#not that obi wan knows this or is relevant to him here at this point considering he doesn't even know anakin survived yet

[princessconsuelapark]

no no but hang on, the veteran clone trooper in the Kenobi show ! being from the 501st ??? that floored me !!!

because that clone was one of Anakin's! (and isn't that straight in the heart, right when Obi-Wan is trying to rescue Anakin's child, while thinking his Anakin-thoughts, living through his Anakin-guilt, trying to survive his sad little Anakin-centric nightmare life) and being from the 501st, Obi-Wan can assume that this clone: either went to Mandalore with Ahsoka (already a complicated mess of emotions right there, let's not even touch the topic of Satine and Maul, wonder how much and if Obi-Wan knows they all died when trying to order 66 her, while wearing her face on their helmets) OR he marched on the Jedi Temple with Anakin, murdering Obi-Wan's entire family.

so yeah. that's some heavy shit right there.

and how does he reflexively answer it (once his 6 million different trauma flashbacks pass)? with kindness.

[david-talks-sw]

hey david! Do you have any George quotes regarding the final Vader vs Obi wan fight? Like did obi wan deliberately throw that fight and let vader kill him or did vader win the duel and obi wan did the Force ghost thing as a last resort?

Here's the quotes I could find that are relevant to the subject:

"A particular case is the confrontation between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader. You know there's something, some relationship they have to each other, 'cause they talk about meeting again ‘and now I'm going to get you’ and all this kind of stuff."

"So there's some kind of old battle going on that we don't know anything about that works amazingly well considering that all it is, is ultimately this one scene between him and Tarkin where he says, “He's here. He's come for me. And it's our destinies to meet up again. And I'm gonna handle this myself. I have to."

"This confrontation with Obi-Wan and Vader— it works just as a confrontation between the good guy and the bad guy. I mean, he’s— Obi-Wan's, at this point, the strongest good guy. He’s the one that has the most knowledge— the father figure that has taken on Luke. Then you have the bad father figure who is the evil father."

"And the subtext of this, which is that this is the culmination of a larger issue… has never really played, I think, for people. It's really just the confrontation between bad and good. Then the surprise at the end of this, is that: Vader doesn't kill him… but that he's able to join the Force, and by being one with the Force, influence things in a more powerful way than he can just being a Jedi." - A New Hope, Commentary Track, Special Edition DVD, 2004

"When he loses Ben, [Luke] freaks out. He’s depressed and all the things that you would be. But Ben has put that idea in him that things happen naturally and there’s also this other thing that’s never explained, which is that he allowed himself to be killed. He didn’t really die. He disappeared. There’s more to this than just a death. Later on in the movie, Luke hears Ben say, “Use the Force!” It mitigates that loss a little bit, because he knows Ben’s somewhere and that something’s going on." - The Star Wars Archives: 1977-1983, 2018

So there you have it.

In a destined confrontation between good and evil, good triumphs not by defeating evil but by ascending and growing beyond it.

So it feels to me that it's a "when in Rome" kind of decision on Obi-Wan's part, wherein he realizes he won't win this fight, and so he decides to make his end meaningful, so that he can show Luke that death is not the end of the journey... he's joining the Force.

Now, if we're talking power-scaling...

... you could argue that Ben might have put up more of a fight, had it been necessary.

George acknowledges that Ben's an old man when explaining the more dynamic fights in the Prequels... but back in the early days, he ranked him as more powerful than Vader/equal to the Emperor.

"Maybe we should set up some kind of levels of achievement. Ben can say that Luke is now a level 2 and Vader is a 4; ‘‘I was a 6 and the Emperor is a 6, and he’s on his way to becoming a 10, which will be a force so powerful in the universe that nothing can stop him. You must stop the Emperor before he achieves the level 10.’’" - Story converence, 1977, as transcribed in The Making of The Empire Strikes Back, 2010

"[Vader] ended up losing his arms and a leg and became partly a robot. So a lot of his ability to use the Force, a lot of his powers, are curbed at this point, because, as a living form, there’s not that much of him left. So his ability to be twice as good as the Emperor disappeared, and now he’s maybe 20 percent less than the Emperor. So that isn’t what the Emperor had in mind." - Vanity Fair, 2005

Now, the first one is an old quote from the development of Empire Strikes Back, when the story was very different; it's take it or leave it, if you ask me. Power-scaling is invented to justify storytelling, so if the story changes, it's not guaranteed the power-scale remains.

But if you're going by "everything Lucas said is canon!" rules then you could make the argument that, in terms of power...

If Ben = Emperor and Emperor > Vader then Ben > Vader.

And thus can argue that Ben might've beaten Vader if this confrontation was/turned into more of a Force-based contest than a physical one.

[golddustjedi]

the broken code

obi wan x jedi!reader

requested by @heyhawtdawgs

prompt #4: “Have you been drinking?”

word count: 534

warnings: alcohol use, suggestive themes

You stumbled back into your living quarters, the smell of jet juice heavy on your breath. It had been a hard week. One of your fellow Jedi was killed- no, murdered- a week ago. Though Jedi were supposed to form no connections, this one meant a lot to you. The two of you had been close since you were younglings, so even though it was against the code, you grieved a lot.

As you turned on the lights, though, you froze when you saw Obi-Wan sitting in a chair in the corner with his arms crossed.

“Y/n.”

“Obi-Wan.” You straightened and tried your damndest to sober up as fast as you could.

He stood and walked over to you. You kept your spine stiff and your chin up. It wasn’t enough, and the smell of jet juice gave you away.

“Have you been drinking?” He said in a serious voice.

“What does it matter to you?”

“You are to conduct yourself as a Jedi should, y/n. This is not a part of the code!”

You almost asked how he got in, but you remembered you gave him a key a couple of months ago after… well, you had always assumed you made two mistakes that night, given he pretended it never happened and he never used the key again. Until now.

“Might I point out that the way that you are acting is not a part of the code either, Obi-Wan.”

“That is not relevant.”

“I beg to differ.”

“I’m looking out for you, y/n. I’m worried for you.”

“Jedi can’t form attachments.” You clenched your jaw. You felt sober, but your boldness suggested otherwise.

“And look where that’s gotten you.” He gave an exhausted chuckle. “Look where that’s gotten the both of us. That night was a mistake, but…”

“That’s all it was- a mistake.” You ground out.

“Can you look me in the eyes and honestly tell me that?”

“What do you want from me? You came here to lecture me about breaking the code but yet it’s okay for you?”

“I don’t understand it, y/n. I’m trying to work this out. The Jedi Order comes first, but I can’t help but think about you every minute of the day. I can’t help but worry if you’re going to come back alive from your missions. I can’t help- I can’t help…”

“Say it.”

“I can’t help it if I’m in love with you.”

Before you could put any thought at all into it, you closed the space between the two of you and you locked your lips with his. And he didn’t break the kiss as he guided you to the bed. He started pulling your robes off, but suddenly pulled away, leaving you breathless.

“We can’t do this. You’re drunk.”

“Yes we can.”

“Y/n…”

“Obi-Wan, I’ve wanted this for months. Why else do you think I have you a key? I wanted you to use it because I’m in love with you. I want you. I need you.”

He contemplated for a moment.

“I’m sober enough to know that I will not regret waking up next to you in the morning.”

And that was all it took.

[crispyjenkins]

dha kar'ta edits and retcons

hey y'all! no excuse for not making this post earlier except that i'm a flake when not on my laptop, but i did some massive edits on dha kar'ta on July 23rd, which was after my last update on July 15th, which was a little silly of me because then tons of people went and reread from the beginning and didn't get to read it with all the edits.

most were just formatting and adjusting sentence flow, fixing bits that have always bothered me, fixing some formatting issues, removing the bolding on the old retcons, adding chapter titles (Mando’a numerals), changing the formatting of the Mando'a glossaries, and all links are now fixed!

Unfortunately, these edits DID include some new retcons/clarifications, but here’s a quick rundown of them so you don't have to go looking for them:

clarified why Obi-Wan killed Rret So instead of capturing him on Dagobah (Dha/the Force assured him they wouldn’t be able to get information out of him, nor would he allow himself to be brought back to the light);

changed how Obi-Wan addresses a few people, last name vs first name (this will be a minor plot point later on, but i needed to backdate it so to speak. also Ki-Adi-Mundi is now one name and does not have a first and last name);

removed “Maker” as an oath/swear (I’ve never liked how it sounded, but only recently actually liked “Force” and “Stars” and “Manda” in place of “God” or “Jesus” as like. an invective? is that the word? there’s a word but i don’t know what it is. expletive isn't quite right);

the inclusion of the term ba’ji/ba’ju’alor, as created (to my knowledge) by cjwritesfanficnow and discussed here (there’s only like three spots i’ve added it to, i just like it a lot and it helped those scenes flow better);

some clarification about Qui-Gon discouraging Obi-Wan’s visions in chapter 4 (just clarifying that the council thought Qui-Gon had worked with Obi-Wan to balance his Unifying Force with the Living Force, not stifled his visions);

changed Dha from being made of durasteel to coruscanthium (this will be plot-relevant at some point);

Obi-Wan is given a bodyglove/kute for under his armour (instead of his Jedi undertunics; it’s a dark blue almost black, but only because he couldn’t find a black one);

one line clarifies all Haat’ade helmets have some level of beskar, for cultural and protective reasons;

added a line from Dooku while discussing Lom in chapter 9 to fix a plothole later (basically just acknowledging they would have immediately suspected the second darksider as the one to have been hired to take the holo of Obi and Dha);

added a few lines mostly in chapter 3 about how Qui-Gon’s fear of Obi-Wan Falling in their early padawanship would influence/exacerbate Obi-Wan’s own feelings regarding killing Maul and Rret So (I’d already set this idea up, just made it a little more explicit that Qui-Gon has absolutely given Obi-Wan a complex(?) about always being worried of Falling);

i think that's all the big ones! a version of this note will be included in the next chapter update, and most of these changes will be expanded on as we go on! am especially eager to talk about why dha's hilt material is important and why i didn't choose beskar 👀

[queer-starwars-bracket]

Queer Star Wars Characters (Round 1): Well Known Characters Bracket Match 6

Obi-Wan Kenobi | Identity: pan/aspec | Media: Established in Padawan

In the novel Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi is on his own having a young adult adventure with a group of teenagers who have been living on their own. His internal monologue when he considers the idea of him being in a romantic/sexual relationship implies some kind of queer identity, but it is difficult to give a concrete label for. There are many complicating factors: he’s a teenager being pummeled by puberty and still figuring himself out; while Padawans are allowed to be in casual relationships, it isn’t encouraged; there’s his future relationship with Satine to consider; and he can’t just use a label from our world. Here’s the relevant passage:

“Couldn’t he, though, if he didn’t go back? Was that something he would even want? It had always been so forbidden, even thinking about it was like holding his hand right next to a lightsaber blade. He knew some of his friends had dabbled in physical relationships—suspected Siri would have been open to it, had he ever wanted to—but it had always seemed like an obstacle, not a temptation.

[...]

Would he ever get to a point where kissing someone felt like anything less than a betrayal of himself and the Jedi? And if he did get to that point, who would he want to kiss? The Lenahrans were confident and charismatic, which was attractive. But he couldn’t imagine just…kissing any of them. 

Maybe he didn’t want to be with any of them but rather to be more like each of them. 

Or maybe he wanted to kiss all of them. Not Mem, though, because he had a feeling that would upset her very much.”

Vel Sartha | Identity: lesbian | Media: Andor

We all know Vel Sartha. While she is not the first queer person in Star Wars by a very long shot, her and her girlfriend are the first queer people to appear in live action and have their queerness confirmed in said format, rather than retconned in later. 

Given what Perrin’s comment about how she doesn’t have a husband is supposed to invoke for audiences, it makes more sense for her to be specifically a lesbian (although in-universe, wealthy Chandrillians would be okay with arranged same gender marriages within their social sphere).

[this-acuteneurosis]

Okay, 2 things I really, really love about your writing and DLB (be prepared for praise)

1. Your commentary and meta on the Force. Reading through your post on how western (Christianity) theology ruined the prequels— yes! I have been saying this for years but I never knew how to put it in words or explain why the force felt so different in the PT vs the OT, and why I always preferred the force in the OT more than the PT (you hit the nail on the head). And I appreciate that this is the route you’ve taken in your writing, and I have to say since I’m writing my own SW fic I have been reading through that post and applying it to how I write about the force in my own story, and looking at things with a more critical eye and being mindful of what the force is and how it does/doesn’t work.

2. Your characterization of Anakin. I think yours is the best characterization of him I’ve ever read in a fic (I mean it). When I read DLB, I feel like I’m actually reading an Anakin from the PT. I think when it comes to a lot of fics about Anakin, I think authors tend to write him more like he is in the TCW, which is totally fine (I love the TCW) but DLB is just refreshing to me, and I know it’s because you’re sticking mostly to the movies with added bits from the TCW. For me, TCW Anakin feels a lot different from PT Anakin (sometimes it feels like they’re two different people), and Ive always preferred the Anakin in the movies (which is why I LOVE DLB). And it’s not just Anakin, but all of the characters are just written extremely well and true to their portrayals in the movies: shmi, padme, obi-wan, the list goes on.

3. (I know I only said 2, but I feel like being a Rebel). I think you’re one of the first authors of a SW time travel to bring up the very poignant point that just because it’s a time travel fic does not mean that we’re owed a big reveal. I mean, honestly, if I was Leia and I was dropped into that situation, I would do the exact same thing. My mouth would be wired shut, you’d have to tickle/torture me to get that out of me. Leia doesn’t owe anyone that part of herself and it’s not super relevant either, so why bring it up just to bring it up. If it does end up being relevant to the plot then I would very much enjoy a reveal, but you’re such a good writer that no matter where the cards fall I know I will not be disappointed either way— I am all here for how you write it. But the way you’ve written so far feels realistic and authentic to how a real person would react in that situation

I’ll end it here, but yeah! I appreciate you and DLB and I look forward to seeing where you take things.

I am blushing like crazy, you're so kind.

1) I know my rejection of an even semi-sentient Force isn't popular and doesn't mesh with current canon, but I prefer and stand by it. I'm glad that it resonates with someone else!

2) I agree that Anakin characterization is So Hard because he's not really consistent between the OT, PT, and TCW. I find my interpretation strongly influenced by TPM Anakin specifically (another Anakin!). That bright, kind little boy who was too smart and too talented for his own good! I love him and I want to protect him!

3) Be a Rebel! :) The "reveal" issue is something I think about a lot. I get lots of comments--ever increasing as the story goes on and the silence holds--about how excited or anxious people are for a reveal. What they think people's reactions will be. Why it must happen at some point. I can understand the underlying tension issue, and how people are probably on the edge of their seat. But I agree with you anon, Leia doesn't owe her past to anyone. There have been, are, and will be consequences to her silence. If and when she chooses to break it, it will be a Big Deal for whoever she trusts with the truth.

But for now, get comfy folks. Leia isn't going to break so easily.

[moon-ursidae]

THE MANDALORIAN 3x06 SPOILERS

i’m caught up! didn’t think i would tonight but here we are!

i’ve seen some heavy spoilers for this ep already :/

so i know some of what’s coming

more darksaber focus in the “previously” hmm

god they really have just been setting shit up that bo-katan is gonna get the darksaber back and rule the mandalorians

last episode really propelled that one

idk i’m just kinda annoyed at this point

this season is just- ugh idk

i’m just gonna shut the fuck up about it until the episode is over

or when it’s relevant to the episode

empire ship??

WOAH THE WAY THAT TANK DRAINED WAS FUCKIN SICK

THAT’S A WHOLE STAR DESTROYER??

OH???? I WAS WONDERING WHEN THESE 2 WOULD SHOW BACK UP

AHHHHHHHH

omg the drama of this romance

guns for hire OOOOOOOOO THIS INTRO GOES HARD

i like that bo’s formed a relationship w grogu but that also makes me scared

like there’s so many things that make me think that something is gonna happen to din…

all of these major plot points being given to bo katan?? bad news bears man

god din is so attractive

i’m still shocked when i hear his name

like it’s still insider info to me

JACK BLACK AND LIZZO OH MY FUCKING GOOOOOOODDDDDDD

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

IAVSKABSKEBFKXBZKZVAOSVSKSBAL

i know lizzo was GEEKING being able to hold grogu

she’s gorgeous

jack black is having a week huh? fuckin good for him he deserves it

droid problem?

god i love jack black he’s so silly

“progrum” HAHAHAHAHAHA

BATTLE DROIDS?

din may fuck shit up if that’s the case

this feels so fucking video game-y

grogu do be lovin the scritches

GOD THE DIN DJARIN HEAD TILT™️ SO HOT

“you had me at battle droids” i knew he was gonna fuck shit up

HOLD ON I JUST HEARD “these droids” AND PAUSED IS THAT FUCKING CHRISTOPHER LLOYD

OH MY GOOOOOODDDDDDDDDD

IT’S FUCKING CHRISTOPHER LLOYD

the music from season 2 UGH so good

the fucking seperatist droids oh my god there’s so much history with these droids and din and bo

UGNAUGHTS???

DIN ASKING ABOUT THEM TOO UUGGHHHH

KUIIL I MISS YOU

if nobody hates droids, din djarin has left this realm.

one thing about din djarin? he’s gonna look damn good in an elevator

i’m gonna fucking cry if nick nolte voices any of these ugnaughts

“i am mandalorian din djarin, friend of ugnaught kuiil. you will answer our qustions and help us with our task. i have spoken.” I HAVE SPOKEN😭😭😭😭😭😭

THE WAY THEY IMMEDIATELY LISTEN AT THE MENTION OF KUIIL 😭😭😭😭

the voice of this ugnaught is SO FAMILIAR.

it’s pissing me off that i can’t name the actor

the practical effects are fucking awesome

it’s gonna piss me off that i can’t name that voice actor

ANYWAY

god the lights reflecting off of din’s armor is so sexy and will never not be sexy

BATTLE DROIDS SINCE THE CLONE WARS??? SO HIS HOME WORLD WAS ATTACKED AFTER???

din’s gonna fuck around and find out huh?

HOLY SHIT HE DEFINITELY FOUND OUT

HE GOT HIS SHIT ROCKED

that’s concussion # what now?? like 60?

THE SOUND OF THE DROID HITTING THE BESKAR HAHA

now THIS is the bounty hunting shit i missed

THAT LOOKED A LOT LIKE R2D2???

PLEASE THE WAY HE DOVE THROUGH THE WINDOW??? HE’S SO CRAZY I LOVE HIM SO MANY

THE LIGHTING IS FUCKING GORGEOUS

THIS IS THE BOUNTY HUNTING SHIT THAT I’VE MISSED OH MY GOD

this is also so obi-wan and anakin coded

plz din is so stubborn i love him

YOU CAN’T TAKE THE BOUNTY HUNTER OUT OF HIM I LOVE IT

this is literally an rpg game. there’s side quests to side quests and quest steps to quest steps

this is just becoming an episode of criminal minds: star wars edition

DARKSABER DARKSABER DARKSABER DARKSABER DARKSABER DARKSABER

THE MUSIC CUE AHHHH

THIS IS LITERALLY JUST AN EPISODE OF CRIMINAL MINDS HAHAHA

CHRISTOPHER LLOYD TEA TEA TEA

SEPERATIST??

COUNT DOOKU??

AHHHHHHH

YES MORE JACK BLACK AND LIZZO HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

SHE’S SLAYING

OH MY GOD GROGU HELPING HER😭😭😭

the difference between axe at the beginning seperating lovers meanwhile din and bo are helping these two lovers is so good

DIN DJARIN OF CONCORDIA?????

CRYING CRYING CRYING CRYING

HIS FULL TITLE I’M YELLING

KNIGHTHOOD FOR GROGU YEAAAAAAAA

oh god here we go

the gurls are fighting 👀

damn she rocked his ass

oh he’s pissed goddamn

this is crazy

wait is the knee slide in this episode?? i know kate was talkin about it in an interview but idk if it’s this ep

not this fight i guess

that was a cool fight sequence tho!!

here we go about who is the actual leader and who has the fucking darksaber

he’s gonna give her the darksaber isn’t he?

HE IS EVERY BIT THE MANDALORIAN THAT THEY WERE YUUUP YUUP YUUP LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK

“then she shall have it” I FUCKING KNEW IT.

“would it not belong to her?” i-

ANYWAY

DIRECTED BY BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD YUUUUUUP YUUUUP YUUUUP SHE SLAYS EVERY TIME

i’m gonna do a whole seperate post about some of my other thoughts bc i have MANY.

[theonlil]

So I started watching The Mandalorian season 3. ep 1

I am bracing myself after the train wreck that was Boba Fett but I'm hoping that maybe they dont want to fuck up a very popular series.

Firstly I'll admit i was very afraid of the cinematography as Boba fett vomited in some of the scenes but here everything is in frame and in shot. Again only ep 1 but i will call it out it if i see it because it was awful in Boba Fett and disney can do better. But ahem... yes... good to see some descent camera work.

However we seem to be back into pointless scenes that do nothing but add run time. Honestly if you can't write a 45 min length show. DONT. I refer to the scene with the robot. Why did we need 2 repair scenes? this could have all been done with the little repair guys. (who we will likely never see again, or if we do it will be for a 30 sec cameo)

The scene with the other mando's seemed utterly pointless as his quest to redeem himself was given to him when he was dubbed an apostate. Now i appreciate that maybe people did not watch boba fett and need a catch up but that could have been done through flash back (disney could have litterally re run that footage) or when he was talking with the magistrate explained his situation and new quest.

The pirates!! Honestly I had to laugh as it seems they are trying to piggy pack of the success of the clone wars cartoon nostalgia. It worked with Asoka because Jedi plot line (and we know she survived order 66) and I dare say it worked with Boba Fett because Fett worked with the bounty hunter before (and for all Boba Fett's faults the western aethetic worked so well here). But the Pirates were mostly an Obi-wan thing so it feels forced onto Din.

Finally Bo Katan. Now I aint a lore buff so wont say much but season one we were introduced a rival character who was dripping with ambition and she looses it off screen. What a god damn waste.

Overall the episode jumped about so much with forced action scenes it felt more like a kids action flick than a 45 minute sci-fi episode. seriously cut out the mando scene -which seemed to only show him as an action hero which, we know and have had 2 seasons to know that- condense the repair the droid scene and use that extra run time to stick to important plot points. Maybe dramatise the Bo-Katan scene more. For example they could show Din as confused that there is no mando fleet at this empty castle. Maybe an old retainer share the woe of his mistress' fall from grace. (but they are probably not doing that so they can hype the Bo Katan spn off series).

Honestly i'm not expecting much from this series. They are going to have to make every disjointed element of this episode relevent to his quest for attonement. The robot, the pirates, and Bo... and make it feel natural. But i think the pirates are just going to be there for run time filler action scenes.

welp lets see where this show goes and hopefully i can like star wars again.

[gffa]

I am trying to write a coherent, not too spoilery, fairly presented review of Padawan, because I don’t want to oversell it, but also I want to convey that I genuinely had a good time reading it and that the heart of the book is focused on Obi-Wan having an adventure that allows him a clear look at a path outside of the Jedi Order and him deciding that he loves the Jedi Order, he loves his Jedi friends, he loves his Jedi training, he loves being a Jedi and that is the path that suits him. In some ways, do I think the book overdoes it in the first half, with Obi-Wan’s anxiety about everything?  A bit, yes, but also that’s just what being a teenager is like, you can’t escape that, even when you grow up as a Jedi and it’s perfectly relevant to the audience the book is for!  Further, it’s balanced with how Obi-Wan has an incredible foundation that we the readers can see, he is emotionally resilient, he settles in and does the hard work of acknowledging what he’s feeling and moving through those feelings, you can see the future Jedi Master there, even if the edges are rough and not yet refined. You can see him being a natural leader even when he himself doesn’t always see it.  You can see how deeply he cares about people, how he struggles with his own selfishness at times, but ultimately finds that, when put to the test, his care for the people around him is vast and impossible to overshadow. That he finds his footing again through the growing realization of what the Jedi have been training him for, that the emotional climax of the book is Obi-Wan growing into a new understanding of how a Jedi works, one that he had to work his way towards, he had to figure out the answer for himself, that’s how the Jedi teach, there’s a line specifically in the book about how Yoda teaches by making Jedi figure things out for themselves, and you understand it’s because then they can come to the choices that are right for them, because then they truly understand why they come to the answers they do, rather than just being spoon-fed them.  And that’s why the Force brought him on the journey he goes on here, because, as Yoda says, he has to find the answers within himself. I could find minor quibbles with the book, the attachment mentions (there’s like two or so of them and they’re minor) made me pause, but they’re also balanced with how you cannot separate out that a big climax of the book rests on the Jedi have a reason for their rules, because they have this tremendous power, and the entire point of the book is to illustrate what happens when you only care about power, that kind of damage you can do.  You cannot divorce it from Obi-Wan Kenobi’s love of the Jedi Order.  You cannot divorce it from the other Jedi Padawans we see, who are delightful and vibrant and full of life.  You cannot divorce it from that Obi-Wan can help these people because he has been trained as a Jedi. As someone who loves Star Wars for the themes of having to learn to let go of the fears that weigh you down, that it’s a lifelong process to learn how to acknowledge that they’re part of you, but you can’t act from those places, you can’t seize it into your heart, who loves the Jedi for their efforts to seek exactly that, this book was a lovely experience.  As someone who has struggled with not knowing what they want, especially when they were younger, this is a story that I resonated with a lot. And, as someone who loves Obi-Wan Kenobi, for having the emotional resilience and strength to find a way to rise above, who is sharply funny in a warm-hearted way, who is a natural leader that genuinely cares, who has a strong moral compass that cannot be broken, this book was pretty damn satisfying.

[phoenixyfriend]

Meandering Thoughts on my Characterization of Commander Cody

(Most of this has been cut and rearranged from a discord convo. I did not include anyone else's commentary.)

My thing about characterization is that:

I can describe how or why they think

I can explain why they'd act in different ways and how they'd go about problem solving

I can talk at length about the ways their upbringing influenced they action they took in whatever scene I've written

I cannot actually. Describe them.

The relevant example here is Cody and Rex.

I can feel that they are different, in behavior and such. I know I write them with the intention of them being different. I cannot explain what the difference between them is without sitting down and rereading everything and pointing out Crucial Moments or something.

Part of it is that I cannot always conceptualize of character in a vacuum.

People exist in the context of each other.

Cody isn't defined just by himself, but by the people around him. The fun part of the current project is that he is not around Obi-Wan or any of his brothers. His main conversation partner is late-twenties Shmi Skywalker, which is not a person he ever met in canon, and in a world where the clone army doesn't exist yet, and so a lot of what he does and how he acts is about him and about self-reflection etc.

So I'm having fun with writing that, but then I step back and go 'what does this say about Cody, that he acts and reacts in these specific manners? What does it say about me that I have him act in this way?'

If I go through it scene by scene and imagine Rex there instead, I can easily say "oh yeah, Rex would have externalized his anxiety more, or would have been more unsure about this. Cody is better at packaging away his discomfort until he's alone, and is more prone to committing to the plan once he's decided it's a good one. He will reassess as necessary, but Rex is more likely to overthink things."

But is there a single word I can use to describe that? is there a way to define them as people in that example, rather than getting into the nitty-gritty of things like how Cody was trained for command from a young age, while Rex was promoted into it following exemplary field service, and is in many ways still struggling to catch up with the role he's found himself in?

I can explain the things.

I don't know that I can define them.

[nevertheless-moving]

Quinlan's hands had dropped to his face sometime ago. Obi-Wan wasn't quite sure how to comfort him. He had asked, and quite frankly, Obi-Wan could really use the help of another shadow for the final Kamino infiltration.

"I know it's a lot to take in—" he began softly, only to be cut of by a hoarse chuckle.

"You really don't see it, do you?" Quinlan asked, looking up at him incredulously.

"See what?" the time traveler asked nervously, twisting to stare at the holoboard mapping Sidious' master plan, a carefully constructed counter at the end of every twisting vine strangling the republic.

"What this looks like!" Quinlan replied, gesturing broadly.

"I'd say it looks terrifying," Obi-Wan answered dryly. "And you can see why, given Palpatine's position, I've had to respond secretly."

"Respond!" Quinlan ran a hand through his hair, barking out another laugh. "Respond. For fuck’s sake, if it were anyone but you telling me this—and if you were telling anyone but me—Obi-Wan you haven't just responded, you've won."

"Well—" Obi-Wan hedged, edges of his lips curling up. "I admit, it would be very difficult for the Sith to win at this point, even should I die, I've got deadman's messages prepared for the Council and relevant Senate members. Still, my current defense against the clone army is hardly acceptable, so you see why I need your help infiltrating the Kamino command center when I make my move—"

"Obi-Wan." Vos pressed his hands together, thumbs digging into his chin and inhaling sharply. "That's not what I mean. I mean that you, Obi-Wan Kenobi, have won the galaxy. You could literally declare yourself Emperor today."

Obi-Wan scoffed. "Don't be absurd. What, just because I've got the command codes to disable the droid army and the bombs under the Senate and Temple?"

"Or activate them," Quinlan said gently.

Obi-Wan scowled. "Don't joke about that—I would never—"

"I know," the psychometric interrupted, tone careful. "I know you wouldn't. But you could."

Obi-Wan shifted uneasily, staring at his plans again. It...had occurred to him of course, that an unscrupulous actor could do tremendous damage with the information he had painstakingly acquired. It had been difficult, to thread the line of giving Sidious and his allies the rope they needed to hang themselves, while still making sure he could pull it taught at the critical juncture. He had been proud of how he had managed, but the end result was...an awful lot of power. Consolidated in his hands, instead of Palpatine’s. 

“I still couldn’t—this still isn’t enough to actually control the galaxy, that’s the point. Sidious needs war to break out first, and he needs to be seen as the one whose ending it, first—it’s the only way to get the more influential  democratic systems to give up their powers. Anyway, back to the point, I obviously would rather not take away the clone’s freewill, even with something as innocuous as Order 6, which is why I need you to disable the orders at the command center.”

“Yes, Obi-Wan, I’m on board with the plan, I just—” Knight Vos pressed his hands to his eyes, leaning back in his chair. “I can’t believe I have to explain this to you—you already have the power that Sidious would need a war to achieve.”

“What are you talking about? No I—”

“You’re rich!” Vos burst into motion, flipping frantically through glowing screens to pull up the distribution of BK’s funding. “You’re funding the non-partisan corruption watchdog movement, and providing social services—if that was public knowledge—if any of this was public knowledge—you would instantly be a shoo in for Supreme Chancellor.”

"That’s...an exaggeration,” Obi-Wan protested.

“Is it?” Quinlan asked manically. “You are in the top 10,000 wealthiest people in the galaxy. And, unlike the other 9,999, your funds are clean. No trade federation, no blanking clans, no mining guilds. Just incredibly popular music and ridiculously smart and/or lucky investments in value neutral to actively humanitarian businesses. Can you imagine how much the good leaders would respect you, if they found out all this? How much the gold-diggers would try to cozy up to you, when they find out that you’re just giving away your multiple fortunes, try to encourage you to invest in infrastructure projects on their homeworlds—”

"I—”

“And that’s not even the whole picture! That’s just where the money is coming from, and how it’s being used. BK already has a cult. People adore him. The clones already feel like the owe him, since it’s public knowledge that he’s a major supporter for the resettlement program—when they learn about the anti-chip stuff—Obi-Wan Kenobi is going to have statues put up once you uncover Sidious’s plots—”

“I don’t want people to know about the vode’s chips—integration is difficult enough already,” Obi-Wan said lowly.

“Yes, fine,” Quinlan said, pulling up the alarming schematics of the droid foundries. “The trade federation’s still on thin ice after the documentation of their maneuvers of Naboo—When the galaxy sees these—learns you're blowing them all up before they pull a Naboo on the entire galaxy—they’re going lose their minds. Obi-Wan, it would be so easy for you to control the galaxy right now. I know the Sith did the groundwork and you were just ripping away the reins from the guy who actually did want that, but you were scarily successful. You actually have the narrative that Palpatine is trying to fake.”

Quinlan paused, smirking. “And you’re way hotter. Pretty sure if you came out in all black and said you want to grind the galaxy to dust beneath your heel, people would line up to get stepped on.”

“Oh,” Obi-Wan said, falling back into a chair. “...I don’t...I didn’t...see it that way.”

The Kiffar Knight sighed. “Like I said if it was anyone else—but you’re you, and I’m me, and I 100% believe you when you say you successfully plotted total galactic domination accidentally. Just...let’s pull the rug out from this guy’s feet before we tell the council, or I think they’ll have to arrest you.”

(rest of this au here)

[transrevolutions]

Out of curiosity, do you have any other characters that you personally headcannon as asexual?

Quite a few, actually!

(I uh. discuss sex in this ask. Obviously. Nothing graphic though.)

~Enjolras (Les Miserables)- asexuality basically canon, shown in text to have no interest in sexual relationships, I see him as aroace. Grantaire is bi and definitely romantically into him, but their relationship is queerplatonic in my modern AU.

~Annabeth Chase (PJO)- aroace as well, Percy's dynamic with Rachel works better romantically and the scene with Luke in TLO has massive "I'm just figuring out I don't feel romantic attraction" vibes. Contradicted in canon but who cares.

~Katniss Everdeen (THG)- demisexual, has some textual support. She's really not into Peeta at all until they are already very close and have been through a lot, and it's implied she wasn't interested in anyone up until that point.

~Tris Prior (Divergent)- implied greysexual in canon, sometimes sex repulsed. It definitely fluctuates, and there is a point in canon where they have sex and enjoy it. I think it comes and goes for them. (I also hc them as non-binary! This isn't canon though lol)

~Four (Divergent)- demisexual. In the same boat as Tris here, though not canon. Sex is weird for Abnegation kids, I think. (Someday I'll make a separate post for my feelings about Abnegation.) He'd probably try to push through it to be Dauntless Enough™ but wouldn't really get anything out of it until he's in a steady relationship.

~Newt (TMR) is asexual, and this one is just because I said so. He simply has the vibes. He's gay in canon, but you can be gay and asexual so it all works out.

~Obi Wan Kenobi (Star Wars). Massive aroace. No canonical love interest (we don't count the thing in TCW) and little patience for romance-based bullshit. Amazingly oblivious to Anakin's growingly obvious romantic involvement with Padme (who he also works closely with). This is relevant because I, an aroace, am often completely unaware of my friends' love lives until they tell me very specifically. Multiple times, sometimes.

~Sejanus Plinth (THG/TBOSAS) is a bit complicated. I see him as asexual but demiromantic, and in an AU where he survives, I don't think he'd be into romance. From TBOSAS I feel like there's subtext that he has romantic-ish feelings for Snow, but uh. Obviously those do Not go anywhere because Snow betrays him and joins the fascist government he hates and he dies in canon anyways. I think if he lived, though, he wouldn't want to deal with being fucked over like that again. A trauma thing, probably.

~Bean (Ender's Game) in a world where he wasn't shat on from birth would be here as an asexual, possibly aromantic. Canonically, as a youngish teen, he has extreme asychronicity (headcanon but pretty canon-supported) and he's got a tendency to latch onto older/authority figures. As a kid, he latches onto Ender, not necessarily in a romantic way (and certainly not a sexual one, he's like. nine years old.) but in a weird parasocial way nonetheless. Later, when he's older, he latches onto Petra, almost obsessively. This might just be weird writing on the author's part because the author of the books has weird views about women, but I choose to interpret it not as Bean being a creep but as Bean coping with trauma in the only way he knows how. In canon, Bean and Petra have kids. In an AU where a) Bean wasn't traumatized his entire childhood and b) Bean didn't have a terminal disease, I don't think he'd be into Petra either way. Maybe he'd get together romantically or queerplatonically with Suriyawong, maybe not.

This got very long. Hope this was what you were looking for!

[akajustmerry]

What are your thoughts on Kenobi?

hiiiiiiiii ❤️ thanks for asking!

so I'm still pretty sick n feverish rn so these thoughts might be a bit scattered. I think it's important to know that I went into kenobi with relatively low expectations. after watching boba fett, the final season of tcw, etc, I don't rlly expect these series to be much more than frilly filler that dismisses it's own source material and let's just say kenobi didn't do much to shift that expectation.

It was a waste of Hayden: despite being a they/them, I am now, forever and since the age of 8, a Hayden Christensen girlie!!! But my mans was WASTED, I understand he was (allegedly) in the Vader suit the whole time but....its a waste. At bare minimum there shoulda been more ani/obi prequel flashbacks woven throughout each ep instead of that one in ep 5. Like they dragged him off the farm to cosplay darth Vader. I wanna know what Disney has on him to make him do this because lord love a duck, this was pathetic and using him so heavily in the press was akin to false advertising.

Individualism is a DISEASE: I'm currently writing a video essay about Anakin so I'm not gonna elaborate a lot on this point here except to say that having Anakin claim that HE HIMSELF killed Anakin Skywalker is an INSULT to how the prequels clearly placed the blame for Anakin's turning on the Jedi on multiple factors, many of which were systemic, to the point where even in the prequels Anakin CONSISTENTLY outloud blames the Jedi for making him this way. That, "I did" line in ep 6 was completely unearned and spat in the face of George Lucas's Anakin characterisation. And for what? all to free obi wan of a guilt he has every fucking justification to feel. Anakin was never EVER solely responsible for becoming Darth Vader. To have him say so just Disney depoliticising star wars, as they've been doing since TFA by making characters into fucking toys.

Leia, I'd kill for you: about the only thing that kept me watching after ep 3, apart from the hope of seeing Hayden, was Leia. Vivien Blair was absolutely adorable and did such a wonderful job emulating Carrie Fishers energy without just imitating. Along with her performance, I appreciated seeing characterised and fleshed out as a main character, rather than a side character in someone else's story. She was perfect and her and Ewan were so lovely on screen I was just 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 the whole time. She was the star of this silly series as far as I'm concerned.

The racism...yikes! I've talked about reva on my blog already so I'm not gonna repeat it, but putting Tala, a brown woman, in Nazi adjacent costuming for the majority of her screen time and then killing her off to save the white dude? Yikes. Also, Sung Kang being inhumanely evil and green? Literally dehumanising. Also, Kumail being untrustworthy criminal grifter? Nope. I was so shocked Oshea Jackson's char lived because the racism in this series was so bad.

The environmentals were appalling: this is a gripe I have with all Disney + content, but the fact that this show about Obi Wan made in 2022 looks more visually bland and flat than movies made in the early 00s is EMBARRASSING. Ani and Obi fought twice in this stupid show and on both occasions the environment was essentially interchangeable!!!! You could not say that about any of the duels in the prequels because they actually have visually compelling narratively relevant settings!

Natalie Holt and John Williams collabing on the score was soooooooo good. Natalie being such a gifted fresh composer combined with John Williams legendary star wars tracks made for the most outstandingly scored d+ show to date. The score made it for me, honestly

A prequel only works as an emotionally driven tragedy: the thing about making something that's sandwiched between 2 establishment events in the story is that your only option to actually making it compelling is to focus on building emotional conflict over plot. Sadly, this show made its central conflicts all plot and hardly any emotion. Every cliffhanger was things we knew the answers to already, yet the show wants you to be worried that Luke Skywalker might die?? Laughable. When Obi says, "then my friend is truly dead" that's what should have been foregrounded as the main conflict for Obi Wan. Not whether Darth will learn of the kids, or whether reva will kill him or whatever the fuck! The throughline for the show should have been obi wan believing there was still good in him, Obi Wan believing that Anakin could be turned back, but we never get a proper sense that he actually believes any of that. Moreover, the actions he takes like protecting leia, burying his saber, the nightmares, his conversations with Reva - they all speak to him already accepting Anakin as being dead and just being Darth. That "then my friend is truly dead" line is so utterly unearned and unnecessary that it's almost funny. That line should have been TRAGIC but it's not because the show never invests in the emotional conflict of it, just stupid plot conflict we know will be resolved anyway.

Padme: I really loved how much this series acknowledged Padme's loss as equal to Anakin's in terms of forces for good lost to tragedy. Truly the only and most compelling emotional arch for Obi in this silly show was him figuring out how to tell leia about who her parents were without imparting the pain of losing them. Again this is one of the few genuinely positive things I can say about the show because it was something actually character focused.

A waste of qui gon - lmao it's hilarious to me that qui gon was literally the guy who chose Anakin to be the chosen one and is essentially responsible for putting ALL THIS into motion, but the forces that be on this wasteful show are like, "let's just have him cameo for a quip at the end". Borderline insulting!!!!!!!! Like qui gon DIED fighting for Anakin to be trained as a Jedi and abandoning obi to train him alone and we don't even get to see them have a meaningful conversation about any of that? Fuck off.

Endless repetition: I literally hate that the so-called iconic moments in this show are mostly just the show imitating what's already been done. Like Darth and Obis 2nd fight is just copy paste Ahsoka and Darths fight from TCW right down to the dialogue and most of the visuals. The whole rescuing Leia from the base is just imitating ANH without saying anything interesting too and sure obi said the "hello there" but Why are people treating that as meaningful when it's just a fucking gag reference?? If I wanted to watch ANH or ROTS I woulda just done that, I wanted something new. God forbid the show purporting itself as a character piece actually....be a character piece.

Anyways, I can't say I fully regret watching it. As I said, elements were enjoyable. But there was nothing in it that really justified its existence to me. Like, this coulda been a really fun star wars novella and I probably woulda been fine with it, but promoting it on the strength of ewan and Hayden returning and mostly wasting their time on screen with shit we already know that's inconsistent at best and shallow fan service repeating what's been done at worst just left a bad taste in my mouth. Those of us who loved and grew up on the prequels deserved better. Ewan was giving really fucking sad, hot uncle vibes though so I suppose it'll always be there for a thirst watch 🤷🏻

[brachiosaurus-on]

Brachio, friend! Hello! How are you?

I know you are reading the High Republic books, and I have to wonder, has any of it given you the impression the Jedi of that time have a significantly different experience from the Jedi of the late Republic? I hear a lot of people implying that lately, but I don't quite buy it, and so I figured I would consult you.

Mon, friend! Hello! I'm well, thanks! How are you? I hope you don’t mind that I turned this answer into a bit of a rambling meta.

So, the short answer is no. Their experiences are a little bit different due to the circumstances outside of the Order being different, but I wouldn’t say that their experiences are significantly different until the Clone Wars start. The philosophy and culture within the Order is the same, and I can easily see the characters trading places or recognizing each other as Jedi. The biggest difference is the fashion.

I think that this perception may come from big differences in how they are presented.

The scope of the story is different. High Republic gives us a broad scope through several points of view; the Prequel Trilogy gives us a narrow scope through only a few points of view. The Prequel Trilogy only includes what’s relevant to either the fall of the Republic or Anakin’s fall (which eventually become intertwined themselves), and has a small cast of characters. High Republic has many concurrent and overlapping plots and subplots with twice as many main characters. The scope and focus of the stories are very, very different. You may have heard that High Republic suffers from having too many characters, which is valid, but the upside is that we get a very full picture of what’s going on around the galaxy.

The audience’s perspective is different. High Republic is told from the perspectives of Jedi who love the Order and enjoy the lifestyle. The Prequel Trilogy is told largely from the point of view of Anakin, who does not find the lifestyle fulfilling.

The structure of the story is different. The prequels are very plot driven and most of the story happens during important events; we see limited exposition, resolution, and downtime between major events. High Republic spends a lot of time in characters’ heads before, between, during, and after important events. There’s a much fuller picture of what these characters are going through and how they’re reacting to it.

The explanations of Jedi philosophy and internal workings of the Order are different. High Republic is very direct about explaining Jedi philosophy and internal workings, taking time to elaborate for the audience. The films primarily use Yoda to explain Jedi philosophy; Yoda does not elaborate and is intentionally indirect to encourage the audience to think for themselves. The films show some internal workings but are rarely explicit.

It’s also worth mentioning that the trilogies show us more ideal Jedi because they’re establishing & introducing the audience to what the Jedi actually are and using narrative foils for Anakin’s story. Because High Republic doesn’t have this burden, they have more freedom to write more relatable characters (slutty Elzar rights) with more common flaws.

Scope

In High Republic, the story is about the Jedi working with the Republic, all of the Republic. We spend time with everyone, and I mean everyone: not just the main characters, but the side characters, and the background characters too; the worldbuilding is very detailed. We see plenty of Jedi with differing skillsets, opinions, experiences, and the story gives the audience breathing room to get to know them. They have many moments that are irrelevant to the plot, but tell us more about the characters themselves. We bounce between several Jedi Masters, who each play a different role in the Order, several knights who each have a different experience, and several padawans who are at different stages in their training. We have a broad view of the Order. We also get into the heads of the Chancellor, the Nihil, different politicians, diplomats, civilians, scientists, business people, reporters, an event coordinator, I could go on; aside from the Nihil, characters outside the Order are working with the Jedi and operating in good faith. We also know that the heroes are in a game that they can win, we know that both the Order and the Republic survive this era.

The Prequel Trilogy gave us the same huge galaxy and world building, but we saw most of it in the background. It’s extremely focused on the plot and Anakin’s character; if it’s not relevant to the fall of the Republic or Anakin’s fall, it’s not included. Even some things that were very relevant to the fall of the Republic were cut in favor of things more relevant to Anakin. Because it’s mostly about him and we don’t get the perspectives of other Jedi very often, we have a narrow view of the Order. We only spend time with Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Mace, and Yoda even though there are plenty of diverse Jedi in the background that we never meet. We see diversity within the Order, we know other Jedi are doing other things in other places, but we don’t interact with them until Order 66, when they become relevant to the story. We rarely meet other characters outside of their interactions with the main characters. The outside perspectives we see are Sith Lords, Padmé, other politicians, the Naboo, the Kaminoans, bounty hunters, crime lords, and a few civilians. Most of the characters outside the Order are working against the Jedi or operating in bad faith. We also know that the heroes are playing an unwinnable game, the Order and the Republic will not survive this story.

Perspective

In High Republic the audience is spending a lot of time with the Order and mostly seeing things from the Order’s point of view; we bounce between several different Jedi who all find the lifestyle fulfilling in different ways and the story is about all of them. The primary viewpoint characters have a broad, positive, perspective of the Order. When we’re reading from Elzar’s point of view we see his satisfaction when he uses the Force, how much he cares about others, how much he gets wrapped up in his own issues; when we’re reading from Stellan’s point of view, we see how much he loves teaching, how much he relaxes when he gets a chance to teach, how much he loves Elzar, how much he cares about the Order, how he wants to help; with Bell, we see how much he loves his master, we see him grieving, we see him reach these milestones where he figures out what it means to be a Jedi and how it frees him from his pain. The main characters actively participate in the Order’s community. Even when the characters are frustrated or upset with the Order or other Jedi, we know that they still love them because we’re in their heads and we get the characters’ full train of thought.

In the Late Republic, the story is told mostly from Anakin’s point of view. We see his frustration with the Order, his longing to be with Padmé, his desire for more power, his love overshadowed by his attachment. We see Anakin’s respect for the Order clouded by his disillusion (spurred on by a Sith Lord) and we don’t see him look outside his own perspective. We see him finding the lifestyle unfulfilling and not committing to it. The primary viewpoint character has a narrow, negative perspective of the Order. Another big thing is that Anakin is a Jedi who didn’t grow up in the Order and doesn’t have that inherent trust in the community, so we the audience don’t have complete trust in the Order. We see more of Anakin’s point of view than we do of Obi-Wan and Yoda who do reflect a positive experience. In the films, we’re in the room with the characters, not in their heads. We have to deduce what they’re thinking and how they’re feeling; we do not have the characters’ full train of thought.

Structure

The High Republic books have much more spread out pacing. There’s more exposition and we’re already familiar with the characters before they’re thrown through the narrative and then we spend more time with them afterwards. We get their reactions to major events and we see them struggle through recovery. The Jedi in High Republic have time to catch their breath, they are not moving from crisis to crisis the way the Order is in the Late Republic, and we are shown the time in between crises.

The prequel trilogy jumps right into the plot. We’re introduced to the characters briefly and we get to know them as they move through the plot. We don’t see much aftermath of major events, and we don’t see the process they go through to recover. They move from crisis to crisis and we do not see the time in between.

Here’s a summary of the different structures: High Republic shows us Reath, Bell, and Stellan all grieve in different ways and come to terms with their grief, but the prequel trilogy shows us neither Obi-Wan nor Anakin coming to terms with their grief over similar losses.

Explanation

The High Republic authors explain the philosophy of the Jedi more explicitly within their stories; they’re very direct. They also elaborate on what they’re saying for the benefit of the audience. I speculate that they do this to clear up some misunderstandings...

In the films, George Lucas prioritized concision and used Yoda to inform the audience; Yoda speaks in riddles to encourage the audience to think about what he’s saying. He speaks indirectly and without elaboration. 

If you don’t have a background knowledge of Buddhism (or at least mindfulness), it’s not terribly difficult to misinterpret the prequel trilogy because there’s so little explanation. It’s also a little difficult to balance that within a film and there’s more room to do it in the novels.

Internal Differences within the Order

The most significant internal difference is the fashion: High Republic Jedi have fancy formal robes in addition to their day to day robes. My personal headcanon for why this is different is that as time went on and the golden age faded, the Jedi became busier, and didn’t have as much time for the fashion anymore (which is tragic, I love the concept art for their fancy robes) and by the time of the prequels we see it only in the Temple Guards, or the Order decided to dress less extravagantly to show greater humility.

We get descriptions of different career paths within the Order. This is probably where it seems most different from the Jedi in the Late Republic, but I don’t see any incompatibility. There’s nothing in the prequel trilogy or TCW to contradict the existence of these career paths, and in fact I’d say there’s evidence to support their existence. I’ll write a separate post about these because it’ll make more sense with examples and this is already quite long.

There are some other things that are different, but based on external factors. There’s one line about how Jedi don’t get killed in the field often, masters aren’t killed leaving a padawan behind, that it’s just not something that happens. I think it’s supposed to tell us about the time period, but then it happens at least 3 times, so I personally take it with a grain of salt. There’s one bit about how lightsaber dueling is primarily exercise because no one else carries a lightsaber and no Jedi would ever fight another (apparently Anakin missed that memo) but this is consistent with the culture shown in the prequel trilogy when they’re blindsided by Dooku’s betrayal.

[kefalion]

Best fanfics 2021. Star Wars Gen Pt. 2

I read almost 14,5 million words worth of fanfics in 2021 (Most of it Star Wars). That’s a lot. (Embarrasing or impressive? You decide!) I write comments for myself on everything that’s longer than 5k words so I know what I thought of them, what they were called, how long they are etc. As a way to remember them all and honour these fic writers, here’s a list of my favourite ones from 2021. Sorted into categories for your convenince. Some authors will feautre multiple times. Some people are just that good.

List divided into several posts becasue it got too long and Tumblr couldn’t handle it.

Gen Pt. 1

Gen Pt. 2 - You’re here!

Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker

Other pairings

Fingertips by @communistkenobi​ Status: complete Words: 9 739 Synopsis: Anakin and Obi-Wan are in an accident. It forces them to face their attachment Thoughts: Very cute. Very emotional. A perfect take on their Master-Padawan relationship.

if i only knew by wanderlove Status: complete Words: 119 152 Synopsis: what if Obi-Wan didn’t know Anakin had been a slave and neither him or the council knew that his mother remained one and then they find out? What does it set in motion? Better communication. More trust. More understanding. So much love. The defeat of the dark side Thoughts: this has phenomenal characterization, though it’s slightly squishy that the two of them get together after having been master and Padawan it’s still so precious to see them dance around each other for so long, even after they get together. The development of the war with the changes was also very exciting and it wasn't too easy. Defeating palps was difficult and there were consequences. A very engaging read

A Million Wasted Chances by @11paruline44​ Status: in progress Words: 38 856 Synopsis: The day of Vader’s ascent comes to an end, then it starts over. And again. And again. Thoughts: this is a very good Groundhog Day version of Vader’s fall. He’s appropriately dark and emotional and regretful and takes appropriate actions, first full of anger against Obi-Wan and Sidious, then keeping away from everything, then asking for help.

Executor Given by @spell-cleaver Status: complete Words: 14 996 Synopsis: Luke’s on a mission to stop the Super Star Destroyer from launching. When Vader senses him, he accidentally wreaks havoc on the ship himself. Thoughts: the ending was so precious. I love Vader and Luke.

Temper with the Stars and Unfriendly Skies by pipionem Status: complete Words: 52 229 + 34 919 Synopsis: Ahsoka is running from Palpatine in the world between worlds and jumps out on the Fallen Hand in time to see Anakin and Obi-Wan win against Dooku. She’s not about to stay quiet about what the future holds Thoughts: I read this cause I wanted to read the sequel (had good summary + tags), but this was good on its own. It got straight to the point without feeling rushed and everyone was in character and it focuses on things I care about. Very nice. Synopsis: Sequel. Anakin sees Old Ahsoka to the temple on Lothal, then gets trapped. He walks through a portal and right into a firefight between his grown-up children and some stormtroopers. Before he goes home, he’ll see this universe fixed. Thoughts: I really liked reading it. The build-up for Luke and Leia finding out and other characters finding out who Anakin is was lovely.

In Sacrifice, Peace by Artikka Status: complete Words: 5 757 Synopsis: Anakin doesn’t fall. He’s in the temple when the Clones attack. Thoughts: real tears over this. And they were many. How so many feels can be achieved with less than 6k words is magical.

walk by faith/tell no one what you've seen by @killbothtwins Status: complete - series in progress Words: 39 188 Synopsis: Obi-Wan sees the Empire fall, and then he wakes up back when he was twelve and he handles it with dignity Thoughts: I can’t put my finger on what I like so much about this, but I do. It feel so comfortable to read. The pacing is lovely with short scenes that are relevant and then cutting to the next relevant part, then lingering on more major events. It’s angst-free without ever dismissing how grave everything about the fall of the Republic was. (I’m saving up reading the sequels and suspect I’m in for a treat)

Krayt's Oath by SnowflakesandMozart Status: in progress Words: 82 514 Synopsis: Vader learns of a Sith technique to keep someone alive by syphoning the life force of another. He puts two and two together. Knowing Padmé dies so he could live, he can no longer serve Palpatine. He escapes, gets himself healed up and settles on Tatooine to keep away from everything, but everything has a way of intruding. Thoughts: good writing. Good plot. Good characterization. Vader turned Anakin feels believable. The use of ocs, known characters and changes to canon work very well. Kitster Banai is a good inclusion, Cody’s precious, and Obi-Wan and Leia add so much with so little screen time. The section where they assassinated Jaba from the clone POV slowed down the pacing a bit, but was enjoyable for its own sake.

Enter Nowhere by @princessleia9977​ Status: in progress Words: 30 275 Synopsis: four generations of Skywalker are brought together through time travel. Shmi, Anakin, Leia, and Kylo (Ben). Thoughts: a unique set up that’s properly executed. I’m thriving off this. The escalation with things becoming more and more was perfect

Hard Reset by dogmatix, @norcumii​ Status: in progress Words: 20 738 Synopsis: Vader is hit on the head by Ahsoka and loses his memories. Anakin’s not happy about the state of… well anything. Thoughts: the progression of this, the style, the plot. I love it! Anakin freaking out and wanting out of the suit and wondering why the hell he’d fall. Ahsoka being the first to trust him. Then including characters in a steady stream that makes sense and builds up the story. So good.

A Second Chance by @alverrann Status: in progress Words: 20 250 Synopsis: Vader dies. He wakes up mid Clone Wars. The Force backlashed Thoughts: ooh! Proper considerations to issues Vader would have. Can barely walk, has no control of his temper or emotions. Has appropriate priorities. Love it!

Sympathy for the Devil by @justalothcat Status: in progress Words: 85 546 Synopsis: Maul isn’t killed by Obi-Wan on Tatooine. He goes there too late, when Vader’s already killed the old Jedi. He follows the trail left to Luke and joins up with the Alliance to train the young Skywalker. And he gets ghost Obi-Wan’s blessing to do so Thoughts: This exceeded any and all exectations I had when reading the sumary and tags. That it takes place in episode five and on was a bonus and Maul with the rebels is actually a treat. Him dealing with all that nonsense of telling hard secrets and being influenced by Luke towards the light and kinda starting to like  Obi-Wan. Very enjoyable.

24 Hours by @ladyvader23 Status: complete Words: 10 898 Synopsis: Vader follows Luke to Dagobah and they meet Yoda at the same time and both enter the cave to see what they need to. Thoughts: ohhhhh. LadyVader is a pro! The characterizations are so good, and it’s told so well and it ends so sweetly. Love it.

Synchronous by @tykimikkitty Status: in progress Words: 67 856 Synopsis: Luke, Leia and Han Time travel from one year past Endor to one year prior the end of the Clone Wars. Leia and Han get to stay themselves, Luke gets his mind putinto his father’s body. The Force gave them a mission to make balance. Thoughts: the shenanigans are strong with this one. Luke is terrible at pretending to be his father, and it’s hilarious. Everyone thinks he hit his head too hard and that helps for a while, but now we’re reaching a point where it’s too weird to work. The writing style is good, effortless and the multiple pics enhance the story, each with a subtle flavour and each sticking to relevant content. I’m not sure I’ve ever read such an Anakin centric story that doesn’t have Anakin in it. Bonus points for that!

[the-last-kenobi]

AHHH YOU’RE TAKING REQUESTS 🚨🚨🚨 Okay okay uhhhhh I can’t decide between 13 or 18 so you choose! With hurt Obi-Wan and caretaker Anakin, please!

I AM INDEED TAKING PROMPTS

And because you’re amazing and I love all your writing I have decided to write both 13 and 18 into one story, we’ll see how this goes yikes.

From this various prompts list

_

Anakin moved quickly up the hallway, trying to keep his footsteps as soft as possible.

It was very late — or very early, depending on one’s point of view. The low-lights were on, and Anakin felt like he was intruding somehow, in this residential wing that was almost entirely deserted due to the war.

The damned war.

Anakin clenched his fists. I can’t afford to be angry right now, he told himself. I need to talk to Obi-Wan and I can’t start out by yelling at him.

It was tempting to lash out at Obi-Wan.

They hadn’t had a proper conversation in months, not since the Hardeen operation and everything that it had entailed, and then Obi-Wan up and vanished on some discreet mission, stopping only to ask Anakin for a ship to borrow.

Anakin had discovered Obi-Wan’s return only when Acquisitions had notified him that his ship would be late in returning to his care due to extensive damage. Flight logs indicated that his Master had returned a full five days before. Five days without so much as a comm message letting his lineage know he was back home. Nothing.

For a few hours Anakin had foundered, stewing in disbelief and anger, but as night crept in he had begun to feel something different.

Concern.

And something that might have been the Force, prompting him, pushing him.

And so here he was, silently keying in the manual code to Obi-Wan’s quarters — technically still his own, although he spent most nights at Padmé’s or in a private room.

The door swished open.

It was utterly dark.

That wasn’t unusual; when he had the chance, Obi-Wan preferred to sleep in complete darkness. He said it felt more natural. No distractions tugging at his brain.

What was unusual was the state of disarray.

There was a kettle sitting on the counter, so near the edge it made Anakin nervous. He walked over and moved it a few inches, his eyebrows flying up when he felt the weight. When he lifted the lid, it was obvious that this was days-old, and untouched to boot.

Was Obi-Wan sick? Was he in the Halls? Surely someone would have notified him. Surely.

Anakin looked around and took note of the robe discarded against the wall, the boots left in the middle of the walkway. There was an empty mug on the reading table, and a holo-still sitting beside it, as if Obi-Wan had stared at it for awhile and then set it down — the only item that looked carefully treated.

On closer inspection, it was a holo of Obi-Wan, far younger than Anakin had ever seen him, next to Qui-Gon and a dark-skinned woman he had never seen before.

Qui-Gon was in the center, facing a little to the left, his eyes on the woman, a full smile on his face. Anakin stared. The Jedi he remembered had been understated, his smiles always a little sad. This Qui-Gon looked about to throw his head back in laughter. The woman was looking down at Obi-Wan, who stood on Qui-Gon’s other side. She was nearly as tall as Qui-Gon, her hair was braided into several intricate sections; she was smirking conspiratorially at the young Padawan.

And Obi-Wan was smiling shyly back. Although his Master wasn’t looking at him, he had draped one arm around Obi-Wan, and the boy was leaning into the casual touch.

They all looked ridiculously young and ridiculously happy, and Anakin didn’t even know who one of them was. He had never heard of this woman, or why she wasn’t around any more, because she must not be, and he had certainly never heard stories of Obi-Wan’s apprenticeship. Not unless it was relevant to whatever they had been doing, or whatever lesson Obi-Wan had been trying to teach.

His Master was so damned secretive.

Angry again, Anakin replaced the holo-still and glanced around the room, thinking to check the Halls of Healing next.

Then he spotted something that made him instinctively recoil.

A Mandalorian helmet, sitting on the chair, painted in stark black and red and rendered in Death Watch’s style.

Heart hammering, Anakin picked it up and examined it, finding gouges and dents in the beskar alloy, signs of years of wear and tear.

Why was it here? Why was there a Death Watch helmet here, in their rooms? It didn’t make any sense!

His first wild thought was that the extremist group had somehow broken in, taken Obi-Wan, and left this behind. Then he mentally shook himself. That was beyond absurd.

So what then?

Anakin tucked the helmet under his arm and cautiously approached his former Master’s room, pressing the door aside slowly.

Obi-Wan was right there.

Sitting on his bed, dressed only in stained and scorched trousers and an undershirt, his head in his hands. His fingers were buried so deeply in his hair it looked as if he were trying to tear his skull open.

“Obi-Wan!” Anakin burst out without intending to, the last few hours of anger, confusion, and momentary panic getting the better of him.

Except the older man didn’t react at all.

“...Hey. Obi-Wan.”

After a pause, the man on the bed shifted slightly, and then sat up. His fingers hastily brushed his hair back into order as he did, and his face, though white as a sheet, was a perfectly blank mask.

Anakin didn’t buy a bit of it.

“Obi-Wan... tell me what’s going on.”

The man who was Obi-Wan but wasn’t acting at all like him gave a slight shrug. “There’s a lot going on, Anakin, we’re at war. What is it you needed at one in the morning?”

Well, at least he knows what time it is.

“You’ve been back for days. I haven’t seen you.”

“Ah. Your ship?”

“I’m not worried about the ship. I’m worried about you. I don’t even know where you were!” Anakin said, his voice rising again. He cut himself off quickly.

Obi-Wan frowned slightly. “I was... on leave.”

“On leave?” Obi-Wan didn’t go on leave. Obi-Wan never stopped working, hadn’t since Geonosis. “You said it was a mission.”

The older Jedi passed a hand over his mouth before speaking again. “I... it wasn’t an endorsed mission. I undertook it myself.”

A non-endorsed mission... “You mean you went off on your own?” Anakin demanded, shocked. “Tell me you weren’t chasing Maul!”

Obi-Wan went white to the lips. He opened his mouth to speak, and then he spotted the helmet under Anakin’s arm and choked on his words, falling dead silent.

Anakin considered for a moment. Then he studied the helmet again. Taking it in.

Death Watch.

Mandalore.

A personal, self-assigned mission.

Satine.

Red and black.

Maul.

“...Oh, Force, Obi-Wan.” Anakin said numbly. Thinking of Padmé. Thinking of Obi-Wan and the confession he’d made to Satine, one that Anakin had not been meant to overhear. “I’m so sorry.”

Obi-Wan said nothing.

He just stared at Anakin for a few moments before nodding his head in acknowledgement.

Anakin set the helmet down on the desk and edged closer to the bed, his eyes on his friend, wary as if he were approaching a traumatized animal. “Can I sit?”

A nod.

Anakin sat down.

“...Is it all right if I hug you?”

A very long pause. A small nod.

Anakin placed his palm on Obi-Wan’s back, then slowly moved so his arm was around the man’s shoulders. When Obi-Wan didn’t pull away, Anakin drew closer, tilting his head down to rest on Obi-Wan’s shoulder. Like he had when he was younger, and his Master was the best in the Temple, in the whole galaxy, and there was no war, just missions and too much meditation and time enough to just sit like this when they were tired and overwrought.

Obi-Wan shuddered in his hold. Not repulsed, but something else. Like he was cold.

“Obi-Wan?” Anakin asked.

His friend shook his head, but trembled harder, his breathing fluctuating.

“Obi-Wan.”

“Feel... nauseous,” the redhead mumbled, and then he doubled over, toppling head over heels towards the floor. Anakin cried out, lunged and caught him just in time, hauling his former Master into his arms and holding him, his heart pounding from the sudden shock.

“How long has it been since you’ve slept? Or eaten?” he demanded, thinking of the tea kettle.

“Mm... not since the night I got back. For eating. I don’t know about sleeping. I honestly... can’t remember...” Obi-Wan murmured. He was shivering now, his face pale and twisted with discomfort. He looked too weak to move, and he really must have been, because all he managed when Anakin cradled him closer and stood up with him in his arms was a low groan.

“We’re going to the Halls,” Anakin informed him curtly, striding out of the room with Obi-Wan in his arms, still trembling.

Obi-Wan made a noise of protest, but Anakin shook his head. “No. You need to see Healers.” He watched his friend’s eyes mist over vaguely, with grief or with illness it was hard to say. “I’ll stay with you the whole time,” Anakin vowed, meaning every word. “It’ll be fine. As soon as they’re ready to release you we’ll come right back here and you can sleep in your own bed.”

Obi-Wan mumbled something that seemed to include, ‘not a child.’

“Yeah, yeah, and I’m not your Padawan anymore. We still boss each other around. Just how it is,” Anakin said.

Obi-Wan huffed a laugh, tilting his head against Anakin’s shoulder. He took a deep breath. Then another. And then he was asleep.

“Damn,” Anakin whispered aloud. “Damn, damn, damn, you’re really not in good shape. You shouldn’t be this easy to carry, for one thing. Dammit, Obi-Wan. Why do you have to be so secretive?”

Is he secretive?

Or have I just never asked, and never listened?

Anakin honestly didn’t know, and that bothered him.

“Sleep, Master,” he murmured, adjusting his arms so that Obi-Wan was more comfortable. “We’ll talk when you’re ready. I promise. I’ve got you. We’re going to make it through this whole damn war, together.”

_