Oh, I do indeed love your Shmi! And she is such a cipher in canon that really, IMO, almost anything goes and anything serves as an effective commentary on/conversation with canon.
Yeah, the whole interaction of Vader's chronic pain issues with his Sithliness has so many possible iterations, and all of them are fascinating.
Oh, man, as far as I'm concerned, canon!Anakin is a woobie, and having that come out is just permitting the character to have his natural larger-than-life three dimensions, rather than using a Villain Shoehorn on him! (Yes, he's a stupendous badass; but the bare bald facts of his character arc speak to someone who is much more complicated, and that makes him MORE of a badass, not less. Mere sadistic probable-sociopaths like Tarkin are just sleazy and icky; Vader has a soul and that's the thing powering his awesomeness.)
Re: I expect this will be a long reply
Yeah, the whole interaction of Vader's chronic pain issues with his Sithliness has so many possible iterations, and all of them are fascinating.
Oh, man, as far as I'm concerned, canon!Anakin is a woobie, and having that come out is just permitting the character to have his natural larger-than-life three dimensions, rather than using a Villain Shoehorn on him! (Yes, he's a stupendous badass; but the bare bald facts of his character arc speak to someone who is much more complicated, and that makes him MORE of a badass, not less. Mere sadistic probable-sociopaths like Tarkin are just sleazy and icky; Vader has a soul and that's the thing powering his awesomeness.)