ind. mutuals only original character set during clone wars onward. writing on themes of war, loss of community, surviving at a cost, compassion that leaves a trail, unyielding determination, and nature of the force.
i. This blog will contain content such as mentions of war, death, genocide, violence, and trauma. Follow at your own comfort. ii. The character is a work in progress and will continue to evolve as I write.
[ An old but pristine holocron opens with a young woman's voice. This seems to be an analysis of the Jedi Order's tenets. ]
words: 1,394 — ao3 link
Seo-Me Turalik’s meditation on the Jedi Code.
“The code” begins as a mantra, a piece of philosophy passed from the most ancient times of the Order’s existence. A Jedi is taught to utter the code from the early days of their path. The Code provides a guideline, it becomes a ‘code of conduct’ for the life that will be lived in the Order henceforth. Old Masters call it an oath – but to whom does a Jedi swear this oath? – perhaps it is a promise towards the Jedi Council, so that They can trust the Jedi to represent the Order well in the galaxy; perhaps it is a promise towards the Force, so that It begins to favour the Jedi in some way (yet, I am certain that the Force is not this kind of “thing”, “being” that can be swayed by simple words like some magic spell), so in that case I think, this oath is a promise a Jedi makes towards themselves that lets them achieve the ideal state of mind to act in the role, and so, to become closer to the Force.
i. There is no emotion, there is peace.
The Jedi are taught from the early age to self-discipline their mind just as much, if not more, as their body. It is not with the purpose of suppressing, exorcising or ignoring their emotions, which are a natural deep part of every person, rather the goal of self-disciplined mind is to feel the emotions, understand them without lashing under their thrill. Denying parts of oneself will never truly bring ease, a Jedi who only pretends to be calm on the outside but isn’t on the inside is lying to themselves. A Jedi who struggles with the truth of their own heart will always struggle with the truth of The Force. Becoming excessively ruled by emotion will translate into the decisions a Jedi makes on behalf of the Jedi Order. Sometimes such actions echo in the entire galaxy and that’s why a Jedi does not have room to become impulsive, lest it brings terrible consequences that could have been easily avoided under a clearer state of mind.
A Jedi never acts from hatred, anger, fear, or aggression but acts when their mind is calm. The calm mind of a Jedi comes from mastery over emotions. Mastery over emotions brings a Jedi closer to mastery of the Force.
ii. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
To admit one’s lack of knowledge is the first step to learning new knowledge. No question is too stupid to ask or too unworthy of an answer. No time is too late to dedicate oneself to learning. To perform their duties in the most reliable way, a Jedi must accumulate vast versatile wisdom about themselves, the galaxy, and everything in-between, studying not only as a youngling, but also while reaching higher ranks of Knight and Master. To improve themselves and become the best version of themselves a Jedi is not supposed to avoid knowledge, even if said knowledge is painful, unsettling, or dangerous. For example – A Jedi cannot be ignorant of the Dark Side and in learning about it, a Jedi learns ways to prevent entangling with it.
iii. There is no passion, there is serenity.
"Passion" refers to desires and emotional disturbances that left unaddressed hinder a Jedi from performing their duty as the guardian of peace and committing to their role wholeheartedly. In worst possible outcome Passions lead to selfishness that over time pushes a force-user into the Dark Side. A Jedi must meditate in order to keep clarity of mind to arrange their priorities. A Jedi must learn to let go of their personal needs, conquer strong emotions, only then can they best serve the will of the Force, stripped of all the noise of their own “ego” and “self”, in calmness, peace, serenity.
iv. There is no chaos, there is harmony.
Similar to how a Jedi must understand workings of their own mind in order to achieve inner peace, a Jedi must understand the workings of the world, the galaxy, and finally the universe at large to be able to perceive harmony around themselves. There is a belief, that the Force steers all events into place, even if at first one cannot make sense of it. A Jedi must seek connections and notice how all life is united even when the galaxy seems disjointed and beings become separated by culture, war, prejudice and fear of one another. A Jedi must see beyond the chaos and act with understanding that all life forms are equal, but a Jedi can only begin to untangle chaos of the world, when they have already understood the chaos within themselves, when they conquered their emotions, the dark side within them, and achieved serene clear state of mind.
v. There is no death, there is the Force.
Everything from the beginning to the end of the universe is enveloped and connected by the Force. A Jedi isn’t supposed to fear death, isn’t supposed to see death as the end, but as the beginning of a new stage of existence. When a Jedi dies, they become One with the Force. When a Jedi’s literal physical body dies, they return to the Cosmic Force (personally, I want to believe they will be then reborn one day). Alternatively, when a Jedi lets go of their self, lets the idea of their “self” die, they become a perfect vessel for the will of The Force.
Seo-Me Turalik’s meditation on the nature of Kyberr.
“Kyberr crystal” refers collectively to the semi-sentient living crystal, that for generations was used as a power source of a Jedi’s weapon. Like a Force user, the powering crystal of a lightsaber is attuned to the Force, uniquely by itself. All young Jedi learners undertake a test to find Kyberr that resonates with them in order to build their first lightsaber. However it may be more accurate to say it is not a crystal that is chosen by a Jedi, but a Jedi becomes chosen by the crystal.
According to ancient Jedi Master Thon, the lightsaber is not only a weapon of defence, it is a tool for focusing the mind. A Jedi uses the lightsaber to assist their connection with The Force. A Jedi will learn to know The Force by using the lightsaber as an instrument of meditation.
i. The crystal is the heart of the blade.
The crystal’s role inside a Jedi’s weapon is focusing its energy into distinct plasma blade that gives its name “lightsaber”. The crystal only works for a Jedi it chooses. The crystal has a sentience and its connection to the Force is natural, ever present. A Jedi becomes attuned to the crystal and the crystal’s connection of the Force in order to use their lightsaber to the fullest potential.
ii. The heart is the crystal of the Jedi.
“Heart” understood as the mind, the “self”, the collective sum of choices, needs and moral convictions a Jedi possess. - Similar to a crystal’s role in a lightsaber being focusing of energy, the “heart” is what focuses the Jedi to better themselves.
iii. The Jedi is the crystal of the Force.
A Jedi becomes attuned to The Force by inner self discipline, pursuit of knowledge and by making individual choices on their path to mastery. It is up to a Jedi themselves how much their connection to the Force will grow. Much like the semi-sentient Kyberr, a Jedi trains themselves to become a vessel that can focus the Force by themselves.
iv. The Force is the blade of the heart.
The Force responds to the inner state of mind – “self” - ”heart” of a Jedi, thus The Force can only be as strong as the mastery a Jedi has over themselves. A Focused heart brings focus in The Force, distractions and uncertainties will hinder a Jedi during performing duties and in their attunement to The Force.
v. All are intertwined: the crystal, the blade, the Jedi. You are one.
The lightsaber is the symbol of the members of the Jedi Order, in turn, it represents the Jedi’s philosophy on life. To recall the Jedi Code, a Jedi must understand the connections between all things, their “self”, the outer world and the cosmic universe past and future. This understanding begins with a Jedi’s bond to a crystal.
-------
Thank you Masters for your time. I will await the Council's opinion on my thoughts, with utmost excitement.
[ With that, the soft glow of the holocron fades. It folds back into a cubic shape, until the next time it may be opened. ]
Even if this trooper didn't seem lost, he still stuck-out from his fellow clones. His armor was an older model and plain white, lacking the pinstripes or patterns of a specific army. His only identifying mark was on the left shoulderpad: the symbol of the Republic Medical Corps.
Hearing a voice behind him and to the left, the clone medic turned around and noticed who was speaking to him---not a Jedi master or a knight, but one still in training.
"...Well, yes," he admitted. "I was told to report to someone here, but I don't see them..."
The Padawan’s head tilts overlooking the man up and down. Telling the clones apart, turns out, is a bit tricky, especially when their armor is bare of colours (not that Cirz is familiar with every deployed battalion in the first place, there are simply so many of them.) So Cirz can’t confidently say which Jedi Master this soldier works under, save for the medic symbol that gives him just some idea. And a particular swirl in the Force, like when the battle grows quiet at the end.
“But nobody’s really here at this hour, Sir. Um. Master Che is probably in the halls of healing. Um. Were you looking for the halls? They’re on the other end of the temple though. Unless…” Curious eyes spark, and Cirz makes sure to push his chest forward to make himself look taller. “Unless. I am here, Sir.” A smile follows. Toothy, rounding the Padawan’s cheeks more. “You can report to me?”
Cirz can be wrong about some concepts and ideas (in fact, he is often wrong as are his friends, which masters said is fine because they're still learning), however Cirz is also a frequent resident of the Temple. Even now as the war spreads deeper in the galaxy, he is certain he hasn't seen a clone soldier inside the residential wing before.
Cirz is also curious, and he watches the helmeted figure from the intersection of corridors, looking for ways to tell it apart from other helmeted figures.
"Are you lost? You look misplaced." He offers, friendly.
[ 02 ] the bridge of a massive starship, with windows around the room giving you an incredible view of the stars from rex
“I didn’t like it the first time.” The young padawan admits, with both hands pressed to the ridiculously clean transparisteel, almost spotless in spite of the rest of their freighter's battle marks. The ship has not even been in use that long, and from what Cirz gathers there is an issue on how to make sense of the repair schedule, when there is always some kind of new mission to attend and the resources run low on all ends
But this moment, the assured rise of the craft above the atmosphere, a low rumble of an engine as they leave the beat of a spaceport parsecs behind them, makes Cirz feel as though even the recent worries can be simply left on the surface of the planet they departed. Everything seems to grow just this quiet when they travel between the stars, even The Force slumbers, thats how far and wide everything seems.
“I found it rather scary to be up here around nothing. But when you think about it, really think about it, all of those lights we pass have billions of lives living on them! That is like umm!… Like looking at all of your clone brothers all at once. And then some?! There is no other place like that”
"One time I had a dream of growing in a dark cave and getting formed by the dripping water and pressure of the earth. For thousands of years!! I wonder if that's what my crystal remembers. Maybe it misses Illum sometimes?"
Even though in normal circumstances long distance communication proved to not be an issue in the inhabited galaxy, thanks to comlinks, standardized transceivers and developed communications grids taking messages whenever one wanted; ever since the Confederacy decided to cut itself off from the Republic the situation was not always this easy. Signals between worlds were jammed often and transmissions were spied on, and at times, the fastest way to provide information safely was the most archaic one — in person.
This was the reason Cirz now stood on a crowded hoverbus stop, on a planet officially belonging to the Separatist Alliance, with only messages from Coruscant and instructions from the temple that he memorized. He was instructed to come here to find another Jedi who’s been assigned to this sector, and pass on the messages. Cirz was at first quite confident about carrying this task to a successful end but he was starting to feel unsure the longer he scanned the crowds in wait. His palms felt sweaty and he told himself it was because the travel cloak was too warm and not because his mind started to consider scenarios wherein his contact never showed up, but even still, he reached out with the Force just to be this extra bit sure they'd find each other.
The building used to be a local office, now it would become another makeshift hospital that would soon fill with injured troopers and unfortunate locals swallowed by the recent battles. Cirz’s master has made requests for more medical equipment to be sent almost as soon as the Separatists abandoned the broken planet, and all that was left now was to prepare a suitable place for the shipment. This task fell on the two padawans only after some prodding on Cirz’s end, arguing that if he joins Cal then they can cover the ground faster and watch out for each other.
So their day was spent scanning room after corridor, disabling active transmitters (in case the confederacy still monitored them) and redirecting all remaining power to the lower floors. Cirz thought they were doing quite well on this mission, all until he accessed the next closed door and heard a high pitched beep from the other side.
“Um. Cal?” Cirz’s own voice sounded pitched higher with surprise and he whirled around to see where the other boy went. His question asked on a single breath.“Didyouhearthat?” Another beep, in a lower tone. And another.
Cirz and Cal are responsible for a new addition on the lightsaber building instructions: regardless of the force vibrations the crystals are not edible
@tapalslegacy and Cirz are slicing droids, giving their masters more gray hairs probably
“Twenty two!” The padawan’s high voice hitches between the jump and the fall as his lightsaber slices another B1 head, the droid clatters forward headless until another thrust of the green blade ceases its functions. Cirz lets his blade whirl in front of himself defensively to deflect another bolt where it came from, the motion is done with a trained precision and a tired arm, and the deflected bolt misses into the ground.
And then the sequence repeats “Twenty.. um.. five!” Cirz realizes he forgot the number he is at. He retreats a step to where he knows his friend should be, even if he can’t see him with his eyes on the droids. He sees no end to the droids. “Um! Aren't there more of them now than when we started!? When’s your battalion coming again?”
