper asked. There was a warm amusement to his voice. The trooper sat down in the pilot’s seat. Luke eyed the steering handles and then at the control panel. There were so many instruments and buttons and levers and monitors. He had no idea a ship had this much inside of it! 

“Looks like he’s handling this well,” a voice said. Luke finally looked over at the man sitting in the co-pilot chair. He wore a black Imperial pilot uniform. 

“I don’t think he’s completely realized what is happening,” the trooper responded. “We are all still dressed as Imperials.” 

“Hmmm, yes,” the co-pilot said as he stroked his auburn beard. “We don’t know what his education or conditioning has been like under Palpatine. You must prepare for the worst, Anakin.”

Ana . . . kin? Anakin? Luke slowly turned his head to look back at the trooper. The trooper was saying something back to the bearded pilot, but Luke wasn’t listening. Instead he was staring at the man. The man that Luke was sure he knew. He had seen him from somewhere before . . .

Then it clicked. He did know this face. He knew it from a bounty poster he had viewed a hundred times. This was Anakin Skywalker! The horrible Jedi general! The one who killed his parents! Who tried to kill Luke! Who led the Rebellion! This wasn’t a rescue mission! They weren’t saving the prince from bloodthirsty rebels! They were the rebels! They had kidnapped him!

Luke grabbed the blanket from his shoulders and pulled it back over his head. He squeezed his eyes shut and wished to be back in the Imperial Palace. Back at the dinner table with the Emperor. But mostly he just wished this would all disappear. 

[wishingupontheskyandstars]

I’ve wanted to write this one-shot for awhile, probably since tros came out, so *shrug* here you go :) 

Reylo Week 2020

Day 4: Au: Canon Divergence 

Title: A New Beginning (Rated T)

Click Here For AO3 Link

Summary: On Exegol, Ben and Rey defeat Darth Sidious together, as they finally are able to start their lives together. 

***

Ben felt Rey was near. He ran, after just defeating his former Knights of Ren. His legacy's lightsaber was in hand as he turned the rocky corner, knowing he was heading in the right direction.

He then saw her. Rey used the force to slam one of the red guards to the ground, pushing him away. In front of Ben, the last red guard had a blaster pointed at Rey. He immediately raised his left hand and used the force to smack the guard to the ground, away from them.

He walked towards her knowing his reason to live. It was to be with her, that's all that mattered. Her expression of hope and determination matched his own as they stared intently at each other, knowing what they were going to do.

They turned with their lightsabers ignited, facing the greatest evil the Galaxy had ever known.

The Emperor, known as Darth Sidious, wore dark robes covering his scarred head. He looked ancient and decrepit, meant to be dead for decades but was sitting on his throne before them.

Upon seeing the grandson of his former apprentice and the scavenger girl, he laughed, seeing their weapons raised at him! "You two are weak together—You don't carry the power of the dark side!"

"We don't need the dark side. We are stronger together than apart," Rey remarked, looking defiant.

"Oh? Scavenger girl, you were never my granddaughter. You could never be an Empress." He grinned. "I lied to bring you here together."

"I don't need to be an Empress to have any standing. I've always been Rey of Jakku. Your lies and deceit are as old as your throne."

Sidious laughed. "Good... Good," he said in good humor. He turned to the last Skywalker. "You, my boy, had all the potential I thought you would. The blood of Vader, pity." He shook his head in despair.

"The blood of Skywalker and Solo runs through me, that's all I need," Ben said confidently. Rey staring at Sidious, felt the corner of her lips lift at hearing Ben's words.

Sidious sarcastically smiled, "Oh, yes, son of the swindler, Han Solo, and the traitorous Princess of Alderaan." He snarled at their son. "When I learned of her home planet's destruction, I was delighted to know we vanquished that traitorous planet along with your grandparents—Or wait." He looked up in thought. "But your other family died long before that, didn't they?" He smiled, showing what was left of his teeth, which was not much. He laughed perversely.

Ben knew of his mother's real parents. He wouldn't allow this old man—

"Your grandmother Padme Amidala." He shook his head. "She was Queen and Senator and had promise as well, but when she knew what was coming, she died young, before her time and your—"

"I don't need to hear this from you!" Ben yelled in anger. Rey looked quickly at her other half, seeing the anger build on his face. She breathed slowly, and hopefully, through their connection, he would ease his anger. Seconds later, Ben breathed more slowly, his eyes not leaving the enemy.

"Your grandfather, Anakin Skywalker," he said with disgust. "You hold his saber with such strength," he said softly. "How you stand reminds me of your uncle—"

"Enough talking about my family. You manipulated me ever since I can remember! Your treachery on all of us ends now!" Ben growled. He pointed the legacy saber towards him.

Sidious nodded. "Ah..." He looked at Rey and smiled. "You two, a dyad in the force--Something that has not been seen in centuries is precious indeed." He continued his wicked smile and said, "And now it will be mine!" He quickly attacked them with force lightning.

Ben and Rey were quicker, blocking the lightning with their sabers and using all their strength to keep them standing.

Sidious laughed with pleasure as he continued his force lightning. Rey gritted her teeth, using all her strength to hold on. She felt Ben doing the same. They would defeat this evil, together. All they had was hope.

Suddenly, Sidious stopped and made as to catch his breath. He then laughed, force pushing Ben with one hand, knocking the saber out of his hold. "You will fall just as your grandfather did me!" He used his other hand to attack Rey with force lightning. She was quick and defended herself with Leia's saber.

"No!" Rey screamed. She saw Ben being pulled toward a pit but at the last second, the last Skywalker used both of his hands to use the force, pushing the Emperor off his throne, stopping his force lightning. Ben quickly flipped in the air and landed at the edge of the pit, picking up the legacy saber just before it fell into darkness.

Ben ignited the saber and ran towards Rey. They looked toward the Emperor, his back on the steps of the throne. He was gasping for air. "Fools!" He exclaimed. He sat on the steps and ignited his force lightning again.

Rey and Ben were more than ready this time and were starting to move towards him, pushing with all their might until they felt the presence of those from the past.

They were surrounded by Force Ghosts. Ben looked to his left, pushing the force lightning with his saber, and saw his uncle. "Luke, he whispered. Rey looked past Ben and acknowledged Luke with a nod. On the other side of Luke was a younger man with tousled hair like Ben's.

Anakin Skywalker said to his grandson, "I'm proud that the saber I built has been in good hands." He gave both him and Rey a half-smile, making his grandson raise his brows, seeing his real grandfather for the first time. "Let us help you," Anakin said as he, Luke, and others surrounding the dyad, used the force on Sidious to distract him.

The Sith Lord looked around at all the deceased: Yoda, Windu, Kenobi, Jinn, Secura, Allie, Tano, and the two Skywalkers. Sidious snarled and directed his force lightning at all of them.  

With the Emperor's back to them, Rey looked at Ben, nodded her head, and together they ran towards him. Both stabbed him in the back, hearing him groan in pain. Ben said at last, "This is for my family." Ben let the saber pierce him further. He then pulled the saber back and decapitated him, his body falling with a thud. Rey and Ben stepped back.

"It's done," Rey said. She looked around, seeing the Force Ghosts look at them with gratitude.

Anakin stepped in front of them, putting his hand on Ben's shoulder. Ben could feel his touch. He looked at his grandfather in awe. "Remember, the Force will be with you two, always, as is your family." Anakin smiled, making Ben's eyes water. He looked at his uncle, who gave him a nod. He and Rey watched them disappear.

Ben closed his eyes, instantly feeling his mother. He felt a kiss on his cheek, the same cheek his father had caressed. He then heard, "We'll be with you, Ben, always," Leia whispered, making tears stream down Ben's cheeks. He nodded, believing her words. He opened his eyes and saw Rey staring at him. She lifted her hand, brushing his tears away. He held her hand with his as they looked at each other...

Until suddenly, all of Exegol threatened to collapse. Rey grabbed Ben's hand. "Hurry!" They ran together, making it to their ships. They turned and saw the last of Exegol fall into ruin. They looked above and saw the star destroyers falling, The First Order defeated!

Ben felt the warmth of Rey's hand. He looked down at their clasped hands, squeezing her hand gently. She looked up at him and saw his stare was on their hands. "Ben," she whispered. He looked at her and in an instant, her lips were on his. She finally kissed him, feeling him respond. She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling his silky dark locks.

Ben had his arms around her waist, pulling her more into him. Rey pulled his hair gently as she felt him lift her; she wrapped her legs around his waist, enjoying this intimacy. She smiled against his lips before she felt he kissed her deeper, his tongue mingling with hers. She moaned, feeling something she never felt before, loved.

Suddenly, she broke their kiss, catching her breath. She caressed his cheek and said, "I'm so happy."

Ben nodded. "When I'm with you, I feel this was meant to be."

Rey nodded, feeling emotional, a tear ran down her right cheek. "Yes, me too." She kissed him again and all was right in the galaxy.  

Days later, after leaving the Resistance and having everyone know Kylo Ren was dead but Han's and Leia's son, Ben Solo was finally, home, Rey and Ben were piloting the Millennium Falcon. She dressed in her gray robes from before as Ben wore clothes he retrieved from his father's closet, a white shirt and blue trousers.

"So, searching for kyber crystals first or... Naboo?"

Ben smiled. "Wherever you want to go."

Rey grinned. Ben had his hand on the levers, ready to go into hyperspace. Rey put her hand over his. "Ready?" She asked.

"Ready." Ben gave her a kiss, before they pushed the levers, going into hyperspace and starting their lives together.

[gffa]

JUST THINK OF THE SHEER MAGNITUDE OF WHAT OBI-WAN IS GOING THROUGH.  And how it’s honestly a goddamned miracle that he stayed sane, focused, and balanced in any way, much less as much as he did! His entire way of life is gone.  Everyone he knew is gone.  Everyone he grew up with is gone.  His religion and culture are gone.  His family is gone.  They’re all dead or else too far away and he can never risk seeing them.  He has to hide who he is, because the Empire will hunt him down, even more so than a regular Jedi, if anyone had even a hint that Obi-Wan Kenobi was here, everything would have been destroyed. Obi-Wan Kenobi is a genocide survivor, that’s literally what Palpatine and Vader did to his people.  He’s hunted and would be killed, not just because of who he is or what he’s done, but because of how he was born, how he was raised, the religion/culture he belongs to.  Do you  have any idea the sheer amount of trauma that would cause to a person, to not only live through that, but to have every piece of your history denied to you?  You can’t practice your beliefs openly.  You can’t be who you are openly.  You can’t find solace with other survivors, you can’t even talk to people who aren’t part of it but would be sympathetic.  You can’t share your history, you can’t teach it to anyone else, you’re denied everything but to watch from very far away or touch the mystical energy field that forms the entire basis of who you are, but only in secret. You have to do this for twenty years. Not only did Obi-Wan Kenobi survive this horror, but he rose above it. Of course he has moments where he thinks maybe he should have gone with them, of course he wonders if he’s destined to lose everyone and everything, to be the one that survives beyond everyone else.  Of course there are days he feels lost.  And, in part, this is why his death in ANH hurts a little less, because Obi-Wan must be tired of surviving everyone, he got to die as a Jedi, the one thing that was denied to him for decades. But here’s the thing about Obi-Wan Kenobi:  He does indeed rise above.  He cares about others, he finds inspiration in them, just as much as he inspires them.  The brilliance of Obi-Wan Kenobi isn’t that he never stumbles, but that he gets back up, both physically and emotionally.  He isn’t an incredible person because he never has a bad day, he’s human and he’s been through shit that would have broken so, so many others. No, the brilliance is in that Obi-Wan Kenobi finds his way again.  He remembers who he is, he remembers why he’s here, he accepts how he feels and faces all of it and works through it, until he can let it go, and pick up a lightsaber again, until he can find his balance again.  That is everything that’s going on in this issue, that every heartbreaking line isn’t about showing us a man who is broken beyond repair by the loss of what’s been heaped onto his shoulders, but instead about a man who stumbles and finds his way again. This is Obi-Wan Kenobi, who remains compassionate and warm and kind, no matter how long he’s out in that desert, who makes toys for Luke, who pants Chopper and R2-D2 on the head when he sees them again, who puts a reassuring hand on Ezra’s shoulder, who still feels grief for Alderaan, who gently closes Maul’s eyes as he dies, who loves Luke, who even still loves Anakin, who still has his sense of humor with Yoda after he dies, who helps Anakin over to the other side, who smiles over Luke, who does everything he can to protect Luke before he’s ready.  Obi-Wan Kenobi, who always finds his way again.

[threadsketchier]

Glimpses - a time to embrace

Happy May the Fourth, y’all.

Tagging the usual suspects @culturevulture73 @kaelinaloveslomaris @littlesparklight @onwardintolight

I’ll throw most of it behind a cut this time since I know these get kinda long here on le Tumblr.

Read it at AO3 instead

A couple of hours later Luke was settled into a small recovery suite aboard the Mercy, the fleet’s secondary medical frigate.  The Redemption’s destruction had left a bacta shortage; while Luke’s injuries could be treated without it, that meant a longer downtime, and that meant it’d be a task to keep him barve-tied to his bed until he was actually healed.  We’ll see about that Jedi patience nerfshit now, Han thought.

Being away from the insulation of the forest moon meant the brass was eager to get them debriefed, but Leia put her foot down about allowing them a bit more time to just decompress.  Han was glad and relieved to see her putting herself before duty for once.

Luke should have been sleeping his ordeal off, but the three of them were aware that being in each other’s company was what they really wanted.  At least he was finally horizontal.

“Why’d you look so afraid there when Furball sniffed you out?” Han asked.

Hesitating, Luke gazed at Leia for a minute, his eyes seeming to ask her permission before he would speak.  She simply stroked her hand through his hair, brushing it back from his brow.  He swallowed and replied softly, “I laid my father’s remains to rest.”

A thick silence fell between them.  Han was at a loss – how did the kid find it within himself to care about a monster who’d tried to murder all of them numerous times, who put him in carbonite and sold him off to Jabba, who left Leia scarred for the rest of her life, who’d hacked off his own son’s hand?  But right now the homicidal tin can from hell was dead and Luke was obviously mourning him, and trying to convince him otherwise wasn’t going to help.

Leia’s expression was pained, torn between grief for her brother and revulsion.  It just wasn’t fair to either of them.

“He came back,” Luke said gravely.  “He remembered who he was in the end.  He’s the reason I’m still alive.”

And from there the whole story poured out: how the Emperor had gloated and taunted him over the trap he’d laid for the Alliance, how he and Vader had fought each other, reluctantly at first and then in one last desperate and brutal volley when Luke had sensed Leia’s pain and accidentally revealed the identity of his twin, and been pressed too far.  How close he’d come to the edge of darkness and nearly lost himself.  How the Emperor really didn’t take no for an answer.  How he’d nearly died in a barrage of dark power he hadn’t known the despot was capable of, until Vader found and listened to the one remaining molecule of a conscience he had left.

By the time Luke was finished his voice was thin and his eyes were heavy.  “Leia…he told me to tell you…”  He floundered, searching for a way to express himself, and Leia was visibly steeling herself, probably expecting an apology from a man she still loathed and wanted no such thing from.

Surprisingly, Luke looked self-conscious, not wanting to meet her glare.  “Just that…I was right.”

Han’s eyebrows arched.  “…Kind of a bold thing to say, kid.”

Luke ran a hand down his face, letting out a wheezy little laugh.  “It does sound like that, doesn’t it?”  A tear trickled down his cheek, and his breathing grew shaky with emotion.  “I’m sorry, Leia.”

As anguished as she was, Leia shook her head slowly and laid herself down onto the edge of Luke’s bed to pull him close and hold him, and his arms wrapped around her in return.  Han stretched his arm over both of them and pressed his lips into Leia’s hair.  No, this wasn’t the time for judgment or distance.  Vader wasn’t going to keep their family apart from beyond the grave.

They lingered in each other’s embrace for a while, until Luke whispered, “I saw him there at the end.  At the edge of the village, in the trees.  Father’s spirit was standing next to Ben and Yoda, and they were all happy.  He looked so different, so much younger.  The way he once was.  He’s free now.”

Han didn’t know what to say about that either.  He couldn’t really deny the Force anymore – Luke had done too much, come too far, for him to chalk it up to trickery and delusion.  But this was something he’d never be able to verify with his own eyes.  Was it just wishful thinking?  Some figment of his imagination to give him closure?  And if it was, why should he disparage it?  It’d be like kicking a pup.

But the idea that Vader wasn’t completely dead, that he could still keep existing in one form or another – and a kriffing ghost, of all things – was far more unnerving than comforting.  If this was real, could he watch them right now?  What gave him the right to do that, after everything he’d done to them?

Buzz off, Vader, Han thought sourly, and don’t show your face, either of them, here again if you know better now.  You gave up these kids when you turned your back on doing good.

Luke drifted off to sleep shortly afterwards, worn out from his confessions.  Leaning back against the bulkhead from the crate he’d swiped as a makeshift seat, Han gathered Leia into his lap and held her, both of their minds too preoccupied to doze off but their fatigue and need for respite keeping them in contented silence.

*

“Alright, look, they don’t need to know the particulars.  I’m just gonna say Luke reported straight to me with this business about Vader and him sensing each other.”

“They’re going to ask why surrender was considered a better alternative to diversion,” Leia pointed out.

“I told them I came alone, but they already knew our shuttle had to be carrying a team,” Luke interjected.  “The Executor had your voice on record, and we don’t exactly sound the same,” he added dryly.  “There wasn’t any point in a diversion by then, and if they want to argue about handing a valuable target over to the enemy and doubling the risk by increasing my potential to turn to the Dark Side, I was betting against myself dying along with the Emperor and my father when you succeeded in getting the Death Star blown.”

Both Han and Leia stared at him for half a minute.  “Good strategy, but could you maybe not let us in on that?” Han deadpanned.

Luke had the decency to look sheepish.  “The bigger issue is telling them about my father,” he continued.

“Who says you have to tell them?  It’s none of their business.”

“This won’t make sense to them if I don’t – ”

“Sure it can!” Han protested.  “You’re a Jedi, they wanted you on their side.  They turned on each other because they’re crazy evil assholes and you got out.  End of story.”

“Han.”

“Trust me, kid, honesty doesn’t get you everywhere.  You’re gonna make this harder on yourself.”

A genuine, righteous anger started to twist Luke’s face.  “Han, it’s not just a matter of honesty, I’m proud of him.  He did something no one thought possible – Ben and Yoda wanted me to solve the problem by killing him.  And what was that going to get us?  He’d be dead, and then so would I, or else I’d be at the Emperor’s side right now.  He was my father, Han, and he finally chose to stop the evil.  Anakin Skywalker was a good man once, and he found that good again one last time.  I know it’s not going to mean much to anyone else, but I think it’s a truth worth telling.”

Han shifted back from his seat at the foot of Luke’s bed and held up his hands.  “…Okay, take it easy there.”  He could see Leia’s hackles were being raised and he didn’t think he’d like to be in the epicenter of a fight between these two.

But Luke’s indignation was tempered with self-conflict as he regarded Leia.  “But I know what this means for us.  I know you don’t…want any part of this, Leia.  And I accept that.  I didn’t intend to tell them about our relationship.  You don’t have to claim me as your brother in their eyes.”

Her tone was icier than the Hoth wastes.  “You’re proud of your father and ashamed of your twin,” she remarked, the blade of her words cutting all the much deeper in their softness.

Luke’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open to protest, but Leia snapped, “I know what you’re trying to say.  That you want to protect my reputation.”

“Not just that, Leia, you.  You don’t deserve – ”

“You’re damn right I don’t,” she hissed.  “I’m more than happy to have a brother, but I never asked for Vader.  Even if I had no family of my own, even if I was a wretched orphan in the Coruscant sublevels.”  She sighed loudly and sharply and shut her eyes, reining in her fury.  “But fine.  If you insist on singing Vader’s praises to anyone who’ll hear, what makes you think I’d disown you for the sake of my status?”

Luke gazed back at her, shaken, and she leaned forward to grasp his face in her hands, until their noses nearly met.  “What makes you think I’d let the Empire take anything else from me?”

*

Han and Leia waited for him in the corridor while it was his turn.  When it was over Luke emerged from the briefing room red-eyed and utterly weary, and he sank into Leia’s grasp.  The medics had cleared him, but as far as Han was concerned, he needed a hell of a lot more time to recuperate, not only for his body but his mind also.  For that matter, so did Leia.

“How’d it go?” Han asked.  No one else had left the room yet; he could still give them a piece or two if things hadn’t fared well.

“Not great, of course, but not as bad as I thought,” Luke replied wryly, eyeing Han’s expression over Leia’s shoulder.  Sighing, he straightened but stayed within the comforting circle of Leia’s arms.  “I’d like to think it’s because they know me well enough by now to judge me by own merits, but once upon a time my father was a Jedi, and…”  His eyes dropped.  “Everyone is capable of evil,” he added softly.

“And you think we’d let you stray that far?”  Han challenged him.  “If you didn’t keep yourself in check?”  He stepped forward and jabbed a finger into Luke’s shoulder.  “And don’t use us as an excuse – you think we’d appreciate it from the grave or the void if you went off the deep end after we’re gone?”

“No,” Luke whispered.

“I know it’s hard right then.  But you know better.  Better we all die clean than sink to the level of the goons we’re fighting.  We all bite it in the end no matter what.  If you go bad on us, we’ll be waiting for you on the other side, and I don’t think you’ll like getting your ass kicked forever.”

That elicited a burst of laughter.  “I don’t doubt you would,” Luke chortled.

“Especially with her around.”

Both men looked down at Leia, who held their gazes with a knowing stare of effortless intimidation.  Luke’s laugh petered out as he sobered.  “I’m sorry,” he told her seriously.

“For what?”

“For almost giving myself to the Dark Side for you.  I know it’s not what you would’ve wanted.  I know it’s not worth it.  It was just…”

“Luke, I would have done the same for you.  And I don’t think I would have stopped myself.”

Swallowing hard, Luke cradled her close and rested his cheek on the crown of her head.  “And I’m sorry for the way I told you,” he murmured.

Leia frowned, not comprehending, and shifted herself to make eye contact with him again.  “What do you mean?”

“When I said you were my sister…I gave it to you as a responsibility.  That you had to carry on for me if I didn’t return.  I didn’t…”  Luke shook his head.  “Leia, I’m just glad to have you.  I love you.  You’re my sister no matter what happens or what we do.”

“Oh, Luke.”  She hugged him tight in reassurance.  “I knew that.”

“But it’s still important.  You mean so much more to me than that.”  Fresh tears shone in his eyes, but he smiled.  “I’ll be happy to teach you if you’re ready someday, though.”

“Maybe.  I suppose I couldn’t ask for a better teacher.  Or a brother.”  She tapped a finger on the tip of his nose, drawing another chuckle.

 Luke bit his lower lip, self-deprecation creeping into his amusement.  “You couldn’t ask for a better teacher because I’m the only one right now,” he muttered with a note of melancholy.

Han gently pried them apart and looped an arm around each of their backs to lead them away alongside him.  “Worry about that later.  And the two of you will be sick of each other before you know it.  Alright, now that that’s over, I’ve got a case of Whyren’s in the Falcon with our name on it.  Just go light on it for now, kid.”

[neuroweird]

Bullet point low down of my "TLJ spite fanfic rewrite in screenplay format”.

I’m gonna put this under a readmore bc it’s LONG.

The Resistance is fine and actively working to thwart the FO.

The First Order is bummed out about Starkiller Base, and actively suppressing Republic planets and using them to obtain materials for a New Starkiller Weapon.

The Resistance took over a security base on a moon of a mining planet vital to the weapon’s reconstruction. 

People died, and got hurt, including Paige Tico, but she’s aight.

Kylo Ren is pretty fucked up from his fight with Rey in TFA.

Scaley bandage on his face, arm in a sling, the works.

Giant Projection Snoke tells him to take his stupid helmet off, tells him he’s disappointed, and nothing like Vader. Some insults and manipulations.

Hinting at some “teachings” he’s been trying to get Kylo to work on.

Kylo Ren wrecks his helmet and breaks his hand in the process.

Rey meets Luke and he questions her about the Force, her answer isn’t made fun of. 

Over dinner (fish), Luke explains what Porgs are, Rey inadvertently tells him that Han has died. 

Some emo Ben Solo backstory. Snoke got him obsessed with the Darth Vader myths. He ended up manipulating some of his peers as well...

Luke leaves for some alone time, promised to speak to Rey in the morning.

Leia introduces Holdo to Poe, she will be holding down the security base they took over. This Holdo is not white, and actually dresses like a Vice Admiral.

Gets all his wounds properly fixed (a normal and unstupid reason for him to not have a shirt on).

Does not in fact fix his broken hand, just the bloody knuckles.

Tries some Force Meditation shit and uses the pain of his broken hand to channel it... apparently Snoke taught him this. 

Trying to find Rey..

??? finds her?

Rey wakes up on the Falcon, she was sleepin.

Them Force Whispers guide her to the Archives on Ahch-To.

You know how they light up the tomb in The Mummy?

Rey does that with moonlight and some old mirrors and leads her to the bottom of a big stair case.

Remembers some things Maz said about the Force as she reads some old Jedi Texts.

Sudden massive migraine when she reads briefly about the Dark Side.

Hi Force Skyping hurts like a bitch.

Rey and Kylo are both pretty fucked up by this Force Skyping.

Kylo thinks he’s actually doing it himself.

His desperate ass tries to offer to teach her again, and gets mad when she calls him out “you hurt Finn! My friends!” and she shoots him with a blaster, but it goes through the stone wall.

But that’s not all.

Rey thinking even just a lil bit about Finn.

Yo she’s in the medical bay and sees Finn in a coma and rushes over and touches his hand

Luke’s yelling Rey’s name in the distance.

Finn wakes up.

Poe is right there making sure Finn’s calm, bc he was already in medical.

Poe lets Finn (shirtless now) brace his hand on his shoulder while his back gets looked at, they get him up to date on shit.

Tells Poe about the Rey Dream.

Leia shows up, gives Finn a new shirt, and look they patched up his jacket too!

Finn says he’s sorry about Han.

Leia assures Finn that Rey is alright.

He tells her about his Rey Dream. 

Leia’s sensing something abt Finn.

It’s that he’s Force Sensitive.

Leia and Poe ask Finn if he’s feeling alright and tell him they have someone in their custody that may be of interest to him.

Rey is in a blanket, her nose is bloody and Luke gives her a warm rag to clean her face. 

Luke explains Force Skype.

Rey is skeptical that Kylo Ren is strong enough bc she was like Syke Bitch you’re not lookin in my mind when he interrogated her.

Rey also calls Luke out bc Force Skype made EVERYTHING ENHANCED, girl could hear / feel / see everything, even the porgs, but not LUke.

He cut himself off from the Force.

He gets emo about how failing Leia and the other students, how the Jedi ways were wrong, how they ignored ANakin’s fears and love and trauma, and it was manipulated by Palpatine who saw anakin as a tool...

The Jedi Need to End

But he’ll teach her how to use the Force.

Guess what, Captain Cardinal (from the Phasma Novel), not white, is now with the REsistance thanks to spy Vi Moradi, also not white (canon). he got fucked up by phasma but he’ll be fine.

Finn is a bit distressed bc that’s the man that RAISED him, trained him and the children troopers til Phasma showed up when he was like 12 and eventually took over training the adult troopers.

Cardinal saw Phasma’s face before she left him for dead. Nobody knew he’d ‘illegally’ brought a hostage on board, and Vi saved his dumb ass.

Now Vi has tons of intel on Phasma, and Cardinal is a high ranking First Order operative. Good edge for the resistance. 

Now Phasma and Kylo Ren enter this room where two trooper kids are waiting. 

These kids fucking adore Phasma, there are posters of her in their mess hall I shit you not it’s in the book.

apparently one might be force sensitive.

it’s the girl with vitiligo and she gets through kylo’s unpleasant force test.

bc she sensed that his hand is broken

Girl is so brainwashed / inspired by Phasma that she’s like “do i have to go”

Phasma’s like “this is an honour good luck” but approves the girl’s request for a final “reconditioning” treatment. it’s kindsa creepy.

Guess what the girl is getting shipped to Snoke Island to be a Knight of Ren.

Poe is probably dealing with an Acute Stress Reaction (the thing they diagnose you with until it’s been long enough to call PTSD). 

flyboy isn’t sleeping well and is having nightmares.

Leia just wants him to be OKAY. tells him he’s important.

Lt Connix (Billie Lourd) shows up and tells them something is wrong with at Security base. they head to the control room post haste.

that’s where i’m at as of Dec 19 2017 at 4:30 pm. 33 pages and 7.4k words.

Rose is coming soon I promise. DJ too but his character is a bit different. Canto Bight is also different.

[arielsojourner]

Vader Strikes Back - Part the 8th

Not beta read/really rough/not really proof read/plot holes and OUT of order.  Also spoilers for the original first story in AO3 Back From the Future: Episode VI The Clone Wars.  Check the tag #vader strikes back on my page for the other parts to this mess/fic outline. 

I am on a ROLL. Ha-ha!  This first of three major story arcs for this fic are FINALLY coming together even in this rough draft form! I may even have more to post in the next day or so. I have IDEAS! Such ideas, I cannot tell you. Let us just see if they actually WORK together so bear with me. 

Please note that we are jumping around in time. Not all of Part 8 happens AFTER sections of Part 7. The snippets in this post may seem completely out of order and they are. I will rearrange the order of the various parts when I finalize this for posting on AO3. So please don’t be too confused. This is just the order that my muse is interested in writing these scenes and there will be more related to this part. 

Finally, you may see some familiar hints of Tatooine slave culture and use of Amatakka in this section and future sections. I asked and received permission from the amazing @fialleril ahead of time to use some words from this language. They are just an amazing author. Follow them on tumblr. If you have not already, READ EVERYTHING they have ever written on AO3. I am not kidding. They are amazing! 

*

A month into the Tatooine campaign and Rex was at his wits end. He felt that he’d crisscrossed the planet at least a dozen times, been to palaces, mansions, cities, towns, and villages, (and places that had delusions and fever dreams of village-hood). He’d been to the race course, the fighting pits, just about every cantina and watering hole on the planet and he was still always ten steps behind Vader.

Vader moved across the planet like a force of nature, leaving a swath of destruction in his wake at the level of most planetary disasters. Rex had seen some remarkable feats of martial strength by Jedi and Sith alike, but nothing compared to this.

The problem was, with Vader always on the move, the clone Captain could hardly plan an effective strategy! While finding an organized Underground on Tatooine was a relief and a blessing, the Trail runners were not trained to follow the chain of command and had their own very distinct ideas of how to wage a slave revolt and revolution.  

(Rex never again wanted to witness unarmed civilians both young and old throwing themselves on the weapons of the enemy to open up a way for his men attack. He didn’t want to see slaves, knowing their transmitters were about to be triggered, using themselves as sentient bombs to help others escape. Rex could have lived his entire life without knowing that with an effective scanner, slaves would undergo invasive surgery to free themselves from implanted bombs with no anesthesia and little to no way to provide sterile conditions. Bearing witness  during one such surgery to test out the effectiveness of the scanner Vader had designed was enough to put him off food for days and he was a veteran of some of the bloodiest fighting of the Clone Wars!)

If only they had more support from the GAR, but no, he had to plan and implement the campaign with the scant resources they had. Things would be a lot easier if Vader would just give him some idea of his plan of attack so Rex could arrange for a more effective liberation effort. But Vader never seemed to sit still. Rex would catch up to him at one location, finish the attack and relief effort, turn to consult with the man and find him gone.

Even when Vader did not immediately leave a town or palace or farmstead, he did not seem to rest. He would wander out into the fast approaching night, like some sort of silent specter, always moving, never still.

(Some of the locals would whisper  . . . something as he passed by. It wasn’t in any language that Rex or even Echo recognized).

Rex knew there was a human man underneath that armor but since Luke had died, no one would believe it.

Vader didn’t sleep. He didn’t eat. He had not gone back to the sealed chambers he had aboard the Dauntless since they’d first made planet fall. Rex seriously wondered how long Vader could continue like this.

The only solution that Rex could figure out would be to move with Vader and talk to him as they traveled. Spying the dark cloaked figure heading out through the twists and turns of the city, Rex grabbed a datapad and his helmet and ran off after him.

*

Vader walked.

When he wasn’t killing slavers, he walked. His feet took him to many places. Many he’d seen before when Palpatine had ordered him to treat with Jabba on behalf of the Empire (one of the Emperor’s favorite sadistic games). Other places were remnants of his childhood. (The slaver quarters looked the same all over the planet. One weather beaten hovel was very much like the next. Junk shops and garages were ubiquitous.)

He was alone while he walked.

“I’ve never seen Mos Espa,” the voice to his left said in the growing dusk. “I’ve seen Mos Eisley and I’ve flown Beggar’s Canyon enough times, but I never got as far as this.”

Vader turned a corner and then another, halting to let some children run passed him.

(It was so strange that despite his mask, no child shrank in fright from him here.)

“It really is something, especially the race track. I wonder if they are still flying your old racing colors. You did win the Classic after all. Shall we go and look?”

Vader hesitated. To the right down through the market, passed Watto’s old shop, was the way to the track. To the left was the winding route to the quarters.

He turned left.

There was no one to show the flag off to anyway. No one living cared about such things, least of all him. But when he entered the old shabby courtyard of the slave quarters he wondered if he’d made a mistake in turning left, because the grandmother of the quarters was sitting and telling stories to a host of children who had flocked to her, children waiting and hoping that some family member may soon be free and come and find them.

Vader didn’t want to hear any stories. He didn’t want to remember. He wanted to finish this campaign, kill every single slaver and crime lord he could get his hands on and then leave and never return.

“I know this one,” the voice said excitedly. “Listen, this is the best part!”

Vader edged around the crowd and finally ducked down a narrow alleyway, the old woman’s voice fading.

He hurried forward not wanting to listen for a moment, only stopping when he finally reached a familiar door. It was so much smaller than he remembered. He looked at the frame and noted the symbols etched innocuously around it, easily mistaken for scratches and wear and tear. To those who knew how to read them though, they provided an access code and informed visitors that no one was living in the hovel currently. Vader went inside and out of a long forgotten habit, he shook himself from head to toe, trying to dislodge as much sand as he could.

The place was dark. The air wasn’t something that Vader could smell or taste but he was sure it was stale from long abandonment. There was no furniture except a few worn chairs at a familiar table, but Vader knew that behind a false back of one of the kitchen cupboards would be a hidden storage space with a few necessities if anyone was traveling the Trail and needed a place to rest.

He stood in the entry way, lost. He didn’t know where to go or what to do next. He didn’t want to remember. 

Which begged the question, why then had he come here?

“I think you came because do want to remember,” the voice said quietly. “I think . . . I think you’ve been keekta-du since long before you went by the name Vader. But you can remember where you came from.  Your feet know the Trail to take. We are desert people. Desert people don’t forget.”

Vader didn’t respond. There was nothing and no one to respond to.

He wasn’t sure how long he stood there in the dark until he heard a tapping on the door. The Force easily supplied him with the identity of who had followed him. He turned and opened the door to let Captain Rex and some of Luke’s students enter.

“Be sure to shake the sand off,” he counseled as he headed into the kitchen.

*

Anakin did not look away from the viewscreen but at Obi-Wan’s request he did pause the holovid, the image of Hardcase futility digging into the side of a mountain frozen in front of him.

“What do you want, Master?” he asked dully.

Obi-Wan paused, not sure what to say. Tatooine had long been a forbidden subject between them. Not since the very earliest days of their lives together had Anakin so much has hinted at his background or mentioned much of his past, (his nightmares about his mother’s death notwithstanding). Obi-Wan couldn’t pin point when Anakin had stopped talking about his past, but the words had dried up. Then the quirky strange things little Anakin used to do back in the beginning had ceased and his accent and way of talking had changed. At the time, Obi-Wan had thought Anakin had “let go” of the past.

He’d obviously been wrong about that as he had about so many things when it came to Anakin.

But things were different now. Things were supposed to be different between them. No more pretending. No more lying. He steeled himself and stepped closer and placed a hand on Anakin’s tense shoulder.

He counted it as a victory when Anakin does not shrug him off.

“I’ve received a message from Coruscant. There’s an emergency meeting called by the High Council. Do you want to listen in?”

Obi-Wan had been making this offer since they’d come to Naboo, breaking all traditions, rules and protocols by allowing his former Padawan to view meetings that should be shrouded in Silence. But it was more important now to demonstrate trust, to change the habits of a life time that nearly destroyed Anakin, the Order, and the entire galaxy. Obi-Wan may lose sleep over a lot of things, but breaking this rule was not one of them.

“It’s going to be about Tatooine,” Anakin said in a small voice, his fingers tracing the edges of the comm array buttons in front of him. “These holovids haven’t leaked onto the Galactic Holonet, but they’re all over the GAR servers. Every Jedi officer and every one of the troops have access to these vids.”

“Very likely, yes,” Obi-Wan agreed. He’d watched a few himself (just a few as it turned his stomach to watch, as all he could see was Anakin in the face of every liberated slave). 

“And what is the Council going to do about it? They’ve already sent Master Windu out  . . . hunting Vader.”

Obi-Wan shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Anakin turned in his seat, his eyes burning as he looked at his former Master. “Will the Council use Vader as an excuse to interfere with the campaign?”

“I don’t know.”

Anakin clenched his jaw. “You don’t know. You don’t know.” He stood suddenly, pushing the hand off his shoulder and began to pace. “He’s liberating the planet. He killed Jabba. He’s freeing the slaves. How is that a bad thing?”

“It’s not a bad thing,” Obi-Wan insisted, hoping to calm his friend. “It’s not.”

“Slavery’s supposed to be illegal, not that anyone would know looking at the galaxy.”

“It is illegal, Anakin.”  

“They why don’t you know what the Council is going to do?!” Anakin exploded. “This is simple. This is so, so simple. Slavery bad. Liberation good. What is there to decide?”

Obi-Wan hesitated but then pressed on to disclose the most damning piece of news he had. “Master Yoda’s message setting the meeting mentioned a petitioner from the Hutt Clans.”

Anakin visibly recoiled as if struck. Items around the room started to vibrate and rattle. Obi-Wan raised a hand, trying to calm him, but Anakin was having none of it. “So the Hutts are going to beg the Jedi Order to intervene and protect them and the Order’s going to agree, is that it? Slaves begging for the Order’s help, well, the Council doesn’t have time for that but when an emissary of that slime ridden filth comes knocking there’s a special session of the Council? Is that what this is? My troops and innocent civilians all fighting, dying, for freedom but because of politics, because Vader is leading the charge, the Order is going to help the Hutts?!”

Anakin turned his head to the side and let out a spitting curse in a language that Obi-Wan had never heard before, but was so obviously vile it resonated through the Force like a slap in the face.

“I will not support that, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said, trying to forget the mission the Council had forced upon his student-- the rescue of Jabba’s son, the securing of Hutt hyperspace lanes for the war effort, (a sham war, a fake conflict orchestrated by a Sith, where he and other Jedi had compromised and compromised until there was nearly nothing left that made them Jedi to begin with).  “Listen to me, I will not support the Hutts.”

Anakin looked at him, eyes searching his face, his feelings searching the Force. 

(Anakin was checking. Obi-Wan hadn’t realized it before. He’d seen Anakin do this throughout his years of teaching him, but until recently Obi-Wan had never put two and two together. He thought his former Padawan was sulky and silent, and at times arrogant. Now Obi-Wan could see what before he never could. Anakin was checking to see if Obi-Wan was lying).

Obi-Wan was not lying. He was done with lying, no matter how painful it was.

Because he’d seen the consequences of lying that day the twins were born and Palpatine was defeated. 

He never wanted to see Anakin that close to Falling ever again. 

(He never wanted to see Anakin become the tortured violent shell of a man that was Vader.)

Anakin must have found him to be sincere because he did not turn his still visible anger against his brother. “And if the Council decides to help the Hutts retake Tatooine anyway?” he asked bitterly.

“They better not,” Padme’s interjected sharply. She entered the room and handed Anakin one of the twins to carry without a by your leave.

Immediately, everything in the room stilled, the cloud of anger evaporated like morning fog as Anakin cradled Leia in his arms.  

Obi-Wan blinked at the sudden lifting of Anakin’s spirits. Nothing and no technique Obi-Wan had ever taught him (or that Anakin had taught himself) had ever worked as well to ground Anakin in the light like his children. It was awe inspiring each time Obi-Wan witnessed it.

But Padme was still talking and her tone of command was quick to refocus Obi-Wan’s thoughts. “I’ve already conferred with Satine and Bail on this. The Republic will not get involved in Tatooine.  I can’t convince them to officially help given the current precarious political and economic knife’s edge we find ourselves on, especially with the Accords not finalized, but the Republic won’t interfere. We won’t provide aide to the Hutts to stop the liberation. When Vader manages to secure the planet, reconstruction funding and resources will be available through the League’s free market. That much I can do. But you make sure you tell them that, Obi-Wan,” she said, rocking Luke in her arms. “You tell the Council that if they back the Hutts to undo all the good that is happening on Tatooine I will personally see to it that each and every one of them regret it until their dying day,” she said with a finality of a death knell.  “In the most legal and ethically way possible, of course,” she added after a beat of stunned silence.

“Of course,” Obi-Wan echoed weakly, more than a little unnerved. Sometimes he forgot that at 14 Padme had ruled a planet and fought a war to protect it from the Trade Federation (no doubt to Palpatine’s total consternation, he realized with bitter remembrance and hindsight). He really shouldn’t forget that. He spared a glance over to Anakin, who had managed to take his eyes off his daughter’s face to gaze at his terrifying wife with stars in his eyes. (As per usual, Anakin was largely useless in curbing the Senator’s more vicious tendencies and obviously found them to be a wildly attractive quality.) “Well,” he said shaking himself. “I’d best comm the Council.”

Padme nodded and then she and Anakin took a seat on the couch out of holocamera range to watch.

Obi-Wan took his seat and a deep breath, and activated the comm system.

*

[kingofattolia]

a list of things about Star Wars: The Last Jedi

TLJ felt like watching two completely separate movies. .. .  one i deliriously LOVED and one i spit upon and shake its profane dust off my sandals

THE GOOD

“ive got an urgent message for General Hux” “YOUR REBELLION IS DOOMED” “yeah... im holding for General Hux”

it straight up took me a minute and a half of this scene to figure out this was actually the start of the movie. it felt like one of those pre-movie skits where it seems like a movie but then anthropomorphic M&Ms tell you to turn your cell phone off. was it just me or were there a LOT more comic moments in TLJ compared to almost every other star wars movie? anyway i loved it even tho it gave the movie a slight someone-made-this-while-high-on-LSD feel 

Leia USING THE FORCE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

R2 playing Luke the “you’re my only hope” recording of Leia, i almost died

FORCE SHENANIGANS. we saw more powerful, dramatic, and varied uses of the Force in TLJ than we have ever before seen in a live action media and i was L I V I N G

“you’ve closed yourself off from the Force”

Rey and Kylo’s foRCE BOND TALKING like this.. . . is so interesting .. .  and it wasn’t only Snoke doing it because they did it again after he’s dead...

Rey lifting 30 giant fricken boulders without even breaking a sweat after having one (1) single “training” session

Kylo remotely activating Anakins lightsaber

projecting himself........ across the entire galaxy. . ..

Yoda. in the former EU the Force ghosts had a non-negotiable expiration date a certain time after their deaths. Obi-Wan couldnt just come back and visit Luke forever, he faded away at some point. is this no longer true??? DOES THIS MEAN ANYONE CAN COME BACK IF THEY WANT??? why was yoda so physical even as a ghost that he could whack luke on the head

summoning lightning like alright this is a new Jedi power im adding to my arsenal

Leia’s mary poppins action

Luke vaulting across the cliff to stab fish

POE'S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT he turned from a kamikaze into a leader who's able to see the big picture and walk away, im so proud

everyone..... messing with Hux...... i loved this

Snoke smacking him into the floor

Kylo smacking him into the wall

Kylo force choking him

slowly taking gun out. . . . . HES AWAKE ABORT ABORT... slowly putting gun back . . . Hux is going spend every waking moment wishing he took that shot

Finn's character arc, like what an awesome Slytherin. the contrast between him and the codebreaker 👌👌👌👌 & where he makes the choice REBEL scum 👌👌👌

LET'S GO, CHROME DOME

i cant believe Phasma died again lol. her backstory novel was SO DRAMATIC and she just dies over and over

when Kylo does that little skid out into the hallway to look for Rey

Chewy breaking down Luke's door

when Luke kisses Leia on the forehead . . . .

kylo KILLING SNOKE I AM LITERALLY SO HAPPY. I AM SO HAPPY. IM SO

this had to happen, it was so obvious but i didnt think they would actually do it, Snoke was so boring and useless, i am SO GLAD they didnt drag him out..... I AM SO HAPPY HES DEAD

it was truly awesome... i couldnt stop grinning it seeing it the 2nd time... "I CANNOT BE BETRAYED, I CANNOT BE BEATEN, I CAN SEE HIS MIND" & then he narrates the entire process of Kylo killing him i was LIVING. everyone theorized for so loooooong and so hard about what form Snoke's control over Kylo took and how it would be possible for him to break it,, , , and then he just DOES IT JUST LIKE THAT by SHEER MISDIRECTION FOLKS I AM SO ALIVE

THE TEAM UP FIGHT

i love lightsaber fights so much i would very nearly give up my critical integrity for a single awesome duel and this was,,, so awesome

when Rey drops her lightsaber to catch it again and cut that guys knees out from under him

when Snoke is cut in half and then the lightsaber rockets towards Kylo and Rey's hand SHOOTS INTO THE FRAME to catch it 👌👌👌

when Kylo takes on FOUR OF THEM AT ONCE

"THE SUPREME LEADER IS DEAD" "long live. . . the supreme leader .. "

not gonna lie, i am such a huge fan of supreme leader!Kylo. CAN HE EVEN LEAD ANYONE??? DOES HE HAVE THE CAPABILITY?? HONESTLY WHAT DOES HE WANT TO DO? WHAT WILL HIS SELF-DIRECTED MISSION BE? VADER NEVER GOT TO BE ANYTHING BUT AN ATTACK DOG, WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING TO HAPPEN

I HONESTLY HAVE NO IDEA BUT IM SO HYPE TO FIND OUT

THIS IS BRAND NEW

"finn! rose! you're not dead! where's my droid"

the little slave kids from Canto Bight. did the kid at the end use the Force to pull his broom!??!

"that library did not contain anything the girl Rey does not already possess" Yoda thinks hes so funny. REY STOLE THE LIBRARY LMAO... thanks Rey... im glad someone around here has a brain...

the Falcon swooping in to draw off the TIEs on Crait

"OH, THEY HATE THAT SHIP"

Vice Admiral Holdo's lightspeed kamikaze. . . aside from the drama of the moment & making Hux look stupid, just visually it was awesome

absolutely every single thing said by either Hux or Kylo in Kylo's command shuttle above Crait

"i want every gun we have to fire on that man"

"blow that PIECE OF JUNK oUT OF THE SKY"

when kylo's like "concentrate all fire on the speeders" and then Hux immediately shrieks "CONCENTRATE ALL FIRE ON THE SPEEDERS" and Kylo looks at him like 🤔

"do you think you got him?"

when Luke faces Kylo

WHEN LUKE FACES KYLO

this scene makes the movie for me honestly. as of now im in a state of uneasy ceasefire with TLJ and the sequel trilogy as a whole. if the scene of Luke facing Kylo did not exist, TLJ would probably be dead to me

"did you come to SAVE MY SOUL" "no."

absolutely everything about Luke was so completely epic in this scene. even though he barely said anything, even the way he stood was epic. im not sure how Hamill did this but it was everything i ever wanted

"i failed you, Ben. I'm sorry." "i'm sURE YOU ARE"

the contrast between Kylo's fighting stance and Luke's

when Luke steps out from the massive cloud and duSTS OFF HIS SHOULDER

this fills me with so much pure glee i could literally ascend

"if you strike me down in anger, i'll always be with you. like your father."

the slow, dawning horror when Kylo starts realizing Luke's not actually there

"see you around, kid"

"SEE YOU AROUND, KID"

"SEE YOU AROUND, KID"

my favorite line in the WHOLE THING i could Scream

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

AHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH

"SEE YOU AROUND, KID"

when Rey slams the door in Kylo's face

THE BAD

Luke should have LIFTED HIS X WING OUT OF THE WATER WITH THE FORCE AT SOME POINT GOSH DARN. i knew from the moment we saw the submerged x wing that this moment was meant to happen.... but then it DIDN’T. like PLEASE. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO GOOD I NEED TO SEE THIS

the casino subplot. . .  it was awesome for Finns character development but couldn’t he have developed character over an actually materially relevant story arc.. . .

BB-8 didn’t fight Dark BB-8 like what the hell honestly

for what earthly reason does Kylo need to wear his pants up to his armpits. is he TRYING to look like a doofus

why wasn't Lando the master codebreaker. like quite frankly, give me one good reason. why. no. there are no good reasons. when is Lando going to come into it you cowards

honestly....... what the FRICK was that horrible backstory behind what caused Kylo to turn

WHAT THE FRICK

im trying to keep my cool but this is a huge, enormous, and vital problem i have with this movie and whoever came up with that should be shot

Luke, in a brief moment of insanity, ignited his lightsaber over his sleeping nephew's bed to assassinate him because of a vision

LUKE SKYWALKER the guy who wouldnt believe that DARTH VADER, ENSLAVER OF WORLDS, SLAUGHTERER OF CHILDREN, MASS MURDERER OF THOUSANDS, was a lost cause and who refused to kill him, TRIED TO KILL HIS APPRENTICE IN HIS SLEEP

like... do you see my problem?

character assassination. it is ludicrously greater-than-Anakin Skywalker levels of overreaction to a Force premonition that Luke would see a vision of darkness and instantly move to slice his sleeping, defenseless nephew in half, and even in Luke's version of the story Luke is legitimatly the bad guy. he brought about the future he was afraid of, just like Anakin

because of this background, every interpretation is blown wide open to reasonably see Kylo as the victim and Luke's actions as those of a villain. of course he had to defend himself? it's legitimately possible to construe the subsequent killing of the other students as self-defense as well. if they wake up to find Ben having "killed" Luke? anything could have happened, Kylo could honestly have done barely anything bad up to this point and have been driven to the dark side on that one night

it's going to take.... so much work.... to walk this back. obviously Kylo's a villain now, because of what he's chosen to do since then, but for Luke to come out of this not looking like trash, they would have to provide SO MUCH more backstory including the "dark" things Kylo had done to make Luke suspect him, and have him probably be actively seeking darkness while under Luke's tutelage. and then Luke still seems like a fool and a betrayor

maybe they WANT Luke to come off as a legitimately bad person? i've seen some interpretations of TLJ as tearing down "legends" by showing everyone as flawed people, teaching the lesson of not deifying people to Rey AND the audience as well. if thats true and they actually want me to believe Luke is not worth believing in, i'm sorry but i reject that

luke skywalker is not a bad person

rey said "you didnt fail Kylo, Kylo failed you" WHICH... its true that Kylo failed in all his actions after this. but if this is the unmitigated truth about what happened that day, Luke definitely failed Kylo, thats not really arguable

i spit this backstory out of my mouth and stomp on it

bye felicia

"the legacy of the jedi is failure and hypocrisy. at the height of their power they allowed darth sidious to come to power and wipe them out" ok true. "it was a jedi master who was responsible for the training and creation of darth vader" YOU TAKE THAT BACK

a related point..... Luke is a coward.

i'm not saying that the only kind of Luke i would accept is HEROIC LEGEND LUKE WHO BURSTS FORTH FROM HIS ISOLATION AND SINGLE HANDEDLY DEVASTATES THE FIRST ORDER. but at the same time, his isolation is NOT in any way comparable to Obi-Wan's. "i came here to die" ok buddy.

dying is all well and good, hiding from your failures, being broken for a while after taking a hit like that

what i am NOT able to forgive is how he abandoned Leia

???? the frick???

"so many losses, i can't take any more" "sure you can" STORY OF LEIA'S LIFE

"im from the resistance, your sister Leia sent me" boy when she says jump you better say "how high?" honestly YOU OWE IT AT LEAST TO YOUR GUILT TO DO THAT FOR HER

HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE? SHE'S ON HER OWN DEALING WITH EVERY PROBLEM IN THE WHOLE GALAXY AND HE'S DOING WHAT? YOU'RE TELLING ME LUKE WOULD HAVE ABANDONED HIS SISTER LIKE THAT??? AND WHEN SHE SPECIFICALLY ASKS FOR HIM HE SAYS "no frick u" ?!?!?

if that's Luke Skywalker then Luke Skywalker is a useless coward

that is not Luke Skywalker

honestly everything Rey said was spot on "Leia sent me here with hope. if she's wrong then she deserves to know why. we all do"

the overall thesis of the sequel trilogy seems to be "there's no point to any of this"

a powerful student turns to the dark side and destroys the Jedi Order. an authoritarian regime destroys the republic and takes over. a small band of resistance fighters rallies against great odds. a Force sensitive from a desert planet teaches herself the Force from old Jedi books after her teacher evaporates into the Force after teaching like 1 lesson. everyone Leia loves dies

guys... i'm tired

it's just exhausting. what is the point? in the sequel trilogy we've seen the republic destroyed, the resistance decimated and harried from place to place until theyre down to 12 people on the millennium falcom. there's only one movie left. they're going to come back from nothing and destroy the first order and then smile at each other in the ashes?

why?>??? what are they going to do? build a republic again? is rey going to build a new jedi order? we've seen how that worked out

there's nothing to believe in here. HOPE is such a strong theme in the sequel trilogy. "as long as there's light we've got a chance" "leia sent me here with hope" "the galaxy has lost its hope, the spark is out." "hope is like the sun, if you only believe in it when you can see it you'll never make it through the night." like good grief. constantly hammering on the need to have hope, but WHY?

what's the point of defeating the imperials, spending your life trying to build something good in the galaxy, trying to build a family, when you're only going to have to do it all again in your old age, when everyone you love is dead?

i cant see any hope if this is the ending for the OT characters, so i powerfully struggle to care about and cheer for Rey, Poe, and Finn. what's the point in anything they're doing? what's the point in the sacrifices they're making? it might turn out just exactly like it did for Luke, Leia, and Han, spending their old age in loneliness, sorrow, and violence

if this is the way history repeats itself, you probably should just make out like the stuttering codebreaker. "dont join"

[smokeybrandreviews]

I Am No Jedi

With season two of Mando over and the entire series in the can, for now, i was still on a pretty high Star Wars kick. Since i have Disney+, and time before WandaVision starts, i figure I'd ride this wave right into another Star Wars show i didn’t have the opportunity to actually get into deep; Star Wars: Rebels. Now, i have REALLY mixed feeling about this show. It’s an odd watch for me because of the conflict between the parts that are clone wars-y and the original content being presented. I kind of hate it when Ahsoka, Vader, Maul, or Thrawn aren’t onscreen but, at the same time, there are some really standout episodes. The Honorable Ones and The Forgotten Droid immediately come to mind. Unlike Clone Wars, however, which is a whole ass masterpiece of storytelling and character development, Rebels feels incredibly flaccid, overall. Still, i did like some things therein. Others, not so much...

The Things I liked

This show is gorgeous, man. The character models are lovely, this soundtrack is one of the best in the entire franchise, and the animation is head-and-shoulders above the first last season of Clone Wars. By that i mean season six. This thing ain’t got sh*t on season seven. Not even a little bit. Even so, this how is f*cking stunning to see. Everything about this aesthetic is just chef kiss levels of kino, as the kids would say.

All things Ahsoka. Look, its no secret i adore Ms. Tano but she really comes into her own with Rebels. You get to see that wisdom she gleaned during the Clone Wars on full display, even if she isn’t a proper Jedi anymore. Watching her reunite with Rex was wonderful but watching her fight Vader? That was hard. That was really hard. That episode, Twilight of the Apprentice, is easily some of the finest Disney Star Wars produced to date. It’s up there with Mando and the seventh season of the Clone Wars, for sure, and is the best episode of Rebels, itself, hands down.

Vader.

Maul in Rebels was exceptional. I enjoyed his turn in Clone Wars, of course, but his relationship with Ezra and his growth over the course of this series was exquisite. I was stunned by how much i liked Maul because, admittedly, i didn’t see the allure. I came to Clone Wars late so watching Maul blossom was a surprise. Seeing that continued evolution through Rebels was a real treat. That last duel with Obi-Wan? F*cking tragic. Beautifully tragic.

The Inquisitors. I like the whole concept of the Inquisitors but, specifically, The Grand Inquisitor and the Seventh Sister are decidedly the superior of the lot. I really enjoyed Grand and felt like his character was a little short-changed but Seventh Sister came along and picked up that slack only a few episodes later. Thanks to Rebels, i got other amazing characters like Second Sister in Jedi Fallen Order, The High Inquisitors in

F*cking Thrawn, man. I knew this dude was the dude from the Thrawn trilogy sequel books and never expected him to actually be canonized. Seeing my favorite blue sociopath show up in season four was a real gas, giving him proper credence as a threat going forward in the canon Disney mythos. The revelation that Ahsoka’s whole mission in her Mando appearance, was just to find a lead on this dude, was one of the biggest geek-outs i ever had for Disney Star Wars and it was Rebels that set all of it up.

Speaking of canonization, Rebels mad Darth Bane a thing and i will forever be grateful of that fact. Darth Bane is a huge deal in the canon and Filoni sneaking his legitimacy into the new lore, right under Kathleen Kennedy’s hating ass sabotage, was genius. I heard that he wanted to do the same for Darth Nihilus, Darth Traya, and Darth Scion, but that script was rejected. I imagine Darth Kennedy didn’t care for the Bane slip and put the kibosh on all other lore.

I actually like a lot of the additional lore. The Bendu, those temples, the mega-weapon on Malachor, The Veil; All of it enriches and expands upon the new canon. It gives it more life, more potential. and i love potential in storytelling. Makes for a ton of different, wonderful, possibilities.

Look, i just really like the Bendu. That motherf*cker is hilarious.

I really did enjoy Hera and Sabine. Those two ladies were a delight. I’ glad they were added t the lore because, particularly Sabine, there is a wealth of potential for them going forward. Hell, we’ve already seen the return of Hera in Star Wars: Squadrons and, with Mando going full anthology, i would be hard pressed not to think that Sabine will have her turn as the titular Mandalorian in a few seasons.

Not going to lie, seeing Zeb in this show was pretty dope. As a Star Wars geek, i knew that the Lasat were basically prototype Wookies that were cast aside. It’s dope seeing that design getting a second wind onscreen and a prominent role in the main cast. Plus, i mean, Zeb is actually a pretty chill character, himself.

The Things I didn’t

What the f*ck are these lightsabers, man? They're supposed to reflect the original concept of the weapons from one of the first Star Wars draft scripts, which is cool in a geek sense, but corny as sh*t in practice. These things look anemic, as f*ck, man.

It’s ridiculous to me that the crew of the Ghost are so goddamn pivotal to the fledgling Rebellion. These assholes cannot be this important, even with all of the plot armor. Like, seriously, I'm supposed to believe that they were the ones who retrieved the B-Wing, founded the first Rebel base, and stole Phoenix Nest from the Empire? Word?

There no stakes to this show. Like, i get that our principals had a lot of plot armor in Clone Wars, i never once felt like Ahsoka, Kenobi, or Anakin were ever in real danger, but there were certain episodes where i thought, for sure, their characters would be totally crippled somehow. Not with Rebels. I don’t expect any of these motherf*ckers to have even a semblance of lasting bruises. Kanan literally dies and nothing of importance was lost. Like, i know this is Ezra’s show but goddamn.

Speaking of Ezra, i hate this kid. I don’t know if that’s by design, like Filoni did with Ahsoka in the first few seasons of Clone Wars, but i grew to love her. She’s literally my second favorite character in the entire mythos, after Vader. Ezra did not grow on me. At all. I hate that so many lore altering events surrounded this dipsh*t. Kid ain’t even all that powerful in the force. I’m pretty certain that Ahsoka is stronger than Ezra is but he gets to be the one to “discover” the Veil of the Force. Like, bro, for real? You telling me Anakin, Yoda, or even f*cking Luke missed out on this sh*t? Word?

This show feels a lot like Avatar The Last Air Bender but worse. I had a whole ass emotional connection to the characters in that show. It broke my heart to see Azula having that meltdown. I did feel that same agony in Rebels, but it was for Ahsoka. When Vader looked up and you heard Anakin’s voice through the filter? “Ahsoka.” F*ck, that broke me. It was like watching Spider-Man getting dusted in Infinity War. I never felt that way about any of the ghost crew. Never. Not when Kanan died. Not when Ezra disappeared. Never.

The best parts of this show, of the actual, Rebels, canon, is either leftovers from Clone Wars or Legends content. Bane, Thrawn, Ahsoka, Rex, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Vader, the Emperor, even f*cking Hondo; All characters that existed before Rebels. Outside of the Inquisitors, Rebels added nothing of worth to the canon. It’s effectively a non-show. I mean, The Veil might be a thing eventually. We’ll see. That motherf*cker is a whole ass retconning mcguffin if I've ever seen one.

It’s weird to say, but nothing about this show feels of consequence. I know, for a fact, there are certain aspects Rebels added to the lore that will be vital to the overall canon but it doesn’t feel like that, you know? It feels like this was a detour, a frolic of, like, three or four episodes but holds no bearing to the grander scheme playing out. Sh*t’s ridiculous because Clone Wars felt like a whole ass problem, Rogue One gave us a legit catharsis, and Mando outdid everything Disney ever made while setting up an entire new age. F*ck, man, even the sequel trilogy gave us Kylo Ren. Rebels feels like Star Wars: The Filler Show and i kind of hate it.

[spell-cleaver]

Luke Palps AU: Luke stared at one of the few surviving recordings of Anakin Skywalker. There was something familiar about the man behind Vader's mask, but Luke couldn't figure it out it was.

Previous parts on the masterpost here!

Luke stared at one of the few surviving recordings of Anakin Skywalker. There was something familiar about the man behind Vader's mask, but Luke couldn't figure it out it was.

He'd followed Ahsoka's advice. He'd gone snooping.

And he'd found images of his mother.

In all fairness, they weren't particularly hard to find. Nova had pointed him in the direction of an old, unused cupboard which the Naberries had apparently turned into some sort of shrine to Padmé, or a place to keep all their memories of her in one place.

It... was painful. He'd known who Senator Amidala was long before he'd known she was his mother—Palpatine had had a portrait of her hanging in the Palace somewhere, for goodness' sake, though Luke now suspected that that may have been to torment Vader just as much as it was to hold her up as a martyr for the Empire. Ever since he'd learned, walking to and fro underneath that portrait had meant something else—an indefinable feeling, a pressure, but also a sort of quiet faith in himself and in Nova.

And now he'd found a collection of dusty holos of her. He'd taken them from the cupboard to view them in the light, and for the ones taken at Varykino, he'd viewed them where they'd been taken. Here, by the balcony that overlooked the lake, in an off-the-shoulder dress all colours of the rainbow; here, by the main dining room, in a black dress; here, out in the meadows, her hair in buns like Leia's and gold lacing detailing every part of her bodice.

Then he stumbled upon a holo with another man in it, and Luke's heart stopped.

Could... could this be his father?

Could it be, that after all this secrecy, all this hiding the truth from him, Luke could have just stumbled onto a holo that showed him?

If— if it was his father, and Luke didn't want to get his hopes up, he... he could see some family resemblance, he supposed. His face was much stronger than Luke's, he was much taller, and the holo wasn't detailed enough to make out his eyes...

But then, when he went searching for more holos with the man in, he... stumbled upon a video.

And his heart stopped. He barely breathed before he started playing it.

It was taken somewhere in the meadows. The man was approaching a shaak, larger and bouncier than him in every sense of the word, his hands out and an intensely wary expression on his face. But when he tossed a look back at Luke—at the person taking the holo—his grin was wicked.

"Watch me, Padmé," he said brightly. His accent was from the Outer Rim, Luke noted. It— it could be his father, Nova had said that he had had relatives on Tatooine, and you couldn't get more Outer Rim than that— "I'm gonna do this successfully this time."

The person taking the holo—Padmé; Luke's mother—laughed. "And you're sure we won't get crushed-Anakin again?"

Luke stilled.

Anakin—it had to be Anakin, right? They weren't talking about... crushing a person who wasn't there, right?—laughed, and flashed another charming smile right back at her. The eager-to-please sense in his expression... Luke was familiar with that. He wasn't familiar with the sheer adoration in the look that he was giving Padmé.

"Have a little faith," Anakin—Vader—said, and then he jumped.

The shaak bucked him off and Padmé dissolved into peals of laughter as he grunted, trying to run away, and then the holo stopped.

Luke stared. It had frozen on Vader's face.

That was not the face of a tormentor. Of a murderer. Of a Sith. He was only a few years older than Luke—still a teenager, possibly.

That was Vader.

That was Vader.

And he looked really familiar...

Luke shut off the holo, clenching it so tightly in his fist that he feared crushing it. That innocent question he'd posed so long ago—what's a threesome?—and the implications of it baffled him.

Luke's father was not... anywhere, in any of these photos. It was only Anakin—only Vader. Was that why he'd been so hurt when it had been Luke's father that Padmé had ended up loving, so long ago? Was that why Vader had become so bitter about it? All that love and adoration, twisted into jealousy—jealousy and festering emotions that had never been resolved, because Luke's mother had died, and Luke's father...

What had happened to him?

All the Jedi were gone. They were dead. And Luke was all too familiar with Vader's anger, his vendettas; he'd seen it against Ben. Had he hunted down Luke's father purposely, the dark side corrupting his emotions into something vicious and vengeful, and cut him down? He would not put that past him.

Luke bowed his head. He knew Vader wouldn't hurt him. Just as he wouldn't hurt Padmé—not when he'd loved her that much.

But that was all he knew.

That was all he knew about anything.

For a moment he thought about Crown of Stars, and the complex, dramatic relationships there—about affairs, and those threesomes whose theory had been thoroughly debunked, and betrayal. But if Luke was secretly Vader's child, not Padmé's husband's, then Vader would have told him by now. There was no reason for him not to have told him, the moment Luke woke up in that medbay; Vader was inclined to harsh truths and disinclined to political lies. Besides, they had been on good terms for a while by now, so... Surely he would have told him...

But he had not.

So it must not be true.

And if he wasn't telling Luke what had really happened... it must have been ugly.

Luke gritted his teeth, swallowed, and put the holo in his pocket. He had a lot to think about.

Send me the first sentence of a scene from this AU and I might continue it!

Beginning | Previous | Next

[agent-barnes40]

The Connection #2

Reylo x OFC

Characters: Rey, Kylo, Caitlyn, Finn, Leia, Anakin Skywalker, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi

Relationships: Reylo x OFC

It had been a week since Kylo’s secret had been revealed to Caitlyn. Leia and she had a meeting once a day with Kylo if they could with him. Usually, it was just Caitlyn and Leia. 

“Kylo’s a great master, Leia. He helped me when I was brought from Naboo. I am a Nabooian.” Caitlyn said and Leia gasped, looking at her. “You were born on Naboo?” 

“I am.” Caitlyn looked away. “I’ve heard the stories of Senator Amidala, for everything she did for the galaxy. If I wasn’t force-sensitive, I’d be a part of the group of children eligible to become a queen or king. When Supreme Leader Snoke found out that I was force sensitive, he sent my master to come to get me.” 

The door slammed open and it was Rey. “Caitlyn, wake up!” 

The teenager jolted awake and panted, sitting on her bed inside the Millenium Falcon. Leia let Rey take her to go train on a different planet, that way Kylo wouldn't know where the resistance is hiding after the death of the supreme leader. She was in conference with Leia when it happened. The feeling shook her as they were heading to the new base.

~

Caitlyn was sitting beside Leia as they were sitting on the transport, she could feel the pain of her former master and now current best friend as Supreme Leader Snoke died. She could feel that Kylo killed him and not the scavenger girl. 

She shot up and started pacing. “Cmon, Kylo, tell me something.” She asked mentally and only stilled when she felt Leia put her hand on her shoulder. “G-General…” 

“I felt it too, Honestly.”

~

Caitlyn stared at Rey. “Was I dreaming too loud?”

The two women turned to the sound of Shyriiwook and smiled, seeing Chewbacca standing at the door next to Rey. “Thanks, Chewbacca.” 

Chewbacca reached in and grabbed her hand, pulling her up and dragging her, gently to the cockpit and the woman gasped, seeing the nebula. “This is amazing..” 

Chewbacca started to talk about how he and Han used to sit at this nebula to relax in between smuggling. In the middle of Chewbacca’s long talk, Caitlyn suddenly stood and walked out of the cockpit. “Kylo?” 

Kylo turned and smiled, seeing his significantly shorter apprentice. His hand reached out and Rey suddenly shot in between them. “Scavenger!”

Caitlyn growled and pushed Rey away and pushed on her old Master’s chest. “You don’t get to call her that! She is anything but that!” 

“How would you know that, child?”

“I am not a child, Kylo!” 

“Oh really? When the traitor and Resistance pilot left, you ran right along in the chaos.” Kylo snapped and Caitlyn growled, her hand reaching out to grab her saber. “Meet me on Naboo, and I’ll show you how I’m not a child, Ren.”

“Where on Naboo?” 

“The most important place in our shared culture,” Caitlyn growled and the connection cut them. Rey stared at the panting teen who looked at her.

“He’s going to kill you,” Rey mumbled, grabbing the adult’s hands.

“He won’t kill me because of our past, Rey. I grew up on Naboo, I was supposed to be a part of the group of children to be royalty until my connection with the force drew in Snoke and he waited until he had Luke Skywalker’s nephew in hand to continue Lord Vader’s reign over the galaxy. His grandmother was Senator Padme Amidala.” 

“Where is this place?”

“Naboo, we’ll get directions to Varykino when we arrive.” 

“Chewie! Head to Naboo!” Rey yelled, shaking her head at the shout in Shyriiwook. “Just take us there!” 

~

Kylo and Caitlyn circled each other where Senator Padme Amidala and Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker were married. The Purple and Red shining the overgrown area as it was reaching nightfall. 

“If you're not a child, then you would’ve hit me, Caitlyn.” Kylo sneered, his mask off to let her, Rey, and Chewbacca see his face. 

Caitlyn smirked and spun in a circle, force jumping behind Kylo only to be met with a blow to the head from the butt of his saber. She stumbled and fell backward into the pillar. Her hand shot out and immediately started to send memories of her learning about Padme into his mind. “I can use this against you, Master!” 

The whispers of Anakin started filling the gazebo, seeing as Rey has his lightsaber. The whispers only fuel the anger of the two battling force-users. The buzzing of the lightsabers hitting each other, making the colors flash and spark, along with the crackling of Kylo’s saber. 

“Give up, Organa!” 

“I would never, Berenko!”

The final blow finally happened, with Kylo swinging his saber over her legs, only cutting and burning a few inches into her legs, making the senator’s daughter pass out. 

~

On Ajan Kloss, Leia gripped her walking stick, looking up at Lieutenant Connix. “Get ready for a distress call from the Millenium Falcon.” 

As if on cue, flying all the way from Naboo, came Rey and Chewbacca’s startled cries of Caitlyn’s injury and who did it. Leia was shocked but it wasn’t a surprise coming from the fiery personality the youngest of the three had. 

Finn and medical teams were waiting for the Falcon and when they saw Chewbacca tightly carrying the teenager gasps could be heard. Her legs were bloody and black from the burns. 

“Let’s get her wrapped in Bacta.”

~

Caitlyn was staring at two men, one wearing mostly black while one wore earthly tones. “I am Obi-wan Kenobi, Padawan.” The man in earth tones said.

“I am Anakin Skywalker. I’m sure you’ve heard of me.”

“I’ve heard of the both of you, Masters. General Leia told me about you, Obi-Wan, and my own master told me of you, Anakin.” 

“Leia is a General?” 

“She is of the resistance.” 

Caitlyn suddenly shivered and Anakin put a hand on her shoulder. “That’s just the bacta.” 

“The bacta? What happened?”

“Ben hurt you.” Obi-Wan said and grabbed her hand. Caitlyn’s face contorted, the fight playing out around them, along with Padme and Anakin’s wedding appearing. “I am so sorry, master Skywalker, I didn't know that Varykino was where you got married. Isn't it against the code to have attachments?” 

Both Obi-wan and Anakin sighed. “That was something that most dont remember of the Jedi Code. How do you remember that?” 

“The previous Supreme Leader pounded it into my head since I left Naboo.” Caitlyn said, looking away. “Trust me, growing up hearing that and having a single thought of wanting someone to care about, and if you ever put a face to the person you wanted to care about, they’d be dead the next day.”

Anakin ran a hand through her hair. “You remind me of Padme when she was younger.”

~

Chewbacca sat next to the wrapped adult, only looking up at the sound of someone entering the room. R2 and 3PO came marching in with Leia. “She’s going to be okay, Chewie.” Leia mumbled, putting her hand on Caitlyn’s. 

“She’s in conference with the best Jedi I’ve seen.” Leia mumbled and rubbed the girl’s hand. Rey and Finn poured in next. BB-8 on their tails, seeing as BB-8 had a knack for trusting every female he sees save him or Poe. BB-8 started beeping to R2 and 3PO.

“I’m sorry for not doing better.” Suddenly came from the teen, and everyone looked at her. Her eyes fluttered open, expecting to see the hurt faces of Obi-Wan and Anakin. Chewbacca started going off in Shyriiwook. Caitlyn laughed and started to sit up, groaning at how light headed she got.

[letslipthehounds]

Padme is dead. Despite Obi-Wan's efforts to save them, the twins died during their first year of life. When Vader is sent the holo images of Obi-Wan's attempts to help his children, he realizes Obi-Wan does love him as a brother. Obi-Wan failed Anakin as a father and older brother perhaps technology will allow Vader to do a better job....

Oh, geez, make mewrite my favorite character being dead, why don’t you.  Ok, as should probably be obvious from theprompt, there is mentioned infant death in this story.

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

Obi-Wan Kenobididn’t look up as he felt the strong Dark presence of Darth Vader as heapproached.  What did it matter if Vaderfound him?  He’d failed, completely.

“Obi-Wan,” Vadersaid as he entered the room.

Obi-Wan stilldidn’t look up.  He had no reason toexpect anything.

“Luke is gone,”Obi-Wan finally said.  “I couldn’t… hejust…”

“I know,” Vadersaid, sounding just as grieved.  “I sawthe video of you trying, doing everything to save him.  My informant made sure I saw.”

Obi-Wan shook hishead.  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Vader set his handon Obi-Wan’s shoulder.  “You gave upeverything to try to save my son, my daughter. And Padmé.  You shouldn’tapologize for that.”

Obi-Wan felt panictry to reach up, but nothing could really overcome the numbness he felt.  He’d lost Anakin, and then he’d lost Luke andLeia.  “I failed you,” he said.

Vader’s handtightened.  “You’re going to come withme,” he said.  “I know you cared aboutme, and my family, but now, it’s time.”

Obi-Wan didn’t tryto fight. 

He knew he wasgoing to his death, but he just didn’t care.

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

Vader had wonderedif he should be worried about Obi-Wan killing himself before Vader was readyfor him, and the way Obi-Wan reacted when Vader did find him confirmed theworry.  Obi-Wan was completely passive,broken by all he’d lost.  He wouldn’thave tried anything, but he might have allowed himself to waste away.

Vader himself wantedto cry, even if he couldn’t anymore, because his son and his daughter had bothdied before they were even a year old, and he’d never met them.

But now that heknew how much Obi-Wan was willing to sacrifice for him, Vader knew he neededObi-Wan with him.  Perhaps his plan wouldwork, and it would save the last possible member of his family.  (Ahsoka was still out there, but Vader had noway to track her down right now.  Perhapsin time.)

So for now, he ledObi-Wan to the room that housed the Sith device he’d spent nearly a monthbuilding.

Obi-Wan finallyshowed a spark of something that wasn’t numb acceptance of his own death.  “What is this?”

“Just somethingthat will help you,” Vader said.  “I knowyou weren’t the best older brother, or father, but it wasn’t your fault.  I’m going to do a better job.”

Obi-Wan’s browsfurrowed, but before he could answer, Vader strode out of the room and closedthe door.

He watched fromthe large window as Obi-Wan carefully studied the device, before backing awaycautiously.  Vader waiting until Obi-Wanwas far enough away before hitting the switch with the Force.

There was abrilliant flash of Force energy, then the device shut down.  Vader reentered the room and lookeddown.  Sitting on the ground in aperfectly miniaturized version of the spacer’s gear Obi-Wan had been wearing, atwo year old Obi-Wan Kenobi was staring right back at him.  “Are you the new Crèche master?” the boylisped.  He was only a little older thanthe twins… than they would have been.

“No,” Vadersaid.  “I am going to be taking care ofyou now, however.”

The toddler tiltedhis head.  “But…”

“Don’t worry,young one,” Vader said as he reached down and gently picked him up.  “Let’s get you to your new room.”

Obi-Wan yawned andput his head down against Vader’s shoulder armor.  “What’s your name?”

“I am DarthVader,” he said.  And then he continued,moved by some impulse he didn’t quite understand. “You may call me Uncle Ani ifyou want.”

Obi-Wangiggled.  “Ok, Uncle Ani.”  Clearly, he didn’t understand what Vader wasasking of him.

Vader smiledbeneath his mask.  There was some part ofObi-Wan that still recognized him as someone to be trusted, even if he couldn’tremember anything from past his new physical age.

Vader would raisehim, and train him, and even if Obi-Wan never remembered their history, hewould still be family.  He’d even makesure Obi-Wan knew about the family they had lost, because the twins and Padméwere worth remembering.  And Obi-Wanwould love them, even if, as he was, he would never meet them.

Vader watched asObi-Wan yawned again.  Vader knew howstrong Obi-Wan had been- would be again. He would be an incredible apprentice. For a moment, Vader imagined the boy in his arms at the same age he hadbeen when Anakin first met him, but this time, surrounded by the Dark Side.  Vader smiled again.  That vision would become reality, in time.

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

Poor Obi-Wan.  Poor Vader. Poor galaxy.  (Poor author, howcould you do this to me??)

Also, this toucheson a headcanon of mine. Namely, if Luke and Leiahadn’t existed, Obi-Wan would have been dead within a year or two of the end ofROTS.  They gave him a purpose, a reasonto still live.  If he hadn’t had toprotect Luke, or protect the very secret of Leia’s existence, he would havejoined a very young Rebellion and gone on one too many reckless missions.  Or just given up trying to shield hispresence and let Vader find him.