nothing says "sex appeal" like space taxes

[hiddenramen]

I'm finally starting to make some decent progress on my Star Wars AU outline! (I think I'm going to do the story for the MXTX Big Bang, so I'm trying to get a really thorough outline together so I can structure my work a bit more tightly based on the schedule / timeframe, and so I can have a reference for length / where I need to be at various points). 

I rewatched the prequel movies the other day for a vibe check, and as I was glibly roasting the absolutely abysmal structure of The Phantom Menace to my girlfriend (and sidenote, but Christ, the narrative structure of that movie is just... absolutely bonkers bananas, holy shit), I made a comment that went something like, "I'm going to write a Star Wars story and not mention tax negotiations not once, just to flex on George Lucas." 

Smash cut to the 7 tabs I have open on the political landscape of the Star Wars universe, and surprise! There are so, so many taxes 😂 George Lucas wins again, I guess. 

Comments

[libitina]

Of all of the narrative problems in Star Wars, I never though trade tarifs were one of the problems. I love those sorts of details.

[hiddenramen]

I actually loved it tbh 😂 I kind of snickered at it at first, like, "Really? You're gonna open the movie with trade negotiations?" but it was actually genuinely a really interesting storyline. Even reading through the EU wiki articles has me like, "Oh shit, that's actually really neat!"

The movie was just so tonally inconsistent, that was most of my issue. It didn't know who it was for or what it wanted to be or do, so it ended up just being a mess.

[rynleaf]

On the one hand I'm laughing at your plight (gently, and with sympathy), on the other hand taxes, trade and space are VERY SEXY and I'm genuinely excited for you (and star wars mdzs!!! there is a tragic lack of space fics in the mdzs fandom, I'm very much stoked for another one 👀)

[hiddenramen]

It turns out that when your government reigns over thousands upon thousands of planets and colonies, somebody has to pay some taxes somewhere 😂 Who'da thunk?

Thank you for the excitement, though! And I agree, there are definitely way too few space fics in MDZS. Surprisingly so! Especially considering how well the story maps onto science fiction (and especially onto something like Star Wars.)

[unavee]

I have to agree with the other comments. Space taxes are sexy! I've never been that interested in Star Wars, so most of my knowledge probably actually comes from Star Wars AUs. But if I saw something advertised as tax negotiations IN SPACE, I would immediately check it out :D

[hiddenramen]

Star Wars is honestly at its peak when it's treated like a giant sandbox for different people to play in (which is why I always loved the EU so much more than the films), so experiencing it through Star Wars AUs honestly isn't a terrible way to do it!

If high-stakes tax negotiations in space do it for you though, then boy howdy is this AU in the ballpark 😂