Saga Before - Legends Before the Saga A Meditation on Unconventionality (Qui-Gon Jinn 2023 Fanfiction Summer Olympics Decathlon)

Title: A Meditation on Unconventionality

Author: devilinthedetails

Genre: A medley of genres.

Timeline: Before the Saga-Legends and Saga.

Characters: Qui-Gon Jinn; Obi-Wan Kenobi; Tahl; Dooku; Xanatos; Bant; Guardians of the Whills; Yoda; Anakin.

Summary: An anthology of stories written for my 2023 Summer Olympics Qui-Gon Jinn Decathlon.

Index of Entries:

A Ground-Breaking Cure for Addiction: General; Dialogue-Only; Drama; Friendship; Humor. Qui-Gon Jinn; Obi-Wan Kenobi. Tennis Match. Post #2.

Bright Burning Stars: General; Philosophical; Spiritual. Qui-Gon Jinn; Dooku. 100 Word Sprint. Post #9.

Clear-Seeing: Romance; Mush; Fluff. Qui-Gon; Tahl. Single Sentence Shotput. Post #16.

Art and Permanence. General; Philosophical; Spiritual. Qui-Gon; Xanatos. 200 Word Freestyle. Post #22.

Goodbye (or at Peace in the Force): Romance; Friendship; Angst; Philosophical; Spiritual; Drama; Song Fic. Qui-Gon; Tahl; Obi-Wan; Xanatos. Synchronized Swimming. Post #25.

Separation over Frozen Custard: AU; General; Friendship; Philosophical; Drama. Qui-Gon; Obi-Wan; Tahl; Bant. AU Archery. Post #29.

Wisdom of the Whills: General; Spiritual; Drama; Angst; Character Study. Qui-Gon; Obi-Wan; Guardians of the Whills. Judo. Post #32.

Four Loves and Four Attachments: General; Drama; Angst; Friendship. Qui-Gon; Xanatos; Dooku; Tahl; Obi-Wan. 4x100 Relay. Post #36.

Time and Space: General; Philosophical; Spiritual; Drama. Qui-Gon; Yoda. 400 Word Cross Country. Post #39.

Peace and Penance on the Sands of Tatooine: General; Philosophical; Spiritual; Drama; Friendship; Angst; Hurt/Comfort. Qui-Gon; Anakin; Obi-Wan. Fantastical Fencing. Post #42.

Pentathlon completed on 7/29/2023. Thread always open for reading and for commenting!

 

Title: A Ground-Breaking Cure for Addiction

Genre: General; Dialogue Only; Drama; Friendship; Humor.

Characters: Qui-Gon Jinn; Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Event: Tennis Match.

Summary: Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan debate the nuances of charity.

A Ground-Breaking Cure for Addiction (Tennis Match)

“You didn’t even offer him a credit, Obi-Wan. You just stared at him as if he were something nasty stuck to the bottom of your boot.”

“If I gave a credit to every beggar who accosts me on a Coruscant pedway, I’d have no credits left to fund my very important Jedi business, Master.”

“Helping the less fortunate is very important Jedi business.”

“The less fortunate in this case was polluting my precious air with deathstick stench.”

“If you’re going to be so stingy with your credits, you could be less generous with your scorn as well.”

“My credits would have supported his death stick habit if I’d been more generous with them.”

“Addiction is hard to break. You might have more compassion for a man suffering from such a terrible disease, Padawan.”

“What do you want me to do? Wave my hand, perform a Jedi mind trick, and convince him that he wants to go home and rethink his life? There’s no cure for addition, is there?”

“Your sarcasm becomes irksome. You might want to rethink that, Obi-Wan.”

“I’m not being sarcastic. I’m serious. Is that what you want me to do next time?”

“It couldn’t be worse than your current method of contemptuous rejection.”

“I’ll do that then. See if I can discover a ground-breaking cure for addiction.”

 

@study888 Thanks for reading and commenting! Glad you enjoyed it and that it got some chuckles out of you! Hope you enjoy this next installment as well

@earlybird-obi-wan As always, thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I'm so glad that you loved this discussion, and I just couldn't resist having that little nod to Obi-Wan telling the person who tries to sell him death sticks to go home and rethink his life and giving something of an origin story for that moment, which is one of my favorites from AOTC

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Thank you so much for reading and for your thoughtful comment! I'm so happy to hear that you thought this was a fantastic start and that you felt each side to this debate had a compelling side that is relevant to our world. One of the things about Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon's relationship that I enjoyed in TPM was that when they argue, they both have valid reasoning for believing as they do, and it's not easy to dismiss either of them as being completely wrong. So I wanted to sort of bring some of that same spirit to this debate here. Where I think both bring up fair points, concerns, and considerations throughout this conversation.

@Chyntuck Thank you so much for reading and commenting, and I'm simply thrilled that you loved this backstory for how Obi-Wan came to adopt the "rethink your life" line he uses in AOTC! I like to imagine Obi-Wan was thinking of Qui-Gon when he said it, and I could picture him using it quite a few times over the years. Which does raise the question of whether that little Force nudge ever helped anyone reform their life for the better. I would like to think so. It would seem a great way of honoring Qui-Gon!

@UltramassiveUbersue So glad you are excited to see some more Qui-Gon content, and that you love how I characterized him in this piece!I head canon Qui-Gon as someone who would never hesitate to call Obi-Wan out, especially for anything he views as a lack of compassion. And I think Qui-Gon is good at getting Obi-Wan's stubbornness and sarcasm to be directed in a way he wants it to go (potentially helping someone else out) without Obi-Wan necessarily realizing it. But I think over time Obi-Wan might start doing it as a way of honoring and respecting Qui-Gon and his memory. So what starts as something done to win an argument can become something of a homage and tribute to Qui-Gon in his mind and heart. After all, Obi-Wan is a complicated fellow just like Qui-Gon!

@Seldes_Katne Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I think one of Qui-Gon's best attributes is how much value he attaches to all life, and I wanted to really celebrate that admirable trait of his in this piece, so I'm so pleased you felt that was so in-character for him. I do think Obi-Wan does have some fair points, especially from a rational point of view, and I do think one of Obi-Wan's more relatable traits in general is that he can be sarcastic and grumble about things and people. He's a hero, but he is not perfect. And I so wanted to capture a young Obi-Wan's voice here and do it justice so I'm delighted that you felt I succeeded with that. I definitely think it is in Obi-Wan's headstrong nature to not be afraid to question his Master or to express his frustrations about their different approaches and perceptions. I hope you will enjoy the next installment just as much

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Title: Bright Burning Stars

Genre: General; Philosophical; Spiritual.

Characters: Qui-Gon Jinn; Dooku.

Event: 100 Word Sprint

Summary: Qui-Gon, Dooku, and the bright burning stars on which they gaze.

Bright Burning Stars (100 Word Sprint)

“Bright burning stars.” Master Dooku leaned on the railing of the balcony to their shared quarters at the Jedi Temple. “That is what Jedi teaching maintains we should all be.”

“Yes, Master.” Qui-Gon nodded. Gazing up at the constellations climbing in the sky. Silver stars that strained and struggled to be seen against the artificial lights of Coruscant’s trillions of skytowers and superskytowers.

“Yet when too many bright stars burn together, they cannot be seen.” Master Dooku’s words were shimmersilk-soft. Musing. “Their light becomes blinding. There must be some darkness for them to whirl within, for stars to truly shine.”

 

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I'm so glad that you found this to be an interesting commentary on stars and darkness since stars are eternally fascinating to me

@UltramassiveUbersue Thank you so much for reading and for the thoughtful words! I always felt like something that Dooku and Qui-Gon had in common was being different, free-thinking, and inclined to question Jedi dogma, so I do think that Qui-Gon is internalizing some of Dooku's tendency to question Jedi doctrine and orthodoxy. But of course he ends up doing it in a more compassionate, empathetic way than Dooku. And I think that is part of why Dooku gets taken down a Dark path, but Qui-Gon remains committed to serving the Light even beyond his death.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you say that Qui-Gon is looking at this lesson from Dooku through a lens of compassion. Empathizing with the stars, and seeing their struggle to survive against overwhelming odds as akin to his in some ways.

Yes, I think Dooku is in the midst of being seduced to the Dark Side here, and that the egotism and pride that led to his downfall is on display here. And I think you are spot on that it will be this very egotism and pride of Dooku's that Sidious will ultimately exploit to seduce Dooku to the Dark Side. The Dark Side and Sidious can be very cunning in that regard!

Dooku's fascination with the Dark Side is definitely growing here, and he is starting to fall victim to the idea that darkness is in some way needed to balance out the light. In time, he will gradually become convinced that he needs to be that darkness that is necessary for light to truly shine.

I did sort of want to dance on that tight-rope question of is Dooku trying to seduce and recruit Qui-Gon to the Dark Side or is Qui-Gon merely witnessing Dooku's gradual descent to the Dark Side since I do love the complexity and ambiguity Dooku has as a character in canon, and I wanted to remain true to that spirit of complexity and ambiguity in my little depiction of Dooku here.

And I'm so happy to hear that you felt the innate qualities that Qui-Gon has that make him resistant to Dooku's fate were on display here and super flattered that you felt this was great stuff! I hope you enjoy the next installment just as much

@whiskers Thank you so much for reading and commenting! The Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon dialogue definitely did touch on some very sensitive and important real life issues in terms of addiction and poverty. So there were certainly serious issues addressed as you say even if there was also the hopefully balancing humor of the funny call forward to what Obi-Wan does in AOTC, and I'm so glad that you love Qui-Gon's opinion on the subject! As for Dooku, he is definitely the master of all that is ominous in his discussion with Qui-Gon about the stars and darkness...

@Chyntuck Thank you so much for reading and commenting! "Creepy" is a perfect word for how I tend to imagine Dooku as Qui-Gon's Master, and that creepiness was definitely on full display in this piece where he takes the Jedi teachings and tries to distort them in such a way as to present the Dark Side as appealing and necessary to his Padawan. He is definitely not a good mentor figure for Qui-Gon!

@Kahara Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I'm so glad that you found the first story to be an intriguing origin for that scene in AOTC (which can always draw a chuckle from me) . There are definitely some cringe-worthy things young Obi-Wan says in that piece, and, yes, I was inspired by some of Obi-Wan's behavior in TPM in that regard in terms of how Obi-Wan refers to Jar Jar as a pathetic lifeform, etc. Obi-Wan can sometimes be a bit too sarcastic and cynical about things, but with time, he matures into a compassionate Jedi like we see in ROTS and ANH.

I think Qui-Gon tends to focus a lot on the value of compassion and empathy and respecting others as sentient beings even if one can't solve all that beings problems as you say. And I do think there is a part of Obi-Wan that is indeed frusturated by not being able to help or solve the problem as you describe it, and that is coming out in his sarcastic attitude. Obi-Wan's sarcasm can be a defense mechanism of sorts at times. But I think it is good for Obi-Wan that Qui-Gon is willing to call him out for it when necessary and teach him more effective ways to show compassion and empathy.

I do think that this conversation stuck with Obi-Wan, and throughout his life he would try to use that mind trick, and think of Qui-Gon ( a way of honoring him) when he did it.

So glad you liked the poetry of those lines, but, yes, it is one hundred percent unsettling to hear Dooku spout these things at such an early date. My headcanon is definitely that Dooku's relationship with the Jedi Order has already started to fracture at this point.

I also think you make a good point about the melancholy in his metaphor here. There is indeed that sense that he could be lost in the crowd, which can be a lonely perspective.

My heart does break for Qui-Gon in that I don't think Dooku is a good mentor for him and certainly is not equipped to be a good guide and parent-figure to Qui-Gon during his formative teenage years. And, yes, I think it is Qui-Gon's saving grace that he tends to walk to the beat of his own drum when it comes to resisting Dooku's potentially corrupting influence!

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Title: Clear-Seeing

Genre: Romance; Mush; Fluff.

Characters: Qui-Gon; Tahl.

Event: Single Sentence Shotput

Summary: Qui-Gon reflects on Tahl’s clear-sightedness.

Clear-Seeing (Single Sentence Shotput)

Qui-Gon often thought that after her blindness Tahl could only see him more clearly, and that clear-seeing was the deepest, purest love.

 

@earlybird-obi-wan Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I was always a fan of the relationship between Qui-Gon and his own true love Tahl, and I am so grateful that this decathlon gives me a chance to explore that beautiful love and friendship in more depth I definitely plan to have more pieces in this decathlon delving deeper into the nature of the love between Qui-Gon and Tahl, and I hope you will continue to enjoy them!

@UltramassiveUbersue Thank you so much for reading and for the kind words! I'm so flattered that you thought my Single Sentence Shotput was absolutely lovely and provided such a wonderful interpretation of Qui-Gon's character since I always loved the purity of Qui-Gon's relationship with Tahl and how it brought out the best in him. One thing I also liked about the Jedi Apprentice books is we see Qui-Gon wrestling with his grief and his Dark Side after Tahl's death (his desire for vengeance against the one who killed her) but that he ultimately does not succumb to his grief or to the Dark Side. It shows that every case of Jedi love doesn't have to end as tragically as Anakin's love of Padme. Really I think it was more the fact that Anakin couldn't accept loss than that he loved that brought about his downfall in the PT. If Anakin could have found a way to love without fearing to lose that love and to make peace with his loss (to go through the cycle of grief, basically), he could have remained in the Light, I think. Just as Qui-Gon does.

@Chyntuck Thank you so much for reading and for the thoughtful words!Unconventional Qui-Gon does feel like the perfect character to explore alternative takes on Jedi love and attachment with

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Thank you so much for reading and for the sweet words of support! I'm so glad that you found this single sentence was able to offer beautiful insights, and Qui-Gon and Tahl have always fascinated me as a pairing both as a rich friendship and a tale of true love

@whiskers Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I'm so happy to hear that you loved the reference to Tahl! I've always had a soft spot for the Jedi Apprentice books because of how they wrote about the adventures and culture of the PT Jedi, and I've always been a shameless Jedi fangirl!

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Title: Art and Permanence

Genre: General; Philosophical; Spiritual.

Characters: Qui-Gon; Xanatos.

Summary: Qui-Gon and Xanatos contemplate questions of art and permanence on a beach walk.

Art and Permanence (200 Freestyle)

“That’ll be gone by sundown.” Xanatos flicked a dismissive glance at a sand castle with battered turrets and towers they passed on a wave-swept beach. “It was a waste of time for those eager younglings to build it.”

“That depends on what you mean by a waste of time,” Qui-Gon countered. “The Guardians of the Whills spend years creating sand mandalas only to destroy them upon completion.”

“That sounds even more pointless than the sand castle.” Xanatos snorted. Rolled his eyes.

“The destruction is the point of the creation, Padawan.” Qui-Gon laid a gentle palm on his apprentice’s shoulder. “It is an art meant to remind its maker that nothing is permanent. It is meant to teach the one who labors over it the lesson of non-attachment.”

Non-attachment. The way of the Jedi and the Guardians of the Whills.

“I thought–” Xanatos frowned. A furrow in his forehead. “That the point of art was to be enduring. A monument to its maker’s vision. An insurance that its creator’s name would be remembered. A footprint left in the sand of time not to be erased by any tide.”

“Only the Force endures forever.” Qui-Gon smiled. “And even it changes and adapts."

 

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I think one of the most fascinating and compelling things about art is that it can mean different things to different people and that there can be so many varying definitions and interpretations of what art is and why it matters. So it is the sort of discussion where there can be a lot of different perspectives and few answers that are set in stone.

I agree with you that I think some of the truly great works of art have a sort of transcendent, timeless quality about them where they can endure and speak to many generations. They can withstand the test of time and prove to be more than a passing fad. Like a Shakespeare play or a Da Vinci painting.

But, at the same time, there can be something profoundly beautiful about the transient. Like the bloom of a cherry blossom in spring. And sometimes looking at ancient ruins can be beautiful and peaceful. And much great art, like the poems of Keats, have contemplated the transient, fleeting nature of beauty.

So, it seems to be a case that beauty can be many things, and so can art.

I think Xanatos can have a bit of a cynical, snide perspective about things, and has a tendency to be quite derisive about the efforts of others and to see them as a waste of time if he suspects that they won't be enduring.

Whereas Qui-Gon can take a more generous view and sympathetic view. Trying to find wisdom and beauty in as many places and beings as he can. So he can see the beauty in the sandcastle on the beach before the ocean swallows it and can understand why the children wanted to create something beautiful even if it wouldn't last forever. He would understand that creative drive and see something beautiful in that creative drive as well as its creation even if the creation gets swallowed by waves in the end. There's something quite benevolent and all-embracing about Qui-Gon's view.

Questions of permanence versus transience will also be at the heart of this next story.

@earlybird-obi-wan Thanks so much for commenting, and I'm so glad you loved the sandcastle conversation The sandcastle is indeed art (especially to the children who created it) even if it gets swept away by the ocean, and Qui-Gon will end up being a great proof of the idea that the Force absolutely encompasses and embraces change!

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Title: Goodbye ( or at Peace in the Force)

Genre: Romance; Friendship; Angst; Philosophical; Spiritual; Drama; Song Fic.

Characters: Qui-Gon; Tahl; Obi-Wan; Xanatos.

Event: Synchronized Swimming.

Summary: In which Qui-Gon comes to accept Tahl’s death and finds peace in the Force.

Author’s Note: Inspired by Linda Ronstadt’s achingly beautiful “Goodbye, My Friend.” Lines appearing in italics and parentheses in the main body of the story are
borrowed from the song and are not my own creation, so I claim no credit for them. Since the song lyrics are not of my own invention, I did not count them toward my word count.

Goodbye (or at Peace in the Force)

(Oh, we never know where life will take us)

“Where do you think the Force will take us?” Qui-Gon asked as they sat on crates in the Temple hangar.“In the future. When we’re Padawans.”

“Wherever it wills.” Tahl bounced on her crate. “But it’s hard to be patient and passive. Just waiting for it to take us wherever it wants. So I’ve found ways to reel the future in like a fish. To bring it closer to me so I can touch it.”

She paused for dramatic effect. Then smiled elusively. “Whenever the future feels far away, I shut my eyes and picture it. Imagine it so vividly that I can reach out and grab it.”

(And we never know when death will shake us,
and we wonder how it will feel.)

Sometimes, late at night, Tahl and Qui-Gon would sneak around the Temple until they found dark corners where they could hold a glowrod beneath their chins and exchange a thousand ghost stories.

“How do you think death feels, Tahl?” Qui-Gon asked in a hoarse whisper after she’d finished a tale of an unquiet king’s spirit seeking vengeance across centuries for a stolen crown.

“I don’t suppose it feels like anything.” Tahl gazed at him. Her gold-green eyes glittering in the yellow light of the glowrod. “ Or if it does, I guess it must feel like falling asleep after a long, difficult day. Like endless peace. Like finding peace at last in the Force. Becoming one with it forever.”

(I’ve seen a lot of things that made me crazy,
and I guess I held onto you.)

Qui-Gon had never thought of himself as a clingy person, but it’d always been him holding onto her amid the chaos and craziness of life. She was his sanity and clarity.

The one he looked to for wisdom and comfort when Xanatos fell, forsaking his Jedi training.

Even when she had been newly blinded, it was she who’d guided him. Who had advised him in forgiving Obi-Wan and himself for what had happened on Melida-Daan.

And, after she had died, when he had still been holding onto her–hungry to avenge her–it had been her voice, not Obi-Wan’s as he had supposed, that had shouted out to him. Stopping him from killing the cringing man who had betrayed her. Who was the she was dead.

She hadn’t wanted to leave him, he realized. Not until she was certain that he was sane. That he wouldn’t take bloody revenge on Balog. That he would be okay without her.

I’m okay now, he assured her in his mind. Whispering to her across the Force. Bidding the most painful farewell to her as he stared down at her body in the room where he had been left alone with her on her final journey back to Coruscant. Goodbye, my friend and my love. You can go now.

He thought he saw a shade of her rise from her body. A ghost of the girl she had been as an initiate. Flouncing, grinning, to the doorway. Wave jauntily at him from the threshold. Then disappear. Waiting just out of sight for him to join her. To become one with the Force. To find his peace in it at last.