Otter's Rock

For various reasons, I have read a lot of Star Wars AUs recently.  And I have many Thoughts on the subject, but here are a few.

First, I know the Prequels are huge targets of opportunity.  There are so many things one could fix!  And think of all the lives one could save by making Anakin not turn to the Dark Side!  BUT.  It would be awesome to see some Original Trilogy AUs, or more AUs that involved Han, Luke, and Leia, because dammit I LOVE THEM.  And if you could get Mara and Lando involved too, that would be great.  I can think of several AUs that would be awesome to read.  Or how about, instead of Obi-Wan time-traveling back, you have the OT group somehow get sent to a parallel universe where Anakin never turned, and things are way different, and they have to figure out how to get back to their own universe.  Something.

Second.  If you are going to write something where Obi-Wan goes back in time to his younger self (there are several where his consciousness from the OT era ends up in his PT era body), please do not make him magically an idiot.  He's back in time to change things, right?  Instead of making up reasons why he can only make small changes for blatantly plot reasons, have him do something really unexpected that changes things so that Palpatine is left going, wait, what?  and scrambling madly to catch up.  All of those reasons why (for one reason or another) things have to happen pretty closely to the way they did in the movies just come across as shoddy writing.  For a particularly egregious example, there is a story where he arrived back in time just before AotC started, and he was going to try to prevent the Battle of Geonosis from starting by capturing Jango Fett so he never had to go to Geonosis, but he failed!  so he went to Geonosis anyway.  I'm like, Dude.  You know where he's going and what you're going to find there.  Send the information to the Council (and maybe other information you know because you are a Time Traveler,) and capture him later!  Or, if you have to go to Geonosis, don't eavesdrop on the SAME MEETING YOU DID BEFORE.  Break into Dooku's office for proof he's a Sith or something!

Third.  I get that Obi-Wan and Anakin have a close relationship.  But if you're having Obi-Wan go back in time from Vader-era to Anakin-era, I'm pretty sure it's not going to be as easy as "oh, sob, he did horrible things, but let's forget about all of that because he's young and cute now and if I let myself love him maybe he won't turn!"  Make them work for it!  It would make for a much better story, and far more interesting.  Anakin murdered all of Obi-Wan's friends.  Personally.  And then went off and did horrible things to the rest of the galaxy.  It may not have happened yet in this galaxy, but in this scenario Obi-Wan remembers it happening, and has to have at least some doubts that it may happen again.  Don't just sweep that under the rug!

Fourth.  If you are going to have Anakin be the one to have his consciousness thrown back in time ... let us not make him completely unrecognizable as a character, mmmkay?  Like, this is a dude with a wicked temper and a taste for killing helpless people he didn't like when he was a good guy.  Instead of him trying to be the Bestest Jedi Evar to make up for his horrible choices in the original timeline, I'm pretty sure it would be a lot more likely for him to, I dunno, try and kill Palpatine and most of his henchmen.  Or do something stupidly and shortsightedly violent and damn the consequences.  It could still be all angsty and stuff!  Think about how Obi-Wan and the Council would react!  Think about how the Senate (which Palpatine has already been priming to distrust Jedi) would react to a Jedi killing the Chancellor!

Disney Bought Star Wars! (and ILM, and generally the whole Lucasfilm empire)

This could be either really bad or really good.  They are planning on making more live-action movies.  My first thought was trepidation, but given the resources Disney is likely to pour into this, it has a chance of being good.  Particularly with GL being a consultant but not writing or directing anything, which will be good.  I mean, how much worse than The Phantom Menace could it be?

My main fear is that they will jetison the parts of the EU that I love (The Zahn books, and some of the X-wing books).  On the other hand, I hope they jettison the NJO stuff and the Courtship of Princess Leia.

The Remix is revealed!

I wrote What You Are (The Certain Point of View Remix).  Three people look up at the stars at night in the Tatooine desert, in three different eras.  It's a remix of Rynne's A Certain Reverence.

medie wrote Autumn (The Ashes and Roses Remix) for me, remixing Summer Experience, and her fic only has one comment on it which is a terrible shame.  I think you do have to read the original to get the remix, but the fit together so well, I really like it.  Go, read, review!

(And while you're at it, go read all the other great remix stories!)

Title: A Fugitive and a Wanderer
Author: beatrice_otter 
Fandom: Star Wars
Rating: PG
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker
Word Count: 1,410
Written for: sandystarr88 
(Mis)quotation from Matthew 7:24-27. The story of Cain and Abel is from the fourth chapter of Genesis.
Summary: I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.

 

( Obi-Wan was used to solitary contemplation. )

Title: Friends and Enemies
Author: beatrice_otter
Rating: PG
Characters:
Darth Vader
Word Count: 651
Written for: starwarsficfest, July 4.
Prompt: OT: Darth Vader; Thoughts on Obi-Wan Kenobi--"It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend."

( Darth Vader let the man drop in a crumpled heap at his feet, reveling in the dull thump of a dead body hitting the floor. )

Go check out all the lovely stories in remixredux08. Here is part one of my list of recs:

Desert Glass (Ordinary Time remix). In his years on Tatooine, Obi-Wan finds he has a lot to learn. Lyric, painful, but full of life.

Lucid Diamond Sky (the Misogynistic Lash cut-up). Two's company, three's a crowd. Doctor Who, the Master/Lucy.

More of the Stars and Sea (The Three Meals Remix). Stargate: Atlantis, Teyla and Radek. They were merely colleagues who dined together from time to time. Strangers on the cusp of becoming friends.

Copper and Moonlight (The Mimi & Rodolfo Remix). B:tVS, a beautiful, heartbreaking look at Giles after Becoming.

She Bangs the Drums (Losing, Losing, Lost Remix). Doctor Who, the year that wasn't. Lucy's tragedy is that she loves him.

Reverb (Three Toasters, One Dead Body, and Ellen Tigh Walk into a Bar Remix). BSG, written for me! Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl. Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl. Spoilers for Crossroads II.

I Have Become (Death) (The J.Robert Oppenheimer Remix). Babylon 5, Lyta Alexander and the Telepath War. You never forget your first. Or your last. Lyta Alexander would know.

Hush-A-Bye Baby (The Blackberry Remix). BtVS, Dawn and Drusilla. At night, the dark-haired girl without a name glowed at her through eddies of green light.

Enemies & Friends (The “Ogron, Ogron, Ogron” Remix). Sarah Jane Adventures/Doctor Who. In which there are Ogrons and Sarah Jane Smith struggles to figure out what the hell is going on. Starring Sarah Jane Smith, Vislor Turlough, Luke Smith, Maria Jackson, Clyde Langer, K9 Mark IV, Mister Smith, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright, Ianto Jones, Jack Harkness, Ace, Chrissie Jackson and Lots And Lots Of Ogrons.

The Art of Memory (Bold and Lonely Remix). Doctor Who. The Doctor's a hard man to forget.

Five Pay Phones Buffy Almost Called Giles From. BtVS, the summer she ran away.

Some Mother's Son (The A-Z Remix). Stargate: Atlantis, pre-series. Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own.

The Great Bikini Incident (The Key to Time Remix). Doctor Who/BtVS. Dawn’s suspicious of the three electricity inspectors outside her sister’s Rome apartment.

Title:  Lessons Learned
Author: beatrice_otter
Rating: PG
Characters: Obi-Wan, Anakin
Word Count: 1386
Written for: imadra_bluePrompt:  I loves me some Obi-Wan, but everyone knows this. XD I'm open to anything, from birth to death (and beyond), but I'd be especially curious to see how you might interpret his background or childhood versus Anakin's background or childhood.
Author's Notes/Summary: Third birthdays, in the temple crèche and a slave ship.

We watched a movie, today, in IS I (the class that's supposed to be about practical issues in congregations). The movie was about a Menonite community in 1939-1941, and a dispute within the community and with the bishop that led to the pastor leaving the Menonites altogether. We'll be discussing what we got out of it next week. "So," Seth said, as we walked back to the dorm, "if you have a dispute with your bishop, just leave the Church? Is that what we're supposed to get out of it?"

"Well," I replied, "Lutherans do like schisms. And, you know, he did say he wasn't going to stop preaching, just that he was looking for somewhere else to do it. That implies mergers in the future. We like mergers almost as much."

Somehow, I doubt that's what the discussion will be on.

( I'm still getting settled into classes )

I am a fan. Of a lot of different TV series, movies, and authors, mostly science fiction. While there are many great things about being a fan, one of the big downsides is that most non-fans assume that all fans are either nuts, weirdos, or thirteen-year-old inept, unkempt nerds who substitute obsession for actually having a life. Or, more often, a combination of all three. (What's really galling is when the people who make the stuff we're fans of show that same contempt.) When mainstream media reports on it, (for instance, the Trekkies documentary), they usually seek out purposefully the least-balanced and most troubled members of the community while ignoring the rest of it. If they treated an ethnic group with the same contempt, there would be immediate screams of racism. Not that I'm comparing prejudice against fans to racism (which is obviously far worse), but nobody likes to be referred to that way. Are there nutcases in fandom? Yes. However, there are nutcases in every medium-large group of people; idiocy, insanity, and a tendency toward lemming behavior are unfortunately endemic to the human condition. And the Internet, for various reasons, tends to enhance that effect; it does it to all forms of communication over the web that I've ever seen, so why is fandom singled out?

Which is why it's so refreshing to hear about a documentary of a particular branch of fandom that treats its subject with respect and a balanced viewpoint. And doesn't focus exclusively on the lunatic fringe. Heart of an Empire apparently manages to do just that. "One of the noblest achievements for any documentary filmmaker is to take a subject about which the audience has preconceived notions and reveal a completely different side of the story, and this is where Thompson excels." "The movie addresses all of its issues relating to media, pop culture, and group psychology in an unassuming, subtle manner. Viewers who are only interested in a snapshot of a specific subculture within American life can enjoy the movie without delving into the peripheral ideas it references, but audiences wishing to dig a little deeper will find that the film is more provocative than its surface amiability initially implies."

Okay, some of the clips could be rearranged to better fit the music, but it's still fun stuff:

Emperor Palpatine, a Tribute