Wild Space By Karen Miller Was A Doozy

Weather forecast predicts absolute foolery

I’m not sure exactly how to articulate it but—there is this bizarre base assumption i see from people discoursing about children’s media, and that’s the assumption that children are somehow unfamiliar with negative emotions. Like, maybe you’ve managed to completely forget your entire life before you turned eighteen, but kids spend a lot of time being hurt, and scared, and angry. A lot of people had terrible fucking childhoods, and a lot of kids are having terrible fucking childhoods right now. When i was a child, and i read books where bad things happened to kids, that was in no way shocking to me, i already knew bad things happened to children. It made me feel more connected to those stories, not less, and it made it more impactful when those child characters overcame it all in the end. That’s important for children. A lot of them are in desperate need of a little hope, and they aren’t going to get it from nothing stories with no conflict. They put conflict in children’s media for a reason

Also i see some of you handwringing over child protagonists going through, like, the most basic hero’s journey. Please, for the love of god, realize that you as an adult are going to understand children’s media differently than the actual kids it’s intended for. Because you’re all grown up now, you aren’t going to be able to relate to a child protagonist. You’re going to see a child in danger. The children the story is meant for are going to see a kid like them who is able to face hardship and triumph

SEA IS FOR COOKIE!

I think what appeals to me about Jason and Tim’s relationship (and what I think DC is sleeping on), is that you have two people with these deep hurts and hopes that are intrinsically wrapped up in the existence of the other person. And therefore through building a relationship with that other person, there is healing and resolution to be found. In a purely platonic sense, I think they can “complete” each other.

For Jason, Tim is a Replacement. He’s the kid who came along and provided a successful model for Robin in a morbid kind of A-B testing. He’s also a proxy for everything Jason thinks Bruce did and is doing wrong. We’ve seen how Jason speaks to his younger self; he’s ashamed of him, he’s scared for him, and crucially, he thinks he’s beyond saving (check out this awesome post by @you-only-live-twice). Tim is the Robin who survived (and survived Jason’s multiple attempts on his life no less). That Jason tries to kill Tim while simultaneously trying to recruit him reveals the ferocious insecurity Tim ignites in him, as well as a no-shit Sophoclean drive to emulate/replace Batman; Tim being a perfect totem. This post by @sohotthateveryonedied points out that whole hoo-ha both hilariously and comprehensively.

For Tim, yes, Jason is a cautionary tale. But Jason’s death is also the demon Tim is spurred to save Bruce from; first trying to convince Dick to take up the mantle again, then ultimately assuming the role himself.  Most important in this is, without Jason dying, there is no Tim as Robin. Leaning somewhat erroneously on death and rebirth myths like the Egyptian Osiris; the prince died and he was reborn, but his life-force was split: Jason, who becomes an abjuration of the bright and bold pixie-booted young Jason, and Tim, the changeling who–it can be argued–usurps Jason’s “throne.” When Tim himself is eventually ousted by a younger model who also invokes blood lineage, Damian, we see all of these insecurities and proprietary anxieties rear up in full. Tim is be-Jasoned. Sort of.

So, what can Tim and Jason offer each other? A completeness. A centre. One which does hold. Dogged by feelings of rejection and lost capital, Jason and Tim offer each other a beautiful kind of grace. Balance too, as we have the broad, passionate Jason and the slender, calculating Tim. The Robin who couldn’t-be and the Robin who shouldn’t-be. I think that’s beautiful and would love to see more of it.

I never realized this but Padme literally has a harem of women who are as awesome as her.

padme's handmaidens are such an underrated concept. i mean, yeah you can call it women supporting women and leave it at that but like. its so much more intense than that. they basically created the persona of queen amidala together. they assigned her specific mannerisms and tone of voice and breathing patterns and all of them studied that well enough to play the role perfectly. they put all of the derangedness teenage girls put into discovering their own identity into perfecting mimicry instead & they did all that knowing that their role will always be to die in padme's place if it comes to that. idk what insane levels of devotion does it take to be like 14 and you've become so intimately familiar with your friend that you can quite literally become her. there's friendship & traumabonding and then theres "my entire life is dedicated to dying for this woman" and then there's that but with added identity fuckery and thats what the handmaidens have going on with the bonus point of being 14

This fucking hurts??

Little Ani hiding behind Master Obi-Wan after causing chaos somewhere in the Temple

Based on this tweet thread it gave me a serious case of rotten teeth from all the cuteness

After the war, Rex does a lot of thinking about the entire thing, about how it was unnecessarily bloody, how it cost the lives of millions of innocents (Jedi and clones combined). He thinks about his brothers and their sacrifices, about how they’d thought they were made to protect the Jedi but were never meant to be anything more than their executioners.

Rex has many regrets. He knows there’s no use in dwelling on what could have been, but if there was one thing he could change, it would be that he listened to Fives the first time around, both during Umbara and in that decrepit warehouse.

Rex comes to the conclusion that Fives had always been smarter than him. He’d been the best of them all, willing to do whatever it took to save as many lives as he could.

Fives had indirectly saved Ahsoka and Rex and any other clone who got their chip out, but Fives himself had been killed for attempting to save others. No one had been able to save Fives.

It pains Rex to think that Fives will be forgotten over the course of time, that Fives would only ever be a speck in the entire course of history. Fives was a great man, possibly one of the greatest to ever live in Rex’s opinion, and great men deserve to be remembered. Rex knows he himself will also only ever be a speck on history, but he resolves to do what he can to make sure that this great man is remembered.

He writes down every detail he knows about Fives: from Domino Squad, to Rishi, to the 501st, to the promotion to ARC after the Battle of Kamino, to the Citadel and losing Echo, to his bravery on Umbara, and finally to Ringo Vinda and the discovery of the chips. Rex doesn’t know all the details of Fives’ private life, of course, but he writes what he observed.

He makes sure that whoever stumbles upon this will know that Fives was passionate, brave, kind, funny, loyal, and incredibly intelligent. Rex notes his penchant for impassioned speeches with a chuckle. He never understood how Fives came up with those on the spot, but he supposed the ARC had always been a natural leader. Fives had been a voice that his brothers had always rallied behind; Rex always admired him for it. He had always been sure of himself and his brothers, even at times where Rex couldn’t find that confidence in himself.

Rex keeps what he’s written about Fives with him at all times. He sends a copy of it to Echo one day, knowing that Fives’ twin will be glad to have it. The days on Seelos with Wolffe and Gregor become monotonous, and he catches each of them reading the memoir at some point. One has to pass the time somehow, anyways.

When Rex joins Ghost Crew, he regales them with tales of his brothers. He talks about Fives the most and practically begs them all to carry on his memory. He can see a piece of Fives in each of them, especially in the young Ezra Bridger.

On Endor, after the Empire has been defeated, Rex meets one Luke Skywalker. They mourn and remember Anakin Skywalker together, but later Luke begs him for stories about the Clone Wars. Rex cannot help but speak about Fives, and when he mentions the memoir, Luke asks if he can see it. Rex readily agrees, and decides to ask Luke a favor. Rex knows that his time is running short, and soon there will be no one left alive who knew Fives. He asks that Luke pass on the story of the greatest man Rex ever knew, and Luke easily agrees. Rex leaves his writings and the old holopic of himself, Cody, Fives, and Echo with Luke and passes on a few months later.

Luke tells his family of Rex and Fives. They all read the manuscript, awed by the stories held within. Young Ben Solo adores the escapades of Fives and wants to be just like him when he grows up. Luke decides that Leia can keep the manuscript and holopic so that she can read Ben stories from it while he’s younger, but it stays with her even after he’s joined Luke’s school. Besides, Ben has read the stories so many times that he no longer needs the words in front of him. He joins Luke in telling his peers of the greatest man to ever live and asks them all to carry on the memory as well.

Things don’t go quite as planned. Ben does not grow up to become like Fives, but instead becomes the very thing Fives had fought so hard to destroy. He forgets the stories and kills almost everyone who would remember them.

The manuscript and holopic, however, remain with Leia. She keeps them to herself, waiting for the right person to share the stories with. She finds that person in a deserter stormtrooper who doesn’t quite know how to find his place in a world he’d never set foot in before. She gives him the manuscript and holopic and asks him to carry on the memory of the person inside.

Finn, too, is amazed by Fives. He finds a kinship in him— clones and the stormtroopers of the First Order are not all that different, it seems. He resolves to pour the same passion that Fives had into his own work with the Resistance. Without realizing it, he even picks up Fives’ tendency for passionate speeches, which amuses Leia to no end.

Finn spreads Fives’ story to his friends and many other members of the Resistance. The phrase “same heart, same blood” takes root in its members, inspiring them all to fight against tyranny.

One day, a wayward clone trooper finds his way into the Resistance. To say he is shocked to hear his dead brother’s name spoken with such reverence is an understatement, but soon he gets the story out of Finn. Kix nearly breaks down into tears, never imagining that one of his brother’s legacies could’ve lasted this long.

Eventually, the First Order is defeated, and the galaxy can finally rest. The Resistance puts up statues of its heroes from both the original Rebellion and the new one. One, however, stands out from the rest. It is of a clone trooper.

The statue of Fives stands tall and proud in the center of Coruscant. The holopic had been useful in capturing his likeness, as had directions from Kix. Fives stands with his helmet tucked underneath his left arm, his right arm held up in a salute. There is a relaxed smile upon his face, one that reassures anyone who gazes upon it.

Underneath it is a plaque that reads:

“Fives

Not Just Another Number

But A Great Man”

—————

I got emotional about how no one would remember Fives and this is what happened. I have zero (0) regrets and I hope you enjoyed this! At first I was just gonna write an analysis but I thought this would be better expressed through a fic. I wrote it all on tumblr and I’ll post it on Ao3 sometime but it’ll be a bit. I know the ending sounds like that quote from Captain America but it’s what fit haha, it’s not intended to be a reference to that at all. Thanks for reading!

Obikin - World Between Worlds

Imagine this, if you will, a universe in which Anakin is brutally killed. He dies never knowing how much Obi-Wan loved him, because Obi-Wan never told him. His master never admitted how deep his attachment and fondness for his padawan went. How proud he was of him, how highly he thought of him, how much he loved him more than anything. Obi-Wan has to see his beloved Anakin die and know that he died never knowing any of that. Anakin died thinking his master cared about him in a more basic way, and Obi-Wan is swallowed whole with regret and sorrow.

It’s a regret he cannot live with. A world without Anakin is not one Obi-Wan can live with.

He leaves the Jedi Order, everything behind, with only one goal: to get Anakin back. The darkness offers him power in ways the light never could, methods and ways to possibly get him what he wants. He accepts the help willingly, exhausting every effort and getting rid of every obstacle in his way.

Eventually, his tunnel vision goal, the only reason for his continued existence, gets him to the World Between Worlds.

He walks down the passages of starlight searching and searching and searching. Looking into the doorways and not finding what he’s searching for. After all this time, after all he’s done, and he gets nothing for it?!

Just as he debated taking his red saber and ending his journey, he sees another figure down the path facing him.

Anakin. One with some grey in his hair and vibrant gold in his eyes. Tattered and tired and ruthless and goal-driven. Obi-Wan knows because he sees the same thing in the mirror every day.

It’s an Anakin that had lost his Obi-Wan.

And here, they meet.

honestly my hc for when Anakin uses a fake name is he picks the name of someone he loves (Kitster, Sheev, Obi-Wan, etc), and then he goes with like a different last name from someone else he loves, (Whitesun, Tano, Kenobi, Naberrie, etc)

anakin put on the spot: oh um shit yeah um my name is um sheev....kenobi

employee who asked for his name to put on his star wars starbucks coffee cup: ok

anakin now thinking about his ancient old buddy sheev marrying his best most handsomest buddy obi-wan: um actually can i get a do over

employee: on your drink order?

anakin: umm on my name

employee:

anakin, sweating and now picturing sheev and obi-wan's passionate yet tender wedding night: please

employee:

anakin:

obi-wan, standing next to him holding a cup with 'ben :) ' on it, picking up every thought in anakin's head because his shields are down and he is projecting into the force: please can he have a do-over.

Y’all think about those rare times when Batman talks about his sons before they were introduced to the justice league he talks bout his ‘babies’

Batman: ahh yes nightwing, he’s my little boy. Always is full of energy. I love him. He’s just a happy little boy. In fact I have called him here and there he is, my little boy, a bundle of joy he is.

Nightwing: *a fully grown man with the height of 6’0 and almost the size of Batman himself* hey guys :D

JL: that’s not a little boy???

Batman: *pointing to red hood* this is my baby, he’s just a precious baby and I love him so, he is fragile so please don’t make contact. He’s so cute and precious, he’s my precious baby boy.

Redhood: *a 6’2 man, absolutely covered in guns and is the size (if not slightly bigger) then Batman himself, glaring at all of them* don’t talk shit b

Batman: language.

JL: THATS NOT A BABY BOY???

Batman: this is my other son, he is my little genius. He’s so full of innocence and so pure, I love him dearly. Don’t be fooled by that stare, he’s so full of love he can hardly contain it. In fact he is friend shape.

Red robin: *staring down the JL with his Batman glare, already in a fighting stance* I will not hesitate

JL: I do not feel safe

Batman: this is robin, my son. He is very nice, though he might pick at you slightly, he is harmless. He can be prickly be warned but overall he is such a lovely baby and I love him so much

Robin: *gripping his swords, glaring at them ready to fight*

JL: oh my god we’re gonna die