regarding original post: huh, thats interesting! i never really thought about it that way. but now that i have, i def agree with it.
and expanding on my agreement especially in how it relates to your reblog ("self-destructive affirming insecurities" is absolutely right omg ❤️):
i think its less about how anakin feels about obiwan after the tusken massacre and more about anakin feels about himself. like based on his fall in ROTS and his general behavior during ROTS, i think he is super defeatist as a character. like, perfectionism is the goal. one mistake means the entire thing is over; it's pointless to keep bothering to try. so it makes sense that after AOTC, his state of mind is "ive already fallen, ive already failed at being a jedi. im secretly evil and just masquerading as a jedi now" (which is why being a jedi master becomes so important to him - because subconsciously it's his way of trying to fill that void of inadequacy.)
and in that state of mind, i can see him becoming distant from the council and from obiwan. their perceptions of him are that he *is* a jedi. and obiwan specifically always sees the best in him, not always to his face, but to others - as anakin's advocate and defender (especially in the ROTS novel). and anakin cant cope with that because deep down, he feels he is not meeting obiwan's good view of him. that's what creates the distance between them.
meanwhile, the chancellor is highlighting and/or inciting anakin's worst qualities, the things that make anakin feel the most "evil" (the killing dooku scene literally contains all of this). and whether consciously or subconsciously (i personally think its both at the same time in a doublethink 2+2=5 kind of way), anakin embraces that view of himself - the side of him who is "evil," a murderer, a sith perhaps - because deep down, he feels it's what he deserves.
and at first, it's probably a rush of adrenaline/dopamine. it feels good, even freeing, to not have to hide how he sees himself around the chancellor. but in the long term, it deepens the sense he has of what he sees as his "inevitable" worst qualities until he feels that they are all he is. which explains why, despite deeply trusting palpatine, he always looks so uncomfortable around him. and also, which ultimately explains why he falls.
so in a way, palpatine *does* tell anakin what he wants to hear. but what anakin wants to hear is anything that will bring out the worst in him.
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