Any World (That I'm Welcome To)

So, I've been feeling nauseated all week and thought I was getting sick, but I finally figured out that it's just allergies or something and it's the post-nasal drainage that's the problem. I took an antihistamine and have been completely spaced out all day. Seriously, I took it at about eight AM and only within about the last hour or two have I been able to keep my train of thought long enough to read or write a sentence. And I slept for about four hours this afternoon instead of reading for school. But at least I don't feel sick... although that might be preferable.

So instead of posting the TPM thingy I had hoped to have finished a few days ago, it's the last two unposted song filks (one's really short) I have on my hard drive. (I figure I need to keep in the habit of posting or I'll just get lazy.) This is terrible, because now I realize how important keeping a backlog of meta and filks and various things on my hard drive is to my... I want to say something like "style" or "method of operating" but neither sounds right. Damn drugs. Anyway, I work better when I have several things gestating in a form I can see and tweak than when I'm completely winging it.

Enough drug-induced rambling. ( Filk! )

I've been trying to write more fiction lately, and to write more short things, because I write slowly and I write long, so I need the practice. But I just couldn't come up with anything serious, so I have this instead.

Title: A Farmboy Confronts the Emperor
Fandom: Star Wars (Disclaimer)
Categories: PG, Gen, Crack
Summary: The following is a random little crack-fic version of the throne room scene from Return of the Jedi where Luke asks the questions we've all wanted to ask the emperor: why is he wearing a ratty old bathrobe, and when was the last time he washed it?

( I make no promises on the humorousness of the story. Riddikulus! )

I will add entries involving actual thought... I just have a lot to do at school right now. So I'm going to post some song filks I have sitting on my hard drive over the next few day. Here's the first one, based on the Phantom of the Opera.


Vader:
In sleep he sang to me
In dreams he came
That voice which calls to me
And speaks my name
And do I dream again?
For now I find
The phantom of the darkest side is there
Inside my mind

Palpy:
Sing once again with me
Our strange duet
My power over you
Grows stronger yet
And though you turn from me
to glance behind
The phantom of the darkest side is there
Inside your mind

Vader:
Those who have seen your face
Draw back in fear
I am the mask you wear

Palpy:
It's me they hear

Both:
My/Your spirit and my/your voice
In one combined
The phantom of the darkest side is there
inside my/your mind

Jedi Council:
Is that the phantom of the dark side?
Beware the phantom of the dark side!

Just how long did it take to vote Finis Valorum out and Nofirstname Palpatine in?

There's a shot of the Senate in bright sunlight, either morning or afternoon judging by the shadows. Amidala calls for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum. The Senate chamber fills with cries of, "Vote now!" The movie cuts to Anakin being tested before the Jedi Council at sunset, then to the sun setting over Palpatine's aparment building, then to Amidala in Palpatine's apartment at dusk. Palpatine walks in and Captain Panaka announces that Palpatine has been nominated for the position of Supreme Chancellor.

Wait a minute!

Now, it could be that this is dusk of a diffferent day, two or three or six weeks later, but the sun-setting shot indicates that this is in fact the same day to me. Besides, Anakin is still in his slave duds when they return to Naboo - you'd think Qui Gon would at least find him a change of clothes if they had really been on Coruscant that long.

This means that it took one day to remove the leader of the Galactic Republic from office. Doesn't that seem just a little bit short? Usually in real life there are hearings, investigations, etc. for several weeks at least to determine whether the leader should be removed and to ensure that people can't just depose leaders on a lark. You have to have a really good reason to get someone out of office too - "Because I don't really like him anymore" just doesn't cut it. (Apparently, neither does lying under oath... why should Star Wars be different?) (ETA: I've since learned that some countries can do this. I don't know how often they actually do.) But in TPM, the Senate can vote Valorum out of office in a day, just because they feel like it, and then still have time to nominate three candidates to replace him before happy hour.

Again, electing a Supreme Chancellor ought to take a while, but it doesn't. The Battle of Naboo doesn't even last long enough to get Amidala's velvet combat outfit dirty. The celebration might take place some time later - but the TF droids didn't damage the parts of Theed we saw much, so it's not like they'd need much time to clean up. For all we know, they cremated QuiGon that night, cut Anakin's hair and got him some Padawan clothes right afterward, then had the celebration the next morning. (Probably not. But who knows?) And anyway, even a few weeks is an awfully short time to elect the new leader of most of the galaxy. That's not a lot of time to consider the thousands of potential candidates in the Senate. What did the Senators do, draw names out of a hat? Did they at least hold some debates first, or did they just get right to the election the day after the nomination?

The way these guys work, you have to wonder why Palpatine even needed emergency powers. The Senate seems easily swayed to act quickly and in Palpatine's interests as it is.

And finally, why does Anakin complain in AOTC about how long it takes the Senate to get things done? They seem pretty speedy to me!