Obi-Wan vs. the Bureaucrats by Chat Noir

[splix.livejournal.com]

Note: I realize I skipped a week. I will post another rec, my last (sob) tomorrow. Thanks, darththalia, for setting up this fantastic community!



Title: Obi-Wan versus the Bureaucrats

Author: Chat Noir

Rating: PG.

Pairing: Well... it's Obi-centric, with possibilities. :D

Warnings: Spew.

Author's e-mail, web site and/or LJ id: sithlawyer@aol.com master_chatnoir

Link to Story: On M-A: http://www.masterapprentice.org/archive/o/obiwan_versus.html

Reason for Recommending: I don't usually recommend humor/parody fics, not only because I am a grumpy old sod, but because humor is such a subjective thing. What makes one person spit milk through her nose makes another fold her arms and snipe "I don't see what's funny about that."

I believe I am safe in rec'ing this piece, though. Chat Noir is the only TPM humor writer whose entire published body of work is on my hard drive; I won't risk losing her stuff. I actually laugh out loud when I read her work. Obi-Wan's rant about three-quarters of the way down this piece would be worth the price of admission on its own, but there's SO much to love about the story. Poor Obi-Wan Kenobi suffers through the hell of bureaucracy; anyone who's ever stood in line at the Bursar's office in school will feel his pain, and crack up doing so. Special appearance by the ever-popular Darth Maul as his ominously soft-spoken roomie.

Quote from story: There's TONS I could quote from this. I just picked something at random. It's ALL brilliantly funny.

Obi-Wan peered through the portal into a small room. "Is this a walk in closet?" he asked, remarking on its size.

Maul frowned at him. "No, this is your room," he told Obi-Wan. "The closet is over here." He walked over to a sliding panel and pulled it back. The shelves and floor were completely filled with little boxes and half the hanging space was occupied by black robes. Maul pointed to the piles of boxes. "These are my Xena figurines. You will not disturb them. These clothes must stay here as I have run out of closet space in my room,"

Comments

[siubhan.livejournal.com]

Hee! Methinks I sense the hand of the Sith Academy in there ;)

[splix.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't know; I was never into Sith Academy much. But any way you slice it, it's a damn good fic. :)

[siubhan.livejournal.com]

I was by design into the SA much, go figure ;) But yes, it borrows heavily from our shared universe. It's okay, she's not the only one who did it, but I'm always baffled by authors who don't acknowledge this in the credits at the top of their story. We acknowledge when we borrow Lucas's work, so why not when we borrow fans' work?

[splix.livejournal.com]

I guess you'd have to discuss that with the author. :)

[siubhan.livejournal.com]

I know, I know. I've had poor luck with that in the past, though. Lots of people borrowed from the SA without acknowledgement, and many would get testy when I'd ask them to add a note stating the SA influence with a link back to our site. And some of these people were using original characters we'd created, like Darth Mary Sue and My Apprentice (who I'm particularly sensitive about, as she's based on my cat). Very annoying.

[master-chatnoir.livejournal.com]

it borrows heavily from our shared universe. It's okay, she's not the only one who did it, but I'm always baffled by authors who don't acknowledge this in the credits at the top of their story

I'll have to admit I'm a bit baffled by the idea that I've borrowed heavily from SA stories. Of course, I'm familiar with SA and have read a few fics, but I was never very big into it and I certainly did not use anything in any of my stories that I read there. What I mainly remember from those fics I did read is that Maul had a cat and Qui-Gon was a hippie. I don't think I used that here at all.

In fact, as far as this particular story is concerned, the plot itself is based on my own experience of returning to school and having to live with my sister. Obi-Wan's adventures and reactions were all based on my own. Maul's character, actions, and even his closet full of Xena dolls (I'm guessing this is what you're referring to because of the clip?) is all my sister. Tho, supposedly, she's not actually a Sith.

Certainly, I believe in crediting where credit is due, and that failing to credit where inspiration is not mere coincidence but is deliberately derived is bad form. But I also believe that making assumptions and casting aspersions is equally impolite.

[siubhan.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. What struck me as being particularly SA-inspired was Maul hiding in plain sight in a squalid high-rise apartment and Obi-Wan being blissfully unaware that the man really was a Sith. There were other things too, but that was the one that really made me scratch my head and go, "Why isn't the SA being credited as an inspiration here?" I'm very protective of my authors, so perhaps I see connections where there are none.