#I also would not have fallen in love with padme

[anghraine]

sea-salted-wolverine replied to this post:

Wdym Anakin mind tricking padme isn't real? You could chalk it up to bad writing from Lucas who isn't quite sure that women are people, but its pretty clear that by ep III that her grip on reality is toast. Whether or not it is a conscious effect on Anakins part is up for debate, but it is definitely a thing that happened

Not really the main point of my post, but no, that fan theory is not "real" in the sense of being remotely canonical for the films. It's nothing more than a popular headcanon nowhere even slightly stated to be happening in the actual films as written and produced. There's no reason in Lucas's films to suppose that the Anakin/Padmé relationship was coerced through a mind trick, that Padmé specifically would be susceptible to a mind trick, that she does not genuinely love Anakin or have any insight into his character, that her grip on reality is ever "toast," or that the mind trick (previously depicted as temporary and resistible) would work that way at all. Padmé is underwritten in ROTS in the way that cool girl heroines invented by men are often underwritten as grown adult women and especially as mothers, but that is not attributable to any character in the story.

Yes, Padmé is tired in ROTS and misses a lot of what's going on psychologically with her young secret husband who is in a cloistered order of warrior monks fighting a long-term war far away from her, but she sees the threat of Palpatine and recognizes exactly what his accession as emperor means. Her mind is fine. And in Lucas's films, also, Anakin is never shown using the mind trick on anyone. It's not really his style—it's a sneaky short-term solution whereas he's smart and resourceful enough most of the time, but mainly reliant on overwhelming power and skill. His signature "trick" is the Force-choke, not the mind trick, and it's the Force-choke that he ultimately uses against her—not because he's been using his powers against her the whole time (including when he's not even there, I guess?), but as a mark of how far he has fallen by that point. That's lost if it's not a drastic change from their previous relationship. Padmé's own choices also lose all meaning if she was mind-controlled by Anakin the whole time, and her arc becomes deeply boring.

Tl;dr - it is very far from "definitely a thing that happened." It is a headcanon that doesn't reflect anything the movies are trying to do (whether they fail or succeed at doing those things!) and is, IMO, a pretty terrible headcanon as well in terms of the overall coherence of the story and characters and how their world is shown to work.

[phoenixyfriend]

"Do you think Anakin would have fallen if he dated [character] instead of Padme" is generally a very frustrating question, because for the vast majority of ships the answer is Still No unless there are other factors, because Sidious has plans for everything, but.

I think if he dated Kix we would have gotten an acceptable variation on Forced Hospitalization.

I have a lot of suspicion of characters written to drug their friends 'for their own good' but Ranting And Raving And Killing is basically the reasonable time to get in close and just jab the fucker.

@jebiknights (Sammie): That would be an interesting angst premise for AniKix tbh. Esp bc they have similar triggers (helplessness in the face of losing people) and Kix doesn't fit into the hypo crazy Bones type that most medics in fic are based off of

Anakin's busy fighting Obi-Wan, and Kix tranqs him from a distance, because 'it's for your own good' doesn't twinge the force or my initial thought, of coming in close to 'talk' and touch faces with Meaningful Gazes, and whoop that was drugs.

Kix could also be bait while Coric gets him lol. I feel like Coric is more the type to take joy out of hypoing people

Kix: I love you, Anakin 🥺 Coric: 🔫

[tragedy-for-sale]

Bedrock Headcannons: Obi-Wan Kenobi

Bedrock headcannons are headcannons that I regard as a fact in the personality of a character I write about. They range from small details to a huge part of a character's backstory. These headcannons are a constant underlayer in all of my fics that involve these characters.

﹄『❝ Obi-Wan ❞』﹃

He cut his hair shortly after the war begun because Anakin made a comment he looked like Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan couldn't handle it.

Obi-Wan is very quiet and not just in the sense of him not talking a whole lot. But his steps, the swoosh of his robe, the smile in his eyes. He moves with grace which results in many people being taken off guard when he's in the room, as if he just appears. But he's also quiet in the way that you'd never know he was crying if you couldn't see his face, quiet in the way of showing love through always having snacks on him for Anakin, Ahsoka or any of his men. Whoever asks him first. He's quiet in pain and agony, in love and passion.

Obi-Wan feels extremely bittersweet about Dooku. He remembered how highly Qui-Gon regarded him, how they'd go catch up at a diner and how Obi-Wan always begged to go. He never knew the Dooku that Qui-Gon did and Obi-Wan has a hard time understanding how his master was trained by someone so vile. Everytime he faces the Count, he remembers Qui-Gon, and he remembers how much his master cared for this man that is trying to kill him.

He loves Coruscant in the rain. When he was younger, Qui-Gon would take him up to the roof of the temple and they'd talk until they could see stars. But if it was raining, they'd be outside splashing each other until they were soaked.

He doesn't go up there as often anymore, but the first year after Qui-Gon's death, Obi-Wan was missing all day. It was Quinlan Vos who found him, he was the only person still alive that knew about his hiding place.

Obi-Wan's 18th birthday was spent out on the streets of Coruscant. He snuck out with Quinlan Vos and Kit Fisto. The three ran into trouble and at the stroke of midnight, Obi-Wan was in tears, desperately hoping his friends would find him.

He was sent to Mandalore with Qui-Gon soon after.

Obi-Wan will go get tea with Padme when Anakin is still out in space. He doesn't say he checks on Padme to Anakin, but he'll say he caught Padme and they chatted for a while and that she's doing well.

During down time, he wears heavy robes because Obi-Wan is cold all the time. Especially when on the Negotiatior. If he's able, he'll always go sit in the sun, feeling the warmth on his face.

As the war progresses, the toll of it starts to affect him more and more. He starts to feel things more deeply then he ever had and he finds himself drowning constantly. Fear he's never known paralyzes him and he can't talk to anyone because there's nothing anyone can do. He's going to drown and he can see all the people he loves playing in the water not noticing he's been swept up by the tide.

Dex's Diner has been Obi-Wan's place for years, he brings only the most important people in his life there. Dex basically watched Obi-Wan grow up, he knows his favorite book, his deepest pain and insecurities, and how many times he's fallen in love.

Obi-Wan takes Cody anytime they're on Coruscant for leave. One night, it was late and after close, but it was in that little worn down diner that Obi-Wan and Cody celebrated their marriage, slow dancing to whatever jukebox tune was playing and holding each other tight.

After Order 66 happens, Cody feels drawn to the diner, he sits there for hours. Dex knows better to assume the identity of this helmeted man, but he always sits in Obi-Wan's booth and watches the door, expecting the love of his life to walk right in and apologize for being late. But Obi-Wan never comes, and there is never an apology.

﹄『❝ Obi-Wan ❞』﹃

[levitatingbiscuits]

i think it's kind of insulting to anakin as a character when people pose him as a perpetual victim of everyone around him instead of a very powerful, very intelligent man who was responsible for his own actions.

i've noticed that a lot of diehard "anakin did nothing wrong" people very deliberately try to erase his agency and portray him as much less intelligent and capable than he actually is. the thing is, we know that's not the case! anakin was incredibly intelligent and successful and admired long before he became vader. he had a deep understanding of jedi philosophy, even if he was unwilling to apply it. we know this, not just from his explanations to padme and ahsoka about what jedi do and why, but from how good he is at killing jedi. anakin could hunt them down better than anyone else in the empire because HE USED TO BE ONE and he could predict exactly how they would behave based on their worldview, ethics, way of life, etc. he just didn't want to behave that way himself. he is the most dangerous person in the galaxy not just because he's powerful, but because he's SMART and he knows his enemy. he might have anger issues, but he's also very calculating and a "cunning warrior." the only one who could send him into a blind rage was obi-wan, but he learned from that and shaped his fury into a weapon he could use to devastating effect. vader was able to kill obi-wan because he learned from his mistakes; he was able to manipulate luke into almost falling multiple times. anakin in the OT is a man who has spent two decades honing his craft as a highly successful, extremely powerful sith. he is in control of himself and his actions, and that's why he's such a formidable villain.

so it kind of rubs me the wrong way when people say that he was always a fragile mess that the jedi order fucked up, or that he was palpatine's helpless puppet. i don't think anakin was traumatized by having occasional disagreements with the council. if that were the case, qui-gon and obi-wan would have both fallen long before he did. anakin was a powerful force user who disagreed with the council and vocalized it, not a bullying victim. i don't think obi-wan is responsible for all his choices, because that implies anakin traded being watto's slave in favor of being obi-wan's, when the whole point is that he chose to become a jedi as an assertion of his own freedom and personhood. palpatine might have thought that anakin was his attack dog, but anakin PROVED HIM WRONG and once again destroyed his chains by defying sidious in favor of love and compassion. his story ends with him embracing the jedi way, saving his son, and being reunited with his old teachers in the Force.

anakin chose to die as a jedi, just like he had once chosen to live as a sith. the power to make those choices was always HIS, not the council's or obi-wan's or palpatine's, because his story and the galaxy at large were always shaped, ultimately, by his choices.

[sylvies-chen]

I love the ballad of songbirds and snakes, don’t get me wrong. but the streets are comparing coriolanus snow to anakin skywalker and I just… somebody get me a gun! I need to buy a gun!

and listen, I totally get the idea behind it. they’re both young formerly promising men who spiralled downwards into violence and authoritarianism and, as a result, betrayed their best friends and the women they care for. on a basic level, they have some similarities. but again, it’s like… the most BASIC and SURFACE LEVEL comparison to make!

snow is not a fallen angel or tragic doomed hero. the entire point of the book + film was that he was always prone to thinking manipulatively, to being selfish, to being violent, to liking the system too much, to letting not just anger but genuine hatred inform his decisions. HE IS THE VILLAIN. and vader is a villain too— the most iconic villain of all time— but anakin is a whole other story, and coriolanus doesn’t hold a candle to anakin when you compare some deeper elements of their motivations.

first off, you only need to look at how they treat their ladies to understand what I’m saying. everyone loves the heartbreak of anakin and padme just as they love the heartbreak of lucy and snow, but that love for their tragic story seems to blind people to the absolute insanity that is snow’s thoughts about lucy. he lies to her, thinks she’s trying to kill him, her song doesn’t satisfy or please him, and in the books he even goes so far as to say she isn’t even that good looking??? anakin, on the other hand, delivers a minute-long monologue about how deeply in love he is with padme, how a single kiss from her haunts him, how he is willing to utterly devote himself to her and fulfil her every demand because there’s nothing else he can do. he expresses his love in a very immature way at times, but it is real and genuine. tbosas makes you question at times whether coriolanus really loves lucy, or whether just this idea of “taming” her seems appealing.

even their downward spirals are vastly different in nature. coriolanus snow becomes more paranoid in an attempt to maintain his image, in order to keep lucy under his spell. his ambitions are nuanced, not black and white by any means, but they are selfish. anakin’s spiral, though there’s no denying the horrific acts he commits, begins from a place of fear and love. he is so genuinely scared of losing his wife and his unborn children that he becomes susceptible to an outside force manipulating him towards the dark side. anakin also fulfils that element of the shakesperian tragic hero in that there’s this idea of potential that we see so present in him. he’s introduced as the one who would bring balance to the force, someone powerful beyond comprehension, a saviour of sorts. snow was never shown to have that level of promise. he was just a man who existed in a system and it is about him grappling with that system until eventually that disgusting fascist mindset takes over.

and lastly, of course, you can’t ever mention these two in tandem without remembering the fact that anakin did the right thing in the end! and coriolanus did not! luke fought to bring anakin back when vader had taken over for so many years, and in the end it paid off. anakin does the truly selfless thing in sacrificing himself to save luke. he lets love inform his decisions, as he once did before, only the fear is gone and so that love orients him towards good instead of darkness. anakin is a fallen angel, but he’s also a man who loved too much and didn’t know what to do with it. snow, comparatively, admits he isn’t above killing children and then laughs in the face of the masses he’s worked to oppress for over half a century right before his death.

anakin skywalker’s story is of the destruction and reconstruction of his good heart, of light, of balance, of love. it is cyclical, and it is tragic. coriolanus snow’s story is not. it is a story not of something sinister growing in an otherwise good heart, but a story of something sinister unravelling and revealing itself.

they are not the same.

[fanfic-obsessed]

Anakin Faces Consequences

Thank you @killjoypolitics for the submission

I love all your ideas! I was wondering if you had any ideas for a fix-it where the Jedi or Clones (somehow) prevent Order 66 from happening but Anakin still falls. How do you think the Jedi/Senate/public would respond to his attempted murder of the Jedi? Or the marriage? Or the murder of the Sand People? I’m just so curious as to how you think people would handle it! Do you think Anakin would be able to admit he was wrong and try and make up for what he did?

Hmm those are some intriguing questions. Reading them did give me some immediate ideas. Let’s explore them. 

I think, for this to work, we need to shift some behind the scenes for the Clone Wars. To start with Anakin’s…let's call them his less than stellar command decisions is noticed and noted, even if no one can do anything about them (because he is technically not doing anything wrong). It damages the trust the Clones, other Jedi, and even his own Padawan have in him.  These decisions include but are not limited to: Spending Clone lives to collect R2D2 (whose memory-properly wiped of sensitive information- is backed up to the central Jedi Temple databanks and had outright stated that it had no attachment to its current body), Anakin’s focus on Padme during the Blue Shadow virus, and his reaction to the Rako Hardeen arc (he was literally the only person in Obi Wan’s life to react poorly to finding out Obi Wan went undercover and faked his death, everyone else got Opspec). 

So by the time of the Wrong Jedi arc, no one is actually trusting Anakin with any more information than they absolutely need to. He kind of doesn’t notice because he wasn’t paying that much attention in the first place.  When the Senate demands Padawan Ahsoka Tano for the temple bombing, the Council calls her in to see them, without Anakin, and ‘We know you are innocent, we know this is a trap of some kind, would you be willing to go along to spring the trap and hopefully find who is framing you’ and Ahoska, being partially trained by Obi Wan, agrees.

No one tells Anakin. At the end of the Arc, Ahsoka agrees to continue undercover (as having left the Jedi) and working with the Shadows to figure out what is going on. So Ahsoka ‘leaves’ the Jedi, Anakin none the wiser. She also starts working much more closely with the Coruscant Guard (who had been aware that she was innocent and going along with things to spring the trap). 

This brings us to where Fives finds out about the chips, reports to Rex and Anakin, then is ‘killed’ (his death was faked and he was sent to join Ahsoka).  Anakin suppresses the report because he does not believe that his friend Palpatine could do anything like that. He orders Rex to ignore the report as well, specifically not to bring it up to the Jedi Council. But he does it in a way that still implies Anakin will be bringing it up to the appropriate authorities.  Rex does not trust Anakin, particularly not with anything that would make Palpatine look bad. However if Rex did an end run and went directly to the Jedi Council, it would be very obvious. So instead Rex reached out to Ahsoka with Fives report. 

Ahsoka, now working with the Shadows, gets the report and they are able to investigate the chips.  Though they cannot remove them, for fear that the wrong person will find out too early and activate the rest, they are able to quickly find and manufacture a way to neutralize the control portion of the chips. 

This brings us up to ROTS. To Order 66 and Anakin’s fall.  Anakin leads the march on the temple, and the 501st follow along (not sure where he was going with this), until Anakin strikes down a temple guard while ordering them to open fire. Had it been almost any other Battalion with almost any other Jedi, the Fallen Jedi would have been able to kill many more before he could be stopped.  But the 501st learned some difficult lessons from Pong Krell and Anakin was not gnarly as trusted as he thought.  Anakin is stunned.

Palpatine’s Empire as announced but without the control chips to make the clones kill the Jedi, Palpatine’s Empire lasts 3 days which end with Palpatine’s death. It takes another two weeks for everything to calm down enough to bring Anakin forward to face what he had done. 

Palpatine’s former supporters, the ones that are not outed and ousted during the transformation from Republic to Empire and back, flock to Anakin as the wronged party. Their spin is that Anakin was moving to protect the legal head of the government from an insurrection in the form of the Jedi. 

It gained no traction, because even though Palpatine’s Empire lasted 3 days, it was still enough to see how many of these people would react. Frankly, there were more than a few of those supporters (beings like Tarkin) whose support of Anakin did more harm to the cause than good. 

For many of the Jedi, Anakin’s actions didn’t really rate notice. Not above the horror of the chips, both from the view of ‘all of us would have died’ and ‘the clones would have been forced to kill us’.  Throughout the war Anakin had, mostly unconsciously, been distancing himself from the Jedi. A distance which grew as they realized he could not really be trusted. 

 For most there was sadness, of course, as more of his actions from the war and just before are revealed. But it was the sadness of an old friend going down the wrong path, not the betrayal of current family trying to hurt them.   Finding out Anakin had betrayed his oaths by marrying Padme and had committed murder was just one more thing that had happened. 

The public reaction was mixed. Many bought into ‘The Hero with No Fear’ mythos and could not believe he would attack the Jedi without reason, even after he admitted that his reason was Padme not anything the Jedi had done.  The scandal of it, though, keeps it in the public eye. And it is a seemingly unending  well of scandal for Anakin, Padme, and any number of their supporters.  Not the least of which is the news that Anakin murdered the Tuskans, but Padme’s forgiving him for it was legally binding (As she was acting as a Senator) so he could never be prosecuted for the murders, even if Tatooine and the Tuskens could make an official complaint about his behavior. That Anakin then married Padme made it even worse. 

I think, for Anakin himself, if he gets to the point of falling he would not be willing to admit he had done anything wrong. He seems like the kind of person who would double down and insist that he was right for his decisions.

[marvelstars]

Anakin would have thrived in a loving family with Shmi or adopted bassically anywhere except the Jedi Order of the PT. This is why Palpatine allowed the Jedi raise him instead of kidnapping him to train him in the sith ways from an early age as he did with Maul.

While the Jedi didn´t meant to abuse him emotionally, their actions lead to him losing his main emotional support "Shmi" first her presence and later her life, leaving Anakin an isolated member of an order who fundamentally didn´t understand his emotional needs and were not prepared to care for a child in his circunstances as a trauma victim of slavery but instead of realizing this, they doubled down on trying to fit him into their idea of what a Jedi should be and their need of him in the Clone wars, given they were peace keepers and him being able military speaking, lead to them sending him to missions which opened his trauma with slavery, violence and his mother´s death over and over again, leaving him emotionally unstable and more vulnerable to Palpatine than ever.

That said, without Palpatine, Anakin would not have fallen to the darkside, he would have left the Jedi Order, probably in bad terms to raise his twin children with his wife Padme at the end of the war.

Palpatine made it worse for everybody, he weaponized Anakin´s basic emotional need to have a confidant who allowed him to feel upset or angry over his past/being separated from his mother but who also used this agaisn´t Anakin himself to give him a mental breakdown at the right moment to send him agaisn´t the Jedi Order.

Anakin was emotionally abused by the Jedi Order and by Palpatine but only one of them meant to abuse him this way and had a clear intention to weaponize his talents and groomed him to the point he no longer offered resistance to his authority by making himself a beloved and trusted father figure covering a basic emotional need neglegected by Anakin´s life in the Order in exchange of total control towards Anakin and after he fell Palpatine only had to reinforce the idea that Vader´s fall and actions were absolute and he could never come back to the light side ever or be redeemed from his actions, something Vader also learned with the Jedi" Once you walk the dark path it will forever dominate your destiny"

Send Anakin to Shmi or to a loving family instead and Palpatine loses almost any oportunity to manipulate Anakin to turn him to the darkside. Sure he could change his strategy but Anakin´s personality gets a lot of emotional streght from having an open relationship with loved family members who recognize him as family and there is nothing ambigous about this, this is what got Luke the victory in the OT.

This is why I love darth vader´s character honestly

Because unlike Aakin at 23 he is aware of what Palpatine did, what the Order meant and what they ended up doing to him without meaning to but also of his own responsibility in the fall of the Jedi Order and he can´t come back because nobody has come back from the darkside, acording to both the Jedi and the Sith so all he has left is his self appointed mission of "bringing order to the galaxy" just that instead of good actions instead of "helping each other because not helping was the galaxy´s biggest problem" he remembers his child self saying, in his darkside twisted self, power is what is most neccesary to make up for what happened and sometimes, he can bring himself to believe it. What snapped him out of this vicious circle was Luke giving him hope, he was the new hope after all.

[merrysithmas]

If pressed to choose, who do you think Anakin would choose between Obi-Wan and Padmé? Do you think that choice would change depending on the circumstances?

Hands down Obi-wan. Even if you don't ship them, even platonically this is pretty much canon.

And I say this because that's literally WHAT he was doing by remaining in the Jedi Order (which he had severe issues with). Sure, Anakin loved the heroism and was beholden to the promise made to his mother that he would remain in the Order. And yes, he truly was a good person who valued doing good and his Jedi training -- however, it is undeniable that interwoven in ALL those things was... Obi-wan.

Obi-wan who was his cogeneral in the Clone Wars, the two of them side-by-side known as the faces of the Front.

Obi-wan who promised to train him so he could fulfill his mother's wish.

Obi-wan who seemed to so easily exemplify the great Jedi mediators he knew he could never be.

Obi-wan who was essentially Anakin's walking-talking moral compass.

Anakin didn't leave, despite his marriage, despite his children, despite his deepening disgust with the Order because of Obi-wan (and Ahsoka).

Anakin loved being a Jedi but what he loved more was being a Jedi with his Jedi family (Obi and Soka).

This was a major source of mental contention for him - choosing between these two "families" he created in equal but opposite worlds. His marriage to Padme, who was directly linked to his mother's death (she was the only one who knew he murdered the Tuskens, so the only one he felt forgiveness with) and so he refused to let go of her. He saw Padme as a Judge of the moral fortitude of his curated jedi knight Image. If Padme, stalwart guardian of the lawful Senate, forgave him for this atrocious crime - then surely he wasn't a monster.

And on the other hand was his "marriage" to Obi-wan, an uncommon war-borne partnership resulting in the Padawan they both trained and the war they bore on their backs. Their closeness was highly unusual for the Order - but the Order couldnt do much about it given their reliance on them as generals and the chaotic state of the Republic. A lot of oversight seems to have fallen away, and I'm sure a part of all those on the Front felt closer to their compatriots and the clones than the Council comfortable in Coruscant, as they trudged tirelessly and endlessly through distant worlds fighting tooth and nail in the trenches.

If pressed to choose, which he essentially was (and Sidious manipulated his years-long strife) he would pick Obi-wan. He proved this by not leaving - even though by all accounts he should have and simply started his own Order. Something was keeping him there and it wasn't just the war or the heroics - Anakin couldn't leave Obi-wan.

There are numerous instances of your exact question in canon such as in Stover's novel where Anakin ponders if he loves Obiwan "more than his wife" at Sidious' pressing. Also the Son on Mortis revealing himself in the image of Anakin's mother Shmi and saying that Padme was not his true love but essentially a lie -- a pretty damn harsh summation put to screen if you ask me.

Anakin struggled with the choice between Obi-wan and Padme (and what they represented) for YEARS til the very end at Mustafar, when finally, at his mental breaking point - he chose himself.

And Sidious was counting on that.

[sithaari]

Somebody really said that "Padme is the dollar store version of Leia"... I'm ready to throw hands, but most of all: why compare the two when we can just like the BOTH OF THEM??? They are both similar but also have unique characteristics.

female characters in any piece of media are often pitted against each other, but people get really uppity about feminine women. they're almost always more heavily criticized. padme likes fashion, is romantic, and wants to get married and have children. and star wars fans don't know how to handle that because padme is also intelligent, brave, and a capable leader. but, y'know, she wears dresses, so the fandom will use the most backwards logic to explain why padme is actually a horrible, selfish person. and then they'll frame it as some kind of feminist hot take.

and to compare padme negatively to leia is wild because they share so many similar traits, often acting as parallels to one another. but star wars fans don't like that either because padme is too much of a girly girl. leia is the cool action girl. she doesn't like wearing dresses (except when she does). she's not interested in romance (except when she is). she doesn't care about all that boring political shit (except she was literally a senator and the crown princess of alderaan). and it's not like padme was much of a fighter or a rebel (except when she was both of those things).

but i came to the conclusion a long time ago that many fans simply don't understand either padme or leia. they're often not treated like actual characters but self-inserts for fans to project onto. so-called padme fans who hate anakin will argue that she deserved better, but their version of 'better' includes padme trying to kill anakin on mustafar. which goes against everything padme is as a person. or she should have fallen in love with obi-wan or sabe. she should have survived to raise her children. she should have survived to lead the rebellion and kill vader. she should have suspected that palpatine was a sith lord. she should have expected anakin's fall to the dark side. so many people in this fandom have an idea on what they think padme should be rather than just empathizing with who she actually is in the damn movies.

and leia has become a mix of everything. she would never fall to the dark side because she's so morally superior, except she's even more drawn to the dark side than luke is. she'd be a better jedi than luke and a more powerful sith than vader. except she'd be neither of those things because all that force nonsense is stupid. like this fandom doesn't even know who the fuck leia is because people turn her into whatever they want to fit a particular narrative. and ngl sometimes it comes across as bitterness over luke and anakin being the main focus of the story. and i'm saying this as someone who really does like leia. but it's annoying how leia is often praised at the expense of other characters, particularly padme because she's not some nerd's idea of a 'strong' female character.

[antianakin]

Do you think it’s a common thing in the fandom (especially when writing fan-works featuring the Skywalker Father-Son Duo(TM)) to give Anakin a lot of Luke’s more noble and good attributes and act like he’s been like that the whole time, and give Luke some of Anakin’s worse attributes to make Anakin seem more centrist compared canon Luke and the “old Jedi” (quotes used ironically)?

Cause as a kid I loved Anakin for many of the reasons I now realize don’t apply to him at all, and moreso apply to Luke, and it’s really getting irritating to look up cool Luke fic and realize that this has been done to ma boi. What do you think?

I gotta be honest, I don't think I read enough fics with that dynamic in it to be able to say with any degree of certainty whether that's true or not.

What I will say is that I think fic writers who like Anakin tend to smooth him out a LOT and, yes, give him traits that are more applicable to other characters in order to make him likable. And in fairness, that's exactly what TCW did as well by effectively just giving him Obi-Wan's personality and erasing some of his less likable characteristics from the films.

Because Anakin is... a difficult character in many ways. The core of him is fear, so there's a tendency to want to sympathize with him, but what gets ignored is that Anakin is 1000% a fascist by AOTC, someone who can and will let himself be filled with enough anger to commit a massacre of an entire village down to the last child, and someone who is perfectly fine with pressuring a woman into a relationship with him. None of that is necessarily fun to write and it's hard to write Anakin as a sympathetic character if those things are kept in mind. So they just get... smoothed away. He's not REALLY a fascist, he's just confused or brainwashed and one good conversation with someone can completely fix that little problem. Anakin isn't pressuring Padme, he just could tell that she was into him and he TOTALLY would back off if Padme said no. The Tuskens deserved it anyway! So on and so forth.

Luke, by contrast, is a very easy character. There's a reason he gets labeled "sunshine boy" by the fandom and his struggles with anger get sort-of... forgotten and overlooked in favor of just seeing him as this easy, likable, charming farmboy. He's sweet and honorable and passionate. He IS a lot like Anakin in many ways, and that's deliberate. Fandom has taken a turn recently towards wanting Leia to be like Anakin and Luke to be like Padme, and there's reasons to make that comparison, but Luke's similarities to Anakin are very deliberately there in the narrative for a reason. Luke has to struggle with anger and fear and be filled with righteous passion because that's exactly what Anakin struggled with and Luke's ability to overcome that in a way Anakin never could is what makes the entire story interesting and meaningful.

Luke also is one of those characters who tends to get handed the "grey Jedi" label which tends to lead to Luke choosing to look down on the Prequels Jedi and decreeing that attachments are totally fine actually and HIS Jedi aren't going to be repressed anymore blah blah blah. And this does come from fans who have fallen into the fandom osmosis hole of "the Prequels are about the Jedi's failure" and have twisted the entire Skywalker Saga around that theory, including Luke's journey. And part of that theory tends to be a lot more sympathetic towards Anakin, as well. If only the Jedi had been more understanding and less oppressive, Anakin wouldn't have fallen. So it's not shocking that fans who are writing from that perspective are going to make Anakin seem softer and more sympathetic.

So yeah, sure, it's entirely possible that some fic writers are choosing to give Anakin more of Luke's nobler characteristics in order to help smooth him out and make him easier to like, while giving Luke some of Anakin's more arrogant or dismissive traits in order to make those traits seem more "centrist." I don't think it's something that ONLY happens with Luke and Anakin, though. Like I said, TCW gave Anakin most of Obi-Wan's traits and then tossed a few of Anakin's onto Obi-Wan, as well. I think you could make an argument that we're seeing some of that happen with Ahsoka, too.

I wish I could offer you some Luke fic recs, so instead I will simply say I hope you find some good ones that feel like they're more in character!

[lightdancer1]

I will also note on the Anakin-Padme relationship:

That I really do tend to see it, and write it, as an innately toxic thing but for entirely human reasons, because if Anakin is always one set of footsteps away from Darth Vader then what was there for him to fall? Where I view the toxicity stems from a dynamic not unlike what I write for and with Death and Dream in Sandman, though explicitly romantic where the other isn't.

Anakin puts Padme on a pedestal and worships the ground she walks on, where actual human Padme Naberrie is far more complicated than that. She is as impulsive as he is, and where he is unapologetically violent and capable of swift steps to it, she calls it 'aggressive negotiations' and jokes about it while pretending that the ultimate result is not, in fact, the same. Nine in ten of the flaws stem from Anakin ultimately rushing into a marriage with the first woman he saw after a week and never considering the consequences, nor that a relationship takes a lot more work than that, and that he's ultimately a rabid golden retriever garbage fire man.

The other tenth was the secrecy that ultimately, given Anakin has zero impulse control or ability to consider the consequences of his actions blended with great power, I believe was Padme herself. And ultimately that she was willing to lie to her friends and her family about the marriage to, in my view, keep one thing for herself that was Padme Naberrie's and neither the Senator nor the former Queen's, and this is a not unimportant part of why things failed. I also believe that in this regard that if Anakin Skywalker were left to himself he would have led a ticker tape parade celebrating that he won the most beautiful woman in the Galaxy as his.

He wouldn't have reckoned on how literally anything else with that might have complicated his life because he's Anakin Skywalker, thinking is for other people. Padme, OTOH, would have much greater awareness of all those risks and wouldn't consider, either, the pressures of keeping a marriage secret and what it'd mean.

It all ultimately stems to incompatible expectations and Anakin never seeing the real Padme, as appreciating the actual woman and her rationales for the marriage might have given him second thoughts. I also think if he and Sabe had ever had the chance to meet beforehand that he might have fallen head over heels for the person trying to actually get the Tatooine slave system ended over the Queen, with that exact same impulsiveness and lack of control he did with Padme, and that exact same lack of thought. Anakin is both a rabid golden retriever and a Siberian tiger sized orange cat, great power but never had a thought and never will. Wouldn't matter who, if anyone, he fell in love with, much of the same dynamics would apply for much of the same reasons.

[gffa]

Hey Lumi! I've been loving your Bo-Katan commentary and have appreciated the way you make connections to previous content from Clone Wars and Rebels, pointing out lots of things I would have missed otherwise! So I hope you don't mind a lore question. Has Bo-Katan ever been referred to as a "princess" before this episode? I was confused when she said that, since Satine was a Duchess, and I hadn't ever gotten the impression that Mandalore was a strict hereditary monarchy, but that the houses would rise and fall. I got nothing from reading Wookiepedia so I'm hoping you can shed some light!

Hi! Thank you, I'm glad the Bo-Katan commentary has been entertaining! I have to admit, I've fallen back in love with Mean Wife, she is so mean and so great! Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to help much with the Mandalorian stuff because there's really not a lot about it in canon. Legends probably covered a bunch of stuff, but The Mandalorian is not part of the Legends continuity, so who knows what Favreau is going to do with this. I'm not sure we really know how Mandalore's royalty situation worked out, why Satine was Duchess instead of Queen, if there's a functional difference, if it's one of those situations like where Padme was Queen of Naboo, but it was an elected position, that maybe terms don't mean the same thing in Star Wars as they do in our universe, and "Duchess" means "Queen" to them, etc. All of that is speculation! I did get the impression that Satine's position was hereditary because she came into that position when she was very young, given the age she and Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were on the run, but if she'd been elected, she wouldn't still be Duchess and she probably would have been more popular at that time. But also because House Kryze was established as a thing (like House Vizsla) in TCW, which is hereditary as well, if we're going by how long House Vizsla has history all the way back to at least Tarre Vizsla. But a lot of that is based on the vibes I got from how characters acted and how there was nothing mentioned of rises and falls or elections, like Pre Vizsla didn't become the Duke of Mandalore, instead it fell to the Prime Minister that he was puppet mastering, despite that Pre was from House Vizsla, which has a long, long history with Mandalore. So, the "Princess" line threw me, but I'm just assuming that, yeah, the Kryze family was royalty and that we're not meant to take "Princess" super literally in a 1:1 relation to our own world or that maybe she was Princess of Kalevala, but Duchess/Duke was a separate role that a person from House Kryze inherited. (And should have passed to Bo-Katan on Satine's death, but the political upheaval on Mandalore was too chaotic and they weren't willing to rally around Bo-Katan at the time.) Really, though, it's impossible to say, we don't know nearly enough about canon to say what the term "Princess" means or if Favreau doesn't care and just threw it in there because it sounded good. Never underestimate the power of something sounding good. XD

[tragedy-for-sale]

Bedrock Headcannons: Commander Cody

Bedrock headcannons are headcannons that I regard as a fact in the personality of a character I write about. They range from small details to a huge part of a character's backstory. These headcannons are a constant underlayer in all of my fics that involve these characters.

﹄『❝ Cody ❞』﹃

Cody didn't fight in the first Battle of Geonosis because his gunship was shot down before it reached the arena. He was the only surviver.

This is also how Cody got his scar.

Cody and Obi-Wan met briefly at a clone medical center. Cody had been there because of his scar and he kept getting out of bed because he had to go check on his brothers. Obi-Wan was there for a similar reason, he was checking in and meeting all the soldiers. Cody was stumbling in the hall, his wound had opened again, and was trying to make it back to his room before he fell, but he did fall, he fell right into Obi-Wan's arms. Now Cody was too delirious to remember his name, but he's had a crush on Obi-Wan since day fucking one.

Cody's heart almost stopped when, weeks later, he was called to the Chancellor's office for assignment and the man who he thought was a dream- no, who he thought had been an angel of his delirium, came walking in, with his golden smile and his kyanite eyes. Cody couldn't believe he was real, and that he was Cody's general.

Cody got in touch with Rex immediately following the battle and Rex was blabbing on about this senator he rescued who came to visit him and brought him the prettiest flowers ever (Rex's words). Cody was with Obi-Wan when Anakin was saying he'd have a battalion soon, he was jealous Obi-Wan already had his, and he got onto talking about Rex. Now, Anakin didn't say Rex, but he did say Padme, and Cody, Cody had never once inturrupted a superior, but he couldn't stand there and let the opportunity to be in twin battalions with his brother pass him by; It was Cody who told Anakin who Rex was and that he was the clone that had been with Padme.

Cody does not take any shit from Anakin. He spends so much with Obi-Wan he feels like he raised Anakin too. So if they're ever together, Cody tends to mimic Obi-Wan's composure but in the way that Anakin feels like he's 15 again getting scolded for some stupid prank when in reality he's just explaining a battle plan. Cody makes Anakin nervous and he can't figure it out.

Cody's love language is quality time

He doesn't like to be around people when he's mourning, usually his brothers stay close after a tough battle and remember their fallen brothers. But Cody can't, he sees the faces of his brothers and he feels like such a failure. He's a Marshal Commander but that doesn't mean shit. He's the most qualified person out on the battlefield, but he still can't keep his brothers alive and he can't save them from this war.

As a cadet, CC-2224 was very problematic and increasingly troubled. He started fights with whoever over anything and if he wasn't yelling, he was crying. He would cry for hours and there wasn't anyone who could calm down the young cadet. Anyone except Alpha-17. Which is why CC-2224 trusted Alpha, who woke him up in the night and took him down to the medbay, who picked up the young boy and placed him in the doctor chair and put on a soldier helmet. It was only Alpha-17 CC-2224 trusted enough to be betrayed. When he woke up, his name was Cody and he never cried or yelled, he didn't scream or start a fight, Cody was the perfect cadet after that night.

﹄『❝ Cody ❞』﹃

[thecleverqueer]

Random Thoughts on Star Wars Ships (Part One)

First, I’m going to focus on toxic Star Wars ships that I absolutely despise. There are three. They are all canon. Some of them are more serious than others, but all of them are incredibly pernicious and problematic. To say they’re my “least favorite” would be selling my hatred of them short, but yeah… the word “loathe” comes to mind. They are as follows:

1.) Luxsoka (aka Ahsoka Tano and Lux Bonteri)

This is my least favorite ship of them all because watching it unfold at times was physically painful. Part of me doesn’t understand it, but the other part of me knows that it was likely just a tepid attempt by Filoni egged on by Lucas to make Ahsoka more relatable. It didn’t work.

I guess the premise didn’t start out too bad with “Heroes on Both Sides” aside from the fact that it sort of felt forced and completely unnecessary, but holy fuck did it go off the rails fast!

Lux’s behavior in “A Friend in Need” was completely unacceptable and inexcusable. I mean, less than 10 minutes into that episode, Lux is threatening to shoot Ahsoka with a deadly firearm, followed by him stunning her unconscious, stealing her ship, hiding her lightsabers from her, then meeting up with known terrorists with anti-Jedi sentiment and history of violence against Jedi. Then, there’s the unwanted kiss. He just sort of grabs her and kisses her against her will to shut her up. She tries to wiggle herself out of it, and when she finally succeeds you can tell she’s PISSED. Rightfully so. Technically, that’s sexual assault. The episode ends with Ahsoka somehow being more fond of him, I guess… I assume it’s related to trauma. I don’t know.

Anyway, the last time we see them together is in the Onderon arc, Lux has fallen for and appears to be in a romantic relationship with Steela Gerrera, and Ahsoka finds a way get over him, which, good for her. It takes two episodes (of a four episode arc) of her being completely insufferable, but she gets there. Ahsoka deserved better anyway. By the end of the arc, she sort of does this attaboy shoulder slug to Lux after Steela kisses him for luck. By that point, Ahsoka probably also found Steela to be pretty hot, and at least one of them got to kiss her. Steela should have kissed you, Ahsoka, but we can’t win them all.

Filoni basically said he was experimenting with this anyway, and I would say that this particular experiment was an abject failure. I’m just glad that it fizzed out before it ever became anything. It was trash. Utter fucking trash.

2.) Anidala (aka Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala)

This is another toxic relationship that I don’t really understand. No. I mean, I do get it. It’s a plot point that gets us to a specific place in a character’s development.

It’s unfortunate really. Padme is supposed to be this badass strong, independent woman, and yet, she blatantly ignores countless red flags during “Attack of the Clones” that should have made her turn away… Anakin being generally creepy, crossing her boundaries, frequently interrupting her, admitting to being a dictatorial fascist… I guess I could technically write all of that off because sometimes your brain short-circuits when you’re in love, and you miss red flags. But… genocide? That was a bridge too far. She should have ran. She should have reported the incident to the Jedi council, but she didn’t because she’s “in love” and actually just a prop.

Their relationship didn’t get much better during the Clone Wars. Anakin guilted her often when she chose duty over desire, something her role in the galaxy required. It was also pretty apparent that Anakin didn’t trust her as far as he could throw her based on the way he acted during the Rush Clovis arcs. There was a point where it felt like their relationship should have ended during season six. Padme needed a break, and told Anakin that she just couldn’t do it anymore after Anakin brutally beat the dog shit out of Clovis. But then, more trauma. Maybe the moral of the story is to avoid “romantic” relationships when you’re in the midst of a traumatic experience because it’s going to end badly, I don’t know.

Then he kills her in “Revenge of the Sith”. Well. He force chokes her and she dies of a broken heart… and then he proceeds to lose his shit, force crushing an entire room with overwhelming emotion (say what you will about the Jedi and their obsession with not forming attachments and overcoming feelings but… *gestures vaguely at this incident right here*).

It’s just an incredibly disastrous toxic sludge of a relationship. And, I know I was more vague about this one, but honestly, I could write a novel about it… so, I’ll spare you.

3.) Reylo (aka Rey Palpatine/Skywalker and Kylo Ren)

I hate this one too… mainly because Kylo tells Rey that she’s “nothing” except to him in “The Last Jedi” and that bothers me. This is something a narcissist might say to someone they’re abusing and gaslighting in an attempt to make them stick around, and that is just gross.

If Rey had actually been a nobody, it may have been less offensive, but she’s a fucking Palpatine. She’s not a nobody. Her grandfather (who isn’t actually her “grandfather” as her father was just a Palpatine clone, and goddamn, I’m going to need a better explanation for all of that shit because it just makes me dizzy, but I digress) was an oppressive emperor that reigned in terror for decades. She’s far from a nobody. In fact, Kylo’s grandfather (actual grandfather, not a clone) was Palpatine’s bitch. He should at least show her a little respect.

He was also generically mean to her during the entire sequel trilogy.

This one ended in death too, but at least it was Kylo’s and not Rey’s death. Again, Rey exhibited this weird mental exercise where she sees Kylo Ren and Ben Solo as two different people instead of them being one-in-the-same (much like the mental gymnastics that everyone does with Vader), so she tries to validate the whole thing. But, he’s an asshole too. She should have faced it.

[ebisul]

TCW Rewatch: Season 2 Episodes 1-4

Finally made it to Season 2 i would say might stop posting these daily but that implies I had a schedule at all.

Im almost caught up to where I actually am in the series so itll definitely slow down then. In the meantime enjoy this while I dread uploading the Mandalore episodes

Episode 1: Holocron Heist

* The jedi are forced to retreat from battle on Felucia

* Ahsoka wants to stay and fight but Obi Wan and Anakin are retreating with their men

* “Master Skywalker taught me never to let up when the tinnies are on the run” baby thats a warcrime

* “You’re putting your troops’ lives in danger” we love when the jedi care deeply about the lives of their men

* Also disappointed dad obi wan

* She does not enjoy following orders, its arrogance

* Ahsoka gets benched

* Are non jedi allowed in the archives? Bc otherwise that sounds suspicious if its the largest collection of knowledge in the galaxy

* Only the jedi council is allowed access to the holocrons makes sense

* Palps recruiting Cad Bane to steal a holocron

* I love Cad Bane and Todo’s dynamic

* That’s unfortunate

* Oh… Bane’s job is to get the list of force-sensitive kids

* I still dont understand how that works and im a HUGE fallen order fan, like does the list update itself or does it know who will and wont be jedi when theyre born? Is it the same list as Cal’s? This also brings forth the questionable ethics of the jedi taking in children. I do understand why the Sith are after the list and especially Palps and his ultimate goal

Episode 2: Cargo of Doom

* Bane has captured Bolla Ropal and has the memory crystal with the list of children

* Ropal is dead

* Bane escapes with the holocron and crystal?

Episode 3: Children of the Force

* With the list of children Bane could inflict devastating damage

* So they can detect the children theough the force

* “Among the children of the jedi there are no innocents” Bitch what??? Theyre children???

* They were really going to just abandon saving the one baby because of uncertainty??? Let windu save a baby

* Bane disguising as jedi to steal children is so fucked up ironic

* Also the mother saying that she had more time with her child before he went to the jedi is interesting. What is the process of inducting the younglings? Theyre collected young enough to not form attachments to their parents but also have some time allotted before going to the temple.

* The forcing out the information with the force is surely frowned upon especially knowing his mind could be fucking destroyed

* Thats like torture right? Is torture a warcrime?

* It is

* Is he willfully complying now? Or is he leading them further away?

* Old man palps is grooming again

* He wants to raise them as force sensitive spies

* Cody crumbs!!

* Bane escapes bc ofc he does

* Palps wants to destroy the evidence of his plans, i see where ani gets the babykilling

* Babies are saved

Episode 4: Senate Spy

* The Jedi suspect Rush Clovis is conspiring with the Separatists

* Is this THE toxic anakin episode? Oh god

* Aw it starts off kinda sweet with anidala cant wait to watch this end poorly

* Padme refuses to spy on clovis for the jedi

* Ok so hes from the banking delegation thats why he’s suspicious makes sense if that is connected to the banking clan

* They want ani to convince padme to spy

* Ok so padme is also kinda toxic here like rightfully disappointed but didn’t she do the same thing to him about duty coming first? And he at least tried to make a romantic gesture bringing home dinner

* Obi wans expression after the “they were… good friends” “I… didn’t know that” exchange

* He so knows

* They are asking him to weaponize his relationship with her thats bleak

* Shes still hostile toward him for putting his job first when she does the same

* Ani’s getting jealous

* This has become way less politics and way more gossiping about anidalas relationship problems lmao

* She really missed the big IF in that sentence immediately assuming he absolutely is conspiring?

* God theyre both so toxic no wonder things ended… like that

* Shes being so spiteful when Anakin just wants her safe? Bc hes seeing the horrors of war first hand constantly

* This episode is rough as a padme fan

* Clovis is a weirdo with those unsolicited advances like bro shes cowaring

* So he is conspiring thats not surprising

* Another assassination attempt? These never work when will they learn

* Padme finds the evidence

* The password was her name that loser

* Tactical coordinates for a droid foundry given to R2

* Clovis is helping them escape

* Not questioning whether or not it was actually the antidote is wild to me like he really just injected it and hoped for the best? Is this another trust in the force thing? YOu couldve killed your wife man

War Crime Counter:

Separatists: i think still 7

Republic: 3

[fanfic-obsessed]

Empress

This AU really starts when Anakin finds his mother in the Tusken camp, but only truly works if there is a little set up before.  It is imperative, for reasons that will become clear, to note that in this Palpatine has been manipulating Anakin with the Force, as opposed to only psychologically, since he was a child.  Palpatine has been seeding the darkside, hidden deep so that it was never discovered (even by Anakin), waiting to sprout and spread the darkside like an infection at the appropriate moments. 

When Anakin finds his mother as she dies, he loses it, but not to violence. Instead he panics and shoves every bit of Force that he can into his mother’s body to try and bring her back and heal her. Every bit of the Force, including the darkside seeds that Palpatine had been planting.  Because healing is primarily a light sided technique, thus somewhat purifying, Shmi does not get the full force of the darkside infection that would have hit her son (so we avoid Vader!Shmi or even Full Sidious!Shmi) however there were a number of long lasting effects to the way Anakin panicked and brought her back (incidentally Anakin has now created two new deities for the Tuskans, which Shmi does note and will make use of later).  These include:

A Force bond between her and Anakin that gave her Anakin's memories and feelings for the past decade. 

A working knowledge of what Palpatine knew (From Palpatine’s Dark Seeds), though no firsthand memories. 

Force Sensitivity that is powerful enough to use the various techniques she just gained the knowledge to use.

A significant hit to the moral centers of her psyche.

A Soul Deep and engrossing ambition to rule the Galaxy.

Now Shmi is not evil in the way that Palpatine is (Palpatine is the kind of evil that not only does whatever he wants to accomplish his goal, but actively goes out of his way to create as much collateral as possible and will in fact even mildly inconvenience himself in order to increase collateral damage) but she does now fall closer to Amoral than not. Like her first option is not to kill kids, but it is never not an option. Shmi does justify her new desire to rule the galaxy, based on the fact that she would be better at it than Palpatine. 

By the time Anakin and Shmi have made it back to the Lars homestead, she has her son wrapped around her finger even more than she would have. She had also, through the careful recounting of how one of the men who had seemed so kindly to the slave children had actually been a child murder (couching it it in terms that one of Anakin's childhood friends, who it turned out had been a victim of this man, grave had been found and the man brought to a rather brutal justice), partially broken Anakin’s trust in Palpatine without ever letting on that she knew who Palpatine was.  

After they get back to the Homestead, Shmi tells Anakin that she wants him to visit again and to bring Obi Wan (It was after they had talked about what had been happening since he left). Anakin loves Obi Wan as a brother, and as such Shmi loves him too. Padme has also fallen quickly under Shmi’s influence, which is good considering that Shmi intended to make Padme another daughter in law (Both because Anakin had a crush, and she wanted Anakin to have what he wanted, and because Senator and former Queen of Naboo is actually a decently powerful set of titles).  Shmi gently shoos her sweet, oblivious son off the planet with her future daughter in law (it is for the best that her Jedi Son be off the planet for what she is about to do next) making them promise to visit soon. 

Cliegg and Beru also fall quickly under Shmi’s spell. Owen holds out a bit longer (I am fully convinced that his ability to hold back Skywalker BS comes from growing up with Shmi, not his few interactions with Anakin) but is just as willing to follow Shmi’s lead within a tenday.

While a galaxy wide war is breaking out, Shmi quietly but very firmly takes control of Tatooine. Then, in spite of the fact she had not left the planet in decades, she quickly takes control of the rest of the Hutt Empire.  Her identity remains hidden; she does not want to fight her son or his Jedi family because they do not yet understand her vision for the galaxy. They will, of that she is sure, but it will take time.

One of the many things she does is abolish slavery within her new Empire.  It is both easier and harder than it would appear. Easier in that she does not care about the power or money of the people who made their living in trafficking of sentient life, so she does not care about the economics of the systems she dismantles. Harder because the Hutt Empire was built on slavery; there are significantly larger portions of every population of the Hutt Planets then anyone realized who had spent most of their lives enslaved, with no training or education and very little idea how to exist without being enslaved (with all the psychological and sociological implications therein).  But she does it, quietly absorbing the fledgling Zygerrian Empire as well. 

A year and a half into the Clone wars Shmi is finally ready to make her move. 

In that time she has become well connected with Padme, who asks for approval to marry Anakin six months into the war (Approval that Shmi grants, on the condition that Padme also get approval from Obi wan, as Anakin’s older brother/father. Padme asks, and to the surprise of both Padme and Anakin immediately gets Obi Wan’s baffled, but pleased, approval. In this one marriage is not forbidden to Jedi, it really isn’t even discouraged. No one seems to want to marry a Jedi, as far as the Jedi are concerned. Date a Jedi, well that seems to be common fantasy. Sleep with a Jedi, all the time. But never marry. This all serves Shimi’s true purpose, to continue to break the trust between her son and Palpatine). They do decide to wait until after the war, when they can have everyone attend; in part because Palpatine is pushing them both in a really creepy way. 

She makes her move by going on vacation with Cliegg to a world she knew, from her own spies, was about to be attacked by separatists. A world that it was highly likely the 212th would be deployed to. In the time it takes for the 212th to liberate the planet, it is a relatively minor battle so only takes a few weeks, Shmi and Clieg have connected with the battalion and convinced them to transport them (Shmi and Cliegg) to Coruscant.  If asked, even Obi Wan, Cody, or the Natborn officers are not sure how they came to agree to take two civilians to the Core but everyone Shmi meets becomes absolutely convinced that it was a reasonable decision. During this trip Shmi bonds with Obi Wan, as her son’s brother/father/teacher.  This was one of her goals, to get a clearer picture of who Obi Wan is, and through him the Jedi Order; Anakin’s memories and feelings are a bit mixed on the Jedi as a whole but she also knows, from Palpatine’s knowledge, that Palpatine had been manipulating those feelings for years.  She finds that she does like Obi Wan. Because of this Shmi intends, beyond even what her plan calls for,  that she would ensure that Obi Wan found happiness in her Empire. 

Upon arriving on Coruscant Shmi sends Cliegg (in disguise) to meet with various criminal underworld leaders who know of her fledgeling Empire, while she meets with members of the Jedi council to plant the seeds of her Galactic Empire. 

It is in this that we truly see the difference between Shmi and Sidious. Shmi wants to Rule the galaxy. Sidious wants to Subjugate the galaxy. Now granted the difference between the two is not as much as people who want the former would protest, but is greater than what the people who want the latter would claim. In this case ruling is a small group having a disproportionate amount of power over a larger group. Subjugation is a group or person asserting total control over another group or person. While a ruler can abuse the power they have, in order to subjugate someone, a being MUST abuse them to break them in such a way the subjugator can control them.  

In spite of her forced amorality Shmi is actually a good person and wants to be a good Empress for the galaxy. So for her, subjugation is more work (realistically 90% of the galaxy is not going to notice if they are in a republic or an empire, and not just because the Empire had been disguising itself as a republic for a decade. That same 90% have comparatively simple needs and are going to be fine with a ruler who provides them. Whereas requires constant control measures to apply the exact correct amount of pressure to bend the populace to your will, without breaking them into rebelling. Ruling well is actually less costly) for less benefit. Because of that having the super powered warrior monks, who most of the beings that would oppose an Empress on principle are going to look to as a paragon of wisdom,  buy into the idea that Shmi should be Empress and that they would be happier in her Empire makes more sense than eradicating them.  Also, complicated feelings aside, the Jedi make up part of Anakin’s family and she does not want to hurt Anakin’s family.

Shmi also, at the behest of Anakin, took time to go with him to meet his friend Palpatine.  While in the waiting room she speaks with Fox, on guard duty, who she recognizes from her talks with Cody as the person to place a bet with(No one suspects the stern commander of the Coruscant Guard to be the biggest bookie in three systems). After about an hour of chit chat (During which Palpatine has no idea he has met someone with all of his knowledge, who is planning to abscond with the Grand Sith Plan) Anakin and Shmi leave the Senate. Anakin semi anxiously asks her what she thinks of Palpatine, babbling a little bit that Obi Wan doesn't like him, but Obi Wan hates most politicians. Shmi, after letting a long pause stretch, says that Obi Wan has good instincts (Look I really want Palpatine to be faced with his own manipulation tactics) and casually mentions Obi Wan’s time enslaved and how that must have hond those instincts- which he had not told Shmi about but that she could guess.  Again without directly accusing Palpatine of anything, Shmi manages to get across to Anakin that as the Chancellor, Palpatine actually currently has all the power and has used it to effectively enslave the clones and the Jedi. Fully breaking Anakin’s trust in Palpatine and tying him closer to the Jedi (where Shmi wants him).   During this exchange Anakin asks what she had been talking to Fox about and she answers with ‘placing a bet’. Anakin lights up and guesses it is the ‘CodyWan Bet’, because literally everybody noticed their pining and that neither will admit it (Shmi uses that to drive the point home that both are effectively enslaved and do not feel free to be together if they might be ‘sold’ apart-a concept that Anakin is very familiar with).

I am not sure where it ends, except that Shmi does indeed become Empress and her Force powers work as such that she gains power through being loved, so in being a good ruler she stops aging. The Jedi do buy in and Palpatine does end up dead. Someone in Shmi’s smaller Empire, before she becomes Empress, discovers the chips and their purpose, which leads to the entirety of the Clones transplanting themselves (GAR, Cadets, everyone) to a planet in the former Hutt space (deeply freaked out over what they could have been made to do to their Jedi) and refusing all calls for like a year, while they dechip. The Jedi (all of them) transplanted themselves to the next planet over, waiting semi impatiently to be allowed to visit their men again.  Shmi meeting Ahsoka after she becomes Anakin’s Padawan and deciding that, as her oldest grandchild, Ahsoka would have the option to be her heir if she would like (Ahsoka really wants to be a Jedi, but agrees to hold the status until another heir comes along-she gratefully passed the heir status to Leia when Leia was born, as she could not be knighted while still the Empress’s Heir). 

Oh and Obi Wan does get to be happy with Cody in the new Empire, with frequent visits from Satine (I like the idea that they were childhood sweethearts/first loves that knew they would not fit well romantically but still loved each other and got to be overprotective of each other-Satine adores Cody, thinks he is perfect for Obi Wan and thy find time every so often to take an evening to drink over whatever ridiculous situation Obi Wan go himself into this time)