Circles by Keelywolfe (NC-17)

[isagel.livejournal.com]

Fandom: STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE
Pairing: Obi-Wan/Xanatos
Author on LJ: keelywolfe
Author Website: Keelywolfe's Fanfiction Shoppe
Why this must be read:

No round of TPM recs from me would be complete without a Xanatos fic, and this is one of my favourite stories in that category. If your familiarity with Star Wars is based solely on the movies, Xanatos will be a new acquaintance, so a few words of introduction might be in order.

In the Jedi Apprentice books - a series of official Star Wars novels aimed at young readers, featuring a teenaged Obi-Wan taking his first steps towards knighthood under Qui-Gon's supervision and considered canon by many fanfic writers - we learn that before Qui-Gon ever met Obi-Wan, he had an apprentice named Xanatos who turned to the Dark Side of the Force. Qui-Gon blamed himself for the way his Padawan turned out, and didn't take another for years, until he crossed paths with Obi-Wan. (The slash potential here is enormous, and the books themselves are slashy to an incredible degree.) The Xanatos of the books is an amazing bad guy - arrogant, skillful and cruel, but with enough emotional vulnerability to make him truly interesting. Add to that the fact that he is gorgeous and sexy, and it's easy to see why he is a favourite with many fans. As a memento of the deciding fight when Xanatos raised his lightsaber against his Master for the first time, he carries a scar on his cheek in the shape of a broken circle.

Keelywolfe's Circles depicts an Obi-Wan and a Xanatos who are drawn together by their respective feelings for Qui-Gon, locked in a sexual relationship where pain equals pleasure and there is always the shadow of a third person present, the one who would be ruined if he ever learnt of their meetings. The story is painfully intense, and as ever, Keelywolfe's writing is guaranteed to make you shiver:

"Then tell me, are you here to punish him or yourself?" Teasingly, the whip tickling over his skin, itching maddeningly until it was all Obi-Wan could do again to not shriek, this time in frustration.

Obi-Wan turned his head, just enough to see Xanatos. Pale blue eyes met Obi-Wan's and the younger man couldn't help but compare and to see that Xanatos' eyes were paler, less expressive. Wrong. Obi-Wan smiled then, very faintly, before saying, lightly, "Maybe I'm here to punish you?"

Circles

Comments

[thepouncer.livejournal.com]

That was incredibly hot. And it inspires me to ask - do you know the exact titles of the Jedi Apprentice books? I think I want to read them now (oh, the shame!).

[isagel.livejournal.com]

There is a certain amount of shame involved in reading the Jedi Apprentice books, isn't there? *g* But really, once you've accepted that these are children's books and the sentences aren't going to get any longer, some of them are actually quite good. The author Jude Watson has done a very good job with the developing dynamic between Qui-Gon and little Obi-Wan (who is twelve when the first book opens), and some of his plots are excellent. And on the plus side of formulaic writing, Obi spends an awful lot of time being 'frustrated' - such a great choice of adjective, don't you think? ;)

All the books are listed on the publisher's website (http://www.scholastic.com/titles/starwars/jedi.htm). Books 1 and 2 (The Rising Force and The Dark Rival), which show how Qui and Obi get together and introduce us to Xanatos, are more or less required reading. Other than that, I very much enjoyed the plotline running through books 5-8, starting with a serious rift between our heroes when Obi-Wan takes sides in a local conflict in The Defenders of the Dead, continuing with a mystery set in the Jedi temple itself which brings them back together in The Uncertain Path and The Captive Temple, and ending with a spectacular showdown with Xanatos in The Day of Reckoning. To my mind, those are the ones that are worth reading.