*falls on face* There is a thing queued for tomorrow’s fic bit, because this evening was Darth Setan and Qui-Gon stuff, and I still do not have a title for that story or the AU it’s in. I’ll worry about that later.
Hugs for everyone, and I hope y’all sleep well!
fatfemme-inist
replied to your post “Double Agent Vader fic: Rocks and Water”Reading your tags about Bespin, I just realized how crushing it’s going to be for Luke to realize his father was enslaved again. He’s obviously so fiercely proud that his father was freed and so committed to helping others find freedom. It’s not like he’ll be ashamed of it. Just, so upset.
I think it was pretty crushing in canon, too. Of course, it took longer to sink in then, because most of his initial feeling was shock, quickly followed by horror, a deep sense of betrayal, and despair. But once he’d accepted the truth…
imo a big part of the reason Luke is so determined to save his father, and why he’s able to do so, is that he gets it. He understands what the underlying issues really are. He knows, in a way Obi-Wan and even Padme never could, exactly what it means when his slave-born father says, “I must obey my Master.”
Luke Skywalker grew up believing he was the freeborn son of a freed slave. Now he knows he’s the freeborn son of a slave. And he’s pissed as hell about that. He’s angry in a primal way, an anger born of compassion that Palpatine thinks is weakness. An anger Palpatine thinks he can use.
But he can’t even touch it. He can’t touch Luke because he doesn’t understand him. Anakin is the one who almost succeeds in turning Luke, because Anakin and Luke do understand each other. But Palpatine? He knows how to break a slave, and he knows how to kill a Jedi. But this freeborn son of a slave, a Jedi like his father before him: he’s something entirely new.
A “drabble” featuring Ben, coming right up! Thanks for the ask, rusc ❤
(I don’t remember where I saw it exactly, but the idea of Jakku being an ancient Dark Sider graveyard really tickled me, so I purloined it from, well, wherever I purloined it from. Just know I didn’t think of it first.)
Still no titles.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Holding Pattern | Escalation
Warnings: torture (use of electricity, and control of food), isolation, restraints
The water isn’t constantly electrified, nor can he discern a pattern to it, and for all that he tries not to let it effect him, Qui-Gon knows it is. He cannot make himself reach for the water without hesitating, or at least flinching. It is the only thing he can be certain he’s getting enough of, and now he is beginning to fear trying to get any at all.
How long after that something else changes, he can’t tell. It’s not much, but the temperature drops just enough that he cannot stay warm if he stays still. There is more water now, but he still cannot stop flinching – and with good reason, as it still is electrified at irregular intervals.
When he sleeps, he wakes cold, or is shocked awake when he rolls to the center of the room and the water is electrified. Nothing more than naps, enough to keep going for a while, but without being able to reach for the Force to replenish his reserves, Qui-Gon knows they won’t be enough.
He’s not certain how the next torment is introduced to him, whether it is something in the food or the water, but the pain stabs through his joints like vibroknives. The first bright shock of it lasts only seconds, but some of it lingers, like bruises, for what might be days, might be weeks. It makes it harder to sleep at all, even for the naps he’d been able to manage before.
When the light shows again, he can’t help but ask, “How much longer do you plan on keeping me here?”
Qui-Gon knows he shouldn’t give up on being rescued, but he doesn’t know how long he has been here without any sign of anyone but the person who feeds him. It’s getting harder to hold onto hope.
“As long as I want to.” There’s a moment’s silence. “Do you want out?”
He bites his lip hard enough to draw blood, remembering what happened when he had confirmed he was hungry after first waking in here.
“Does it matter what I want?”
“It matters what you want, and when you want it.”
“So you can deny it to me?” That, he hadn’t meant to say at all.
“Of course.”
Whoever it is says nothing more, just pours the familiar goop through the hole, and leaves Qui-Gon once more in the dark. He holds the sticky mass in his hands for a moment before letting it slide free, and onto the floor. He knows it is foolish, but he doesn’t want to face the pain again. At least if it’s something in his food, he’ll know this time.
When the Jedi stops eating, Joru puts a sedative in the water, and lifts the plug of stone free of the floor once he is certain the Jedi is unconscious. Time for a new residence for his toy.
He makes certain the cuffs are just a little too tight to be comfortable, height and position already adjusted so the Jedi can neither stand, nor sit or even comfortably kneel. Crouched, instead, like a disobedient pet.
Then, all he must do is wait for the Jedi to wake up.
@poplitealqueen I saw your post grumbling about the lack of
Sith!Qui-Gon, and I didn’t have anything planned for the evening, so…Sith!Qui-Gon it
is.~~~~~~~~~~~
Really, he might
have trained that boy too well. Darth
Aedus contemplated the shuttle escaping his base. The shuttle dipped to avoid the Vulture droid
ships coming to meet it, waggling it’s wings as it escaped. Scratch that.
He’d trained the Obi-Wan too well, and then Obi-Wan had trained Anakin
too well.Qui-Gon Jinn
turned and headed back into the base proper.
He was met by the man who was both his Jedi and Sith Master. “They escaped again,” he said.Dooku, now Darth
Tyranus sighed. “They’re too well
trained, Qui-Gon,” he said.“Yes master, I was
just thinking exactly that. At least
it’s kept them alive this long.”“Very true,” Dooku
said. “Are you sure they’re worth it,
though, Qui-Gon? I know Kenobi was your
Padawan, and you were the one to find Skywalker, but they’ve been a thorn in our
sides for far too long.”“They are, my
Master,” Qui-Gon said firmly. “We just
have to show them the power of the Dark Side, the way you showed me. They’re too dangerous to have out in the
galaxy, as Jedi, and I will not kill them.”Dooku sighed. “I know,” he said. “I just wish they were a little easier to
capture.”“We’ve captured
them a dozen times in the last two years.”“Very well. I wish they would stay captured for long
enough for us to Turn them.”Qui-Gon couldn’t
do anything but agree with that.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Darth Aedus smiled
as he entered the med bay. Normally,
he’d be raging at seeing Anakin and Obi-Wan floating in bacta tanks, but right
now, it meant that they were here with him.Both of them were
sedated, and Aedus took a moment to study his former Padawan and Grand-Padawan.They’d nearly
fought to the death to avoid capture this time, but in the end, Rex had managed
a pair of incredible stun shots. (If
Aedus hadn’t already checked, he would have run the clone’s midichlorian count
again.)Anakin was the
worse injured, but he would heal. His
artifical arm would be repaired, and he would be fine. He was thin, though, almost painfully so, and
even through the tank and despite the sedation, Aedus could see dark circles
under his eyes.Obi-Wan, too,
would heal. There was more gray in
Obi-Wan’s beard than there had been the last time Aedus had seen him, and he
too was far too thin. Aedus sighed. Clearly, these two had been running far too
close to the edge for far too long.On the run from
anyone and everyone, with no one they felt they could trust but each other,
meeting enemies on all sides…Aedus sighed. They should have given up months ago. He stepped up between the tanks and closed
his eyes. He reached out to the bonds he
still had with both of them and carefully opened his ends. Neither of them reacted, until he started
leaking Darkness into the bonds. Then
Anakin started to thrash a bit in the tank.
Obi-Wan, too, moved, shaking his head as if he were trying to wake up.Aedus pulled
back. No, it seemed this wasn’t the time
for that. On the other hand, he’d gotten
a good look at both their mental states, and it was encouraging. They were exhausted, and he could feel how
their emotions were leaking into their Force use. There were hints of Darkness in them both
already.Slowly, they both
settled back down. He reached out again,
this time shielding the Darkness, to just feel their presences. He’d missed them, the boys he thought of as
his own sons.And he was so
proud of them too. Three years, they’d
been the most wanted men in the galaxy, with absolutely no one to turn to, and
yet it was only now that they’d been captured.
Truly, they were worthy to become Sith Lords. He just had to convince them that.~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Qui-Gon scowled
down Obi-Wan and Anakin. He truly didn’t
want to do this, but perhaps it was the only way. It had worked for him. Neither of his boys was Turning. They’d latched on to each other, and somehow
kept each other balanced on the edge of Darkness, even here, in the old Sith
shrine on Ziost. “Come with me,” he
ordered them. They exchanged glances,
but they’d learned to obey him when he used that tone.“Where are we
going?” Anakin asked as he fell in behind Qui-Gon.Qui-Gon
sighed. “I did not want to do this, but you’ve
left me with no choice,” he said.“That wasn’t an
answer,” Obi-Wan observed. “You’re
falling back on old habits, of answering a question without giving any
information away, Qui-Gon.”The Sith smiled
briefly before he glanced back at his (soon, soon) apprentices. He didn’t answer until they were standing
before the last door. “I am taking you
to the center of the shrine,” he said. “I
didn’t want to do this, but this is how my Master Turned me, and it seems to be
the only way.”Both of them
stopped dead in their tracks.
Thankfully, they were close enough that it didn’t matter. They’d walk through that door on their own.He opened the door
to the heart of the shrine. The Darkness
rushed over them, alluring and strong.
He entered, allowing that allure to take him forward. Once in the room, he turned to his (almost)
apprentices. Anakin had both hands
clenched tight, fighting the call with all his being, while Obi-Wan’s eyes were
wide and he was vibrating in place.“Come, my
apprentices,” Darth Aedus said, holding out his hand to them. He felt his eyes burn, as the Darkness filled
him. “Come,” he repeated.Obi-Wan took a
halting step forward, stopped himself, braced against the door. “No…” he whispered. The Darkness flowed around him, and he shook
his head. “I… can’t…” he looked back at
Anakin, and then turned back to face Aedus.
The Sith could feel the Darkness, reaching into Obi-Wan, tempting and
calling him. Obi-Wan took another step,
then another.Aedus felt and saw
the moment when Obi-Wan stopped fighting the Darkness. Obi-Wan’s eyes turned yellow and he
relaxed. Aedus only saw the yellow eyes
for a moment as Obi-Wan closed them and his head fell back in apparent
bliss. Aedus knew the feeling well. The Darkness was wonderful when it claimed you.Anakin was still
(stubborn, stubborn boy) fighting the pull, even as he stared at Obi-Wan in
horror.And then Obi-Wan
turned to him. “Anakin,” he said, and
just like Aedus, held out his hand.Anakin broke and
stumbled into the Darkness.~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think the
hardest part of this was figuring out a good Sith name for Qui-Gon. I ended up with an Irish Gaelic name that
means “fire.” I thought that was
appropriate, considering Liam Neeson is from Northern Ireland.And yes, it’s also
a reference to Darth Pyros, which is my name for Sith!Obi-Wan in a different AU
of mine (which still hasn’t been finished). I
(obviously) didn’t use that name here, but I wanted to reference it.I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but I better keep fucking doing it. *latches onto Sith Qui fic*
@poplitealqueen, I hope this brightens your day some. Well, for certain values of brighten. 🙂
Currently untitled, both AU and story. Unedited and unbeta’d as well. Inspired by this post.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Holding Pattern | Escalation
Characters: Qui-Gon Jinn, Jorus’etan | Joru Setan | Darth Setan
Timeframe: During Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan’s mission to Mandalore to help Satine.
Warnings: isolation, psychological torture
Joru had gone to Mandalore to recruit some of them for his own plans, and returns home with something more interesting. Now he just needs to make something of the Jedi.
The Jedi kneels on the floor of the cargo hold of the old ship, looking for all the galaxy as if he’s meditating. Trying to, anyway. Joru knows he can’t reach the Force for a full Jedi meditation. It amuses him to see the Jedi trying so hard for serenity, when it had been his emotions that had caught Joru’s attention on Mandalore. Not as volatile, perhaps, as those of the children with him, but they’re children, and Joru finds children boring when they’re not irritating.
Joru smiles to himself, sharpened teeth pricking at his lips, and turns away for now. There will be time enough to play with the Jedi when they’re safely hidden away where neither the Jedi nor Joru’s own line-descendents can find them. Especially not the other Sith. Joru hisses quietly at the thought of what his line has become, and what they have forsaken in the process.
Still, that is correctable, when he has sufficient tools to do so. He had thought to recruit some of the Mandalorians this time, but this. This is so much more a prize than he’d expected to return home with.
Ducking into the cockpit, he checks the controls as he settles into the pilot’s seat. Another four hours should see them safely at the forgotten little planet he’s spent the last century reshaping to suit his desires. Then, he can begin to work on the Jedi.
The room he wakes in this time does not have the hum of ship engines moving through the floor, nor any sign of a door. Walls curve into the ceiling, high over his head, and the floor slopes gently to the center where he is. Chilled, damp, without clothes or the Force.
Qui-Gon sits up carefully, then stands, turning so he can look at more of the room than he had seen in his first glimpse. There is a small opening in one wall, damp gleaming beneath it in the low light, though the water that flows from it makes only the faintest of sounds. The light itself is coming from a very small opening in the center of the ceiling.
“Good morning, Jedi.” The voice comes from the same source as the light, and a moment later, the light itself flickers, someone passing between the opening and the actual light source. “Welcome to your new home. Are you hungry?”
He doesn’t know when the last time he ate was, and Qui-Gon is uncomfortably aware that he is, indeed, hungry, but he hesitates to say as much. Not when he isn’t certain who his captor is, or where they are, or if he truly is alone here.
“Where is my Padawan?” He hopes Obi-Wan was able to escape, and keep the Duchess safe, but there is no certainty as he would have if the Force were still present. If the bond were anything but an aching absence in the back of his mind.
“I do not know, nor do I much care. Dead, perhaps, with a foolish young thing to protect and no Master to guide him.”
His captor sounds entirely indifferent, and Qui-Gon closes his eyes a moment, taking a breath in an attempt to center himself.
“Are you hungry, Jedi?”
There is no reason to deny it, and starve himself of energy needed more for escape than defiance. “Yes.”
“Good.”
The light vanishes a moment later, leaving him in absolute darkness, and without any sign that food will be given to him at all.
How long he waits, patiently sitting at the center of the floor, before the light returns he doesn’t know. His captor doesn’t speak this time, though after a brief moment, something comes oozing from the opening, dropping heavily into the hands Qui-Gon hastily cups to catch it. Whatever it is has no smell, a slightly gritty texture, and feels cool against his hands. When he touches the tip of his tongue to it, there is no flavor he can discern, and nothing to make his instincts scream of danger.
He doesn’t have a chance to lick all of the half-liquid mass off his hands before the light vanishes again. Not enough to keep him from feeling hungry, only enough to sharpen his appetite.
Following the water to its source takes time, and it takes long moments to fill his cupped hands with enough to bring it to his mouth to drink. The water itself has a slightly bitter taste to it, and he grimaces even as he forces himself to swallow. It doesn’t settle well, but it doesn’t threaten to come back up, at least.
It takes longer to manage to wash the residue of the food off his hands, and then there is nothing once more. Just the darkness and his own thoughts and the faintest trick of water that quickly fades into the background of his own rushing blood.
He settles into a meditation pose in the center of the room once more, hoping to at least manage to settle his mind even without the presence of the Force. All he can do now is wait. Sooner or later, the Jedi will find him.
Joru lets himself feel the growing apprehension of the Jedi as he does his own meditations on the thick carpet he has on the floor of the room. It hides the hairline seam around the stone plug and the borehole in the center of that, and keeps the Jedi in darkness and silence. It’s taken longer than he likes to feel the beginning of fear, but he has all the time he wants to do this. The Jedi may perhaps be beginning to realize that.
Standing, he goes to the pipe that leads down to the cell itself, trickling water into the stone room. Time to begin another little piece of fun. He picks up the device waiting near the pipe, and wraps it around the metal before flipping it on.
He can feel the moment the Jedi receives the first shock from the water, a burst of static across whatever of him is in contact with it. Joru smiles, and returns to the rug, settling on it once more to meditate.
Notes:
The Sith before Tenebrous, according to Wookieepedia, is an unnamed twi’lek. I have headcanons for that twi’lek, and a name.
For when I’m writing, he is Jorus’etan, rendered Joru Setan in Basic, and takes the name Darth Setan. He had already swapped bodies with another Force-sensitive twi’lek when Tenebrous fought what the Bith thought was his Master and slew him.
Joru has swapped bodies more than once since, always taking another twi’lek body, and is currently blue with Sith tattoos from lekku to toes. He reshapes every body into a mirror of what he had made himself the first time, making profligate use of the Force and Sith Alchemy to do so, as well as judicious use of surgery as needed.
He’s not going to hesitate to use that on his new toy, if he feels it necessary to break Qui-Gon, but he’s not there yet.
Martin Scorsese’s Silence has officially been set for a December 23rd limited release by Paramount.
#I am fucking ready#silence#liam neeson#lookit him all messed up#I LOVE it#qui-gon jinn#obviously a qui-gon forced to wander#oooooh or one taken by sith and broken little by little until he goes mad or becomes one of them or both#eheeeee#he has such pretty eyes#also I think adam driver is in this?#so hey everyone have fun with that (tags via @poplitealqueen)
Damnit, Pop, I do not need more plot bunnies! *whimpers*
Yes you do.
#One can never have enough plot bunnies#although in pop land it’s more like ploy jackrabbits streaking about at the speed of sound#morgynleri#*finger wave* you will have more plot bunnies
*tries very hard to glare at you*
I mean, I have something over 500 stories posted to AO3 (exact number is not actually the number of works, because various reasons), plus at least double that number in the mess of things I haven’t posted, scattered over two dozen plus fandoms and 200+ AUs, so it’s not like I’m really trying to stop gathering plot bunnies.
(Almost 30 of those AUs are Star Wars. And I’m not counting the ones without names.)
Anyway.
Qui-Gon, taken by the Sith, and broken piece by piece by piece. And I could use that in one of my already extant AUs (Our Hands Will Never Be Clean; Darkness In the Light; Their Name Is Death), or I could make a new one. That’s the biggest problem, though, is deciding which AU to use it with.
Obi-Wan would probably decide not to talk to me for a while again if I used Our Hands Will Never Be Clean, I suspect. He has Plans for Qui-Gon there. So does Eea, and that’s a little more worrisome.
Darkness In the Light isn’t nearly far enough along to seriously contemplate it, though Maul would cheerfully break Qui-Gon all to pieces after he has a better idea what he’s dealing with.
Their Name Is Death…. *snerks* Tracyn would just leave Qui-Gon on Korriban, with enough supplies that he won’t starve or die of dehydration, and let the planet do the work for him. (Jango would cheerfully murder Qui-Gon, if Tracyn asks him. Satine might even let them.)
But for something new… *hums to themself* Oh, I think I’ll keep that to myself for the moment. Because now I have notes, and plans, and am giggling to myself.
This could be a fascinating AU, and right now, I’m drowning in plot bunnies, and also have been too fried today to even manage the things I need to work on because deadlines. I wish I had the spoons to do it justice, but right now I don’t. I shall keep this in mind to poke at later, when there are more spoons.
Mind if I take a stab at it some? I’ve got An Idea.
Go for it!
So this is going to delve into some very left field ideas of the Dark Side of the Force, as influenced by the Kingdom Hearts fandom. Also some things from Sarah Monettes Melusine series. Specifically, that labyrinths can come alive. Also influenced by parts of the Harry Potter fandom and just how conscious Hogwarts is. It’s weird but I hope followable.
Oh, this is fantastic! It’s too close to bedtime right now to have more a reaction, but. This is awesome, and I like it a lot.
This could be a fascinating AU, and right now, I’m drowning in plot bunnies, and also have been too fried today to even manage the things I need to work on because deadlines. I wish I had the spoons to do it justice, but right now I don’t. I shall keep this in mind to poke at later, when there are more spoons.
sith!Obi Wan/Anakin | a thing that swallows you
Plot: Sith Lord Obi Wan Kenobi seduces Jedi Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side in the most literal way possible, Anakin’s life choices are as terrible as ever, and lots of people wind up dead (poor Mace can never catch a break).
Alternate titles include, “Don’t bring home random men, they may be Sith Lords” and “Mark Me Down As Scared and Horny: The Anakin Skywalker Story”
HOLY SHIT TAGGING LIKE WOAH
@poplitealqueen, @deadcatwithaflamethrower, @ who tf else is writing Sith AUs? HAVE YOU ALL SEEN THIS???
Fuck. *grabby hands*
There's a Mirror on the Wall 