#dedicated to that one confused obikin anon
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I know you know a ton more about this stuff than I do, but I'm taking a course on Greek history and this one portion is talking about the Illiad and the speech Andromache gives to Hector about him being her father, mother, brother, and husband bc he's the only family she has. And it just makes me think about just how literally everyone takes the "you're like a father to me" line when we should be playing around with it so much more to make it hit that hard
Ἕκτορ ἀτὰρ σύ μοί ἐσσι πατὴρ καὶ πότνια μήτηρ / ἠδὲ κασίγνητος, σὺ δέ μοι θαλερὸς παρακοίτης: / ἀλλ᾽ ἄγε νῦν ἐλέαιρε καὶ αὐτοῦ μίμν᾽ ἐπὶ πύργῳ, / μὴ παῖδ᾽ ὀρφανικὸν θήῃς χήρην τε γυναῖκα:
Nay - Hektor - you who to me are father, mother, brother, and dear husband - have mercy upon me; stay here upon this wall; make not your child fatherless, and your wife a widow (Il. 6.429-32)
Ahhhh this is a very moving parallel you bring up anon, thank you for reminding me of it!! You are right that the implications of it are under explored (the superficial reading of the father line can be.. distracting.. to many of us lol). Obi-Wan and Anakin’s relationship is variously described by each as father and brother, and I think you’re right that it’s not really about claiming literal nuclear family relation.
It’s more like how Andromache isn’t literally calling Hector her mother, but rather is grasping for words emphasize the magnitude of the importance of that person in their life. It’s maybe more like: You’re like a father because I love you. I care about you above others, I need you and want to make you proud. You are dear and essential to me in a way I can never safely put into words, but ‘father’ is close enough to get away with, close enough for you to understand the seriousness of our relationship.
In the Iliad, Andromache is fully dependent on Hector because he is everything she has left after her family died, and she needs him to know that. Using this constellation of family words, emphasizing the bond, it’s beautiful and moving in its original context. In Star Wars, it’s partially due to Qui-Gon dying and leaving Shmi, but really by choice that obikin is so codependent. Obi-Wan dedicated his life to a promise and in the process became too many things to Anakin, and I think he kinda filled too many roles in his life, but left emptiness and confusion too.
The categories of obikin’s relationship all merged and blended and became difficult to keep appropriate, even in canon. The shifting of generation lines, the shifting of boundaries between calling someone father, brother, best friend. You’re family, you’re not family, you’re closer than that, closer than friends, closer than family…It’s too much to put into one person, they’re way too important and have too many contradictory obligations. Like, a father guides and controls, a friend encourages and a brother variously abets and antagonizes.
Because of this role ambiguity, no rebuke from Obi-Wan was therefore fully authoritative, but also no camaraderie existed without a hint of instruction either. It was a recipe for disaster, and it hurt so much because there’s so much love there, love beyond description and classification, but it couldn’t save Anakin from himself, and Obi-Wan was the one left in the role of widow, holding the baby, left behind because of Anakin’s loss to violence, and it’s just…. ugh.
#thank you 💙#I’m in my feelings now thank you lol#Andromache’s rhetorical point is so like… devastating to read#it does kind of haunt you#it’s factually true like he was her family all of it now#but emotionally true as well like he is everything.#ugh#does hit hard#obikin#fanfic stuff#obi-wan kenobi#anakin skywalker#sw
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Obikin Crisis AU Part Four
Read Previous Parts HERE
Star Wars AU #18
Obi-Wan made his way to the public training sallies, nodding in polite acknowledgment at the curious stares and double takes he garnered. At this point rumors of their appearance in this timeline had spread throughout at the temple. And while Anakin’s differences from ‘Ani’ were more stark at first glance, Obi-Wan clearly carried himself differently enough from ‘Obi’ that the contrast was obvious to anyone looking for it.
Anakin had waved him to go on ahead, promising to catch up, as he studied the news of all things.
He walked in to find his and Anakin’s ‘counterparts’ locked in a fierce duel. Which was what he was expecting to find, it was why he was there; he had been looking forward to comparing their dueling forms.
But.
Something about this just instantly put him on edge. Was it simply the strangeness of seeing himself duel from this angle? No, he had watched holo-recordings of himself before for training- there was... something else off putting about this.
Was, was Anakin showing off? It looked, well, different from how he typically showed off, less unnecessary flips and more...flexibility? Yes, that smirk accompanying the full-body split was definitely smug, but it was also decidedly different from any cocky look his Anakin had directed at him before. It was...weird. And made Obi-Wan a little uncomfortable.
And himself! At first he was mostly focused on the favoring of Ataru over Soresu- it was fascinating, but not entirely surprising. He had switched to the more defensive form in response to his failure to save Qui-Gon and his need to watch over a young padawan. It wasn’t shocking that without that impetus, this version of himself would instead continue to refine his mastery of form IV. He was briefly intrigued at the thought of pitting his form iii against his alternate in combat but was quickly distracted by other- irregularities in the form.
Brief puzzlement fell into recognition which dropped immediately into horror. This- he had to be mistaken. There was no way...
Oh sweet force, that was his most flirtatious fighting stance. And not casually flirtatious, either. That was- oh fuck he did the unnecessary-lightsaber-hold-readjustment with hair flick. He was watching himself do the LIGHTSABER HOLD READJUSTMENT HAIR FLICK COMBO at his padawan. With smile. Not the ‘Charming Negotiator’ smile, but the wouldn’t-you-rather-stop-fighting-and-do-something-more-interesting smirk. Oh gods, now he was doing the full body undressing-with-eyes-up-and-down-lookover. At his PADAWAN.
Fortunately he wasn’t quite close enough to hear what they were saying but judging by Ani’s flushed response it was definitely sexual.
He let out a strangled panicking noise and looked around wildly, expecting someone, anyone to intervene. But if any of the other casual combatants in the room were watching they were either oblivious to the depravity before them, or inured to it. He honestly didn’t know which would be worse.
He began slowly backing up, unable to look away from the train wreck in front of him. This was- this was worse than that time Qui-Gon got drugged and started rhapsodizing about Master Tahl’s poise, and he hadn’t been able to make eye-contact with either of them for weeks after that! He stumbled out of the room and fell back against a wall, clutching his chest.
Before he could even regain his bearings, Anakin walked up.
“Are you alright, Master?” He asked somewhat concerned.
Obi-Wan clenched his eyes shut, unable to even look at the innocent boy he had raised and apparently, in this universe, defiled.
“Oh yes, yes, I’m fine, perfectly fine,” Obi-Wan lied. “I was just- thinking about some of the, um, metaphysical implications of travel between universes. Anyway, why don’t we- why don’t we leave the temple for today? See if Dex’s is any better in this universe, what do you say?”
He forced himself to open his eyes, resolutely staring past Anakin’s shoulder and trying to pretend as though his fundamental understanding of himself as a moral being hadn’t been shaken to the core.
“Um, as great as that sounds, Obi-Wan, we’re not really supposed to leave the temple for casual reasons? And we came to the dueling rings to compare our fighting styles with our selves, remember?” Anakin replied slowly. “Come on, I really want to spar ‘Knight Kenobi.’”
Obi-Wan grabbed Anakin’s arm, then let go quickly, pulling back as if burnt. “Absolutely Not!” he said in an overly high pitched voice.
“What?” Anakin said grinning. “Is this you really embarrassingly bad at fighting? I knew my prodigy lightsaber skills had rubbed off on you over the years.”
Obi-Wan winced. “Yes, yes that’s it exactly, I’m- I’m absolutely the worst in the reality, no need to go in there. Lets just, ignore Mace and go out in the city, come on now.”
Obi-Wan flapped his arms wildly at the man, unwilling to make unnecessary body contact after being forced to bear witness to...unnecessary body contact.
Anakin squinted suspiciously. “Ok, I don’t know what exactly you’re so desperate for me not to see, but you do get that I definitely have to see it now.”
Anakin started to stride forward and Obi-Wan threw himself wildly in the way, shoving Anakin back. “Anakin! Don’t ask me to explain why, but please, for the love of the force, do not go in there.”
Anakin got a gleam in his eye and Obi-Wan’s heart sank, realizing there was more or less nothing he could say at this point that would turn the man back now.
“Anakin, don’t-” But it was too late, he had already leapt over Obi-Wan’s head and was now darting inside.
Obi-Wan ran after him, feeling ill.
Anakin managed to make it halfway across the room before skidding to a halt and letting out a strangled squeak. Knowing he was going to regret it, Obi-Wan couldn’t help but follow his gaze. He gasped. Almost incredibly, the combat had gotten even worse in the minutes he had been out of the room. Both of them had inexplicably lost their sabers, and Obi had Ani pinned to the mat face down, arms trapped over ahead.
They were pressed together and panting.
Anakin turned to his Master, looking frightened. “Obi-Wan, what-” he let out, slightly too loud.
Obi-Wan just threw his robe over his former padawan’s head in response and began dragging him away. “I told you not to look” he whisper-shouted.
At this point, their dramatics had gathered the attention of everyone in the room. Their alternate selves had jumped out and were watching them bewildered.
“What is-” Obi tried to ask, but Obi-Wan cut him off, hysterical. “You just- you stay away from us!” he shouted. The dopplegangers exchanged a confused glance.
“Obi- uh, Obi-Wan, seriously, what-” the poor harassed twin of his young apprentice tried to ask, but they were already nearly out the door.
“I’M SORRY!” Obi-Wan shouted back. “I’M SO SORRY!”
#star wars#my au#obikin crisis au#star wars au no 18#star wars au#obikin#NOT obikin#star wars fanfiction#dedicated to that one confused obikin anon#and#@wonderingrealist#for your comment way back when#there IS a part 3 but it just keeps sinking lower in my drafts so fuck it im jumping ahead this is star wars and tumblr#is obi and ani to cutesy? i just want an easy way to distinguish them in conversation and i even came up with a credible backstory#i looked up 'homoerotic wrestling pins' for this and wow was i not disappointed#if anything a lot of them were TOO homoerotic for me to credibly work into a lightsaber battle but food for thought i guess#i had to stop writing this MULTIPLE times because i kept thrashing around giggling
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