#Qui-Gon died of other causes

[faint-taste-of-almonds]

yes there's a lot of things to criticize about Star Wars but one thing i will always love it for is being so unabashedly tragic

i'm sure it's been said before, but one of the main things i think powers the SW fandom (fics in particular) is the (in)evitability of it all

time travel fix-its are one of the most popular sub-categories of fics that i've seen (for the prequels at least) but i see it much more rarely in other fandoms. i know each fandom has their own niches that they dig into but star wars fic writers took one look at this decades long story of people who were doomed from the start and said 'not in my house bitch'

and i'm never tired of it, because there's so many places where just one different action could have changed the story entirely, but didn't

was it over the moment Palpatine succeeded in feeding Anakin's fears and his distrust toward the Jedi? the moment the Sith gained control of the senate? what about when the war started, when the Jedi were made generals of men designed to be their executioners? what about when Dooku left the order? when Qui-Gon Jinn died, leaving barely-knighted Obi Wan Kenobi to raise a child he had no idea how to care for? when the Jedi massacred the Mandalorians at Galidraan, leaving Jango Fett primed (hah) for revenge? when Palpatine, and thus the Sith, first gained influence? when the Jedi were tied to the Republic, all the way back at the Ruusan Reformation?

there are so many little moments that turn into this huge web of cause and effect when you take a step back. and in canon, these characters are dooming themselves while we watch, but what reason do they have to do anything different? they don't know they're in a tragedy - its dramatic irony at its goddamn finest

but there's this thing about decisions: for it to be a choice, there has to be another option. and our heroes make their mistakes because that's what they do, while we aren't privy to that other option, leaving that little what-if. it's a favorite human pastime, to think about what might have been.

we start at episode 4, though, fourty or so years after what you could arguably call the start, and find ourselves watching the dominoes fall in place throughout 1, 2, and 3.

and we can hate the choices, hate the tragedy, hate what happened to our beloved characters, but we knew. we had the luxury of knowing.

it's a love story, it's political intrique, it's sci-fi at its finest, and they were dead from the start.

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

One thing I do like about TOTJ's take on Dooku's fall is that it really highlights that the Dark Side makes you absolutely masochistic. (Mega long post ahead).

One thing TOTJ establishes is that Qui-Gon's death is absolutely on Dooku (no matter if the show itself doesn't seem to be aware of it).

His tone is concerned and his attitude sympathetic and supportive, but he knows. He knows it's a Sith Lord (he even knows Maul's name). He knows Qui-Gon almost died and is marching right into another trap, but he asks questions anyway and affects ignorance.

"I've been warning them about the coming darkness for years," he says, "never to be taken seriously." Using the Council's skepticism as an occasion to complain about how they didn't believe him while lying by omission is a great case of that hypocrisy Dooku loves denouncing in others. Dooku would rather Qui-Gon share his disillusionment with the Jedi than actually do anything to help Qui-Gon. The Council don't believe him? Okay, Dooku, but YOU DO. You can just tell him what's going on.

But he doesn't.

On some level, Dooku has to be aware of what's about to happen. Qui-Gon is walking into grave danger, and Dooku's response to that - before it happens, when there is still time to stop it - is to put the blame on the people who don't know shit while not doing shit himself. (Why can't Dooku be there to protect Qui-Gon, other than because he's already slavishly loyal to Sidious' plans?)

And this moment puts every subsequent action of Dooku's throughout the Prequels in perspective - particularly his relationships with Obi-Wan, Ventress and Yoda.

Dooku is a glutton for punishment.

I've written here about why I think the 'Box' from TCW 4x17 is meant to parallel Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon's mission on Naboo. The dioxis, ventilation shafts, the catwalks and lightsabers, the ray shields, the fire pit... Dooku's idea of a test to find the best mercenaries around is to have them survive what killed Qui-Gon (what he allowed to happen).

During the challenge, it's pretty obvious he starts to suspect Hardeen is Obi-Wan.

Or at the very least, he's taking an interest in the man who supposedly killed Qui-Gon's own apprentice - Dooku's spiritual grandson (see RotS novelization), whom he's been trying very hard to either recruit or kill himself. And what does he do with that interest? Tries to push "Hardeen" to kill Eval in anger.

Dooku, who still mourns the Padawan he knowingly let walk away to his death, watches a pantomime of his Padawan's death, while putting in mortal danger all he has left of said apprentice. If he knows Hardeen is Obi-Wan (and it's pretty obvious that he does), he tries to get Obi-Wan to Fall (or potentially die) in a scenario reenacting Qui-Gon's death. If he doesn't know for sure, then he's encouraging his all but grandson's killer to win the tournament because he admires him (for killing someone Dooku wanted by his side).

Whatever the outcome, Dooku chooses to relive his guilt and chooses to make the same choice to kill his loved one all over again, even though we know he hates that he made this choice:

He misses Qui-Gon and needs him but tries to kill or destroy Obi-Wan, whom he needs and wants by his side. (I haven't counted just how many time he does try killing Obi-Wan in TCW while still expressing his indefectible admiration for him - it's frequent, the Box just stands out to me as one of the most noteworthy occasions.)

And he keeps doing stuff like that!! He keeps choosing the path that causes him the most pain. He does it with Sifo-Dyas, he does it with Yaddle, he does it with Yoda and he does it with Ventress.

Just look at him confronting Sidious about Qui-Gon's death:

He KNOWS following Sidious got Qui-Gon murdered and he KNOWS Sidious will continue to kill or order him to kill people close to him. And yet he's quick to reassure Sidious that this doesn't change anything. Securing his position with Sidious matters more than his rage and grief. The ONLY WAY this behavior makes sense is if Dooku is fully aware that he had a choice about Qui-Gon's fate, and decides that this is the path he's on now: Sidious might make him kill everyone he cares about, but he's going to do it. Every time, things will play out the same.

Sidious tells him to kill Ventress, his new apprentice? Sure, why not!

(And it's not even out of true loyalty for Sidious, because he constantly tries to double-cross him later on. It's pure self-destruction:)

He hates it, Sidious promises him more of it, and he goes along with it!

This is why Yaddle's attempts at bringing him back don't work, in my opinion:

"Whatever lies he's told you, whatever you have done, you can make up for it now by bringing him to justice." This might convince a man who is looking for atonement, except Dooku isn't. He is looking for punishment.

Killing or harming those close to him leaves him broken, furious or in pain? He'll just keep doing it.

Sidious offers him nothing more than agonizing slavery? He'll keep on kneeling.

That's when Yaddle literally offers him the Light - the light that is so much more powerful than the Dark that it has Sidious cowering, the light that can save him if he wants - Dooku just strikes her down, even though he was heartbroken over thinking he had killed her just a moment ago.

He chooses to kill her, regrets it and hates himself for it, and chooses to kill her again. HE KEEPS MAKING THE CHOICE THAT HE KNOWS WILL HURT.

His remedy to guilt is to pick a shovel, because by God if he hasn't hit rock bottom yet he's going to dig!

[jedi-starbird]

Disaster Lineage Timeline and Ages

Here is a Disaster Lineage timeline that actually makes sense and includes all members, plus their relative ages for each event. For all my fic writers who also get a headache trying to figure them out.

I tried my best to keep the relative ages the same as what Canon or Legends gives us with 2 exceptions (Xanatos and Komari). So while the dates may not be canon accurate for becoming a padawan or Knighting, their ages are. The grey cells mark how old the person was when they died.

I've given permission for this to be on the SW Reference wiki. Here!

Enjoy and hope you have fun with it! Detailed explanations for birth-date changes below the cut!

Buckle in Folks.

OK, so Dooku must be aged up minimum 5 years in order to train Rael before Qui-Gon and so Qui-Gon can train Feemor and Xanatos before Obi-Wan. Rael has to be at least 10 years older than Qui-Gon so that he can be knighted when Qui-Gon is padawan age. Canon has Dooku take on Rael at 22 so I kept that cause it's funny and that means Dooku has to be older than his canon birthday of 102BBY to fit both in.

Neither of Qui-Gon's birthdays work if you want to fit the other lineage members in. This is not at all annoying. 80BBY(canon) has him too young to train both Feemor and Xanatos before Obi-Wan and 92BBY(legends) has him being 17 when he becomes a padawan if Dooku trains Rael before him. 86BBY is my magical average that just barely works. I use fanon that Qui-Gon takes over Feemor's training cause it's the only way to fit him in without making Qui-Gon too old, thus domino-affecting Rael and Dooku.

Does this mean the 4 of them are all knighted between ages 21-23? Yes? Is that insane? Yes, but alas it's the only way I could make the timeline work.

Komari is the only birth-date I've moved for non-math reasons, her actual birthday is 62BBY, same as Nim, but that makes her 18 at Galidraan and I felt that was too young personally. (She kills 20 Mandos singlehandedly there. yeah. wtf)

Xanatos's birthday and death date are the same but I made him older when he fell because Legends has him as 16 and that really feels too young, especially since he was considered for the goddamn Knight Trials when he fell and we know Anakin was considered exceptionally young when he was knighted at 19. It makes for some nice parallels between them. Plus all the shit Xanatos gets up to after he runs off, he should be a little older to pull it off.

[artemisdesari-blog]

The trouble with writing a long AU is sometimes it sparks ideas for others based off narrative choices. In this case; what would have happened if the deal between Dooku and Fett in Careless To Let It Fall had been allowed to happen.

After killing Komari, Fett encounters Dooku who offers him the job of being the progenitor and trainer of an army of clones. So good, so canon. In Careless this is expanded on as a deal where two hundred thousand men are grown and trained purely for the purpose of overthrowing the Republic Senate who are responsible for, among many things, supporting the New Mandalorian's take over of Mandalore (leading to something of a cultural genocide) and the mission to Galidraan where Dooku was given all the wrong information as part of a Death Watch trap, but Jango shot first. Obviously there are more issues than that, and Jango is in full on revenge and not thinking clearly mode, but that's the base of it. As Jango’s payment for helping the Jedi effectively overthrow the Senate (cesspool of corruption that it is) Jango will be given fifty thousand of those men to use to wipe out any Death Watch in hiding and take back Mandalore. Obviously, neither Dooku nor Jango mean to keep their end of the deal. Dooku knows Palpatine has bigger plans and will work on Jango as much as possible to make a larger army and Jango intends to just abscond with every clone when the time comes and wipe out any Jedi who come for them.

This where Careless and whatever this AU is would diverge. In Careless Qui-Gon Jinn lives, Obi-Wan goes off to do his own thing, and Fett gets aggressively mind wiped and controlled by Dooku and Sidious so that he truly becomes the major asshole we all love. There's other stuff, but that hasn't been revealed yet even though I'm at chapter 100.

In this universe, Qui-Gon would die and the Trade Federation, humiliated by how Sidious used them, would find a way to off the Chancellor of the Republic as a final fuck you. Maybe Palpatine’s death is just an accident. Either way, Sidious is out of the picture but the clones are already in production and the Senate is still a total cesspool of corruption and arrogance and greed. Without Sidious to help facilitate the plan of playing one side of a conflict against the other, Dooku has to rethink and do it fast. He rejoins the order (or stays, some agree he left before Qui-Gon died and just stopped by to visit, others think it was what caused him to leave and I am too tired and lazy to check which is correct), forms a relationship with Obi-Wan even though he doesn’t bring him into the plan because he can tell Obi doesn't have time due to Anakin’s everything, because I am trash for Grandpa Dooku stuff, and begins to quietly convince younger and more idealistic Jedi that the Senate needs an overhaul, usually approaching them after missions gone wrong, while periodically checking in on Jango and the clones.

All on Kamino appears to be going according to the revised plan, except its actually going according to Jango’s plan. Jango pulls in the trainers and spends a couple of years weeding out the ones he can't actually trust as much as he hoped while quietly adopting a few dozen clones, including many fan faves. Other trainers adopt other clones, those clones adopt brothers, they basically become a group of clans with Jango as their Mand'alor. Dooku’s Jedi come for their one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers who will help them overturn the Senate and the clones turn on the Jedi, capture them, and head off to Mandalore to take what Jango has promised them with Fett as their leader and Cody as his right hand. Predictably, Obi-Wan is sent to Mandalore to deal with the fall out while the rest of the Jedi Council try to work out what the actual fuck happened and how Dooku managed it.

In all likelihood this would result in the Jedi leaving the Republic because the fact that Dooku managed to draw a good number of them into the mess would catch attention and make things very difficult. We would probably end up with some Codywan (because this is me) but that would probably only be implied at the end rather than the focus.

But, yes, the danger of long form AUs and the ideas that narrative choices spark. Another one for the maybe some day pile.

[phoneycam]

(brainrot 5(?))))

Soulmates experience the same nervous or involuntary tics at the same time.

It all starts as an innocent inside joke from the 212 troopers. How their high officer where the best and one of the key proves of it was how in tune they are with eachother. That thought slowly evolved with every interaction they were able to witness until it turned into a kind of game, trying to understand just how deep the synchrony went. Space bingo if you will.

1.

Ever since he decided to have a beard, he touches it. at first it was because of the new sensation, later to show it of as one should do, then to display knowledge in hopes to seem more wise and finally evolving in his "in deep thoughts" pose.

It was on the early battles when it first happened. The clones weren't comfortable enough yet to being openly without their buckets and so, the moment both officers moved to rest their chin on their hand, Cody hit his helmet causing him to make an aborted movement pretending that he was trying to adjust it when the general turns to look at him. There is a pregnant pause around the holotable before Obi-Wan turns back to the holotable and the commander has to survive the rest of the meeting with the constant snickers from his brothers inside his helmet.

2.

In times of high stress situations he tends to scratch the back of his head, particularly the place where his padawan braid was, an unconscious tick he picked first from his time in Melidaan. He got to overcome it over the years when he came back to the temple, only to pick it back up after Qui-Gon died and he became a knight.

The first time the troopers note it is in Christophsis. Anakin is being he's usual reckless self causing Obi-Wan the go grey early with his invisible ship against a hole separatist fleet, and he doesn't even realize he's hand moving up to pass it over the back of his head, nor that his commander repeated the exact same movement at the exact same time, too distracted with the fight in sight. The other troopers on the bridge however? they did notice.

3.

This one happened before they where about to land in a highly unknown planet with an astonishing lake of information. They were walking into a trap, not that they knew at the time that.. or well.. not until both General and Commander deepened their frowns and mumbled quietly "I have a bad feeling about this". This time they did notice it tho and turned to look at eachother with a surprised look while the soldiers around them are gapping with a collective thought of "Oh kark we are so doomed" and "lmao check another one for the team."

4.

A defect of using a helmet for so long, is that you start forgetting how to keep a straight face and our dear commander, starts slipping his controlled mask especially when faced with stupid decisions. This is one of the main reasons him and Anakin do not get allong well. Because one of the first times they were all reunited strategizing their next move, Anakin decided to offer his brilliant idea and almost cried when faced with the pure power of the combined disgust Obi and Cody were inadvertently showing.

Ahsoka and Rex thought it was hilarious, Obi-Wan had to apologies multiple times before his formed padawan stopped sulking and demanding Obi-Wan to spend less time with his commander and the rest of the troopers just checked another mark.

5.

Kamino has never and will never be an easy place to live in. The facility was a nightmare and no one knew this better than the clones themselfs, between the kaminioan, the trainers and the Alpha batch, life was a challenge and any little quirk can be a dead sentence if you're not careful enough. Cody knows this and learns to deal with it.

It's in the middle of a peace negotiation with the local authority when they noticed it.

It was a small group for this mission, just Cody, Obi-Wan, Boil and Waxer accompanying a Coruscant team of negotiators. The prime minister of the planet was being unpleasant during the whole meeting, with nasty comments, senseless demands and baseless accusations towards eveyone. All bark, no bite.

The jedi was leading the negotiations putting him in front of everyone with the commander by his side; Waxer and Boil standing just behind them notice a pattern pretty quickly. Everytime the minister said something bad about the jedi or the clones, both of their officers would each start drumbeating their fingers with their thumb. A small thing that no one else could notice because their hands were behind their backs, but remarkable enough for the troopers witnessing it as a checkable tic.

6.

Dex notice the next one.

Obi-Wan likes to take every clone he can to visit Dex's reastaurant at least once, but the most regular companion is always the cammander. Not that it bothers him, in fact, he is rather fond of the good commander, but he can't help but notice how everytime the principal door opens a little bit harder than needed, they both will tense up and inmediatelly look at eachother.

And yeah idk, i just think it's neat as an idea. I can imagine a lot more of little scenes like these. Maybe some time latter both realize, maybe they know, maybe they will purposely start doing some to just mess with the troops, maybe it would save the galaxy somehow... just saying..

[fanfic-obsessed]

Force Osik? ...Force Osik

Let’s take a walk with some Force Shit. Obi Wan would like it known that we may have wandered from Force Shit into Force Bullshit, and would like a refund on this entire time period. 

…Frankly that’s fair. 

We are at some random point mid war, the Force, for reasons that are inscrutable to the mortals around, decides to bring someone back from the dead. Right to the bridge of the Negotiator, while they are somewhere in the outer rim.  This is a fairly standard trope at this point, usually binging back Qui Gon Jinn.  But here we take a left instead of the third right.  The person brought back is Xanatos, pre fall (his exact age will be discussed below). 

Now for those of you who do not know, Xanatos is from the Apprentice series. He was Qui Gon’s second Padawan who fell before Xanatos could be knighted.  The fall caused some significant trauma for Qui Gon, leading to his initial rejection of Obi Wan. Xanatos was also the first person to enslave Obi Wan, and is the source of about a solid third Obi Wan’s trauma before the age of 15ish (when Xanatos committed suicide). What’s more this pre fall Xanatos either knows, or is told, that Obi Wan was also a Padawan of Qui Gon; this version of Xanatos is absolutely ecstatic that Obi Wan is his ‘little brother’ and wants to be where Obi Wan is at all times. 

NOTE: I think it would be both funnier and 100% more baffling for Obi Wan if Xanatos had already known that Obi Wan would someday be Qui Gon’s next Padawan. Like a young Padawan Xanatos saw little Obi Wan (There is a 9 year age difference between them) in the creche and had said that the toddler Obi wan would be his little brother one day. It would also play really well into the surety the fallen Xanatos had that Obi Wan as Qui Gon’s padawan on Bandomeer, even when he wasn’t. 

This is where we should discuss Xantos’s age, for I am of two minds. Truly the options only change the flavor of Obi Wan’s trauma. 

-Option 1: Xanatos is from just before the mission where he Fell, so he would be a young adult.  He looks almost exactly like the Xanatos from Obi Wan’s memories, sans the eyes and height (given that in Obi Wan’s memories Xanatos towered over him). So Obi Wan is constantly being haunted by the trauma caused by the Fallen Xanatos and trying not to lay that trauma at the feet of his virtual twin, who is blameless. Also Obi Wan has no true idea of what caused Xanatos to fall, or when it happened save that Xanatos looked very similar to the non fallen version that stands before him. So Obi Wan is constantly beset by the anxiety that comes from the back and forth of ‘If I reject him, will he fall?’ and ‘If I am too permissive for his behavior will he fall?’ and ‘what if he falls while I am not there and hurts someone’.  Also deeply traumatic flashbacks to the Fallen Xanatos calling him ‘Little Brother’

-Option 2: Xanatos is an early teen (13 or 14 years old), younger than Ahsoka. He still adores Obi Wan and does not set off the visual issues that the older version does.  However, his force presence is still similar enough to the fallen Xanatos that it sets off Obi Wan’s trauma, and we multiply it by the guilt of Obi Wan spending much of his time trying not to freak out and punch a 13 year old in the face. 

With either option we have an Obi Wan that spends the entire trip back to Coruscant trying not to make his trauma everyone else's problem. Also he had thought that he had dealt with this trauma over a decade before. He cannot bring himself to tell anyone who Xantos was to him. When asked by Anakin (with Xanatos right there) why Anakin did not know about Xanatos, Obi Wan is barely able to choke out a ‘he died’.  The entirety of the 212th can tell Obi Wan is desperately uncomfortable around Xanatos and trying to hide it. They are also torn because Xanatos clearly adores Obi Wan, so they might get a Padawan Commander (and if we go with option 2, is 13 an adorable) but on the other hand Obi Wan’s reaction is concerning them. 

Anakin vacillates between pouting that Obi Wan is ‘keeping secrets’ (read has any part of his that Anakin does not have exclusive knowledge of and rights to) and hovering protectively around Obi Wan (read Anakin’s Master) hissing at Xanatos like a feral cat. 

Cody spends more than a few nights assigning a small group of clones to distract Xanatos and Anakin. Then he holds Obi Wan, so the general feels safe enough to sleep.  Even if that sleep is interrupted by nightmares that give Cody more of a glimpse than anyone else into Obi Wan’s issue with Xanatos. 

When the council received the report of what had happened, a few of the members looked at each other. Not all of the members knew what had happened with Xanatos (some had not been members of the council at the time, were too new to be fully read in, or were on their own missions) but the ones that did just looked at each other going ‘Fuck, Kenobi’s therapist is going to kill us all’. 

On Coruscant Obi Wan’s Therapist, very decidedly non force sensitive (to help combat the burnout), woke from a dead sleep when Xanatos appeared and said to herself, ‘why do I feel like my hard work has been taken out to an alley and shot’

The Negotiator gets to Coruscant without a major incident or Obi Wan having a complete breakdown. Obi Wan is still the only one who knows why he is so twitchy with Xanatos (Anakin thinks he knows why Obi Wan is twitchy -guilt for keeping secrets- but is not in any way correct. Cody and other members of the 212th realize that his odd behavior is directly related to Xanatos but not the specifics). Obi Wan leads the Xanatos, along with various added people including Cody, anakin, Rex, Ahsoka, and three of the shinies that had been assigned to Xanatos down to the council chamber. As soon as Xanatos is in front of the council Obi Wan is like ‘I gotta…’ and the council, particularly those who are in the know about exactly what Obi Wan is going through, go ‘No, that’s fair. Go. Alexis (the therapist) is already waiting for you.’ (As soon as it was a reasonable hour right after Xanatos appeared, Plo Koon and MAce Windu had reached out to Alexis the Therapist-They had previously been given by Obi Wan to do so if needed- and explained hat they knew -Xanatos, of Tauma fame, had returned from before he went evil. To Obi Wan specifically. Alexis the Therapist just sighed.)

And Obi Wan  just booked it out of the temple toward his therapist to deal with things he had thought he had already dealt with, but were brought back up by the return of one of his childhood nightmares.  Which is pulling all of the other strings of trauma.

While Obi Wan is having the breakdown that has been scheduled for over a decade, the rest of the council is looking at Xanatos, trying to figure out what to do with him. The only people who knew the specifics of Xanatos original fall are all dead (being the original Xanatos and Qui Gon Jinn). Feemor is brought in to explain what they do know (Xanatos falling, Qui Gon’s repudiation  of both of his padawans at the time, the official reports on Bandomeer- Feemor assumes that there is a minimum of 20% more trauma for Obi Wan then is stated in the report, as he is familiar with Qui Gon’s minimalist approach to report writing, and is not shy about sharing this opinion-, the bombing of the temple, the assassination attempt, the death of an initiate, and finally Xanatos’s own suicide) because Feemor is one of the last Jedi who Xanatos would know. 

Xanatos is abjectly horrified by what has happened. Also more than a little freaked out Obi Wan was able to spend over a week, the travel time from where the Negotiator had been to Coruscant, in Xanatos’s near constant presence and not show any of this as more than a little discomfort.  After he settles in he starts researching Stewjoni psychology to make sure that Obi Wan was not doing himself unnecessary harm (He was not, what happened was more akin to walking on a broken leg because there is no other way to get through, in that it did damage, but was a necessity for survival). Even though Xanatos, no matter the age, goes on the complete his training under a different lineage, is still absolutely insistent that Obi Wan is his little brother (even finding different word that mean the same thing when he realized that there is some issue connected to those words specifically).

Dooku hears that Xanatos has returned and reaches out, trying to get at least one of his lineage on his side. This incidentally is how they capture Dooku, who acts in haste and does not take the same level of precaution that he normally does in covering his tracks. 

The Jedi in general accept that Xanatos is permanently back sometime around the two month mark.  He goes on to Shadow training. 

A consequence of Dooku being caught was that the war started being won by the Republic (In this Dooku was the only direct connection between the Separatists and Palpatine, so with Dooku captured early Palpatine was no longer able to run both sides and it as too early for him to start his empire). Palpatine found that his various contingencies continued to fall apart without any interference from our heroes.

One of the more severe of which was an unscheduled attack on Naboo’s Theed while he was there. The attack damaged Palpatine’s vocal chords, leaving him mute for two months and changing his voice permanently in a way that could not be correct (thus making him unable to enact Order 66, as everything was tied to a voice print match). 

[jedi-order-apologist]

Headshot

After his death, Obi-Wan time travels back to his undercover mission as Rako Hardeen, right before the attempted abduction of Chancellor Palpatine. Written for Fandom Empire Prompt Tables 2024 - Prompt: "Lighthearted" and StarWars100 - Prompt: "Bounty Hunter"

Read on AO3

When Obi-Wan died, he expected to join the Force, albeit with his consciousness intact on account of Qui-Gon’s training. So it was rather surprising when he found himself once again embodied, yet with an unfamiliar face.

After a moment, he realized that the face wasn’t quite as unfamiliar as he’d thought, recognizing it as Rako Hardeen’s.

What an odd development.

Well, Obi-Wan thought, one must make the most of the opportunities the Force presents us with.

So he swapped out the stun rounds for something a little more lethal, and calmly shot Chancellor Palpatine in the head.

Ordinarily, that would never have worked, but since Sidious was both pretending to be a helpless old man and also in on the abduction plot, by the time he realized that it was not the stunner he expected flying towards him, it was too late, and the Chancellor was dead.

This was, of course, sure to cause problems for Obi-Wan, but he’d been a wanted man for the past two decades, so it wasn’t that much of a change of pace for him.

And he would explain himself to the other Jedi soon enough. For now, he had a crime scene to flee.

[classicanalyzer]

Star Wars Acolyte - Night Thoughts

"Freedom. The freedom to wield my power the way I like. Without having to answer to Jedi like you. I want a pupil, an Acolyte. But this one...went back on our deal. She exposed me. So, now I have to kill every single last one of you. I don't make the rules. The Jedi do. And the Jedi say I can't exist. They see my face, they all die. Aw, look at you two. Right back where you started." "Qimir"

HOLY SHIT, THIS EPISODE IS SO GOOD.

I love how badass Jecki was against both Mae and "Qimir"...sadly she didn't survive "Qimir" (I was not expecting how fucking brutal her death was and I was so sad). She managed to not only take down Mae who took down a Jedi Master in combat but hold out for a good while against a Rule of Two Sith (even breaking his Cortosis helmet!). She was simply too badass to live with her amazing dual blade stance. Jecki is truly Sol's Padawan.

I know I thought "Qimir" couldn't have been the Sith but I love this show's execution of him being the Sith. He's so jacked, I guess we know why he chose to be a seemingly carefree chemist. I love how he comes across as a psychopathic manchild with how he wants the freedom to do what he wants...which is killing Jedi. "Qimir" is definitely the Sith Apprentice (or rather Acolyte) and not the Sith Master. I think he wants an Acolyte to overthrow his master.

I'm also so happy that the show didn't try to make the Sith sympathetic. That was one of my biggest worries going into this show. We see the insanity of "Qimir's" "reasoning" for hating the Jedi and their attempts to stamp out the Sith for good.

I think what's going to happen is that the Jedi think "Qimir" is the Sith Master and not the Apprentice. Then after they kill him, they'll not tell the rest of the Order and Republic about this little incident. Since they're sure this time the Sith are truly extinct, and they don't want to cause any unnecessary panic.

I love how "Qimir's" armor and helmet are made out of Cortosis, a material that can temporarily shortcircuit Lightsabers.

Poor Jecki and Yord, the two Jedi were trying their goddamn best but it wasn't enough against the Sith. Jecki did an amazing job in this episode despite being a Padawan. Yord also grew on me as the show went on, and it was surprising how brutal he and Jecki's deaths were. Their deaths also show how unnecessarily cruel the Sith are. I'm also thankful that Bazil and Pip survived this episode given how murder happy this show is.

It's sad to see how far the twin's relationship fell apart. Mae truly wanted to be with her sibling again, even willing to abandon her Sith master...but Osha will always see her as irredeemable which one can't blame her for. I was screaming when Mae posed as her sister and even more so when Osha was left at the "mercy" of her former Master. I really hope Mae backs out of her presumed plan to kill Sol.

Everything about Sol in this episode, the panic and heartbreak in his voice and face when asking Yord to bring Osha to safety and Jecki's death shows how much of a father figure he is. Sol truly saw Osha, Jeckil, and even Mae as his children. It's truly a case of what if Obi-Wan died in TPM instead of Qui-Gon and we see that good is not nice at all. If it wasn't for Osha, Sol might've done something he would've regretted. I wonder if he figured out by the end that Mae is impersonating Osha.

ALSO THE USE OF KYLO REN'S THEME NEAR THE END. His Knights of Ren-looking helmet might actually hold more than we thought. Perhaps "Qimir" founded or inspired the Knights of Ren.

I hope Sol can help Mae and perhaps redeem Mae. On the other hand, I really think Osha might fall to the Dark Side. It would be a nice subversion of what we thought Osha being the Light Side Twin and Mae being the Dark Side Twin. Great darkness has the possibility of being just as bright while great light has the possibility of being just as dark. I wonder if "Qimir" will tell Osha of the Sith version of the events at Brendok that make the Jedi look worse than they are. However, perhaps Sol would tell Mae the actual version of events which shows that while the Jedi are flawed, they weren't responsible for the deaths of her Coven and even tried to save some, even if some (Master Torbin) believe it was their fault that it came to these series of events.

This is an amazing episode and my favorite episode of the show. Once again I felt this episode was 45+ minutes rather than under 30 minutes. Truly the definition of all killer and no filler. I love this show so so much.

[212thghost]

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Maul: Perfect Character Foils, In My Opinion

buckle your seat belts this is gonna be a long ass yapfest.

To clarify, this is not a ship post.

for starters, a foil in media is a character that contrasts with another character. these characters are used to highlight the qualities of one or both character. a foil is, generally, an opposite.

Obi-Wan:

this might be controversial to say, but Obi-Wan is the best Jedi. by no means, am I saying that he is the strongest Jedi (though in my opinion he's up there), nor am I saying he is the ideal Jedi. when it comes to the adherence to the Jedi Code and Jedi morals, Obi-Wan excels in a way that others simply do not. He is not without flaws, but his qualities outweigh them.

-> for the sake of my sanity: Love ≠ Attachment -> The issue "Kanan 7" of the canon comic series Star Wars: Kanan offers a differing version of the Jedi Code which I will be using in this analysis as canon, mainly because I prefer it and view it as the more canon of the two. This Code states: "Emotion, yet Peace. Ignorance, yet Knowledge. Passion, yet Serenity. Chaos, yet Harmony. Death, yet the Force."

Emotion, yet Peace: Obi-Wan is not emotionless, he does not allow his emotions to rule him. It is something he had to work at, as seen in the comparison in how he wins Duel of the Fates, in which he uses his anger and despair to defeat Maul, and when he encounters Maul on Mandalore. When he reencounters Maul on Mandalore and Maul kills Satine, he does not lash out and recklessly attack Maul. He allows himself to feel the pain of losing Satine as he holds her as she dies, then is able to regain his sense of Peace and escape Mandalore. As seen in season 7, Satine's death still hurts, but he does not allow that pain to control his choices.

Ignorance, yet Knowledge: This goes without saying, but Obi-Wan is incredibly smart and wise. Though, he knows there is always more to learn. This is what makes him such a skilled duelist. Obi-Wan was not a naturally profoundly skilled fighter, but always kept training and learning and this is what caused him to be the powerful fighter we see in ROTS.

Passion, yet Serenity: The best example of this I believe is Obi-Wan's mental state on Tatooine during the Kenobi series. In the beginning of the series, the Obi-Wan we see is broken, drowning in his despair. By the end of the series, Obi-Wan has reconnected with the Force. Throughout the show, he was about to heal from (some) of the intense pain, guilt, and sadness that came from Anakin's Fall and was absolved of his guilt through Vader's words in the finale. He was able to see Qui-Gon once again through the serenity he found.

Chaos, yet Harmony: Despite the chaos that was the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan did not falter in his core morals and values. Though he became more skeptical of the the Council, he held fast in the morals that the Jedi should represent.

Death, yet the Force: Obi-Wan allows Vader to strike him down and become a Force Ghost. He does not fear death, he trusts in the Force.

Attachment: The best example is Obi-Wan defeating Anakin on Mustafar. Despite his love for his brother and best friend, Obi-Wan was able to strike down Anakin for the chance that the Republic would be saved. He loved him, but he was not willing to sacrifice the galaxy. This is most comparable to Anakin joining Palpatine to save Padme--his love had become possessive, even saying "I can't live without her"--and caused the fall of the Republic and genocide of the Jedi (not bashing on Anakin, i love him, but Anakin Critical). Similarly, Obi-Wan loved Satine and would have left the Order to be with her, but was able to let her go when she chose her duty as Duchess.

This code, as well as the Jedi's focus on conquering the inner Dark, is the baseline for Obi-Wan's character. He is kind and compassionate for all living things.

There are many, many, instances in Obi-Wan's life where he could have and even probably should have Fallen to the Dark Side. Yet he never does. He is tempted, but does not give in. This is best summed up by this quote:

"I think the real tragedy of Obi-Wan was that he deserved better. He played by the rules, he always strived to be better, to be kinder, to be wiser and he never let his friends down. And he lost everything he ever loved anyway. The greatest Jedi who ever lived, the man who sacrificed all that he had, all for a reward of nothing." -Eddie Curtis

Maul:

In perfect contrast to Obi-Wan, I think Maul is the perfect Clone Wars era Sith. Again, I don't think Maul is the strongest Sith, but in relation to the Sith philosophy, he's perfect.

The Sith Code: "Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me."

Passion, strength: Maul, in true Sith fashion, used his emotion to gain strength. His hatred for Obi-Wan kept him alive in junk pits for ~17ish years and allowed him to frankly beat the shit out of Obi-Wan in the Clone Wars episode Revenge (s4 ep22).

Strength, power: This one is self-explanatory, but is best shown by how Maul uses his strength to defeat Pre Viszla in the duel for the Darksaber. This duel and use of his strength allowed him to rule Mandalore for a brief period of time.

Power, victory: Using his power as ruler of Mandalore, Maul was able to lure Obi-Wan to Mandalore where he killed Satine, thus winning a victory over him. While he ultimately did not defeat Sideous, which was his overarching plan, he did not stop in his quest for victory over Obi-Wan.

Victory, freedom: Maul believed that killing Obi-Wan and enacting his revenge would satisfy him and became his purpose. He was consumed by his desire for victory.

Maul was ruled by his emotions, particularly his anger. Despite this, he was cold and calculating. Maul craved power and victory, and often had rage-fueled outbursts at the mere mention of Obi-Wan. -> While Sidious is the most successful Sith, Maul's raw rage and uncontrollable passion are what makes him a more perfect example of the Sith philosophy. Sidious has a strong control over his emotions while the Sith Code preaches unbridled emotion.

Foils:

Where Obi-Wan is the perfect Jedi, Maul is the perfect Sith.

These characters are inherently intertwined, as their first interaction causes a domino effect that makes them the people they become. If Maul was never cut in half by Obi-Wan, he likely would have been murdered by Sidious or a new apprentice (such as Dooku) when he was no longer useful to Sidious's plans. If Maul never killed Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan would not have trained Anakin and become the person we know him as. If you enjoy Legends, it is even possible Obi-Wan would never have been knighted, as Qui-Gon was willing to repudiate him to train Anakin. Both Obi-Wan and Maul were apprentices of a higher power, the Jedi and Sith respectively, and were tools in Sidious's plan. In the Duel of the Fates, they fight over Anakin's fate, with Maul both winning and losing. Both Obi-Wan and Maul are unaware of their impact on the galaxy, but their actions here change everything, including each other.

Their characters cannot exist without the other.

Where Obi-Wan is ruled by a serene mind, Maul is ruled by his emotions. Where Obi-Wan is kind, Maul is equally cruel. Where Obi-Wan loves, Maul hates. They are complete opposites of each other and only highlight the other's personality traits with each interactions. Everything one of them does, the other will inherently do the opposite.

Maul, in a sense, is a symbol of the Dark itself and Obi-Wan is the Light. Neither ever waver from their respective sides. (Mortis fans please don't attack me).

My favorite example of their mirroring is The Duel of the Twin Suns in the Rebels episode Twin Suns (s3 ep20). It is best explained by Sam Witwer, here.

This duel begins with Obi-Wan and Maul's typical opening stances, with Obi-Wan using Soresu and Maul activates both sides of his lightsaber. After a moment, Obi-Wan switches to the Ataru opening stance once used by Qui-Gon, knowing that Maul would attempt to kill him in the same way he killed Qui-Gon. He was correct. Obi-Wan has played that duel on Naboo over and over in his mind and Maul was so set in his ways that he fell right into the trap. Obi-Wan defeats Maul in about three moves when Maul attempted to hit him with the hilt of his saber like he did with Qui-Gon.

What stands out the most to me about this battle, is that Obi-Wan catches Maul and shows him compassion, going as far to close his eyes and even bury his body. Despite the fact Maul killed Qui-Gon, Satine, and was attempting to murder and humiliate him, Obi-Wan is kind to him in his final moments. In this moment, Obi-Wan is compassionate as Jedi should be and Maul was vengeful as Sith should be. They are, in a sense, the Twin Suns. Their characters are narrative twins, so opposite that they become similar.

TLDR:

Maul and Obi-Wan's actions shaped each other into the characters we know them to be starting with the Duel of the Fates.

[david-talks-sw]

What Lucas says & what Filoni says...

... on Luke confronting Vader in Return of the Jedi:

George says: Yoda and Ben tell Luke that he needs to confront Vader. They hope he can save him, but if it comes to it, he needs to be ready to kill him because Vader likely won't stop trying to end Luke's life.

Dave says: Obi-Wan and Yoda tell him to destroy Vader, they don't show interest in saving him.

In Dave's defense, he admits he didn't talk to George about it (and does so again in this interview) and is only basing this off of what the Original Trilogy shows... then again, just as we're never shown Ben and Yoda tell Luke to give Vader a compassionate speech, they're also never shown telling Luke to destroy Vader, so...

... on Anakin's fall to the Dark Side:

George Lucas says: It was entirely on Anakin. He loveth too much, too possessively. Anakin's inability to let go of his attachment for Padmé, of his greed, of his need for power are what made him go from being a good man to a bad one.

Dave says: Anakin's inability to let go caused his downfall... but is his way of loving really that wrong or bad? Maybe the reason he fell is because the Jedi were so dispassionate that they didn't give him the support he needed.

... on the Jedi's compassion:

George Lucas says: All Jedi are compassionate. Period. They all know the difference between loving possessively and loving selflessly, it's standard Jedi philosophy.

Also, in general, he barely ever makes a distinction between the Jedi seen in the Prequels and those in the Original Trilogy except when talking about lightsaber fights.

Dave Filoni says: The Prequel Jedi should be compassionate but they're not because they've lost their way, except for Qui-Gon who is the only one that knows you can love someone without getting possessive.

... on the Jedi's involvement in the Clone War:

Lucas says: By being drafted/forced/used to join the war by the Senate/Palpatine, the Jedi lose their way and become corrupted. But the thing is, it's a conundrum. Sometimes you need to stand up for what is right and fight.

Filoni says: By joining the war, the corrupt Jedi lose their way. Their involvement in the war resulted in nothing but violence.

Worth noting that, in a couple of other quotes, Dave also acknowledges Palpatine is in the background, orchestrating a lot of this stuff and he acknowledges that the Jedi aren't particularly happy with their role in the War... but he never says that Palpatine and the Senate drafted them. Which, ultimately, shifts the blame for their involvement. As such, the message goes from - the Jedi being "victims who were forced to choose between letting everybody die or compromising on their morals" to - them being "arrogant morons who joined the war thinking they'd win and brought about their own destruction".

... on the state of the Republic, in the Prequels:

George says: During the Prequels, the Republic is dying and Palpatine is killing it by orchestrating a war and taking over the Senate. People like Padmé and the Jedi have faith it can be saved, if they can just get everyone to stop fighting and listen. When Palpatine becomes Emperor, that's when it dies: with thunderous applause.

Dave says: Once again, doesn't disagree with the facts... but says the Republic is pretty much already dead, it has already fallen and the Jedi and Padmé just don't see it because Sidious is deceiving them.

Dooku and Maul have the right idea, apparently:

Just a few differences here and there I think we all noticed, y'know?

Like, overall, I feel like Filoni gets the plot. Hell, something I didn't post here (because there's just so many examples it'd double the length of this post) is how similar his commentary on how the Force works is to George's.

So he gets the story and the themes and the lore, he acknowledges the intent... but then has an altered takeaway, one that doesn't hold the Jedi in the Prequels in very high regard. It feels like he doesn't miss an opportunity to take a stab at 'em in favor of Qui-Gon or Ahsoka.

My guess is that there's gotta be some bias against the Prequel Jedi, who, for many, come across as "holier than thou" and unlikeable. And if that's the case, Filoni would not be the only one who has this bias. It's a very popular read of the Prequels, just take a look at comment threads on Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.

For years after the OT, the Jedi were thought to be these wandering Knights of the Round Table who go on swashbuckling adventures like Luke, and were instead revealed to be diplomat space monks who sit in a circle.

Those who didn't like it could either add this to the list of reasons to hate the Prequels or try to see the Prequels through a prism that justified it the audience's new dislike for the Jedi and the midi-chlorians etc.

“[Jedi "measuring the Force" with midi-chlorians] is meant to be a plot point. The Jedi have their temple in a major metropolis, and care more about the inner political machinations than their own spiritual growth—they’re measuring things on science, and kidnapping children at the age of two to be Jedi—this dogmatic approach to spirituality is something Lucas wanted to highlight, because he’s saying the Jedi are flawed. This isn’t Good Guys versus Bad Guys—again, this is meant to be Vietnam in space, and we’re seeing the seeds of that highlighted here, to be explored later.” - Peter Holmstrom, cohost, The Rebel & the Rogue podcast

But the fact is, if you read everything George Lucas was saying... it's clear the Jedi weren't meant to be criticized by the Prequel's narrative. They - and Padmé and Bail and the concept of midi-chlorians - embody the themes George was trying to get across and Anakin and the Separatists embody the anti-theme.

Every principle that George believes in (being selfless, helping others, loving without getting attached, living on compassion, fighting for what is right, living in symbiosis with other living beings) is personified by the Jedi. If they were intentionally written as flawed and corrupt, it wouldn't make sense.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Do you think they should have went with the Chosen One plot for Anakin when they made the prequels? I've been rewatching the original trilogy and there is no mention of any prophecy. It seemed more like Anakin was a very powerful Jedi, but nothing grander then that.

Then, all of sudden the prequels are saying that he is the literal messiah of the Galaxy, destined to bring balance to the Force.

I mean, this isn't the blog for that, anon.

It's really not the blog for it not just in the sense that we talk about how things are here not how we want them to be but also because I think the Original Trilogy are also incredibly bad movies. They're not winning awards for being any better than the rest of the gang or any more righteous, they just have nostalgia, a few great actors carrying the weight (but only a few and not even some of the most important ones), a fantastic soundtrack (that admittedly is strikingly similar in parts to Holst's The Planets), and some great special effects and editing as of the time that George has tried to strip away with every passing year. It's no skin off my nose if the Prequels took some liberties to make things better (and... the thing about The Prequels is that they're not better, of course, but the plot is a lot more compelling than 'the Death Star blew up once' followed by a short break then 'the Death Star blew up twice')

But as for your question, it didn't strike me as too odd we didn't hear of it, because that's the whole thing: Jedi culture is wiped out to two known survivors (that we see anyway). And per those Jedi survivors, Anakin was very clearly not the chosen one as he did anything but bring balance to the Force.

So, you have Obi-Wan who doesn't want to talk about fucking any of it and lies through his teeth multiple times to Luke because he just doesn't want to talk about any of it. Then you have Yoda who wants to talk about it even less.

Neither is bringing up "did you know there was this prophecy where your father was supposed to bring balance to the Force? Boy, did he sure not do that".

Vader certainly isn't bringing it up either as, well, look at his miserable life and how much he hates himself and the Jedi. He's not bringing up their stupid prophecy that clearly wasn't true.

Remember very little is known about the Jedi for the common people, especially after Palpatine's taken over and spread propaganda and such. Han doesn't even think the Jedi are real and if he does it's "that weird space religion cult thing that died out???"

That is to say the prophecy is not common knowledge and especially not for people like Luke, Han, or even Leia for that matter for all she's a little more Jedi adjacent.

Even within the Jedi we see that people don't take the prophecy seriously. That was a Qui-Gon thing. He was super into that prophecy, yo, and the other Jedi (Yoda, Mace, Obi-Wan even) all sort of stared at him looking very upset for insisting on this.

And in the war, while Anakin was an exceptionally talented Jedi, he wasn't really used as a propaganda piece/seen as the only Jedi who would save them all.

The prophecy was just the reason Qui-Gon insists on training him despite his age and is one of those things that seems to have actually been correct for all that no one will ever admit it.

(@therealvinelle can correct me if I'm wrong but I'm going to lay down something that will make people very upset: Anakin being "The Hero with No Fear", seen as one of two great Jedi in the war who are doing so much for the cause more than anyone else, and the extra focus on this prophecy was an invention of Disney's 2008 The Clone Wars, not the films.)

[padawansuggest]

Listen. You guys know how lately (mostly in an attempt to get back to writing and writing things that genuinely feel self indulgent and soothing) I’ve been writing for old posts I made on here a lot lately?

Yeah okay so often times my ideas evolve so don’t take this too intensely. But. AU where Obi-Wan left the order to be a ballerina with a professional troop when she was around 18. She’s been going to a mega fancy school on Coruscant that only gets the best dancers since she was 13 and was invited in after she became Qui-Gon’s Padawan. Just imagine Qui-Gon waiting for her to get out of class with other nannies and parents waiting for their kids that’s SO funny to me.

Now, the change happens that they knew there was unrest in the senate and Obi-Wan said ‘okay this is actually the perfect chance to get spying on the right people’ so her and her new troop (which slowly become battle partners over the years like Padme’s handmaidens) leave and search people out. She ‘cuts ties’ with the Jedi under the guise of leaving the order. She doesn’t actually but Qui-Gon (also female along with Anakin being a girl too) becomes her only contact other than Feemor (best big sister ever) because Obi-Wan puts up a front of leaving to pursue being a dancer, not leaving as a separation from the Jedi, and Qui-Gon legally adopted her to keep close to her. They see each other often and after she gets Ani she becomes baby sister af.

Anyways. Fast forward around 15 years later (at least maybe a few more) and the Empire has officially been installed for about 7 years now (Obi was right and that’s why the Jedi knew to get out of the republic before it fell, so they are safely ensconced on the edge of Mandalorian space) and Obi-Wan’s cover has been blown and she’s gotta get back to the Jedi’s official new temple. Unfortunately she gets separated from her troop along the way and is pretty fucking traumatized and beat to hell by the time she makes it to Keldabe, one of the places she was able to get closest to Jedi space.

Anyways. She gets there and Jango (not-so-young prince of Mandalore, father to like 17 kids by cloners by now, absolutely big brother af because Jaster adopted Satine and Bo-Katan -and Arla when they found her- after Adonai died) finds her in absolutely torn clothes and looking fairly lost in the universe. First of all, the fact that she managed to make it about 6 blocks away from the loading docks is impressive cause any Mando worth their armor would have seen her and tried to drag her off to the medics by now, but she’s very traumatized and keeps running off.

Jango manages to get a hold of her by simply siding up to her like nothings wrong and offering her arm and ‘would you like to see the palace, verd’e?’ And Obi-Wan is sorta shocked but not only Jedi training, but also her time as a high class dancer for imps (like I know Visions just put this basic plot out but I had it years ago so it’s more inspirational than copying okay) and royals for the past decade and a half, kicks in and she lets Jango drag her back home like a cat who keeps collecting kittens. He just finds girls and brings them home to drop on Jaster’s lap like ‘here I heard ur bitch ass got baby fever, take this’ and giving himself new baby sisters. He loves it.

A million sons and baby sisters in droves. That’s all he needs.

Anyways. They get back, Obi is subjected to very annoying medical attention, Jango is horrified at she wounds and such, but then they hit another wall. Obi won’t get into the new clothes they keep trying to give her!!! Plz ur dress is torn and you barely have a thin robe covering you!

They gently corral her into a room with four suits of pure Beskar armor sitting in each corner so it blocks out the sound, while Jango is ranting at Jaster and Arla about how to get her calmed down. She’s already stolen two blasters! Admittedly, she also has her own sabers, so the call to Qui-Gon (who she gave the comm number for and didn’t give a name, just said that’s Mama) sort of just confirmed that it wasn’t so much protection as a safety blanket layover from Melida|Daan that she gets when she starts to panic.

So Qui-Gon is coming out with a team to come get her and informed her troop where their wayward idiot has gotten off to, and Jango is now faced with a new concern. Where is the toddler??? His three year old baby boy Kote??? Where’s the baby??

So. Obviously. Cody wandered off to go see the pretty lady with sad eyes and nice hair. Jango finds him curled up in Obi-Wan’s lap while she rocks him a little, helping him with his preschool learners book. She’s very patient with him, and more relaxed than she’s been in months. Jango lights up like a lightbulb and runs off, getting Boba and Omega’s bassinet to bring into the room and politely asks Obi-Wan to watch over them. She happily does so, calming down and giving many gentle kisses.

She’s still ignoring the new clothes they keep trying to get on her.

Finally, Satine and Bo get home, and ask what’s up. Satine thinks the girl is very pretty and nice looking. Cody might have to fight her cause he saw her first and that’s his future wife! Satine also thinks the same.

Satine goes off to her room and pulls out the most SCANDALOUS outfit possible. A short tee shirt and waist high exercise shorts! What the fuck Satine, who said you could dress like that??? Satine has never rolled her eyes so hard as when she explains she wears the shorts on top of her tights while exercising cause they have pockets and stuff. Okay, that’s more okay. Mandos don’t just!!! Show skin like that!!!!

Obi-Wan is given the clothes, and then further scandalizes the whole fam by stripping down right then and there in front of everyone and god and the fucking Mandalore to put on the new clothes. She’s much happier and goes back to cuddling Omega, while Cody quietly (loudly) asks Jango where Obi’s peepee is. Amazing.

Anyways. By the time Qui-Gon gets there, she’s willing to give partial custody of her baby to the Mandos for getting her cleaned up and soothed and handing her babies (Qui-Gon always sorta thought her girl might have ended up a nursery worker if not a ballerina lol) and getting her comfy and stuff. They took very good care of her traumatized girl but now she’s panicking when she’s asked if Obi is always that quiet. No. She in fact, is not a quiet girl! Oh shit!

She finally calms down the most and starts talking again when her dance troop gets there to coddle her a little, her dance troop who all have weaponry and protective armor and the Mandos respect that much more than Obi’s scandalous little dresses and stuff. Offensive.

But. I wrote this entire post to say. Mandos don’t show much skin, if any. And Jedi, will easily strip down in front of crowds. Cause it means nothing to them tbh. And Cody is wondering where her peepee is.

[tarabyte3]

Ohh, these are so 👀 all your titles grab me in a different hmmmmmmmmmmm ok I have to ask about "I have passed my days by the sound of your name". I sense some yearning? (and you do yearning so well!)

Claire, omg that's so sweet! Thank you! 😭💖 You managed to pick out the one other Qui-Gon x Obi-Wan oneshot that I've been working on! I have passed my days by the sound of your name is going to be Obi-Wan's POV, a bit on the longer side, and set during the canon events of the Clone Wars shortly before Order 66.

Summary:

After a particularly rough day of combat, General Obi-Wan Kenobi sits alone in his bunk and thinks about how much he misses his former Master.

The title is also inspired by this absolutely gut wrenching and perfect Lord Huron song:

Aka you guessed it exactly! SO much yearning and longing and angst! (Because I've been itching to write something that hurts.) Buuut it's me so there's also going to be bonus Force Ghost (ish) Qui-Gon 😏😌😇 Tags will include canon character death, non canon events, Obi-Wan Kenobi needs a hug, and bittersweet ending.

Have a bonus excerpt of the fic opening below the cut because I'm particularly proud of it.

Obi-Wan Kenobi doesn't have downtime. He has moments of waiting. The kind that make him fidgety and cause his fingers to itch with the need to do something. He’s been fighting for so long, he hardly remembers what it’s like to simply be.

Being clear minded used to be a virtue to the Jedi, but that was one of the first things to be set aside in the earlier days of the war. Now he’s almost forgotten how to exist without the threat of battle or the lives lost hanging over him like a funeral shroud.

‘See?’ He thinks, 'All this waiting makes me maudlin.’ And when he gets like this, he's particularly irritating—or so he's been told.

Certainly, Anakin would roll his eyes at him. Mace would probably sigh in exasperation and tell him to get over himself because there were more important things to focus on. Cody would tell him to go make himself useful, then, and to get out of his hair because he didn't have time to babysit. And Qui-Gon…

Well, Qui-Gon would have sat cross legged in front of him and guided him through meditation. Worked with him to untangle the threads of his anxieties. Afterwards they wouldn't be gone, but they would be lessened enough to help him focus his mind, and that alone would be a great comfort.

In fact, his master had known him so well, he probably would have appeared at his door and offered before Obi-Wan could even give voice to his fears—a connection that’s been missing from his life for exactly as long as Qui-Gon has.

With that line of thought, Obi-Wan realizes he's hit the “wallowing in self pity" point of his evening. It's another reason he doesn't like being left alone long enough to think. Because when he does, eventually every train of thought leads him back to the same truth:

The great Republic General, Jedi Master, and member of the High Council, Obi-Wan Kenobi, has been in love with his former Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, since he was seventeen years old.

The same Master that had, lamentably, died thirteen years ago.

Worse still, he had died without ever knowing how Obi-Wan felt.

[codywanreversebang]

Codywan Reverse Bang 2023: Masterlist Part 3

Team 13

crossfire [Art] by @cmmdrkote

Ni ru'kir rejorhaa'ir kaysh Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum kaysh (I should tell him I love him) [19.3k] by @foreverchangingfandomsao3 MiaSirtnev

Obi-Wan and Cody have yet to find the right time to tell each other they love them, but when Obi-Wan gets sent on a mission, everything from before changes. More so when the mission goes wrong and Cody needs to rescue his General.

Team 14

Team 14 [Art] by @owliix

Life happens wherever you are [5.5k] by @badgers-cats

Earth Kingdom Crown Prince Cody finds himself experiencing deeper feelings for an Air Nomad pilgrim staying in the palace. He's not entirely sure that he wants these new emotions. Until he is.

Team 15

Team 15 [Art] by @artbowls

Orbital Decay [26.5k] by @thejediandthemandalorian

Orbital decay [′ȯr·bəd·əl di′kā] a gradual decrease of the distance between two orbiting bodies at their closest approach (the periapsis) over many orbital periods. Cody and Obi-Wan have been orbiting each other for a while, what happens when a series of events causes the pull to break and both to fall?

Thermodynamic Equilibrium [3.8k] by @neostriatum

"He held his general's life in his hands. It wasn't the first time, and all he needed was to keep his grip."

Team 16

Team 16 [Art] by @twackycat

Red Eye (Part One) [9.8k] by @codythecheshirecat

Commander Cody is General Qui-Gon Jinn's second in command. He leads the 3rd systems army. He's a good soldier. And he cares, very deeply, about his brothers. And then along comes General Jinn's old apprentice, making trouble. Obi-Wan Kenobi wants Qui-Gon Jinn to get exactly what he deserves, and there's nothing that can stop him.

Red Eye (Part Two) [16.9k] by @tired-bshocked

The new Empire struggles to be born out of the ashes of the Republic. Darth Solumn, or Obi-Wan Kenobi as he was once known, attempts to adjust to his place in this new galaxy, fighting alongside those who were once his enemies. Matters are not helped when he also finds himself stuck under the supervision of Commander Cody.

Team 17

Team 17 [Art] by @sissiarte

The Sun (bright as juice breaking in the mouth in its shape of morning) [17.1k] by @nightoftheland

Eyeing him critically for a second, Cody took the proffered hand and felt his entire body want to turn to goo as those slick leather-clad fingers curled around his bare fingers, and heat tingled up his spine, and he froze as Obi-Wan bowed slightly and pressed a kiss to the back of Cody’s knuckles. “Partners then,” Obi-Wan murmured his breath hot against the back of Cody’s hand. Mouth completely dry all Cody could do was nod, croaking out the word, “Partners.”

The King's Tree [31.2k] by GemmaRose

A prophecy, a stolen brother, and a King far more handsome than any fae has right to be, really. Cody isn't sure how his life became one of the cautionary tales his buir raised him on, but he's not about to let that stop him from doing what has to be done.

[evaarade]

Having thoughts about my version of Jango and like…

I think I think he could be the Last Mando'alor - in the aus where the government that Satine and other survivors put forth involved Didn't have Mando'alore to avoid fighting for a powerful title of government Or, even if he wasn't… I think he would be like Pyra Magna from IDW2, in the sense of what he did after the war For Context: After the War of the Threefold Spark, Pyra Magna took the blame when her and her Companions (an elite group of transformers under her leadership) went after Turmoil, who - while having been giving amnesty (though, technically still having war prisoners he probably would have been forced to give if they 'didn't happened to have died before that') - did horrible war crimes that Couldn't be forgiven So Pyra and her people killed him against orders

And I think maybe something similar happened with Jango Tor, against many people's wishes, was given amnesty under the peace agreement And so, Jango took a group of people to go kill him - if he didn't go alone, that is - and in the end, as a punishment for almost causing the war to start again, he was stripped from his mandalorian status and was banned from Mandalorian space (a proper exile, not like the treaty that benefitted the loosing side I headcanon that the traditionalists were given) - though at least he was allowed to keep his armour, and that if he ever had children, they would be allowed to be Mandalorians

Just not him

And afterwards, over why he accepted becoming the Clone Template… War isn't nice, no matter how much the fics and stories try to convince you Not everyone comes out of it okay I think Jango was maybe one of those people One of those who couldn't deal with what he saw and was part of, the battles he survived and those he felt like only his body came out of it

Maybe the clones were a plan of him to get revenge on the Jedi - context: in my version, after the ball that killed Adanais and a battle starts/after Jaster takes over, Satine and Obi-Wan get separated from the others and thus for a long time Qui-Gon was with Jaster and his team, meaning he interacted with Montross nearly everyday and didn't realize he was a traitor, and thus Jango blames Qui-Gon and the Jedi for the Death of Jaster when they were just about to win towards the end - and maybe he had plans to get them to Mandalore, as a sort of protection group and new repopulation attempt

Maybe he was so far gone he really only cared about finding a way away from the hauntings of his every day life.

[tinky-dinky]

If I Could Reform The Jedi, Here's What I'd Do

Remove any kind of age limit to joining. One of the big things that jumped out at me as dodgy about the Jedi is that they were reluctant to allow Anakin to join the order partially because he was too old, even though he was only 9. As their other concerns about him were over his fear for his mother, it seems to me that the Jedi prefer that the children who join are too young to properly remember their families, so the Jedi are the only thing they remember. This is dodgy as hell and smacks of child indoctrination, so if I could reform the Jedi I'd change it. Any child, regardless of age, should be able to join and there should be some kind of program for adults to be trained too.

Oversight for Masters and Padawans. Clearly, there isn't any kind of system or oversight over the Master/Padawan pairs in the Jedi. In proper canon, Ahsoka is assigned to Anakin, even though he is very clearly not a suitable master, being as he's only 19, has literally just graduated to knight and is obviously very reckless and prone to endangering himself and others around him. In the, now non-canon, books, Qui-Gon repeatedly mistreats Obi-Wan and no one ever does anything about it. So, clearly, there needs to be some kind of oversight.

Support for Jedi who choose to leave. It doesn't seem like there's any kind of support for Jedi who choose to leave the order, which doesn't seem right to me. While some Jedi, like Dooku, might have wealthy family who can support them, most probably don't have any family that they know. So what is in place to help these Jedi? Are they just sent out into the Galaxy penniless? I'm guessing there's no emotional or mental support either, considering Dooku leaves then almost immediately begins Falling. As does Xanatos, in the non-canon books. I'd put a transitional support system in place.

A better system for deciding who gets sent on what mission. The premise of the Clone Wars movie is that Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka get sent to rescue baby Rotta the Hutt. The Council thought it was okay to send Anakin on a mission involving Tattooine, where Anakin was enslaved and his mother died, and the Hutts, who enslaved him. That cannot have been good for his mental state. I'm not sure if it's canon or not but Dooku was, at one point, sent on a mission to his home planet, where his father left him to die of exposure as a baby. To give credit to the Jedi, I don't think he was meant to encounter his father, but still, that's not smart. In the non-canon books, Xanatos goes on a mission with Qui-Gon to his home planet, wherein they have to stop his crime lord father. Who the hell thought that was a good idea?! Not-so-coincedentally, these three Jedi all Fell. I'd set up some kind of system so Jedi aren't sent on missions involving places and people that have caused them trauma.

A mental health support system. Very, very obviously the Jedi have no mental health support system at all. Also very very obviously, they really need one. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Quinlan Vos and more would have heavily benefited from some mental health support.

A research requirement before missions. It's unclear if the Jedi are required to do any kind of research before they're sent off on missions. I'm uncertain if it's canon or not, but part of Jango Fett's backstory involves his people being slaughtered by the Jedi because the Jedi thought they'd been killing civilians. If the Jedi had done a modicum of research, they'd have discovered that that particular faction of Mandos didn't harm civilians. The entirety of the clone wars might have been averted. So there definitely needs to be a research requirement before missions.

Independence from the Senate/Republic. This is the big one. The Jedi being so involved and connected to the Senate/Republic means that they can't help non Republic planets and peoples, so large parts of the Galaxy go unaided. It also means they can be forced into things like leading a slave army of child soldiers, like in the Clone Wars. It's a religious order, there's no reason they need to be connected to the Senate/Republic.