#No one cared about qui-gon or xanatos

[spectres-fulcrum]

This whole they changed Ki-Adi's age!!! Outrage is so performative and you cannot change my mind on this.

This age is of a minor character with an estimated birth year on a trading card that's 20 years old and decidely non canon(And these TPM adjacent sources are also not at all remotely canon). And a man the vast majority of people has hated for decades? You want me to believe you care about that?

Like where was a fraction of this anger when Qui-Gon's birth year was changed? An actual main character? There was silence.

Where was the outcry when his earlier apprentices-namely Xanatos- were written out of ever being pulled to canon? Major character defining stories were ripped away. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon lost so much. Obi-Wan lost lineage brothers. The disaster lineage will never be complete and I loathe everyone who thinks it is(Not really).

My heart screamed. But no one heard a thing. But guess what. I don't really care what the fuck Disney does because they're canon in my heart. Disney can really do whatever the fuck they want and I can ignore them and retreat and I don't scream about it. I don't ruin it for the people who dare to just vibe. My followers will know if I'm not feeling something but that's it.

And this is not a slight against Ki-Adi. I like him. I knew his age. In my mind he grew up friends with Tahl, Qui-Gon, and Clee. In my mind his apprentice(an oc) had a youngling best friends to unspoken romantic relationship with Xanatos in true Jedi Apprentice style and grew up to be a healer at the Temple.

The fandom hates a queer woman in charge. They hate her decisions. The second they announced her, these people decided whatever she produced was going to be horrible and they were going to nitpick everything she did because she was a queer woman. This fandom never, for a second, was willing to give it a chance. And thus this temper tantrum.

BTW: If you don't know any of these names(Xanatos, Clee, Tahl, add in Bant, Siri, Garen, Didi and Astri Oddo), fuck off about Ki-Adi's birth year.

(And if you ask my opinion: Canon is fun, if I like it I might try to include it in my headcanons. But at the end of the day it doesn't mess with my headcanons. Qui-Gon and Ki-Adi-Mundi were both born ca. 90 BBY. Xan and Miria were their apprentices in the 50s. Jude Watson is my holy bible when it comes to Star Wars. In my head, Xan and Obi-Wan are dating during TPM and Xanatos met Anakin on the landing platform right before the Return to Naboo and had a vision of the purge and Qui-Gon asked him if the dark Jedi ever heard whispers of the Sith returning.

But I respect canon for what it is on paper. If this is worth keeping in my headcanon(Which might be good fuel for rumors Xanatos knows from his dark years...), that dude is some random guy of Ki-Adi's species and it. hurts. nothing)

[comebackali]

with everything else going on in master & apprentice i literally FORGOT about qui gon saying, word for word, "oh, obi wan you're so mature for your age i forget you're only seventeen." multiple times in this book but HOLY SHIT i cannot believe they canonized that. that man is one insane giant walking red flag.

[padawansuggest]

AU where Jango lives and somehow Jango and Dooku manage to get a hold of Obi-Wan at the same time and for once Jango is torn on who to go for first, arguably, Obi-Wan is the better target, seeing as Obi is less likely to hurt his son if he manages to win their fight and will likely drop Boba off with a more pandering adult to take care of him, but Dooku is Right There and he would very much like to murder him, but who knows if Obi-Wan’s family instincts will kick in and protect his ba’buir. But then. Dooku. Is just standing there. Vibrating at a frequency so high he’s almost able to perceive Qui-Gon in the force through that alone, 17 caffs into a binge on day 5 away with an annoying ghost son in his ear threatening that if he hurts Obi-Wan in any way whatsoever the first thing Qui-Gon is doing when he dies is punching him in the face and no he can’t hurt the baby clone either might as well just take a step back from this situation as a whole cause it’s not gonna go good, so, being the smart man Dooku is, Dooku just sorta shrugs (in the force, he’s so tense rn he couldn’t shrug if he tried) and proceeds to kidnap all three of them (confused preteen Boba is confused but relatively okay lmao) and that’s how Obi-Wan and Jango wake up locked inside a lovely set of ‘guest quarters’ in the Count’s palace with Boba and now they have to cohabitate with Dooku occasionally coming in to cry about how perfectly stupid Qui-Gon was as a small child and how he’d bitten So Many People and Qui-Gon says Obi-Wan bit even more as a kid than he did and Jango is just sitting here listening to a (tired??? Drunk???? Unsober. We’re calling that Unsober) Dooku cry about how perfectly feral his kids were and how most of their family is DEAD and it’s always falling to the dark side that does them in and Komari was ferally adorable as a wee one and Xanatos had been the bubbliest lil boy before Qui-Gon spoiled him too much and now Obi-Wan is somehow the most sunshine of their lineage while Obi-Wan looks on in horror at his childhood being spilled like this before mentioning that maybe Grandmaster should take a nap only to be picked up by said grandmaster and cried on because ‘he called me grandmaster! Fett did you hear that the sunshine baby called me Grandmaster!’ And Jango is like ‘god I wish I had a camera this could be so much blackmail’ and then finally Jango and Obi manage to escape with a still confused Boba (it’s his natural state) and make their way back to a very annoyed 212th where Jango is all ‘listen. I’ve thought about it. And I’ve decided I’m marrying Kenobi.’ And Obi is like ‘you are???? Why???’ ‘According to your ba’buir you’re the only good one’ and now Cody and Waxer and Boil are staging a ‘YOURE NOT MY DAD’ protesting fit and Obi-Wan is so confused at this turn of situation. Wtf.

[tennessoui]

If you don’t mind Miss Kit, here’s a little morning AU Pitch:

In a galaxy where the Padawans aren’t allowed to become a knight without the getting the explicit OK from their Master, Obi-Wan has reached the ripe age of 25, becoming the oldest Padawan in the Order after getting denied YET again by Qui-Gon to become a Knight. (Reasons can be he either really doesn’t think Obi-Wans ready or he’s still scarred about his last failed apprentice (Xanatos)) On the cusp of the Clone Wars, his Master dies, leaving him a Masterless AND still a Padawan. The Council has thought he was ready since he was 23(or whatever), but could do nothing since Qui-Gon said no.

However, there is a freshly knighted Anakin Skywalker walking around who is in desperate need of a friend/guidance/partner and whose Master also conveniently just died. With the War just about to kick off, and frankly having little to no options when it comes to people who want an adult Padawan, they decide that the two are perfect for another. r(also they have to actually TRY and see why Qui-Gon wouldn’t let him become knighted, and actually let someone bond to investigate)

Not only will they be able to help each other past their grief while also (hopefully) becoming friends, but it’s not like Skywalker will want a 25 yr old Padawan following him around like a puppy for long. He’ll probably graduate Obi-Wan before the end of the day. Three birds with one stone; they’ll get another knight, Skywalker will get a friend, and Obi-Wan can finally stop having nightmares of still being a Padawan at 40. It’s perfect.

The only problem is it’s Anakin. And he’s had a crush on Obi-Wan since he was 9yrs old. With the Clone Wars about to start, why would he ever want Obi-Wan anywhere but by his side? And besides, now Obi-Wan will HAVE to notice him now. Will have to do what he says, listen to his commands, always look at him first for permission, call him MASTER…yeah, there’s no way he’s letting THAT go anytime soon.

That’s it! Anyways, thought it was cool idea that I saw in twt. Could be fluffy, could be dead dove or just dark or anything really. Like how funny would it be that Obi-Wan here, who is not only older, but calmer, and more level headed, leads a negotiation only to turn around and say ‘what do you think Master?’ The power trip Anakin would get is god tier lol

It’s been eating a t my brain a while now, and I wanted to see what other people thought of it lol

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Oh this is an interesting take! A master who is younger and by a few years and already has that crush on padawan obi-wan—who is no doubt grieving his dead master and also nursing a hurt and anger that he hasn’t been knighted yet

love the idea of the Council being like yeah knight Skywalker has been doing a lot of unhinged things he probably won’t want an older padawan dragging him down so he’s gonna knight him soon and we can take care of this oversight by the books

and anakin is like this is my padawan and childhood crush and love of my life and his name is obi-wan and I am never gonna let him go thank you for legally binding us together 💛

[antianakin]

People know that Qui-Gon's "repudiation" of Feemor is COMPLETELY fanon, right? Like please tell me people know that that's not canon.

I mean, Feemor himself isn't canon anyway, the ONE THING he's actually appeared in was a comic from 2011 about Xanatos where he appears for TWO PAGES. All we learn is that he's Qui-Gon's Padawan from before Xanatos and that he was the son of a farmer and he seems relatively nice and polite. He and Qui-Gon seem to have a fairly positive relationship and one that's continued beyond Feemor's Knighting, including Qui-Gon asking Feemor to help him train his current padawan. Setting aside the weird timeline problems introduced by Feemor existing at all, the character is clearly there just to showcase Xanatos being a classist asshole and not much else.

That's ALL WE KNOW about Feemor within what little exists for him and he's not even a canon character to begin with. But the whole "repudiation" thing only exists because the writer of the comic, Scott Allie, presumably didn't consider that adding in another padawan before Xanatos would make some of the stuff Qui-Gon says (and doesn't say) in Jedi Apprentice seem really weird. For example, I'm pretty sure Qui-Gon explicitly claims Xanatos was his first padawan, which is a very strange thing to say if Feemor exists. And it makes his massive depression about Xanatos a little more questionable when he HAS an entire other padawan who was successfully trained to knighthood and seems like a perfect example of a Jedi.

I also just think it's kind-of in bad faith to assume that it's in character for Qui-Gon to have done something like this to someone he seems to care about. It's one thing for Qui-Gon to reject taking on a NEW padawan, that's a massive commitment that he's being asked to take on and one he clearly does not feel ready for and the person involved is a total stranger to him so he loses very little by saying no to Obi-Wan. It's a whole different thing for Qui-Gon to reject a FORMER padawan, what does this accomplish? It's not like he's still actively training Feemor, there's nothing being asked of him in this relationship that's a massive commitment on his part. We also don't see him completely reject any of his OTHER relationships from before Xanatos like Tahl or Yoda. And even with Obi-Wan, we see Qui-Gon do his best to let Obi-Wan down gently during the multiple times Obi-Wan tries asking Qui-Gon to accept him as an apprentice, Qui-Gon comes to Obi-Wan's rescue more than once, and he clearly does CARE about Obi-Wan's wellbeing despite how little time they've known each other and Obi-Wan's constant begging for something Qui-Gon has already said no to. So even at his WORST, it still doesn't suggest such a lack of care that he'd literally reject any and all association with a former Padawan he clearly cares about.

So for anyone using "what he did to Feemor" as a reason for why Qui-Gon sucks or is a bad master, please stop. It's not real, it's just fanon, and it's not even an accurate interpretation of the character.

[itstimeforstarwars]

For the wip title game, the Bacta War oneshot and/or Faramir and Feemor? 💜

The Bacta War Oneshot

Takes place directly after Three Jedi. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan get involved in the Stark-Hyperspace War (also known as the Bacta War). Obi-Wan meets Quinlan, and it goes great! Savage shows up and meets Quinlan, it does not go so great. This one may or may not end up being in the canon One Hundred Hours series, depending on what I end up doing with Savage in the last few chapters.

"Why are you so hostile towards our other padawan?" Master Koon asked.

"Quinlan Vos--" Savage spat.

But he swallowed whatever he was going to say, clenching his fists and sending a hateful glare at Quinlan, who glanced up, clearly feeling the ill-will.

Savage growled slightly.

"He is irrelevant to this situation," Savage gritted out. "I will not harm him while I am here."

Faramir and Feemor

This one is a crossover with Lord of the Rings lmao. Feemor, Xanatos, and Qui-Gon end up getting teleported to Middle Earth. They don't speak the language, except for a very tiny bit of Elvish that Feemor knows from being a nerd about an obscure fantasy opera called The Tragedy of Arwen Evenstar. Feemor ends up alone, and is found by Faramir, who is trying to decide if he's a spy or not. Xanatos and Qui-Gon end up with the Fellowship. Qui-Gon and Gandalf are delighted with each other. Xanatos is not having a good time, but Pippin is trying his best anyway. Feemor quickly finds out that he does not care for horses at all, which sucks, because he's about to be on horses a lot for the forseeable future. Qui-Gon gets a warg. Eowyn gets a lightsaber.

@thefoundationproject was the one who convinced me into starting this fic, and one day I will actually finish it. I've been working on it for four years but. the key point is that I am working on it lmao.

[purple-ant]

Poison

The beam of light from the funeral pyre thins, and Jedi slowly leave the hall. Everyone is silent. Only Rael asks to be left alone with the cooling ashes. Dooku closes the doors as quietly as possible, not taking his eyes off the hunched shoulders of his old Padawan until the last moment. The shell of Nim's lightsaber burned down along with her, but the heart of the blade - the kyber - is held tightly by Rael in his hands.

The narrow corridor is not filled with Jedi for long. It is late, the Padawans are already dozing in the arms of their Masters, exhausted beyond their years with grief for their friend. Dooku does not move far from the door, he stops near the stained glass window, his hood pulled up mourning. The funeral floor is too low for sunlight, so soft lanterns behind colored glass are the only thing that disperses the darkness.

The initial disbelief and shock have passed, and Dooku feels empty. Death is never fair, it does not choose, and there are no other reasons for it other than human greed... But still, Dooku wants to helplessly ask. Why Nim? Why, of all the lights of the Galaxy, was this one, young and untouched, extinguished?

Dooku feels old.

“I didn’t expect you to come,” Qui-Gon’s voice sounds in the solemn silence, Dooku does not take his devastated gaze from the stained glass window. There is no image, a simple familiar pattern of circles and straight lines.

“I barely made it,” he admits. The flight to the Temple seems short, wild and at the same time a blurry moment to him: one second he ends negotiations and receives a ragged, stumbling message from Rael, and the next he is breaking through Coruscant traffic. “She was my grandpadawan.”

Was.

Qui-Gon gives a low chuckle and Dooku blinks, finally turning his head to look at his old Padawan. The young man's gaze is gloomy, and the dim light does not smooth out the heavy wrinkles that have appeared on his face in recent months.

“Is there something wrong?”

All wrong. Nim is dead. The child is dead, killed, and his first Padawan is broken with grief and guilt.

“I didn’t know you cared about your grandpadawans,” Qui-Gon answers defiantly. “It’s not like you care about Xanatos.”

For a second, Dooku is sure that he heard wrong. An auditory hallucination caused by nervous exhaustion is not something he experiences often, but... The silence rings.

“What?” he asks anyway, giving Qui-Gon a chance to think carefully about his next words.

“You weren't so concerned when Xanatos left,” Qui-Gon repeats, and the emptiness inside Dooku flares with cold anger. He can feel the flashes trailing behind the billowing flaps of his cloak as he whirls around to face his second Padawan.

“Do you dare,” he mutters through clenched teeth, “to compare this boy’s selfish flight with Nim’s death?”

“The Council should not have sent him on that mission!” Qui-Gon puts forward the usual argument. “At least this time they listened to common sense,” his gaze slides to the locked doors.

The Council is going to investigate this mission in a special manner, considering that Rael's actions lead to Nim's death. They were given time for the funeral and mourning, but nothing more.

“Do you... agree with them?” Dooku can hardly believe it. Rael has supported Qui-Gon since he became Dooku's Padawan, the boys were like brothers, and yet Qui-Gon looks into his eyes without doubt.

“Yes. You yourself noted that Rael loves battles more than a Jedi should. Apparently Padawan Pianna was the one who paid for this…”

“Silence!”

The word, the order, echoes down the corridor like a clap of thunder, and Qui-Gon falls silent. His eyes widen in shock for a second, and then narrow, as if he has confirmed something. Dooku had hoped never to feel this way about his Padawans, his lineage, but his fingertips tingle with cold, furious energy, and he presses his hand closer to his body, clenching his fists.

“It’s time for you to let this go, Qui-Gon,” Dooku bites every word. “And if you cannot do this, then keep your poison to yourself, and do not turn it against Rael. He doesn't need it now.”

“This is not poison, Dooku, this is the truth that you do not want to see because of your attachment! Why is it that when I lose a padawan everyone turns away, but when Rael kills-”

The blow is short and not very good, it reverberates with pain in Dooku’s tightly clenched hand, his nails digging into his palm. For a moment he thinks he has done more damage to himself than to the Master in front of him, but Qui-Gon stumbles back, clutching his nose.

Two ragged breaths drown in the ensuing silence. Slowly, Qui-Gon moves his hands away from his face and looks at the blood staining his fingers, black in the twilight, then the disbelieving gaze of his blue eyes turns to Dooku.

“I knew it.”

“Get out of my sight.”

“The Force will judge,” Qui-Gon leaves the last word and departs. Slowly Dooku unclenches his fists. The emptiness returns even heavier than before.

He returns to the entrance to the hall, unable to stand still any longer. He would never have thought that Qui-Gon would say something like that. Where did Dooku go wrong?

The faded presence of his first Padawan is closer than Dooku expects, and as he opens the heavy doors he is instantly confronted with an ashen, dark gaze.

“Rael...” Dooku isn’t sure what he’s going to say.

“No need,” the prematurely aged Jedi shakes his head too quickly, “...in the end, he’s right.”

[willowcrowned]

Hey, do you remember the illegal carp farming AU?

So, after you asked for ideas for may the 4th (yeah i know you got one already) i was thinking of how to make the carp farming Au into canon-verse AU

Primordial rule of the Canon Carp Cartel AU: Everything about Qui Gon Jinn has to be explained via the carp theory.

WHy didn't he take obi wan at first/said he didn't take new padawans? He knew they would find out about the carp operation and couldn't risk it

Why did he take anakin? The prophecy. but the reason no jedi cares about it is bc it is a carp prophecy and not a jedi one. the prophecy is right bc darth vader incidentally kills all carp farmers in the known universe, bringing balance to the carp force

Xanatos? Didn't actually fall. He faked it bc his jedi work was taking too much time and he wanted to spend more time on the farm

the reason that one person offers obi one death sticks? death sticks are slang for fried fish sticks and obi wan has the smell of someone involved in the underground carping business

as always—barring the times you live up to your url—you’re a genius

[dragormir]

Count Dooku, pt. 1

Mirjahaal Master Post

Dooku had often wondered, in his life, who would be the first of his lineage to die. Master Yoda had, of course, always been at the top of his list. He dearly loved his master, even if he claimed in public that he had distanced himself from both the Order and his lineage, but Yoda was ancient. He was easily as old as the cursed Reformation that had doomed the Jedi to a life of slavery and deprivation. If Yoda had passed into the Force while Dooku was on Serenno, he would have felt it, mourned, and moved on because he had accepted that the ancient Force wielder would die of old age - if the Force were ever brave enough to confront his awful glimmer stick, of course. 

To receive the news that it was his own beloved Padawan taken from him.... Dooku buried his face in his hands, willing his breathing to remain even as the Galactic Senate's representative droned on about the tragedy of Qui-Gon's demise and how surely this would bring Dooku back into the Senate's embrace so they could ensure he received the care his lineage would need in this trying time.... 

"That is enough," Dooku snapped, sharper than he had intended. It shut up the Senate's lapdog, though. "I have no more desire to hear of some failure from a lineage I have left. Tell the Senate not to bother me about this again." He cut the call off with an irritated wave of his hand, counted to twelve, and let out a harsh sob.

He and Qui-Gon had never been able to see entirely eye to eye, but he had raised that boy from childhood, had trained him and loved him and protected him as best he could from the Republic's cruelest actions. Qui-Gon was the son he had been denied by the Reformation and the Senate, the son he had never been able to cherish and care for as he ought to. And now his boy was dead.

He'd thrown himself from one of the spires, and Dooku could only guess as to his Padawan's thought process. He cursed his stupid, foolish, big-hearted boy for doing such a thing as he felt his heart shatter. Qui-Gon had left behind three Padawan of his own - one was a Master in his own right, and worked as an archivist. Feemor's heart had always been set on guarding the Temple, something the Force had called him to - but, like Qui-Gon's desire to explore and help people, and Dooku's own drive to excel at everything, from sabers to diplomacy, he had been denied his heart's calling. Then there was that spoiled little bastard, Xanatos, whom Qui-Gon had taken on out of pity, if only because no one else wanted to touch such a poisonous little toad. He had the protection of a powerful family, and one that was bizarrely delighted over the idea that one of their children was a Jedi. Either they were all brain-damaged, or Dooku was going to find blackmail in his biological father's archives about that family that would require bleach to wash away. 

And then there was little Obi-Wan. Not so little now, of course. Dooku had last seen him as a small boy, recently arrived from Stewjon. His own parents had tried to drown him - a mercy, of course, and one Dooku had guiltily wished they had been able to grant the sweet little boy more than once - and he had been terrified of water and bathing. Qui-Gon had taken him on as well, to Xanatos' intense disgust, and, for a time, Dooku had allowed himself to think that perhaps the Senate would just....leave them all alone.

Then Senator Valorum had discovered the little Padawan, and Dooku's world had shattered. Qui-Gon had been inconsolable when the Senate Guard had arrived to take his newest Padawan away, and even that little prick Xanatos had been in shock. Obi-Wan's return several hours later with pockets full of candies and several new stuffed toys, proclaiming that all the nice senator had wanted was to have Obi-Wan sit with him while he did paperwork, had failed to reassure any of them. 

Dooku cursed softly and reached blindly for the decanter on his desk, pulling the crystal stopper out with a little more force than necessary and, without bothering to reach for a cup, drank straight from the bottle. 

Qui-Gon had become overbearingly protective of his two Padawan after that. Dooku's escape years ago hadn't helped matters, and with his recent consolidation of power on Serenno - and, more importantly, over their hyperlane nexus - he was sure the Senate was incensed. Sith Hells, they had been furious. His majordomo had reported that his entire lineage, sans Master Yoda, had been doing some sort of "apology ritual" in the Senate rotunda for a fucking tennday. Dooku knew what that meant - kneeling on grains of rice or fine gravel until the Senate said you could stand, and Force gods but his own knees still ached from the one time he'd been forced to do that - and now.... 

His Padawan must have done something to anger the Senate. Dooku drank deeply from the decanter, not caring that the brandy was spilling down his neck as he drank. Perhaps not anger. No, Qui-Gon would tapdance on a Senator's grave and smile the whole time, uncaring of the consequences. 

No, Qui-Gon had done this in an effort to protect him. 

And Dooku could do nothing to aid the Jedi left behind.

[mayxthexforce]

🗣️ / Random Opinion

Send 🗣️ and I'll share a random opinion I have about something

Qui-Gon was a neglectful master. He was not the worst master out there (that spot will always be Palpatine's), but he was not a good master and Anakin would have SUFFERED as his Padawan.

Chronologically: he allowed Xanatos to become a classist piece of shit by doing nothing to discipline him, not even when Xanatos mocked people for not having noble blood like him right in front of Qui-Gon; he disowned Feemor because of Xanatos leaving the order to become a classist piece of shit, he was literally certain that the reason why Yoda paired him and Obi-Wan up was because if he did, then the only way Obi-Wan would have to rebel against Qui-Gon was to become the more mature of the two; and then he went and took Anakin, who he told the chosen one thing to which I fully believe was one of his dumbest decisions because THAT'S NOT A WAY TO RAISE A KID TO CONSIDER HIMSELF EQUAL TO OTHER PEOPLE, QUI-GON, THAT'S ONE OF THE (many) REASONS WHY WE GOT XANATOS 2.0 WHO ACTUALLY SUCCEEDED AT MURDERING EVERYONE AT THE JEDI TEMPLE. Also, Obi-Wan literally had to spend time enslaved because Qui-Gon didn't take him as a Padawan at first, claiming he didn't want any more padawans even though he knew he was Obi-Wan's last chance not to get sent to the AgriCorps, which would force Obi-Wan to leave the only home he'd ever known.But he takes Anakin as his Padawan no question, without a care for the fact Jedi are supposed to get padawans based on the child's needs, not on who wants to be their master, and against the council's wishes just cause he BELIEVED (cause let's remember he didn't live to see any confirmation of it) Anakin to be the chosen one.

[rainintheevening]

Deepest thoughts about your favorite Star Wars ship? Favorite meta/symbolism/all that cool writer stuff we don't always get to talk to readers about about your favorite WIP?

Ooh, fun reason to break from writing a super emotional scene with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan where [redacted].

But man, what even is my favourite Star Wars ship?? Kind of a toss-up between Anidala and my own QuiRae. There's also Ben and Rey in my sequels rewrite. And of course Han and Leia.

I confess I don't have very many 'deep' thoughts about Anakin and Padmé. I love them, they make me sad, and I want to give them so much joy and happiness in my fics. I've barely written about them yet, so I've got a lot of deep thinking ahead of me still.

Qui-Gon and Rae-Lin now! I think about them a lot! In my Promises of Fools au, Qui-Gon meets her after the debacle with Xanatos, when he's wandering around the galaxy, questioning everything about himself. She is the dew-drenched dawn, sunlight slipping through clouds until the sky clears, and morning comes after a long dark night. She awakens him to hope and joy and life and possibility again. To her, he is a wounded lion, strange and a little wild, but longing for someone to speak tenderly to him and care for his heart, as he in turn wants someone to care for and protect. She pulls down his walls, stone by stone, and he lifts her up, step by step. She makes him laugh again, and he calls her beautiful. After Obi-Wan is born, it amazes her how much stronger and protective and warmer he gets, overnight! And he marvels at how impossibly deeper her capacity for tenderness and empathy can go.

I like to think that she gets frustrated with how chill he usually is, when she's all fired up about something, but if she were truly honest with herself, she knows she never wants to see her lion man truly angry. That would be terrifying.

Now, good gravy, Adi, how am I supposed to pick a favourite thing about one of my stories? There's a bunch of Broken Constellations stuff I don't want to go public with yet (spoilers), I've already talked about how it was originally inspired by the poem 'The Hound of Heaven', I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that 'Starlight' by STARSET is The Song for BC...

Hmmm, does anyone want my essay on the heart of Star Wars being the imagery of dark=fear vs light=love, and the 'accidental Christianity' of it all?

(I mean, I'm supposed to be working on After All rn, but I had a new revelation that ties into that the other day, and it's a huge part of why I'm so in love with Star Wars.)

[spectres-fulcrum]

I was listening for Folklore while it was raining on the drive home(my mom was driving) and Obi-Wan is Mirrorball("I've never been a natural all I do is try try try", "hush I know they said the end was near, but", "I can change everything about me to fit in", "I'm still a believer and I don't know why") and Xanatos is This is Me Trying("I had the shiniest wheels, now they're rusting", "I could've followed my fears all the way down" "I didn't know if you'd care if I came back", "My words shoot to kill when I'm mad", "I was so ahead of the curve the curve became a sphere.") and Qui-Gon-

Qui-Gon's faithless love is the only Hoax they believed in after he betrayed them(Xan on the Telos mission, Obi-Wan when he carelessly tossed him aside for Anakin)("stood on the cliffside screaming give me a reason", ""You knew the hero died so what's the movie for?", "My only one, My kingdom come undone", "You knew it still hurt underneath my scars from when they pulled me apart but what you did was just as dark.)

Just. Pain. Xanatos being the gifted and talented child and Obi-Wan worked for every crumb of acknowledgment and both got shafted in the end :( Before the TCW disaster lineage trio we had this disaster lineage trio.

(Also I had to go to an out of town funeral today so my brain is cooked from waking up over two hours early so that is literally all I can handle analysis wise. Everything's fine tho! No one I was super close to. My dad's cousin's husband. We used to go to woodworking shows he had booths at pre-covid so I had good memories of him and his wife so I wanted to pay my respects)

[kenobster]

For the ask game: 1, 2, & 10!

Your Pal's Star Wars Ask Game

OOOOH these are good ones, thanks anon!

1. Qui-Gon Jinn: love or hate? Discuss.

I very passionately could not care less. He's boring! I don't love or hate, I'm boooored. But that's a terrible answer, so let's go through every single Qui-Gon subject I could possibly have feelings on and describe why I don't.

(Oh boy this list became extremely rude but shit fam, I'm being asked my personal opinion lol. What else am I supposed to do?)

Phantom Menace? Meh. He's the mystical wise type... but Yoda does it better. He's the seemingly disciplined and empathetic role model/teacher, both as Anakin's male!parental figure and as a Padawan's Jedi Master, but... Obi-Wan does that better. He's a rebel, a rule breaker; he doesn't follow the Jedi code perfectly (and, as a result of George Lucas's whiteness, is a little bit racist), but... Anakin does that better worse. Apparently ppl were mad at him for using his final words to ask Obi-Wan to train the Boy, instead of saying "I love you" or something... but I snored through that scene until Obi-Wan's Sith-slaughter woke me up... so unfortunately I didn't hear any of that shit. 🤷‍♀️

Jude Watson? I skip his POV lol. No seriously, he's pretty boring, his internal conflicts are kinda kid-like, not very Jedi-Master-like, not even really very complicated or compelling. And maybe that'd be enough to hate him, but fandom's response to the series neutralizes my opinion in his defense. Re, first two books as an example, Qui-Gon was going about minding his own business when Yoda came along and tried to shove a child onto him -- him, a man who not only didn't want and wasn't ready for a new kid (after the old one became a freak), but also explicitly stated so to Yoda numerous times. Yoda did not take no for an answer. In fact, Yoda pretty much egged Obi-Wan on to pull the same guilt-tripping nonsense, despite Qui-Gon repeatedly saying to both of them stop, no, don't. And neither Yoda nor child listened. Luckily Obi-Wan grew on Qui-Gon so everything worked out in the end, but Qui-Gon didnt do shit wrong lol. It's not his fault Obi-Wan was being sent to the agricorp. It's not his fault Obi-Wan repeatedly disobeyed everyone's instructions and put himself into danger... or that Xanatos was a sadistic freak. And it's certainly not his fault that Yoda (in these books) lacked an understanding of consent and riled up an angsty Padawan into hoping falsely. The book may be boring af, especially Qui-Gon's character arc, but give the man a break, ffs. (And stop letting Tumblr gaslight you.)

Obi-Wan Kenobi show? Yeah Qui-Gon being someone his Padawan cried to abt his nightmares made Obi-Wan look suitably pathetic and sad, and I liked that a lot. But the second Qui-Gon appeared? Ugh. You just had to ruin Depressed!Obi-Wan for me, didn't ya? 🙄 I liked you better when you were playing hard to get.

Fanfiction? Ppl can do what they want and I support them. But I am tired of how Qui-Gon is either the villain or the saint and extremely two-dimensional. That's okay to have 2d characters! It really is! They serve a purpose! But this two-dimensional Jedi ain't for me. And honestly him being angelified is just as much of a dealbreaker to me as him being demonized. I like Messy. I like Trying Hard and Failing. I like Loving and Hurting and Hating and Loving. I like whatever Obi-Wan and Anakin got going on. Qui-Gon is boring and even worse, his presence in fic tends to make Obi-Wan into a two-dimensional victim, which drags Obi-Wan into boringville too. :(

Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray? Hmm, actually, this was some good shit. Would read again. Take notes, kids. This be how you write a Qui-Gon.

Anyway this is how I feel, and I can't help how I feel. So go enjoy your mystical, potentially abusive wildcard in peace. I won't stop you! ^_^

2. Pick a Padme outfit to be your signature look.

This one all the fucking way (and the ROTS version of this hairstyle too):

If I were in Star Wars, I'd exclusively put my hair in a bow. Also, it looks really cute on Padme specifically.

10. If you could pull a George Lucas and sneak into Disney plus and edit any Star Wars scene, what changes would you make?

I answered this question on a whim earlier, but you know what? I absolutely stand by it. Make Palpatine caress Anakin's face as he injects our favorite nineteen-year-old boy with Unwanted Sexual Sithcraft. That is the only correct scene revision.

[robinade]

From my WIP ask meme, thanks for asking @lttrsfrmlnrrgby!

Since I already talked about the Ted Lasso cozy mystery here, that gives me a chance to share about my Jedi Dooku story! :D

“See what you are up to, I do,” Yoda tells Dooku when he finally gives in and agrees to take tea with his former master.  “And what am I up to?” Dooku responds blandly, not budging an inch. Yoda’s quarters are extremely warm and humid; he’s dressed for the occasion in his thinnest robes and still feels sweat dripping down the small of his back. The whole space looks like a small grotto from the Room of a Thousand Fountains, given the way the furniture is scaled down to Yoda’s size and the plant life has been allowed to run amok over the past centuries.  There were a number of difficulties during Yoda’s training of Dooku, not the least of which was the half-year he lived with his master before requesting to be moved to the padawan dorms.  Yoda harrumphs before serving up the tea. The enjoyment of tea is one of the few things they do still have in common, though Yoda’s preferred blends would qualify as a poison if a human tried to drink some.  Dooku takes his human-safe cup with a nod and waits. For such a long-lived species, his former master could be remarkably impatient.  “Intended Obi-Wan to train with Qui-Gon, I did,” Yoda says with annoyance. “A good match, they are.”  Dooku nearly chokes on his tea. “Qui-Gon?”  “Bring him back to us, the boy would. Guaranteed, Qui-Gon’s return to the light,” Yoda says.  “Qui-Gon’s not in danger of falling,” Dooku says, exasperated, “just because he’s miserable and taking it out on everyone else.” He presses a knuckle to the spot between his eyebrows, feeling a headache start to build. “I recognize that humans and other short-lived species must seem equally young and inexperienced to you, but Kenobi is barely more than a child. He should be focusing on his studies, not managing his master’s mental well-being.” 

This fic leans heavily into legends territory. I have a lot of things I'm excited to write about in this story, including Dooku giving Qui-Gon a lecture about the proper care and feeding of a padawan after he and Obi-Wan rescue Qui-Gon and Bruck Chun from Xanatos. I don't plan on bashing QG but I dearly love to give him a hard time.

[phoenixyfriend]

Star Wars Omegaverse Recs

Here's a couple solid omegaverse fics. This list is shorter than most of the ones I write but Meh.

Stars are for my favorites.

⭐ The Rain Fell Already by @loosingmoreletters: variation on Jedi Indentured AU containing omegaverse. Xanatos is omega Qui-Gon's bio kid but nothing changes, depressing but poignant

House Call by @elthadriel: two idiots knot while on medication that requires no knotting because it can get stuck for literal hours. Kix has to help and he is very annoyed about it

Status Quo by @captainkirkk: (G-rated) Anakin responds to Obi-Wan in a "you are my dad" way and the clones are surprised pikachu about it

⭐ Temporary Like Achilles by @intermundia: standard-ish fuck-or-die scenario where both sides are like "I can't take advantage of you/I just took advantage of you" because of course they are. (This author has a lot of solid Obikin, but they have me blocked (no I don't know why) so I can't tag them.)

⭐ He Said Yes by @threebea: (G-rated) B!Quinlan and O!Obi-Wan get mated for Obi-Wan's safety, the nature of their relationship is unclear to basically everyone (romantic? qp? other? unclear)

venus flytrap by IntoThineHands: Sith!Obi, role reversal of trope standard (omega deliberately takes advantage of an alpha)

Bite of Caramel by @thewriterowl: A!Jango needs a date to the family reunion, asks O!Obi-Wan to accompany him

⭐ good things in threes by @galateagalvanized: Codywan accidental pregnancy after O!Obi-Wan's implant gets nullified by an overpowered EMP (along with Cody's brain chip)

all my roads lead back to you by @tennessoui: idiots to lovers comedy (modern au, Obi-Wan got pregnant in a one-night stand across the country with a bartender who kind of looked like Anakin, because he's in love with his roommate but can't come clean and so hooks up with guys who look like him, and Anakin is in love with Obi-Wan enough that he's decided to be the Dad Who Stepped Up to this kid because anything Obi-Wan makes is part of Obi-Wan and obviously deserving of adoration)

The Theory of Letting Go by @ifonlyweknewwhatiwasdoing: never a Jedi!Anakin, Padme dead of uterine rupture, Obi-Wan hormonally addled and insistent on taking care of the twins like they're his own

The Swan Serenade by @shatouto: heavily AU, Mando!Anakin and Jedi-but-more-like-real-world-monks!Obi. (Has the most adorable art in the end of chapter notes, btw)

For Safekeeping by @glimmerglanger: Sith O!Obi-Wan feels safe because of the army of clones, which is the first time he's felt safe enough to have a heat, ends up fucked by his army of betas

when the snow falls we will wrap ourselves in furs by @hornet394: the fic I reread that had me going "I want Rex with O!Anakin but being in character" because this is one of the few omegaverse Rexwalkers that hits that button for me (though it's technically Anakin/501st poly stuff)

⭐ Find a little stranger by @obimanletkenobi: Villain!Obidala, both alphas, find Anakin at an omega auction, decide to ask him to play surrogate for their child since they can't do it themselves (with the offer to drop him off on a random planet with a wiped memory and enough cash to start a new life as a free man if he doesn't want to get pregnant), followed by smut

Belonging by IronCannon: this is the OTHER solid omegaverse Rexwalker

⭐ Conceal Me by @himboskywalker: longfic that is VERY good imo and builds the tension incredibly. Anakin is an omega pretending to be an alpha (literally the only people alive that know he's omega are his mother and the midwife). Senator Obi-Wan is an alpha pretending to be a beta (for weird reasons relating to his parents being kind of insane). They get married for politics, suggested by Palpatine because he found out about Obi-Wan being an alpha but not about Anakin, and decided a forced alpha/alpha marriage was going to self-destruct and help destabilize the Republic further.

Both by @obimanletkenobi: Anakin is the omegaverse equivalent of intersex and this explores the ways he's fetishized and discriminated against by the culture around him.

Peachy the Series by @the-writing-mill: IDK what to say, if you want 15k of O!Obi-Wan getting absolutely railed by two alphas, this is the fic for you

⭐ Packed Together Like Test Tubes also by @the-writing-mill: Jangobi, forced on both sides. Neither of them wants to mate, but the Kaminoans are forcing the issue with synthetic pheromones. It takes several weeks to get to that point and they are both fighting it with every ounce of willpower they have.

⭐ [Only] Think of Me by @inferior-fairy: Empress Amidala and Emperor Kenobi need Anakin to not go off the rails again, but they need a reason for him to want to stay because they love him too much to force the issue (and make him hate them) with chains or the like. So they give him Babies.

⭐ unfortunately it seems I have written more by @gaily-daily: Look at me. LOOK at me. This is fucked up and ugly and horrible and awful and messy and triggering and so incredibly well written as a dawning horror situation. Dead Dove at its finest. It is incredibly good as a story, but it is also really bad, and you need to go in accepting that. Without details, it's messy/triggering in the GoT sense.

⭐ terribly inconvenient and incredibly terrific by @tennessoui: A classic "Anakin wants to do something he is in no way qualified for and then suffers the consequences for his idiocy" plot, very fun.

I can fill those places in your heart no else can by @pontah: modern au post-breakup revenge sex I guess???

Ba’jurir by @mockingjay34: Rex/Fives, explores the intersection of anti-clone bigotry and anti-omega sexism.

Out in the Corner of the Dark with You by kazmir: a 5+1 fic about Anakin giving Obi-Wan a bunch of soft things as courting gifts

instincts by amidnightlove: just some fun and funky 'cycles make people go a little feral' stuff

EDIT: I missed a bunch so there's a Part Two!

[tunglo]

SW Book Index - Jude Watson

 AKA overviews of what happens (that I care about... so anything Obikin-centric), and links to the bits I wanted to save because I thought they’d make good fic / meta material.

Jedi Apprentice - the adventures of Baby-Wan and Master Qui-Gon Jinn.

These are mostly just Obi-Wan angsting about what a terrible Padawan he is. Qui-Gon does little to help him deal with this, tbh, and there are many moments where you’re kind of left astounded the Jedi keep putting kids in his care..

★ Jedi Apprentice #2: The Dark Rival - May 1999. Obi-Wan is sent to Bandomeer to join the Agricorps. Qui-Gon’s former Padawan Xantaos arranges for his kidnap and he is forced into slavery before Qui-Gon saves him and reluctantly takes him on as his Padawan.

★ Jedi Apprentice #3: The Hidden Past - August 1999. The saga of the river stone begins!! They meet back up with Obi-Wan’s friend Guerra and help bring peace to Phindar, but not before Obi-Wan is almost mind-wiped. He manages to save his memories with the help of the river stone Qui-Gon Jinn gave him for his super special 13th Name Day that Qui-Gon had forgotten about until the last possible moment. 

★ Jedi Apprentice #4: The Mark of the Crown - October 1999. Qui-Gon goes off grid for a couple of weeks and leaves Obi-Wan to it. Even though his faith in Obi-Wan’s abilities is actually kind of limited and Obi-Wan makes no effort to hide how very much he doesn’t want to have to lie and sneak around for him… Then Obi-Wan thinks he makes a friend - but it turns out Qui-Gon’s suspicions were right and the other kid was a spy. :( 

★ Jedi Apprentice #5: The Defenders of the Dead - December 1999. On a mission to Melida/Daan Obi-Wan chooses to stay and fight for what he believes is right with a group of young rebels. Qui-Gon warns him that if he stays he will no longer be a Jedi but Obi-Wan responds:  "I have found something here more important than the Jedi code,” Obi-Wan said slowly. “Something not only worth fighting for, but worth dying for.” ...  Obi-Wan had hurt him. He longed to take the words back. He could not. They had been said. He had meant them.

★ Jedi Apprentice #6: The Uncertain Path - February 2000. This one made me incandescent with rage! Because, on the one hand this is a kids’ book. Obviously the kids having agency is the whole point. On the other. WTF. WTAF. Qui-Gon has left 13 year old Obi-Wan in an active warzone, then doesn’t bother to tell anyone. He’s just taking part in a Temple exercise and wondering idly if Bruck Chun wants to be his new Padawan. When Yoda criticises this: ‘Qui-Gon stared stonily ahead. He had not expected this rebuke from Yoda.’ 

★ Jedi Apprentice #7: The Captive Temple - April 2000. Xanatos sways Obi-Wan’s rival, Bruck Chun, to help him attack the Temple. Obi-Wan wants to offer more help, but he is not technically a Jedi because of his actions on Melida/Daan: ‘He did not think this day could get any worse. Now it had. In the eyes of the Council, he could do nothing right. And in Qui-Gon’s eyes, he was worth nothing at all.’ In the end Obi-Wan fights Bruck to save Bant, but though he tries to help him, Bruck accidentally falls and dies. 

★ Jedi Apprentice Special Edition: Deceptions - July 2001. Still being punished for Melida/Daan, Obi-Wan is struggling with his guilt and grief over Bruck Chun, and the fact Chun’s influential father is having him put on trial for the other boy’s death. Qui-Gon is too busy with Tahl to take much notice: ‘It is not all I need! Obi-Wan wanted to cry. He needed his Master’s presence.’ The second half of the book is when Obi-Wan is Anakin’s Master and has lots of interesting insight -

Obi-Wan seems so much younger than Anakin at 13. There’s this one line - ’Anakin pitched his voice high. He had an ability to seem younger than he was’ - that kind of sums it up for me. Anakin knows exactly what he’s doing, how to portray the front he wants, etc. Obi-Wan recognises this to some extent, eg. seeking out Anakin’s opinions and perceptions of people as ‘more astute’ than his own. ('Sometimes, Anakin reminded Obi-Wan of Qui-Gon. He had the same mix of logic and emotion that Obi-Wan struggled so hard to balance.’)

Which leads on to the other thing that jumps out at me: Obi-Wan’s failure to establish any real boundaries with Anakin. Anakin is very put out that Obi-Wan won’t tell him every detail of his past, like he has a total right to know whatever he wants. ('Why didn’t Obi-Wan trust him enough to tell him the truth?’) Anakin kind of hero worships Obi-Wan (how could a Padawan turn against his Master? how could they suspect you?) but seems to lack any sense of thinking he should obey Obi-Wan because he’s his teacher / an adult.

And, again with the lack of discipline and boundaries: 'Obi-Wan knew that Anakin had found these things [tools / droid parts, etc] by sneaking out of the Temple and dealing in the thriving black market of Coruscant. He preferred to turn a blind eye.’

★ Jedi Apprentice #8: The Day of Reckoning - June 2000. Xanatos has set them up on Telos but overreaches himself and ends up dead, preferring to kill himself by throwing himself into a pool of acid than repent.

★ Jedi Apprentice #9: The Fight for Truth - August 2000. For reasons best known to himself, Yoda has sent Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Siri Tachi and Adi Gallia to check out an alleged Force-sensitive baby in space North Korea. (They’ve cut themselves off from the rest of the galaxy because of visions of the Jedi bringing forth a great evil...) Obi-Wan and Siri are rounded up as suspected truants and sent to the ‘Learning Circle’ where children are indoctrinated for the General Good. When they keep complaining that the ‘facts’ they’re learning are lies, and that there can be no real freedom on a planet where nothing can be questioned, they’re taken to the Re-Learning Circle for indoctrination with extra isolation and sensory deprivation. 

★ Jedi Apprentice #10: The Shattered Peace - October 2000. They go to sort out a dispute between royals and royal hostages on Rutan and Senali. It turns out that two supposed rivals are in love with each other; Obi-Wan struggles to make sense of it. Qui-Gon tells him: ‘Words do not always echo feelings.’

★ Jedi Apprentice #14: The Ties That Bind - August 2001. Qui-Gon and Tahl confess their feelings for each other, while Obi-Wan tries not to resent being relegated to sitting out on the stairs waiting for them…

★ Jedi Apprentice #15: The Death of Hope - October 2001. Tahl dies, Obi-Wan is afraid for his Master and what his attachment to her means.

★ Jedi Apprentice #16: The Call to Vengeance - December 2001. Qui-Gon is consumed with grief for Tahl and comes close to losing himself to revenge. Obi-Wan vows to protect his Master from himself, even though his Master is acting like a stranger.

★ Jedi Apprentice #17: The Only Witness - February 2002. Qui-Gon continues to mourn Tahl. Obi-Wan develops a crush on a young widow named Lena they’re supposed to be escorting to Coruscant - though he doesn’t seem to understand what it is he’s feeling for her.

★ Jedi Apprentice #18: The Threat Within - March 2002. They go to Tory wet dream land Vorzyd 4 to investigate terrorist attacks that turn out to be a rebel youth group who want more from life than work. Qui-Gon reflects on how proud he is of the now 18-year-old Obi-Wan’s maturity and wisdom. This is one of my faves of the whole series.

★ Jedi Apprentice Special Edition: The Followers - April 2002. I love this installment so much. Prof. Mark Lundi and some of his students went nuts trying to gain power from a Sith Holocron; Anakin and Obi-Wan are tasked with taking the ranting and raving Lundi (in a special traveling cage!) to retrieve it. There is so much great fic potential in Anakin’s interactions with Lundi et al, and his later possible understanding of how much he’s lost to the dark side as Vader... 

______________________________________________

Jedi Quest - stories about Padawan Anakin between the ages of 13 and 16.

I originally read these in my teens and loved them. They’re basically about Anakin’s relationship with Obi-Wan, friendship with fellow Padawans Darra and Tru Veld, and his rivalry with Ferus Olin who plays the role of the snooty prefect who warns the protagonist they’re going to be in awful trouble if they don’t tell the headmistress what’s happening. My abiding memory of them was Obi-Wan giving Anakin Qui-Gon’s river stone and, though Obi-Wan had been justifiably upset with such a lame gift, Anakin is beyond overjoyed because it’s Obi-Wan’s most precious possession and he’s entrusting it to him. Re-reading them they’re even more delightfully slashy than I remembered, with Padawan Anakin going on (and on and on) about how he’ll make Obi-Wan love him...

★ Jedi Quest: Path to Truth - September 2001. Anakin and Obi-Wan go to Ilum to get a crystal for Anakin’s saber, then on to a mission where they encounter Krayn, a Slaver who kidnapped Amee’s mum back on Tatooine. Obi-Wan refuses to free the slaves: “I heard the slaves beg you to help them. I saw you turn your back on them. How can you abandon them to such misery? Every day for a slave is another chance to die. Killing Krayn will free them. How can you do this?" Anakin ends up being re-enslaved, blows Knight Antana’s cover, but does manage to instigate a slave revolt in the spice mines of Nad Shadaa. It’s still not enough though, and Anakin kills Krayn in cold blood. Obi-Wan witnesses it but rationalises it away, reasoning that it was self-defence and he has nothing to worry about...

★ Jedi Quest #1: The Way of the Apprentice - April 2002. ‘Anakin was special, and they all knew it. The trouble was that he knew it as well.’ We learn that Anakin regularly sneaks out of the Temple, has only just manages to make a friend (Tru) after 4 years there, and generally spends most of his time thinking about whether or not Obi-Wan is proud of him. His rivalry with Ferus begins: “Obi-Wan doesn’t see you clearly,” Ferus said softly. “He is a great Jedi Knight, but he is blinded by affection. But I see. And I will keep looking. I will watch you, Anakin Skywalker.”

★ Jedi Quest #2: The Trail of the Jedi - April 2002. 14-year-old Anakin thinks about how the Temple isn’t his home, and how envious he is of Obi-Wan’s relationship with Qui-Gon; he’s always felt ‘honoured’ to be Obi-Wan’s Padawan, but now he worries Obi-Wan is only training him because Qui-Gon begged him to. Though he knows full well a Master is typically distant with a young Padawan - he gives Tru and Ry-Gaul as an example - he still doesn’t think it should apply to him. ‘He could sense that his Master was uneasy. Something was bothering him. But Obi-Wan did not confide. He never does, Anakin thought. How can we get closer if he keeps all his thoughts to himself?’ As far as Anakin is concerned, no part of Obi-Wan’s life should be off limits to him. Meanwhile Obi-Wan angsts about having hurt Anakin’s feelings by not sharing his every thought. This one also features the A+++ Obikin passage: ‘He should not focus on what he didn’t have. He had this. This was his. And that was something. He would work hard. He would be a great Padawan. And Obi-Wan would come to love him. He would make him do so.’

★ Jedi Quest #3: The Dangerous Games - August 2002. The team is off to help police the Galactic Games and Anakin wastes no time getting involved in a podrace against Sebulba to help free a slave. He and Obi-Wan butt heads over this as it clearly isn’t part of their mission but, as Anakin argues, freeing him hadn’t been part of Qui-Gon’s mission either. ‘It wasn’t that Obi-Wan lacked compassion, Anakin mused. It was just  that there was a little more distance between him and other living beings. Qui-Gon had not been able to pass along his connection to the Living Force to his Padawan, Anakin felt.’

★ Jedi Quest #4: The Master of Disguise - November 2002. Darra gets injured on a mission and Anakin blames himself. When Obi-Wan arranges for him to have extra saber training sessions with Darra’s Master, Soara Antana, he interprets it as a punishment and resolves to prove himself. Antana berates him for thinking himself superior to others and eventually refuses to train him further after he calls on his anger to defeat Ferus. Feeling lonely and hard done by, he’s an easy target for the sympathetic scientist Tic Verdun - who, of course, is actually Granta Omega in disguise.

★ Jedi Quest #5: The School of Fear - February 2003. This one is my favourite! Anakin and Ferus have to go undercover at a posh prep school to find out more about a Senator’s supposedly kidnapped son, with Obi-Wan as their contact. Being away from the Temple’s rules has Anakin wondering: ‘But was being a Jedi being free? Or had he traded one form of slavery for another?’ Anakin gets involved with a kids’ vigilante squad and when Ferus goes missing, instead of informing Obi-Wan, he carries on with the squad’s mission to go blow shit up on Andara. When Soara tells Obi-Wan he’s just devastated by it - but the best thing is Anakin thinks Obi-Wan’s gonna be so proud of him for sorting it all out himself. He shows off the kind of Force control Obi-Wan’s never even seen before and cannot understand why Obi-Wan’s so hung up on his failure to obey mission directives and communicate. ‘He felt shaken. Did Anakin understand that he had violated an essential part of the Jedi code? Did he know he had broken something between them? He had not fully trusted Obi-Wan. And so Obi-Wan had lost his trust in him.’

★ Jedi Quest #6: The Shadow Trap - May 2003. Anakin has been having a recurring vision, but when it comes to him while swimming he freaks out enough to track down Obi-Wan in the Room of a Thousand Fountains even though they’ve barely been on speaking terms since Andara. Granta Omega ends up capturing Anakin on the resulting mission because, like all SW villains, he is obsessed with Obi-Wan: ‘"Do you think he’s worried about you?” Omega barked a laugh. “What you don’t know about your Master could fill your precious archives. Kenobi doesn’t have a heart. Beings are just a means to get what he needs to be - the great Jedi in his own mind.”’ Yaddle saves the day - but sacrifices herself for the greater good in the process. Anakin blames himself for not understanding what the vision was trying to tell him: The vision hadn’t been wrong. The essential truth it had left him with was part of him now. He felt it inside him like a wound. It was loss. The gulf between him and Obi-Wan was wider than ever.

★ Jedi Quest #7: The Moment of Truth - November 2003. Anakin is still struggling to deal with his guilt over Yaddle’s death, and wonders if he simply feels too much to be a Jedi. On their mission he is captured and put into a tranquil state without emotion. Obi-Wan rescues him but Anakin’s still feeling the after effects - e.g. Obi-Wan is in danger but rather than rush to his aid, as is always his first instinct, he reasons that Obi-Wan is capable of handling it himself. But when Obi-Wan calls for him: ‘The hook in his heart seared him, and he knew its name. It was love. The love he felt for his Master was lodged firmly within him. It was a connection that had grown from the first moment Obi-Wan had told him that he would take him and train him.’ Ferus suggests that Anakin enjoyed being serene and content, so much so that it overpowered his loyalty to Obi-Wan. Tru tells Ferus to knock it off, but it does make Anakin confess all to Obi-Wan, including how he wishes he wasn’t the Chosen One. Obi-Wan tells him he wishes he could carry Anakin’s burdens for him but, as he can’t, all he can do is be there for him. ‘"Things between us have not run smoothly lately," Obi-Wan said. "But you must never doubt my commitment to you." "And mine to you," Anakin said.’

★ Jedi Quest #8: The Changing of the Guard - March 2004. Anakin feels he and Obi-Wan have reached a new level of closeness ever since he ‘had truly trusted him with the inner workings of his heart and mind’ and told him about his fears and the weight of being the Chosen One. Ferus has his own heart to heart with Obi-Wan and tells him how he envies Anakin’s ability to make friends, but fears for Anakin’s future given his lack of good judgement. Obi-Wan is ‘irritated’ by this and tells Ferus: ‘You must understand that it isn’t ambition that drives him. It is compassion.’ 

★ Jedi Quest #9: The False Peace - July 2004. Granta Omega and Jenna Zan Arbor are plotting an attack on the Senate. Palpy invites Anakin for a private meeting in his office and offers him the opportunity to shadow him to learn more about politics. ‘It was an extraordinary offer. Anakin knew he had to take it.’ When the attack goes down, Palps encourages Anakin to disobey Obi-Wan’s orders to stay put - presumably orchestrated to ensure Ferus alone cannot save Obi-Wan’s friend and senatorial aide, Tyro Caladian, who had been digging up dirt on Palps...

★ Jedi Quest #10: The Final Showdown - November 2004. As galactic stability falters, the Council decides to trial fast-tracking Knighthood. 16-year-old Anakin is convinced, who knows why, that he will be chosen for the programme. Obviously they actually choose Ferus - with Obi-Wan voting in favour. Anakin is so angry and jealous he keeps quiet when Ferus helps Tru fix his lightsaber, and doesn’t offer to check it over though he knows it’ll likely clash with his own previous mods. Tru’s lightsaber goes on to fail in battle, while Ferus is using it, and Darra dies after throwing herself in front of Ferus to save him. Ferus decides he’s not cut out to be a Jedi and resigns from the Order, but not before having one last spat with Anakin. The book ends with Anakin thinking about his heart will break the day he outstrips his Master, so the best way to deal with that unbearable sorrow will be to no longer have a heart. Hmmm.

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The Last of the Jedi - AKA the extended tales of how everything would have been fine if people had just listened to Ferus.

So, obviously, these are no longer canon and don’t fit with OWK as they’re set like 18 months after the rise of the Empire and Obi-Wan’s already well aware of what Anakin’s become. Vader in this series is still obsessed with Padme and is working with a scientist to wipe his memories of her so he will no longer feel guilt, etc. But. There is plenty of Obi-Wan angst, Anakin v Ferus tension when Palps starts up with his usual grooming, and nobody will ever convince me that Obi-Wan and Ferus did not kriff when Ferus turns up at his cave door on Tatooine...

★ The Last of the Jedi #1: The Desperate Mission - May 2005. Obi-Wan learns that Ferus is still alive, leading a rebellion movement, and goes to track him down because: ‘Ferus was alive, and that meant that the past had not died. Not completely.’ Obi-Wan asks him about Ferus’ reasons for leaving the Order, but Ferus won’t say too much because: ‘He had seen how hard it was for Obi-Wan to say Anakin’s name. He must miss his apprentice. Ferus wondered how Anakin had died, but he didn’t want to ask. He didn’t want to dredge up a painful memory for Obi-Wan.’

★ The Last of the Jedi #2: The Dark Warning - September 2005. Ferus goes to Ilum to get a new crystal and has a vision of Anakin.

★ The Last of the Jedi #3, #4, #5, and #6. Underworld (December 2005), Death on Naboo (April 2006), A Tangled Web (July 2006), and Return of the Dark Side (December 2006). Ferus goes back to the Temple on Coruscant, makes contact with Dex and the proto-rebellion, and remembers what an angry weirdo Anakin was. Obi-Wan urges him to go Naboo as a double agent for the Empire but won’t tell him why; baby Leia’s Force sensitivity has been attracting the wrong kind of interest. Meanwhile, Trever, Ferus’ sort of non-Force sensitive Padawan, starts calling him Ferus-Wan because he fusses as much as Obi-Wan did. <3 Elsewhere, Vader does not like the interest Palps is showing in Ferus, recognising that he’s potentially grooming him to be his new apprentice.

★ The Last of the Jedi #7: The Secret Weapon - April 2007. Anakin kills Ferus’ boyfriend, Roan Lands, in front of him because he’s just that much of a spiteful little shit. Palps has Ferus taken from custody and offers him the opportunity to become powerful enough to beat Vader.

★ The Last of the Jedi #8 and #9: Against the Empire (October 2007) and Master of Deception (February 2008). Ferus becomes more corrupted by Palps’ holocron and finally realises that Vader is Anakin. Meanwhile Anakin thinks about how much he enjoyed killing Roan: ‘He had taken from Ferus what had been taken from him. He had vanquished his enemy and brought him down. It had been so easy. He had felt so satisfied.’

★ The Last of the Jedi #10: Reckoning - May 2008. Ferus rushes to tell Obi-Wan Vader’s true identity... and realises Obi-Wan already knows. Obi-Wan says he doesn’t know what drove Anakin to fall but: “To have so many gifts, to be the Chosen One . . . to be so afraid of loss …“ Obi-Wan gazed back at Ferus. ”And to have me as a Master. In the end, there were things between us I hadn’t even realized were there. I don’t have the answer to why he turned. I can only ask myself that question, over and over again.” 

Ferus and Anakin have a showdown with the amazing exchange: “So you know who I was,” Vader said. “Do you think that would make a difference to me? Anakin Skywalker is dead.” “Was it because the Council wouldn’t let you become a Master? You always had to struggle with your ego, didn’t you?” “It was never a struggle. I was always the best.” 

Ferus, beaten and bloodied and heartsick, seeks out Obi-Wan on Tatooine. Obi-Wan tenderly nurses him back to health...