#original clone character: blaze

[mamuzzy-creates-stuff]

I... I actually reached the 50th follower! I shall celebrate! What do i do... WHAT DO I DO??!!!! *PANIKKKK*

*throws my corrie ocs at you and runs away*

Vorn: What the Nine Corellian Hell is this shit? They misspelled my name! It's VORN with a vev like the tiger! Not with wesk! Fucking hell. Blaze: HA! Lily: It suits you alright, vod!

[mamuzzy]

*slams hands on desk* Mamuzzy, my dearest mutual. I wish to make a request! When you are well and rested, I wish to see Lily. Lily doing Lily things.

@riinoaheartilly YOU MADE ME THE MOST HAPPIEST PERSON IN THE WHOLE GALAXY BY ASKING ABOUT MY OC OMGOMGOMGOMGŐPADSFJPSDJGPISDGISPHGDIS!!!!!! *brain goes empty* *Dead. No thoughts.* *reboot*

So here is Lily, CT-7179, member of the Coruscant Guard, Planetary Defence branch under Commander Fox. He is a lovebug. A cuddlepup. A literal sunshine. MUST PROTECT HIS SMILE AT ALL COST!!! Taking pictures reminds him that despite the horrible working conditions, appreciation of simplest things can bring joy and that beauty can be found even on the most desolated and dead planets like Coruscant. One of the beauty is him, of course. Lily likes to be pretty and immortalize his pretty face for the denizens of the CorrieNet*. *CorrieNet is a social media platform exclusive to the Coruscant Guard that we use in our brainstormings and stories with @ithillia. It was created to lift up the moral of the troopers.

If there is anything Lily loves more than photography, are his friends, Vorn and Blaze, and of course, the CorrieNet. And oh boy, Lily always knows the most relevant and spicy rumors of his brothers. He just wants to know.

Unlike Vorn, Lily didn't participate in the battle of Geonosis but arrived with the first battalion deployed to Coruscant, and they are roommates and best friends ever since. Later he befriended Blaze too through Vorn. They are chaotic besties <3

Yeah, because we are a talking about my OCs, angst is inevitable. Under the cheerful appearance, Lily is quite self-conscious and shy.

The Evidence Room is actually a small storage for various loots the corries willing to share among his brothers like civilian clothes, cosmetics, games, contrabrands, and most corries use it as a gardrobe to dress out for day offs, going to parties, dates, and Lily likes to spend time here to try on outfits. He likes to experiment with everything, adores beatiful dresses, nice shoes, soft textures. Having access to the fashion district of Coruscant can fill his memory storage of the PocketCam he always carries with himself, but also reminds him that he will never be able to fit in those delicate clothes and no one will find him pretty as much as he imagines himself in them. Sometimes he dresses up, looks into the mirror, has a breakdown and stays home because he can't live with himself and his own expectations of "beauty".

Also he has a lily flower tattoo on his chest.

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

I actually have more ideas for Lily to get on paper, but this is all I could manage before the end of the year. :)))) Thank you again for this ask, it was a really good opportunity for me as well to get to know this little guy better.

[brooklynislandgirl]

10 Fandoms / 10 Characters / 10 Tags

Tagged By: my loves @kylo-wrecked and @tangleweave Tagging: Anyone who feels like they need one more Sunday this weekend.

~*~*~*~

I. Marvel: Beta-Ray Bill, Eddie Brock/Venom, Doctor Strange, Phil Coulson, Vision, Groot, Spider-Man {Peter Parker}, Gambit, Doctor Morbius, Bucky Barnes. M'Baku {Hate the moniker of 'Man-Ape'}. Magneto. Loki. Night Crawler. Frank "Punisher" Castle. Colossus. Danny "Iron Fist" Rand. Foggy Nelson. Ghost Rider {Both Johnny Blaze and Robbie Reyes, "Caretaker" Carter Slade}. I know that's more than 10. Whatever, I do what I want. >.> II. DC: Lex Luthor, Nanaue {King Shark}, Martian Man Hunter, John Constantine, The Joker, Jonathan Crane, Morpheus {Dream of the Endless}, Death of the Endless, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Bane, Swamp Thing, Green Lantern. Cisco Ramon. Hunter Zoloman.

I absolutely blame @nightmarefuele for at least two of these.

III. Star Wars: Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Admiral Piett. Kylo Ren. Wedge Antilles. Kit Fisto. Han Solo. Chewbacca. Jocasta Nu. Darth Rivan {not to be confused with Darth Revan}. Jos Vondar. Jango and Boba Fett, and of course, all my 10,000,000,000 Clone children. No I will not be taking questions.

IV. Star Trek: Worf, Martok, Gowron, Chancellor Gorkon, Kurn, Dr McCoy, Uhura, Sulu, Chekhov, Chris Pike, Ortegas, Nurse Chapel, Geordie La Forge, Riker, Data, Lore, Chief O'Brien, Q, Benjamin Cisco, Garak, Gul Dukat, Quark. V. Firefly: Mal Reynolds, Jayne Cobb, Hobun Washburne, Zoe Washburne, Shepherd Book, Kaylee Frye, YoSafBridge, Adalai Niska, Badger, Jubal Early Take my life, take my land, take me where I cannot stand. I don't care 'cause I'm still free, you can't take the sky from me. {{My coat has always been a little...brownish.}

VI. The Walking Dead: Shane Walsh, Daryl and Merle Dixon, Michonne Hawthorne, Abraham Ford, Glenn Rhee, The Governor, Bob Stookey, Ezekiel, Dwight, Aaron, Morgan Jones. VII. Justified: Raylan, Boyd, Ava, Art, Rachel, Tim, Dewey Crowe, Johnny Crowder, Loretta McCready, Robert Quarles, Ellstin Limehouse, Mags Bennett, Devil, Jean Baptiste, Boon, Willa, Carolyn, Sweety... oh so many. VIII. Yellowstone: John, Jamie, Beth, Kayce Dutton, Rip Wheeler, Jimmy Hurdstrom, Thomas Rainwater, Mo Brings Plenty, Lloyd, Colby, Teeter, Jake, Ethan, Angela Blue Thunder, Malcolm Beck. IX. Law & Order- Alphabet Soup: Captain Cragen, Lenny Briscoe, Mike Logan, Anita Van Buren, Jack McCoy. Rey Curtis, Ed Green, Arthur Branch, Cyrus Lupo, Kevin Bernard, Frank Cosgrove, Jalen Shaw. Elliot Stabler, Olivia Benson, Odafin Tutuola, John Munch, Chester Lake, Melinda Warner, Amanda Rollins, Rafael Barba, Dominick Carisi, Peter Stone, Bobby Goran. I have seen literally every episode of the American Law & Order franchise Original, SVU, CI, OC, etc...with the first three watched multiple times. While I often wouldn't call it my most favourite show...it's probably my most favourite shows.

X. The Lord of the Rings: Boromir and Faramir, Éomer and Éowyn, Theoden King, Theodred, Gimli, Pippin, Sam, Meriadoc, Fangorn {Treebeard}, Beorn, Celebrimbor, Bard the Bowman, Dwalin, Celeborn, Denethor, Gil-Galad king, Fingolfin, The Watcher in the Water, Maedhros, Finwe, Manwe...and I could go on for years. My first true fandom as we know it {probably Arthurian Legend was my first and truest fictional love}, and one I have been faithful to for over 25 years. Honestly never please talk to me about it, because I have rabid opinions about literally everything. And lastly, I only included tv/movies here because books and rpgs would require an entire three or four Long Ass Posts all of their own. Much Love.

[rebelwriter99]

Well that Bad Batch panel happened.

I have cried intermittently since several times and between those times have been mostly catatonic.

This time Dee Bradley Baker said Tech’s last words. Can’t even explain what that did to my brain.

And then we got to see a teaser trailer! I thought maybe some pictures? Or just the S3 announcement! (So sad it’s going to be the last one, I’m hoping we get to see all the characters again afterwards, but that would mean them all surviving and that is looking increasingly unlikely)

@uponrightful I thought you might like to know a certain clone has finally made an appearance. In what looks like original grey and white armour if I’m not mistaken.

We get my long predicted scene of Crosshair and Omega talking to eachother behind bars. (I even wrote one I haven’t posted in the gap between S1 and S2 😅) And to anyone with any kind of medical related trauma I think S3 can be given that hefty trigger warning now. It looks like Crosshair in particular, as well as Omega, will continue to have a completely awful time.

Also Crosshair says “I’m not them!” to Omega (after she calls him her brother) and I am very much not OK about that too.

This season looks dark. The finale looks set to be an all guns blazing disaster of a prison break if I had to put money on it. (Hunter saying “I won’t make Omega wait one more day”-ah! He’s finally throwing caution to the wind! There is a time jump I think so the trapped and traumatised two are stuck at mt. Tantiss for a while it seems)

Also Emperor Palpatine shows up. So that definitely lowers the stakes.

I look forward to crying weekly sometime in 2024. Force save us all!

[kidrat]

16, 27, 29 :D and i don't know any of your OCs yet so you can choose whoever each question is most interesting for/relevant to!

16. If money wasn’t a limit, what would they wear?

Ok Tzipporah I think similar to in canon tbh, she’s restricted more by occasion than price? I think she’s good at buying pieces that work with the rest of her wardrobe and at not buying too often. That said, she would probably buy some cool dresses and wear them around the house. Designer/red carpet type stuff even. I have this on her Pinterest as an example of the kind of thing she’d like. (In canon she wears a lot of flares, denim, berry pink, cobalt, brown, y2k, 70s and y2k does 70s)

TOBY would have a field day bc he’s a canonical clothes enjoyer/clothes snob. He likes 40s fashion and classic men’s tailoring. I do think he’d get silly tho and get one of those western suits custom made. Invest in some vintage leather. Also bespoke plain black T-shirts forever and ever yay <3 probably some really unique knitwear pieces. There’s some vintage Ralph Lauren sailor sweaters that would appeal (with the collars!)

Lou’s response to having a clothes budget would probably be to like, ask Toby what to buy. Ditto tailored stuff since he’s short and would appreciate it. I think he’d be the most likely to get some weird experimental stuff since he never got to as a teenager, even tho he’s the least concerned with fashion in canon.

27. Forgiveness or vengeance (or…)?

Answering this as a group since they’re all similar/ this links into the group dynamic. They will forgive each other anything. Kinda part of the at war thing. ‘Oh you let me get martyred yesterday? Well, it happens, we move’. Against other people they also love vengeance, but eventually this warps into a going through the motions thing. Like, revenge is an excuse to keep having the excitement of a new mission. So the answer is whatever allows them to keep on as normal and stay busy. That said at the very start of her story, Tzipporah is a true revenge chooser. She’s the only one whose initial motivation is personal that way.

29. What recurring dreams do they have?

Ok so the thing about Lou is he *is* the evil clone/replacement for the original third member of the group. So like, my man is canonically having recurring dreams about dying tragically in a blaze of glory. From his point of view that really happened to him, he just woke up after. Honestly he probably has a lot of dreams that repeat though, going back to childhood. He has problems sleeping, sometimes sleep paralysis. Super vivid dreams and continuing nightmares and stuff would be in character.

The other two I’m not sure. I don’t think Tzipporah sleeps well, but I think she lies there awake rather than dreaming anything weird. Toby probably dreams vividly, but off the top of my head there’s nothing repetitive.

[aegagrusscholarship]

fuckit, deimos the second upon ye all

so, uh, a bit of (meta) context for you first:

a while back, i was thinking about common fanon backstories for deimos, and i was trying to reconcile “deimos is a clone” with “deimos and phobos are actual brothers”. which led to “deimos is a clone of phobos’s original brother, who died before revival technology was accessible”

on an entirely different note, a friend and i have an in-joke about there being way too many characters named deimos. cue a long string of shenanigans on flight rising, leading to this guy just spawning rent-free in my brain.

anyways, this guy’s one of the nexus science team’s first attempts at cloning in general, because i dunno, man, i don’t think phobos was very patient about the possibility of bringing his dead brother back. anyways it sure didn’t go well. he got dumped into the mining sector as a result.

he’s currently hanging out with crackpot and their cult. good friends with one of the prophets. also has fire powers, but a lot less control over them. think of one of those shoddy old lighters that either gives you a goddamn blaze or the most pathetic sparks ever, no inbetween. the cat ear headphones are because, uh… look he just found them somewhere and fixed them up.

ok the actual reason is because it’s funny

[ewzzy]

I was reminded that the 1993 Topps Marvel trading cards had Unsolved Mysteries of the Marvel Universe and I just had to check if we've solved them in the intervening 30 years.

Starting off we’ve got the longest running mystery, but as with all of these the big question is “what were you hoping to find out?” We’ve seen Doom’s unscarred face in flashbacks and healed in the 1980s Secret Wars, but it was only in 2015’s reimagining of Secret Wars that we see what really lives under the mask. It’s nasty! A real “dead dove do not eat” moment.

This one I’m surprised was a mystery since it’s so well known now. When Cable first showed up he was a warrior from the future, but it wasn’t until 1994’s The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix that it was revealed that he was the time traveling son of Scott Summers and Jean Grey. Well, kinda... you see he’s actually the son of Scott and Jean’s clone Madeline and… go ask Jay and Miles if you want the X-Men X-Plained.

This is the one that got me started on this mess. Darkhawk wasn’t a huge character so this sort of went unresolved but also who cared? Basically when Chris Powell turns into Darkhawk his whole body is replaced by a drone robot from these space hawk warriors. Turns out the whole thing that freaked him out was that underneath the helmet it revealed that he wasn’t even human in that form. And yet, as far as I know we’ve never got a clear look at what he saw.

Hoo boy was this a mystery in 1993? So for background in 1990 we got Danny Ketch as the new Ghost Rider. He was more chains and leather than Johnny Blaze, the Evel Knievel-esque original. The mystery in question is “where did he get his powers and are they from the same demon Zarathos as the original?" After spending time too many wiki pages, I can now say that Danny was revealed to be Johnny Blaze’s secret brother and not powered by Zarathos. Looks like Danny at some point swapped his bike for a buster sword and started calling himself Death Rider. lol

This one is easy! It’s Thanos! Thanos is the sixth member! It got revealed in The Warlock Chronicles during Infinity Crusade. This mystery didn’t make it out of 1993.

Oh hey it’s my least favorite Spider-Man topic! That his parents were killed by the fake communist Red Skull is pointless at best. That they were seemingly brought back only to be revealed as Spider-Slayer robots is somehow worse. That whole mess got resolved in 1994 as a plot from The Chameleon. It’s right before the Clone Saga. Ugh!

This one is a case of dragging it out so long that no answer would be good enough. In 2001’s “Origin” we finally found out that Logan’s real name is James Howlett and he was born in late-19th-century Canada. The Logan name comes from James’ maybereal father from an affair and definite first bone claw stabbing victim Thomas Logan. This is all fine but I 100% of the time confuse “James Howlett” with “Jamie Hewlett” the artist who draws The Gorillaz.

A major thread in 90s X-Men was that Bishop came from a future where an X-Man had betrayed the team and ruined the future. He was pretty suspicious of Gambit in particular and there were hints based on this guy named The Witness that seemed to be Gambit from the future. All that got dropped when Charles Xavier became Onslaught and turned on everyone. Bishop even kind of got to save the day in that story. I guess it all worked out.

It’s our final X-Men mystery and the answer lies in one of the worst received X-Men stories of ALL-TIME! So your first thought should be “he’s a mutant what do you mean origin?” Okay, so starting in 1981 there were hints that Mystique was Nightcrawler’s mom. That started because people say they look the same. That’s a pretty wild thing to say since she has blue skin and he has blue fur and also she’s a shapeshifter so the idea of her real form is iffy at best. Well, it turns out Claremont wanted Mystique to have shapeshifted into a fella and been the father not the mother. Biologically speaking. He didn’t get to write that story, so instead Chuck Austen wrote The Draco…

I can’t believe this is going to a 2nd paragraph but here goes. Mystique in disguise as the wife of a German baron named Christian Wagner, but got pregnant by a mysterious Herr Azazel. The kid comes out blue and her charade is exposed. Flash forward to present day and Nightcrawler is investigating Isla des Demonas and he finally meets dear old dad. Azazel reveals himself to be a literal satan from the Brimstone Dimension. This very nearly broke Nightcrawler’s whole character. Instead of a kind man who is hated because of his appearance, he is a literal son of a demon. Don’t get me started on the woman who adopted Kurt. She’s green and has horns.

That's all the mysteries! If you think I got something wrong about X-Men then yes you're probably right. If there's a secret Darkhawk reveal I couldn't find them please please share it.

[thecleverqueer]

Random thoughts during Attack of the Clones:

*The second scene with all the Jedi in the Chancellors’ office is like a Clone Wars who’s who. Poor Barriss in the back of the room…brooding, being all angsty and gay. Her character was done hella dirty, but I have a theory on that which I may share later.

* Anakin’s attempts at flirting with women are painful. Ouch. Too bad this predates Ahsoka who could have absolutely given him pointers.

* I feel like Padme is disproportionately targeted by assassination attempts. I get she’s kind of outspoken, but holy f*^%, bounty hunters are trying to take her ass out constantly.

*I find it it creepy that Anakin was watching Padme sleep (or whatever). I would have covered the cameras if I were her as well.

* It’s pretty great that Obi-Wan catches Anakin’s lightsaber that Anakin dropped during a high-speed pursuit. Hella reflexes.

*”This weapon is your life.” -Obi-Wan when handing Anakin’s lightsaber back to him. This is a reoccurring theme, I feel. Fun Clone Wars fact: We see Jedi passing their weapons over to someone else twice in The Clone Wars series willingly: Once by Anakin who gives it to Padme. Once by Ahsoka who gives it to Barriss. Hmm.

* “Why do I get the feeling you’re going to be the death of me?”- Obi-Wan. Yikes with the foreboding.

*I appreciate the original Xbox graphics going on with that droid football game playing in the cantina. It really brings back some great memories of a time when playing games was so blocky and 32-bit.

* I like Dex. I bet the food in his diner is fire, but I bet the caf is awful. I’m also impressed that he knows about Kamino when no one else seems to at this point in the story.

* Attachments and possession is forbidden, but compassion is encouraged. I feel like attachment sort of comes with romance. Something about that chemical reaction in your brain that’s triggered… With that being said, Anakin interacting with Padmé is so, so awkward.

* “The day we stop believing democracy can work is the day we lose it.” - Queen Jamillia dropping gems of wisdom.

* Was this written by Incels? I mean, I’m really not clear how the “I don’t like sand” line somehow convinces Padmé to kiss Anakin for the first time, but maybe I need to start coming up with really, REALLY hokey lines to get girls to kiss me. I’ll let you know how it works out in the real world.

*RED FLAG ON THE FIELD. Anakin declares that he is a pro-dictatorial authoritarian fascist. She laughs it off like “he’s kidding”, and like, he legit says “I’d be much too frightened to tease a senator.” Baby girl. He’s problematic. You’re getting a sign that clearly is telling you to turn around, but you’re ignoring the signals.

*Fun Star Wars fact, those chunky tick-looking CGI animals that nearly trample Anakin in that awkward flirty scene are called Shaak (not to be confused with Shaak Ti, who is a hot, Togruta Jedi), and apparently, they’re tasty.

* Padmé seems to be very impressed by Anakin’s ability to float fruit around with the force. I can’t say I wouldn’t be turned on by someone just randomly wielding the force to impress me. Maybe.

* The scene between Anakin and Padmé where they’re discussing the kiss is a clear sign that he’s not going to be capable of letting go. The dark shadow cast across his face in this scene is kind of another foreboding moment too.

* Clones! Rex, Cody and Jesse are all down there some place preparing to go to war as Obi-Wan looks on.

* Slave One is a badass ship. That is all.

*I can’t help but wonder about Lars freeing, then marrying Shmi Skywalker. Did he do it out of the goodness of his heart? Was it a mutual thing? Or was Shmi originally purchased as his sex slave, and was she suffering from Stockholm syndrome? Why is my brain like this!?!

*Speaking of, Shmi’s death is tragic. Enter Vader.

*RED FLAG! RED FLAG!!! Holy blazes, Padme. Anakin just confessed to committing literal genocide by slaughtering an entire village of sand people. I’m pretty sure my instinct would be to roll out. That would be my cue. I mean, damn.

Anakin: I killed them. I killed them all. And not just the men, but the women and the children too. They’re like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals! I hate them!

Me: Well, would you look at the time!? Gotta go!

Not Padmé. No. She tries to reason with it. It’s human to be angry. No, not like THAT! My god, man!! Jedi have to keep that shit in check as they can literally crush people with the force. FFS. You’re in danger, girl. RUN!

*The Geonosians creep me out. Seriously. Bugs, but with brains that are capable of producing weapons of mass destruction. There is also their ceremonious way of executing prisoners (Ancient Roman style) Not to worry, I guess. This method won’t work with Jedi. They’re like force-wielding gladiators on speed. Their deadly animals will be beast-tricked and killed.

* Shaak Ti! I am such a sucker for a Togruta. Here’s my number, holo me.

* Mace Windu’s lightsaber wielding style really is bad ass. The way that he just effortlessly beheads Jango Fett is something else.

* Every time I see Kit Fisto, I’m reminded of how he started off as a tadpole.. and it makes me chuckle. Also, his grin is fantastic.

* The C3-PO puns during this battle. Classic. Peak droid in a Star Wars film.

* I can’t help but wonder what happened to Jango’s head when Boba lifts his helmet and puts it against his forehead? I didn’t want it to plop out, but it probably should have. Is it still wedged into the helmet? Is poor Boba going to have to fish it out later (because we know he keeps it)?

*Folks always getting their arms chopped off.

*The Dooku/ Yoda lightsaber battle is epic, and may be slightly underrated.

* Begun the Clone War has. Poor Bail is like, “Damn.” And, we end with Padme ignoring all the red flags. The galaxy will pay for your discretions. Roll credits.

[doubleddenden]

I genuinely am so excited for Sonic p-06. I have a lot of thoughts about taking a massacre and making it fun and my unironic love for the original 06.

Basically Sonic 06 was going to be this huge revolutionary game in the franchise, Basically the fabled "Sonic Adventure 3," and it had potential. Amazing music as usual, a pretty amazing concept for story, one of the darkest and most diabolical villains of the franchise ever- Lots of heart and soul was crammed into it.

Then... the assholes up top interfered. There's a few conflicting theories- Microsoft wanting it to be a 360 launch title, SEGA wanting it out BY CHRISTMAS- bottom line, corporate greed got in the way of artistic vision, and it was rushed before it could be completed to the detriment of EVERYONE.

What resulted is- as fans of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will know- a buggy mess of a game thats pretty much mostly known for it. Unlike SV though- even though you could tell they were really trying with the story- it still needed some revising to iron out plot holes. Unlike SV as well, it didn't reuse the same mechanics and models from previous games verbatim, and was coming during the time when everyone hated the franchise and thought it was cool to shit on it for every little thing, so the gameplay was definitely lacking and the reception was definitely not up for debate: it was an utter failure that still chars gaming history. Because it failed, we pretty entered a timeline where we weren't allowed serious games anymore, and that's actually the last time in a 3d game that someone other than Sonic or basically a Sonic Clone would be playable.

But the thing is, as shit as the original 06 is, it was one of my favorite games because I sort of identified with it on a meta level, even if I didn't realize why at the time. I could see the potential of this humongous plot that to this day still has the highest stakes out of Sonic's history. I mean, Generations is a close second for similar reasons, but 06 basically had time erasure, world ending, the whole Iblis Trigger bit, AND you had to fight a literal bonafide god.

Also confession, I liked how they looked in this game vs everyone being squished down in following games. I know stylistically speaking the newer models are probably more on brand and I'm not a fan of the 06 mouths, but I like that they're a little taller and... realistic? I guess?

The stories, while maybe not being completely in character, and a little confusing considering other games (Blaze still confuses me), still had some really charming and amazing moments. Shadow's interactions with Omega and Rouge are some peak Team Dark bonding, Mephiles is downright diabolical and is really fun (and Dan Green basically being an evil Yami Yugi but unhinged and turned to 11? Good lord, brilliant shit), and his brief team up with Silver was actually pretty cool. Silver is such a fun design and concept, and I really felt for him considering the predicaments he was forced to live through- I especially hated that such a cool character came from a bad game, pretty much ruining any chance to play as him again in something other than the psp exclusive Rivals games or as a side character in spinoffs. Not to mention, the moment Blaze sacrificed herself for Silver and allowed him to see the bright blue sky in his own future? Heart jerking. And Sonic and Elise?... okay, the kiss was a little much, but their interactions really brought the best out of each other, and while Sonic doesn't really change, you can see him influence her for the better- and their last goodbye? Heart breaking.

All of this to say that 06 was Potential incarnate and I always knew it. P-06 just proves it from a mechanical angle, from speed being tweaked to all characters to Shadow being an even bigger combat driven badass, to Silver's MASSIVE improvement to his speed and psychokinetic powers and just straight up amazing visual improvements, and even just reworking characters like Amy, Knuckles, Tails, and Rouge to actually be fun to play as.

And the thing is, they didn't stop there. They added small little cut scenes too, added lip flaps and small animations in certain spots- this really intrigues me and just really makes me want to see the team try their hand at attempting to fix the story as well. By fix, I mean just fill in some plot holes, maybe write in some character interactions, and- the biggest thing for me personally- making Blaze's inclusion and non interaction/willing hunting of Sonic WAY LESS confusing. Another big plot hole: right at the beginning, where Elise sees Silver in a flaming battle field as she sees Sonic, only for this to never really happen or for her to be conscious to meet him as a child.

They don't have to do that. Lord knows DBZ has way more plot holes and is still enjoyed to this day. But maybe, just maybe, if they could? Oh the potential to take the worst game and turn it into the best game is ridiculously high. Hell, they could even make a plot about the original 06 being an alternative timeline and give a completely new ending here.

Even if they don't though, what the team has accomplished is still amazing. I reckon they're still going to be ironing out bugs and making tweaks- maybe even sprucing up the Last Episode and all the boss fights. If they make new content, maybe some levels for Knuckles and Omega would be fun.

I hope to be able to play some day.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

WHY THE ELVISES COULDN'T BECOME, AND DIDN'T BECOME ENDURING MUPPET CHARACTERS

@softlytowardthesun @moonbeamelf @thealmightyemprex @fragglesesamemuppetz2 @princesssarisa @the-blue-fairie @themousefromfantasyland @amalthea9

The Elvises were a trio of characters who looked, acted and talked sounding like Elvis Presley.

The Elvises first appeared with the Muppets in Muppet Classic Theater. Due to Rizzo mishearing Gonzo state the title of the next story of “The Elves and the Shoemaker” as “The Elvises and the Shoemaker,” when the titular magical creatures come to help Kermit and Robin’s shoe shop, they appear as a group of Elvises (much to Rizzo's joy and Gonzo’s surprise). As in the original story the Elves make a bunch of amazing shoes for the cobbler, but since these are Elvises, they not only sang a rockin’ tune, they created a whole mess of Blue Suede Shoes. In thanks for their help, Kermit and Robin made the Elvises white sequin jump suits and, according to Rizzo, they went to Las Vegas where they play “The Big Room” at The Palace.

After their stint in Las Vegas, the Elvises returned in 1996 for the Muppets Tonight recurring segment “Great Moments in Elvis History” where moments in past history were retold… with Elvises. These moments include The Signing of the Declaration of Independence, The King and his Round Table, Elvis of Arabia, Tarzan of Graceland, Sir Elvis Newton, and the death of Elvis Caesar.

In their last onscreen appearance, The Elvises were featured in the full version of “Moulin Scrooge” in It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. There, they briefly sing “Jingle Bells,” interrupting Miss Piggy’s big “Santa Baby” number.

CELEBRITY INSPIRATIONS FOR MUPPET CHARACTERS

Going back before the Elvises were created in 1994, celebrities from the musical and acting world had served as inspirations for some Muppet characters.

Miss Piggy was originally known as Miss Piggy Lee, referencing a jazz singer named Peggy Lee, who between the 1950s to the 1970s was known for having a larger than life diva persona. When the Muppet Show camed into fruition, the surname Lee was taken out of the character, for fear that Peggy Lee would see it as a mockery of her image and file a law suit against the show, helping the character to become just Miss Piggy and turn into a big personality and huge celebrity on her own right.

Dr. Teeth's nickname, visual style and talent for the piano and keyboard were references to a jazz musician named Dr. John, mixed to the flamboyance of rock and pop stars like Elton John and Liberace. Mixing up all those influences, Dr. Teeth can also be seen as a character with his own personality, needs and desires, rather than a clone of whatever popular musician of the past. You don't really need to be a previous fan of Dr. John to understand and enjoy who is Dr. Teeth.

Later, in 1996, we were introduced to Johnny Fiama, a Muppet who homaged the style of singers like Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennet, with an italian-american cultural background, problems with a very controlling mother, mobster style suit, and a bit of arrogance mixed with ignorance about oversteping in other people's space that hided a hearth of gold deep down. What made Johnny Fiama win a following among Muppet fans was the fact that while he homaged a style of italian-american crooners, he wasn't a clone of a specific italian-american crooner. Like Dr. Teeth before him, Johnny Fiama was an amalgamation of several artists representatives of a style who created a life of his own.

THE ELVISES

And them there were the Elvises. A trio born out of a pun between "Elves" and "Elvis" due to how much Rizzo was a fan of Elvis Presley.

They are all called Elvis, so you won't know how to differentiate one from the other. They all only sing in the style of Elvis Presley. They all have the same hair and dress style as Elvis Presley. They all talk the same way as Elvis Presley, and they all have the same blaze facial expression.

Unlike Miss Piggy, Dr. Teeth and Johnny Fiama, who are characters inspired by previous existing celebrities who developed their own sense of identity, the Elvises have literary no identity.

They are mechanical clones of Elvis Presley, with no feelings and desires of their own, wich is not good if you want to be part of a versatile, diverse and character gang of performers like the Muppets are.

They worked for the pun joke in Muppet Classic Theater, but when they were put to act in a segment of Muppets Tonight, they were the weakest part of the show!

I am glad that after that one quick scene in It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, they were retired for good.

May them stay in Las Vegas playing "The Big Room" at The Palace forever, and never return again.

[mamuzzy-creates-stuff]

Etyc'tooka feels intimidated.

Fives can't decide whether Echo would be proud of him for being the reggest reg ever regged from the regmanual among the corries, or laugh his ass off. Probably both. The corries actually wackos under the bucket.

Featuring my OC, Blaze and @ithillia's Snake :))))

(Also I tried to experiment with glaze and I really hate how it behaves on flat colors... ughh...)

[mamuzzy]

Culture shock(ed)trooper

featuring my corrie OCs Lily and Blaze and corrie!Fives

Fives: So what's this... this thing? Lily: PocKam. Fives: what Blaze: Pocket holocamera. Natborns have this to capture the moment but Lily only uses for taking photos of his face from 100 angles at least five times a day. Lily: My selfies are great, thank you very much. Anyway, you can capture anything you want. Tooka photos, cute shoes behind showcases you will never have enough credit to buy... Lily: Or, yes, you take selfies in the Outlander on your day-off, accidently capturing an exchange between a crack dealer and their client and of course Commander Fox had to spot it! Not a single compliment like, "Wow, Lily what a great make-up you have there!" Nooo, Commander Fox bothers himself comment under my picture and talk about the exchange between the crack dealer and their client! The audacity! My night was ruined! Fives: Oh my fucking god Blaze: Why were you in the Outlander anyway? Lily: Ganja.

[tatooinebarnes]

As It Was - Obi-Wan Kenobi (Part 1)

Obi-Wan Kenobi x Gender Neutral Original Character

Read on AO3

Word Count: 10.5k

Warnings: cursing, canon typical violence

Summary: Obi-Wan Kenobi and Cecil Palmarin have known each other since childhood. and for as long as they can remember they've been pushing down the feelings of affection that always seem to be present between them. But war changes people. And war changes perceptions on what risks you're willing to take.

Gender Neutral Original Character written from their POV. No y/n. Minor allusions to OC presenting as/being socialized as fem. But mostly just their POV.

Asexual Spectrum OC and Obi-Wan

Begins in the Clone Wars, ends in A New Hope

Part 1 (Chapters 1-7)

CH. 1 - Home

Back-to-back with Obi-Wan while reflecting blaster shots had begun to feel like a familiar task, something I did as easy as lacing up my boots rather than a fight for my life. 

Perhaps it’s an exaggeration to say that we were fighting for our lives; this Separatist base was ill-prepared to deter the attack of two Jedi and a host of Republic forces and were all but holding the door open for us. The only reason Obi-wan and I were here was to assure that the intel we were seeking was delivered into the hands of the Jedi Council as quickly as possible. Frankly, we were unneeded. 

And I wished they had let us stay behind because the falling snow was already piling halfway up my shins and the temperature was steadily dropping as we ventured closer to the base’s main entrance. My hair had broken loose of its tie and was blowing wildly around my face being anything but helpful in deflecting blaster fire. I cursed myself for not making time to do up the braids again before this mission. 

The snow fell slowly, a thick blanket muffling the sounds of battle and making everything glow eerily under the blaze of our lightsabers.  Finally the blaster fire slowed and I could see our forces setting charges on the main doors. I lowered my saber, letting it fall to my side and click off, breathing hard. Obi-Wan did the same, pushing the long hair I had been begging him to let me trim out of his face. 

“Something is wrong,” Obi-Wan said suddenly, his body going rigid as he jumped back into a defensive stance. 

I reached out and could feel it too, a sudden shift in the Force, a dark presence that had been slyly concealing itself. At the same moment, the charges set on the base’s doors went off, spraying debris and clouding the air. Blaster fire emitted from the now gaping hole and as our own forces returned fire a red saber lit up within the smoke.

“Ventress,” I said definitely. It was rumored she was in this system but no one had thought she would be on this planet, let alone this little outpost. 

“Unfortunately,” Obi-Wan muttered, “this just got a whole lot more complicated.”

“You don’t say?” I said, rolling my eyes before refocusing on where Ventress’s slim figure was emerging from the cloud of debris. 

Even from afar, I could see Ventress was pink in the face and feel her aversion to this god-forsaken ice planet. Nobody wanted to be here, least of all the foreboding periwinkle woman. On that subject I agreed with her; this was far too cold a place to call inhabitable. 

“Cecil-” Obi-wan started, his tone annoyed.

“Don’t ‘Cecil’ me, Obi-Wan,” I said badly impersonating him, my own accent fading poorly when I tried to conceal it, “I am not Anakin. Or Ahsoka. You can’t scold me for sassing you. How many times must I remind you of that?”

“You are insufferable,” Obi-Wan said, humor creeping into his voice and he spared a glance at me, eyes crinkling. 

Ventress had spotted us almost immediately and I could feel her anger growing. I had crossed her path only once before and that occasion had resulted in the death of far too many clones and a saber burn across my forearms. But today, she was mad.  

She met us with smashing hacks, lightsaber crackling as anger rolled off her in waves, seething in a way that seemed to surprise even Obi-Wan. But he recovered quickly, easily retaliating against her attacks, the two of us soon gaining the upper hand. 

I had the feeling that the entire compound had stopped to watch; two Jedi carefully navigating an enraged Sith, all three stumbling through the growing snow drifts. The more we gained control the madder she became, her attacks sloppy but annoyingly effective. She was moving so fast that even with our combined attack everything was beginning to blur, only our trust in the Force keeping us from falling beneath the scarlet blade. But it was only a matter of time before one of us made a mistake. 

The first mistake was Ventress’s - leaving her side unguarded - earning her deep, sizzling mark from Obi-Wan. But the second mistake was mine - assuming that she would recoil instead of attack - a mistake which sent me flying across the compound, the smell of burning flesh accompanying me. 

“Cecil!” I heard Obi-Wan’s voice yell, but knew nothing else but a searing pain along my right side. 

–

I woke from the memory gasping, sitting up so fast I almost knocked my head on the bunk above me. Ahsoka was staring at me, bent to my level and grasping my hands.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her voice anxious.

Unconsciously I reached up to where what was left of my ear tingled, tracing the scar of the saber burn down my neck to where it disappeared beneath my tunic. My other hand automatically reached up to feel my other ear, as if it would disappear without my noticing.

“Another nightmare Master Palmarin?” 

“Yes,” I said, still unable to fully catch my breath and unwilling to lie to her, “the same one as always. I doubt it will ever go away.”

Her gaze softened, “It’s only been four and a half months. The burn is barely even healed.” 

I nodded but did not share her sentiment. A series of long soaks in a bacta tank had healed the wound enough that it did not hinder my movement much and I could hide that half my ear was missing, but the pink scar still stood out against my dark skin, painfully obvious anytime I caught a passing reflection of myself. I wondered if it would ever really fade to something that only I could see instead of being the glaring reminder that I had almost died, Ventress had escaped and that the whole mission had failed because of my mistake. 

Ahsoka did not press any further but gave my hands a squeeze as she got up and headed back to the cockpit, “We’re coming in on the rendezvous point. Anakin requested we join them on the planet’s surface instead of boarding their cruiser to transfer the supplies since they’d have to bring it down anyway.” 

I nodded and followed her, eternally thanking the gods that Anakin’s Padawan was responsible beyond her years and could be trusted to pilot the cargo ship while her superior had nightmares about things they should not fear. 

“I’m not going to lie Master Palmarin,” Ahsoka said without looking at me as she guided the ship onto the landing pad “You don’t look so good. Are you sure you should be doing all this with that wound?”

“I’m sure,” I replied, refusing to dwell on the way I could see that my reflection in the windshield looked tired, my dark complexion lacking its usual glow. Instead, I let a smile form as my gaze caught on two familiar robed figures on the landing pad, the bearded one’s grin visible from afar.

–

“General Palmarin. Commander Tano,” a trooper saluted us as we exited the ship, “Good to see you both again.”

I nodded in return, not recognizing his identification number and did not have time to ask his name before being enveloped in a bone crushing hug. To my own dismay, I did not conceal my flinch in pain well enough and Obi-Wan immediately retracted his grip, holding me at arm’s length looking immensely guilty.

“Cecil I’m so sorry- I keep forgetting-” he started.

“It’s alright. It’s still just a little tender sometimes,” I said, smiling widely at him, feeling giddy to see that ever-present amusement in his expression. He always seemed to be looking at me like we were sharing a personal and deeply hilarious joke, a gaze that never quite left me. 

Obi-Wan almost unconsciously reached up to tuck one of my long braids behind my still existent ear but quickly retracted his hand looking embarrassed. 

“It’s good to see you,” I smiled, pushing my feeling of joy at him through the Force. He smiled wider this time and wrapped me in another short hug.

Anakin broke in across his former Master’s light grip, his hug less invasive than Obi-Wan’s but genuine never-the-less, “I hope you’re ready to give Snips back because I am getting tired of taking orders from General Serious-Business-Only.”

I chuckled and caught Obi-Wan’s eye as he frowned, only making me laugh harder, “I’m sure General Serious-Business-Only could find some excuse to lighten up.”

Anakin grinned wickedly, the sort of grin that told me he already had something up his sleeve and he just needed someone of authority to egg him on. Sometimes I wondered why he was allowed to have a Padawan. 

“The High Council of this planet is hosting a celebration tonight in thanks for you dropping medical supplies and our involvement in keeping their planet ‘Separitist free.’ How about staying for the night instead of leaving now?”

“Anakin-” Obi-Wan started, the signature scolding tone entering his voice.

“Come on Master, it will be FUN,” Anakin continued.

When Obi-Wan did not have an immediate comeback Anakin nodded curtly, bouncing on his toes, “it’s been decided then! We’re staying for the night. Come on Snips, let’s go join the party.”

We watched them go, Obi-Wan frowning with his arms crossed.

“It really won’t hurt to stay the night,” I said, nudging him in the ribs, “Ahsoka hasn’t slept since we left Endor. She deserves a good rest.”

“That goes for you too,” Obi-Wan smiled, “Get some good sleep.”

Before I could respond, Anakin's voice crackled over Obi-Wan’s comm link, “And don’t you two even think of going to bed early. Tonight is for celebration.”

“Anakin-” Obi-Wan started in the same exasperated voice.

“And yes, I promise to get Ahsoka to bed at a reasonable hour. She needs the sleep. But also a little fun in her life. And so do you.”

I laughed at the expression on Obi-Wan’s face, “We’re at war, Anakin.”

“Yes I know Master, that’s why you have to take any opportunity you can get.”

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes again and this time I couldn’t resist joining him.

–

The four of us were perched on barstools, crammed around a small hightopped table clearly not meant to have four Jedi leaning on it, especially with the way Anakin kept excitedly gesturing. The celebration was in full swing around us, the room a blur of pale blue-skinned natives dancing, eating and conversing as we remained the only stationary point. 

“You know,” Anakin started, letting his glass hit the table a little too hard. “I am really a very responsible teacher. I never let Ahsoka do anything I think she can’t handle.”

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow like he wanted to protest but didn’t want to offend Ahsoka.

“Except for the time-” Ahsoka started.

“I knew you could handle it-” Anakin interrupted a frown of annoyance forming a crease between his brows.

“Oh? And what was that?” I asked grinning mischievously.

“Nothing.” Anakin and Ahsoka said together. 

“See now you have my interest sparked,” I said, already knowing we would not be getting this story out of them anytime soon.

“It was just a little miscommunication, and things got a little…. hairy.” 

“I see….” Obi-Wan mumbled, “Probably something I’ll be hearing about later and have to reprimand you for?”

Anakin grinned, briefly catching Ahsoka’s eye, “Yeah, probably.”

I shook my head with amusement, reveling in the dynamic the three shared. I knew them all well individually, but I rarely got to see them all together. They exuded a joy and glow that was rare in the midst of the war, a sense of home that seemed to travel with them wherever they went. When they were together they made everyone around them feel like they were in on some hilarious practical joke that was always at the precipice of occurring. Never before within the Jedi Order had I felt quite so at home. 

“Cecil! Are you listening?” Anakin said, waving a hand in front of my face, “They’re playing your favorite song.”

I zoned back in to discover that Anakin was right: this little planet on the edge of the galaxy had somehow managed to dig up an old relic far outside their culture to play at the exact moment that we happened to be on-planet. I all but jumped to my feet, unable to stay stay seated as the familiar baseline filled the room.

“Did you request this?” I asked, feeling that the grin on my face was one none of them had seen for far too long.

Anakin grinned back and glanced conspiratorially at Obi-Wan, “No, but I do know someone who did.”

“Obi-Wan! You remembered!” I said a little too loudly, causing the people around us to stare as I leaned over the table to grasp his hands and tug him off his stool. 

“Cecil no-”

“Oh relax, you requested the song. You’re required to dance now,” I laughed, pulling him after me into the throng of people in the center of the room where the tables had been pushed to the side. I flailed my arms in a way that I knew would look ridiculous in hopes I could at least get him to crack a smile. 

The tactic worked and he seemed to relax a little, letting himself bob up and down on the balls of his feet to the beat of the music. Unsatisfied, I did not let go of his hands, instead forcing them to move, forcing him to at least move his upper body to the music a little. I could hear Anakin laughing and Ahsoka giggling but I couldn’t see anything else but the amused way Obi-Wan was smiling as if it took all his restraint to not burst out laughing. 

“You can laugh, you know. I do look ridiculous. We look ridiculous,” I said.

“That is precisely what I’m worried about,” he deadpanned, still looking extremely uncomfortable with having been dragged out into the throng of dancing blue people, their smaller builds leaving us towering over them and making us stand out. 

“No one else is here. No one to tell on you if you have a little fun,” I prompted, “and I think Anakin and ‘Soka will bother you more about it if you don’t at least pretend to have fun.”

We both looked back at Anakin and Ahsoka to find that they had disappeared, probably in search of the drinks we had forbidden them from seeking. I frowned but their lack of presence seemed to make Obi-Wan more comfortable and he finally started to move, his feet actually shuffling along the ground as he danced.

Maybe ‘danced’ was a strong word. It was more of just moving his limbs in a way that made them slightly off beat but somehow managed to not look completely ridiculous. By the end of the song we were hanging off each other, breathless and giggling like little kids. 

The last note of the song faded and the moment of unadulterated joy faded, bringing us back to reality. The next song picked up slowly, something obviously more familiar to our hosts but also obviously meant for slow dancing. They all coupled up and began slow promanaudes around the room before I could even register that we might want to excuse ourselves. In an instant it was too late and we were the only ones in the middle of the crowd not swaying to the music alongside a partner. 

Much to my surprise, Obi-Wan bowed low before me, offering his hand and said in a serious tone, “Would you care to dance Master Palmarin?”

“How could I refuse Master Kenobi?” I grinned accepting his hand. 

Although I had been holding his hands only moments before in our fervent excitement of my favorite song, this felt forbidden, like something we were not allowed to partake in. A blush rose in my cheeks and all the way through my ears and I hoped that the fact my braids were beginning to frizz out would hide it. However, Obi-Wan’s lips tilted up into a half smile like he noticed and I felt his presence in the Force shift, falling from the unorganized joy he had been exuding to a carefully masked affection that I was immediately sure he had not meant to let me feel. 

The blush rose higher in my cheeks as one of his hands fell on the curve of my waist and the other remained carefully wrapped in mine. I placed my free hand on his shoulder, the familiar feeling of Jedi tunics suddenly alien when I was touching someone else’s.

He led, slowly weaving out of the center of swaying couples, spinning us in slow revolutions around the room. Not for a moment did he break eye contact and not for a moment did I want him to. When he had spun us to the edge of the crowd and could lead us no further he stopped as if he’d been prepared for everything up to that moment. He took his eyes off me for a half second to search the room behind me and I could feel him reaching into the Force, checking for Anakin and Ahsoka. When he did not seem to find them he returned his gaze to mine and I could all but hear his heart hammering in his chest. 

The blush in my cheeks had risen so much I was sure I was looking like an ripe tomato and I couldn’t even begin to effectively push it down because my heart was fluttering just as fast as Obi-Wan’s. A curious desire to hug him closer came over me, to pull him down to where I could study each and every detail of the light blue eyes that were searching my hazel ones so intently. 

Instead I settled for letting my other hand come up to rest on his neck, his long hair hiding the fact that I was practically hanging off him. Both his hands on my waist now, the subtle weight of them feeling completely right and natural despite the little voice in the back of my head that would not stop repeating “Jedi Do Not Form Attachments.”

“I hope you know, Obi-Wan whispered, his breath hot across my face, “I never feel more at home than with you.”

“Obi-Wan-”

“I won’t say anything else compromising,” he said, his eyes twinkling as they remained locked on mine, “but I want you to know.”

I let my hands wander up to cup his face, “Don’t say that out loud. Because then I’d never be able to unhear it. And I’ll never want to leave home either.”

Obi-Wan sucked in a breath, his eyes closing as he leaned his head into my right hand. After a moment he turned his head just enough so his lips brushed my palm, a motion that sent an involuntary shiver through my whole body. 

He remained silent and unmoving for the smallest moment before opening his eyes. His hands  came off my waist to grasp my wrist, pulling my hand away. My fingertips trailed down his face like the tears I felt like crying before falling between us where he held my hands in his.

“You’re right, Cecil, you’re always right.”

I smiled, my voice low and on the verge of breaking, “I know.” 

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

Ch. 2 - Not A Secret

Obi-Wan sat atop the Jedi Temple, legs crossed and deep in meditation. If his eyes had been open he’d have seen the slowly fading light as it began to cast long shadows over Coruscant. This late in the year the far off edges of the great city were shrouded in smog, a glittering haze that was invisible up close. 

The sounds of the Temple district were far off, the dull roar of the deep cityscape almost unnoticeable to Obi-Wan’s ear. Up here it was easy to let everything else go and simply float, let the Force wash over him. The gnawing pressure of the war could almost be pushed away, so far he could barely feel the haunting tension.

Abruptly his concentration was broken, footsteps appearing before him. His eyes snapped open to find Cecil looking down at him.

“Wow, startling THE Obi-Wan Kenobi?” Cecil grinned.

Obi-Wan chuckled, “Only because I wasn’t expecting anyone up here.”

“You’re always up here. It’s not like it’s a secret.” 

“And I thought I was being discreet about my meditation spot.”

Cecil smiled, sinking to the ground in front of him and pushing forward a paper cup full of caf, “I heard a rumor there’s a Council meeting later.”

Obi-Wan ducked his head in thanks, “Yes, there is. But nobody has told me when.”

“Rude of them, seeing as you are on the Council.”

“Which means they want something from me,” he said, eyes sparkling. He returned his gaze to Cecil, briefly getting distracted by the way they nearly glowed backlit by the sunset. 

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Cecil asked. Obi-Wan noticed the way they fidgeted with their own paper cup; the folded edge had been unrolled and rerolled into a mangled depiction of its original form.

“Nothing,” he said, careful to maintain a level tone, “the sunset is just so incredible this time of year.”

Obi-Wan thought he caught a smile creep across Cecil’s features as they turned away, long braids swaying. He had to force himself to not stare, but even still, a stab of guilt flashed through him as the movement revealed the still pink saber burn. Nearly seven months later it still looked painful. 

“It’s rude to stare you know,” Cecil said without looking at him.

Obi-Wan blanched, feeling like he had been doing an excellent job not staring. 

Cecil turned back, this time carefully pulling the many long braids away, exposing the saber burn where it descended into their tunic. With a clearer view, Obi-Wan could tell the wound was healing, that it no longer looked nearly as painful as it had been. But it would scar. A remembrance of those terrible moments. And to think he could have stopped it-

“I know you’re thinking you could have prevented it,” Cecil said, their voice interrupting his thoughts.

“You know it's possible.”

“But it didn’t happen that way. I’ll always have this wicked scar cracking me open.”

“That makes it sound so dramatic,” he said.

“When am I not dramatic?” Cecil asked, taking a sip of the caf and wrinkling their nose, “what does the Temple have against having good caf?”

“Everything apparently,” Obi-Wan said, taking a swig of his own and making a similar face. 

Abruptly, Cecil’s comm crackled, “Master Palmarin, yousa needed inda council chambers.”

They sighed deeply before responding, “Yeah, I’ll be right down Jar Jar.”

“Roger roger,” his voice replied.

Not two seconds later Obi-Wan’s comm went off, “Master Kenobi, yousa also needed inda Council chambers.”

Cecil choked on the caf, attempting to stifle a giggle; only Jar Jar would be so bold to assume they were always together. Obi-Wan’s eyebrows shot up and the humor was clear in his voice when he replied, “Will do.”

“Whatsa so funny?” Jar Jar asked.

“Nothing, nothing,” Obi-Wan said, trying to hide his light hearted tone.

“Iffen yousa say so,” he replied, the line going silent. 

“I guess they want something from me too,” Cecil said with a grin. 

“The rumors circling are about an undercover-ish mission,” Obi-Wan started.

This time Cecil’s eyebrows shot up and Obi-Wan swore he felt a leap in their Force signature, “Do you think they’d really send us on another mission together after what happened last time?”

Obi-Wan frowned, “It was not our fault Ventress showed up. And every other time we’ve been on stuff together we’re literally unstoppable.”

“That’s a bit presumptuous,” Cecil laughed, “Anakin is finally rubbing off on you.”

He laughed too, a feeling of warmth spreading across his chest as their voices echoed across the otherwise empty rooftop, “I guess he is.”

“Good,” Cecil said and flashed a smile that Obi-Wan somehow felt was only meant for him.  

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

Ch.3 - Preparations

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Anakin said looking around the council chamber with a disbelieving grin, “Those two? As a couple? No one is going to buy that.”

I felt my face go hot and my fingernails bit into my palm. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Obi-Wan shift in his seat and almost imperceptibly felt his Force signature change to match mine: a deep annoyance that well obscured the shock of excitement.

Padmé’s hologram glared at him, “Fortunately, no one asked you Anakin.”

This time it was Obi-Wan’s turn to hide his grin. Even Master Windu’s mouth twitched. I bit my lip but only wished that I’d been the one who said it. 

“I only meant,” Anakin said quietly, “that everyone in the galaxy knows who they are. That they’re friendly with the Senator.”

“Yes,” Master Yoda said, “but young Skywalker. You everyone will expect to see. But suspect a regal and powerful warlord couple they will not.”

The look on Anakin’s face was priceless but he rearranged it so quickly that I doubt anyone but myself and Obi-Wan recognized it: a mix between awe and horror that Yoda would so blatantly hint at something more between the Senator and himself. 

“If I may interject,” Obi-Wan said before Anakin had the chance to say anything he’d regret, “Anakin does have a point. Especially with all three of us, that combination is to be expected.”

Yoda nodded thoughtfully as if he had not already considered this at length. 

“As well known as you think, Master Malmarin is not. Their job discreetly they do,” he said nodding to me, “and disguises you will have.” 

“And that is where I come in,” Padmé said, “You’ll both be unrecognizable out of your Jedi robes. I’m arriving in Coruscant shortly and will get you all ready before we depart for Naboo.”

I raised my eyebrows, not even daring to ask what lavish outfits the former Queen of Naboo had stored away that would coincidentally be my size. 

“And why does this meeting have to be on Naboo again?” Anakin interrupted again.

“To show them we trust them. Enough to invite them into my home,” Padmé explained, barely hiding her exasperated tone. 

“But couldn’t we meet them in some neutral system where you and your family are not at so great of risk?

“It’s an olive branch, Anakin. Whether we like it or not, it is the best course of action to get this system on the side of the Republic,” Obi-Wan said, making far less effort than Padmé to hide his exasperated tone.

Yoda seemed to care little for this exchange, “Prepare Master Kenobi and Master Palmarin, Senator Amidala will. And to Naboo follow they will.”

Seeing it would do no good to argue, Anakin was content to frown and glare menacingly as the rest of the plan was laid out. 

It was simple really. Obi-Wan and I in disguise. Anakin seemingly the only protection to the Senator in the midst of a potentially hostile environment. A dinner over which politics would be discussed. The guests to sleep in an elaborate lakeside villa. And on their way the next morning after another round of political discussions over a  lavish meal. What could go wrong?

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

CH. 4 - Chemistry POSTED

When Padmé arrived on Coruscant I did my best to be late meeting her, purposely taking the long route to her landing pad. But I still had to pretend to not see Anakin’s speeder take off, pretend I did not see the flushed look of joy on Padmé’s face. 

“Good evening Senator,” I said, shaking her hand, “I trust you’re well?”

“No need to stand on guard Cecil,” she said grinning “I’d like to think we’re friends by now.”

“Of course,” I laughed, “I just still feel like I should greet you with formality.”

“Well don’t feel that way. Especially when I’m about to make you stand around in your underwear for far longer than you’re comfortable in effort to find the perfect outfit for you.”

I frowned, having not considered this.

“Don’t worry,” she said, grabbing my arm and whispering conspiratorially, “I’ve sent Master Kenobi his own squadron of people to get him ready. It will just be you and my personal handmaidens.”

“I see,” I said, my frown deepening as I watched the handmaidens unload a multitude of elaborate trunks from her ship, all of them clearly full of clothing.

Arriving in her personal quarters, Padmé slammed the doors shut for effect and skipped ahead of me. 

“Now,” she said, dramatically tossing her overcoat, “not only am I outfitting you, I’m helping you to prepare and embrace your role as a hopelessly in-love warlord couple who are so regal and stunning that no one would dare speak to them without a reason of utmost importance.”

I frowned crossing my arms across my chest, “I-”

“Nope!” she said cutting me off, “that’s step number one. No crossing your arms. You’re practically royalty for the next seventy-two hours. You have to stop carrying yourself like a Jedi.”

“But-” 

“First lose the Jedi robes. And then we’ll work on the rest.”

“Padmé-”

She had crossed the room and began undoing my robes a little too expertly, ignoring my protests. Without the full weight of my Jedi robes I felt naked, not just in the sense of lacking clothing but that I could not remember a time without them. 

“Here,” she said, handing me a small pile of clothes, “put this on. You’re a filthy rich warlord. No Jedi undergarments allowed. And when you’re done, I think you’ll like the first outfit on the top here,” she said, gesturing to one of the sprawling suitcases that seemed to be exploding clothing all over the room.

I nodded, turning away in an attempt at privacy. This made Padmé roll her eyes but she retreated from the room, leaving me momentarily alone. 

Half dressed and struggling to right the deep purple garment that had been laid out for me, I struggled as one of Padmé’s handmaidens appeared. The woman was taller than Padmé if only by a fraction but eerily resembled the Senator. I knew she had a decoy but I was not aware they spent so much time together. 

“Let me,” the woman said, her fingers reaching past mine to rearrange the fabric and close the final zipper. 

She spun me around so I faced the mirror. Someone I did not recognize stared back.

They were tall and regal, their hair teased into its natural style creating a magnificent halo around their head. The jewelry Padmé had chosen glittered brightly as the handmaiden slipped it on the person in the mirror, their wrists adorned with heavy gold bangles and an equally impressive set of necklaces settled on their neck.

 The outfit itself hugged the figure in the mirror tightly around the torso, the neckline covering far less than I had ever imagined showing. At the waist it flowed away from them in a way I was sure would fan when they walked and give the impression of having great violet wings. It was sleeveless, or what could pass as sleeveless save for the draping of fabric attached at each shoulder that cascaded down to meet the rest of the garment. 

“I picked you something you could still fight in,” Padmé said reappearing, “I hope it’s not too much. If you don’t like it I have a couple other options.” 

I stared at myself a second longer, “It’s beautiful Padmé,” I whispered, “I barely recognize myself.”

“That is exactly the intent darling Cecil. And you look absolutely jaw-dropping, I can’t wait until Obi-Wan sees you.

I felt my jaw drop but quickly snapped it shut.

“Dormé,” she said addressing her handmaiden, “Go fetch Obi-Wan will you? He should be ready by now.”

Dormé nodded curtly and disappeared from the room, leaving us alone together. 

“Did you think my choice of Jedi I requested as protection was random Cecil?” Padmé all but whispered, “I’m not about to prod in your business, but you have chemistry. And I needed chemistry for this to work.”

I flushed. It had never occurred to me that someone else might have noticed the thing I’d been trying so hard to quiet within myself. 

“Does anyone else know that?” I asked, my voice quiet and wavering.

“Of course not,” she said cheerily and patted my hand, “Only you. Because if I told Obi-Wan he’d simply combust of awkwardness.”

“I mean-”

Padmé looked at me steadily before striding out of the room, “Life is fleeting Cecil. Don’t miss out on something because of someone else’s rules you aren’t sure you believe in.”

I stood staring after her, my hands all the sudden shaking.

The door creaking open pulled me out of my momentary stupor, Obi-Wan’s figure emerging.

The attire Padmé had chosen for Obi-Wan was far less extravagant than my own, but so far from something Obi-Wan would choose himself that it disguised him well. It was a deep purple, almost black, but the satin shone brilliantly. Similar to my own, the outer layer cascaded down behind him, flowing in an invisible wind when he moved. Underneath was an even darker, yet still purple tunic and trousers. The tunic was of the same satin fabric that looked fit for royalty. Which is exactly what we were pretending to be, so I supposed it was intentional. 

Even from the way he was walking I could tell Obi-Wan was deeply uncomfortable outside of his typical dress but the look suited him. It changed the energy he exuded, less Jedi Master, more warlord with enough money to drown in. 

And he had shaved, the clean shaven face making him look younger, more like the way he looked when I had met nearly two decades ago. Nothing could erase his old soul though, the way smile lines gathered around his eyes just as they always had. As a teenager I’d remarked on them once and he had blushed as his hand went up to feel them. I think he knew I was telling him I loved the way he smiled because I remember that being the first time I really felt his presence in the Force bloom with happiness. 

I shook my head, trying to displace the memory. It scattered only to be replaced with the real thing, Obi-Wan’s smile bringing me new confidence in my outfit. 

“You look stunning darling,” Obi-Wan said, not even resisting adding the pet name. 

“As do you,” I smiled, reaching up to adjust the satin collar of his shirt, “I’m glad you agreed to this particular outfit.”

He let me do so before catching my hand in his, bringing it to his lips and bowing low, “Only so that I don’t look like a peasant next to you.”

I felt heat rise in my cheeks and broke our eye contact with nervous laughter not knowing what to say.

Padmé did me the grace of clearing her throat and Obi-Wan dropped my hand, shooting me a wink. For a moment Padmé circled us observing, trying to decide if we would pass someone other than the Jedi we were. 

“I think the mullet has to go,” she said suddenly to Obi-Wan.

“What!” he exclaimed, his hand flying to his hair. 

“I think people know you too well for it. At least since the war. You already look much different without the beard, but I think a touchup to the hair will help.”

Obi-Wan frowned like she had personally offended him.

“Thank you Padmé. I have been begging him to let me cut it.”

“But I just now got it to fit into a hair-tie,” he started.

“You sound like Anakin,” Padmé laughed and I could tell she said it just to stop Obi-Wan from protesting anymore, “Go change out of these outfits both of you. I’ll have Dormé package them up for you. And a couple other outfits to lay low in.”

“Yes ma’am,” Obi-Wan said, saluting her.

Padmé laughed and swatted him on the shoulder, “Just go. And cut that mullet off.”

I saluted her as well, earning us another grin before she disappeared.

“I’m not letting you anywhere near my hair Cecil,” Obi-Wan said matter of factly. 

“Okay,” I smiled, biting my lip, “I’ll take you to the best barber I know.”

Obi-Wan groaned but didn’t protest. I swore I caught a hint of a smile as he left the room. 

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

Ch. 5- Varykino Villa

The looping hallways of Varykino Villa had sated my nervousness; I felt I was sinking into the place, the part I was playing becoming more and more real.  Obi-Wan had taken my hand, holding it like it was the most normal thing in the galaxy. For a fleeting instant I could see us standing together in some other life, some version of ourselves that did not involve the Jedi Order and was just us living on some gorgeous planet where no one ever bothered us. 

“You still with me?” Obi-Wan asked, squeezing my hand.

I shook my head, sending the images scurrying away, “Sure am. Let’s go husband.”

He leaned in so only I could hear, “Let’s go Mx. Kenobi.”

—

As the night wore on,  I couldn't help but wonder why nothing had gone wrong. Nothing ever went this right. No one had even looked sideways at Padmé. No one had squinted at us in recognition. The political discussions were going swimmingly. And I was giddy with joy at getting to spend the evening hanging off Obi-Wan’s arm. 

Anakin and Senator Amidala had long since disappeared and I was beginning to think that this was all a ploy to get Anakin on-planet where the two could excusably be alone together. Obi-Wan pretended not to notice their absence and I pretended not to notice the way he had averted his gaze every time he saw them. I imagined that he deliberately shoved away any memories of other times his former Padawan sat too close to the regal Senator or gave her too long of a hug. 

Everything added up now. I’d always pretended not to notice the way Anakin’s presence in the Force burst with life anytime Padme was in the room, the way he never stopped looking at her, the way he had been so nervous to meet her again for the first time all those years ago. Even the image of little Anakin rose in my mind, the way Obi-Wan had told it, Anakin’s eyes took in Padme as if she were an angel coming to rescue him. 

But tonight with the evidence staring me in the face, I came to the same conclusion that I suspected Obi-Wan had: as long as it never directly interfered with Anakin’s official duties, he could pretend it wasn’t happening before his eyes. Because they needed Anakin far more than the Jedi Council needed to know that Anakin had fallen in love with the Senator.

As the evening progressed, Naboo’s sunset faded, only one moon reflecting onto the lake now, the guests slowly vanishing into Varykino Villa’s many rooms. Only the occasional wanderer in search of a midnight snack appeared, but scurried away upon catching sight of the two sharing a plate of food on the grand balcony overlooking the lake. 

At least that was my impression of the one child who wandered into the room behind us and all but ran away when we turned to look.

“I’d turn and run too if I saw you backlit by moonlight and glowing so ethereally,” Obi-Wan said without looking at me. 

I felt a blush rise on my cheeks, “Ah yes, because I am oh so angelic with my hair in desperate need of taming and a good night’s sleep.” 

I didn’t look at him either. It felt safer to tease him without looking for risk he’d see right through me, for fear that he would sense that I wanted him to continue, to tell me everything about how he thought I was angelic in his eyes. 

Obi-Wan set down the glass of wine he had been nursing, the dark red substance glittering in the twinkling light of the moon, “Cecil, you’re always angelic.” 

I mentally berated myself for the shot of joy the words gave me, the warm flame of affection I’d been snuffing out making a new attempt to surface. An involuntary shiver passed through me and I thought about how Naboo’s summer was cool this year, uncharacteristically so according to Padme. But after the earlier rainstorm, the clouds had vanished and left the outlook onto the lake clear. With our backs to one of the intricately carved pillars of the balcony we were almost touching, our arms balancing careful millimeters away from each other. 

“Are you cold?” he asked after a second when I did not respond.

“No. Just tired.”

“Let’s go to bed then. We still have a long breakfast full of more politics tomorrow.”

I nodded and accepted his hand as I stood up and we made our way back to our rooms.

With my hand in Obi-Wan’s, my head was swimming.  Neither of us had consumed anything alcoholic but it felt like I was somewhere else, not in the moment anymore, like a memory surfacing so clearly I could feel it. A moment seemingly outside of time, a dream. 

We were on some planet in a far off system, no one recognized us. The planet’s summer weather was just beginning and it was one of those evenings where a careful coolness sets in after the sun sets. The balcony doors of our room opened onto the countryside sprawled out below to meet the nearby town. And save for the birds, we were alone. 

“Can you undo this? It’s stuck in a knot,” Obi-Wan complained, flopping dramatically into a chair.

I turned from beginning to unbutton my own clothes to look at him, shaking my head, “you know, I really had thought you’d know how to at least undo a tie if not tie it up.”

Obi-Wan frowned, “I think the issue is that I did it wrong and now it won’t come untangled,” he said, gesturing to the now wrinkled and disheveled garment.

I rolled my eyes but crossed the room to where he sat, standing in front of him just close enough to slip my fingers underneath, working it loose from the knot he’d managed to wrestle it into. Chin tilted up to allow me to untangle it, I could feel his eyes steadily searching my face but I stubbornly refused to meet his gaze, focusing intently on the issue at hand. 

“You’re right,” I said, “there is no way this was correct in the first place.”

“Hey,” he said, his voice flying up an octave, “Just because I can’t tie a tie doesn’t mean I’m not a gentleman.”

After a moment the garment came free and fell into my hands. Obi-Wan did not stop looking at me and I suddenly felt it was very obvious that I was refusing to meet his gaze. Instead of meeting his eyes, I handed him the tie and lifted my hands again to straighten his collar. 

Even though I wasn’t meeting his eyes I could feel his smile; it reached out to me through his Force signature. And Obi-Wan was doing nothing to conceal the affection in it. 

He seemed to sense the moment I realized this, like he was waiting for me to see it, waiting for me to realize that right here on this planet in the middle of nowhere he was holding nothing back.

“Cecil,” he said, not whispering, but sure, confident that everything he was doing was alright, permissible even. 

“Cecil, will you look at me?” he asked finally, standing and lifting a hand to gently grip my chin.  Meeting his gaze I found the soft blue sea that I so desperately wanted to get lost in. As I did so, that seemed to bring him to a decision, his presence in the Force suddenly softening, a wall that I hadn’t known he’d been holding suddenly no longer there. The bright warmth of his presence felt like the first day of sunshine after a cold winter, something I could never replicate elsewhere. He’d brought down this wall before, but only just enough to peak past. Now I could see everything.

As he stood, I let my hands trail down his neck and slowly fall onto his chest. 

“Can I kiss you now?” he said, whispering this time, like asking too loudly would scare me away. 

I nodded, almost imperceptible, also pushing assurance of my consent at him in my Force signature, assurance that despite my rare desire to kiss someone, right now I wanted to. To kiss him. 

He breathed out and closed the small distance between us, one hand reaching up to cradle my head, the other twining around my waist, pulling me to him. As with every other thing he did, he was gentle, every fiber of his being exuding a soft but vibrant joy. 

I was first to pull away, suddenly so breathless the room had started to spin. Obi-Wan’s hands were light, barely touching.

“Are you okay?,” he whispered.

I swallowed, resting my forehead against his, “More than okay.”

My breath was ragged and I knew he could feel my fingers shaking. This was something I'd never experienced before. Wanting more. I’d never wanted more. Not ever. 

Obi-Wan seemed to notice the fluttering of my pulse and visibly leaned back, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” I paused my voice unsteady, “Obi-Wan, I’m sorry, I don’t think I want to-”

“Don’t apologize for anything,” he said, his voice firm, “there is nothing to apologize for. I will never expect anything from you.” 

“But I-”

He softly placed a finger on my lips, “I think you and I have very similar approaches to uh- things like this.” He gestured between us before gripping my hands firmly, “I want you to know that.”

“Oh,” I whispered. I tuned in to his Force signature hoping I’d find a better explanation there.

His presence in the Force was warm, welcoming, but tainted with nervous anxiety. But the hint of fear wasn’t because he knew the Order would never allow affection like this. It wasn’t because he was truly nervous about kissing me. The feeling bleeding through the Force was something else entirely. 

He was afraid that I wouldn’t be okay with just this. And nothing more. He was afraid that I would want more from him, that I wouldn’t be okay with just this. 

“Oh,” I whispered again and I could tell he was letting me see a part of him no one ever saw. At my feeling of acceptance in the Force he pushed something more; another hesitation, a feeling that he wasn’t even sure what he wanted, that he had never had the opportunity to find out what he wanted. 

“Oh,” I repeated for a third time, beginning to feel that I needed to respond to this soul-baring moment with something more than a single syllable.

—

“Just stay,” I thought as we climbed into bed, clad in our fancy silk pajamas,  “stay right here and let me fall asleep next to you just once,”  letting the thought bleed into the Force. Maybe the words were not there but the feeling was, the intense desire to be close to him. Just like this, wrapped in cozy blankets and content to be beside each other.

The look on his face changed and he relaxed, sinking back into the bed. He lifted his arm, reaching around me to pull me close. I sucked in a breath but did not resist, letting him gather me to his side, all but falling into his lap. 

“Is this okay,” Obi-Wan said, freezing for a moment, his life Force fluttering with uncharacteristic uncertainty. 

Now with my head nestled into the crook of his neck I had to pull away to look up at him, finding his eyes filled with emotion as he looked down at me. For a second I couldn’t breath, his eyes, the smile lines, the little strand of hair falling into his face at this exact moment- it was everything I saw every day but right now it was only for me to look at. 

“Yes of course.”

—

Obi-Wan watched Cecil carefully, the slight rise and fall of their side, the way a lock of hair fluttered softly every time they breathed out. As he imagined was the case with most Jedi, they looked younger while asleep. His final thought before drifting into sleep was that he couldn’t wait to wake up next to them; it was something he knew he could get used to.

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

Ch. 6 - Reassurances

Outside, rain came down in huge droplets. But the roar of Naboo’s sudden downpour was barely audible over the hundreds of voices conversing merrily, the din almost masking the music. In the midst of it all no one paid Obi-Wan and I any notice, the two of us holding the room under observation, watching for any potential harm to Senator Amidala. 

Some time ago he had taken my hand in his own and to any onlooker we looked like any other couple present. All evening I’d been watching the other couples, mimicking their behavior, watching the way they mirrored their partners, the shorter ones beginning to lean their heads on the shoulders of the taller ones as the night wore on. I followed suit, leaning into Obi-Wan’s frame-

“Master Palmarin,” Commander Cody’s voice said suddenly, “can you weigh in on this?”

I jolted out of the memory and back into reality. The whole table was staring at me, the Jedi Council’s holographic images flickering faintly, the smirk on Anakin’s face poorly hidden. The war room lights of Obi-Wan’s Star Destroyer were suddenly too bright, their fluorescent humming loud in my ears.

“Sorry, what?”

“Commander Cody was just asking if you thought the warlords from the Naboo meeting could be pushed for more definite support?” Anakin interjected, “Unless you have something more important on your mind you’d care to share?”

I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him as I answered, very intently not looking at Obi-Wan either. He sat at the head of the table, carefully observing everything being said, his face stoic, voice always calm and steady. He gave no indication that he was distracted.

As for me, I couldn’t stop replaying every moment of Naboo in my head. It had been a week since we had left and we had barely spoken. The silence was loud, loud enough to gnaw anxiety into my heart. Loud enough to make my stomach twist in knots. Loud enough to let me hear the imaginary whisper that said he didn’t mean anything he’d said and that he regretted it at all.

I turned the thought over and over in my head. By the time the meeting concluded, I had convinced myself we had broken our friendship and that everything was over between us.

“Well,” Anakin said slamming his hands down on the table as soon as the holocomms shut off, “Snips and I have shit to do-”

“Language Anakin,” Obi-Wan warned.

“We’ve got shit to do Master” Ahsoka repeated, a wicked grin on her face as she stood with Anakin.

“You two are hopeless,” Obi-Wan said and crossed his arms. I laughed and he sent me a half-hearted glare that shot a jolt through me.

“But you love us, don’t ya?” Anakin said.

“Unfortunately yes,” Obi-Wan laughed, “Now scram, get off my ship.”

“Yes sir,” Anakin grinned, mock saluting his former Master. 

“We’re scramming, Master,” Ahsoka giggled as she followed Anakin out.

I couldn’t help but smile after them, adoring the way the three acted like family. Even Cody had a smile on his face when he stood to leave. He only nodded in farewell, ever the perfect soldier returning to his post.

As soon as his footsteps faded Obi-Wan’s fingers flicked over the controls before him, closing the bridge’s doors and opening the blast shields. The swath of empty space stared back at me, stars twinkling, daring me to wish upon them.

“Cecil, you’re so anxious I can hear your heart beating across the room,” Obi-Wan said, nearing me. 

I still didn’t look at him, the thoughts I’d been chasing all week roaring in my head. He leaned against the table, very close but not touching. 

“I- I’m just thinking.”

“About…?” he prompted and I could feel his Force signature probing mine. 

“We’ve barely talked all week. Do you regret something you told me on Naboo? Or the kiss? Or what the Council would say? Or-” I spluttered, all my questions rushing out before I could stop them. 

“Oh darling,” Obi-Wan whispered, his voice soft. He leaned down to press a kiss to my forehead before squatting before me so his eyes were level with mine, “I should have just said it before. You shouldn’t have to guess.”

“Guess what?” I said, my voice shaky.

“That I love you. I always have. From the moment we met, even if I wasn’t aware of it, you were always tangled in my soul.”

I sighed in relief, a sound that came out as a sob, “Me too. I mean- I thought it was just me-”

“Certainly not,” Obi-Wan said as his hand came up to wipe the tears that were trying to form.

“I always have. And I didn’t know it. Even with our Force bond-” I said, my voice still wavering.

Obi-Wan laughed, and drew away to stand where he could hold my hands in his,  “You know - maybe you don’t know - but our Force bond, our dyad, it’s stronger than mine with Anakin. Stronger than the one with my own Padawan.”

“Oh,” I laughed, suddenly very self conscious.

“So don’t doubt for a minute that I love you Cecil Palmarin,” he whispered as he pulled me from my seat.

“I won’t. Only if you don’t doubt me either,” I said, my lips smiling into his.

“Wouldn’t think of it darling,” he breathed as he captured my mouth with his. 

I leaned into the kiss, my hands finding their way into his hair. His fingers ghosted along my torso before drawing me closer, pulling me against him.  He broke away first, but only so he could kiss down my jaw, his lips straying to my neck, the sensation sending involuntary shivers through me. Abruptly his nose poked my face and I giggled. Once I started I couldn’t stop and my laughter echoed through the room.

Obi-Wan kept a hand cradling my face as he pulled away, his smile-lines crinkling in the way I loved so dearly.

“Are you really that ticklish?” he asked, his Force signature warm.

“No,” I beamed,  “I just can’t believe I’m kissing you in the War Room of your Star Destroyer.”

Obi-Wan chuckled and leaned in so our lips were nearly touching “Well it is my Star Destroyer.”

I laughed too, “If you say so, General Kenobi.”

He rolled his eyes, “I do indeed say so, General Palmarin.”

“And what would people say if they were to check the security footage of your Star Destroyer? And see two of their Generals making out?” I asked, still so close to him that I’d barely have to move to touch my lips to his.

He grinned, “I’m sure they’d just be mad that Anakin was right.”

I pulled away from him in surprise and tried to keep the annoyance out of my tone, “Oh really?”

“Don’t worry. He only berates me about you in private. Not even in front of Ahsoka.”

“And how long has he ‘been berating you about me?’” I quoted back.

He blushed and he averted his eyes, “Since the moment he met you.”

It was my turn to blush. “That long?”

“Well sort of. He did ask if the two of us were something more as a kid. But then he didn’t bring it up again until- until much later. 

“And by much later you mean…?”

Obi-Wan cringed and took a small step away from me, a flash of something that must have been guilt passing through the Force. 

“Remember when I had to fake my death-”

I felt a surge of annoyance, “How could I forget?”

“After that, after it was all over-”

“Don’t think I ever really forgave you for that-” I said, poking his chest.

“Yeah well, that’s what I mean. After that, Anakin was livid. And not just because he’s Anakin. Because he saw what it did to you.”

Obi-Wan had paused and seemed to lose himself in a memory, “And then last year, when we almost lost you to Ventress- he saw what that did to me.”

“And then he wouldn’t let it go,” I said matter-a-factly. 

“So much so that he tried to stop us from pretending to be a couple for the Naboo mission because he was afraid that it would become obvious to everyone else too,” Obi-Wan chuckled.

I shook my head and smiled before I pulled him back toward me, “That really doesn’t add up-”

“Well, it’s what he thinks.”

“Let him, or anyone, think whatever they want,” I whispered before kissing him again. 

If I could have stayed in that moment forever, I would have. But eventually he pecked the corner of my mouth and pulled away. 

“I could kiss you all day, but I fear we have duties to attend to,” he said.

I closed the distance between us once more, kissing him a moment longer, melting into him. 

“I fear the same,” I whispered when I pulled away. 

“Most importantly, deleting the security footage,” Obi-Wan said, his voice tinged with regret. 

I smoothed his hair from his face, arranging it so it wouldn’t look like he’d been making out with someone, “unfortunately, you're right.”

“And you know that what we talked about at that meeting means I won’t see you for ages,” Obi-Wan said, but made no move to retract himself from my embrace. 

“It’s probably for the best,” I whispered and averted my eyes. 

Obi-Wan seemed to mull it over as he searched my face. It would be good for us to be away from each other after all that had transpired. We couldn’t let our focus be compromised by each other any more than it already was. And we certainly couldn't allow rumors about two Jedi Masters falling in love. 

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

Ch. 7 - Pep-Talks

It was months after our kiss in the War-Room and every time I could find an excuse to visit  The Negotiator and its General I gladly repeated the practice. Frankly, I’d only visited twice because I had my own fleet to run, but it kept me on my toes, just knowing that Obi-Wan would be there if I went to visit. It was never more than stolen kisses and whispered adorations but I found I didn’t want more. Not now, maybe not ever. 

“Do you remember when they first told you that you’d be a general in this war?” Obi-Wan asked.

I was curled up in his lap where we sat on the floor with our backs to the bridge and looking out into the vastness of space.

 “I do. Vividly. It was right here in this room,” I said, not wanting to recall the memory.

“I only ask because I want you to know that what you felt then, for once in your life you were wrong. You are a wonderful General.”

I craned my head to look up at him, “And you know that I would have refused to do it if it hadn’t been for you.”

He glanced down at me, “What do you mean?”

“You gave me this whole pep-talk. About how I was one of the most accomplished Jedi of the age and if anyone was prepared to lead an army, it was me.”

“And it was true. Still is,” he smiled.

“And you gave me this hug,” I started, “it made me feel like it would all be okay.”

“Because it was going to be,” Obi-Wan sighed, placing a kiss on my head.

“And,” I paused, not sure how to get the words out but knowing I was ready to say them, “that’s when I knew I loved you.” 

I paused because Obi-Wan had pulled away so he could see me, hands still grasping mine but now sitting cross legged.

“But especially in this war,” I continued, feeling cruel that I’d make this confession of love but litter it with my war philosophy, “it would have been excusable for us to fall in love. The whole world has gone to shit and even if we win, it would never have been the same. Too much has changed. The Jedi order will be reorganized. I just wish we’d known it then.”

Obi-Wan looked like he didn’t know what to say, “How are you so sure?”

“I can feel it,” I said, surprised, “Can you not?”

Obi-Wan frowned and I continued, “Something has shifted. Too much is different now, even the Force feels different. Maybe it’s just that the Dark side has gained too much power, but we can never go back to those ancient traditions if we hope to retain anything of the Jedi.

Obi-Wan drew back further, staring intently, “Those are dangerous words Cecil Palmarin.”

I rolled my eyes, “I know. That’s why I haven’t said them out loud before. But whatever happens, it won’t be the same.”

Obi-Wan didn’t respond but I could tell he was weighing my words, his Force presence full of conflict and apprehension.

“But we don’t have to worry about that yet,” I said, reaching up to soothe his hair away from his face; in the last couple months it had started to get long again.

“What worries me Cecil, is that you are always right,” Obi-Wan mused.

“No I’m not-”

“About the things that matter, you tend to be. You have excellent intuition. And I just don’t know if I’m ready to confront that reality.”

“You can’t live in the confines of the Jedi Order’s reality forever.”

“Couldn’t I? That is the call of the Jedi, is it not?”

“Not anymore,” I whispered.

“But-” 

“And you know far better than I, Obi-Wan, it’s not about the Jedi. It’s about the Force. You could live without the Jedi. But not the Force. That’s the life we will always be tied to.” 

“Hmm,” Obi-Wan said, his eyes focusing on something far away. I could feel him contemplating again, mind working over what I said. A pang of anxiety hit me in knowing how much value he placed in my opinion - and that with this knowledge I would so willingly shatter the little shard of hope that was left for returning to the time before.

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

Part 2 (Chapters 8-13)

[aetheternity]

Hello! I’ve seen your LR vent with anon; I’m a new genshin player, which means I’ve never seen the lantern rite until this update and I have enjoyed most of it except for the interactions when they were eating?

It just felt so OOC for some, namely Venti? Why was he even there?? And for the music festival? He wasn’t even there for when it happened! When he first appeared I was literally like “Tf you doing here??”

Also, the way they pretend to not know each other?? Maybe I missed something but why did they do that? I though it was funny but actually why did they need to do that?

Also, I found Hu Tao really annoying… I’m sorry for saying that but it felt like my middle school bully trying to be nice to me after she was reprimanded by teachers?? Maybe it’s just me.

I felt bad for Xiao to just be there without knowing what to do… pretending like he doesn’t know Zhongli? I though people knew that they know each other? Could be I’m wrong…

The singing with Xingyan and Hu Tao… oh archons… why?? It was a nice thing to include but it was just so bad?? Not anything specific about it, just overall…

Also I didn’t get why Zhongli kinda ‘demanded’ Xiao to call him Zhongli? I get its his new identity or whatever but it seemed a bit cold to me? It could be I missed something or the reason why he asked but it still seemed cold to me…

Back to Venti, I do really like him! He was the first character I liked when I got into Genshin! They just did him so wrong here… it’s like Venti was there and not Barbatos if that makes any sense? It’s just fannon Venti like it was said beforehand… I was happy to see him but he has no place to be there?? It made no sense for him to appear he was just like “Yah y’all eat here? Great imma join in! Btw, who tf are you?? I know 3 people here but oh well!” I was kinda upset by that…

Also Zhongli kinda passed me off? I really like him as a character but he felt so off to me… like he slept on the wrong side of the bed…

This doesn’t make me like them less of course, it just makes me mad they were written that way…

Also, where was Kazuha?? He should have been there! And Beidou and so many other people! It’s like they took the chargers in the LR and were like “Yeah just put them there” “But how boss?” “I don’t fucking know! You want to sit here and come up with ideas all day? Just do something!”

As a new Genshin player, I did like the vibe of the LR and the banter between characters but it was kinda akward…

Also, in the trailer for it when Aether joined Xiao to watch the fireworks; Cyno and Tighnari, for example, appeared but I have not seen them anywhere!

Regardless, I hope the next festival of whatever want make me feel this way…

About why Venti and Zhongli act like they don't know each other and why Xiao acts like he doesn't know Zhongli. Xiao is out as an adeptus everyone knows him by face and they know how old he is because he doesn't hide his identity. Meanwhile Zhongli and Venti want to live peacefully around humans so they keep their identities as archons private. None of the human characters at the table know about Zhongli and Venti being archons so they have to find some reason for them to talk without spilling the beans.

I feel like the only person on Earth that didn't find Hu Tao annoying at the dinner table.

Though the song with her and Xinyan was a choice for sure. I wish they'd just kinda had music play and then not had the two of them singing. Plus their stage name?? The Blaze Lilies?? Pft wow super original how long did it take to pick that corny ass name 🙄

I didn't like how Zhongli told Xiao he should be calling him Zhongli either. Like he's not comfortable with the informal name. Also love how they were having that conversation on the street for any random person to overhear. Great job protecting your old identity Zhongli.

I'd be nice if badly characterized Venti is just a clone or something that came to take the real Venti's place while he slept to avoid suspicion from the Traveler. But idk Venti felt like Venti in the trailer sooo.

If you haven't seen Cyno and Tighnari around it means you probably haven't played through the Sumeru archon quest.

[squib-2006]

Previous/next/first

I am going to rewatch one episode of ninjago a day until I ether give up or finish I will put my thoughts down as I watch it and rate each episode out of ten.

Day 3

Season 1 episode 3 snakebit

Waking up by gong sounds unnecessarily mean sensei wu

Matching pjs. Are amazing. Also I like to think wu got them the pjs before he recruited them to be ninja and don’t know what they liked so just got color coded matching pjs

Well Cole ninja do clean in fact they clean alto in the future

also I remember the bunks of their beds talking up a lot more room then they actually do

Cole using spinjitzu should have created more dirt on the bounty then cleaning the old junk by hand would

Also who is going to be in the desert wanting to buy stuff (besides Ed and Edna of corse but seriously who did Cole think would take this junk)

Zane and Kai freezing and melting the cabin to clean it will only cause wet and unstable wood and multiple burn marks

Why does this ship have mechanical bits if it was made in the serpentine wars era

How did they get a new video game console. Did they have like 300 more bucks to buy a new one or did the sunken pirate ship just have one lying around

Those controllers have movement sticks on the front of them. They are a sin on all good controlers out there. One they are huge two they look bad and three they have fudging movement sticks on the front.

Ed and Edna my original favorite parents

I love their car it’s so funky in a good way

I love that jay can tell it’s his parents just from their car honk

At least we know where Jay gets his huge mouth from

That funky little car any time I look at it moving or just admire it’s extraness I just go :D

Ed and Edna are such good parents

They just need to learn some boundaries

I miss the old bounty’s bridge it was so simple but it looks so cool

Also I feel for jay. Having your parents tell embaresing stories sounds so mortifying. That’s why I tell all the embarrassing stories my self so I can make it sound funny.

jay stop being a jerk to ur parents

Stap bullying jay wu

That’s it I’m marking Ed and Edna as national treasures. They bring so much light into the world

Baby Lloyd hyping himself up is so cute I want to give this child a hug

Russian Sneks

The fangpyre were the Sneks I was most scared of as a kid because of the fact of the bite you they turn you into one of them, and as a kid that was terrified of things like zombies, vampires, werewolves, and any fnaf character they were scary. Not nightmare inducing scary but still up there.

Baby Lloyd’s laugh :)

Poor Ed and Edna

The Snek themed vehicles still look so cool

The other ninja trying to force jay into going to the junkyard to visit his parents because none of them have good relationship(parents disappeared/can’t remember) with their parents is so sweet

Also Cole your mom is dead so why are you calling her

Jay is such a simp

That is a huge fricking thermometer. I don’t even want to know where he stuck that.

Poor Cole he’s losing Rocky

Well Cole and Kai are at it again stealing each other’s voices. Another two for the counter (5)

That walk must be miserable. The longest I have walked is all around Disney world and by the end of they day my feet wanted to Rest In Peace. I can’t imagine how they are doing this in a blazing hot dessert.

Two falcon clones because making another bird model would have been too expensive

Any time jay speaks with what ever acsent he speaks with is so jarring to modern day jay that I double take if he is actually talking or if it’s a voice swap

You can see bloody bite marks on there arms that’s wild for a 2010s cartoon show

Why does the staff have the antivenin to every serpentine power it seems counter productive.

Nya be girl bossing out here (I’ll show myself out)

Lloyd with the boom box made me belly laugh for some reason. Has modern day cartoon poop, butt, and fart jokes made me week to any funny looking thing.

Love gremlin Lloyd he be sticking his metaphorical middle finger up at everybody

Also this music be boping

The funny thing is Cole he wasn’t born in a junkyard he was abandoned in it

Jay jumping like that was so cool

Also Snek controls are creepy

Baby Lloyd: GET TO DA CHOPPER

Bouncy boom box bouncy boom box

Kai’s line about riding the sword like a boom stick has so much more meaning the did when I was a kid. It’s ten times more funny now

I love the transformation sequences for the golden weapon vehicles there so fancy

Also from worst to best design probably goes like Kai’s bike, Zane’s bike, jays jet, and then coles car thing. I like bikes and I think they are cool and jays jet stands out, but coles car thingy in just forgettable in my opinion. I actually couldn’t remember what his vehicle was untill I watched the episode.

Bad Cole replacing Rocky so quickly with a forgettable car thingy

Jay forgot to read his instruction manual on how to fly his magical jet and got the staff because he was lucky

Ninja teamwork at its finest

Nya to the rescue! She saved her simp

Go jlopy go

I do not like how Ed and Edna shook after ingesting the antivenin

Ed to the rescue!!

And the bounty has never looked this good before

Fly bounty fly!

Idiots this is why they tell you to always hold on to items when in flight

I love the Walker family they just love each other so much

Also Ed’s line about jay being there greatest invention just makes my heart melt

HUGS :D

Final thoughts

This episode was much better than I remember it being. With the wholesome family content we have in here and the great fight sequences, it just makes a great episode. My only gripes with this one is that it drags a bit and the other ninja kinda were thrown in the backseat for this one. It also brings to my attention that each episode seems to have a focus ninja like how episode two was focused on Zane and this one was focused on jay. Over all I’d give this episode a solid 9.5/10

[mechanicalinertia]

STMPD Recommends Bubblegum Crisis Fanfiction: Mike Breen's Father's Pride, Mother's Passion

You know, I wonder if I should tag this with Highlander... eh, nah, wouldn't make a difference. Anyway.

I read Father's Pride, Mother's Passion over the course of several months, really. The first two parts in a burst around New Year's 2022, then I just came back to part 3 and just finished it. It was worth it. Undoubtedly. Perhaps the ending struggles to find its feet for a bit, perhaps you can see the author changing his mind as to where he wants the story to go somewhat last minute, but even so this story continues Death and Life's tradition of being insanely good on every relevant level. Even story beats I don't usually like in other stories I like here.

For context: You can read my original review of D&L here, and access the pages for both these stories (and a few sidestories I haven't read yet) here.

So. Where to start? Well, I'm going to start with the epilogue's author's note, because it says a lot about what FPMP is:

"I got very positive reactions to "Death & Life," and many people asked if I was going to write a sequel. I wracked my brains a bit to figure out where to go with a story, or even if I wanted to. As far as I was concerned, "D&L" was a complete entity, and when I finished it, I didn't really think it needed a sequel. Priss was Immortal, she was the good guy, eventually she'd whack Quincy. Plus the fact I wanted to go back to writing straight HL stories. Simple, ne?"

"Not really. The more requests for a sequel that came in, the more I began to seriously think of one. And the more I think, the more in trouble I get. Many people on a.f.bgcrisis know about my dissatisfaction with BGCrash, and how I felt there was a good story lurking somewhere beneath the crap if only the date was pushed up a year and some explanations were made for the discrepancies between the BGC characters and their BGCrash selves. Oh, yeah, Quincy and GENOM had to be central to the plot again with a suitable explanation for their absence from everyday Megatokyo life, Largo needed to be ejected from the plot entirely, the ADP slacker attitude had to disappear, the hinted-at-in-ep-7 relationship between Leon and Priss needed to be consummated, and Adama had to be severely rethought. Hey, cool. I'll rewrite BGCrash the way I thought it should go. Originally, I was going to write a straight BGC story within the same cycle, but with little or no HL influence beyond Priss' rapid healing and inability to have kids."

"Then they cloned that damn sheep..."

So, yeah, cloning had just been done with Dolly, and that was an inspiration. The desire to see Crash done better was another inspiration. Both good things to draw from.

Anyway, yeah. The story is told as a flashback from four hundred years after BGC, after the rest of the Sabers are long dead, where Priss's Watcher interviews her about the events assumed to be Crash. Of course Priss says that what we know as Crash was cooked up as fabrication by Sylia to hide a far stranger Immortal-related truth (how coy, Mister Breen, how coy) and from there the plot kicks off hard. Priss is friends with a fellow Immortal Patrick happens to know from the bad old days in the nineties, she's started to develop her own label alongside said immortal to help finance less idol-y acts like her own -- and then Sylia comes back into town by just emailing Nene (instead of doing some tomfoolery with hacking a game center) and they've got a new set of jobs - and yet, and yet, Sylia isn't afraid to admit the other Sabers are getting older, and that there's no shame in swapping out the old members for new ones over time. This is a running theme, really: winding down the Sabers instead of destroying them in a blaze of glory. Which even Priss, much mellowed by having killed two other Immortals in the last fic, is down with.

So that means shacking up with Leon, and it means trying to get custody of Sho. And, uh, the scene where Priss explains to Sho that she's an immortal is the cutest thing in the whole goddamn world, I am not joking, it's not even close.

But evil never rests. Quincy and Madigan have some seriously diabolical plans tied to Immortality, and they involve planned blackouts, a different kind of MacGuffin, the Illegal Army, and Adama - no, not the Adama you're thinking of. Something infinitely stranger and more twisted, and uh, tied to the themes of the story, about whether or not Immortals can have normal lives given their supernatural status.

Now, despite loose pacing and plenty of scenes of characters just talking, of the ever-closer bond between the Sabers and Patrick O'Brien, I really like everything that happens. It all happens for a reason, see (and it also justifies Nene going full savage for a moment there), there are a few good hardsuit fight scenes against the Illegal Army, and it all builds up until the end of Part 2. Part 3, though, is when it stumbles. The hardsuited showdown we've been building up to, we just don't get. We get some killings, both of two people we care about and of one person you're probably going to want dead by that point, but it doesn't feel satisfying. The only death that cuts deep is - well, you'll see for yourself. Suffice to say that even with poor execution (heh) in that last part, Father's Pride, Mother's Passion ultimately sticks the landing and succeeds at being the kind of story it wants to be, at once triumphant and tragic, the best kind of stuff.

Did I mention all of Priss's parts of the story are told from first-person POV? It's a nice touch, especially since it helps convey how much of a better-balanced person Priss is compared to the original anime, and compared to most fanfic including my own. Another positive quality.

Supposedly there was to be a final part where Priss finally killed Quincy, but it never came about. Fine, it was made clear it would happen some day. And what we've got is still worth a good readthrough. Seriously, give this one a go. If you've read Death and Life, and you want more of that, you will not regret it.