#Non Dark Sheev Palpatine

[fanfic-obsessed]

Perchance to Dream

Ok, before we get into what is happening here there are a few facts that I need to have entered into evidence pertaining to this universe.  Please indulge me and take note, every one of these facts will be critical later. 

Fact 1:  In this universe Sheev Palpatine is not a Sith.  

He is what he claims to be in canon, a career politician trying to do his best. He is no saint, he is still a career politician after all, but he is not the ultimate evil. He is still force sensitive, with a sensitivity that is enough that he could have trained as a Jedi if his parents had given him up, but not so high that he is a danger to anyone without training. But he does not keep it a secret from the Jedi, and has essentially been tutored by a few Jedi in the ways of the Force.  He does not let on in the Senate about his sensitivity (Which amounts to a better than average sense of people’s emotions, and a good sense for danger and being able to move very small items with his mind.).   

Fact 2: Yan Dooku is the Sith Master, as of the clone wars, Hugo Demask was his master.

Hugo Demask survives 5 years longer than in canon, he corrupts Dooku, is Maul's Master and is ultimately killed by Dooku.  The background steps needed for the clone wars to happen, that in canon were Palpatine, were performed by Demask or Dooku. 

Fact 3: The Clones are not chipped.

There is no project Knightfall, no Order 66. The clones were not a co-opted project by Sith. Master Sifo Dyas did commission them, but (like with Palpatine), they are not a trap for the Jedi. While Jango Fett still died on Geonosis, he had been there on a bounty, separate from his job to be the progenitor and trainer of the clones.  He trains them because he is paid, rather than for revenge. 

Fact 4: Anakin Skywalker does not slaughter the Tuskens.

Shimi still dies, though it is an accident rather than being captured by the raiders.  Anakin still has grief and horror and loss but it is tempered here because there is no group of beings that can blame, and he is not one to turn that anger inward.  He does see his mother one last time, but there is closure rather than murder.

Fact 5: Jedi can get married. 

It’s not common. Marriage as a legal institution doesn’t actually make sense to most Jedi.  The rights and protections that a marriage grants by and large are not applicable to Jedi. Even as an expression of love, it just tends not to occur to most Jedi to want a wedding. They are more than happy to have the ceremony if their partner or partners want, but won’t seek it out.  

There are only a few Jedi that end up with partners outside the Jedi. There are two reasons for this. The first is that most of the galaxy has some weird ideas about Jedi and Jedi relationships. Most of the time it is not worth the effort to navigate. The second is a bit more convoluted. There is a higher rate of asexuality and aromanticism, or the equivalent, in Jedi than in their native populations (of Jedi whose species has sexuality), by a significant amount (Something like 10%-20% of the Jedi, with a sexual identity, identify as either asexual or aromantic, as opposed to the galactic standard of 1%). Incidentally there is also a higher rate of polyamorous leanings. This combines with the fact that the Jedi truly are a melting pot, different species growing up alongside each other, going through reproductive maturity together. Relationship Norms and Mores for Jedi look nothing like anywhere else in the galaxy.

Fact 6: Anakin Skywalker's marriage is  ‘secret’ and causes much giggling in the Jedi temple.

The secrecy is actually part of Naboo wedding traditions. Nabooians are expected to elope, and the longer the marriage is considered a ‘secret’, the more luck the marriage is said to have. The Jedi are well aware of this tradition and try to adhere to reasonable traditions when possible. So when Anakin effectively broadcasts to every Jedi in the galaxy that he was now Mister Padme Naberrie (the legalities of being married may not matter to Anakin as neither the Jedi nor the slave culture really have any use for it, but the idea of giving someone else their name as a way of giving them belonging was very important in Tatooine slave culture), approximately 45 seconds after their marriage, there is a collective silent agreement by the Jedi to let newlyweds have their ‘secret’.  There is a semi-formal betting pool as to who is going to give in and give away the secret first (Shortest odds are on ‘Anakin, finally doing something that is so obvious that the Jedi can’t ignore it anymore’, ‘Obi Wan, after Captain Rex is forced to lie badly to him again about what Anakin is doing’, or ‘Mace Windu after he catches Anakin and Padme in the Room of a Thousand fountains for a third time that day).     

Ladies, gentleman, and everything in between of the jury, now that we have established these facts in evidence it is time to turn our attention to the reason we are here today.  Without the Sith Master at the head of the Republic the Clone war does take a slightly different trajectory, faster in some ways without their intelligence leaking quite as easily(The Senate still leaked intelligence like a sieve but at least the Separatists weren’t getting it right from the source), slower in other as there was no real overarching goal. No one is actually sure what victory would look like for either side. 

Some members of the Separatist leadership decide that the best way to be victorious is to take out the GAR leadership, the Jedi High Council.  A chemical weapon was created, then tailored to each member of the High Council so it could be released and only affect the targets. It took a year to develop and tailor (so specific that it included the genetic code of each member of the council), then another to maneuver the release mechanisms into place.  This chemical weapon included a powerful hallucinogen and a chemical agent that links the hallucinations of everyone affected (through the Force).  Once deployed it would create a shared hallucination of the worst possible case scenario that could be created by the group. The aim being to hobble the GAR without their high command. 

That shared hallucination is Canon, starting with the Jedi confronting the Sith Lord. 

It is entirely possible that the Separatists greatly underestimated the amount of horror the mind of a Jedi could generate.  And how well they would be able to keep moving when under the hallucination. 

When a Jedi died in the hallucination, they would fall comatose and though none did, the chemical weapon would, for lack of a better way to explain, go a step further and try to convince them to give up(which would kill them in the real world) by continuing to show them this hallucinatory world as ‘part of the Force’.  Until this comatose state they would act in the real world according to the hallucination, including reacting as if injuries within it existed in the real world.  

The High council is spread throughout the galaxy when weapons are deployed. The members of the council that fell to Sidious immediately fall into a coma, while the rest begin to act in varying degrees of strangely (Depending on where they were and how different that place was from where they now thought they were). Mace Windu drops into something that is not quite a coma as his body reacts to having his wrist cut off and falling from a high window, with all the trauma therein.  As Order 66 goes out in the hallucination, more of the council drop until the only ones left moving are Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda, both of whom escape the planets they were on. It is only luck that neither hurt anyone in escaping. 

There is immediate confusion, that is true.  The unexplained coma of 9 members of the Jedi High Council, Mace Windu’s collapse (Physically nothing is wrong but brain scans and the healers say that his brain is acting as if he is in severe pain, as well as severe shock), and the disappearance of Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda. 

The Officers, both clone and nat born, rally quickly and it becomes very obvious, very rapidly that the separatist were responsible for what happened to the Jedi Councilors.  This gives the GAR, particularly the personal battalions of those same Jedi, a new vigor and driving force.  In trying to destabilize the GAR, the separatist actually provided them with a rallying point (Fighting for freedom or protecting the innocent is a great tagline but hard to turn from concept to reality. Fighting because someone fucked with our generals is much easier to put a face to).

It takes eight months to track down the architects of the chemical weapon, who never developed a cure (During this time the war is categorically won by the Republic). Before being captured they managed to destroy about a quarter of the notes regarding the weapon. Using what is left, it takes two years to recreate the missing portion of the notes and another 15 months to synthesize an antidote. 

By this point Mace Windu had to be under constant sedation to alleviate the strain of the injuries he sustained in the hallucination. Because of this it was Plo Koon who woke first. 

Yoda and Obi Wan were still missing.

Plo commented that the Force felt so much lighter. He jolted when he saw Commander Wolffe sitting next to his bed. Thankfully he accepted that he had been in a hallucination easily. And as he described what had gone on within the hallucination (As he had died early, he was cursed with the helpless knowledge of exactly what was going on: the chips, Anakin's fall, The march on the temple, all the evils of the galactic empire) the horror only increased. No one could even blame his slight flinch whenever Anakin spoke, not even Anakin after Plo described the march on the temple in devastating detail and the fight on Mustafar (It only takes a few moments to realize this was a worst case scenario specifically from the Mind of Obi Wan, who could not think about much worse than his beloved brother becoming Falling and becoming Vader).

Eventually Plo is asked if he knows where Obi Wan and Yoda are, even as the other members of the council begin to wake. 

He does, but he recommends that it is not the Clones or Anakin Skywalker that go after either. For a moment Anakin considers being offended, this was his lineage after all, but after hearing what had happened in the hallucination, what Obi Wan and Yoda currently remember him doing, it only makes sense. 

And Cody may be chomping at the bit to go after his general (he was only on Coruscant to see the antidote be administered in hopes that it would give them a clue as to where Obi Wan was, he has spent all of his time since the war ended with the rest of the 212th,searching the galaxy for their general) but he can also see the wisdom of not spooking the general.  

Unfortunately the cure had to be administered intravenously, so there was no gassing the planet. 

Aayla Secura is sent to Dagobah to make contact with Yoda. He is not able to sense her, because she is dead in the hallucination.  He sees her and hears her but believes her to be the hallucination, come to torment him with his failures (Look I imagine that Obi Wan and Yoda have really similar headspaces regarding the genocide of their people and the self isolation that they enacted because of it.).  She is able to administer the cure and get him back to the ship and headed toward Coruscant.

The thing is this hallucination has been active in his mind for 3 years. For the comatose Jedi there was an extra degree of separation from the hallucination (Because they could only watch, the horror was somewhat muted). So while the cure works, breaking Yoda of the hallucination he is utterly changed by three years of horror and isolation and the press of a created darkside. He abjectly refuses to take any seat of power (The entire order has been restructured by necessity since they had no idea when they would cure the high council) and retreats to the creche. It takes years before he stops being hypervigilant when he sees trooper armor in the temple (particularly if that armor is 501st blue). The troopers never begrudge how he stills at the sight of their armor, and it becomes a policy that troopers who want to enter the creche will change into anything but their armor. 

Mace Windu also needs years to recover, having spent three years ‘healing’ from having his hands cut off and being thrown from the Chancellor office.  His mind expects his hands to be gone, which causes all kinds of issues (Kind of the reverse of having a phantom limb). Sheev Palpatine was a friend of Mace’s (It was friendship born of being leaders, doing their best and knowing that their every decision held the weight of a galaxy) and a frequent visitor while they were working on a cure. The first time he enter’s Mace’s room after the cure, Mace lashes out with the Force and throws him through the door in pure panic. This wild panic reaction lasts for three months (with countless attempts by Mace and the mind healers to break it) before Mace growls and decides that it would not happen again.  He then would go to camp out in Palpatine’s apartments for two weeks to train himself out of the reaction. 

It is Quinlan Vos that is chosen to lure Obi Wan out of hiding. Now that they know that the hallucination is affecting Obi Wan’s ability to sense with the Force, the 212th insist that they will provide Vos with hsi transportation to Tatooine, though they do agree not to actually set foot on the planet.  

As far as the residents of Tatooine are concerned, Ben the hermit showed up one day to wander into the Wastes and give himself heatstroke.   He is considered crazy but mostly harmless, and slightly obsessed with the Lars family. In this world Beru and Owen Lars did adopt a baby born right around the time Ben arrived. This little boy, whom they do name Luke, is the son of an escaped slave woman who died in childbirth on their farm. Like many slaves and children of slaves, she took the last name Skywalker. 

Ben thinks he is watching over the son of his brother, and that Owen hates him for failing Anakin. Owen is leery of the strange hermit that watches their farm (particularly Luke) from afar and vanishes into the Jutland Wastes when approached.  Particularly since the few times they have talked to him, he hasn’t actually made much sense.  Every so often other moisture farmers would come to the farm to chat and ask Owen or Beru about Ben. Both are forced to nod and go ‘yep, he’s still out there raving about a galactic empire and apologizing for killing Owen's brother. No, Owen doesn’t have a brother’ (Having only met Anakin once, and though he knows that Shimi had another son, really doesn’t connect Shimi’s son to this brother). 

Vos is eventually able to track Obi Wan/Ben down. It takes some trickery for Vos to administer the cure (Ben tries to kick him off the planet three times, hissing that Vos can’t draw the empire’s attention to Tatooine) but once it does, it knocks him out enough for Vos to carry him back to the spaceport. 

The Lar’s happen to be in town when Vos comes through carrying Ben. Beru asks what Vos is doing with Ben.  Vos responds that he is bringing him home. Owen asks if Vos will be able to get Ben the help he needs. Vos answers yes, and they all go about their day. Ben the hermit will remain a story told on Tatooine for years, particularly after High General Obi Wan comes back a decade later and awkwardly thanks the Lars for the kindness they exhibited.  

Like Yoda and Mace, the time in the hallucination affected Obi Wan deeply.  He keeps a constant ‘watch’ though the Force on his men (within the hallucination their force presence flattened and fell away in the wake of Order 66) and feels deeply protective of all these individual lights that died just as surely as the Jedi did.  He also clings to Anakin’s force presence, but cannot stand to be in a room with Anakin and children. He knows it is irrational but can’t quite help it. At times even stepping foot on Coruscant or at the temple is difficult. 

Obi Wan decides to take a step back from being a knight and Master. He and many of the clones, primarily of the 212th though there are others, plus a few Jedi and others they pick up along the way decide that they will take a survey mission to begin to map some of the wild space beyond the outer rim. He, Cody, and Rex end up entering into a relationship that forms the base for a polycule with the majority of the crew (with the exception of the children they acquire, those all call each member of the polycule some variation of mom/dad/parent).  

They all eventually find happiness, though it does not always look like everything else.

[raleighrador]

Jedi recruitment - ontological necessity or political pragmatism?

The fact that Jedi almost exclusively recruit pre verbal children is easily one of the most controversial aspects of the Order, in universe and amongst fans.

The debate broadly centres on why they do it and what the results (for individuals and at a systemic level) are. I would argue, based on what we see in material both pre and post the Disney acquisition, that this practice is not strictly necessary and is at least as much a successful political tool that benefits the Jedi as it is anything else.

So, why do the Jedi do it (according to them/their supporters)? There are basically 2 arguments that are made: i) untrained force sensitives are dangerous to themselves & those around them and ii) The Jedi order are the only appropriate institution to train them (both practically and philosophically).

On the first - this just isn't at all clear, and the Jedi's behaviour is further evidence that this is far less of a problem than they like to imply.

So far as we know the most natively powerful force connections in the Star Wars universe are Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Rey Palpatine/Skywalker. People like Ben Solo/Kylo Renn, Mae and Osha Aniseya, Yoda, Sheev Palpatine all plausibly fit in to some kind of top 10. Anakin is probably/definitely at the top and the rest all fit in behind him.

Anakin, Luke, Leia, Rey, Ben, Osha all started training ranging from later than the Jedi ideal through to when they were full grown adults. All became powerful and dangerous (in the way that all people with super powers are), 3 of them fell to the dark side with dire consequences and 3 didn't. That is probably an argument in favour of Jedi style training if not recruitment, because their method seems to have significantly higher success rates (though not a perfect one).

It is also the wrong frame of reference. Far more interesting & insightful are all the children the Jedi DON'T recruit. There are basically 2 drivers behind these un-recruited Force sensitive children: Jedi only take children with the parents' consent & the Jedi only have jurisdiction inside the Republic.

I personally am very dubious of the claim that every child who was ever recruited by the Jedi was done so with the parents consent. For this argument I am willing to assume it is true.

Why do the Jedi only take kids with parental consent? If untrained force sensitives are so dangerous surely they should be taking all children regardless? This introduces 2 points of tension: either the Jedi don't always respect consent or they do, and the reason they do is because it isn't actually as strictly necessary to take these kids as they like to imply.

The fact that they only operate within the borders of the Republic is a second proof point. The Republic is the largest but not the only geopolitical body in the GFFA. You have Hutt space, Wild Space, the Unknown Regions, Hapes Cluster etc. If untrained force sensitives really were such a great threat that only the Jedi can handle them a) it is a very dubiously defensible for the Jedi to say "ah shucks the border is here" b) it would suggest that the other political entities would have at least some sort of co-operative agreement with the Jedi and c) you would presumably see dozens of rogue force users operating in these non-Republic spaces with grave consequences.

You don't.

I get that Force sensitives are rare but they are sufficiently common that the Jedi Order has pretty clear and constantly renewed generations. You don't ever see only a single youngling, there aren't years or decades where there are no padawans because the seekers haven't found anyone for 20 years.

So presumably - like Anakin and Rey and Mae and Osha - force sensitives are being born pretty frequently outside the Republic. They by definition aren't being found and raised by the Jedi. Yet we don't see any especially dire consequences of this.

It therefore doesn't seem at all clear that it is a necessity for the Jedi to take these children - and the Jedi's own behaviour reinforces that conclusion.

The second claim is that the Jedi - and only the Jedi - can appropriately train these children. I think there are 2 elements to "appropriately train": the first is mechanical ie the Jedi a actually know how the force works and can teach you to move rocks or whatever and the second is a question of values or philosophy ie the Jedi teach you selflessness.

Notably, the Jedi actually blend these 2. They explicitly discuss "right" and "wrong" ways to achieve the same outcome. You can find your calm centre and channel the Force dispassionately to lift a rock, you can also tap into your emotions to do so. These achieve the same output with - seemingly - the same mechanic but the Jedi consider the latter pathway dangerous and inappropriate.

On the purely mechanical - they are clearly not the only people who can teach this. We know about smaller "legitimate" Force cults (like the Guardians of the Hills, Fallanassi, Sorcers of Tund, Yacombe - notably for seeking balance between light and dark in their own practice) as well as "illegitimate" cults like the Night Sisters (it is not clear to me if the Dathomiri Night Sisters and the Brendok Coven are factions of a single group or distinct) and the Sith. They were all able to manipulate and use the Force. They were all capable of teaching these abilities to others. The nature of their abilities were not perfectly consistent - different cults could do different things, including things that members of other cults would not even recognise.

Not only were there other people out there who could use the Force and teach others to do so, they were also teaching and using techniques the Jedi didn't know or understand. So the Jedi clearly were not the only people capable of this instruction.

What they did have was an effective monopoly on legitimate instruction. All the other cults mentioned were either literally illegal (Sith), totally unofficial and unrecognised and suffered some degree of official persecution (Night Sisters), or were significantly smaller and more localised than the Jedi. None enjoyed "official" status or the backing of the largest government in the GFFA like the Jedi.

On the question of values or philosophy it is clear that the Jedi don't have a monopoly on selflessness or being a good person. Nor is it evident that the very specific Jedi interpretation of "goodness" is the only tool (or even a necessary tool) to prevent Force users from becoming dangerous.

The evidence for this is the fact that with the exception of the Sith, none of the above cults seem to ever have posed some kind of meaningful or sustained threat to peace or stability in the GFFA. There have been individual members who have done bad, even monstrous things, but there is nothing inherent in their philosophy that makes them or their use of the Force dangerous.

Equally, it is worth coming back to the prior point that the Jedi have - throughout history - been the single most common source of Sith. In fact they seem to be the only one of these cults that has any record of inadvertently being a source for future Sith. That is to say - all Sith seem to either be raised from "birth"/only ever been trained by other Sith (like Maul, or Palpatine) or to be former Jedi.

So we are now in a place where i) untrained Force sensitives don't actually pose some kind of existential threat ii) the Jedi are not the only people capable of providing technical instruction in using the Force and iii) there is nothing particular about Jedi teachings that makes them especially resistant to the dark side in general and Sith in particular. If anything, they seem more likely to inadvertently produce future Sith than the other cults.

A small diversion to explore what it is the Jedi seek to teach and how: Attachment is bad.

I would argue the Jedi restrictions on emotion are significantly more extensive than that. It is functionally all forms of love or affection that they are opposed to or at least very disapproving of. Equally they don't seem to have much room for other emotions. Certainly not anger but not even grief or sadness. These latter 2 are in many ways the most illustrative - there is Yoda's advice that Anakin rejoice for those who transform into the Force; and in the Acolyte we got Jecki's "It's always an honour to witness anything or anyone transform into the Force".

That is bizarre as hell. Always? It is always an honour? This is the instinctive rote response to "I feel very bad for getting that animal killed"?

I am not saying that Yoda and Jecki and the Jedi teachings are completely wrong. I am saying that they don't sound like they make room for the full gamut of emotions. They don't teach "feel sad, own it, acknowledge it, process it, and let it go". They teach "don't be sad".

That is not a very helpful philosophy. It just doesn't engage with the reality that emotions are totally natural and largely unavoidable functions of human (and presumably in GFFA other sapient) physiology.

It presumably has more to it than I am acknowledging but either way it doesn't seem especially compelling. Why can't this be taught (consistently successfully) to adults? I would have reservations about ANY philosophy that openly explained that it basically only works on children who have no competing frame of reference or adults who have lost all their friends and family. That is deeply suspicious.

Even if it isn't the philosophy itself per se it says nothing good about the pedagogical methods of the Jedi.

The other consideration here is that the sensible bits of the philosophy are pretty shallow - and not at all unique to the Jedi. Especially in fandom when basically any "bad decision" by a Jedi or other Force user is explained by "oh ho they're thinking with their emotions and attachments" while "good decisions" are "Jedi-like" and must come from a place of detachment.

2 examples - Shmi's decision to let Anakin go with the Jedi is often described as "Jedi like" and demonstrates a lack of selfish attachment that Anakin would have done well to emulate. This is nonsensical for a number of reasons, not least of which being that Shmi had literally zero agency in this situation. She isn't make a real, informed choice either way. More than that, the alternative is "my child stays a slave'. Many parents all over the world (and presumably the GFFA) make sacrifices for the good of their children all the time. So these relationships clearly don't preclude someone being selfless or "unattached" as the Jedi define. Yet it remains the most commonly prohibited relationship by the Jedi. It is explicitly the one relationship they are guaranteed to prohibit for every one of their members. Mother Aniseya in the Acolyte is another example - I think her decision making around Osha is bonkers. However it is held up as selfless and unattached that it is her who chooses to let Osha go with the Jedi, and everyone else who ruins it by being attached. What is missed though is WHY she makes that decision. "I choose Mother". It is expressly in choosing to prioritise her familial relationship with Osha over her political one with the Coven that she "let's go" of Osha.

So not only do you not need to be a Jedi to make these sorts of decisions and learn these lessons, you definitely don't need to be isolated from familial relationships.

I would argue an even more interesting example from the Acolyte is Mae. In the season finale she is the only one who comes at all close to some kind of "Jedi like" decisions. She doesn't want revenge, she wants Sol to confess his crimes and face systemic justice. This from a girl whose life was ruined by the Jedi and then at some point she got found and trained by the "Sith" (I am not sold Qimir is a de jure Sith but I digress).

She was almost as far from a Jedi as possible but still came to the "Jedi like" decision. There are also lots of people with less extreme background who do the same.

So what gives? What is so special about Jedi training? I would suggest that from the perspective of teaching people the technical skills to use the force and the values to not abuse it... not much.

Certainly not enough to warrant a state backed effective monopoly that empowers you to test any child you wish and take the vast majority of them.

Even if you accept that the Jedi (and other Force cults) are right that only the Light Side can be safely used, the Jedi are not the only people who believe or teach that. So why do they deserve to be the only ones allowed to (en masse) recruit and train children?

So why then do the Jedi do it and why do the Republic allow them to do it? To me it seems much more about maintaining a monopoly on legitimate violence and use of the Force.

What taking children in early and separating them from their family, denying them any material possessions outside of their role in the Order, does is ensure they are loyal to you and don't have any other options.

The extent to which people are free to leave - formally and practically - seems very limited. In the thousands of years of the Order's written records, only 20 Masters have left. Even if we assume (eg per the Acolyte and TCW) that more non-masters have left, it remains a very small number. The practical limitations seem most pertinent - as per Osha, as well as our own observations - being raised a Jedi just doesn't prepare you to do anything except be a Jedi. Add that to the lack of network or resources outside the Order (as well as eg material threats of slavery because people want access to Force sensitives), and it becomes very difficult to leave willingly.

@redrikki has written compelling on this but the Jedi are demonstrably a cult. A significant element of that is the concentration of political, material, and in Star Wars metaphysical power.

Specifically recruiting and isolating and raising children serves the Jedi's aims of i) ensuring their ongoing hegemony and ii) is a mechanism for preventing or suppressing conflict. You simply diminish the number of people who can actually enter into conflict with you because you do your best to ensure they're all working for you. This is plausibly at least partially noble - you head off any conflicts that might require your intervention.

That nobility is thinned by the earlier discussion because it begs the question of what kind of conflict are the Jedi preventing (or gearing up to fight)?

Let us be clear - the Sith are a toxic, destructive ideology that should be opposed. Their philosophy is self-serving and violent. They are quite literal evil.

I just don't think their existence justified the children taking and isolating as many children as they can. This is especially true in the 1000 years leading up to the Prequels. As far as the Jedi believed, there were no Sith. So not even the Jedi were using the Sith - and any conflict with them, which I would say is a justified conflict - as the justification for the policy.

What kind of conflicts were they therefore seeking to prevent? I would suggest they were attempting to avoid any conflict over resources or support or legitimacy with other smaller Force cults. Even worse, I think they were avoiding a scenario where it became plausible to argue that the Jedi weren't necessary at all.

In a world where the Jedi are not actively recruiting children I would imagine 2 things happen: other Force cults become larger and more prominent, sufficiently large to start exerting political influence. This is not necessarily counter to the Jedi or a threat but it is also not necessary aligned with the Jedi. Even if not malicious, it would be a different set of priorities and a different set of philosophies that the Jedi (and the Republic writ large) would need to engage with.

These cults are different to each other and the Jedi. They by definition do not agree on all/some of the mechanics of the Force, the values and philosophies that govern it, its appropriate use, and the role of Force sensitives in the Galaxy. If they were perfectly aligned they wouldn't be distinct cults. These different groups operating in the galaxy, recruiting, preaching, proselytising pose a necessary risk (or at least complication) to the Jedi's role.

At minimum it likely results in someone somewhere asking "what is up with all these cults? Are they all Jedi? Do they all get the same rights and privileges?" and this opens up a series of conversations as to which groups get what and why. In a broadly pluralist context, as the Republic seems to be, it isn't clear to me that you could neatly draw that out in a way that is clear and practicable to the Senate.

If they do start actively behaving or advocating in ways that are counter to the Jedi's interests, it is unclear how the Jedi could respond. Let's assume the Jedi have the best interest of the Republic at heart. Let's assume the other groups do too (or at least are willing to say they are, even if self-serving). How would these disagreements get resolved in a way that is systemically defensible and legitimate in the eyes of the galaxy? "The Force says so" is not really an option when both parties can legitimately use it.

It is far simpler for the Jedi to just head this off by ensuring these other cults remain small, or at least the Jedi remain significantly larger and more wide spread.

The other thing that happens if the Jedi don't have a near monopoly on force sensitive kids, is many of these kids grow up... basically fine. Sure they're lucky and fast and good at telling when people are lying, and probably crazy good at Space Baseball and whatever, but they don't pose any kind of major threat to the galaxy. Based on what we have seen, and the lack of rogue force sensitives going on rampages outside the Republic, this seems like the most likely outcome.

How do the Jedi justify themselves to the Senate then? How do they maintain their independence and status if you've got non-Jedi force sensitives running for office or serving in the diplomatic corp? Non-Jedi force sensitives in the policing and security services?

A significant element of the Jedi's status and privilege is that they are legitimately very, very good at things. The Force does make you better at discerning the truth, reading people, sensing the long term outcomes of decisions, combat etc. It makes the Jedi significant assets.

They're also a mysterious and poorly understood religious order. For historical reasons this has been tolerated, and the Jedi have justified their ongoing independence through effectiveness and lack of alternatives.

Lots of non-Jedi Force sensitives, with access to non-Jedi teachers who can still teach them the mechanics of the Force, severely challenges that status.

Again this is not a wholly or even mostly nefarious concern for the Jedi to have. In the same way that more planets/entities having independent militarised security forces ala the Trade Federation might be a challenge to stability, having more (potentially militarised) Force sensitives has a risk. However, the policy of Jedi monopoly on recruitment is only one way of managing that risk, and it is a way that simultaneously cements their position in the Republic.

Importantly - this also all suits the Republic itself. While I am sure some people want their own Force sensitive armies, no one wants someone else to have them. I also imagine no one is excited about having to fund a second or third mysterious religion filled with (potentially) super powered warrior diplomats. No one wants more competing interests and jurisdictional debates etc.

So I don't think this is an example of the Jedi somehow tricking the Republic or behaving deceitfully or doing anything except their very best to do what they think is right.

That just doesn't mean this isn't a political policy.

[dumpster-fire-deluxe]

Dark Devotion - Chapter 26

Rating: Explicit

Fandom: Star Wars

Characters: Palpatine/Reader

Story summary:

Getting married is quite literally what you were born for. And Senator Palpatine seems better than some of the other options.

“I demand complete devotion. You’ll be mine in every sense of the word. You will do as I say and submit to my every desire. In return, you’ll want for nothing." He leans forward to take your hand and places a kiss on it. “I own you now.”

(Or: sweet, innocent reader gets married off to Shady Sheev and is forced to serve him. CNC/dub-con/non-con.)

[valorums]

FORCE SUPPRESSED

What is it?

An alternate timeline where Shi’al is born with Force Sensitivity, but her connection to the Living Force is suppressed by Sith Magic from Darth Sidious.

❝ Gazing into this newborn infant’s eyes, Darth Sidious was granted a moment of clarity. HER MERE EXISTENCE PUT BALANCE IN JEOPARDY. Either the SITH WOULD RULE THE GALAXY amidst the JEDI ORDER’S DESTRUCTION, or the Jedi would be led into a new RENAISSANCE as the souls lost to darkness were guided back to the light.

THE SONGBIRD, BORN AT TWILIGHT, WILL EITHER GUIDE THE LOST BACK TO THE LIGHT OR PLUNGE THE GALAXY INTO ENDLESS NIGHT.

Whichever came to pass was entirely her choice to make. The Chosen One may be BALANCE PERSONIFIED, but in that cradle rested the EMBODIMENT OF CHAOS. There was nothing that he longed for more than to exploit this well of immense, untapped power for himself; however, this child was DANGEROUS. This weapon could single handedly upset the entirety of his grand design if she fell into the wrong hands. For the good of the galaxy, HE MUST SUPPRESS HER LIVING FORCE. ❞

FOR NEW LIFE TO BE CREATED, a life must be taken. The birth of SHI’AL FINIS VALORUM is marred by great tragedy; through bringing Shi’al into existence, Coruscant’s widely beloved fashion designer RHEA VALORUM meets an untimely end. Doctors list the ultimate cause of her death as CHILDBIRTH, but then-Senator SHEEV PALPATINE knows better. After all, HE was the one who had dealt the killing blow.

This newborn radiated immense POWER, and upon learning of the PROPHECY tied to her existence, Sidious grew wary. Shi’al was destined to tip the scales of balance forever; she was a WILD CARD who could become quite dangerous were she to fall into the wrong hands. While Rhea is in labor, Sidious wields ancient SITH MAGIC to drain the expecting mother’s life force and repurpose that life force as a PERMANENT FORCE SUPPRESSION BLOCK.

Shi’al grows up TRAPPED WITHIN A GOLDEN CAGE, none the wiser to the sheer power thrumming inside her soul save for the peculiar sensation that something is missing. Despite the suppression block, her Force Sensitivity echoes in unique ways — a keen and open-minded observer might, for example, witness her KNIFE THROWING in action and wonder whether her SHARP REFLEXES were a gift from the Living Force. However, their musings would soon be dismissed; Sidious’s block is buried so deeply inside Shi’al’s soul that it remains undetected even by the JEDI COUNCIL.

⠀ ⠀Three years into THE CLONE WARS, Shi’al’s beloved godfather — CHANCELLOR PALPATINE — is exposed as a SITH LORD and a TRAITOR. Presented with IRREFUTABLE EVIDENCE of the latter accusation, the GALACTIC SENATE (against all odds) sentences Palpatine to death by PUBLIC EXECUTION. Naturally, Shi’al Valorum is in attendance.

Upon the very instant that the KILLING BLOW is dealt, Shi’al collapses — not from grief as some erroneously assume, but rather, from the DESTRUCTION of the Force Suppression block buried within her soul for TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS. The consequences of the block’s demise are felt far and wide by Force-Sensitives across the galaxy as the release of PENT-UP ENERGY causes an enormous disturbance in the Living Force. Shi’al remains entirely oblivious to this entire fiasco, unconscious and overwhelmed due to the sensory overload from her seemingly newfound Force Sensitivity.

⠀ When she wakes up in the MEDBAY of the JEDI TEMPLE, Shi’al learns of the Force Suppression Block amidst mourning the loss of her godfather. In the weeks that follow, the young woman must grapple with these developments — and to make matters even more complicated, MASTER YODA HAS DEFIED THE WILL OF TRADITION AND OFFERED HER A HOME WITHIN THE RANKS OF THE JEDI ORDER.

The fate of the living force is now in her hands.

When could I use this plotline?

… if there is a VILLAIN muse wanting to acquire a new APPRENTICE or explore a possible REDEMPTION ARC.

… if there is a NON-FORCE SENSITIVE muse wanting to explore a timeline that does not end in tragedy.

… if there is a JEDI muse who wants more connections within the ranks of the Jedi Order.

… all the time! it’s actually probably the most dominant universe within my blog right now, and definitely one of my absolute favorites to write. Gimmie all the force sensitive Shi’al threads / interactions 😤

Universe Notes / Headcanons:

The concept for Shi’al’s prophecy — and the motivation for Palpatine to suppress her connection to the Force — was pulled directly from CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, which sometimes calls JESUS the REDEEMER. In Shi’al’s case, the title REDEEMER refers to her destiny to DELIVER LOST SOULS back to the light and FREE THEM FROM THE CAPTIVITY of the dark side. However, this does not mean that she can force redemption upon another; all she can do is offer the lost soul a second chance, and provide them with the tools to accept that chance.

so yeah … either Shi’al becomes Space Jesus, or she falls to the Dark Side and resurrects the Sith Empire with herself as Empress. There’s literally no in between, because this is all about pure CHAOS. leave all the balance to Anakin ✨

NOBODY knows about Shi’al’s prophecy except DARTH SIDIOUS, QUI-GON JINN, COUNT DOOKU, and YODA. Sidious ordered Dooku to delete the prophecy from the JEDI ARCHIVES shortly after Shi’al’s birth.

Although preferred, this universe does not necessarily require Sidious’s death. If your muse is affiliated with the dark side, then they may be able to detect and remove the block from Shi’al themselves.

If the Suppression block is removed by an external factor other than Palpatine’s death, the removal will be excruciatingly painful for Shi’al.

In the immediate aftermath following Darth Sidious’s execution, his crimson red lightsaber chooses a new owner entirely of its own volition — Shi’al Valorum, who purifies the kyber crystal and wields the weapon as her own. She also builds a lightsaber of her own design after acquiring a violet kyber crystal on Ilum.

This universe can be tied to the redemption universe that I have developed for Count Dooku on @prodijedi.

Adjacent Universes and Timelines:

Path of the Wayseeker

The Chosen One’s Dyad

[ao3feed-obikin]

the dream is over

read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/51330652 by boguspreston, innominatta (ineptia) There can only be two Jedi at a time, though there is no such limitation on the Sith. Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Sith recruiter, a siren, who looks for Force sensitives to tempt to the way of the Sith. Anakin Skywalker was a slave until he was bought and freed by Cliegg Lars, where he had a happy adolescence. When his mother dies, he experiences a surge of the Force which alerts the Sith recruiter, Obi-Wan Kenobi, who sets his sights on him to tempt to the Dark Side. Or, sex, drugs and rock'n'roll in a galaxy far far away... Words: 6148, Chapters: 1/20, Language: English Fandoms: Star Wars - All Media Types Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: M/M Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Darth Maul, Asajj Ventress, Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Dooku | Darth Tyranus Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Dark, Switch Obi-Wan Kenobi, Switch Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are the Same Age, Anakin Skywalker is Not a Jedi, Sith Obi-Wan Kenobi, Unhealthy Relationships, Drug Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, gratuitous smoking, dark themes, Rough Sex, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Suitless Darth Vader, Force Choking (Star Wars), Breathplay, Slut Shaming, Consensual Non-Consent, Blow Jobs, Anakin Skywalker Loves Obi-Wan Kenobi, Competent Anakin Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Mean Obi-Wan Kenobi, codependent relationship, Emotional Slow Burn, Eventual Happy Ending, Other Additional Tags to Be Added read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/51330652

[shadowlight17]

CloneShipping Big Bang Sneak Peek!

Here is the sneak peek for Squad Two!! @cloneshippingbigbang

So excited to bring this to you all! It's my first time podficcing so this will be fun! PRESENTING With @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan as Author. And as Artists @artoforesteia, myself, and Lightning Dropkick (who is also Beta). Fic Title:

Time is an Illusion, The Galaxy Makes No Sense

Rated: Mature. Word Count: 50,300

Pairings: Brill(OC)/Boss, OC/Fixer, OC/Sev, OC/Scorch

Tags: Temporary Character Death (Boss), Game Mechanic Shenanigans, Brain Surgery, Clone Commandos, Republic Commando, Alternate Universe, A/B/O,  Clone Trooper Discrimination, Clone Troopers Deserve Better, Sheev Palpatine is His Own Warning, Yandere Clone Troopers, Dark Clone Troopers, OC/Boss, OC/Scorch, OC/Fixer, OC/Sev, Possessive Clone Troopers, Dub Con, mentions of non con off screen, The Force, Magic-ish

Major Archive Warnings: Major Character Death, Dubcon.

Summary:

Boss has an Unusual Defect, one that makes it seem like he can travel back in time to a point in the past. Usually, once he has been healed up at a bacta tank dispenser. One of the things that he realizes is, not only is he shifting through time, he is shifting through Alternate Dimensions and Timelines, most of them are very similar to the ones that he originally came from, and some of them are very different. But as a Commando, he was trained to roll with the punches, and flying blaster bolts, and is determined to keep his squad alive. No matter how many times he has to die in order to get a happier ending.

Snippet and Sneak Peek below!

He... pauses and listens, asking questions and slowly following after Sev. Quiet and determined- and interested in that cure- and offering his help, in what little can, what with knowing only enough medical stuff to patch himself and his vode 'e up mid- and post-battle.

Still- Sev encouraged his interesting Other Things- rather than eyeing his blaster with the desperate gaze that he's seen in other vod'e- he's still on Being Watched- for... Suicidal Ideation. Just in case. Boss listens and learns much as the geneticists allow him to of the testing and what they are doing- them finding the Cure- and then later a shelf-stable version of it.

One that he very studiously learns how to make- his joints, oh, how they ache and crack, even though getting the rapid aging cure helps, he is still suffering the after-effects of the rapid aging, before it had been shifted to normal nat-born aging rates for a near-human species.

Still- during one of the times that they are helping the Rebels out with administrative tasks, teaching tactics, and whatnot, which helps them, most of these nat-borns are very painfully civilian.

It's interesting, teaching other skills to fight and defend and tactics to kill and harm. Then the alarm klaxons ring, and as the Empire descends on them, Boss makes sure to help others evacuate and fight.

He sees Sev get dragged on a transport- who turns to look- eyes widening in alarm as he sees Boss not on the ship as the last transport takes flight while he is still on the ground- Sev is trying to move there is noise and light and heat and pain... light, darkness, and a howling silence.

Boss's eyes snap open and his eyes flicker around swiftly as he tries to assess where he is, when it is, and what's going on. He mentally frowns as he looks around, everything seems... bigger- and he notices the harsh white walls and blinding- not blinding lights.

Kamino. Why the kark is he all the way on Kamino? That doesn't make sense- he should be somewhere in Kashyyyk not on Kamino. Perhaps it was because it had been so long since he had done a Return?

Hm... Finishing using the bacta tank dispenser on Kamino he walks- almost wobbling, Sweet karking force how young is he? He finds a mirror and sees a cadet just barely out of decanting peer at him in the mirror.

Well, kriff. He's back years in the past- before the start of the War, and well before the Rise of the Empire- and the fall of the Republic. Which had been more decaying into the Empire- but alas, such quibbles are for those that care about politics and mega-conglomerations.

One of the first things that the tubie-cadet Commandos are taught is how to use the bacta tank dispensers. The only times they are sent to the medics are for is when they get shots and their annual medical checks that all vod'e have to take.

[ao3feed--reylo]

the stars and everything below (were set to explode)

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/HaZIiM4

by coloredblue

One day he is Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the First Order once known as Ben Solo, watching as the Takodana Palace and everything inside gets destroyed with the purpose to ensure his loyalty to the dark side of the Force.

The next day, he has no idea who he is, finding himself roaming through the streets of a totally unknown place filled with strangers.

Rey Niima is a journalism student and pizza delivery girl whose entire world gets turned upside down the night she finds a mysterious man who had just crash-landed on the rooftop of a building in New York City.

It was safe to say, everything had been perfectly set up to explode.

Words: 4021, Chapters: 1/16, Language: English

Fandoms: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Rey (Star Wars), Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Ben Solo, Rose Tico, Finn (Star Wars), Maz Kanata, Armitage Hux, Phasma (Star Wars), Leia Organa, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca (Star Wars), Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious

Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, The Force Ships Kylo Ren/Rey, they are from different galaxies, Rey teaches Ben about her world, amnesic Ben Solo, Conflicted Kylo Ren, College Student Rey (Star Wars), non force user Rey, Rey of Sunshine (Star Wars), Child Abandonment, Redeemed Ben Solo, break up with your boyfriend (respectfully), sort of roommates, Force Bond (Star Wars), Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Sexual Content, Angst with a Happy Ending

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/HaZIiM4

[fanoflotofstuff]

Squad #2 - Time Is an Illusion, The Galaxy Makes No Sense- Master Post

Organized by @cloneshippingbigbang

Writer: Me

Artist: @afinedeath @shadowlight17

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 50,065

Pairing: Boss/OC, Scorch/OC, Sev/OC, Fixer/OC

Tags: Temporary Character Death (Boss), Game Mechanic Shenanigans, Brain Surgery, Clone Commandos, Republic Commandos, Alternate Universe, A/B/O, Clone Trooper Discrimination/Dehumanization, Clone Troopers Deserve Better, Clone Trooper Inhibitor Chips, Sheev Palpatine is his Own Warning, Yandere Clone Troopers, Dark Clone Troopers, Possessive Clone Troopers, Dubious Consent, mentions of non-con off screen, Magic Sith Space Zome Clones, Zombie Clone Troopers, The Force, Magic-ish

Summary: Boss has an Unusual Defect, one that makes it seem like he can travel back in time to a point in the past. Usually, once he has been healed up at a bacta tank dispenser. One of the things that he realizes is, not only is he shifting through time, he is shifting through Alternate Dimensions and Timelines, most of them are very similar to the ones that he originally came from, and some of them are very different. But as a Commando, he was trained to roll with the punches, and flying blaster bolts, and is determined to keep his squad alive. No matter how many times he has to die to get a happier ending.

Art Here

Art here

Story Here

[sirikenobi12]

New Fic - Sion's Offering Series

Azure Sunset (5826 words) by Siri_Kenobi12 Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Jedi Apprentice Series - Jude Watson & Dave Wolverton, Star Wars Legends: Jedi Quest Series - Jude Watson, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Legends: Secrets of the Jedi - Jude Watson Rating: Mature Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Siri Tachi, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Adi Gallia & Siri Tachi, Roan Lands/Ferus Olin Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Siri Tachi, Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala, Plo Koon, Mace Windu, Ahsoka Tano, Adi Gallia, Vokara Che, Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Jenna Zan Arbor, Maz Kanata, Hondo Ohnaka, Bail Organa, Jedi Council Members (Star Wars), Ferus Olin, Roan Lands Additional Tags: Angst, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Siri Tachi Needs a Hug, Ahsoka Tano Needs a Hug, Manipulative Sheev Palpatine, The Dark Side of the Force (Star Wars), Jedi as Found Family (Star Wars), Pro Jedi, That's Not How The Force Works (Star Wars), Medical Experimentation, Medical Trauma, Mystery Stories, Mystery, Human Trafficking, Forced Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Blood and Injury, Love Doesn't Equal Attachment (Star Wars), Hallucinations, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Depression, Detective Noir, Worried Obi-Wan Kenobi, Protective Obi-Wan Kenobi, Protective Mace Windu, Creepy Sheev Palpatine, Jedi Lineages (Star Wars), sith lineages Series: Part 5 of Sion's Offering Summary: “It’s nothing, I am just getting distracted.” Plo Koon had known him his entire life, and was one of the few who could see through his shields. The older Master folded his arms within the billowing sleeves of his Jedi cloak as he looked carefully at him through his goggles. “Your thoughts betray you.” He simply replied. “The last time I sensed something like this was during the blockade on Naboo.” Obi-Wan finally spoke. “I see,” Plo Koon’s deep voice rumbled. “That is significant.” *** OR: The mystery of Sion's Offering continues to be unraveled, but the answers could push all of our heroes to their breaking points. Will they be able to discover the truth before it's too late to save the Republic and the Jedi from the Sith? Takes Place during the Citadel mission in 20 BBY. (Mind the tags in this one, this one is gonna get really dark!)

[workingchemistry]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Rape/Non-Con

Categories: Gen Other

Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types

Relationships:

Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Sheev Palpatine & Anakin Skywalker

Characters:

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Bail Organa

Additional Tags:

Jedi Indentured AU, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Anakin recognizes he’s not free, and it causes ripples, Anakin Skywalker Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Padawan Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi

Summary

Watto hadn’t been a bad Master, but that certainly didn’t make him a good one either. As much as Anakin loved pod racing—and as determined as he had always been to win—Ani always knew he wasn’t meant to. He was just another piece in all of Watto’s many cons. Find some newcomer down on their luck, convince them that he really could win, get them to bet on him against Watto, and then lose. Anakin hadn’t been supposed to win, and he wasn’t supposed to be free.

So, he supposes, he can’t be too upset that he’s not.

[dswcp]

Happy Clone Wars Friday!

It’s Sith Week! During this scene in the fabulous Sithisis, Palpatine uses a giant crystal in his underground lair to send a lightning storm across Coruscant. The storm frightens the children in the Jedi Temple, who are being babysat by Artoo and a pregnant Padme. A lot of things about this situation don’t really make sense in the plot, but they convey the mood and situation with drama and style. I like the muted palette, theatrical compositions, and lightning as a symbol for Palpatine’s abrupt turn. I also like how the close-up of Artoo’s eye makes him look like HAL 9000.

It makes me emotional to think that Padme feels a connection to the children in the Temple, and may have even visited them. In the movie, we see her weep for the burning Temple. She may have even assumed that the Jedi kids would one day become companions for her future children.

There is something uniquely twisted about Palpatine’s betrayal of Padme, a fellow Naboo in the same career. We see them argue yet remain allies in the first movie, but by the third he finally reveals his true nature, and she finally becomes wise to the evil at the heart of the government she’s served her whole life. Too late!

“Sithisis,” found in “Star Wars: Visionaries.” Dark Horse. March 16, 2005. Writer and artist: Derek Thompson.

[certified-anakinfucker]

wait

the time would not come.

there was not to be an order sixty-six.

but all the same, a ripple ascended the galaxy that every force-user and non alike felt compelled to stand there in awe, and marvel at what a revelation had been under their noses for so, so long. like the storm front shattering across the sky and finally there's just one small ray of sun peeking through clouds.

there was no more darth sidious, there was no more sheev palpatine. he was the sith lord that was foretold and warned of since before yoda's ascension to the title of grand master.

there was no more grandmaster yoda, there was no more aberration of the coruscant temple. he was dead. he died with sidious that night and his spirit would not be granted the luxury of surveillance over those he failed.

grandmaster windu stood with masters agen kolar, kit fisto, saesee tiin. they could not have stopped this, as the force willed it done at this moment.

anakin skywalker of tatooine, the chosen one. his student usokya'omura vane, the barsen'thor. altair castor, the child of the stars, binding the cosmos together for their siblings.

sidious was no more, and anakin had absorbed his power. (he looked a little queasy about it.) omura was engulfed with light, saber hilt splattered with something suspiciously dark. altair pressed tight to its side and waited patiently, squeezed closer as time ticked by.

okay i got super distracted for a second oops

(altair castor belongs to @dilf-archivist!)

[phoenixyfriend]

Palpatine committing medical malpractice on mpreg Vader, please.

I have, no joke, been thinking about this concept non stop since I read your post yesterday.

I feel like there are two people that should normally be tagged any time Palpatine's horrific medical crimes wrt one Darth Anakin Vader Skywalker come up, but I'm not inflicting this on them.

I'm a little bummed you're staying on anon. Come join me in the pit.

So the thing is that it's not mpreg, then medical malpractice. It's medical malpractice to induce mpreg, because Palpatine wants to see what happens.

Finally seeing RotS gave me the weird vibe that like... Vader is the closest Palpatine has ever come to actually caring about someone. He doesn't actually hold any affection, but he's been manipulating and putting effort into this kid for over a decade, which isn't as long as Maul, but after two apprentices fell to Obi-Wan's blade, maybe it's just, like, a Kenobi thing, being able to fuck over Sith Apprentices, so maybe he shouldn't have ditched Maul on planet trash? Meh. Doesn't matter now.

So like. Palpatine doesn't actually care. But he's vaguely? Fond? Of this asshole? In a way that involves torture. He kind of likes Vader but he likes torturing Vader more, both physically and psychologically. It's a hobby, and it's one that Palpatine is very good at.

Mpreg hits a weird, fun little button that I've decided Palpatine has, which is "this will hurt Vader emotionally and make him suffer physically and cause endless torture psychologically, but part of him will still want this for Padme reasons and his general obsession with the nature of life and death, so he still feels thankful to me, the guy fucking him over at every turn, and I like having his gratitude and whatever's left of his love."

So. You know. Palpatine doesn't ask, he just does the thing and tells Vader after, when the uterus and fetus are already implanted, and Vader's just like "Well, okay then" for a variety of reasons, like "thy bidding be done" and "babies..."

Vader's body is in terrible shape. I've been told his prosthetic limbs are designed to hurt him so the pain draws him closer to the dark side, and the suit releases Sith Chemicals. I don't think Palpatine actually thought about what a pregnancy entails, because Vader may be terrifyingly competent in the field, but like. "Swollen feet" and "back pain" are already default, known side effects of pregnancies. How the heck do you expect your perfect killing machine to go out killing things when Pregnancy Bullshit plus Existing Bullshit equals Can't Actually Walk.

It's bad for the baby, Sheev. The anxiety (and Sith Chemicals) and pain hormones are bad for the baby. Vader's taking paternity leave.

Vader doesn't have an employment contract, nor would that contract include paternity leave (or salary, or vacation, or sick leave), but he's doing this anyway. His Glorious Master has graciously gifted him a life to nurture, and so he shall.

Palpatine miscalculated, and realizes this, but he... kind of thinks it's funny? Vader is going to be waddling soon, with like. Baby belly. People will be staring. All Palpatine has to do is tell Vader he can't kill people for being rude about the pregnancy and it turns into a different kind of psychological torture, where people ask invasive questions and make asshole comments, and Vader can't choke them out for it.

Vader is having an endless spiral of Feelings about this baby. Bail Organa is pointedly not commenting on this, when he sees it, especially since Vader is radiating Hate every time someone says anything about it, but it's such a goddamn twist that he calls up Fulcrum and tells her that she needs to go to Tatooine, here's some instructions on whom to find, explain the Vader pregnancy.

Bail is very unfortunate. Vader takes his polite refusal to address the elephant in the room as a good sign and spends time around him as a result. Has Vader decided Bail is his new best friend? Unclear. Bail is scared to ask that, too.

[dumpster-fire-deluxe]

Dark Devotion - Chapter 25

Rating: Explicit

Fandom: Star Wars

Characters: Palpatine/Reader

Story summary:

Getting married is quite literally what you were born for. And Senator Palpatine seems better than some of the other options.

“I demand complete devotion. You’ll be mine in every sense of the word. You will do as I say and submit to my every desire. In return, you’ll want for nothing." He leans forward to take your hand and places a kiss on it. “I own you now.”

(Or: sweet, innocent reader gets married off to Shady Sheev and is forced to serve him. CNC/dub-con/non-con.)

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

"The prequels Jedi were corrupt," is something I've just stumbled upon, again.

How are they though? How? I want an example, a single example of corruption.

Do they take bribes? No they don't, not that we ever see. What would they even do with bribes? They don't pursue material wealth.

Do they influence politicians to gain power? Lol, Riyo Chuchi almost bosses Obi-Wan Kenobi, member of the High Council, around and only backs down because he makes a reasoned argument she agrees with. Padmé Amidala is literally the only politician we see getting influenced by a Jedi to a Jedi's benefit (*cough* Anakin diverting her from her duties *cough*). The Council systematically gets shut down when they try to get something from the Senate (like when they try to get Palpatine not to bring the Zillo beast to Coruscant - Obi-Wan and Padmé *do* ask Anakin to speak to Palpatine, and it does precisely nothing.)

Do they accept a corrupt leadership? In a sense but they don't benefit from it (since most of the Senate doesn't trust them, drafted them into a war they never wanted to be part of, and essentially forces them to send their teenagers into battle because they are stretched so thin) which makes all the difference. They don't enable the corrupt system because it profits them, they support it because the alternatives they have are worse (the Separatists during TCW, who are backed by mega corporations like the Commerce Guild, Techno Union and Trade Federation, and who enslave the Twi'Lek, the Mon Calamari and the Togruta onscreen, just for starters, and use weapons of mass destruction like the Malevolence or that defoliator thing they almost test on the Lurmen when Republic weapons are specifically made not to target organic beings - see the Zillo beast arc) and because the Senate has the authority to order the Jedi to kick people out (Ahsoka) or to drop investigations (Maul in s4, Kamino in s6), and can declare them all traitors. The Jedi don't have the means to go against the whole Republic, and frankly making sure politicians aren't corrupt should primarily be the job of the billions of citizens, not theirs (the 10000~ space monks who have kids to raise and Sith Lords to deal with and would very much like to spend their days meditating and being nerds ("I was going to study that!") and helping people.)

Do they lie to their subordinates to get more power? The Council doesn't lie about its beliefs, and its members actively practice what they preach (letting go of things, staying in control of yourself, protecting the helpless...) so no manipulation there, and while they do lie or cover up things from time to time it's never to achieve power or to benefit themselves directly. The Rako Hardeen act? They lie to save the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, who, as far they know at this point, is their legitimate Commander-in-Chief. OpSec isn't corruption. They cover up the discovery that Dooku made the Clone Army to protect the Clones themselves (as stated by Yoda) and because the public would freak out and then they'd have a civil war on top of a galactic war to deal with. It doesn't benefit them, exactly, because they explicitly say they're not happy about the decision but don't see another way out. ("The right path, no. The only path.") Oh, and Obi-Wan literally tells Rex, Ahsoka and Bo-Katan about Sidious, because the Jedi aren't secretive as a rule. They share intel easily if it'll help people.

Do they seek power in any way? Ffs, when they go against Palpatine – the Sith Lord who orchestrated an entire and forced hundreds of them to for in it, along with hundreds of thousands of Clones and millions of civilians – Mace tried to arrest him twice in the name of the Senate. "In the name of the Galactic Senate, you're under arrest" and after Palpatine kills three Council members "you're under arrest, my Lord." He only tries to kill him without a trial after Sheev blasts him full of lightning for like two freaking minutes. Talk about a coup. (By the way, arresting the Commander-in-Chief of your armies when you have proof of his own corruption, when he has given himself control over the banks (Clovis arc), gotten more emergency powers (RotS), holds power over the courts (Wrong Jedi arc) and has stayed in office for longer than his term? That's not corruption, that's actively fighting fascism.)

You could argue that Obi-Wan sending troops to Mandalore is a misuse of power, but there's a Sith Lord there who could potentially tell them the identity of Sidious and this help end the war. Also, it doesn't benefit him directly since it puts Ahsoka in danger, it divides his fleet and it could get him in trouble since he didn't make the operation a secret in any way. The one time Obi-Wan does go to Mandalore for his own benefit, he does it without backup and without even using Republic property since he borrows Anakin's ship.

So maybe the Jedi are corrupt because they distort their old ideals and preach a false image of the Force? They are corrupt in the sense that they are stagnant and the Dark Side corrupted them? But... Yoda is the Order's greatest critic (see AotC) which points to self-awareness, as he's one of their most important leader, the "fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate to suffering" credo is literally how Lucas describes the Force working (see @gffa 's collection of quotes) so they are narratively correct on most of their doctrines (same goes for attachment as Lucas defines it, in opposition to love), and Yoda and Obi-Wan the quintessential Jedi are deemed worthy of immortality by non-Jedi entities. The Jedi constantly talk about how hard war is because it's against who they are at their very core ("we are keepers of the peace, not soldiers," "we are peace keepers," "unfortunately war tends to distort our point of view; if we sacrifice our ideals, even for victory, we may lose that which is most important, our honor," etc) and every decision they take is motivated by the need to protect civilians and the Order. They don't join the war, they get drafted. Hear that, Rebels!Yoda? This is why I base my understanding of Star Wars on the movies and TCW alone, aka Lucas' canon. I swear, idk wrote that part about "the Jedi joining the conflict swiftly in their arrogance" but that's not what happens in the movies. They literally go save a high profile politician and two of their own from unlawful execution and try to arrest Dooku for being a terrorist (he hired people to kill a political opponent) and a threat to the safety of the Republic (he's literally manufacturing entire armies and talking about going to war), and 200 of them get slaughtered for it, and then they get drafted as Generals despite having no military expertise and they can't say no because again, the Senate can (and would) label them as traitors, and if they don't fight the Clones have people like Tarkin leading them. (You know, just the guy who later commits genocide on a whole planet.)

Seriously, I want one, just one concrete example of the PT Order/Council being corrupt, because it's such a common accusation that surely it must be grounded in canon somehow. Right? Right?

[ao3feed-obikin]

the dream is over

read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/51330652 by boguspreston, innominatta (ineptia) There can only be two Jedi at a time, though there is no such limitation on the Sith. Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Sith recruiter, a siren, who looks for Force sensitives to tempt to the way of the Sith. Anakin Skywalker was a slave until he was bought and freed by Cliegg Lars, where he had a happy adolescence. When his mother dies, he experiences a surge of the Force which alerts the Sith recruiter, Obi-Wan Kenobi, who sets his sights on him to tempt to the Dark Side. Or, sex, drugs and rock'n'roll in a galaxy far far away... Words: 6148, Chapters: 1/20, Language: English Fandoms: Star Wars - All Media Types Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: M/M Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Darth Maul, Asajj Ventress, Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Dooku | Darth Tyranus Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Dark, Switch Obi-Wan Kenobi, Switch Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are the Same Age, Anakin Skywalker is Not a Jedi, Sith Obi-Wan Kenobi, Unhealthy Relationships, Drug Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, gratuitous smoking, dark themes, Rough Sex, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Suitless Darth Vader, Force Choking (Star Wars), Breathplay, Slut Shaming, Consensual Non-Consent, Blow Jobs, Anakin Skywalker Loves Obi-Wan Kenobi, Competent Anakin Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Mean Obi-Wan Kenobi, codependent relationship, Emotional Slow Burn, Eventual Happy Ending, Other Additional Tags to Be Added read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/51330652