#sstw

On Monday, November 25, 2024, we're kicking off the Obitine Fic Club with a reread of @the-obiwan-for-me's She Said the Word, a Star Wars AU where Obi-Wan Kenobi and Satine Kryze's year on the run ended very differently.

Whether you're discovering this story for the first time or are already a fan of the Kryze family's adventures, you're invited to join us in reading four chapters a week and posting any comments, reflections, or questions for the author you have!

She Said the Word - A Star Wars: The Clone Wars AU

Here we go! Spoilers are fair game on my reflection posts, so your best bet is just to read the chapters first! But for now, I'm keeping my reflections fairly general.

First off … I legitimately think this is the first time in years that I sat down to actually read a fic of substantial length, and that feels so good.

Second, I’m so glad to get back into this world. I remember how excited I was when I first started reading these first few chapters of SSTW (before I knew the author) and I couldn’t believe that someone was writing exactly the fic that I always wanted to read (and at the time … the height of social distancing … was busting out a lengthy chapter nearly every day!).

Right from the start, I loved the characters because just as in canon, their quest is for their vocations and that’s why they’re so compelling: Satine … who’s found her purpose but hoping for a partner who will live it out with her, Obi-Wan … who’s grown up in an order of monks devoted to service but who struggles to find his place in that world and believe he’s worthy, Qui-Gon … who doesn’t fault Obi-Wan for seeking his purpose outside of the Order, and the kiddos … Korkie, Lily, and Ani … who give their parents more purpose than they can handle (even apart from rebuilding a war-torn civilization).

One of the most fascinating parts of rereading these chapters is seeing just how different I think both the author and I view the Jedi now in comparison to 2020, when SSTW was first written. In these chapters, you definitely see what I would now call “misguided stereotypes” against the Jedi – seen in things like Satine’s accusation (and Obi-Wan’s grudging agreement) than the Jedi ignore their emotions – but at the time, I wouldn’t have thought anything of it.

Thankfully, @tessiete and others set us straight, but my question to @the-obi-wan-for-me is this: if you were writing SSTW today, what would you change about the portrayal of the Jedi in these first couple of chapters? Would you portray the Jedi’s handling of Anakin after Qui-Gon’s death any differently, even if there's still some justification from TPM for believing there were those who were against him being trained as a padawan?