Need and Discovery

Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan Fanfiction
Title:	Need & Discovery
Author(s):	Gail Riordan
Date(s):	30 June 2001
Length:	173k / 29,701 words
Genre:	slash fanfiction
Fandom:	Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
External Links:	Need & Discovery (Master & Apprentice) Need & Discovery (AO3)
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Need & Discovery is a Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan story by Gail Riordan. The story was originally published in the zine Rituals and Meditations.

Summary: Dealing with the consequences of a difficult mission.

Recs and Reviews

Now, I've never developed any sort of scientific, taxonymic method by which to compare, but I do believe this is the hottest Q/O fic ever written.

At its most basic level, it's a plot that has been done by quite a few (wonderful) fics, but this one is on a whole 'nother level.

Qui-Gon is fresh home from a mission in which he was (essentially) a sex slave, and he's having trouble dealing with the emotional impact of having his desires exposed. He has been brought to a point of almost quiet desperation: he pleasures himself, he penetrates himself with toys, but he can't find the physical or emotional stimulation he was 'trained' to need during the mission.

Meanwhile, Obi-Wan is awakening to his own sexuality, and his sexuality is pointing in the obvious direction. He loves Qui-Gon, he desires him, he hurts for him, but he doesn't want to make things any more difficult than they already are. So, like a Jedi, like a man who has the maturity to deserve an adult relationship, Obi-Wan researches and plans and tenderly cares for Qui-Gon's concerns.

There is no high drama, no tantrums, no crumbling self-esteem. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are tentative, vulnerable, but they're men and they're mature and they're thinkers, scholars, philosophers, everything that I think Jedi should be. Gail doesn't need to compromise any of that to create angst. The whole story yearns.

Every writer has their strengths; Gail's are a shameless hedonism for language, a wonderful insight into characters in all their depth and nuance, and best of all, a thorough and perfect ability to hit all my kinks, every time.