Anghraine

Yes, exactly, about Luke--- I think the very fact that his opinion would carry so much weight, that he's Luke Skywalker, would be the thing that would make him withdraw more into that "I'm here if you want to seek me out, but I won't stick my nose in without invitation" kind of stance. Whereas Leia would grab her own stature and run with it, in full faith and trust in her own competence, but also in the competence of those around her to kick her out, or at least kick her butt, if she's doing it wrong. "I'm good at what I do, but I also trust that you wouldn't let me keep doing it if you didn't agree". Which is very interestingly not only a blend of Padme and Anakin but an evolution of both of them, because she does trust her constituents/subordinates and herself--- Padme as of AOTC actually doesn't really trust either, as evinced by the fact that she says that she wasn't ready to be queen even though her constituency would have amended their constitution to keep her. Anakin, on the other hand, doesn't trust himself or the electorate, but he does trust that there is someone trustworthy and wants to devote himself to enforcing that trustworthy person's decisions. Leia... is really an awesome democratic leader on one level, because she has that faith in self and others, and on another is, as you say, scary, because of the level of... advanced citizenship... she'd demand of her people, whether she's a queen or a chancellor or a grandmaster: she expects the people she leads-and-serves to be capable of judging her and to take her out of power if she's not competent to wield it, and as long as they don't, she'll keep rolling.

Oh, a ghostly triad of Skywalker awesomeness!!! I love this! And honestly, I basically stopped reading the post-ROTJ EU after the Zahn/Thrawn trilogy, and what you're saying confirms this decision for me. *wrygrin* IMO, the only excuse for any post-ROTJ EU written after ROTS that doesn't include a fondly-meddling ghost!Anakin is basically either continuity with pre-ROTS-written EU, or executive dictates of Lucasfilm. I.e., there is nothing in-universe that really makes that work. And, totally agree on his kids being just as strongly attached and present.

Oooooh, I'm glad you like the whole "Vader lives, he and everyone else have to cope" scenario! I've stumbled over a couple and... I inherently like them because I like the concept, but I've never been completely satisfied, either. I think it's hard to do right because "what you do after you're redeemed" is... an archetype all its own, maybe, and also that reconciling PT!Anakin and OT!Vader is also its own special challenge, and pulling off who he'd even be at that point is... a conceptual plate of spaghetti, lol. But it's still fascinating, all the more so because it's hard. But so much this on "there's more baggage and that makes it all the more squeeworthy" because emotional depth and complexity are fun to play with in stories!

Vader accepting Luke's offer is also fascinating--- even just to get into Vader's headspace where he'd do that is... wow!

I see what you're saying about ESB--- and for me it's exactly the opposite, because a lot of what I loved about ANH (hope and camaraderie and adventure that ends happily) went away in ESB; instead, Han and Leia were snarking at each other horribly and Luke was off training with Yoda who was rather harsh on him and then Bespin happened and ouch. So there is definitely an element of personal liking in my estimate of the quality as well! But, yeah, we're almost on the same page with quality, awesome! And, oh, yes, on the Luke-Vader plot in ROTJ! Except of course for Anakin's death, IMO, because that kind of... wounds it for me. (Sooooo much more interesting for Luke to have to wrestle with his father as a real person, heheheheheh.) And ROTS is just... it has flaws all over the place, but, oh, it makes me love Anakin as a person and hurt for him, and that's my touchstone for a story I love: do I care about characters therein and sympathize with them? And ROTS does that, more in some ways than the OT, because Anakin is not only so damaged, but he's damaged in ways and for reasons that are deeply relevant to the story--- his damage is the culmination of what's wrong with the Jedi Order and even the Republic, and that makes the story for me. Luke and Leia and Han are all fighting a system or systems (the Empire and Jabba's criminal fiefdom) that's acknowledged in the storyline as corrupt and downright evil, and they're all doing so outside it; Anakin is the guy who doesn't fit in a healthy way within a system that's supposed to be "good" but has its deep dysfunctions (which are less acknowledged by the storyline but are evident if you start picking at it), and who tries to fit, and ends up bringing it down with a wrecking ball (to paraphrase L.A. Confidential). And that kind of fighting-from-within is a more compelling, or maybe more meaningful, tale for me.

Oh, man, I get you on that! And there is enough that I love in it that the parts I don't are precisely what turn my brain on and make me get creative and reflective and transformative about it! I want to make it better and that's always fun! And then there is the level at which I like picking at the disconnect between my impression of what the story was designed to do and what it does from my point of view, and what that tells me about how I think (e.g. the part where I consider the Jedi Order downright abusive, and I don't think Lucas would necessarily agree). And lol @ maybe not everyone enjoys disliking things quite as much as I do, but honestly given the Internet, I doubt it. because QFT.

I think he says that he'd like to show her all the things he can do with his lightsaber, if she'll promise not to pass out. ...

You have managed to break my brain. BRB, squicking forever. *gags* Eeesh.