cathemeral

Last week, the Trump administration quietly released a sweeping new federal rule that would use funding threats to force institutions across the country to reject transgender people. The 400-page proposed regulation would codify the administration's anti-trans executive orders into binding federal policy, imposing a blanket prohibition on federal funds going toward "gender ideology"

The proposed rule, formally titled "Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance," rewrites the government-wide framework governing all federal grants across every agency. Among its most consequential provisions, it requires that before a federal grant recipient can receive money, the award must pass a "pre-issuance review" conducted by a political appointee—not a career expert or peer reviewer—to ensure it is "consistent with applicable law, Federal agency priorities, and the national interest." The regulation explicitly instructs these appointees to screen for "denial by the recipient of the sex binary in humans or the notion that sex is a chosen or mutable characteristic." [...] An institution that acknowledges transgender people exist—through its policies, its training, its healthcare, its bathroom access, its HR procedures, its name-change processes—could be deemed to "deny the sex binary" or to “support the notion that sex is mutable” and have its federal funding blocked.

This torches everything. And I do mean everything.

A very abbreviated list of its ramifications include (but are not limited to):

ending funding for ALL DEI related initiatives

allowing the government to terminate grants at any point for any reason

preventing researchers from publishing, going to conferences, and being part of academic societies

requiring that topics must support the president’s agenda.

What this means, and if anything I’m under selling it, is the death of science and research in America. It allows the government to restrict any topic they please at a whims notice, putting officials who have no background in the topic in charge of deciding funding continuity. It controls what gets researched and if/how researchers are allowed to share their discoveries. There are no books to burn if the government never allows them to be written. This is fascism plain and simple.

Public comments are not a vote, it is a chance for you to say "here is an issue with this law I think you need to address" and provide justification for legal challenges if it goes forward:

"Comments raise the bar that agencies have to meet when making a rule; “if an agency fails to adequately respond to significant, relevant comments in a final rule, members of the public may seek to challenge the rule in court on that basis and claim it could be struck down.ˮ"

Last week, the Trump administration quietly released a sweeping new federal rule that would use funding threats to force institutions across the country to reject transgender people. The 400-page proposed regulation would codify the administration's anti-trans executive orders into binding federal policy, imposing a blanket prohibition on federal funds going toward "gender ideology"

The proposed rule, formally titled "Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance," rewrites the government-wide framework governing all federal grants across every agency. Among its most consequential provisions, it requires that before a federal grant recipient can receive money, the award must pass a "pre-issuance review" conducted by a political appointee—not a career expert or peer reviewer—to ensure it is "consistent with applicable law, Federal agency priorities, and the national interest." The regulation explicitly instructs these appointees to screen for "denial by the recipient of the sex binary in humans or the notion that sex is a chosen or mutable characteristic." [...] An institution that acknowledges transgender people exist—through its policies, its training, its healthcare, its bathroom access, its HR procedures, its name-change processes—could be deemed to "deny the sex binary" or to “support the notion that sex is mutable” and have its federal funding blocked.

This torches everything. And I do mean everything.

A very abbreviated list of its ramifications include (but are not limited to):

ending funding for ALL DEI related initiatives

allowing the government to terminate grants at any point for any reason

preventing researchers from publishing, going to conferences, and being part of academic societies

requiring that topics must support the president’s agenda.

What this means, and if anything I’m under selling it, is the death of science and research in America. It allows the government to restrict any topic they please at a whims notice, putting officials who have no background in the topic in charge of deciding funding continuity. It controls what gets researched and if/how researchers are allowed to share their discoveries. There are no books to burn if the government never allows them to be written. This is fascism plain and simple.

Public comments are not a vote, it is a chance for you to say "here is an issue with this law I think you need to address" and provide justification for legal challenges if it goes forward:

"Comments raise the bar that agencies have to meet when making a rule; “if an agency fails to adequately respond to significant, relevant comments in a final rule, members of the public may seek to challenge the rule in court on that basis and claim it could be struck down.ˮ"

CODY SKETCH! i hate drawing armor AND men so you know i gotta be obsessed with this guy for this to ever happen

I'll get better at drawing him eventually

(click for higher quality) (proof of my insanity under the cut)

Last week, the Trump administration quietly released a sweeping new federal rule that would use funding threats to force institutions across the country to reject transgender people. The 400-page proposed regulation would codify the administration's anti-trans executive orders into binding federal policy, imposing a blanket prohibition on federal funds going toward "gender ideology"

The proposed rule, formally titled "Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance," rewrites the government-wide framework governing all federal grants across every agency. Among its most consequential provisions, it requires that before a federal grant recipient can receive money, the award must pass a "pre-issuance review" conducted by a political appointee—not a career expert or peer reviewer—to ensure it is "consistent with applicable law, Federal agency priorities, and the national interest." The regulation explicitly instructs these appointees to screen for "denial by the recipient of the sex binary in humans or the notion that sex is a chosen or mutable characteristic." [...] An institution that acknowledges transgender people exist—through its policies, its training, its healthcare, its bathroom access, its HR procedures, its name-change processes—could be deemed to "deny the sex binary" or to “support the notion that sex is mutable” and have its federal funding blocked.

This torches everything. And I do mean everything.

A very abbreviated list of its ramifications include (but are not limited to):

ending funding for ALL DEI related initiatives

allowing the government to terminate grants at any point for any reason

preventing researchers from publishing, going to conferences, and being part of academic societies

requiring that topics must support the president’s agenda.

What this means, and if anything I’m under selling it, is the death of science and research in America. It allows the government to restrict any topic they please at a whims notice, putting officials who have no background in the topic in charge of deciding funding continuity. It controls what gets researched and if/how researchers are allowed to share their discoveries. There are no books to burn if the government never allows them to be written. This is fascism plain and simple.

Public comments are not a vote, it is a chance for you to say "here is an issue with this law I think you need to address" and provide justification for legal challenges if it goes forward:

"Comments raise the bar that agencies have to meet when making a rule; “if an agency fails to adequately respond to significant, relevant comments in a final rule, members of the public may seek to challenge the rule in court on that basis and claim it could be struck down.ˮ"

here’s the plot bunny that just jumped out at me:

-Cody is a purge trooper, serving under Darth Vader

-Vader somehow gets ahold of baby Luke, and assigns Cody to Luke personally, with orders to protect Luke at any cost.

-Cody is a good soldier

-Cody follows orders

-Cody decides that Luke’s current situation is, in fact, not safe. Partially because the Emperor clearly intends to train Luke as an apprentice and Cody can see what that did to the last guy (there is no way Cody doesn’t know who Vader is), partially because children need things like “friends” and “positive role models” and “houseplants”, partially because of Vader himself (Cody’s like “wow this possessive obsessive murderous asshole’s gonna give this kid so many daddy issues”)

-Cody yeets himself and Luke the hell out of there

-Cody proceeds to find the safest, most supportive, most house-plant-y place he can to raise Luke, because Cody takes his orders seriously

-Cody gets really offended whenever anyone suggests that he deserted or is on the run from the Empire, because he’s a LOYAL SOLDIER who’s just FOLLOWING ORDERS

-When Luke joins the Rebellion, Cody does too, because he’s still gotta protect Luke

-he insists that he is still a loyal soldier of the Empire, and for all intents and purposes, he is, he’s just, on special assignment.

-When Rebellion leaders express concern about the Purge Trooper actively professing loyalty to Vader and Palpatine, Luke’s like “oh lmao don’t worry Dad’s just like that”

-Rex is so confused and pissed off

-but also happy

-Above Yavin IV, Cody manages to steal a TIE fighter and hovers aggressively behind Luke, shooting the shit out of anyone who comes near him

-Luke is on Bespin. Vader is on Bespin. Vader is dueling Luke and taunting him about the Dark Side. Vader is about to disarm (and dis-hand) Luke. Vader gets fucking tackled by a purge trooper, out of fucking nowhere. Cody just. fucking YEETS himself on top of him, punches him a couple of times, then grabs Luke and books it.

-Vader is so confused

- “was that fucking CODY”

-he thinks Cody’s betrayed him

-he starts trying all the old secret communication channels that imperial spec ops has

-he gets ahold of Cody

-Cody is more than happy to give him a mission update, and is confused and offended when Vader accuses him of treason

- “I’m following orders sir you said to protect him and that’s what I’m doing”

- “you STOLE my SON”

- “I removed him from an unsafe situation and cut contact with individuals likely to have a negative impact on his emotional wellbeing”

- Vader has zero chance of winning this argument, Cody has an entire library of parenting books and child psych texts to throw at him

-anyway fast-forwarding to the Battle of Endor

-Luke and Vader face off again with Palpatine being an evil cackling shit in the background

-Luke has decided that since Cody is “dad” Vader can be “father”

-Luke getting zapped by Palpatine, “Father please, help me”

-Vader having an existential crisis

-out of fucking nowhere, Cody just full-body tackles Palpatine and yeets him into the reactor shaft

-Vader: “…I was gonna do that”

-Cody: “glad to hear it, sir. Keep it up and I might consider weekend visitation rights”

-Cody’s black armor is not Vader’s fault. It’s Cody’s. The Empire was majorly shaking up the army’s aesthetic and Cody is always a man On Top of fashion trends, and he saw Vader’s armor and went “pffft i could wear that better”

-when Vader said “protect Luke at any cost” Cody interpreted that literally and persuaded Vader to set up an untraceable bank account with a truly absurd amount of money in it. After Cody absconds with Luke Vader can see money coming out of the account but he has no way to figure out what Cody’s buying or where he’s buying it and it pisses him off so much

-Obi-Wan is still alive in this timeline. he’s been trying to track Luke down but because Cody is Very Good at his Job he doesn’t find him until after Endor

-actually i think it would be very funny if Obi-Wan showed up literally right after Endor, while they’re all having their celebration. Vader is there. Cody is hovering menacingly right behind Luke, who is trying to get his Dad and his Father to get along (Cody is confused because as far as he knows, he and his commanding officer are on perfectly cordial terms)

-Cody’s like “oh HEY obiwan” and immediately tries to kill him because technically speaking no one ever revoked order 66

-Luke still finds out that Vader is his father via Dramatic Reveal on Bespin. he’s upset that Cody didn’t tell him. Cody didn’t tell him because clones don’t have fathers so it literally never occurred to him that it might be relevant

-Cody absolutely follows Luke to Jedi Swamp Camp on Dagobah. 

-Of course, he immediately tries to kill Yoda. Luke’s entire jedi training takes place on the move, as he and Yoda are fleeing through the swamp while being stalked by an Imperial Purge Trooper

-Luke still texts w/ his dad every night tho, to let him know he’s okay and having fun at Jedi Swamp Camp

-Cody’s like “okay honey don’t forget to eat ur snacks also you should be more careful about breaking vegetation i know exactly which direction you’re heading XOXO”

-Han Solo legitimately bails on the Rebellion because Cody gave him the Galaxy’s Most Intimidating Shovel Talk

-it only lasted about 5 minutes tho because Cody hauled him back because Luke would be sad if he left

-Luke finds out Leia is his sister. Cody finds out he has another kid to take care of. (Cody is fully capable of interpreting “protect my son” as “protect my offspring of indeterminate gender” because clones only ever had a vague understanding of gender anyway)

-Luke doesn’t inherit his father’s lightsaber from Obi-Wan. Instead, Cody hands him a lightsaber that he just happened to have lying around and told him “this belonged to some dipshit who couldn’t stop dropping it. I’ve added a wrist strap for you.”

-in this au, Luke’s fighting style involves a lot more bodily contact, because of reasons

-Leia asks Cody about her biological parents, since Cody knew them before the empire

-Cody: “your father was a dramatic idiot. Your mother was a dramatic idiot, but more compact.”

-during Luke’s childhood, Cody was absolutely that overly involved PTA parent who bullied everyone into making cookies for the school bake sale

-he was also the parent who organized playdates and volunteered to chaperone all the field trips

-Luke’s first teacher deserves a fucking medal because during the first parent-teacher conference of the year a fucking Purge Trooper shows up and sits down and starts asking questions like “is Luke getting adequate social support in your classroom” and “what changes should we make at home to support Luke’s education” with a very serious face.

-Cody has difficulty helping Luke with his homework because it’s not like they ever taught clones things like history or writing or literary analysis

-Return of the Jedi, Act 1. Scene: Sarlacc Pit. Cody’s mostly sitting back because he and Luke came up with the “backflip off a diving board over certain death while R2 yeets you your lightsaber” plan and he’s very confident in it

-however

-Boba Fett comes zooming in to do some fuck shit

-and immediately gets tackled by Cody, who just throws him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and hauls him away going “idiot little brothers need to quit touching my shit”

-Boba is immediately overtaken by childhood instincts and goes “i am OLDER THAN YOU” before he even realizes who’s carrying him

-Luke’s preschool teacher: “and uhh how old are you, Mr. Trooper?”

oh wow the glass-tower office buildings we constructed when we thought air conditioning and central heating would never have downsides...have downsides?

and we're still building them?

while the Victorian house museum where I work, with thick walls and small windows and big wooden shutters stays ~10 degrees above (winter) or below (summer) the outside temperature for days on end with no help at all?

uh. okay then

I believe Anakin knows more about politics than what was shown in the movies but he isn´t a supporter of fascism, he fell into fascism just as he fell to the darkside. In fact that was the first blue print of his story in the OT which Lucas used to write Vader.

Lucas didn´t want to go deep in politics after the complaining in TPM, which was also the reason why Padme´s political role was reduced in AOTC and ROTS, she had scenes in which she contronfed Palpatine after the murder of her handmaiden and another one where she represented the Senators that didn´t support Palpatine´s extraordinary powers.

Anakin was trained in diplomacy by Obi-Wan, the Jedi order and Palpatine, it´s absurd for Anakin to be ignorant of politics, George showed his beliefs in simple terms but Anakin does understand the way the system works, his problem with the system isn´t democracy, his problem is that it´s got to a roadblock that doesn´t allow it to do anything of substance anymore, which was also true in TPM, that´s why Chancellor Valorum send Qui-Gon to Naboo as a personal favor because he was his friend, he knew there was no way the Senate would approve Jedi support for Naboo agaisn´t the trade federation. Anakin knew the Senate only seek to protect the interests of the Senate, which is what the Jedi actually do and what Anakin did in his first years as a Jedi padawan.

Anakin criticises the Senate inactivity over the situation of slavery in the outer rim as well as it´s inactivity over the crisis of Naboo and many other systems. He and Padme agree about it, they agree that the system doesn´t work, Padme wants to fix it but Anakin wants to change it.

Anakin supports changing the system so it acomplishes more instead of the eternal debates that don´t lead to anything, except keep things just as they are. Curiously enogh, having someone give their final decision over some matter is how the Jedi council sometimes gets to an agreetment which I believe it´s where Anakin got the idea.

In the real world the Supreme Court or lower federal courts rule on the constitutionality of actions (or inaction) by the Senate, or when the judiciary handles matters that are fundamentally legal rather than political.

Palpatine never talked to Anakin about fascism untile Anakin fell to the darkside, he only convinced him that his emergency powers were neccesary during the war to make decisions quickly and in fact as a jedi connection to the chancellor, his job was to keep the chancellor informed about the end of the war so he would officially leave his emergency powers. (His mission to spy the chancello for the Jedi Council was completely unnoficial, Anakin hated every moment of it and this was the first real moment in which he started to believe Palpatine the Jedi in fact wanted to take over the Republic to imposse their own governmet, which was Master Windu plan even if he saw it as a temporal thing until they chose another chancellor)

Anakin wasn´t the only one criticising the Republic, Padme in ROTS even says that maybe they have become the very evil they seek to stop, she says this because the Republic is actually acting like the Empire in actions if not in name. Anakin gets offended because he has been fighthing for months, losing his soldiers lives, to defeat the separatists and keep the republic together so what Padme said sounded like betrayal, he also refused to go outside official chanells to try to convince Palpatine to leave his emergency powers because Anakin tought correctly that wasn´t the legal way to do it but they were at a point where what was legal, no longer mattered but Anakin was send away while Palpatine was doing all of this so to Anakin eyes, while he understood Padme pov he also tought Palpatine was a good leader that would help end the war, he trusted Palpatine.

Anakin: You will not understand what I have to do to end the Clone War. You will try to stop me. Obi-Wan: Anakin! Why?! Anakin: I'm sorry. I have seen that it is the Jedi who will stand in the way of peace. Anakin to Obi-Wan in TCW- MORTIS ARC

Anakin didn´t fall to the darkside to impose a fascist state instead of a republic, Anakin fell to the darkside because he wanted peace by any means neccesary after years of losing millions of lifes including his soldiers and citizens lifes that were lost where entire planets were destroyed by the separatist.

This is why Anakin´s eyes didn´t change of color while he was attacking the temple because he saw it as something horrible but neccesary so the Jedi didn´t revolt and started another civil war but his eyes did change when he attacked the separatists because for him they were responsible for all the chaos in the republic and didn´t care how much damage they did and so he enjoyed killing them, falling completely in the darkside.

In fact,even in during his psycotic break, Anakin still said he brought "Peace and Justice" to the "Empire" because he genuinely wanted to believe that´s what he did. Vader genuinely hoped the Empire would become something better than what the Republic was, he was wrong.

The death star only forced Vader to admit to himself this reality and after rediscovering Luke was alive, he was ready for open revolt agaisnt the Emperor even as a darksider.

I wish as a fandom we talked more about this side of Anakin´s fall to the darkside, in a way it´s also Lucas fault because he decided to erase many of the scenes that showed this but this doesn´t mean it wasn´t part of the story, a better government in the galaxy played a part almost as important as his wish to save Padme in Anakin´s fall to the darkside but it also played a part with his final decision to end the sith and the Empire reign over the galaxy.

Day 4 of @codywanweek with the prompt 'Light and Dark'.