how do these things happen?

[bedlamsbard]

I...have evidently started writing another SW AU. One of the Qui-Gon lives and trains Anakin type, which usually do nothing for me as I'm all about the Obi-Wan/Anakin relationship. But I kind of like this one, because it is all about the Obi-Wan/Anakin relationship, minus the ten year background and the Master/Padawan relationship. It begins with AotC, with Obi-Wan alone getting sent to guard Padme rather than the Master/Padawan pair of Qui-Gon and Anakin. Anakin and Obi-Wan still end up working together to catch the assassin, though, since Anakin is going to visit Padme when he sees Obi-Wan jump out the window. And to everyone's surprise, including their own, they work well together.

Beyond that, I still have to work out what happens, though, since at this point in canon they split up and I have to figure out who gets sent where: if Obi-Wan follows his canon role and goes to Kamino, and Anakin and Qui-Gon guard Padme, or if Obi-Wan continues guarding Padme and Anakin and Qui-Gon go to Kamino instead. That latter is more likely, I think, but that leads to lots of repercussions, like Qui-Gon being confronted by Dooku and the lack of Anakin going out and murdering sand people all over the place.

And, of course, the Anakin/Padme relationship. It wouldn't be Obi-Wan/Padme, though.

*prods curiously* Well, I'm intrigued, even though I know it's the most common AU in the SW fandom. Which actually surprises me, because I always thought there'd be a lot more Anakin-doesn't-turn fic.

Comments

[rose-aislin.livejournal.com]

Well, this sounds quite fascinating to me - and I'd love to read it. Would be greatly appreciative if Anakin/Padme didn't happen at all in said fic. (As much as I've found that I like Ani/Obi I hate it when Anakin's cheating on Padme).

And I do like the idea of them not having that whole Master/Padawan relationship in their past... I just can't see Obi-Wan not having problems with the fact that the guy he wants to snog used to be that kid he raised. Without having training Anakin - well, you don't have that problem do you? And hopefully, that means Obi doesn't take so long to realise, hey, I like Anakin. Or at least, when he does realise it, he doesn't go around trying to convince himself that he loves him like a brother - right, like we believe that.

So anyway, the point of this post, was to say that I'd love to see that fic written, and shall now have to friend you - in case it is!

And, while I do enjoy seeing original fics (which really, when you think about it is a contradiction, as fanfiction, by definition, is borrowing someone else's ideas...), I tend to be the kind of person that when she reads something she likes, goes and tries to find anything else that is remotely similar - ie, I read about Luke travelling back in time ( one of my favs! ), go, hey, I like this, and so try and find every fic ever written where Luke travels back in time (which I am having trouble doing) - it's why I read fanfiction, so I can read the same plot over and over again, with slight differences, and make up my own ways that it could have happened.

Ok... I'm ranting again - or rambling on, or whatever you want to call it.

So I'll stop now - and go plan my own Obi/Ani fic (my first one - eep!), which has been rattling around in my brain all afternoon.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

I haven't written a lot of Anakin/Obi-Wan -- my preference, when writing, is gen with a hell of a lot of subtext that can be intepreted as slashy or just strictly platonic, although I'm not always sure how well I succeed -- but I think the problems are the fun part! Anakin and Obi-Wan are so screwed up already that the Master/Padawan relationship -- which, in my opinion, was never very clearly defined with them -- is one of the things that makes them absolutely fascinating, because they do have that long history, something that's not present when writing a Qui-Gon trains Anakin AU. Their lives are inextricably entwined -- even going by canon, just about the only thing they aren't to each other is lovers.

In other words, the Qui-Gon lives AU is now officially in progress. *sigh* I make no promises about when or if it will be finished/posted, though. It requires slight worldbuilding, and a lot of thinking about Qui-Gon's training style in relationship to Anakin and how that's going to change Anakin. Well, he's (strangely) less cocky, and Obi-Wan is more so.

Luke goes back in time stories! I have one of those -- sort of permanently in progress, at the moment, but I really do want to write it one of these days. Never been able to find another one, though; when I came into the SW fandom I thought they'd be really easy to find, since we have the originals AND the prequels, but no, not easy (which is funny, because I remember back in HP when Prisoner of Azkaban came out some of the first stories going up were "the Trio goes back in time and meets the Marauders", but I digress). I also have an Anakin and Obi-Wan accidentally end up in the future story that I'd love to finish someday, but, uh, also in progress.

And...I see you rambled at me, and I rambled back.

Thank you for commenting!

[rose-aislin.livejournal.com]

And now for more rambling...

I agree, gen with subtext works quite well indeed. And the fact that Anakin and Obi-Wan are so tangled up together (ok, that sounds like it's inferring a lot more than I meant it to...) - I mean, that their lives are so tangled up in each other, is really, I think, what makes me love them so much.
Whether it's reading slash where they are lovers, or wonderful fics where they aren't, but something happens that pushes them just that much closer together so that Anakin actually shares with Obi-Wan how he's feeling instead of always running off to Palpatine (oh, I hate that! I love Obi-Wan, but then I just keep coming back to the idea that if he'd done *something* so that Anakin felt comfortable sharing with him none of that mess would have happened 'cos Anakin wouldn't have been running off to Palpatine to have palpy fill the spot that Obi-Wan was supposed to, and then I wanna hit Anakin for not trusting Obi-Wan enough to share with him... and then I wonder how messed up poor Anakin is, going from being a slave and having a 'master' to being a padawan, and still having a 'master' - who is then like a father to him... *sighs*).
Then of course, there are wonderful fics, like Wawoot's "Bad Boys, Jedi Style" (which is just one of the funniest things I have ever read - ever), where Anakin and Obi-Wan really *are* brothers.

But anyway...

And yes, I soooo, thought time travel fics would be easy to find. But no! I can't. (Well, I have found some). But not many. I'm like, why not? It's such a cool idea (and yes, I read HP too, and yes, I admit to reading dozens of someone goes back to the marauder's time, or the marauders come forward in time fics), and there are so many ways that you can take time travel fics. And why haven't people written more of them?
So, obviously, I've love to see your time travel fic as well. Both of them. Because, yes, I don't know if I've ever read about it being done (well, I think I once found one chapter of a fic where Anakin goes forward in time, but, of course, that one chapter didn't really have anything happening, apart from Anakin travelling through time, and it's the *aftermath* of that I'd like to read about), but I *love* the idea of Obi-Wan and Anakin coming forward in time.
And, considering the time-line given to us now that we have the prequels, well, I can imagine a lot of the older people in the Alliance being able to recognise the. And it just presents such lovely possibilities.

Not to mention Luke going back in time - I've probably day dreamed up at least a dozen scenarios for that particular plotline. Not to mention - but I will, anyway - that, as far as I can tell (having really only watched the films and not read the books), Luke has no idea about the whole 'jedi don't love' thing - so he wouldn't even think twice about telling the council that he's Anakin's son.
Poor Ani.

Oh, and don't get me started on the council - I could rant for ages.

Which it seems that I have. Oops. Oh well.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Anakin and Obi-Wan are so tangled up in each other that even when it's gen, they sound like they're sleeping together. Even in the original trilogy, it seems like three-quarters of what Vader says is about Obi-Wan in some way. *shakes head* I am totally convinced that Obi-Wan was a mess during the twenty years between RotS and ANH -- not just because of the betrayal, but because he was all alone, when he'd spent the past twenty or thirty years of his life constantly with someone: first Qui-Gon, and then Anakin.

Palpatine really wanted to insert himself into Anakin's life, though. I have no idea how he managed to do it so early on, but obviously he found a way. Actually, that's a good question: how did he manage to do it so early on without Obi-Wan or the Council freaking out?

I've seen a lot of time travel fics within the prequels themselves -- RotS Obi-Wan ends up in TPM Obi-Wan's body, Obi-Wan meets young Qui-Gon -- okay, not that many, on second thought. I've seen one fic where Amidala's ship from TPM ends up in the future, but I didn't actually get around to reading it because it didn't look like my thing.

I really, really want to write the Anakin and Obi-Wan go forward in time story -- the working title is "The Most Dangerous Man in the Galaxy." It starts at the very beginning of RotS, when Obi-Wan's unconscious in Dooku's ship, and when Anakin refuses to leave him, Palpatine freaks and attacks him and the Force somehow transports them to the future -- which unfortunately happens to be Hoth in ESB, which of course means they get captured by the Rebels who are out looking for Luke and Han. And then they get stuck there, which leads to some really amusing hijinks, which is to say, Anakin freaking out because Luke somehow has his lightsaber, Obi-Wan somehow getting ANH Obi-Wan's memories (yeah, that...doesn't go too well. Let's just say "freak out" when he sees Anakin), and Yoda trying to attack Anakin on Dagobah. And Palpatine freaking out, of course. But it would be seriously massive to write.

I think it would be heartbreaking for Luke to see how close Anakin and Obi-Wan were if the time traveling takes place after ESB and amusing for lightsaber mixup hijinks if it takes place beforehand. Plus, if Luke and Co. realize they can't change the past, that makes it even more heartbreaking. *sigh*

Star Wars breaks my heart in many, many ways.

[rose-aislin.livejournal.com]

Yes, they are all tangled up together, aren't they? Although, one of my pet peeves is when people seem to think that two guys can't be really, really close friends *without* sleeping together. Not everything is about sex. And you can be great friends without wanting to sleep with someone. Although I really love just about every facet of the Anakin/Obi-Wan relationship that I've seen.

And I never really thought about the *aloneness* of Obi-Wan so much during those twenty years - so now I'm sure my poor little brain is going to spend the next - oh, who knows how long, dwelling on poor Obi-Wan... if I'm lucky the muse will join in and I'll get a fic out of it.

Of course, I like to think that Luke spent more time with Old Ben then is suggested by the originals, partly because, hey, I think that'd be cool (poor Obi-Wan - although, of course, then you get issues of poor Obi-Wan having to deal with the guilt/flashbacks/fear of being with someone who reminds him so much of Anakin), and partly because, especially after watching the prequels, it's just not realistic that Luke could learn enough to face Vader so quickly.
Although, of course, my other favourite idea is that you really only need that long to learn what you need to to be a jedi and the rest of the time is spent learning things like politics and the jedi code, etc (which, I know, is totally unrealistic, but I like to imagine Anakin's face when he finds out Luke didn't have to learn all that).

I've never really wondered too much about palpatine, I have to admit. He's there in the senate which is right near the temple, so the availability - at least distance-wise is there. Then, I imagine that poor Obi-Wan is simply struggling to deal with losing Qui-Gon and going from a padawan to a master all in one day, as it were, and so isn't too sure about what he should/shouldn't be doing with Anakin.
Anakin, the general consensus seems to be, feels that Obi-Wan only took him as a padawan due to Qui-Gon asking him to, and so doesn't feel wanted. Having come from such a loving environment, despite being a slave, he seeks out someone to give him at least something of what his mother always did - enter palpatine - the only person he knows - apart from the jedi, who is still on Coruscant, and that Ani knows.
And of course, the jedi don't show love, etc, because that's a big no-no.

And here, I think, that the main mistake they made was treating Anakin as if he was just another padawan - yet also treating him as if he's the chosen one, and also dangerous.
They hadn't taken someone who was older into the temple in so long that they didn't know how to deal with him and he suffered for it. I always wonder if there was some teaching or something that he missed out on having not grown up there that would have really helped him deal with everything, and that everyone just assumes he knew about, but he didn't.
Not to mention that you can't take a nine year old and tell them to suddenly stop feeling. Whereas you can teach two year olds to let go of feelings a lot easier.

The other general consensus seems to be that Anakin refused to 'release' his feelings as when he was a slave it was all he had.

Ok, I never really thought too much about the lightsaber thing before - but that is a good point! I always focused more on - do I want Shmi to still be alive or not, and do I want Anakin to have started down the dark path yet or not.

And yes, Star Wars does just break your heart, doesn't it?

(eh, there, see, I rambled on again...)

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, I definitely hear you there, although I have to add that a couple of my OTPs are guys who in canon are friends who are more or less close enough that, again, the only thing they aren't doing is sleeping together. And when it comes to Anakin and Obi-Wan, I'm fairly convinced that, at least in canon, they're not sleeping together. Or, actually, I should say, having sex, because I do believe they've slept together in a strictly platonic definition of the word for various reasons: comfort, security, lack of two beds. It's kind of a motif I like; it shows up in "What is Lost" and again in "A Long Time Gone"; I also use it in my original fiction.

It's in my personal canon that Obi-Wan went, at the very least, a little bit crazy on Tatooine. I mean, think about it. He's just been betrayed by his best friend, he's just had his heart broken, he's just had his "family" murdered by the one person he trusted more than anyone else, he's alone in the desert on the planet he knows Anakin hated, the only company he has is his dead Master, he has no friends, everyone thinks he's crazy, and he has to watch his best friend's kid grow up and make sure he doesn't make the same mistakes all over again. I know I'd go stark raving nuts.

Oh, Obi-Wan. My feeling is that he and Luke actually didn't know each other very well at all.

I wish we had a better idea of how the timelines went in the movies. I mean, there's a certain span of years between ANH and ESB, but obviously ESB covers a fairly significant period of time itself with Luke's training on Dagobah -- and I'm pretty sure Yoda was freaking out, because basically all he was teaching Luke how to do was use the Force. Judging from the prequels, too, the Jedi learn everything, not just fighting and the Force: politics, negotiating, medicine, engineering, quantum science, cooking, everything. (Not to mention how much Yoda and Obi-Wan must have freaked when Luke was, like, "Off to go rescue my friends! Bye!" It's like deja vu all over again!.)

*shrug* I'm not really as bothered about the feelings/love thing as most people. Maybe it's because I don't tend to dissect a character, just write out of instinct and what feels right for the character.

Well, consider that all the Jedi grew up in the Temple, so none of them had any experience with normal children. quigonejinn does the best with her intepretation of baby Obi-Wan, I think -- and Anakin's nothing like that at all, because he doesn't have the same experience, the same training, that everyone else has, and nobody's ever had to deal with anything like that before.

The lightsaber thing amuses me far too much, because Anakin would freak out a lot and Luke would have one of those moments where he just wants to die. I'm kind of intrigued by the fact that Anakin might be interested in him, but really wouldn't actually care all that much -- it's one of the things I'm playing with in the Anakin and Obi-Wan time travel story, that even with Luke right there, Anakin still cares more about Obi-Wan than he does about Luke.

It breaks my heart, besides the obvious, because there are so many things that are lost in the nineteen years between RotS and ANH. So much that no one will ever know -- I mean, for an example, Padme Amidala. Once the originals roll around, she's completely irrelevent; we don't have any indication that Luke or Leia know that she's their mother. Hell, we don't even know if people knew she was against the Empire, since Palpatine was from Naboo. They only know that she died.