HE SAVES / HE RUINS.

there are four natural, neutral elements to the force in this world: fire, water, air and earth. there are also two supernatural, weighted elements to the force: light/creation and dark/destruction. corporeal sapients such as humans, elves and orcs can only use the natural elements. on the other hand, spiritual beings such as paragons (the light spirits that jedi work with) can only use light abilities and demons can only use dark abilities. there are also extremely rare beings known as greysprits that can use both light and dark abilities, but they are never as powerful in either one as paragons or demons, and they are almost never used because most people would die upon feeling both the light and dark sides of the force enter them at once. this is why humans are willing to share bodies with paragons and demons and vice versa: only when the two beings exist in the same body can they use the powers that are exclusive to the other.

there are some exceptions, however, to this rule. anakin, for example, can use all six elements without the help of a paragon or a demon due to the fact that he is the son of magic itself (though in practice, he’s way better at using dark abilities than light abilities and every time he uses light ones it just feels so awkward and gross). the direct children (and only the direct children) of a jedi and a sith such as anakin’s children with padmé are also notable for being able to use both light and dark abilities--they are the only beings that can accept greysprits into their bodies without dying, and some particularly skilled jedi/sith children such as luke skywalker have also been known to develop light/dark abilities on their own--even if it’s the opposite element of the spirit inside them. finally, a paragon or demon can become a greysprit if they so choose, but the process is long and arduous and may end up killing them.

the one rule that has no exceptions, however, is that every magical being has at least one strength and at least one weakness. they are born with these and while these properties can change over time, you can never eliminate strengths and weaknesses entirely--if you lose the only one you have, you simply gain another. there are some usual weaknesses, such as a fire mage being weak to water or an earth mage being weak to air, and the fact that light and dark no matter what are always weak to each other. but not all of the weaknesses are so cut and dry--for example, an air mage might be weak to fire, or a fire mage weak to earth.

anakin’s strength is fire. this may seem strange if you consider my headcanon that he was set on fire by the high elvish crown prince when he was just 7 years old, nearly died, and also (potentially) got left with chronic pain from the supernatural burns (haven’t decided the source of his chronic pain but that could be it). but in fact the attack was so magically strong that his strength in fire was the only thing that even saved him in the first place, let alone allowed him to recover most of his original appearance during the healing process. his usual weakness is water, as with many but not all fire-strong mages, but sidious managed to add one more in lightning (a combined element of earth and air which palpatine was strongest in), and here’s how. 

The sunlight might not hurt him but he certainly acts like it does, fluttering from one shadow to the next. His aimless wandering – his half hearted attempt at expelling some of his restless through exercise is interrupted by an unwelcome visitor. 

“hey. hey. something bothering you?”

Rolling his eyes at the vulture’s words, he senses an opportunity and seizes it. “Yes, you. You’re more annoying than the crows. Leave me alone.”

      “oh, come on.” he huffs--although he has to admit that that’s a good burn. he hops closer.

      “don’t try and hide it. you clearly need someone to talk to.” he stretches up his neck. “from one curse survivor to another, just let it all out. i won’t judge.”

      “hey. hey. something bothering you?”

he flutters down to meet the creature--half-bat, half-man, by the looks of it, definitely cursed, probably by the same dickbag who had tried to curse him. she’d thought that she was getting revenge on him for murdering her brother by turning anakin into a “vulture,” but she should have been more specific about the species…being transformed into a bone-crushing badass was probably the best thing that had ever happened to him, except for one tiny little detail: when he was in bird form by day, nobody could understand him. maybe this man would be able to, however, given that he seemed at least half as much an animal as he was. 

      “No--NO!”

one can hear the young boy screaming, even from behind the throne room doors meant to shut him out. he kicks and flails as the white-and-gold guards pull him from his master’s sight, spears clenched tightly in their other hands as though the child could pose any threat. he reaches down into the depths of his power, trying to summon the quake of the earth or the blaze of a terrible flame--but no magic comes to save him now, not when he’s held in a magic-canceling grasp.

      “master, please,” he begs, tears leaping to the corners of his eyes and pouring down his half-ruined face. “you can’t send me there. you can’t send me away.”

      “you have no say in what i can or can’t do,” danomir snarls coldly. “if you truly knew the meaning of the word master, you wouldn’t even think what you just said.”

his panic mounts as he’s dragged from the high elvish emperor’s sight, his legs and torso sagging on the floor. he begs the guards. he begs the gods. still he feels the pull on his arms, so harsh and fast that he feels like they’re being ripped from their sockets. 

      “master!” he cries. “MASTER!”

      “oh, trust me, selvar. i understand. i, too, regret your injuries,” danomir drawls, leaning back on his throne. “but a tarnished jewel, alas, is no jewel at all. and i have room in my collection only for the finest gems in the land.”

he has time only to say one more thing before the doors close once again.

      “master…i thought you loved me.”

~

he senses a presence nearby. he knows who it is, and he can’t bear to look. in the shining halls of the so-called high elvish freedom, he fought for a love and a privilege that he never really had…and now he’s back to where he was born, alone in a dim-lit cage filled with straw. he buries his face in his knees for a few moments, ashamed of his scars, afraid of the path before him. then he realizes that this will be the last look he ever gets at his dearest friend, and he finally turns around.