Mark Hamill And Dave Prowse Light Saber Practicing At Elstree Studios For Empire Strikes Back

AU where Xanatos is "redeemed by the power of cute," but it's actually a psychological whammy caused by Obi-Wan being supernaturally adorable as a species-specific juvenile defense mechanism, and is functionally immediate brainwashing by the 13yo who doesn't know that's what he's doing.

Tbh this is mostly just Defense Mechanism that makes Xanatos harmless, but in a way everyone finds very concerning and uncomfortable because it's kind of mind control.

Someone (@dracothulhu) asked if it was related to Mimic Spider AU, and it is not! Mimic spider AU is just "ohhhh you wanna fuck me so b--PSYCH! EATING YOU."

This is more "I'm a little baby, I'm SUCH a little baby, you don't want to hurt me, you could never hurt me, I'm so adorable I'm so cute doesn't it just kill you to think about hurting me?"

Mimic spider AU is just Hot and Confident. This is straight up Mind Whammie.

@threebea also thought brood parasitism, and offered:

I'm trying to figure out a reason for the Stewjoni to have like brood parasitism where they will stick their young with other families for awhile before picking them up Used to do it to Mandoalorians all the time, and it's part of the reason the Mandalorian adopt anything stereotype got so strong. Stewjoni looking at Jedi: those seem parent shaped here you go

Which is great, except I actually started with the idea of it being kind of the inverse!

(That said, I won't actually say no to the brood parasitism option.)

Xanatos: had been about to kidnap and put him on a deep sea mine now is feeding him pudding Is it he's acting normal but doing weird things or is he suddenly talking to Obi-Wan like he's an adorable puppy

He's kind of zoned out.

Xanatos: look at him so cute Omg Obi-Wan: standing there Xanatos: kriff I don't have a camera - also from threebea

Also cuddles! Which Obi-Wan actually Does Not Want. But if he's Very Very Still then maybe Qui-Gon will find him and fix this.

Like if a tiger held and groomed you and you just were waiting Very Still for the zookeeper to distract it and/or load up the tranq.

After the days he's had he'd perhaps like a cuddle but not from this guy Lol Xanatos: so soft The effect only works on humans and near humans so it didn't work on the hutt and (can't remember the other species) on the ship

We can say it works through the Force and that's why the Hutt is immune.

"Stewjoni are targets of slavers" but specifically for illegal adoptions. It's lucrative, because most bounty hunters last about twenty seconds before they give the crying baby back where it wants to go.

And most of the immune ones get caught by planetary defense forces.

So if you CAN steal a baby, the profit margin is insane, since it's so damn hard to do, but the baby up for illegal adoption is sooooo cute.

(…this concept would be hilarious with one of those "Tor adopts baby Ben Kenobi to turn into a weapon" AUs. Still a shitty childhood bc Death Watch can justify a lot under the umbrella of Teaching Self-Defense. But interesting.)

IF YOU HAVE READ TWILIGHT: do you remember the bit about vampire babies being so cute that people would let them slaughter entire villages without a qualm?

It's like that, except Obi-Wan doesn't have dreams of mass slaughter and it only really activates as a Threat Response.

I guess the evolutionary trigger is it's kind of a paralytic You can't move far from where you stole the kid

Which is exactly right!

Came across another debate about the "inhibitor chips vs. no chips" storyline for the clones. Saw the usual complaint that the inhibitor chips are a cop out to absolve the clones of any responsibility for their actions.

Thing is...

For a long time, practically none of the clones knew their actions during Order 66 were influenced by programming via implanted brain chips. Omega was the first clone who for sure knew the chips were even a thing; Tech figured it out and Rex finally understood and fully accepted Fives' claims during Order 66; the rest of Clone Force 99 eventually accepts the truth; and I'm sure Rex got through to the clones who became part of his network.

But that's a tiny fraction of the clones who make up the GAR. (We find out over a decade later in Rebels that apparently the story of the inhibitor chips had circulated, but we don't know to what extent the story spread or if it was ever validated to the general public as more than a rumor.)

So, during Order 66 and for years thereafter, the clones thought they were acting of their own accord.

We never see the clones using the chips as an excuse for their behavior, likely because most of the clones don't even know about them.

And frankly, I find it even more tragic that these loyal, honorable men thought they had freely chosen to turn on the Jedi and others who had been their allies, genuinely thought they were stopping a Jedi coup, when they really didn't have much of a choice at all, not even the option to stop and think about what they were doing before they did it.

And even those clones who DO know what's going on are too horrified by their behavior to even entertain the notion of excusing themselves.

Just look at Rex's face when he's about to shoot Ahsoka. He's conflicted, he's terrified. Rex later talks about the chip and tells the Bad Batch it's not something they can control if it activates; but even then he's sharing that to convince them to choose to remove the chips, not to give them an excuse for their behavior.

And can any of us mistake Wrecker's shame over his actions while the inhibitor chip was activated as him justifying himself? He describes what it felt like, and we know as well as he does that he literally had no control over himself, yet he still apologizes for what he did.

AND THEN we have Crosshair, Mr. "Does it really matter when I got my chip removed?" -

Crosshair knows about the chip, knows what it was supposed to do, had it removed, and still insists that he was in full control of himself and his decisions all along. Even later, when he admits to making mistakes and having regrets, he never blames the inhibitor chip for his actions.

Basically - I have no issue whatsoever with the inhibitor chip plotline. I actually prefer it. Not even taking into account the fact that it makes a ton of sense that Palpatine wouldn't leave anything regarding something as pivotal to his plans as Order 66 up to chance, the inhibitor chips add another layer of tragedy and complexity to the clones in that while we the audience know they have more of their autonomy stripped away from them, as far as the clones are aware the chips don't even exist and they are in full control of their own actions; and the clones who DO know about the chips tend to acknowledge their effects while still not using them to justify their behavior or refuse any responsibility.

So, Anakin mowing down the younglings is pretty well known atp, but I randomly wondered... was it absolutely necessary to do that?? Could you not simply re-educate the young Jedi, create your own messed up little army of darkside force-wielding children?

Born from a joke during a conversation with @pjo-tvs-version, here's a star wars crack AU, laughingly dubbed...

SITH SCHOOL AU

Anakin doesn't kill the younglings, and doesn't go to Mustafar. Instead, he stays behind on Coruscant to establish a new institution, a.k.a the titular 'Sith School'. Pulpy Palpatine thinks it'll be a good idea to fortify the place and start brainwashing teaching the younglings ASAP. Catch 'em young, as they say.

Obi-Wan catches wind of the turn of affairs and, still reeling from the shock of it all, decides to not confront Anakin/Vader. He informs Padmé of what has happened and stops her from trying to go find Anakin. They leave Coruscant as fast as possible to find a safe place to regroup with the survivors, bide their time and decide upon their next move.

Flash forward a few years, Padmé is now one of the leaders of the Rebellion and raising her twin children along with 'Uncle Obi-Wan'. Anakin/Vader is running the 'Sith School' along with Palpatine while keeping an iron grip on the state of affairs. The Rebellion clashes with the Empire and he manages to sense that his kid (I'm going with the headcanon that he can only sense Luke) is alive somewhere, presumably with Padmé. How wonderfully convenient would it be, he thinks, if he could bring his kid to the Sith School!

He decides to contact Padmé while Pulpy looks on this development with growing alarm and starts to play Mind Games^TM again. Not only will this throw a potential spanner in his plans, but may also disrupt the regimented manipulation of the minds of the students of the Sith School!

Anyway, so Vader holocalls Padmé who is desperately trying to control two powerful force-wielding toddlers and is understandably furious like

"HOW DARE YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO PROPOSE THIS YOU PIECE OF BANTHA-"

"Padmé, listen to me, this is about our child's education-"

"Correction: Children. And trust me, you wouldn't last a day with them." *cuts the holocall*

Vader is miffed, distracted and shocked ("Children?? PLURAL???") while Palpatine is losing his mind in the background.

I’ve fallen in love with @t4tmareach‘s AU for Danny Phantom Luigi, you can find the fic here

Just Luigi with ghost powers is too cool

So I had to draw fanart

Also Polterpup is here too because hes a good boy and deserves to be Luigi’s sidekick in spooky heroism

It’s taken a bit longer to finish than intended, but here at least is another Ghosts fan comic. I’ve simplified everyone a bit compared to the first one, but such is the nature of comics.

I just had a random thought: As long as a force-sensitive person's body is still present in the galaxy, their "presence" will remain with it until it is fully decomposed. This is why jedi burn their dead, so that their friends can live on in the force instead of decaying alongside their physical bodies. The Empire preserved Luminara's corpse because they knew that other jedi would sense her presence clinging to her body, therefore come to rescue her because they would think she was still alive.

That makes... a horrible amount of sense ghghghkgdhs.

Star Wars Fanfic You haven’t read Yet (but really should)

So, yeah, most fanfic rec lists include the same great fics. So here are some that are still amazing, 10/10, but you probably haven’t heard of.

Weiterlesen

GOOD VLAD AU MASTERPOST

Hey everyone! Thanks to your advice, I made a masterpost for all my Good!Vlad au comic chapters!

Hope it’s easy enough to navigate:

The Revelation

The Speech

The Call

The Door

The Talk

The Confrontation

The Chance

The Montage

The Campaign

The Advice

The Session

The Promise

The Confession (Part 1)

The Confession (Part 2)

(Happy Dannypocalypse)

Vlad costume change