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antianakin · 8 months

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I find it very interesting to look at how different it feels when Padme and Luke both say "There's still good in him" just based on the context and lead-up to that line for both characters and why audiences might view the characters differently because of it despite the intentional parallel.

Let's start with Padme. Yes, Padme's dying words are intended to parallel her son's line from Return of the Jedi and we know that she ultimately ends up "right" about there still being good in Anakin. But the context of Padme saying this gives a very different tone to that scene.

Because Padme is a character who actively tries to pretend that Anakin has no darkness in him at all despite repeated evidence being shown and told to her that he DOES simply because it's more convenient for her to do so.

In Attack of the Clones, Anakin straight up tells her he believes in dictatorship and Padme's response isn't to be disgusted or report him, but to just decide that he must have been making fun of her because it's a lot easier than dealing with the reality that the guy who is supposed to be taking care of her is in fact a fascist. And then just a few days after that, Anakin screams in Padme's face that he just massacred an entire village of people down to the last child because he sees them as animals and her response is to decide that this is just a totally normal response to trauma rather than, again, being disgusted by it and reporting him. And of course that movie ends with her deciding to marry him, despite knowing he's a murderer and a fascist and that this is against the rules for BOTH of them.

In Revenge of the Sith, there's an entire scene where Padme and Anakin sit there joking at each other about how love blinds you. They're joking around and you can see the scene as just a sweet little nonsense scene if you choose to, but it's also very intentionally foreshadowing a lot and has the subtext of the thing that is going to destroy both of them in a few days. When Obi-Wan comes to Padme to ask her about where Anakin is and tells her about what Anakin's done, Padme's response is to deny it. She argues that Anakin would never kill children, despite the fact that she knows he HAS killed children before. And then she lies to Obi-Wan, obstructing his ability to figure out the truth about what happened to his people or to gain justice for the genocide that was just committed against them. And her next response is to go find Anakin so that she can ensure he escapes any consequences for what he's done while still insisting that he hasn't done anything wrong at all.

So when Padme says "There's still good in him" it comes with the context of Padme spending two entire films refusing to actually see Anakin for who he actually is. It comes after MULTIPLE scenes of Padme rejecting the reality that Anakin has darkness in him that he is fully capable of acting on. Sure, she's not wrong that there's still good in him, but the line feels more like Padme just continuing to pretend that Anakin didn't just commit a genocide and bring down the Republic rather than Padme being right about Anakin. It doesn't sound like "Yes, I know that he's done a million terrible things, but I have hope that he can still make the right choice if we approach him the right way" and more like "He was probably just brainwashed or something, he didn't REALLY mean to genocide an entire people."

And this then directly foils Luke later on.

Because when LUKE says it, it comes with the context of the entire character journey Luke has been going through over the last 2.5 films. Luke's had to learn to accept his OWN darkness and face his own worst fears about his heritage and what he could become. He's had to face the reality of losing the people he cares about and seen the consequences of what happens when he lets arrogance and fear blind him. Luke has had to accept that Darth Vader is a part of who he is, he's not infallible, he could fall to darkness just like his father did if he isn't careful. But this comes with the ability to recognize that this could mean that Darth Vader might yet be able to turn around and make the opposite choice. If Luke has the ability to fall, Darth Vader has the ability to rise. Luke knows that it's always about making the right choice, and while Darth Vader has made a LOT of bad choices, it doesn't mean he can never make the right one. Choosing to believe that Darth Vader could still have goodness in him is a result of accepting that Luke has darkness in himself, too.

So when Luke says that there's still good in him, there's no attempt to pretend that Anakin hasn't done monstrous things. Luke really can't pretend that Anakin didn't do them, he's literally stood there and watched as Anakin did some of them. He's down a hand for the rest of his life because of Anakin, he'll have to live with the evidence of what Anakin is capable of forever. He CAN'T sit there and pretend that Anakin didn't do those things the way Padme could, it isn't possible for him. For Padme, Anakin will always be "that little boy from Tatooine," just like she says in Attack of the Clones. But Luke knew Darth Vader first, he's known the villain and the monster longer than he'll ever know Anakin Skywalker. Even when he figures out how to reconcile that these two people are the SAME person, he doesn't know enough about Anakin Skywalker to be able to pretend that Darth Vader didn't do the things he's done. Luke says that there is still good in him with the full awareness that Darth Vader has made a LOT of horrific choices in his life. There's never any attempt to try to convince himself or anyone else that that isn't true.

He sees Anakin in the full truth of who and what he is. He knows EXACTLY what kind of darkness Anakin has in him and is choosing to believe he can still make a better choice ANYWAY. Unlike his mother, Luke knows who Anakin is, he's never been given another choice.

That's why Padme comes off as wrong about Anakin while Luke is right even though they both say the same thing. The line doesn't MEAN the same thing to both of them and the audience can pick up on that because both of them have had several films' worth of context letting us know that.

#star wars #luke skywalker #padme amidala #padme critical #padme amidala critical #anti anidala #anidala critical #anakin critical #anakin skywalker critical #anti anakin skywalker #anti anakin

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boredflautist · 1 month

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quotes that keep me alive

"all the people are fake, they're made out of metal. But I like you, and that is not fake" -young royals

"I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world." -song of achilles

"No one ever says goodbye unless they want to see you again." -turtles all the way down

"I want to be with you. If we have to keep it a secret then... So be it, if thats the only way... But no more secrets between us. I love you" -young royals

"Why does the word 'love' from you hurt me so damn much?" -Only Friends

"I've always thought Ray was my 25th hour, my extra hour. But the truth is, everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. And within Ray's 24 hours, I'm not part of it. I'm not that special." -Only Friends

"If I'm gone, I won't be anyone's burden anymore, right?" -Only Friends

"You were wearing corduroy, acting like a poster boy" -poster boy by Lyn Lapid

"I would recognize you in total darkness, were you mute and I deaf. I would recognize you in another lifetime entirely, in different bodies, different times. And I would love you in all of this, until the very last star in the sky burnt out into oblivion" -song of achilles

"Tell me every terrible thing that you ever did, and let me love you anyway" -edgar allan poe

"The closer I get to you, the worse it gets. The thought of not being with you... I can't breathe. I'm haunted by the kiss that you should never have given me. My heart is beating, hoping that that kiss will not become a scar. You are in my very soul, tormenting me... What can I do? I will do anything that you ask." -anakin skywalker

"If changin' my clothes would make you like me more, if changing my hair would make you care, then I'd grab the kitchen scissors and cut myself to slivers" -jigsaw by conan gray

"'Sorry' doesn't make up for everything you did to me." -heartstopper

"You were my brother Anakin. I loved you." -revenge of the sith

"The truth is what I make it. I could set the world on fire, and call it rain." -red queen

" But isn't it also that on some fundamental level we find it difficult to understand that other people are human beings in the same way that we are? We idolize them as gods or dismiss them as animals." -paper towns

"And then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like 'I love you'" -somethin' stupid by frank sinatra

"Tell me it isn't true. Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me I'm blind. Tell me you love me. " -shatter me

"I do want to be your friend. I want to be the friend you fall hopelessly in love with. The one you take into your arms and into your bed and into the private world you keep trapped in your head. I want to be that kind of friend." -shatter me

"The truth is a painful reminder of why I prefer to live among the lies" -shatter me

"'Don't ask me questions you already know the answers to. Twice I've laid myself bare for you and all it's gotten me was a bullet wound and a broken heart. Don't torture me,' He says, meeting my eyes again. 'It's a cruel thing to do, even to someone like me.'" -shatter me

"Everything's a game, Avery Grambs. The only thing we get to decide in this life is if we play to win." -inheritance games

"The world was collapsing, and the only thing that really mattered to me was that she was alive." -the last olympian "You think I didn't fight the same fight? I halfway convinced myself that as long as Avery was just a riddle or a puzzle, as long as I was just playing, I'd be fine. Well, joke's on me, because somewhere along the way, I stopped playing." -the Hawthorne legacy

"When you're ready, if you're ever ready, if it's going to be me - just flip that disk. Heads, I kiss you." His voice broke slightly. "Tails, you kiss me. And either way, it means something." -the Hawthorne legacy

"Hell is empty, and all the devils are here" -william shakespeare

"But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all" -10 things I hate about you

"It's just like the novels, side characters end up alone" -footnote by conan gray

"You made us past tense," I said, my voice cracking, "not me." -betting on you

"Because when they write the history of my life, I want it to include you" -red white and royal blue

"My life is the crown, and yours is just politics, and I will not trade one prison for another" -red white and royal blue

"Or maybe it was when I realized the bruises on your neck were fingerprints and wanted to kill them all over again just so I could do it slowly. Maybe it was the first time I recklessly kissed you or when I realized I'm fucked because I can't stop thinking about doing more than just kissing you. Does it even matter when, as long as it changed between us?" -fourth wing

"Oh darling all of the cities lights, never shined as bright as your eyes" -car's outside by james arthur

"I would rather lose this entire war than live without you, and if that means I have to prove myself over and over again, then I'll do it. You gave me your heart and I'm keeping it." -iron flame

"Because pain in the body quiets the pain in your head. It feels good - like a kill switch for your brain" -kill switch

"Then take your punishment like the pathetic creature that you are" -cruel prince

"Most of all, I hate you because I think of you. Often. It's disgusting, and I can't stop." -cruel prince

"If you're the sickness, I suppose you can't also be the cure." -the wicked king

"I hate you. I hate you so much that sometimes I can't think of anything else." -the wicked king

"Yes, my sweet villain, my darling god. I will be as sober as a stone carving, just as soon as I can." -the wicked king

"She is my wife," Cardan says, his voice carrying over the crowd. "The rightful High Queen of Elfhame. And most definitely not in exile." -the queen of nothing

"By you, I am forever undone." -the queen of nothing

"Come home and shout at me. Come home and fight with me. Come home and break my heart, if you just. Just come home." -the queen of nothing

"I wasted all those yesterdays and am completely out of tomorrows" -they both die at the end

"For what it's worth, I doubt I will ever like anyone else in the world as much as I like you." -book lovers

"I'd never thought about my favorite color before. It never seemed important. Not until I looked into a pair of ocean-blue eyes and realized that perhaps drowning was a beautiful thing" -powerless

if you've made it to the end good god please get some sleep

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queerbaitesque · 11 months

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Why Obi-Wan and Anakin being a Force dyad not only makes sense but doesnt contradict canon

First of all: what exactly is a dyad?

A dyad is two physically separate individuals being the same presence in the Force. The only dyad bond that currently exists in canon is, of course, the one shared by Rey and Ben. They have an 11 year gap, meaning two people are not born a dyad, but develop a dyad bond over the course of their life (keep this in mind). They have a lot of amazing and unique abilities that nobody else has (like extremely powerful Force healing* and object transfer), but a few of their dyad feats are also found in the Obi-Wan/Anakin duo.

*Force healing isn't exclusive to the dyad btw, several Force users had this ability, including Anakin and Obi-Wan.

Here are some examples:

they can communicate telepathically from across the galaxy. Neither of them is very proficient at this as they only found out about it way too late, when they were very much enemies and Obi-Wan made himself undetectable (and from the Rako Hardeen arc we know that when he does this not even Anakin can recognize him);

they share feelings, memories and pain through the Force as if they're experiencing them together, as one, at the same time;

during their duel on Mustafar, Palpatine felt that Anakin was in danger, despite them not being nearly done fighting. This could be due to Palpatine sensing the dyad bond being severed, and any Force bond severed is dangerous as it can create a wound in the Force. Palpatine could have been worried about Anakin becoming a wound (tho i personally think that Obi-Wan is more likely to have become a wound instead);

upon realizing Rey and Ben are a dyad, Palpatine says that the dyad bond was "unseen for generations". It technically has been generations since Obi-Wan and Anakin, plus 'unseen' doesnt meant 'non-existent'. Palpatine might simply not have noticed, as "A Force dyad, binding two separate beings together, was not an easily discernible phenomenon." After all he only realizes Rey and Ben are a dyad when they fight him directly and as a team and he accidentally siphons their life force, which is a situation he has most definately never found himself in with Obi-Wan and Anakin;

remember the dyad bond being created over time? Palpatine tried (unsuccessfully) to form a dyad bond with Anakin, meaning that not only he knew about the prophecy of the dyad, but he sought to realize it in himself and, likely, getting rid of Anakin in order to avoid the prophecy of the Chosen One being realized instead. Anakin/Vader at that point had surrendered himself to Palpatine entirely, so there would be no reason for the bond not to be created. Unless, of course, Anakin already shared that connection with someone else;

them being a dyad would explain why Anakin had to die in order to bring balance to the Force, despite having already killed Palpatine: he needed to reunite with Obi-Wan so the dyad could be one again. Rey doesn't need to die because Ben transfered his life force to her. This is also why Ben doesn't appear as a Force ghost: other than lacking the training, he lives on in Rey;

on that note, Obi-Wan and Anakin being a dyad would also explain how Anakin was able to learn how to become a Force-ghost despite having no training at all (Sith cant become Force ghosts so Palpatine certainly didnt teach him). and even in legends, its Obi-Wan who reaches out to him in the space between death and beyond and teaches him the way.

An argument against the Obi-Wan/Anakin dyad is the "Rey and Ben are unique and nobody can do the things they can do" argument. Which is true, they are absolutely unique and we have never seen any character, in either legends or canon, do the things they can do, but I wouldn't consider it a strong argument. Nearly every Force bond is different and unique (some Jedi could create bonds with other Force users, some could create bonds with anyone, some could create bonds with animals, others could only create bonds with their master/apprentice) and the strength of those bonds varies depending on the people who share them.

We only have a single example of what a dyad looks like, in canon, and that is simply not enough to rule out the possibility of other characters having shared that bond, especially knowing how difficult it is to recognize!

Obi-Wan and Anakin could not transfer objects through the Force or touch each other across light-years, but I would argue they never needed to, as they were so inseparable that they were concieved as a single entity by the entire galaxy:

(Revenge of the Sith - Matthew Stover)

And to further confirm the depth of their bond, here is Yoda sensing** the effect of Obi-Wan's death on Anakin all the way to Dagobah:

(There is Another - Gary D. Schmidt, from From A Certain Point of View)

**He sensed Obi-Wan and Anakin clashing against each other as well, describing the fight as follows: "Then the two vibrations met, and their pulses fought across the back of the Force."

Making Obi-Wan and Anakin a dyad would also make the Rey and Ben dyad make more sense: Anakin was created by the Force itself to be the Chosen One as a response to Plagueis trying to create the perfect dark side user and Sith warrior -> Anakin then forming a dyad bond with Obi-Wan, a steadfast light side user through and through -> that bond being severed causing the dark side to take over the light -> Anakin's twin children being equally capable of redeeming him (perhaps another dyad, or something akin to it since they could also do some of the things obikin/reylo can do) -> the dyad being reunited with Anakin's death -> Palpatine is actually not dead so balance needs to be brought back yet again -> Anakin's grandson forms a dyad bond with Palpantine's granddaughter (finalizing what Palpatine had failed to do with Anakin) -> the dyad is fully realized when Ben dies to bring Rey back to life.

This would make Anakin retain the most important role in the story as the Chosen One and the 'patriarch' (word used loosely) of the dyad lineage.

And last, but most certainly not least, Obi-Wan and Anakin lead the Open Circle Fleet during the Clone Wars. The Open Circle emblem, specifically, represented the two of them and the power of their bond: "The heraldic emblem consisted of a yellow circle that was formed by two separate semi-circle arcs. One arc represented Kenobi, the other, Skywalker. The image signified that while they were both two independent halves, together they formed a single entity."

(Revenge of The Sith - Matthew Stover)

#tldr; let people have fun obikin can be a dyad and lukeleia can be a dyad too why not #star wars #obi-wan x anakin #its half past midnight and im still writing this. what is my life #let me know if you want a wound!obi-wan post like this one <3 #dyadposting #force dyad #obikin

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emoani · 5 months

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n/a: I wasn't planning on going back and making this a series but I started writing on wattpad and I will post the chapters there in my language, if anyone likes it I can leave it here too on tumblr, so let's go!

chapter two

Vader looks unsure.

- What it was? You do not want me? -you ask, feeling your heart tighten with insecurity.

Darth Vader leaned towards you, his lips almost touching his. With eyes full of confusion he takes your hand.

- Oh, darling - he whispers - Why would you think that? Of course, I want you.

- You know, we never did anything. And I had to ask to kiss you - you remind him. - And you also know... - he takes a deeper breath - sometimes I still remember her.

- I understand. But I'm a different person, I also want you to love me and remember me for who I am!

- I know, and I wanted to love you so much. But it is hard. I have always loved Padmé. I can't get her out of my head. But I value you, and you are important to me. Understand that I don't see you as a second option. I just... I don't know how to describe what it's like.

He concludes sad and discouraged, knowing that that wasn't the best answer ever. But it was what he could give you at the moment. And you accepted it, because you knew you already had a lot. He never trusted any living being again after the tragedies that happened years ago in his life, you couldn't even tell if he trusted you. Vader was a mystery. A mystery that had been waiting for more than a minute for an answer from him, which never came.

- I swear, I will try - Vader says in his deep voice - Can you kiss me?

You feel sad knowing that Vader doesn't love you in the same way. But as always, you do as he asks. Time seems to pass slowly as he approaches. You hold his face with your hands, caressing his marks.

- I'm here to give all the necessary kisses - you say and join your lips to his, unable to control some tears that fall and mix, leaving the kiss salty. You think about how good it would be if those tears were magic and made him forget everything, all the pain and just love you.

- Do something with me...something you've never done with her - You whisper.

His face lights up for a brief moment and he seems for a moment to have lost the posture of a Lord, becoming embarrassed.

- H-What do you mean, wife? - He breathes nervously - What could I do?

- Anything! You answer him with an innocent smile, and he feels even more embarrassed for having thought about something sexual. Vader takes one of his gloved hands to your head and caresses you lightly.

- I can do anything - He says - And I know I can't give you everything at the moment, but with time I will do everything. I have to be honest, I'm not going to give you the same experiences, because I'm not going to be Anakin Skywalker, I'm going to be Darth Vader.

He's without his mask and you can see his expression full of pain and sadness. His yellow eyes, the color of a Sith's eyes. You dreamed of seeing Anakin Skywalker's blue eyes, but also Darth Vader's. And he didn't care if no one else understood, how could they love him. You didn't care if the whole world was against him, because for you there was nothing else other than him.

- Hey - You remind him - I love you, and all sides of you, Anakin, Darth Vader...

- Please... - He closes his eyes and becomes serious walking away from you - Anakin is dead!

You don't want to make him nervous, so you just decide to get back to the main topic.

- I thought of something now... It may seem silly, but can we hold hands?

- Yes, my wife.

Vader seems a little reluctant, they've never been one to show affection. But even so, he walks towards you slowly, leaving you a little embarrassed but happy. The Lord leaves the room where he was with you, starting to walk through the corridors of Mustafar's castle. The areas are dark and cold. You pass through several gates with Stormtroopers on guard, and several Imperials who don't even dare to look at you.

- Where are you taking me? - You ask curiously.

- Wherever you want - He says with his voice modulated because of the helmet he put on again, but even so you can feel his affection.

He continued holding your hand during the walk through the corridors. You can hear footsteps echoing through the castle, and every now and then a Stormtrooper or Imperial officer looks over at you.

- I have an empire to command. But I can have a walk hand in hand. We have nothing to do now but keep walking.

You smile and laugh happily, moved by his words. Of course he was lying and had a lot of things to do, but he still left everything to walk hand in hand with you for five minutes.

- I wish I could do this all the time - you speak quietly, almost in your thoughts.

- If I could, I would do it every day too. Who knows, maybe someday we'll be able to spend more time like this, for now this is the most I can offer.

- Lord Vader! Lord Vader! - One of the men from the empire appears from somewhere, panting - Sorry, but his presence is being required at a meeting of the Empire's command.

Vader lets go of his hand as soon as the man appears, because he doesn't want to appear fragile in front of too many people.

- Looks like you have to go.

- yes, unfortunately. I'll have to go - He says, sighing, and looks at you, wanting to give you one last kiss.

But he doesn't.

#darth vader x you #darth vader x f!reader #anakin x reader #darth vader fanfic #darth vader x reader #anakin skywalker x reader #hayden christensen x reader #emoanicr

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xoxoavenger · 9 months

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Bad Blood

pairing: Anakin Skywalker x Fem!Reader

summary: Now did you think it all through? All these things will catch up to you And time can heal, but this won't So if you come in my way, just don't

word count: 2008

warnings: angst, anakin turning into darth vader, anakin killing the younglings (not described jsut mentioned)

1989 masterlist main masterlist

She thinks everything is fine when they're on Coruscant.

Anakin is laying on her, arms wrapped around her body tightly as his face cuddles into her chest. She can't help but run her fingers through his hair as he sleeps, one of his hands is under her shirt, their warm skin making her skin tingle. She loves how long he's let his hair get, but she's seldom able to soothe both him and herself like this. He never sleeps in, and she's never awake before him, so she's taking in this time where he's not a Jedi Knight, but her lover. She knows he's going to be mad that she let him sleep in, but she can't bring herself to wake him up. Waking him up would mean that they have to start their day, which is also the start of their separate tasks.

He lets out a small groan as he begins to wake up, shifting slightly and rubbing his hand up and down her back, shoving his head further into her. She chuckles slightly, fingers going through his hair once more.

"Good morning." She tells him, tucking her chin in to look at him. He grumbles something into her shirt, and she just shakes her head.

"Let's just call out today." He tells her. She's very tempted, especially when he moves his head to look up at her. His eyes are bright despite the early morning (because even though he technically slept in it's still dark outside), and she can't help but be pulled into them.

"Yeah, cause no one will notice that." She tells him with a small smile, sad that she won't be able to stay in bed all day.

"They won't." He tells her. This is so unlike him, wanting to stay in all day and risk their relationship. However, she heard his nightmare last night, and she knows that's why he's so clinging to her now.

"Ani," She speaks softly, pushing his hair back once more. "We can't. Not now." He knows what she means, but it still hurts him.

"I know," He gets out of bed with no fanfare, different than how he'd been acting just a couple minutes ago. It hurts her, but they've both talked at length about their relationship and agreed that there's no way they can be found out at this moment. Not with Anakin so close to becoming a Master Jedi and Y/N working her way up the Senate. It's too risky, and they both know it.

"I love you," She tells him, staying in bed and watching him sneak out of her quarters. He looks back at her with a smile.

"I love you more." He winks, and then is out the door.

She's never run this fast in her life.

She's got to get to Anakin. She has to get to him before he does something he can't come back from. She hadn't seen him since that morning, but she had talked to Obi-Wan just minutes before. He had told her about the disturbance, about his bad feeling, and she was running before he could tell her not to.

Except, she's too late. She gets to Anakin as he stands in the temple, small bodies littering the ground. She wants to throw up, gasping loudly and stumbling. She falls on her back as she trips over her long dress, breath caught in her throat as Anakin turns to her.

His eyes are Sith yellow.

"Ani?" She whispers, pretending she doesn't feel the unshed tears climbing up her throat and threatening to spill. She can't stop staring at him, taking in the dark robe. It's still him, but something has changed drastically. The way he looks at her makes her feel slimy, and she shakes.

"Y/N," He says back, his voice dark and low. She feels a tear fall out of her eye, down her cheek slowly.

"What have you done?" She doesn't want to look at the bodies, but they're everywhere. She turns and gags. "Anakin, what have you done?" Her voice is shaking.

"What I must." He says with full confident that makes her breathe in shakily as another tear falls down her face.

"You can't mean that." She says softly, shaking her head. She doesn't want to believe Anakin did this, let alone believe he chose to do this. Her Anakin would never kill the Younglings.

"You don't have the nightmares!" Anakin is yelling as he stalks over to her, and she tries to crawl back. She gets caught on her dress, whimpering as she leans away from him. "Every night I watch you die, and this is how I fix it!" He cries, continuing until he's close to her.

"How do you know that?" She fixes her dress and moves to the wall, tears falling rapidly. She wishes she had the power to teleport, to time travel. To be anywhere except where her life has lead her.

"My eyes have been opened." He tilts his head up and looks down his nose at her, making her feel small and insignificant. She hates it. "I can save us now. I have the power that I didn't have before."

"Anakin," She whispers, hoping that if she says his name he'll somehow snap out of it. "The price this power comes at, it's too great." She tells him, as if he can take back murdering innocent children.

"No price is too great!" His voice is somehow booming, his anger causing her to flinch.

"Ani, you're breaking my heart!" She cries, the pain in her chest intensifying with the cold look in his yellow eyes.

"I did this for you!" He yells, but she's just shaking her head. She won't let him blame murder on her.

"I never asked you to!" She finally fires back, but this makes him mad. He narrows his eyes and shoots a hand out, using the force to choke her. A hand goes to her neck out of reflex, air leaving her as she began to raise off the ground.

"I still love you," He squeezes his hands just a bit harder, and she lets out a squeak as her airflow is completely cut off, her head going fuzzy. The edges of her vision are dark, closing in on her. Tears fall along with her body when he lets go, but the airflow can't change the fact that she's losing consciousness. "But I can't have you getting in the way."

It had been years since she'd seen him at that point, because Obi-Wan had told her he was dead. And why wouldn't she believe him? She though nothing of it until he went missing, and a week later she's woken up by her window breaking.

She shoots up in bed, eyes wide. She doesn't have to look far when she sees a red light cutting through the dark.

The room is silent as she climbs out of the bed and drops to all fours, trying to hide. The black figure climbs into her room, noiseless even with the long cape they have. She can see their huge outline, and they must have a mask because their heavy breathing is modulated.

Y/N crawls as quietly as she can toward the open door.

"Don't bother," A deep, filtered voice says. She freezes, because there's something about this voice that makes her shiver. "I can feel you're here, Y/N." Her blood runs cold. Whoever this is, they know who she is as well. She sends out a silent prayer that Obi-Wan will somehow come back from wherever he is and save her.

She regains her mobility and resumes crawling to the door, but it's no use. The figure grabs her ankle and pulls her backward, her stomach and chest scraping against the ground.

"I just want to talk." The sentence sounds wrong with the deep voice, and when she twists she sees that this figure it tall and broad, and she can't help but cower.

"I'm not a Jedi, I swear." She's sure this is an Inquisitor, the black outfit and red saber tipping her off.

"I know." They let go of her foot but she doesn't move, too worried about what they could do with the saber anyway. "If you were, you would have been dead already."

"What do you want, then?" She asks, trying to take deep breaths. She has to stay calm and keep her head if she wants to make it out of this alive.

"I would like you to join me." He puts a hand out, but Y/N turns her head away from the glove.

"Why would I do that? I don't even know who you are." Her voice is still shaky, and she wishes she could be more confident. She tilts her head to see him while still being as defiant as she dares.

"You knew who I was." He answers, but this only confuses her more. "You loved me."

Oh fuck.

"Anakin?" She hasn't said the name since he choked her, even when talking to Obi-Wan about it. Her head snaps to him, thinking he may have taken off the mask to prove it, even though he doesn't have to. She knows, somehow, that he's telling the truth. She doesn't want to believe this man is Anakin, the man she loved and the man she thought died loving her.

Had Obi-Wan lied about him being dead? Did he even know his apprentice was alive?

"Anakin is dead." He rasps, but Y/N can only shake her head. This has to be him. The figure, masked and completely covered, is her lover. Or what's left of him.

"What happened?" She asked, standing now that she knows he won't do anything. If he wanted to kill her, she would be dead.

"There is only Darth Vadar now." She wanted to reply with some witty comment. She wanted to be a bitch so bad, because after everything he put her through, but she bit her tongue.

"Why are you here?" None of her questions are answered, so she didn't expect this one to be either. Whatever he wanted to do, he would. She had no power. She felt exactly like she did all those years ago when she first saw the yellow eyes.

The deja vu made her sick.

"I came back for you." He tells her, but she can't believe him. She has to look away from his dark mask for a moment, has to regroup her thoughts. There's too many; her brain feels like it might explode if she thinks any harder.

"What?" It's the only thing she can say.

"I'm here to protect you." She could almost laugh at this.

"From what?" She screams, knowing no one could hear them. It's the only good thing about isolated living. "What could you possibly need to protect me from now? You've already made my life a living hell." She rolls her eyes and turns her back.

"Everything I've done has been for you! The only reason you're still living a life is because of me." If she doesn't think about it, she could almost pretend like it's not actually Anakin. This isn't the man that ripped her heart open, who she still had scars from. She liked to remember Anakin on that morning, head on her chest and eyes soft.

"I never asked you to." She turns back to him, gathering her courage. "I never asked you to kill people. To start this empire. Did you seriously think I would follow you to the Empire? I mean," She wants to call him by his nickname, but she can't. She feels sick.

He's stunned speechless.

"I was better off thinking you were dead." She walks away like that, never wanting to see him again - as Anakin or Darth Vader. They're both ruined, both murderers. They both love her, but they both are cowards. She can't stand to think about it as she takes a small walk to the woods near her small house, and though she doesn't see him leave, when she gets back, he's gone.

tags: @avada-kedavra-bitch-187 @one-sweet-gubler @mcueveryday

#anakin skywalker #anakin skywalker x reader #anakin skywalker x reader angst #star wars imagine #anakin skywalker imagine #darth vader x reader

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david-talks-sw · 1 year

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Luke Skywalker in 'The Last Jedi' (1/2)

Luke in The Last Jedi... love it or hate it, it's a difficult subject.

I personally stand somewhere in the middle. I don't think Luke was "ruined"... I'd argue that, from a purely in-universe perspective, his subplot actually tracks with what was previously established in the original films.

There are issues, but I think they are mainly found on an out-of-universe/structural level (which I'll get into in post 2/2). For now, let's take a deep dive and unpack why this portrayal isn't all that problematic.

The most commonly-heard argument is that:

"They ruined Luke's character! He would never go into exile or abandon his sister and friends!"

Simply put, Luke used to be:

an optimist

so brave he'd risk his life to save his friends,

aspired to become a Jedi.

Whereas, in The Last Jedi, he's:

jaded and depressed,

hides/abandons his sister and friends, like a coward,

says the Jedi need to die?!

Now the fact is... Luke is 24 years older when he goes into exile, 30 years older in The Last Jedi. People change, with age.

In Luke's case, he matured from an impatient kid who'd rashly run to save his friends, like in Empire Strikes Back, to a grown-up who makes hard choices and restrains himself from doing that, even though he desperately wants to.

Luke tells himself this is a self-sacrifice, this is for the greater good.

"Because he’s the last Jedi and a symbol of that it then becomes this self-sacrifice, he has take himself out of it, when he knows his friends are dying, when the thing he’d most like to do is get back in the fight." - Rian Johnson, The Empire Film Podcast, 2018

And Rian Johnson didn't want Luke to come across as a coward, so he also gave Luke an argument that initially seems to make sense:

The Jedi way is flawed and inevitably leads to arrogance. Proof: the Sith originally came from Jedi. His own new order is no exception to that rule, even if he thought it was (in his arrogance, he believed his own legend).

So if he leaves and stays in exile? No more Jedi, no more Jedi-turned-darksiders that can mess up the galaxy.

The Force will keep trying to balance itself and a new, worthier source will appear (in the form of Rey).

But while his reasoning that "the Jedi are inevitably arrogant" seems sound and reasonable... it's wrong.

Just like Dooku's reasoning that "the Jedi are corrupt" seems sound, but is ultimately wrong.

Just like Anakin's rationalization that "the Jedi are evil" seems sound nope, that one doesn't even seem sound, it's just plain wrong.

Where is it wrong, in Luke's case?

Well, he's rationalizing his actions by blaming the Jedi religion, instead of admitting his own failure.

"The notion of, 'Nope, toss this all away and find something new,' is not really a valid choice, I think. Ultimately, Luke's exile and his justifications for it are all covering over his guilt over Kylo." - Rian Johnson, The Art of The Last Jedi, 2017

"In his own way, [Luke is] trying to disconnect, he’s trying to throw away the past, he’s saying 'Let’s kill [the Jedi] religion. It’s the thing that’s messing us up, thins thing right here, let’s kill it.’ And the truth is, it’s a personal failure. It’s not religion, it’s his own human nature that’s betrayed him." - Rian Johnson, The Empire Film Podcast, 2018

He fucked up, plain and simple.

But it's not because “he’s a Jedi and that made him arrogant and the Jedi mentality is flawed”, as he claims early on in the movie.

He failed because he's flawed. Luke is human and had a moment of weakness where he was scared shitless and acted on instinct.

Yoda's spirit helps him realize this, and he fixes his mistake by allowing Leia and the resistance to save themselves. And as he does it, he acknowledges the importance of the Jedi and their teachings.

And it's also why, in The Rise of Skywalker, he has the maturity to admit that he wasn't staying on the island out of some self-sacrificial gesture, as he kept telling himself. Truth is, he was afraid. Afraid he'd screw up again.

Do the movies go about this in an emotionally-satisfying way? That's debatable. But, on paper, I don't think Luke's behavior in The Last Jedi is too much of a shark-jump considering how

THE ORIGINAL IDEA CAME FROM GEORGE LUCAS!

In the couple of months after the Disney sale, Lucas developed the Sequels with Michael Arndt in late 2012/early 2013, and concept art was made by artists like Christian Alzmann.

Note: the image on the left got a “Fabouloso” stamp of approval from Lucas!

Lucas’ sequels would feature a Luke Skywalker who was a figure like the jaded, reclusive Colonel Kurtz in the movie Apocalypse Now (which, fun fact, Lucas helped write and was originally set to direct).

The reason why Luke was in self-imposed exile wasn’t specified, all we know is that he was:

hiding from the world in a cave,

haunted by the betrayal of one of his students,

and spiritually in a dark place.

Other concept artists, like James Clyne, tried to illustrate the First Jedi Temple and some of the designs were approved by Lucas, such as the one below.

Eventually, Kira the female Jedi-wannabe protagonist (who eventually became Rey) would seek him out so he can train her.

This Luke would be a much more prominent part of Episode VII (instead of only appearing at the end) but still died at the end of Episode VIII.

For sources and more information about George Lucas’ plans for the Sequel Trilogy, read this post.

The only part that wasn't detailed by Lucas were the specifics of why he went into exile. But all in all, this sounds pretty similar to what we got in The Last Jedi.

"Luke would never try to kill Ben!”

I agree. And he didn’t try to kill Ben. He stopped himself.

And this version of the event?

This didn’t happen.

What Kylo tells Rey is his version of the story. And he thinks he’s telling the truth... but his recollection of the event is warped as this was obviously a very traumatic event for him.

"I don't think he's lying actually. In my mind, that was his experience. [...] I think that it's probably twisted a little bit by Kylo's own anger and his own prejudices against Luke, but I feel like he's actually telling her the truth of his experience." - Rian Johnson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi commentary, 2017

The narrative frames the third version of the story as the one that’s objectively how events went down. Because Rey believes him, and Rey is both the protagonist and a stand-in for the audience.

Now, if you think Luke’s word is unreliable and you have an easier time trusting Kylo’s version of the story, go to town.

But I think that if you actually believe would Luke would never try to kill Ben, you’d take Luke's second retelling of the story at face value.

I know I do.

“Okay, but he would never consider killing a child, like Ben. He saw the good in Darth Vader!”

First off, Luke refers to Ben as "a scared boy" because, he's a middle-aged man. But objectively, Ben was 23 years old.

But also, I mean... with Vader, Luke actually had the luxury ignorance.

Do you think would have truly gone on that Second Death Star if he had actually witnessed Vader:

choke his Padmé,

kill Obi-Wan,

actively try to kill Ahsoka,

murder Jedi younglings,

betray and hunt down his other Jedi brothers and sisters,

and cold-bloodedly kill countless innocents, one by one?

There’s a difference between watching him kill Ben Kenobi (who still ‘lived’ as a ghost and talked to him seconds later) and hearing a couple of rebel pilots get blasted in the trench run, and actually seeing all the horrors he’s committed.

Don't get me wrong, Luke knows Vader is evil, absolutely. But if he had seen this side of Vader, the needlessly cruel side...

... I'm not sure he'd have been as compassionate.

Proof: Obi-Wan, someone who deeply loved Anakin (to the point where he could never bring himself to kill him), someone that genuinely wishes that Luke can redeem him... also feels that, realistically, attempting to do so would be pointless.

And hell, even without really seeing all the massacres Vader committed, the second the latter threatened his sister, Luke went berserk and almost killed him!

So the question becomes:

“What could make Luke - trained Jedi Master, long-time optimist and overall compassionate to a fault - consider killing Ben?”

All we’re told is that he looked into Ben’s mind and saw darkness and the destruction, pain, death, and the end of everything he loves.

The specifics are left to our imagination. They could include:

the sight of Kylo slaughtering his parents and Chewie with a smile on his blood-smeared face,

the smell of Han's burning flesh in the air,

the wails of Chewbacca as he's run through by Kylo,

the faint sound of Leia's tears hitting the ground,

the destruction of the New Republic's citizens and planets.

Whatever it may have been, it was intense. Because Force-induced visions are vivid as hell, as has been shown throughout the franchise.

It's not like watching something on a TV, you're there, all your senses are affected in an extremely powerful way.

And the vision Luke experienced scared him so much that even shortly after it, when looking at a sleeping young man, all he sees is that evil monster from the vision. So he tremblingly draws his saber.

But it's evident that Luke wasn't thinking clearly or rationally.

His base emotions had taken the wheel, he was being tempted by the Dark Side.

"He doesn’t give in to the Dark Side, it’s a moment of temptation to the Dark Side. It reminds me very much of when Vader is tempting Luke, when Luke is underneath the stairs in [Return of the] Jedi, lit with that very beautiful half-and-half, the duality of these two sides of him being pulled. And that’s really what that moment is for me, it’s a moment of temptation to the Dark Side for Luke." - Rian Johnson, IGN, 2017

And yet despite seeing all that... Luke catches himself.

It's not the first time that Luke almost does something horrible to a family member and catches himself. Again, 24 years prior, he almost murdered his own father in a fit of rage.

The scene in Ben's hut intentionally parallels that outburst he has in Return of the Jedi.

A terrible future is presented before Luke.

He reacts instinctively, is tempted by the Dark Side.

He snaps out of it.

Even the angle and framing of the shot is designed to match:

tumblr_video

"Some of these parallels are just “it’s a close-up of the same character” but this one was very intentional. It’s why I had him look down at his mechanical hand holding the saber." - Rian Johnson, Twitter, 2019

The only real difference is that, in Return of the Jedi, Luke only comes to his senses after a frenzied onslaught during which he actively tried to kill his own Dad.

24 years later, despite having witnessed that terrible future even more vividly than he did on the Second Death Star, he catches himself merely seconds later. Instead of going on a whole rampage, he stops the moment the lightsaber turns on.

I'd call that "progress".

"But Luke should've learned his lesson and known better than to give in to the Dark Side!"

Resisting the temptation of the Dark Side is by no means a one-and-done thing. It's not a power-up that you get, it's a constant struggle.

"I think it disrespects the character of Luke by treating him not as a true mythic hero overcoming recurring wounds & flaws, but as a video game character who has achieved a binary, permanent power-up." - Rian Johnson, Twitter, 2019

Dave Filoni says so too.

"In the end, it’s about fundamentally becoming selfless, moreso than selfish. It seems so simple, but it’s so hard to do. And when you’re tempted by the dark side, you don’t overcome it once in life and then you’re good. It’s a constant." - Dave Filoni, Rebels Remembered, 2019

Hell, even George Lucas stated something along those lines:

"The Sith practice the dark side and are way out of balance. The Jedi aren’t as much out of balance because they’re the light side of the Force. They still have the bad side of the Force in them, but they keep it in check. It’s always there, so it can always erupt if you let your guard down." - George Lucas, The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005, 2020

Learning the lesson once doesn't mean you've learned it forever. Especially with the Dark Side, which poses a never-ending battle.

In-universe examples: Anakin learned to let go of his attachments during the “Padawan Lost” arc of TCW.

A year and a half later, he’s butchering kids because he can’t let go of his attachments.

And during wartime, Yoda found himself repressing his darker instincts and ignoring their existence. Thus, when he had to face them, he struggled to acknowledge and control them.

So considering Luke didn't go "rampage mode" with Ben, as he did when he tried to kill Vader, I think he deserves some credit.

Finally, I've heard this insane argument many times, as a response to the above points:

"Yeah but Luke wasn't actually trying to kill Vader! He was holding back, he was trying to keep him alive!"

And, uh... no. He wasn't.

He lost his shit, folks. And almost killed Vader.

Like, right here?

⬆️ If Vader hadn’t moved his saber to intercept Luke’s blade, Luke would’ve stabbed Vader in the face.

⬆️ If Vader hadn’t held his sword up in time, SWISH, there goes the top of his helmet AT LEAST, if not the rest of his head.

⬆️ If Vader hadn’t dodged he’d be chopped in two.

⬆️ If Vader’s arm gave out slightly sooner, if his blade faltered just a little lower, if he loosened his grip on his saber a bit, Vader would be cleaved in two.

My point is that if you swing at someone with a lightsaber? They’ll get chopped. And if you aim for the head or the chest? You’re trying to kill them.

Before Luke got a grip, throughout that whole rampage, the only thing that kept Vader alive was his own skill.

Otherwise, Luke would’ve murdered him in a fit of rage.

If Luke was holding back, then the theme of "resisting the Dark Side" completely falls apart.

There's no indication that he was restraining himself, in he script.

And just look at the imagery.

Luke is surrounded by darkness, symbolizing how he's being seduced by the Dark Side, he's being tempted to give in to his anger towards the man who hurt his friends and took his hand.

Then Vader threatens Leia.

And the next time we see Luke, he's silhouetted, his face is all black.

Luke was originally trying to hold back and talk Vader down, but fails to control his instincts and gives in to fear, to anger, to the Dark Side... and goes all out.

He swings at his father furiously and keeps swinging, until he cuts off Vader's hand... and he is about to deliver the final blow…

… when he sees Vader’s mechanical hand and realizes that by giving in to his anger, that path will inevitably lead him to become exactly like this half-machine half-man laying at his feet. That’s where the path to power leads.

And so he makes a decision:

He’s a Jedi. Like his father before him. His compassion for Anakin is stronger than his hate for Vader.

That's the narrative intent.

It has to be.

Because if he had been "holding back" throughout that entire bit, then the stakes are lowered immeasurably, John Williams' saddening score is misplaced, the lightsaber choreography is misleading, etc.

For the above-listed reasons, I think Luke's portrayal in The Last Jedi doesn't really contradict anything in the previously-established lore. It works, it's the typical "old cowboy needs to get back in the saddle" trope. Frankly, I can defend this subject all day long... so where's the problem?

The problem comes in at an out-of-universe level. While it's not inconsistent... it's also not satisfying.

The thing is, if you...

... take one of the most brave and optimistic characters in the franchise, then open the film saying "well, now he's jaded and in hiding", without giving us context on how he became that way...

... take a character whose arc was specifically about controlling his emotions, then show him be ruled by those emotions without providing context for what made him do that...

... then that kills the suspension of disbelief, for a lot of fans.

And, as such, they'll have a much harder time going along with what you're saying.

Because "show, don't tell" is one of the most basic principles in visual storytelling. And we weren't shown:

"Ben being increasingly violent during training",

"Luke sitting Ben down and having a talk with him, only to be ignored" or

"the horrors Luke saw in Ben's head".

I have no doubt that those things happened, in-universe.

But if we're talking about a movie-going experience, many were left emotionally-unsatisfied.

Because all that stuff was in there... but only subtextually. It was up to the fans to imagine on the details. Normally, I'd argue that's what Star Wars is all about: allowing fans to dream and think outside the box. But in this specific case, I think many fans would've rather had a more complete and explicit story. Because it's Luke Skywalker.

And yet... even these structural and writing issues had a logic behind them, and if you ask me... there was no other direction that this story could be taken in.

We'll explore this in more detail in part 2/2.

#Luke Skywalker #The Last Jedi #Rian Johnson #Star Wars episode VIII #star wars #jedi order #meta #long post #Ahch-To #in defense of the jedi #episode 8 #Ben Solo #Kylo Ren #Mark Hamill #star wars sequel trilogy

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kazoosandfannypacks · 4 months

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📚

You seem like the kind of person who would be interested in my favorite of my unhinged AUs.

Basically it goes like this. In Episode I, Obi-Wan skipped through the great Trials of becoming a Jedi Knight because he was the first Jedi to kill a Sith Lord, Darth Maul, in over a hundred years. (This is canon. I read The Official Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Movie Scrapbook obsessively as a kid before I had unrestrained wookieepedia access. Do not question my deep lore knowledge.)

However, in this version of the story, someone points it out during the Clone Wars. It's just an offhanded comment in a council meeting. It shouldn't amount to much. But one of the other masters, thank The Force no one remembers who, offhandedly mentions that "Wait, didn't we find out Darth Maul is still alive a couple months ago?" and another council member jokingly makes a remark along the lines of "Shouldn't Obi-Wan's knighthood status be revoked?"

That would've been the end of the conversation, except that Master Kenobi and his padawan are there for the conversation, and Anakin appreciates the humor of the situation a little too much.

"Of course, the experiences he's already gained on the field are more than sufficient to make up for what's lacking in Master Kenobi's trials," Mace says, "he shouldn't require any further action."

But Anakin, who has secretly seen Obi-Wan hold his head up a little too high at being the only living Jedi to kill a Sith, and has heard him bring it up at more than one occasion, begins snickering, if not outright laughing. He apologizes for his impertinence, stating that he finds it funny that he now outranks his master by a technicality.

So, although the council agrees Obi-Wan can retain his knighthood, Obi-Wan decides that, no, he's always been a follower of the rules, he's not gonna let the rules slide on this one, either. And with that, he requests the council's permission for a Defintely-Not-Selfishly-Or-Spitefully-Motivated-Mission-To-Hunt-Down-And-Kill-Darth-Maul-For-The-Good-Of-The-Galaxy, which the council concedes to, because knowing the Disaster Lineage, either Kenobi would find a way to do it anyways, or Anakin would attempt to beat him to the punch and gain the title of Master behind their backs.

Obi-Wan spends the rest of the Clone Wars chasing down Darth Maul, and though he is unsuccessful at killing the fallen Sith warrior, he does manage to drive him off Mandalore and prevent the Duchess from dying, so that's at least a little consolation.

Anyways, because of all this, Anakin isn't nearly as upset about not having the title of Master when he's given his seat on on the council, because, hey, look, Obi-Wan's on the council too, and he's not even officially a Jedi Knight yet. In fact, Anakin argues that he's just killed Dooku, and since Darth Maul is still out there somewhere, he's the first Jedi to kill a Sith in a hundred years or so, right? Doesn't this grant him the rank of Master?

The entire council sighs at this technicality, but "right, Master Skywalker is," and because he's been given the title that he's more than earned by then, Master Anakin Skywalker never turns to the Dark Side and Order 66 never happens.

📔 send me any book emoji and I'll tell you about a fanfic idea that I daydream about but haven't written

#star wars #the clone wars #kazzy writes #revenge of the sith #no order 66 au #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #darth maul #the jedi council

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jedi-enthusiast · 9 months

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My Thoughts on Episode One

Keep in mind that these are just my thoughts that I've written down as I watch the show, they may change or I may expand on them later.

"Former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano-"

Bitch, she was never Knighted! She was a padawan!

I see we're already starting off strong /s

Although, I will say, I'm glad they put "the EVIL Galactic Empire" because the way some people talk about the Empire is like they're trying to make it seem like it wasn't that bad---at least this shuts those bootlickers up. So, silver linings!

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Ngl I think Dave Filoni was trying way too hard to recreate the "hallway scene" with Darth Vader in Rogue One and failed miserably.

Also, if people keep referring to Ahsoka as a "Jedi" throughout this episode, I may or may not explode.

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"The Order doesn't exist anymore."

And I am once again reliving Order 66 and crying, thanks a lot.

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"Let's just say I didn't follow 'standard Jedi protocol.'"

Given what we see of her interrogation tactics in that one TCW episode with Luminara, as well as Anakin's tactics, when not following "standard Jedi protocol" ...I'm more than a little concerned by what Ahsoka means by this. Did she torture Morgan? Did she take Morgan's mind apart like Maul did to Jesse?

C'mon Ahsoka, what did you do that wouldn't have been standard Jedi protocol?

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"They seem to have abilities like you."

Hera, you were literally basically married to a Jedi and you were also captured by Maul at some point, Kanan talked to you about this stuff and you experienced it...you know what a Sith is.

Ahsoka, you also know what a Sith is.

They're literally wielding red lightsabers in the holo.

Why are both of you acting like you don't know this?

Also, why is Hera talking like she wasn't literally at the battle of Lothal and like she also didn't know of/have beef with Thrawn?

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Once again with calling Ahsoka a Jedi.

Also, Ahsoka has always said "I am no Jedi' or said that she isn't a Jedi anytime someone has called her that since she left the Order, so why isn't she denying it now?

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LOTH CATS OH MY FUCKING GOD-

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Ok, I know Ezra's recording is supposed to be this really emotional spurring moment but like...

1. The dialogue feels so utterly flat- (so far most of the dialogue has felt that way for me tbh, it's like...none of the characters are really talking like the characters, yknow? And it all just feels so stilted, like they don't know themselves or the people around them).

And 2. Ezra wouldn't have had time to make a recording??? Him taking out Thrawn was a spur of the moment decision, they didn't know everything was gonna happen the way it did, so how exactly did he make this recording???

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FDSLKJALJHFJA IT WAS A NIGHTSISTER TEMPLE???

MORGAN IS A NIGHTSISTER???

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

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"Ahsoka Tano's former apprentice is on Lothal...you're looking for Sabine Wren."

I assume this is gonna be explained later, so I'm attempting to hold in my judgement---but since when did Jedi start taking non-Force-sensitive apprentices?

Kanan taught Sabine how to use the Darksaber so she wouldn't hurt herself and so that she would let go of her fear/anger/pain so she could face her family---so why in the world was Ahsoka teaching her, and since when is taking a Force-null as an apprentice a thing?

I'm just so confused.

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"There is nothing easy about being a Jedi."

AHSOKA HAS SAID REPEATEDLY THAT SHE IS NOT A JEDI, WHERE IS THIS COMING FROM????

Also, again, since when can Force-nulls become Jedi?

I'm assuming that they're taking the "Sabine is Force-sensitive" route for this, even though it's very weird considering she never showed signs of it in Rebels, but I still feel like they should've already revealed that if that's the case---because right now it's just confusing.

If they don't go that route then I genuinely already hate the route this is going as far as Jedi stuff goes.

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"Anakin never got to finish my training. Before the end of the Clone Wars, I walked away from him...and the Jedi."

*long sigh* not this bullshit again.

Ahsoka he literally helped Palpatine commit genocide against the fucking Jedi---that was probably a bigger factor in you not finishing your training than you deciding to take some time to figure yourself out. Seek therapy, please.

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I'm gonna be honest, this lightsaber battle between Sabine and the apprentice is...so disappointing.

To be fair, though, I've been disappointed by every lightsaber duel since everything set in the Prequel era---nothing can really live up to those duels.

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Since when can people live through getting stabbed with a lightsaber, without drawing on the Dark Side?

Sabine should be fucking dead, like Qui-Gon was in TPM.

And before anyone says- "oh it's the end of the episode, you don't know if she's still alive" -yes I do, because I already know she's in episode 2.

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My thoughts on episode 2 will probably either go up tomorrow night or sometime this weekend, I don't know yet because I'll be moving into my dorm tomorrow.

Already though I can safely say: my expectations were literally in the ground and I'm already disappointed.

#star wars #ahsoka series #ahsoka spoilers #ahsoka tano #ahsoka tano critical #rosario dawson

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thefastestelementalmasteralive · 30 days

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procrastinating school work so let me talk about my starwars (Anakin) aus

There's that lion!Vader Au, if I named it I don't remember the name but basically, either Anakin doesn't tell Padme where he's going or she doesn't go to Mustafar. might actually have R2D2 with Padme as her bodyguard or Anakin just didn't want r2 to know what he did to the separatist leaders. anakin doesn't come back from Mustafar because when he leaves the planet, the force decides 'okay, enough atrocities for the next... two decades.' and transforms him into a lion and sends him to a green planet. Sidious finds him a year later and decides to just build a gladiator ring and throw him in there to execute the people he wants dead on television.

19 years later Luke, Leia, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Padme, Cody, and Rex all get captured and are sentenced to be executed as a group with some other non-important people. Anakin eats the non-important people and vaguely recognizes some but tries to kill Luke and Leia because he doesn't recognize them.

SITS au - sith in the senate au - me trying to explore my favorite arc (mortis) and what would have happened if Anakin left with the son (and the daughter) and the father let Ahsoka and Obi-wan go thirty minutes later but Anakin is nowhere in sight when they go back to the real world. this is also the au where the Tusken massacre is really addressed in this au, in others it didn't happen, obviously in lion!vader it did since it only changes in rots. i don't know if it's really a character study that I'm doing for this au but I'm actually writing an essay on Anakin for my writing class and I'm so using elements from this for that and from that for this.

(please- someone stop me from making Barriss run away from the Jedi and Anakin adopting Barriss after she ends up on Tatooine and Anakin gets over his initial feeling of 'YOU D:<')

14!au. i have no other name for it as of right now.

anakin gets found by Palpatine and Shmi dies (i think) but surely its not you Pal Friendpatine's fault :0

Anyway, Palpatine finds Anakin at like... 5 and adopts him and brings him on his path to becoming chancellor and then the clone wars start at the Naboo blockade, Palpatine started cloning **early**. no, I have no idea how old Jango Fett is, why do you ask? anakin befriends some of the clones and takes an interest in politics because he thinks he can convince then senate to stop creating clones and just recruit normal civilians to the army.

this au is inspired by Hazbin Hotel song 'you didn't know' and some brave group of clones tries to plead their case to the senate, ankin watches in on it, nala se mentions the chips in the kaminoan rebuttal of clone rights and Anakin FREAKS. palpatine tries to calm him saying 'they are to control them, they're dangerous otherwise' and basically dooms himself. also, Anakin specifically has wings. see, I subscribe to the thinking of 'Anakin can shapeshift due to his unstable DNA' Edit: I Found it! @thewildballyntynesgrow or mballyntyne on Ao3 with their series 'A Wild Thing to Tame'. Anakin leaves taking a majority of the coruscant guard with him and goes back to Tatooine and starts freeing a whole bunch of planets over the years. the meeting in the senate takes place when he is fourteen, the empire starts when he is seventeen. Anakin adopts Boba and Galen Marek. anakin and the freed outer rim either hide rebel bases or use their revolutions as distractions for the empire.

Retconned rebel Anakin Au. aka, Barriss is the same age as Anakin and befriends him and Ferus eventually befriends him, and Anakin is closer to those two and some others than Obi-wan and Ahsoka (who is Obi-wan's padawan) Barriss never bombs the temple, the empire rises but the original empire dies like a year into the reign and another emperor rises.... Emperor Obi-wan Kenobi and his daughter Ahsoka how are both overly attached to rebel leader Anakin Skywalker and are both trying to adopt him and turn him to their side... by kidnapping Anakin's family. (rexanidala). anakin adopts so many kids, most of them are force-sensitive and want to fight so he lets them reluctantly but those not young enough to choose or fight are sent to live with Rex, Padme, Luke, Leia, and their grandparents; Dooku and Plo.

Ventress and Anakin Swap au, sort of. anakin got nabbed from his mom by Dooku. Dooku never found Ventress, Obi-wan does instead. Obi does not train Ventress but they are friends forever after. ventress tries forcefully redeeming the seventeen-eighteen year old Sith lord and it only sort of works. he defects but really only after he finds out about the slavery in creating battle droids. Anakin isn't really a separatist general, he just has a specialized group of droids that he rebuilds after fights with Jedi. he never fights clones with droids.

after defecting Anakin plans with Ventress and decides to free the outer rim then take the former slaves that will join him and start up a third party to the war. inspired by 'blood oath' by the art of pleasing princes.

okay so for this next au, named Anakin Umakkar, The rain storm. sources are ADragonsFriend and @fialleril or fialleril on a03, and @clawedandcute or ClawedandCute (Adi_Fire) on a03. and songs this au is inspired by for this au is (and in order) Puppeteer, Done For, Hell is Forever, There are Other Ways, What Did I Miss? and Respectless.

Umakkar was a name I first read about in a book called 'Elder sisters' by ADragonsFriend. I first heard about Ekkreth in Fialleril's books. the concept of Anakin staying on Tatooine was inspired by ClawedandCute's book and au 'The Accidental Sith'

Anyway, Qui-gon and the queen's ship never stops on Tatooine, but the clone wars do not start early. a solid two months into the Clone Wars, it is revealed that Jabba the Hutt has been dead for a year, and Tatooine has freed itself from the huts. Senator Padme Amidala and Jedi Obi-wan Kenobi (and Padawan Ahsoka Tano) are sent to Tatooine to try to get Tatooine to align with the republic. now please listen to Puppeteer and Done For (no, Anakin does not turn any clones into pigs, just like any non-clone serving in the army ). once Obi-wan draws his lightsaber on Anakin, Anakin just swipes it away, unhurt, and has him and other... three (Cody, Padme, and Ahsoka)locked up until he decided to hear them out. (cue hell is forever, the last lines being, "the freed outer rim has found both the separatists and the republic to be the enemy" ya know due to their armies) then when it looks like Anakin is gonna do something to them to send a message to the republic, Obi-wan pleads with him and mentions the Sith Dooku mentioned and any evil smile on Anakin's face slips away into annoyance "Sidious, huh?" and in 'There are other ways' fashion tells obi-wan about Mortis and other wells in the force that might be better for the Jedi to focus at. when asked why he had that reaction to the 'Sidious' character, he implies that Sidious has reached out to him to join either side of the war, like once per side.

he sends Obi-Wan and the Clones that want to return on their way and a year later decides that enough is enough and heads to Coruscant under the pretense of negotiating. palpatine sets up a committee to welcome Tatooine to the republic only for 'respectless' to happen and Anakin starts arguing with Orn Free Taa, then Palpatine himself and once Palpatine leaves, turns to the Jedi in the room and says "yeah, you might want to look into that..." and leaves.

Detached Mortis god au: inspired by the ocean saga

switching up the timeline here, Rako Hardeen happens, the Wrong Jedi arc happens, *Then* mortis happens. Anakin is alone on Mortis, he decides to stay, Padme is pregnant, the empire rises, Padme survives and joins the rebellion, Ahsoka becomes Fulcrum. Obi-wan joins the rebellion to help train Luke and Leia. Luke, Leia, Han, Ezra and some others start on a mission, but it starts off rough. Ezra decides to pray to a Force Diety he or Ahsoka met once and the diety appears and decides to grant them safe passage to the actual start of the mission as long as they keep Ahsoka, who they meet up with later on the mission, safe. if they accept and fail, another god is going to have a really big problem with them. they accept and all goes well until the last day of the mission, everything falls apart and Ahsoka is separated from the group and captured. the gang decides they need to go back to base to think and plan. on their way back their ship is seemingly attacked but they cant tell by what, they crash land at base and get out of the ship, not the falcon, only to meet two dragon-like-creatures, and a portal opens and a very pissed Anakin steps out. he kidnaps a bunch of rebels and puts them in the world between worlds and tells them they only get their people back when Ahsoka is safe. Obi-Wan and Padme only make it to the hangar this goes down once Anakin has stepped back through the portal.

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identityflawed · 5 months

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Anakin and Ahsoka Analysis

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Kind of starts when Anakin says, "The Council is asking you back," and then reinforces with "I'm asking you back." He knows how little the Council's opinion means to Ahsoka in that moment, but also knows how much his opinion means to her. He offers out her Padawan braid, and the music swells almost in a dark and eerie manner, as if her decision here will condemn or free Anakin from the chains of the Dark Side--which it will. And when she closes his hand over the very thing that represents her connection to him--Master to Padawan--the music stops. Anakin is horrified, betrayed, and Ahsoka doesn't regret her decision yet, but by God does she feel guilt for abandoning Anakin like this. The music becomes more lighthearted then, though--a better future for Ahsoka, one where she won't die at the hands of clones, one where the Council won't use her and then toss her aside when politics call for it. After all this time considering others, she can finally look out for herself.

The Force theme plays as she leaves the Order, a once-pure pillar of Light now rife with corruption thanks to Palpatine and the Jedi's longstanding arrogance due to the Sith's millenium-old "destruction." Her leaving, plus the theme choice implicates that this really was the best path she could go down. Not for Anakin, but for herself. And when Anakin follows her out, she tries not to engage. She knows that if she speaks to him, she'll want to come back to her big brother. To her friend Rex, to her father Plo, to the old grandfather that Yoda was to her. She steels her nerves and leaves, but Anakin persists. He couldn't bear it if his Padawan walked away from him now, another loved one down the drain of things he couldn't control. First Shmi, now Ahsoka, with Padme soon to follow. And he speaks to her.

He doesn't understand why she's doing this, why she's leaving him and everything he did for her, taught her. He can't see past the veil of selfishness that Palpatine has draped upon him--it is all about you, Anakin. Somehow this is your fault. Should've caught Barriss sooner, should've known from the start, should've fought for Ahsoka more than he had.

Ahsoka knows and sees this--she can't fathom where it comes from, but she knows his intentions are good. Anakin Skywalker is a good man, a trustworthy man who believed in her when no one else did. And that was it. After everything she'd done for the Council, they didn't trust her. After the battles she'd fought hard, won and lost, the blood, the bruises, trauma and worry, all for the sake of an Order who cast her out when the Senators began to question their loyalty. Her loyalty. Was her loyalty to be questioned? If she had turned herself in, could she have come to a better resolution? She was more like Anakin every day, determined to handle every problem on her own, finding it harder and harder to see the logic in simply retreating and cooling your head. One day, that veil of selfishness might fall on her, too. How long until that happened? She needed to calm her nerves and take a step away from the blitz, the action, the war.

That's what she was doing now. She couldn't go back, but Anakin didn't see it. Anakin thought that because he alone had stood by her side, it would be enough to bring her home. She was undyingly grateful for his trust, his love and his loyalty, but she needed to make it unquestionably clear that she couldn't return. Too much had transpired against her; she could never enter those Temple doors again without remembering it.

And Anakin says she's throwing her life away, but that isn't it. The Jedi Order was everything she'd ever known, everything she'd ever stood for. Morals ingrained into her mind from when she was a toddler, techniques and mantras running through her head as she rushed across the battlefield.

She wasn't throwing it away. She couldn't. She would never be able to let go of the Jedi's teachings, and she didn't want to. They had taught her more than just how to block blaster bolts, how to pull objects into your hands or sway people into letting her past locked doors. Corrupt as they had become, they were still good people. And she wanted to remember them as that--remember their teachings and let them guide her through the foreseeable future. All her life she'd been taught and told, and now it was time to teach and tell herself what to do...even if it meant leaving her family behind.

This wasn't what Anakin would do, as much as he had considered it. She saw how he would smile at Padme--the most genuine grin she'd ever see from him. He loved her, and he knew that he couldn't. And she knew that he couldn't. Of course he would want to leave. Anakin wanted a family--that's why he latched onto everyone with a death grip. He didn't know how to let go.

Maybe she could switch the roles just this once...teach him something invaluable, like the many things he'd taught her.

A lesson in letting go.

And the music swells once again as she takes strides away from him, tears welling in her eyes as she feels him watching her. He won't force her back--he understands now, why she needs to go. They understood each other now--their reasonings and their fears, their loves and their resentment. War tore people apart, but it could bring them together.

So as she descends the stairs of the Temple for the last time, she says good-bye to the people this wretched war had given her. Good-bye to Obi-Wan, to Anakin, to Rex and to Plo. But there was a greeting to be given to one person and one alone.

And so, without looking back, she wishes the best to Jedi Padawan Tano, and embraces Ahsoka with open arms.

#rare anakin and ahsoka analysis from me #ahsoka tano #anakin skywalker #the clone wars #star wars #idflawed analyzes #fifteen-year-old me ate with this what the shit #character analysis #disaster lineage #holy shit i peaked in high school...#i'm still IN high school :(#Youtube

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ryucreates · 2 years

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im making headcanons again for star wars and you cant stop me -the first time Anakin tried Obi-Wan's "tea" he had to spittake because what the kark, Master, why is it s p i c y ? Anyways, turns out spending a year or more on Manda'yaim gets you real into behot teas, and Obi-Wan has had a soft spot for Shig ever since he was introduced to it while on the run from Kyr'stad. - Growing up in the temple on Coruscant was fun and all, but what was even better was sneaking out of the temple- and in turn, seeing how far away Obi-Wan could get from his minders before eventually having to turn back. We may think of Obi-Wan as some sort of pinnacle of control, boiled essence of mastery of the force- but in reality? He was Chaos Untold on the creche masters.

-Jango Fett was never particularly "willing", per se, to make a clone army. While he had fallen, yes, while he had suffered, yes, he was a Mandalorian still- even exiled from Mandalorian space, even Dar'Manda as he named himself, even as he divorced himself from the crown of Mand'alor. He was Haat'Mando'ade, and he followed the super commando codex. There's this one line, said by the Kaminoans- something about how the best way to control a slave is to make it think it is free- and we all know of Dooku's machinations. Do you really think Jango would not recognize the man who slaughtered his people at Galidraan? Do you really think he would agree to manufacture child soldiers for the Republic? Even- no, especially after being enslaved himself, how could anyone believe him capable of turning on his own morals like that, without serious Sith Majicks afoot? - I'm not saying that there aren't force sensitive clones, but I am saying that midiclorian counts are pure bullshit for actually measuring one's connection to the force- i would think that they are somewhat like a different organism all together, some symbiotic being that can congregate around force users, but doesn't always- meaning there are force users with low midiclorians but high control in the force, and those with high midiclorians but seemingly no control of the force at all. Midiclorians are also likely not genetic, if they are a symbiotic single cell organism. - ki adi mundi is a bitch and i hate him - While the Mandalorians do not trust the Jedi, that does NOT mean that they are unkind to force users- yes, Kyr'stad may have a harsher view of them, but Kyr'stad is a terrorist group first, and Mando'ade second. Most Ad'e see force sensitives as seers, wise ones, and gifted warriors- they have special training, and special positions, they become treasured guards and Goran'e and Baar'ur'e, Alor'e of tribes and clans due to their visions or gifts. No Mandalorian worth their salt would ever give up a child due to their abilities, ka'ra blessed or not. - Most clones refer to themselves as the Vod'e- or the Vod'e An- Brothers All. First generation clones, trained by the Cuy'val Dar and Jango Fett himself, learned Mando'a straight from the source, and when the Alpha and First gen rank clones began teaching the next generations, they passed on the knowledge as well as they could. Most clones are at least passably fluent in the spoken tongue, and can, at a glance, finger count up to twenty in the language. Only the first few generations can reliably read Mando'a, and as far as is known, writing in the language has just been contained to the Nulls, and a select few of the Alphas. (i wrote over 8k characters part two incoming

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antianakin · 1 year

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AU where Ahsoka sides with Maul on Mandalore because she thinks that if she works with him then she can get his information and help against the Sith Master but plans to double cross him to make sure Anakin lives. They leave Mandalore immediately on a stolen ship, so they make it back to Coruscant just in time for Anakin to still be there after attacking the Temple, but before Obi-Wan and Yoda arrive. While Maul goes off after Palpatine, Ahsoka goes after Anakin to try to save him, thinking he's been tricked or that it's some sort of Dark Side magic controlling him perhaps, but it's not.

Maybe Anakin is just leaving the Temple, so it's still belching smoke into the air and of course it's still overrun by the 501st who aim blasters at Ahsoka the moment she shows up to try to get in, but Anakin stops them, orders them not to shoot.

Anakin offers her the same choice that he will offer Padme later, the same choice he offers Obi-Wan on Mustafar in canon: join him or die.

Ahsoka chooses to join him. Because if she joins him, she might be able to do something to save him, to change his mind. She refuses to abandon him, to walk away, to fight him.

Anakin's just gotten his orders to go to Mustafar, but he asks Ahsoka to go look in on Padme, maybe even take her somewhere safe, take her to Naboo.

When Obi-Wan and Yoda split up, Obi-Wan finds an empty apartment and Yoda finds MAUL, still waiting for an opportunity to attack Sidious, unusually patient. They come to an extremely uneasy truce as they decide to tag team Palpatine. Obi-Wan has to go through security recordings again at Padme's apartment and sees Ahsoka show up, hears her say she's working with Anakin, and that Anakin wants Ahsoka to take her to Naboo, to Varykino. He hears Padme agree and sees them both leave. He knows it could be a trap, but it's the only lead he has.

Obi-Wan arrives on Naboo and while Ahsoka is initially delighted to see him and discover that he survived, she quickly realizes he knows about what Anakin's done and becomes protective. She knows that Obi-Wan is a Jedi, a member of the High Council, and that Anakin being a Sith will strain his loyalties, but that Obi-Wan will ultimately do what he must, even if Anakin refuses to back down. Ahsoka tries to get him to leave without knowing where Anakin is, and Obi-Wan refuses, which forces Ahsoka to pull out her lightsabers to try to force him to leave. She loses.

Obi-Wan takes the opportunity to try to get to Padme and convince her to tell him where Anakin is, but Padme refuses. Even if she DID know where Anakin was, she wouldn't tell Obi-Wan because she doesn't trust him not to try to kill Anakin and she doesn't believe that Anakin would ever do the things Obi-Wan is accusing him of doing. So Obi-Wan has to pretend to accept defeat and leave, but he knows that eventually Anakin will come back to check in on Padme, he just has to wait.

Yoda and Maul together are able to overpower Palpatine and kill him, although Maul dies in the process, as well. With Anakin waiting for orders that will never come on Mustafar, this leaves something of an opening for Bail Organa and the loyalists to step in and try to quickly undo some of what Palpatine just did. They undo the Empire, they quickly try to reach out to some of the Separatist worlds (the "leadership" Anakin kills on Mustafar appears to be predominantly the Corporate Alliance, not the actual Separatist Senators) to broker peace. They reach out to Kamino to figure out how to deactivate the control chips in the clones. They expose the lies Palpatine told about the Jedi, expose the truth of what Palpatine was and what the Jedi tried to protect them from, declare the Jedi to be fallen heroes, persecuted by Palpatine, not traitors of the Republic.

By the time Anakin figures out Palpatine's dead, the newly born Empire has begun to crumble, and his first priority is Padme anyway, so he goes straight to Naboo, where Obi-Wan is waiting for him. But while Obi-Wan could take Anakin alone, he can't take on Anakin and Ahsoka together. Ahsoka keeps Anakin from killing Obi-Wan, but Obi-Wan is badly injured and left behind on Naboo as Anakin, Ahsoka, and Padme all go on the run. To add insult to injury, Anakin takes Obi-Wan's lightsaber with him.

Anakin and Ahsoka both have effectively sworn themselves to the Sith, but neither of them spent much time as Sith before Palpatine's death, so they're fairly ineffective Sith. Anakin had thought to take Palpatine's Empire as his own, kill Palpatine after Padme was saved and then rule the galaxy, but the Empire is already gone and Palpatine is dead. Anakin did not inherit Palpatine's ability to scheme and plan, just his anger and passion and selfish greed. He has a pregnant wife who might die in childbirth, so he gets them all somewhere to hide and leaves Padme with Ahsoka while he goes out scouring the galaxy for a way to save her from what he believes to be her impending doom. He fails, but Padme doesn't die. It changes very little.

Anakin and Ahsoka are welcome nowhere in the galaxy after what Anakin did, and Ahsoka refuses to leave Anakin a second time. They all have to start living on the run, living in the shadows, finding places where they can disappear among the populace. People are looking for Anakin, looking for Padme and Ahsoka, and Anakin isn't interesting in being merciful usually. When Ahsoka tries to step between Anakin and their pursuers the way she did with Obi-Wan, it rarely goes well anymore. And they still have to find ways to get supplies, clothes for the twins, food, fuel, and transportation without leaving traces that can be followed. Anakin isn't afraid to use mind tricks to force people to give things up for them, citing that obviously they need it more. When Ahsoka tries to speak out against killing the pursuers, against violating the minds of random citizens just trying to make a living, Anakin threatens to leave her behind because if she truly loved him then she'd do whatever it took to protect him and his family, tells her that when it was Ahsoka on the run he was the only one who believed in her innocence. So she kills, she helps with the mind tricks, she steals and lies.

It's so far from the perfect life Padme had dreamed for herself on Naboo. And her discontent fuels Anakin's anger, his fear of losing her in a way he hadn't truly considered. He starts lashing out more and more, at Ahsoka, at Padme, and even one or twice at the twins. And finally, Padme can no longer take it and snaps when he aims his ire at the twins and tries to kill him. Anakin doesn't let her, and this time, Obi-Wan isn't there to tell Anakin to let go.

Devastated at this final betrayal, Ahsoka leaps in to stab Anakin through the heart, and Anakin can absolutely sense her coming, he could stop her if he wanted to easily. But Anakin, broken at the realization that he just killed Padme, would rather die than have to live with that consequence. And Anakin decides to let Ahsoka's killing blow land. Padme and Anakin die within the same heartbeat. And so Anakin fulfills the prophecy, he destroys the last Sith with his apathy and selfishness, and brings balance to the Force with his death.

Now left completely alone and emotionally shattered, Ahsoka takes the twins to the only people she knows that might be able to help them. She takes them to find the survivors of the Jedi Order, living now in a different Temple as they try to recover alongside a healing galaxy. Even if they won't trust her, help her, accept her, she knows they would never abandon Luke and Leia.

The Jedi happily accept Luke and Leia into their Order, but after a few days, Ahsoka knows she can't stay there under their protection. She knows that she hurt people, she knows she left a path of pain behind her as much as Anakin did. And she knows she has to make amends for that as best she can, and that path starts with turning herself in to the Republic to face the consequences of her choices. The Republic has done some healing of its own and with the Jedi Council speaking up for her to a Senate and Chancellor more willing to listen, Ahsoka is asked to make amends by joining a reconstruction crew that's helping patch up the galaxy in the wake of the Clone War for a few years and meet with a healer to help her through the trauma once a week (she's allowed to use a Jedi mind healer given her Force Sensitivity and history in the Order and particular relationship to Anakin).

Slowly, Ahsoka starts to heal. She spends her time being constructive and peaceful, rather than destructive and fearful. She builds new connections to support her as she moves forward down a new path. And at the end of it, Ahsoka decides that she still wants to walk the path of a Jedi. She always has, even if she got lost along the way. So she heads back to the Temple, once again ready to be a Learner.

#star wars #sith ahsoka #ahsoka tano #anakin skywalker #padme amidala #obi-wan kenobi #the clone wars #tcw #star wars the clone wars #swtcw #sw tcw #sw: tcw #dark ahsoka #dark apprentice au

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princesssarcastia · 7 months

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watching the clone wars and thinking about The Logistical Problem of Barriss Offee's appearance in both Attack of the Clones and in The Clone Wars. and the ways you can solve or reconcile it as such.

She's at the first battle of Geonosis, presumably with her master, Luminara, and she's not the only padawan there with their master. presumably they only brought older, experienced padawans with them—ones nearly ready to be knighted. but when we next see her, in the TV show, she's still a padawan. they knighted anakin "full of emotions and attachments and pretty clearly not ready" skywalker before they knighted her. there's a few watsonian ways that could shake out.

absurd option: barriss experiences some kind of age regression between the very start of the war, and the middle of it where we see her again. sith artifact, separatist weapon, weird force squall erupting right beneath her, whatever. no one ever talks about it because, well, it's sort of rude to bring up. plus, barriss at any age would probably rather die than admit she's disquieted by the loss of several years of her life and self. but it would explain why she isn't knighted when they're knighting pretty much everyone.

it would also be another reason added to the pile explaining why she sort of had a breakdown before the war ends. one day you go to sleep, and the next you wake up somewhere you don't reecognize, surrounded by soldiers and war, and your master is telling you, "the last thing you remember was three years ago. get up, we have work to do." that'd knock anyone off balance

prodigy option: which padawans would you bring to a giant battle on an enemy planet? the older ones, sure, but more importantly: the ones who know how to fight. the ones who are good at it, who have a knack for it. the idea that barriss offee is too young to be knighted before the war is over, but too good with a blade to leave behind when they need their best? scintillating. tell me more.

tell me about the apprentice to a master diplomat with a level head, a sweet young girl with impeccable manners—and an uncanny and incongruous talent for defeating her opponents in spars and cutting down her enemies in the field. who even at, what, 15? moves so efficiently and purposefully through a conflict she dances. who the temple battlemaster praises as one of the incomparables of her generation.

talk to me about how the order decides to make use of her warrior's body without realizing she, as a middling-aged teen, doesn't have a warrior's mind. making use of it too young and too much and too long for her to bear, until she eventually snaps. radicalizes. decides to fight the violence that's killing her the only way she's learned how: with more violence.

interference from on high option: i'm frankly using anakin as a yardstick here, but maybe he shouldn't be. there's also the chance that she's not even that much younger than anakin, but the council is much less willing to interfere with any other padawan, in any other master-padawan relationship. And most other teenagers aren't supposed to be knighted.

So Anakin and Barriss are peers, but Luminara hasn't had the council breathing down her neck and interfering the way Obi-Wan clearly has. Anakin gets knighted, and it strikes Barriss as odd. Though she would never presume to say it, he clearly lacks necessary control over his emotions, and a certain wisdom and self-mastery Barriss thought was necessary to become a Jedi Knight. But the council has knighted him, so clearly he must be a jedi knight, and have the necessary qualities as such.

And though Barriss would never presume to ask Luminara, Luminara can see her almost-side-eye, her calculation, and wants to stop it before it turns into comparison. "Knighting a padawan before they are ready is often the result when those outside an apprenticeship make such decisions as should be left to those within it."

red flags option: or perhaps, after surviving the battle of geonosis, and being somewhat more outwardly stable than skywalker; being the picture perfect image of a dutiful jedi; the council pushes for Barriss to be knighted at the start of the war, or soon after—and Luminara says no. Luminara says she's not ready.

And when they push back, Luminara goes so far as to warn them that she won't be overruled on or convinced to let go of her misgivings about, her own padawan (the was you have convinced and overruled some jedi i could mention, is what she doesn't say, but she's very much side-eyeing everyone else for that.). Barriss isn't ready, even if her peers are. Luminara can sense it.

Perhaps, if the galaxy was not at war, Barriss would be ready. But the war, the violence...it unsettles her. Disquiets her mind, in a way a jedi knight should not be disquieted, in Luminara's opinion. She waits, she supports, she guides Barriss with a firm hand, but that unsettled undercurrent never goes away.

In fact, Barriss, over the course of the war, becomes somehow less ready to be knighted than she was at the start of it. There's a brittleness to her that Luminara can sense, for all that it never reaches the surface. It goes on long enough that Luminara becomes resigned to the idea she and her apprentice will remain stuck in this holding pattern until the war is ended.

Perhaps Barris will finally be knighted once this war is over, Luminara mulls over, as she leaves Barris behind on Coruscant so she re-center herself for the battles to come. Surely it can't be long now. Surely, I can see the galaxy to peace for the sake of my padawan.

Luminara knew she wasn't ready to become a Jedi Knight. but she never expected....never saw....

How could she not have seen?

#time is an illusion it doesn't matter that this is a decade-and-a-half old problem #barriss offee #luminara unduli #jedi order #meta #star wars #attack of the clones #the clone wars #see retconning backs us into so many interesting corners!#the odd shapes of these cannon constraints breed fascinating creativity!#(this post brought to you by me rewatching the clone wars right now)

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this-acuteneurosis · 1 year

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You might have partly answered this in sole way or another (either in your fic or on Tumblr) but how would you rate Obi-Wan asa Master to Anakin? There's this Dave Filoni discourse, because in his opinion, Qui-Gon would of been a better teacher had he been the one to train Anakin. In fact he claims that Anakin would of never turned if that was the case, which I don't agree with. What's your take on this? What do you think of Obi-Wan as a Master and his relationship with Anakin? I'd love to hear you thoughts on this.💜

I'm sorry, you asked a very specific question and I have been overwhelmed at the idea that Dave Filoni thought Qui-Gon Jinn would have been a good master for Anakin, and would have prevented him from falling. Did you...did you see that man? Did you see how he never listens to people? How he ignores and dismisses Obi-Wan? How he treats Anakin??? You think Qui-Gon Jinn would have taught Anakin how to listen to other people, and not just steamroll over them with Force powers? You think they wouldn't have fought over right and wrong, and Palpatine couldn't have convinced Anakin that Qui-Gon "I do what I want" Jinn didn't take Anakin seriously??? I...I just...wow. What a different character interpretation. Did we watch the same movie? This explains so much about what I didn't like about TCW.

I think the only way I can talk about Obi-Wan as Anakin's master is to set aside the doomed to failure aspect of the meta knoweldge that Anakin would become Vader. Like, if that is true going in, literally anyone who took on Anakin would have to fail at some point, so lets assume it wasn't inevitable.

I think the opening of AoTC shows a pretty interesting and honestly good relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Anakin is not 100% on board with Jedi teachings, but he's willing to talk to Obi-Wan about his struggles and feelings, and clearly cares about him. So Obi-Wan was just fine from a perspective of being a person who could love Anakin and accept him as imperfect by Jedi standards.

Anakin doesn't seem to struggle with any Force skills, so Obi-Wan was clearly a decent teacher in that respect. Anakin didn't always respect Obi-Wan as a teacher or authority, but it's unclear how much of that is just normal student/teacher tension vs Anakin having power dynamic issues vs Obi-Wan's inexperience in being a teacher and inspiring respect and emulation or obedience.

Obi-Wan's weaknesses were giving Anakin too much leeway in the long run, and not having the political and social savvy to recognize the danger of and prevent Palpatine from getting close to Anakin. Obi-Wan also failed to convince Anakin of the dangers of befriending Palpatine, which...oops. But he probably didn't think the consequences of that friendship would involve Sith levels of catastrophe.

Anyway, I don't think that Obi-Wan should have been Anakin's teacher, but my concern has always been more along the lines of Obi-Wan jumping into the position haphazardly in a moment of grief, without any previous experience, and not because he was a bad mentor or a poor fit for Anakin.

And I wouldn't say that I know who a better option would have been. You could theoretically convince me of just about anyone. I think baby Anakin would have gotten himself attached to anyone who took him in at that point. Someone who actively disliked Palpatine and knew how to make Anakin dislike him or mistrust him obviously would have been the best from a controlling the narrative perspective. I think Aayla Secura would have been an interesting choice from what I casually know about her. Saw someone suggest Kit Fisto and I thought it was fun. I love Plo Koon, maybe that would have worked. Or maybe someone completely different.

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