under the bed (PG; Vader, Palpatine, OC)

[wyncatastrophe]

Disclaimer: George Lucas owns Star Wars. I am not making any profit from this work of fan fiction.

Author's note: darth_eldritch suggested a conversation between Vader and Ryn about Obi-Wan. This is it ... sort of. I hope you like it! :)

under the bed

Comments

[wyncatastrophe]

Thanks for the long, lovely review. I've tried to respond to your comments below, but if I've missed something that was important to you, feel free to nudge me ...

daring the protagonist to strike him

Oh, yeah. That's Palpatine, all right. And it's also Ryn: a little violent in love. She'd take on the galaxy for Anakin; every now and then, she kind of does.

I don't think it's Vader's misery so much as the act of toying with that misery

I have to say, I don't think you can really separate the two. I mean, he enjoys Vader's pain, and he enjoys manipulating him, and if he can get a two-fer then it makes his day. In this case it's really a three-fer, because he also gets to torment Ryn. And Palpatine never turns down a windfall like that.

concupiscent

Yeah, I don't have anything to say about that except that Ryn in the FFV has very strong feelings about Palpatine's relationship with Anakin that go back a loooong way, and she doesn't feel better about them now (for obvious reasons).

You don't care about justice either, do you?
Stop taunting my characters! LOL. I don't know that I would say she doesn't care about justice. It's just that she cares about Anakin more. Always has, always will. I like to play with the idea that in another galaxy, that could have been her marching on the Temple to save him, except in that case she would just have been killed because, well, not really the same level of power there. But she makes more than one morally questionable choice in the service of her loyalty to Anakin Skywalker.

Methinks Ferus has a right to be concerned.

Ferus' life in the freefallverse is sort of overrun with reasons for concern. And this takes place before Strategic Spontaneity, so he doesn't even have the sleeping-with-her thing to push him along ...

so many friends and, at the same time, not a single one

I love how he's always calling Vader "my friend." I can't help but feel that Vader likes that, clings to it. (Ryn is unimpressed.)

the mantra, the child alone, what the simile means in this context, what it says about Vader's relationships

Oh, I'm so glad you liked it! I was almost afraid it was too much, but then it's Ryn's POV and I think she has always understood the sheer paralyzing terror that Anakin kept (barely) at bay, in part by staying "always on the move." Vader has the Dark Side for that, but now it's his guilt he needs to keep at bay ...

a coup and counter-coup

Of course, it was also a war, and there were no Jedi non-combatants. Though that doesn't necessarily exculpate any of the participants, as international courts decided at Nuremberg: "just following orders" is insufficient.

Possibly Ferus should discuss this with her too.

There are a lot of things Ferus should probably discuss, but he'd like to keep all his body parts ... and he'd like to keep seeing her, too. Everyone here is in a sort of holding pattern (and notice the fireworks when Palpatine tries to disrupt it, even temporarily).

Anyway, thank you so much for the delightful comment! I'm very glad you enjoyed the story. Although I feel I must point out to you that I write practically anybody better than Palpatine. I think you just like the character, and there isn't much fic on him. :) I appreciate the kind words nonetheless!

[ansketil_rose]

I have to say, I don't think you can really separate the two. I mean, he enjoys Vader's pain, and he enjoys manipulating him, and if he can get a two-fer then it makes his day

I do agree with this up to a point. I guess the reason I'm a little bit wary of it is because a lot of fanfiction authors make the Palpatine/Vader dynamic solely about psychological torture. It's there, of course, but not all the time - it wouldn't be sustainable. Sorry, I'm whining at you for other authors' faults!

I don't know that I would say she doesn't care about justice. It's just that she cares about Anakin more.

For practical purposes, that's enough to warrant taunting. Has that been used against her yet? ;)

Of course, it was also a war, and there were no Jedi non-combatants. Though that doesn't necessarily exculpate any of the participants, as international courts decided at Nuremberg: "just following orders" is insufficient.

I wouldn't blame any number of Jedi for what happened, but Obi-Wan was on the Council and fully participated. Though, in fairness, he's not nearly as culpable as Anakin, Yoda, or Windu.

Although I feel I must point out to you that I write practically anybody better than Palpatine. I think you just like the character, and there isn't much fic on him.

I've read He Will Learn. You cannot deceive me. If you feel your other characters come to you more easily, you just have to practise with Palpatine more often! :P