(I'm really sorry I didn't realize Tumblr anonymous asks can only be answered publicly, so I sent it again 🥹)
Hello! I really love your Obikin fic. I’m so happy to see a time travel story where both Anakin and Obi-Wan go back to the past, especially with them coming from the post-Obi-Wan series timeline instead of post-ROTJ.
Watching them clash and argue while both of them are probably at the worst emotional point in their relationship is honestly fascinating. Anakin has been so heavily manipulated by Palpatine that he’s developed severe trust issues, especially toward the people close to him. Combined with feeling betrayed by Obi-Wan multiple times, he feels like a mass of thorns — every conversation with Obi-Wan becomes difficult, and he keeps saying hurtful things that make the atmosphere tense and dangerous. It’s both heartbreaking and exciting to read (what).
And honestly, it must be incredibly hard for the old master… I’m really glad Obi-Wan is the more mature one here, and that he’s starting to change his approach — no longer just enduring everything, but becoming firmer and more uncompromising when necessary.
To use a probably unsuitable metaphor, I’ve always felt like Anakin needs to be treated a bit like training a dog: both affection and discipline are necessary. When he does something wrong, someone has to correct him immediately, but he also needs reassurance that he’s loved. Otherwise, he may fail to recognize love at all, fail to realize when he’s done something wrong, or even outright refuse to admit it, and just become more and more impossible to deal with.
The Jedi Code was absolutely useless for raising Anakin, so it’s really gratifying to see Obi-Wan finally finding a method that might actually work.
Besides, there’s one very personal question I’m really curious about: have you considered writing sex scenes later on in this story? And if so… who would be the top/bottom? I’m sorry, but I’m genuinely so curious about it 🥺 If you’d be willing to secretly tell me, I’d really appreciate it.
I was honestly surprised by how few stories there are where Anakin is the one traveling back in time, and even fewer where both of them do (or maybe I’m just bad at searching). And for some reason, even though it’s been a while, I haven’t noticed many fics (again, maybe I missed them) that take place right after the events of the series. But their dynamic there is just incredible—especially after they’ve broken each other even more, both mentally and physically, and with Vader chasing after Obi-Wan exclusively, completely ignoring everything and everyone else.
I think that on top of Palpatine completely destroying Anakin’s ability to trust, Anakin himself just didn’t have many healthy ways to cope with stress afterward. Because of that, he developed this exact pattern: any stress equals immediate aggression instead of actually processing and understanding the information. And in their current situation, Obi-Wan is just one massive walking trigger for him. So Anakin can’t even really stop himself from saying these things: partly, he genuinely thinks that way; partly, he lashes out with hurtful words because it's his coping mechanism; and partly, he forced this worldview on himself just to deal with what happened, so he wouldn’t have to face the sheer scale of the nightmare they went through.
Before this, Obi-Wan used to endure more because at first, he thought, “This is just Anakin, my little Anakin.” And after that, it was too much of an emotional meat grinder to even attempt changing his behavior. But now, he finally has some time to catch his breath, process what actually happened, and let his brain start working differently.
As for your metaphor, I think it’s absolutely perfect for Anakin! I feel like slavery left such a distinct mark on him that any strict rules suffocating his freedom (like the Jedi Code) are immediately met with hostility. He truly needs to be shown that despite any boundaries or limitations, he is still loved and deeply valued.
And now to the most important part, right? 🤗 I’m not going to make a huge secret out of it, so I'll just tell you right away that for now, I’m planning on Top!Anakin. My friends and I were watching their final battle once, and the exact moment Anakin grabbed Obi-Wan by the throat and started pushing him down, we all unanimously agreed that yeah, Obi-Wan is definitely a bottom with flexibility like that, ahaha. But actually, if everything goes well, there will be two sex scenes, and in the second one, Anakin will be the bottom. I want to use it as a beautiful way to show just how far their relationship has come that Anakin can finally relax and fully trust himself not just to another person, but to Obi-Wan (!!) of all people.
Thank you so much for your kind words, I am incredibly happy that you like the fic so much!