Before - Legends New post 8/8--WAYWARD BEINGS--Qui-Gon's first apprentice

Probably not half the time it took for her to write her philosophical background of this character. I'm so intimidated by anyone who likens an OC to a poet...

 

TraxxasJedi wrote: That is the longest post I have ever seen that wasn't a story! How long did that take?

I dunno . . . an hour, maybe? That doesn't seem that long to me really, but I could be out of my mind.

Anyway, I blame solojones, who started a tradition of leaving huge reply posts to my current WIP, so I went and did the same for her, and now I feel like I have to for everyone.

DarthIshtar wrote: I'm so intimidated by anyone who likens an OC to a poet...

But I'm an ex-English major . . . I think comparing people to poets is normal.

 

Yes, I'm an English major, too, hon, but you see, a lot of my OCs are based on biblical characters or friends of mine, depending on my mood and the need of the story.

 

Now the author reply to the reader reply from the inspiration:
Err . . . I feel like an utter loser for not posting on this thread before, but I didn't know it was here. I mean, I knew that it was *going* to be, I'd talked to Ish about that some time ago, but I didn't know that it, you know, was. Here, that is. Or the last version, either, actually. It was the nomination on the Angst awards that tipped me off . . . I was reading down the list and thought, "Huh, someone else has a character named "Keme" too . . . D'oh!"

Okay, can we just say, oops, don't feel too bad? I was kind of wary of you responding, seeing how badly I botched the characters.

(FWIW, I put an "é" at the end of Waqkemé's name for pronunciation reasons, Ish doesn't. Either way is fine. Also, I would have sent said tome of info earlier if I had known it was wanted or needed. Sorry!)

I'm a computer idiot, unfortunately, and still can't get the e' thing right.

On Xanatos: He will feature in this story, but briefly. The story is not about him. And this story will continue until she's well past Padawan years.

I was also struck by the phrase in the letter and the title: "wayward beings." I actually used that exact phrase in my current fanfic novel, in a scene when Obi-Wan is thinking (reather crabbily, actually) of Qui-Gon's habit of trying to turn the Jedi Order into a "home for wayward beings."

Weird! I got the idea from a former Padawan and loved it a lot. I'm not quite sure why.

Nice job foreshadowing Qui-Gon's arrival and her special relationship to him: "noble-spirited princesses and kind Knights," as well as establishing that her personality is a fertile ground for the seeds of Jedi ideals, which is remarkable given her situation. I can also imagine her doing this--even as an adult woman (in my sick and twisted little universe, anyway), she has a tendency to slip into her own idealized world.

That entire thing was half-inspired by your line from The First Four Days: And, for that matter, the dear woman was a bit demented. At the moment she seemed completely absorbed in the way the overhead lights reflected on the glaze of her teacup. She had always had a tendency to fixate like that, a trait which she considered part of living in the moment, and which Qui-Gon had chided as a frivolity unbecoming in a Jedi. According to him, there was a big difference between living in the Eternal Now and being easily fascinated by shiny things.

I LOVE that line!

He expected things to go wrong.

Nice introduction to poor, patient, long-suffering Qui-Gon. It also sets an interesting emotional tone for him--he's often represented as a kind of deranged optimist, but there is something very grave and almost sad about him. All Jedi have their emotional weaknesses here and there, and I've wondered whether Qui-Gon wasn't a touch depressive at times. Maybe it's just that Liam Neeson's eyes turn down at the corners, which makes him look sad.

A lot of my characterizations of young Qui-Gon are based on the idea that he and Obi-wan were not so much different as they thought, but Qui-Gon was tempered by experience. As a young man, I think he would have had his moments of unbridled solemnity.

Interesting background for Qui . . . he certainly is a master of calm in the midst of a storm, as we learn in the TPM pink-forcefield-of-plot-necessity scene, and this is a rather chilling explanation for it that nevertheless fits what we know of the character. The term "chastisement" suggests that Dooku literally beat him, too, which would help explain why Qui-Gon feels an immediate connection with an abused child.

Exactly what I was trying to imply. My best friend was a victim of abuse frequently for about a year and she described the kind of phenomenon where she could just shut down emotionally within heartbeats, where she could make it so her mind didn't hurt as much as her body did. I took this, put meditation in as a substitute, and it became Q/D.

Obviously the administrators were

 

will post tonight

 

WHats does FWIW mean?

 

Not a clue...

 

For What It's Worth

 

Oh that would explain it. This was the second time a saw it in two days so I was wondering...

 

Ahh...okay. Sorry i didn't update yesterday. I came home from my haircut and fell asleep at 5, woke up to eat dinner at 8:30, fell asleep at 10.

 

I was kind of wary of you responding, seeing how badly I botched the characters.

They're fine. You don't have to write exactly like me to do a good job or anything.

I'm a computer idiot, unfortunately, and still can't get the e' thing right.

Alt + 0233

Xanatos: He will feature in this story, but briefly. The story is not about him. And this story will continue until she's well past Padawan years.

Okay, cool! It'll be interesting to see how Xanatos affects the dynamic between Kemé, Obi-Wan, and Qui-Gon.

ot of my characterizations of young Qui-Gon are based on the idea that he and Obi-wan were not so much different as they thought, but Qui-Gon was tempered by experience. As a young man, I think he would have had his moments of unbridled solemnity.

Hmm . . . interesting idea. Sad that Qui-Gon didn't live long enough for him and Obi-Wan to develop a post-training relationship . . . they probably would have re-discovered a lot of commonalities once they didn't have to spend so much time together, and there was no Master/grown Padawan power struggle to deal with.

Exactly what I was trying to imply.

Ohhh . . . poor little Qui! That's very sad. Hey--why didn't the rest of the Jedi do something? They can be dopey sometimes.

My best friend was a victim of abuse frequently for about a year and she described the kind of phenomenon where she could just shut down emotionally within heartbeats, where she could make it so her mind didn't hurt as much as her body did.

Ouch . . . that's just painful to hear. I'm so sorry. I'm training to work with troubled kids, and I always feel terrible for the ones who we suspect are being mistreated at home.

Reminds me kind of my brother, who keeps his hair kind of harrypotterish because it makes him look "more relaxed." Mostly it's because if his hair is combed nicely, you notice he's 19 and has a big bald spot!

A kid in my high school had a big bald spot by the time he was 17. He pretty much took it in stride . . . he said it was just evidence that he was extra-manly, since he had so much testosterone. (Apparently a factor in male-pattern baldness.) Also, he thought it was cool that he never got carded at the liquor store.

What kind of ordinary things could Jedi kids make extraordinary?

This is the kind of question that makes me love fanfic writing. The sandbox scene was inspired in turn by a scene I no longer quite remember from "Children of the Jedi" . . . Luke finds the remains of a Jedi nursery and sees a bunch of toys only Force-sensitive kids could play with. I don't remember what they were anymore, though.

No, actually, sometimes William Schwenk Gilbert rocks. The dialogue is almost exactly from the Pirates of Penzance

Hey, that's okay. I accidentally quoted Prince Humperdinck at a really unfortunate time in my fanfic, much to the amusement of my readers. ::

Ouch! Man, when Mace lays down a smackdown, it's *hard.*

Yeah, I'm not sure if I'm taking him too far.

No, that was gorgeous. If it had been deliberately cruel or all dithery and indecisive, that would have seemed over-the-top. As it is, Mace is just doing his job in the way he truly feels is best. It makes him a very strong character--likeable, even, in a way, although he's obviously playing "the heavy" here.

At least it's not like the old days when Amidala_Skywalker and/or Melyanna would be hacking it out with lanvaroks and lightsabers in the threads.

Yeeeikes! I don't have a whole lot of readers, but at least the ones I've got are a civilized bunch.

I just got used to sending update pms on one story and am royally sick of it, but it helps.

Well, don't make your life more complicated because of it. Just if it's not a lot of trouble, that's all.

 

They're fine. You don't have to write exactly like me to do a good job or anything.

Well, yeah, duh, but sometimes I'm terrified that I'll pull up a response that goes "You've got to be kidding me! That didn't sound like Qui-Gon at all!" or "Man, you just take these guys too seriously and it's ruining the whole thing."

Okay, cool! It'll be interesting to see how Xanatos affects the dynamic between Kemé, Obi-Wan, and Qui-Gon.

Xanatos affects a very important thing in Qui-Gon's life that I wrote in a different story and intend on using here and there will be a Kemé dynamic to it. (P.S. I just successfully used é!!!! Happy day, all is well!)

[Hmm . . . interesting idea. Sad that Qui-Gon didn't live long enough for him and Obi-Wan to develop a post-training relationship . . . they probably would have re-discovered a lot of commonalities once they didn't have to spend so much time together, and there was no Master/grown Padawan power struggle to deal with.[/i]

Yeah, on a smaller scale, when I was a missionary, for the first three months of your work out in your assigned area, you're in "training". I had two trainers and the second one we drove each other crazy, had some good screaming fights, then became best friends as soon as she got transferred. We still spend a ton of time together and stuff like that, so I believe there could have been a powerful post-padawanship dynamic with Q/O.

A kid in my high school had a big bald spot by the time he was 17. He pretty much took it in stride . . . he said it was just evidence that he was extra-manly, since he had so much testosterone. (Apparently a factor in male-pattern baldness.) Also, he thought it was cool that he never got carded at the liquor store.

I don't know about testosterone, I used to think my brother was vaguely gay, but no more. But he's mega-embarrassed because he's about to leave for Brazil and his girlfriend says she'll be faithful for the two years he's gone, but I can just see her married to some guy with a full head of hair in 2006.

This is the kind of question that makes me love fanfic writing. The sandbox scene was inspired in turn by a scene I no longer quite remember from "Children of the Jedi" . . . Luke finds the remains of a Jedi nursery and sees a bunch of toys only Force-sensitive kids could play with. I don't remember what they were anymore, though.

I remember the one that Callista tries to use and thereby realizes she's lost the Force. It's a chime set where you have to raise the chimes to strike each other with the Force.

Hey, that's okay. I accidentally quoted Prince Humperdinck at a really unfortunate time in my fanfic, much to the amusement of my readers. ::

My readers are always going "Love the _______ quote" and I'll never even have heard of the rock band or something.

No, that was gorgeous. If it had been deliberately cruel or all dithery and indecisive, that would have seemed over-the-top. As it is, Mace is just doing his job in the way he truly feels is best. It makes him a very strong character--likeable, even, in a way, although he's obviously playing "the heavy" here.

Mace is one of my favorites because he this strength and ferocity, but serenity and cool-headed nature at other times.

Yeeeikes! I don't have a whole lot of readers, but at least the ones I've got are a civilized bunch.

I tend to inspire lots of violence in my threads.
`

 

Hmm, I thought you were going to give us a new post yesterday?


Could we have a new post soon? Please!




My parents and their friends were involved in Gilbert & Sullivan so I practically grew up with it! My Favorite shows were "Pirates of Penzance" and "Ruddigore". My Brother was even in one of the shows, he played a page (he was about 8-10 yrs old), I think it was in "Iolanthe", This was about 20 years ago!

 

*gasps once again, and clutches convulsively*

I... need... more! More, more, more! I swear, I'm probably going to hunt down every one of your stories and devour them, now.

I'd say that I couldn't remember the last time I've laughed so hard, cried so bitterly, and gotten so angry in the course of reading a fanfic... but it happened just over an hour ago, so that would be a lie.

But this poor baby. I totally feel for her, and I just want to... do something really evil to the monsters that have hurt her. *brandishes cutlass, then remembers herself and swaps for vibroblade* Whatever.

Anyway, hopefully you'll feel better soon, although I admit it's partially for selfish reasons

Amazing job, DarthIshtar.

 

KSkywalker, you are definitely qualified to be a reader of mine! I'm the one my parents have a video of, wandering around when I was three and singing note-perfect (if not word-perfect) "poor wand'ring ones, though thou hast surely strayed" and my favorite childhood story is me thinking the song went "a pair of socks a pair of socks a most ingenious pair of socks..." I've been in Princess Ida, sung solos in the yearly G&S sampler, seen the Mikado in the Savoy Theater in London, where it was premiered... I love Ruddigore and Iolanthe and especially Trial by Jury!

 

And Fate, welcome to the madness! I laughed reading your reply, which, considering I've only had 2 hours of sleep, is impressive.

 

And sorry for the delay, not feeling well again. Saturday: I went to the family reunion, went to my 'rents for dinner, went home, fell asleep. Sunday: Got up, went to church, had to come home after the first meeting, slept until husband left for work at noon, slept until 2:30, slept from 4-11:15, couldn't sleep, slept 6-8.

 

I actually promise with reason to believe I won't fail that I will post this afternoon. I couldn't sleep last night, so this story was in my head.

 

Just don't mock her about her late postings... she'll get something up in a hurry, but then she'll put in the story and kill you!

 

Heehee, darn straight I will.

 

*twiddling thumbs - waiting for post*

 

You call that MOCKING?! YOU have got to be kidding me!

 

Careful... I'll go Monty Python in your general direction.

 

The mission was in its second month, with no sign of termination. The opposing parties had good intentions, but better excuses for not calling off the war, so his days were either spent negotiating a treaty or trying to fend off the latest ambush.

But tonight, he had delegated those odious tasks entirely to the care of his partner, Knight Rianon Kufe. There was a vital communiqué that he could not miss for all the peace treaties in the Galaxy.

Four months and six days after he'd been torn away from her, Kemé was having her seventh birthday and she'd be smuggled to the medcenter's comm station under some pretense.

The proceedings in the courts were, at best, painstaking and futile. The inspection team had returned with reports that Melkork was not overstepping its bounds, that the workers were being paid, and the children were being kept from the mines.

Someone had to have been bought, since not a single report mentioned whether or not the children were healthy, whether the miners had enough salary to support their families, and there were no inquiries into the schooling system. Either no one had bothered to look into the vital details or they were paid not to.

And the appeal was postponed. The judge had denied a second search warrant, alleging that they could file a request for one at their appeal six months in the future.

At the very earliest, they could get Kemé out of there after eight months. And that was showing a great deal of optimism, given their previous fortunes with the court.

But they hadn't left things completely out of control. When Isara had been dismissed, Republic Welfare Services had sent a quiet, golden-haired young woman to fill the position. She was compassionate, but would not tolerate someone interfering with her duties.

And she was, to make matters even better, a Jedi Knight.

Sarai Majav had been Knighted merely weeks before Qui-Gon, had been a friend of Mace's since the days of the creche, and she promised by everything that was precious, that she would keep Kemé out of as much trouble as she could.

The comm beeped quietly, signalling an incoming call and he swatted it on without screening to verify the source.

"Kemé?"

There was a half-laughing sob and she squealed "Kaigon!"

It was hard to say when his heart had been wrenched more--when he'd left her or in this moment when all her hope and happiness was in the fact that they could talk.

"Shh," Saria chided. "Do you want to wake up the whole compound?"

Kemé swallowed back both the giggle and the tears and mumbled "sorry," but didn't sound like she meant it.

"Happy birthday," he said automatically. "Did you get my package?"

"Grandma Durble tried to take it, but Saria yelled at her until she gave it back," Kemé informed him smugly.

"She wanted to barter the clothes and eat the cake," Saria clarified. "I was glad that I didn't have my lightsaber nearby or I would have settled this Durble matter once and for all and not cared about the criminal charges."

"Watch your temper," he warned. "We don't want to give them another excuse to take things into their own hands."

"I know," Saria sighed, "but it's very hard, even for a Jedi."

"I know," he repeated.

"But we got the cake here and gave some to the other sick people," Kemé interrupted. "They said to tell you thank you."

"Thank you for sharing," he praised, smiling slightly.

When all you've got is nothing, there's a lot to go around, was his creche mistress' favorite saying.

Finally, though, he could postpone the inquiry no further, had to put his mind at rest or put his anger in its place.

"Kemé, tell me everything," he pleaded quietly. "Do they still make you work?"

There was a long silence, and for a moment, he was afraid they'd been cut off or discovered, but then an urgent whispering between the two girls, Saria's harried insistence that he needed to know and she wouldn't get hurt for saying so.

Finally, Kemé whispered something so softly that he had to ask her to repeat herself.

"They know I

 

Told ya.