#okay yeah sure whatever man you're a sith

[swan2swan]

Dark Shadow Warrior: "You people...would call me 'Sith'."

Darth Talon:

[padawanlost]

Something I've noticed recently over the past few months is this trend where people have been diagnosing Anakin with narcissistic personality disorder instead of C-PTSD or BPD, the more commonly seen diagnoses. I personally disagree, but I wanted to hear your "two sense" on the matter if you will, you're one of the best meta-writers on this site.

It’s because people don’t like Anakin as presented on screen. They want Anakin to be as selfish and arrogant as possible so they can blame him from everything that happened. If it’s ALL about Anakin than everyone else can be left off the hook. 

Anakin ‘I don’t want to be a problem’ Skywalker is clearly narcissistic. I mean, he fits all the signs:

Have a sense of entitlement and require constant, excessive admiration

“Ten years in this place, and still he was an object of interest. Of speculation. All their hopes and dreams hanging on him like decorations on a bantha skeleton at Boonta Eve. He hated it.” [Clone Wars: Wild space, Karen Miller]

Have an exaggerated sense of self-importance

“You would forgo your destiny for Padmé?” Anakin’s brows beetled in anger. “I never claimed to be the Chosen One. That was Qui-Gon. Even the Council doesn’t believe it anymore, so why should you?” [ James Luceno. Labyrinth of Evil]

Expect to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it

Anakin bumped his hand against [Obi-wan]. “Wait. Just—wait.” Embarrassed, he took a deep breath. “Look. Don’t take this the wrong way. It’s just—it’s the mission, right? That’s what matters. So—”  “Anakin.” Obi-Wan’s whisper sounded amused. “It’s fine. I was about to suggest it myself when the droids turned up.”  “You were?”  “Play to your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. That’s how a battle is won. That’s how we’ll win the war.”  Anakin had to smile. I should’ve known he wouldn’t take it personally. “Yeah. So—once I’m up and over and nobody raises the alarm, give me a five-count then follow. I’ll give you the best Force boost I can. Not that you’ll need much. Your leap was only a meter and a half behind Master Windu’s. Remember?”  Obi-Wan gave a breathy chuckle. “I remember I had nosebleeds for a week afterward. Don’t ever feel bad for being extraordinary, Anakin. Now off you go. We don’t have all night.” [Karen Miller. Star Wars: Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth]

Take advantage of others to get what they want

“He thought of how unflinchingly loyal Anakin was to anyone he considered a friend.” [Matthew Stover’s Revenge of the Sith]

Exaggerate achievements and talents

He was the Chosen One, they told him. He was supposed to bring balance to the Force. Anakin thought that some little extra support might go with being the Chosen One, a helping hand or at least some understanding from the Jedi Council, but instead he was passed around like an unwelcome burden, ending up with Qui-Gon Jinn and then Kenobi because nobody else would have him. His chosen status meant less than nothing; it felt more like a stigma. And they wondered why he was difficult at times. Maybe they didn’t want balance, whatever that was. Maybe nobody liked a Jedi who was that different. He felt like an embarrassment to them. I do everything you ask of me. I try so hard. When is it going to be enough? When are you going to say, “Okay, Anakin Skywalker, you’re good enough”? Karen Traviss’s The Clone Wars

Be preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate

Impatience. Concern. Relief. Loneliness. Weariness. And grief, not yet healed. Such a muddle of emotions. Such a weight on [Anakin]’s shoulders. Months of brutal battle had left [Ahsoka] drained and nearly numb, but it was worse for Anakin. He was a Jedi general with countless lives entrusted to his care, and every life damaged or lost he counted as a personal failure. For other people he found forgiveness; for himself there was none. For himself there was only anger at not meeting his own exacting standards. [Karen Miller’s Star Wars: Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth]

Believe they are superior and can only associate with equally special people

It’s not just Skywalker’s rank that makes us give him one hundred percent. It’s because he treats us with respect, and he puts himself on the line with us.” [The Clone Wars by Karen Traviss]

Monopolize conversations and belittle or look down on people they perceive as inferior

Having worked their way around the village, finding nothing to wake their uneasily sleeping sense of alarm, Obi-Wan and Anakin returned to the beaten-dirt square and the charter house. Its doors were open now and a woman who had to be Teeba Brandeh stood on the broad step, hands on her narrow hips, watching the children scatter across the square to play a proper game of kickball. Grinning, without bothering to ask if he might, or if it were wise, or if they had the time to spare, so independent these days, Anakin jogged to join them. After a moment’s amazed hesitation the children welcomed him with squeals of delight, rough-and-tumbled him into their midst and made him one of their own. Obi-Wan shook his head. “He’s nice,” said the girl with the bracelet and the ragged hair, wandering over to stand beside him. “Don’t be cross with him, Teeb Yavid.” Karen Miller. Star Wars: Clone Wars Gambit: Siege

“Oh, no,” said Anakin, grinning. “It was fun too.”  May the Force give me strength. “And that business with the boy? Because when I said no heavy lifting I—” Anakin’s amusement vanished.  “He wasn’t heavy. These younglings are skin and bone. I look at them and—” He clenched his jaw.  ”Karen Miller. Star Wars: Clone Wars Gambit: Siege

Expect special favors and unquestioning compliance with their expectations

[Anakin] did not like the fact that he had won. It seemed wrong that he had stepped so far out of line, and yet had been retained as a Padawan. He did not like the unease this victory, if victory it was, produced in him. Above all weaknesses, arrogance was the most costly. They keep me here because I have potential they’ve never seen before. They keep me in training because they’re curious to see what I can do. I feel like a rich man who never knows whether his friends are true-or whether they just want his money. This was a particularly galling thought, and certainly neither true nor fair. Why do they put up with me, then? Why do I keep testing them? [Greg Bear’s Rogue Planet]

Have an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others

“I’m sorry. I’m not normally this stupid. I just—” And then she felt her face crumple and heard herself sob. Her knees buckled and she began to sink toward the floor. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she choked. “Don’t mind me. I’m fine.” [Anakin] caught her before she tumbled completely. Lifted her without effort and carried her to the sofa. Boneless and unprotesting, she let him. Let her face turn to his roughly shirted, dirty chest and howled her rage and shame against him. Dimly, she felt his hand warm and comforting on her back and heard his soft voice saying, over and over, “It’s all right. It’s all right. You’re safe now. It’s all right.” The crazy thing was that she did feel safe. For the first time since those Separatist blaster bolts seared the air and sand of Niriktavi Bay, since she saw her friends and colleagues slaughtered, she felt safe. Then, abruptly, she felt mortified. What was she doing? Weeping like a child all over a man young enough to be her son? Where was her pride? She shifted away from him, unable to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—I’m sorry.” “Don’t apologize,” he said gently. “You’ve got a right to be upset. Now, where’s that medkit?”Karen Miller. Star Wars: Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth 

Be envious of others and believe others envy them

The Jedi Council didn’t want me, either. Being the Chosen One didn’t count for anything. Master Yoda wouldn’t train me, or Windu. Every member of the Jedi Council had had something more pressing to do than help him work out what this terrible, galaxy-changing power of his meant, and how he should live in its shadow. He still wasn’t sure. Anakin recalled standing there in that grand, polished Jedi Council Chamber, surrounded by what felt like fear, and disdain, and bewilderment—who were those Masters to feel bewildered, that the only person there who cared if he lived or died was Master Qui-Gon Jinn.  [Karen Traviss. The Clone Wars]

[Anakin] had worried that Obi-Wan did not have room for him in his heart. But Shmi’s smile rose in Anakin’s mind. Hearts have infinite room, my son. JUDE WATSON’S THE TRAIL OF THE JEDI

Behave in an arrogant or haughty manner, coming across as conceited, boastful and pretentious

The fear and dread in her face eased, just a little. “You’re a very sweet young man, Anakin Skywalker.” [Karen Miller’s Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth]

[Anakin] humbles me, sometimes. He makes me feel small. He can’t see a broken thing without wanting to fix it. [Karen Miller’s Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth]

“I don’t know,” she said, floundering. “I can’t say I’ve ever given the Jedi much thought. I mean, not as individuals. I never expected to meet one—let alone two. I don’t tend to go places where your skills are needed. But—well—you’re gentle.” [Karen Miller’s Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth]

Insist on having the best of everything — for instance, the best car or office

“I’m not giving him to you,” [Anakin]’d told her. “He’s not even really mine to give; when I built him, I was a slave, and everything I did belonged to Watto. Cliegg Lars bought him along with my mother; Owen gave him back to me, but I’m a Jedi. I have renounced possessions. I guess that means he’s free now. What I’m really doing is asking you to look after him for me.”  “Look after him?”  “Yes. Maybe even give him a job. He’s a little fussy,” he’d admitted, “and maybe I shouldn’t have given him quite so much self-consciousness—he’s a worrier—but he’s very smart, and he might be a real help to a big-time diplomat … like, say, a Senator from Naboo?”Matthew Stover. Revenge of the Sith 

[norcumii]

Yesss you're also playing! I gotta go with accidentally married and body swap. Godspeed.

I’ll admit, you stumped me for a bit with this one. Then the ship happened, this is like, two steps to the side of what you asked for, and it got wacky from there, but hey, it was fun! Hopefully you enjoy too!

For this trope mashup meme. Pairing is Cody/Quinlan, because I aim to please. ^_^

Commander Cody was almost THE worst possible choice for partner on this clusterfuck of a mission. Worst would have to be Yoda – there was no possible way he could go undercover, except maybe as a Jawa and that was just asking for at least seven different kinds of trouble. Then Aayla, not because she’d be bad at it, but because Quinlan was a protective bastard and historically their undercover missions hadn’t gone well. Obi-Wan would be third worst, because he was needed to fight the damn war, and that overcompensating jerk was responsible for at least one entire front.

Also, he’d be an insufferable asshole the entire time.

The problem with Commander Cody was that he was probably at least as responsible for another front, if not all the logistics for Obi-Wan’s bullshit while Kenobi was off fucking around the galaxy after his padawan and a half.

There were theories – rumors, really – that clones imprinted on their Jedi. Rumors that Quinlan totally believed, because there was no possible way, Force or no Force, that you could cram that much bastard into two men like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Commander Cody by chance. That much snark and assholery could only be malice aforethought.

Very good reasons that neither man had been included in the plan. And it had gone so well at first! Disguises, check. Pretend to murder Master Tholme (sneaky bastard had been giggling for days over the opportunity to go deep undercover on his own missions) and shoot Master Drallig (poor bastard needed a vacation that badly) – check! Get captured alive by the Coruscant Guard and tossed in prison – done with minimal bungling.

Making friends with Cad Bane and Moralo Eval didn’t go quite as smoothly, but Quinlan was good at his job,  so when they busted out of jail Quinlan was ostensibly part of the crew.

That was when things went to shit. Between the jail and the get-away vehicle, they’d run across a patrol of clones in off-duty grays. There’d been a heartbreaking moment for them all to stare at each other in astonishment, just long enough for Quinlan to recognize the scar. Bad enough there was going to be yet another squad of dead soldiers, which he was very much not a fan of, but now the body count was going to include...someone he was very much a fan of being not-dead.

Then Commander fucking Cody had drawn a blaster and stunned the rest of his squad, planting hands on hips and scolding Quinlan about how he was at least fifteen minutes early and what kind of a breakout was this?

Vos still wasn’t sure how that ended up with Cody traipsing along, with Bane and Eval being thoroughly convinced that he was some random rogue clone who’d been having some kind of torrid affair with Quinlan. Cody almost had Vos convinced that he’d been ready to bust Quinlan out, and that had nothing to do with how Cody’s method of swaying Eval involved sticking a blaster up the bastard’s nose.

It absolutely wasn’t hot. Not at all.

He’d been dumb enough to relax a little when they took a pit stop to gear up. Some two-bit wannabe sniper had dared to get up into the Commander’s face – the clone was the one walking away with some new gear, a mock swagger, and a joke that he might as well take the idiot’s identity, if he was gonna be that lax about shit.

Still absolutely not hot.

On the upside, the new gear meant Cody got away when they landed on Serenno – at least, Quinlan thought he got away. He’d been busy at the time with the obvious downside: Dooku recognized Quinlan.

Con: Vos got captured and dragged off to a carbonite unit to sit and stew until Dooku’s...thing, whatever it was, was over.

Pro: he saw the freezer before getting tossed into it.

Who the fuck knows: there were at least two stray tookas in the area, and one of the little fuckers tried to trip Vos and all four of his guards on the way in.

Con: he still ended up on ice.

It wasn’t like he had a plan, but desperation could pass as genius if you squinted at it hard enough. And using the Force to toss a part of himself into the tooka that’d tripped him was definitely worth squinting at.

Better than studying his normal self, frozen in a block of tibanna. That was beyond creepy.

Not that he’d ever admit it to anyone, but Quinlan was genuinely worried, and the whole mission had gone so damn pear shaped he had no idea if anything was recoverable – including them.

Well, no better time to shit stir. Quinlan scuttled off to go looking for trouble.

The great thing about paranoid, power-mad bookish types was that they took notes. The smart ones prepared blackmail. Vos had a lot of things to say about Dooku, but dumb wasn’t one of them.

On the truly awesome side: he could sense Sithy wards in a lot of places, but tookas didn’t set them off because cats would get into whatever they damned well pleased – meaning Dooku had totally on accident handed Quinlan the metaphorical keys to the castle. If he’d still had opposable thumbs, this would have been perfect!

Well. Aside from the whole Chancellor-being-a-Sith-Lord-and-behind-the-entire-fucking-war thing.

Force, it was hard to stay positive for long nowadays.

Vos gave a quick, full body shake – wow, fluff was not a thing he expected to have happen – and got back to work. When he was done, he sauntered into the hallways with a whole collection of datacards tucked into a half-assed collar that had used to be a fancy curtain restraint. He was more concerned with keeping everything secure than it looking reasonable – after all, what cat would try putting on some kind of collar? Anyone looking at him funny would blame some kid or something.

If anyone asked, Quinlan had already prepared explanations of how he tracked down Commander Cody’s Force presence. He absolutely did not track his scent. That would be weird.

(To be fair, Quinlan did start by tracking him in the Force. It just hadn’t lasted the entire time.)

He found the commander lurking back near the area with the cryo setup, tucked behind some crates with several bodies nearby. Most were dead, though one or two were stunned, gagged, and trussed up with more binders than might be necessary.

Not hot. Really.

Quinlan considered his options, then planted his fuzzy rump almost next to Cody, craning as if to look over the crate as well. “Mrp?” It wasn’t quite the ‘whatcha doing?’ that he would’ve liked to go for, but close enough.

It earned him a classic side-eye. When it was clear Cody was going to try the ‘ignore the annoyance’ routine, Quinlan reared up to plant his paws against the crate and look over it.

Ah. They were watching the carbonite slabs that were stacked off to the side. Presumably, Vos’ own body was there. He hissed without meaning to, not happy about the reminder.

“Not now, cat,” Cody whispered right back, waving a hand to try to shoo him away. Quinlan shot him a look. Local animal flees from packing crates, investigation at eleven. Any idiot who saw that would at least consider that something had startled the animal in the first place.

Ok, fine: cat. Anything could set off a cat. His point still stood!

From the angle of his helmet, Cody was glaring back at him, then there was a small huff before the Commander went back to studying the area. Oh, Quinlan was not about to play this game.

He considered for half a second doing some typically catty gesture of disdain, but he was not about to be licking anything, even to make a point. Instead, he minced in a near circle, sitting directly in front of the Commander. He meowed, because throat clearing didn’t seem to be a thing cats could do.

That got him a quick glance, then there was a full-body pause as in the Force, Cody almost jangled with sudden suspicion. Quinlan hoped he was showing the cat-equivalent of a huge-ass smirk as Cody sloooowly looked over at him.

“General?” he asked, sounding annoyed and the kind of exhausted usually reserved for annoying toddlers.

Vos didn’t even try to stop a satisfied swish of his tail before flicking an ear and nodding.

Cody put his head in his hands. “...I’m not even gonna ask.”

Quinlan gave him another moment, then popped back to his feet and headed around the crate. After a beat, there was a long-suffering sigh behind him. “Yeah, okay. Let’s get your body back, and if you ever tell Kenobi I said that, no one will ever find your body.”

Quinlan let a little roll into his step, giving an insolent flip of the tail. Sounded like after they figured out this mess, he owed the Commander a nice dinner somewhere.

He didn’t need the incentive, but it sure helped.

~end