everything will be alright

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xenoblade chronicles

quixotic posting in

CANON: Trigun Stargaze
CHARACTERS: Midvalley the Hornfreak
ADDITIONAL INFO: 134 icons from episodes 4 + 5, spoilers
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malagraphic

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trigun

quixotic posting in

CANON: Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
CHARACTERS: Frieren, Fern and Stark
ADDITIONAL INFO: 107 icons from Season 2, episode 4
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malagraphic

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frieren: beyond journey's end

quixotic posting in

CANON: Wind Breaker
CHARACTERS: Sakae Momojikawa
ADDITIONAL INFO: 88 icons. Spoilers for recent chapters of the manga.
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malagraphic

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wind breaker

yourlibrarian posting in

shipmanifestos

March Meta Matters Challenge banner by thenewbuzzwuzz

March 1 is just weeks away, so that means the kickoff to this year's March Meta Matters Challenge will be taking place soon! The challenge involves locating and copying over meta you've created to a second site in order to ensure its preservation, plus there will be some prompts for creating new meta.

Feel free to ask questions here about the challenge, locations, etc. Otherwise subscribe to

marchmetamatterschallenge and look for our opening post on March 1!

sweeticedtea posting in

CANON: The Pitt
CHARACTERS: Frank Langdon, Michael "Robby" Robinavitch, Dennis Whitaker
ADDITIONAL INFO: Currently only from S2E1 for rp / personal journal essentials!
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sweeticedtea

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tv: misc

sweeticedtea posting in

CANON: The Pitt
CHARACTERS: Victoria Javadi, Mel King, Cassie McKay, Samira Mohan, Trinity Santos
ADDITIONAL INFO: Currently only from S2E1 for rp / personal journal essentials!
CREDIT TO:

sweeticedtea

here @

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tv: misc

lannamichaels

okay so Ernie Of Sesame Street is legalnamed Ernest Monster, without question, but what is Bert short for? Albert? Bertram? Hubert? Herbert? Robert?

I may spin out a quick Sesame Street Regency AU drabble... but I think it's gotta be Bertram.

kaffy_r

Well Done, Thou Good and Faithful Servant

The Rev. Jesse Jackson has died at the age of 84. We were driving north on Ashland Avenue when the word came over the radio. I gasped, and did that "Nooo!" thing that's so cliche, but proof that cliches have their roots in truth.

I knew he was old; I knew he had progressive supranuclear palsy; I knew he could no longer walk or speak, this man whose oratory raised the hopes, dreams and resistance of so many black, brown, and marginalized people. I knew he was going to die. But I didn't want it to happen.

I knew he was a complex man. I knew he was vain. I knew he was a little apt to enlarge himself in many instances. I knew he'd made antisemitic comments years ago; I knew he felt sidelined by Barack Obama's presidential campaign, after doing the hard work of paving the way for a black president with his own two surprisingly successful campaigns in 1984 and 1988. I knew he'd had a child out of wedlock.

But he didn't let his vanity outpace his love for others. He relearned humility and other lessons after each misstep. I knew he acknowledged and supported his natural daughter. I knew he was a gifted organizer as well as an orator, I knew he visited Cook County jail every Christmas when others might have - indeed had - forgotten those men. I knew he walked the walk as well as talked the talk. And there's another cliche that has its root in truth.

I met him three times. Once, on the street, heading for Grant Park, the night Obama won the presidency in 2008. He took my questions, brief as they were, and answered me in as thoughtful a way as one can in about 30 seconds. I met him a second time when he spoke to students at Niles West High School in Skokie, a significantly Jewish community. I met him a final time, at a Wilmette synagogue, where he spoke, his voice already being conquered by his illness. He would never have remembered me, but I remembered him.

I'm not black. I'm not really poor. I have privilege that he never had. But I remember his "I am Somebody." I remember. And I cry.

I'm not a Christian believer, not really, not for years. But I can hope that if the God he tried so hard to honor is there somewhere, when the Rev. Jesse Jackson reaches the seat of the Lord, that Lord will look to him and say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Here is what an excellent Chicago writer, Neil Steinberg has to say about Rev. Jackson, who was, and is, quintessentially Chicago. And here is a link to a local CBS News special on him.

Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Remembering Jesse Jackson

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senmut

AO3 Link | Anakin's Not So Imaginary Friend (1636 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace [1999], Star Wars: Rebels
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano
Characters: Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Timey Wimey Stuff, The Force is Weird [Star Wars], Ensemble Cast
Summary:

Ahsoka makes a choice to give up embodiment and become a shoulder angel.

Anakin's Not So Imaginary Friend

"If someone was whispering poison in his ears all those years, shouldn't he have a different point of view?"

The bird and the woman stared each other down, before Morai fluffed all of her feathers, and Fulcrum smiled, winning the debate.

~You will give up your place here/now and all you became. The girl will be different.~

"That is not a drawback. If I do this well, he will make true choices, not be played out in the game as a pawn."

~So certain he did not choose his destruction.~

"Maybe he did, but did he do it with enough knowledge?"

Morai remained silent, and Fulcrum touched the last rune in the circle, imbuing it with all she was, letting existence change.

~How have you survived so long, Skykid?~

The amused, gentle voice that Anakin had been hearing for the last year was actually something to steady him as he came down from the high of winning.

~I do understand that people said I was like you a little better.~

That was almost sobering. Anakin had realized the ghost in his head had lived a life, but come to him as a protector. Already, she had helped him recognize his 'luck' and 'sense of things' was actually the Force, that thing that Jedi had. She was coaching him in how to use it more actively.

She liked Mom, a lot, and she never asked him to do anything he didn't want to do.

When Master Jinn said he'd only been able to buy Anakin's freedom, she was the one with the words.

"If you take me from Mom, with Watto so poor, she's got nothing, and might be sold," he said firmly. "Can't the Jedi do something about that? How can you expect me to learn how to be a Jedi if I worry about her being here, alone, maybe bought by a mean master?"

Master Jinn frowned, considering. "When we get to the ship, I will send a comm to someone in the Temple that I trust, about what happened here. Will that be enough?"

~He will ask a good person. We can make sure it happened, later.~

"Okay, Master Jinn."

Anakin was afraid, even with Master Jinn and Padmé both promising that his Mom would be saved. None of these people — he hadn't even seen some of their species before! — liked him.

~They didn't always like me, either. Yoda doesn't get on the best with anyone but the little kids. Master Windu has some very bad things in the Force hanging on him. Master Plo is grieving a man that was his partner in all ways. Master Mundi has to analyze everything through logic.~

Anakin felt that knowledge, realized that his friend in his head was still with him, still able to give him pieces of information. That… that made things a little better. He drew himself up as tall as he could, considered navigating this as to be like a pod race course with explosives, and focused intently on how they asked their questions.

"Yes, Masters. I am afraid," he said calmly. "My mother is a slave, owned by a man that lost everything in Master Jinn's attempt to get things done. But I can't help her there. I can only trust that people who have the ability handle that, since I was taken from her to live free. It would be fair, after all, to give something back to her with value.

"I may be older than the ones you accept, but I can learn. I like learning. And I do want to help!"

~Oh good job, Skykid. You just needed a little support, but you did that all on your own!~

The absolute joy of being able to help, the exhilaration of taking the droid control ship down mingled and made Anakin feel like he was walking on air when they all landed.

~Just, remember. We survive. That means we must remember those who don't.~

The words were gentle, but laced with a pain that knew loss, and Anakin looked, mentally tallying how many ships had landed against how many he'd seen earlier.

~You lost lots; I can tell. How do you remember?~

~I say their names, when they're close to me. I remember what they did to live, how they lived outside the fighting. When I didn't know them well… I live harder, for the ideas they held strongly.~

~Then… I'll have to ask Captain Olié to tell me about the ones that don't make it back,~ Anakin decided, still up on a pilot's shoulders in their shared joy at living.

Anakin kept his smile on his face, but he was worried. Why, with all the good things happening, did he feel empty inside?

He didn't want his ghost friend to leave him! She had helped him so much!

All through the rest of the events, he kept hoping to hear her, kept wishing for her to give him something to go by when the Jedi elders said he was not a padawan yet, but he would be.

It wasn't until he was in his room that night, with Master Jinn and Padawan Kenobi talking so quietly in the main one, that he could feel her again.

~You left me!~ he accused, fear and worry mingling in the words.

~I cannot be present when my enemy is near, apparently,~ she said, all apology and a feeling of being nettled by the restriction.

~Who?~

There was a long pause, but he could still feel her.

~I don't think I can tell you that without putting you in more danger,~ she said, raw honestly in the words, and the feeling of a hug all around him.

~Maybe when I am older, stronger? More able to protect others and myself?~ he asked, having caught worry for the Jedi in those words.

~I think so,~ she said softly.

~Tell me something about you,~ he said, changing tactics, not liking the sadness he could feel in her.

~How about a name? They used to call me Fulcrum.~

~That's an engineering thing! The point you balance on to shift heavy weights!~ Anakin told her, before his quick mind raced ahead. ~The weight of why you are sad, and you want me to be the lever?~

~No, I want you safer,~ Fulcrum said, rejecting the idea that Anakin Skywalker was a tool to be used. ~I want you to make your own choices, but with a little advice that others don't know how to give to you.~

~What makes you sure you do?~

Her presence grew lighter, playful and teasing, at that. ~Because, Skykid, I knew you in a different life. Now rest; we're leaving tomorrow for the Temple.~

He started to protest, but it had been a long day, and now he had a name for his friend.

Anakin's skin was crawling as he came back to the Temple after the meeting that Master Gallia had arranged at the request of the Chancellor. He'd been doing so well in his classes, and Knight Kenobi was actually considering him as a padawan.

But.

He was way too smart, running over who had been at the Naboo celebration versus who had been present in that meeting. The Chancellor had been kind, speaking well of Anakin's daring and skills —

— and Fulcrum had been silent, no longer sitting in his mind. He wondered how long it would take her to come back (she had to come back, she'd promised to be there and keep helping him with his lessons and his temper!) this time.

There was something he could do, as he reached out to lightly tug on Master Gallia's sleeve hem.

"Master, may I speak with you?"

She ushered her friends along, and crouched to be more on a level with the Initiate. "Go ahead, Anakin."

"I don't want to meet with him again." Seeing her begin to muster all the reasons for trying to be their diplomatic gesture, he shook his head firmly, and she held them back. "I am just a kid. I might have done some big things with the Force, but where I am from?

"People with power only reach out to those with skills but no leverage when they want to use them for something. I have a bad feeling about this, and want to focus on my lessons, so I can be a good padawan."

She let her face show her acceptance, and nodded. "Very well. I hope Obi-Wan makes that choice soon, once you have all the basics down, Anakin."

~How do we beat him?~

It was three days past that meeting and Fulcrum had been back in his mind for two of them, when he finally asked, and she could see who he meant.

~Patience, observing everything, fixing as many little things as we can,~ she answered honestly. ~I wish you did not know, but at the same time… now he can't take all you are and push it into his plans of destruction.~

Anakin's lips thinned to tight line of anger, glimpsing the future in the Force, the one she had lived, the one where he hadn't thought of motive before pride.

~I have you, you have me, and we're going to make sure he doesn't win.~

Fulcrum gave him her love, her pride in him making that choice, and settled back to teaching him, going over his lessons, to draw him away from the kindled anger for now.

Later, once he had more training, they could try to push. For now, Fulcrum intended to help Anakin ground in the here and now of learning how to be a Jedi that wasn't so mistrusted, or too far on the outskirts.

That, and his knowledge of who the enemy was, just might set them on a better path for all.

Tags:

shamanicshaymin

Discord sure proudly shot itself in the foot, didn't it? Alas, I don't have a copy of Death Stranding to fool their systems with, and I sure as hell am not forking over my ID to the government. So far, I signed up for Stoat, but I don't know which service is going to be the Next Big Thing yet. Remember when people signed up for Pillowfort and that ended up dead in the water? Yeeeeeeah. I hope this next migration will be more creative friendly, I have zero places to be motivated for building graphics and fanmixes. Sure, there's always Dreamwidth, but it's pretty quiet here, which sadly, nothing much I can do about. :(

Since I've been burnt out during the winter season, Three Sentence Ficathon has been a major help. I ended up having a lot of Moon RPG feelings so quite a number of fills are based on that game. ;; Then I took a break to do EAD Birthday Bash 2026, which was a lot of fun since I got to do silly paper plate art with markers. Everybody should read my Mouthwashing My Immortal masterpiece, buwahahahaha. It has to be the most fun I've had writing fic in a long time. XD With Birthday Bash over, I can catch up on 3SF and post all my fills. Sometimes even writing a single sentence is like pulling teeth, so if I actually manage to finish a prompt, it means a lot.

Animal Crossing 3.0 finally lets you store flowers and trees, which has been a major contributing factor to my burnout and inability to finish my island. And there's now slumber islands, so I can play with all the ideas I have bouncing around in my head without having to reset and do *everything* all over again. I can even build with friends! I just... have to find them, whoops. Gods I'm so lonely. ;; I learned how to find treasure islands so I'm basically catching up on everything and cataloging as many items as possible for building on dream islands. My museum is finally finished after forever. :P

Everyone has been shredding the latest Wuthering Heights movie, and dang, it looks as awful as it sounds. It's shitty enough that it makes me want to give the book another chance (and partly because some of Heathcliff's lines remind me of Buzzo being haunted by Lisa), but oof. The original book still employs one of my most Hated Tropes of All Time (The Misunderstanding, aka Person A conveniently hears just enough to believe the Person B hates them, and leaves right before Person B clarifies what they actually mean. I fucking despise it in Shrek, and I despise it everywhere else) And I don't know... a hated trope is like a turd in a otherwise fine bowl of cereal, you know? Once you know it's there, the turd overwhelms everything. D:

I'm still burnt out on everything, which really sucks. But at this point, I kind of have to push, you know?

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Ghost - Cirice

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3sfmod posting in

threesentenceficathon

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kaffy_r

He Woke Up

I awoke at about 6:15 p.m. to feed the cat, and after a night of night sweats (further, deponent saith naught because, eeuww, TMI) and dread about which Bob would greet me when he woke, I couldn't get back to sleep. I got up and tried to catch up on far too many emails. "Catch up on" quickly devolved into pitching most of the 650+ emails into the aether,

Then I thought about updating Bob's doctors on the newest situation - him being home. I finally did that, but not before fearing that Bob wouldn't easily wake, or maybe he'd regress to not waking up at all, when I brought him coffee.

He woke up.

And he got up. And got dressed, and talked to me, and joked, and was there. All there.

Another episode gone? Well, we thought it was gone back in January, and it came back, but I'm choosing to believe in hope this time. And it was a delight to be able to tell people from that damned hospital, and from one of the rehab places I was gearing up to tour that we didn't seem to have a need for them. I will also cancel the tour of another rehab place that I'd set up for Wednesday.

I hope I'm not jinxing everything, but again, I'm choosing to believe in hope this time.

That doesn't mean our work is done. We have got to figure out what the fuck goes on in BB's body to throw him into confusion, weakness and aphasia, and why it was so bad this time. There has to be a reason, or even more than one reason. So that's on the to-do list. But Sunday is a day of rest, so I will rest, watching Bob at his computer, and urging me to read the political columns he's sending me. It feels like home again.

Current Mood: thankful
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Hwa Sa/Hwasa "LMM"

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senmut

10trueloves - 5/10 written

Random Plot Bunnies in Progress

~ Fulcrum and Rex time travel to before Anakin runs to Mace. - NEEDS CANON REVIEW
~ Sequel to Retrieval - 93 WORDS
~ An Atin universe that is more like The Second Clone War or Mine, All of Them - 23 WORDS

Potential Bunnies Pending Further Bouncing

~ Rachel and Joe meet with BOTH finally aware in Closing Up Shop
~ Drizzt's fallout/Vierna's reactions in the Divining Destiny universe

Finished

~ Ahsoka the Daughter whispering guidance through time in Anakin's head. Starting in ~~AotC~~ TPM. Includes: Okay no wonder some said I was just like you (her reaction to the reckless deal in TPM) / Hey Skykid, what's a guy with all the power thinking to make a point of having time for you? (Comics of the Padawan years) / Oh kriff he's so young (first meeting of Anakin and Rex) / I am SO shiny (Ahsoka arriving) - READY TO POST

Tags:

rl: projects: writing

senmut

Welcome to the fills I made for 3SF this year. Much abuse of grammar, as I hold to the THREE sentence part faithfully.

Fandoms: Wheel of Time (TV), Miami Vice, The Old Guard, Three's Company, Black Sails, Uncle Buck, The Peanuts, Star Wars: TCW (2), Star Wars: ST, Transformers, Detroit: Become Human, Leverage, Earth's Children (2), Gilligan's Island/Fantasy Island, The X-Files

( 17 grammar abuses )

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3sfmod posting in

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senmut

AO3 Link | Malachor Reset (4003 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars [2008] - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano
Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader, Ahsoka Tano
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Timey Wimey Stuff, Codependency, Ensemble Cast, Kriffing Sith Plans, Minor Character Death, character tagging is on purpose
Summary:

Fulcrum has to win, and unwittingly brings Anakin to her side...

...which will change everything.

Malachor Reset

She had to save Ezra and Kanan. She could not let them die here. That pulsed through her as she focused on getting back to the fight above, shaping the waves of the dark Force all around her. It was not enough that she'd faced the Inquisitors and Maul alike; she had to face him. She could no longer deny just who that was in the suit —

— and he was her mistake made form, the end result of walking away from the Jedi Order, leaving Anakin Skywalker alone in the death spiral of the Republic.

Ahsoka Tano, now only called Fulcrum, had the memory of the offer of the beads on her mind as she raced back up to protect the only other Jedi-trained person and his student that she knew of. Kanan wasn't strong enough. Ezra… was young enough to be captured, remade as a new Inquisitor. There was no way she would allow that to happen, as all of the what-ifs of that long gone day fluttered in the fusion of darkness and light.

Two warriors, trained since childhood and annealed in war, kissed by the Force's own avatars, pulled at the power of the ancient Sith and Jedi who had fought and died here. As Fulcrum rushed back into the fight, her thoughts of her master twined in her drive to save the other pair, the threads of the Force wove their own path through time and space.

Words, blows, the building energy of the mass shadow generator blended into the desperation of one former padawan and the determination of a man who had nothing but the illusion of power. Twist, parry, retreat, attack — and the dance changed as Fulcrum launched an all but suicidal new attack on the Sith.

When she landed from the attack that had sliced into his mask, an explosion of the Force itself threw both combatants back… and a new body was in the midst, dropping a set of silka beads to grab for his lightsaber at the sheer reek of the Dark Side, a red lightsaber visible… and his Snips' voice calling his name.

"YOU!"

The brief connection between the monster in the armor to the padawan-no-more was broken and despite the labored breathing, despite the damage done, Darth Vader moved to destroy the weak, useless being he'd once been without stopping to think about the repercussions.

Anakin, despite being caught flat-footed by the Force, was meeting that fury with his own skill fueled by the sheer amount of not wanting to be here, wherever here was…

… and then a pair of shining white lightsabers were at his side, wielded by a woman that he somehow knew was his Snips. When the black-armored menace fell, the Temple had already sealed itself off, with Kanan and Ezra away from this impossible meeting.

"I… you?" Anakin asked, feeling something in his head lurch as life left the monstrosity.

Fulcrum powered down her lightsabers, and then flung herself into his space, once his own was off.

"Anakin."

The whirlwind of a life lived, the ache and guilt and honestly deep love for Anakin in this woman his padawan had become left him mentally astonished, but he held onto her.

"Snips."

The call of a convor, distant, held meaning for her, and Fulcrum squeezed tight, once, before making herself step back.

"Don't become him."

Her eyes were so sad, and Anakin wanted to know why, wanted to deny that he could ever be something that riddled by the Dark Side.

He didn't get the chance, as the temporary breach of time reverted, placing Anakin on the steps, watching a padawan-no-more leave him behind.

And in the Sith Temple? A woman closed her eyes while the universe rewrote itself.

The beads were no longer in his hand, and he collapsed to a knee, his cybernetic hand supporting him to keep him from falling flat on his face.

The sound drew her attention, and then she was running, Force-fast, and sliding in to further support him. He didn't care, he wasn't going to be stoic, he'd almost lost her, he would lose himself, leave her to become a woman with the weight of the galaxy riding her —

His arms wrapped around her, and Anakin just breathed, falling back on his rump and dragging her closer, holding on. Ashoka's concern spiraled higher, and he didn't try to hold back the strange — vision? Force experience? — from her. In the close contact, with their training bond intact, she saw/felt/heard it all, and she gasped in … worry? For him? The made him cling tighter. She did love him, was connected as deeply to his soul as his Angel, as he wished his Master was.

"I lost your beads there."

She shook her head, trying to burrow into his skin, all of her plans to leave falling to the wayside.

"I… don't want to be a part of this Order, but I cannot leave you to face that," she murmured.

"I can't lose you, Snips. I was willing to let you leave, if you just had to, because… everyone should be free to choose. But now? I need you at my side. Please?"

"Promise me we'll only stay until that monster can't be reality, until I can't be that woman with too much grief in her lekku," she asked, almost demanded, and he squeezed his arms around her.

"Let's win the war, and then we'll steal the men and run away to fight the real dangers in the Rim?"

She laughed, weakly. "Not sure your Senator will like that plan, but … as long as after is different, I don't care. Because Barriss wasn't wrong in what she said, just what she did."

"I agree completely."

"Ahh, Anakin, my young friend," Palpatine called as Anakin strode into the man's office, following his habits of checking in with the man before going back to the fighting. "I am surprised to hear that the child has opted to return to the war, despite her harrowing trials."

Anakin scowled, as much for the reminder as because… something in the words felt wrong. Was this a side-effect of whatever had shifted in him when he killed his future self?

"She's a solid Jedi," Anakin said firmly, "and even more committed to being my padawan, helping to end this war." Like himself, Ahsoka had not been a child in a very long time, though at least in her case, he had felt it was her need to protect others that had pushed her to mature too early. The tangled ties of their newly reinforced bond had revealed many truths between them.

"Well, she could not hope to have a finer example to look up to," Palpatine told him, and again, the words felt false, possibly layered, and that was putting Anakin on guard. There was definitely something here, something that was not true friendship. He had that now, with Ahsoka, and this felt… tainted.

"We are leaving today to rejoin our unit. I just wanted to wish you well," Anakin said, rather than mention any of the other pieces of business he might have in the past.

"Until our next meeting, then, when I do hope you will have time to look over my own ideas, possibly present them to Amidala in a way that stops her from objecting so much?"

Threat. There was definitely threat in those words, but Anakin hid his awareness of it and nodded once.

"I'll try to help her see clearly." He strode back out, and once he was out of sight, he sent an encrypted message to Artoo.

::Angel needs to join us immediately. Sabé acceptable if can't. En route to our drop ship.::

Ahsoka had already pre-flighted, and Artoo gave Anakin the affirmation that they would soon have company. The droid checked the ship over — again — and warned Ahsoka when he was turning the anti-spying measures on, moments before Padmé, in nondescript clothing, came aboard. Artoo had learned Togruta specifications, and would take care of her as he did his other organics. That meant telling her if noises in her hearing range would happen.

"I need you to be very careful, I want you to actually dig into the Chancellor's background, and above all else, do not take any risks for a while," Anakin told his wife in a quiet, intense voice. "I have reason to believe something is wrong.

"He's tired of fighting your opposition to his suggestions, and I am asking you to tone that down to a more token defense until your staff figures this out."

Padmé blinked, then opened her mouth, but something in Anakin's eyes was terrifying… in a different way than she was used to.

"I will do my best," she agreed. She subtly glanced forward to where Ahsoka was, but Anakin dipped down and kissed her deeply despite the girl's presence.

"No more secrets with her," he murmured. "I think… she's helping me see some truths."

"Alright, Ani. I should go, so you can get away. The captain himself escorted me, so I will be safe." Gregor Typho was a devoted public servant, and a personal friend to Padmé, after all.

"Good." He kissed her one more time, reluctantly letting her go, and went to take over the cockpit. Padmé hurried off, understanding why Anakin had wanted to say it in person, and went to get to work.

Ahsoka smirked Anakin's way from the co-pilot seat, and he gave a wry grin.

"I like the way she makes you feel in the bond," Ahsoka said, smiling as they left the planet.

"I knew she and I would be together since I was just a kid."

"How many ways are you and I alike, Skyguy?"

Anakin stared at her once he didn't have to pay as much attention to traffic. "What? WHO?!"

"Unh-uh, not telling because they're not ready for us to be a thing," Ahsoka answered. "Just, when it does happen, you don't get to give us grief."

"Alright, Snips."

She frowned when she glanced at the settings once he laid in their hyperspace course. "That's not where the Resolute is," she commented.

"We're not going to the Resolute." Anakin sent them on their way, and let hyperspace fold around them before he finished. "We're going to go to Master Koon, and I need you to be strong with me for what needs to be done there." He knew the Master had gone straight back to his unit, and would already be settled in by the time they arrived.

"It… it's not going to be pretty. You might have to see or hear some things that are pretty horrible, because… I can't do this without you." He looked over at her, half-afraid the deep bond had led him astray, that maybe he was asking too much.

She reached over, lacing her hand in his. "Skyguy, after what you showed me? After all you have done for me? You don't have to worry about it at all. Master Plo might have issues letting me be there to support you, but we'll make it clear it has to be both of us."

"Yeah," Anakin agreed.

Plo settled back from removing over a decade's worth of harm from Skywalker's mind, and saw that he'd collapsed with his arms still around Ahsoka, head in her lap, with her face tear-tracked. He would have preferred not to take her into the healing, but as strongly as Anakin's mind had resisted releasing the compulsions, he had to admit that he could not have done it without her.

She was too young to be caught up in this level of destiny, and he had only barely scratched the surface of making amends for the recent events on Coruscant.

"You should both rest."

"We can rest in hyperspace," Ahsoka said, coaxing Anakin into letting go. "I… think our men need us there. In a way that feels like the Force still having opinions."

Plo sighed, even as Anakin groggily dragged himself to his feet, braced himself, and helped her up from the decking.

"I'm done ignoring the whispers of the Force," Anakin said. He then inclined his head to Plo. "If you have a secure way to let the Senator of Naboo know about the tampering, please do. I asked her to begin investigating more closely, but… we don't know what traps he has yet to reveal. So caution is needed."

"I shall see to it. May the Force protect you both as you walk its offered path."

"And you, Master," Ahsoka said, steadying herself once the blood had returned to her cramped legs.

When the division of forces happened to take down the Seppies on the satellite, Ahsoka felt a tiny premonition. She was so glad she and Anakin had managed to sleep all of the trip back to the 501st, because this was an all-out offensive.

"Master Tiplar, I'll join your part of this push," Ahsoka said, managing, barely, to make it sound like a volunteering request instead of the demand it needed to be. Anakin frowned a moment; he was hesitant to have her out of sight, but at the same time…

… she had said they needed to get back to the men fast.

"Alright, Snips," he made himself say. "Master, she's got the best track record against Separatist commanders out of all of us," he added ruefully, a slight stretch, but Ahsoka had battled Grievous and Ventress to a stalemate and escaped to tell the tale both times.

"I will be glad to have the small huntress join me," Tiplar said, making herself smile, having heard of recent events and she was thoroughly disapproving of how callous it had all seemed. They divided the men out, and Ahsoka made herself listen harder to the Force, rather than just rely on her battle skills.

It was that, her touch on all of their men, with the Force as the backdrop that gave her a moment's warning, a single moment in the breather before they breached the command center, to protect herself. One of her men was not there, and she was turning as Tup strode toward her and Tiplar. Force-guided instincts had her shoto coming up despite her disbelief.

The blaster bolt was glancing as it deflected partially, and Fives was in motion then, but Ahsoka had pushed too hard for too long and an injury to her lekku was that step too far.

"…up, little one," was Ahsoka's first awareness that she had made it out.

"Tup?" she asked, not liking the haggard look in Anakin's eyes, even as she felt the vibrations that said the Resolute was in hyperspace to her.

"In the brig. We were going to send him to Kamino for evaluation when neither Rex nor I got good answers, but Fives pointed out you turned before Tup moved. And who trusts longnecks?" The bond whispered that Anakin had felt something against that choice for handling Tup. She sent wordless agreement, and made herself sit up, not surprised when he helped her.

"I need to see him. With you is fine, but I need to figure out what I felt," Ahsoka said, before wrinkling her nose at the bacta bandage around her lek.

"Kix will probably have words for me, and I know Vasq will, but Coric's on duty and he believes Jedi make their own rules," Anakin told her, setting her clothing on the med-berth and turning his back to give her nominal privacy. He winced at her hiss when she did have to move the injured lek, but waited until she slid off the berth into her waiting boots to turn back. He steadied her, a hand under her elbow, and walked her out of medical with barely a nod from Coric… and a frown, because he did care about the both of them.

Anakin watched as Ahsoka entered the brig, and Tup lunched towards her, but Ahsoka had Tup in the air and held before Anakin had to intervene.

"This is not you. This is something else. Come back to us, Tup."

"Good soldiers — " Tup's face twisted in pain, and Anakin could actually feel his man there, emotional weight dropping on him. Ahsoka felt it too, and set him back on the berth in the brig.

"Commander?" Tup asked in a scared voice.

"Go to sleep, Tup." Anakin's voice was the one laden with the Force suggestion, and Tup crumpled into unconsciousness.

"He wasn't there, then he was, just like at the fight, but in reverse?" Ahsoka reasoned out.

"We don't know that he wasn't controlled specifically to get to you, since we know he wants you out of my life. We saw, in that vision of mine, what happens if we break apart, and I just cannot lose you, Snips.

"I don't think anyone since Padmé has put as much faith in me, and been so loyal as to hold guilt for how many ever years that older version of you was harboring. We have to see this to the end, together."

Ahsoka nodded, walking over to the unconscious man, hand touching his face, moving, seeking any answers.

"Skyguy, I promise you I will keep myself alive, and I will not leave. But that means we need a medic with Jedi equipment, I think. Because something's wrong here," and she pointed, "but Kix hasn't ever noted it on the med records. I know; I always scan over the men's charts when we go from the fire into the frying pan, to know who might need boosted."

Anakin smiled, nodding at that. He did the same thing, and he knew Tup's chart had no indication of a lasting brain injury, just a minor note of headaches that were recurrent with no cause found.

"I'm not on great terms with the healers, so you set that up, okay?"

"On it."

Anakin felt a moment of panic as Obi-Wan joined him and Ahsoka at the command center; Ahsoka just moved closer to him, backs of hands touching in the way the men did for reassurance.

The bond whispered of all the ways that Obi-Wan had been the target of Sith manipulations, and Anakin managed to put his shoulders back down. That let Ahsoka move to give Obi-Wan the better vantage, even as both knew the senior Jedi was studying them.

"Master Yoda and Master Windu are in agreement that Operation Debug will need to be delayed for the Guard until we are ready for the Senate to lay the accusation," Obi-Wan said, before pointing out the various approaches.

"There's a technical access here," Anakin said. "That's where the ones going for the Sith need to be, the ones that will engage if and when he shows his true colors."

"Master Tiin is of a mind to stage as many defensive fighters among the Senatorial pods as we possibly can, using the same allies who mean to present the evidence," Obi-Wan mused. "He also suggested that you be given the choice of where to stage from, with me at your side, as our Battle Meditation meets his approval."

Anakin hesitated, eyes finding Ahsoka's.

"I'm going in, yes, but Master Obi-Wan is right. You and I don't usually fight side by side."

She could feel Obi-Wan weighing that.

"Anakin, if you have any reservations, we can put the request to Masters Plo and Kit, or Mace and Yoda?" Obi-Wan said. "I know I made many mistakes, and I am very sorry for choices made."

Anakin's breath rushed out as it all clicked into place against what Plo had found. "No. Your choices… were as badly influenced as mine. And I can find the flow with you, I promise. Snips? You do what you do best, so I don't worry."

"Got it, Skyguy," Ahsoka assured him, and left Obi-Wan wondering even more at their rapport having grown so deep.

"Then we'll be at the tech access," Anakin said firmly.

Obi-Wan was down. The Sith was in front of him, his cybernetic arm wasn't responding, fried by the Force lightning. He could not really tell what else was happening, know who could reach him.

Obi-Wan was down, and Anakin didn't know if he was going to get back up.

Fear and anger and memory collided into a whirlwind in his mind, slipping his grip on the Light.

Almost instantly, the part of him that had anchored in the padawan bond, was wrapped tighter by Ahsoka's awareness.

~We are together.~

The fear faded back, shoved back by his reckless padawan. The anger was refocused, sharp as her teeth for the author of their miseries. The memory — his pain was dampened, gently, by her acceptance of all he was, her willingness to coach him through seeing his mistakes as a path to trying to be better.

He caught the next lightning strike on his blade, stalking toward the Sith. At the first use of the Choke, he dipped back into the Dark and returned the favor, but let go as soon as Sidious faltered in his attempt. Ever closer, eyes locked on his target, making Sidious pay attention to only him as a threat.

A blazing red sabers on his blue, too close now for the lightning to be effective, and Anakin leaned hard into Ahsoka's shield of loyalty and faith, keeping Sidious contained, giving more time for Senators to be evacuated, longer for the Guard to shake off the effect of the chip-killing signal and see what was happening, to act for the Republic.

His defense faltered under a battery of blows and he was falling back, that red saber darting in right behind to take advantage —

— and Sidious was pulled back by his robe, off-balance as Ahsoka, concentrating fully on the fight, attacked with telekinesis rather than jump in recklessly. Before Sidious could recover, Obi-Wan was at Anakin's side again, limping, but ready.

"Shall we?" Obi-Wan enjoined, a devilish grin in place, and Anakin answered it in full, before they rushed the Sith, one goal in mind.

Anakin stood on the steps of the Temple, Ahsoka at his side. Behind them, they could hear Obi-Wan calling out to them.

"This feels familiar," Ahsoka said, testing the fit of her new robes, trying to decide how to make them work for her or if she would bother except on this planet.

"Yeah, but maybe we shouldn't make him chase us, when he probably hasn't rested that leg much," Anakin replied, confident in who they were and a future in motion as the Jedi Order evolved.

As one, with perfect synchronization, they turned to see Obi-Wan.

"You know I could hear you both," Obi-Wan said dryly. "And I have been resting. Someone's Captain sicced my Commander on me.

"I wished to greet you both, Knight Tano and Master Skywalker, officially."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, but it was with a grin. Anakin actually ducked his head and gave the shyer smile he used.

"I couldn't let them elevate me, and not highlight what she did to make it possible," Anakin said, "but thank you, Master."

"I just played a trick on him," Ahsoka said, but she was proud of having helped end a Sith, permanently.

"And protected my mind," Anakin insisted.

"Couldn't let him win even if you beat him, Skyguy."

"What now for the two of you?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Sith hunting," they said in unison, before laughing brightly.

"We're doing the same with her that you did with me. Making a rapid response company out of her mean, until either they get big enough to split off, or we find and end the threat of Dooku and his minions," Anakin continued.

Obi-Wan nodded, then sobered up. "I am relieved you both chose the Order. It needs strong Jedi, willing to find a new way."

"That's sort of what we decided, and the men need us anyway," Ahsoka agreed. "Force be with you, Master. We need to go be diplomatic in the Senate."

"May the Force continue to be with you both."

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CANON: The Pitt
CHARACTERS: Baran Al-Hashimi, Dana Evans, Emma Nolan, Joy Kwon, John Shen
ADDITIONAL INFO: Currently only from S2E1 for rp essentials (aaand it's still airing)
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sweeticedtea posting in

CANON: found (2023 - 2025)
CHARACTERS: dhan rana
ADDITIONAL INFO: season one, episodes 1 - 5
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