#The Je’daii

[inquisitor-apologist]

The Je’daii dumb as shit tbh. Oh, we see you’ve fallen to the Dark Side. Sad. We will now send you to Evil Dark Side Moon, where it is always dark, you are completely isolated, and the only other people on the moon have also Fallen. This will bring you back to the light somehow. Our civilization has remained in perfect balance for 10,000 years.

[rakatan]

tim lebbon, dawn of the jedi: into the void claudia gray, the high republic: into the dark

[david-talks-sw]

What are your thoughts on the je'daii? Do they even work, like I find myself irritated by the concept because people often use them to validate/prove the notion that "balance = both sides of the Force"

If you stick to what George Lucas said, in Star Wars a person being "balanced" is someone who accepts their inner darkness and resists its pull nonetheless.

When fans mention the Je'daii, it's usually in the context of:

"The Jedi downgraded from the Je'daii, limited their studies of the Force, refusing to study the Dark Side was a mistake. It was an original sin that caused them to create an imbalance within them."

Which is weird, to me, because the whole point of the comic's narrative is that:

the Je’daii Order’s way was doomed to fail.

Introduced in the Legends comic series Dawn of the Jedi (2012), the Je'daii are the predecessors of the Jedi. They are an order of Force users who studied and practiced both the Light Side and the Dark Side in hopes of finding Balance.

The reasoning is simple: everyone has a bit of good and bad in them, you learn to master the good and the bad sides inside of you, indulging them equally. But while this method seems sound on paper… it didn't work.

Consider that they’re already dabbling with the Dark Side...

... but hey, at least they’re aware of its dangers, they’re trying to be responsible about it.

There's a support system where they all warn each other when they're about to cross a line. But even then, there's many who've fallen and been exiled to a moon, to be rehabilitated.

Suddenly, circumstances compel all of them to use the Forcesaber, a weapon that only activates when you draw on the Dark Side.

And that does something to them. Over the course of a year, they all become increasingly aggressive.

Soon, a faction breaks off because they no longer want to stop using the Forcesaber. They’re addicted to the Dark Side.

A war ensues, at the end of which the Jedi Order is born, a group of Force users who:

acknowledge and accept their inner darkness,

while also striving to overcome it rather than give it power.

So that’s the moral of the whole Je’daii story.

Their idea of "Balance by wielding both" was actually so fragile and difficult to maintain that all it took was a little push for them to become vulnerable to the Dark Side's temptation.

Hell, even after the Jedi Order was established, one of its founders, Master Rajivari - who in Dawn of the Jedi (2012) is framed as a wise ex-general who, albeit strict, spends his days meditating and philosophizing - he goes to the Dark Side too! 

Because that's how the Dark Side works.

The Dark Side isn’t just "negative feelings" or a "bad guy superpower" that you can mix with a "good guy superpower" to unleash the ultimate 'Force blast'. This isn’t an anime.

The Dark Side is a drugs/smoking/drinking addiction.

It's selfish, temporary pleasure. The more you consume it...

... the more you get addicted...

... and the more it consumes you right back...

... until nothing remains.

Jon Ostrander, who wrote Dawn of the Jedi (2012), echoed this sentiment multiple times:

“As I see it, those working on the light side work with the Force, channeling it, open and sensitive to what it tells them. They serve it. Those on the dark side try to impose their will on the Force, to make it do their will, to make it serve them. The Je’daii believe in a balance between the light and the dark side and so attempt to use both. Problem is, a balance is hard to maintain and the dark side is so very seductive.” - John Ostrander, LA Times, 2012

“The Je'daii aren't light side or dark side, although they know and are aware of both. Instead they seek a balance in the Force between light and dark. Balance, however, is a difficult thing to maintain and there is always the danger of falling wholly to the dark side — and some Je'daii have done so.” - John Ostrander, Newsarama, 2012

And this is a recurring theme throughout all of Ostrander’s comics, by the way. Be it with the Je’daii, but also with Quinlan Vos or Cade Skywalker, the point remains the same: 

"Yes, wielding the Dark Side gives you great power, and you get to show off some badass new tricks...

… but it ultimately destroys you and everyone around you."

Remember: if it weren’t for Cade or Quin’s loved ones, neither of them would have come back from the Dark Side. They aren't badasses because they can use Force Lightning, they're badasses because they found the strength to give that up.

So if you genuinely think the Jedi "downgraded" by refusing to give the Dark Side more power than it already has on them... you're missing the point.

“It’s not about ripping things out of the sky using the Force or Force Lightning. A lot of people, they think “oh look how powerful Vader is, look how powerful the Emperor is, I want to play be the bad guy because I get these powers”. It’s an empty feeling, at the end of the day, after the moment. [...] The Dark Side is a spiral downward that you’re trapped in.” - Dave Filoni, “Force of Rebellion”, 2018

It was an upgrade.

Framing "balance" as "equal Dark and Light Side" is like consuming one (1) salad a day and one (1) whole bottle of vodka and calling that "balanced". No, buddy, that'll kill you. Because:

The vodka is better at being destructive than the salad is at making you healthy.

It's won't stay just one bottle per day. It'll eventually become two, three, etc.

Because as George Lucas stated time and again, resisting the Dark Side is a constant struggle.

So that's my two cents.

You've probably already heard about the recent announcement of a Dawn of the Jedi feature film, a biblical epic that will be directed by James Mangold.

And truth be told... it scares me SO much that we came THIS close to an Episode IX: Duel of the Fates that framed "balance" as - you guessed it - giving equal power to your light and darkness.

Like, how did this ⬆️ get as far as it did? Did nobody think to sit Colin Trevorrow down and explain to him that he fundamentally misunderstands how the Force works?

So all I can do is cross my fingers and hope James Mangold has a better grasp of - if not the lore (I wouldn't be surprised if the words "Je'daii" or "Tython" aren't uttered once in the film) - at least the message.

[starryyknights]

one thing i find fascinating about the jedi in legends is that they allowed attachments for far longer than they forbade them.

according to kotor, jolee says that the rule that barred jedi from forming attachments was enforced after the great sith war aka exar kun war which ended in 3996 BBY.

the rule was in place till the dissolutuon of the jedi council and near–eradication of the jedi order in 19 BBY.

so roughly, jedi were not allowed to form attachments for little over 3900 years.whereas, the jedi order allowed attachments from 25,000 BBY, what is called the dawn of the jedi era.

i know that the order at the time was different—even the name was je’daii—but many core values and beliefs carried down to the later jedi order that we see in movies.

so, the jedi were allowed to fall in love, marry and even have children for over 21,000 years, but prohibited them from doing so for only nearly 4000 years.

[lilredghost]

WIP Wednesday: "Who says I don't love you?"

Context: Obi-Wan has just found out a horrible truth about his marriage with Anakin. That is, his husband didn't actually propose because he wanted to-- he just thought he had to.

Recap:

“Not us,” Hera laughs. “The Freed all value our choice of a spouse rather dearly. I'm sure you can understand our hesitation to follow the Jedi tradition and marry for the sake of diplomacy.” Obi-Wan puts down his spoon, horror creeping up his throat. “The Je’daii have not practiced such a tradition for centuries, atleast. Tatooine was the one to write marriage into their negotiation terms.” Obi-Wan feels like he’s back in Jedha’s courtroom, on the edge of a terrible truth. He feels like he’s back in his wedding finery, wondering why his fiancé won’t look at him. His husband won’t look at him. Obi-Wan hates that he can’t read his scent, hates this stupid body of his, hates— “We didn’t know,” Anakin says quietly. “We thought… We thought it was required.”

----

When Anakin finally finds Obi-Wan, it’s in the cave system, at the pool they’d been to just last night.

He has his back to Anakin-- pant legs rolled up, feet in the water. He doesn’t turn around, though he must hear Anakin’s footsteps.

“I can pack tonight,” Obi-Wan says. “I’ll be out of your hair first thing tomorrow.”

The words stop Anakin in his tracks. “What?”

“I don’t want to bind you to me. The Empire will gladly renegotiate with Tatooine even without that.”

Renegotiate?

“The Je’daii give equal weight to omegas in divorce, you know. Khula is always an option.”

Feelings flicker through Anakin faster than he can catalogue them. Disbelief, fear, panic, outrage—

“Not to me,” he seethes. “When you get married in Tatooine, the bond between souls is for a lifetime.”

For seven lifetimes—

“We are not getting a divorce!”

The words don’t seem to move Obi-Wan. “Okay,” he says simply.

The easy agreement blows the wind out of Anakin's sails. “Okay?”

His husband casts a tired glance over his shoulder. His face is blotchy, his eyes red-rimmed.

And yet, he’s miles away from the soft, openly emotional man who Anakin has gotten to know, these last few months.

This is Emperor Kenobi, who keeps his face blank and his voice steady as he looks away.

“Of course. We can discuss what that will look like another time.”

What does that mean? Anakin wants to ask. Why are you shutting me out?

But the words catch in his throat, unspeakable. He realizes that he’s afraid of the answers.

“It’s irony at it’s finest, I suppose, that I married someone who doesn’t believe in divorce. Karmic retribution, maybe, being bound to someone who won’t ever love me.”

The words are said quietly, clearly something Obi-Wan meant to keep to himself. But the echo of the cave carries them to Anakin's ears anyway, and his heart breaks for the man in front of him.

“Obi-Wan,” he breathes. “Who says I don’t love you?”

---

Read more in the next chapter of Their fragrance came from you - Ch 16: Celebration!

[average-transdalorian]

The Force as a manifestation of faith

Or, my reasoning as to why the Sith and fallen Jedi are Like That when other Force cultures are perfectly fine when “Dark”

Aka: I had a really fun idea for a Mandalorian Force practice but it wouldn’t fit into the textual framework of the dichotomy of Light and Dark so now I gotta explain away a bunch of shit before I can actually get to my fun idea

So, what do I mean by a manifestation of faith?

Well, it seems to me that the Force works the way the user believes it works. ESB makes it VERY clear that the only limits of the Force are the ones perceived by the user; Luke thinks lifting his X-wing impossible, so he cannot lift it. Luke thinks that within the cave, he shall find a fight and a lesson, so when he dips into that Force nexus, he finds a fight and a lesson, exactly as he expected

On top of that, the modern Jedi and Sith believe that the Dark draws its power from suffering, and that it is addicting and heady, making you believe you can do anything and beat anybody, leaving you arrogant and full of hubris. And as far as we’ve seen, that’s exactly how it works for Sith and Fallen Jedi! They draw power from their suffering and the suffering of others, they are arrogant to a fault, and it is nigh-impossible to pull yourself out of the well of the Dark once you are within it because you always crave more

But it wasn’t always this way

The Jedi and Sith share the same framework for the Force because they were once one group that underwent a schism; I am speaking, of course, of the Je’daii of Tython. The Je’daii were a multispecies culture in Legends, which were brought to Tython by these ancient ships that had collected Force sensitives for… known reasons, I think? It has to do with the Celestials, and the Celestials are not my forte. Regardless, the Je’daii’s philosophy was that the Dark was pain, anger, fear, and power, and the Light was love, peace, joy, and knowledge, and that one should seek balance between the two aspects within oneself. These are the sources of the Light/Dark split we see in the modern Jedi and Sith (although it notably lacks the addictiveness and single-minded focus on power of the Sith philosophy), but the reason that the Je’daii sought to hold both equally in themselves has to do with a few really interesting aspects of Tython specifically! Tython had two moons: Ashla, which was bathed in light and Light alike, and Bogan, which was doused in Dark and dark alike, and Tython itself was neutral. If it ever strayed too far from that neutrality, cataclysmic Force Storms would sweep the surface, doing great and terrible damage to the cities and their inhabitants. So, the Je’daii sought to maintain Tython’s balance by maintaining their own balance. Any too far into one side of the Force would be sent to the other side’s moon to rebalance themself. However, they were eventually found by Xesh, a Force Hound of the Rakatan Infinite Empire. The Infinite Empire was already on a decline, and aren’t actually terribly relevant to the ensuing actions on Tython. Rather, Xesh brought with him a Forcesaber, the earliest form of lightsaber, which had no power pack, and was powered purely through the Dark side of the Force, because the Rakata were just Like That. Several Je’daii had been driven mad a few years prior by visions of a terrible army wielding blades of frozen fire, and they saw the Forcesaber as that blade. Thus, the Je’daii Order underwent a schisms; half sought the power of the Dark, and the other half sought the knowledge of the Light, and there were some big wars, and then Tython got pissy about all the imbalance and kicked everyone out. The Ashla Je’daii, having reformed to the Jedi, eventually settled on Ossus, and then Coruscant, while the Bogan Je’daii… kinda just disappeared? But don’t worry, there’s a second schism later where some Dark Jedi do fucked up super unethical experiments and get exiled for it, where the end up finding the Sith species

The Sith species were, for whatever reason, just about every single “savage native” stereotype rolled into one. They did slavery, they did sentient sacrifice, they had rigid and immovable castes, they had civil wars all over the place, they were unbearably cruel to one another, yadda yadda ya. They also had Force magicks and alchemy, and a belief that suffering begets power. They also made some tablets that you could argue were eldritch horrors, as the madness of the writers would drive the readers mad as well, even as they gained knowledge of superweapons and whatnot. Anyways, the Sith were actually pretty chill about all the death and suffering, until the Rakata swung around and told them “yeah that’s not the ultimate way of life actually,” which contributed to a little bit of a societal collapse. Anyways, the freshly exiled Dark Jedi showed up, went “oh hey, your magick and shit is neat. We’re taking it,” and then proved themselves to be superior in almost every regard to the “barely-civilized native species” (Jesus fuck that comic writer did NOT check their biases when writing about this, yikes. The wookiepedia section about this reads even worse). Anyways, the Dark Jedi eventually declared themselves the Dark Lords of the Sith, and synthesized the Jedi ideas of the Dark (power, fear, anger) with the Sith ideas of the Dark (magick, alchemy, through suffering I gain addictive power), and tada! We have the modern Sith philosophy we know and hate! Once the Sith Lords reemerged to the galaxy, the Jedi took their interpretation of the Dark as THE interpretation of the Dark, and continued to teach that that was how the Dark worked, that it would corrupt you and lead to you seeking power through suffering to satiate your addiction to power. It’s wild shit! But!

What about Darksiders that AREN’T descended from Jedi or Sith?

The most recent example of this seems to be the Coven on Brendok. Their abilities are thought of as Dark, but we see them exhibit none of the suffering-inducing tendencies of the Dark as the Jedi and Sith teach it. On top of that, they see the Force as more of a Thread which governs the Universe, and can be moved to create various effects. Mother Aniseya even uses this to create Osha and Mae, which seems to have been….. not too difficult, and produced two children with middling Force sensitivity, if perhaps a dyad. Compare that, then, to Plagueis in Legends expending huge amounts of power to manipulate the midichlorians in Shmi Skywalker to create a child that would be a supernova in the Force, and, well. It certainly looks like the Thread interpretation would lend itself to an easier task creating “weaker” children, whereas a Midichlorian-based interpretation would lend itself to a more difficult task creating a “stronger” child

On top of that, Mother Aniseya had no issues bypassing Torbin’s mental defenses in order to do…. Whatever it was she did to him. That’s not an ability in the Sith playbook, and again, would probably be perceived as easier if you see it as tugging on a Thread rather than using an energy field to bypass defenses within said energy field to mess with someone’s brain. But again, the “dark” abilities of the Coven have none of the side effects that the Dark has on fallen Jedi and Sith

In fact, there’s another sect of “dark” witches: the Nightsisters of Dathomir! The Jedi explicitly call their Magick “dark,” but Mother Talzin doesn’t seek power through suffering; instead, she acts to protect her people, no more, no less. That’s not the way the Dark interacts with those brought up on a Jedi’s interpretation

Furthermore, we have Merrin; a powerful Nightsister with many abilities, who is kind, compassionate, and open-minded, and suffering from absolutely none of the mental corruption that the Sith and fallen Jedi see from touching the Dark. Are you noticing a pattern? Because I am! The Force, whatever it truly is, interacts with those sensitive to it the way they expect it to, for better or for worse. The Force is a manifestation of their faith

So what’s this rad Mandalorian Force tradition I came up with? I’m so glad you asked! I’d name it something like the “Kot be Shereshoy,” or “Strength of Passion.” However, shereshoy isn’t passion the way the Jedi and Sith think of it; Shereshoy is a lust for life, a desire to live each day to its fullest. Shereshoy is both “love fast die young hot girls do it well” and “fall a little bit in love with every aspect of your life every day”

Shereshoy is not a REQUIREMENT to be Mandalorian. However, it is culturally valued, not dissimilarly to how Mandalorians value constant change and growth. It makes sense to me that Mandalorians would interact with the Force through this desire to live a joyous life, this ideal world where everything can be beautiful, and you are full of love. Also, it could set up some interesting moments where someone defines the Sith’s Dark as “dar’shereshoy,” or “no-longer-a-lust-for-life,” a passion that’s been turned on its head and been used for pain rather than joy, and defines the Jedi’s Light as “nu’shereshoy,” or “not-a-lust-for-life,” a simple peace to their everyday existence. It would also support the Sith and Jedi both thinking that the Mandalorians would always ally with the Sith, because “passion is passion” (wrong!)

This post probably doesn’t make sense and misses a lot of things but WHATEVER I want the Mandalorians to have their own Force traditions that doesn’t fit within the Light/Dark dichotomy while still leaving that dichotomy intact for the Jedi and the Sith because the Sith don’t make sense without it really

[meantforinfinitesadness]

Fantasy Fic Recs

I’m back with more fic recs. I know I’ve done a rec list for fantasy fics before, but just like the Sith Obi-Wan fic recs, I wanted to do more because it’s been a hot minute!

Ships will vary! I’ll be sure to let you know what fics have what ships though, so don’t worry!

Also, these recs don’t contain like...modern fantasy recs, but I’ll probably do another list for those tbh, probably one for like...in-world fantasy...if that’s what I should call it....

CODYWAN

A Single Sunbeam - @lillytalons The first time Obi-wan met Cody, he hadn’t even gotten his name. It wasn’t a friendly meeting at all, which was a shame. The second time Cody met Obi-wan, he wanted to punch him, just a little. Wandering scholar of the Je’daii order, Obi-Wan travels the lands with his companion & friendly dragon, Boga. There's a darkness growing in Mandalore and a people with no trust for outsiders that Obi-wan wants to help but first he has to convince Cody to trust him. Or: 11 times Obi-wan and Cody meet, with varying degrees of success.

light as whispers - @bluemaskedkarma  The west isn’t safe, not since King Qymaen took the throne. There are awful rumors flying around, especially once Count Dooku joins the King's court. The west isn't safe, not for a lot of people, especially not dragons.

It’s an end to the evil (of all Skyrim’s foes) - @nerjetii Kote wants to reach Skyrim to become a legendary blacksmith under the tutelage of Eorlund Gray-Mane. Obi-Wan wants to reach Skyrim to study at Winterhold Academy to become a great mage. Neither one of them is really looking for adventure. Adventure, however, will find them when Kote learns he is the Dragonborn, Nord Hero destined to defeat the Black Dragon Alduin, a burden he never wanted in the first place and that he reluctantly accept.And Obi-Wan...well, what's Khajiit to do when the nice Redguard seems so lost yet determined to do good in his unexpected quest? Why, of course, Khajiit will go with him!

The World Offers Itself - @brigittttoo  Cody and Obi-Wan embark on their journey to find the boy who will defeat the darkness, as foretold by the Jedi many centuries ago. On their way, they encounter fantastical nature, magic and monsters, and secrets surrounding the history of the Empire; sometimes, even a crafted fate cannot always go as planned.

send you a postcard from heaven - @blackkatmagic  “Is this the part,” Obi-Wan drawls, balanced on the very edge of the plank, “where I say I would rather die?”

Bookworms, Warriors and Princes (Series) - @wanderingjedihistorian  Every time he had to sit through another one of these boring events, Cody gave serious consideration to abdicating his position as Crown Prince of Mandalore and running away to be a bounty hunter. His father would never forgive him, nor would any of his brothers, but it was so tempting.Cody slipped through a door and was pleasantly surprised to find that it led to a library. (summary from the first fic in the series)

Peace in the Realm - Rosawyn When young Lord Anakin's elopement threatens the fragile peace of the entire kingdom, Lord Obi Wan and Prince Codex must find a way to prevent his impulsive decision from toppling everything into chaos.  With threats of war looming on their borders and petty nobles squabbling in Obi Wan's own duchy, things are feeling a lot less stable.  And that's all before the assassination.

JANGOBI (KENFETTI)

The Otherlands - @feybarn Jango glared up at the man who was staring down at him, brows furrowed and lips pursed in what looked like disbelief. “You’re Jango Fett?” The man sounded a mix of offended and disbelieving. Jango raised his eyebrow as derisively and dissuasively as he could. “Last I checked.” The man looked around their surroundings, as though trying to reconcile the putrid-smelling prison cell with Jango’s reputation.The man pursed his lips. “I’d like to hire you.” -_- Obi-Wan needs a guide to the Demon's Lair - Jango Fett just happens to be his best chance of getting there.

ALPHAOBI (ALPHA-17/OBI-WAN)

The Lone Wolf Dies (Series) - @mageofcole  Obi-Wan had never been able to turn away from something in trouble. There’s an injured animal in the forest, he can hear the sounds from the dense underbrush of the woods that surround his home, and it's accompanied by the sound of hunting dogs. (summary from first fic in series)

GEN

ashes to ashes, dust to dust - @crablad Obi-Wan surveyed the pub, taking in the various creatures spread out. Looking for a dragon, as rare as they were, was impossible, especially with the nagas roaming around. He couldn’t catch a sight of those leathery wings, and if he did they were usually harpies with their sharp teeth and red hair. He thought he caught sight of something other than a harpy, with scales along the neck, but the shaded glasses, and squirming hat revealed the creature as a gorgon. He sighed, sinking further into the seat. His wings recoiled from the dusty ground, shaking themselves to clean. It ended up just leaving them covered in more grime, something he would have to deal with later. The scales were more important now, he needed to find a dragon… or someone who knew one. His informant was supposed to meet him an hour ago.

[nerdyerror]

Jinn Skywalker Kenobi (age 48)

Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Daughter

Luke Skywalker’s Wife

Spy Commander for the Rebel Alliance

Council member on the Tatooine High Council (she beat up boba fett for democracy)

Restored the 3rd Je’Daii temple on Tatooine.

[dapurinthos]

been thinking about jedi language since @gffa made this post with the ‘padawan means learner’ bit, and about how there’s a ship in one of the clone wars gameboy games called sedawan. which is a sort-of proto-crucible in that it’s for bringing crystals back from ilum because it’s been deemed too dangerous for the younglings to go themselves (the clone wars: jedi alliance came out in 2008 to the animated series’ ‘the gathering’ in 2012). chu’unthor is a cerean word, so it’s not relevant. takara is not a ship used for padawan training.

so the linguistic analogy should be (since we know george lucas was cooking with japanese flavouring from the jidaigeki films that influenced star wars, not just the buddhism):

student : 学生 : padawan :: teacher : 先生 : sedawan

individually: 学生 (gakusei): student 学 (gaku): education. also: knowledge [ignorance, yet knowledge!] [11-year-old me: like haruka & michiru’s school mugen gauken!]; origin: middle chinese haewk (learning) 生 (sei): (as a suffix) a student. also: a living, life. origin in middle chinese sraeng (alive, raw, unprocessed)

先生 (sensei): an elder, a scholar, teacher — only when referring to another) 先 (sen): before, previous. origin: middle chinese sen (first, before) 生 (sei): [see above]

so is it pada/seda + wan? or is it there rendaku (ori + kami —> origami) happening here and the compounds are pa/se + tawan? (je + tai forming je’daii —> jedi?) as for the compounds, i think it would be really neat if padawan, whatever it breaks down into, is the ignorance, yet knowledge precept in a single word, going from the 'raw, unprocessed' definition of 'sei'. the -wan/-tawan as the 'knowledge' part, with 'pada-/pa-' as the 'ignorant' part. seda-/se- as 'elder, first, before'. padawan: the ignorant acquiring knowledge; sedawan: the one who previously acquired the knowledge.

a side-trip: differentiating between ‘student’ and ‘learner’ 学習者 (gakushūsha, lit. one who learns knowledge) aka 'learner' exists as a word. english is a bitchy language and has both student and learner used for the same thing (why did you choose to use 'learner', rpg book? it's bothering me). it’s the normans fault. all of it. them with their french coming in here and replacing cneordlæcan with estudiant from studeō. the germans got their word from ‘track, trace’ while the latin one is ‘to push, hit’ and somehow does a transformation that almost everyone else didn’t do (yeah, this is where we get pertussis from, because tussis is also a descendant, but one that keeps the violence). italic family, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.

[archivist-annemi]

Got my hands on a really battered old copy of Star Wars Insider 141 mainly because it contains a printing of Eruption, the oldest tale in the old Star Wars Legends canon. To clarify: chronologically the oldest. It was published in 2013, after Disney acquired Star Wars, but before the mouse started their own new canon.

I should note that it’s not necessary to find this copy of Insider if you want to read it, since the short story Eruption was also reprinted in Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void as well as being included in the audiobook. But it was only a few bucks and it has illustrations.

As much as I am an enjoyer of KotOR era Star Wars, I haven’t really forayed into this time period of Legends canon. Dawn of the Jedi (DotJ era?) takes place more than TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND years before the OT (specifically 25,793 BBY). That’s… a huge amount of time. Sure, on the grand, cosmic scale it’s just a blip, but on a human scale? 25000 years ago is considered pre-history in real life. That’s about the age of the oldest permanent human settlement we’ve found so far.

A long, long, very fuckin’ long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….

This little short story by John Ostrander showcases two ancient Jedi (or Je’daii as they were called at the time), Lanoree Brock and Hawk Ryo. The story is short and sweet and details the rescue of a hostage and the early work of Jedi as negotiators. It ends with Lanoree being recalled to Tython, the home planet of the Je’daii order, for a special mission. I assume this is the lead-in for Into the Void, which is next up on my reading list.

A little fun fact for you: Hawk Ryo (a blue Twi’lek man) is officially the first character and first Jedi mentioned in the Legends canon if you are reading chronologically. His name is the first word of the first sentence of the story.

[dougielombax]

Regarding my Star Wars OC Leon Vartanian.

I created him due to a lack of explicit queer rep in Star Wars.

That stuff is largely kept to the side in novels and comics.

Which bugs me.

Same for neurodivergent rep. Hence why he’s autistic like me.

He’s not exactly a self-insert though. Only partially.

As for his religion, I don’t have a name for it.

But it’s commonly referred to as the Cathar Order of the Great Light.

It’s an ancient Force religion which predates the Jedi by hundreds of thousands of years.

It was already ancient history before the first Jedi temples were built and before the earliest proto-Jedi sects such as the Je’Daii had formed.

Only Cathar can adhere to it and you can’t convert. One must be born into it (some real religions are like this such as the Druze or the Mandaeans). Hence why all it’s adherents are only Cathar or humans adopted by Cathar.

This stems from a long history of persecution from outside enemies such as the Rakatans (who the Cathar believe to be monstrous savages), the Sith, Zygerrians, the Mandalorians, and many others.

Their religion in question has a great deal of emphasis on knowledge, education, self improvement, environmentalism, selflessness, bravery, justice, collectivism, and altruism.

It also places a great deal of emphasis on ritual baptisms, prayer, and scrutiny and analysis of its own holy texts.

Their religion regards the Jedi as being well meaning, but also single-minded and dogmatically possessed, while it views the Sith as an abomination.

Many key figures in the Cathar religion also show up in some Jedi texts.

The Jedi name is even derived from the Old Cathar (Kedhari) term “Zhi-deikh”.

It had a HUGE influence on the Jedi religion but many Jedi are completely oblivious to this fact. The Jedi emphasis on justice is noticeably similar to that of the Cathar Order.

And many passages from the Jedi texts are said to have been taken directly from Cathar holy books and apocryphal texts.

Unlike the Jedi, adherents of the Cathar religion are allowed to marry and start families.

Cathar religious doctrine encourages adoption and rescue of orphans, particularly in turbulent times in turn with this allowance for starting families.

Hence why Cathar people believe in having two families. Your birth family and your found family.

I’ll add more to this where I can

[groguandthebadbatch]

My of my top favorite subjects to learn about in all of Star Wars!!!! What I would be!

[padawansuggest]

Hello, I hope you're having a nice day! 😃

I just saw your post about bby Obi-Wan & his soulmates (& I love it!) and wanted to ask if you've thought about the vod'e's soulmate marks! You said Kaminoian-Mandalorian would be the cultural type of soulmate mark, but what does that look like? Do the Command class have marks for their Alpha class trainers & vice-versa? Do they paint their markings on their armor when they're allowed to be individuals or are they more private?

tldr: please I just want to know if Alpha-17 gets to have little markers to remind him of his chaos-causing little cadets when they're grown

Hello hi this is so adorable thank you.

Now here’s an explanation for how the soulmate marks work in my idea of it: I HATE it when it’s an image you have to match. I genuinely don’t like that because it confuses me and makes no sense and it would be mega easy to fake and tattoos would be seen as impure because they can imitate a mark… things like that. So normally I do the name on the wrist. But, at the same time those also have the issue of names being fluid (or the fucked up idea of ‘what if your child has a slave code on their wrist’ and how fucked up that would be) and so I like this idea the most because it’s Star Wars!!!!!

What if instead, everyone ever, has a pocket of cells in that area of their body with the highest level of midichlorian concentration possible? Which would make SENSE cause I’ve already put that soulmates are people with pre-existing bonds (this is something I also do for Star Trek, if you have a Vulcan soulmate it’s the one bond that you were born with) so it would make sense that the force itself made those bonds.

Now, without getting into the whole idea of how the clones came to be, because I have had many different ways to make the clones come to be without Jango hating the Jedi, and a general favorite of mine is that it was an ACTUAL experiment for human genetic clone testing as a reason to get the republic to start LETTING clones be made in the republic, and that Jango isn’t the only one who made clones since they obviously would have needed multiple test groups.

Now, again, not explaining too much of that, but I think in general, they would have chosen Mandalorians for athletic standards and because their system isn’t part of the republic.

Now that aside, there would def be a different culture on Kamino for Mandalorians. They would be learning Mandalorian culture from secondary sources until they were given leave to be welcomed into homes in the Mandalorian system.

Which would mean they would have a sub-culture for Mando’a. Not main culture. Sort of like how Mandalorians who grow up mainly on colonies outside the M system or in Little Keldabe on Coruscant, wouldn’t have the same culture as those who grew up in the system.

There is culture and then subculture.

Anyways. Obviously a lot of the clones would choose to stay on the planet to work with the Kaminoians and take care of the babies. And Alpha and Colt are def two of them. Alpha and Colt both have a tooooon of apprentice marks (maybe 10 or so each that’s considered a shitton for just about anyone but that itself started a new round of testing over clones themselves) and yes, they have a bunch of lil rugrats they love with all their hearts.

Now the marks themselves: everyone has a main mark (this is the piece that glows) and this mark depends entirely on the person it exists on. It could be a shape or a picture or a flower it depends on them. Obi likes shapes. And most people have a secondary mark (the piece that Jedi use to signify an apprentice or a sibling or a romance) which 100% depends on the subculture you grew up on. Obi-Wan’s mark is in Dai Bendu, not just because he follows the force, but because he very specifically follows the Old Je’daii ways (I just think he fits more into that category than the modern Jedi way but explaining that is a bit above my brain capacity for the most part, lots of philosophy type speculation) and that reflects him to a very core of his self. Because his characters are in Dai Bendu, he actually speaks the language more than most Jedi because he likes feeling connected to their roots from before Dai Bendu stopped being a slave language, and started being a religious one. (This is another fanon idea. In canon they decided that the pyramids were built as 8 arks to hold Je’daii pilgrims and bring them to Tython, but there have been a few different fanon ideas of what if the Tho Yor started as slaves for their force sensitivity and the Tho Yor were built to help them escape their captivity. I know what’s canon but I like giving the Jedi roots a bit more spice sometimes.)

Anakin’s, on the other hand, ends up having characters in a slave language. When Obi-Wan finds those and asks Shmi and she tells him, and hers are in that language too, Obi-Wan makes a vow then and there and no student of his will call him master. They call him Jeiah, which is a fanon translation in Dai Bendu for teacher. Anakin’s mark for him means ‘learning’ and his mark for Padme means ‘Angel’ but that’s just the modern translation of it, Shmi says (when Arla asks her why she would be Shmi’s Angel) that it used to mean ‘lover’ but for some reason a rumor spread that when two soulmates touched, and one was wearing a slave collar, it would short out the lock and the collar would pop open. They decided Angel was a better word than savior.

On that note, when they had pulled the slave chip from Shmi’s middle back behind the spine, after Arla had touched her, the chip WAS fried… so…

Idk if Anakin has any soulmarks for siblings, but he DEF has one for Ahsoka, but when Shmi says it means ‘student’ Obi-Wan points out that it’s not the same as the sibling mark the Jedi are used to, but in Dai Bendu, that SAME character means ‘baby darling’ and darling in the language is often used for little siblings. So, double one there. Lmao. Language fun.

Mandalorian identifiers, on the other hand, don’t tend to be language. Since the culture is so mish mash about letting anyone and everyone in, they tend to be pictographs. Things like extremely simple images to show a swaddled baby (that’ll be your ad, Jaster only has that for Jango because Jango is his baby boy who will follow in Buir’s footsteps to lead their people, but for Jango it’s a picture of a smaller hand in larger) and a lover could be anything from a traditional heart image to two weapons clashing (there are no markers for enemies because I don’t believe in the force bonding you against your will to someone you’ll hate) and Jaster has a picture of two lightsabers clashing for him and Feemor. He was pretty dubious about that one, trying to pass them off as beskade for a while (Beskar sabers) but now they’re together and he has the darksaber, it makes so much sense…

Anyways. Markers and then their identifiers is something I’ve been thinking about a while and I like it.

Please don’t get weird about my bullshit excuse for the clones to exist without war tho, Palpy choked on a dick and passed away sadly, but I still want my sons without Jango being evil and I use the ‘Palpy kidnaps Jango to make clones’ option too often it’s getting weird. I love the clones tho.

[galahadwilder]

Jedi, Sith, or Je'daii?

Je’daii, 100%. I am the wielder of the flame, protector of balance.

There is no dark side or light side. There is only The Force.

[jxyridin-g]

@irxnworks he closed his eyes while in cc but just know that they’re Green

[ospreyeamon]

A non-exhaustive list of paradigms used to help understand the Force.

The Je’daii Model is obviously rooted in the idea of Ying and Yang, though it would have felt improper just slapping the symbol unmodified up there. To quote Dawn of the Jedi "In the light, there is a darkness and in the darkness, a light. [...] Be a prisoner of neither Bogan nor Ashla. Strive to live in balance".

The Later Orthodox Jedi Model developed much later, after the Jedi had left Tython and after the First Schism. Most of the history of the Jedi Order is only loosely sketched out, but my current feeling is that it only became the accepted orthodox position of the Jedi Order around the period of the Second Great Schism; it had been present as one of a collection of competing models before but had not been persistently dominant.

Kissai is a word that requires some explanation. It is the name of the priest caste of the red sith population on Ziost and some parts of Korriban at the time of the invasion by Ajunta Pall and the other Jedi Exiles, but I use it as a catchall term for the Korribani Force-practices and traditions which evolved independently of the Jedi. Their influence can be seen to varying degrees in the teachings of the Sith — it is the primary reason there is such a diverse and contradictory array of Sith philosophies.

The Early Kissai Model was one of those carried to Tython with the Force-adepts brought together by the Tho Yor. Unlike the Je’daii and Orthodox Jedi models, which view the Light and Dark Sides of the Force as two distinct forms of energy, it conceptualises the Force as a substance like fabric or water which has other things (the proverbial dyes) carried within it. Instead of the Force being viewed as light or dark it is seen as empty or saturated.

The Later Kissai Model has become more concerned with the various things that can be absorbed into the Force and the potential interactions of their layering. Because the Force is only ‘light’ when it is empty and the areas of the Force aligned with inhabited worlds and systems are very rarely empty and once discovered can quickly become smudged this is a very ‘dark’ centric model. The outermost green, yellow, and orange portions at the bottom of the graph would be considered ‘light’ by the Jedi understanding. There are other iterations of this model which spread the darkness in the Force out across five or seven axes, rather than six.

The Voss Mystics conceptualisation of the Force has diverged significantly from the Jedi and Sith’s in the thousands of years since they last had contact with them. They do not divide it into aspects as the Jedi and Sith do. I imagine that the Voss’ view of the Force is strongly connected to their view of fate. Fate cannot be altered or escaped, you can only choose the manner in how you will reach it — the road, but not the destination. A single choice, a single individual — the power of these things is nothing compared to the weight of cultures, societies, institutions. The world around you will always affect you more than you effect it because it is vast and you are small, and you cannot stand apart from the world to make your own fate because everything is connected.

You can see the future in the Force because the events that will lead to the future have already occurred. Are occurring now in the present as well, in ways that are beyond your influence. The past reverberates in the present which reverberates into the future — and then from the future that impact washes back into the present. Not only through the Force, but through people's own logic and foresight as they anticipate events.