SOME TALL TALES have grown up about this fic over the years. To set the record straight ...
*Based on the work of psychologist Stanton Samenow, this fic took the character Palpatine as a case of antisocial personality disorder, and applied the treatment methods advocated by Samenow in his book Inside the Criminal Mind to create an allegory of how APD can be successfully treated. IF the APD is learned, and not the result of an organic brain defect, which is what some cases of APD are. (Of course, Jedi have access to some interventions the rest of us don't!)
*This reference work by Samenow is the same one referred to in The Sopranos. (Jen Melfi really should have read the entire thing.)
*It was written in the years 2004-2005.
*Stupid Is As Stupid Does: Back when the Florida First Coast Writer's Festival was still in the business of launching writing careers, all calls for entries that went out reading, "Please do not send fan fiction, Star Wars, etc." were the fault of this fic.
*Before the Omni Peacewriting competition shuttered its doors, this fic received a laudatory letter from the judges. It may even have been considered prizeworthy; but we shall never know, because the judges hesitated to award pieces that could never be published.
*The title is Midnight in the Garden (and only that) because nothing else fit nearly so well. The fic has nothing to do with the book by John Berendt, or the film. The title depicted above is an error by the artist who designed the cover for TFN.
*The story is so long that when it got submitted to the juried fan fiction archive on TheForce.net, it was nearly a year before it was accepted.
*When the DIY awards were held in LA in 2008, this fic won best fan fiction. The prize was a free copy of Final Draft screenwriting software.
*When this revision went up, it sparked ideas for prequels. Palpatine's first sectorwide election for Senator is told in Masters of the Game. The story continues in What Lies Beneath, as Palpatine, assured now of a long career in the Senate, begins gathering allies. Working together with sterling lawmakers like Mon Mothma and Bail Organa ... and sithspawn like Sate Pesage ... he spearheads antislavery legislation to bring the Jedi under the direct control of the Chancellor's office he's now set his sights on.
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Midnight in the Garden
Fanfiction#1 Darth Sidious 4 weeks. A fateful sequence of events the night General Grievous is defeated gives Anakin the chance to avoid destroying the Republic, save Padme's life, and possibly even ... redeem Palpatine? Yes, this is the 2005 Palpatine redemp...
