oooh, it's interesting that you see joe as baze and nicky as chirrut. the parallels are of course not perfect, but for me it always hit completely the other way around. joe and chirrut are both extroverted and open with their emotions and affection but hide more complicated feelings deeply, while nicky and baze are both more introverted but also the quintessential 'i'm here': loving, devoted and would drop-kick you straight to hell if you hurt the people they care about (1/2)
like, i can easily see the 'you almost SHOT me!'/'you're welcome' exchange between joe and nicky! but you know what, now i'm thinking about how these parallels work the other way around too (2/2)
Ok so LISTEN, I get you, those parallels work too! A lot of this is based on my very personal feelings about both Baze and Chirrut, largely influenced by the book and some specific fic I have read, so like, I understand how it is not entirely obvious.
It’s just that Baze is my favourite, and Joe is my favourite and the ship dynamic is very similar so I started looking for parallels and this is my take on it. they’re both the warrior-poet of the couple. Joe is basically an older version of an early days Baze for me, a Baze who never lost his faith/became bitter. Chirrut says “he used to be the most devoted one of us all” which to me is like, a huge nerd ok. Baze was a huuuge nerd, the biggest. He is a character who feels very strongly, like Joe, and also a massive, massive softie who gives bear hugs to the people he cares about. Chirrut seems like the most approachable of the two but honestly, I have always found him to be the scary one if you really look at it, all the while being the one who holds children’s hands and prays for them at the same time. Also, Nicky and Chirrut are both trolls sometimes and you know it.
But honestly, it really does work both ways! They have a lot of overlap. Joe and Nicky have a lot of the same character traits and dynamics just mixed and matched in slightly different combos. I think the biggest difference is that Joe and Nicky haven’t experienced loss in the same way as Chirrut and Baze, and the fact that while Joe and Nicky are playful, they don’t have the same old couple bickering energy. However, both couples are consistently the ones to make each other laugh while others just stare at them and that is beautiful to me.
