#what he did to kanan? never forgive

[magical-gifts]

also what I really wanted to post was that darth maul make me question what morals do I really have. every. single. time. and it’s one hundred percent sam witwer’s fault

[antianakin]

I think I'm able to perhaps put a few words to why I really dislike that the Ahsoka show had her choose to come to the conclusion that Anakin was GOOD, that he was a good person and good teacher to her, rather than having her refuse to forgive him and just having to let go of him entirely.

Ahsoka is a character who has been, for her ENTIRE RUN on Star Wars, defined by Anakin and her relationship to him. She's never been able to escape that. She was created as an explanation for why Anakin "matured" over the three year gap between AOTC and ROTS, but her lack of existence in the films means she can have no greater impact on Anakin than that. She is wholly irrelevant to his character but she does not EXIST without him. In Rebels, she is only in one season where all of her appearances are fixated on her discovery of Anakin's betrayal and how that impacts her, leading up to their final confrontation where she appears to die fighting him. She comes back only so her relationship with Anakin can be used to help Ezra let go of Kanan. In TOTJ, she has an entire episode dedicated to explaining that the only reason she survived Order 66 was because of some kind of special training Anakin gave her that made her stronger, better, faster than any other Jedi. In The Mandalorian, her appearance was full of subtext about her trauma regarding Anakin and the way she reacts to other Jedi as a result of that. In The Book of Boba Fett appearance, that subtext is still there, primarily in her conversation with Luke where she even tells him how much he reminds her of Anakin. Which leaves us with the Ahsoka show itself and how it REVOLVES around that relationship, from Sabine being turned into Anakin 2.0 to everything in episode 5 to Ahsoka claiming she'll support Sabine in everything because this is what Anakin did for her to Anakin literally showing up in ghost form to Thrawn predicting everything Ahsoka will do because he has some familiarity with Anakin.

Ahsoka CANNOT escape this relationship, she cannot move out from this particular shadow and become her own person because her character seems to ONLY EXIST to be "Anakin's student." She can almost literally not stand on her own at this point. If her story doesn't revolve around Anakin in some way, it doesn't seem to really exist (please keep in mind here that I am mostly looking at HIGH CANON appearances for this because that's what I am familiar with; I'm sure that some comics have probably managed to move away from her relationship to Anakin a little bit sometimes but I haven't read any of them so they're not being counted in this analysis, especially since I don't think they're really impacting her higher canon characterization anyway).

It's even just visible in how other characters perceive her. She is constantly being COMPARED to Anakin, we keep hearing how like Anakin she is. The only time I can think of that she is compared to anyone OTHER than Anakin is when Trace and Rafa tell her that she acts like a Jedi even if she isn't currently calling herself one (bless their SOULS for this moment, they deserved so much better than the hate they got and one single appearance on fucking TBB). We never hear anyone say she reminds them of Obi-Wan, or Yoda, or Plo Koon. It's ALWAYS Anakin even though she's known Yoda and Plo Koon longer and she seems to spend almost as much time with Obi-Wan as she does Anakin.

By having Ahsoka decide to deal with her feelings about Anakin by just... setting aside all the bad shit he did and focusing ONLY on the good moments that he had and letting that define him, it makes it nearly impossible to separate her from him. If he's good, then it's a GOOD thing to compare her to him. If he's good, then his influence on her HAS to have been a good one. For me, it ruins ANY nuance that could have come from going the opposite direction and recognizing that while he had some good moments, he was in fact an overall bad person who was a terrible teacher to her. He betrayed her, he tried to kill her (and only failed because she was saved by someone else), he abandoned her. I don't care WHAT he did before this, this automatically makes him a BAD TEACHER.

And recognizing that Anakin was a bad teacher would force Ahsoka to look at HERSELF more critically, too, to recognize the places where she has made the same mistakes perhaps, where she's started leading herself down a similar path to his, and then choosing to NOT BE LIKE HIM. Anakin should be (like he is with Luke) the personification of her own darkness. Palpatine represented Anakin's greatest demons and personifications, Anakin can represent something similar for Ahsoka. He is an indisputable part of her now, but she doesn't HAVE to become him, she doesn't have to let that CONTROL her. And by making that choice, she frees herself from being defined by him for the rest of her life.

But now, the narrative has bound Ahsoka to Anakin forever. She'll never be anything more than Anakin's student because this has become what defines her as a person and a character. And it just... it sucks. Ahsoka deserved better than that.

[kanerallels]

Kanera, retirement home or seniors community

This is almost certainly not what you were intending when you sent in this request, but my sister gave me the idea and it was too amusing to resist

Working at a senior’s community was a fairly unpredictable job. But Hera was pretty sure that finding a guy around her age climbing out through the window was a first.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, staring at him.

The man paused, one leg already out the window as he stared at her. “I… live here?” he offered tentatively.

Hera stopped at him for a long moment, until his shoulders dropped in a sigh. “Yeah, that was pretty bad.”

“It was,” Hera agreed. “And you have about two minutes to give me a better answer before I call the cops.”

Wincing, the man said, “Yeah, please don’t do that. Okay, so I’m here to see my great-grandfather, Stellan— you know him?”

“I do,” Hera said, frowning. “He’s talked about you— you’re Caleb?”

“Right, but he’s one of like two people who call me that,” he said. “You can call me Kanan.”

“Well, Kanan,” Hera said, “you haven’t exactly explained why you’re climbing out the window.”

“Um. I’m technically not allowed in here because I kind of accidentally kidnapped Stellan and his two best friends out for lunch once.”

Hera rolled her eyes. “Somehow, I’m already unsurprised by that.”

Grinning, Kanan said, “Yeah, not my best move. But I can’t miss our weekly poker games, Elzar would never forgive me. So… any chance you can let me go this time?”

Hera considered for a minute. He did look familiar, like she’d seen him in some of the family photos in Stellan’s room. And her gut was telling her that he was probably telling the truth. “Fine,” she said. “But next time I expect to see you coming in through the front door. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kanan said, shooting her a grin before hopping out the window and out of sight.

[kanansdume]

One of my favorite things about Rebels, especially on a rewatch immediately after the Obi-Wan Kenobi show finished airing its last episode so my feelings on that are still fresh in my mind, is how much Ezra encapsulates what Anakin should’ve been.

Kanan and Ezra in so many ways parallel Anakin and Obi-Wan’s relationship. Kanan as the master who takes on a student without necessarily being ready to do so but because he HAS to, the kid needs a master and no one else will do it. Ezra as the student who has heard legends of the Jedi and grew up with a regular family and parents who loved him but experienced difficulty and tragedy at a young age that has left him with trust issues and a difficulty trusting authority despite how much he desperately wants to join this diverse group that already considers itself a family.

We never really get to truly see Obi-Wan and Anakin during their early years just post-TPM so far as I’m aware, certainly nothing in high canon so far has looked at those years much. But the idea that Anakin knows Obi-Wan only really took him on under duress, that Obi-Wan is doing this as a promise to Qui-Gon rather than true belief in him and a desire to teach him and that this causes dissonance in their relationship, especially early on as Anakin works SO HARD to try to prove himself to his new teacher and earn his place among the Jedi... that seems like it would probably be pretty reasonable to me.

The journey we see Kanan and Ezra going on together, that they sort-of “become men together” as was said about Obi-Wan and Anakin, that Kanan’s lack of training means he’s learning alongside Ezra more than a usual Master might, that he’s figuring shit out as he goes and only understanding some of the teachings he was given before now that he has a student to teach them TO. All of that could so easily be applied to Obi-Wan and Anakin.

Ezra went through just as much turmoil, spent so much time struggling to survive, has just as much reason to struggle with trust, clearly desires a place in this family and to become a Jedi as much as Anakin ever did.

But Ezra pushes back against his own darkness, Ezra doesn’t FALL, Ezra recognizes and acknowledges his own weaknesses and works through them. Ezra takes the connections he has to his parents and his home and acknowledges and accepts them as a part of him, the importance they have to him, and is still capable of letting go when the time comes. He cares about protecting Lothal BECAUSE it’s his home, but he will walk away if he has to. He cares about his parents, but he won’t commit massacres to save them. Ezra looks forward, he doesn’t look back.

Kanan’s struggles as a teacher parallel what likely were Obi-Wan’s own struggles as a teacher, their journeys towards finding themselves and their identity as Jedi THROUGH teaching their unexpected students with special difficulties. But where Ezra ultimately learns to be a true Jedi, learns to let go, and sacrifices himself for the greater good of those he loves BECAUSE he learned from Kanan’s example (who learned from Depa’s who learned from Mace’s), he succeeds where Anakin fails.

Even Anakin’s final sacrifice isn’t done for the greater good of the galaxy, it’s not done out of true recognition of his own faults and crimes, it’s done to protect the ONE PERSON he gives a shit about, the one person left who gives a shit about HIM. He wouldn’t have done it for Han. He wouldn’t have even done it for LEIA, probably, since Leia wouldn’t have chosen to forgive him and love him as he is.

Ezra would. Ezra sacrifices himself not just for the family and friends he has on Lothal, not just for the home he loves, but because it’s what must be done, it’s the only way to stop innocent people from dying, it’s the only way to keep the factory on Lothal from being completed. It’s about so much more than just the people and places Ezra personally gives a shit about, because those people and places AREN’T the only things Ezra personally gives a shit about. Because Ezra’s a JEDI, he has love and compassion for every living thing in this galaxy, he understands the bigger picture here and understands his place in it. His entire arc, starting from the beginning, is about learning to be selfless, about learning to place other’s needs before his own. He says in the literal pilot episode that he understands sticking it to the Empire, but he wouldn’t stick his own neck out so far, risk HIMSELF so far, for some strangers. What’s in it for him?

Except we see that Ezra is willing to stick his neck out a little for a stranger on Lothal when he’s about to get taken by the Empire. He gets some fruit out of it for his trouble, but he absolutely didn’t have to go about that in a way that helped free that one fruit seller. And immediately after Ezra says he WOULDN’T stick his neck out for strangers, he runs himself into danger to help save the Ghost Crew who are next to strangers to him at this point because he WANTS to be like them, his instinct IS actually to be kind and stick his neck out. An episode later, he’s so connected to Zeb already that he accesses the Force without thinking about it to save his life. Two episodes after that, he’s risking his life to help save an Imperial cadet from being taken by the Grand Inquisitor. He turns into a pretty selfless person SO FUCKING FAST that it’s pretty clear his more selfish protests aren’t who Ezra truly even is.

But fully understanding the sacrifice he makes in the finale took all four years of that training, took living through Kanan’s many sacrifices (including his final one), took facing his own darkness and coming out the other side, took several major losses and failures. He’s a selfless, kind, compassionate person, but learning to truly and completely let go and give up everything for the bigger picture?

Anakin never learned that. Because Ezra is and has always been what Anakin should’ve been and WASN’T.

[veryunsettledpeeps]

Incorrect Star Wars Quotes Dump #2

__________

Dooku: Obi-Wan was your friend, are you so ready to forgive his murder? 

Anakin: It’s sad but, we can always find new friends

Ahsoka: And, to be honest, he was a little moody 

__________

Fennec: The old man died of natural causes

Boba: But his son?

 Fennec: That was not quite so natural 

__________

Rex: Are you an idiot? 

Fives: No sir, I’m a dreamer

__________

Kylo: I’m volunteering for the witness protection program

Hux: Kylo, you didn’t witness any crime

Kylo: I killed my father, I saw the whole thing

__________

Echo: You know, I’m trying to stay positive

Echo: But, uh...I’m pretty sure this is where we die

__________

Wolffe: Would you call me selfish?

Cody: No, not to your face

__________

Obi-Wan: I have never been more proud of you for anything in your life 

Anakin: I won a lot of battles for you

Obi-Wan: And yet, the war has still continued 

__________

Fives: This is my little brother, Boba 

Fives: He knows we can’t afford new clothes so he just doesn’t grow 

__________

Rey: I just want you

Kylo: Well, it’s too late for that, I’m dead 

__________

Pong Krell: Are you crying?

Dogma (clearly crying): No!

Pong Krell: There's no crying in a war!

__________

Echo: Who are you? Are we enemies? Why am I on this wall? Where's Fives?

Tech: Let me explain.... No, there is too much, let me sum up

__________

Rex: If you don't do what I say, you can end up like our little buddies in the Empire over there. Locked up. Take a look, do they look happy?

Gregor: No

Wolffe: They look sad

________

Obi-Wan: I expect nothing and I'm still let down

________

Ezra: I'm never going through puberty

Hera: Of course you will, honey. But we're a family of late bloomers, I didn't until I was 14 nor did Sabine

Ezra: Why does that matter? I'm adopted

Kanan: *slamming drawers* What? Oh my gosh, who told you?!

________

Tech: We can't just kill it (Zillo Beast)

Echo: What are we supposed to do with it? Snuggle?

________

[thevibraniumveterans]

REBELS REWATCH

S1E9 — GATHERING FORCES

The episode is a continuation of S1E8 “Empire Day”. It opens with a dogfight, because of course it does. Hera commands Sabine to man the nose guns, as Sabine herself had stated earlier. However, she hesitates, not knowing whether to deal with Tseebo’s revelation or to be in the weapons bay as required. She is conflicted between needing to help fire upon the enemy and wanting to be a grounding presence for Ezra. Needlessly, he asks, “Didn’t you hear Hera?” He knows his needs are not important right this very moment, choosing instead to tell Sabine to prioritize the battle in the skies over his own feelings. Sabine however, asks in return, “Didn’t you hear Tseebo? He said he knows what happened to your parents.” Ezra doesn’t need further comfort, or at least so he thinks. He tells Sabine, “I already know what happened. They’re dead. So go!” Sabine lingers for a few seconds more, still feeling torn. A blast rocks the ship, so she turns and heads to the nose guns as ordered. Ezra watches her walk away, and turns to Tseebo. Shaking him by the shoulders, he demands, “Are they? Are my parents dead?” Tseebo warns, “The Bridgers should hide. The troopers came. They took Mira and Ephraim Bridger away.” Desperate for information, Ezra’s voice grows louder, “Where? Where did they take them?” Tseebo says, “Forgive Tseebo. Forgive him.” Incredulous, Ezra says, “Forgive you?!” Tseebo says, “Tseebo failed.” Ezra shakes his head in disbelief. His friend says, “Tseebo was afraid. Tseebo could not raise Ezra Bridger.” Betrayed and devastated, Ezra shouts, “Coward! You could have stopped them! Why didn’t you stop them?” Hera calls through the comms, “Shields down! Ezra, I need you in the cockpit!” The teenager acknowledges the order, but turns back to Tseebo, voice full of hurt and betrayal. “Forgive you? My parents trusted you and you failed them and you failed me. I’ll never forgive you for that.”

Ezra makes his way to the cockpit and helps Hera with some rewiring.

Tseebo helps to calculate the jump to light speed, which brings the Ghost safely out of harm’s way. Hera thanks Tseebo for it. “I think you saved our lives,” says Hera. Ezra, however still hurt from the revelation earlier, brushes past, dismissively stating, “Yeah, I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

The crew gather in the Ghost’s common space, and Sabine and Hera attempt to bring Chopper back online. Ezra, however, sits sulking at the holochess table. Sabine looks up at Ezra, a quizzical look on her face. He sits idle, lost in his own thoughts, his emotions swirling in an angry current.

Ezra looks up at Kanan and asks, “So? Now what do we do with him?” Kanan tells him that he should be the one who can offer up ideas, given his history with Tseebo. Ezra, wanting to avoid talking about his hurt feelings, picks up one of his stolen (and painted) helmets, puts it on, and says, “Don’t know. Don’t much care.” Kanan offers advice to Ezra, saying that he’ll “never advance as a Jedi if you can’t be honest with yourself, at least.” (This statement is interesting given how years into the future, Sabine would become a Jedi under Asoka’s tutelage, but that she fully opened herself to the Force because she was honest with herself (perhaps about why she was faltering in her initial training), honest about her feelings (regarding Ezra, her long-lost significant other), willing to admit to herself what kinds of feelings she had been bottling up for way too long (e.g., her parents’ eventual demise, not being able to move past her grief of losing her family and also Ezra, not to mention the closeness of the Spectres, among other things). By finally opening up snd being honest to herself about so many things, she opened herself to the Force and it flowed through her like water our of a broken dam.) Frustrated, Ezra asks, “What’s that supposed to mean?” He stands up, ready to walk off. Kanan grabs Ezra’s helmet, removing it from the teenager’s head, and says, “It means Tseebo matters to you.” Ezra turns around. Kanan continues, “You do care what happens to him.” Ezra, still hurt from earlier and refusing to acknowledge his pain, responds with, “Why should I? He did nothing to save my parents.” Kanan notes that it would have been impossible for one individual with as Tseebo to have done anything against “the entire Empire.” Sabine contributes her thoughts: “And besides, look at what he’s done since. The Imperials encourage these implants but they’re not mandatory.” (That’s something Sabine would actually know, given her past history as an Imperial cadet at the Academy.) She continues, “Not yet. He must have volunteered.” Ezra isn’t convinced, and crossed his arms. Sabine notes, “And then he uploaded their secrets and ran. Maybe he’s trying to make up for letting you down. Why else would he take on the Empire alone?” A few mutterings by Tseebo later, Sabine translates, “he said the Empire can track the Ghost.”

Chopper scans the Ghost, finds the tracker attached to it, and shows the Spectres where it is. Sabine realizes that the Ghost is indeed being followed. Hera notes that the tracker is on the Phantom, and makes plans to drop the Phantom. Sabine disagrees, so Kanan suggests passing by an asteroid field close to a base where Sabien and Hera were last episode. At the mere mention, Sabine says, “You mean the base with the nasties who live in the shadows?” Clearly remembering her ordeal there, she does not want to revisit that place. Ezra, standing by a doorway, agrees with the sentiment: “Wait, what? Why would we want to go down there?” (Fair enough, he was accosted by a fyrnock on that base. 10/10 do not recommend.)

Kanan says it’s not just the tracker they should be worried about, as they are being pursued by an Inquisitor. “As long as Ezra and I are on board the Ghost, we’re jeopardizing Tseebo’s escape.”

Ezra does not like this suggestion: “So, I gotta leave the Ghost and go to this nasty-filled asteroid as a favor to Tseebo?” Kanan sys, “As a favor to all of us. And don’t worry. I’ll be right beside you.” Defeated, Ezra sighs,

Cut to perhaps several minutes later, and Ezra is standing by the galley, across the room from Tseebo. He is still upset. The door swooshes open, and Sabine walks in. Carefully choosing her words, Sabine asks, “So, your parents…do you really believe they’re dead?” Ezra looks away from Sabine, and curtly replies, “Yes.” It’s not a subject he likes to bring up, but the day has not gone well for him in the slightest. He is still unsure of what he is, or should be, feeling, if he’s being honest. He continues, “No. I-I don’t know. Does it matter?” Sabine offers a rebuttal. “Yeah, of course it matters. You have to talk to Tseebo before we go.” Ezra tells her that’s he’s tried to do so. Sabine doesn’t take no for an answer: “Okay, so try harder! Once Hera takes him away, you may never see Tseebo again.” Ezra begins to walk away, and comments offhandedly, “Maybe that’s for the best.” Sabine is taken aback, clearly not expecting this response. “Wha—How can you say that?” Ezra is exasperated, but understanding that Sabine should never be on the receiving end of his frustration, sighs and takes a moment to calm down. He says. “Sabine. I’ve been on my own since I was seven, okay? If I’d let myself believe my folks were alive—” Sabine watches him, concern written on her face. “—if I let myself believe they’d come back and save me, I’d never have learned how to survive.” The door opens behind him, startling Ezra a bit. Kanan asks if he’s ready for the task at hand. Ezra turns back around and looks at Sabine, who gestures with her head to go on this mission. He takes her unspoken advice, knowing that any further explanation and delay would only result in a postponed reckoning with his own guilt. Ezra follows Kanan away. Sabine looks up at Tseebo, then down to the empty space around her. She feels sorry for Ezra, she thinks. He was so young, too young to have ended up on the streets as nothing more than a mere child, whereas at that same age, she was trying to make her family proud of her. At that age, she had a family, but he had lost his.

Ezra and Kanan make their way to the Phantom, and detach it from the Ghost. They drop out of hyperspace and make their way to the asteroid base, an Imperial Star Destroyer hot o their trail.

Ezra and Kanan are close to touchdown on the asteroid. The teenager, expecting there to be a plan of action, asks, “Should we go over the plan again?” Kanan notes, “I never told you what the plan was.” Ezra says, “Exactly.” Kanan asks, “You remember the nasty creatures Hera and Sabine found here?” Ezra does, but he’d rather forget those creatures. Kanan tells him that he has to connect with those animals (as he’d originally started the day off trying to do) “if we’re gonna survive this.” Worried, Ezra asks, “Is now really the best time for a lesson?” Kanan doesn’t think so, but tells him, “I figure it’s learning like you do best, by surviving.”

Kanan prepares for touchdown. Ezra admits that he doesn’t think he can make those connections. “I’m afraid,” he finally says. Kanan tells him, “I got news for you, kid. Everyone’s afraid, but admitting it as you just did, makes you braver than most and it’s a step forward.” Ezra notes, “Yeah. Into the jaws of a nightmare.” Whether he is referring to the animals he would soon face, or his own internal worries, that’s something only Ezra would find out for himself.

Kanan parks the Phantom in the cave, and heads off to remove the tracking device. He leads Ezra to complete his task. Ezra looks around, nervous.

Hesitant, Ezra steps forward. The place is crawling with fyrnocks, Kanan dislodges the tracking device. The creatures advance on Ezra, who shields his face with his arms. Kanan tells him, “You’re blocked! Let go.” (“Blocked” would be the exact same word that Kanan would use to describe Sabine several years later when during her training with the Darksaber. In that future time period, Sabine is also similarly emotionally blocked, and unwilling to acknowledge extremely deep-seated and long-buried feelings and emotions that she keeps to herself, that she does not allow herself to admit. And it isn’t until a decade after then, that Sabine consciously UNBLOCKS herself from the Force and let it flow through her, the process inadvertently helped by Ezra himself, that Sabine admitted to herself the feelings and emotions she had been harboring for YEARS. Once she allowed herself to experience the truth, to finally say to herself, “This is what I’ve been feeling, this is why I’m feeling them, and I’m not afraid of facing my own truth”.) Ezra says, “I can’t!” Kanan advises, “Don’t be afraid.” As in, to not be afraid of the creatures and to not be afraid to face his own feelings and emotions. Ezra stretches out his hands, and tries to convince himself: “I’m not afraid of them!” Kanan presses on: “Then what?” Ezra doesn’t know, and says so. Kanan disagrees: “What are you afraid of?!” Ezra finally realizes, “I’m afraid of… I’m afraid of knowing. I’m afraid of the truth! I’m sorry!” Ezra is near tears. “I’m sorry. I’m forgive you, Tseebo!” The moment passes, and Ezra falls silent. Kanan watches on as the fyrnocks sit silent before the teenager.

Elsewhere, the Ghost docks with Tantive IV. Sabine asks Hera, “I don’t suppose Zeb and I could get to meet Fulcrum this time?” Hera says, “Nope. This tie, you stay in the cockpit.” Sabine turns around, grasping the disk she swiped on her way out of Ezra’s old home earlier in the day. Her expression turns thoughtful. Elsewhere on the ship, Hera speaks with Tseebo, who has regained his senses and reveals that he knows what happened to Ezra’s parents.

Troopers and the Inquisitor arrive on the asteroid moon where Ezra and Kanan are on. Having connected with the fyrnocks through the Force, Ezra and Kanan are quiet and calm, and commands the creatures to charge. They do so, but are quickly subdued by the troopers and the Inquisitor himself. While Ezra remains knelt on the ground, arm outstretched, Kanan engages the Inquisitor in a duel. Ezra remains calm, collected, and connected, and the fyrnocks comply with his unspoken commands. It isn’t until the Inquisitor knocks Kanan unconscious that Ezra breaks his connection. Ezra grabs Kanan’s saber and points it at the Inquisitor, but it doesn’t do much good. Ezra himself is Force-pushed backwards, and dangles off a ledge. Upset but determined to not let that hinder him, he tells the Inquisitor, “You don’t have anything to teach me.” The Inquisitor taunts him further, and Ezra, becoming increasingly agitated, ends up summoning the fyrnock Alpha by connecting directly to it. Kanan wakes up from his unconscious state, and looks up at Ezra. The teenager is trembling with controlled but barely contained fury, and calls upon the Force like never before, with strength gathered from the deepest recesses of his being. His face, contorted into a deep grimace, sets in grim determination as the Alpha rises behind him. Kanan realizes what’s going on: “Ezra? ..No!” The teenager in question has connected so deeply with the Alpha, much more than he was previously able to with a cat on Lothal. Even the Inquisitor is taken aback and starts retreating. Ezra, however, has his mind dead set on one single task, his fear of the truth no longer present: command the Alpha to charge at the Inquisitor. Ezra is struggling to hold the connection with the Alpha, who screeches and charges forward. Ezra, however, is overwhelmed by the immense and nearly inhuman effort to maintain a connection with the Alpha. He loses his connection, sways, and collapses to the ground, falling unconscious.

Taking advantage of the Alpha’s presence, Kanan grabs his blaster and heads in Ezra’s direction. Upon reaching the teenager, Kanan tries to wake Ezra from his unconscious state. Ezra opens his eyes, and confused, asks, “What happened? I-I feel so cold.” Kanan reassures Ezra that he’s aware of this, and says, “It’s okay. We’re leaving.” Hoisting the weakened teengager onto his shoulder, Kanan takes advantage of the fyrnocks holding back the Inquisitor and the troopers, grabs his saber, and reaches the Phantom. Once inside, he places Ezra in a jump seat, heads to the pilot’s chair, and takes off, blasting an Imperial ship in the process.

Once they’re safe, Kanan puts the Phantom in autopilot and turns around, noticing Ezra curled up into himself, shaking in the cold. Ezra looks up, and hesitantly asks, “…I saved us?” Kanan tells him, “You did.” Ezra admits, “But something doesn’t feel right.” Perhaps this might be part of a lesson learnt earlier, where Ezra gives voice to his concerns so that he can address them right away instead of postponing facing the problem at hand. Kanan says, “If your will isn’t strong enough when you open yourself to the Force, you become vulnerable to the dark side.” Ezra counters with what he knows, “Well, I was trying to protect you.” Kanan replies, “I know. But your anger and fear caused that giant creature to attack.” Ezra says he does not remember the incident, so Kanan tells him, “That’s for the best.” He pauses, then continues, “Your powers are growing so quickly, you weren’t prepared. I didn’t teach you what you needed to know. I’m sorry.”

The Phantom docks with the Ghost, and the Spectres welcome Kanan and Ezra back. Ezra makes his way down the ladder. Still hunched over himself, he slowly makes his way across the common room, but Hera wishes to tell him something. Thinking better of it, Kanan interrupts, saying, “Ezra needs a little time to himself right now.” The teenager in question continues on through the Ghost, footsteps heavy. He makes his way to the gunner’s chair. Crossing his arms, he stares out the window, looking at the many stars beyond, lost in thought. Sabine decides to try to cheer him up. Walking into the gunner’s bay behind Ezra, she states, “Rough couple of days.” Ezra agrees, telling her, “Yeah. It’s been strange.” He doesn’t elaborate nor does he look at her, so Sabine crosses over to the other side of the chair. “I have just what you need,” she tells him, taking out the disk she was holding earlier. “It’s the holo-disk from your old house.” He watches her in silence as she continues, “It was pretty degraded but I cleaned it up. And I found something.” Sabine inserts it into a reader by a side panel, and the gunner’s bay lights up in a fluorescent orange glow, its source a holo-image of the Bridger family — Ephraim and Mira, and baby Ezra. The teenager’s eyes widen in surprise upon seeing the image, calling out to his parents as if they were still there. By his side, Sabine chuckles a bit, then: “Happy birthday, Ezra Bridger.” A gentle smile on her face, she leaves the gunner’s bay. It’s not specifically the disk that’s the present, Sabine’s gift to Ezra was a happy memory on his birthday (Empire Day, lest we forget), the first happy and positive memory he’s had of his parents in years. Ezra’s eyes follow her departure, but the image of his much younger self with his happy parents commands his attention. He blinks a few times and takes a deep breath, as this is the first time in years he’s had a happy memory for his birthday. He raises his hand, as if to reach out to the image.

[helsingvania]

just realized I misread the directions for the ask game. who is ur guys for star wars for it :3

GRRRRRRRRRR I have 3 characters that my brain considers blorbos. Luke, Sabine, and Mon

Luke is such a fucking funny guy I love him, for the entirety of the 2015 comic series once per every arc he needed to get knocked out or kidnapped. Initially people see him as a bland self insert character but really hes a a character from a transition on what the hero looks like in media making him one of the most unique protagonists there is. He rewrote masculinity and heroism especially entering the 80s the era of action heroes. All the traits that made him Luke in anh actively works against him in esb and it's so interesting with hindsight because not only was he championed for these traits like his father before him....only to learn that ultimately that's what ruined his father and the path he's going will only lead him to becoming another monster. He's unapologetically kind and literally one of his best lines is from battlefront 2 where "why did you help me?" "Because you asked me to." With a literal imperial trying to survive because he saw good in him and gave him a chance to be good. I cannot speak on the sequels for I have not seen them recently enough to make a judgement on em thoroughly but I love it era Luke so much he just wants to be a helpful guy

SABINE THE BEAN WREN GRRRH. I think she is what got me to actually like mandalorians with this fixation. I'm not going to go into ahsoka series....BUT I can talk rebels because I think I'm one of the only bitches in this echo chamber that see this show. Sabine was a child used by the empire first and foremost. She showed great enginuity and weapon crafting and under the empire the safest bets on the now Clan Saxon controlled mandalore was to comply to the empire so her family sent her to the academies. The empire used her childhood nativity and her desire to take up seemingly impossible challenges to create a weapon....for mandalorian genocide if there was ever a uprising. Because if mandalorians were together for fuckin once they could over thrown the empires power. They made a child create a machine that can eliminate anything made of beskar or anything carrying or holding it. Beskar is the metal of the mandalorians. Sabine was a child when she learned what the empire planned and tested, she destroyed everything she could of the dutchess and ran to her family. Mandalorians have a lot of empathsis on family and children, you cannot disown your own children in Mando culture....and yet her family did disown her running away and sided with the empire. She has absolutely nothing and lead a life of selfishness and bounty hunting before meeting Hera and Kanan that sets her life right and eventually making everything up with her family and finding another one along the way

MON MOTHMA I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!! Andor made me fall in love with her so hard. She was a very nothing character in the beginning to trying to keep a pleasant demeanor to keep face during the war in light of saw gerra fighting his own war in methods she doesn't agree with (saw is actually based but we're not talking star wars politics) but andor extended her in the existential horror that she lives in before she left for the rebellion full time. She was a child bride, she spent most of her life in politics, she watched everything fall apart around her, and she's watching it all fall again in a smaller scale of her own daughter. She is in a violently unhappy marriage but she had to make a choice of subjecting her daughter to the same fate....or ensuring that this could never happen again to the rest of galaxy. Ultimately she chooses the galaxy and can only hope for forgiveness in the future. She never got the chance to have a childhood she above all else understands sacrifice for the greater good. And just these details make watching her struggles all the more interesting

[greatearthquakestudent]

Characters Analysis: Chozen Toguchi and Mike Barnes

Chozen Toguchi and Mike Barnes

Yuji Okumoto’s Chozen Toguchi and Sean Kanan’s Mike Barnes had great reintroductions into the Cobra Kai series. They both came in as  well adjusted adults compared to their younger “psychotic selves.” Enjoy them or not, as people, they have went on powerful journeys.

Chozen Toguchi

Early Life:

As a child, Chozen was left in the care of his uncle after his father’s death due to him being a coward. Chozen has been taught to value honor above all else. Honestly, psychologically engrave into him. Unfortunately Chozen inherited his father’s cowardice leading him to cheat his way in life to avoid the risk of losing that honor. His only known friend back then was Kumiko, they played for years and developed bond over. Possibly he was close to with her due to his home life.

Karate Kid Part II:

Then came in Daniel-San. He got everything Chozen worked for. He has the full honor from Mr. Miyagi that he had to earn from Sato. It was the thing he value the most in life, it made him angry and insecure. Also Daniel getting the girl he was in love with, that sounds familiar. Daniel saving Yuna and helping with Sato while Chozen, who understandably was afraid, backed away from the risk. But due to the person he turned into, Sato considered him to be dishonorable, so he disowned him, taking away his honor, the thing he has been afraid of his entire life. With the one thing that gave him the meaning of life now gone. He now has no reason to consider the consequences of what he did. He only had anger and vengeance toward the person that made him lose his honor. With his honor gone, his humanity was practically remove from him. This made him willing to kill the one person that he loved just to get at the “source”.

After KK2: 

After Daniel-San showed his honor by sparing Chozen, he lived long enough to see the impact that his actions had made to the people around him. Everyone saw Chozen as the monster that he was to Daniel. This is like with Sato, but hundreds of times worse. Unlike with Sato, Chozen has nothing to blame for this but himself. Having more time to process what he did, he realized how awful his crimes were. He trashed a happy day for the people, made  them witness a potential murder, and tried to kill the woman he supposedly loved, all just to get back at someone that barely deserved his wrath. Chozen is back at his childhood self, alone, but this time, he was completely alone. He had no one to really help him learn to be better.  His uncle already saw him as dishonorable, Kumiko probably will never forgive him for trying to murder her, and everyone sees him as a monster. How would he live with himself? He came to the conclusion, he can’t live with himself after everything he has done. So he decided for the sake of everyone, he wanted to kill himself. But before he could, the thing he needed his entire life came to him, the love of his uncle. Knowing his uncle still cared about him, this gave him the motive to give himself another chance. This motive later increased, when the love of his life “found him again.”

Mike Barnes

Early LIfe:

Although not much is known about Barnes’ background some people have drawn he has a similar background to the Cobra Kai’s Female Champion, Tory Nichols, from his main trait and motive for what he did.

What we do know, he was a national champion of Karate, being a high blackbelt and earning the name, “Karate’s Bad Boy.”

Karate Kai Part III:

When we’re first introduced to Mike Barnes, he was a national champion, who seemed like the perfect person for Sensei Terry Silver to torment his enemy, Daniel LaRusso. He was promise was 50% of the dojo if he terrorize this other kid for Silver.

Through the movie, he terrorize the hell out of  Daniel LaRusso to the point where he and his sensei Mr. Miyagi were drifting a part. He ruined his bonsai tree shop, sold the trees, assaulted him twice, assault his good friend, Jessica Andrews, threaten to kill him and Jessica if Daniel doesn’t sign a contract, and snapped his bonsai trees.

But, when Miyagi attacked, he seemed to hesitate, but willing to fight. But got his ass beat.

During the all valley of 85, Mike was ready to wipe the floor with Daniel, but Silver wanted him to torment Daniel more, so Mike purposefully had to lose a point. After bad-mouthing Mr. Miyagi, this angered LaRusso, causing him to defeat him, which left him angry in the end.

After KK3:

According to him in episode 3 of season 5, Mike stated how insane that there’s a contract that allowed him to hurt another kid, indicating, he knew that he made a deal with the devil. And he was right to have second thoughts since after he failed to complete the task he been given, he loss his credibility as a karate fighter and his financial future ruin. He was kicked to the curve, left to fend for himself. He worked a lot of odd jobs to gained some money for his finance. But one day, he found someone that cared for him a lot. Who taught him the value of creation. Someone to help turn his life around for the better. And later gained the love of his life, the man’s daughter, making him his son in a legal sense.

Comparison to Tory Nichols:

Barnes and Nichols came in as the tough badass fighter with anger issues that for money whatever reasons (poor background). Some people even believe they could be related (not).

Their relationship with Terry has a similar nature. Terry Silver promised a lot of money and a lot of glory just to keep for their skills as fighter as nothing else. While they know full well that Silver is a mad-man.

Nichols’ background could honestly be similar to Barnes’.

In conclusion:

Mike Barnes and Chozen Toguchi had got through some powerful shit. Chozen nearly lossed himself but found the light. While Mike lived with the consequences of his mistake and then found someone who loved him like a son.

[jedi-lothwolf]

Febuwhump Day 16: Semi-conscious

Fandom: Star Wars

Timeline: The Clone Wars/Star Wars Rebels

The battle was long and hard. Caleb never really minded fighting beside his master and his troops. It was exhausting and extremely challenging, both mentally and physically. He sometimes questioned why someone so young was a commander but he got to help people so that thought was often dismissed.

    The clone beside him, as Caleb recalled his name was Duchess, was shot down. This wasn't the first time the padawan had seen one of his men die. It detracted him for all of a second. A second was all it took. A bullet hit Caleb in the lower abdomen.

    He fell to the ground. Depa looked over to Caption Gray and he nodded. She rushed over to the boy and assessed his injury.

    Caleb's head was spinning. He wasn't sure what had happened. His stomach burned. All he could hear was muffled words. His eyes flutter as he caught bits of the conversation that unfolded before him. Mostly his mother talking to him. She attempted to comfort him.

    Depa was terrified. Caleb was just barely responsive to her and his pulse felt weak. Sure attachments were forbidden but she was close to her padawan. Caleb meant so much to her and seeing him so hurt made her feel useless. It was important that she protect him; as his master, superior, and his mother.

    A medic arrived and prepared to take him somewhere safer. Caleb couldn't really think. Still he only understood parts of what was going on. He was moving? Someone had picked him up.

Comprehending what was happening hurt the boys head.

    When the two got to the treage the medic further took care of the wound. He was dragged away to take care of a worse case. "I'll be right back, okay Caleb?" He spoke softly.

    Caleb tried to answer but couldn't. An injured friend of his saw him and limped over to make sure he was okay. "Hey buddy, you okay?" Checkers spoke softly.

    'huh' the kid thought. He moved his head slowly to face the soldier, "am I gonna die?" His voice was quiet and shaky.

    Checkers rested his hand on the other cheek, "no, your not gonna die. I promise."

    The padawan gave the clone a small smile. Everything was still hazy. "Okay." Checkers moved to sit beside his commander. The kid held a special place in the soldiers heart. While technically he was younger than Caleb, he worried a lot about him; most of the battalion did. He was so young and should even be in this war.

    "Where's mom?" This took the clone by surprise. Everyone kinda knew that Depa and Caleb were close but hearing him say that she was like his mother unnerved Checkers. Not that there was a problem with that but because both were Jedi and he didn't want anything to happen to them. Attachments to him seemed inevitable but he wasn't a Jedi so he didn't really know.

    "Shes okay" he reassured Caleb. The medic came back and finished what was left to do with the injury. After making sure he was okay, Chess left again to take care of others.

    The battle ended not long after. It was a win for the republic. Depa quickly went to find Caleb. He was doing better. When she would arrive he was talking to Checkers about some clone gossip he had heard. Depa sighed and kneeled down beside him. "Caleb let Checkers rest."

    "Oh I'm alright. I was just telling him about what Pawn and Knight said" He chuckled.

    "Is everyone alright?" Caleb asked.

    "Mostly. It appears lucky this was a low casualty battle." Depa smiled. "Now both of you get some rest, we'll be leaving soon."

    "Yes sir." Both boys responded.

    Kanan thought back to this event everyone now and again; mostly around the anniversary of the excursion of the Jedi. The memory stung more than the bullet that had hit him that day. One day he'd find the strength to forgive the clones, now that he knew it wasn't their fault. One day that memory wouldn't be tainted anymore. 

[firefly-fez]

even though ahsoka is my favourite star wars character of all time, i have a feeling i’m just not going to like the ahsoka show. i have watched this character develop since i was a child, i grew up with her, i relate to her a lot. i was very much the target demigraphic for ahsoka’s character when she first came on-screen.

Aside from one scene with Rex to confirm he does, in fact, know that she survived Malachor, I don’t expect it to explore a story I really want to see her in. I know where I would take the direction of Ahsoka’s story if I were writing it — explore her young adult years hiding from the empire, and the mental health themes that come with it, deal with her survivor’s guilt that comes from being one of the only ones left who can protect and train force-sensitive children, even though she had forsaken the jedi order herself. As an (almost) fully trained Jedi, she’s pretty much carrying the only legacy the Jedi have (aside from other survivors like Quinlan Voss), but it’s a legacy she feels unworthy to carry because she gave it up. Explore her journey being able to forgive the Order only after they’re all dead and gone. Explore her how her approach to Jedi matters changes and why she comes to the mindset of being able to aid Ezra and Kanan. Then learning about Anakin and re-evaluating her time in the Jedi Order all over again. That was her master, the Jedi who trained her, who at one point in time, she held in high regard above all other Jedi, who she once thought was the only Jedi who didn’t let her down…only to realise what he became. Show her realtionship with Obi-Wan in the Rebellion era, the absolute divide between them, his grief, his loss, how his depression took from her the man she once knew, how desperate she is to help Obi Wan, give him any comfort, any hope, only to be forced to walk away all over again because you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. Show them both dealing with Vader; in different ways; show Obi Wan healing, little by little, at the second chance he gets with Luke and Leia and Ahsoka’s mixed feelings of relief, hope, and regret that they could help him in a way she couldn’t. Explain why Obi Wan never told Luke about her. Show her helping Luke rebuild the Jedi school, giving the Jedi their second chance, their opportunity for redemption, and that is her gift of forgiveness for the Jedi; her reconciliation with the Order. She watches the Jedi younglings, many of whom she rescued and delivered herself; some she’s had a hand in training, and she watches Luke support them, loyally. It is a safe place. And she stays a while, watching to ensure the new school finds its feet, and it does. And there are a new generation of Padawans, and none of them are sent to war. And she allows the creation of the new Jedi Order, and it becomes what the Jedi Order never were for her. And she walks away again, because it is too late for her. Because you don’t get that time back. And she goes on, on her own journey through the galaxy, until she has done her part and, burying Rex at a ripe old age and paying tribute to the fallen of the 332nd, she walks away, again. She journeys on to Mortis, and the Daughter is born again

Of course, that’s just what I want to see from her story. I was the little girl Ahsoka’s journey was aimed at, and growing up alongside her, I think her story is about what it is to grow up, all the difficult parts of it, especially growing up too quickly, and realising the adults aren’t actually the all-perfect people you thought they were. I want to see her story of growing up go into navigating young adulthood, and how to be the adult trying to give something to the children of the word that you never knew yourself. (as a young adult diagnosed with ADHD who never received any support for it in childhood trying to stumble around blindly and build those supports now, who also works with disabled children and wants them to have it easier than I did… there’s just something beautiful and painful about giving someone else something you needed, deserved and never had)

Star Wars has been told by so many people in so many ways and it’s still being told, I think it’s the closest modern-day equivalent we have to the oral storytelling traditions of the past, like Arthuriana and the Greek mythology, and every iteration of Shakespeare’s works.

With copyright law being the way it is, stories that are told collectively by many people, across different movies, but still owned by one for-profit company, I think our storytelling ability has become relegated into official “canon” (for profit) stories and “non-canon” (fanworks, and generally not for profit) stories. That distinction has more nuance to it, of course, there are some for profit star wars stories that are not canon, EU stuff, for example, but generally speaking when a story is so expansive and told in so many ways by so mang people, it gets to a point where I think we just shouldn’t expect the lore of that story to be internally consistent. The insistence in the star wars fandom of what’s canon and not-canon, whether the last jedi contradicted the ahsoka novel, etc…. It’s basically just a by-product of copyright law. It seems sad that we distinguish the validity of a particular story by whether or not it was produced for profit, and by how much profit it made.

Anyway, all this is to say that I expect the Ahsoka series to serve as a sequel to Star Wars rebels, which feels like a choice I would not make - she seems the wrong character for a rebels sequel to focus on, and it seems the wrong era for an Ahsoka story to focus on, especially if it deals with themes of her dealin with Anakin’s fall (since their fight on Malachor was many years prior and I would hate for her character growth to be stagnant during that time) and it seems, as a live-action series, the wrong medium for BOTH and Ahsoka series and a rebels sequel. I have no idea what possessed then to do it in live-action and I will continue being annoyed by this choice.

But in all likelihood, the design choices going into the Ahsoka story will be targeting an audience other than the one Ahsoka’s character was initially created for. Because the story is made with different creative ideas in mind. I know where I would take the story, and perhaps I will write that story, just for myself, and maybe one day I might right an EU-type novel or graphic novel or comic or whatever, or maybe it only exists as a fanwork. And that’s okay. Different writers create difgerent stories with different themes in mind. And I will not approach the Ahsoka show expecting it to be the way I would tell her story. Because characters mean differeng things to different people, and all those things are meaningful.

We make our own meaning with stories, and I will keep making mine with the story of Ahsoka, and other people will keep making theirs and they will be different, and contradict each other. And that’s okay.

That’s just humans telling stories. That’s just what we do.

[antianakin]

It's so interesting to look at just HOW BLIND Ahsoka's loyalty towards Anakin truly is.

She is told point blank by Maul that the Sith Master is planning to make Anakin his new apprentice, and her reaction is NOT to warn anybody that this is a potential problem for them to look into but simply to reject the possibility so entirely that it's not even worth warning anyone about. She's so absolutely convinced of this that she dooms the entire Jedi Order and the Republic they serve by keeping it secret in order to protect Anakin from even a SUSPICION of him going dark.

She then HEARS Anakin betray Mace, she hears Anakin turn on Mace and side with Palpatine just moments before Order 66 goes out. And while it's mildly understandable that she could come to other conclusions from that without any more knowledge and just assume Anakin died, she continues to refuse to believe that Anakin became Vader when she senses him despite that evidence.

She spends a YEAR trying to disprove what she already knows to be true, what she could put together from Maul's claims, her vision on the ship just moments before Order 66, and sensing his presence in Rebels. She goes ahead and tells Ezra that what would've surprised people about him was his KINDNESS, despite the fact that she is actively looking for proof that Anakin DIDN'T genocide the Jedi because she's like 99.99% sure that he DID and she's desperately telling herself that no, Anakin was KIND, he would NEVER commit genocides.

This is someone who put her in a training regime where she is knocked out for hours at a time by her own men, forced her into training after being knocked out without a rest beforehand, and left her on the ground after being knocked out with no attempt at making sure she was safe or comfortable. This is someone she has WATCHED go nearly apoplectic with rage more than once, someone she has seen keep himself from murdering people by the skin of his teeth.

And when she comes face to face with him, a year after looking for proof, despite all evidence she's got pointing her to one super obvious and irrefutable conclusion, she LETS HIM convince her that he's NOT Anakin, that he KILLED Anakin, because her blind loyalty to Anakin will let her believe anything rather than face the truth she's on some level known since she was seventeen years old.

AND THEN, after getting all of that loyalty thrown back in her face, after her worst fear is confirmed true and Anakin decides to keep TRYING to kill her, that blind loyalty leads her to decide she'd rather die than live with this truth. She'd rather die FOR HIS SAKE, to keep him from having to be alone, than run away from him again.

Anakin could do quite literally anything to Ahsoka and she'd forgive it. Anakin DOES do just about every possible horrific thing to Ahsoka he COULD do and she's more worried about not abandoning him than anything else still. Ahsoka can recognize he's a Sith who has done horrific things to her and everyone else but because he's ANAKIN, her loyalty is still first and foremost to him and his happiness and his wellbeing. She will abandon the Jedi again, abandon Kanan and Ezra, before she abandons the person actively trying to kill her.

It's so interesting to see that, the one time she DOESN'T do this is in the Wrong Jedi, when she leaves him behind and puts her own needs first.

And THAT'S what she seems to consider her greatest mistake. Not leaving the JEDI, not TRUSTING Anakin at all, but abandoning Anakin when she was at her lowest. Because her blind loyalty to him won't let her see it as anything but a betrayal of ANAKIN.

Ahsoka CANNOT see him for what and who he is, she CAN'T. She's been ignorant of it before, but she also intentionally blinds herself to it over and over again.

[mutantmayhem2023]

| stick by me, close by me

→ KANERA WEEK 2021 DAY THREE, PROMPT: NIGHT OUT

pairing: kanan jarrus/hera syndulla

rating: G

words: 914

summary: hera spends a night with the man she loves.

The ship is cold. The kind of cold it only ever was when they had to turn off the engine to conserve fuel, which hadn’t happened in a long time. (Life with the Rebellion had helped keep the Ghost better equipped.) And yet despite the drop in temperature, the engine rumbled beneath her feet.

“Hera?” Kanan says from right behind her. It startles her. But as soon as his touch is on her skin again, it’s different. He’s warm. 

“I thought you were getting ready?” He asks, and she turns to face him. She’s met with his opal eyes and the scar across his nose, she blinks and sees blue green. 

His hand runs up her bare arm. She wasn’t in her flight suit? No, she’s wearing no sleeves at all and the cold was still biting at her skin. Kanan was the only warmth. 

“You okay?” He says, taking her hands in his own, holding them out between the both of them. 

She swallows, but doesn’t nod. The lump is still in her throat. The truth she was trying to ignore. 

“I think we should stay here.” 

Kanan looks at her, confused. 

“But we’ve been planning this for ages, Ezra finally got Jacen to sleep.”

Jacen? Ezra hadn’t even met Jacen. Ezra wasn’t here. He hadn’t been home for years now. 

Her chest tightens, and she pulls her hands away.

“We can’t go, Kanan,” Her voice strains. She can’t tell him, she wouldn’t even dare say any of it out loud to him. “We have to stay here.”

In fact, as she looked at him again, his eyes did shine a bit too much. Less of the opal she had come to remember but more glassy.

He reaches out a hand to touch her face, cradling it like he’d done so many times before. 

“Hey,” He starts off softly, “It’s okay. It’s okay, Hera. It’s okay, we can stay here.” 

He could still talk her off any ledge. 

She could’ve sworn before he was wearing his usual attire, what she’d last seen him in. But now he was wearing something more appropriate for the night out they were supposed to have had. A dark button down shirt that she fiddles with one of the buttons on.

Her heart aches at the sight of him. So beautiful, looking so alive. 

He thought the same of her, in the deep orange slip dress she had on. (He always teased that orange was her colour.) Both of them, all dressed up with nowhere to go.

“We’ll spend tonight together, I promise.” 

The last time he promised her, he had kept it. She knew he would do so again. She smiles at him through tears she can’t feel.

“Thank you, love.” She says, pulling him closer. She needed to remind herself of what it felt like to be in his arms. He came to her more fleetingly, nowadays. She’d never forgive herself if she didn’t take advantage of it. 

She didn’t ever, ever want him to feel anything other than familiar. 

She tries as hard as she can to concentrate even as her body is trying to tell her she’s dreaming, she wants to sketch every single detail straight into permanence. The way his hair felt against her arms, the veins and calluses of his hands, the way the fabric of his shirt felt against her lekku. All of it. 

“I miss you,”

She feels his head rest against her own. 

“I know,” He answers. “I do too.”

A sob escapes her mouth. So, he did know.

He was just protecting her; a perfect echo of herself, like nothing had changed. Even when so much had; Sabine returning to Mandalore and Zeb to Lira San, The Battle of Scarif, her pregnancy, relocating the Alliance, no contact of any kind from Ezra. There was time and space and life itself between them. And yet –

“Hera,” Kanan calls to her attention again.

She angles her head to look up at him. 

“Don’t wake yourself up too much.” He smiles at her, that special one that was only for her. “Not yet.”

She wishes she could stop. Goodness, did she wish she could stop. Just rest, just for a moment. 

She listens to him, sighing contentedly into his chest. His heart is still beating. She closes her eyes.

“Mom?” She opens her eyes to a sleepy little voice calls from beside her. “Did you have a bad dream?”

She was definitely awake now. 

She was grateful he couldn’t quite see her in the darkness of the room, because there were tears on her face. He didn’t deserve to have to see her like this. 

Jacen had insisted recently that he watch over his mom when she slept. He was fiercely protective of her. Her little boy just hadn’t quite realised yet that he always fell asleep before his mother did. 

She smiles to herself. 

“It’s okay,” She says, stroking the top of his head, human hair in her hand. “Go back to sleep, sweetheart.”

He settles back into bed, the covers rustling beneath him. Finally, she hears his breathing slow as he falls back asleep. She runs the knuckle of her finger over Jacen’s nose, softly in repetition. 

Just like she had for Kanan. 

When she sets her head back down on her pillow and closes her eyes. She swears she can hear his heart beat again. (As long as she was still here, still fighting, it would. Always.)

[dexters-bluemilkshakes]

rex says goodbye

so we all know rex fought at the battle of endor, right?

so let’s imagine something, shall we?

luke comes back from burning his father’s body to a celebration of the empire’s defeat

he pushes his grief aside to be with his friends for the night

later, when he sees anakin’s ghost, his chest feels lighter and he is filled with an overwhelming sense of reassurance from the force

when the moon is high in the sky, our heroes are sitting around the fire, talking

more specifically, luke is doing his best to explain what happened on the death star

by this point, most have gone to bed, opting to hear the story when luke inevitably re-tells it in the morning, or perhaps hear it from a friend

so only a handful remain

and rex is there

he listens with his heart in his throat how anakin fulfilled his destiny as the chosen one

how he saved his son in the same reckless, impulsive way he would save ahsoka or obi wan or one of rex’s brothers back in the old days

when rex heard that anakin came back, his blue eyes shining, rex cried fast, hot tears

all the deaths of his brothers would never stop hurting

but they were worth it

in the end, they won

not the the war they thought they were fighting

but the true war, the war they were fighting all along without knowing

the war against palpatine

they finally won

rex stays up all night, talking to luke and leia, smiling at how much luke reminds him of his mother, and leia of her father

and while leia still couldn’t forgive vader, it was she who asked rex to tell stories of the war

of anakin

she couldn’t forgive vader, no, but she wanted to get to know that man who was her father

so rex tells it all

from the moment he met his jedi general, to the moment he realized he was gone

he told the sky twins the wonderful things obi wan told him about the golden haired boy

and the stories ezra, kanan, and kallus told him of the golden eyed man

luke barely moves the entire time, his forearms braced on his knees, his expression tight with longing and…

was that love?

it was

a similar expression was mirrored on leia’s face

anakin skywalker was a great man. rex smiled at the twins pride in their father

and he grinned when he imagined how that pride would go right to their fathers head, had he been around

luke asked questions about the jedi, about anakin’s childhood, and they slowly untangled the knot that was anakin’s skywalker’s heart

and they figured out exactly what was the catalyst for his Falling

luke’s mind was so much like padmé’s it hurt

leia, however, had commentary to add to the stories. cracking gentle jokes and letting the galaxy know that “i would never throw you off a wall, rex.” or “our father got electrocuted so many times i bet it didn’t actually hurt when palpatine hit him with it on the death star.” more than a few times she fondly rolled her eyes and said “dramatic much?”

rex was more than inclined to agree

later, after leia had fallen asleep on her brother’s shoulder, luke asked if rex would like to say goodbye to anakin

rex didn’t hesitate

so luke gently carried leia to her room, and then led rex to the clearing in the woods where anakin skywalker was laid to rest

his suit was gray with ash and had begunto crumble, heat still emanating off of his suit

luke’s gaze lingered on his father for a moment before he nodded to rex and stepped away to give him privacy

rex got as close as he dared to the suit, before deciding he would regret it for the rest of his life if he didn’t put a hand on his friend’s shoulder one last time

so he did

and he talked

“general,” he cleared his throat. “ah, i mean, anakin.”

he swallowed, barely holding back tears

“anakin,” he repeated

and then he cried

harder than he did around the fire

his sobs echoed off the trees as they heaved their way out of his chest and ran down his face and into his beard

“i missed you.”

“we all loved you general,

force, if i could have helped you. if i had known.

sir, anakin, there was nothing i wouldn’t do to help you, had i known.

i’m so sorry

i’m so so sorry.”

rex didn’t know that anakin was watching him in the Force Afterlife,

his hand on rex’s shoulder

murmuring “it’s okay, it’s alright, it wasn’t your fault. i’m sorry, i love you, it wasn’t your fault.”

after a few minutes of the taste of salty tears and the butter flavor of regret,  rex smiled down on the body of one of his closest friends, his chest still burning the way it does when you aren’t finished crying but push it all inside.

“there’s still so much work to be done to bring down this empire. i guess i just gotta live to fight another day, huh?”

rex looked to the stars as he wiped his eyes

dawn would be breaking soon

his voice still had a slight tremor as he said,

“i don’t know where you are or what you’re doing in the life after this, but whatever it is that youre doing,

i hope you at least told padmé i said hello.”

anakin was laughing through his tears as rex placed his hand on anakin's shoulder one more time

and turned back into the dark forest,

walking towards luke

and the light of the campfire

[kanansdume]

I really love that this entire season leads up to meeting Obi-Wan in the end, that it’s clearly built with this in mind from day one, because Ezra in this season is in his Ultimate Anakin Parallel mode.

He is struggling with the same conflict we saw Anakin struggling with in Attack of the Clones, the arrogance that comes with getting pretty comfortable with your skill level and skills starting to come pretty easy now and more successes at a faster rate in general. But this led to a MASSIVE screw-up at the end of season two in Malachor that Ezra sees as having indirectly led to Kanan’s blinding and Ahsoka‘s loss. This coupled with Kanan having to step back for a bit to come to terms with the loss of his sight and what it means to him throw Ezra for a loop and cause him to turn to the only teacher he feels he has: a Sith holocron. He starts pushing, doing what he has to do, not backing down or taking a moment to think and see a bigger picture, because he has to prove he’s learned from his mistakes and can do BETTER now. And for a while, it works. He has success with that, but ultimately it leads to a near disaster and his near death.

And now, for this ENTIRE season, Ezra’s going to be dealing with the consequences of his own arrogance and coming to terms with the fact that yes, he made a mistake, but it’s not the end of the world and what he has to learn now is both forgiveness and PATIENCE. He has to accept that he’s just one small speck in a larger galaxy, a larger plan, and he doesn’t have to take everything onto his shoulders alone. He doesn’t need to be the one to destroy the Sith or find the person who can. He doesn’t need to prove himself worthy of his place within the Rebellion or as a Jedi. Ezra needs to come to terms with who he is in order to move forward.

And this is EXACTLY what Anakin struggles with throughout Attack of the Clones, the Clone Wars, and Revenge of the Sith. He’s never satisfied with what he is, with what he has, he always wants more. He’s always pushing for more power to do the things he wants to do and justifying it as something he HAS to do. And he’s presumably living with the guilt of his failure on Tatooine and practically every action he takes after that is about proving himself better than that failure. He can be a better Jedi, more powerful, stronger, faster, etc. and not let people die on his watch since that’s his idea of what a Jedi should be. This is Anakin’s major struggle, and one he fails to overcome.

Kanan and Ezra have been such parallels for Anakin and Obi-Wan this entire time, and we got Anakin in the last season to help bring out Kanan’s struggles with his past, with being a soldier again, with figuring out what it means to remain a Jedi AND fight a war, figuring out how to TRUST again after what happened to him. We get Anakin as the failed student helping Kanan move on from being a student so he can evolve as a teacher for Ezra by allowing Kanan to let go of the pain he’s been holding on to for so long. This season, we have Obi-Wan to help conclude Ezra’s struggle with his place in the galaxy and as a Jedi so he can ultimately overcome the same struggles Anakin did and NOT become the monster he fought against last season. The teacher who failed helps a different student succeed, and the student who failed allows a different teacher to succeed. 

It’s also quite beautiful that Obi-Wan helps Ezra out because it’s one of the few times we get to see the Jedi communal teaching in action in Rebels. Ezra isn’t Obi-Wan’s student, he’s Kanan’s. And Kanan has had to make do with training Ezra without the support system he should’ve had from the Order this whole time. He’s got the support of the Ghost crew, obviously, but it’s a little different. While Ahsoka is in season two and it’s clear that she does connect with them as a Jedi in a way others don’t, she doesn’t really help TRAIN Ezra much, she doesn’t guide him very much. Maul of course tries to claim Ezra as his own. But Obi-Wan? Obi-Wan knows exactly who Ezra is, whose Padawan he is, and proceeds to guide Ezra in a way only Obi-Wan can. It’s not that Kanan is a bad teacher or that he’s failed Ezra in some way, but different people are going to have different strengths and ways of teaching and perspectives to bring to a student. Ezra can learn things from Obi-Wan that he just can’t from Kanan and that doesn’t make Ezra any less Kanan’s Padawan or their relationship any lesser. It’s that communal teaching method coming in, allowing Ezra to grow and flourish with access to multiple Jedi teachers with different things to teach.

[violetjedisylveon]

Kanan's last thoughts

Do you think, that when Kanan was pushing Hera and Ezra away and holding back the flames, in his last moments where his eyes cleared, he saw Hera was pregnant?

Do you think that influenced his decision to save her? Do you think he had doubts?

He must have, right?

Hera would have to raise a child on her own. Yes she had the other specters and her father but they couldn't always be around. It would be Hera, raising their child without him to help.

Do you think he hesitated in his mind? About leaving his family? About leaving his child before they even met?

What do you think his last thoughts were?

Did he ask for forgiveness from the child who would never know him in person?

Yes.

Did he ask this child to forgive him for all the times that Hera would be upset or overwhelmed because she didn't know what to do?

Yes.

Did he ask that his child not hate him?

No.

His child would have every right to dispise, or at the very least, have some resentment towards him.

He wasn't going to be there.

He was leaving his own child, a child that would remind their mother everyday of what was lost.

He was leaving his child with that burden.

He knew it wasn't good.

He did not ask his child not to hate him, he only asked that they not hate everyone else for knowing their father.

And did he wish that Hera did not resent him?

Yes.

Were his last thoughts of Hera and their children, living happily in an era of peace?

Yes.

Was he sorry he wouldn't be there?

Absolutely.

-

Sorry for the sadness...

Kanera Week 2021 - Day 7: Free Day

[sheepfulsheepyardinspace]

one of these days i will write a long, poetic, thoughtful & articulate post about why kanan and ezra’s relationship is so deeply impactful and moving to me: the realization of self through the other, reaching the conclusion in the search for your meaning—the implicit answer kanan was looking for from the force is given to him; every day kanan asks why he survived at all, but kanan did survive order 66 for a reason, and that reason was ezra. kanan is only able to forgive himself living beyond the death of depa if he can find a tangible reason for it, if he can come to understand it; kanan never could have understood what value depa saw in his life that could have possibly made her place him above her own life until he had a child, too, and suddenly everything makes sense. kanan tells the inquisitor “I have nothing left to fear,” when he sees ezra stand up (and, he thinks, die) for him and that’s it, isn’t it? that’s the cruelty of order sixty-six, that’s the impact of anakin’s slaughter, and that’s why vader can’t bear to watch the emperor torture luke—children are precious, children never deserve to bear the sins of their father, and you have never felt fear more acutely then when a child stands to take your place. ezra magnifies every mistake and every misstep kanan has ever taken, because now kanan wants so badly to make it right for ezra, because it is so much easier to accept the wrongs of the world and the consequences of your actions if you do not have to see it repeated—until, of course, you have a child. kanan is so deeply sunk into the past and present and anything but the future, between depa’s sacrifice and the desperation to outrun his own guilt, that he is never able to believe in anything like the future until he meets ezra. anyway. until i write that post ill just lay here in my puddle of tears.