While any author is free to go off on her/his own tangent and do something that is clearly an AU of my Bonding AU, I thought it would be helpful to set down a few of the things that make Bonding, 'Bonding' in my mind.
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Qui-Gon calls him imp. Never, ever Ben or Obi or any other nickname. It's Obi-Wan or imp (with maybe an occasional brat thrown in when Obi-Wan is ticking him off.)
Quigee is the only nickname Obi-Wan uses for Qui-Gon, but once they are lovers, they also refer to each other as 'my love' or 'beloved.'
He is VERY mature for his age. Always write older, never younger than you think what the age you are writing about should be. He's spent his entire life talking away in his mind with a very sophisticated adult. Qui-Gon does not and never did talk baby talk with him. He merely kept his vocabulary to appropriate levels. Beyond the fact that he would have to question more to make up for lack of experience, there really shouldn't be much difference at all between an adult and a 10 plus Obi-Wan in terms of maturity and cleverness.
Use this rule of thumb -- unless he is an out and out toddler -- if Obi-Wan is younger than 10, write him as an adult but keep his word choices fairly one-to two- syllable oriented. If he's 10 or older, write him as an adult.
His eyes are green. Blue green, sea green, greyish green, etc., but in my universes, his eyes are never simply blue. I actually think they are hazel, but there seems to be a great deal of confusion as to what that color is so I use changing shades of green.
He is very, very good about manipulating Qui-Gon into doing what he wants and is extremely clever about thwarting any edicts Qui-Gon might make.
Obi-Wan is 11 when Xanatos turns. He is 13 before he becomes Qui-Gon's Padawan. Officially. Unofficially, he becomes his Padawan the moment Xanatos turns, and it is then that he moves into Qui-Gon's quarters (this is the story I'm working on at present.) Important thing here is that he lives in the dorms until he is 11, then lives with Qui-Gon.
Obi-Wan is also far more advanced in his Jedi Training than his peers. Showing Obi-Wan how to do things was always a large part of how Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon spent their time together, so that by the time an Initiate would normally be taking his/her/its first lessons in lightsaber use, Obi-Wan was already as proficient as a Padawan. As a Knight, he has no equal, not even Qui-Gon, although he is only a little better than Qui-Gon.
This Obi-Wan has never known a moment of his life when he wasn't loved. Except for the brief experience detailed in one of the Bed Rest flashbacks, which was a matter of mis-perception, not reality, he has never known a time when he was alone. This Obi-Wan hasn't an emotionally insecure bone in his body, but he was never arrogant.
It was not a given that he would become Qui-Gon's Padawan. Only that if he were good enough to become a Padawan, Qui-Gon would be his Master. He had to work every bit as hard, if not harder, as the other Initiates to become a Padawan Learner. This was something he wanted very much, but he knew that no matter what happened he would always be with Qui-Gon, so he lacked any frantic fear about not becoming a Padawan.
Obi-Wan is aware that the bond makes him different. He knows that the existence of it hurt his family, so he never really talks about it with anyone unless seeking guidance (usually from Yoda). He would never consider taunting or bragging.
IOW, Obi-Wan was a loving and beloved child who loved to play and make Qui-Gon smile, but he was in many ways a miniature adult.
His friends are those mentioned in book 1 of the Jedi Apprentice series, and he considers Bant to be his best friend.
On the hurt/comfort side of things, Obi-Wan has never been raped. Beyond that, you have a clear field. Just remember that if Obi-Wan is conscious, Qui-Gon would be in his mind trying to help him through whatever was happening. And he would always be able to find him.
Not much for me to say about him as I think I use a fairly typical portrayal of him, but he is a sucker when it comes to what Obi-Wan wants. The fact that he knows ... most of the time ... that Obi-Wan is manipulating him, makes little difference in the outcome (provided, of course, that giving in would not result in any foreseeable harm or detriment to Obi-Wan's training).
He and Mace Windu are peers in this universe, grew up together and became sex partners in their teens and monogamous lovers in their late teens. They stayed together until nine months after Obi-Wan was born. Mace's heart was broken and, while they were never enemies, it took several years for them to recover their easy friendship, but at the very least, they were friends again by the time Xanatos turned.
As to hurt/comfort, Qui-Gon was raped at least once before Obi-Wan's birth, but not since then. Nor is this something Obi-Wan knows about prior to the story I'm writing. Otherwise, do what you like, but again, if nothing else is distracting him, even a very young Obi-Wan would sense any physical trauma and try to help Qui-Gon.
Qui-Gon's second Padawan is the 'reoccurring' villain in the Bonding universe, so I'll warn you that using him in a story is the most likely way to get something you've written contradicted by me. The most important things to keep in mind should you decide to use him are:
He has a legitimate grievance in this universe. The soul-bond prevented Qui-Gon from forming a true training-bond and he always had to share his Master's attention with Obi-Wan. A caution here, all of this is figured out in retrospect. There was never any deliberate slighting of Xanatos, nor was Qui-Gon aware that their training-bond was less than it should have been. It was something Qui-Gon figured out in retrospect.
During his Padawan days, Xanatos was pragmatic about Obi-Wan, seeing him neither as a source of affection or ire, a reaction that will turn out to be mostly suppressed emotion as he despises Obi-Wan after embracing the Dark Side. He did, however, spend much of his Padawan days observing Obi-Wan, and is well versed in how Obi-Wan thinks and the tricks he uses. This makes Xanatos one of the few people Obi-Wan has a great deal of trouble out-maneuvering. IOW, he almost always ends up a prisoner and Qui-Gon has to rescue him - something that really, really irritates Obi-Wan.
Xanatos had the usual Padawan-Master fondness for Qui-Gon, but he never desired him. He is exclusively heterosexual. That's very important to what I'm trying to do. He never once has wanted a male of any species.
Qui-Gon blames himself for Xanatos turning, but he is the only one who does.
Obi-Wan's feelings about a young Xanatos were not openly hostile, but he was never eager to win his friendship. His main concern was always whether or not Xanatos was taking proper care of Qui-Gon. Because he hurt Qui-Gon, an older Xanatos is number one on Obi-Wan's 'if a Jedi were allowed to hate ...' list.
She was Qui-Gon's first Padawan, details of that being in the first bonding story. She's a Twi'lk, blue skinned. She had sexual relations with Qui-Gon off and on for years, which ended quite amicably when a 14 year-old Obi-Wan decided he would not have any sex partners until he was ready to have sex with Qui-Gon. To honor that decision, Qui-Gon became celibate. Staucha remains one of Qui-Gon's best friends, shares his "maverick" tendencies and refers to Obi-Wan as the "pretty Padawan." She tends to overwhelm Obi-Wan, but the two are friends.
As many see the females of her race as consorts, she tends to play on that, having a very sexually aggressive style, but she's an excellent Knight and a Master in her own right by the time PM occurs.
She will be my answer to 'who was Qui-Gon's first Padawan' in most, if not all, of my PM work, and ironically, I will probably use her more in Jedi of Naboo than in future Bonding stories. At this point in time, it is my intention in Bonding to involve her with Mace, who will be her first really serious relationship.
Feel free to use her, but avoid making her into a Mary Sue.
First, and most importantly, it canNOT be broken. Not by anyone or anything. Nothing. Even death will only alter it (to a degree both find unacceptable, thus the decisions about surviving one another in Bed Rest).
It is a full blown bond the moment Obi-Wan is born. When they finally had sex, it added the physical, but the mental bond was completely in place from moment zero.
The bond is one of the mind and of the soul. It does not directly effect the body. When one is in pain it is felt as an emotional response by the other, not as a shared injury. For instance, if Qui-Gon is shot in the leg, Obi-Wan will not limp, but he will know how badly Qui-Gon is hurt and exactly where the injury occurred.
The challenge of writing in this universe is that Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon can always find each other. Even when totally cut off from the Force, they can still talk, it just takes more effort to do so. They cannot talk if one is unconscious, but that doesn't prevent the other from tracking. Under those circumstances, the bond works a lot like the kid's game of hot and cold or radar. All jeopardy must occur because one cannot physically get to the other or before rescue arrives. Shielded rooms, Force inhibitors, etc. do NOT sever or even greatly inhibit their bond. If you don't want them to talk, keep one unconscious. There isn't a way to keep them from finding one another. Go AU if you need it otherwise.
As detailed in Bed Rest, although Qui-Gon is in denial over it (at least as much as he can be), it is believed by the Healers that Qui-Gon's death will result in Obi-Wan dying from the emotional shock. The same would not be true of Qui-Gon in this universe (where, unlike [Jedi of] Naboo, their life forces are not also woven together) because it is a result of Obi-Wan never knowing a moment of his life when Qui-Gon wasn't there. To him, Qui-Gon's presence is like a vital organ. Qui-Gon lived over two decades before Obi-Wan became a part of him, which the Healers believed would give him the ability to live on.
Both are far happier when they are together, even happier when they are touching. Obi-Wan frequently sits in Qui-Gon's lap and considers the sound of Qui-Gon's heartbeat to be the sweetest music there is. However, they do not suffer physical discomfort when they are apart. It is more a lack of comfort instead.
While neither would or can lie to the other, they can draw something like a mental privacy screen around their thoughts and feelings. IOW, when Obi-Wan was a child, Qui-Gon could have lovers without Obi-Wan knowing what he was doing. Sort of. It's not a block, but more of a request for privacy. Neither can really keep the other out of their thoughts. Obi-Wan learned how to breach that block/shield in a manner that left Qui-Gon unaware that he could do so before he was a year old. Thus he often 'came along' on missions and picked up the tricks that he would use to thwart Qui-Gon through the years.
If you want to be consistent with my style:
// is bond talk - projected thoughts.
Single quote marks ' signify thoughts not shared.
I always cap: Padawan, Master, Council, Dark Side, Sith and Force. Even when grammatically, I shouldn't. I do that because master and force have different meanings from Master and Force. I cap the other things to stay consistent.
As I intensely dislike it otherwise, I will repeat that I never refer to them as Obi and Qui, nor is Obi-Wan ever referred to as Ben. I see that as a name he took when he settled on Tatooine, something which doesn't happen in my stories, so no Ben. To me, Ben is the character played by Alec G, never something that can be used to conjure Ewan's image.
I think that's it. As I said at the beginning, this is what I use to craft Bonding. Feel free to ignore it or use it as you prefer. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at annehiggins@mindspring.com.
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