#I love that Dooku was secretly (not so secretly) proud of Obi-Wan

[charmwasjess]

Lightsaber Theory: Obi-Wan "Sith Lords are Our Specialty" Kenobi consistently loses duels to Dooku not for any reason of technical form mismatch or lack of ability, but because Dooku is not even pretending to try to kill him. Resultantly, Obi-Wan can’t figure out what the fuck is going on when they fight. 

Obi-Wan: (preparing to defend an expected lethal strike) You’ll answer for your enormities, Count!

Dooku: (giving him the lightest love tap on the leg) Don’t be so sure, my special good lineage baby boy, so perfect in my eyes. 

Obi-Wan: …What?

Dooku: What?

Which Dooku and Obi-Wan proud lineage moment is even the most unhinged? There are so many to choose from! Is it Dooku’s frequent inability, both in AotC and TCW, to keep from spontaneously gushing about Sidious’s plans and even his own dark secrets to Obi-Wan?? Is it the time in Labyrinth of Evil where Dooku drags a long-suffering, bored Grievous over to watch a holorecording of Anakin and Obi-Wan thwarting his plans yet again, to point out how beautifully they’re working together as a team and how much he likes watching their lightsaber work evolve? Is it in the recent Brotherhood novel, where Obi-Wan just has to casually namedrop Qui-Gon to get Dooku to do exactly what he wants?

Obi-Wan is a big problem for Sidious in his mission to destabilize and corrupt Anakin, and Sidious knows it. He needs him out of the picture to do the same isolating, evil bullshit that worked so well when ensnaring Dooku himself. But the war has been going on for years now, and guess who remains inconveniently alive? And whose job was that to take care of? Oh yeah. I remember. His useless, Padawan assassin-collecting apprentice: fucking Count Dooku. By the time of RotS, Sidious has specifically ordered Dooku to make fucking sure Obi-Wan is dead only for him to completely ignore the command about a half-dozen times.

Going by the Stover RotS novelization, in the same scene where Dooku also literally refers to Obi-Wan as his fucking grandson actually, add that to our earlier list, Sidious reiterates that KILL OBI-WAN is the plan (over the sound of Dooku’s loud complaining) moments before that final duel.  I kind of wish we’d gotten a shot of Sidious's incredulous, enraged expression as Dooku knocks Obi-Wan unconscious and pins him safely out of the way. He is, once again, going out of his way to not kill Obi-Wan in that duel, and this time directly disobeying his Master to his face after they just had a conversation about it. You just know exactly what Sidious must be thinking at that moment. Oh, Dooku. You are so fucking fired.

#count dooku #obi wan kenobi #darth sidious #disaster lineage #lightsaber nerd stuff #the clone wars #revenge of the sith #star wars books #Sidious is so done #you know he had to wake up every morning of Dooku's apprenticeship and just repeat a calming mantra about not killing him yet #oh no the notoriously defiant rule breaker Jedi I corrupted is acting like a notoriously defiant rule breaker #but really #I love that Dooku was secretly (not so secretly) proud of Obi-Wan

[padawansuggest]

Ok, so I was supposed to draw one small fanart, but I got carried away and created an au ^^''

Jedi cats Au

(Disaster lineage edition)

Yoda: Small green cat with tufts of white fur on his tail tip and across his spine. He loves being cuddled by the younglings as he tells them stories(basically their therapy, grandfather cat) and going on occasional trips to Dagobah for meditation (at least, that's his excuse). What he really does there is hunting frogs(he claims they're good for his bones) and camping out in the swamp(the whole trip traumatizing Dooku in the process).

Dooku: Huge white cat with brittle yellow eyes and spiked-up fur. He doesn't change much in his cat form, but when he does, he spends most of his time sunning himself on the council chairs(you can't blame him, cats can't resist such a good sunning spot), skulks around the temple corridors looking elegant and graceful, and steals sith holocrons out of nowhere so he could 'study' them(they were later confiscated and thrown out of the temple when Qui found out). He never lets anybody pet him except for Sifo, Jocasta, Qui, and sometimes Yoda(his adoptive father figure), or Obi-wan(his grandson whom he's secretly proud of)

Qui-Gon: Greyish brown cat with long silky fur and leaf-green eyes. He mostly hangs out on the temple's huge tree or goes on trips to Lothal to have tea with Loth-cats and wolves. (The Loth-cats kind of worship him as their 'god', and the wolves invite him and his apprentice for night strolls and 'singing to the moon' meetings)

He also randomly adopts kittens(padawans; in this case, Obi-wan, Anakin, and recently Ahsoka)

Obi-wan: Small auburn cat with darker splotches and grey-blue eyes. He's smaller than his apprentice but twice the sassiness. Cody loves to cuddle him and stroke his soft fur for hours while talking about how his day went(Obi doesn't mind^^). As a kitten, he constantly kept Qui company while he studied at night(at least that's what he says when Qui complains about his student/son being annoyingly cute and knocking over his mug of tea on purpose every five minutes).

Anakin: Brown tabby emo with sky-blue eyes. He hates sand, is very chaotic in many ways, and has a talent for annoying Obi(he actually passes down his 'abilities' to Ahsoka, who becomes more like her master). He also holds a record of being the most troublesome padawan in existence.

Despite all this, Padme finds him adorable (he often sneaks out of the temple in his cat form to meet his gf), but Obi-wan and Ahsoka know better(sure, he's nice and charming, yet can also be pretty stupid and reckless).

Ahsoka: Sleek, lithe, orange cat with white tail and blue stripes. Her Lekku still exists in her cat form as well as her facial markings(the Lekku are used to communicate with other cats or Jedi, and also play an important part in balancing their bodies while they leap agily or pelt across obstacles at high speed). 

Toruguti cats have very short, smooth fur on their bodies(the pelts are mostly an orangish hue, with blue stripes appearing on the back of their flanks as they get older), but their tails are often white, bushy and flecked with blue stripes.

She's one of the 501'th's favorites because she often hangs out with Rex and the clones(sharing stories, playing games... etc)(the clones especially love placing random things on her head until she moves). As her species are carnivores, she has an instinct for hunting small animals(sometimes leaving her half-dead prey on Anakin's desk like the cheeky adorable prankster she is).

I might upload some headcanons and designs btw

Have a nice day ^^

😭 NOT OBI CUB LOOKIN LIKE A LIL LIPN CUB PLZZZZZZ😭

Lil baby man who looks like an infant permanently no wonder he wants a beard so bad in human form.

Soka’s Lekku is so cute and I love how pissy Ani is. They’re all precious to me. Swamp kitty Yoda is so perfect.

#Jedi are cats #star wars

[novasonthenormandy]

Imagine if in Episode 3, Dooku had just looked to Obi-Wan and been like "remember when I said the republic was secretly under the control of a Sith Lord" and then gestures at Palpatine.

Like I'd love to see a what if where Dooku is successful with his persuasion, Palpatine's like "so be it", Dooku ignites his saber, turns to Anakin and is like "I hope you were being truthful about your powers having doubled"

Like i don't know how it'd work out whether they'd arrest or kill Palpatine, but imagine Anakin, Obi-Wan and Dooku arrive on Coruscant together, Dooku telling Kenobi how proud Jinn would be. The Jedi Council having to admit Dooku was right about the Jedi doing the Senate's dirty work after everything comes out about Palpatine's plan.

#I just really like the idea of Dooku fighting alongside the jedi again

[mecomptane]

Blew up my old laptop so I’m trying to recover things from it. (Okay, a slight exaggeration. Maybe.) Apparently I decided to write Star Wars fic at some point? It’s here for posterity, definitely no beta, can’t guarantee the quality. So, the usual. (Pretty sure this was also a 3am sort of thing.)

-

Yoda has been Grand Master of the Jedi Order for going on five centuries, alive for nearly nine, and still, sometimes, feels like he's barely one.

It's few and far between, admittedly--history doesn't exactly repeat, no, but the motivations of sapient beings don't particularly change, and once you understand why people make the choices they do, then you can generally guess what any person or group might do in response. It's not flawless and has failed him before, but between lived experience, his strength in the Force, and the Republic having little changed, overall, he's usually right. Or at least, unsurprised.

The Councilors call him unflappable, the Masters and Knights steadfast, and the Padawans and Initiates whisper that he is Ancient and Omniscient.

Yoda, mostly, calls himself tired.

This is a song and dance he knows well, has all but memorized the steps to. Padawans become Knights become Masters and find an Initiate to teach and mentor and raise, the closest they will ever be to children of blood being children of their hearts. Years--in some cases, a decade or more--will weave the two into a knot of compassion and knowledge and reliance (but never attachment), and with the Trials the Master shears their Padawan's braid and the Padawan shears the rope that had once bound them so tightly, and the two walk away, together but inherently separate, to live their lives as sole individuals connected only by the gossamer web and weave of the Force, as all living things do.

Countless have come and gone, all with slightly different steps or rhythms. Not all have been successful. Jedi walk in the light and dream of the sun, but shadowy corners and secrets in darkness are tempting, too intriguing to pass up the chance to investigate. Rare are those who give in; rarer still are those who find their way back. But it does happen, as much as they might wish it otherwise.

Yoda has seen all of them in nearly a millennia, can trace the pattern and knows the steps of that dance, too. Not that of true Sith, no, but the path to becoming a Darksider is identical to that of a Jedi with only a few steps reversed, repeated, skipped over. Once the first misstep occurs, it takes barely any thought to see where and how the dance might change. Will they weave back and forth, between light and darkness? Will they flit into the shadows briefly and find it not to their taste, thereafter choosing only the path strung with the lanterns of faith? Will they stumble into the shadows once, twice, again and again, until the light itself hurts their eyes and they cannot see save anywhere but darkness?

One step, two, a few more--that's all it takes, now, for Yoda to know. He's been wrong, true, but those times were more that he'd given into hope. Hope that they'd find their way into the light, that their dance would one day realign with that of the rest of the Jedi.

So as Yoda sits among the Council, the dimming light of Coruscant's pale setting sun struggling in through the windows, he is thrown. Surprised. Confused.

"I will take him as my Padawan," Qui-Gon Jinn says, hands resting reassuringly on the shoulders of a supernova given form. So bright, so powerful, spilling everywhere with little control, care, or concern. Yoda can barely look.

Behind the duo stands a white dwarf of the Force, the light and warmth turned inward and controlled, peaceful but puissant and exactly like a Jedi should be, but.

But.

"Obi-Wan? He is ready for his Trials."

"Decide that, the Council shall."

In a room of so much light, where the brightest and most powerful Jedi in the galaxy sit in state, there is an undercurrent of shadows. A slight dimming in the corners, a hint of something obscuring the warmth and nurturing rays.

Qui-Gon Jinn. Obi-Wan Kenobi. Anakin Skywalker.

Yoda looks between them and the Council, and wonders.

-

When he was younger, Yoda delighted in his Padawan learners. That he lived so much longer than any other species or race was a detriment to others, but it allowed him to have generations of Padawans and their Padawans, Grandpadawans and Greatgrandpadawans. Each of his students had siblings, younger or older; each had nieces and nephews; all had someone to fall back on, to speak with, to rely on. To be family with.

Attachment was not the Jedi way, but compassion and selfless love was. All of his students--and their students, so on and so forth--understood that, embraced that.

Eventually he became the Grand Master and became so busy with duties he could not devote the time to another Padawan, to his Lineage as he once did. They understood, relied more on each other, and while some came to him with questions or concerns it was a rarity. And then--somewhere along the lines--it stopped happening altogether. A Lineage was called after the oldest surviving member, but when there were gaps of three, four, ten generations... did one really still count as part of that Lineage? But that was fine, as it should be; the Force is Life and Life is forever changing, growing, renewing. Yoda had learnt at the side of a Master long gone but fondly remembered, now part of the Force; his students, too, memories and trinkets, memorabilia tucked carefully away in a chest in his room, never opened but a reminder nonetheless.

The desire to teach Dooku had been unexpected, unanticipated, almost unappreciated. It had been years since he last had a Padawan learner of his own... but why not? He'd long since turned over immediate day-to-day responsibilities to an aide, now the Master of the Order, and aside from popping in to teach classes or spend time in the creche, he had ample time for a personal student again.

Of course, the way that had turned out... but Dooku's own Padawan, Qui-Gon, had been bright and sensitive to the ways and wills of the Force, and always willing to help another Padawan, always willing to lend an ear or support. Maybe Dooku hadn't turned out as Yoda had hoped, but surely Qui-Gon would be better.

And he was, with Feemor. Maybe not the most in-touch Master, preferring books or research or his plants and animals and following the eddies of the Force invisible to most others, but he cared. He wanted Feemor to succeed, to thrive, as did Yoda. And Feemor did, passing his Trials with little difficulty and much grace; a Jedi Knight to be, surely, proud of.

Xanatos, however....

He'd deserved to be repudiated, true. Yoda had even cautioned Qui-Gon about his second Padawan, having seen the steps and the missteps and the constant swaying between light and dark. A Shadow, he'd suggested. Cautioned. Xanatos could not walk in the light, not like Feemor, but enough light he had in him to walk in both, to be a Shadow of their Order. Qui-Gon hadn't listened, still too proud, too arrogant, after Feemor.

In the end, Xanatos became a Darksider. Qui-Gon, as custom and duty and common sense demanded, repudiated him. But not just him, no, for if he'd gone so wrong with Xanatos, surely Feemor, too, was secretly not what he appeared to be? And so Feemor had suffered for his younger brother's choices, for Qui-Gon's pride and lack of attention to detail, for his desperation to not stain or blemish the Lineage of the Grand Master.

Two students, one Jedi Knight, one Darksider. Two repudiations, one earned, one not.

Qui-Gon had sworn off all further students, had nearly been convinced to take another, had rejected them in the end. The Force had brought them back together, and Qui-Gon could not ignore such a sign, but--

Obi-Wan is quiet in the Force. As a child he'd been as a river, calmly flowing one minute and the tempestuousness of white water the next, but always moving, always steady. As a babe... Yoda remembers the young human, presumed Stewjoni, being brought into the Hall of Healing for the first time, so young and already so part of the Force it had nearly wrapped around him. Not a vergence, not power, but a pin in an ever-changing tapestry, a marble dropped into the center of a taught sheet, a boulder in the middle of the river he'd become part of.

Chaos in the midst of calm, or the calm waters of the eye of a storm?

Obi-Wan learnt the steps of those around him, learnt to dance between light and darkness with Quinlan Vos and somewhere along the lines chose to remain in the light. But these were not his steps, Yoda could see. They were the steps of the Masters, the Knights, the Padawans, even other Initiates; they were what should be, what Kenobi himself clearly wanted to do, to be, but were copied from others, a reflection of truth and not what actually was.

The only times Yoda could remember Obi-Wan stepping out on his own, trying to make his own dance--Melida/Daan. Mandalore. Qui-Gon had either left him alone or with minimal guidance, and without the framework of the Order to guide him, Obi-Wan had fallen back on what he believed to be right, to be the will of the Force. Protect the Young. Protect the Duchess. Stop a war. (Even if it meant fighting.)

Obi-Wan wouldn't be happy strictly as a Peacekeeper, no. He had the knack for it, a skill with words and negotiations that most Masters could only wish for, but the boy's heart--his desire--was to defend and protect that which was Good.

And now, here. Naboo.

Qui-Gon's body lays in repose in the next room, waiting for the sunset and the pyre. Obi-Wan kneels before him, a Knight in a Padawan's garb, and while he never fails to make eye contact, there's a careful guard to it.

Peacekeepers do not kill, after all. Jedi are Peacekeepers; ergo, for all that he's tried to emulate them, Obi-Wan Kenobi is not a Peacekeeper. Not a Jedi.

He's a protector, and Yoda can see him realizing this even as he kneels and Yoda paces, otherwise in perfect silence.

Protectors need things to protect, things to cherish, attachments. How do you value something enough to protect it while maintaining a necessary distance? Even the Sentinels, guards as they are, keep their distance from their charges, no matter how many Younglings jump around and climb them and offer them sweets and pies.

"...even if I must leave the Order, I will train the boy."

And there is both the problem and the solution. Qui-Gon did a disservice to his student, leaving him to find his way alone. Even now, in death, Qui-Gon cannot complete the ritual to break their bond, to cut their ties so Obi-Wan may move forward alone. Yet it's clear that between the Council chamber and the reactor, the bond between them had already begun to unravel. Now what ritual there might be--it wouldn't have mattered, anyway. A sham, a farce, to be done with, if it would even happen at all.

Not that they didn't care about each other--no, he'd seen enough of them together to know that they did, but it was the care between two Knights or two Masters, not teacher-and-student, not father-and-son. Removed, careful, expecting and understanding that each could exist without the other ever in their lives again, but grateful for this brief opportunity to spend time beside each other.

So maybe Qui-Gon was right, in the end: maybe Obi-Wan had been ready for his Trials, having been acting the part of Knight already. No Trials now, Darth Maul's death is more than enough to count, and no ritual Knighting. Just the burning of a body... and the decision of a Knight to train a boy he barely knows.

A boy for the first time away from family and friends and familiarity, a boy... much like Obi-Wan once was, if only Yoda had paid more attention. A boy that, like Obi-Wan, will need to find his own path through life, his own steps through light and dark that might--will--be different from any Yoda has seen before.

A boy that, for right now, needs less guidance and more care. More compassion. More... protection.

It goes against the teachings of the Jedi, to encourage attachments. But Yoda looks at Obi-Wan, feels out for the boy on the other side of the door keeping vigil over his once would-be Master's body, and knows the will of the Force, too.

"Train the boy, you shall," he decrees, and blames the rest of the Council. "A Knight, you are."

Obi-Wan bows his head, like he'd expected nothing less, like he's grateful they're in accord and he won't have to fight for it.

And like he'd never expected a Knighting, a ritual, a ceremony.

Yoda watches him quietly enter the next room, kneel down beside Anakin Skywalker and join the silent vigil. Sees Anakin lean into him, just slightly. Sees Obi-Wan pause, then wrap one arm loosely around small shoulders.

No, he decides, turning his back on what's left of his Lineage. They'll make new dances, a new path, and he won't recognize a single step of it.

And he feels the slightest hint of relief.

#sw #star wars #meco writes #fic:Untitled (The Disaster Lineage Needs a Hug and Yoda Knows it) #yoda #lots of introspection #and what actually falls in a timeline is #set towards the end of tpm #it's been a while since i've posted here #what is even my tag structure again?

[galaxygolfergirl]

Things to make Attack of the Clones possibly a better movie

Stuff about Anakin

Anakin would take after Matt Lanter’s portrayal in the Clone Wars in terms of charm and personality, though not that Hayden Christensen doesn’t do a good job. Here me out; when not speaking that terrible dialogue, Haydensen brings the right amount of sensitivity, physicality, and frustration in Anakin’s evolving maturity. 

I’d like to think Anakin would be like a romantic-era poet in the body of a jedi (like a samurai John Keats?). After all, I can see some of Lucas’s intent with him spouting off that half-baked prose in the movies. When he’s Darth Vader, he does a better job with wordplay and Shakespearean themes. Anakin more likely resembles a Byronic hero, “Historian and critic Lord Macaulay described the character as ‘a man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart, a scorner of his kind, implacable in revenge, yet capable of deep and strong affection’”

In wooing Padme, Anakin has secretly been an avid scholar of galactic literature (reading stuff the Jedi order would frown upon) in hopes to try and meet her on her level and mature. He’s a fan of space fantasy novels (in the likes of Edgar Rice Burrough’s John Carter of Mars, but for Star Wars), and is a hopeful romantic. He wishes to explore more that the galaxy has to offer and feels constrained by the rigidity of the Jedi order. He and Padme connect on that level of Byronic romance.

As I said in my previous post, the age gap between Anakin and Padme is considerably smaller. (only about 3 years; he’s 23 and she’s 26)

Anakin is much less predatory around Padme than in the original film. I’d more rather have it that they’re both into one another but tragic pining ensues because they find out how much they get along after they’ve been apart.

I don’t know how to solve the mass murder of the tusked raiders scene; I wish it wasn’t there and I wish his mom didn’t get fridge as hard as she did

If there had to be a more docile option, maybe Anakin arrived on Tatooine and learned his mom died years before and he didn’t know about it until just then. It’s too literal to have him holding his dead mother in his arms, and I would think it’s much more cold and painful to learn that your loved one died years ago and you were unaware of it. 

His “early turn to the dark side” scene could involve him being more reckless and cutting down flesh and blood enemies during the arena scene, perhaps he kills Jango???

Stuff about Padme

Padme is much more proactive and #thatbitch when it comes to standing up against the rising imperial/fascist mentality within the senate, one of the reasons why some people might want her dead; make her AOC but in spaaaaaaaaaace

Darth Sidious wanted Padme killed for her opposition to the Military Creation Act which would allow the creation of an army to fight the Separatists for the Republic. Since Sidious was manipulating both the Separatists and the Republic, he put a bounty on Padme's head as Nute Gunray's grudge against her was powerful enough that he demanded her death as the condition for secession of the Trade Federation from the Republic

However, not only because of that, but also through her own investigative journalism, Padme discovers the Trade Federation’s shady business practices and ties to the growing separatist alliance and exposes this to the public, thus causing more of a demand for her death and exacerbation of tensions

She’s been having a hard time forming true relationships because of her position of power and being under public scrutiny all the time, thus after coming to respect and care for Anakin, resolves to minimize that scrutiny as much as possible

Stuff about Obi-wan

Jedi Mullet? I don’t think so. Make it more like this

(something a little less mullety, still luxurious, and he keeps the beard)

He’s not necessarily a paragon when it comes to no attachments, and he uses his attractiveness to his advantage and he knows it. 

Anakin does serve as his foil, but when he’s on his own it would be nice if he had a companion as well to mirror Anakin and Padme’s journey together. Perhaps an introduction of Satine, thus developing their relationship early on? A different female foil? Or just a buddy from work like Quinlan Vos? Idk.

He’s still in the sort of learning curve when it comes to being a master, and there can be a few times Anakin can prove him wrong. Obi-wan comes to respect his initiative by the end of the film and not be so critical of him (I mean Anakin had just lost an arm and all)

His relationship with Padme is still amicable, but meets a point of tension when discussing Anakin’s behavior and development. Their points of view differ when it comes to how Jedi can express themselves and she critiques some of the more questionable morals and practices of the Jedi

Things about the plot

Officials within the Republic government knew about the clones (and so did some Jedi). Palpatine organized a committee (engineering the pointless war behind the shadows) and they ordered the clone army after the whole Naboo crisis ten years prior to the events of Attack of the clones. Everyone knew tensions were brewing between the potential Seperatists and the Republic and the Republic wanted to beat them to the punch.

Which Jedi in particular knew? 

(Ooh! Ooh! What if some Jedi, even on the council, had already turned to the dark side and were working for Palpatine, and in the end by the time of Order 66 they help bring down the order, only to then be killed themselves by Palpatine and Vader (rule of 2)?)

The fight scene between Sidious and the jedi would have them turning against each other while Sidious finishes them off to show the ineptitude and corruption of the once pure Jedi order

Syfo Dyas was the Jedi ambassador to the senate and was convinced/manipulated to assist Palpatine; he helped order the clones and was ready to defend the republic, but when the full plot was revealed to him, he tried to make a run for it and tell the Jedi Order, only to end up assassinated. The order of the clone army a secret was kept until the Separatists fully declared war on the Republic. 

Count Dooku also knew when he was still a jedi and on the council. However, he had secretly turned to the darkside and was working for Palpatine/Sidious as a spy until he ultimately left the order to become the leader of the separatists. He had prior knowledge that Palpatine had engineered the war (note: an addition to my Phantom menace post, Syfo Dyas and Dooku would make appearances in Episode 1 to establish a precedent to the plot of this movie).

@whatlomalikes​  @cinna-wanroll​ y’all like Star Wars, right?

#aotc #Star Wars #attack of the clones #anakin skywalker #Padme Amidala #Obi-Wan Kenobi #count dooku #palpatine #syfo dyas #Star Wars the clone wars #feel free to discuss agree or disagree

[captaingondolin]

Obikin and 5, 8, 11, 12?😊

I say I’m not taking fic prompts and then I end up giving ridiculously long answers to these questions because I have no self-control. Ops :)

5. When one of them has a bad day, what does the other do to help cheer them up?

Anakin cooks, his stew is Obi-Wan’s go-to comfort food, and sometimes he bakes too, he learned how to make pastries especially for him (is Obi-Wan’s sweet tooth canon or fanon? Either way, I love it, I’m keeping it forever safe in my heart because it’s too cute) – but I have already used this in a previous answer, so it doesn’t count.  

Anakin takes Obi-Wan to meet their friends. Obi-Wan is more of an extrovert than him (Anakin likes people, but people sometimes are exhausting – and yes, there is that line in the RotS novel about how Obi-Wan would gladly sit alone in a cave to meditate, but I think it’s more about how much people expected of him all the time by then. He has friends in every system he ever visited, sentients all over the place like him way too much, even pirates and other scoundrels and he kinda likes them too), but sometimes he gets a bit too caught up in his own head and forgets that he is allowed to just need his people around for no reason. Dex’s hugs and his pies never fail to put a smile on Obi-Wan’s face. Or they hang out with Padmé and/or Bail and Anakin is just happy to hear them geek out on stuff he isn’t even that interested in, stars in his eyes, happy that his Obi-Wan is so smart and so beloved.  

Obi-Wan takes Anakin on little trips to places they’ve never visited before and he makes Anakin drive/pilot (this works for canon verse or AUs). The boy has always wanted to visit every planet in the galaxy, and even if he knows that’s impossible now, he is always so excited to discover new places. Obi-Wan does the planning and learns about their destination and can tell Anakin interesting facts and keep him entertained. That and a change of scenery usually work to make him feel better. Or he fucks Anakin’s brain out. There’s a lot of edging and praises and the whole “fuck the noise out of Anakin’s head”.

8. In a coffee shop AU, who would be the coffee shop employee and who would be the customer?

Anakin is the coffee shop employee. He’s actually working two jobs, he takes some shifts as a mechanic too. He is saving up to buy a house for himself and his mother, and one day he dreams of going to college. Obi-Wan is a professor who teaches history or literature. He owns an honest-to-got tweed jacket with elbow patches and is clearly unsuited to life outside his library and his office. Anakin finds him terribly endearing from day 1 and doesn’t know how to deal with the feelings. Obi-Wan has never slept less, because he keeps going back to buy coffee multiple times a day. Satine has to smack him over the head to convince him to make a move.

Or, Anakin is an overworked TA and Obi-Wan and Ahsoka own a fancy hipster coffee shop where Anakin is sent multiple times a day by snotty tenured professor Dooku, who thinks TAs are his personal assistants. Obi-Wan makes all the baked goods they sell and Anakin pretends to like sweets for his sake for months. Padmé has to smack him over the head to convince him to make a move.

(I just love my clueless boys)

11. What would they do to celebrate their one year anniversary?

In canon I imagine Anakin having all their small milestones memorized. You can bet he knows the exact date of their first kiss, and of their first near-kiss, and of the day they talked feelings… Obi-Wan is horribly clueless. He cherishes having Anakin at his side every day, and he hasn’t ever had the occasion to think about anniversaries in his life before. He might not even be aware that’s a thing people actually care about. Maybe he thinks it’s some overused holodrama plot (because he secretly watches space soap operas when he can’t sleep late at night, and he is too tired to think or do anything else and every time he closes his eyes he can see all the men who died under his command and OH NO, now I made myself sad) that doesn’t actually happen in real life (and now I made myself sad again about my favourite space priests being clueless about what family units actually do). For their one year together Anakin arranges their ship to be diverted to Jedha or some other place with cool temples or pieces of Jedi history, and takes him around to visit. Obi-Wan is speechless, he can’t believe Anakin managed that in the middle of a war, he can’t believe he is worth that much effort.

In AU Obi-Wan plans a special holiday months in advance. An Obi-Wan that was never a Jedi is still usually reserved and not good at spontaneity, but he loves Anakin so much and he wants his boy to know. He is good at planning and he knows exactly what Anakin likes. He mixes fancy and funny – he hires go-karts for them so they can run around the tracks for a few hours, and then takes Anakin to a fancy hotel with a bathroom that seems right out of a porn and a wonderful bed. They have the best bathtub sex, then move to the bed and Obi-Wan shows Anakin just how special he is to him.

12. When did they know that loved each other, and when did they first tell each other that they loved one another?

Oooooh, favourite question. And the one that took me the longest to answer because I start daydreaming with literal hearts in my eyes every time I think too hard about these two having feelings, you know?

Do you watch/know Brooklyn 99? (spoiler? That episode was out months ago, but it’s the last season) Whether you do or not, there’s this moment when Jake looks at Amy, who is complaining that there is a typo in the daily crossword on the newspaper, and he knows deep down in his very soul that he wants to spend the rest of his life with her. Even besides the fact that literally everyone I know agrees that Anakin is totally Jake and that Obi-Wan would find typos in crosswords, this was such a sweet, understated moment. I imagine for Anakin it goes a bit like that. Despite the rocky start, when he thought Obi-Wan didn’t want him, he has thought that his Master was the absolute coolest ever for a long time. Admiration slowly turns into a crush that turns into enduring love, and one day he sees Obi-Wan look at Ahsoka with this proud smile that he usually tries to hide. She’s training or something, and doesn’t see him, and Obi-Wan hasn’t noticed Anakin yet. And Anakin just knows.

For Obi-Wan is way more dramatic. And traumatic. He thought he had sworn off romantic love a long time ago. He thought he would notice himself getting inappropriately attached before it was too late. And speaking of inappropriate, Anakin used to be his Padawan! He is completely blindsided by the revelation, which comes on a mission, after he has lost sight of Anakin in some dangerous situation, and for a moment there is a pain in his chest – he almost can’t breathe, what if that was the last time he had seen Anakin? What if – but it can’t be! Because he loves him! And then he panics some more about this.

When they are reunited, he hugs Anakin. Anakin has initiated a lot of hugging, but this is a first. Obi-Wan realises his mistake and tries to play it cool, but after that Anakin starts taking notice of many small details that had escaped him before and convinces himself that maybe, just maybe, he has a chance. So he reveals his feelings to Obi-Wan. He picks a quiet time, goes to Obi-Wan’s room in the Temple and – it takes more courage than facing an entire battalion of clankers on his own, but it’s worth doing. He is only shaking a little.  

Obi-Wan tries to deny it, tries to tell Anakin that he is confused, which pisses Anakin off. In the end they start fighting, recriminating about of past issues, but actually that’s good, because they clear up a lot of things they were still mad about and then in the heat of the fight they are just so frustrated with each other that they start kissing. Violent mid-fight kissing that ends with one of them with his back against a wall and – oh, yes. They don’t come out of the room for a full day.

#obikin #dearobiwan #otp questions #ask #my tag #gondolin talks

[escaping-thoughts-reviews]

Dooku: Jedi Lost by Cavan Scott, 2019

Not much is known of the mysterious leader of the Independent Systems. Former Jedi Master, Count of Serenno, philanthropist, political genius and secretly Lord of the Sith. 

This is his story. From birth to Jedi-hood and sub sequential fall to the Darkside. It follows Dooku’s growth, the friends he made, his journey as a Master of two controversial Padawans and his fascination with ancient Sith relics and Jedi prophecies.

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First audiobook I ever listened to, and while a paper version was later published, I think the book works better in his original audio format (I’ll explain later).

The book starts just before the events of the Clone Wars. Ventress is starting her apprenticeship with Dooku and is given the task to find a woman that has close ties to the former Jedi Master.

The narration jumps from present to past through audiologs of Dooku’s childhood as Initiate, Padawan and into adulthood as a Knight and Master. 

I found this narrating choice to be very effective and while other books can fall into the trap of blurring the lines between past and present events, confusing the reader, here the author manages to keep the two distict.

One of the most interesting parts of this novel is Dooku’s family and their history. We discover how he came to be in the Jedi Order and his father’s resentment of him. It’s revealed he has two siblings, a sister named Jenza and a brother, Ramil. During the novel we see their relationship grow. And while Jenza cares for Dooku and stays in contact with him through the years, Ramil takes from their father and resents Dooku and wants nothing to do with him.

Serenno as a world is further explored. From their repulsion for Force sensitive beings to an ancient mural depicting a creature capable of destroying the world: the Tirra’Taka.

We also explore Dooku’s relationship with Sifo-Dyas, a fellow Initiate and Padawan, and his slow descent into madness that will lead him to create the Clone Army.

Sadly Yoda is written as a crappy master and it feels really out of character. He chooses Dooku, but almost immediately leaves him with another Master and barely teaches him anything. I feel like this was a lost opportunity to explore their bond and the reasons Dooku resents Yoda so much in the future (I guess for that we have the EU).

The reason why this story works better in audio format can be summarised in a scene when Dooku hears voices in a vision when only a Padawan learner (some among them are Ventress, Savage, Sidious, Qui-Gon, Yoda, etc...). I loved this moment, although it begs the question if Dooku always had this ability. Sure it could be tallied to this being a Disney book and therefore “there are no rules”, but some consistency would be appreciated.

As the story switches to Ventress’s PoV, we learn more abou Ky Narec through her recalling of events, and his voice acts as a conscience to the Sith assassin. A conscience she tries to bury.

I would also like to share some of my favourite moments from this book (no spoilers):

D: “There’s no harm in feeling pride. I’m proud of you after all.” “If I never do anything of note ever again, I will watch you rise through the Order, changing it forever”

Q: “For the better?”

D: *soft, warm laugh*

This is probably one of my favourite moments. We see Dooku’s clear affection towards Qui-Gon and knowing the faith of the latter, it makes it even more heartbreaking (Euan Morton does an amazing job, that laugh kills me). It also allows us to understand more clearly why Dooku fell to the Dark Side, making the reader empathize with him.

D: “You are wise beyond your years, Qui-Gon Jinn. With a connection to the Living Force that may even rival Yoda.”

Q: “I doubt that”

[Oh, Qui, you don’t even know the half of it.]

D: “I have faith in you and faith in the Force”

[How do you go from this to the bitter man of CW?]

As events unfold, Dooku and Qui-Gon are sent by the Coucil to attend a Swooper race, where they encounter Ramil, who’s there as a pilot.

The action picks up as his swooper is sabotaged and the two Jedi chase the culprits through the underground levels of Coruscant, and we discover where Qui-Gon gets his maverik streak, or better, from who he gets it.

The chase leads them to confront a criminal boss. The confrontation enrages Dooku to the point he has to fight the lightning that threatens to escape, keeping it inside, controling it. Which is interesting, but also contradicts what we know about Force lightning, aka only those who are subjected to it in prolonged periods of time can use it. So it begs the question of how can Dooku use this ability if he was never exposed to it. But, again, this is a Disney novel, so lore consistency is not really expected. Here instead it’s treated as a force from within and the only way to control it is to accept it.

Another interesting side-plot it’s when a member of the Council is revealed to be allied with the underground boss, but only to protect a fellow Jedi, later revealed to be her son. The Master in question is Yula Braylon, a fromer seeker (a Jedi who finds Force sensitive children and brings them to the Temple). Her son instead is revealed to be Dooku’s training rival, Arath.

This opens a whole conversation about what’s wrong with the Order, because how sad is it that when threatened, a Jedi feels it’s safer to comply with the requests of a criminal, that to ask the Council for help. In the end, both Breylon and Arath are arrested.

The story then shifts to Dooku’s homeworld of Serenno, that is under invasion, the Republic doesn’t care (so neither does the Order) because they see it as an “internal fewd”, although they are under attack from a foreign world. Jenza sends a official help request, but the Order decides to ignore it. Dooku defies the Council and along with Sifo-Dyas and his Master, Kostana, travel to Serenno.

Ramil is revealed to be behind the invasion, the Houses of Serenno are in shambles and the population is forced out into the plains as refugees. The situation is dire.

Everything escaletes when Dooku and Kostana fall into a crevice and find the mythical Tirra’Taka.

To save his people Dooku mind melds with him and has accesses its memories, discovering that the Tirra’Taka was enslaved by the Sith and abandoned on Serenno after their defeat at the hands of House Serenno. He also discoveres that the beast hates force-sensitives and that he reawakened when Dooku returned all those years ago.  Finally explaining the fear and aberration Dooku’s father, Count Gora, felt towards him and how he saw his son’s Force-sensitivity as a threat to Serenno and wanted him as far away as possible. 

Along with these revelations Sifo-Dyas is rapidly losing his mind, having nonstop visions, caused by the growing distress of the creature. I’ll be honest, Syfo’s abilities don’t make much sense and seem to be there just to hype the drama.

Before Ramil can kill Jenza and the rest of the people, Dooku summons the Tirra’Taka and uses it to destroy the invading army. This causes Sifo-Dyas to lose his mind completely. The fight ends with Dooku killing his brother.

Sadly the beast goes insane and Dooku is reluctantly forced to kill it to save Kostana, Sifo and Jenza.

D: “I never ment to hurt you. Not like the others. Never ment to bend you to my will. I’m sorry. So, so sorry.”

Here the author has me perplexed. He describes Dooku striking down the beast with his “golden blade”. Since when does Dooku have a golden kyber? It makes no sense, but again, it’s Disney...

After the battle, they discover this new, rare and, therefore, expensive ore called Zaccanium and now the Repubblic is interested in helping. This makes Dooku livid, keeping in line with his character and his contempt for the corruption of the Republic.

Yoda: “More than a name, the Jedi are. More than a title”.

Because of this Dooku decides to remain on Serenno as the new Count. Sealing his fate, as Sifo says “All the futures have become one. One path”.

D: “Please tell Rael and Qui-Gon... tell them the Force will be with them, always.”

This concludes the flashback section of the book and we return to the present, where Ventress finds the woman she was tasked to hunt down. 

She’s revealed to be Jenza, who wanted to go ask the Jedi to help her brother, for she fears he’s walking down a dark path, but was instead kindnapped by Republic agents and tortured for informations about the Separatists.  Dooku arrives she begs him to get help form the Council and to stop listening to the “hooded man”.

Meanwhile, Narec’s voice is still trying to convince Ventress to run away and gives her a vision of what awaits the former Jedi Master. As she’s trown back to reality, Dooku gives her an order, to which Narec tries again to convince Ventress to run away, in the last desperate attempt to keep her in the Light, but she doesn’t.  She obeys the Sith and Narec finally disapears. She made her choice.

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Lore wise: it’s interesting. Through the course of the movies and animated series, we never really see or learn about Dooku as a character (his motivations, aspirations, bonds if he ever had any). the most we get is a hint of his affection for Qui-Gon in Episode II or, his almost panicked reaction at Sidious’s order to kill Ventress (you could also count the ROTS novelization by M. Stover, where he tries to convince Sidious not to kill Obi-Wan, because he sees him as a grandson).

I liked the concept that Dooku gained the Force lightning before becoming a Sith, because it kind of shows that although it’s associated with the Dark Side, it’s still part of the Force.

The biggest change this book makes (also “Master and Apprentice”) is probably to the timeline In the EU, Dooku and Qui-Gon were 10 years apart, making Qui-Gon in Episode I 60 yrs old and Dooku 70 (80 in Ep II). While now, in the Disney canon, Qui-Gon is 47 and Dooku is still 70. Not a big deal I guess, but it does raise the question: how does Qui-Gon have the rank of Master in TPM, if Obi-Wan is his only Padawan? Qui-Gon was 22 when Obi-Wan was born, so that leaves approximately a 13 years gap, in which they could squeeze in another Padawan.

At least it’s implied that Dooku still joined Sidious after Qui-Gon’s death, I was afraid they’d retcon that. I always liked that it was that loss that pushed him to the edge.

Voice acting: Orlagh Cassidy as Ventress is good, she sounds very similar to Nika Futterman. Morton’s Dooku grows on you after a while, although the not so pronounced british accent is quite distracting, but what can I say, there’s only one Chistopher Lee. Qui-Gon is... interesting. Like, I know he should be 13/14 when he’s first introduced, but he sounds way older (sometimes older that Dooku), but to his credit the slight irish accent is delightful. Also Jonathan Davis delivery and speech patterns mimic those of Liam Neeson pretty well. On the other hand I was not expecting Rael’s voice to sound like that! Nice.

So, in conclusion:

Jenza deserved better

Ventress deserved better

Dooku is a dick, like his father and brother before him

But in all seriousness, this is a very well acted audiobook, with an amazing soundtrack and an interesting story that sheds light on one of the most unexplored characters of the Prequel Trilogy.

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Rating: It’s a buy!

#books #star wars #dooku: jedi lost #count dooku #booklr #reviews #long review #slighty spoilerish #2019 #escaping thoughts