#bucket's meta

[battlekilt]

To my discovery, I seem to be an outlier that has thought, in great, detail about Rex hearing the story of Anakin Skywalker defending the Temple against the 501st men, and being slain by this Lord Vader.

I think about this scene all the time, from Rex's POV—obviously.

Because the truth was, Anakin was a GOAT of a Jedi. But also? The 501st was Spec-Ops; they helped trained Ahsoka, and Anakin taught his men specifically how to be better soldiers alongside him. The 501st and Anakin knew each other's tactics far more intimately than other Jedi-Clone units did. Rex knew too well how a fight between them and Anakin would have been disastrous for both. Numbers would have swarmed Anakin, he would have killed so many.

Rex's imagination much have just played over and over and over and over again how many of his men's lives his General—who he was so clearly loyal to, but also... proud to serve—fell. He must have imagined that moment when the mysterious new Sith Apprentice showed up, backed up his men, and provided the aide and support needed to take Skywalker's life. The scenario must have played over and over again, none of them merciful.

Every time another body fell, it was another shot in Rex's heart. But, so too was the moment he imagined when his men's blasterfire joined in Vader's blade. When their men had the power of gravity, and pulled Skywalker's lifeless husk onto the beautiful, polished, Temple floor.

Think about Rex being able to conjure the image of the Temple so clearly in his mind. He knows how his men fought, he KNOWS how Anakin fought, and with his tactical abilities... he could think of so many scenarios that could have very well played out—and he'd know it. He'd sit in the dark and just know any one of them could have been exactly how they happened... and it would HAUNT him that the two fought each other. Killed each other. That HIS men would have helped spill Skywalker's blood on that pristine, reverent floor as his General died trying to defend the children and the elderly. Rex would have known that Anakin would have fought until he couldn't, and it would EAT him up to picture his helmeted men staring down at Skywalker's bloodied face.

And he'd wonder: Who picked up the General's lightsaber? Was it Appo? Did Appo pick it up and hand it over to this Lord Vader?

That horrible, twisted wish that Skywalker killed as many men of their men—as many of HIS BROTHERS—as possible. Men whom Anakin knew by name helped many of them pick out their names and how Skywalker remembered them all. Men that Anakin would recognize by the sound of their voice, a feat only Clones learned to do. Their General, who laughed with them, painted their armor with them.

I can just imagine old-man Rex maybe opening up and talking about this to Ahsoka and Ahsoka? Refusing to correct him. She isn't going to be the one to tell her old friend what he's figured out—what she learned actually happened to Anakin. There's no way she's telling her aging Cloned friend that Anakin, Rex's GENERAL, was Vader—that it had been HIM who led the 501st on the Temple.

Yeah, I think about this a lot—how for the rest of Rex's days, he thought over and over again about what must have happened at that Temple. The role each of them had to play. I think about how Rex's speculative thoughts about his men's role in the Temple's purge and their role in General Skywalker's death.

So, I think about how Ahsoka let him think of these horrors, these nightmares. Because she knew the truth would break his heart more than the images he already played in his head.

The truth would have been a death kneel to Rex's faith, his heart, and his spirit, and I think Ahsoka knew that. There was enough blood-stained betrayal in the old Clone's heart, and I think she would let him imagine that their men, his brothers, had killed their General Skywalker of no fault of their own, and the Jedi Knight he had served for years had instead died valiantly.

[thebucketpail]

When You Accidentally Kill a Clown pt. 2

Pt. 1 Ao3

I couldn't let the brain rot die

-----

Breath Danny, this is all fine. This was however not fine. Danny stared, mouth agape, food untouched, as The RED godamned HOOD sat across from him tearing into a burger and fries. The man had taken off his helmet and almost sent Danny into a panic before seeing he had another mask underneath. Which, honestly, shouldn’t be surprising, from what Tucker’s told him these bats are hella secretive and have an insane amount of contingencies. He thought back to the time when Tucker had tried installing similar plans in case of emergency, which mostly fell through after like two attacks. Only a few plans survived and receive semi-regular upkeep.

“Dude you gonna eat that or what?” Danny was pulled from their thoughts by the vigilante sitting across from them. Right, that. As a response they lifted a couple fries to his mouth and Ancients these are good. Hood let out a chuckle at whatever face Danny had pulled, before his voice turned a bit more serious.

“So how’d you come across the Joker? Much less put a crater in his gut?” Ah, so this was an interrogation, Danny can do an interrogation. He swallowed a few more fries before responding.

“Um, well, I was just walking back to my dorm, and the guy jumped out of an alley and grabbed me. He started talking about the Waynes and… some other stuff. So I panicked and then he was dead.” Danny trailed off, stuffing the burger in his mouth to avoid talking more. And if it weren’t for his nerves this burger would have tasted amazing, but at this moment it was just a burger.

Hood nodded, “And the smoking crater? Are you a meta or something?” And there was the question Danny constantly thinks about because yes, technically he would be considered a meta, after all his dad and his sister both have the gene so it would be so easy to explain away his powers like that. But it felt so much like a lie. Like he was denying the fact of his true nature. But Danny also really didn’t feel like explaining the complexities of ghosts at whatever Ancients forsaken time it is, to the Red Hood, over a burger and shakes. So he nodded, gesturing flippantly with his hand in a vague either or motion.

Hood looked weary but took the answer nonetheless. “I took care of the body and called some friends. Do you mind if I tell them who did it or would you like to keep it under wraps?” He said, leaning back in the booth.

“Umm,” Danny ducked his head and dropped his hand to his lap, “I’d rather not have my name or face publicized, if that's alright.” Hood Hmm’d in agreement before tilting his head to one side, A smile smile tug at the corner of his lips which, if Danny wasn’t under an intense amount of stress right now, would actually be kind of cute.

“Speaking of,” Hood said, his tone shifting to something Danny couldn’t detect, “I don’t believe I got your name.” and that’s a lie, Danny had told him in the alley way. But then, Hood had been in a bit of shock so maybe he forgot?

“It’s Danny,” Danny said again, a bit more sure this time, “Danny Fenton.” He paused for a moment before tacking on “ He/ they” and holding out his hand for Hood to shake.

That smile on the vigilantes face grew more as he took Danny’s hand, “Hood, he/him. Pleasure to make your acquaintance” was that a wink? It was hard to tell with the domino mask, but did RED HOOD just fucking wink at them.

“So how old are you Danny? You said you were heading back to your dorm, are you a student?”

It took a few moments for their brain to catch up before Danny replied, “Yeah, I just turned 20, I’m starting my first semester at Gotham U in a couple days. I’ve uhh,” Danny ducked his head again, reaching to rub at the back of his neck, “I’ve only actually been in Gotham for like three days.” he muttered sheepishly. Looking back up at Hood through his bangs.

“You’ve only been in Gotham for for three days,” hood whispered to himself, his brows drawing together in confusion, “And you killed the Fucking Joker???” He half shouted, incredulously.

Danny’s Head shot around scanning the dingy burger joint, no one seemed to have noticed. Hood looked apologetic, then a war of emotions fluttered across his face before that smile, that Danny had now decided is definitely cute (Cause that’s not a lot to unpack), crept its way back onto the man’s face.

“So what do you study?” Hood asked, resting his chin on his hand and tilting his head just slightly.

Danny fought the blush threatening to creep up their face because no, no this serial killer crime boss is not cute you absolute idiot. And instead they launched into an explanation of how theyŕe majoring in Aerospace engineering and Astronomy, because this is his obsession and he could talk about his obsession all day if he could.

----------

Jason stared at the man before him, excitedly explaining a bunch of star stuff that, to be honest, he didn’t really understand. But this man was so goddamn cute. Danny apparently is the kind of person that talks with their hands when they get excited, because the wild gestures they were making only managed to captivate Jason more.

The two talked for almost another hour before Jason had to drop them off at their dorm because, “You almost got murdered once tonight and you got lucky, I’m going to escort you home whether you like it or not.” before returning to his patrol route.

He made a mental note while he was beating up a potential mugger, to look into this Danny Fenton, to maybe meet in civvies, because there is no way Jason is going to lose this guy.

Pt. 3

[d4rk-x-w0lf-17]

stupid being my type part 2: electric boogaloo

[the-uncanny-dag]

"He would not fucking say that", but it's about Modern Earth AU Harrowhark Nonagesimus. She would not be wearing cute gothy outfits, she's a fucking tradcath

[mydarlingmylifeandmybride]

I just started season 2 of Community and here’s my hot take: Abed knows that it’s a show and he knows that cameras are watching him and the gang. But he just doesn’t know when they’re being watched

[kunoichi-kame]

I like how the original four ninja have consistent weapons that they go for:

Kai always has some sort of sword or blade

Zane usually has projectiles (shurikens, bow and arrow)

Jay has something with a chain (nunchuck, flair/kusarigama)

Cole is less concise but he usually has long stick with something at the end (scythe, hammer)

Idk, I just appreciate that. Even with the movie/SOG redesigns, they were careful to make sure their new weapons are still somewhat in line with what they had prior.

[freyafrida]

hellooo @batrachised @syncchick @librarylexicon! thank you for asking 🫶

yes, exactly what it says on the tin: a walter/una modern AU! set in the year 2014 because, uh, that was the year i originally started working on the idea (this post is actually about this fic, lmao). that said, i really love 2014 as a setting because it's exactly 100 years after rilla of ingleside starts, so it feels right for a modern AU, you know? but anyway thinking about how i gotta go back and work in more references to "shake it off" and "rude" to capture the zeitgeist.

general plot: una goes to redmond (because she is a girl of the 21st century and college is expected!), she and walter become friends, walter is oblivious/stuck in his ideals of romance and life in general and and doesn't understand that he returns her feelings until there is some kind of rom-com-y misunderstanding or argument. then they kiss in the rain or something, i don't know, haven't made it that far yet lol.

other things i want to cover: i can imagine una majoring in something practical and, in walter's view, soulless (tentatively business? modern!rosemary runs a music store and una works there and is the only one who's willing to take over the store one day), so a bit of a clash there with walter being that english major guy from college, but also growing to respect each other's ambitions and coming to see each other as people. also having fun trying to imagine walter having a phone and texting and what kind of texter he would be (he definitely still writes with correct grammar and punctuation when he texts. modern!walter would've been born in the early '90s so he definitely also complained about chatspeak as a teenager and thought "kewl" was the most injurious thing to ever happen to the english language). modern!una definitely has a tumblr but only uses it to reblog photos of flowers and pretty art and literally never interacts with anyone.

have some snippets! one for each ask :)

(i will talk about the shirley fic separately! 👀 gotta gather my thoughts for that one)

[guardian-angle22]

Natacha has said before that it's joint collaboration between her and wardrobe on how to dress Marjan. For an example she picked out Marjans gorgeous wedding outfit and wardrobe approved, so I guess they each bring out potential outfits and they pick together. I would kill for Natacha doing some kind of vid tour on set so we can see them work their magic 🩷

[in response to my post here]

I thought I had heard something along those lines ages ago about Natacha and the wardrobe! I think that's so cool when actors get to collaborate on their character in that way. I think Ronen said something previously about the 252 medallion being something he had requested after learning about that being a big thing among firefighters (and that medallion is so intrinsically tied to TK as a character for me). The cross necklace Rafael started to wear for Carlos in s3 I think was a similar situation. I just love shows allowing the actors that kind of input and creative freedom.

Truly though, I need a full on MTV cribs style tour of Natacha's personal wardrobe. A lot of celebrities have youtube channels these days, right? Someone get her hip to that. And also yet again, I'm out here crying about the death of the DVD boxsets because Natacha going behind the scenes with the wardrobe department would have made a killer featurette I'm just sayinnnn.

Since I don't have a good Paul reaction gif for this, have a sneak peak at the Marjan outfit set that got me posting about this in the first place:

Like this looks so fucking comfy but also cool and stylish?? I would like to look fly while also being comfortable. someone needs to help your girl out and tell me where to get cool track suits like this!!

[weirdfishy]

the bucket job when alexadra and sophie are walking side by side, it sort of struck me as telling of their positions. idk if it was intentional but the way that theyʻre composing themselves is so different--

alexandra is throwing her body around a bit more- hips jut out a tad further to be entirely due to walking in heels, the way the dress bares her shoulders draws attention to the fact that sheʻs moving them with purpose, her legs come a little quicker and farther out --- and yeah reading body language as a tell-all is shit and ableist irl but these are actors and theyʻre playing a part so bear w me -- itʻs like sheʻs strutting like someone who is desperate to get somewhere but has to act cool about it and is failing. itʻs as if she has to inject herself with pride and confidence (sophie deveraux has quite the reputation). like alexandra is postulating, almost a marionette holding up its own strings in the face of a closed pair of scissors.

also, her clutch is also-ha-clutched in her hand the whole time, tight and stiff. + her still business-black symmetrical dress of an unforgiving yet flattering material & short, practical stilettos with the slightly widened base? itʻs almost exactly what we usually see on her - all black & not a single thing out of place- no jewelry sans earrings too, even for a social event. always business and never pleasure.

against sophie, who walks with a comfortable grace, her strides coming at a slightly more languid pace- sheʻs at ease here (arguably, she always is, at a party) and if sheʻs apprehensive at meeting with this woman-- well, you wouldnʻt catch sophie devereaux doing something like giving her true feelings away During A Con, now would you? (and then we donʻt really get her thoughts on alexandra this ep & i donʻt think we really do for the rest of the season...)

sophieʻs clutch, on the other hand, she waves hers around like an extension of herself, speaking with it and keeping it loose in her grip. (sophie is an actor, she uses the props she has on hand, always making it all seem intentional). + the soft material, muted green, asymmetrical dress sheʻs got on, with a fun and complimenting pale gold heels and clutch. we all know sophie is fashionable and loves dressing up (grifter/actress). sophieʻs business mixes with her pleasure.

thereʻs prob even more in the dialogue -- "you think iʻm scared of you" - "or youʻre jealous" sophie is almost flippant with it, as if she couldnʻt care less &

"i donʻt negotiate with amateurs" like theyʻre both used to the world theyʻre in, but sophie is quite a bit more comfortable where she is

ANYWAY though, obviously, since alexandra is a new character, iʻm making a lot more shot-in-the-twilight assumptions, and this dichotomy iʻm taking in could be the show leaning into the fact that sophieʻs been a character we know and love and alexandra is the complete opposite. idk their opposing walks just struck me an hour ago and spurred me to peer a lil closer

[thevalicemultiverse]

When you highlight a sentence, word or letter, click on the button that says text color

Smiler: Like this?

Alice: Oh, so that's how you do it. Thank you very much.

Victor: [poking his head in] What on earth --

[battlekilt]

Your interpretation of Cody and Obi-wans relationship in parallel to Obi-wan and Anakins was something that never really crossed my mind. But now that you say it, it really is a fascinating view on them. I'd read a whole book about it.

In response to this post.

Funny you should say that, Anon. I am currently in the process of writing a rather sizable chunk of a fic, for the purposes of having a lot of it written before it starts going up, and the dynamic between these three are a key element. Though, I have a blorbo—Rex is the main character. These three? Though? They contain some of the most important relationships in his life, so that will be explored, a lot. Especially since the three of them play a large part in what drives the narrative.

I am glad you feel that way, specifically.

No matter what, Cody is, like all Clones, an incredibly young man. Even if we somehow set aside the fact that he was 'born' the year Obi-Wan became Anakin's master, which I don't think is entirely honest to wholly do, and focus on his physical development...

Cody is 'twenty-years' old when he meets Obi-Wan. Cody is functionally, in comparison, a 4-star General.

Let me elaborate further:

In the US Military, there are currently 17 active 4-Star Generals.

To quote Wiki:

There are currently 44 active-duty four-star officers in the uniformed services of the United States: 17 in the Army*, three in the Marine Corps, eight in the Navy, 11 in the Air Force*, two in the Space Force***, two in the Coast Guard, and one in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. ARMY** and AF** are bold because it fits the scope of the 3rd System Army, with the 7th Sky Corps is nested within the System Army. Which, fits with the allegorical theme of the GAR being based on the US Military. The Air Force was a nested tactical corps within the US ARMY from its inception in 1933-35 (ask a military historian which date and start an argument), and became a separate and equal element in 1947.

One remarkable note is that the US Army has the most 4-star positions that it has had since WWII. But, I digress.

Much like the US Military is divided regionally, the GAR is divided into the major galactic sectors. Nearly all are under the command of a member of the Jedi High Council, and there were a 1–2 Admirals that were given command for brief periods. All were served by the highest rank achievable by a Clone—Marshal Commander.

That's our sunshine boy. One of the most powerful 12–15 Clones in the whole Grand Army of the Republic.

Under Cody's command, because let's be real, Obi-Wan is there to provide legitimacy, vibe-checks, and familiarity with the galaxy that Cody would not have—having grown up on an isolated world barely connected to the GFFA, there are 250,000 Clone Troopers, with a support personnel corps at about 4x–7x per Clone Trooper, and this is aside from Naval staff and any civilian personnel.

This puts the 3rd System at:

Low: 1,769,472 High: 2,359,296

Let's put this more in perspective.

The current US Military, combined:

Active Duty: 1.4M Total: 2.2M

Alone, the 3rd has more Clones than the Army Reserve, as of 2021. However, in total, would have more personal than the Active Duty on the low estimate, and the total (active+reserve) is still under the highest estimate for the 3rd System Army.

Cody's command is... massive. While I understand that this fits with the galactic scale, that is still... a lot for one person. Yes, I am going to stand by my assessment that Cody would have the most military responsibilities, even in comparison to Obi-Wan. General Kenobi does not have the training that Cody has been given.

Now, let's go into Training VS Experience. Training is the education received: NEARLY all US officers are required to have a higher education—a bachelors degree or above.

(Admittedly, this does get complicated).

To my knowledge, most have all been taught at one of the military schools—West Point, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, etc. There are some senior military colleges that are also secondary higher academies that some O-10s may have come from. Sorry, I didn't get too far down this one. While there may be exceptions, for the most part... this is going to be typical.

Generals typically have over 20 years of military experience.

30 years.

Developmentally, Cody is a twenty-year-old. 20. 10 * 2. Half of 40.

The lowest commissioned rank in the Army is 2nd Lt. Statically, the average age for all commissioned officers is, on average, in their forties, though a good number of our 2LTs are in their thirties.

Generals are typically in their forties.

This means that Cody is younger than... any officer.

Experience? Life Experience? Outside of education, drills and simulations? None. According to Legends, the Kaminoans barely allowed the RepComm trainers to ever use LiveAmmo. Though, it would be reasonable that by the time Cody would have entered ARC training, he would have been exposed to life-fire practice.

No matter how hard his training was, it was not the same as life-experience in the field. This is where Obi-Wan, one of the few Jedi Masters who has worked with military operations with ANY comfort—which was still very little, really lends himself to his XO.

The Kaminoans are professionals at creating and building... well, professional militaries. They had the help of Jango Fett and other Mandalorian trainers to augment their training. However, for the most part, the Clones were trained using the methodology and educational paradigm the Kaminoans created—though, never on the same scale. This was pure professional military education on an industrial level.

Cody?

Cody may have more training and knowledge than most four-star generals will have in their lifetime, all with the benefit of a wikipedia style swath of information, modern technology to impart that knowledge, and some pretty extensive stimulation. But, what is under Cody's pretty-little-military-cut head? All of it is knowledge that surpasses what most Generals will EVER dream, even if they just stayed in military education.

However.

He is a ten-year-old in a twenty-year-old's body with the brain of AT LEAST two-life-times of military experience.

Impressive, huh?

But, Cody is still... not like you or I.

At the time of Cody's training, it is highly unlikely they left the Kaminoan starsystem. If they did, they did not engage with the galaxy at large. This is a bit like growing up Tatooine.

On the edge of the galaxy, with only the stars to stare up at.

Anakin grew up in a sea of sand. Cody grew up in a... world of seas.

Cody's life experience, the life experience you and I would take for granted, is nonexistent. He could lead an army better than our best Generals could hope for. But, what else has he known?

My parallels are that Obi-Wan purposefully encouraged Anakin to be a sassy menace. He wanted to break that slave-mentality. Luckily, Anakin already showed that he could become a spitfire, even when he was sweet little Ani.

Similarly, I characterize that Obi-Wan did the same for Cody.

Anakin's shackles were the explosive in his body, the ferocity of how slave culture was brutally enforced—fear. However, Anakin knew that he was a slave, and he knew enough of something more.

Cody's shackles are the indoctrination he received from the time of his birth. Unfortunately for fandom at large, Cody is... a much more obedient military man that I think many want to see him. Based on remnants of Legends and the retained canon, no Marshal Commander would be in their position were they not... very obedient—to militant POVs. In fact, in the Disney comics, Cody has... a rather brutal attitude towards deserters—

BTW, in a military, desertion is one of the worst offensive that could be committed against a soldier's oath, that which they swore themselves to... but more importantly... their fellow soldiers.

In contrast, Wolffe is much more forgiving, and advocates for their re-assimilation in the GAR; Cody... disagrees with the fact that the deserters are still alive, and believes they should still be executed by a firing squad.

In season 1, Slick—for whatever reason—becomes a rare voice to call out the circumstances of the Clones. Not only do Rex and Cody recoil at a brother betraying the GAR, the Jedi, and of course... the killing of brothers, but they also scoff at his assertion that they are slaves.

Cut becomes a critical introduction to the slow character development we see Rex go through; Cody unlikely goes through the same because that's just how stories like this work. Just the simple act of asking the questions he gave to Rex set the stage for what happened on Umbara, and even then, Rex struggled to show defiance.

BTW, Fives's actions are fulfilling the duties of an (active) ARC. They are supposed to be more independent, whereas a command-class Clone like Rex may be a trained ARC, but his duties as a CC**** would mean that his prime directive is the cohesion of the command, and to assist in the joint operation between the Clones and the Jedi.

Fast-forward to Order 66 and Cody doesn't hesitate. Yes, it is the chip. However, that was not how ROTS was scripted or filmed. I know this is getting Doylist, but it is relevant. At that time, the Clones knew what was going to happen. They knew that they would eventually turn on the Jedi. Through the story of TCW08, it changes to a Manchurian Candidate concept, and eventually evolves the story of the chips that we know today. As the Doylist context changed, it remains that Cody acted without any pause. This is in line because the highest priority Cody held was always loyalty to the Republic. Loyalty to the REPUBLIC—Not the Jedi, not his brothers, not General Kenobi. Just. The. Republic. A traitor to the Republic is worst than the Separatists.

When the order went out, Cody's brain heard:

Obi-Wan friend. Obi-Wan betrayed Republic. Kill General Kenobi. He is no friend to the Republic—thus—to Cody.

Makes sense to him, especially at the moment. This is conditioning. This is indoctrination. This is militantism in action. The chip wasn't really necessary... it was for the sake of the audience who didn't want to believe that the men we began to care about would ever do this 'willfully,' even though all that mental conditioning and indoctrination would mean that they didn't have a choice... even if they didn't have the chip.

Obviously, by the time you get to TBB, when some Clones begin to question that Manchurian voice in their head, Cody's rationale returns, and so does his critical thinking. We have Cody, a Clone depicted in recent comics with a militant intolerance towards desertion, going AWOL from the Empire—that is HUGE. Was this his fall from grace? His fall to what was his darkside? From one angle, yes. However, it was a fallback into grace, and I like to think that it goes back to two people: Obi-Wan and Rex. We'll continue to focus on Obi-Wan, though.

I like to think that it was the seeds of the Jedi finally germinated, and it was Obi-Wan that planted them within his dear Clone Commander.

Obi-Wan being a one former menace himself—you know, a young man who thought tying two lightsabers to the ends of a rope was a good idea—got himself stuffed into one of the dreaded Jedi Council armchairs. Great, now he HAS to be responsible.

Cody and Anakin are, in many ways, parallels, just not direct. They are often inversions of each other, and together they make a great foil for Obi-Wan in general.

The idea that Obi-Wan saw this INCREDIBLY accomplished, intelligent, "gifted-child" of a Clone Commander and thought... "How do I get him to be a menace?"

I love it. I feel like it is just the thing someone like Obi-Wan Kenobi would do. It makes sense that Obi-Wan would want to help Cody grow beyond the very narrow—but extensive—field of knowledge, all for the express purpose of watching the young man develop into a more rounded individual.

It is also very, very Jedi. It was always the Jedi that were the sole friends of the Clones. So, it makes sense to me that the Jedi would advocate for this sort of well-rounded development. And the Clones? They would sorely need that kind of encouragement.

The Clones were never supposed to have names. They Clones were not individuals. It was the Jedi who told them to paint their units colors. It was the Jedi who TOLD him to pick out names. In Legends, and I think it fits with the remaining printed canon, Cody was actually very apprehensive and skeptical about how much of a good idea it was for the Clones TO develop individuality.

Cody was not bred for the specific purpose of his role—not even for being a CC. (Sorry, fanon)

He was just another Clone. Maybe he got nurtured and natured into a better candidate for a command-class Clone, but in the end? He was randomly chosen. As clarified in recent apocrypha, Cody was just a Clone Captain in the 91st when Obi-Wan found him and was impressed by him.

What made "Just A Clone Captain Cody" stand-out to Obi-Wan? There's plenty of theories that can arise.

In my lore, Alpha-17 recommended Obi-Wan go check out "#2224 in Windu's battalion."

From Captain to Marshal Commander? AHHHH. Someone send help.

Imagine the fine-lined walked poor young Obi-Wan had with Anakin: a former rebellious ginger-child himself, he became a well-behaved rule minder under Qui-Gon. Now he has this older Padawan, who is also a former slave of one of the harshest slave planets we know of. He has to get Anakin to be self-expressive, learn how to act on his own self-agency—AND—he has to also... try and help Anakin assimilate into the Jedi Order.

Take Cody: ten years old, looks twenty, has the knowledge of several lifetimes lived by career military men, who has seen very little of the galaxy.

Keep in mind, Obi-Wan met Jango Fett. He knew just what kind of attitude could lurk under that stony face so like the others, even if he said, "Yes, sir," without hesitation, and followed his orders faithfully.

I don't think Obi-Wan would be able to help himself. It is part of the Jedi Culture to be a positive presence. Unlike Anakin did with the 501st, Obi-Wan purposefully kept himself removed from most Clones; his empathy made it too difficult to ensure their suffering and death, so distance kept him remotely functional. The only two Clones Obi-Wan accepted as friends had been Cody and Rex. Obviously, Rex is an Anakin problem. But, Cody? His young, cloned, new friend? Right there. Right there. That... Jedi compulsion, that ITCH they get, it would gnaw at him. He can't help many others.

The same could have been said for Anakin, who was just freed, but had nowhere else to go—little Ani had no one else. Obi-Wan didn't have the same responsibilities as a fresh Knight as he would as a Jedi Master. He could risk everything and leave the Order to train Anakin if the Jedi won't matriculate him. He risked everything to help this one little boy. Later? He wants to risk everything, again. But now, his everything doesn't belong to him anymore—not even enough to consider leaving the Order. Every Clone death is another slice across him, and even a thousand papercuts will get'cha.

But, he wants to help. He would want to help beyond vibe-checks, lightsaber wielding, crazy feats of Force-enchanted bravery.

He would want to help a person—Cody, the clone so often by his side—become a PERSON in his own right. A young man that everyone else has forgotten IS a young man. I doubt Obi-Wan would ever forget that, like he never forgot that Anakin was a young man.

So, there is that itch. That... Jedi need to just... reach out and help make the galaxy a better place for others. One Clone. Is that too much to ask? Can he be allowed to be a mentor for ONE Clone? If he helped this Clone become more than a faceless soldier, if he helped this Clone have more growth and life experience than just what he was given on Kamino, maybe... Maybe Obi-Wan can imagine that there will be a life after the war. To do that, he wants to help his new friend become a full person—in the hopes of the After the War.

Obi-Wan cannot save everyone. He cannot help everyone.

But maybe...

Maybe, JUST maybe, he can help this one Clone become more of a person, and far... far less of just another number.

Slavery is a hell of a thing, and it comes in many forms. But another face of slavery is indoctrination, which is ultimately the stripping away personhood, so they can be utilized as a tool—sound familiar? Yeah, me too.

I think, Obi-Wan would recognize this about the two young men he cares about. Yes, even Rex, but... this post is about Cody and Anakin.

I went on more about Cody than Anakin because... there's a lot of wonderful meta about Anakin, and I'm not confident enough to try and fill the same niche. I also have so much I could say about how I envision Anakin and Cody get along, and how it might be through Obi-Wan's eyes. I'll just say this: he thinks both his overgrown students are hilarious together, and his tickles him... Ginger. ;)

Anyway, I hope this post finds you, anon, and you get anything from it. At the time of this post, I only have one posted fic. While it doesn't go as deep into this meta, there are some elements in it to get a taste of this characterization/meta. When the bigger version of the AU goes up—who knows. It is currently at 270K+.

Thank you for the engagement!

EDIT: There are MORE points of comparison that I just... couldn't get to. Such as the earliest characterization notes we were given about Cody, right after ROTS came out. (Overly cautious, anxious, but highly competent—I love me some anxiety-riddled people with excess competency. My "Imposter Syndrome" Cody isn't going anywhere, and it helps him lineup with Anakin.)

Side-notes and additional commentary under the cut.

***We don't acknowledge "space force" in this house.

**** Yeah, no, Rex is a CC. I'll fite over this. He is labelled in far more apocrypha as a CC, and it just gets way too complicated to label him a CT when he is in a command-class position. This is one area of new canon I'm just... gonna ignore. I hc that Krell was being a jackass to Rex.

Note: Rex was always a CC until the Umbara episodes. When he was called CT-7567... it was a script terror. I'm ignoring that retcon. There's even books printed as late as 2021 that list him as CC.

[presidentbungus]

psst. building wip

[swordcoasted]

tags.

[gamesatwork]

e428 — Is you is, or is you AIn’t my AI?

Stories about #AI, #GenerativeAudio, #GenerativeBooks, Jane Friedman #brandjacking experiences, #GenerativeAgents, #NPCs #GenerativeBucketLists from #söka, Benji Smith #prosecraft and much more!

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash Published 14 August 2023 Andy, Michael and Michael get together for a show full of generative AI: audio, bucket lists, books and agents.  Andy starts things rolling with a Nvidia follow on article from last week, and a throwback to e156 from 2016.  Then things start to get exciting with a number of generative AI examples, beginning with Meta’s AudioCraft, an…

[savanir]

DP x DC prompt [6]

Weapon design always came easy to Jack Fenton. He grew up with it, all the way back in Atlantis, when he was just a little guppy.

What he wasn’t aware of at the time was that his parents were from a long and prestigious line of scientists and weapon manufacturers in Atlantean society. But things had been getting dangerous. 

The King at the time cast them out when they refused his demands of greater, stronger, deadlier weapons. The kind of weapons they knew would not only destroy their enemies, but themselves as well.

They fled and went where they thought they would never be found, the surface.

Jack had the easiest time adapting, being as young as he was getting used to breathing air was a lot less of a struggle. 

He adopted one of the most generic male names he could, and adapted the family name of Fenestratus into Fenton. And then it was just living as a human, as humanly as possible, nothing to see here.

By now Jack basically doesn’t know any better. but this piece of heritage is coming back now all these years later, when his son is looking to him for help from the government.

But first he holds his boy close and apologizes, because he sees the fear, and he understands a little too well, and he doesn’t like the picture he’s seeing now that all the puzzle pieces are falling into place.

“I almost became the thing I hate the most. I’m so sorry Danny, I’m sorry I made you feel unsafe in your own home”

The hug is long and warm and tight and Danny isn’t ashamed to admit he might have clung a little bit.

Then Jack holds Danny tightly by his shoulders and gives him a big grin, “Good news though, you’re only half ghost, the other half is not only human but also Atlantean, and there are laws protecting us now” Jack mutters to himself, “I wonder if the whole ghost stuff would actually be put under the meta protection thing… hmm”

Danny blinks for a moment, Jazz gapes, Maddie is suddenly no longer spiraling about how her baby boy got in a terrible accident in their lab and she didn’t know.

“I’m also what?”

“Dad!?”

“oh did I forget to mention that? I thought I did, I know for certain that I had been meaning to”

“Jack sweetie, are you-”

“oh yes, and I remember now, I decided to tell you after our big breakthrough because I didn’t want to distract you, and-” Jack looks sheepish, “I hope you aren’t too mad at me Maddiecakes”

“mad? oh I would never be mad at you about this but we could have- I don’t know, accommodated- Atlanteans are aquatic, well I guess that explains how you could always put away so much water, and when you gave me your umbrella and I thought you were just making an excuse when you told me you didn’t mind and in fact loved getting pelted by the rain-”

Maddie goes on, and Jack thinks to himself that this is exactly the reason why he kept it to himself at the time, Maddie never half asses anything, he’s sure a lot of things are going to change in the house now, it honestly only makes him fall in love with her even more.

Meanwhile Jazz had filled up a bucket of water and then dunked her head in, then came back out not even slightly gasping for breath, just saying “oh my god” over and over.

Danny timed it, “yeah okay, I guess that proves it. now I’m starting to wonder if my weird relationship with air is ghost related at all”

[dcxdpdabbles]

For the Danny=Ra's Al Ghul thing. Danny comes from a world that only looks like ours on the surface level until you get alternate names like Lake Eerie while we have Lake Erie or the alternate histories like Pandora or even Vortex

Now in our world, Sherlock is used sarcastically whenever someone points out something obvious. Danny might come from a world where Sherlock Holmes isn't as popular and the word "Detective" is used in place of Sherlock. Cue him using that word often and using the same context when dealing with Bruce or Tim to really sell that he's an alternate Ra's

"No shit, Detective"

The words slipped from the boy's lips in such a deadpan tone that for a second, Bruce half thought he imagined it. There was one thing to be told that an alternative version of Ra's al Ghul was caught battling it out with Green Arrow; it was another to be confronted with a teenager who spoke in the confusing lingo of his kids.

Bruce had seen Child-Ghul lose his mind over Go-Gurt alongside his friends- the assassins so dangerous they all earned the nickname of demons- when they happened to come by it in a regular grocery store. They had appeared like normal teenagers visiting the United States for the first time.

In fact, Bruce had yet to be aware that he was observing Ra's. He had been running around Gotham attempting to find the visitors and had accidentally overlooked them because of their genuine glee at finding tubed yogurt.

Even Dick and Damian had seen the same group but also dismissed them. It was strange to fit a version of Ra's Al Ghul, who was happily using hoverboards in the park while his friends recorded the great mass murder thousands of years old.

Tim was the only one who figured him out on sight. Bruce wonders if that was due to his son being incredibly intelligent or if Tim's hatred of Ra ran that deep. If it was the latter, Bruce would bet that even in his next life, Tim would clock Ra's in a crowd.

Red Robin had tracked Child-Ghul and his crew to an old cemetery, where they had been busy cleaning up gravestones. They had even fixed up broken stones and placed the proper offerings for each person.

How they knew which person followed which religion in life was a mystery.

Tim suspected they were attempting to rob another grave. Maybe they had known the people buried there- with Ra's being as young again- or they were trying to do some weird magic thing to save the planet again.

Bruce wasn't so sure.

He observed that the highly trained children cleaned up the cemetery and occasionally had random bursts of dance parties between the graves. He didn't think they were trying to steal anything- instead, they seemed to be suffering from mental illnesses.

Sometimes, one of them would speak to the air, asking it for an opinion on a new grave site. They might have been just regular people in their own world- Bruce had encountered civilian versions of himself and his kids before, so why no villains?- but the idea that Ra's Al Ghul had meta powers, any version, made him paranoid.

It didn't seem possible that Ra's didn't abuse his powers somehow. What could the strangers possibly be doing if it wasn't for world domination?

He got tired of watching and waiting for answers that weren't coming. Batman would force the children to tell him. He waited until the Child-Ghul wandered far away from his group, a bucket and brush in hand, and he arrived at a giant moss-covered stone.

Bruce watched as he greeted the air before sliding to his knees and scrubbing the moss away. His form was all wrong.

That was not a perfect crouch or position that would generate a fast reaction in case he needed it. In fact, the way the boy curved over the stone indicated he would suffer from backache if he sat like that for too long.

The Ra's Al Ghul would never have been caught dead in a similar weakened posture.

Did that mean this version of Ra's had no formal training?

"What do you think you're doing? " He growled, stepping out of the shadows. The boy jumped a good foot in the air, checking another box in his theory of not being trained.

He watched as Child-Ghul spun around, brush held in a sloppy throwing form, before freezing at the sight of him. At once, the tension eased out of his shoulders. He didn't seem afraid of Bruce, which was rather strange.

He built this entire persona to intimidate people at first glance. Yes, he had redesigned himself after learning kids were afraid of him, too, but the original design survived long enough for him to wield his fear tactic as a weapon.

"Ugh, what do you think you're doing walking around looking like that?" the boy sasses, gesturing at Bruce's whole being. "You look like a three-year-old drew you."

That was.....a rather creative insult.

"What are your plans here" He demands, ignoring the comment.

The boy raises a brow. His face twists into an expression he saw on Ra's Al Ghul before, and for a moment, Bruce wonders if Tim had made a mistake. How could Ra's look so humble. "What do you think I'm doing with a brush and a bucket of soap water?"

"You're cleaning the gravestone."

"No shit, Detective"

The phrase was like cold ice water pouring down his back. His pronunciation, facial expressions, and body language were exactly like Ra's.

Tim was right.

"Why?" He demands, stepping closer to tower over the boy.

"If you don't get out of my personal space, Imaginary Vampire Grandpa, we will have a problem." Child-Ghul hisses at him. For a moment Bruce is reminded of Damian.

"Try me."

Child-Ghul's grin is sharp and mad as he yells. "Escort this man to the door!"

Bruce raises his fist, ready for anything, only to literally feel invisible hands grab at him, dragging him out of the cemetery. He is flung out of the gate with the watching teenagers snickering.

Bruce bites back a curse. Of course, a child version of Ra's has ghosts working for him. He'll have to call the Justice League Dark for this. He hopes Zatanna is the one who answers and not her husband.