freakin' fanon....

[corilannam]

I just deleted a huge rant about the extremely popular Poor!Obi-Wan fanon of That Council Scene in TPM (you know the stuff, poor emotionally vulnerable Obi-Wan, cast aside/rejected/devastated by his coldhearted bastard of a master). I deleted it, because I realized that I had nothing at all constructive to say, except that it infuriates me more than any other piece of badly characterized fanon, in this fandom or any other. I'm generally pretty serene about differing fannish opinion, but this is the one big thing that sets me off without fail. I wish badly that the Jedi Apprentice books had never been written.

I get somewhat the same way about the whole "Daniel ascended because asshole!Jack shut him out/rejected him/devasted his delicate emotional state in Season 5 and he just couldn't take watching Jack canoodle with Sam anymore" thing in Stargate fanon, but to a much lesser degree of ire. Probably because it hasn't had five years to really piss me off. Yet.

***

Speaking of my dual love of TPM and SG-1, I started on my J/D ficathon story last night. It was extremely unwise to sign up for it in the first place, considering I'm already rushing trying to get my TPM zine piece done by the end of the month, but fortunately, I respond well to pressure. I have my story idea -- fun, if not brilliant -- and I don't think it will take too, too long to write. Even for me. Even for smut. I hope.

***

I accomplished approximately 1 and a half of my two goals for this past weekend. I did see Kill Bill, vol. 2 which totally rocked, and had a trailer for the new Jet Li movie that I'm really excited about. And while I did not master Premiere Pro (yet), I did get a decent book to use as a reference. Now I just have to stop collapsing into bed every night as soon as I get home so that I can actually use it.

This may be helped by the goal I accomplished without actually setting it in the first place -- Friday I joined Curves and am committed to going and working out at least two or three times a week. I hate paying money to do something I can do at home for free, but since I'm clearly not doing it at home, perhaps paying money will kick my butt into gear. It worked with the WWOnline, so there's hope.

Comments

[the-emu.livejournal.com]

You deleted it?

Nooooooooooo!!!

If you reeeeaaaally couldn't post it to m_a, you could have at least shared it here so we could all cheer, and then grump together and roll our eyes.

And don't blame JA - PoorWiddleObi existed before JA took off. For some reason unbeknonst to me, some people just love seeing their favourite character as a pathetic victim.

8^-

[thalia]

For some reason unbeknonst to me, some people just love seeing their favourite character as a pathetic victim.

Yup. Daniel Jackson, Blair Sandburg, Harry Potter, Illya whatever-his-last-name-is... there are tons of examples. I don't get it either.

And, honestly, I thought the Obi-Wan in the JA books was pretty kick-ass. But some people took Qui-Gon's initial rejection as evidence for their much-abused-Obi theory and just went with it. Grrr.

[sithdragn.livejournal.com]

Illya whatever-his-last-name-is...

Not to say the others are justified in any way, but Illya with this characterization amuses me the most. Daniel, Harry, Obi-Wan and Blair are all fairly serene characters, or at least striving to be serene. Illya worked for the Soviets in the 60's, and the GRU, and has been known to take a bit of perverse glee in violence and destruction he causes. He smirks and says, "Bon appetite" as a man is mauled by a wolf in front of him in canon. W.T.F.?

And, honestly, I thought the Obi-Wan in the JA books was pretty kick-ass.

*nod* I thought Obi-Wan was a guy of strong will and character. A wuss wouldn't have pursued Qui-Gon as a master, a wuss wouldn't have stood up for what he believes in when his mentor and greatest influence disagreed with him. As a kid! What kind of person does that kind of kid grow up to be? Not a wuss, that's for certain. If the council were still around by the time he were a master, he'd be on it. Or heading it. That sounds incredibly porny.

[the-emu.livejournal.com]

Yeah! And by the end of JA, he was there, standing up in front of Qui-Gon, saying "You're wrong." He wasn't wussy and pathetic, and that's the character's biggest appeal.

I don't think Obi-Wan'd wait until he was old to start heading the Council. But then I've never minded Obi-Wan playing around on the side...

8^-

[marzilla.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly! Because Qui-Gon didn't want to take him as his apprentice at first, clearly Qui-Gon is an emotional cripple who doesn't appreciate this glorious, delicate creature who deigns to grace his life, and clearly Obi-Wan has been trapped in this abusive relationship for so many years that this final rejection is just the last straw on his precariously-balanced self-esteem.

Personally, I preferred the Obi-Wan who was strong enough to leave Qui-Gon to do what he felt was right, and then a big enough person to admit that he had been wrong.

[marzilla.livejournal.com]

And don't blame JA - PoorWiddleObi existed before JA took off. For some reason unbeknonst to me, some people just love seeing their favourite character as a pathetic victim.

Yeah, and it's just as bad in other fandoms, too. But JA gave it some weird kind of canonical legitimacy in some people's eyes, it seems to me. Like, "Seeeeeee, Qui-Gon keeps rejecting him and rejecting him over and over since he was twelve! Which is why we write him like he still is twelve! That bastard!"