My Skin: Song Challenge Fanfiction

[ansketil_rose]

Title: The Wages of Honour
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Star Wars characters, they belong to George Lucas.
Rating: PG-13
Words: 9,000
Pairings: Anakin/Padmé and Anakin/Palpatine (obviously)
Summary: A general campaigning on the edge of winter is recalled by his emperor - only to be shocked into remembering the past they both share.
Author’s Note:

Comments

[zigsternenstaub]

I'm so sorry that no one else seems to have posted a response your challenge. I tried so hard to think of something appropriate, but nothing came to mind for a story based on a song. I haven't read your fic yet, but I am going to do that right now. Hopefully some detailed feedback will make up for the disappointment, at least a little.

[ansketil_rose]

Oh, it's fine - just a little embarrassing, especially since I wrote 9,000 words for my own challenge. :/ The muses cannot be summoned at will, however. And, of course, I will forgive you if that 285 words you wrote was on you own AU. ;)

I received your gorgeous parcel - *hugs and kisses* - and sent of a letter in return with, I am ashamed to say, a large, entirely kitsch, $2.40 royal wedding stamp on it. Because we are in the Commonwealth and that was apparently the only S2.40 international stamp available. For which I beg understanding. I love the shoes!

[zigsternenstaub]

I am so happy that you wrote such a long story. Internet trend tends towards short works, which can be so unsatisfying, especially for something as intriguing as this. I've read it now, and will be commenting probably later tonight.

Yay! Once again it took about three months, so now I know exactly how long I need for even a small parcel. I'm so glad it got there, though, and that you enjoyed it. I hope that you liked the card (the moment I saw the concept art style I thought of you), as well as the postcards with some more historical images. I'm delighted that you like the shoe calendar!

[ansketil_rose]

Oh, yes - the "concept art" card was my favourite - it's sitting proudly on the shelf next to my hardback Revenge of the Sith novel, which matches perfectly with its black, white and flame colouring.

This was the absolute shortest I could make the story! I probably would have written much more if I hadn't been constrained by time and the song lyrics. I really just scratched the surface of the place this AU hails from. But the parameters kept the monster in perspective. You're right, the internet caters more to shorter works or stories broken up into chapters. But they're certainly easier to comment on (or, indeed, load as I have discovered)! :P

I can't wait for you to give me detailed feedback on this strange creature. I'm a bit self-conscious about it.

"Proper" comment to follow...tomorrowish?

[luminations]

GUH. Surreal, yeah, like a medieval fairy tale. Loved it! I wish I could have posted something for this challenge but the bunnies... are off getting ready for Easter or something :|

I'm amused that I read this the exact time you posted it. Except you posted it in the future and I read it now. LOL

OKAY IT'S BEDTIME

Re: "Proper" comment to follow...tomorrowish?

[ansketil_rose]

Thank you! As I said to Ziggy, I totally understand - the muses are fickle, fickle creatures.

The time zone gap is indeed hilarious! I love living in the future because there my challenge fics are on time... >.>

The problem with writing 9,000 words is reader stamina. People must make time to read such a long story. *sigh* This only is a thousand less words than my dissertation, lol.

still not a proper comment...

[luminations]

Reader stamina! Yeah it's bedtime again and I'm not alone so I can't dive into it... plus I'm reeeeeally tired for some reason.

...and by "not alone" I mean I've been with my brother most of the evening, so don't get any ideas :D I don't think I'm going to make it to the end of this ball game...

If only you could submit fanfic in lieu of dissertation!

zzzzzzzzz

Re: still not a proper comment...

[ansketil_rose]

I find it deeply amusing that out of 16 comments only one of them is an actual review, by a person who is no particular fan of palpakin, lol! I hope you had a nice evening with your brother. :)

Still, you only say "GUH!" when it's good, right - right?

[veronicaprof]

I just got back from an only moderately stressful brief family trip, and found this upon my return. Thank you!

I will read and comment in the next day or two. And I haven't given up on mine, either. It will just be late, and maybe long. Sigh. :)

[ansketil_rose]

My pleasure! The amount of literary and historical references in this thing are... rather obscene, so I look forward to it being read to someone who will see right through me enjoy my references.

Don't worry, that's how I feel about all my other fics like Crash, Alexis, and You Know Who? *echoes sigh*

[veronicaprof]

I look forward to it!

Oh, and I do hope my ambition-riddled post of a few days ago wasn't too obnoxious. The backstory of that post had to do with a long intradepartmental drama that is still being hashed out amongst our History faculty, combined with a slew of suggestions by colleagues and administrators for me to try some power plays to avoid similar situations in the future. We shall see.... The President just asked me to attend a concert in his box, so god only knows what's in the plumbing, waiting to be spat out as some kind of offer/invitation/threat of taking more responsibility in the department or even campus in general.

Wow-- I don't mean to sound obfuscatory, but now I'm self-conscious, and right now things are definitely in flux....

[ansketil_rose]

Don't fret, you weren't obnoxious. On the contrary, I was very impressed and felt myself to have been rather impertinent.

I hope your own machinations turn out for the best and that the concert goes well. It all sounds splendidly old-fashioned.

[caffeinatedkate]

I rather enjoyed this though I'm a little disappointed it wasn't the one in eighteenth century France with Maréchal de Kenobi. :D I like how you fitted the black armour in and the bit about Palps being a sorcerer, brilliant.

Captain Skywalker slowly got to his feet, towering over the prince and drew his sword, its steel luminous in the candlelight. He sank to his knees and pledged himself to the service of Palpatine, Prince of Sidious, royal descendant of the Lords of Sith.

This'll amuse you.
I saw someone actually do that today to his dad hoping to persuade him to buy him the sword. Only he mucked it up and overbalanced.
I've never seen anyone interested in buying a sword or knife who isn't kind of eccentric.

[ansketil_rose]

Ah yes, my Les Liaisons fic, another thing that needs to be updated... XD

That sorcery bit was almost discarded with an earlier draft, so I'm so glad you liked it, as I spend a while wondering about mentioning magic at all!

ROTFMAO at the sword! I have a very eccentric friend who owns several swords whom I can easily imagine tripping himself up in a similar manner!

[veronicaprof]

I just wanted to say that I hope to give you more feedback on your story soon, but I did look over it quickly, and found your approach very interesting and refreshing. :) I loved your opening scene, with the battle-scarred Vader -- a Dark knight, but in a totally different way, and loved the descriptions of the Jedi as a Jesuit order. I really enjoyed the intimations of sex between Vader and Palpatine, and only wished selfishly that I'd gotten to read an actual sex scene. They are hard to write, especially as the Internet becomes glutted with them, I realize.... I guess I should say that, as more and more fan writers seem to easily write PWPs and sex scenes without discipline, it's harder and harder to find well-written erotic scenes of any sort, including many that are intended to be, and which actually just leave me cold

[ansketil_rose]

Thank you! Just looking over it I see that many of my italics are still missing (I am an italics whore) and I have many typos. *sigh*

I wanted to take the characters out of their own context and put them in a context where their behaviour is not only acceptable, but admirable. Where "the Dark Side" is not marginalised and selling your life to your liege is the height of honour. That made for some interesting character developments.

I didn't want to go the whole way with this one. I didn't really have time and the setting is in some ways the opposite of Star Wars: the "dark side" is acceptable, but homosexuality is not, so because Anakin was educated in a seminary he shies away from it and cloaks sexual attraction as something else. I absolutely agree with you about sex scenes, many have become utterly dull and without any kind of power. I love writing good spontaneous erotica, but sadly it wasn't appropriate here. I tried to keep that idea of longing on Vader's part because Palpatine doesn't dare go so far either. I never said why

[veronicaprof]

It all worked very well, and I hadn't even thought of Dr. Zhivago when I read this... but you're right! Shades of Camille or La Boheme, too, although perhaps that's stretching things a bit far

[ansketil_rose]

My main influences for this tale were Napoleon, the Austrian Empire, Doctor Zhivago and The Iliad, book 19. The classicist in me won't let go of the Virgilian system of revelation by references - it's terrible, since the the Homeric reference is the biggest clue to why Father Jinn was killed, although I'm sure you worked that one out without it.

Oh god, don't even start on how Lucas had Palpatine disfigured, if with you all the way. A more pointless scene there never was. You could cut it out of the film and the story line would not alter one whit. The only thing it does is make Palpatine look incompetent. I have fantasies where, if that's the effect of Force Lightning, Luke is horribly disfigured in RotJ.

Of course they would have that discussion! I wrote this partly as a protest against the immortality Palpatine is said to desire in the EU, so they had to have that talk - I do vaguely remember something similar in the cave. I love that tale of yours. :)

Oh, that? That was just this thing that randomly came to me in the middle