*Squees right back* You have no idea how much I loved this fic. I mean I was cheering and clapping at all the points I mentioned, and probably a few others!
Heeeh. I was worried that she was too OOC, and then it was "...lol, this is a reimagining ANYWAY I can do whatever I want!" So that was the idea.
She is perfect. Like, totally what she should have been in canon!!!!! Just... awesome. Like, every time she was all, "Oh, Anakin. *facepalm*" I squeed like a squeeing thing. It's too perfect.
Because I did want her to fail (I get kind of annoyed with the "Leia is better than Luke in ALL WAYS and perfectly perfect" that you see sometimes), in a creepy Dark Sidey way that wasn't Luke's more...militaristic failure, I guess, but specific to her, and still kind of awesome. So, Force-lightning!
Leia and her Force-lightning, oh yes. I like that fail for her. (Actually I like twin!fic that plays up that she is Very Much Her Father's Daughter, so even though she isn't that here--- I feel rather strongly that Bail Would Not Approve, in fact!--- it just fits her. And it fits her that she's not, as you say, more overtly militaristic. (On which note, thank you from the bottom of my little fangirl's heart for taking Palpatine's lightsaber away from him, please and thank you! Because while I am all about the Older Dudes Kicking Tail in Star Wars--- Qui-gon! Dooku! Yay!--- Palpatine is sooooo much more of a badass when he does not have a lightsaber.)
Yeah, I actually got that there was more to it than that, but OMG that line! Just... wonderful and painful and so very Anakin.
But I was surprised in ROTS that saving their child seemed little more than an afterthought to Anakin, considering how obsessively fixated he was on Luke's mere existence later.
Yeah, it really is interesting how he changes in his attitude--- my sense of him in ROTS was that he was at best ambivalent about this whole "parenthood" thing. (Not that I blame him under the circumstances: unplanned pregnancy, secret marriage, middle of a war... am I missing anything? Um, even if I am that's kind of a lot!) By ANH/ESB... honestly, I wonder if it wasn't just epic loneliness, just wanting some kind of (wait for it!) attachment. Because, Anakin. He needs connections to people like he needs air. And he's been locked in that suit for twenty years and the closest thing he seems to have to an interpersonal relationship is with Palpatine. Which, ouch.
This was maybe overkill, but it worked better for me. And the furniture. I don't even know where that came from.
I will never not be in love with the furniture line, because it is so very Anakin--- "Always on the move". And, yeah, an Anakin who is actually all about his kid/s from jump is a more pleasant mental space for me as a reader (not least because I am squicked on many, many levels by people being parents when they are not actually excited about the prospect.)
And Arissa is awesome! I love her kidding Anakin in the scene where they meet Padme! (And, um, fandom's hatred of OFCs can just bite me already. Bring 'em on, especially the awesome ones like Arissa!)
I totally, totally get the death-by-PT of Yoda!love. I admit I always was kind of creeped out by him in the training montage in ESB, but it didn't reach Epic Loathing until he, um, pretty much shoved Anakin right into the Dark Side in ROTS. "Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose", hmph! (And other less printable words.) So yours is just really refreshing in that he's likeable again. ("Important nap" FTW! I adore that line; it's so... personizing, if that makes sense, because one can't say "humanizing" about an alien.)
Fellow irnan-fan, I salute you! :) I vacillate on whether I love the wires-verse or the swallows-and-amazons-verse more, but sooooo much love! And, yeah, I came late to my love of the Leia-and-Vader interaction, so I totally get being more compelled by Luke's dynamic with his father. And I love the way you handled Leia anyway, so you get bonus awesome points for making me like Leia as not-a-Skywalker. :D Even if she probably would have been more like his niece/godchild if Padme had lived.
I've wondered how much of Vader's epic rationalizing he picked up at Obi-Wan's knee, so it was fun to play with that here.
Oh, yeah, that was awesome--- one of those lines that had me cheering out loud. Vader is as much Obi-wan's creation as Palpatine's, really.
And yeah, the Jedi were totally messed-up -- these ones were less about the child abuse, I think, and more about the mercenary...ing, but still, wtf, guys. And we've known Obi-Wan was "General Kenobi" since 1977, so-- yeah.
Yes, I really liked what you did with "General Kenobi"!
And also, it's totally my headcanon that the canon!Jedi of the PT had a lot of the same problems as the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages/Renaissance, you know? Technically a spiritual/religious order, but getting their fingers into waaaaaay too many temporal pies. And that that was one of the reasons for taking kids so young--- they needed to be able to indoctrinate them early in order to have enough Jedi running around for them to maintain their political power as the Republic's peacekeepers. So I like the mercenary take on the Jedi's failiness! (Also, this is me needing an icon of Mace Windu and Yoda with the caption "Princes of the Church", because, yeah.)
And thanks about the dialogue, too! I wangsted for hours over it, so I'm so glad it sounded right. Threepio was easy enough, but Yoda and Vader were like GAH OMG.
Oh, Yoda and Vader were awesome! They sounded just like they should! And Leia and Obi-wan, too! (I can't comment on Luke because I don't have a clear Luke-voice in my head, but he didn't sound wrong to me, either!) But then, these are definitely people who benefit from being written with an Austenian sensibility; they are very formal in their speech patterns, and anything else is just wrong.
Oooh, I like your heresy! My own... I vacillate on whether there is actually a Dark and a Light side, as opposed to the flawed and finite attempts of flawed and finite sentient beings to grasp, as Palpatine puts it, "the great mystery"--- the infinite, and when I do rock the dichotomy, I'm all about the idea of the "balance in the Force" as the finding of a synthesis between the two, admitting that there's a proverbial time to kill and a time to heal, so to speak, and choosing between them as needed. (I also tend to think that the most powerful healing energies are a mix of Dark and Light--- there's compassion and caring, but there is also rage and a refusal to passively accept the loss and pain and suffering in the universe. Um, or maybe I've just watched too much M*A*S*H, because if ever there was someone who would be at best a Grey Jedi, it's Hawkeye Pierce.)
I'm so glad you're enjoying my enjoyment! :D :D :D And it is ridiculously awesome to talk Star Wars with a fellow fan, especially one who is such a fantastic writer!
Re: I could not love this fic more if I tried. Really, I couldn't.
She is perfect. Like, totally what she should have been in canon!!!!! Just... awesome. Like, every time she was all, "Oh, Anakin. *facepalm*" I squeed like a squeeing thing. It's too perfect.
Leia and her Force-lightning, oh yes. I like that fail for her. (Actually I like twin!fic that plays up that she is Very Much Her Father's Daughter, so even though she isn't that here--- I feel rather strongly that Bail Would Not Approve, in fact!--- it just fits her. And it fits her that she's not, as you say, more overtly militaristic. (On which note, thank you from the bottom of my little fangirl's heart for taking Palpatine's lightsaber away from him, please and thank you! Because while I am all about the Older Dudes Kicking Tail in Star Wars--- Qui-gon! Dooku! Yay!--- Palpatine is sooooo much more of a badass when he does not have a lightsaber.)
Yeah, I actually got that there was more to it than that, but OMG that line! Just... wonderful and painful and so very Anakin.
Yeah, it really is interesting how he changes in his attitude--- my sense of him in ROTS was that he was at best ambivalent about this whole "parenthood" thing. (Not that I blame him under the circumstances: unplanned pregnancy, secret marriage, middle of a war... am I missing anything? Um, even if I am that's kind of a lot!) By ANH/ESB... honestly, I wonder if it wasn't just epic loneliness, just wanting some kind of (wait for it!) attachment. Because, Anakin. He needs connections to people like he needs air. And he's been locked in that suit for twenty years and the closest thing he seems to have to an interpersonal relationship is with Palpatine. Which, ouch.
I will never not be in love with the furniture line, because it is so very Anakin--- "Always on the move". And, yeah, an Anakin who is actually all about his kid/s from jump is a more pleasant mental space for me as a reader (not least because I am squicked on many, many levels by people being parents when they are not actually excited about the prospect.)
And Arissa is awesome! I love her kidding Anakin in the scene where they meet Padme! (And, um, fandom's hatred of OFCs can just bite me already. Bring 'em on, especially the awesome ones like Arissa!)
I totally, totally get the death-by-PT of Yoda!love. I admit I always was kind of creeped out by him in the training montage in ESB, but it didn't reach Epic Loathing until he, um, pretty much shoved Anakin right into the Dark Side in ROTS. "Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose", hmph! (And other less printable words.) So yours is just really refreshing in that he's likeable again. ("Important nap" FTW! I adore that line; it's so... personizing, if that makes sense, because one can't say "humanizing" about an alien.)
Fellow
Oh, yeah, that was awesome--- one of those lines that had me cheering out loud. Vader is as much Obi-wan's creation as Palpatine's, really.
Yes, I really liked what you did with "General Kenobi"!
And also, it's totally my headcanon that the canon!Jedi of the PT had a lot of the same problems as the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages/Renaissance, you know? Technically a spiritual/religious order, but getting their fingers into waaaaaay too many temporal pies. And that that was one of the reasons for taking kids so young--- they needed to be able to indoctrinate them early in order to have enough Jedi running around for them to maintain their political power as the Republic's peacekeepers. So I like the mercenary take on the Jedi's failiness! (Also, this is me needing an icon of Mace Windu and Yoda with the caption "Princes of the Church", because, yeah.)
Oh, Yoda and Vader were awesome! They sounded just like they should! And Leia and Obi-wan, too! (I can't comment on Luke because I don't have a clear Luke-voice in my head, but he didn't sound wrong to me, either!) But then, these are definitely people who benefit from being written with an Austenian sensibility; they are very formal in their speech patterns, and anything else is just wrong.
Oooh, I like your heresy! My own... I vacillate on whether there is actually a Dark and a Light side, as opposed to the flawed and finite attempts of flawed and finite sentient beings to grasp, as Palpatine puts it, "the great mystery"--- the infinite, and when I do rock the dichotomy, I'm all about the idea of the "balance in the Force" as the finding of a synthesis between the two, admitting that there's a proverbial time to kill and a time to heal, so to speak, and choosing between them as needed. (I also tend to think that the most powerful healing energies are a mix of Dark and Light--- there's compassion and caring, but there is also rage and a refusal to passively accept the loss and pain and suffering in the universe. Um, or maybe I've just watched too much M*A*S*H, because if ever there was someone who would be at best a Grey Jedi, it's Hawkeye Pierce.)
I'm so glad you're enjoying my enjoyment! :D :D :D And it is ridiculously awesome to talk Star Wars with a fellow fan, especially one who is such a fantastic writer!