Peter Hale and Armand have done terrible things in their life, and I fully support them like some corrupt politician's wife | Obikin/Dinluke/Devil's Minion |
The Politics of Loki: The Revolutionary vs The Reformist and the Corrupt System
In this post, I will breakdown the politics of the ‘Loki’ show, touching on the systemic issues of the TVA, the political ideologies and a general analysis of the narrative and its characters. Please note that this is my own personal interpretation and analysis.
“The TVA is the problem. It's broken, it's rotten.” - Sylvie
“Burn it down, easy. Annihilating is easy. Razing things to the ground is easy. Trying to fix what's broken is hard. Hope is hard.” - Loki
‘The system is violence’ is a common phrase when it comes to the sociological concept of structural violence. In our world, it’s most commonly used in reference to racism, classism and sexism, but also in war and policing (and many other forms of violence). Within the world of the MCU and the ‘Loki’ show… It is used to explore the morals and ethics of the TVA, He Who Remains and Sylvie & Loki.
The TVA are portrayed as a fascist organisation, and its agents are operating under a lie from their dictator — He Who Remains. The people who live and breathe the TVA and its mission are victims. They were stolen from their lives, had their memories wiped blank and were put in a system that engaged in violence under the guise of ‘for the greater good’… Arguably, they were groomed. Anyone who discovered the truth or had doubts were punished — asking questions was heavily discouraged and viewed as a form of blasphemy against the Time Keepers. Hunter C-20 was an example of this corruption. The workers are fed propaganda, and are lead to believe that they are ‘the good guys’.
Even when we take a look at the material the agents saw daily within the TVA, we see rules that are there to discourage them from ‘chit chatting’ and ‘less meetings, more productivity’ (because talking creates discussion and discussion can create questions), and limiting their breaks/pie to ‘1 slice per week’ and how ‘bartering for extra tokens is forbidden’. It’s small forms of control, to keep them in line.
The ‘verify through deletion’ and ‘always watching’ tells us the most about how the TVA operates.
The TVA uses surveillance as a form of control, monitoring its agents, the timelines and variants to maintain power. It encourages the agents to ‘stay in line’ and self-police themselves, also creating an environment in which people are less likely to question the system/the Time Keepers. There are many forms of surveillance, from literal CCTV and data to the concepts of religion.
The TVA uses both.
The Time Keepers are seen as these ‘all-seeing’ Gods, saviours of the multiverse and looked up to by the agents — Ravonna Renslayer is an example of this belief, and even when the truth of the Time Keepers is revealed, she still remains staunch in the mission the represented. Renslayer reminds Mobius that the Time Keepers are ‘always watching’. Knowing you are being watched is not an inherently comfortable feeling for most people, so when Renslayer says this, it isn’t a comfort, it’s a warning — a reminder to Mobius of his place in the system. The agents even believe that the Time Keepers created them! The Time Keepers are their ‘God’/‘Creator’. Even calling the main timeline ‘The Sacred Timeline’ is a religious allegory. The story told to the agents (and variants) about why the TVA was created is there to instil fear and cooperation. But also, the TVA/Time Keepers make the agents feel special, like they are saving and protecting the Sacred Timeline — they give the agents a God Complex.
The TVA treats variants as criminals. It mirrors how the real world treats prisoners/criminals (innocent or guilty). When Loki is arrested for his “crimes against the Sacred Timeline”, B-15 even says something that is reminiscent of what a police officer would say to a detainee: “On behalf of the Time Variance Authority, I hereby arrest you for crimes against the Sacred Timeline. Hands up. You’re coming with us.” When Loki questions them, B-15 tells him: “Last chance variant.” As soon as the Minutemen step through the time door, they have their weapons raised, and when Loki tries to evade, he is immediately met with violence and collared like an animal.
In Season 2, we are introduced to the fact that the TVA has literal torture devices… We learn in Season 1 about the Void and how it’s essentially just a giant, free-roaming, (mostly) inescapable prison that banks on a giant cloud monster called ‘Alioth’, that is described as a ‘guard-dog’, to eat them… (Or that the variants will likely kill each other.)
Variants are just living their lives, unaware of the system and its influence, yet they are treated like criminals/problems that need to be dealt with — by erasure from existence.
Loki is then brought in, no one answers his questions, offers him any personable explanation… They simply log him, strip him (removing any visual evidence of his identity and to give him a lack of autonomy) and process him. Once he is processed, he is given a trial. He has a chance to ‘plead his case’, despite no one telling him what exactly his crime was. Judge Renslayer ‘hears him out’ and rules to reset him. It had nothing to do with the fact Loki’s defence was weak or unprepared, it has everything to do with the fact that this is how they operate at the TVA. Everyone is ‘verified through deletion’, the trial is set up so every variant that comes through those halls is ruled ‘guilty’. The trial is a farce, smoke and mirrors, to give the illusion to the agents that what they are doing is just and ‘protecting society’ — a mock court. The justice system within the TVA is set up to fail the variants. It’s similar to how the automat is filled with only keylime pie. It gives the illusion of choice to the agents.
Mobius ‘saves’ Loki from being reset, wanting to ‘recruit’ him to track down one of his variants (which we later find out is Sylvie). Mobius interrogates Loki, his goal is to break him down and get him to a point where he agrees to help the TVA — it’s a similar fashion to police interrogations that last hours to try and get a confession out of suspects, except Mobius here is using Loki’s file and role on the Sacred Timeline (according to the Time Keepers) to strip him down and make him more agreeable. (Since I began writing this, another blog has made a post that goes into more detail about this scene, so I’ll save my breath and encourage you to read @khapikat222’s own analysis of this scene!)
Mobius holds Loki’s life in his hands, he can have him reset at any moment… Of course Loki is going to agree to help them — and, of course, use the situation to his advantage by trying to gain the upper hand against his captors… But that’s another topic that I’ve discussed here and here!
“The first and most oppressive lie ever uttered was the song of freedom. For nearly every living thing, choice breeds shame and uncertainty and regret.” - Loki
Then we have Sylvie. Sylvie is a character who is rooted in anti-establishment politics and believes everyone should have free will. Sylvie is another victim of the system. After being captured and taken by the TVA as a child, she decided then she would make it her mission to destroy the organisation that stole her life.
Sylvie isn’t a hero, she isn’t a villain, she’s a revolutionary.
Sylvie grew up in apocalypses, having to raise, protect and teach herself. She grew up surrounded by death, only ever able to see the destruction of things and that shaped her own belief system. Sylvie believes that the only way to fight violence is with violence, because that’s what she’s had to live through and do to survive.
The TVA committed an act of violence on Sylvie’s life when they stole her from her timeline as a child. It wasn’t personal. It wasn’t targeted. It was systemic. And Sylvie, from her own experience, quickly understood that the only way to defeat violence is with violence.
Loki stated himself that he ‘doesn’t enjoy hurting people’ and does it ‘because he has to’, to maintain the ‘illusion’. This quote can be used as a heavy bit of foreshadowing for the plot and characters of the show. Mobius doesn’t enjoy hurting people, but he does it because he has to because that’s what the Time Keepers (He Who Remains) has demanded of him. Sylvie doesn’t enjoy hurting people but does it because she has to, to survive and fight back against a system that was designed to oppress her. We know Sylvie doesn’t enjoy hurting people as during Season 2 Episode 3, whilst attempting to kill Victor Timely, Sylvie says: “Do you think I want to do this? Any of this?” And then later says that she “can’t let him live”. In the end, Sylvie spares Victor. It’s clearly a difficult decision for her, going against everything that she believes, but she does it. She holds back.
Loki has used violence in the past as a way to assert control (both over his own life and others around him). For example, trying to destroy Jotunheim, bringing an army to Earth and trying to subjugate its people. Loki is certainly not a ‘peaceful protest’ kind of guy. However, Loki has learnt from his past that violence only seems to breed more violence, continuing the cycle. He has heard the (sanitised/biased) stories of Asgard and the wars across the Nine Realms and how the war may have been over, but the effects of it still remain. He has witnessed his own actions and the destruction it caused for a city, himself and his family. Loki was also stuck in a system on the Sacred Timeline, he understands it.
By the time Loki and Sylvie reach He Who Remains, Loki starts having doubts. Loki is willing to believe He Who Remains and factor in his reasoning for the TVA’s creation because Loki has always had to factor in everyone else’s moves on the chessboard. Sylvie, whilst she did spend years on her plan, is more impulsive when it comes to situations. Now, that isn’t to say Loki doesn’t have impulses — for example, his attempt to destroy Jotunheim felt more impulsive than planned due to the fact his emotions were erratic after finding out the truth of his heritage. However, Sylvie has such a strong belief that the system must be completely destroyed, and the dictator must be removed, that she is not willing to factor in the consequences. She is headstrong, independent and doesn’t trust anyone else but herself. I’d argue that Loki, whilst claiming to be independent, is very dependant on others, especially when it comes to his sense of self and his identity.
Plus, Loki has tried to be in the role of the dictator, he had ruled Asgard for a short time in ‘Thor’, and his attempt to subjugate Earth under the guise of liberation during ‘The Avengers’, whereas Sylvie has never had the chance to have the power to be in that position. Loki benefitted from hierarchical rule as a Prince of Asgard with his upbringing being in a palace and the title of ‘God of Mischief’, and he has been in a position that let him believe he was ‘above’ other beings — like mortals. Unlike Sylvie, Loki has experienced both sides of the coin with privilege and oppression. He benefited from the system, whilst also becoming a victim to it. This contributes as to why Loki can see how the system could be changed rather than simply torn down.
He Who Remains even tells Sylvie and Loki: “You may hate the dictator, but something... far worse is gonna fill that void if you depose of him.” He frames himself and the TVA as the ‘lesser of two evils’, which is typically something you’ll hear a lot when it comes to politics/governments and their leaders. This sort of rhetoric is essentially telling people not to hope or want for more, for something better. It is phrased as an ultimatum, yet, doesn’t leave the decider with much choice. Once again, it’s control via fear: fear of the unknown, of something worse, of something new. He Who Remains even tries to tempt the pair into taking over the system, using power as a means of persuasion.
Upon seeing the vastness of the multiverse and the potential consequences that could arise if he or Sylvie make the ‘wrong’ choice, Loki is hesitant to finish the mission. He entered the TVA as a prisoner, but also an opportunist as he planned to attempt to ‘overthrow the Time Keepers’, and by the end of S1, Loki evolves and takes in the scale of it all — “it isn’t about you”, as Sylvie told him in their first meeting. Sylvie, on the other hand, remained the same and held fast to her own mission. It was about her, yes, but it was also about the billions of people whose lives had been stolen or dictated by the TVA.
Loki is a reformist and Sylvie is a revolutionary. Both share the same goal of change, but want to reach said goal by different means.
Loki would prefer to transform the existing system, and in Season 2 opts for dismantling and rebuilding the TVA, because that’s what he’s witnessed from Asgard and Odin (or at least, that’s how it was framed to Asgard’s people in their history). Loki knows how it feels to have been lied to, to have your whole life be a lie, so he can sympathise with the TVA agents in a way that Sylvie struggles with. Sylvie knows the agents were variants, and whilst she can understand that they are victims themselves, she struggles to get past the mental barrier of how she views them being the enemy.
Sylvie told Loki: “it would be easier to burn this place down and start from scratch.” That’s revolutionary thinking. This is Sylvie stating her stance on what she thinks should happen to the structure that He Who Remains built. Again later on, she also told Loki “that sometimes it's okay to destroy something.” Sylvie didn’t want to simply ‘replace one nightmare with another’, she wanted to do a complete overhaul rather than just swap leaders — she rejects the existing system.
However, Loki tells Sylvie: “Sure. Burn it down. Easy. Annihilating is easy. Razing things to the ground is easy. Trying to fix what's broken is hard. Hope is hard.” This falls more in line with reformist ideology. Loki wants to change what already exists, something slower and more gradual with, ideally, little to no violence. Loki has tried using force and violence in the past to achieve his goal and it hasn’t worked for him. He even makes a dry comment to Sylvie about her machete, the weapon that killed He Who Remains: “Well, your machete hasn't solved any problems thus far.”
Loki doesn’t think violence is the answer. Sylvie does. However, both characters are eventually willing to try and understand each other and form a middle ground. Sylvie is willing to let Loki try and fix the Loom with the help of Victor Timely, and she is willing to put aside her own views for the sake of others. It isn’t easy nor is it smooth or without its clashes, but she tries. However, ultimately, she still believes that the TVA is “rotten” and “broken”, and that it needs to be dismantled.
To Sylvie, Loki is compromising with the system. She met Loki when he was dressed in TVA uniform, and then after the Citadel when he finds her on her branch, he is still wearing the uniform — just no longer with the ‘variant’ label on his jacket. Sylvie sees Loki as part of the problem, she sees him as a sympathiser/enabler. Loki is still playing He Who Remains’ game, existing within the rules of the system he set up, even after Sylvie freed the timelines. Sylvie sees trying to reform the TVA as repackaging the same product and selling it as something brand new and better.
However, by the end of Season 2, Loki’s stance and approach has shifted. At the start of the series, Loki states he believes that ‘freedom is a lie’, and that ‘choice breeds uncertainty’, but his actions in the shows finale represents his change in perspective. It can be debated whether Loki originally even truly believed that sentiment or not, but either way, his actions regarding freedom have changed. Loki realises that trying to fix a system that was always set up to fail its victims, a system that exists under He Who Remains’ rules and logic… It’s never going to work. There’s no room for anything other than ‘right or wrong’ in the system, and that isn’t true free will. So… Loki does what Sylvie had been telling him from the start… He dismantled the system by destroying the Loom.
The TVA was created to keep the ‘Sacred Timeline’ in check, to prune branches, to prevent true choice and free will. The Loom was the last part of He Who Remains’ structure/system that could lead to the TVA, as an entire organisation, reverting back to their old ways. Loki removed that possibility from the equation. Rogue agents who believed in the original mission may still remain (as shown in Deadpool & Wolverine), but the organisation as a whole cannot revert back so easily to their old practices because the whole reason they were pruning branches to begin with (keeping the Sacred Timeline/Temporal Loom stable) has been taken away.
Whilst the new TVA has changed their mission and now keep the branches safe, allowing people free will and choice, it is still a system that can be weaponised — like any system. However, now it has a better chance at being something better, with the dictator and his rules gone, it can now function as something closer to a true democratic society, not like the illusion He Who Remains created. The people of the TVA are the protectors of the multiverse, taking on the role that they believed the Time Keepers had, focusing on finding actually dangerous variants who threaten it all and appropriately dealing with them — instead of any old variant who created an innocent, tiny deviation unknowingly and treating them like a criminal.
Loki and Sylvie are both complex, nuanced characters that are capable of making wrong and right decisions. They are both capable of doing better and taking time to understand the other, to see both the small and big picture. Their dynamic was never going to be smooth sailing, they are both intrinsically different when it comes to power and control. Loki originally wanted to overthrow the Time Keepers and take their place, whereas Sylvie wanted to kill them and burn down their system. Loki wears his God status with pride, whilst Sylvie denounces her own. Loki accepts the hierarchy and has used it to his advantage in the past, whilst Sylvie challenges it and defies it…
Sylvie: “Sounds like, whatever we do, we’re playing God.”
Loki: “We are Gods.”
In the end, the show isn’t asking the audience to pick a side, to choose between reformism or revolutionism, it’s asking the audience to understand the arguments and explore the tension between the two characters — ‘why’ and ‘how’ these two characters got to where they are in their respective beliefs. It’s about change and how no-one is ‘truly good’ or ‘truly bad’, but it makes us question the morality and ethics of people and the systems they are a part of. It gives the hope that we can wish for better, and not settle for a system that ultimately harms us.
Steter Week: Day 7 - Saturday
GENRE: Free Day
Soundtrack vibes: miscommunication, casual sex, assholes in love
Stiles and Peter agreed from the beginning that whatever they were doing was casual.
Seven months later, Peter has a key, a side of the bed, clothes in Stiles’s laundry, and access to their shared grocery list.
None of that means they’re dating.
Probably.
Peter set his coffee aside and pulled Stiles upright.
“What are you doing?”
“Fixing you.”
“That is an enormous project. You’ll need permits.”
Peter turned him, pushed him forward, and began working his thumbs into the muscles beside Stiles’s spine.
Stiles sagged immediately.
None of this meant anything.
Casual sex could include massages. It was practically responsible. Preventative maintenance.
They did not date.
They had sex, watched movies, ordered food, and occasionally attended events together because Peter hated nearly everyone and Stiles hated attending things alone. They did not hold hands, except in crowds when Peter claimed Stiles wandered. They did not celebrate anniversaries because they did not have one. They did not exchange romantic gifts.
Peter pressed a knuckle beneath Stiles’s shoulder blade.
“Fuck.”
“Yes, that’s usually how this ends.”
Read on AO3
[operating on no sleep and MCAS flares. If you enjoyed this, you may leave an offering]
Hi there! So, I’m new to the Star Wars fandom, and I’ve just recently discovered the Anakin x Obi-Wan ship — and I really love them already. Even though I haven’t started watching the movies or series yet, I really like the dynamic between Anakin and Obi-Wan.
I was wondering, what do you think about bottom!Anakin and top!Obi-Wan?
Because, even though there’s a bit of a balance in fanfics, it seems like there are slightly more bottom!Obi-Wan stories than bottom!Anakin ones.
But personally, I really want to find pages or channels that focus more on bottom!Anakin and top!Obi-Wan content :)))
I’d be really happy if you could help me out and recommend some channels or creators who analyze that dynamic well!
Hello there!
First of all, welcome to our obikin fandom! Always a pleasure to find new members.
Well, you have come to the right person about this because I'm the mod of the page @topwan-obikin which is focused on top!Obi-Wan/bottom!Anakin dynamic and I'm an author who writes that particular dynamic. You can say I very much love it eheh. In the topwan page I host the topwanfest and some other events focused on this dynamic, plus we also have a discord server who is open to all obikins who want to join!
I can also direct you to some incredible authors who write/draw top!Obi-Wan/bottom!Anakin, while some instead write them as vers, and also some fic recs! If you have any other requests/questions please let me know <3
@exonerin has a vast collection of fantastic topwan fics and I encourage you to check them out! My personal favourite is Eight of Cups because I'm a sucker for canon divergence fics and time/dymensional travel ahah
@tideswept is an amazing author (and my bestie <33) and she also writes topwan fics! My personal fav is her series the bones of a miracle which is a modern au and has werewolf Obi-Wan, one of my guilty pleasures.
@ragnarlothcat is one of the most beloved authors here and also has a great collections of really good fics! My favourites from her are the modern AU series a la carte and the fic The bottom of the ninth which is a sports Au about baseball which is really enjoyable even without knowing anything about the sport (and I can attest to that since I know next to nothing about baseball).
wesnensky writes some really really good smut and I totally recommend to give her ficlets a go!
@teaandjumpers a great author with some really amazing fics, my favs are Learn to Fly High and That's my Type.
@tomicaleto is one of og in fandom and she's both artist and author! I urge you to check her out. My fav fic of hers is The strongest starts...
@rexismycopilot has some great series, even if more BDSM based, but urge you to check them out!
@intermundia is another pillar of the fandom and has some of the most popular fics in the fandom. They have some amazing fics and suggest you check them all out! Their Prompted has an amazing collections of obikin aus, all amazing reads, and their Lex Talionis is one of the greatest fics in fandom.
@artemisthehuntress is another fantastic author that i recommend! My fav fic from her is A Good Epithet.
@obi-wkenobi is a fantastic author and i can only rec all of her fics! My personal fav are Something broken that can be fixed and Awed.
@binaryeclipse, another great author, has some delicious fics. Her series It's How You Learn and the fic Slow Learner are what i can only describe as indulgently decadent.
@sopherfly has one of my favourite fics ever, which I encourage you to read even if incomplete. It's just that good. The Shadow of a Dream is an amazing read and one I return to regularly.
@secretsolarsystem wrote an amazing Batman inspired fic which sits firmly in my favourites, Incorruptible, Everlasting. They also have other really good fics and i suggest you check them out!
@anakinspraisekink is another loved author which has a great collection of fics and I encourage you to check it out! My favourite is the series A Touch of Praise which, even if incomplete, is an amazing read. She also has other amazing fics and i suggest you check them out!
@himboskywalker is another beloved must read in fandom and I cannot rec their fics enough! They have such great fics and some of my all timess favourites like Redolent of You, The way he smiles at you, Conceal what I am, Invictus.... i simply suggest you go through their entire profile!
@tennessoui is another great author which writes both dynamic so you can take your pick from her! My fav are be careful not to choke on your admirations and me and my man, we get on like a house on fire.
@sendpseuds has a great collection of fics!! my fav is Terrorizing the HOA and Other Weekend Activities.
@underacalicosky is another great author who does both dynamics. My fav of hers is Anywhere else is hollow.
@grapenehifics write vers obikin and she has really good fics!! My fav is A moment of Peace.
@renlyslittlerose writes both dynamics and most of her fics are obikin vers but I urge you to check her fics! She has amazing stories. My personal favourite is Moonlight Serenade.
@palfriendpatine66 writes vers obikin and has some great Aus.
@starakins is a new author but she has some amazing fics! My fav is a throne for two.
@shatouto wrote some rally good obikin fics and art when he was active in fandom, and one of my personal fav is A Study in Tears.
@paracosm-draw is another amazing artist i totally urge you to check out. they also do both dynamics.
@kana7o has a great collection of obikin art and a twt accout where you can enjoy her nsfw art. and she always indulges me in my dirty ideas <333
@jarenka her art is amazing and I love especially her anakin!
@bi-wan is the OG topwan artist and i love love love everyting she has ever drawn. I urge you to also go on her ao3 for uncensored pics <33
@skynobi has some hauntingly beautiful obikin art and i tear up sometimes just looking at it. beyond recommended.
kirab0shy @kirab0sh1 is an amazing artist on twt who only draws topwan and her art is so so cute!!
@human-rocket has an amazing obikin comic going on an di can't recommend it enough! a must read.
@unspuncreature one of my fav artists check him out!
@bellybeansss, @gskywalker17, @deliquesaint, @chlobwers, @bird-prince-art, @oh-biwan, @nickytess, @yatsukisakura, @obikinetic, @weillschmidtdoodles, @delziae, @02png, @ma-works, @projectdrow, @dioscouroi, @zeizeizeizei, @aberrantcreature, @doubleggggs, @thehungreecat, @yasyart, @freemymercury @lovey-dovey-and-sad are all amazing artists, regardless of dynamic, and i cannot recommend them enough <33
@calyssmarviss, @mscoet, @daryshkart, @bakaramia, @roppppppop and golcompriton (twt) have some amazing obikin art for you to check out even if they are not active in the fandom anymore!
Now even if this a long list there's also so many others that i've definetly forgotten to mention (or tag because I physically can't tag anyone else here lol)! if i forgot about you you can drop a rec in my ask here or on the topwan blog and i'll post it! we are many and we hope to grow even more <33
lmao got the whole house mad after i called out the double standards of humanity in SOME of my country's citizen and honestly yeah thank you for showing my whole point by getting angry LMAOOOO
my winterbaron hc is that they're in queerplatonic relationship with zemo being in aro-spec and has only ever attracted to heike, and bucky is a bi ace who just discovered he's bisexual as hell (didn't realize he was attracted to men as much as he does to women).
the whole thing is just zemo and bucky figuring out their identity and what they mean to each other, not exactly a healthy relationship (both has not gotten a clean bill from their therapists, it's a work in progress) but they're good for each other (sam agrees to that as much he does not like bucky's horrible taste in men)
my winterbaron hc is that they're in queerplatonic relationship with zemo being in aro-spec and has only ever attracted to heike, and bucky is a bi ace who just discovered he's bisexual as hell (didn't realize he was attracted to men as much as he does to women).
the whole thing is just zemo and bucky figuring out their identity and what they mean to each other, not exactly a healthy relationship (both has not gotten a clean bill from their therapists, it's a work in progress) but they're good for each other (sam agrees to that as much he does not like bucky's horrible taste in men)
Been sitting in my mind for quite a while, not quite developed but my mind wrote a short summary of this AU:
Be careful what you wish for, a Jedi Master had once told the creche a long time ago.You never know who will be listening, and how the Force will take it, they had warned.
Maybe he should listened to them. Or maybe he shouldn't. Either way it didn't matter anymore, for Obi-Wan Kenobi had lost everything that day.
He lost the Order, his only family—his brothers and sisters—he lost the corrupt, imperfect galaxy that he loved and cared for, the innocent people, his men, and—–
Anakin.
Obi-Wan lost everything and was left with nothing but guilt eating his bones as they groaned. But he was still a man, a man with nothing left and a man who dreamed. A man who dreamed could only wished, hoped, and mourned for what could have been and could never be.
It didn't matter.
What happened had happened.
He should let it go.
But then, somehow, the Force listened. Even as the Light was being clouded in the Darkness, They listened to him.
We hear you, Obi-Wan felt Them with all his being.
And We will give it to you.
He remembered his heart filled with hope after years and years of being numb from the pain and agony screamed loud in the Force for years as the Empire hunted down the surviving Jedi and Padawan and the rebels like animals.
It was a golden thread for him, to fix things before they were broken. He could save people he loved and the whole galaxy that suffered from Palpatine's rule, so why shouldn't he take it?
Only after then he knew he should have listened to the dead Master's advice.
Maybe it would all turn alright if he hadn't made the wish. Maybe Luke would make it and build a better Jedi Order and together with Leia they would make the galaxy a safer, better place, achieving what Obi-Wan and the others had fought for.
Or maybe they wouldn't, and Palpatine would find them and reshaped them as he liked as he did Anakin and threw them away like broken toys when he was finally done with them.
But, he thought, guiltily as his blue-yellow-blue-and-yellow-again eyes glinted at Anakin's vulnerable form curled up under his blanket, maybe it is better this way.
Yes, the other chuckled, his—Their—laughter vibrating in the Force around them, Yes it is.
Or: a time travel AU featuring Obi-Wan who made a wish to go back in time, except the Force also granted the same wish to an Obi-Wan from another universe and forced them to share Obi-Wan's body.
They learned that they both lost the Order and the galaxy to the Sith. They share the same goal and wish; to eliminate all Palpatine's networks and projects for the Galactic Empire, and kill him before he could do more damage to the galaxy and the Force.
But.
The Obi-Wan whom he shares his body with had Fallen and he is a Dark user (not a Sith, however) who had been running from the Empire for years while searching for a way to fix things.
It's bad enough to find out there's a Fallen Obi-Wan Kenobi somewhere in the universe, even more so when the Fallen Obi-Wan speaks about Anakin Skywalker with venom and hatred that Obi-Wan could feel, and had planned to go back in time to also kill him.
The fact that Obi-Wan isn't the one in control of his own body isn't helping, and he's being restricted to do anything and it shakes him to the core to feel such an out of the body experience of watching someone else pose as him.
So what use is this, then? What use is his wish being granted, when he is sent back to the time he could only see in his dreams, but could do nothing about it while someone else makes decisions for him using his identity and his body?
Basically in a time travel au, there are two Obi-wan from different universes and they live in Jedi!Obi's body and in his version of the galaxy. Jedi!Obi, however, is not the one in control of the body, and instead it is dark!Obi who gets full control. Dark!Obi resents Anakin/Vader for murdering his Padawan (not Anakin if it's not clear btw) and in rage. Despite the fact that the Padawan is still alive and well in Jedi!Obi's universe, he still wants to kill Anakin because in his eyes, Anakin has always been so sensitive, and easily manipulated and influenced by the call of the Dark. So to him, it's like cutting the weeds from the roots before they could grow taller.
Jedi!Obi calls bullshit of course, but as he can do nothing but helplessly watch dark!Obi calls the shots. Later on he learns that he can influence dark!Obi's thoughts and feelings, so he pours dowm what he thinks they should do to Anakin, Palpatine, the Republic and the Order, et cetera.
This causes the line between their beings to slowly blurred-> their memories get scrambled and even misplaced in result (Ex. Mixing up facts and events of their life for another because they get way to tangled up <- kinda want this to be unsettling because it feels like they are no longer two different individuals but rather a whole another person created by their own meddling, but at the same time they are not the same)
Dark!Obi hates Anakin, while Jedi!Obi loves him, and because of what Jedi!Obi did to both of them, their seperate feelings and thoughts about Anakin kind of translated into a mix of love and hate, which make Anakin's relationship with 'Obi-wan Kenobi' toxic, unhealthy, and right down abusive. Kinda like Jedi!Obi: "See, this is what would happen if you give the boy love and affection, he'd be more loyal and more likely to come back to us." while dark!Obi: "Great idea but also if he dare to fuck up I'm not hesitating to be cruel and unforgiving." or something because Anakin is still a wild card.
I also really want to throw in Emperor Obi-Wan in (the Order still exists) but idk? This au is still raw and uncooked 💀
"Damn that cursed, Anakin thought. His newly-wed Sith husband is far wiser than he reckoned. The senator’s gambit, a wasted breath indeed. It could not hold back the tide of the Separatist forces, nor the power of Obi-Wan in the Colonies. A storm brews, flickering in Anakin’s eyes, and lightning slashes across the night sky. He needs another plan, Anakin bite his lip.
And lucky him, he already has one.
Anakin cast a glance at Obi-Wan, Obi-wan looked back at him. Anakin ran his tongue slowly across his reddened lips. He must make the man love him, blindly and madly. Yes, he could do that. That part was easy. Softly then, he leaned his head gently on Obi-Wan’s shoulder, kissed his right cheek and murmured sweet as poison, 'Congratulations on your victory, my love.'
Obi-Wan couldn't help but put on a gentle smile. Obi-Wan, full wise, did see through his bride's surrender a gilded falsehood. Yet, he still played the scene, as actors do, with patient cruelty. He would have Anakin shattered not at once, but by degrees, till even the ghost of his pride lay broken at his feet."
As testement to my mental illness and 30+ year obsession with these vampires, I went and made a font from the lettering used in the tv show.
I've never made a font before, but I'm proficient in Adobe Illustrator, so after hunting down all the letters in the credits (in both weights!), I hand traced all the glyphs, and aligned and trued the various points. That actually wasn't too bad - the more time consuming part was creating from scratch all the symbols and numbers that weren't included in the credits at all (and I'm pretty happy with everything but the @ symbol tbh!)
It's a captal-only font, with the default being the thick version, and if you install the additional RueRoyale-Thin.otf, you'll get the thinner version in all caps, too.
Because I had a bunch of the ornate lettering and the little Immortal Universe logo already vectorised for vinyl cutting, I added those in as easter eggs, too. I've tried my best to included all the accented upper case characters for the foreign fans, but I've probably missed something, and I had to stop somewhere... If you see something horribly wrong though, please tell me in the comments.
You can download the font (2x .otf files, at under 1MB total) here.
This is a fan-created font, for fans to use FREE OF CHARGE, so I'm hoping that keeps AMC's lawyers off my tail. If you use it and want to credit it, please link back to the original tumblr post here in case I need to make any updates on it. Enjoy! ❤️
pretty random writing idea where grace and rocky will always find each other in every universe. in there, ryland grace will always fall in love with rocky but he would never pursue it for various reasons, most of them is due to his dog years compared to rocky's species, or that grace dies from a sickness that rocky cannot cure. and in every universe grace will always remember his past lives with rocky (it's astonishing that he doesn't go mad from all those memories)
just ryland grace and his unrequited love actually
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