May the 4th Be With You - May 4th, 2024
'Gladiator' - Zayde Wolf
Spotify / YouTube
For some reason I thought it’d be a good idea to change my art style for today and use no lines, but I think it turned out much nicer then I expected XD He deserves some moments like this.
Week 2 - April 28th, 2024
'Upside Down - Remix' - Jack Johnson, Money Mark
Spotify / YouTube
Kiffu was a rather dry planet, prone to rainless storms and waterless land, difficult to live on and cultivate. Some more northern regions allowed it in the right season, but it still left much of the planet as more of a desert than anything else. With regular eclipses and phenomena caused by the twin planet Kiffex and a light atmosphere slightly richer in oxygen, this was simply the way life was here. Hot and exposed and sometimes tough on the lungs.
But the Kiffar adapted. They grew used to the oxygen levels, the only long term side effects seeming to be a brighter blood and slower breathing, their circulatory system simply not requiring as much air in one breath as they may on other planets. And to combat the hot and arid climate, to raise young that would not be restricted to just their own planet to breathe upon, they created a very particular droid.
And Quinlan created a friend in FA-9.
The droid rolled around after the young prodigy with whistles and beeps, both rushing off to wherever Quinlan had set his heart next. The fan whirred excitedly when Quinlan laughed, and the single large optical in the center would flicker like the mischief in Quinlan’s own eyes. If Quinlan had to go somewhere he always asked if the droid could accompany him, some of his fondest memories swirling on the surface of bright metal and a pure childlike glee in what was often a dull life.
As for FA-9, it was loyal in its mission; circulating air, sensing and warning of the sudden weather changes, and misting whatever was required for Quinlan’s development out of the small ducts behind its fan blades. Anything, from bacta for quickly soothing a scraped knee, aerosolized medicine for a stuffy nose or throat pain, humidity on harsh nights, or even just cool water when Quinlan would kneel and request it in the heat of his play time, FA-9 was at the boys beck and call. Ready to warn or soothe or help however a droid like it could. And it took no time at all for FA-9 to imprint on that laughter and adventure Quinlan brought him, like it was creating its own memories in each touch of those small pudgy hands.
So even long after Quinlan had to leave it all; his planet, home, and family, for his safety and growth as a Jedi, he never forgot his best friend, whirring and beeping faithfully behind him.
And FA-9 never forgot the baby boy who always smiled at him, brighter than the sun itself.
That’s right, FA-9 is Quinlan’s droid friend! Especially when he was only a toddler, running around in the heat with the curious fan droid zooming after :3
And seriously though, this song feels so much like him. Lyrics and tone for the piece, the arc of Quinlan in this childlike moment. I listened to it a lot while working on this.
*slams this comic down and yells about it* It's not that feelings are wrong, it's that they are Level 100 Space Psychics whose emotions are the foundation of their connection to the energy field that gives them those abilities.
A Jedi can literally crush someone's windpipe with their mind. A Jedi can move so fast a regular person could never keep up with them, they could slice right through you before you could do more than twitch. A Jedi is placed in a position where lives are going to depend on how well they can handle a crisis.
Feelings are normal, natural, and the Jedi have never said to suppress them. But instead that control is vital and this is exactly why--because using the Force through anger and fear is the dark side, that's literally what the Force is, your emotions. Jedi have to have higher standards than most people because otherwise people will die.
Qui-Gon is not the first to say this (off the top of my head, I remember instances of Obi-Wan saying it in The Clone Wars, I remember Depa saying it in the Kanan comics, this is basically what Yoda was talking about in ESB) because this is what the Jedi teach and live by.
Check yourself before you wreck yourself, because wrecking yourself is going to get a lot of people hurt.
OOOUUGGHHH I'M GONNA CRY, Obi-Wan going after Anakin to check on him and tell him he believed in him and he had a place as a Jedi, all while still grieving Qui-Gon's still recent death, like this guy just lost his father figure and he's still stopping to ask, "Are you all right?" and reaching out to put a reassuring hand on Anakin???
EXCUSE ME I NEED TO GO LOOK AT THE ENDLESS FATHOMS OF THE OCEAN FOR AWHILE THAT IS ALL THAT CAN ENCOMPASS MY FEELINGS ABOUT THIS.
"This is Anakin Skywalker: The most powerful Jedi of his generation. Perhaps of any generation. The fastest. The strongest. An unbeatable pilot. An unstoppable warrior. On the ground, in the air or sea or space, there is no one even close. He has not just power, not just skill, but dash: that rare, invaluable combination of boldness and grace.”
― Matthew Stover, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith