Before the Saga (or The Trials and Tribulations of Young Kenobi???)

Is that how you think of Before the Saga, merely stories revolving around Obi-Wan as a youth? I have nothing against this I assure you, it's just that I feel that Before the Saga is really a broader place than most give it credit for.

I'm sure most writers and readers feel that Before the Saga is merely a shrine to Kenobi--Okay shrine is a dramatic word--Some adore the notion, while others scoff at it and don't want to go near the forum with a ten foot blaster.

Being that I'm the author, so far, of three Before the Saga stories (one finished, the others in progress) that have nothing to do with this, I figured that I'm not the only one. (Not that far past/OC stories are favored by many, probably they're even less popular than most anything out there, but I'm not saying that that's all that Before the Saga is either).

Still I want to know other's opinion, and also anybody with a non-Young Obi-Wan Before the Saga fic can post their links here.

Repeating (*Waves hand*) I have no problems with Obi-Wan Kenobi... and you say...

 

I too would love to get into ancient jedi history or maybe write some "Tales of the Jedi" type stories.

I just have a really full plate, writing-wise, so it'll be a while before I can indulge these urges of mine. Unless I wrote a collection of vignettes like I do for my beyond the saga plot bunnies.

Jae Angel

 

Oh, I dunno, I think "Before the Saga" is less Obi-centric than "Beyond the Saga" is Jaina/Jaicen-centric, or "The Saga" is Jade-centric. Most of my "befores" are OCs, anyway, though I did write one entirely about his friend Bant, and I've got one posted and one almost done that are OC in the time before his birth.

There are a lot of Anakin/Amidala stories there now, too.

He's just one of the more popular characters there.

I wouldn't be averse to reading about other characters and periods, even OCs (since that's my own writing preference), depending on the author's interpretation of the Jedi. I've been lurking a lot, lately...

 

Personally, I fail to understand why it should bother anybody what someone else chooses to write or read. It's not as if the number of stories that can be posted here is limited in any way - or that there's any kind of requirement as to who one writes or when, etc.

I admit to being an Obi-lover. I don't write NJO, or OT, or Mara Jade - because they bore me - but that certainly doesn't mean I have the right to complain if someone else feels differently.

Despite the fact that there are, indeed, scads of young Obi fics - there is also an incredibly rich variety among those fics - as many different takes on his life, as there are authors to write it. If you don't believe that, just take a peek at what's out there. There is such opportunity to explore - and develop - personalities, even among canon characters, because the film medium does not allow for a great deal of character exploration. So Obi - or Anakin - or Qui-Gon - or Xanatos - or Bant - of (going in the other direction) Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, Lando, yada, yada, can ALL be very different versions of themselves, in the hands of gifted writers who perceive them differently.

OC's are great and interesting to read - but the bottom line remains that this is a Star Wars site - and some people are never going to be particularly interested in reading about characters other than the ones they come here to see.

Bottom line - to each his own.

There may be beaucoup reasons why a story fails to attract a following: maybe it just hasn't yet had time to do so; maybe it draws a lot of lurkers, who simply don't respond; maybe there are factors in it that readers don't care for; or maybe Jupiter is not yet in the house of Saturn, and Pisces isn't yet swimming in Aquarius' pool - Who knows?

There's plenty of room for all characters on boards like these - or else, we're all laboring under a big misconception.

CYN

 

CYNICAL21: Why do I get the feeling you misunderstand me (my lot in life to be misunderstood, besides the fact that it's my lot in life to always do or say the wrong thing). I have NOTHING against Obi-Wan or any other Star Wars character (well, Prince Xizor, but I won't go there). I don't care what anybody else reads.

Not one single bit, it's just I've been scanning Kit's thread about the board spilt, and from what I have discerned it seems that many people are happy about it because they don't have to go through all that many stories they don't care about. Some people, I believe, have said that they don't bother with Before the Saga because they're not into Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon/whatever. That's what this is all about.

Why does everybody have to misunderstand me? I hate my life.

 

And that is certainly their prerogative - to like or not like. I don't really think that everyone sees Before the Saga as being only Obi-Wan - at least, not any more than people see After the Saga as being Jaina/Jacen and the NJO - which I find completely uninteresting. But THAT is the point I'm attempting to make - that personal taste is going to remain forever basically inexplicable. The propensity to think of Pre-Saga as Obi-WAn related probably comes from the JA series of books, a la Jude WAtson - and I promise you there are plenty of SW fans who can't stand her work - including me.

It's not so much the character chosen, as the way the story is written. There have been some pretty interesting fics about really early Jedi history and pre-history, and I think, as long as one preserves the integrity of George's universe, that could provide some interesting material.

I should, however, point out that someone - and I have no idea who it was - made a statement recently on one of these boards that nobody wanted to read fics that didn't include Obi-Wan. Offhand, I'd say the lack of traffic on the Pre-Saga board tends to contradict that observation, if your take on the concentration on Young Obi is correct.

Bottom line: everyone should write what they like, post where they want, and let the chips fall where they may.

CYN

 

I agree. I just didn't want to offend somebody for saying something I didn't think I said. I felt like I was being bashed, like I was acting stupid, when I wasn't putting anybody down.

Pre-Saga's about my favorite, so I just used the Obi-Wan example (I go over to Beyond the Saga and see an unfathomable amount of fics about Jaina and Jag, way more than Obi-Wan I'll definitely admit. Nothing against them either, people.)

And I know who that person was who said that everybody only wants to read Obi-Wan stories (not me). It's a little hard to forget.

 

I think at first I conceived of Before the Saga as young Obi stories. I believe that's because when I first began reading fan fiction, I focused on Obi-Wan (I'd been tinkering with an idea for an ep 3 story and a friend directed me to this site to see how other people have written fan fic) and Obi-Wan seemed to be in many of the stories I first read, and I became interested in him. The only Star Wars books I've read are a few of the JA books, so I guess I do tend to think in terms of Obi-Wan (Before the Saga: young Obi The Saga: older Obi Beyond the Saga: Nope, no Obi ).

However, after seeing the awards a few months ago, with categories for Far Future/Long Ago, I became more aware of the time span, and original character stories without Obi in them (but who would write such a thing? [face_shocked])

It does seem that Obi-Wan somewhat dominates the Before the Saga categories, though. Just looking through the first page (which for me is the first 50 topics) Obi's featured in 24 stories, OCs in 14, and 'others' (Young Qui, Jango, Shmi, Ani, Xan, Cerasi, Han's parents, Owen, Siri, Luke) get 1-3 stories.

Reading tatooinewizard's Legend of Black Saber actually made me realize the variety of topics in Before the Saga (and that's a great story for anyone who wants to try out an all-OC fic), and maybe over time more stories will be written. Perhaps the fairly recent JA books are what's influencing the young Obi stuff.

That's make me wonder: for anyone who was into fan fiction before TPM, what kind of stories were out there? Did people write Luke stories, or fics like the novels that have been published? Since Obi-Wan seems to be a central character now (except for Post-Saga), who were the central characters earlier on? Because TPM, AOTC, and JA added lots of characters, were there more OC fics?

 

HHP: Thank God someone knows what I'm getting at!

It does seem that Obi-Wan somewhat dominates the Before the Saga categories, though. Just looking through the first page (which for me is the first 50 topics) Obi's featured in 24 stories, OCs in 14, and 'others' (Young Qui, Jango, Shmi, Ani, Xan, Cerasi, Han's parents, Owen, Siri, Luke) get 1-3 stories. Thanks for doing a count to give everybody a general idea. Never would have thought of that myself.

Reading tatooinewizard's Legend of Black Saber actually made me realize the variety of topics in Before the Saga (and that's a great story for anyone who wants to try out an all-OC fic), and maybe over time more stories will be written this was no paid advertisement, I assure you all. But I appreicate your words, HHP.

Now this is what I expected from this thread! A setting straight of the myth!

 

Hmmm. Well, the only in-progress fic I have on Before The Saga is a young Qui story and well, sometimes it falls to the second page fast and sometimes it doesn't. *shrugs*

My computer's set to see twenty-five threads on each page, and on Before The Saga there's about eleven Obi stories (well, only counting the ones that mention him in the title, since I don't have time to go through them all.) Not too many, when you think about it, and there's at least five OCs/past stories...

Okay, I think I just wrote something completely pointless.

 

This whole dam thing is a shrine to bloody Obi Wan Kenobi. There, I said it. Now I'll sit back and wait for all the pms from distraught Obi Wan fans, but ya know, I JUST DON'T GIVE A DAM!

 

Emimar, please. That isn?t necessary. If you continue such comments, a ban will be issued (mainly due to your past history). If you wish to dispute this, please take it to PM with me. Thanks.

 

EM! I didn't start this so you could get yourself into more hot water!

 

Before the Saga certainly wasn't meant to focus on a particular character, and what's troublesome to me is that people have the perception that that's all it's about. I like JA stories (sometimes) and I like Obi-Wan, but the forum is meant to--and to the best of my knowledge does--contain any fanfic story that takes place before the beginning of The Phantom Menace. It may or may not in fact deal with Obi-Wan. My own story there (poor abandoned thing that it is) is about Shmi's adolescence. It would also have been the home for the "Sith Order" stories had they been written post-split, and those took place 1,000 years before the Saga. Anakin had a brief appearance in a vision, and Obi-Wan appeared not at all. That's thousands of years to potentially cover. If you wanted to do a story about the first human homeworld in the GFFA, before the discovery of starflight, that would go in Before the Saga. People shouldn't perceive it as limited to the lifetimes of any major characters, let alone limited to a particular major character. By all means, write about Obi-Wan if he's the character who most fascinates you. But please, if you want to write something else in that era, don't think that only Obi-Wan stories are acceptable there!

Likewise, anything that happens between TPM and RotJ is The Saga. (I have no idea how that would come to be associated with Mara Jade, who strikes me as a Beyond the Saga chick if you like her, but oh well.) This would cover missing scenes from the movies. It would cover anything in the Jedi purge. It would include the twins' childhoods and any alternate universe stories taking place within the time frame. All OC stories that occur during the war. Anything about the Clone Army. Anything about Han and Lando's childhoods, or the hermit life of Yoda on Dagobah. Anything at all, as long as it takes place in that time frame.

And Beyond the Saga... that could go on forever. It's unrelated to the EU, and was deliberately created to be unrelated to the EU. Yes, there will be EU-y stories there, because some people like writing them, but if people are staying away from the forums because they contain EU stories then of course that means that more and more stories will fall into that mold.

I don't object to people writing whatever the heck it pleases them to write. I want to make that clear. But I'm very concerned about the "stereotyping" of the forums--they weren't meant that way, and I hope writers of other sorts of stories aren't assuming that their stories will be unwanted there.

 

Stereotypes are very difficult to eliminate. I believe that everyone has their own perceptions of what lies within a forum. Those perceptions may or may not completely match the truth of the matter. Clearly there is no easy solution to this growing concern ? and after thinking on it, I don?t think there is much we can do. We can?t force people to think something.

However, as I?ve offered in the split discussion topic, we could use this thread (or start a new one) where users would comment on their perceptions of the three era forums, then would we would go through a discussion process and define the purpose of every forum and what lies in there. From that, I would slot a section into the new version of the FAQ, which is designed to educate new users and stop those stereotypes forming (wherein users might feel that their story was unwanted in a particular forum).

At the moment, I can?t think of any other ideas. I'm open to all thoughts .

Am

 

Am, good idea! Let's start a new thread to discuss these things. I knew I had a good idea in here somewhere. I don't know what else I could add aside from what you've already said though.

 

Guess I'm showing my age, but for me "The Saga" starts with Ep IV, since that was the first one I saw & grew up with.

(And yes, the pre-Internet SW fanfic I remember was Luke, Han & Leia, fighting the Empire & the remnants of the Empire... and then came the "pros"...)

So I am having trouble wrapping my head around TPM as The Saga, since for me, it "predates" the Saga, even though I understand the reasoning behind the way the split occurs. Jes' the way it is with us geriatric types, heh, cackle...

And maybe this particular post fits in the "Board Discussion Split," but this thread is sort of bumping up against it. Eh.

 

Hey, I am among the geriatrics--33 last Thursday--and I thought of the split categories. I think of all things filmed by Lucas as the SW Saga. I couldn't wait to see how it would start.