Anghraine

...choosing to tie themselves to the mortal world forever to help those living there rather than to transcend or whatever. Which makes perfect sense for Skywalkers, but I think Arissa's a bit more about Arissa. In a nice psychologically healthy way.

Yes to all of this--- Skywalkers, especially Anakin, would be all about their family and their attachments; Arissa's got that bit more... centered... stance. Which might be what makes her attractive to Anakin--- sort of what Shmi might have been if not for slavery?


...for all the people whining about how he must have used his mastery of the mind-trick on Padmé ... what mastery? He never uses it ever. Not even as Vader.

This, EXACTLY!!! It is completely my headcanon that Force persuasion is the one power that Anakin Skywalker will not ever use even as Darth Vader. Because it is too much like slavery, and while he is completely willing to fuck your shit up in a straightforward kind of way, that whole mind-control thing is just not on.

And... GAH... on using the mind-trick on Padme. There is just nothing that suggests that to me, not least because Lucas is kind of anvillicious about that kind of thing and I think it would have been made obvious somewhere in their Most Awkward Courtship Ever. Like Padme is going on about how they'd be living a lie, and then we see Anakin with a Conflicted Look, and then he murmurs something in the spooky Force-persuade voice a la Kenobi, and then they're kissing.

Except, you know, that doesn't happen. And Force persuasion is pretty obvious to the audience when it happens in the rest of canon, so. *facepalm* I mean, Anakin is completely stunned when she comes out with the "I love you" on Geonosis, so, yeah. (As I said elsewhere, I think they end up married because they're both skeeved out by the clone armies and because the Jedi Order and to a lesser extent the Senate have, in their minds, completely abrogated any moral authority over their love life with the whole "cloned slave army" deal.)