#or something and also was literally a separatist until he decided hes going to go rogue now and make the worst choices ever

[faebriel]

my most controversial star wars opinion is that i think lux bonteri is not a horrible concept per se but perhaps underutilised

[proxyoddo]

The Right Approach

One-shot: Tech x gn!reader

Words: 2K

Summary: Tech hasn't slept for a few days, and you're worried about him. No one has been able to convince him to a bunk, but Hunter thinks you might be able to get through to the goggled trooper.

AN: This week has been kicking my ass, and I've not had much time to focus on Derecho. Part 4 is almost done and will come soon, but I felt bad because I haven't posted in a while. So, have this kinda cute fluff with Tech that I wrote trying to get my mind into writing.

(I am also shite at titling things 😅 )

Warnings: None, only fluff and snuggles.

It had been four days, and Tech had not slept. With the repairs needed for the console in the cockpit, he had been working endlessly to be sure that the Havoc Marauder would be at 100% working capacity before they next took off from Kamino. The rest of the Batch did what they could to help, but much of it was intricate - more than one hand would not help.

Currently you were standing outside the ship, staring up the steps ready to stomp inside and give Tech a piece of your mind. How did he think he would get you all off the ground if he ran headlong into it himself?

You heard a clunk and a curse from inside, coming from Tech. You frowned, and were about to take the first step into the Marauder when a hand firmly grasped your shoulder.

“Y/N,” came Hunter's voice, and you sighed heavily before turning your head to face him. “You know he won’t stop. Especially if you’re just going to just tell him outright ‘get your ass to bed’.”

“Well what the kriff are we supposed to do then?” you asked with a slight hiss, frustration getting the best of you.

Hunter fixed you with a sympathetic gaze, and shrugged sadly. “Eventually he’ll just pass out in there-”

“And break something while he’s at it? Hurt himself?”

“There was a 'but' in that sentence, Y/N,” Hunter said, smiling a little and giving you a push towards the steps. “You might be able to get through to him.”

You looked at him incredulously, causing him to actually chuckle.

“Tech likes having you around. He’d probably listen to you if you approach it the right way. And based on how much you also seem to care about him, I figure you’re stubborn enough to get him to a bunk,” he said, as if he were just talking about the clouds passing through the sky. You could feel heat rising up your cheeks. “And yes, before you ask, I’ve known for a bit. Heightened senses, remember?”

You cursed internally. When you had joined the squad as their combat medic, you had taken an immediate liking to Tech. And with time, it just grew. Certainly he could talk for hours, and sometimes it was difficult to keep up with his excited chatter, but he was an amazing man. Strong, insatiably curious - and even with his oftentimes hard, matter-of-fact tone - incredibly caring. You had flirted with him from time to time, sometimes not even recognizing it yourself until afterwards. But the trooper seemed to be none the wiser to your actions. Never stopped your heart from racing whenever your hands accidentally touched though, or if he gave you one of those rare Tech smiles. That must be how Hunter knew; he could literally hear the thunder of your heart when the two of you were together.

“You really think I can get through to him?” you asked quietly.

“Worth a try,” Hunter said. “Besides, the rest of the squad are also getting antsy. If I have to listen to Crosshair go on about knocking Tech out with Gonky anymore, I might have to hide the droid.”

“He wouldn’t.”

“Crosshair likes to sleep in his bunk,” Hunter replied. “At this point he’d go to whatever lengths, I would imagine.”

You laughed, and nodded to the sergeant. He waved you on before turning away, likely to head back to the others. Turning and looking into the ship, you steeled yourself before going up the steps and stopping outside the cockpit.

“Tech?” you called.

“Yes, Y/N?” came his voice, seemingly bright as if he was actually still getting a regular amount of sleep.

“How… How’s it going in there?”

Another loud clunking sound and dropping equipment had you stepping inside, looking to find Tech on the ground under the console. The plastoid that normally covered his chest and back was gone, propped up against the wall next to the console.

“It’s going fine!” Tech growled, tossing something out of the compartment he was in giving you just enough time to skirt out of the way before it clanged against the wall opposite of him.

“Hmm, sounds it…” you muttered, before squatting down. He continued on whatever he was working with while you thought for a moment. “Hey Tech-”

“Y/N, please, I am attempting to get the comm frequencies on this damnedable thing working in proper order,” he said, and you could see him turn to look at you for a moment with a reflection of his goggles. “While the Marauder still has functional comm capabilities, the extensive damage from our last encounter with the Separatists has weakened the signal strength, which poses a threat to us while in the field which as you can understand-”

“I have a question,” you interrupted. He stuttered to a halt, and there was silence for a few moments before his hands appeared at the lip of the console and he pulled himself out. The words “sleep deprivation” practically screamed at you from the features of his face.

“Yes?” He seemed intent to answer whatever it was that you were going to ask, even if he had been frustrated a moment ago. Maybe Hunter had been right, and you could get through to him.

You swallowed a little, his tired face filling you with resolve. “What happens to someone when they do not sleep for 4 or more days?”

Tech frowned a little, before going into his answer. “Typically after 3 days of no rest, a person’s urge to sleep will get worse and they will begin to experience microsleeps. Perception is also significantly impaired, and reaching 4 days without adequate rest will continue to distort it. In some, the urge to sleep will become unbearable. It can result in sleep deprivation psychosis.”

You nodded along throughout his entire explanation without saying anything. When he finished, the two of you stared at one another for a few moments of silence.

“Oh,” Tech said with quiet understanding.

“C’mon,” you said warmly, standing up and holding a hand out to him.

Tech shook his head, and you briefly considered going to find Gonky. “I understand your concern, and though it is appreciated, I just need to complete one last thing with the comms before I believe they will be properly functional,” he said. Tech began looking around before his eyes fell on his datapad behind you on one of the seats, and pointed to it. “Could you pass that to me?”

You took the datapad in your hand, but didn’t hand it to Tech. He looked at you with confusion as you began to step away.

“If you want the datapad, Tech,” you began, stepping out of the cockpit, “you’re going to need to come and get it.”

You smiled a little when you heard him getting up from the cockpit floor behind you. “Please, Y/N, I need to calibrate it.” You ignored him, continuing to the bunks before crawling up into the one you usually slept in. You sat back on the bunk, back leaning against the wall, holding the datapad up next to your head.

Tech entered the room, looking even more tired as he stared up at you. “I’m unsure what you are attempting to accomplish here other than getting on my nerves.” You just smiled in response, waving the datapad at him. With a big sigh from him, you watched as Tech pulled himself slowly up to the bunk, and then knelt in front of you between your feet.

“Give it,” he said, losing any formality. You shook your head, waving the datapad again.

In any other circumstance, Tech literally crawling into your lap with a determined expression like he currently had, would have left you breathless. But your intent to get him exactly where he was now, reaching for the datapad and face so very close to your own, helped you keep focus. When Tech’s fingers firmly grasped around the datapad, you let go and leaned forward. Your arms wrapped around his torso and your legs around his, pulling him directly into your embrace, his chin hitting your shoulder.

“Y/N?” Tech tentatively asked, a bit breathless against you.

“You need to sleep, Tech,” you whispered against his ear, arms squeezing just a little tighter as he tried to move. You felt his sharp intake of breath and he completely stilled in your arms, tensely holding himself up. “Relax.”

“I… I need to-” he began, but his sentence was broken by a soft groan as one of your hands began to run up and down his back. A soothing motion, fingertips ghosting over his side as your palm ran along his spine. Your other arm moved under his, your hand reaching up to the back of his neck and gently running through the short hair found at the base of his skull.

You leaned your head gently to the side, pressing against his. “Please, Tech,” you pleaded, and you felt him begin to relax in your arms.

“Cyar’ika...” he sighed, and his voice was thick with sleep. His resolve gone due to your ministrations, he finally let his whole body slump against you, and he turned his face into your neck. You could feel his warm breath and cool goggles against your skin and you couldn’t help the small shiver that spread through your body.

“That’s it, Tech,” you cooed, loosening the grip of your legs so he could settle more between them. In doing so he slid down your chest a little, making you glad that at some point he had decided to discard his chest plate. You heard the datapad hit the bunk’s thin mattress as Tech's arms wrapped around you, pressing his face more firmly into your chest with a deep breath.

You felt a gentle warmth spread through you as you both embraced one another. You couldn’t help but smile down at Tech, and you gently reached up to carefully slide the goggles from his face before setting them down on the bunk near the datapad. It was mere moments before you could tell Tech was asleep against you. Moving carefully, you pressed your lips against the top of his head and leaned back again.

“Comms will still be there when you get up,” you said to his sleeping form, before closing your eyes and feeling a bit drowsy yourself.

It was a while later that you woke to the sound of someone entering the Marauder. You had no idea how long you had been asleep, and you opened your eyes slowly, looking about the compartment to find Crosshair standing there. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he was looking at you with a smirk. He just nodded when he saw your attention was on him, and climbed into the bunk below the one you currently occupied with Tech.

Speaking of, the usually goggled clone was still sleeping soundly against you. You smiled before gently running your fingers through his hair, feeling him sigh and snuggle more into your body.

“Hey Cross?” you called out, careful not to be too loud.

A grunt of acknowledgement was the sniper’s response.

“...what does ‘cyar’ika’ mean?” you asked after a moment’s pause. Tech had said it earlier, but you didn’t know what it was.

You were met with silence, and you were beginning to wonder if Crosshair was actually going to answer you. You resigned yourself to mystery when he finally spoke:

“It’s Mando’an. It means ‘darling,’ ‘beloved,’ or ‘sweetheart’.”

You froze. Tech had called you that? A blush creeped up your skin, and you knew if Crosshair had been looking at you he’d see just how red you were in the semi-darkness of the Marauder.

“Th-thanks,” you said back, before looking down at Tech. You didn’t think you had ever seen the trooper look as relaxed as peaceful as you did right now, and you couldn’t help but smile. Leaning down just a little, you hugged him a little tighter.

“Cyar’ika,” you soothed, and smiled more as Tech’s arms squeezed you tighter as well in response.

[bestworstcase]

on ‘villainy’ and varian’s and cassandra’s moral codes

for all that varian’s and cassandra’s villain arcs get compared to death they’re really more different than they are similar, and i think one of the more interesting distinctions is the characters’ moral perspectives on their own actions--namely that varian recognizes his own choices as villainous and consciously self-identifies as a ‘bad guy’ and cassandra not only…doesn’t do that but appears legitimately taken aback when varian says she’s ‘become the villain.’ from this we can infer that varian is transgressing his own personal sense of right and wrong while cassandra isn’t.

and… well with varian i think it’s pretty straightforward: he’s a kid who desperately wants to make the world a better place and make his father proud, but his impulsivity and recklessness and general disregard for lab safety foil his plans and get him into trouble. then one of his accidents puts his dad into what is essentially a magical coma and varian becomes singularly focused on reviving him--and, when he realizes that the king is more invested in covering up the problem than fixing it and his only hope lies with a zealously guarded relic belonging to the kingdom, he decides that the only way to achieve this goal is to start breaking the rules.

so he asks rapunzel--his friend who promised to help him--to retrieve some information the king is trying to steal from him, and then persuades her to help him access the sundrop vault; then when she balks at stealing it he makes it clear that he no longer trusts her and escapes with the flower. at this point he’s in the morally dubious zone; being strategic about what he tells rapunzel to make sure she helps him, spiking cookies with truth serum to sow chaos and get information he needs, and doing things that are crimes on paper but also largely victimless. i think these were things varian could probably rationalize as okay--not exactly good, but no one got hurt and he got what he needed.

except the flower’s magic is gone. he drugged the palace, manipulated rapunzel and broke her trust in him, and committed treason all for something useless because the actual magic of the sundrop is in rapunzel herself. now he’s in trouble, because he needs rapunzel’s help but his desperate measures guaranteed she won’t be willing to help him again. and this is when varian realizes that his only options are 1. give up on saving his dad and turn himself in and hope rapunzel takes pity on him, or 2. accept that no one is going to help him now and do whatever it takes to free quirin himself.

so--mutating ruddiger, attacking the city, kidnapping arianna and threatening her with encasement in amber, building an automaton army to defend him while he works--these are all things that varian feels are wrong, but chooses to do anyway because he doesn’t trust that anyone else will even try to save his father. despite his anger and his rationalizations, at the end of the day varian sees himself as doing bad things for good reasons. (“Believe me, I know/I’ve sunk pretty low” & “I’m the bad guy, that’s fine”)

and when his reasons fall through--when he fails to free his dad--he falls quickly into guilt and despair over having hurt people for nothing. he stews for a year in how unforgivable and ashamed he feels, and even when he teams up with the separatists, he’s doing it in, basically, pursuit of a reset button: he wants to take back what he did. and when rapunzel shows him that he can be forgiven, he can have a second chance, he does have people who are willing to help him and trust him again, he drops the memory-wiping idea and his alliance with the separatists without a second thought--because what rapunzel actually does is give him a way to pursue his goals without sacrificing his conscience, which is what he really needed the whole time.

now, cassandra, on the other hand…

cass is an interesting character in this regard because, while she does want to be a hero, she’s not at all altruistic. she’s consumed by her lack of autonomy and she craves not only control over her own life but also respect from the people around her--her desire to be a hero is very self-interested, at its core. and moreover she has a somewhat fatalistic view of the world wherein some people (not her) matter and some… just don’t. 

moreover cassandra, despite her ambitions of becoming a guard, doesn’t so much as blink at eugene’s or the pub thugs’ criminal pasts--she is suspicious of lance at first, but on the grounds that he’s an unrepentant thief who showed up out of the blue under suspicious circumstances to ‘reconnect’ with his old partner in crime; eugene is also distrustful of lance, for the exact same reasons--and of course she doesn’t think twice about breaking the law herself. literally one of the very first things we see cassandra do is commit treason to make her friend happy. cass doesn’t care about the law, and she only wants to be a guard because she associates getting the job with having her dad’s approval and it’s also her ticket out of lifelong servitude.

on the other hand, cass does seem have a strong sense of right and wrong where people she cares about are concerned. she is constantly putting the desires and well-being of her friends ahead of not just her ambitions (e.g. in beginnings for rapunzel, or great expotations for varian) but also her own safety (e.g. risking her livelihood and home to sneak rapunzel out for the night in bea, or setting aside her misgivings about the sketchy bird people in freebird). 

which is all to say--cass isn’t exactly amoral but the moral framework through which she sees the world is… more complicated than varian’s. she doesn’t seem particularly motivated to help strangers but she’ll move mountains to help people she cares about; she doesn’t care much about rules or laws except insofar as she doesn’t want to get caught breaking them, and she has this hierarchical mindset that some people matter--meaning, they get to make decisions for themselves and have people care about what they need and want--and some don’t, and that she herself is stuck in the latter category despite her best efforts to climb out of it.

which brings us to the subject of the moonstone, and cassandra’s villain arc, and why cass, unlike varian, doesn’t consider herself a bad person.

i think what it comes down to most is this: taking the moonstone is an act of defiance against not only rapunzel but also fate itself. waiting in the wings sets up cassandra’s resigned acceptance of this hierarchical order and her own cosmic insignificance, and then in crossing the line she REJECTS that same order. she’s raging against rapunzel but also against the cultural and legal and destined systems that put rapunzel on top and forced cass into subservience. she is very literally fighting for her freedom against the universe itself.

and when cass was not an altruistic or heavily morally motivated or even particularly law-abiding person before, and when her conscience has always been predominantly oriented around taking care of her friends first and herself second, and when the thing that drove her to this breaking point was her friends spitting that back in her face… well.

it’s easy to say “cass literally tried to murder rapunzel a bunch of times, how can she possibly believe she’s the good guy?”--but rapunzel maimed cass, blamed her for it, and consistently prioritized her destiny over cassandra’s wellbeing; and rapunzel represents the cosmic order that cass is fighting to liberate herself from. and while i know that the -popular- take on be very afraid is “cass is terrified of hurting rapunzel,” i submit it’s actually “cass is terrified of having to fight rapunzel, because she still believes that fate is literally tilted in rapunzel’s favor and she can’t win a direct fight with rapunzel.” that’s why she’s so scared; that’s why rapunzel seemingly deleting the red rocks hardens her resolve; that’s why she marches into corona with maximum drama and bluster and builds a fortress and tries so hard to mess with rapunzel’s head before the battle begins. she’s trying to even the odds. and that’s why, when rapunzel stomps her into the curb, cassandra’s immediate response is “i need an army.”

cassandra isn’t scared for rapunzel. she is scared OF rapunzel.

we do also see cass trying not to harm people she considers to be innocent bystanders; she uses the truth serum on varian bc she needs the incantation, but afterwards she doesn’t even bother to restrain him until after he starts pestering her, she says flat out that she doesn’t want him to get hurt when she fights rapunzel; similarly she is willing to hurt calliope to force rapunzel to comply, but--despite her deep personal dislike of calliope--uses a minimum amount of force and again verbally expresses that she doesn’t particularly want to hurt her, that it’s a means to an end and nothing more. attacking rapunzel? that’s fine, rapunzel is her enemy. attacking eugene? of course, he’s rapunzel’s closest ally. mind controlling the brotherhood? that kills two birds with one stone--eliminating powerful enemies with a vested interest in taking the moonstone away from her and turning them into allies who can level the playing field between her and rapunzel. and when she does finally snap and raze corona to the ground? the people of corona attacked her first. i think cass ABSOLUTELY sees herself as fighting a purely defensive war against people who have or will hurt her.

and this is, of course, ultimately why varian failed to get through to her during ‘nothing left to lose’--he appealed to her sense of morality and her sense of morality shrugged. 

as for the thing that snaps her out of it? the moment that forces her to question whether she’s really as right as she thinks she is? it’s learning who her new friend really is. it’s the shock of finding out that she’s been allied with, confiding in, taking advice from a legendary villain, from a monster she likely grew up hearing stories about. cass takes it as a given that zhan tiri is evil--and if she’s friends with zhan tiri, what does that make her? and even then, cass is resistant to the idea that she might be a villain--“No, no, I’m nothing like you. Just because I’m pursuing my destiny doesn’t make me a bad person!”--which is, ultimately, very telling of her whole mindset. she’s not a bad guy, she’s fighting for her freedom. she’s not a bad guy, she’s protecting herself against people who want to exploit her. she’s not a bad guy, she’s just putting herself first for once.

and OAH generally, i’d argue, is not actually about cassandra trying to reconcile with rapunzel or redeem herself or be a better person, it’s… literally cass trying frantically to prove she’s NOT the bad guy. it’s “oh yeah? you think i’m a bad person? well could a bad guy do THIS? *lies and impersonates a former coworker and gets up on a stage to justify her own actions in front of a crowd*” it’s “a bad guy wouldn’t apologize, rapunzel never apologized for anything, and to prove i’m a better person I’M going to apologize! see? SEE!?”--and then everyone in corona attacks her and she goes “FINE, i’m the bad guy, fuck you all” and wrecks the place.

only then--only in plus est en vous--does cassandra get into a mindset similar to varian’s, of “i am the bad guy but if i can pull this off it will be worth it.” she’s not sorry. she still sees rapunzel as an enemy trying to get her under control again, and the only thing that’s really changed is cassandra acknowledging that she has in fact done bad things too.

and… i would argue that by the end of plus est cassandra… feels some guilt but isn’t sorry. “i’ve failed” and “i’ve done terrible things” and “i tried to prove i was more than everyone thought but they were right”--her anguish is not like varian’s anguish in RR, where he was consumed with despair because no one could possibly forgive him for the things he did. cassandra is upset because she did awful things and failed and she perceives that failure as proof of her own worthlessness. she’s right back to feeling how she felt in waiting in the wings but with a hefty new helping of self-disgust and shame for having been stupid enough to believe she could change anything for herself. 

she’s not sorry. she’s not pleading for forgiveness. she just wants rapunzel to give up and leave her alone--& then, after rapunzel convinces her that she’s wrong, and she does have worth as a person, and she does have a destiny of her own, cass does what’s necessary to clean up the crisis she created and then… just bounces. she gets the freedom she wanted and leaves without a backward glance.

(which. good for her.)

tl;dr: varian’s villain arc explores his moral scruples and what it takes for him to be willing to ignore them, whereas cassandra’s villain arc explores her incendiary reaction to a lifetime of injustices; she isn’t amoral but her sense of right and wrong is, unlike varian’s, very contextual and personal. varian is a pragmatic idealist who wants to be lawful good but is capable of setting his own morals aside in pursuit of a goal he considers to be important enough, and cassandra is one radicalizing incident away from realizing that her grievances are not a unique personal failing but a systemic problem and then leading a class uprising.

[chokemeanakin]

Anakin Skywalker x Sick gn Reader Being a Dipshit

Summary: Reader has a cold and Anakin takes care of her despite the fact that she literally goes looking for trouble

masterlist

Read it on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24711994

You’ve never truly hated yourself until this moment. 

You’re a capable individual, you know this. Living in the Jedi’s world during an intergalactic war was no easy ride, and you’d come to adapt to their hectic way of life. Through trials and tribulations, no matter how dangerous, exhausting, or mentally scarring, you’d always managed to come out on top.

Except for now.

When you needed yourself the most, you really let yourself down. 

Colossal screwup, you cursed yourself as your sweaty hand slid off the top of the pill bottle once again. Your fingers were red and rubbed raw from the indents on the lid. Useless idiot.

The strain from trying to pry the lid off the pill bottle made your sinuses clog up and your headache worsen. You squinted your eyes, shielding them from the harsh fluorescent lights as you sat in the corner of the bathroom and struggled. 

For some reason, you had thought joining the Jedi on their quest to destroy the separatists and restore peace to the galaxy would come with a ‘never get sick’ card. You never saw Yoda take a day off for the sniffles. 

Alas; here you were, curled up in a ball on the bathroom floor, wrestling with a child-proof pill bottle. Anakin was just outside, probably listening to your failing attempt to self-medicate. You promised him you’d be back in a second, but it’s been more like 5 minutes and you were sure he’d barge in at any moment now.

“Y/n?” speak of the devil. “You okay in there?”

“Fine,” you grit your teeth, tugging on the top once again. The directions said pull up and twist. That’s what you were doing, so why wasn’t it working?

“You need help with anything?”

You narrowed your eyes at his tone. He was holding back laughter. 

“No.”

“If you say so…”

You had about 20 seconds before he used his weird Jedi tricks to sneak his way past the locked door and find you in your pathetic predicament. Desperately, you attacked the lid-- twisting and turning, pushing and pulling. You balled up your shirt and used it for more grip, to no avail. Finally, as a last resort, you grabbed for the scissors you kept in the drawer under the sink. You raised it over your head and were just about to stab the bottle open with the blade when the door to the bathroom suddenly opened, and Anakin was catching your wrist in his hand. He gently took the scissors out of your grip, setting them on the counter out of reach.

“What did I tell you about playing with sharp objects while sick?”

You scrunched your face up, half-glaring at him and half wallowing in your own miserable embarrassment. You had hoped you could at least take some painkillers by yourself, to prove to Anakin that you weren’t some helpless little fawn while you were feeling under the weather, but of course the child safety measures had other plans. 

Anakin took the pill bottle from your stinging hands and twisted it open with ease. He shook a couple tablets out onto your waiting palm and then capped the bottle, setting it aside.

“See?” he handed a glass of water to you with a smirk. “Not so hard.”

“Can it, Skywalker,” you threw the pills back and sipped the water. The cold liquid soothed your aching throat. “I may be sick, but I can still kick your ass to Tatooine and back.”

“I’ll hold you to that, when you’re better I mean,” he took the empty glass from your grasp and set it back on the counter. Without skipping a beat, he bent down to wrap an arm under your shoulders, helping you to your feet. 

“Geez Ani, I’m sick, not crippled,” you groaned, sniffling as he led you back to bed. You ended up tripping on your discarded boot, and would have fallen flat on your face if he wasn’t holding you. He had the decency not to mention it. 

He brought you to your bed, helping you lay back against the pillows. You watched his face contort in concentration-- eyebrows furrowed, lips pursed, eyes narrowed-- as he focused on pulling the blankets up over you, smoothing down the edges, adjusting your pillows, trailing his fingers down the side of your face in between. You couldn’t help the blush on your cheeks as he held your chin delicately in his gloved hand, leaning down to place a soft, lingering kiss on your forehead. 

“You can always ask me for help you know.”

“I know,” you shrunk deeper under the covers, feeling squeamish under the intensity of his gaze.

“Is your throat still bothering you?”

You nodded, averting your eyes as you suddenly became bashful. It wasn’t just that you hated admitting to weakness-- it was also the fact that Anakin was so damn pretty, even up close, and he was fully using it against you. The boy had some wicked eye contact, and every time those dark blue eyes locked on you, you felt like melting. 

Anakin caressed your cheek with his thumb, no doubt noting the heat that pooled there. The corner of his mouth tilted up in a slight smile-- he knew what he was doing to you.

“I’ll go make you some tea.”

As soon as he left the room, you let out a long breath. It was meant to relieve some tension built up in your chest, but it really resulted in you hunched over in a coughing fit. You pressed your arm against your mouth, trying to muffle the awful barking sounds coming from your throat. Each cough felt like nails were dragging against the walls of your throat. Your forehead broke out in a sweat with the exertion, and the headache came back with a splitting furiosity.

Screw this, you decided, throwing off the covers and standing from the bed. Fresh air was just what your ailing body needed. 

You wobbled over to the balcony doors on weak legs, feeling like you could just collapse at the knees at any moment. Climbing onto the concrete wall of the balcony, you folded your legs criss-cross and watched the city lights twinkle before you. There was a cool breeze tonight and it did wonders to soothe your fever. This was possibly the best decision you had made since falling ill.

However, looking below you, there was at least a thousand feet between you and the ground. And no barrier stopping you from falling. 

Oh well, you thought to yourself. It’s not like anyone’s gonna push me. 

You sat on the balcony for a while, closing your eyes and breathing in the cold night air as you waited for Anakin to come back with the tea. It was very peaceful, and even the honking of impatient drivers in late night traffic was like a lullaby to your ears. Soon, you found yourself drifting off to sleep, your head falling forward as you slipped into unconsciousness.

“Force, Y/n, what are you doing on the ledge like that?!” Anakin’s voice ripped you out of your sleep. You startled, gripping onto the edge of the concrete as you blinked your eyes open to the millions of tiny city lights before you. You turned to see Anakin rushing toward you, floating the mug of tea he was holding away with the force. 

He tried wrapping his arms around you, but you squirmed out of his grasp.

“You can’t touch me, Anakin, you’ll get sick,” you mumbled drowsily. You yawned and rubbed your eye with a fist as he sputtered something about how you didn’t care about that before.

“Just come away from the ledge, Y/n, it’s not safe up there!”

You rolled your eyes, pushing yourself to unsteady feet slowly. “You worry too much,” you told him, turning around to face the city and opening your arms out wide. “See? I’m perfectly alri-- ah-- ah-- aaahh choo!”

The sneeze took you by surprise, and you pitched forward with the force it used to expel from your body. Suddenly you were too far over the edge of the balcony, and for a moment of heart-stopping terror you were falling…

… Until familiar strong arms caught you around the waist and pulled you back to the floor of the balcony. 

“You are a pain in my ass,” Anakin hissed, ushering you inside. He closed the doors to the balcony a little too hard with the force, holding you tightly all the way back to bed.

“Damn,” you croaked, letting him drop you back into bed and tuck the sheets even tighter around you, like a straightjacket that’ll stop you from escaping again. “I almost just died.”

“You wouldn’t have died,” Anakin huffed, turning his back to retrieve the tea he left on the dresser. “I wouldn’t let that happen. I, however, just had a mini heart attack.”

“Just a mini one?”

“Stop talking, you’ll only hurt your throat more.” The panic was slowly leaving his eyes as he sat on the edge of the bed. To calm you down or himself, you weren’t sure, but he began brushing your bangs out of your face as you sipped on the tea. 

You closed your eyes and let yourself melt into his touch, the soft tickling sensation of his hand grazing your forehead, the warm presence of him. You sniffled lightly, rubbing at your dripping yet somehow stuffed nose with your sleeve, hoping he would never stop carding his fingers through your hair. 

“You should rest,” Anakin took the mug from you after a moment and set it aside. He waved his gloved hand, and the lights in the room darkened so that the only thing casting light was the single candle burning on the bedside table. It flickered in the dark, casting shadows over Anakin’s face. 

Suddenly you felt his hand leave your face and his weight lift off the bed. Your heart dropped with the realization that he was leaving. Desperately, you reached for him before he could go too far, latching onto the hard metal of his gloved wrist.

“You can stay,” you told him quietly. Then you added, “Please.”

Anakin tilted his head thoughtfully, staring at you for a moment. You were glad it was dark so that he couldn’t see the colorful emotion staining your cheeks. It’s not like you two hadn’t slept in the same bed together-- you were dating, after all-- but showing affection never came easy to you. Neither did asking for help, or admitting weakness.

Anakin, to his credit, didn’t hesitate for very long. Gently, he got back into bed with you, this time snaking his arm under your head so that it would rest on the soft cushion of his bicep. You turned and curled into his chest, breathing in his scent. He always smelled like leather and metal and spices. Your favorite scent in the whole world.

“How are you feeling now?” Anakin murmured as he rubbed your arm soothingly, cocooning you against his body in his own.

“Like shit,” you admitted truthfully, but burrowed your head deeper into his chest. “But this is nice.”

“I’m glad,” you could hear the smile in his voice. 

You loved his voice. Just like his smell, his voice was one of your favorite sounds in the world, coming second only to his laugh. You wanted to keep talking, to keep hearing it, but you found yourself being weighed down with a heavy exhaustion. The warmth coming from the blankets and emanating from Anakin was enough to cloud your mind with sleep, the steady drag of his hand against your arm a soothing distraction from the miserable sickness waging war inside your body. Before you could say another word to the love of your life, you passed out right in his arms.

[mrfandomwars]

hi it’s irresponsibility101 i promise i’m working on the prompt but i’m extraordinarily tired and it is very quickly running away from me and also they won’t let me send asks from my side blog—

i have a horrible horrible plot bunny regarding korriban and vox that hasn’t left me alone so now i’m sharing it with you, have fun!

fox finds out about something he shouldn’t have somehow and palpafuck decided to be creative in his murder methods and sends him off korriban. vox is a thing that happens. i don’t know how, but it does. fox doesn’t die but also has various sith planet(/stress) induced hallucinations that are very fun and angsty and probably involves his batchmates + rex. that’s it, that’s all i’ve got.

anyway i’m just now remembering that you said to talk about your fics and this... isn’t but i think i was looking at one of your quotes when i came up with it so eh it’s probably related enough.

Hi Elz (@irresponsibility101)!!!!!! And no worries about the prompt, take your time, and the ask thingy, it's fine! Sorry for taking a while to answer, got busy soon after you sent the ask!

Which quote btw?

Idea Under Cut!↴

Ooooooooo honestly, you just gave me the vision of Quinlan finding Fox a guy he had a crush on while on a mission (possibly the one where he 'fell' to get in Dooku's good side) and finds Fox, who people fought that died while protecting the Chancellor at home, who clearly hasn't eaten or drank anything in a while (while possibly either stuck in a room or chained somewhere, or both) and clealry being affected by the force.

Yada yada yada, Quinlan claims he wants to keep Fox as a pet, so he gets to bring him to the Separatist space, yada yada yada, Fox is recovering physically while refusing to speak to the guy he likes Quinlan bc "Traitor!" and also dealing with memories of hallucinations of both his vode being hurt and denouncing him, maybe even of them hurting him, AND the fact that he can now interact with Dead Sith Ghosts and see them in the Force, and them maybe being like 'You are slightly Force Sensitive, so you will be our apprentice' (which results in Fox learning stuff from the Dark Side of the Force, which he doesn't use, he just now knows what to do Just In Case) and then slowly discovering things that Palpatine did (maybe even the chips after a Sith commented that they were being 'kind' by offering him to join them willingly instead of activating the inhibitor chips) because what he found out wasn't actually anything to do with the Sith, maybe he discovered that Palpatine didn't pay his taxes in a while or whatever.

Long story short, Quinlan breaks cover when he discovers that Fox may possibly know who the Sith Master behind the War is because *stuff* and takes Fox away from there, and basically they go on a run away from Separatists while being hunted down, especially bc only a few minutes before Quinlan left Serenno had Palpatine learned that Quinlan had 'bought' a clone Marshall commander, not any, the one in charge of Coruscant, that was believed to be dead and was 'keeping him' as a 'pet'.

Anyway, they go on the run, all the while dealing with the temptation of falling bc of all the bullshit they suffered/were forced to do + the fact that they are being followed by literally Sith Ghosts also, the Jedi Order are trying to find them, because Quinlan's last message was literally 'Found someone who knows who the Sith Master is, breaking cover' and then didn't reply to any message or anything like that, for weeks, they thought he was dead.

Until he sends a message again with maybe the chip info, which possibly leads to the Bad Batch + our favourite Domino duo + Alpha-17 who was there bc it was a high stake mission and they needed the best of the best (members depending) being on the run with them (does it involve Alpha-17 watching over Fox bc even though he was recovery, he isn't still fully recovered), yada yada yada, final fight scenes where the group reconnects with a group of Jedi and clones (possibly Anakin, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan plus the main clones from 212th and 501st (or maybe the whole battalions), which includes Rex and Cody obviously) a bit before they arrive in Coruscant to confront Palpatine, yada yada, they arrive, join maybe Mace and Plo and Aayla, maybe, and other Jedi and clones to take down Sidious, yada yada yada, Palpatine is extra dead, the Jedi away from the Republic, Fox is stuck for an extra week in the healing ward recovering while being watched over by his Vode and Jedi (including his boyfriend, Quinlan, because hey definitely started dating while on the run, sorry, I don't make the rules).

[big1ron]

The Venator “Resolute” had jumped right into a separatist trap. Somehow a virus infecting the main computer has scrambled the hyperspace jump coordinates, and now the companies on board were outnumbered and without reinforcements, deep in separatist space. A few last, desperate SOSs to nobody, and the ship was quickly overwhelmed with fire. The Resolute was going down. But not before each of the escape pods could be jettisoned.

————- Chapter Five: Waiting. -————

- I think this one may be short aswell, sorry for the wait I’ve just not been doing amazing. But it’s here! Sorry. -

“Sir, we’re receiving a transition from a separatist base somewhere near the Vinda system. Should we patch it though?”

“Vinda? That’s certainly strange. Patch it though, but don’t respond. Make sure they can’t trace us.”

The radio crackles to life, and there is a significant amount of static and interference, but the message can be made out. “Haha! Yes! Great! If you’re receiving this, this is ARC-5555 “Fives” of the five-oh-first. We’ve been shot down, though most of the escape pods launched. There should be a coordinates package sent with this transmission. And- Wait hardcase what are you doing....” the message pauses, something that sounds like a response in the background. “No! Don’t do that! Hey, stop!” Another pause “I literally AM the boss of you!” A longer pause this time “no, what does that have anything to do with anything at all.” A slight shorter pause, “no, that’s stupid! You’re literally not even making any sense.” “ NO, NO you’re just wrong. I do not have time for this. You’re just wrong. Now I’m trying to get us off this planet so shut up please.” He sighs. “Sending the coordinates now.” The transmission ends.

Obiwan snickers. “Well that certainly wasn’t droids. Forward that message, and the attached files to general koon please, Cody.”

“Yes sir” man is Cody glad the 212th doesn’t usually behave like that. He doesn’t envy Rex, but those troopers sure are entertaining. He’s definitely going to tease Rex about this later.

Wolffe received the translation and chuckled to himself. The 501st sure was something else. “General, we’ve been looking in the wrong place! They’re way off course.”

Plo koon nodded and pressed a button on his comm link. “All units return to carriers. Set our course for the Vinda system!” The general gave the orders, and the 501st was finally looking at a rescue.

“Hey master, I found a road!” Ahsoka had been dragging her bike in the low power ‘hover’ mode while they had been searching for a refuelling stop.

“Great job snips. Now which direction do you want to take?”

“Hmmm left.”

“Yeah I was thinking right too. Alright, let’s go.”

“You’re impossible sky guy.”

“Wait, with all due respect sir, this is a separatist planet. Won’t this path take us right into a separatist base of some kind?” Rex cuts in.

“What’s the matter captain? Afraid of a little action? Besides, these are separatist issue bikes, a separatist base is exactly what we need.” So General skywalker leads the group leftwards down the path, dragging his bike behind beside him.

Soon enough, they spot the refuelling station that the road leads to. The three of them dive to the tree line, even though any droids should have surely heard or seen them by now. There are two wrecked speeder bikes by the refuelling station and a few destroyed droids littered about. Rex dares leave their cover enter the small base down the main road.

“Looks like a few of the boys have already been here.”

“Or are still here. Look!” Anakin points to the window of the small command outlet tower, and though it’s shaded glass, Rex can make out the back of a troopers head and shoulders, no doubt leaning against the terminal inside. “Ahsoka and I will refuel the speeders. You go check it out.”

Anakin and ahsoka moved the destroyed speeders out of the way with the force before moving their own to the station, while Rex cautiously entered the command outlet. He paused in the small corridor between the main communications room (probably a droid charging outlet) and listed in before entering, just out of personal curiosity more than anything.

“Oh my godssss-“

“-no no, no no listen to me-“

“-no how did you even get that conclusion!? How does ‘cereal is a salad’ equate to ‘general grievous should be classified as a sauce?!’ And why do you think those two things true?!”

“Just LISTEN to me! Ok? Because general grievous has his organs in a sack right? And those organs are in a liquid, right? It’s like a sauce. And his robot suit is just a really fancy jar because it keeps it contained and-“

“GENERAL GRIEVOUS IS NOT A SAUCE”

“SHUT UP AND LET ME EXPLAIN! Listen! You’ve never even seen him. And the droids, they’re all controlled by chips right? And- hey wait the cereal is a salad thing was a completely different topic! But milk is like the dressing you put on the salad, cause it’s optional and-“

“HOW IS GENERAL GRIEVOUS A SAUCE”

As much as rex really does want to hear how hardcase ends up explaining this one, he doesn’t want to keep the general waiting much longer and he doesn’t want one of them to end up maimed over cyborg sauces. He enters the room and immediately a blaster bolt whizzes right by his ear.

“You missed. Also, you almost shot me.”

“Rex! You found us!” Fives holstered his blaster and practically jumped up out of the chair he was leaning back in

“See? Both plans worked out. We took the base and we found rex.” Hardcase stopped pacing.

“At ease” Rex said sarcastically, as neither of them had actually gone to attention. Not that he really minded, but still. “It’s good to see you two. And nice work taking the post. Did you get a signal out?”

“Yes, I think so. We made a connection with a republic flagship, but the communication was one way. If the officers were doing their job right, we can assume help is on the way.”

“That’s great then. ...may I ask if there was another trooper in the pod with you?”

Hardcase and Fives hung their heads and looked to the floor. Hardcase rocked back on his heels and began fidgeting with his hands. “It was Tup sir... we lost him. Got separated.”

“Oh. I see.” Tup was an independent enough trooper, Rex had hope that he would survive alone. But if he didn’t turn up soon he would no doubt be left behind. “Well, I’ll tell the generals. We’ll stay here until rescue arrives. As you were.”

“Why do you get to decide which direction we go?” Asked echo to jesse, who was at the head of the group still with dogma on his back.

“Because I’m the highest rank here, so I’m in charge.”

“But we have the exact same rank. And I’ve been an ARC trooper longer.”

“Yeah but I’ve been with the 501st longer. And I’m older”

“Yeah well I’m Rex’s favourite so I should be in charge.”

“YOU’RE not his favourite! I don’t think he has favourites. And if he did it would probably be Hardcase.”

“Hardcase?! Hardcase isn’t even an ARC trooper. And i got into ARC training way before you did, while being in the 501st for a way shorter time. Rex clearly likes me best, or at least better than you.”

“Well he’s left me in charge multiple times while he’s gone. Even when you and Fives are available. So he trusts me to lead more responsibly obviously.“

“Will you two just cut it out?” Interjects Coric at the same time as Kix’s “just shut up already!”

Echo stuck out his leg and tripped Kix, not to be denied this victory. Jesse dropped Dogma and put himself between his favourite vod and Echo. But before things could even start Coric shoved them both apart

“If you two can’t stop fighting about who’s in charge, then we’ll go by seniority and that would be me. So you two stop annoying each other and behave! Echo, there’s no reason for you to be so mean to Kix, Jesse consider Dogma a bit more will you? And if all four of you can’t just get along I swear to kark I will MAKE you! Do I make myself clear?!”

“Yes coric.” Echo and Jesse mumble.

Tup slowly opened his eyes. He must have passed out at some point during that nightmare. He had lost time, and he had no idea where he was or what direction he was facing. Right, he was headed towards the rising sun, but what time was it? He grabbed a nearby tree and used it to pull himself up. His head spun for a few seconds, but other than a mild headache the fruit seemed to have no lasting side effects. His chest plate was hanging half off and he was missing various other armour pieces. His hair was a mess. Full of knots and leaves. And his blaster was gone. Whatever. He was still alive and even if he was going to be left behind for the rest of his life, he wasn’t dead. This was all Fives and Hardcase’s fault. And when he saw them again he would let them know it.

He took a minute to fix himself up best he could, but he still looked like a wreck and his other armour pieces were nowhere in sight. He felt unsafe without his blaster, so he settled with a reasonably sized stick he found (somewhere around 5ft long) to replace it. Yes, he was 1000% going to die here, but he pressed on anyways.

[hellowkatey]

The Plights of Force Vision: Chapter 4

Rated T for language and depictions of violence

Summary: Obi-Wan is running on fumes. Anakin has a bad feeling about this. They go into battle anyway.

Read it on AO3

Chapter 4: General Kenobi

This morning, a shiny asked Obi-Wan if he preferred General Kenobi or Master Kenobi. It was a question that earned him a slap on the back of the head from one of the more experienced men. "He is your general, newbie, only the other Jedi call him Master." The men laughed it off, giving the kid trouble, and Obi-Wan walked away before they noticed.

An innocent question, yes, but one that sent Obi-Wan into a bit of a tailspin. The war has been getting to him. He hasn't had proper sleep in days, living off stale caff and wherever he can curl up for a thirty-minute power nap.

Do you prefer General Kenobi or Master Kenobi?

He wants to say master is his preferred title. The title he has been working his entire life for. Master Kenobi is a Jedi who worked hard to come back from less than adequate beginnings. One of the youngest members of the Jedi council (and they certainly like to remind him of the fact). A master of Soresu and the only Jedi that actually enjoys instructing the youngling Aurbesh class. After spending months teaching a padawan as stubborn as Anakin to read when he was nine, three-year-olds are a breeze.

But Master Kenobi isn't here right now. General Kenobi is.

General Kenobi is a smooth-talking, always rational, master of strategics. The Negotiator, they call him. Even named a ship after him and signed him up to command the whole of the Third Systems Army. High General Kenobi-- Who fights alongside his men on the front lines, coordinates the attack plans for other Jedi Generals, and somehow finds time to learn the names of thousands of troopers that look almost exactly the same. As much as Obi-Wan wants to be Master Kenobi, he simply is not. There will be a time and a place for that man, and one day he will get to take that place.

But not today.

Not as they prepare for battle. Not as Cody is assigning positions and handing out blasters to men who haven't been alive but ten years. Not as he overhears his former padawan challenging a sixteen-year-old to a competition on who can decimate the most battle droids. Certainly not as he looks at the plans and can tell this is going to be a bad battle where no matter how well they fight they will lose many troopers.

Because underneath Master Kenobi and General Kenobi is Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan is simply tired.

He feels Anakin approaching, so he pushes aside his weariness and pretends to be going over their starting positions. A strong hand clamps onto his shoulder.

"I know I didn't just hear you two planning another one of your silly competitions," he says before Anakin or Ahsoka can say anything.

"It's called efficiency, Master," Anakin replies cooly, plucking the datapad right from Obi-Wan's hand. He rolls his head to the side so the knight can better see his dissatisfied expression. Ahsoka chuckles, looking between the two generals in a staring match.

"We have to beat Master Mundi's record!" Ahsoka says, nudging her master in the ribs. "C'mon Skyguy, Rex is waiting for us."

"What have I told you about-- nevermind, let's go," He turns back to Obi-Wan and gives him a one-finger salute. "May the Force be with you, Master."

Obi-Wan smiles. "And with both of you."

The pair takes off toward a gunship on the opposite side of the staging area where Captain Rex is waiting as patiently as a trooper dealing with those two can be. Obi-Wan can't help a small smile as he watches the Master and Apprentice pair talk with animated motions the entire way over. Ahsoka is simultaneously a good lesson in responsibility for Anakin, and so much like him, they might as well be quarreling siblings. In a certain way, he feels like they are both his padawans-- kids thrust into war too young. He feels responsible for them no matter how many times Anakin is insistent that he is not "a padawan anymore" and he can "take care of himself".

Right. I'd like to see him trying to make that claim while he curls up in my bunk after a rough mission or having a bad dream.

(Truth be told, Obi-Wan doesn't mind when Anakin shows up at his door in the wee hours of the night, his eyes bloodshot and watery from another horrifying premonition within his dreams. It's a feeling Obi-Wan knows far too well. He is pleased his quarters are a place where the young knight can feel safe.)

"Ready, sir?" Cody says. Obi-Wan hadn't noticed he walked up next to him. He looks at the clone commander he's come to consider a good friend and puts on his best look of confidence.

"Of course, Cody. Gather the men."

_________

As Anakin and Ahsoka take off, leaving the staging area to get to their drop point, Anakin keeps his gaze fixed on his former master until they are too high for him to see him. He frowns, earning a mirrored look from his padawan standing across from him.

"What is it, Master?"

He can't really explain it. Something is nagging at him and he isn't sure why.

"I just have a weird feeling."

"To be honest," she says, placing a hand on her belly. "I think those rations this morning were expired...I've had a weird feeling all morning, too."

He squints. "Ahsoka, rations don't expire."

"Then why did it taste like cardboard?"

Rex, who is standing next to Ahsoka starts to laugh. "Did you have the taco salad one, sir?"

She looks up at him with wide eyes. "Yes!"

"That's just how that one tastes. We usually leave those for the stray cats."

Ahsoka looks disgusted, and Rex and the other nearby troopers look amused. But Anakin stares back out the open door of the gunship trying to puzzle through what could be feeling so strange in the Force.

________

Obi-Wan is quite literally knee-deep in battle droids. Some of them had the misguided programming to attempt to dogpile him, which resulted in about ten battle droids being sliced through their midsections with a quick spin of his saber. Coincidentally, a few tanks and another battalion of battle droids decided to show up at that moment, so the area around him quickly turned into a battle droid barricade.

Anakin would find this hilarious, Obi-Wan thinks, managing a smirk as another battle droid gets added to the pile. The battle is going well, allowing him some respite. The Separatists had a good position, but their strategy was weak. The 501st managed to push the forces that threatened Obi-Wan's pursuit the most into retreat, freeing up significant resources to aid the main front. Their casualty numbers have been minimal so far, and he can feel the confidence and energy of the men increasing as this daunting battle quickly turns in their favor.

And then, Obi-Wan feels a familiar prickle down his spine and the faint smell of mint. Surrounded by battle droids bleeding oil and shooting sparks, the fresh scent should be the last thing he should come across. His eyes widen as he frantically turns to find Cody.

Thus far in the war, Obi-Wan has gotten lucky.

Now, luck is not necessarily something he believes in-- everything is the will of the Force. However, since his visions are also the will of the Force, he figures the fact that a bad one has not struck him in the midst of a battle is something he can consider lucky. At least, luck attributed to the Force being not in the mood to see him incapacitated while getting shot at.

Of course, the reason Obi-Wan doesn't like luck is that it runs out.

And of course, it happened to run out today.

As he turns to find a place to retreat to ride out this vision, a blast manages to slip through his cleverly constructed wall of droids, ricocheting off the durasteel and slamming into the back of his shoulder. He yelps in surprise, crumbling to the dusty ground. As his vision starts to blur he manages to press a code on his commlink and bring it to his face.

"Code Ginger," he rasps. His body goes limp as he hears the faint yelling of troopers running toward him.

"The general is down! Repeat, the gen..."

An explosion ricochets off the side of the mountain, sending Obi-Wan flailing into the open air. An animalistic, shrill shriek echoes off the rocks around him, and it takes a moment for him to realize it is not his own scream but that of a varactyl falling a few meters below him.

Falling. I'm falling! He realizes as the world around him rushes past. Through the wind whistling, he can hear his men yelling.

"The general is down!"

But...

If he isn't mistaken their tone is not one of fear or anxiety, but of celebration.

The general is down.

He's plummeting toward a body of water at an alarming rate. Many times, Obi-Wan has fallen from great heights, so his reaction is automatic. He stretches his arms and legs out, attempting to create as much drag as possible as he tumbles through the air.

But pull in before hitting the water.

Obi-Wan draws the Force around him, cradling his body to slow his descent. He's going too fast to stop himself, but it's enough he could survive this fall.

Probably.

Closer and closer the water comes.

How long have I been falling?

Luckily and unluckily the varactyl hits the water first. The animal, unfortunately, unaided by the cushion of the Force dies with a high-pitched gasp upon impact. He has just a second to feel the sudden blip of Force presence cut out before he pulls his body into a straight line, takes a deep breath, and plummets head-first into the water.

From the surface being broken by his fallen companion and his manipulation of the Force, Obi-Wan opens his eyes to find himself still alive. He is deep in the water, the pressure aching against his head and lungs. Even with his rebreather, which he quickly shoves into his mouth, it will be a slow-going way up to equalize the pressure. Obi-Wan watches sorrowfully as the lifeless green blur of the varactyl sinks into the bottomless abyss below him. Had he fallen below the animal he would most certainly be dead.

I almost died... and how? Cody and the others had the platform secure. The blast had to have come...

Screaming. Bellows of agony echo through his mind in a sudden crescendo of fear. Screams he shouldn't be able to hear so deep underwater if they were coming from the surface, so they must be--

Death. So much of it. It wraps its dark fists around Obi-Wan's throat, and even with the rebreather allowing oxygen into his lungs, he sees dots before his vision. The Force is imploding, writhing as he can physically feel inky darkness staining the delicate tendrils of light.

He kicks as hard as he can, trying to find his way to the surface but everything in him is saying Stop!

Stop.

Rest. Finally, rest.

Panic spreads through him. His head is whirling as pain shoots through it. A shooting pain he hasn't felt since Qui-Gon was killed and their bond was forcibly--

Help us!

Young voices cry in agony, and he feels something irreparable within him shatter as the galaxy cries out with a haunting mourning song. Help us! Save us! He's coming! He's going to kill--

And then silence. Silence so jarring he stops swimming in hopes he will hear anything.

A faraway voice. A woman speaking in hushed tones. "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope." And then she too is silenced.

He feels like he might puke. Or faint. Or just fade into the Force right there.

But the Force wraps around him like a blanket, warming his shivering body and urging him upward. Onward.

You're their only hope.

And so he swims.

Obi-Wan awakes gasping, staring at the burlap roof of the med tent at base camp. He's not underwater. Not falling. The screams turn to the familiar yelling of his troopers, and the occasional echo of blaster fire.

He breaths heavily, letting reality melt back to him... but as it does, involuntary tears well up in his eyes.

__________

Cody was the first to see the general drop. Tucked up near the very front lines, the Jedi curated an impressive pile of clankers and was, per usual, keeping the large bunk of the battle droids occupied. The Commander was already watching him when he saw the Jedi suddenly stiffen and stagger back. Cody has been in enough battles with Kenobi to recognize it's time to send in backup.

"Waxer! Gearshift! With me!" he commands, and the two men fall into formation behind him.

Cody watches in horror as a stray blaster shot smashes into the already-weary general, and he loses sight of General Kenobi beneath his pile of battle droids.

Code Ginger.

The commlink message rings out and Cody curses. He calls in for more cover fire, shifting some of the troops a further distance from General Kenobi to draw the Seppies away.

The three troopers arrive at the fallen general, immediately struck by the wake of carnage Kenobi has left around him. The Jedi are efficient in battle, but it's rare their casualties are so... concentrated. Gearshift nearly trips over the head of a battle droid.

"He's hit," Waxer says, examining the blaster wound. "Superficial."

Cody is suddenly aware that the Jedi's eyes are still open, making his stillness look eerie like a dead man. He tears his glove off and presses his fingers to his pulse point, instant relief at a strong heartbeat beneath his fingers.

"We extract him now. Gearshift, hold this position."

"Taking over the clanker cage, sir," Gearshift says, eagerly planting his long-range rifle on its stand to get some ground-level snipe shots through the gaps of the droid pile.

Waxer jumps to the other side of the man, kicking the fallen clankers out of the way to make room. He squats down and picks up General Kenobi as though he weighs nothing, throwing him limply over his shoulder. Cody grips his blaster, taking a deep breath. He and Waxer nod to one another, and then the lieutenant presses to a stand from his crouch, Cody laying down cover fire as they run back toward the base camp. Other troopers, momentarily pausing to take in the sight of General Kenobi being carried unconscious, jump into action. They join in on the cover, alerting others of the 212th to fill in. Supported by his brothers, Cody turns to focus on his running.

The shift in the attitude of his troopers is palpable. A moment earlier they were immersed in the battle, fighting well and yelling their usual battlefield jokes over the sound of blaster fire. Now, the men fight with a different determination. Their Jedi is down and they have collectively decided their opponents will be swiftly defeated.

Cody feels a pang of pride for his brothers and their quick response, but also mutual worry for their general. He's come to grow attached to the annoyingly reckless Jedi, and though he knows this is mostly Jedi Force stuff going on, he can't help feel concerned seeing his lifeless body.

Cody catches up to Waxer who is breathing heavily with exertion but shows no sign of slowing.

"'t's like Geonosis all over again," he yells.

"Let's hope that's where the similarities end," Cody groans. The dusty terrain of this planet already reminds the commander enough of the Point Rain mission. He doesn't need or want a third Geonosis.

The two troopers burst into the med tent, startling Kix of the 501st. The medic's eyes widen when he sees the general slumped over Waxer's shoulder before narrowing with intensity. "Bed two. What happened?" the no-nonsense trooper asks, grabbing a handful of bacta patches.

Waxer deposits General Kenobi gently on the cot while Cody explains the blaster wound.

"It's a flesh wound, but the general is in the middle of a... Force vision.. thing. He might be unconscious for a while."

Kix looks from General Kenobi to Cody again. He can see the gears in the medic's head turning with this new information. "Damn Jedi Force shit,"  Cody hears him mutter. "Sir, will he need... treatment? For...  that when he wakes up?"

Haar'chak, I didn't think to ask that. General Kenobi gave him a very brief crash-course on Force visions. "Sorry, Kix, I just know it's a Code Ginger."

"Code Ginger?"

"It's the tea Obi-Wan drinks to relieve his post-vision headaches," a new voice rings out through the med tent. Cody, Kix, and Waxer turn to see Skywalker standing with his arms folded in the doorway. "with honey. I came up with it," he adds. General Skywalker thankfully looks untouched beside his robes being quite dusty. "501st is back with reinforcements. Ahsoka is with Rex getting them in position. Looks like the Separatists have already started calling for retreat, though."

Cody nods and looks at Kix. "Do you have any tea on hand?"

"No sir, I'm afraid not."

General Skywalker walks further into the tent, pulling a small pouch from his utility belt. "I have some." He hands it to Cody, and Kix goes to work examining the blaster wound on Kenobi's left shoulder. Without the wall of clones obstructing his view, Cody is vaguely aware that Skywalker has a full view of his master. He watches the young Jedi, thankful he has his bucket on to hide his observations. Skywalker sighs deeply, his fist clenching at his side before relaxing. He is used to seeing General Skywalker worried when his master is injured-- Kix has grown quite comfortable pulling rank when he needs to by this point. But now, he is reacting differently than usual. The Jedi Knight is calmer like he knew something had happened and wasn't at all surprised. Perhaps it's just that he understands this whole Force thing. From how stocked his utility belt is with in-case-of-emergency Obi-Wan Kenobi supplies, this must be a frequent occurrence the commander isn't aware of.

Even so, Skywalker has freaked out over lesser wounds than blaster burns.

Cody stands by him silently for a moment, waiting for further questions about what happened, how Kenobi was shot... but it never comes. Instead, Skywalker turns, looking at him with a hollow expression.

"Thank you, Commander. For pulling him out."

Cody can't imagine a world where he wouldn't run into an active battlefield for his general. The apology catches him off guard. What else would he have done? He nods anyway.

"Of course, General... How long do these usually last?"

"Depends."

For as much as Skywalker talks, he certainly doesn't say much, does he? Cody thinks and then squeezes his eyes shut. Great, I sound like General Kenobi.

"Depends on what, sir?"

"How bad the vision is."

Cody isn't sure if bad is referring to bad like graphic scenes or bad like vivid and lengthy, but he gets the feeling the Jedi knight isn't in the mood to elaborate either way. He excuses himself to go find Rex and end this battle once and for all.

_________

Obi-Wan's quarters feel small. He lays in bed, staring at the ceiling with no intention of falling asleep anytime soon.

He's vomited twice. It worried Kix, but he convinced him to let him sleep in his quarters anyway. That he would return if he vomited again, though there is nothing in Obi-Wan's stomach that could possibly force its way up now.

Somehow, he still feels like he's falling. Like he'll hit the water at any moment now. He tried to meditate on these potent feelings clouding his mind, but every time he closes his eyes he hears the cries of agony and the horrible feeling of death tear through him like a damn lightsaber.

Obi-Wan curls onto his side, pressing his shins against the wall of his bunk. He tells himself the usual list:

1. The future is constantly changing.

2. His vision is not guaranteed to come true.

3. None of it was real.

He tells himself this despite the fact his visions come true more often than not. He was a padawan when he experienced their horrific landing at Point Rain decades before it happened. He was a youngling when he saw himself fighting amongst the Young on Melida/Daan. Both times there were these moments when reality collided with the dreams he had spent months trying to get out of his head. It was a strange sensation. Like he'd been there before, and knew exactly what was coming. (His vision did give him the foresight to bite down on something as Trapper set his dislocated leg back in its socket when that moment came around again.)

And there were many others. Somehow his visions have the convenient quality of not providing him enough context to stop the horrible consequences. He doesn't realize he's in the future he foretold until it is his present.

This terrifies him.

He doesn't know who is in agony or why. Where even is he? How did he fall? Why is he their only hope? His anxiety is peaking and attempts to quell it are not working. Obi-Wan draws his shields in, feeling the unanswered questions swirl about his mind.

Then there's a knock. Before he can say anything or even move, his door is opening.

"Master?"

He lets out a deep breath that betrays him, quivering with emotion. And then Anakin is beside him, a hand on his bicep gently rolling him from his side so he can see his face.

"Master Obi-Wan!"

"Anakin," Obi-Wan says, acting as though he woke him up though it is obvious that is not the case, "what are you doing here? Did you have a bad dream?"

"I--" the young knight looks conflicted. Tired and conflicted. "No, I-I wanted to check on you."

Obi-Wan pushes himself to a sitting position. "Well the bacta did its job, so my shoulder is quite alright."

Anakin swallows hard, sitting down on the edge of the bunk. "That isn't what I mean, and you know it."

"My vision?"

He nods.

"Well, it wasn't anything too crazy. Actually, it was quite unevent--"

"Don't do that," Anakin huffs. "I know what you're doing."

"And what exactly am I doing, padawan?"

"Bullshitting me!"

"Anakin langua--"

"It's bullshit, Obi-Wan and you know it," he crosses his arms over his chest. Obi-Wan half-expects him to storm out, but instead, his face softens. He's getting better at controlling his anger at least. "I had a bad feeling about today. Before the battle. The Force was trying to tell me something," he looks up at Obi-Wan. "Warning me about you."

Obi-Wan leans forward, placing a hand over his former padawan's. Anakin only slightly leans into the touch, still maintaining his hardened expression.

"It was only a blaster shot. Cody and Waxer were on top of it, and as for the vision I managed to use the code to--"

"I also felt you on the battlefield," Anakin interrupts (again), and Obi-Wan feels everything around him freeze. He is always on top of his shielding for visions-- has been since he was a young child. Sure, he's been tired lately but that shouldn't be an excuse to project. Unless...

"The blaster injury... might have compromised the hold on my shields," Obi-Wan says quietly, looking down at his lap. "Did Ahsoka feel my projections too?"

"She was shielded. I made sure once I started to feel it." Obi-Wan feels Anakin's hands on either of his shoulders. He looks up to see him staring at him with blue eyes full of worry and concern. "But master, I... I felt what you were feeling. How you reacted to that vision, and..." he looks away a moment, taking a breath. "it nearly made me lose my lunch in the middle of battle, and I couldn't even see it... What happened?"

For the second time today, Obi-Wan feels tears welling up in his eyes. Partially at the guilt for putting his former padawan through such an ordeal, and partially because the voices are screaming again, and he is afraid that maybe this isn't reality as he thought. He reaches up and wraps his hand around Anakin's wrist, feeling his flesh against his own and a heartbeat beneath his fingertips. Real... Real, this is real. Anakin is here and he is real.

"Honestly," Obi-Wan whispers, "I don't know what happened. I just felt... everything around me... the entire galaxy become shroud in darkness and death." he looks into Anakin's eyes, trying to make sure he believes that he is telling the truth. "So many-so many dying. So many in pain... it was horrible."

And then he's being pulled against Anakin's chest, Obi-Wan's face against his shoulder, and the knight's arms wrapping tightly around him. Obi-Wan shakes, weeks of exhaustion, and a day of battle, injury, and diving far too deep into the Force catching up to him all at once. The last time he cried in front of his padawan must have been after Qui-Gon's death, and even on that day Anakin wrapped his nine-year-old arms around him and hugged him tightly. Over ten years have elapsed since that time, yet he half-expects to open his eyes and find himself back on Naboo.

Anakin holds him until his body stops quivering and his tears run dry. And when he pulls away he sees silent tears running down the knight's own face.

"I won't let it come true," Anakin says softly, shaking his head.

"You know we don't have control of these things. As much as we would like to."

"I'm the Chosen One, though," he says, swallowing hard. "I am supposed to bring balance. I won't let darkness win, Obi-Wan. I won't."

He's speechless, only able to nod along with the young man that is unraveling before him. This is exactly why he picks and chooses what visions to share. He doesn't want Anakin to carry the guilt.

The future is constantly changing.

My vision is not guaranteed to come true.

None of it was real.

Anakin falls asleep curled in a ball at the end of Obi-Wan's bunk. He grabs his cloak and spreads it over him before slipping under his covers. With his legs pulled up to his chest, they both fit in the bunk. He doesn't mind the position.

The future is constantly changing.

My vision is not guaranteed to come true.

None of it was real.

He finally drifts to a dreamless sleep.

By morning, Anakin is gone from his quarters. He wonders if it was actually all a dream, but from his cloak unceremoniously bundled on the floor, he knows it all happened. Obi-Wan gets dressed and tidies his hair. As he finishes, he stops in front of his refresher mirror, gripping the edges of the sink as his reflection stares back at him.

Visions have been a part of Obi-Wan's life for thirty years. He's had bad ones before-- arguably worse in content. He can handle this one and move forward. He always does. He must. There are people relying on him. Battles to plan and execute. The war rages on no matter if he is having a nervous breakdown over a nightmare, so he might as well muster on.

Are you General Kenobi or Master Kenobi?

Somehow he sees neither. He looks in the mirror and sees only Obi-Wan Kenobi. Tired, weary, shaken by the events of the previous day.

That won't do.  

General Kenobi would throw himself into the next campaign. Distract himself until the screams fade to the back of his mind.

So he leaves his quarters, heading for the mess to grab a cup of caffeinated tea and some breakfast. He greets his men, assuring them that he is alright and they did a fantastic job in the battle. He sits next to Ahsoka and tries to ignore the pity smile Anakin is giving him.

"So," Obi-Wan turns to the young Togruta, the corner of his mouth twitching into a smirk. "What was the final tally on battle droids?"

Her eyes widen and flicker to her master before a wide grin crosses her face. "Sixty-eight."

"What!" Anakin bellows. "You did not get more than me again."

"You dipped early, Skyguy, not my fault."

"I was at the med tent, all the one's after don't--

"I suppose--" Obi-Wan interrupts, shaking his head at the two, "when I see Master Mundi I will have to inform him his record has been broken."

The table erupts in cries of protest from Anakin claiming a recount and Ahsoka rubbing in her victory. These two have much to learn. But as the knight and his padawan quarrel, Rex and Waxer slide down from the other end of the table, both of them holding back smiles.

"Seventy-four," Rex says, making Anakin and Ahoksa's heads turn in shock.

"Rex what! You got seventy-four battle droids?" Ahsoka says in awe.

"No, sirs," Waxer nods his head in Obi-Wan's direction. "Master Kenobi did."

That is enough to set off the other two Jedi over logistics of whether or not Obi-Wan should even be considered as part of the competition when he was the one making fun of them for it in the first place, and the troopers into fits of amusement. Obi-Wan lets them have their fun, sipping on his tea and letting the warmth of the drink and the moment spread through him.

The voices of his vision are still there. A constant reminder that no amount of his padawans' yelling at one another will allow him to forget the cold that spread through his every cell. In this instance, maybe the General Kenobi approach isn't enough.

Master Kenobi would meditate over these lingering feelings. Perhaps after breakfast, he will feed on this positive energy and take the morning to release his anxieties to the Force.

Maybe, being a little bit of both will help.

He just won't be Obi-Wan. Not right now, at least.

[morganas-pendragons]

get to know them: illegal girlfriend headcanons

Yep. We’re getting the stories of how they all met.. and you’re allowed to simp for them. I give you full permission. 

- okay, so remember when i said that Star and the Munitions Officer met the same day?

- that was also the same day the munitions officer was given her official nickname that the entire 501st, including Rex, calls her now. 

- It’s Tempest 

- Ember was there with Jesse when the 501st had come home and threw in her approval of the nickname because ‘’who else is going to use their charm and grace and silver tongue to sweep Rex off of his feet’’ 

- This is coming from the person who’s gotten caught having sex with Jesse at least six times 

- the only reason she gets that nickname is because tempest is a synonym for storm, and well.. the day that Star met Tempest was the same day of the worst storm that Coruscant had seen in years. 

- Tempest loves the rain. She also loves dancing in the rain. That’s Rex’s fault. He’s a romantic at heart. 

- So now we have Tempest and Starlight, right? They’re the first two who got the tattoos for their respective clones. 

- “You’re the one who told me about kotir verd. Where is she?” 

- So Tempest decides that she’s going to get all the clone girlfriends together at Seventy-Nines when Kotir Verd is on leave from The Courageous just so they can all meet each other. 

- It’s mass chaos. 

- Dove arrives last because she’s a stickler for by the book, and what we really mean by that is she’s too busy making out with Fox to leave 500 Republica. 

- Tempest and Starlight buy the drinks because they’re financially sound and know how to not spend their entire life savings on one night of drinking

- Ember is practically dragged away from the dance floor (in another world she might have been grinding on Jesse, but please, give her more credit then that, she is a respectful Jedi Master) and eventually convinces Phantom away from the crowd. 

- Phantom is the Jedi Padawan. According to Ember, she earned her name during a campaign with the 212th and Obi-Wan Kenobi in which she successfully infiltrated Separatist lines by herself and completed the mission without getting caught until after it succeeded. 

- The boys are all at Seventy-Nines, including Wolffe, and it’s not until Wolffe makes his entrance that Verd is seen. 

- There’s something about her that just screams poise and beauty and grace

- And you know she holds a position of power simply for two reasons: she’s wearing wolf pack vambraces despite the fact that she’s in her civilian clothes 

- And Wolffe looks at her like the sun kriffing shines from her soul 

- It’s stupidly cute 

- But that’s beside the point 

- Given that Ember and Verd are the oldest, they’re the ones who basically conspire and say, ‘’We’re gonna ditch the boyfriends for wine and tattoos, who’s with us’’

- They don’t know two of them already have the designation numbers on their person 

- Tempest literally jumps out of Rex’s lap and sprints through Seventy-Nines because she has already has one tattoo, what’s six more 

- Dove simply shrugs and follows the crowd. It gives Fox something new to look at. 

- Starlight is a little bit of a mother hen and ushers Phantom out of the bar and across the street to where the rest of the girls are waiting. 

- Ember is the perfect person for Jesse simply because of how overdramatic she is, and Phantom spends too much time laughing at how ridiculous she looks with her hand mockingly thrown over her heart and going, “Was it his good looks or the ridiculously good sex that made me fall in love with him?” 

- Newsflash, it was both.. plus his heart. Jesse’s a good man. 

- Dove keeps to herself until Starlight sits down on one side of her and Tempest sits on the other and then for the next forty five minutes they just sit there and gossip to each other about how annoying their boyfriends are. 

- These three have hopes for the end of the war.

- Ember and Verd? Not so much.

- Wolffe and Jesse seem fairly adamant that they’re going to wait until near the end or after the end of the war to marry, and they seem to be strangely okay with it. 

- So the 6 tattoo artists all ask what they want, right? 

- Starlight and Tempest already have the designation numbers so they decide to get something that reminds them of their clones/battalion 

- Starlight gets the medic insignia gently ensconced in a rather large mimicry of a star across her left shoulder blade 

- Tempest gets two blasters crossed between her own shoulder blades, and beneath it.. “It began with one and ended with two.” 

- No one asks what it means. 

- Phantom, Dove, Verd and Ember all get their clones designation numbers in less noticeable places. 

- Ember gets 5597 on the inside of her left ring finger because Jesse is never going to ask her to marry him so ‘’she has to do all the hard work’’ 

- Verd knows that Wolffe has a habit of admiring her when they spar.. so she gets 3636 just above her heart - so he knows that’s where she keeps him 

- Phantom gets 2224 across the hip Cody often skims the most

- Dove gets 1110 on the inside of her ankle. It’s just another thing for Fox to kiss 

-  After their tattoos are done, it’s nearly dark

- The boys are all standing across the street waiting for them 

- And Dove is the one who blurts out - eyes heavy with the bottle of wine she’d exchanged back and forth with the others - her desire for teeshirts 

- ‘’we should have shirts made for our club’’ 

- Ember thinks that’s positively hilarious 

- “What’s the club?” 

- “The illegal girlfriends club’’ 

- Dove gets it printed on a teeshirt and cuts her and Ember to match (Jesse and Fox gawk when they enter the bar later that week in kriffing crop tops and the rest of the Pack follows suit) and honestly, it’s the only thing the clones talk about for days 

[oceanera12]

Sequel “Kix” Content

Welp, my “Can we talk about Kix?” post just exploded so guess I’m doing a squeal post because WHERE IS MY SEQUEL KIX CONTENT PEOPLE?

The first three months out of carbonite Kix isn’t able to sleep longer than three hours at a time. If he had his brothers, they’d force him into a cuddle pile and make sure he stayed down. The pirates don’t care about nightmares. Everyone has them. You get them, go drink something until you don’t dream.

Which is why Kix visits a lot of Cantinas. He’s become quite a regular at the usual stops.

Pirates don’t have medics. It’s not that they don’t NEED one, they’re just too stubborn to admit they need one.

At least until Kix comes around

This boy puts his foot down and is like, “You’ve been shot with a blaster now sit the kriff down.” “I don’t need–” “I SAID SIT THE KRIFF DOWN!”

Yeah, they learn quick to just do as Kix says and not object. Because yes, he’s a medic, but he’s also a soldier. And he knows how to fight.

Kix’s fighting style changes over time. He’s used to fighting droids for the most part and causing harm to a living person is a little different. A lot of the pirates start teaching him updated fighting techniques and styles.

Which means Kix is TERRIFYING in battle and weapon skills because he has a lot of tricks up his sleeves.

This boy is a lot like Steve Rogers in the sense of he doesn’t understand pop culture/recent history events. Which means there are a lot of moments of Kix just staring in confusion.

Someone refers to Leia as General Organa and Kix is confused because Bail HAS to be dead by now, right? Same thing happens with the “Legends of Skywalker” who turns out to be Luke and Kix is telling stories about his General and everyone has no idea what this guy is talking about.

Kix get’s the First Order and the Resistance confused with one another. He knows HIS Republic turned into the Empire which was overthrown by the Rebellion and then it turned into the NEW Republic but now there’s another Resistance or something with a “First” Order but who’s fighting for who and why exactly? (Note: pretty sure Kix wakes up BEFORE Starkiller Base and you have to admit that the whole Resistance thing was probably confusing)

I want to see Kix stick around with the pirates for a while, then decide to head off on his own

Lone Kix adventures, finding what little of the clone shrines remain. Paying proper respect to the fallen Jedi. Heck, maybe he starts writing down old Clone War stories and ends up writing a memoir book

OH MY GOSH MY BRAIN JUST EXPLODED-- AUTHOR KIX

There’s a series of books released as “The Tales of the Last Soldier” and one week after publication it becomes the number one download in The New Republic and surrounding territories. 

Kix writes it in a way that the main character is never really named and publishes the book under a pen name to keep himself out of it.

And everyone is speculating if this book is actually true or if someone just did a lot of research on the Clone GAR and the Separatist's and it’s a “based on a true story” kind of thing.

The back of each book has a little index of all the brother’s Kix mentions in it (name first, number after) with a brief little blurb on what they were like and what happened to them. If Kix can find one (he hacks into a few old databases), he’ll include a picture. Heck, he’s started to sketch a little and draws the tattoos or battalion symbol of his brother if he can’t find a physical photo.  Kix even includes important Senator’s and other major player’s in the war in his little “glossary”

Each new book dives into different campaigns with detailed explanation of strategies and loses. Heck, Kix even writes about the barracks and how the clones interact with one another. And everyone in the galaxy is starting to question if the clones really were meat droids or actual human beings because of A BOOK SERIES that may or may not be true.

The last book of the series evolves around the truth behind Order 66 and the chips and the execution of the Jedi Order and the holonet EXPLODES because people have no idea what to think anymore about the clones and the war. Everyone start’s speculating and “it’s not like there’s a living clone they can verify with this”. Most clones either died with the Empire or “defected” to the Rebellion, but are long since dead.

Everyone wants to interview this really controversial author but Kix made sure that no one can trace the books back to him, going so far as to constantly wear a helmet so no one can see “hey, this guy looks a lot like a clone from that book series.”

So in a really weird way, Kix may or may not have accidentally started the Mandalorian way again (I can’t remember if the Mandalorian’s are even around in the sequels anymore, or if they died out. But hey, Mandalore always rises again and I’d say Kix is pretty qualified to start that revolution, knowing the language and all).

And he just kind of accepts it and get’s some old Mandalorian armor to fit the mold and he already knew a lot about the culture because of Jango Fett but he starts looking into it more and suddenly he’s a bounty hunter.

So not only is the galaxy rocking from this really controversial Clone book series but now there’s the reemergence of the Mandalorian culture/a Mando’ bounty hunter. And literally NO ONE suspects that this guy is the author, which works out great for Kix.

I want to keep going but am afraid I’ll turn this into a whole fic so for right now I’m going to leave it up to all of y’all to add onto.

[capricornus-rex]

Okay so maybe a fic where Cal keeps having nightmares and visions when he meditates of the reader dying and the events leading up to her death. He starts being really protective and the reader tries to reassure him shes fine. But on a mission things start happening that he saw in the visions before the reader dies and gets really on edge. You can decide how it ends, aka reader dying in cals arms to make me cry or him saving her to also make me cry! Sorry if this is too much!!💕

Hi there~! I think I used too much of my liberty to make this as angsty as I can 😅 Either way, I hope I was able to make you shed a tear with this fic request at least once. And never worry, it’s not too much! 💕

“What You Fear To Lose” | Cal Kestis x Reader

Tags: Near-death! Reader

Next: Part 2 | Masterlist

1 of 3

Cal… It hurts so much…

I don’t think I can anymore…

I just can’t…

“No!” Cal jolted up, beads of sweat riddled his chest and neck.

In the bed opposite of his is you, sleeping deeply and peacefully. From that narrow distance between beds, he studied your relaxed features, moonlight radiated over your skin—highlighting the secretive shadows of your collarbones and the slight twitching of your eyelashes. Cal stood up and pulled the blanket up until your bosom before retiring to bed.

The waking image of you is a complete contrast to the visions he sees in his dreams.

And it worried him.

At face value, everything was fine—at least for you and everyone else.

It was only a dream. Cal consoled himself in his mind.

Today was going smoothly and normally as it should in Ryloth. With very little to do and go about, you made yourselves busy in the hideout called the Mound; from the outside, it looked like one big hill, but the inside was a literal labyrinth—paths branching out and connecting with one another. The Twi’leks knew the place like the back of their hand.

For your sake, you, Cal, and the others remained in the easy parts of the hideout.

“Cal?” you called, “Are you okay? You seem a little off today.”

“Am I? Maybe I haven’t been getting enough sleep,”

“Bed too lumpy to for you?” a half-hearted joke repaid with a weak chuckle.

It was evident that Cal was going through something and you wanted to help him. Looking around, there isn’t much to do—you’re practically sitting in the middle of a rock wasteland with just a Separatist base retrofitted into the Empire’s fashion. The most anybody could do—except the fighters who were busy planning out their attack—is help with the refugees, tending to the sick ones, handing over food and drink to them since they were lodged in the upper floor.

The Twi’leks whom you offered help to politely refused, saying that they didn’t want to use your energy for that day, even if you said you could easily regain it with a single good night’s sleep. There was no point in insisting though.

“Hey Cal, you up for saber practice today?”

He managed a smile, the first smile he’s made today, “Sure.”

The two of you found a good place to practice—one of the chambers inside the Mound. It was an empty room and no possessions or other things the rebels might need are stashed there.

“This looks okay,” you commented, gently twirling about, gendering at the spaciousness of the room and the height of the ceiling; it was also well-lit, given the number of holes in the wall varying in sizes acting as windows.

Cal watched you spinning around the room to get a sense of space—not just spinning in one place, but actually circling the room—he smiled to himself when he witnessed your carefree spirit showing itself, but it followed with the heaviness in his heart, a sharp pang jabs him at the temples, white lights transitioned into bleak images before his eyes.

It’s the same images from his dream.

“Cal?” you run up to him massaging the side of his head. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just… I suddenly got dizzy there.”

“We could do this some other time, if you’re not feeling well, you know,”

“No, really,” he insisted. “I’m okay.”

You tilted your head, an expression that translates to “Are you sure?”

He insisted once more and positioned himself in a stance. Minutes later, he was back to normal, he was able to perform his usual tricks in dueling. He was still the little show-off, even in sparring practice, but you matched up to his tempo pretty quickly.

“Where did you pick that up?” you bantered while your blades were crossed together.

“Something I made up just now!”

“Don’t go easy on me then!”

You didn’t let him outshine you—both of you were like that to each other—and sometimes, your own prowess shines at the same time as his. The adrenaline in both of you kept pumping, making you seek the thrill of duel which wasn’t due until tomorrow. It was enough of a workout, Cham Syndulla’s words of “Save your strength!” has been beaten into your heads for the past few days. Understandably so, it was a rebellion—it meant a great deal not just for Cham but for his own family and people.

“You sure don’t hold back even in practice, do you?” you chuckled, wiping the sweat off your brow with your sleeve.

“You weren’t so bad yourself!”

Cal wished that the day doesn’t go on anymore. He just wants it to spend the day with you. He wondered if it was the perfect opportunity for him to finally say it—after getting constantly coaxed by Merrin and pestered by Greez to “just do it.”

While catching your breaths inside that empty chamber somewhere in the Mound, it was only the two of you inside, sitting next to each other in the stillness of the room.

“I wonder if the moon ever lines up to that hole in the ceiling,” you thought out loud, it was an innocent thought, however, it was still endearing to Cal.

He turned to you, your head tilting up while resting against the wall, staring at that orifice in the ceiling. He examined your expression—curious and filled with wonderment—and watched the way your eyes shift slightly from left to right from one hole in the wall to the other.

A part of him is basically shoving him by the back to tell it to you already, but for some reason, he can’t bring himself to say it. There was the hesitation he can’t fight off. He knows he’ll have to say it sooner or later.

He lets off a chuckle after your thought.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, it’s just that you have the cutest thoughts,”

“What? I was just wondering if the moon ever shows up above that hole!”

He tousled the top of your hair, letting more stray strands to fall out of place in that neat ponytail. As revenge, you ruffled his hair with both hands—as opposed to him doing it one-handed—and the slicked-back top of his hair transformed into fringes that draped his forehead.

The hair-ruffling eventually evolved into tickling. Cal quickly got you pinned to the ground, his finger wiggled and poked across your ribs and sides, while you couldn’t even get a single jab at him.

“Alright, I yield!” you burst laughing.

You pushed him off of you until the two of you are already lying flat on the ground. The noise of the laughter has subsided until all that could be heard in the sound of the draft whistling through the windows.

Cal’s eyes never left you.

He carefully pondered and considered whom to confide this to. Obviously, he wanted to leave you out of it—he doesn’t want the worry to overtake you, even if you shrug it off as first. The next reasonable person would be the one who would have had these sorts of dream at a certain point in time.

“Dreams? What kind of dreams, Cal?”

“Nightmares, Cere,”

“And what do they contain? Can you make out some images?”

“Pain, desperation…” He sighed. “Death.”

Cere’s eyes searched the cramped interior of the Mantis. Your voice caught her attention, you were busy studying the data from BD-1’s memory bank from the couch by the holotable. It wasn’t difficult to connect the dots. She turned back to Cal and upon seeing his expression, the former Jedi truly understood.

“You’re afraid,” Cere pointed out. “You’re afraid that these dreams might become reality.”

“Honestly, Cere, I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“And what do you propose to do?”

“I… I’ll just have to protect her,”

Cere released a resigned sigh, she didn’t think that she and Cal would have this talk sooner that she’d hoped.

“And how far do you think your protection will take her?”

Cal reflected on that question for a long time. Cere didn’t require an immediate answer, she wanted him to understand the depth of his resolve. She left the boy to his solitude and he retired to the bedroom in the ship to further meditate on his answer—the real answer lying in the recesses of his mind.

Explosions.

The floor crumbling beneath the feet.

“Please hold on!”

“Cal… Leave me… you have to go…”

More images and voices. Indications of the same premonition, now more lucid before his eyes.

Just when Cal thought he would get at least a fragment of closure in his meditation, it seems that it only amplified the gravity of his dreams.

[razieltwelve]

Lesson (Final Effect)

"You don’t have to stand over my shoulder watching me like a hawk. I am perfectly capable of baking a cake.”

The proud words of Her Imperial Majesty Averia VII were met with a choking sound from her beloved hedgehog.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Averia growled.

The hedgehog gave her a flat stare.

“I don’t know what you’re implying.”

The hedgehog’s stare grew flatter until it would have put a piece of paper to shame.

“I don’t know what happened the last time. It could have been some kind of stomach bug going around... that.... you know...  only affected the people who ate my cake... right after they ate it...”

The hedgehog sighed and gestured for Averia to come closer. The empress leaned forward until they were almost nose to nose. Looking her straight in the eye, Lord Hedgeborough reached over with one claw and bonked her gently but firmly over the head.

“Really?” Averia sighed. “But Jahne was fine.”

Lord Hedgeborough felt morally obligated to point out that Jahne was literally capable of eating pure poison and laughing it off. The fact that she ate the cake without dying was not something to be proud of.

“Well, what about Claire? She ate it too, and she was just fine.”

Lord Hedgeborough looked heavenward. He could honestly say that his charge was already a fantastic ruler. Since her ascension to the throne, the empire had gone from strength to strength, and her policies had played pivotal roles in increasing productivity across a range of industries while the empire’s overall power had grown by leaps and bounds. He had no doubt that given more time, Averia would be mentioned in the same breath as the very greatest of the empire’s rulers.

She was also basically a walking disaster zone in the kitchen who had singlehandedly hospitalised more members of the Imperial Guard than assassins, terrorists, separatists, and Grimm combined. Honestly, if she’d been doing it on purpose, he would have complimented her on her expertise in poison development. Alas, it wasn’t on purpose, and she seemed firmly convinced that she wasn’t that bad.

As for Claire, Lord Hedgeborough had it on good authority that she’d used Saviour to shunt the cake she ate into another dimension instead of her stomach to avoid meeting the same fate as some of his less fortunate colleagues. Even he, an Imperial Hedgehog with a body designed to withstand virtually all known forms of biological and chemical attack, could not consume some of the cake without feeling queasy.

But, since he didn’t want to crush Averia’s feelings too bad, he decided to change the subject, as well as essentially throw the problem at someone else. He nudged her with his snout and pointed.

“Fine.” Averia sighed. “I suppose I can let Claire talk me through it.”

The bearer of Saviour smiled and patted Averia on the head in a way that was equal parts comforting and condescending. “If I can teach a war badger how to make cookies, I can teach you how to make a cake.”

“I am the empress,” Averia retorted archly. “I’m fairly sure I can make a cake just fine.”

X    X     X

Jahne looked between the two cakes.

Claire’s cake looked as though it had been ripped straight from the cover of a cake magazine. It was perfect, absolutely perfect. The icing shimmered, and the cake looked moist and soft, ready to melt in her mouth. Jahne couldn’t wait to try it. If it was possible for chocolate cake to ascend to divine status, then Claire’s cake would be the god of chocolate cakes.

Averia’s cake... well, it actually looked okay. Oh, it didn’t look anywhere near as good as Claire’s. In fact, put next to Claire’s, it looked thoroughly mediocre. However, that wasn’t the point. The point was that Averia’s cakes normally looked like slime monsters called up from the depths of some shadowy dimension of endless suffering and woe. Compared to that, mediocre was a massive, massive, massive step forward. Averia’s cake wasn’t divine by any means, but it was no longer the demonic hell beast of chocolate cakes. It was now an average citizen of chocolate cakes.

“What do you think?” Averia asked hopefully.

Jahne looked at her wife, the empress. Averia had chocolate in her hair, flour all over her face, and she was fairly confident that the smudge on her cheek was butter. But there was no denying the sunny smile on her face. “It looks great. I can’t wait to try it.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Jahne was confident that this time, she wouldn’t need Ragnarok to not die. 

As Averia turned to lecture Lord Hedgeborough on how he really should have had more confidence in her cake-making abilities, Jahne looked at her other wife. Claire said nothing for a moment before sagging against the counter.

“It almost killed me,” Claire said. “But I did it. I avoided cake-related disaster.”

“Congratulations,” Jahne lowered her voice. “On a scale of one to ten, how bad would it have been if you weren’t correcting her mistakes.”

“Fifteen. Without me, I think Lord Hedgeborough would currently be fighting off some kind of cake-born monstrosity.”

“Ah.” Jahne cleared her throat. “Well, why don’t we get started on your cake, Averia? We can even share some with the other members of the Imperial Guard.”

X    X     X

Imperial Guard Memo: Her Imperial Majesty is to be steered away from cake making unless the supervision of Consort Claire can be guaranteed.

X    X     X

Author’s Notes

Averia VII is a fantastic ruler but an awful baker. Luckily, Claire is an expert at just about everything, and one of her hobbies is actually baking. When Anna marries Weiss IX, one of Claire’s gifts to her is a set of recipes designed to win over any descendant of Ruby Rose.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here. Some of my books have also been turned into audiobooks, which you can find on Audible here.

[thesummerstorms]

Rev Recaps Hard Contact (Chapter 9)

CW: idk if “emotional abuse” is the right term here, but I can’t think of the more appropriate one.

TL:DR Recap: Etain is having a hard time dealing with her sudden promotion to officer, so Jinart chews her out. Darman, on the other hand, does his best to reassure Etain, and they start to develop a plan together. Eventually, they leave Birhan’s farm. Omega gets nervous when Hokan’s people start burning more fields, but eventually meet up with Jinart. Hokan plays games badly. 

This post is super long, even compared to the other recaps, because I have to deal with Jinart’s bullshit.

Beginning Kal Count: 13 Ending Kal Count: 18

We open with a quote from Ki Adi Mundi that reinforces Traviss’s position about the unfairness of the clones lot, but most of you already agree with that, so we’re not going to waste time with that now.

Darman has pinned Jinart to the wall with a blaster to her head. Etain is horrified and tells him to let up. (Etain’s feelings about Jinart seem to go back and forth. Mine do not.) But Dar doesn’t let Jinart go until Etain mistakenly tells him that Jinart is a Jedi. (Because Jinart has Force-like telepathy abilities but still has refused to give Etain another explanation, if you’ve forgotten.)

Jinart insists she’s not a Jedi again, then asks Dar if he would be willing to shoot an old woman. When he insists that soldiers can look like anybody, Jinart praises him and tells Etain to follow his lead, despite the fact that just last chapter she was chewing Etain out for being too suspicious.

I fully admit that a large part of my dislike of Jinart stems from her treatment of Etain, but she also comes across a lot as an authorial authority in support of ruthless pragmatism, and I find it unsettling. It’s not necessarily that’s she’s wrong in this case, so much as that this viewpoint seems unfairly weighted over time.

Jinart revels that Omega is alive and safe for the moment, which has Darman anxious to rejoin them. As she stares at Darman, we get this weird little aside from Jinart:

Again, there’s not any real reason to think that non-Mandalorians, much less non-Mandalorian shape shifters on a backwater world like Qiilura, ever had much reason to know what Jango Fett looked like before his clones descended on the galaxy. So I genuinely want to know when Jinart might have encountered Fett before. It isn’t a question that will ever be answered, of course.

Jinart finally decides to reveal that she’s a shapeshifter after refusing to tell Etain anything for the last several chapters. Etain is frightened and ready to fight, but Dar is delighted because he’s seen gurlanin before and think’s she’s Valaqil. Even after she explains she’s Valaqil’s “consort” he’s intrigued, and Jinart finally explains to Etain that she’s a telepath, but primarily among her own species. Any time she’s been “transmitting” to Etain or Dar, she’s been shapeshifted as an inconspicuous object nearby. She also starts giving them a tactical update, and explains that she and Valaqil can act as a rudimentary comlink between the Republic and Omega.

Again,  the only reason I can think of for Jinart to reveal any of this now that Darman’s here if she was unwilling to loop Etain in earlier is that Darman already knows about the gurlanin. But Etain is still out of her depth and not sure whether any of this information can be taken at face value now.

“His” in this scene is Hokan. Again, Etain implies that Fulier was kind to her, which is as close as she gets in this book to the kind of emotional reminiscing Omega has for Kal, but believes that she ultimately disappointed him- and that makes her worthless as a Jedi.

After all the status updates and Jinart’s warnings about the locals and Hokan, Darman turns to Etain, expecting the direction that he’s always been taught that the Jedi will effortlessly provide. Except Etain is still caught up in her sense of uselessness, and kind of... implodes instead.

Again, is it a useful or practical reaction? No. But is it one I can relate to? Yeah, by a lot. Especially when it’s called out as the extensive culmination of years worth of dismissal by the Jedi and months of hunger/danger/paranoia. Notice how Etain immediately regrets it though -- and adds it to her list of failures.

Darman is upset, which again, is perfectly reasonable in the situation. He doesn’t call Etain out on it, and he acquiesces to her “order”, but Etain can tell he feels disillusioned/”forlorn”. Jinart kicks him out  so that she can yell at Etain, and we get to the scene that makes me both hurt and rage.

Okay, it feels like Jinart is taking out both the galaxy’s predilection with Jedi and Omega’s social conditioning to obey Jedi out on Etain, but the line “that soldier may think a Jedi’s word is a divine pronouncement, but I don’t.” That would make sense for Jinart to say if Etain was trying to use her newfound authority in an injurious way or was puffed up with self importance, but literally everything objectionable Etain has done so far has been to reject her own worthiness of that authority?

Also:

I’ve seen people before who read RepComm but didn’t care for it scoff at how quickly Etain falls for Kal’s manipulation. But besides the fact that she’ll come to love Dar and Kal is important to Darman, this is why she’s ultimately so easy to manipulate. She desperately wants the purpose that the Jedi raised her with the promise of, but also she’s had literal years of being rejected/feeling worthless. Kal is good at manipulating people’s need for affection/belonging/purpose. He’s just somewhat kinder about it when he does it to Bardan and Besany, at least at a very surface level.

then... then we get to this.

Look, I get that Etain’s personal psychological troubles are not useful to Jinart right now, and that yes, they’re probably an impediment to the mission. I’m not saying that Etain doesn’t need a conversation to shift her focus.

But Jinart literally saying that Etain is so worthless that Jinart would murder her if it woudn’t go against Darman’s social conditioning, a conversation that literally leaves Etain falling to her knees in the middle of a break down... not only is it unfair (yes, whatever “life isn’t fair” saying people. shut up.) it’s also demonstrably counter productive.

Imagine if Jinart had just like... been up front with Etain. Or tried to talk to her rationally about the fact that yes, it’s unfair what she’s been through but they still have the job to do and x, y, and z are the specific ways Etain needs to contribute. Instead Jinart just does her best to verbally destroy Etain, which doesn’t achieve anything, and moves on.

Darman pops back in only seconds later, and I kind of wonder if he was listening to the conversation. If he was, I’m sure it’s unsettling given he was raised to believe the Jedi were infallible. But he also does a remarkable job of showing her the compassion that Jinart won’t in this, scene, and I wonder if anything he might have overheard plays into that.

He’s doing a balancing act, and in all fairness, this has to be awkward as hell, confusing, even painful for Dar. Etain really isn’t the officer he needs right now. But he still opens with “are you okay?”. And when she clearly isn’t ready to have that conversation, he tries to deflect the conversation to something useful. When he eventually gives up and goes silent, it’s Etain signal that she’s gone too far and she’s acting like an ass. So she tries. She apologizes, and she tries to move on, for his sake if not hers.

“He was the only person in many years who had shown any degree of confidence in her, and the first since Master Fulier who had shown her real kindness.”

Etain is desperate for not even real affection or love, though she’s badly starved for those things too, but just simply casual kindness. And the line about confidence gives me all sorts of questions- I am going to have to sit down at some point and figure out how much of that I think is really, truly Kast Fulier not believing in her as his Padawan, and how much is Etain’s own psychology and bias interpreting things in the least favorable manner to herself possible. But for the moment, all that matters is that it shows exactly why what Jinart just did was useless.

Because Etain doesn’t start to respond until Darman tries to treat her, at a bare minimum, with respect and a belief in her potential. And once he does that.... she decides to do the best she can in that moment to be the thing that he needs her to be. First by apologizing for her lack of control/ the way she’s hurt him unfairly, and then by acknowledging her faults and his superior knowledge while still tacitly agreeing to help him on the mission.

Which is the thing that Jinart wanted in the first place, right? 

Dar shows more compassion and understanding towards Etain from the get go than she gets from pretty much any other character in the entire series, if we’re being honest.

We break for a moment from that scene to Niner and Atin discussing dinner, but really there’s nothing super important to recap for most of that page. Omega starts talking about their Sergeants, and Niner is singing Kal’s praises. Kal count raises to 14.

It’s a lot of praise for someone not yet a character. And then --

I’m gonna count that as a separate mention, even though they’re close together, so the Kal Count is now at 15.

Anyway Niner wakes up slightly when Omega realizes the Separatists are burning the fields in an effort to drive out Darman. There’s not much to say about it honest, because it gets little page time as compared to Kal. We do get a nice peek at Atin slowly integrating into the squad -- “he didn’t want to show dissent any longer”-- but it’s fleeting, and then we’re back to Dar and Etain.

Darman and Etain are using her holomap to go over the intel on Separatist positions and using crusts of stale bread and drawing in the dirt to make a map. It’s exposition that’s not too important to characterization, so I won’t bother recapping it, but Darman does mention when Etain asks why they’re drawing in the dirt rather than on the holo that Kal taught him to do it that way because tactile is better or whatever. Which raises the Kal Count to 16.

Jinart inserts herself again to warn them about the fields/farms being burned to flush them out and warns them that they have to run. Darman says he can’t go with out his gear. Jinart throws disguises at them. Dar’s going to have a hard time blending in, but Etain fits in with the “undernourished” locals. Jinart overrides Dar’s objections: no, you can’t go straight to the RV zone, find a safe house off this USB drive I’m giving you instead.

Again, I actually do love that Etain is clearly observing him intensely, but while in another time in place everything she points out might be a sign of attraction, here it’s explicitly her being afraid that he looks too well fed to blend in.

Jinart makes her take out her Padawan braid, which Etain objects to but does, and again, it’s a small but good characterization thing:

She and Dar take off, but Etain is still putting herself down in front of him.

Listen, I’m sure someone somewhere is going to argue that it isn’t Dar’s job to emotionally reassure Etain here, but that’s the situation they’re in, for better or worse, and he does a pretty good job of it, even to the subtlety of calling her “commander” there. 

We very, very briefly jump to Hokan, and honestly the only thing worth noting is how terrible a manager he is:

Underling: *makes a good suggestion*  Hokan: I should punish him for back talking me, even though I admit that he’s right! 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

Finally, we get to Niner. Jinart has found Omega, and they almost shoot her until they recognize her as a gurlanin. She gets them caught up to speed, and we get this kind of sweet, kind of heartbreaking moment from Niner, whose biggest character strength AND flaw is honestly his loyalty:

Jinart explains they’re headed for the wrong target. Fi is sarcastic but cheerful.

Oh, fuck you, Jinart.

Jinart notes that the commandos have lost a lot of weight, and Fi confirms they’re burning more calories than planned. Jinart offers to hunt them merlies as long as the squad doesn’t shoot any, arranges to deliver new rendezvous coordinates with Darman, and then starts to help Omega with what in future chapters will develop into a plan to use local mining explosives to take out the local airfield. 

This chapter then FINALLY ends, which is good, because this post is huge and I’m still pissed at Jinart

Retroactive Edit: I realized I missed another incident of Skirata-mention from Niner talking about the “mark one earhole” or whatever the fuck, when Jinart shows up and then a second one about how not even Kal would have known how to deal with Gurlanins, so the Kal Count was updated to 18.

[bestworstcase]

I am in fact new! You have a very good blog, I just love analyzing and discussing about characters, it gives you a new and different perspective about themes:

welcome then! the reason for the wry response is the varian vs cass villain arc / redemption / forgiveness is something i do talk about an awful lot here. though granted my tagging is messy and inconsistent so i’m sure finding old posts is a nightmare

anyway, i think it’s sort of interesting to compare varian and cass in this sense because... 

1) there’s nothing varian does that cass doesn’t also do in some capacity and vice versa

cassandra slips varian truth serum to get the moon incantation out of him. varian slips everyone in the castle truth serum to cause chaos / a distraction so he can steal the sundrop flower.

cassandra attacks corona, causing widespread destruction with the rocks. varian attacks corona, causing destruction and several serious injuries, first with a repurposed automaton and then with mutated ruddiger. 

cassandra kidnaps varian to bait rapunzel into a trap. varian kidnaps arianna to bait rapunzel into a trap.

cassandra threatens eugene’s life to force rapunzel to do what she wants. varian threatens arianna’s life to force rapunzel to do what he wants. 

cassandra unfairly blames rapunzel for things that were totally outside of rapunzel’s control (gothel abandoning cass); varian unfairly blames rapunzel for things that were only partially under her control (rapunzel allowed varian to be kicked out, and was too preoccupied to check on him immediately, but it’s not her fault that frederic sent people to attack varian and cover up the black rock problem, and it’s not her fault that fred lied to lull her into a false sense of security vis a vis varian’s safety). 

cassandra used the mind trap to force the brotherhood to attack innocent coronans; varian built a whole army of automatons to attack all of corona. 

cassandra attempted to personally murder rapunzel and eugene; varian attempted to personally murder cassandra and arianna. 

cassandra fell in with zhan tiri and ultimately took over corona under her guidance; varian fell in with the separatists and ultimately helped them take over corona. 

cassandra used mind control on the brotherhood; varian was complicit in the magical brainwashing of rapunzel’s parents, and attempted to replicate that brainwashing on a massive scale. 

there’s definitely like... different degrees of severity here. varian drugging the whole palace with truth serum is a lot worse than cass drugging just one person with it; cassandra single-handedly razing corona and driving everyone out of their homes is worse than varian sending a giant mutated raccoon to rough up the guards. but honestly at the end of the day... they were about equal in terms of the amount of damage they did, and how far they were willing to go to achieve their goals. 

2) their spirals into villainy are both sparked by acute trauma + no support network, and neither of them acts rationally

varian is a fourteen year old child who accidentally (he believed) killed his own father. his village hates him. his only friends aren’t there to help him, and he doesn’t understand why. his only companion is a raccoon. he has nobody to help him, either with the quirin problem or with working through his grief in a healthy way. 

so he gets angry, and he externalizes blame, and he lashes out, and he gets himself in way over his head and before he knows it he’s a literal terrorist being locked up in a cell with other terrorists. who then proceed to further radicalize him, probably by showing him empathy and emotional support, so he joins their cause and keeps on digging the hole he’s in. 

cassandra is a repressed adult balanced precariously on top of an enormous mountain of childhood trauma so bad that she repressed all memories of it. infant/early childhood neglect fucks people up for life, childhood abandonment fucks people up for life, and growing up with emotionally distant parents like cap fucks people up for life. any one of these things would be traumatizing. cass had all three. and on top of that she feels neglected and unvalued by her friends, with nowhere to turn for help.

into this situation walks zhan tiri, who says, i see your pain, i see your anger, you’re right, what happened to you was wrong, i’m here for you, i can help you heal. i can help make the pain stop. and cassandra falls for it, for the same reasons varian falls in with the separatists. she’s hurting and nobody seems to care except zhan tiri; that’s a powerful thing. and then once she takes that first step and that first decision to trust what zhan tiri says, it’s easy for zhan tiri to gently lead her down the path of blaming rapunzel for all her problems and acting violently toward rapunzel to fix them, until it reaches a critical mass where cassandra starts thinking that way all by herself. boiling frogs, and all. 

3) in terms of their redemptions, rapunzel actually treats them the exact same way.

rapunzel isn’t the one who decided to toss varian in prison with a terrorist for a cell mate. that was fred. after he promised rapunzel to help varian instead. 

rapunzel’s treatment of varian is this: he expresses remorse for what he’s done, she forgives him, she renews their friendship, and without hesitation she gives him the opportunity to help fix the mess he made. she saves his life by kicking him off the ship before it blows up, even though he was willing to die to save corona / redeem himself. she sticks up for him when others doubt him. 

her treatment of cassandra is the same: she defends herself, her loved ones, and corona itself from cass’s attacks, but she never gives up hope that cass will come back into the fold. and when cass expresses remorse for what she’s done, rapunzel forgives her, renews their friendship, and without hesitation gives her the opportunity to help fix the mess she’s made. cass DOES die to save corona, and rapunzel brings her back (ie the same thing she did when she kicked varian off the ship, except she was running a little late this time, but it’s ok because rapunzel is a necromancer). 

the only difference is that cass then leaves corona and varian doesn’t, but like, if corona was still in ruins from the separatist attacks, and rapunzel couldn’t free quirin from the amber, and varian said “i want to leave corona to search for a way to free my dad,” do you really think rapunzel would have been like “no you need to personally help rebuild corona first”? 

[the-irish-mayhem]

Oooooooooooh, you have some sw fic outlines. Please, please tell me! I'd love to know.

Oh jeebus. I have a lot of them. While I was reading over these again/condensing for purposes of the ask, I realized the reason I probably haven’t finished any of them is because they’re all so plot-heavy and god knows when I start writing something with plot it’s gonna end up AT LEAST 20k.

I put this under a cut because it got long and apparently I am having lots of Star Wars feelings tonight and because I love you anon :D

A) There was the one Clone Wars-era fic where I literally created an entire race of aliens inhabiting a small planet not unlike Hoth and their entire culture was based off of ice carving. Like, they had massive ice cities and ice sculptures and stuff and there were whole celebrations and coming-of-age ceremonies related to ice carving, and even the prefixes of their names had to do with their specific family tradition of carving/where they were from because that influences their style of carving. for some godforsaken reason the separatists hone in and start terraforming the place to be warmer/melt the ice (I say ‘for some godforsaken reason’ but the actual reason is because in its liquid form, this ice isn’t water, it’s some sort of valuable starship fuel [this gives the ice unique properties, and figures into carving traditions, and makes it more hardy than normal ice]) and even though this is one of the good ol Neutral Systems, the Republic gets word of this and is like ‘well shit, we can’t let the Seps get all that fuel’ and Padmé Amidala is sent as a diplomatic emissary (partly because her coalition fought for it, but also because in the back of her mind she knows what it’s like to have your peaceful planet invaded by those who want to exploit it and so she packs like her whole arsenal of blasters because she may be a pacifist in theory, but she’s also fucking pissed.) Padmé also sees an opportunity when the Senate requests she accept Jedi protection on this mission, and she humbly suggests Jedi Knight Skywalker and Padawan Tano accompany her, because they have worked together in the past and will mesh more smoothly with her own security. Cue the shenanigans, with Anakin and Padmé poorly concealing their relationship from Ahsoka, political trickery and corruption, fighting Separatists, aggressive negotiations, and the Republic wins the day.

B) With his padawan gone and his legion falling apart in the waning months of the Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker wonders what will come after. Or, the Chosen One ponders peacetime. Set post-Fives’ death. (A look at how Anakin feels about losing the people he trusts the most. He 100% has a conversation with Rex about it. Address the “nightmares” Fives mentioned. Talk about clones as “property” and what will come after. Bonding over it.) first line: Fives’ last words stick in Anakin’s head like an itch he can’t scratch. It’s a flutter, a prod in the Force that he can’t understand. (also like. yo. if this turned into a multichapter, imagine Anakin and Rex prodding at this issue and the plot starts to unravel and after like 8 chapters of misdirections Anakin realizes the Chancellor is behind this and yo. YOO.)

C) Fives shoots the probe droid off his back. Everything changes. I have a lot of feelings about this Clone Wars episode cLeArLy and also come on Fives isn’t a shiny he’d KNOW he was being followed. Anakin and Rex are drawn into Fives’ investigation. Anakin is leery, but in the end, much like the previous fic, they unravel the web and everybody lives! (or at least most of them do)

D) Anakin and Obi-wan crash land on a Separatist-occupied planet. Anakin is severely injured because no one can ever legally say I don’t love Anakin-whump, and Obi-wan mother-hens and is trying to keep this idiot alive and it’s part survival, part thriller (because they gotta avoid the Separatists and keep it way on the DL that they’re Jedi), and lots of whump. Ideally, this fic ends in a catharsis moment that, down the line, will lead to Anakin NOT falling to the Dark Side, but I DIGRESS.

E) So, there comes a Breaking Point™ and Anakin leaves the Jedi Order, and Padmé leaves the Senate. Maybe the kids came early, and it just became ardently clear to both of them that Luke and Leia were their priority, and they both just dip outta Courascant and fuck off to Naboo to live happily ever after….kinda. They both love their kids, but they both feel guilty for leaving. (Oh, and Aunt Ahsoka comes to visit, because she left the Order and she and Anakin stayed in touch and it gave him another person who wasn’t Palpy to lean on outside the Order. Uncle Obi-wan also drops in from time to time, when he’s on leave.) So yeah, they both feel guilty, Padmé still teleconferences with Bail and Mon, consults on bills and proposals; Anakin still offers advice to Obi-wan, battle plans (and here Obi-wan would laugh because Anakin when do you ever stick to a plan.) and they both generally just keep up with what’s happening in the Republic because they’re SO DESPERATE to know that everything would be fine without them. And then it becomes very VERY evident that things are NOT all right when Palpatine moves forward with his plans, executes Order 66, and shit is just CHAOS. Idk if he like…. sends some people for Luke and Leia on Naboo, because in this outline I hadn’t decided how much he knows about their departures from their positions/their marriage/the twins, but anyway when he declares himself Emperor and the Jedi have been nearly wiped out, Anakin and Padmé know they can’t just sit idly by. So they both become Rebel leaders, building the Rebellion to what we know it as in A New Hope. Anakin, Obi-wan, and Ahsoka all try to suss out where the surviving Jedi are, all while evading Palpy’s Sith agents. It’s clear Palpatine still wants to turn Anakin. Padmé runs things politically along with Bail and Mon’s help, building a galactic support network. The twins are brought up on Rebel bases, learning the ways of the Jedi from all the survivors, not just a single master. (Though, if they were to get particular about it, Leia is Ahsoka’s padawan, and Luke is Obi-wan’s. The latter was accepted with some grumbling One Skywalker was enough for several lifetimes but changing his tune when Luke turns out a lot more like Padmé than Anakin.) They don’t ever plan on having more kids–life in the Rebellion is stressful and not to mention dangerous, but as these things go, there’s a whoops and there’s now a third Skywalker child when Luke and Leia are in their mid-teens. Boy or girl, I’m not sure. If it’s a boy, they name him Jinn Skywalker (because tbt to that fake vision Vader had in Lost Command) and if it’s a girl? I don’t know. I don’t think it would be Shmi. Padmé 1000000% suggests it, but Anakin says he doesn’t think so. Anyway. Lots of spying and battling and military-ing and propaganda-ing and politicking and lightsaber dueling and Rebels winning later, the Empire is defeated! (Probably after a hella intense battle between Anakin and Palpatine, or his Apprentice of the Week, and Luke and/or Leia have to be there to help him and ground him maybe? Don’t know for sure but it would be TENSE.) Luke and Leia are in their early twenties, Jinn/not-Shmi is ten-ish? Timelines. But they did it! They beat the Empire!

F) This one is sparse, but like…. what if Cleigg freed Shmi and Anakin before Padmé and company found them? Or they just don’t find them until Anakin is a moody teenager, but now with Better Emotional Control because he wasn’t raised a Jedi, and has a loving family? So basically he kind of teaches himself how to use the Force, because he literally has such an intense unconscious connection to it. Eventually Someone Comes™ but I don’t know who this would be or what their reason would be, but I mostly wanted a reason for Owen to be Salty™ that Anakin left the farm. Because in this fic they would be proper brothers, ok. Also, Anakin wins a shit ton of pod-races and becomes semi-famous on Tatooine for being the only human to win not only one race, but a fuckin BUNCH.

G) Your classic Anakin-Gets-Thrown-Forward-In-Time

H) Your classic Luke and Leia-Get-Thrown-Back-In-Time

G) Not sure if this counts, but there’s like…….a massive Star Wars/Avengers Fusion AU that I’ve got going on. I’ve written like… thousands of words for it. Steve is a Jedi, trained by Jedi Master Peggy Carter. His best friend, former Padawan Bucky Barnes fell to the Dark Side after being captured by an enemy (either Separatists or Empire, but I’m thinking Separatists), but Steve still believes that Bucky can be saved/doesn’t believe his falling was purposeful. Cue Jedi rhetoric about falling to the Dark Side, and Steve goes rogue and tracks down Natasha Romanoff, a former Jedi-turned-Sith assassin-turned-bounty hunter whose wise-cracking, flyboy partner goes by the name Hawkeye and is allegedly the best shot in the galaxy. Nick Fury is Mace Windu but with an eyepatch and more justice given to his story. Thor is the prince of some rich planet in the Core (or maybe Mandalore) who was found to be extremely Force-sensitive as an infant, but his powerful family covered it up in his medical records so he wouldn’t be noticed by the Jedi. Jane Foster is a Jedi healer who kind of finds him out.

These are just the ones I have google docs for; this isn’t even counting all the notebooks that definitely have plot-bunnies written in them.

[mariaarnt]

Attack of the Clones Canon Divergence Poly OT3 Plot Bunny

So I dreamed the ENTIRETY of this last night, and I absolutely love it. However, since I literally need to crank out an entire YA novel by November (in addition to editing and publishing the first two in the series), I do not have the time it deserves to write it. Come December, I’ll have the new sequel to inspire me, and will likely write about that instead of more prequel stuff nobody cares about.

But, since my muse DEMANDS validation, I must share the idea with you. Because the summary I cranked out in a couple hours is very long and I respect your time and dash space, I’ll put it under a cut.

Super short version: because things went differently in AoC, Padme, Anakin, & Obi-wan end up in a Poly relationship, fight Palpatine and win, and Padme becomes Supreme Chancellor. I promise it makes sense but you gotta read the long version for that.

Follows the plot of AoC until

Padme insists on going with Anakin when he goes to find his mother. She’s able to comfort him & keep him calm. He can’t slaughter the Tusken village & protect her at the same time, so they simply leave undetected with Shmi’s body.

They arrive back in time to receive Obi-wan’s message live. The conversation is very short as Padme convinces him they should rendezvous nearby & he can use her ship’s more powerful communications array to contact the Jedi council. He quickly agrees & is able to leave Geonosis before the droids find him.

After they rendezvous, Obi-wan contacts the Jedi council & tells them about the Clone Army. When they suggest that they should use it to invade Geonosis, Padme butts in and warns the council that this would start a war they’re not prepared to fight. The clones were commissioned for the Republic, so the Senate should decide what to do with them. They reluctantly agree.

With no imminent emergency, Palpatine is not granted special powers. The Senate bickers about what to do with the army. A growing faction, including Padme, Bail Organa, & Mon Mothma, believe they should allow the Separatists to secede & have their own government in order to prevent a cataclysmic war. Palpatine is not happy with this, and his warmongering efforts cause him to begin to lose control of the Senate.

Padme continues to work with Obi-wan & Anakin to mediate issues concerning the Clone Army. Since they were commissioned by a Jedi (allegedly) but for the Republic, there’s still some question as to jurisdiction. The Jedi complain that there are too few of them to keep the peace in such volatile times, and if they were allowed to lead the army as generals they could do better. The Senate’s compromise is to deploy the Clone Army as a peacekeeping force in place of the Jedi, answering to the local government authorities. They are particularly used in areas that are being harassed by the Separatists who have expressed no desire to join them. The Separatists likewise deploy their droid armies to areas they are having difficulty holding on to. All action takes place terrestrially, and besides a few skirmishes with locals, there is no active fighting between the two forces, although there are several very tense standoffs. The end result is a cold war, with stockpiling continuing until they are close to reaching assured mutual destruction.

Throughout this time Padme, Anakin, & Obi-wan all become extremely close with each other. The unresolved sexual tension between Padme & Anakin is nearly unbearable, but Anakin does his best to respect her wishes (it’s very Victorian lol, lots of situations where they end up in close physical contact, or try to comfort each other without giving in, etc). Padme & Obi-wan find each other incredibly intellectually stimulating, often engaging in “wit-sparring” when one of them plays the devil’s advocate, until Anakin about wants to throttle them both. And as Anakin matures into adulthood, Obi-wan finds that their brotherly bond is deepening into something the Jedi would likely disapprove of. (But he made a promise to Master Qui Gon and he is determined to see it through).

Finally, one day Padme decides to take action (as usual). She sits them both down in private. First, she tells Anakin that she’s reconsidered their conversation at Varykino, and she has come to agree with him. She’s tired of pretending that there is nothing between them. When Obi-wan uncomfortably objects that maybe he shouldn’t be present for this conversation, Padme turns to him & explains that she has fallen in love with him too, she just thought it was best to tell Anakin first so he didn’t go on a jealous rampage. (They all agree she’s probably right, even Anakin). Then she notes that she may not be a Jedi, but even she can tell there’s something between the two of them, too. Obi-wan turns bright red & objects that this would be completely inappropriate to a Master-padawan relationship, while a surprised Anakin says he thought it was actually part of that relationship, and to be expected. Besides, he should have been allowed to do his trials by now anyway (he salty) so it shouldn’t matter.

Padme asks, and stresses that she’s asking, not requesting or demanding, if they would be willing to leave the Jedi order & get married. 3-person marriages are not unheard of on Naboo, and before Kings & Queens were elected, they often had multiple spouses (as many as 5) as the emotional care & support of a regent was often too much work for one person. Anakin immediately agrees without hesitation. He’s had it up to here with the Jedi order, and he would do anything for her. Obi-wan is a little more reticent. He had considered leaving once Anakin passed his trials, as his duty to his own Master would have been fulfilled. But he feels the need to disclose his previous & ongoing love for Satine Kyrze. Padme says she can certainly understand if he would rather go to her, although it pains her to say so. Obi-wan simply smiles sadly and says “she never asked me to leave, though.” He just wants them to know the relationship exists. He doesn’t want to go into this with secrets.

That decided, Padme reveals that the reason she is asking now is that Bail & Mon Mothma (among others) have been encouraging her to make a bid for the position of Supreme Chancellor. Palpatine’s insanity is starting to show, and while it’s uncommon for subsequent Chancellors to come from the same planet, her calm & reasoned handling of the Two Armies Incident has garnered her a lot of support. It’s becoming clear that a war would last decades, if not centuries, and would probably only end in the entire dissolution of civilization as they know it. But she doesn’t think she has the strength to do it without them, and if they remained with the Jedi there would always be rumors that she was being used as a puppet. The Jedi are still largely out of favor as they seem resentful for being removed from their role as peacekeepers in the galaxy and relegated to spiritual leaders only, despite it being more consistent with their philosophy. Freed from their responsibility to the Jedi, Obi-wan could act as an impartial advisor to those things concerning the Jedi. Anakin says he’s not sure how he could help beyond emotional support, he’s terrible at politics, and they both kind of stare at him for a moment. “Anakin, you can be very intimidating sometimes,” Padme tells him. “Uh, thanks?” he says sarcastically. Obi-wan catches on easily. “Sometimes, it’s easier to get things done quickly if there’s a little intimidation behind the request,” he explains. “Oh, so I’m going to be the enforcer?” he asks, a little offended. Then he sits there and thinks about it a minute. “Yeah, I could do that. I’d probably be good at it,” he grins. “Do I get a title? A lot easier to be intimidating when people have to call you “lord” so-and-so.”

This leads to a not-unrelated conversation where Anakin admits that Palpatine has said some very concerning things to him & he is beginning to suspect he may have dabbled in the dark side of the Force (he’s also not sure how he feels about that). Padme agrees and admits that one of the reasons she’s been so resistant to a relationship with Anakin for so long was partly because her old mentor seemed so bent on pressuring her into it. It seemed wrong, especially when Anakin was so young and she thought it would essentially ruin his future. Obi-wan also agrees that it often seemed that Palpatine seemed to be trying to supplant his place as Anakin’s Master, but as he often found himself at a loss for how to guide him, he couldn’t gainsay the additional advice.

Padme & Obi-wan begin to discuss the logistics of them leaving the order (this will be his 4th time so he’s old hat at it) and getting married so as to minimize the political scandal. Anakin seems to be having trouble paying attention & keeps staring at the door. Padme makes a joke about him being impatient as she is to get it over with, but he says “Something’s wrong. Something’s… coming.” Just then the chime for her front door sounds. They sit in silence for a moment, and Obi-wan says the classic “I have a bad feeling about this,” line. Padme decides to answer via an interior room’s communication panel, rather than at the door. Anakin & Obi-wan take places to ready for an attack. At the door is a young woman, one of Palpatine’s aides. No one else is visible on the security camera, but Anakin says he can sense at least 5 more people, and Obi-wan agrees. Padme turns on the audio and says she’s in a private meeting and asks what it is the aide needs. She’s informed that Palpatine has sent to make sure that Padme is alright, as there is breaking news of Jedi attacking Clone Army units & local government throughout the galaxy, and he understood she was likely to be in the company of two Jedi. (In truth, he’s executed order 66 and spun it as incited by the Jedi). Padme responds that no, she’s just fine, and thank you for your concern.

Apparently, this is the wrong answer. The door bursts open, and a unit of clone troopers storms in. These are men that Anakin & Obi-Wan know personally, have worked with, and it’s extremely unsettling to be fighting them. In the process, Anakin’s arm is cut off when he hesitates. (Is he distracted by Padme or Obi-wan getting hurt? Does he freeze when thinks he must kill Commander Cody, a friend? Haven’t decided). But the three of them manage to prevail until they have one injured Clone Trooper left - Commander Cody. Despite his injuries, Anakin uses his pain to gain the power to pull the necessary information from his mind (think Kylo Ren, definitely dark side stuff). He learns the truth about Order 66, and breaks the chip. They rush Anakin and Cody to a medcenter, where Padme turns on the holonet and they see the violence unfolding all over the galaxy. Because the Jedi were not actively working with the clone troopers, it has not been as quick or as successful. The Jedi temple is under siege. Anakin expresses concern for the fate of the younglings within and argues that they should go fight to liberate the temple, despite the fact that he is actively being fitted for a prosthetic arm. When Obi-wan protests, Anakin argues that he can just use the pain to his advantage. Obi-wan chastises him for giving in to the dark side, but Anakin just yells “does it matter which side I use if I’m saving lives? If I’m protecting people???” Without a good argument to the contrary, Obi-wan shuts up.

Padme, however, does have a good argument. Vigilante action is likely to just get them killed along with all the other Jedi. She’s just received word that an emergency session of the Senate is being called. If they can bring Commander Cody’s confession as evidence, it’s more than enough to get Palpatine impeached for abuse of power. They rush to the Senate building, and Bail has already started proceedings for a vote of no confidence. When they present the evidence, Palpatine loses his shit and pulls his “I AM the Senate!” nonsense. Think Yoda-vs-Palpatine in the 3rd movie, but the whole Senate is there and it’s Palpatine vs. Obi-wan & Anakin together. But by now, they’ve learned how to be an effective team, and Anakin has the element of surprise as he absorbs Palpatine’s lightning and throws it right back in his face. (There’s some comment along the lines of “bitch, please, you’re the one who told me how to do this shit).

At the end of the fight, they have Palpatine pinned but they won’t hold him for long. Obi-wan is arguing that they should try to find a way, that he must stand trial, but Anakin is arguing he’s too powerful. They both look to Padme. She knows that this will probably destroy her shot at the Chancellery, but it’s the right thing to do. She tells Anakin to do what he thinks is right. He kills Palpatine. They retrieve Commander Cody, and he helps them figure out how to rescind Order 66. A lot of damage has been done, but the Temple held fast and the losses, while significant, are not even half of the Jedi order as a whole.

In the aftermath, the Jedi Council rules that while killing Palpatine was likely the right course of action, Anakin’s use of the Dark Side makes him ineligible to become a Jedi Knight and he must leave the order. He has the distinct pleasure of telling them the equivalent of, “you can’t fire me, I quit.” A beaming Obi-wan declares that he’s out, too. Bail Organa has been given interim control of the Senate, but he makes it clear that it’s only until things calm down. Padme, Anakin, and Obi-wan are married in a quiet but public ceremony. Shortly after, the Senate reconvenes and surprisingly elects Padme anyway. Apparently, her decision to support Anakin’s argument was actually widely accepted (it’s pretty clear the trial would have ended in the same way anyway). She almost immediately becomes pregnant (dammit Anakin and his super-special chosen-one Force-sperm lol) but she’s confident navigating that at the process of reforming the Republic into a Federation. The galaxy has grown too big to be ruled directly. It will be split into individual factions who agree to a loose constitution of basic rights and laws, but the particulars are left to the rule of the region. The Separatists are offered a seat at the Federation table, and surprisingly, they take it (without Palpatine pushing his buttons, Dooku makes a remarkably capable leader). Peace reigns in the Galaxy, Padme retires the role of Chancellor and they go to live on the estate that Obi-wan apparently now inherits (along with lots of money) and all raise a very happy and well-adjusted Luke & Leia.

Anakin still kind of wants to strangle Padme & Obi-wan when they argue though.

[maulusque]

here’s an idea

some of the jedi actually have their shit together re: the morality of a slave army.

Namely Aayla Secura and Plo Koon. From the start of the war, they both voiced opposition to taking part, specifically citing the clones’ situation. The Council convinced them to take part as generals anyway, on the basis that at least they could do some good for the clones as generals, whereas if they sat out and let another take their place, they wouldn’t be able to do anything. They feel like hypocrites, like slave owners, but they both vow to do everything in their power to see the clones freed. After the war. And the war just keeps, happening, you know? It seems like there’s always somewhere where they and their troops are needed, innocent civilians to save, and they can prioritize civilian lives over the clones’ lives, right? I mean, at least the clones are trained for this. They both care as much as they can for the men they have, but they still lead them to battle, lead them to their deaths, requisition more troops from Kamino with the same forms they requisition more blasters with.

 Eventually, as the war drags on and on and on, and their best intentions for the clones are stymied by exhaustion, death, and bureaucracy, both Plo and Aayla realize, independently, that they need to take drastic action if they want to be able to consider themselves Jedi, or even good people. Because they haven’t done right by the clones. Whatever their intentions, they have been complicit in slavery, in child abuse, in murder and torture. Making the clones wait until the end of the war for their freedom is cruel and inhumane, and unless they prioritize freedom and justice for their men now, then they are no better than the slave lords of the outer rim, who sit in their massive palaces with fortunes built on slavery. So, they reach out. They talk to their Commanders. Bly and Wolffe put them in touch with Cody, and with each other. Cody and the other Commanders have been talking, in secret. They, too, have realized that the war isn’t going to end anytime soon, and even if it does, what happens to them? 

Cody is reluctant to trust Aayla and Plo, but Bly and Wolffe vouch for them. He asks them, if you are truly willing to help us, you have to realize that this might mean quitting the Jedi Order. This might mean turning against your fellow Jedi. Are you willing to do that? Are you willing to, say, kill Mace Windu, or Depa Billaba, or Ahsoka Tano, if it means our freedom? Aayla and Plo say yes, they are. And they are. This had been one of the toughest choices they’ve had to make in their lives, when it should have been one of the easiest. They are Jedi, and they will fight against injustice and slavery wherever it may be, no matter who is perpetrating it. 

So Cody sets them to work. Aayla reaches out to her old master, Quinlan Vos. In this universe, instead of being a racist dickhead, his anti-clone sentiment is born from the fact that he utterly disagrees with the idea of Jedi waging war, and has transformed that into resenting the clones. He’s spent the entire war being literally as far away from it as possible, ignoring the Council as much as he can. Eventually, though, he undergoes a mr. darcy-like transformation, realizes what an asshole he’s been, and when Aayla comes knocking, he’s already been smuggling troopers slated for decomissioning to safe planets.

Plo Koon reaches out to Ahsoka. In the time since she’s left the order, she’s done a lot of growing up. Outside of the stress of constant war, and the influence of the Council and Anakin, she’s done a lot of thinking and also undergone Character Growth, realizing how unfair the clones’ situation is, and how she contributed to it, how she ignored the power differential between them. She jumps at the chance to help. (it does take her a bit to get used to the idea that she’s not a leader here, not a commander- she’s a useful agent, and her input is appreciated, but she and the Jedi with her are not in charge). Ahsoka approaches Rex, he tells her what happened to Fives. Ahsoka does some digging, and uncovers the chips. She takes the info straight to Rex, who, with the other Commanders and the medics, coordinate a massive, secret de-chipping operation under the guise of every trooper needing a vaccine to combat some new disease making the rounds.

Once Cody and the others are fairly sure that the majority of the army has been dechipped, the Commanders make their move, and the entire GAR goes on strike. Every Commander has passed down orders to their captains, and the captains have passed it down to their men, so everyone is briefed on what to do and how to behave. Any troops currently engaged in battle abandon whatever objective they had, fighting only to their extraction point. GAR ships abandon contested space, re-centering around Republic planets and bases. Troopers are ordered to only perform the duties necessary to keep the ships running and keep everyone alive. Food, sanitation, medical, and defense if they are attacked. Many battalions are essentially dead in space, or on whatever planet they were on, because their Jedi leaders won’t relinquish the bridges of their ships, but their troops refuse to fight. So Aayla, Plo, and the other allied Jedi are able to take their troops to these stranded groups, giving them supplies, taking the wounded, helping them defend against separatist forces if they need it.

Cody and the other Commanders have put together a document, and they send two copies. One to the Senate, and one to the Jedi Council. It is a list of grievances, followed by a list of demands.

Needless to say, the Jedi Council are forced into a negotiation pretty damn quick. The Commanders insist that a representative of the Senate, someone with the authority to speak for them, be present too. The clones refuse to send their representatives to Coruscant, because they don’t trust the Jedi Council or the Senate not to execute them. Anakin Skywalker volunteers his ship as a neutral place- sure, the 501st is on strike, but it’s a Jedi ship, so both parties should feel about as equally uncomfortable.

At the negotiations, representing the Clone Troopers: Commander Cody, Commander Wolffe, Commander Bly, and Captain Rex. Plo Koon, Aayla Secura, Quinlan Vos, and Ahsoka Tano are there to, mostly to say what the clones say, but louder and with a Jedi voice, so the council might actually listen. Present on behalf of the Jedi: Yoda, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and, ironically enough, Plo Koon, who volunteered when Yoda asked for Council members willing to participate in the negotiations. Present on behalf of the Senate: Senator Bail Organa, Senator Halle Burtoni of Kamino, and Chancellor Palpatine. Anakin is there, too, of course. It’s his ship, after all. Cody starts off by re-listing their grievances, the crimes committed against the Clone Troopers (he’s left the chips off the list- they’re still not 100% sure who’s behind it and don’t want to endanger the troops still chipped). Yoda and Mace try to interrupt him many times, but Cody just keeps talking over them, and Plo Koon keeps going “no let him finish this sounds interesting”. 

When Cody finishes, Halle Burtoni erupts into a rant about “traitors” and “defective products”. Senator Organa thinks Cody has a point. A good one. A lot of good ones, actually. Palpatine is quiet, silently calculating how he can turn this to his advantage. Yoda spouts off with a bunch of Jedi platitudes about perspective, the greater good, blah blah blah. Cody just looks at him and says “sir, you’re full of shit.” Before anyone can get on his case for it, Rex stands and starts reading off their demands. Obi-Wan keeps interrupting, with things like “surely, we can negotiate” or “I agree that you and your men have a right to these things, but in war, certain sacrifices must be made” and “can’t this wait until after we defeat the separatists?” Rex tells him to shut the hell up and listen for once in his goddamn life (quote). Obi-Wan turns to Anakin and says “Anakin, I thought you taught your men more respect than that!” but Anakin says “Actually, Master, I agree with Rex.” Before THAT can blow up, Yoda tries to calm things down with “discuss your requests, we must” but Wolffe’s like “Not requests. Demands. We are not here to negotiate, we are here to tell you what you must do if you want to keep your army.” There’s arguing. There’s yelling. Aayla makes an impassioned speech about freedom. Anakin and Ahsoka have a quick hushed aside, in which it takes Anakin about 30 seconds to decide he’s quitting the Order, too. Yoda and Mace ask Plo to back them up, but he just points at Wolffe and goes “my son”. Cody, Rex, Bly, and Wolffe are doing an excellent job of looking like the only professionals in the room. 

Eventually, Bail Organa asks everyone to calm down. “Commanders, I hear your grievances, and I understand that you have been treated wrongly. I propose that I introduce a bill in the Senate, to legally grant your demands-by the way, can I have a copy of that list?- We might have to do some arm-twisting to get the votes, but if you and your brothers hold steadfast in your strike, I’m sure it won’t take too long for the Senators to come around- especially those whose planets are close to Separatist activity.” Yoda mumbles something about needing to meditate before taking any action. Bail turns to Palpatine, who hasn’t said a word so far. “What do you think, Chancellor? Such a bill would move through the Senate much faster with your backing.” 

Palpatine has been watching the proceedings, and thinking. This could totally work out for him. Anakin and Obi-Wan are on opposite sides of this debate, and he didn’t even have to do anything to drive this wedge between them. Anakin is primed to declare against the Jedi Order. If he plays his ace card soon, the Clone Troopers massacre the Jedi, and, combined with their current strike, is more than enough justification for him to declare them all defective traitors and have them all killed via the chips, leaving Anakin with no one and nothing. Then, it’s a simple matter of unleashing him on the Separatists, having him commit more and more atrocities in the name of victory... unless, of course, Anakin decides to help the clones and participate in Order 66 himself, in which case, his job is done! And he might not even need to kill Padme to do it! At least, not until after the children are born and he can assess whether he wants one of them as an apprentice instead of their father. So Palpatine stands, walks over to Cody, and says, “Commander Cody, the time has come. Execute Order 66.”

And Cody says “Fuck you, Chancellor.” and punches him in the face. In the ensuing shitstorm, a lot of stuff is revealed. Palpatine is a sith lord- the angry Force lightning kind of made it obvious. Anakin has good reflexes, jumping in front of the lightning and absorbing the blast to protect Cody (he’s the most powerful Force-sensitive in a thousand years at least, he’ll be fine). Rex has good aim and good priorities- his pistols are drawn and Palpatine has two smoking holes where his eyes were before Anakin has finished screaming and collapsing dramatically. “Oh my fucking god,” Mace Windu says, realizing that they’ve been living in the pocket of a Sith Lord for a good decade and that he is an idiot. Wolffe is trying to get past Plo Koon, who jumped in front of him the moment Cody punched Palpatine. Aayla and Bly both tried to jump in front of each other (Bly won, because Aayla may be a Jedi but she’s shorter than he is), and Ahsoka, who didn’t get the chance to jump in front of anybody, just goes “yikes”. Obi-Wan, who is currently evaluating all of his life choices and also just how well he really knows his Commander, goes “agreed”. 

Anyway Bail gets the bill passed and is elected chancellor, and immediately enters into negotiations with the Separatists (dooku mysteriously vanished, high-tailing it out of there when his master died, and suddenly the separatist forces are much less blood-thirsty and sentient-rights violating when he’s not leading them). Yoda retires to a swamp planet, Mace decides to de-centralize the Jedi Order, re-write a lot of rules and Jedi philosophy, and moves to a new Temple being built on Hoth or something.

The clones are freed, given citizenship, backpay, and reparations, funded mostly by the Senate taxing the shit out of the Banking Clans and the Trade Federation. They objected strenuously, but couldn’t really do much about it with an entire clone army breathing down their necks. There’s a big search for a home for the clones, and a planet that will agree to host them. This is when the clan leaders of the Mandalorian Houses come forward- not the New Mandalorians, but the Mandalorians of the traditional, warrior culture, kicked out of Mandalore by the new government, living as a diaspora all over the galaxy. They say they will claim the Clones as theirs, accept them as their own clan. Their motives are manifold- one, the Clones were trained by Mandalorians, including Jango Fett, and clone culture borrows a lot from the Mandalorians. Secondly, it’ll really piss off Satine Kryze’s government, Thirdly, the promises made to the clones in Organa’s bill could be leveraged into a win-win for the Mandalorian Clans and the Clones. The Clones get their citizenship, and the Mandalorian Clans get recognized as an independent political entity, separate from New Mandalore, and as such, not subject to their laws, and entitled to a Senator of their own, as well as protection and recognition for their citizens spread throughout the Galaxy. 

Additionally, many planets offer citizenship programs to the clones, especially those whose populations had been decimated by the war. Governments are desperate for able-bodied people to come in and fill in the economic gap left by the war to stave off economic collapse. The Senate further creates programs to make it easier for clones to gain citizenship on planets that might not be so eager for them to live there, and for clones who are disabled and unable to work. So many clones end up with dual citizenship- Mandalorian Clans, and their home planet of choice.

Many choose to stay in the army- it’s familiar, it’s easier than trying to find a job and pay rent (especially when you’ve never heard of a job, salary, or rent growing up), it’s where their brothers are, and hey, they’re getting paid now. Anakin talks to Rex, and together, they take the 501st to the Outer Rim and wreck shit on the Hutts and their slave empire. After fulfilling his childhood dream of liberating Tattooine, Anakin retires to raise his children with his wife. Wolffe spends a few years traveling the galaxy alone, seeing new places and meeting new people. Eventually he returns to Coruscant, and when he leaves, a newly retired Plo Koon goes with him, and together they see as much of the galaxy as they can. Cody and Rex spend a while helping to settle their vod’e, taking the cadets and babies from Kamino and setting up home bases all over the galaxy, where they are raised by their older brothers. Cody discovers that he loves teaching. Rex finds out that he really likes kids. Eventually, Cody and Rex retire, but they still spend a lot of time with the clone children, and with their brothers. Ahsoka drops by every once in a while. Bail spends his career rooting out corruption and establishing requirements that Republic planets must elect their senators by popular vote. Everyone is reasonably content, oh and also Fives didn’t really die, he was wearing a blaster-proof vest and went into hiding, he rescued Echo and they both live the rest of their lives happily together.