i just posted a silly impulsive headcanon in the discord off the top of my head, but now that i'm thinking about it...
let's say, during their stay in jamaica (or maybe in a later season/different show altogether?) the contestants are staying in hotel rooms for simplicities' sake. and due to the number of them, they're paired up. not an issue, right?
noah goes to join owen in his room, but he's already partnered up with tyler (or whomever), so noah's left with only alejandro as an option. great. again, it's whatever, it's only temporary. at least they'll be able to sleep in proper beds, so things are still looking up!
oh, they've been given the last available room? it's got the queen bed? oh sweet! so they've got bigger beds than the others? no?
wait. what do you mean "only one bed?"
oh shit oh fuck he's totally doomed.
well, they'll just have to make do. noah isn't about to cause a fuss about his sleeping arrangements, he's already tired enough from the plane crash itself and the challenges they competed in. what's the worst that could happen?
(he steadfastly ignores the Very Possible Outcome of his unfortunate sleeping habit, even when various headlines pertaining to a certain awake-a-thon incident race across his vision like spectres. because it's NOT going to happen again.)
alejandro also takes the news with his usual levels of grace and poise- all of that social training as the son of a diplomat has done him well- though noah can just tell by the tenseness in his shoulders and the stiffness of his posture that he's not as calm about the situation as he'd like the others to believe.
whatever. it's just a bed, who cares?
when they're getting ready to sleep- in an actual bed, what a luxury!- noah and alejandro gingerly climb into their respective sleep wears, both facing the opposite direction. this is the first time the whole season that they've been allowed the opportunity to sleep in their actual pyjamas. you know, since they haven't exactly had beds.
alejandro, dressed in his tank top and sleep shorts (he'd usually sleep in just the shorts, but the thought of doing so whilst sharing a sleep space seemed inappropriate), turns to climb into their queen bed only to see noah, who is already dressed in his own loose t-shirt and shorts, stepping into a pair of sweatpants and pulling a thick looking sweater over his sleepwear. what the fuck?
the room they're in isn't even cold, they're in jamaica?
even worse, noah's actively putting on a pair of fluffy socks. who wears socks to bed?
and then, then, the absolute mad lad reaches into his luggage and pulls out an equally fluffy dressing gown (or bathrobe/housecoat, same thing tbf), wrapping it around himself like a winter coat as if he's somehow cold in his two- now three- layers. it's almost 26°c out there! (80°f)
and the psycho smiles to himself, breathing out a sigh of contented air (and, alejandro notices, uncurling from his slightly hunched over posture, as if he'd been trying to conserve heat), as if he's not sweating his ass off under his three weather inappropriate layers!
so, as a concerned team leader, alejandro points out the obvious; he shouldn't be wearing so many layers to bed, he's going to get heat stroke.
but noah argues back; he naturally runs cold, especially when he's asleep.
and alejandro briefly recalls the amount of times he's noticed a napping noah shivering in his sleep despite wearing his usual three layers of clothing and the jet itself being kept a consistent room temperature for all it's faults, but his logic reasons that even so noah still doesn't need to wear socks to bed (it's immoral).
eventually noah gives up defending his (objectively wrong) decision to wear thick layered clothing and socks to bed and just climbs under the covers (discarding the dressing gown on the way, he's not completely insane), huffing in annoyance as he curls up at the edge of the mattress and makes a point of ignoring his company.
alejandro also sighs to himself, though whether it's in defeat or exasperation he isn't entirely sure, and carefully slots himself onto the opposite edge of the bed.
the two fall asleep in a tense silence with almost a meter of space between them.
which is why it's surprising when alejandro wakes up a few hours later, absolutely boiling under the heated weight practically glued to his side.
noah's iconic hair, softer in texture that it's usually neat waves would imply, tickles at his neck whilst the cynic's face is pressed firmly into his chest. his sweater-clad arms and wrapped almost possessively around his shoulders and his legs and tangled between the latino's own. whilst the added pressure is nice bearable, alejandro is sweating his life out beneath the warmth of another body.
when he tries to unpeel his clingy companion from his side, a sleeping noah seems to take that as a challenge and digs his hands into the taller's shoulders, which is when alejandro realises that despite everything noah's hands are freezing to the touch. how?! the two of them end up even further entwined than before, as his escape efforts only lead to noah wrapping his body even tighter around alejandro like a particularly stubborn boa constrictor until he had the shorter practically sleeping on top of him- as if alejandro himself was the mattress, or some oversized teddy bear.
it's... not an ideal situation.
alejandro kicks the duvet off of the pair, prompting a shiver from the wannabe koala attached to him, but the freedom from the oppressive heat outweighs any remorse he would've felt for depriving his companion from potential heat stroke. without the oven-like heat of the duvet, having the warmth of another curled up against him is actually pretty nice, and alejandro soon finds unconsciousness washing over him like the (comparatively) cool air of their room.
noah wakes up as sunlight filters into their suite, his face tucked firmly into alejandro's neck as the taller cradles him between his arms, deep slumbering breaths making his chest periodically rise and fall against noah's own. his arms are wrapped around the spaniard's waist, cold hands gripping loosely at the fabric of his tank top, and their legs are to tangled together that it takes the bookworm a few moments to figure out which ones are his.
he's warm, for once, and it's wonderful. he barely spares a thought at how awkward the situation is going to be when they're both awake and just presses himself further into alejandro's inviting warmth, mouth twitching into a smile, as he drifts back to sleep.
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Hi! I found you through the post-chain of clones and torture (I appreciated the possibilities it means and how it made me stop and reflect) and I would love to hear more about the nuances in Clone/Jedi ships, if you have the time one of these days!!
I would think the field mine that is the power imbalance alone between a general and their commander is loads, without taking into account freedom/who is considered a person/who has the power to say no. What else would you flag? *ready to take notes*
Feel free to keep this private, as you mentioned the distinction between Public/Private -- and if you're not comfortable feel free to not reply! I understand and I will keep on thinking about this on my own! :D
Hello!!! I want you to know this is the absolute dream ask to get, you are a gem and I am so glad my meta has got you thinking. If I have to be thinking about this at least I don’t have to be thinking about it alone, lol. I’m gonna go ahead and post this publicly because it’s not targeted to any particular ship it’s more about my understanding of the Jedi.
Alright, clone/Jedi ships, where to start… First of all I do read and write for various clone/Jedi ships, I don’t have any kind of moral “you’re a bad person for shipping this” agenda here. I just find the trends of what issues fandom chooses to address within these ships and what issues fandom tends to ignore to be personally frustrating.
You are 100% correct the power imbalance is massive, and the age gaps are nothing to sneeze at either. Depending on when the couple gets together there is also the slavery to contend with. But usually these are addressed in more serious fic. When a writer takes the characters and the ship seriously and wants to do the story justice, the slavery/power imbalance/age gap trifecta tend to be portrayed as Serious Things the couple needs to navigate. This is good! This is wonderful! These are indeed Serious Things a Jedi and clone couple will need to navigate if they want to make a go of it; everything surrounding consent and life experience and what they both want out of the relationship. These are hard conversations to have and difficult differences in life experience to navigate, but not impossible.
What makes it impossible for me to completely suspend my disbelief with any and every clone/Jedi ship is not anything to do with the power and consent issues inherent to the ship. It’s the fact that my own understanding of the Jedi and their no attachment policies gives me a kneejerk NO reaction whenever a Jedi gets into a committed romantic/sexual relationship and the writer portrays this as a good thing. The NO feeling increases when the partner is a clone and the relationship starts during the war.
I know in my heart various clones and Jedi developed intense feelings for each other during the war that could definitely be called attraction, or love, or develop farther into love. I know this. I know there was much drooling and many heart eyes. What I absolutely do not believe for a second is that any self respecting Jedi would even consider for a moment acting on those feelings. That is kinda the point of being Jedi. Entering into a romantic/sexual relationship with a person who is not legally recognized as a person and therefore has no rights or protections? A person whom YOU (Jedi you) holds literal power of life and death over? Absolutely the fuck not. NO. It does not matter if this person is perfect and wonderful and your soulmate and would gladly fuck you silly every night over the desk you two do paperwork on, There Are Standards! There Are Morals! There Are Codes!
If a Jedi and a clone start any kind of Anything during the war, that is a sign something has gone very very very wrong with the Jedi. There would be consequences from within the Jedi Order if this was discovered. Doesn’t matter if the perfect clone soulmate consents absolutely, this is about what it means to be a Jedi and what it means to hold power responsibly and what it means to follow a code of conduct and what it means to be a member of an organized religion. And that toxic “something is wrong but I don’t care because this feels so good” dynamic in and of itself would be interesting to explore, I have found a few fics that explore it, but more often than not a Jedi being in a committed relationship is hand-waved as long as it’s not marriage.
And that’s it. That’s my issue. When nothing starts until after the war and when it is made explicit that Jedi-- by the their own Order’s standards and expectations-- cannot and should not be in any kind of committed romantic/sexual relationship, then I have no problem suspending my disbelief and grinning as the dashing clone Commander and the noble Jedi Knight kiss passionately in the sunset. Good for them. Let them have their moment.
Because, Anakin and Padme are kind of a big deal. Like. The problem was not that they got married, the problem was they made a commitment to each other. Marriage represented and defined that commitment but the wedding was not the start of the toxic obsession and death was not the end of it. Anakin loved Padme with everything in him and loving people is good! Loving people and serving people with compassion is part of the point of being a Jedi! But committing all of your (Jedi your) love to a specific person is very much The Opposite Of Being A Jedi. This is a long and roundabout way of saying I think monogamy is against the Jedi religion actually.
This is also why Obi-Wan and Satine are kind of a big deal. I know what fandom thinks of that particular interlude but I really enjoyed it because it reinforces the whole-- monogamy is not a Jedi Thing. If you (Jedi you) want a committed sexual/romantic relationship, that’s cool, that’s fine, but you can’t have that and also be a Jedi. Jedi cannot have both. There are no handy loopholes for that rule. Because it’s not “Jedi cannot get married” it’s “Jedi cannot be committed to someone or something outside the Order.” And that is a good and logical and reasonable rule to have for an organization of space wizard monks. And it bothers me that a lot of fans who write the Jedi in romantic relationships and especially who write the Jedi in romantic relationships with clones don’t want to engage with that aspect of Being A Jedi and would rather handwave it or find a loophole, because we had three movies already on why there is no loophole and why Jedi cannot have both.
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