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awesomestarfighter · 4 months

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I Should Have Known Better Then To Debate My Brother On Star Wars But I Did It Anyway

That's a lengthy way to start a post, I know, but I'm in a very riled up mood right now.

I remember the first time I argued with him about this. Our family did a rewatch of the Star Wars series (prequels than originals) at my request (and I usually never get emotional, so they were very concerned when I started crying my eyes out during Order 66 and asking if we should stop) and afterwards we talked.

Since I'm an avid Pro Jedi fan, there was a lot of arguing about 'The Jedi could have done this/should have done this!'. A bit with my family, but mostly with my brother since we're an argumentative pair and he's the only one who's watched extra materials such as TCW to further why the Jedi failed/should have done more.

We had to agree to disagree, so it ended there. Now here I am years later, having already talked to him about why glorifying this particularly abusive M/F is not peak romance or good writing, what defines bad writing, and general amatonormativity, and since I'm back in a SW swing, I thought about bringing it up to him, hoping he'd gotten a little more flexible since the last time we talked about it.

Clearly, I was too optimistic to think that.

Cue the usual tangent of (which I've already seen from. . . So many fans):

-The Jedi should have known Palpatine was a Sith.

-They should have treated Anakin better.

-They should have made him a Master.

-They shouldn't have given him that advice about death.

-Obi-Wan wasn't ready for a Padawan.

-They should have investigated Sifo-Dyas's murder.

-They should have investigated more.

-That's just the way the story is written and how the characters would react in real life, so of course Filoni is a good viewpoint on the Jedi.

. . . And just the general, 'they should have done more' statement that's been uttered countless times before.

I tried to point out the flaws in this way of thinking, I really did.

-It's established right in TPM that the Sith have been extinct for a very long time, and they verbally acknowledge that they don't know whether the one killed was the Master of the Apprentice, so it wasn't like they just up and forgot about the enemy that could still be out there. And it's literally stated in the very next movie that their ability to use the Force has been diminished, so it's not like they could have seen the Sith in plain sight in the force. Minor note, I know Force Signatures are mentioned a lot in fanon, but I don't remember anything like that ever being mentioned in canon (I know there's Legends but that's a separate continuity). With all that to keep in mind, why would they think he was a Sith? We have a different view of things because we're the audience, but they don't! Even though they didn't magically know he was the Sith Lord, that doesn't mean they're blind to his dealings or the corruption within the Senate, unless I completely hallucinated the part where the Jedi Masters were on their way to arrest Palpatine even before they learned he was a Sith Lord.

-Questioning a kid to see how he would respond to your ways of life is not being nice enough apparently (people can debate about his trauma and the authorial intent all day, but the basis is that the Jedi are not supposed to be framed as the bad guys). Apparently adopting him and treating him as a part of their family just isn't enough. Clearly, they should have coddled him even more, maybe then he wouldn't have murdered them down to the last child! (This is sarcasm because they never treated him differently or anything, even the Chosen One thing is barely brought up, and all his darkest moments are ones the Jedi were never made aware of). I know people will just say to put him in therapy because I've seen them say that many times before, but the truth is that he's already in therapy with the Jedi, he just doesn't absorb any of it because he doesn't want to.

-Yeah, because an adult throwing a temper tantrum when he's been appointed to a leading authority by a shady government leader who should not have any authority over their organization isn't sketchy as fuck, that response alone proves he WAS not ready, because he still didn't understand what the Jedi were about, much less mastery of himself. My brother at least admitted that was a good point when I outlined it, so score for me, I guess.

-People give Yoda grief all the time for his advice, but they always seem to forget that, firstly, Anakin is asking this during a war they've been fighting for three years, one they've lost many friends and family to, and secondly. . . Anakin was really fucking vague when he brought this forward. He doesn't even specify who he's talking about isn't a fellow Jedi, clone, or otherwise (And I can't help but draw a parallel to how he didn't tell Obi-Wan about his visions of Shmi and people will blame Obi-Wan when Anakin's the one who can't bother to properly fucking communicate) and he doesn't listen because it's not what he wants to hear. He doesn't just want to save Padme; he wants to cheat death because he's possessive and greedy and doesn't want his loved ones to ever leave him. Yoda's advice was actually very useful, but since when has Anakin ever listened to good advice? Once again, my brother admitted that was a good point, so the second score went to me.

-I know fandom loves to portray Obi-Wan as this self-hating mess that's barely keeping it together (who also does a lot of medic dodging for some reason?). . . But that's not who he is in canon? The real Obi-Wan is controlled and capable, and he was a young adult when he was Knighted, not a kid, who went on to become the youngest member of the Council when he became a Master. It wasn't like he was left to teach Anakin alone, because he had the Order, and they're canonically big on communal teaching. Even just in the movies, we frequently see that Obi-Wan's the one who reaches out to Anakin and Anakin's the one who shuts him out. Obi-Wan was a great teacher, Anakin was just a shit student.

-The Jedi learned about Sifo-Dyas's unauthorized role in the creation of the clone army literally right before the war broke out, so it wasn't like they were in a position where they could look more into it. Even before that, they were under the impression that he died during a failed peace negotiation. My brother still said this even though there was a literal WHOLE ASS ARC IN TCW WHERE THEY INVESTIGATED HIS DEATH. He watched that arc to, and he still says they should have investigated his death even when they literally did. I have no words for such a contradictory way of thinking.

-I know it's easy to say stuff like that, but Star Wars isn't written for adults who want all the messy bits, but for kids for a good vs evil story, so of course investigation stuff is shoved to the side. Even in TCW where we do see them investigating, they're hampered by the Senate, by Palpatine, by the war, and by the narrative. Even ignoring that, Anakin literally said in ROTS that Palpatine was the Sith THAT THEY WERE LOOKING FOR, so that means they were investigating even though we didn't see it onscreen.

-Filoni. . . God just thinking about him makes me angry. I could write a whole essay on how he's twisted the narrative for Star Wars so badly, and I hate essays, but plenty of people have already done it better, so I won't.

-But still, I think it's hilarious that I can point out certain things he's written terribly (TCW, TOTJ, TTB, and Ahsoka) to show that he doesn't like the Jedi, and my brother is still saying, 'well that's just how the story is written and how the characters will react so he doesn't really hate the Jedi with that sort of evidence and blah blah blah.'

-Of course, for TCW, my brother brought up that stupid arc where AsHoKa iS pErSeCuTeD - I just think it's funny how, with trying to make his special oc look good and the Jedi Council unlikable, Filoni accidentally made her unintentional unsympathetic and made the dOgMaTiC lEaDeRsHiP unintentionally sympathetic. And of course, who could forget the infamous s7 moment of her not being fair to Obi-Wan? I know people will say she's a teenager and she's confused and she's still feeling betrayed - but the thing is, that doesn't hold up because the narrative never follows up on it. It's not a personal flaw of hers, it's solely there to frame Ahsoka (and Bo-Katan/the Mandalorians by proxy) as right and Obi-Wan (and the Jedi Council/Order by proxy) as wrong. I'm sure there are more examples that can be noted, but those are definitely two of the biggest offenses in my book.

-Tales of the Jedi wasn't even about the Jedi, it was about two specific individuals who LEFT the Jedi. One who went on to become invincible/immortal/a sanctimonious prick/even more of a mouthpiece then she already was, the other went on to become the undisputed head of an enemy who went full throttle on genocide, slavery, and war crimes. Mace's treatment and Yaddle's treatment was more poorly veiled racism and even more poorly veiled Jedi hate. And of course, the super special training from Anakin that allowed Ahsoka to survive Order 66 unlike those useless unprepared Jedi who were too soft on their kids - but really just made him look like an incredibly abusive parent. Frankly, while I do hate Anakin and can see him pushing too hard as in character, even I can see that it could have been written a lot better than it was. Tales of the Jedi was a fucking joke because it should have been titled 'Tales of The Super Special Creators Pet OC and the Asshole Who Falls And Spearheads A War', and if we ever get Jedi content that is actually positive for them without the usual criticisms coming up (Kenobi's the only one so far that's come the closest) I'll be throwing a fucking party.

-Of course, I have to point out TBB's whitewashing, consistently carried over from TCW except even whiter, though I forgot to mention how that show just completely fucking forgot the Jedi existed. Though frankly, I wouldn't want them to be mentioned in the utter waste of time that TBB is.

-Ahsoka was made into even more of a mouthpiece in her show then she already was. I didn't even watch Rebels in its entirety because I don't care for it, but even with some of the more frustrating decisions with her in that span of time she never said the Order wouldn't have fallen if they had just brought in more non-Force Sensitives to train them into being Force Sensitive (another part of canon that Filoni has fucking taken a hammer to) singing Anakin's praises after she's 'saved' by him (though even in Rebels it got pretty egregious how she just fucking abandons the Rebellion and the Jedi because she won't leave him again) just being a general fandom anti on how the Order was at fault for everything and Anakin was actually predestined to become a Sith (instead of defying his destiny by attacking Mace and siding with Palpatine as per Word of God) so everything he did was justified. All written and directed by Filoni, just as the other pieces where he's had narrative control will label the Jedi as arrogant, as forgetful, as unworthy, as not ENOUGH. And as soon as he can, he shoves them aside for characters who are 'to cool to be a Jedi, a cooler Jedi than those useless old Order jerks who spent too much time playing politics and being too stringent because they were cautious rule followers and not plucky rebels and weren't loving enough to poor widdle Anakin and -'

Though frankly my brother had some pretty ludicrous takes in general. There was this whole tangent we had about how since Rex removed his chip and voided death, that makes him gray/puts him in a gray zone. I just bluescreened at that, because while I've never cared for morally gray characters/storytelling, a character stepping out of their slated place in the narrative so obviously isn't gray it's not even funny, it's infuriating. While I know a part of me being a writer is what helps me look at stories more critically, it still makes me feel so confused how people will just take in bad writing or come up with bullshit takes like this. Whatever happened to thinking critically for the good of storytelling?

. . . I don't usually write my own posts (even though I'm usually better at wording things than actually voicing an argument as it started with my brother) because I prefer to just reblog stuff on my blog, I wrote this primarily as a vent post because my argument with my brother really got me stirred up, but I've been in a salty sw mood lately so it was kind of cathartic to get this out.

Also, if any Jedi anti or fan comes at me with 'but actually the Jedi should have -' no. Please just don't. I always try to tag stuff properly so people who won't agree will know what my blog themes are about, I'm never in the mood for the run of a mill gotcha takes that infest this fandom and I will not hesitate to block you if you come onto my post for that.

#good guys over bad guys #How to not write #sw #Anti Ahsoka #Anti Anakin #Anti Bo-Katan #Anti Dooku #Anti Filoni #Anti Mandalorians #Anti SW Fanon #Yoda #Obi-Wan #Rex #Pro Jedi #When it comes to terrible Star Wars takes and liking the heroes of the franchise I swim through an ocean that's more salt than actual water

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charmwasjess · 3 days

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6, 13 and 18 (Dooku) for the fandom ask, please :D

6) Show us a bit of a WIP!

:D You get the Sifo + Dooku + Time Travel Piece that I'm "definitely" "not" "writing." Some Asajj + 20 year old Dooku team-up nobody asked for. Especially not Asajj. -

Asajj studied him again, more appraisingly this time. He did look disconcertingly familiar.

Did Dooku have an heir that she’d never heard about? She’d clocked the boy as younger, what with all his naivete and whining, but now that she really looked at him… Nineteen? Maybe twenty years old? The age lined up disconcertingly well with Dooku’s first days as Count. A hereditary title, after all, passed from father to son. The idea of Dooku reproducing was nauseating, of course, though it was at least a little funny to imagine the former Jedi’s face upon being informed that House Serenno required his “gift” to ensure the bloodline’s survival.

But no. Why would House Serenno surrender an heir to the Jedi? She didn’t need to see the long braid to recognize that this was clearly one of their Padawan Learners; he reeked of a sheltered Temple upbringing. She could practically smell the refectory milk on his breath.

“Why do you want to be the one to kill Count Dooku so badly, anyway?” she asked, instead.

“He killed my best friend!” His voice broke on the word best, but his fury streaked, vibrant as a comet in the Force.

Asajj almost choked on her laugh. It was so melodramatic. Cliche. Like a line from an overwrought holonovel, spinning out in predictable plot hooks before her eyes. This Jedi child was pathetic. She ought to get them into space and send him to look for Dooku out the airlock. It seemed like it would save her and the Jedi both a lot of trouble.

She thought of her sisters.

Vengeance. Thick and sweet and tangy, like spoiled cream clinging to her tongue. It belonged to her, but no less to the others whose lives Dooku had crushed out for no better reason than because he could. She was here to glut on the Count’s blood. Who was she to deny this hungry child his own right to the feast? Dooku made a big corpse. There was plenty for all.

“Do you know how to sit down and shut up?” Asajj turned briskly to the ship controls. They had already wasted too much time.

“Yes.” A lie. She could tell that without even looking at him.

“Yes, what?” She prompted, glancing back. Maybe she just wanted to hear him try to call her “my lady” in that ridiculous, overformal Coruscanti accent of his.

He swallowed audibly, clearly uncertain. He glanced again at the twin lightsabers at her waist and seemed to decide. “Yes, Master.”

Asajj couldn't help the small, startled laugh that broke from her chest. That hadn’t been what she was expecting. No one had ever called her that. She felt surprised at the strength of her own reaction. Perhaps this would actually be amusing. At least, for a little while.

“What is your name?”

“My name?”

Asajj rolled her eyes. “You have a name? Or should I just refer to you as ‘idiot’?”

She watched his hesitation, saw those big, guileless brown eyes drift and refocus. Black fucking stars, he lied artlessly, like a child.

“Sifo-Dyas. My name is Sifo-Dyas.”

13)What's a character or ship you haven't written/drawn yet but would like to some day?

I know I went backwards here writing the most unknown/unpopular character in the series with Sifo-Dyas to the most popular, but I'd really like to spend a little bit more time with Obi-Wan. He's got a large role in the next chapter of Twelves Months to Murder Count Dooku and I'm really excited. I really like the character. Kenobi changed something for me about him.

18) Type [charater]'s name and tell us what the autocomplete suggests as the next word

Lolol. "Dooku FOUGHT." "Dooku only" and "Dooku Nu" were other suggestions. Yeah, that really says it all. No notes, google.

#such a fun ask thank you so much Ant!!!#don't worry too much about Sifo-Dyas in the WIP he's just off playing with his clones #and Dooku fought Dooku only and Dooku Nu are my three main ways to write Dooku after all #answered asks #time travel au #why is that a tag I have now someone stop me

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purgetrooperfox · 14 days

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propaganda (elevator pitches) ⬇️

Nocte (sw):

is CMO of the Coruscant Guard. fiercely loyal to the Guard. deeply wary of the senate, with very few exceptions. he's my oldest oc and probably the one y'all are most likely to have heard of. integrated into arcs with many of my friends' ocs/fics/whatnot <3 what else goes in his elevator pitch,,, known to take kids and younger clones under his wing, protective to a fault, low tolerance for nonsense. beat around the bush at your own peril. questionable bedside manner. manwhore tendencies. I love him, you love him. he's been transplanted into [checks list] cod, tlou, and bebop

Uj'alayi (sw):

is an ARC trooper, used to work with the Shadows then got brutally injured and had to transition to the CG. owes his life to Quinlan Vos and is disgruntled about it. guard dog coded. his bite is exponentially bigger than his bark. on the surface: quick to laugh, quick to joke, charismatic and personable without being overbearing. this may or may not be a mask he wears. will lay a beat down on just about anyone if they Cause Issues for Fox. in the relationship of all time with Lane Hurosa (another of my ocs)

Bones (sw):

is marshal commander of the 410th recon corps under Bastra Vargdan (another of my ocs). traits include: CQC specialist, confounded by the concept of the Force, at least partly responsible for getting a gambling ring going in the GAR (has a poke face like nobody's business). outside of working hours, he's laid back, easygoing. stark contrast between On-Duty Bones and Off-Duty Bones. encyclopedic knowledge of regs, but flexible adherence to them sometimes. big brained tactical strategist, ended up teaching Bastra a Lot about like. how to lead a corps

Bastra (sw):

my Jedi 👉👈 trained by Sifo-Dyas so dookudyas is very dad-coded to him. specialized as an Investigator, excels at undercover ops. also has quite a bit of integration into my friends' oc arcs and stuff <3 buddies with Obi-Wan, gets on pretty well with the TG and CG since he spends a chunk of his time on Coruscant. ummmm he takes a Padawan like 10ish years before the war, somewhere in that range. he's a goofy guy, real stiff and formal a lot of the time but it lets up around people he trusts. of course I know him, he's me etc etc. he's currently getting transplanted into cp2077

Lane (sw):

is a journalist on Coruscant. they spend a Lot of time in the senate district, very good at schmoozing. certified flatterer. charming, if you will. always asking one million questions that senators do Not want to answer, which results in bans from various spots around the city LOL honestly they're just neat idk what to tell you. they stay following risky leads and getting themself into binds. they're squinting very hard at the details of how the Republic acquired a clone army

Myn (sw):

is a smuggler in the early Rebellion era. also a relentless optimist, sees the very first scraps of resistance and buys in immediately. IF somehow Nocte’s alive at that point, Myn's the one who tries and probably fails to sell him on participating in the rebellion

Vio Selnes (sw):

owns and operates a 24h diner on Coruscant. this diner gets heavy business from clones leaving 79s. connections to the clones leads to scattered connections with the Jedi, leads to the restaurant being used as a rendezvous point from time to time. part of Dexter Jettster's network

Jag (mk):

is part of the Kahn Guard when Kotal's in power. he was raised by the Shaolin Monks until he bailed, moved to the States, got into all sorts of illicit activities. Kung Jin eventually moves onto his couch and joins his crew. those illicit activities land him in a stint with the Black Dragon, which is a real lesson in Kano Is A Bastard. when Erron jumps ship, Jag goes with him. he's kind of an idiot, full of trussed issues, gay as hell, will bring a knife to a gunfight or a gun to a knife fight

Rose (mk):

is part of Danver's crew from before he went BD. the brains of that whole operation. she's severely underdeveloped unfortunately but I promise she's very cool. computer nerd. minimal filter on her in the best way

Eyes (cp2077):

is a ripperdoc with more focus on ripping than doc-ing. from Pacifica, got a long time connection to Mr. Hands. wound up in Maelstrom pretty young, cut his teeth on committing atrocities and revolutionizing Maelstrom's uhhh forcible cyberware implantations and general torture methods :) was real loyal to Brick, so Royce wrecked his shit when he took over, meant to kill him but he managed to get out. winds up on Viktor Vektor's table for recovery, tries very hard to turn over a new leaf. he's a fucked up bastard of a guy I shan't lie. compels me though

#clone medic nocte #arc trooper uj'alayi #bastra vargdan #clone commander bones #lane hurosa #myn gath #des 'eyes' gallagher #danver 'jag' hakka #vio selnes #rose garcia #those tags should be semi populated. i Think #leocs #bookmark

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jaguarys · 2 months

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Maybe it began way back when, back when Dooku first met Jenza. His sister. His blood. Back when he first learned of the dragon that held his planet together. Back when he first connected, so briefly, with the Tirra’Taka.

Even once they’d been recovered, even when they’d left the planet, even back on Coruscant, he had not been able to forget it. Not the roar that shook his bones, echoed in his mind, woke him from a dead sleep for months afterward.

Master Yoda had told him he’d been distracted. And he had been. He’d flitted from lesson to lesson, his mind on a planet so far away, and it had showed.

Master Yoda had asked him what was wrong. Dooku had not known how to say that he felt the thoughts of a mind not his own, the thoughts of a creature. He had not known how to communicate what was nothing more than growls and roars.

Sifo had understood. Sifo understood that which couldn’t be explained. Sifo understood how it felt, to have your mind rendered not your own.

It was months, then, that he ripped himself away from the desire, the bones-deep urge to run, to find his way back to Serenno no matter how he did it, to hop on the next shuttle off-planet no matter how much trouble it got him in.

He did. Once. He’d heard Sifo and Master Kostana discussing a mission, preparing to leave, and the urge was just inescapable.

He snuck on board just as they were leaving.

He was returned a few short days later, spitting mad much as it wasn’t befitting of a padawan and roaring in his ears and a dressing-down from Master Yoda.

He never touched down on the planet itself, and he wouldn’t again for many years. By then, he convinced himself it was the folly of youth and nothing more.

He still remembers when Sifo-Dyas first told him what he would become. He was barely a master, then, first finding his footing before accepting his first student. Sifo-Dyas was still traveling with Master Kostana, then, and Dooku was still pretending he wasn’t a bit jealous.

It was an evening, and lovely, and about to be ruined. Sifo looked to him–– never at him–– and said, in his way, “You’re going to be awful, Dooku.”

Dooku couldn’t help but laugh, more taken off guard than anything. He asked him what he meant, thinking it ridiculous. (Always thinking it ridiculous, until it wasn’t.)

Sifo-Dyas told him, told them all, about massacre and ruin and a burnt temple. And Dooku watched younglings run past a glittering mural, one testament of so many to centuries of prosperity, and laughed at the mere idea.

It all seemed so impossible, and yet it was not.

Sifo frowned, and out of his mouth spilled memory after memory. Because they weren’t visions, not to him. They were lived. They were memory.

It dug under Dooku’s skin, and he pretended it didn’t. He didn’t believe it–– he never would, not even as he was living it.

(Maybe he did believe it. Maybe everything was just a convoluted attempt to convince himself he was in the right.)

(Maybe quite a lot of being a Sith is convincing yourself you’re right.)

Knowing would not save him. It would not doom him, either. He could at least admit that.

He thinks perhaps Master Yoda’s opinion was a bit warped by the centuries. He had never had that luxury. Never had the luxury to think about what his master would call the big picture.

In a lot of ways, maybe, he maybe never got over that. Never got over the idea that there was so much in the galaxy he would not know of, not have access to.

It itched under his skin, this offense, much as he always pretended it didn’t.

(Pretended until finally, he spilled it, like the greatest of secrets, to a man who promised the galaxy to him with no intention of giving it.)

Sifo-Dyas had always known how it would end. Now, with what he knows, Dooku only wonders how Sifo had beared him for so long.

There came a time, after year after year wracked with visions, when Sifo-Dyas lived more in the future than the present, when he had only been able to look at Dooku as the man he would become. They had been decades away, still, from when Dooku would first be tempted, first be distracted, first be cruel, and his closest friend could only see him as such.

It had angered him, and scared him, and driven a wedge where there never should have been one.

Some small part of him cursed Mace for not recognizing it, not the same as Sifo had.

Mace had always believed in him in ways he shouldn't have. They were too similar, and too different, and in the end that was why they'd ended up so far apart.

Mace and Sifo had never seen eye to eye, in many ways. Dooku never blamed them for it. They had been much too alike for it to be comfortable for either of them. He doesn't think they ever realized that was the reason.

Mace thought Sifo was soft. Sifo thought Mace too set in his ways for his own good. They were both right. Dooku blamed both and neither of them, and did not blame himself as much as he should.

The trick of a Sith’s student is to convince yourself you’re important. To convince yourself you’re not like the others. To convince yourself that you will succeed where the others have failed. Being a Sith, being a student, is an exercise in believing yourself above others, believing yourself to be exceptional where you should damn well you're not.

Tricking yourself, tricking others, pretending until you're convinced the same as everyone else.

He had thought himself too old for those trivialities. Unfortunately, being old was not the same as becoming wise to the ways of the world. Being a Jedi was not the same as becoming wise to the ways of the Sith.

Being clever was not an antidote to the pitfalls of ego.

He had first met Sheev Palpatine on a mission to Naboo, back when he had just been made master, just had his padawan braid cut.

He had, of course, met Sidious then, and many years afterwards. He had not thought much of him, then. Hardly anything at all.

Contrary to popular belief, his leave from the Jedi wasn’t any more than that. It wasn’t part of a master plan, and it was months before he was contacted by Sidious, besides.

No. Dooku loved his planet, much as he shouldn’t. Loved Jenza, despite it being, undeniably, an attachment.

He had never been able to ignore his sister.

He had never been able to ignore the dragon-call in his bones.

He had never been able to ignore the need to be someone, when he had the opportunity to be.

And then he slayed the dragon. And something within him had snapped.

The trap of the Sith is the same as its appeal: it is not possible to go halfway. It is not possible to give it up. It is not possible to unlearn what has been taught.

Being lied to and believing it often feels like having your eyes opened for the first time. Often feels like you’re privy to something special the rest of the world is not.

Being a fool often feels like being something of a genius.

Dooku, a few short years from the Jedi and increasingly bitter, lapped up lies like a parched man finding an oasis.

He was not so egotistical as to think he could trick the Sith. He was just egotistical enough to think he could get away before it was too late.

Perhaps that was what every Sith thought, in the beginning. Perhaps they all thought they were special, that they could look away before it was too late. That they could get away before they were drawn too far in.

Dooku had had decades of growing disillusioned with the Order. It was all too easy to replace it with something else.

He could see now, in ways he wouldn’t have even known to look for before, the spiderweb cracks that marked Sidious’ meddling in the Order. It saddened him in ways he didn’t expect, to think maybe he had hardly been able to appreciate it without influence.

He didn’t think much about that.

Maybe, if he could admit it to himself, he had been, in some small way, a bit in love.

Not with Sidious. But with what he represented, perhaps. With the sheer freedom of it all.

(Always the promise of freedom. Never its delivery.)

Dooku had always been weak to flattery. He believed himself intelligent, wise. Sifo would have called it his royal blood. Would have mocked him for it–– and did, for decades.

He’d not been there. Not anymore. And Dooku was flattered.

Flattered, and then some. Swayed. Convinced there was no harm in hearing him out, just a little. Like a frog in a pot, by the time he realized what was wrong, it had been far too late.

(Unlike the frog, he hadn’t wanted out.)

(Maybe he’d been in love with Sidious. Just a little.)

He had not thought himself capable of any real cruelty. He found it almost laughable. He had been a master Jedi! For decades! He had trained some of the best!

It came so easy that he would have balked at it if he hadn’t been so exhilarating.

Sidious knew just how to push him, to make him feel as though it was necessary, to make him feel as though it wasn’t Dooku’s fault, it was the Jedi, it was the galaxy. It wasn’t Dooku’s fault at all.

He remembers being on his knees, Sidious taking Dooku’s shaking hands in his own, tipping his chin up into soft eyes. He remembers feeling two seconds from collapse. He remembers being asked in a gentle voice, “What has you so concerned, my apprentice?”

The voice was a calming draught after months of preparing for war, after years of training, and Dooku rested his head in Sidious’ hands with the fervor of a man come to face his savior.

Dooku drank in any moments he could get of Sidious’ softer side. It felt worth it, to suffer so much, if only for moments like this.

“I fear...” he started, and paused for a moment to wet his lips, finding his mouth suddenly dry. “I fear I am no Jedi anymore.”

What he meant to say: I’m in too deep. I can’t get out now. I don’t know what I’m doing. I miss the Order. I hate them. I want to make this galaxy suffer. Why didn’t anyone stop me? I would do anything for you. I don’t remember why I started any of this.

He was shocked by the bark of laughter from his master’s mouth. Carefully manicured nails bit into his cheeks. “Of course you’re not, my student.”

Dooku died disgraced, and stupid, and a fool. He died having gained nothing, and having lost much.

Realizing, in that one terrifying, blazing moment, that he had never been anything at all–– nothing special, nothing new, nothing smart enough to outwit Sidious, that his role was done and he was dead–– had not sanctified him. Had not purified him. Had not saved him.

Dying was not the same as redemption.

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vetinarivimesy · 10 months

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Okay okay okay. I'm enough of a nerd that yes I own those damned Disney Star Wars themepark cookbooks, and I've been steadily working my way through most of the recipes in them.

Mostly the recipes are a great balance of fun, interesting, and vaguely deliberately shifted around a really solid base to make it just a little unfamiliar so it's 'space' themed. But actually something you'd be willing to cook, without a million and a half rather finnicky steps and a ton of things to wash up before the thing even meets heat.

(With one or two minor SNAFUs caused by ye olde separated by a common language - tomato paste vs tomato puree woops)

But ahem, anyway that 'spicy' Mandalorian stew, ey?

For all of the advertised heat in the thing... You essentially end up with a rather tasty Japanese style curry with couscous in it, rather than rice on the side.

Nice? Yes.

Spicy? No not really. Even compared to other similarly mild curries, and taking spicy to mean spiced not hot. The Japanese style curry this recipe seems to be based around somewhat infamously comes from the bland for the UK-palette generic curry powder of the Victorians...

Sooo. I am spitefully choosing to follow a large chunk of fandom's example and picking bits of Star Wars at random to pick and choose my canon from... I'm now taking that recipe as 'proof' that Mandalorian cooking... really isn't all that hot.

And yes, I made that Pog soup too. Tasty? Yeah sure. Spicy? ...Eh?

And again, spitefully logicking my way through, which culture is always depicted in the films as actually extremely multicultural, and actually allows its members to retain their home traditions from their roots, and actually is based loosely around Asia rather than the old colonising empire building bounty hunters and rogues mashed with Knights Templar thing that is still the bulk of what the Mandos have?

The Jedi.

Who, notably, are absolutely missing any representation whatsoever in either of the two Disney-era Star Wars cookbooks. Since the setting is post the second Jedi genocide in the Skywalker Saga...

So whilst I'm now headcanoning, Mando food as all bark and very little bite, spitefully and based solely off of a very dubious bit of 'canon'.

I can also with impunity go, Sichuan cooking for the Jedi? Yes. Yes. Yes. Genuinely interesting Indian cuisine? Sure why not? Spicy Uzbek style stews? Great! Shakshouka as fiery as you can get it for breakfast? Amazing! Enough spicy kefta to feed fifty ravenous knights? Fabulous!

There's a brisk, and expensive given they're just cheap space-ramen, trade in the Jedi Temple sector of Coruscant of all the numerous flavours of Space-Buldak Chilli Noodles, since the Padawans basically live off of them.

Swimming in chilli already? Well that's not hot enough for old Master Rancisis! Add more! And don't forget the numbing peppercorns, that's Master Sifo-Dyas's favourite part!

Cue a fanfic, with the usual increasingly irritating set-up. Ahahaha, lets laugh at the culture that supposedly eats nothing but the blandest thing on the menu encounter the Manly Men we only eat the Hottest Vindaloo because we're hard! culture... And... Nope, nosiree the Mandos cannot handle it at all, cue much blue milk chugging, and not from the jedi half of the contingent. Despite all their showboating about how spicy they love their spicy spicy stew, they're like the old stereotype about white Brits in an Indian Curry House in Goodness Gracious Me.

(Seriously still far too spitefully amused that the official 'Spicy Mandalorian Stew' recipe produced bland but tasty comfort food in reality.)

#star wars #fandom #headcanons #mandalorians #jedi #star wars galaxy's edge #galaxy's edge cookbook #mandalorian cuisine #'spicy' mandalorian stew #partially fuelled by sleeplessness and spite #partially by I've wanted to write this damned fic for ages after encountering another gorgeous headcanon of communal dumpling making #genocide mention

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purplepinkcoruscantskies · 11 months

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My first Star Wars book

Recently I’ve been stressed about the sheer number of Star Wars books there are and wondering where to start. Luckily libraries are a thing because I stumbled upon Dooku: Jedi Lost and decided that might be a good place to begin.

It’s an adapted script narrated by Ventress as Dooku’s newly welcomed apprentice and the story is built around flashbacks to Dooku’s upbringing. From his time as a youngling growing up with Sifo-Dyas, to being Yoda’s Padawan, to being a Knight and then taking on Qui-Gon as his apprentice.

The book isn’t anything amazing but I did enjoy reading it for the most part. I like the bits of lore scattered through it (like one part of the archives is a forbidden section called the Bogan Collection) and all the foreshadowing to Dooku’s eventual fall.

I’ve always felt that Dooku wasn’t portrayed as a proper Sith Lord in the movies. Like he had Force Lightning and was an amazing duellist but he was nowhere near the level of pure hatred and anger of Maul or Anakin to be considered on the same level as them.

TCW did a better job of showing how he was corrupted by the dark side by giving him two apprentices to manipulate (also Quinlan if you count Dark Disciple) but in this book it’s revealed that he wasn’t taught Force lightning by Sidious, the power already existed inside him.

And while Ventress isn’t the main focus of the story, her backstory is explored more in her small amount of time as narrator. We see her former Master Ky Narec coming to her as a voice in her head and warning her against Dooku. Obviously we know that Ventress doesn’t redeem herself until much later on but it’s always interesting to see her depth, how much she’s suffered and how she’s struggling to survive and get her revenge.

So this book definitely wasn’t amazing but I appreciated what it did for characters that I already liked and how it gave me an insight into ones that I didn’t previously care for. I guess this means I’ll be reading more Star Wars books in the future because I’ve realised I’ve been missing out on the sheer number of content I could’ve been reading.

#star wars #star wars books #count dooku #asajj ventress

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sabersgobrr · 2 months

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what if sifo dyas had a padawan (part 2)

recap: secret linages of jedi w/ inconvenient future visions, sifo-dyas being the friendless kid who does reckless things and outs the entire rest of the class to the teacher, and of course clones

-----------------------

One thing to remember: Sifo-Dyas has endured most of his nightmares alone. Things were easier when his Master was still here, when he was just a Padawan, but now he is the Master and this Padawan might just be the only buffer left between him and a whole council of Jedi Masters who will do who-knows-what if they find out how obsessed he is about the future.

The visions are getting worse. The Padawan arrives too late. Sifo-Dyas is nothing but a broken shell of a man now, constantly dreaming of the future, constantly enduring agony, constantly dying every night. It is driving him insane, in ways that are beyond his control (such is a galaxy enshrouded by Darkness, such is the fate of a man doomed to See).

The Padawan does not know what is happening. They're not the best in their class, just a touch too shy and a bit too soft-spoken. They don't know why they've been chosen (too young, still too untrained, and their Master says they felt a call but they aren't quite sure if it's true, but if a Master says so, shouldn't it be?) but they just want to do their best. They just want to be a Jedi.

They move in with their Master, ready to start their new journey with Master Sifo-Dyas.

They wake up to the sound of shrill shrieks coming from the other room.

They rush to the other side, fingers scrabbling for the saber they're still learning how to use, heart pounding, mind rattling with fear--

--and they see their Master, the one who is supposed to guide them, the one they must rely on, arching off the mattress, raking nails down his face, screaming into the open air, dying--

There's no time to think. They just act.

It doesn't occur to them to seek someone out (another Master, a Healer, someone--) until their Master has managed to break out of hs (trance? vision? nightmare?) fit. By then they are sweaty and weary, kneeling by the side of their tired Master's bed, a bowl of cold water by the floor and a wet rag still clenched in one hand. Master Sifo-Dyas reaches out, eyes still clouded and hands still possessed by a faint, near-invisible tremble--

No one can know about this, their new Master tells them. You mustn't tell anyone.

The Padawan trembles. They are shaken, and scared, and so completely out of their depth it isn't even funny. They don't know what's happening. They don't know why this is happening.

But Sifo-Dyas chose them. Out of all the Padawans in all the clans--

He chose them. The Padawan.

They are still an infant in the Force. There is so much left for them to learn. But clenching the hand of their ill-begotten Master, whose torments lie deep in the darkness of his eyes (like shrapnel scattered in the shapes of the stars) they are hit with the sudden knowledge that they are being called upon now to protect the one who guides.

They nod. (And somewhere deep in the Darkness, the way out begins to swing shut in inches.)

#star wars #sifo-dyas #force visions #secret lienage #secret force vision lineage #oc's #ramblings #writing #clone wars #what is sifo-dyas had a padawan

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dirthara-dalen · 3 months

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Had this in my drafts for a bit. Finally decided to finish it the other night. I've been wanted to make a post for each of my major Clone Wars OC's with info about them, which will be below the cut. So who better to start with than Ligastar's descendant Lee! There are several canon divergences in Lee's story lol. This is a part 1. Parts 2 & 3 will also be focusing on the prequel era. (I will be linking the posts together)

Lee is the youngest member of the family by two minutes. He has an older twin brother named Sio. He and Sio are the first force sesntives in the family in about three thousand years. As infant's he and his brother shared a very strong bond with one another through the force. The sheer power of their combined thoughts was so painful that it caused them both to cry non stop until Sio somehow cut himself off from the force.

With special permission from the Order Lee's family, Master Sifo-Dyas was allowed to raise and train his son in a similar fashion to how Ligastar was trained. Growing up Lee was considered a prodigy in both dueling and the force. He was also permitted to have a relationship with his family and this was purely due to his connection to Ligastar. Being the first force sensitive Starwing in well over 3 millennia had some perks. When he was 13 he reunited with his older brother and began working with him to restore his bond as Sio had the ability to manipulate them just as Ligastar's brother Cain could.

Lee also made history in the order becoming the second youngest padawan, after Vernestra Rwoh, to undergo the trials at 14. It was during his very first that became a force walker. The first spirit he ever bound was none other than Solaris Xeno, his ancestors older brother and the one family member with the most knowledge of force walking. He kept this a secret of course.

His final trial was assisting Qui-gon and Obi-wan with the negotiations on Naboo. Now, I have a join canon with my friend @myth-and-mischief in which Lee has a friendship and later a romantic relationship with her oc Shara. I plan on making a separate post about their relationship later. In my personal canon he has a friendship and later a romantic relationship with a Miraluka named Seren Marr, descendant of Visas Marr.

^ This is Seren

While Lee is on Naboo he senses his fathers murder in the force and this nearly makes him break. Unbeknownst to the order Lee has been receiving training from various family members from the past via his force walker abilities. Such individuals include Revan, Ligastar, Ky'relea, Cain, Scourge and Solaris. So he is very skilled in the usage of the dark side as well as the light.

He holds it together and pretty much participates in the entirety of the Phantom Menace. When they first return to the temple Lee is knighted and gets his first padawan. A 9 year old chiss boy he and his father had found, Enzo Vera. Enzo will be getting his own post but he is the descendant of Vilkas/Vector and Ryn/Solaris through his mothers parents.

Lee does end up assisting Obi-wan in defeating Maul but even he fails to save Qui-gon as the only person he knows of to survive a saber directly to the gut was Ligastar with Valkorion's help. During all of this he secretly begins dating Seren as they are the same age but ti doesn't last long as Seren is taken off world by her own master to train elsewhere. So Lee takes Enzo to Alderaan to train.

To be continued in pt 2

#swtor #the starwing legacy #ligastar starwing #lee starwing #seren marr/starwing

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shiftynightshade · 3 years

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@totallycorrectjediorderquotes Thanks for letting me borrow the quotes! Love your content!

It seemed like clickbait at first, just another Holotuber desperate for their 15 minutes of fame. However, one particularly curious Rodian had clicked on the link while waiting for her lunch at Dex's and the opening lines of the holovid had immediately caught the attention of everyone in her vicinity.

“Hi everyone! I’m Jedi Master Kit Fisto and, with permission of course, I’m posting this to share some behind-the-scenes clips of the Jedi Council. Most of these are going to have no context, but that makes them funnier. So without any further ado, let me introduce our very own Master of the Order, Mace Windu without any context! Buckle up gentle beings, prepare to have your whole galaxy shaken.”

“Is this real?” A twi’lek whispered from beside her, his eyes impossibly wide. She shrugged. The Jedi were not exactly the most popular beings in the galaxy after all.

The first few seconds were nothing but a black screen before it began shaking and moved to show a round room filled with multiple chairs and large windows, which led to Coruscants skyline, indigo’s had begun to bleed to black. The camera panned to the right in which you could see a hologram of Shaak Ti and Kit Fisto curled up in his chair next to her. Briefly, Adi Gallia and Eeth Koth were in the shot.

Kit looked across the room with a shit-eating grin. “Dead Sifo-Dyas? More like kawaii desu baka Sifo-Dyas”

The camera quickly oved to the left to where Plo Koon had reared back in surprise. Master Yoda was letting out evil cackles while Mace Windu stared with a hard expression. “Blocked” He threw his hands in the air.

Chuckles and Kit’s pleads filled the room as the camera flipped to show the filmer to be Saesee Tiin. He grinned. “Council Session number 21: Kit Fisto gets fucking Removed from the Jedi Order.”

The clip stopped and went to a rainbow screen.

The Twi’lek giggled beside her, his green skin flushing a bit. “Wonder what else is in there?” hey shared a look.

The rainbow screen cut to a pair of fuzzy socks padding their way through a hall to a dimly lit kitchen. The sound of kitchen utensils echoed as the filmer peeked around the corner. A chrono displayed the time as 4:12 AM, the year set as 48 BBY. A younger Mace milled around the kitchen in a simple amethyst purple sweater and earbuds. His head bopped softly as me mixed whatever he was making in the bowl.

A young voice came from behind the camera. “Master… what are you doing?”

Mac looked up and removed an earbud. “Making chocolate pudding.”

The filmer now known as Depa Billaba made small noise. “It is four o clock in the morning, why on earth are you making chocolate pudding?”

Mace shrugged with a smirk. “Because I’ve lost control of my life.”

Depa snorted and the camera flipped to show a 16 year old Depa wearing a matching smirk.

A young Mon Calamari cooed and pointed to a drawing on the wall signed DB. “Aren’t they the cutest? He looks like such a proud dad.”

Another clip began playing, this time it was set during the afternoon, the sun shone through the council chambers windows. The camera panned to show the worried faces of each council member present. Only one seat was empty. A few council members were whispering to each other in concern, eyes constantly going to the doors or the seat. The doors creaked open to reveal Mace rubbing his eyes.

Adi rose a brow and chuckled a bit. “How long have you been asleep?”

Mace yawned and slumped in his seat. “I was awake for two hours on Tungsday”

Adi frowned. A couple muffled “Oh Shit’s” came from the other Jedi. “That doesn't answer my question... You know its Primeday, right?”

Mace’s reply was cut off.

“That’s…. very concerning.”

The Mon Calamari nodded. “Sounds like a mini coma to me.”

That didn’t exactly bode well for the Jedi if they only got rest from sleeping in coma’s.

The camera shook as the filmer seemed to adjust its setting before flipping up to show a med bay where injured clones were resting. Mace was pacing while Obi-Wan Kenobi sat cross-legged on a bed. “Look at me, okay? I can’t eat, I can’t sleep. I’m a wreck!”

Obi-Wan smirked a bit but rose an eyebrow.

Mace sighed. “I mean, sure I still look good, but that’s just genetics.”

The camera panned to where a clone in armour with purple paint sighed and shook his head like a friend watching their friend get back with their ex for the 50th time. “General please.”

Another Rodian snickered at the clone’s plight.

The camera cut to where Mace and Saesee were laying on their backs, Mace had his legs propped against the wall of the council chambers while Saesee had starfished beside him. “What did we learn, Master Tiin?”

Saesee grunted and shrugged. “I have no idea”

Mac sighed. “I don't fucking know either. I guess we learned notto do it again.”

Saesee nodded serenely. “Yep.”

Mace dragged his hands down his face. “I'm fucked if I know what we did.”

“Yes, it's hard to say.”

Mace blew out a breath. “Jesus Fucking Christ.”

The Rodian laughed as the clip cut itself off. “OH goodness, I thought Jedi weren’t allowed to feel emotion?”

The camera cut to a small group of Masters sitting in a room full of waterfalls and plants: children could be hear giggling in the distance. A small title in the upper corner of the screen read. The Room of A Thousand Fountains.

Eeth was sitting with his arms planted in the grass behind him. “Let’s play truth or dare.” Mace was laying in the grass beside him. He shrugged. “I’ll play.” Eeth grinned. “Truth or Dare?” Mace hummed. “Truth.” “When was the last time you slept?” Mace blinked. “Dare…” “I dare you to go to bed.” “I hate this game.” Suddenly a large cloak was thrown over Mace and one Plo Koon was there the next, a vehement “SLEEP” hissing out of his mask.

The clip stopped.

The Twi’lek blinked. “I-is that a regular occurrence in the temple?”

A dark room filed with a large holoscreen and multiple Jedi appeared after the previous one. Mace was staring at Anakin Skywalker. He pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “I'd like to offer you some friendly advice.”

Anakin frowned at him and shook his head. “I don't need your help.”

“Consider it unfriendly advice then, dipshit.”

The clip cut off.

The next video was of Mace walking out of the council chambers. “Do not come over to my house. If the house is on fire you may knock once, if I don’t answer assume I set the fire and I want to burn to death.”

“MACE NO-”

The clip stopped.

The Rodian stammered. “D-do they get therapy? Do they have time for therapy!?”

Hysterical laughter could be heard as the camera shook. “Mace when did you become such a comedian?” The camera moved to show Mace.

“I'm naturally funny because my life is a joke”

It suddenly cut to show Depa sneaking up behind Mace with a grin. She held up a finger to her lips before jumping to cover Mace’s eyes with her hands.

“Guess who!?”

Mace startled and reared back slightly. “It’s either my former Padawan or the cold, clammy hands of death.” The filmer snorted.

“It’s Depa!”

“Dammit.”

“He sounded genuinely disappointed then.”

The video was shorter with Mace sitting in The Halls Of Healing. “Master Windu you need better self-care habits.” A Twi’lek was admonishing.

“Self-care is drinking 20 cups of Caf and Lightsaber Dueling a Sith Lord.”

The Twi’leks sigh was longsuffering.

The Rodian blinked as the video ended, the next one already loading.

The Mon Calamari whistled. “The Jedi are…. Different to what I expected.”

The Rodian nodded.

“Yeah…”

#totallycorrectjediorderquotes #star wars #mace windu #obi-wan kenobi #commander ponds #vokara che #depa billaba #plo koon #yoda #shaak ti #agen kolar #adi gallia #kit fisto #anakin skywalker #saesee tiin

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smhalltheurlsaretaken · 4 years

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THE BOX IS NABOO

That’s it, I’m doing it, I’m writing that stupid meta I’ve had in the works for two and a half years, I’m sharing it with the world. I promised it for last Thursday, my poll was forever ago, but whatever! I’m writing that freaking thing.

(super duper long post, press j to skip)

Enter my rabbit hole.

First thing to establish: the Box makes no sense whatsoever in-universe.

((EDIT: Something I forgot to mention. IRL, the premise of a giant murder cube and the aesthetic - wall patterns, light designs, etc - of the episode come from the 1997 horror movie Cube, (see the episode’s wookieepedia page). However, while the two are very closely linked visually, the Box does not follow the movie structurally or narratively, as you can verify by simply reading the movie’s summary.))

Recap of the context for the "Box" episode (s4e17): Palpatine is planning his own kidnapping. It was never meant to succeed, and while the plan would obviously benefit him (making the Jedi look bad, pushing Anakin closer to the Dark Side, making Republic citizens more afraid -> more docile, etc...) his actual goal is never explained, and it’s weird that he’d go to such extreme lengths for results so minimal that we’re never told what they are.

So Palpatine asks Dooku to kidnap him at the Festival of Lights on Naboo. Dooku hires Moralo Eval to design a giant box-thingy to test bounty hunters to hire the best of them to kidnap Palpatine. Moralo then gets arrested to alert the Republic that something is afoot, and hires Cad Bane to break him out. Obi-Wan - undercover to learn Moralo’s plan - goes with them. They evade capture and go to Serenno, and Bane and Obi-Wan have to pass the box-thingy test. The level of brainkarked logic here... Truly on par with Megamind, Gru and Heinz Doofenshmirtz.

Setting aside the insane plot holes and utterly nonsensical behavior of the villains, the Box itself is moronic from a plot perspective. It’s insanely complex, obviously incredibly expensive and would have taken months (more like years but it’s a short war) to make when it’s not even needed for the dastardly plot! Just hire some guys who have already proven themselves against Jedi! Throw cash at Bane and Embo and a few others! Maybe attack them with your saber and see how they do!

And after all that, Dooku still ends up trying to kidnap Palpatine on his own. I can’t even...

So why does the Box exist? Well, apart from being a nerdy callback to Cube, giving us a good thrill and being generally awesome to look at, it has actual narrative purpose within the SW universe.

The box is Naboo.

What the Box lacks in plot relevance, it makes up for with its heavily symbolic meaning. It very closely follows Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s experiences on Naboo - but only certain parts, which I’ll explain later.

We start with clean, sterile environments, SW’s favored way of showing villainy.

Then we have the protagonists locked in a room as dioxis, a poison gas, pours in.

And then they escape... this way.

(Okay, here the shaft is down, not up. And it’s not a ventilation shaft per say, it’s the designed escape route. Same difference).

We then skip most of TPM (namely, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon discovering the droid army, finding Padmé, leaving Naboo, landing on Tatooine, going to Coruscant, etc, etc) to come back to Naboo and go directly to the lightsabers and catwalks.

(Note: in both scenes, Obi-Wan has to propel himself from a catwalk.)

In TPM and TCW, the catwalks are immediately followed by ray shields

And we finally end with the last scenes. Now, they don’t look the same but they are structurally identical.

Obi-Wan is faced with a challenge unsuited for his abilities (facing Darth Maul // shooting three moving targets when he’s far more skilled with a blade than a blaster) on a narrow space above a melting pit/pit of fire.

He first watches someone die failing to complete the task...

... and has to do it himself, faring much better than expected (holding his own against Maul // shooting all the targets easily).

He then almost falls to his death and gets saved unexpectedly.

And then there’s the final showdown.

In both scenes, Obi-Wan is angry. And in TCW Dooku eggs him on, banking on his anger. (More on that later.) In both cases though, he centers himself and is able to overcome both his opponent and his own unbalance. But in TCW, he doesn’t go for the kill, because he doesn’t need to.

The Box, as a literal character-explorator ex-machina, thus shows us Obi-Wan’s growth.

In TPM, Obi-Wan follows Qui-Gon’s lead. In TCW, he is the leader. He identifies the gas, makes the plans. He doesn’t fall from catwalks anymore - he runs atop moving ones. He doesn’t stay stuck behind ray-shields, he finds the solution. (Btw, how did Moralo know what blood type Derrown the Exterminator was? There was a 50% chance of him dying - thus killing all of the bounty hunters. Was that an acceptable outcome? TCW I need answers!) He doesn’t slay his foes, because he’s become powerful enough, skilled enough and wise enough to survive (and win) without needing to kill.

He’s grown - and, even more interestingly, he’s also stayed the same. In the previous episodes, we see some of the dark aspects of Obi-Wan. How he - like all Force-wielders, all people - could lose himself if he stopped maintaining absolute control.

But in the Box, surrounded by the worst criminals of the Galaxy, the most ruthless, worthless people, he’s still kind and tries his best to keep them alive.

The Box is a reminder and a reassurance for the audience that Obi-Wan Kenobi is still there under Rako’s face. He hasn’t lost his compassion, his restrain. He’s still a Jedi. And he’s an awesome, badass one.

And now, for what it tells us about Dooku!

It’s much shorter, don’t worry. Basically, Dooku considers that the best way to pick “the best of the best” of the deadliest people in the Galaxy is making them go through what killed his Padawan. There, I’ve broken your hearts, you’re welcome.

More seriously, Dooku is a manipulative ass. It’s pretty clear that he knows Rako is Obi-Wan, or at the very least suspects it.

He has an interesting reaction upon learning Rako’s identity, he keeps praising him despite his usual distaste for low-lifes, he smirks secretively after Eval says “I’ll show you who’s weak” (not included there because it’s a close-up of Dooku’s lips and no one wants to see that) and he tells Rako he’s very disappointed when he doesn’t finish off Eval.

[Later]

(Look at this smug asshole - I can’t. YOUR GRANDSON IS THE BEST, WE KNOW, STOP ACTIVELY RUINING HIS LIFE ALREADY.)

(Dooku... why...)

Now obviously Dooku couldn’t have made the Box specifically for Obi-Wan, because it would have to have been designed months before the Council ever decided to send Obi-Wan undercover, but he has no qualms trying to use it to push Obi-Wan to the Dark Side. Ffs Dooku, making your spiritual grandson relive one of the most traumatic events of his life on the off chance that he’ll join you (and desecrate his Master’s memory in doing so) is not okay!

Final tidbits of analysis: I mentioned that not all of TPM is mirrored in the Box. What’s omitted is the droids (even though Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon fight B1′s and droidekas between the dioxis and the ventilation shafts) and anything pertaining to Sidious (all the political stuff on Coruscant). You’ll also note that the fake lightsabers are orange.

=> The Box distances itself from anything that connects Dooku to Naboo. Red lightsabers are the trademark of the Sith, so they’re not used. The bounty hunters will be facing Jedi, so logically the fake sabers should be green or blue - and yet they’re orange, the color closest to red without being red. It fits with Dooku’s special brand of dishonesty - he always tells bits of the real story but twists them just enough to absolve himself of any fault and to justify his choices.

(”We can destroy the Sith” -> could maybe destroy Sidious with Obi-Wan, but fails to mention he’s a Sith Lord himself; “the Viceroy came to me for help, that’s why I’m attacking the Republic” -> political idealism is a small part of it, but fails to mention he’s Sidious’ underling and is playing the Viceroy like a fiddle; “Qui-Gon would have joined me” -> maybe, still fails to mention he’s working for the man who ordered Qui-Gon’s death; “I told you everything you needed to know” -> debatable, never said that Palps was Sidious; “Sifo-Dyas understood, that’s why he helped me” -> partly true, doesn’t admit to killing Sifo-Dyas right after getting his help)

So we have a twisted version of Naboo, droid-free (as droids are now irrevocably associated with Dooku, even if that wasn’t the case in TPM) and with sabers that aren’t quite red. Keep in mind that Dooku had already fallen by TPM. (We know this because he killed Sifo-Dyas and created the Clone Army - part of Sidious’ plan - when Valorum was still Chancellor, as per the episode The Lost One.) That means Dooku was (in)directly complicit in Qui-Gon’s death. And the Box doesn’t (=refuses to?) acknowledge that.

(Also omitted in the Box are the Gungans and Tatooine. It makes sense, because Dooku probably wouldn’t have the full details regarding those parts of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan’s missio as they weren’t as public, and would see them as irrelevant if he did. He utterly despises Anakin, and Gungans are the type of people he always dismisses out of hand).

Anyway, that’s my two cents about the Box. To quote Lucas...

“It’s like poetry. It rhymes.”

Thanks to @lethebantroubadour @impossiblybluebox @nonbinarywithaknife @ytoz and @kaitie85386 for voting for this one. Next up is a compilation of the Jedi being casually tactile with each other (because they’re a warm and affectionate culture, dammit).

Also thanks to @laciefuyu for giving me gifs I ended up not using ^^; you rock anyway!

#meta #my meta #the box #deception arc #rako hardeen #rako hardeen arc #naboo #obi-wan kenobi #count dooku #cad bane #moralo eval #darth sidious

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charmwasjess · 4 months

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“where's your pretty boyfriend your highness” is, possibly unsurprisingly, my most popular WIP ask by far so apologies for not answering individually @bolithesenate @bosquedemel @rochenn and @man-i-dunno but thank you so much for asking!!

...which is embarrassing because it really isn’t the usual thing I write and I'm a little self-conscious about it!

Dooku, Sifo-Dyas, and Jocasta Nu in a Padawan-era “coming of age” Jude Watson Jedi Apprentice series treatment. But pretty queer, a little darker, treated more seriously, and aged up a bit (since just going off Dooku: Jedi Lost, Dooku and Sifo-Dyas appear to be about half as mature at 17-18 as Obi-Wan was at 14 in JA) Snippet behind the cut of Dooku trying and failing to be a supportive best friend and mulling over the problem of pornography

Dooku sensed that Sifo-Dyas was actually upset. That was odd. He was the one who usually let Arath’s insults bother him, and the remark hadn’t been too dissimilar to the usual childish stupidity he hurled at them. But the young seer looked decidedly nauseous.

“What?” Dooku asked.

“What?”

“Something is the matter?”

“Hm?” Sifo-Dyas studied the mosaic-patterned window above their heads as if it were incredibly interesting. “No, nothing at all.”

Dooku's frown deepened.

Sifo-Dyas liked other young men. And Dooku knew that Sifo-Dyas liked other young men. But Sifo-Dyas did not know that Dooku knew that Sifo-Dyas liked other young men. Or… they hadn’t ever talked about it. Which, potentially, was why he was behaving so awkwardly just now.

Dooku considered telling him that it was nothing to feel embarrassed about, as Sifo-Dyas himself told him years earlier, when Arath had started mocking him over the royalty thing after Serenno. But he was too embarrassed to bring up the topic. Not because liking other men was embarrassing, but because it reminded Dooku that while his peers were getting crushes and deciding what sorts of people they liked, he himself was mostly just thinking about lightsaber forms.

Even pornography, something he understood his age demographic was supposed to vastly enjoy, just gave Dooku vague stress. All of his questions were the wrong ones. How did the participants even know each other? Did they decide what acts to perform in collaboration beforehand, or was it spontaneously chosen? In sex, did you ask for the things you wanted, or did your partner just somehow guess? And how could he possibly know what or who he wanted if he hadn’t done any of it before?

But when he brought up these frank concerns to Sifo-Dyas, he'd thought he was joking.

Well, the problem of pornography would keep. At present, they needed to jump out of this window.

#wip ask game #my writing

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padawanlost · 4 years

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Hi, I really enjoy your blog and your insights into the prequels. If you have time, could you explain a bit more about how the clone army was commissioned. I've watched the prequel movies and Clone Wars several times, but I'm still a little confused. The Kaminoans say Sifo-Dyas commissioned the clone army. Jango says he was hired by Tyranus (Dooku) and has never heard of Sifo-Dyas. And Obi-Wan thinks Sifo-Dyas was already dead when the army was commissioned. So what is the deal with Sifo-Dyas?

Sure, I tried to make a timeline. Maybe it’ll help see things a little more clearly :)

Before 52 BBY: Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas becomes close friends with Jedi Master Dooku.

52 BBY: Sifo-Dyas, along with Dooku and his apprentice Qui-Gon Jinn, attend a meeting where they meet Magister Hego Damask (Darth Plagueis). He and Hego discuss their worries about the future of the Republic. At some point during their talks, Plagueis suggest the need for a military force to keep the peace but Sifo-Dyas rejects the idea.

“Lest you’re thinking of investing in military enterprises, Magister, I can assure you that the Republic will not reverse its stance on demilitarization.” His words were forceful, but lacked certainty. “The Ruusan Reformations will not be repealed.” Plagueis showed the palms of his hands. “And I can assure you, Master Jedi, that my questions were in no means motivated by thoughts of profit. We—that is, I—don’t wish to see the Republic caught off guard. For now I’ll place my faith in the Jedi, and in the belief that an army could be raised if necessary.” Sifo-Dyas’s gaze faltered. “Out of thin air? Unlikely, Magister.” “Grown, then.” “Manufactured, you mean.” “No, I was being literal,” Plagueis said. “But I know of only one group that might be up to the task. The group who grew laborers to work the mines of Subterrel.” [James Luceno. Darth Plagueis]

52 BBY to 32 BBY: Over the next 20 years as Dooku’s concerns for the Orde rand the Republic grew, so did Sifo-Dyas own worries. Like Dooku, he also tried to warn the Council about the approaching darkness but they didn’t listen to him. At some point he was invited to join the Jedi Council but his seat was removed after he considered too extreme for them.

“Prior to the blockade of Naboo, Sifo-Dyas sat on this Council until we judged his ideas to be too extreme. Indeed, he said he foresaw a great conflict and that the Republic would need to raise an army. At the time, the Council rejected those ideas.’ – TCW 06x10

During this period, Sifo-Dyas and Dooku meet Senato Sheev Palpatine from Naboo. After this, Dooku and Palpatine become friends, having many conversations about politics and the Jedi.

“By right of birth. My family is agreeable. Now it’s simply a matter of informing the High Council.” “Has anyone ever left the Order?” “Nineteen before me.” “Have you shared your discontent with any of them?” “Only Master Sifo-Dyas.” “Of course.” Dooku looked up. “He worries that I’m going to do something rash.” “Leaving the Order isn’t rash enough?” “He fears that I will denounce the Council openly, and reveal how divided its members are about answering to the Senate.” He looked Palpatine in the eye. “I’ve half a mind to join your cause.” [James Luceno. Darth Plagueis]

32 BBY (right before the events of The Phantom Menace): Sifo-Dyas once again meets Magister Hego Damask, but this time he’s interested and willing to listen to what he has to say:

“You said that you have some vague recall of our conversation on Serenno. Do you remember my mentioning a group of gifted cloners?” “I’m sorry, I do not.” “They are native to an extragalactic world called Kamino. I have on occasion done business with them on behalf of clients who desire cloned creatures, or require cloned laborers capable of working in harsh environments.” The Jedi shook his head in uncertainty. “What does this have to do with anything?” “I believe that the Kaminoans could be induced to grow and train a cloned army.” Sifo-Dyas took a long moment to reply. “You said yourself that the Republic would never sanction an army.” “The Republic needn’t know,” Damask said cautiously. “Neither would the Jedi Order have to know. It would be an army that might never have to be used, and yet be available in reserve should need ever arise.” “Who in their right mind would fund an army that might never be used?” “I would,” Damask said. “Along with some of my associates in the Banking Clan—and in conjunction with contacts in Rothana Heavy Engineering, which would supply the ships, armaments, and other matériel.” Sifo-Dyas fixed him with a look. “Come to the point, Magister.” “The Kaminoans will not create an army for me, but they would do so for the Jedi Order. They have been fascinated by the Jedi for millennia.” Sifo-Dyas’s dark brown eyes widened. “You’re not proposing cloning Jedi—” “No. I have been assured that such a thing is impossible, in any case. But I have also been assured that a human army a million strong could be ready for deployment in as few as ten years.” “You’re suggesting that I circumvent the High Council.” “I suppose I am. The Kaminoans need only a modest down payment, which I could provide to you through untraceable accounts I maintain in Outer Rim banks.” Again, the Jedi remained silent for a long moment. “I need time to consider this.” “Of course you do,” Damask said. “And when you’ve reached a decision, you can contact me at my residence downside.” [James Luceno. Darth Plagueis]

32 BBY: Qui-Gon Jinn dies and Master Dooku leaves the Jedi Order 32 BBY: Sifo-Dyas places the order on Kamino;

Obi-Wan turned to face Yoda. “Master, did Sifo-Dyas order the clone army?” Yoda nodded. “Contacted the Kaminoans, he did.” “Without your knowledge?” “Without it, yes. But exists, a record of his initial contact.” [Labyrinth of Evil. James Luceno]

“And Master Sifo-Dyas?” Dooku frowned. “He knew that my leaving was simply a matter of time. Although he did say something I found to be rather curious. He said that if I had any designs on instigating dissent, he would be one step ahead of me.” [James Luceno. Darth Plagueis]

32 BBY: Palpatine kills Plagueis and takes Dooku as his new apprentice. Some time after that, Palpatine tells Dooku about the clone army, so he kills Sifo-Dias. After, he finds Jango Fett – whom he had fountgh in the battle of Galidraan – and convinces to become the template for the clone army.

One of your former confidants at the Jedi Temple has perceived the coming change, Sidious had told him. This one has contacted a group of cloners, regarding the creation of an army for the Republic. The order for the army can stand, for we will be able to make use of that army someday. But Master Sifo-Dyas cannot stand, for the Jedi cannot learn about the army until we are prepared to have them learn of it. And so with the murder of Sifo-Dyas, Dooku had embraced the dark side fully, and Sidious had conferred on him the title Darth Tyranus. His final act before leaving the Jedi Order was to erase all mentions of Kamino from the Jedi archives. Then, as Tyranus, he had found Fett on Bogg 4; had instructed the Mandalorian to deliver himself to Kamino; and had arranged for payments to be made to the cloners through circuitous routes … Ten years passed. Under its new Supreme Chancellor, the Republic recovered somewhat, then grew more corrupt and beset with problems than before. As best they could, Sidious and Tyranus helped things along. Sidious had the ability to see deep into the future, but there was always the unexpected. With the power of the dark side, however, came flexibility. Having traced Fett to Kamino, Obi-Wan Kenobi had turned up on Geonosis. All at once, here was Qui-Gon Jinn’s former Padawan, right under Dooku’s nose. But when he had informed Sidious of Obi-Wan’s presence, Sidious had only said, Allow events to play out, Darth Tyranus. For our plans are unfolding exactly as I have foreseen. The Force is very much with us.

22 BBY: Obi-wan Kenobi discovers Kamino and the Clone Army. The kaminoans have no idea Sifo-Dyas had been dead for 10 years or that he had nothing to do with choosing Jango Fett as the template.

In conclusion, the Sith manipulated a Jedi Master into creating an army for them to destroy the Jedi.

#ask #droidrightsbill #gffa politics #jedi politics #sw meta #worldbuilding #clone troopers #meta: clones #sifo dyas #count dooku #darth plagueis #meta: dooku #meta: plagueis #meta: palpatine #txt #palpatine

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gffa · 4 years

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JEDI PADAWANS IN CANON: Surprisingly, we actually have very little about how the Jedi culture works in canon, though, we have the broad strokes of it, enough that I think you can get an idea of the general arc of things! This post will be based on canon, of course, as Canon and Legends are basically separate continuities, so stuff like “the Jedi age out at 13 if no one picks them as a Master” has never been evidenced in canon. I also have TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT THE JEDI IN CANON, a meta work on AO3 that’s been about collecting together and organizing everything I can find on the Jedi of canon, but let’s talk specifically about the path to becoming a Jedi Padawan! THE PATH OF A YOUNGLING TO A JEDI: YOUNGLING/INITIATE: - The Jedi younglings are adopted generally in the age range of about three years old, give or take. It’s evidenced by Wee Dunn (the little Rodian boy that Cad Bane kidnapped) that there’s an adjustment period with the biological family (if the family wishes it), given that his bio-mom says, “Master Ropal said the day would come for him to go to the Temple, but not for some time.” - The terms “Youngling” and “Initiate” seem relatively interchangeable? - In Dooku: Jedi Lost, Dooku says: “Like most of the Order, I was brought to the Temple by a Seeker, a Jedi who was tasked to scour the galaxy for Force-sensitive infants.” - “On arrival at the Temple, Initiates are sorted into clans, an arbitrary grouping in many ways, but one that is supposed to foster an atmosphere of trust and kinship.“ This seems to work pretty well, indicated by how even the very serious Dooku is like, “[....] by us and every other Initiate that likes to gossip by the light of a glow lantern late at night.” to show the lighter hearted aspects of the pile of younglings gossping at night. (Dooku: Jedi Lost) - Not a ton is known about their time in the creche (which is indeed called the creche, according to M&A -- “[Qui-Gon]’d spent his last night in the younglings’ crèche laughing with his friends, imagining all the adventures he would have, and practicing with his lightsaber in the sparring room until Master Yaddle ordered him to bed.“) or what that means to their Jedi Path, other than that, at some point, they go on The Gathering to get their kyber crystal from Ilum, if they can pass the test of looking inward, facing their fears, and hearing the song of the crystal meant specifically for them. This sacred ritual doesn’t seem to be tied to doing it with their Master, as The Clone Wars and the Age of the Republic comic show that they go in groups and are supervised by another Jedi (Ahsoka in the case of “The Gathering”, with Yoda there on Ilum, Huyang watching over the groups in both TCW and the comic), as well as the group of younglings (Katooni, Petro, Byph, Ganodi, and Gungi) are seen practicing with their lightsabers in Master Sinube’s class while Anakin and Barriss have their fight across the Temple roof. - We see Yoda instructing the younglings in Attack of the Clones, but it’s unclear if they’re using their own lightsabers or training sabers (which the Temple has, according to Star Wars: Lightsabers - A Guide To Weapons of The Force. (I’m presuming that they’re training sabers, they look too young to be ready for The Gathering, but canon hasn’t specified either way.) - We do get some broad strokes of the kind of schooling they have while they’re younglings: - Jedi younglings (at least the diurnal ones) wake at dawn to meditate on the three pillars–the Force, Knowledge, and Self-Discipline. Then they go to the refectory for lunch, where Dooku always likes to sit next to Sifo-Dyas. - Qui-Gon says, “Qui-Gon whispered, 'The dark side?' He knew it was a thing all beings carried within them, a part of himself he would learn to guard against—the crèche masters had taught him all that.” (Master & Apprentice) showing that the creche masters also taught them while they were there. - They have group classes together, where we see teachers giving lessons on how to meditate or other philosophy lessons or how to connect to the Force (this is backed up by a lot of Kanan’s early teachings to Ezra, what he starts with as the foundations/basics), which presumably Padawans can still be part of, given that Qui-Gon still goes to classes after becoming Dooku’s Padawan. [x] - They have regular classes and some of what we know are: Levitation classes, Force-Sculpting classes, Galactic History classes, Jedi History classes, Animal Kinship/Beast Control, and Unarmed Combat. (”The duties of a Padawan varied greatly. Certain kinds of instruction were universal—meditation, lightsaber training—and were studied both in groups at the Temple and privately with one’s Master. But those Masters ranged widely in talents and temperament, which meant that the assignments they gave were diverse, too.” --Master & Apprentice) - They have class field trips of some sort--Obi-Wan has a class of younglings (that Caleb is part of) on a field trip to teach them about the Jedi Beacon. While this seems to be within the Temple itself, we saw in Dooku: Jedi Lost that several younglings went with the Jedi to a Celebration Festival as part of a group who would do demonstrations for people, too. - They’re given homework (Qui-Gon works on his while lounging in Dooku’s quarters) and have class projects (”Obi-Wan could scan nearly the entire lower level of the Jedi Archives. Jocasta Nu sat at her desk, patiently reviewing some file or other; a handful of younglings struggled through a dense historical holo, probably for a class project”) -- Master & Apprentice. - Whatever Katooni and the others are doing in the beginning of “The Gathering” with the dance-style moves is unclear, whether it’s a class that Master Sinube is teaching or if it’s a ceremony of some kind that relates to the upcoming Gathering, who knows! But it’s clearly important and overlaid with the announcer saying, “The trials are hard. Tests must be passed. But none is as important as The Gathering. It is then that a Jedi’s path will truly begin….” (Though, this could be in reference to the trials they’re about to face on Ilum which are hard, rather than that the dance class is a trial, it’s never stated either way.) [x] PADAWANS: - There doesn’t seem to be anything on how Padawans are chosen as a usual path! In Dooku: Jedi Lost, there’s a ceremonial lightsaber tournament, but the wording never quite directly says that it’s specifically for Master to choose their Apprentices, as well as in Kanan: The Last Padawan, Depa directly asks young Caleb herself. In The Clone Wars movie, Anakin is assigned Ahsoka, which doesn’t seem to surprise either Obi-Wan (who may have planned this) or Anakin in the sense of “wait, they don’t just assign Padawans!”, only that she was being assigned to him. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s partnership seems to be a bit of both: “Don’t you see, Obi-Wan? They knew you’d rebel against any Master you worked with. So they made sure you wound up with a Jedi who almost never followed the rules.” (Master & Apprentice) This seems to indicate that it happened in a myriad of ways, whether a Master took notice of a youngling at the tournament or bonded with them in another way or the Council decided to assign a pairing. - When a youngling becomes a Padawan, there seems to be some conversations between the crechemasters and the new Master: “Obi-Wan said, 'You know, I never had problems with that as a youngling. Being independent, I mean. I broke rules right and left. They even called me rebellious. Probably the Masters were surprised anyone was willing to take me on as an apprentice.’ In fact, Qui-Gon had been warned about this very thing. He’d long since assumed that the crèche masters’ concern was overcautious.” (Master and Apprentice) - There’s no set age when a Youngling becomes a Padawan. - Dooku was 16 years old when Yoda chose him to be a Padawan, Sifo-Dyas was 16 when Lene Kostana chose him. For a brief while, Dooku didn’t think he would be chosen this year and would have to wait awhile longer, as well as another 16 year old Initiate wasn’t ready and did wind up having to wait another year. (Dooku: Jedi Lost) - Obi-Wan was chosen at 13 and Qui-Gon at 12, but both were considered young for it. (Master & Apprentice) - Caleb Dume was chosen at 13, but was also considered to be surprisingly young for it. (Kanan: The Last Padawan) - Ahsoka was assigned at 14, but Anakin expressed surprise that she was even “old enough to be a Padawan!?” (The Clone Wars movie) - Teaching seems to be a communal thing with the Jedi. While their Master is the final authority (in as much as anyone is an authority over someone else--Ahsoka argues and doesn’t really get that much pushback on how Master Skywalker isn’t the one who should decide when she risks her life, that’s her choice), we see Ahsoka is taught by Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Plo Koon, Aayla Secura, Luminara Unduli, Tera Sinube, and Jocasta Nu. In The Citadel arc in TCW, Ahsoka says that Master Plo assigned her to the team, which Anakin doesn’t object to as being impossible because she’s his Padawan. Further, we also see communal teaching elements in Dooku: Jedi Lost when Lene is a frequent teacher to Dooku after he becomes Yoda’s Padawan. JEDI KNIGHTS: - While we never see any official Knighting ceremonies in the time of the Jedi Order, there are two examples post-Jedi Purge that use similar enough rituals that it’s a reasonably safe bet they were used by the Order as well: - In Rebels “Shroud of Darkness”, when Kanan and Ezra and Ahsoka enter the Lothal Jedi Temple, he has to face a vision of the Grand Inquisitor revealing that he was once a Temple Guard. In facing him, Kanan passes the test, which was Yoda directing the vision (via behind the scenes commentary by Henry Gilroy) to give Kanan a trial, which he then uses the vision to gently sweep the lightsaber over Kanan and has the vision say, “By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force, Kanan Jarrus, you may rise. [....] It means you are what I once was. A Knight of the Jedi Order.” [x] - In Jedi: Fallen Order, Cere Junda (once a Jedi Knight herself) tells Cal to kneel and makes the same gesture, sweeping the lightsaber over him, and says: "By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force, Cal Kestis. Rise, Jedi Knight." [x] THAT’S IT, THAT’S PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT THE JEDI PADAWAN PATH. There’s really no one set way of doing things--“Every master trains their Padawan in their own way.“ (Jedi: Fallen Order)--but you can see the shape of how things are approached within the Jedi Culture!

#jedi order #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #kanan jarrus #ahsoka tano #count dooku #qui gon jinn #meta #long post

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duchess-of-mandalore · 4 years

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Feelings I Can’t Fight - Obitine Week 2020: Day 1 (Envy)

"Envy's not a good look on you, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan has peace in the Force, a purpose with the Jedi, and a padawan to train. But when he gets news that leaves him in a tailspin, he's unable (or unwilling) to control the torrent of emotions he's never felt before. Instead of releasing it to the Force, he finds himself breaking into the Jedi Temple's communication center . . . desperate to make sense of the news regarding the one person who could make him question the path he chose long ago.

Or rather ... an exploration of Obi-Wan having emotions for Satine that are as turbulent as Anakin’s for Padme.

(Also available on Ao3)

Coruscant never slept. The setting sun bathed the streets in an eerie red glow, but the denizens of the city still swarmed through the streets, which were as busy now as during the work day. Obi-Wan narrowly avoided colliding with a woman racing across his path, then had to sidestep a merchant's cart to avoid having his foot run over. His heart pounded, and he heard his master's voice in his head, reminding him that this reaction was rather unbecoming of a Jedi, especially one who was a knight and had a padawan of his own. But it made no difference; his mind swarmed like the crowds in front of him, and Obi-Wan didn't know how to calm himself. He didn't know if he wanted to.

"Master Obi-Wan, you're walking very fast!"

He barely heard Anakin's voice over the buzz of the city, but it arrested him on the spot. He stopped and turned, searching for his padawan. It took a second, but then he saw a flash of blond hair and a bouncing braid ducking between a Coruscanti couple dressed for the opera. Anakin was growing again; he was lithe and spindly, but still small for his age, and Obi-Wan blushed as he realized Anakin probably had to take two steps for every one he had made.

Anakin was breathing heavily, but he didn't seem too put out. "I lost you a couple times, but I felt for you with the Force and found you again!"

The blush became a rush of shame. How long had it slipped his mind that his padawan was with him on this trip through the city? He knew the answer, even if he was loathe to admit it to himself.

"I'm sorry, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "My mind was on other things. We'll slow down."

"It feels like your mind is on many things," Anakin said, starring up at him. Obi-Wan looked back towards the setting sun, unwilling to let the prescient boy look in his eyes lest he know every secret churning inside him. Obi-Wan had just started teaching his pupil to reach out with his mind in order to ascertain the emotions of others. Like so many other things, the skill had come almost naturally to Anakin Skywalker. Now Obi-Wan regretted teaching him.

"Actually, your mind's only on one thing," Anakin intoned. "But the thoughts are so jumbled and messy!"

Definitely regretted it.

Obi-Wan slammed a mental barrier in place to keep his padawan out of his head, but he managed a pinched smile as he looked down at the boy. "Now you're just showing off."

Anakin smiled smugly, then turned to take in an opulent and colorful crimson lighting display that flickered in the dimming light and pointed the way to one of the . . . seedier neighborhoods in the district. Obi-Wan didn't particularly want his padawan to garner a curiosity for what went on down that narrow road, but for now, he was relieved that Anakin's mind was off of him and his own turbulent thoughts.

"Why did you get so upset before?"

Obi-Wan stiffened. "I didn't get upset."

"Not on the outside. But I could tell."

This child was going to be the death of him.

"Just for a second, your feelings were . . . ugly."

"Ugly?"

"Yeah, it felt like when Watto would lose while betting on the pod-races, and he knew that he wasn't getting what he wanted."

Obi-Wan picked up the pace again. Anakin could run behind him if he wanted.

"They were only ugly for a second, Master," Anakin continued. "Then they were just . . . really messy. Like my workbench when I'd work on 3PO."

How could the child sense so much but not sense that he didn't want to talk about it?

"Was it because of the angel on the viewscreen in the plaza?"

"What?"

"The angel. With the blond hair and the crown on her head."

Obi-Wan bit his lip. "She's not an angel, Anakin."

"But it is about her?"

"Anakin."

There must have been just enough of an edge in Obi-Wan's voice that his padawan fell silent.

Infinitely long shadows gave way to darkness just as they made it back to the Jedi Temple. Making their way up the front steps, Obi-Wan bade Anakin head for the padawan dormitories and get ready for bed. They had an early training session the next morning, and Obi-Wan reminded him as such, as Qui-Gon used to do with him.

Anakin raced ahead of him, swinging his arms as he took the stairs two at a time. He reached the top first and leaned against one of the pilons near the front door of the temple. He turned back to Obi-Wan, eyes alight with curiosity.

"Maybe you'll tell me about her when I'm older?"

For the second time that night, Anakin's voice stopped Obi-Wan in his tracks. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Master Windu and Master Ki-Adi-Mundi standing by one of the other pilons, looking out over the courtyard. He didn't want to risk them overhearing, so he lowered his voice and said, "When you're older, padawan."

Anakin scampered off with a smile on his face, not knowing that Obi-Wan fully intended that he would never know about that. No one would.

Obi-Wan looked to his right and found Master Windu's eyes on him. He gave a polite bow, but his heart pounded as he considered whether the experienced Jedi could read his emotions as deftly as Anakin had.

He jogged up the remaining stairs, heading for the knights' quarters. Obi-Wan passed several other knights, convinced they, too, could hear his heart beating as loudly he could. This place of peace, with the tall ceilings and the great columns of unmovable stone, felt suffocating. His stomach churned and he contemplated ducking into the refresher on this level, but the nausea abated and he continued toward his room. He needed to meditate, he needed to find his center, he needed to get rid of the ugly that was still inside of him . . .

So why were his feet taking him up two stories and towards the communication center?

Obi-Wan was standing in front of the locked door before he even knew what was happening. At this time of night, the main communications wing would be empty. Only the emergency comm room – a smaller drain on resources – would be manned through the night. That didn't mean that the consoles couldn't be used if necessary. However, the room was off-limits to all but the Jedi masters and anyone who had the code to get in.

Fortunately, Obi-Wan had the code.

Two days before, Master Sifo-Dyas had asked him to stand in for him for a communication that required the entire counsel – or hand-picked representatives standing in for them – to be present. The code would be reset at the start of the coming week, but right now, it would still be active.

Obi-Wan Kenobi prided himself on the fact that the masters trusted him – a recently appointed Jedi knight – with such authority. He was certain the only reason they did is because he wasn't the kind of man to abuse that power.

But here he was, punching in the code that would cause the door to hiss open.

Like he suspected, the wing was deserted. He stepped inside and waved his arm behind him to close the door. He opted not to turn on the lights. He remembered the layout well enough, and this seemed to be something better done in the dark.

Lies. Guilt. Secrets.

They all came in the dark.

Obi-Wan's stomach rebelled again, but he pushed it away. The ugly feeling inside him was almost welcome in comparison.

The Jedi knight moved to the holotable. The device powered on thanks to his proximity, bathing the room in a ghostly blue light.

Now he could see the keypad.

With shaking fingers, he put in the personal location combination. It was a miracle that he remembered it; he should have had no reason to.

He pressed enter and wanted to throw up.

The seconds stretched immeasurably.

What if she wasn't there? There would be no second shot at this.

No, it would be the middle of the night on Mandalore. For a moment, he felt guilty about waking her, but at least she would be there.

And yet.

What if he wasn't waking her?

What if she wasn't alone?

The ugliness inside Obi-Wan exploded. It swelled until it threatened to overwhelm him. He couldn't breathe, but he recognized the ugly for what it was.

Suspicion.

Jealousy.

Anger.

Betrayal.

Force.

"Obi-Wan?"

She was there.

And the ugly dissipated so quickly it nearly floored him.

Peace. Beauty. Tranquility.

"Obi-Wan?" Her voice was tinny from the broadcast, and he could hear the sleepy anxiety that always came from a late-night communication. "Is that you?"

"Satine?" He ignored the boyish crack his voice made and moved closer to the device so that it would pick up his image.

"Obi-Wan!" He registered the moment that her eyes found him. He expected – hoped – she would be excited to see him. It had been so long. "Is everything alright? Are we in any danger?"

The professional tone threw him for a loop, and Obi-Wan felt a fool. Even in her flowing white nightdress, she looked so regal, so in command. In his haste . . . his folly . . . he'd forgotten that this wasn't his Satine. This was the Duchess of Mandalore, a woman who, in the last six years had become responsible for a system of billions. She had far more pressing matters than the one he'd felt compelled to call about.

Obi-Wan straightened and clasped his hands behind his back. "No, your Highness, there's no danger. Nothing like that."

"Oh?" He swore he could see the hologram's eyebrow raise.

"No." He cleared his throat, suddenly aware of how shabby he must look after a long day in the city. "In fact, this communication is not one of an official capacity."

She didn't say anything, but Obi-Wan could see her breathing.

"Duchess?"

"You saw the news report."

Obi-Wan held his breath. "Is it true?"

She looked ready to say something, but then the hologram rippled as Satine turned, clearly addressing someone in the room. "No, I'm fine, dear. I'll be right out."

She was with someone.

The knot in his stomach twisted into an angry blackhole that threatened to swallow him whole. No, not a blackhole. A supernova that would implode and devastate everything it could touch. Was this rage? He'd felt this once before, when he'd watched the red demon snuff the life from his beloved master. But he'd had a lightsaber, and he'd rendered justice. Now . . . his rage burned towards a faceless man, who had taken what he never could've had.

Obi-Wan resisted the urge to shut the holotable down and run from the room.

"Obi?"

Her voice was an anchor, reminding him of his duty; the boundaries put in place long ago. The words rushed out. "Lady Kryze, I'm terribly sorry for interrupting your evening. This matter is certainly none of my business, and I'm very happy for you and your intended. I was calling to . . . to simply offer my congratulations."

"Are you done?"

Obi-Wan's brow wrinkled. "My lady?"

"There's no one here. I'm not getting married. You're a terrible liar, and envy's not a good look on you."

"I – you're," he stammered heavily, "what?"

She fisted her hands in her hair in frustration. "Ka'ra, you're as hopeless now as you were six years ago."

The insult brought his mind back into focus.

"I'm not the one getting married to the Duke of Taris."

"You're not getting married at all!"

He didn't have anything to say to that. Because that was the problem, wasn't it.

The silence stretched on until Satine said, softly, "I was speaking with my handmaiden. There have been some . . . threats, recently. She was checking that I was alright."

The simmering anger redirected itself towards her unknown assailants, and Obi-Wan jumped at the chance to offer something of value. "I could speak to the Council. They could send a protector."

Maybe it'd be him..

But it had the opposite effect, and Satine's face grew impassive. "I don't need a protector, Obi-Wan. We're handling the threat just fine on our own."

"Of course, your grace." He met her cordial tone, but Satine must have forgiven him the oversight, because she softened again. Qui-Gon had taught her to meditate to relative success, but her emotions had always been volatile, and his own – which he wanted to believe were more carefully controlled – tended to follow hers.

"Besides, how would you tell them I need a protector?" she teased. "You called my personal chambers . . . in the middle of the night . . . from a terminal in the Jedi Temple . . . on your own. I have to assume you didn't have permission to do that."

Obi-Wan flushed. The extent of his trespass registered with him, and he realized he'd have to sabotage the call log in order to keep the secret safe. The deception would continue.

"That doesn't sound like you, Master Jedi."

It wasn't. Except that . . .

He said nothing, but Satine seemed to read his thoughts.

"I'm not marrying the duke," she assured him, tucking her loose hair behind her ears; it was longer than it'd been before. "He's rich and powerful, but he's also spoiled and hopelessly ridiculous."

"But the news . . ."

"Rumors and hearsay! They're nothing but tabloids." She waved her hand in dismissal. "I wouldn't put it past the duke to have spread them himself! They're all the same."

"All?"

"This isn't the first time I've had offers, Obi," she said. "Frankly, I'm surprised this is the first one you've heard of."

More burning in his gut. Force, give me peace. He realized just how stupid he was.

"Of course you have," he said, trying to attach a smile to his face. "Why wouldn't you? You're the Duchess of Mandalore, and I'm an idiot. Ni di'kut. Isn't that how you say it?"

"No, Ben, you're not that bad," Satine smiled. "Perhaps utreekov, but not di'kut."

He huffed and remembered that she had called him that numerous times during their year together. "That's hardly any better."

"It's a little better," she said, wrinkling her nose good-naturedly.

She did look like an angel, with her hair spilling over her shoulders and her white nightdress and the haloed effect of the holotable.

Beautiful. Peaceful. Serene.

And completely untouchable.

He ached to be with her, if only to hold her hand like they'd done in the evenings when Qui-Gon was away. But the physical distance mirrored the insurmountable gap between them, and though Obi-Wan's rage released into the Force, it was replaced by a sadness that, even now, he foresaw as his perpetual companion.

"Will you accept one of them?"

It was little more than a whisper as he stared down at her feet. He needed to know. Needed to hear it from her. Needed to make peace with it. To crush the last lingering ray of hope that he now realized had been smoldering inside him for six years.

"Shouldn't I?"

Hope flared. His eyes snapped to hers.

The question could have been rhetorical but her own pointed expression confirmed it wasn't.

"Satine . . . I – I," he trailed off. It was so tempting.

A lifetime of possibilities flashed in his eyes: arriving on Mandalore in civilian clothes and no vow save for the one he would make to her; supporting her in rebuilding her society and protecting her from those who would see it crumble; raising their children . . . a ginger-haired daughter and a blond-headed boy and . . .

Anakin.

She smiled sadly, always taking control was he was indecisive. "I sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

No, please ask!

"I saw you on the holonet with a little boy with a braid. That must be your padawan?"

He refused to wonder whether she was keeping tabs on him on the net or if she'd simply stumbled on the news story by accident.

"Yes. Master Qui-Gon handpicked him before . . ." he trailed off. "He asked me to train him."

"I miss him," she said, her voice forlorn and distant.

"As do I." In spite of himself, Obi-Wan reached out his hand toward the hologram. With little hesitation, Satine lifted her arm as well. The hologram rippled like waves in a pond as her tiny immaterial hand brushed his. Obi-Wan imagined the feel of her skin against his and refused to drop his arm.

"Anakin's very special, Satine," he said. "Qui-Gon believed he'll have an important role in this story."

The story. The grand story. The story foretold by the prophecies Qui-Gon believed so dearly.

"Then I'm certain he will."

A story much bigger than the two of them.

"I can't leave him, Satine."

"I know."

"I just wish . . ."

"Me too." There was no animosity in her voice, only resignation. Her eyes focused on where their hands still rested against one another, and then she lowered her arm. Obi-Wan felt the absence as if he were missing a limb.

"He will do great things, Obi-Wan. As will you. Master Qui-Gon would be proud." She smiled softly. "As am I."

"High praise from the one who has already done great things," he returned, hoping that his cordial words still conveyed the affection he'd never be able to offer. The warmth of her smile convinced him that she knew.

He drank in the sight of her, knowing that he'd just have to forget again later.

"Jate'ca, Satine."

"Good-night, ner jetii. May the Force always be with you."

Her words echoed in his ears, and then the hologram flickered out of existence, leaving Obi-Wan in darkness save for the illumination of several backlit keypads.

Obi-Wan starred at the last place her image had rested. Into the Force, he released the envy he felt over her future – whatever, or whomever, that may include. He recalled his mission as a Jedi, his duty toward Anakin, the purpose of his vow, and believed that it was enough.

"Good-bye, my duchess."

He returned to his quarters to meditate on the will of the Force.

#Obitine Week 2020 #Obitine #Obi-Wan Kenobi #Satine Kryze #Moulin Rouge #I had to get at least four Moulin Rouge allusions in #Points if you can find them all #This was supposed to be short #I am many things #But not concise #My Fanfic

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legobiwan · 4 years

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What are your opinion/ideas about Tahl and her relationship with Qui Gon and Obi Wan? How do you think she interacted with Dooku, Sifo Dyas and Rael?

Hmmmm! Good question!

Let’s assume, for the purposes of this exercise that Tahl was born in 82 BBY instead of 92 BBY (and Qui-gon in 80 instead of 92. Somehow I feel she should be slightly older than Qui-gon.)

I always liked Tahl as she was so fiercely independent and didn’t put up with any of Qui-gon’s nonsense. Qui-gon needed people in his life who liked him, but also called him out on his bullshit when he got too zealous. Plus, she was a badass fighter and historian and took no one’s pity, even after she was blinded. (Was she the mysterious figure on Felucia Rael referenced? Possibly.)

Also. She was a different adult presence in Obi-wan’s life, someone to give some perspective on Qui-gon’s often baffling behavior. I imagine even in nu-canon, she would hold the same role as diplomat, translating between two people seemingly on diametrically opposing ends. (And, I’d like to believe she’d be a confidant to Obi-wan and perhaps also a teacher, training him in certain aspects of fighting or the Force Qui-gon overlooked. *coughcoughlightsaberfightingcoughcough*)

Now, Dooku…well, I imagine as someone who was a bit of an iconoclast (albeit very much in his own manner), he would be willing to look the other way when it came to Tahl. However, he would still keep strict tabs on his Padawan and offer cutting, snarky remarks on their interactions that were so subtle Qui-gon wouldn’t always know if he was being roasted or not. Luckily, to Dooku, she was a good fighter, intelligent, willing to work outside the box, and in many ways, more practical than either of his wayward students. He liked having her around on missions. Dooku only heard about her death later, when he was on Serenno, after he had left the Order. Tragic, really. But, he thought, just one more betrayal by the Jedi that might ultimately push Qui-gon in his direction.

Sifo-Diyas. Oh, Sifo-Diyas. I feel like he would have been both totally unaware anything was going on between Tahl and Qui-gon and yet would offer some incisive remark about the impermanence and impracticality (in terms of being a Jedi) of such relations as and off-hand comment and that it would totally throw Qui-gon off-guard. Sifo-Diyas became more disconnected as he aged, falling more into a state of semi-madness brought on by (at least, this is how I read it), his ability to look into time and possibility itself, where past, present, future, and not-future met at certain nexuses in the Force, which were the foundation of the later prophecies. Tahl could see this disintegration, probably before Qui-gon and before Dooku was willing to acknowledge it in his old friend. They had an uneasy truce.

And then there’s Rael. Ohhhhh, Rael.

Rael. Would. Love. This.

He loves Tahl, obviously, thinks she’s a great gal. Rael doesn’t go in much for other Jedi in that sense, thinks they’re, as a whole, a bit too stick-in-the-mud, but Tahl’s got spunk and a mouth, brains, and fists to back it up. And like the older brother he is, he will give Qui-gon endless grief about his crush, going out of his way to embarrass Qui-gon in front of Tahl. Tahl thinks it’s funny, although she occasionally asks Rael to knock it off, for Qui-gon’s sake. She also comes to him after she is blinded. How do you work through this anger? How do you make yourself anew? It wasn’t the Rael knew anything about her physical predicament, but he did know from being “different” from the other Jedi, about forging his own path. He had tried to reach out to her, on those early years on Pijal, but his role, his mentoring on Fanry, his own grief - it had all been too much. He only learned of her death later, when Qui-gon had returned, years later, with a new Padawan of his own. Qui-gon had said nothing except the simple facts - she was dead - and in that, he had said everything.

#Anonymous #hello there #ask legobiwan #tahl #qui gon jinn #obi wan kenobi #rael aveross #sifo diyas #count dooku #okay look #i have a whole little...universe thing going on with this gang #oy #alright #one more ask and then i've got to practice #lots of gigs the next two weeks...#rael averross

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