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ecargmura · 6 months

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Paradox Live Episode 5 Review - Found Family And Blood Family

What makes a family? That’s the theme of this episode. Two opposing teams, one biological and one found, contemplate on what it means to be family. I do like how there are two perspectives on family from cozmez and Akan Yatsura. It really shows off that anyone can be a family as long as they choose to do so and not take them for granted.

In Akan Yatsura’s case, what family means to them is not losing anyone precious to them ever again after the Suiseki group’s boss died in a raid years ago. Because of this, the group reformed and the group became a new family. As a family, their vibe is much different from TCW. While TCW has a chill vibe, AKYR are very loud and rowdy. The beginning showcases that with Satsuki and Reo fighting as the eldest Hokusai watches, the dad Iori lazes about, and the mom Zen yelling at them to stop fighting. Like both TCW and AKYR, you cannot deny they’re a very harmonious family.

They’re also a found family as they chose to be with each other over being with their biological family. It seems like all the kids in AKYR come from difficult families, which is why they’re so close. Satsuki was abandoned by his biological parents for being too wild. Reo had to separate from his family due to financial difficulties. Hokusai’s father is in prison, and because of that he was isolated from society as he was branded a criminal’s son. They all had rather rough lives, which is why they’re so tight-knit.

The episode is from Satsuki’s perspective as he tells Kanata of cozmez what it means to be family. I think it’s really interesting that the one with the found family is lecturing the one who has biological family. However, what Satsuki says isn’t wrong. Family is precious and cannot be taken for granted. I particularly liked the scene with Reo and Hokusai—the one where Reo mentioned how annoying it is to search for family and feels as if Kanata was overprotective of Nayuta, but Hokusai retorted that he’d do the same if Reo or Satsuki were gone as he gives him a head pat. I think that moment is sweet since Reo did mention that his own family never looked for him, so knowing that Hokusai would search like a madman for him got him all flustered.

Speaking of cozmez, I do wonder something about Nayuta. There’s something that seems a bit…off? I can’t really put it into words and it’s just something I’ve detected. There is something rather cryptic about him. Was he really out on a walk and took a nap? And there’s his words to Kanata when they were arguing. It was as if he wanted Kanata to be free and such. Hm, maybe it’s just my imagination…

Anyways, while Iori and Zen weren’t much of a focus, I can say that they’re fine as fuck. Man, Paradox Live has some QUALITY character designs. Fun fact: all of AKYR are designed by Harada, a well-known BL mangaka; you might know her for her works such as One Room Angel, Yatamomo, Nii-chan, Color Recipe and more. I was quite surprised she designed the entire group because they’re rather unique and a step up from Harada’s usual designs for her original works. Anyways, back onto topic, I quite liked the three kids after watching this episode. Satsuki’s rough around the edges and a bit of a wild child, but he has a good heart. Reo’s adorable and cheeky, but is rather cynical. Hokusai is quiet, but knows how to handle people and situations well; the one thing that surprised me the most about Hokusai was his age; I looked it up and the tall green cabbage man is…24???? Iori and Zen are 28 and 27. Did the creators just throw dartboards to pick their ages or something?

The voice actor choices for all five of AKYR are quite interesting. Iori is voiced by Takayuki Kondo, who’s most known role is being the Japanese VA of Phoenix Wright in the Ace Attorney games. Zen is voiced by Shima, who is an utaite. Hokusai is voiced by Shunichi Toki, a rather rising VA who’s name I’ve seen in several stuff recently—one of his recent roles is voicing Freminet in the Japanese dub of Genshin. Satsuki is voiced by Tasuku Hatanaka, who is known for voicing Yuma Tsukumo from Yugioh Zexal and Reki Kyan from SK8. Reo is voiced by Shougo Yano, who’s most known for voicing Mafuyu Satou from Given. These are quite the interesting voice actor choices and I’m glad to see them because they have interesting rap style. I particularly like Hokusai’s voice the most because it’s soft, sultry and gives him a mysterious vibe.

Their song at the end was actually quite nice. It gives a more…Japanese feel in terms of background sound? I’m also quite surprised how well their voices mesh well together. I really like how they manage to make every group sound distinct from the other.

Also, before I end this review, I want to asks something. Did my ears deceive me or the ramen guy had Junichi Suwabe’s voice? But Suwabe also does the ending song as Buraikan? I know that he voices the black haired guy as he showed up in Episode 3…but ramen guy had white hair while Buraikan guy had black. Are they the same person? Are they twins? Why was there an emphasis on the ramen guy towards the end? Who is he?

I’ll end the review here. I do wonder who the next episode will be about since the title was shrouded in green. What are your thoughts about the episode?

#paradox live #paradox live the animation #akan yatsura #akyr #Iori suiseki #zen gaho #masaki hokusai #Satsuki ito #reo maruyama #cozmez #kanata yatonokami #nayuta yatonokami #review #anime #anime review #arum journal #ecargmura

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valittlecorner · 7 months

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Ok guys I had a busy day but managed to watch the anime rn and OH GOOOOD THAT WAS SO FUCKING COOL‼️‼️ I'm gonna be breaking it down cause oh my god. Spoilers ahead ofc

CGI parts - Oh they ATE here!!! I was absolutely worried about the CGI even if it looked cool on the trailer. They tend to look SCARY or just goofy. But THEY ABSOLUTELY DEVOURED HERE??? The little Bae song in the beginning was really good on its own but the CGI made it 10x better, the phantom illusions look really cool and actually blend together pretty well despise them being really different. Allen's phoenix kept stealing the spotlight tho😭😭. I'm really happy about them still using their existing songs instead of a brand new soundtrack like some franchises do (side eye-ing hypmic), when bang started playing I was genuinely so happy. And now I'm really looking forward to see if they animate some of my faves like Rowdiez, 4 real or Back off plsplsplspls. My finish thoughts here are: This outsold, and if we get a game with the same sort of cgi I would be so so SO happy.

Music! - They had that new Bae song, Rise Up, in the first few seconds. I dare to say it's one of the best I've heard from Bae even if it was just a little part, looking forward to a full release!! I also noticed various instrumentals playing in the bg as they introduced the groups. I was expecting to hear their songs from op show but was surprised to hear songs from random stage battle rounds. Akyr with Outsiderz, Czmz with Ain't no love and Tcw with Faith. That was a pretty cool detail ngl.... I hope to see some new songs for the others apart from Bae. That'd be pretty nice

Characters - Oh they made some intense Bae worldbuilding. We already had a pretty good grasp of their dynamic but they summarized them so well to the newcomers in just a chapter; Allen being hip-hop pilled and a bit goofy, Hajun smiley wangja, Anne in the middle messing with them both. I also really liked the detail of them being in a series of casual clothing, cause imagining everyone having to wear the amount of clothes they wear on stage on a regular basis was seriously hurting my brain. They had various outfit changes and I LOVE that. Good for the animators and charac designers cause having 3 outfit changes for Bae in a single ep was probably a hassle😭😭

Now the negative part.

Story - It is a story indeed!! Ngl, I don't like that paradevi creature at all. It's like a weird vtuber model of MikoshibaKen's fursona (THE VIBES AND COLORS ARE GIVING KENTA). I think it's pretty good for the older fans cause we already know everything, but newcomers would be really lost tbh. They speedran the beginning and gave a really quick context for Buraikan and Club Paradox cause they're only having 12 eps, I get it, but it'll still be confusing I bet. And not being able to see the context of how everyone got the invitation fully fledged out like in the VD, they missed the chance of some key characterization SPECIALLY for the twins. I think akyr and tcw were pretty straightforward but skipping when Kanata was escaping the thugs feels outright criminal, they just showed them there watching the weird creature talk shit THEY MISSED A BIG CHANCE but I still get it. 12 eps. Still frustrates me. They made everything pretty Bae centred as well, which I get cause they're the main gang, but the good thing of Voice Dramas was not having a protag and always being able to see all the povs from all the characters instead of sticking to a single group, that allowed us to know and explore everyone and their traumas individually, and that's missing in this first ep. Maybe it gets better, maybe they're pulling a hypmic having every episode centred around a different group (pretty sure it's this), but so far I was like "oh god this is really confusing". But besides that, I really like it!!!! Miren a mis gatos

Gorjus

Okay that's it thanks

#I REALLY HOPE THEY ANIMATE THE SHUFFLES LIKE at least a lollipop universe cgi performance #then you can end it #drunk allen animated real??????#but pls. so much potential #pararai #paradox live the animation #valittleopinions

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inactivebrightlyphoenix · 4 years

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Thoughts on the new clone wars episode (7x07)

- Kinda felt boring???

- Like don’t get me wrong, I love ahsoka and I’m glad we’re getting Ahsoka content after a whole season and 4 episodes without it but like,,, there are five 25 minute episodes left of the series and the trio just found themselves in the same place in the beginning

- Love how Ursa and Bo were in this and the pieces are falling together to reach to the finale

- But I feel this was just really slowly paced

- To end on a positive note, I really do like how the writers are not holding back with giving the characters a dislike towards the jedi and when Rafa talked about their parents and how Luminara (??) just said “We didn’t have much of a choice and may the force be with you.” I feel that finally hit hard for Ahsoka and not because their parents died but because Ahsoka knew Luminara and hell, she even fought with her but even Ahsoka got the half-assed apology from the Jedi once and she could feel more empathetic than sympathetic towards the Martez sisters.

- But also to end on a final note, fuck the jedi!

#Ahsoka Tano #Trace Martez #Rafa Martez #Luminara Unduli #The Clone Wars #Star Wars #phoenix watches tcw

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seaofashes · 3 years

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Tag 9 people you want to get to know better

Tagged by @hellishgoat thank you Theo!

Favorite color: differs all the time but I like greens, blues, darker reds & purples and greyish silvers!

Currently reading: Greater Good by Timothy Zahn!!! Been on a Thrawn book kick lately so I'm reading through the books :) I mean I've read some already but for others it was my first time reading and its been fun!

Last song: Phoenix from LoL I can't actually remember who sings it

Last series: I mean I've really watched nothing but tbb and tcw as of late so 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sweet savory or spicy: depends on the mood, rn I'm in the mood for savory tho the past week

Last movie: Black Widow

Tea or Coffee: Teaaa

Craving: nothing :/

Currently working on: Thrawn and OCs pic

Tagging: @earthlogy @sibbismullet @evergreenevie @havocmarauder @nahoney22 @obiwansjedi @queenevac @jessesriduur [no pressure tags!]

#as usual you don't have to do this if you don't want to #tag games #things i'm tagged in #random not fandom #ik a lot of people have tagged me in this lately and I'm sorry I'm just now getting to one jfhfgg

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allensugasano · 3 years

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We the BAE

Okosu guerrilla

TCW in your area

Cozmez gonna take it all

Akkan yatsura ga burn it all

Hey, Oh!! ×4

Nani mono demo nakatta

Oretachi ga (bang bang bang)

Nari agaru tame ni

Hiita trigger

I'm getting bigger bigger

No one can't stop me now

Moeru SUZAKU the phoenix

Watch me now!

Dobunezumi ika annyong bonjin

Dope na lyric kikasu you know yonpachi

Hey my sainou wa far beyond

Tsuite kuru nara c'mon sarangheyo

Hey yo fashion mo beats mo so latest

AnZ no antena always greatest

Fxxk the racist I don't need no fake ass

Boku no sensu wa itsumo hikatteru

Gurasu ni koukyuu na liquor

Kuyuraseru cigar

Nisemono wa doki na

Riaru na hiphop ga dinner

Sutairu ga nee yatsu kyoumi nashi

Tsukenee oriai maru de kouri gashi

Hard na rap game dare ni mo kobinai

Itadaki made tayasanu kibou no oto

Tsunagete miseyou hito to hito wo (TCW)

Keiken ni motozuku firosofii to

Jidai o koete mo nao

Kesshite yuruganu puraido

Dare ni mo kizukarezu kieteku shabondama

Mitai na boku ni ibasho wo kureta kara

TCW for life fusagi kondeta

Kachi zero no boku ni

Kibou o kureta kara

Hiita kaado no jookaa no

Shoutai Ryuu-kun kamo ne yeah

Bakkuyaado ni ochiteru dark shadow yeah

Ah oshiete yo seijou ni ugoku pasuwaado

Uso ga shinjitsu ni naru koto mo aru kamo ne

Yami wo terashita hitosuji no one light

Yume no hazama te ni shita one mic

Korogari dashita bokutachi no one life

Never gonna stop ne never gonna stop!

Hey!

Look around the town

There's so many bight lights

Dare ga tsukamu eikou no spotlight

Subete o kaketa gyakusetsu no showtime

We take you to the top!

Welcome to the dope world

Paradox live do or die

Teppen kassarau ze rap guerrilla

Me ni mono misete yaru ze ride on

We are the number one hiphop tribe y'all

Hey, Oh!! ×4

Mata kono suteeji jou jigoku o miseyou

Nani mo nai basho kawaranai kako

Hajimari kara itsumo

Mite kita no wa donzoko

Orera futari igai wa shinjinee

Hoka no yatsura wa kuchidashi sun janee

Aitsura ga yatten no wa hiphop janee

Mamagoto ja kega sun zo hikkon doke

Damare shabazou ga guwan guwan iwasu okuba

Rattatta odore janakya hoisassa kiena

Ichibante kiri gakaru MC Gaia

Monku areba koi ya kenka joutou da ze

Gyakkyou ga migaku body and soul

I'm a gazen seisei doudou shinken shoubu

Waka no tame nara kono mitosu no fusoku wanai

Shinnen to kinniku wa uso tsukanai

Ja ja jan tte tobidashite kakeru mahou

Amai face de wink shitara ichikoro desho

Tenshi yori mo kyuuto de akuma kyuu no chuudoku

Itsu datte yappa boku ga number one

Ah koneko da kawaii

Mujaki na kyoudai tachi mo kawaii

Ii ko ii ko mamoru mono aru

Family no tame nara taigaa ni naru

Yeah chi yori koi jikan ga musunda kizuna

Tsuyokute warui yatsu no sentou ore ga riidaa yo

Hona gokigen ni tsuke ni iko ka otoshimae

Orera nanbaa nanban (number one)

Akkan yatsura!

Yami wo terashita hitosuji no one light

Yume no hazama te ni shita one mic

Korogari dashita oretachi no one life

Never gonna stop ne never gonna stop!

Hey!

Look around the town

There's so many bight lights

Dare ga tsukamu eikou no spotlight

Subete o kaketa gyakusetsu no showtime

We take you to the top!

Welcome to the dope world

Paradox live do or die

Teppen kassarau ze rap guerrilla

Me ni mono misete yaru ze ride on

We are the number one hiphop tribe y'all

Hey, Oh!! ×4

Paradox live do or die

Teppen kassarau ze rap guerrilla

Me ni mono misete yaru ze ride on

We are the number one hiphop tribe y'all

Hey, Oh!! ×8

#thoughts on him #asks #long post

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doopcafe · 4 years

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Star Wars Rebels: The Protector of Concord Dawn (2x13)

Summary: Hera’s injured when her plan backfires, so Kanan and Sabine try to convince some asshole Mandalorians to join their cause.

Comments: Why does Sabine feel responsible for Hera getting shot up? Because it was her idea to go ask the Mangalorians for help?

Also... how did Hera jump to hyperspace with only half a ship? I know she’s a good pilot, but...?

Also, why didn’t the Phoenix squadron fight back? They just sorta flew around for awhile until they died.

Uhm, also, upon their return, everyone is suddenly onboard with the plan of destroying these Mandalorians... But, uh, what? The two options were only to try diplomacy or try to destroy them completely? Did I miss something? They’re just looking for an alternative hyperspace route, right?

Anyways, that’s enough. I have a robot in the lab that has an arm that looks like Chopper’s and when he swings that thing around and hits Ezra in the leg... lemme just tell you that that hurts real bad and Ezra’s gonna have a bruise for at least a week.

Sabine sneaks aboard the Phantom with Kanan and at first I was about to make a criticism (what kind of TCW “Force” BS is this?) when the show addresses that concern, so that was nice.

Anyways, this was a nice mom-daughter side adventure episode with some backstory of Sabine. She claims she’s House Vizsla, her mother was Death Watch... do we know her mother? Guess that’ll probably come up again.

In conclusion, they captured the Mandalorian guy and Hera’s gonna be just okay.

#pie211-swr #swr #star wars rebels #star wars

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magic-owl · 5 years

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i wish these had numbers to not take up room but alas: what is your absolute favorite ship? what’s a ship you like that most people don’t? what is the most underrated ship, in your opinion? (choose any of your fave pairings for the following bc I'm curious about all your faves) rate [pairing] from 1-10 and explain why. what’s your favorite headcanon of [pairing]? what’s your favorite canon moment of [pairing]? favorite AU ideas for [pairing]? what song(s) remind you of [pairing]?

Thank you my dear! You are my Star Wars Friend so I’ll keep it SW focused (if you wanted to ask this to solely find out what else I liked BESIDES SW sorry lol just let me know and I can redo it). This got long because turns out I have a lot to say about my ships so answers under the cut!!! xD

Absolute favorite ship: This one’s kinda hard but I’m gonna have to go with Obi Wan/Anakin! I also like them a lot as a trio with Padmé, but overall I gotta say these two are just my faves? Why? Because they are such a M E S S and gosh I just love them so much. Ppl say they don’t like each other very much but come on, have you watched the TCW, have you watched RotS, they’re the greatest team there ever was, they’re constantly fretting and worrying about each other, they’re always teasing (the constant banter omg boys pls) at each other and hyping the other up and believing in each other and Ahsoka literally calls them her adoptive guardians in the Ahsoka novel, that’s how much of a family they were and ugh they’re just so married. And they’re such a TRAGEDY and it breaks my heart and it’s delicious to watch because in the final fight it’s just heartbreaking betrayal because through it all they love each other so much and that’s WHY they’re so furious with each other because to them it feels like the ultimate betrayal. Even after (when after everything, Obi Wan still loved Anakin too much to kill him himself) they’re constantly on the other’s mind, and ugh the pain hurts but in such a good way, and how in the end Anakin did the right thing and Obi Wan was RIGHT THERE to help guide him back to the light in spirit and now they can rest happily together for eternity (with some spare stressing about, ya know, Kylo Ren and the impending return of Sidious, but never mind all that). and on top of that, it’s my fave because I also absolutely love their relationship platonically as well, as much as I LIKE to see them together, it’s not necessary for me because they have such an enjoyable dynamic. *coughs* Sorry, so yea, they’re my disaster faves! 😅

A ship I like that most people don’t: See above lol. I get aspects of the Obikin ship can be problematic in the whole power dynamic and age difference thing, but I’ve only ever shipped it after Anakin was knighted as an adult when there’s literally not a problem with it (it was weird for me because I watched the prequels totally out of order. I actually saw the TCW cartoon FIRST and then I saw RotS and then I didn’t watch the first two for a while after that because I was a fool and listened to prequel bashers who said the first two weren’t good, so when I started shipping them as adults that was all I saw them as). To be honest, for the most part the PT fandom is done with the drama since ya know, like a good half of the SW general fandom still hates us, so no one’s really vocal about not liking it and our shipping community is mostly left to ourselves, but every once in a while I’ll come across a joke post/fanart of the two and OP will be all snarky in the notes like “tag as a ship and I’ll come after you with my spiked bat” (someone’s exact words btw) and it’s like ok jeez, do not interact then, was minding my own business dude...

My most underrated ship: Hmmmm....... Gonna have to go between Luke/Ezra and Satine/Padmé. Skybridger I understand since they’ve literally never met in canon, but come ON, they’d get along like a house on fire and argh they should have met, it would be great. I honestly don’t get why Pads and Satine aren’t more of a thing (THEY DON’T EVEN HAVE AN OFFICIAL SHIPNAME ;_; ) cuz c’mon they’re the subtler explosive yin to Obi and Ani’s wildfire yang. They get along great and work together really well, and they both seem to have a type. I am doing them a little better in my new OT4 fic, and I hope ppl like it!!! Ya know what, I’m also gonna add Kaeden (cute girl from the Ahsoka novel!) and Ahsoka because even if a lot of ppl actually ship them, they hardly have any content and neED MORE DANGIT THEY WERE SO CUTE!!!!!!!

Gonna go with Obikin for all the following ones cuz I haven’t had the chance to gush about my boys in a while and you’ve opened Pandora’s box

Rate them from 1-10: 10, plus a hundred more points because I love them, then subtract that hundred again cuz Anakin is an gotdang idiot who ruined it and now they both make me cry. My scoring reasons are that they make me feel all the emotions and I love them Ever So Much and argh.

Fave headcanon: Oh boy, I’ve got a couple actually!

Whenever they’re talking/arguing over the phone, they’re always subconsciously mirroring each other’s actions even when they can’t see what the other is doing. It’s kinda creepy because you’ll hear yelling and it’ll look like one of them’s talking to an invisible person in front of them when it’s actually each other.

There has been multiple instances of them both getting injured in battle because they were distracted watching the other be a total badass (not that either will admit it)

Neither of them are morning people. AT ALL. Obi Wan actually has self-discipline and is able to get up with an alarm and crankily drag them both up, but both are almost impossible to deal with until they’ve had caffeine in them, and it’s been established that unless you want to risk murder, neither of them talks in the morning until caffeine has been provided.

There has been many, many cases of accidentally taking the other’s robe and not realizing it but thinking to themselves that said robe feels more comforting than usual today.

A mutually drunken arm wrestling match absolutely turned into a mutually drunken makeout once. Neither can remember it, and they wonder why some of the clones have been acting funny all week.

Half of the Temple thinks they’re already dating.

Ok I’ll stop it here

Fave Canon Moment: Ughhh, this is HARD. I really like the “any closer and you’d be kissing it” line in TCW, basically any moment in TCW when one of them refers to Ahsoka as “OUR padawan”, the extra long stares and unnecessary touches they give each other in TCW, the elevator scene in RotS movie (THE NOVEL MAKES IT A MILLION TIMES BETTER), also in RotS the way Anakin is half-ready to straight up fight Palpatine when he suggests leaving Obi Wan behind to die, the RotS “No loose wire jokes” bit, the RotS “Roger. Roger.” bit (OKAY JUST THE WHOLE FIRST HALF OF THIS RIDICULOUS MOVIE), the way Vader built his big stupid castle where they had their breakup, the way he’s constantly mentioning Obi Wan when the convo wasn’t even about him, seeing them together again at the end of RotJ (whoops you asked for one, you get MANY SCENES)

Fave AU ideas: Again, there’s a couple!

Superpower AU: Can’t decide whether I’d put this in canon or modern. Most powers in this AU are stolen from inspired by X-Men, DC, and other popular media, so I’m torn between Anakin having Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix style powers while Obi Wan had a variation on Rogue’s with additional energy manipulation. OR it would be a thing where Anakin could commune with the dead a la Klaus from Umbrella Academy while Obes had sort of Avatar-style wind/flight powers. (Both are relevant for different plots).

Sith AU: I know these are far from unpopular in the SW fandom, but the way I’d do it would be to try and write two stories at once, update one every other week so one update a week total. The stories would what would happen if either of them became the Sith Apprentice after the events of Episode 1, and how their dynamic would be during Ep 2 and The Clone Wars with one of them on the other side. It’s funny because the way I’ve plotted it, the Sith!Ani fic would have very big Good Omens vibes, while the Sith!Obi one would have very strong Under the Red Hood vibes, so two VERY different dynamics going on xD

WWII Spies: This is one I 100% plan to write someday, even tho it is a very long time from now. It’s basically following Anakin as an American naval pilot who got injured in a crash and discharged. He still wants to serve and eventually his talent gets him into the intelligence end of the war and sent to Europe where he meets Ben, who’s been working with British intelligence since it broke out, and sparks fly. I’m kind of cheating here cuz as of now this is an Obianidala story, not just Obikin, but it’s one I’m very excited for

Phantom of the Opera AU: This idea I had when I realized that Anakin as Vader is kinda a Lot like the Phantom, but he’s also a Lot like Christine too. So it turned into Anakin as a talented ballet dancer getting preyed on by Palpatine!Phantom (there is NO romance there, Palpy is a total creep and will be treated as such) with Obi Wan as a combination of Raoul and Madame Gery and I have a bunch of ideas and idk if it’s gonna be an actual thing, but I want it to.

Shapeshifter AU: Canon, not very complicated but they can all shift into animals. Obi Wan is a kind of cougar panther cat with a fluffy ginger tail, and Anakin is a big grumpy black Krayt Dragon with a stump for a front leg.

Not A Jedi!AU: One in canon in which set like the Sith!AU, two different stories exploring how their dynamic would be if one of them wasn’t found by the Order. As of now, I’ve got Anakin as the warrior pirate prince of Tatooine, after having grown up and staged a slave rebellion, then promptly put his mother on the throne, and Obi Wan’s there to negotiate something during TCW and things happen. For the Obi Wan one, he’s a political journalist and war correspondent who keeps on running into Anakin’s assignments and popping up where he’s stationed and Anakin has to keep this idiot from getting himself killed/stop asking me annoying questions that criticize the Jedi and the government.

Dark!AU: A kind of morbid canon divergent fic where Padmé dies early and unexpectedly (Palps didn’t plan it). Anakin goes off the rails and Obi Wan agrees to go with him on a murder vengeance roadtrip to try and keep him from Falling or the Sith from getting to him. He kinda fails and they both Fall in a way and it ends with them hunting down Sidious’ players one by one. I’m not entirely sure I want to continue with this tho because it plays strongly on the Fridged Woman trope, which I can’t stand. I’d have to figure out how to give Padmé some sort of active role after her death...

Songs to describe them: There’s a couple (I could have very well gone cranky but I decided to do (mostly) serious))(also my music taste kinda stinks)

Icarus— Bastille

Anna Sun— WALK THE MOON

Animal I Have Become— Acoustic cover by Vitamin String Quartet (original by Three Days Grace) (seriously y’all listen it’s sooooo gooooood)

Warriors— Imagine Dragons

My Demons— STARSET

Ignorance— Paramore

Set Fire to the Rain— Adele

Stubborn Love— The Lumineers

How to Save A Life— The Fray (yes i am aware it is stereotypical angst song leave me Alone it FITS)

Viva la Vida— Coldplay (tbh this fits like the entire PT but I liked it)

Raised by Wolves— U2 (another more PT-centric, but this one works dangit)

Bonus Broadway Song! : Confrontation from Les Miserables (now that ya think of it, that would be a pretty good AU too.....)

Bonus Broadway Song! : The Tango Maureen from Rent (I always imagined this one as Obi Wan and Padmé about Anakin, but it would be about something other than cheating cuz canon has established Anakin views cheating as a worse crime than murder, so yea)

Bonus Broadway Song! : Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better (aight this one’s mostly a joke but come ON don’t tell me that’s not completely them xD)

#owl gets an ask #long post #wolf-skins

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shadowsong26fic · 5 years

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Coming Attractions!

Hey, guess who’s on time for once! First Monday of the month, means another Coming Attractions post hurray!

Also, not fic, but my meta blog is up and running! Stuff is not super in order, as I just sort of grabbed things as I found them when I was copying stuff over from here and my personal tumblr, but every post is tagged with when it was originally posted. A lot of it is SW-related, since that’s where my head’s been for a while now, but some of it is other fandoms or my original stuff.

Anyway, moving on to fic updates!

Precipice:

As per usual, I’m not quite where I wanted to be, but I feel like I’m starting to gather some momentum now--the next chapter should be out probably tomorrow or the next day. After this arc, like I think I’ve mentioned before, I’m probably going to break off into a second fic, for reasons of length/convenience/a longer timeskip than usual/there’s a bit of a shift in pacing and tone starting with Arc Eight.

More or less: Arc 8’s working title is Escalation; and will line up with Rogue One and at least part of ANH. I have things more or less plotted out through Arc 14 (working title Endgame, though I may feel compelled to change that because MCU) which will line up with ROTJ and cover Palpatine’s final defeat. From there, I do actually have plans for further arcs/storylines relating to the aftermath of the war/rebuilding, in part to make this a Trilogy, in part because Arc 14 will leave a fair number of loose ends to tie off, and in part because I Want To, but my plans there are a lot vaguer. This is at least partly because I don’t have as many Events I can use as signposts while I’m constructing my plot, but also because I’m starting to waffle a bit on one key plot point that’s currently supposed to happen towards the end of Arc 14, which will have a major impact on events moving forward if I change it…so IDK.

Aaaaanyway. I’m hoping to get at least three chapters out in July, but we’ll see. It at least partly depends on how long the chapter after this week’s takes me. Which, on a related note, there’ll probably be at least one bonus fic (depending on how many different versions of said chapter I go through and how far I get on each one, which will probably make sense in context once said chapter is up), so keep an eye out for that.

Also, I keep getting/giving Hints about Dr. Naar’s backstory, so maybe something with him? IDK, we’ll see what happens.

Fun stuff in the pipeline, anyway!

Other SW fic:

I put up a companion to The Devoted earlier this month. There’ll probably be more eventually, but I’m not sure exactly what or when…

Also, more Valdemar AU! Specifically, Obi-Wan being Chosen. I do enjoy this AU and I should write more of the actual, y’know, Story, as opposed to these backstory bits…well, maybe I’ll get some more out this month, we shall see.

I swear I really do intend to get back to one of my AU outlines at some point, lol. The likeliest candidates at this point are continuing Ventress, or the Mask of Zorro/California Gold Rush Fusion No One One Person Asked For, or finally getting back to Let’s Go Steal a Crossover.

our faces like a mirror continues to be slow-going…I’m no longer sure that I’ll actually get any of it done/posted before the new TCW episodes come out and possibly joss large chunks of it. I have also decided that I don’t particularly care—if I do get jossed, unless the new content really appeals to me, I’m going to keep going with things the way I have them planned out and just make a note that I’m excluding things. Anyway, this project might get deferred and be my SWBB project for next year, but we shall see.

Still poking at Distaff and Auxiliaries and Phoenix!verse, I swear…haven’t made much/any progress this past month, but there will be more at some point. I genuinely plan for that, anyway. Also tentatively working on a Greek-mythology inspired piece that hat might be a Halloween fic for this year, if I can get it to work the way I want it to.

Non-SW Projects:

I didn’t get any origfic done in June, but hoping July will be better. Maybe the giant Kesshare character study saturation, if I can actually get that done, or some Lux content, or actually getting more of Untitled Intrigues Story polished and posted…or going back to one of my other projects that I haven’t posted anywhere, IDK. Something.

I’d like to say I might get back into actively writing BSG again this month, because a couple of my old AUs have been bouncing around in my brain lately, but I’m not sure I’ll actually follow through, lol. Looking at this list, I already have quite a bit up there…but who knows.

(Mainly Serenissima, which I’ve crossposted here a few times even though it’s been a couple years since there was any new content; I’ve also been considering rewriting For Sorrow Sung, because it’s super messy and I could do better now, whether I stuck with that particular premise or one of the other ones I built around Atia’s existence in an otherwise canon-aligned timeline (…look, I make AUs of my AUs, it’s a Thing even when I don’t have OCs involved); and also The Other Battlestar, which I had a few things written here and there but never really posted…anyway, to close out this month’s update, here’s a teaser snippet from that last AU (that I wrote like 5+ years ago and came across recently which maaaaay be why it’s waking up; this is unedited from where I found it) because Why Not:

She was reassembling her gun after cleaning it, calm and efficient. Baltar watched her hands, smooth, elegant; beautiful, even. Just like him, to find beauty even here.

She picked up the clip and looked up at him at last.

“You are here, Doctor,” she said, “because your expertise and experience are vital to our efforts. But there is a limit to what I can tolerate, even from you. Do I make myself clear?”

He felt Six’s arms twine around his neck, a hair’s breadth from snapping it, felt her breathing in his ear, but he couldn’t take his attention of Cain’s hands as she slid the clip back into place.

“Crystal.”

#coming attractions #miscellania

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gffa · 7 years

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been meaning to do it for awhile, but following this blog made me wanna see some more star wars stuff so I just binged the first two seasons of Star Wars Rebels and having just finished the second one, will spend the next hour screaming about Ahsoka and Vader

I’m glad I could help encourage you into the bigger world of Star Wars material! There’s a lot of really good stuff and while it can sometimes be a little overwhelming to try to get through it all, there’s so much that’s worth the struggle for!I really like Rebels because it’s a show I care about and it helps expand a lot about the GFFA, but I don’t have to pour as much of myself into it as, say, when I watch the Saga movies or TCW, where I want to examine every little piece of it. Sometimes I can just watch it, without having to write long responses to it! This is just me, obv.! I’m happy to read others’ Rebels responses, just that I generally don’t have a ton myself. Sometimes it’s nice to have a low-investment (as much as anything with Star Wars can be low investment for me XD) that’s really good.Season one is probably still my favorite for Rebels (there was a really great sense of humor about it that I loved) but OH MAN THE AHSOKA AND VADER STUFF IS REALLY GOOD IN S2. I enjoyed s3 as well, shit started getting really serious and Sabine’s arc got even better, and so far I’ve greatly enjoyed s4 as well.I HOPE YOU SCREAM ABOUT AHSOKA AND VADER AND THE PHOENIX FAMILY SOME MORE. ♥

#Anonymous

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phoenixyfriend · 2 years

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okay but if you think about it really Reva IS in the Disaster Lineage because sure she wasn't Anakin's padawan, but Vader made her. broke her. forged her. built her. and then sent her across the galaxy to watch her burn. And if that isn't the closest that Darth Vader could come to having a padawan in those days idk what is?

Fun fact, despite reblogging plenty of analysis and making posts about it, I still haven't watched Kenobi.

#I also haven't watched E5&6 or most of TCW or any of Rebels or Mandalorian or BOBF or TBB #star wars #phoenix answers asks #kenobi show

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phosphorescent-naidheachd · 7 years

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So I am woefully behind on my dash and thus all The Best Blogs such as your own, but please tell me: What were your thoughts about Twin Suns? Please feel free to refer me to a post if you already made one.

*blushes* Thank you! And sorry for taking so long to reply to this! Apparently I had even more thoughts on “Twin Suns” than I’d initially thought.

Rebels 3x20: “Twin Suns” has its weaknesses, but I really enjoyed it overall. As you may be aware, I’m a fan of Obi-Wan (yes, yes, I know, ~shock~), so I spent pretty much the entire time I watched the episode clapping my hands in glee (albeit softly, so as not to drown out what was happening) because Obi-Wan was on my screen again. I mean, you’re talking to the person who gets excited every time canon makes the slightest of oblique references to him, so…¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I’ve also always been All About Those Parallels™ and this episode abounds with them. The most obvious, of course, are the ones that mirror Qui-Gon’s death sequence in TPM, and I found this fitting for several reasons. First and foremost, I love it because it brings Maul and Obi-Wan’s story full circle. By setting their fight amidst the desolate sand dunes of Tatooine, Obi-Wan and Maul meet for the last time where the audience met Maul for the first time – something which the show explicitly underlines in 3x10: “Visions and Voices: “it ends where it begun… a desert planet… with twin suns”. (In fact, for all we know, the setting of Obi-Wan and Maul’s final encounter might even be somewhere in the Xelric Draw, which, according to Legends canon, is where Qui-Gon and Maul first met and fought. If you look at this map, you’ll notice that the Xelric Draw covers a wide swath of the space between Obi-Wan’s hut and Mos Espa, so it’s not improbable that Obi-Wan might travel there by dewback.)

In contrast to our introduction to Maul, however, which took place under the heat of a midday sun, our last glimpse of him takes place at night under the stars; Obi-Wan and Maul are at the end of their journey together and so – ostensibly, anyway! – are Maul and the audience.

Just as day and night contrast, so too do Obi-Wan and Maul, both when compared to their younger selves and when compared to each other. Both characters have gone through enumerable events in the three decades since they first met one another, all of which have shaped them… but at the end of the day, Obi-Wan has grown and changed in a way that Maul hasn’t. One of the first things Maul says in TPM is the following: ”At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge.“ And at the end of “Twin Suns”, his last line is “He…will…avenge us.”

For all that Maul scolded Ezra about refusing to break free from the chains of his past in “Visions and Voices”, Maul is still focused on revenge – still focused on Obi-Wan; in the end, it’s all he has left to give his life purpose. Obi-Wan, on the other hand, has moved on from their grudge match and is focused on the future – on Luke. He is no longer the hot-headed padawan or the crusading knight that Maul knew; he is a guardian, and thus it is only when Luke is threatened that Obi-Wan deigns to fights Maul. Luke is, after all, Obi-Wan’s sole remaining tie to Anakin, his sole remaining purpose for existing… and seemingly his sole remaining hope for a better future.

At the same time, however, the two characters have a great deal in common. Obi-Wan and Maul have always been foils to one another. Both are Force Sensitive children who were taken and raised by their respective Orders, thus setting their feet on the paths to their respective destinies. Both had brothers that were destroyed by Sidious’ machinations and both are deeply lonely as a result. Now, both are relics of a past that has already passed into legend for most of the galaxy; they are old men who have no place in this new world – this new Empire – and have consequently been hiding in exile for the past seventeen years. Obi-Wan has long been aware that they have some commonalities (see some of his comments in TCW 5x16: “The Lawless”) and I think Maul is aware too… he just refuses to acknowledge as much until he’s dying. (Honestly, I’ve always gotten the impression that he’s subconsciously a bit jealous of Obi-Wan and that that is one of the roots of his resentment towards him, but that’s a conversation for another day.)

“He…will…avenge us,” Maul says with his dying breath. Us. Although they belong to very different traditions and have made very different choices, Maul tacitly acknowledges that at the end of the day, they both belong to a way that has vanished, and that this experience bonds them together. It is my personal opinion that both men are tired of fighting by this point – it’s simply that Maul doesn’t know any other way. He seeks out Obi-Wan because it gives his life renewed purpose, and he fights Obi-Wan because that is what he has always done. No matter which of them wins the fight, Maul gets what he wants – either the defeat of his nemesis or a release from his own suffering.

In a sense, Maul has been occupying a liminal space between life and death ever since Obi-Wan cut him in half in TPM. When we first re-meet him in TCW 4x21: “Brothers”, Maul is emaciated and utterly deranged. As TCW progresses, Maul regains some of his sanity and ambition – and his brother! – only to lose them again. At this point in Rebels, just as when Oppress first found him in TCW, Maul has lost all sense of self and purpose, his own spite and a burning desire for revenge against Obi-Wan (and Sidious) the only things keeping him alive. He lacks hope.

Fortunately for Maul, Obi-Wan is heavily associated with hope in Star Wars; does “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope” ring any bells? ;-) That said, Obi-Wan is associated with sorrow as much as he is with hope. Perhaps nowhere is this peculiar combination encapsulated as well as in that oft-quoted excerpt from James Luceno’s Legends novel, Labyrinth of Evil: “And you, Master. What does your heart tell you you’re meant for?”“Infinite sadness,” Obi-Wan said, even while smiling.”

We see this theme repeatedly play out in Rebels. The two most blatant examples of Obi-Wan being linked with sorrow are when Maul uses Ezra’s suffering to lure Obi-Wan out of hiding (“Your pain, your sorrow… it calls to him”) and portions of Obi-Wan’s holocron message (“I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen, with a dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place […] Do not return to the Temple…that time has passed.”). Meanwhile, Obi-Wan repeatedly acts as an embodiment of hope for at least three of our main characters: Kanan (“This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi. Trust in The Force […] we must persevere. And in time, a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you, always.”), Maul (“As for myself, I seek something much simpler, yet equally elusive… Hope. […] I see him! […] He lives!”), and Ezra (“The answer to my question of how to destroy the Sith is Obi-Wan Kenobi.”).

Obi-Wan’s sorrow and hope both come to the forefront during his brief appearance in this episode. Maul’s unnecessary death is tragic in and of itself to Obi-Wan, but the way in which it mirrors Qui-Gon’s death and the fight that preceded it only adds to the pain he feels. And although he undoubtedly has hope for Ezra and the Rebellion after safely seeing the boy off (just look at the faint smile on his face before Maul starts to speak again), there’s something incredibly sad about his parting words to Ezra: “That is your way out. Your way home.” Obi-Wan can’t go home anymore – his home no longer exists. Yet still he clings to hope.

“Look what I have risen above,” Obi-Wan says in response to Maul’s taunting. And that’s Obi-Wan in a nutshell, isn’t it? He’s far from perfect, but despite all the blows life has dealt him, he perseveres and continues to choose the Light. In their previous confrontation in “The Lawless”, he told Maul, “You can kill me, but you will never destroy me”, and this holds true throughout Obi-Wan’s life and beyond. Obi-Wan is sorrow, yes, but he is also hope – and although hope can be shattered, it rises anew from the wreckage each time, a phoenix from the ashes. And hope is indeed “more powerful than you can possibly imagine”.

A related recurring Star Wars theme found in “Twin Suns” is that ‘it’s always darkest before dawn’. It is only after Ezra has given up on finding Obi-Wan, collapsing of heatstroke/dehydration/exhaustion next to a powered-down Chopper, that he achieves his objective. Although Maul dies, he does so with a glimmer of hope that the “Chosen One” will balance the cosmic scales. One might even call it a new hope. ;-) Meanwhile, we literally see this theme played out at the end of the episode, with the dark night fading away into pale morning mist, Tatooine’s twin suns hanging partway up in the sky as Beru calls for Luke (presumably to come back in for breakfast?), the titular new hope.

Speaking of the Chosen One… Ughhh, I’ve hated that prophecy ever since it first popped up in TPM. Can I believe that several key individuals in-universe bought into said prophecy? Absolutely. But honestly, “bring balance to the Force”? I know prophecies are always vague and therefore can be interpreted twelve thousand different ways, but come on. This ties into Star Wars’ problem where it can’t quite make up its mind as to what the Force is, let alone what the Light and Dark sides of it mean or what “balance” would look like. One could argue that we’re not supposed to understand it any more than the characters do – all of whom having differing beliefs on the subject – but I personally think it’s sloppy storytelling rather than an artistic choice. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if TLJ clears any of this up.

…But I’ve gotten off-topic here. The Chosen One. *sighs* Up until TCW’s Mortis arc, I was happy to believe that the prophecy was only true insofar as characters’ perceptions of and reactions to it, but TCW more or less put paid to that when it had literal manifestations of the Force declare Anakin the Chosen One. I can still headcanon my way around that, but I’m pretty sure the canonical intention is for the prophecy to be a legitimate thing. So, working from that interpretation…

I know there’s been a lot of debate post “Twin Suns” about the implications of Obi-Wan’s statement that Luke is the Chosen One – does this mean that Anakin was never the Chosen One in the first place? does this mean that there’s more than one Chosen One? – but I think a lot of viewers are overlooking the simplest explanation, which is that although Obi-Wan may believe that Luke could be the Chosen One, it doesn’t necessarily follow that he is the Chosen One.

Obi-Wan canonically places a great deal of hope – and pressure! – on Luke’s shoulders throughout the Original Trilogy, so a belief that Luke is the Chosen One would dovetail nicely with that behavior. For instance, with that belief in mind, his comment to Luke in RotJ takes on a new meaning: “Then the Emperor has already won. You were our only hope”. This complete and utter focus on Luke to the exclusion of Leia would make a bit more sense if Obi-Wan sincerely believes that Luke is the true Chosen One. (Though that still doesn’t answer the question why Obi-Wan would think Luke must be the Chosen One rather than Leia. *rolls eyes*) Moreover, it is makes sense that Obi-Wan would no longer believe that Anakin/Vader is the Chosen One. By the time we reach the Original Trilogy, Obi-Wan appears to have given up on Anakin. In his mind, the moment that “the good man who was” Anakin turned to the Dark Side, Darth Vader “betrayed and murdered” him. In Obi-Wan’s mind, submerging the galaxy into darkness is incompatible with bringing “balance to the Force” a la the Chosen One prophecy; therefore, Anakin either lost his status as the Chosen One when he became a Sith or he was never truly the Chosen One to begin with.

Another possibility is that Obi-Wan, master of “half-truths and hyperbole” as he is, is merely trying to give a dying Maul some form of comfort and hope. After all, he never outright says that Luke is the Chosen One – his reply of “he is” in answer to Maul’s question (“Is he the Chosen One?”) certain implies that he’s referring to the person he’s all but admitted to protecting (i.e. Luke), but we all know that Obi-Wan sometimes has a casual relationship with the truth, especially when he thinks his obfuscation will serve a greater good. It would be just like Obi-Wan to intentionally give a vague reply that he knows someone will read an incorrect message into; after all, it’s not like he’s lying… And ironically enough, this is another way in which Obi-Wan parallels Maul. Obi-Wan’s line to Ezra that Maul “used your desire to do good to deceive you” and “manipulated the truth” could just as easily apply to himself, what with his “the truth is often what we make of it” and “from a certain point of view” way of looking at the world.

But honestly, I couldn’t care less who is or isn’t the prophesied Chosen One. It’s been a recurring theme in the prequels and animated TV series, but thus far it has yet to significantly affect the story (except insofar as it affects the characters, who in turn influence the plot – but most of this is implied rather than shown outright onscreen).

The audience sees “Twin Suns” through Ezra’s and Maul’s eyes, and both of them are lost – figuratively and literally – throughout most of the episode. From a narrative standpoint, perhaps this is why so much of the episode’s time is spent focused on them wandering in the desert. Both characters are searching for Obi-Wan in hopes that he will be the solution to their respective problems… failing to recognize that those solutions can only be found within themselves. On a personal level, I’m a bit unsatisfied by how much of the episode is wasted on Maul and Ezra’s wanderings, but I can acknowledge its merits on a meta-narrative level. Perhaps we’re supposed to feel frustrated and as though something is incomplete, just as Maul and Ezra do… or perhaps I’m giving the Rebels writers way too much credit.

Of course, no discussion of this episode would be complete without examining Ezra’s role in the story. “Twin Suns” acts as a metaphor for Ezra’s inner journey every bit as much as it does Maul’s. While their futures may indeed “converge on a planet with twin suns” as Maul claimed in “Visions and Voices”, Ezra does not choose to “walk that path together” with Maul. Ezra certainly has his attachments, but unlike Maul, he isn’t so married to the past as to be irrevocably trapped in it.

“What else can we do?” Ezra says in response to Chopper’s grumbling after their ship is destroyed, leaving them stranded in the middle of the desert. “We have to go forward.” And that’s what this episode is about for Ezra, really – learning to move forward again… and learning to accept that he already has everything he needs in order to do so.

A few more random thoughts before I (finally) end this:

• Chopper’s slump and resigned sigh before turning around to go after Ezra like his babysitter will never not be hilarious to me.

• Chopper goes from being powered-down and sand-logged in one scene to awake and alert in the next. The only possible conclusion? Obi-Wan must have fixed him while Ezra was sleeping. And later, Obi-Wan pats Chopper while talking to Ezra; that’s practically a declaration of friendship coming from him! It makes you wonder what kind of conversation they had before Ezra woke up… (That would explain how Obi-Wan knew Ezra’s full name, though, if Chopper told him.) …I kind of want that missing scene in a fic now.

• “You saw what you wanted to see, believed what you wanted to believe,” Obi-Wan tells Ezra of the combined holocrons’ message. Going off of what I said earlier about Obi-Wan possibly misleading Maul, I can’t help but wonder if he’s doing the same thing to Ezra here. I mean, Obi-Wan is obviously trying to get Ezra to not delve into the subject any further and to leave Tatooine before he learns about Luke (and, y’know, to protect him from Maul), but part of me wonders if there’s anything more to it – the same part of me that wonders if the holocrons had a point beyond the obvious (and, if we’re being honest here, author intended) interpretation. Not to take anything away from Luke, but I’d love to see a fic that runs with an AU interpretation of the holcrons’ message.

• I had had some doubts when I first heard him in the episode promo, but I after watching “Twin Suns”, I have to admit that Stephen Stanton did an excellent Alec-Guiness-as-Ben-Kenobi impersonation in this episode. Kudos to him and to the writing staff for nailing the character’s speech patterns a la ANH.

• I’m just as glad to see Maul finally gone (well, ostensibly anyway!), but I’m also glad that he was able to find some small measure of peace on his proverbial deathbed. He was dealt a truly terrible hand in life, and although he inflicted suffering on so many beings, you can’t help but feel sorry for him.

• “That is not your responsibility. I will heal this old wound.” Other fans have doubtless already commented on this Easter Egg, but it’s still worth a gleeful mention.

• Responsibility is another theme that runs throughout “Twin Suns”. I got the impression that we’re supposed to think Ezra is initially trying to foist the primary responsibility for destroying the Sith off on someone else, someone older and more qualified (hence his search for Obi-Wan) and that he eventually learns to take responsibility for fighting evil himself. I disagree with that reading– I’d argue that Ezra’s narrative arc has been more about learning to be able to depend on others, as he’d had stand on his own two feet for years before he met the Ghost crew. Moreover, while of course the Rebellion doesn’t need to wait around for mystical saviors in the form of Jedi (nor should they!), that doesn’t mean that the adult Jedi – namely Obi-Wan, Yoda, and any other Councillors who might have survived – have no responsibility to the Rebellion, either. The rise of the Empire was by no means solely their fault, but like many, they did help to enable it… and therefore the responsibility for destroying it also partially rests with them. The problem, of course, is that this isn’t their sole responsibility to the galaxy, and so they have to choose which responsibilities to prioritize. In the end, they deem the survival of the Jedi (through themselves and Luke) and the protection of someone powerful enough to eventually bring about the demise of the Sith (once again, Luke) to be more important than any individual strikes they could make against the Empire on their own. Are they correct in their decision? Well, that depends upon your point of view.

• You can definitely see the moment where Obi-Wan goes from a calm refusal to fight – even amusement – to Must Protect Luke At All Costs™. Similarly, you can see the moment when he recognizes the move Maul is making and adjusts his stance accordingly. Some very nice animation work here from the creators!

• Some fans find the shortness of Maul and Obi-Wan’s final duel to be unsatisfying and unrealistic, while other fans think that the duel’s speed and anticlimactic nature are the whole point. I… don’t particularly care, tbh? I can see both sides. That said, I do think that they should have shown Obi-Wan’s lightsaber making contact with Maul’s saber-staff and chest for more than half of a second in the dark; on my first watch-through, I didn’t realize that he’d actually hit Maul until Maul was dead. I was so confused… and I know I’m not the only viewer to have had this problem.

• I love the strange sense of kinship that’s evoked between Maul and Obi-Wan as he lays dying. And the way Obi-Wan cradles Maul and gently closes his eyes kills me every time.

• Why, precisely, is Ezra so sure that Maul is dead when he left before the Big Showdown™? Does he just have that much faith in Obi-Wan? Did the Force tell him as much? Personally, I’m rooting for someone to write a crack fic where Obi-Wan comms him mid-flight through something he installed in Chopper or something and tells him, leading to a wacky correspondence. (Utmost secrecy and security risks? What utmost secrecy and security risks?)

• I was slightly disappointed not to get any more of Luke than his silhouette (well, Ezra’s silhouette, if we’re going to be technical lol – Rebels re-used footage of Ezra to save time & money) in the closing scene, but I also thought it was kind of fitting. The closer we get to the timeline of ANH, the stronger Luke’s shadow looms over Rebels, after all.

• The closing scene in general!!! I get chills each time I watch it. It really ties “The Journals of Ben Kenobi”, the Rebels series, and ANH together nicely. All we needed was for Obi-Wan’s bantha family to make an appearance… ;-)

• As much as I loved “Twin Suns”, I think it would have worked better if they’d cut just a smidgeon of the ‘wandering in the desert’ bits and used that extra time to 1. Show a point in Obi-Wan and Ezra’s conversation where Obi-Wan gets Ezra to promise not to tell anyone that he’s still alive and on Tatooine, or 2. Shown us Kanan’s reaction to learning that Obi-Wan is still alive… and is hiding on a backwater planet instead of searching for remaining Jedi and/or helping the Rebellion (I’d love to see the other characters’ reactions to this news too, but Kanan’s reaction is the one that is most important thematically), or 3. Use their original draft’s plotline, which involved Ezra and Kanan going to Tatooine instead of Ezra and Chopper. This last scenario would have the added benefit of more narrative ‘showing’ than ‘telling’ when it comes to Kanan’s reaction, and it would allow for further streamlining of the episode, as TPTB could then cut out most of the scenes with the rest of the Ghost crew (which, although enjoyable, split the audience’s focus in an undesirable way in this episode, IMO, even if they did act as nice bookends). Any of these options would have made for a much tighter, less rushed, more coherent, and more satisfying episode.

All criticisms and analyses aside, I really liked “Twin Suns”. Although it’s enriched by knowledge of previous Rebels episodes, it can stand on its own. I’d say it’s definitely among the best work Rebels has produced and is a worthy addition to new Star Wars canon.

#phos replies #spectral-musette #obi wan kenobi #darth maul #star wars rebels #star wars meta #things done by phos #star wars #perfect parallels #star wars prequels #star wars original trilogy #swr #meta #death #star wars is pain & suffering #star wars is perseverance & hope

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