#I love Bly but I don't know much about Neyo

[marbled-polecat]

Do you ship Bly/Neyo?

[aahsokaatano]

i've been crazy busy this month for various reasons, so instead of doing a regular "once per day" bingo thing, I decided to do a bunch of five-sentence dumps. Enjoy!

@cloneshipweek

1. Keeli/Doom

The helmet recovered from Ryloth sat heavily in Doom's hands. It felt like it weighed more than the rocky planet itself.

He ached to speak. To say I'm sorry, I failed you, I wasn't there when you needed me.

But the words didn't come, and Keeli would never tease him about being lost for words again.

2. Fox/Fox

"The more you speak," Fox said in a low, threatening tone, "the closer I get to punting you off the nearest platform and letting you free-fall to the surface."

"Aw, Commander, you say the sweetest things," the Torrent that Fox refused to name simpered.

One of these days, he was actually going to kill the CT. The name they had picked was bad enough - did they also have to be so karking annoying?

"You know, I hear kissing is a good way to keep people quiet," they grinned, and Fox didn't give them a chance to say anything else, much to their delight.

3. Keller/Neyo

They didn't ever speak about anything important, really. Neyo could chatter about anything and nothing for as long as Keller would let him, filling up the quiet of the med tent as he stitched the Commander back together after yet another harebrained mission that Neyo and Bacara had taken on.

Proof of life, in the little things. Keller could see he was alive, sure, but the more Neyo talked, the more he could see the tension drain out of the medic's shoulders.

If the stitches got a little more painful towards the end, well, that was just Keller's way of saying he was glad that Neyo was still there to feel the sting of it.

4. Hound/Tup

Grizzer always beat Hound to the lamding platform when the 501st came to Coruscant, not that Tup minded too much. The massif was a package deal with his handler, after all.

Hound laughed and wiped the slobber off of Tup's cheek to press a kiss there. "Welcome back, cyare."

"Good to be back, cyare."

5. Vaughn/Wooley

Someone once described them as distilled sunshine twice over. Vaughn had laughed, all but sparkling in his delight, and Wooley had grinned and blushed, running a hand through his hair and making it fluffier.

The darkness that was spread throughout the galaxy seemed to have a harder time casting a shadow over them. They were just... happy. They had each other, after all.

6. Oddball (Davijaan)/Crys

"You were reckless again," Crys fretted, watching with a scowl as Davijaan climbed out of his scorched fighter.

"And I won, again," he added, getting both feet back on the deck. "Isn't that what's important?"

"No, coming back to me is what's important."

Davijaan rested his forehead against Crys', hoping the contact would say what he couldn't find words for - that he won for Crys, every time.

7. Blackout/Grey

Grey was dozing, just enjoying the warmth of the bunk and the man next to him. Blackout was still deeply asleep, half on top of Grey with his head on Grey's shoulder and his arm over his waist. Warm, and comfortable, and safe.

It was a feeling they didn't get to indulge in often. He was going to relish it for as long as they were able to stay here.

8. Longshot/Hardcase

Hardcase had once claimed he wasn't a very good sniper, which was why he carried pretty much everything except a rifle.

Longshot was now ready to call banthashit on that.

"A millimeter," he said for the tenth time, "a single millimeter of difference between our shots and you say you aren't a good sniper!"

Hardcase shrugged. "You're the best and I'm not as good as you, so -" He gave a muffled laugh as Longshot cut him off with an aggrieved kiss.

9. Bacara/Colt

Kamino was as deary and depressing as ever, but the welcoming party was a sight for sore eyes.

"Colt," Bacara greeted softly, nodding at the other Commander.

"Bacara," he nodded back.

Later, they would have a proper reunion, would catalogue the new scars on each other and kiss away the ache of loneliness that had built up since they had last seen each other. For now, a short nod would have to do.

10. Dogma/Wrecker

Wrecker had called him 'regs' the first time they met, and Dogma had taken it as a compliment.

Dogma had quietly told Hunter about killing Krell, which got him assigned to CF99, and Wrecker overheard and immediately developed a crush.

They really shouldn't click as well as they did - uptight Dogma, loyal to the point of rabidness, and loose canon Wrecker, who loved nothing more than making things explode in glorious fashion?

But they did work, somehow, and soon it was Dogma-and-Wrecker, a single unit rather than two. And they excelled for it.

11. Thire/Cut

"I'm leaving, going AWOL."

"I know." The signs had been there for a while, he just hadn't wanted to think he was interpreting them correctly.

"You should come with me."

"I... I want to, but I can't." I'm sorry.

12. Bly/Spar

Bly had once thought that Spar was everything he wasn't - big and strong and fast and the best of the best.

But now he realized, Spar was an attainable goal, in more ways than one.

He was still a bit taller than Bly, but the muscled arms that wrapped around Bly in the night were hardly bigger than his own.

As Bly snuggled in closer, though, he still thought Spar was the best of the best. Even if they were closer in size, now.

13. Free/Free (my OCs, Crasher/Steel)

"Don't ever do that again," Crasher whispered against Steel's lips.

"I'm sorry."

"I - I thought -" a lot of terrible things had crossed Crasher's mind when Steel had been publicly declared a traitor.

"I know," Steel said, holding Crasher tightly. "No more covert ops for me."

[thefoundationproject]

Hi, I've been reading Soft Wars for a while now, and I derive a completely reasonable amount of enjoyment from it, I promise. Especially the front line trio (Neyo, Bacara, and Jet) and the inimitable NNT. (Also, of course, the Shebse).

If I might ask.... what does the timeline look like, in terms of Neyo's separation from the rest of his squad? How old were they when Priest took him, and did they realize just how bad things were immediately? I think you said somewhere on Tumblr that they didn't see Neyo until the war, but some of the fics have them on Kamino at presumably the same time (at the very least, wouldn't Neyo have been in ARC training under 17 at the same time that Colt was tutoring Rex?) Maybe I'm reading something wrong. Also, I think 6 has a line in the Salt-Shit Lamp Fic where he references seeing Neyo get his arm broken by someone? Or maybe Bly did?

I guess what I'm asking is if they interacted at all during the period where Neyo was with Priest, and what those interactions might have looked like. Or if they didn't see each other until the war, then what did that reunion look like? Who reached out first? Did anything at all happen, or was it radio silence until Gree made that joke about re-adopting Neyo to spite Fox? (Incidentally, how does Neyo react to that scene/to getting called Ney'ika? Feigned annoyance? Legitimate resentment? Pissy cat who's allergic to feelings?)

This is very long and you absolutely do not have to answer, but I love your fic so..... yeah.

Uhhhhhh t-time? *Sweats profusely* what is this timeline of which you speak? Ermmmm this is very much a shrugfetti answer. It happened when they were small-like but not too small, but I am terrible at coherent timelines. @tessadoesstuff @wanderingjedihistorian @evilkillerpoptarts might have hammered out some versions that work? See I don't do definitive timelines so I don't contradict myself on the who-is-where-when. Mostly because the timeline-detaily bits are the not fun parts for me so I just don't XD

The way I see it, even if they were on Kamino at the same time, there were somewhere between 1.8 and 2ish million clones at the very start of the war. So with them being trained in different areas, and with how the Death Watch kept their trainees separate, it's very much plausible that Neyo never interacted with any of his squad until the war.

(Yes, he was in ARC training at the same time Colt was training Rex that one time. They uh ... didn't meet because *sweats profusely* uh the Force? Hyperspace? Uh ... aliens. I dunno. Plot.)

And yeah, that was Bly that was sparring with Neyo. And 6 never told the others about it because he didn't know what to say. He nearly didn't recognize the kid as Neyo, he couldn't go and tell his squad that ... he just couldn't.

I'm pretty confident there were conversations before the Priority Chat interactions. Edee are very much the type to work the details out in private, before putting the entire GAR on blast. Not like those Shebse, they say, with zero irony. Neyo, they all found, will put up with endearments if they say it in the most assholish way they know how. So they do and he does and it's very catlike indeed.

Thank you for reading! Sorry I don't actually have any specifics XD

[thefoundationproject]

I have to ask, how dare you be so good with 1) introducing blink-and-you'll-miss them-characters from canon and fully selling me on them/their personality. And 2) Rare. Pairs.

I mean WTH. I barely knew about Bacara but now because of you I think about Grumpy Introverted Space Marine every second of every day. Ponds! Glittering beautiful huggable Bro-Mom! Fox! 'Nuff said. Rex was already amazing, but Soft Wars Rex??? No words. Rex'ika is canon fight me! Kam'ika! Neyo! My prickly sourly love! I'd always wondered what kinda character would program WAC-47 ... Soft Wars Neyo would. He would 1000% no remorse. All of the Shebse and Edee and Chekar and the Fenns and Alphas and literally everyone. Just *chefs kiss*

And then the gosh darned rare pairs. Bacara/Rex make me gooey inside but also make me want to cry. Kit better bundle those boys up!! Fox/Ponds are the best duo in the galaxy and I want them to adopt me even if I'm supposed to be an adult. Jesse/Kix aren't a rare pair but the way you write them make them even better. Wolffe/Hardcase.... those beautful idiots... Vaughn/Neyo was already competing for top spot with Rex/Bacara(/Kit) ... and then you dared add Neyo/Bly .... I have no words that could possibly explain how much I feel that pairing to my very core.... thinking about baby Bly and Neyo being besties, reconnecting when they're older... What does it say about me that my favourite ships/characters have a (un)healthy amount of angst with them? (Nothing. Nothing at all. Because they also have a truckload of fluff so it over corrects to the other side)

(and don't even get me started on Neyo/Bly/Aayla(/Vaugn))

Just. All of it! Amazing! I've renounced the Lucas Film AU. Too sad, unrealistic. Not enough clones. Kot *tap, tap* to anyone who hasn't but I'm different. Glory to the Soft Wars AU!!

Hello! *Waves excitedly* welcome to my bucket!

I have spent many an hour hunting down those beans that had the barest billing, the smallest part, the shortest appearance and going ‘Behold, A Main Character!’ It’s best of both worlds: they’re not technically an OC, and they have a character tag on AO3 a lot of the time, and I can take the 10 seconds of them that we got and see if I can build a whole personality. Not offof those 10 seconds per se, more like ‘what kind of personality/experiences might lead up to this particular 10 seconds’. It’s a lot of fun!

Grumpy (but far less grumpy than he pretends actually) introverted space marine has taken over my life and I’m determined to drag every single person down with me. Ponds is just the kind of dude I really wanna hang out with, you know? He’s just a ton of fun.

Fox now, Fox is the character that works so hardto appear grumpy. He’s put so much time into that facade.

I sort of a little bit absolutely adore Rex bestest of all. And making him just a teensy bit shorter and a teensy bit younger and a teensy bit overall kih’vod-er than the rest gives my heart the happies. It’s so great. Also I have younger sibs and take great joy in reminding them that they are babies no I don’t care if you’re in your thirties now, baybee.

Neyo showed up one day and started talking and didn’t stoptalking and here we are. He’s such a lad and a bean and I adore his scruffy little face. I have a very clear picture in my mind of him working on WAC while WAC gives ‘helpful’ suggestions and it’s the sweetest thing. Neyo is very sweet. Don’t tell him I said that.

To be fair! If all the characters are already rare characters then the pairings will be rare pairs! Technically that’s more of a symptom than a feature! Right? Right???

Fox and Ponds were one of those things that Just Happened. I didn’t set out with any intentions at all just boop, one day there they were and apparently had been like that the whole time, who knew? Same with Wolffe and Hardcase. Hardcase was just always causing trouble with the Wolfpack and I kept going why Hardcase, why???? And then all of a sudden the Jesse-voice went ‘clearly he has a crush’. And then it turns out that Hardcase 200% aims high with his crushnesses and here we are.

Vaughn and Neyo, perhaps surprisingly, is the relationship I’m least happy with so far! I feel like I kind of Started With The Relationship and didn’t give the characters a chance to grow first. You might have noticed that they were the last really entirely new one that I introduced. After that, I wanted to back off a little and let characters grow as they will before diving into relationship exploration. I still owe Vaughn a ton of character building before I’m satisfied and willing to move them along. There areeeeeee three? Three fics for him in the WIP folder exploring the himness, and his relationships with other people. One of these days I’ll actually have Some Time and can get back in the swing!

(Bly/Neyo, as you might guess from the previous, was actually in the pipeline long before Neyo/Vaughn. I was just waiting for The Most Dramatique moment to drop that one. It was glorious. I got so much screeching. Love it.)

Rexcara is now like a Thing. Like a not-even-Soft-Wars thing. It’s out in the wild, frolicking free and I’m so incredibly STOKED. Bacara had like 10 fics total before I started writing him, and most of them were ‘all the CCs are partying…’ etc. Definitely zero shipping fics. And Rexcara was an accident! A one-time joke wherein Rex totally laid one on someone theoretically out of his league. And then Rexcara became this incredibly soft, incredibly amazing thing and it just clicked. And off it went into the ether and became its own living thing.

(And Kitttttt. Kit was a sweet little thing with Rex and it was so lovely when it managed to amble over to including all of them. They’re the sweetest thing.)

There is also a baby Neyo and Bly being themselves fic in progress. I promise it’ll be finished in mumble mumble years….

Thank you very much! I just really really really needed some stories with just … a lot less traumatic trauma-y trauma for Dramatic Effect. And also more clones because dangit! So that’s what the fandom’s gotta do friends, we gotta make this beast ourselves!

Thanks for reading!