#for those curious they ARE separate ideas - the jaster lives offshoot will be under the tag 'not as dead as i could be au'

[crispyjenkins]

@malcontent-crow

#i love the direction this is going!#i woke up to this treat and now i have to go to work and think about it all day #i an CHEWING on my PHONE#i wasnt expecting mand'alor Obi-Wan but i gotta say he would certainly do the job!#truly chosen by the people to lead#i love the idea that everybody knows about the rebellion that he has caused before he does #also the idea that Qui-Gon and Satine are just stumbling along in his wake and seeing in real time the kind of movement he is inspiring#how Qui-Gon is thinking in terms of the Young for his wartime experience but Obi-Wan is thinking much bigger picture#how does Qui-Gon take the rumor of being a Mand'alor of old reincarnate? which rumor does he hear first?#how many times does he need to hear people say it before it stops sounding like a silly thing these mandos are saying#and it actually gains some traction in his mind? #if the council doesnt think it was a vision does the idea that hes been possessed by some ghost that can no longer stand to see#the direction Mandalore was going in? how frantically is Madam Nu digging through the archives to see if there is any precedent for this#and if Obi-Wan isnt using his saber how is he fighting? has he resorted to guns or did he find a beskad somewhere??#if they are remarking that he is helmet-less does that mean he is wearing armor otherwise? #and i feel like jango would know about this new faction and this upcoming leader and really sits back and says something like#“looks like you have it under control. why do you think you need me?” and justify it to himself that he isnt Mand'alor anymore#he would be still all bitter and unwilling to bend or even consider healing at this point#so hes thinking in terms of what his time as Mand'alor ended up like#and how his last actions as Mand'alor resulted in the deaths of his (entire?) comoany of True Mandalorians #and how quickly does this make Obi-Wan change gears? does he accept that he's the inspiration behind this rebellion#and accept the role of Mand'alor as others are trying to give him?#or does he step back and think maybe he just needs to do something like kill Pre Vizsla to get them moving on the right track without him?

@fearieshadow

#I am screaming#I love this#once the council realizes that mandalorians are calling on obi-wan to be mand’alor#I wonder how they respond#especially since this is already a bizarre situation#and very likely the force around obi wan is probably doing some crazy stuff#how is satine taking this?#she’s definitely not ruling over mandalor after this#the people wouldn’t accept her with another option available besides her and death watch#it’s inevitable that obi wan ends up adopted as mand’alor especially considering mandalorian culture#the question is who succeeds?

hope work was good!! here's more to think about 🧡 (/evil intent)

first! yeah, Obi is wearing his stollen/won-through-combat DW armour (the state of its paint is actually important in how he identifies exactly where in the timeline he is, but i'll explain that in the actual fic), and doesn't use his 'saber so all the Mandalorians aren't clocking him as one of the Jedi the New Mandos hired or whatever; most assume he's already Mando'ad. he still has his 'saber, but it's one he outgrew while on Melida/Daan, so it's even worse now that he's 38 and a high general, so he doesn't use it for that reason as well as to keep his identity a secret. but he's not very well going to leave it behind, so a few of the Mandos he's helped on the way have seen it hidden on his belt or in his things; most assume he killed one of the New Mandalorian's Jedi, but then the idea of reincarnation starts gaining traction and they start to wonder if the 'saber actually belongs to him.

second! oh boy would Qui not be taking that idea well. except for the Chosen One Prophecy of Nonsense, he's very much a Living Force Jedi, and at this point in time hasn't done his whole Force Ghost research or whatever. Maybe in this timeline, it's this that pushes him to look into it in the first place? maybe he only learns the Chosen One Prophecy of Nonsense later in life? so at first, he's sort of rolling his eyes at all these Mandos saying his padawan is a reincarnated warlord, no matter which Mand'alor they think he's incarnating. Then the Tarre Vizsla theory starts picking up more and more and suddenly Qui-Gon isn't so sure. Tarre had been a Jedi, and left the Order to become Mand'alor, maybe Tarre had Fallen, had become a Sith? Sith were known for being obsessed with immortality, were the only example of Force Ghosts in the first place. Oh Stars, has his padawan Fallen? become an unwilling or willing puppet of a Sith ghost? Qui remembers the first thing Satine said to him after Obi-Wan dropped her off, that Obi-Wan had been acting possessed.

when he expresses his concern to the Council, they're skeptical at best. Qui-Gon is somewhat known for his flights of fancy, and is working on the same amount of information that the council is, which is to say: next to none. they tell him to cool his heels, especially since they don't think Qui-Gon has the best idea of what to actually look for in a Fallen Jedi, and has unresolved Xanatos trauma. Qui-Gon gets all bristly about that, because he's fine, and knows his padawan better than anyone. maybe the council had brought Tholme in for this holocall so they'd have a Shadow's perspective on this whole Sith-thing, and Tholme just fuckin. snorts so hard at that it probably hurts and is like "the fuckin healers know your padawan better than you do. We know you're trying, and making good progress, but all things considered, you're not there yet. A Shadow will have a better idea of if he's Fallen or possessed by a Sith artefact or other, and one of his friends would have a better idea if he's acting completely out of character."

"Sound like suggesting you and your padawan go to Mandalore, you do."

"Well, I wouldn't say no."

For now, the council holds off, considering how fraught the system is at the moment, and even undercover, they aren't sure if they should be risking two more Jedi, especially one as reckless as Quinlan would be to try and find Obi-Wan. Madam Nu does indeed bury herself in the Archives, looking into Sith ghosts and possession techniques, but also to see any info they have on Tarre Vizsla and if he might have Fallen or been a Sith. it sounds downright unlikely to her, but the council also just. has no idea what to make of Obi-Wan, so any theory is worth exploring.

Satine is. she is not taking this all well. she'd been trying for so long to sway Obi-Wan to her side, and genuinely thought she could convince him her way was right, but then he suddenly changed, and their "debates" have become Obi-Wan dissecting and tearing down every one of her arguments, when he even takes the time to engage. they'd had maybe two weeks together before Obi-Wan dropped her off with Qui-Gon, and during that time, she'd been forced to realise Obi-Wan was only humouring her before. oh, he's still kind to a fault, giving her more than her share of food, keeping watch so she can sleep, protecting her with a sincere fervency. but now she feels like a child around him, like she can't do anything but try and keep up with him, like he's suddenly been given a purpose outside of her and she. doesn't know how to deal with that.

worse, he's actually killing some of his opponents, where he'd never done that before, even when it had cost them physically, leaving them with injuries or without a clean escape. he isn't killing everyone, or indiscriminately, and he always seems to mourn the ones he does kill, but this shift in his fighting style, too, had felt like it changed at the flip of a switch. before, he'd used shoddy hand-to-hand and hand blasters set to stun. now, he uses rifles and a staff he'd fashioned from a bit of piping (you'll take polearm-wielding obi-wan from my cold dead hands), and also a static dagger Satine had given him early in their acquaintance, that she'd intended him to use for utility (i'll give more backstory for this in the fic, i have some ideas). the dagger is what he'd used to kill the DW patrol they'd been fighting when he first landed back in time. he'd been a good fighter, before, but had still had that ungainly teenage clumsiness, especially with weapons he wasn't used to using (he'd pretended he wasn't as good with blasters as he was, both in shame around Satine, but also because it was connected to Melida/Daan and he wanted to think about literally anything else); now, he's years ahead in skill, and unafraid of confrontation. he avoids it where he can, of course, but only because it's safer for Satine, and Satine clocks this change, knows he's suddenly confident in his martial prowess in a way he just wasn't before.

stumbling along chasing Obi-Wan down with Qui-Gon, Satine feels her control of the system slipping, she sees it happening. she digs her heels in, of course, tries to talk this rebellion out of happening at all, but all it does is make people resent her and her people even more, and eventually Qui-Gon has to tell her to stop, because they are very much at the mercy of people being willing to shelter them, and she's pissing off just about everyone she talks to. it's a bit of a wakeup call for her, and she just sort of. wilts. becomes depressed rather than righteously angry, and wonders if undermining her had always been Obi-Wan's intention. she hopes not. she misses him.

MEANWHILE. meanwhile Jango has basically called himself dar'manda, has said he's no good for Mandalore nor does he want to be good for Mandalore, hasn't he given enough? and Obi-Wan knows he can't make that call for him, for anyone.

Rozatta shows him what little has escaped the Mandalore sector about the rebellion, that won't call themselves True Mandalorians anymore, but are as close as they've come since Jaster Mereel's death a decade before. so much info is kept on lockdown, but Obi-Wan can read between the lines, can track his own progress through Mandalorian space and realise it had followed him like a wave, and. well. hadn't he already decided he was saving Mandalore? hadn't he already dedicated himself to this cause since the moment he woke in the past?

for just a moment, he considers if he can join the rebellion and make someone else that something that they can all follow. can make someone else the face and head of the rebellion. Obi-Wan needs to stay alive to take down the Sith and hopefully prevent the galactic war from ever starting, it would be pretty stupid of him to make himself the face of this insurrection—

but the Mand'alor is chosen by the people. Isn't it in the name? Soul Ruler?

so here's Obi-Wan. sixteen and thirty-eight, stranded on Outland Station with his plan to save Mandalore in shambles, and he takes the time to think about it. what does Mandalore want? and they seem to want their Little Mand'alor, he can feel it in the Force, in the Manda, in the Ka'ra (and all three do feel distinctly different from each other, but i'll get to that in-fic heuheuheu). who is he to deny them that?

he thanks Roz by name though she'd never told him it, steals a different, faster ship, and goes back to Mandalore without Jango but with a Mand'alor all the same, if the people will have him.

and the people will have him.

Qui-Gon had at some point realised Obi-Wan had left the system, which makes even less sense than anything he's done so far. Not only does he not think Obi-Wan would ever leave him behind in danger, but it also just. doesn't track, with everything he'd been doing for Mandalore so far? makes Qui concerned about those Sithly machinations but he's trying to convince himself that he's just trigger-happy about darksider stuff. but what else is he supposed to think?

hyperspace travel is dictated by exactly what you need for the plot, so i say two weeks round trip for obi-wan to get back to Mandalore. the rebellion is only just on its first legs, but Pre is cracking down on insurgence with more and more violent methods, which is only radicalising his dissenters. parts of Jaster's old council and the few close to Jango that weren't on Galidraan (Kal Skirta, Walon Vau, Silas, etc. Will probably not do Mij in any major capacity since I am trying to make this different from Dha Kar'ta, and Myles is definitely dead. will need to make a butt ton of women Mandos hmm) start to form like some actual leadership and oooh now i'm thinking about the tension~ of all these folks that followed Jango worrying about how young the people's new chosen leader is, 'cause fuck they love Jango, and he did keep the Haat'ade going ten years after Jaster's death, but they also know intimately how it ended.

then Obi-Wan tracks them down using a mix of traditional skills and listening to the Manda, and maybe some Ka'ra ghosts if i'm feeling particularly funky, and the group of Mandos I'll be calling the Old Guard have to contend with this little general that looks sixteen, but acts so much older. and Obi-Wan has to contend seeing the faces of many of the trainers of the clones, some he would have given thanks to be the one to take their heads from their shoulders, but they haven't actually committed those sins yet.

and hoooooo boy you know Qui's gonna have some issues when it gets out that Obi-Wan is both back in the system, and also leading the rebellion. he must be having Xanatos flashbacks out the whazoo, but also the Force is feckin singing about it, it wraps around Obi-Wan in truly bizarre but oh so comforting ways, it ebbs and flows with him like he's some sort of gravitational anomaly in the tides of the Force, and he's just so Light that Qui-Gon just. can't believe he's Fallen. but what else is he supposed to think?

the council are rightly horrified, but so so confused by how the Force has been acting lately, especially around Obi-Wan and his future, and they're thinking of kicking Sifo-Dyas off the council purely because he sits in the corner giggling whenever Obi-Wan is brought up.

as for adoption............. i think it'd be funny if he's adopted by a Ka'ra ghost, especially if their clan has died out by now. WHEEZE it'd be SO FUNNY if he's adopted by the ghost of Cassus Fett. like fuckin imagine.

*white-knuckled and grinding teeth* do not start a time travel fic where obi-wan lands near the beginning of his mandalore mission. do not think about him landing mid-battle with a death watch patrol he struggled with by virtue of being sixteen and run ragged, do not think about him freezing mid-attack and being flooded with future memories and satine freaking out and the death watch commando gets a few hits in but then obi-wan unfreezes and fucking obliterates the commandos. do not think about how disturbed satine is, how obi-wan can suddenly move in his stollen death watch armour like he was born in it, how he looks down at his saber like an old friend he no longer gets along with, how he barely looks at satine when he says they’re going back to mandalore to keldabe. crispy im serious dont think about him single-handedly raiding death watch's main holdout in the keldabe ruins and stealing all the info pre vizsla had about galidraan and using it to track down jango and forcing/convincing him to come back to mandalore to end the clan wars crispy im serious you don’t have time to write this stop thinking ab