#and Padmé is like literally no court in Naboo would

[tennessoui]

obi-wan: i’m in love with anakin who is married and would never feel the same about me, guess i’ll die then. / meanwhile, anakin on Naboo with ahsoka: i wish obi-wan was here i miss him do you he misses me he never says he misses me why doesn’t he say it and he never lets me look after him when he’s hurting, yes Snips that is a beautiful view but you know what’s more beautiful? obi-wan’s smile <3 / ahsoka, echoing quinlan in spirit, flags down a serving droid: I need a Drink

bold of you to think anakin would say that stuff to Ahsoka and not say that to his wife lmao

(he would absolutely say all of that to Padmé, completely oblivious to why she wouldn’t want to hear it. He’s just being honest and honesty is important to any relationship! Right?)

[desireandduty]

@kylo-wrecked asked: "What’s the lie your character says most often? { TELL US YOUR SECRETS }" | from this meme | Accepting!

The easiest answer is the most obvious one: "why no, master yoda, i most definitely am not fucking general skywalker's brains out in secret at every available opportunity we are totes just friends i mean why would you even ask that?!?!! 😇"

BUT TO BE MORE REAL, Padmé tells so many lies for someone so devoted to truth, democracy and freedom. Most of them are lies to herself, though, so I suppose that's the difference. Just a few examples:

She literally has a public persona. That's like... a professional lie. Amidala is the public face that she crafted first for her role as Queen. When she became a Senator, she just adapted it to the culture, conventions and quirks of the Galactic Senate as opposed to the Royal Court of Naboo. As much as she wants to do good, real, important things with her public service, so much of politics genuinely is about optics. It's an aspect she's had to focus on since she was a teenager. I think in some respects, the Amidala persona is a self-protective measure. Imagine if your every decision, down to your new haircut or who you had dinner with last weekend, had the potential to be scrutinized and criticized by the media and the public? Would that not make you want to hide your real self away from the world? That way, when she gets criticized, it's Amidala they're criticizing, not Padmé. Of course, in reality, it's hard for her to separate the two, so the criticism ends up being taken personally too, but hey... no one's perfect, even in their lies.

She tells herself that she is important, that she's essential to making her people's lives better and to protecting democracy. I don't think this is a lie born of arrogance. It's more of a necessary one to motivate her in light of lie #3 (below.) But she's isn't someone who got into politics for power or fame. She's not in it to amass great wealth. She truly wants to help people and make the galaxy (or at least her sector of it) a better place. Although she wanted to settle down into civilian life after she finished her term as Queen, she bought into the lie that "the galaxy needs you!" and she's just kept serving because if she doesn't do it, then who will or rather, who will do it RIGHT?

Sometimes (aka very often), she denies her own feelings or desires because "doing her duty is more important" or "she owes it to Naboo/the galaxy." I think this is a central tension for her in AOTC. She is clearly wrestling with what she perceives to be her duty to the galaxy versus her almost overwhelming desire for Anakin. She managed to hold out on that for all of what... two weeks? Even though I do think Padmé is a person who makes emotional, snap decisions when people she loves are involved, going from "don't look at me like that" to "I truly, deeply love you" in the space of two weeks is like... next level ridiculous. Unless she had been denying that part of herself for years. Of course, Anakin himself is quite the temptation (and I will not wax effusively on about all the reasons why she loves him here), but I don't see another reason for her to make such a quick reversal (other than it being necessary to the narrative LOL.) I think of her like a dormant volcano. She has all that hot passion and emotion under the surface, like magma. And when she let Anakin kiss her at Varykino, that was like the first crack in the surface that let a little of that magma escape. After that, a full scale eruption was inevitable.

[jasontoddiefor]

Would you ever write a senator skywalker au where the jedi refused to take anakin?

You are my worst enabler I love it. Yes!

Okay so Anakin doesn’t get taken in by the Jedi so Padmé says he can become a ward of the Naboo.

Anakin stays in Theed at court and gets the best education possible! And when he doesn’t understand something, he asks his tutors or Padmé or Sabé or Eirtaé and so on. He wonders what he should do with his future as he pretty much can do whatever he wants. Nobody has any expectations of him in Theed except that he gives whatever he chooses his everything and is happy. They even helped him free his mother. Anakin could live amongst the great green hills of Naboo for the rest of his life, just tinker away, invent ships and droids. He’d certainly enjoy it, but he was meant for more, he always knew it

So at like age 16, with experiencing Mid Rim politics close up for 7 years, Anakin sets out what he ever meant to do: free the slaves of Tatooine. And Jedi or not, the Force is with Anakin (sometimes more openly and he can let knives soar through the air) because it loves him. So with all that determination, it still takes time, but at the end of it? Tatooine is free. The fact that Anakin has managed to negotiate a standing trade agreement for water with Naboo while eating dinner with Padmé has helped a lot.

The planet can manage itself more or less well, but nobody there has the experience needed for Coruscant and there is no way Anakin will let the Hutts come back to Tatooine, so they need the backing of the Republic. So here’s to Anakin becoming Senator of Tatooine with a very strong hatred for corruption in politics and one person amassing a lot of power.

(“Yes, of course we’re employing pirates and smugglers to keep our atmosphere safe, this is still the Outer Rim, but at least my delegates don’t take bribes!”)

And the point of this is that Obi-Wan Kenobi at one point doesn’t just have to babysit Padmé “I don’t need a bodyguard, I need to attend this hearing” Amidala, but also her ally, Anakin “I’m down to do aggressive negotiations in the Senate building if that means you will stop fucking over my planet” Skywalker

He could be watching them on a very remote and peaceful place on Naboo, but no. Anakin had a dream? Vision? About Jedi dying somewhere so they must go to that planet now! Please imagine AOTC but twice as much disaster because there is no Jedi self-control keeping Anakin in check. They’re going to track down the assassin together with Obi-Wan.

And then the Clone Wars start and oh boy. Remember how Tatooine is close to so many hyperspace lanes???? Anakin Skywalker suddenly rises considerably in power in the Senate and it’s the most horrible thing for Palpatine because Anakin literally couldn’t care less about getting rich or whatever. He’s actually in the game to do good. But Skywalker??? Won’t die????? And also couldn’t care less about learning more about the Force because he works rather close with the Jedi and sees the sheer stupidity they get into and goes “no thanks” (and proceeds to throw his blaster at Grievous like that’s a rational decision)

Anakin probably also calls Dooku a stupid old bastard with a shitty fashion style and an absolute disgrace to Qui-Gon’s memory and also fuck you in particular and your shitty worthless dumb droids that can’t even operate a children’s toy-

Obi-Wan also curses the day Ahsoka meets Padmé and Anakin because both of them have no self-control and a bad influence on his Padawan - why are they his friends again?

[spell-cleaver]

2 and 97 literally anything to do with Luke

This fic is very much inspired by a specific scene in Avengers: Endgame, so I’ll be placing the rest of this under Read More right now. If you haven’t seen it yet and are hypervigilant about spoilers, don’t read any further. It’s not massively spoilery, but best be careful.

Prompts from this post.

2. Royal AU

97. Time Travel

If Luke was to be totally honest withhimself, he hadn’t expected the spell to work. At least, not this well.

Ben’s constant, unrelenting insistence that time travel is a closed loop, and even if you manage to get there, nothingwould change, seemed to have got into his head more than he’d thought.

But his mentor’s doubts no longer mattered,because he was here.

The Theed Palace looked so much grander inthis time than in his, seventeen years in the future. Its turrets were shining;the pennants were the blue and red of the Naboo Royal House rather thanImperial black and grey; all the windows had the glass still in them. But thatwasn’t what caught his eye.

Two knights were pointing towards him, andmaking their way over. They both wore the azure robes of a mage ormage-in-training;  he assumed the brightcolour of his robes was what piquedtheir curiosity.

He tentatively pushed  himself to his feet as they approached, thenthey grew close enough to see their faces and he nearly fell over again fromshock. That was a younger Ben—Obi-Wan, he supposed, in this context—completewith staff and a full head of hair. The man beside him was hauntingly familiaras well: his height, the shape of his eyes, the way he carried himself…

“Are you alright?” Ben said as theystopped in front of him. “You look lost.”

“I’m fine,” he said distractedly,the talisman he’d stolen from his mentor to makethis trip burning a hole in his pocket. “I’m just— I’m not from aroundhere.”

“Where are you from?” That was theother man talking, now; he folded his arms across his chest. Luke would’ve hadto be deaf to miss the suspicion in his voice.

Thefuture. “Tatooine.”

It wasn’t a lie—he’d been raised there, even if he’d been born in this verycastle, smuggled out before his mother’s corpse had even cooled—

The man made a face of disgust—or maybe hejust wasn’t convinced. Luke didn’t blame him. He was a stranger skulking aroundthe palace gates; the knights, especiallythe mages, were supposed to defend the queen and, at this time, her unborn heirs.

Luke wondered what the reaction would be ifhe told them he was one of those heirs.

But he couldn’t. They’d think him crazy, lockhim up, and then they’d never allow him anywhere near his mother—he’d neverhave the chance to save her.

That was what he was here for, and that waswhat he would do.

“What’s your name?” The man scannedhim from head to toe. Luke wasn’t stupid; he knew what it felt like when a non-verbalappraisal spell was cast on him.

Luke thought quickly, and the first male namethat jumped to mind was: “Anakin.”

He cursed fluidlyin his head a moment later, but the man just laughed. Apparently the spell haddeemed him a non-threat.

“That’ll be easy to remember,then,” he commented, “I’m Anakin Skywalker Naberrie.”

Luke stared.

It all rushed in—how had he not expectedthis? How could he—

This was his father?

That was why he seemed so familiar, he reasoned,trying to get his heart rate under control. He’d never seen his father’s facein the future, save for that time Ahsoka had slashed through the helmet toreveal one burning yellow eye, but their mannerisms were identical. They were the same heights, spoke with the sameinflections—

Belatedly, Luke realised he was staring, and threw himself to one knee to cover itup. “Uh— I’m sorry, Your… Highness?”

He didn’t know the correct way to address thePrince Consort of Naboo! Naboo had burned before he’d even opened his eyes forthe first time!

“Don’t worry about it,” his fatherjoked. The man burned with life, Lukenoted with growing hysteria. It was such a stark contrast to Vader, from thefuture, and how he seemed to suck all the life out of every room he walkedinto. “I always get these court protocols mixed up myself.”

Because he was from Tatooine, like Luke. Ofcourse. Of course he’d made a facewhen Luke mentioned it—

Ben and his father were staring at him.

“Uh,” he said, desperate to makeconversation before they threw him in the cells and seizing on the only thingon his mind right now, “congratulations on Her Majesty’s pregnancy.”He was reasonably sure the correctaddress for Queen Amidala would be Majesty.“Are—” He stumbled over his words. “Are you looking forward tofatherhood?”

If Anakin thought he was prying too deeplyinto personal matters, he didn’t show it. Indeed, he seemed to light up at thethought of being a father. It made Luke’s heart ache. “Yes. I’m convincedit’s going to be a girl, but Padmé tells me it’s a boy.”

It’sboth, Luke wanted to say.

“Padmé’s probably right,” Ben said.

“Padmé’s probably right.”

He laughed; after a moment, Luke laughed alittle as well, desperately trying to hang onto his composure.

Anakin inquired, “Do you think you’dlike to have children?”

How had they managed to get here? How was hehaving a civil conversation with his father? He’d never do that in his time! Whatwas going on?

Luke had no idea.

“Maybe,” he squeaked.

“You know, I have to say,” Anakin thoughtaloud. “That kid’s not even born yet, but I already love him so much.There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him.”

Luke burst into tears.

The look of utmost horror on his father’sface almost make him laugh through the sobs—this was the future Darth Vader he was horrifying—then thatthought sobered him up severely. He went back to sobbing.

“Anakin, what did you do?”

“I don’t know!”

There was a gentle hand on his shoulder.“Come on,” Ben said, and the familiar comfort of his mentor’s voicecalmed him, somewhat. “We came over to ask if you were alright, not upsetyou. You looked lost. Would you like to come in?”

Luke nodded, not trusting himself to speakright now. Anakin still looked surprised, and incredibly guilty.

“Come along then.” Ben led himthrough the palace gates, and once they were out of Anakin’s earshot, murmured,“And I can sense the talisman for time travel in your pocket, so I can askyou about the future once we’re inside, as well.”

“You don’t want to know,” Luke toldhim, and a fresh wave of tears spilled out onto his cheeks. Future Bencertainly wouldn’t want Luke to tell him.

“Is it something to do with Anakin’sson? That was when you started getting—” He glanced down then, and metLuke’s red-rimmed eyes.

He saw it the moment he understood.

Blue eyes.

Just like Anakin’s.

And the hair, and the face, and—

“Oh.” Ben swallowed, then tried toaffect a calmer tone. “I suppose we have much more to talk about than Ithought, then.”

[lamelinam]

Padme’s role in RoTS : Faith is an active choice.

 “For years fans have wondered who was the mysterious, unnamed mother of Luke and Leia. The only hint of who she had been was Leia's vague impressions expressed in Return of the Jedi: kind, very beautiful, but sad.

Finally with the release of The Phantom Menace, we were introduced to her: Queen Amidala of the Naboo, otherwise known as Padmé Amidala Naberrie. The young girl-woman in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones was in many ways in the mold of her future daughter: smart, wise, resourceful, brave, and if need be, good in a fight. But with Revenge of the Sith, she joins a sisterhood of memorable women who suffer tragedy.

Padmé shares common traits with many traditional tragic heroines but in some ways she is unique. Traditionally, a tragic heroine suffers because of her own tragic flaw and/or the flaws of someone else, even her society or culture. Aristotle referred to this flaw as "harmatia," the accurate definition of which is closer to "mistake," "error," or "failing" than an innate flaw. Aristotle believed the flaw must result from something that is a central part of one's virtue, which goes wrong due to a misunderstanding or lack of knowledge.1 Antigone suffers because of her devotion to divine law, which demands she bury her brother, bringing her into conflict with the inhumane decree of King Creon, who forbade burial.2 Ophelia suffers because of Hamlet's inner conflict. Juliet's death is brought about not only because of her love for Romeo but also because of the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets.

If Padmé had personal flaws according to Aristotle's definition, some may argue they would be her naivete, her innocence, her trust in the Republic as it was rotting away from within, her trust in Palpatine, and even her love for Anakin. Padmé tends to put a lot of faith in the innate good of others; Obi-Wan notes in the young readers' version of the Revenge of the Sith novelization that Padmé "always believes the best of everyone, until she's forced to see the worst. Such faith should be a strength, not a weakness." She suffers because of that faith in her leaders, the Republic, and in Anakin, because they all fail her. In fact, Padmé embodies the Republic's ideals and virtues: democracy, restraint over tyranny, and working for the good of others. Padmé is also associated with youth and beauty as well as wisdom. She comes from a world teeming with life and as the female lead of the prequel trilogy, as well as the mother of the heroes of the classic trilogy, she embodies the feminine, the anima. 

At the beginning of the saga, the Republic was in its golden age. Padmé´'s homeworld of Naboo was an opulent and verdant world with stunning architecture and natural wonders. Its people were dressed nearly as elaborately as its ruler. Even the sleek spacecraft reflected a great appreciation for beauty. Women are seen everywhere in the prequels, in all stations of life; pilots, Jedi, Senators, handmaidens, bodyguards, and mothers. But the galaxy was changing and the young queen was caught in the middle of that change. She is brought in as a pawn in a political game that she understands too late. She is also introduced to the boy destined to change her life forever.

For most of the prequel trilogy, Padmé has been in constant danger and in need of protection. The Phantom Menace and Attack Of The Clones have a pattern. 1. Padmé is rescued, 2. Padmé is placed under protection, and 3. Padmé willingly leaves that protection to take action herself. She spends a great deal of time courting her fate despite the efforts of others to protect her. In The Phantom Menace, she is rescued from the Trade Federation and is able to remain on Coruscant where she is safe. Yet she chooses to return to Naboo to engage the Trade Federation in battle and re-take her planet. In Attack of the Clones, she is rescued after two attempts on her life and is put into Anakin's protection. Yet she chooses to first go to Tatooine with Anakin then she convinces him to go with her to Geonosis to save Obi-Wan, where once again she is forced to fight for her life. She narrowly avoids being killed by beasts, survives a battle that kills several Jedi, and then avoids serious injury after falling out of a ship. She gives several references to dying in the films. In The Phantom Menace, she mentions twice that her people on Naboo were dying. In Attack of the Clones, she mentions death four times during her love pledge to Anakin: "I'm not afraid to die...I've been dying a little bit each day since you came back into my life...our lives are about to be destroyed anyway...before we die I want you to know." 

At the same time, the feminine energy, the anima, is slowly being destroyed. In Attack of the Clones, Zam Wessel, Cordé the handmaiden, and most importantly, Anakin's mother Shmi, die violently. In Revenge of the Sith, the final phase of destruction takes place. We see the betrayal and murder of two female Jedi: Stass Allie and Aayla Secura. Aayla in particular is murdered in an especially gruesome way, shot repeatedly in close range by several clonetroopers. Ironically she was on Felucia, a world teeming with life and giant blooming flowers. It climaxes with Padmé's death after performing the ultimate feminine act, giving birth. She dies far from her fertile living world where she'd planned to have her child(ren), in a cold environment deep in space, and attended to by droids that cannot understand what is wrong with her. 

Unlike the pattern with previous two prequels, Padmé does not need rescuing from external threats in Revenge of the Sith. Dooku is dead and the Trade Federation seems to have forgotten about her. The irony is the external dangers from which Anakin seeks to protect her from throughout the prequel trilogy do not bring about her end. It's not the Trade Federation or hired assassins but her own shattered soul. However, like the other films, she chooses to leave her haven, this time on Coruscant, to take charge when things are dire. When Captain Typho volunteers to go with her, she refuses, saying the matter is personal and that she is no longer in danger. Finally, she could no longer avoid her destiny.

Some fans complained that Padmé was marginalized in Revenge of the Sith, but her isolation makes sense in the context of the story. Here she was at the height of her feminine power, pregnant and able to share a form of subconscious bond on occasion with Anakin.

Yet the Empire-to-be has no place for her.  She is trapped and alone. 

Padmé's death recalls traditional tragic heroines such as Isolde, who dies of a broken heart after her love Tristan dies. In Arthurian legend, Elaine The Lady of Shallot dies of love for Lancelot.4 In fact, dying of a broken heart is part of many legends, folk tales, and ghost stories. Others see parallels with Othello's Desdemona, who like Padmé is strangled by a husband who believes she has betrayed by him. Others view Padmé as being similar to Ophelia, who commits suicide after Hamlet rejects her. Because Ophelia and Desdemona are commonly viewed as passive victims, and Padmé had been a proactive character, some felt her death did not befit her character.

There is a literal way of looking at Padmé's death and a symbolic way. Padmé was as much a symbiont with her time and place as she was with Anakin. When the Republic era passes, she passes. In a cut scene from Attack of the Clones, the lesson in Padmé's story about the refugees she tried to help as a child was that those who cannot adapt die. She cannot adapt to this new galaxy. Moreover, she refuses to adapt. She tells Anakin he is going down a path she cannot follow. She bitterly utters, "So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause," after Palpatine crowns himself Emperor before a cheering Senate. When Vader in a rage cuts off her breathing, it symbolizes that the Empire, as personified by Anakin, is killing her. 

She suffers not only the death throes of the Republic and its ideals, she also suffers with the physical and spiritual pain Anakin endures in his transformation into the Darth Vader we know from the classic trilogy. The film intercuts between Vader's agony on the operating table and Padmé's dying moments as she gives birth. When Vader's transformation is complete, she dies. 

With Padmé gone, the aesthetics of the Star Wars universe changes: we see the utilitarian set of the Star Destroyer, the beauty of the earlier ships gone. The beautiful, colorful, and elegant costumes have been replaced by simpler and more drab garments in shades of gray. Even the last time we see Naboo in the prequels, all of the citizens are dressed in funereal black. We see of glimpse of the Empire's new order, a Star Destroyer crew made up entirely of men. Instead of the natural beauty of a planet, we witness the skeletal beginnings of the Death Star.

Yet in the end, unlike most other tragic heroines, Padmé wins. Those who dismiss Padmé as weak should consider this alternative view of Desdemona: "Desdemona's goodness furthermore is not simply passive or weak but an act of will...her refusal to blame Othello for his terrible treatment of her...must not be viewed as simply subservience but as a self-willed refusal to accept a bad opinion of the husband she has chosen...she stands by her love for him as something sacred, with a martyr-like determination: she tells Emilia, 'his unkindness may defeat my life/But never taint my love.'" Padmé, through her own will, refuses to believe Anakin is unredeemable. Ultimately Padmé is right about Anakin; there was still good in him and he could be turned back to the light. Her children bring down the Empire and restore the old values of the Republic. Padmé's life may have been short but she was never truly a victim. “

by lazypadawan