#Ben Quadinaros' podracer

[sw5w]

Dud Bolt Powers Up His Podracer

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 00:58:33

[luke-shywalker]

Kiss marry kill: Ben Kenobi, Ben Solo, and Ben ✨QUADINAROS✨

[askbensolo]

Sorry I haven’t posted much this week. It’s been a liiittle crazy. I gave both Armitage and Poe tours of the apartment this week (Armitage on Monday, Poe yesterday).

I thought I hated them when I was just messaging them. Oh, buddy, I had no idea.

Let’s start with Armitage. Listen: my mother raised me right. I tried to be nice, even though every previous interaction I’d had with him had proven that he was not. I opened the door and put on a smile and said, “Hey!” Bro looks past me and sees my holopad propped up on the dining table, where I’d been watching the livestream of the Senate hearing on arms control on Coruscant. Unfortunately, it was paused right on a close-up of my mom.

This dude cannot be normal. Imagine. You walk into a stranger’s home, see an image of a senator you’re maybe not so fond of, and go “Tch. Senator Organa… I’m convinced she was only voted in out of pity. Everyone loves the Alderaanian princess, but she’s really rather far from qualified.”

What.

I was so pissed I almost couldn’t talk. “What the—wh—why do you think she’s not qualified?! She has years of political experience, and she fought on the ground. She’s done so much volunteer and charity work, and she actually understands the issues she talks about on the floor, and—”

Armitage looked taken aback, but also like he was scrutinizing me. I shut my mouth.

“…What did you say your last name was?” he asked suspiciously, his tone clipped.

‘Cause, see, when I’m first meeting someone, I don’t usually tell them who I am am. I’m just Ben. I like being my own person. And then maybe after they pass the vibe check I can be like, “oh, yeah, I’m Ben Solo, but I’m also just a chill dude, please treat me normal haha.” But, yeah—that’s why Armitage didn’t know who I was.

You know when you’re talking to a stranger and you’re like, “Oh. No. We are not getting into this, because I’m never gonna see you again”? That was me in that moment. I was like, yeah, there’s no way I’m rooming with this snooty bag of tauntaun flatulence for a year.

“Quadinaros,” I said. It was the first name I thought of. I hoped Armitage didn’t know his podracers.

He looked like he wasn’t buying it.

“Well, what’s your last name?” I blurted in a stupid retort. Like a “your mom” kind of thing. Usually, that doesn’t work. Surprisingly, it caught him off guard.

“…Arkanis,” he replied, with less confidence than one would usually declare his own name with.

Whatever.

I showed him the apartment like I promised (and believe me, the comment about my mom was not the last rude thing he said while he was there), but in my head I knew I was picking Poe.

That is…until yesterday, when I had Poe over to tour.

I was actually genuinely excited to greet Poe at the door, because he was my ticket to not rooming with Armitage…but the smile melted right off my face when I beheld the sight before me.

This guy is. De-kriffing-ranged.

You know those, like, baby holders you buckle onto your chest? Well, get this. Homie was wearing one of those…but his BB droid was in it. And those models are hefty. They may be all round, and relatively small compared to your average R2 unit, but they’re still like…I don’t know, the height of your knee? And made of metal, obviously.

My jaw dropped at the sight of this absolute madman. I just stood there staring at him.

“So, uh.” Poe cleared his throat, as if he didn’t have forty pounds of droid buckled to his body. “Who talks first? You talk first? I talk first?”

I snapped out of it. “Sorry. Uh. Here. Come in.”

Once inside, he put his droid down on the floor, and I was reminded that choosing Poe meant also getting a pet, basically. “Weeeeoooooo!” said the BB unit, and started rolling all over the place.

Forty pounds of droid rolled over my foot. “Ow!”

“Sorry!��� said Poe. “He’s just a little excitable. Aren’t ya, buddy?”

So I gave them the tour. And I really don’t have the energy to recount that endeavor, so here’s a list of some (just some) of Poe’s demands:

the droid’s charging dock needs to be in our bedroom near the window, even though the window is on my side of the bedroom

we need to put down rubber mats over the carpet so it’s easier for the droid to roll around

we need to ask management to install an accessibility ramp at the doorstep so the droid can roll in and out

it would be great if I could play with the droid when Poe’s not around, since the droid needs daily stimulation

After a while I kind of stopped listening. I thought to myself, Is this real life? Are astromechs not just flight navigation equipment? Is this would-be pilot who doesn’t even own a starship asking me to play with his droid like it’s his son?

I couldn’t have been more relieved to finally show Poe and his droid out the door. And then I ran into my room and flopped on my bed face-down and screamed into the mattress.

If only it wasn’t so late into the year. It’s impossible to find roommates right now. I’m lucky to have two options, as horrible as both options are.

I almost thought about moving back in with Mom and Dad. But…then I thought about my job, and Wednesday nights at the cantina with the guys, and quiet Sunday walks along the lake, and lazy Saturday museum-crawls with my ink pen and paper notebook…compared to how living at home just transforms me back into a sixteen-year-old, and I was like…no. No. I’m not leaving Naboo.

Anyway…so that’s my week. At least Fannie’s coming over tomorrow and I can temporarily forget next year’s gonna be hell.

[whompthatsucker1981]

constantly typing and deleting posts about the yonic character design of podracer ben quadinaros

[mistake-responsibility]

you like star wars right dude who the fuck is jinky minus and gaper bingzoid and ben quadinaros

Okay, well, those first two aren't anybody. You're just sayin shit.

BEN QUADINAROS HOWEVER,

He's a real guy! Podracer, actually. He "races" against Anakin but actually just kind of gets fucked over cause his thing blows up.

This is the guy's flag, which is pretty fun. Also, he goes on to be a big shot racer, despite his failure.

[altcntrlmp]

Star Wars Racer Arcade

Racer Arcade features four tracks: Tatooine Bantha Tracks (Easy), Etti IV Smuggler's Cove (Normal), Malastare Pixelito Challenge (Hard), which has four laps, and Tatooine Boonta Eve Classic (Expert), which has three laps. Four Podracer pilots are playable: Anakin Skywalker, Ben Quadinaros, Gasgano and Sebulba. 

The player controls the podracer via two handheld throttle controls, similar to how pods are controlled in the film. Unlike the home console video game Star Wars Episode I: Racer, the player's podracer is indestructible, although it can suffer slowdown from collision damage, and it is possible, yet difficult, to destroy opposing podracers.

[tallon-underworld]

My sister just said “We are all Ben Quadinaros in the great podrace of life”, and man do I feel that

[darthjudgee109]

Ben Quadinaros definetely won the Boonta Eve classic.

[mlmanakin]

i can’t stop thinking about an au where kanan & ezra are master & padawan at the same time as obi-wan & anakin. it wouldn’t be too hard to translate parts of kanan & ezra’s backstories to the republic era - kanan could be knighted early after losing his master, ezra could be orphaned after the separatists kill his parents, etc. and then... kanan & obi-wan’s self-doubt 🥺 anakin and ezra’s desire to protect their friends 🥺 anakin & ezra stanning ben quadinaros 🥺

[gffa]

That’s a fascinating thing to consider!  Because the Boonta Eve Classic’s podrace was pretty famous throughout the galaxy--it wasn’t the biggest thing ever, but it certainly had a lot of people’s attention!

The simpler times of peace in the Republic allowed for leisure activities to achieve galactic attention. The Boonta Eve Podrace, though based beyond the Republic’s borders in the independent Outer Rim, garnered coverage and attention even in the Core Worlds. The government artwork of this time was largely about preserving the status quo. Peace was good for commerce; as such, the art beautified the distractions that member worlds offered in the name of lucrative tourism. Worlds with rich cultures, like Naboo, broadcast their histories to neighboring planets. Even far-flung worlds with shady reputations like Tatooine tried cleaning up their image to attract visitors for such events as the Boonta Eve Classic. During the Chancellery of Finis Valorum, initial work began on millennial celebrations that would have marked the thousand-year anniversary of the Republic’s foundation. Such exploration of logo designs and artwork now stand as an ironic artifact of a myopic regime, since the Republic dissolved before any such milestone could be reached. [....] With eyes toward expansion into the uncharted reaches of the Outer Rim, the traditions of the Core became passé. Opportunity beckoned from beyond the borders of the Mid Rim worlds. The congested planets of the interior were saturated with messages of promise lying outward, a reversal from long-held notions that Coruscant represented the icon of advancement. Republic wordsmiths and artists collaborated to create a sense of civic duty, of manifest destiny, and of deep obligation to spread the Republic banner from Rim to Rim. For the well-settled and wealthy elite of the galaxy’s most crowded centers, such notions were quaint but uninspiring. It was the citizens of the Inner Rim, those who had been crowded out of opportunity in the Core, who answered the call for new life in the frontier of the Outer Rim.        --Star Wars Propaganda

We see Anakin has a poster of the podrace in his room, the one that was billed as Ben Quadinaros vs Sebulba that he won as a kid, so there’s certainly a fair amount of popularity in the sport at the time. (ETA:  Upon further poking at the materials, this may not be from the podrace Anakin won as a kid, as Ben Quadinaros continued to race for another 10 years after his appearance in The Phantom Menace and his “rivalry” with Sebulba was played up afterwards.) We know from Master & Apprentice that Jedi likely often watched podraces, too, so it’s pretty common in the GFFA:

But it was an obsession not unlike those of other Padawans [Qui-Gon’s] age—who would review lightsaber holos for hours on end, or follow their favorite racer pilots and boast in any victories. Qui-Gon never spoke of it, not out of any sense of shame or wrongdoing, only because Rael had suggested Master Dooku’s opinions about the prophecies and mystics were complicated.      --Master and Apprentice

We don’t know how popular podracing still was by the time Luke was growing up, if people still talked about a race from 30+ years ago, or if the Hutts covered it up because they didn’t want it known that a human (a human slave at that, especially one who won his freedom through it) could win the race, but it wouldn’t be impossible! Owen, Beru, and Luke also live fairly far away from Mos Espa, where the podrace took place (I think it’s something like 300km/180 miles away), as well as it happened quite some time ago, so it wouldn’t have been too hard to keep that info from Luke if they were careful or if the Hutts covered it up, but it would be interesting if Luke ever went to Mos Espa (though, that’s doubtful, the Larses went to Anchorhead to get their supplies, they probably knew to stay away from Mos Espa if they didn’t want to tell Luke about Anakin), but it would be an absolutely fascinating thing to explore, just how much cultural impact a human winning the race like that would have, if Anakin’s name was known on Tatooine after that or if it was covered up because nobody wanted anyone else getting any big ideas. I mean, Anakin’s poster doesn’t even have himself on it, it’s Sebulba and  Ben Quadinaros, it seems reasonable that there wasn’t a post-podrace poster for him to get hold of instead, that would have had his face on it. BUT I’D LOVE TO SEE THIS EXPLORED.  :D

[ahsokryze]

I wish there was a Clone Wars podrace episode where Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka somehow “accidentally” end up entering a podrace.

“accidentally” meaning that Anakin totally didn’t just sign up for a podrace after he found a cool podracer and bought it for a relatively good price while they were walking around a market during a mission while they had some free time.

Anakin walks over to Ahsoka and shows her the new podracer that he just bought, and Ahsoka thinks it’s the coolest thing ever, so they start fixing it up and about half an hour later, Obi-Wan comes back from wandering around the market, to see Anakin sitting in a podracer with Ahsoka.

Obi-Wan walks over to them and asks about why he just saw a certain Anakin Skywalker featured on the list of competitors for the Podrace going on that afternoon, and Anakin and Ahsoka act like that’s the craziest thing they’ve ever heard, while Obi-Wan just looks at them literally sitting in a podracer.

Anakin eventually admits that he may have somehow accidentally, totally not on purpose, maybe entered the podrace when he bought the podracer.

Obi-Wan tries to get Anakin to back out, but when he tries to take his name off the list, it turns out that Anakin’s not allowed to back out of the Podrace, so Obi-Wan ends up having to let Anakin do the podrace, even though they’re literally in the middle of a mission on important Jedi Business.

When Anakin’s getting ready to start the Podrace, it turns out that Sebulba and Ben Quadinaros are in the Podrace too, so when they hear the name Anakin Skywalker, they’re immediately like “Wait a minute, Anakin Skywalker?! that boy from Tattooine who beat us in the Boonta Eve, years ago?!” And Anakin just looks at them and says “Nice to see ya again, boys”.

At the start line, Anakin just keeps making funny comments, saying things like “better watch your stabiliser, Sebulba. It would be a shame if something happened to it...”

And when the race actually starts, Anakin stays in line with Quadinaros and Sebulba, and just starts talking to them in the middle of the race, saying “So, what have you guys been up to all these years? I know a lot has happened. It’s been what...over ten years? wow, that’s a long time...” and Sebulba and Quadinaros just keep trying to ignore him.

During the race, it’s basically just Anakin vs Sebulba vs Quadinaros, and everyone in the stands is intensely watching the three of them flying side by side, debating on who they think is gonna win, until Anakin eventually races ahead of Sebulba and Quadinaros, screaming “woohoo!”, while he has the time of his life flying his little podracer, winning the race.

After the race, once Obi-Wan and Ahsoka find Anakin, Obi-Wan asks him “did this race fulfill all of your podracing dreams?” and Anakin looks at him with this big smile and says “yeah. It was awesome!”

[sw5w]

May the Force Be With You

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 00:57:55

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Star Wars Alien Species - Toong

Toong'L was a planet located within the Toong'L system of the Outer Rim Territories and the homeworld of the Toong species.

The planet was hit by two comets in 45 BBY, and many of the survivors relocated to Tund and other planets. Others chose to rebuild on their homeworld under King Kikipi.

The planet was the headquarters of Toong'L Security Systems.

During the Yuuzhan Vong War, the Yuuzhan Vong established a yammosk outpost on the planet, in preparation for the Defense of Mon Calamari.

The species was barely beginning their first steps toward exploring their home system when they were discovered by the Galactic Republic. The appearance of other sentient life, with technology far more advanced than their own, threw the Toong homeworld into utter chaos. As a result, a world war triggered. This came as a shock to the first contact specialist who had observed the species and documented them as being peace-loving and outgoing. It took weeks to re-establish contact with the Toong. It took the intervention of the Jedi and the first contact specialist from Coruscant to stop the massive warfare that was threatening to doom the species.

After joining the Old Republic, the Toong began rapidly advancing their technology. Reluctantly leaving their own system, the Toong scattered colonies throughout the galaxy. Perhaps the most famous of these was Ben Quadinaros. As a podracer pilot, he competed primarily in the Pouffra Circuit but he also had one disappointing attempt at the Boonta Eve Classic.

Toong exhibited severe nervousness and agoraphobia. Weak-willed and frightened of confrontation, Toong almost always gave in to an aggressor when threatened. Toong only truly felt safe when around immediate family. They, however, were not cowards; they simply dreaded interaction with other sentient creatures.

The Toong had long gangly legs, no neck, and bulbous bodies. Their eyes were high on their pointed forehead, and their cheeks were jowled. Toong could store food in their cheeks, much like the rodents they were assumed to have evolved from.

Adult Toong stand between 1.6 and 2.4 meters or 5.2 and 7.9 feet tall.

Toongs age at the following stages:

1 - 11 Child

12 - 19 Young Adult

20 - 48 Adult

49 - 72 Middle Age

73 - 97 Old

Examples of Names: Ben Quadinaros, Derble Fonkin, Glef Wonkitz, Hyke Waulkon, Tigona Minamore.

Languages: Toong speak and read Toongese. When forced into a confrontation with unfamiliar beings, a Toong frequently stutters nervously.

[askbensolo]

Per the poetry reading, some of the best advice I've heard is "do it scared"

Definitely beats never doing the things you love and then living with what ifs. If you find you love it then heck yeah! And you find you don't want to read it to anyone else outloud afterwards then hey great! You figured out more of what you actually do and don't want to do!

Best way to make a good life is to let life itself shape and whittle you into the best shape for you, throw yourself into the rock tumbler of life and see how it makes you shine 👍✨️

Yoooo thanks for the advice! I went! And I dragged Poe with me. Because that's what he gets for making me go to that BB unit meetup with him. Worst experience of my life—fifteen BB droids all rolling around and sniffing each other's charging ports, or whatever the hell they do, and a bunch of over-enthusiastic droid owners gushing about their sweet little metal babies—horrible.

I think he took me because I showed him the results of that poll I made you guys do. He was unconvinced, and merely stated that he doesn't want to know what holonet circles I run in. And now he's made it his personal mission to make me a droid guy. Which I will—mark my words—never be.

So—anyway! The poetry meet!

It was pretty chill. There were only two people there that I immediately judged to be pretentious artsy bastards, and one of them was me. So...ya know. I've been feeling pretty ✨stressed✨ the past couple days, so it was good to go out and do something, even if I was kinda nervous at first.

I shared a couple of poems I had written about my parents a long time ago. One about my mom, and one about my dad. (AKA, some of my only works that aren't just massive explosions of angst.)

The only problem with that was that it exposed me as The Organa-Solo Kid™, which I make every effort not to be, now that I've flown the nest. I usually introduce myself to people as Ben Quadinaros (except for legal stuff, obviously). No one seems to know who that is—unfortunate for the galaxy's greatest Toong podracer with a most untimely end, but, fortunate for me, I guess. But my selected poems, which were very my mom and very my dad, were kind of a dead giveaway.

"Hold on. Aren't you Ben Solo?" this one Gungan girl asked.

I stared at her with a really dumb look on my face (a look I happen to have perfected). "I don't know who that is," I said.

"Wait, you're Ben Solo!" said the Rodian guy with the beret (the other insufferable prick in the room, besides me).

"Ew," I said. "I am so offended right now. That is literally an insult."

And then Poe started backing me up, only, like—badly. "Nah, I grew up with this guy," he said, patting me on the back. "His mom's name is—uh—Schmeia Schmorgana."

"Nice," I whispered.

"Thanks, Solo."

"Bruh—"

Well...I don't think the group bought it. Obviously. But, I think Poe and I made things awkward enough for everyone, that they all figured it just wasn't worth pressing the issue.

So...yeah! 10/10, would go again!

[chongoblog]

Top 5 podracers? Ben Quadinaros will always hold a special place in my heart.

1. Mars Guo

2. Gasgano

3. Neva Kee

4. Ben Quadrinaros (I got taste, don’t worry)

5. Ratts Tyrell

[luke-shywalker]

Star Wars Fun Fact #153: Han Solo and Leia Organa did not name their son Ben after Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi, as most people presume. Rather, they named their firstborn child in reverence of Ben Quadinaros, the esteemed Toong podracer who participated in the Boonta Eve Classic in 32 BBY.