paperdoll picspam/plotbunnies

[anghraine]

So I was super depressed, and decided to comfort myself by ... posting a ton of paper dolls, 'cause I like them.

I don't ever really grow bored of the princess dollmaker, so I decided to use that one to make Disney Princess versions of the Pride and Prejudice ladies! According to me!

Princess Jane



Princess Elizabeth



Princess Mary



(Word to the wise: it's very difficult to make someone "plain" in something designed to make Disney princesses.)

Princess Kitty



Princess Lydia



Princess Charlotte



I'm going to assume she's the daughter of a minor prince from ... Lucasia, or something, not any relation to the Bennet!princesses.

Then I found one where I could dolls that actually approximate my mental images of the real characters, c. 1790-something. Though "approximate" means "approximate" here.

Jane Bennet



Elizabeth Bennet



Mary Bennet



Catherine "Kitty" Bennet



I figured this counted as an "irritable" expression.

Lydia Bennet



Yes, Elizabeth and Lydia (and Mary!) have lighter hair than Jane. Because this is my headcanon and not the collective consciousness of Austen fandom. La! (to quote the less than quotable Lydia.)

And speaking of rough approximations:

Catherine Darcy



Lucyverse: Obi-Wan doesn't follow Padmé, Anakin never attacks her, she dies anyway and the girls grow up in Bast Castle:

Lady Lucy



Of all the Lucy dolls, this is probably the one that looks most like Lucy-in-my-head.

Lady Leia



Lucyverse: without any gender preference, which twin goes where is about even odds. It goes the other way.

Leia Skywalker



Princess Lucy



Carrie Fisher is right. That hairdo doesn't look good on anyone.

No-particular-verse: the Skywalkers are all ladies (originally it was just going to be they're-all-genderswapped, but Leia as not-a-girl makes me cry inside)

Luka Skywalker



Princess Leia



Anaiya Skywalker/Lady Vader



ATLA!Star Wars fusion funtiemz! (I used the four elements dolls, which only come in "girl," so it's a femmeslash extravaganza)

ATLA!girl!Obi-Wan, a respected Air Nomad Jedi Master...



who against her own better judgment, ends up training the Avatar--

ATLA!girl!Anakin, a young firebender and slave of the Hutts (a vicious earthbending criminal ring thing). Chosen One = Avatar gone horribly, horribly wrong.



Though born a slave in the Earth Kingdom, her mother came from the Fire Nation and raised her to prize passion and attachment even in their horrific circumstances, and to use them to fuel her firebending. At nine, she was freed, taken to the Western Air Temple, and brought up as an airbender by Obi-Wan. It was difficult enough, and to make matters worse, she became fiercely attached to

ATLA!Padmé, a Water Tribe chieftainess



Eventually they gave into their feelings, married, and ... idk, somehow, ATLA!Padmé become pregnant with twins. After ATLA!Anakin turned to evil and swore herself to the service of the wicked Fire Lord, who with her able assistance proceeded to take over the rest of the world. ATLA!Padmé died giving birth to

ATLA!girl!Luke



Who was brought up on a poor farm in the Earth Kingdom, far from benders of any kind (and pretty far from people of any kind, too). There she met a creepy old hermit lady, none other than Obi-Wan herself, and found a message from

ATLA!Leia



After their escape, they joined up with the rebellion against the Empire of Flames, and ATLA!Luke ended up taking out the Fire Lord's fortress. Buuut, pursued by ATLA!Vader, mistress of all four elements, she'd have been killed if not for the timely interference of a friend she'd nearly given up hope on--

ATLA!girl!Han, an Earth Kingdom pirate



...with no bending abilities whatsoever, just so much badassery that she manages to keep up with them anyway. She's accompanied everywhere she goes by ATLA!Chewbacca, a bearpanther.

They fight crime!

Comments

Re: I expect this will be a long reply

[sathari]

No problem, and thanks! (As I say, I can be wanky about privacy, so wanted to warn you ahead of time.)

That is exactly why I say Padmesexual, rather than that she was his One True Love: it's no more a choice than any other orientation.

Although... I've been very much swayed by that one fic of irnan's (who else?) where she has Anakin having decided, quite rationally, that he needs to get some *ahem* experience before coming to Padme's bed, and that there was also a "lurking variable" of him just plain being lonely and needing closeness with someone. (Which also goes into my Vader-has-casual-sex paradigm.)

The ace goggles honestly make more sense for the Jedi, but apparently Lucas has said somewhere that the Jedi can get laid--- just not, you know, form emotional commitments to their partners. Which, this is me, facepalming forever, and adding another one to the list of "ways the PT!Jedi are messed up".

Okay, I was going to have a thorough response of all my agreement that Leia and Padme are both NOT blushing virgins, and then: "Unfortunately including Tarkin" and OKAY YOU JUST BROKE MY BRAIN OMG BRB SQUICKING FOREVER and also STARING IN HORRIFIED FASCINATION.

AHAHAHAH, "Anakin is unlikely to have a casual relationship with his furniture", well, yes, THIS. Though I can see it as a sort of... almost self-harming behavior, frankly, where he's interacting-without-attachment as a way of punishing himself for the mess he made of his relationship with Padme (see previous on "I am not worthy of the attachments I crave"). Also, I don't know whether to LOL or to weep or BOTH at At least not without a trail of corpses behind him. Because that is so very painful and so very ANAKIN.

So much THIS on how depressing Padmesexual!Anakin is, in terms of the whole, "no one but Sidious for twenty years". (Which makes it all that much more powerful that he does finally off Sidious on his son's behalf.) (There is also a part of me that thinks that he didn't so much stay affiliated with the Dark Side because he believed in it, but because he was attached to Sidious and that was how Sidious rolled.)

Oh, yay! I'm glad my version of Jedi!Padme works! And, yeah, better fit with canon, indeed. And also, so much yes to: she shouldn't be horrible, just messed-up, and Leia could have good reason to remember her fondly. And hey, this way the twins COULD scream at her ghost.

Re: I expect this will be a long reply

[anghraine]

Yeah, I read his comment about that, but as you probably know, I'm quite happy to go all death of the author. Especially with one as, ummm, flexible as George.

Ahh, I see re: irnan's stories. Yeah, I remember that, though my fannish goggles coincide a bit more with fialleril's in this case. (Unsurprisingly.)

Okay, about Tarkin, it's a little involved. I'm not shipping them as, like, an actual I-want-them-together couple, but I couldn't help seeing it when I was rewatching ANH. See, I thought it was sort of funny that Leia acts as if she's just on a pleasure cruise and Tarkin is some icky acquaintance who happens to be on the same ship. Then he starts stroking her cheek and talking about how much it hurts him to do this and suddenly "icky acquaintance" with Leia sneering about recognizing his smell was a lot nastier. And then when it turns out she lied, Anakin's going "lol I told you so NANNER NANNER" but Tarkin actually seems hurt (idek!) and is all "How could you do this, Leia? HOW?" as if his lover's been cheating on him rather than ... y'know, reality.

So it does seem to me that he has some sort of sexual interest in her. I expect he's been making creepy overtures of some sort for awhile -- probably (since he doesn't seem to have known she's a spy but her idealism is obvious) suggesting that he'd help/hinder her politically. So I imagine either she rejected him (and he's exulting in his power over her now) or she didn't, presumably considering it worth it in her capacity as a spy. If she's going to be pushed into a creepy dubcon relationship, she might as well Mata Hari it up. Or something.

I lean towards the latter mostly because Tarkin, after committing genocide against her entire planet, still seems completely shocked by her deception. Vader's contemptuous response (to him) and respect (for Leia) would then be pretty loaded too. And since Leia's immediate reaction, upon waking up to find a stormtrooper in her cell, is this, I don't find it remotely difficult to believe her perfectly capable of using sex as a weapon. (Which could also factor into her romantic interactions with Luke and Han.)

So, yeah, that. (I do think she'd have had healthy sexual relationships before this point, probably on Alderaan before she had to survive the heart of the Empire.)

Re: I expect this will be a long reply

[sathari]

Hey, I'm all death-of-the-author with regard to the Nature of the Dark Side, in ways we've discussed before, so I am totally cool with that!

I also love your assessment of Tarkin/Leia, and especially what it means in terms of Vader's reactions--- that he, as you say, is contemptuous of Tarkin and respectful of Leia in that scenario just makes me like Vader even more than I already do. Though I had always read Tarkin's attitude toward Leia as merely nastily sexually-charged intimidating social banter, that he was simply using sexual innuendo like he was flirting with her at a party while there are stormtroopers with guns and a freaking Sithlord helping him to keep her prisoner on a humongous battlestation that he's planning to use to blow up people who matter to her. But yours is much deeper and more complex and so more interesting!

Re: I expect this will be a long reply

[anghraine]

Oh, thanks. Yes, Vader's reaction to that is -- probably one of his least reprehensible moments? And I think all the more because, initially, Leia's insult is pretty damn complimentary and he's the one who doesn't show any respect, so it does seem to be context-specific here.

And I think there's a hint of his perspective in the Alderaan scene too, because he seems to have checked out entirely and the only thing he does the whole scene is yank her away from Tarkin and hold her there. Also, there's that awful moment when she backs into Vader, seems to consider moving away, towards Tarkin, and then obviously decides Vader is the more preferable of the two.

Initially, I did tend to read his behaviour that way -- it's really when I got to his shock at her betrayal that I went "...um." Now I like to imagine that he's the reason Leia knew about the Death Star plans at all, which enabled the Rebellion to intercept them, and part of the reason he's so intent on her death is so she doesn't talk. (I'm also really interested in exploring how it affected her, idk, romance/sex arc -- from turning on ~seductive mode~ at a quarter-second's notice in ANH, to her discomfort with anything more aggressive than Luke's lie-back-and-think-of-the-Order approach to being kissed, to her easy confidence in ROTJ.)

Re: I expect this will be a long reply

[sathari]

YES THIS to your first two paragraphs, but then, we know all about all my love for Anakin-Vader.

I... still kind of tend to read Tarkin's reaction as more "generic dudely shock that a mere woman had that kind of brass under her belt" because dudes like him don't realize that brass gonads come in internal as well as external configurations, lol. But, again, your version is just so much more complex and therefore interesting! And AHAHAHAHAHAHHA about Mata Hari!Leia and Tarkin wanting her dead to shut her up. (And also I kind of like the idea of Vader being especially alert to and aware of other people's Sekrit Sex Lives, given, well, Padme. He may not be (willing to admit he is) Anakin Skywalker anymore, but, man, he knows how that particular weakness works.) (And also. Daala. I am interested in how Tarkin's relationship there would tie in.)

(And also. I just reread Revenge, I love it more than ever, and for some reason, this time I am really just All About Shmi and her matter-of-fact maternal responses to Vader's Sithliness. Not that I didn't love that last time, mind you, but this time it was really huge for me. And also Vader getting some relief from pain by using the Living Force was kind of awesome. And, well, your!Anakin, but I even like canon!Anakin, so. But the "Daddy's going to make the galaxy safe for you" moment was like SO MANY KINDS OF FLAIL this time out, I just wanted to cry and pet the poor boy.)

appropriate random icon is appropriate!

[anghraine]

Yeah, I can definitely see it as just Tarkin being an ass -- I suspect it depends on how you read his tone, because to me he sounds almost as if his feelings are hurt which is just bizarre. Either way he's really squicky and Leia is a total badass, though.

And yeah, Mata Hari!Leia is pretty much made of steel-coated steel. (Also it'd put the whole slave bikini thing, and its lack of ramifications, in a slightly different light if it's not altogether new.)

Oh, I do rather like the idea that Vader picks up on people's supposedly super-secret shenanigans without really knowing why -- and, being Vader, is undoubtedly prepared to use them to his advantage. Even if that advantage is just sneering at him.

Hmm, Daala is of course EU, but I think it could work. I don't get the impression that fidelity is exactly his thing, and I tend to think his choice of mistresses would be at least partly calculating. I don't doubt that Daala is *useful* to him in the military, and I think whoever he chose while he's being a politician on Imperial Center would likely be someone who he could reasonably expect to be a, idk, credit to him in that regard. Leia's probably the last in a line of brilliant and extremely attractive politicians. (Just the only one who was brilliant in a spy-for-the-enemy kind of way.)

Re: appropriate random icon is appropriate!

[sathari]

I have nothing useful to say in response to this other than "So. Much. Yes."

And also that I kind of want the Vader-POV where he is so totally IN DENIAL that the reason he is oh-so-very aware of other people's clandestine/illicit relationships is, well, ANAKIN. (In such a way that it is pathetically obvious to the audience that it is the fact that he is still ANAKIN in there at some level. And also that part of the reason he's not admitting that is because HE MISSES PADME. LOL)

Re: I expect this will be a long reply

[anghraine]

Oh, thanks about Revenge! I'm glad you still like Shmi. She was really the one that had the least amount to do w/ canon -- I mean, there are ties to canon, but she ended up more my own character than anything else and I felt pretty free to do whatever with her. But I could definitely see her being 'sweetie, think about your choices...' and it worked for the story, so.

I think the pain thing was influenced by SOTE, where he can't permanently heal himself w/ the Dark Side because he stops hating everything once he's no longer in constant agonizing pain. I didn't go there (he has plenty of other reasons to hate everything!), but I did like the idea of the Dark Side/agonizing pain being sort of linked. If only because he doesn't know *how* to heal with the Dark Side if it's even possible and isn't about to start experimenting on himself and Luke is corrupting (anti-corrupting?) him anyway, so yay Living Force. And that doesn't mess with his head, either, so it's pretty win-win.

Oh, thanks about my Anakin. I remember when I was writing, I was telling my betas 'okay, my Vader is SUCH A WOOBIE.' But he is!

Re: I expect this will be a long reply

[sathari]

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

[anghraine]

Thinking about Woobieness, because I hadn't really:

Canon!Anakin is totally a woobie, but there's - I mean, while Anakin's life does suck on a lot of levels, a lot of it is a sort of Fridge Logic woobieness that hits you as you start to think that, say, he was born into slavery and sold to Watto and Qui-Gon won him and handed him over to Obi-Wan and he gave himself over to Palpatine, but he was never really free for one moment in his entire life. But at the same time that feels like a slightly...free take on the text that I'm not sure was really intended (not that that stops me, given that I'm pretty sure even Carrie Fisher didn't envision Mata Hari!Leia :P).

Revenge!Anakin's woobieness is a bit more explicit and pushed a lot harder, I think -- he doesn't commit most of Anakin's worst acts, too, because I was trying for a more, mm, straightforward escalation into villainy. And I didn't intend it, but now that I think of it, his circumstances are, if possible, even worse than canon!Anakin's (with a more explicitly culpable Obi-Wan and even Yoda). So I think where Anakin reads as a bit of a Jerkass Woobie, Revenge's pre-Vader Anakin is just a classic Woobie. And I took about as sympathetic a line with Vader as I could, too. Well, maybe it could have been more (I enjoyed him a bit too much sometimes :P) but still. I actually worried about that a lot -- that he was too sympathetic to begin with to make such a slow redemption really rewarding. Especially since he's only half there at this point.

Re: I expect this will be a long reply

[anghraine]

ack, I meant to agree about Vader's awesomeness being at least partly driven by his not being a soulless monster like Tarkin and Palpatine, or merely amusingly 100% evil like every other Imperial ever. I think this is what some of the fanboys fail to get when they're complaining about him actually loving his wife or, in ye olde days of fandom, loving his son - that's what makes his villainy stand out so much. In fact, I'm pretty sure I wrote about this at some point.

*searches* Oh right, here. Sorta.

Re: I expect this will be a long reply

[sathari]

Yes THIS! He's a fully realized human being, and he was a genuinely good, heroic person at one point. That is what makes him awesome. And so much this on people Failing To Get why that is awesome, not just with Vader but with similar characters--- they are awesome because they are not one-dimensional and they have a developmental arc andandand.

And I love that post of yours!

Re: I expect this will be a long reply

[anghraine]

Thanks! <3

Re: I expect this will be a long reply

[sathari]

Hmm... I think the Fridge-Logic-y-ness of canon!Anakin's woobieness and the free-take-on-the-text-ness of it come from the same place, namely that George Lucas introduced some massive human rights violations and psychological trauma issues for pre-Vader Anakin without really wrangling what came with them. So it wouldn't be a free reading of text if the import of the bare bones we're given was addressed as opposed to more or less bare-bulbed (as opposed to lampshaded).

And I just love Revenge-verse Anakin, who actually seems to have his shit more together than canon!Anakin does, possibly because he is being written by someone who pays attention to the importance of the words coming out of characters' mouths and how they fit into the story being told. Revenge!Anakin (and Vader thereafter) actually come/s across as having more agency and being more badass (in the way that I think Lucas thinks he made them in canon) in many ways, though still tragic and sympathetic as regards the really horrible contexts in which he/they exercise/s that agency. Lucas never really shows us cunning-warrior!Anakin, and you do. Nuff said as regards any possibility of "excessive" woobieness. (That said, my woobiemeter is permanently skewed, as I like my Brilliant Badass Woobies, please and thank you.)

Re: I expect this will be a long reply

[anghraine]

Yeah, I tend to agree -- we end up addressing it in vaguely resistant ways only because it isn't addressed, at all.

Hey, thanks about Revenge!Anakin -- he definitely is more together. I wouldn't say less damaged, exactly, but he deals a bit better with it. In fact, I think there's an element of Luke-and-Leia-esque 'angst? what angst?' with a lot of his early trauma until he finally just cracks. And even Vader has a ludicrous level of denial about EVERYTHING.

possibly because he is being written by someone who pays attention to the importance of the words coming out of characters' mouths

Aw, thanks. (And I might have laughed aloud, because, well. <3)

I did want Revenge!Anakin to have that kind of agency you talk about -- a kind of active choice about how he conducts his life, even if under extraordinary pressures and in horrible circumstances. And I definitely wanted to play up the cunning warrior thing, because it's one of my favourite ideas -- especially as it's reflected in the twins, and I think we do see it in Vader himself. So I tried to maintain Vader's cunning but link it with his Anakin self, as well.

I like my Brilliant Badass Woobies, please and thank you.

Heh, me too! And Revenge was total self-indulgent wish-fulfilment, so there's that.

Re: I expect this will be a long reply

[sathari]

Oh, so late getting to this.... Mea culpa!

Anyway:

You're right: the resistance almost comes from the lack of handling in canon; any handling ends up being resistant on the one hand, but on the other, the lack of its being handled also makes it a necessary part of the conversation that the fic his having with the source.

And YEAH on Vaderkin's denial--- in either iteration of self, he just buries things until they're too much to be buried.

And oh, I'm glad I made you laugh--- but it's so true, because while I respect what Lucas did in terms of making movies a visual medium, the plots and people of the PT in particular would have benefitted from a bit more in the way of a script.

...you know, there is practically a perfect correlation between "fic I love" and "fic the author considers wish-fulfillment". Really, practically every time I see labels like "idfic" or "self-indulgence" or "wish-fulfillment" on a fic, it generally ends up taking me to my happy place right along with the author. So bring on the wish-fulfillment!