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radiosummons · 1 year

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I don't think Obi-Wan would ever have become a Sith. Literally, one of the biggest points about him as a character is that despite all the bullshit and absolute insanity he goes through, he never gives in to the Dark Side.

BUT--

A part of me can't help but wonder what would have happened if Obi-Wan--for whatever absolutely character breaking reason--took Dooku up on his offer and joined the Sith/Separatist, how differently things would have gone down in the Clone Wars.

Because from where I'm standing, we all already know that Obi-Wan's biggest things is never half-assing literally anything he does. He always puts himself into any task he's given. He's just incapable of not seeing things to their absolute finish and then some.

I've read a few Sith!Obi-Wan AU fics and fan comics with this exact premise and I do find it fascinating how people have gone about exploring this sort of concept. There are, of course, quite a number of powerhouse Sith!Obi-Wan AUs where he just straight decimates the GAR and the Republic (usually with the intent of killing Darth Sidious in the end). But I'm also fascinated by the handful of stories I've seen where Obi-Wan doesn't necessarily become an actual Sith, but joins Dooku (whether as a voluntary double agent or due to time-travel shenanigans) in order to 1) Find out who the true Sith Lord is and take them down and/or 2) To attempt stymieing the overall devastation the war has on the entire galaxy.

So as OOC as Sith!Obi-Wan feels to me, I can't help but share the fascination that others do with the endless "What ifs?" scenarios that can spring to mind with an AU like this.

Especially, when you start thinking about the potential ways Darth Sidious would react to having a hypercompetent Force User and experienced military general "on his side."

Yeah, Sheev was hyperfocused on Anakin for reasons. But I can't help but sorta vibe with some of Sith!Obi-Wan AUs I've seen where Mister Sidious either 1) Realizes what an actual threat Obi-Wan is to his ultimate goal of becoming Emperor of the entire galaxy, and tries to get Dooku to get rid of him as result (similar to what he ordered Dooku to do with Asajj) or 2) Realizes that while Anakin is an absolute powerhouse in the force, Obi-Wan is sort of next level due to not having the copious, never ending layers of unstable emotional drama that Anakin is.

(Of course, being emotionally unstable is sort of the prime requirement for any powerful Dark Sider, but I raise you this--the amount of traumatic bullshit Obi-Wan has gone through is just about as insane, if not a little more, than Anakin. It would just take someone immorally depraved enough, like Mister Sidious, to really torture and drag all that trauma out of Obi-Wan to the point that he'd use said trauma to fuel his Sith abilities. Again, I don't think Obi-Wan would ever give in to the Dark Side even if Sheev was his main tormentor, but we're playing around in the Sith!Obi-Wan AU right now. After all, "The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural").

I do feel obligated to sort of mention that sheer amount of angst that naturally comes with this sort of AU, but I don't feel the actual need to go super in depth with it. Just because, well, Obi-Wan in his natural canon state is already a bottomless well of angst and sadness pfffttt

Making him a Sith doesn't really change much in that regard for me, other than for other artists and fic writers to explore the darker elements of SW. Mainly, the horrific and outright torture that comes with being trained as a Sith and, you know, the atrocities of a galaxy wide war (just typically in more graphic detail and from a far more bleak perspective).

Tldr: I don't have an issue with Sith!Obi-Wan despite how horribly OOC it feels to me. I am absolutely and utterly impressed with the writers and artists who have fleshed out this AU in the detail and depths that they have. Y'all are so much stronger than me and I am grateful to everyone who was able to answer some of the questions bouncing around in my head through their art.

*fic recs underneath*

Yeah, I went on a Sith!Obi-Wan/Separatist AU spree a while back just out of curiousity and these are what I personally consider to be some of best (or at the very least, the ones I enjoyed most). Keep in mind, these fics range everywhere from Gen to Explicit/Mature and some do pertain to particular ships. That being said, I find the way these authors go about tackling Dark Sider/Sith/Separatist Obi-Wan to be pretty compelling. So approach these fics with all of that in mind, but do give extra kudos and comments to these writers. They did all the heavy lifting here, and they deserve all the attention and praise they're owed. So in no particular order, here are the fics I'd recommend for this particular AU:

Rank, Designation, Unit Name by soft_but_gremlin

You Shall Become (Me) by jedipati

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ambassador of Mandalore series by alexjana91

I Got My Head Checked by frostbitebakery

What came after by galateaGalvanized

Name of the Game by esama

Certain Point by esama

Cuy'kaysh Dar by mneiai

Feel free to add your own personal recommendations in the tags, if you'd like. I know there's so much more of this AU out there, but I am in no way an expert. So I leave the additional fic recs in your hands.

#sith obi wan #obi wan kenobi #separatist obi wan #fic rec #star wars meta #i suppose this could count as a mini meta post #i'll get rid of the tag if people think otherwise though #obi wan meta

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thevindicativevordan · 2 years

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What did you think of Joshua Wiliamson's Flash run? I want your full opinions on it.

Been a while since I read it, but since you want a review NOW and don't want to wait for a reread, here's my recollections. This was Barry's best run for as little and as much as that means.

Don't get me wrong, Manupal had the better art obviously (not that this run's artists were lacking), but this is the run that made me a Barry fan. Closest equivalence would be to say that what Johns did for Wally, Williamson did for Barry. Fleshed him out as a character and built upon the foundation that Johns and the New 52 established. Of all the Rebirth runs, the Flash was the one who navigated the transition the smoothest I felt. Williamson getting to finish his 100 issue run as opposed to King's Batman run being cut short means I'm not alone in that opinion.

The Pros

So what did this run do well? Well for starters a lot of the new characters proved to be quite popular. Godspeed and Avery Ho the Flash of China were the big two standouts, but there was also Bloodwork and the other Forces users who showed up in The Flash CW show (YMMV on how well their appearances there were however). Williamson also did a great job with the classic Rogues, giving fun stories starring Captain Cold, Gorilla Grodd, Trickster, the Turtle, and more. When it came to already existing Flash Family members, Williamson and Priest were the two who made me like Wallace after I initially disliked him intensely for being utterly unlike pre-Flashpoint Wally. Barry and Wally's relationship came to blows during Flash War but then the two reconciled in what was perhaps Williamson's strongest issue, the Speed Metal tie-in. That issue was fucking great, basic premise executed amazingly and Wally taunting the Batman Who Laughs had me damn near jumping for joy. Iris was also an active member of the plot, restored to her rightful place as Barry's premiere LI. Was nice to see that she had memories of her life before Flashpoint, and even before Crisis on Infinite Earth, was glad she got to put some old wounds to rest by killing Thawne even if it was only temporary.

Crazy to think about but Williamson also wrote the first modern Barry origin where we actually get to see his process of becoming the Flash. Insane that it took DC so long to do that but I guess given the continuity clusterfuck that the New 52 became it's not that surprising. Still as an origin it's pretty solid and it gets across the most important aspects of Barry: that he was a huge comic nerd who grew up reading Flash comics that starred Jay, that his mother's death and his father's imprisonment affected him greatly, that he's motivated by the desire to uncover the true killer and also to protect others from what happened to his mom, etc. Glad Williamson went with the Turtle as Barry's first big foe, and also that he worked time travel into the mix, nice reference to how time travel was in the Showcase #4 issue.

Williamson is the one who finally delivered on the hype of the Flash Family all working together that Johns teased so long ago back in the first Flash Rebirth. The final arc Finish Line lived up to that image and gave us everyone working together (except for Wally) for the first time since Flashpoint. While Williamson was building up Barry he was also trying to "fix" the Flash, and by the end I'd say he succeeded. As a franchise the Flash was left in a better place than when Williamson started which is all you can hope for on these Big 2 characters.

Standout of the entire run however was Thawne, with Williamson being his best writer outside of Johns himself. Thawne was petty, powerful, and pathetic, which is what makes him such a terrifying villain. Basically admitting all he wanted was Barry's attention, Thawne sunk to new lows over the course of the series. Look was "speed whispering" a dumb concept? Yes but fuck it, it de-toxified Wally and helped explain a lot of bad writing away so that the franchise could move on. Personally I loved seeing Thawne beat the shit out of Batman in The Button, manipulate Zoloman in Flash War, team up with Barry to beat Paradox, kill Godspeed, and ultimately try to take over Barry's body in Finish Line. Thawne lived up to his status as the ultimate delusional fanboy turned bitter hater, and his final ending actually kind of has me hoping he takes a substantial break from being a supervillain.

Central to the entire run is the idea of running in place and how to escape from that. Barry's more or less been trapped in stasis since the Flashpoint, unable to progress as a hero or a person. Over the course of the series he starts to get moving again, developing a stronger relationship with Iris, Wally, Wallace, and restoring old relationships with Flash members such as Jay, Max, or Jess. Final arc has Barry progress beyond even the enmity with Thawne by forgiving him, and trying to give Thawne the life he always wanted so that they can both lay their old hatred of each other to rest.

Cons

Alright so what didn't go well? Some of the new concepts Williamson tried to introduce were duds. Force Quest was the weakest arc of the whole series, something even Williamson seems to agree with given how he has talked about being dissatisfied with the execution of the concept. Paradox was a bore, his design and basic concept doing absolutely nothing for me, and the buildup to him over the series ended up being a fat load of "meh".

At it's worst I would say the run was just boring rather than outright bad however, and the art was usually enough to carry it. Biggest con is that after 100 issues, I still don't feel like there's enough of a difference between Barry and Wally. I'm not sure how to make them different from each other at this point however, both have bled into each other so much that they're pretty interchangeable. My takeaway is that Barry is more prone to feelings of guilt and inadequacy when he fails, while Wally tends to just get mad as hell.

Overall it was a solid fun run that I definitely recommend to anyone who wants to read some Barry Flash stories. Let's give it an 8/10 for posterity. When Barry inevitably takes the Flash book back, hopefully someone else has an idea for where to take him from wherever Williamson ultimately leaves him once Infinite Frontier wraps up.

#the flash #dc rebirth #joshua williamson #barry allen

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