#Mical the Disciple

[holly-bearie]

mical watch out.... watch out mical....!!!!

i havent actually played far enough to see their real interactions but this is about how i expect things to go

[thepunchingbag]

I think Atton's jealousy and resentment of Mical goes a lot deeper than "he stole my girl."

Firstly, Mical is roughly 10 years younger than Atton/the Exile. Which means, Mical - while his life path was certainly altered due to the Wars - never had to fight in either the Mando or Jedi Civil Wars. For the most part, he's lived in a post-war society and doesn't have a jaded worldview. Sure, Mical criticizes the Order but there's no hatred; he's simply disappointed in their shortcomings. He very much still has faith in the Republic, because he never really saw how much of a clusterfuck the administration was during wartime. So Atton, right off the bat, sees Mical as this irritating kid who doesn't know what he's talking about. And the fact the kid's a Republic spy (and a diplomatic spy at that, so missions are mostly fact-finding involving politics rather than getting a blaster pointed between the eyes), is just extra salt in the wound. Sure, he's "serving" in the Republic military, just with all the glory and none of the PTSD, lingering medical issues due to combat injuries, and none of the lifelong problems with substance abuse.

Also, I headcanon young Jaq (before getting severely mentally fucked up during the War) as a bit of a wide-eyed "Gee Whiz!" idealist. And now Atton sees this mirrored in this pretty boy wannabe field physician-turned-spy. Except Mical never gets the idealism smacked out of him, assuming the Exile's LS. In fact, this kid seems to be rewarded for his idealism at every turn.

Hell, I bet the fact that Mical's a Republic spy and that's another lightside mirror to Atton being a Sith assassin, just rubs Atton all kinds of wrong.

Second, Mical is perhaps a bit naive (okay, more than a bit) but he's very intelligent. He's openly a bookworm and, say what you will, Mical was the only one to discover Kreia's plan on his own. Even Kreia says he's a "wasted" pawn of the Republic, that he could have been so much more. She, grudgingly, respects him (as much as Kreia respects anyone outside of Revan and the Exile). So, once again, compare this with "the fool", Atton, who is clearly also quite intelligent in his own way. However, nobody really sees that because Atton acts like a dumbass in order for people to underestimate him. This probably futhers Atton's resentment - this snot-nosed nerd gets to flaunt his brainpower, but Atton's always flying under the radar.

Even worse would be if young Jaq had dreams of maybe going to a good university after serving, maybe hoping to use whatever the Republic's version of the GI Bill program was - only for Jaq to be too messed up after the War and not to mention he deserted, so he's probably thrown all chances at getting military benefits out the window.

Now to throw the match into the kerosene-soaked mess of Atton's hatred - is when the Exile potentially starts to grow close to Mical. It's like, of course, Atton feels like garbage not worthy breathing the same air as the Exile. But he'd hoped that perhaps she'd at least never grow close to anyone else. That they would stay in a state of relationship limbo forever.

So... on top of everything else, the kid gets her too?

Atton would be seething, even if he's LS. I think the only reason LS Atton restrains himself from cornering Mical on Malachor and shoving his lightsaber through his eyesocket, is because that would upset the Exile. If Atton's DS, all he feels is his rage, bitterness, and resentment - plus the overwhelming desire to see a Jedi's life bleed out on the floor.

Meanwhile, I think Mical regards Atton with bemused pity. Also he shows him compassion, since Mical is emotionally mature enough to see Atton is a very broken man.

Which of course just pisses off Atton more.

[aeskanera]

Star Wars fancast: Brad Pitt as Mical the Disciple

[theultimatekotorcharacter]

KOTOR 2 Fan Favorite Round 1.5 Matchup 2

[enby-ernhardt]

Incorrect KOTOR quotes

*Everyone is standing around the broken caf maker*

Kreia: So. Who broke it? I'm not mad, I just wanna know.

Everyone:

Exile: ...I did. I broke it.

Kreia: No. No you didn't. Fool?

Atton: Don't look at me. Look at the Disciple.

Disciple: What?! I didn't break it.

Atton: Huh, that's weird. How'd you even know it was broken?

Disciple: Because it's sitting right in front of us and it's broken.

Atton: Suspicious.

Mical: No, it's not!

Handmaiden: If it matters, probably not, but Mira was the last one to use it.

Mira: Liar! I don't even drink that crap!

Handmaiden: Oh really? Then what were you doing by the caf cart earlier?

Mira: I use the wooden stirrers to push back my cuticles. Everyone knows that, Handmaiden!

Exile: Okay let's not fight. I broke it. Let me pay for it, Kreia.

Kreia: No! Who broke it!?

Everyone:

Handmaiden: Kreia ... Atton's been awfully quiet.

Atton: rEALLY?!

*Everyone starts arguing*

Kreia, being interviewed: I broke it. I burned my hand so I punched it.

Kreia: I predict 10 minutes from now they'll be at each other's throats with warpaint on their faces and a pig head on a stick.

Kreia:

Kreia: Good. It was getting a little chummy around

here.

[reverienne]

Karolina you can't just casually mention Mical and Siri kissed and think nobody would be curious as hell about that!! Tell me all about it pretty please 👀💕 would Siri and Mical work better than Siri and Atton? Siri does like history nerds, right?

(this is a follow up to this ask about a hypothetical ship Siri/Atton)

oh, boy, do they? :D the only sure-fire way to Siri's heart is being a history nerd, actually. Atris ensured that. while Siri is not much of a sitter for history classes, they WILL listen to your history ramblings and freak you out by remembering them verbatim years later. something about the excitement of their friend's nerding over history just really Gets to them, unlike any traditional methods of history teaching. they start to Care because they see you Care. when Siri met Mical, they immediately knew that they're going to be friends. it was unavoidable. Mical was going to be their no. 1 human podcaster.

...and then it spiralled from there...

so it was only half a truth that Mical kissed Siri because after Mical kissed Siri, Siri actually kissed him back. quite enthusiastically, at that. it was only after their brain kicked in did they (meaning Siri because Mical was totally on board) realize that it was all A Very Bad Idea. there's a lot going on in Kotor 2 and it goes double for someone who kept running away from their past up until Peragus. it was unfair to become romantically involved with Mical - both for him AND for Siri who had a lot on their plate at the moment… not to mention quite non-pedagogical since he was one of their Padawans. and then, some time later, Siri discovered the nature of their Force bonds with others and realized that by rejecting Mical, they essentially dodged a bullet…

while Siri cares for Mical a great deal, perhaps a bit differently than they would have for just a friend, they would never risk the possibility of a coerced relationship… and how can they trust that Mical's feelings for them are entirely genuine? it's easy to doubt when you're a war criminal and as such you consider yourself pretty much unlovable. it's easy to believe that this bright-eyed sweet nerd only loves you because you Force talked him into it (perhaps all the more so when your former best friend, a not-so-bright-eyed nerd, looks at you with so much vitriol for daring to breathe in the same room).

I genuinely believe that Siri's problems with Force bonds could be fixed by some solid talking to from Revan, some oversight from Mira (who never got Love Siri brainworms & good for her) and getting therapy. because it's essentially all fault of Siri's yearning to be loved fighting with their pre-conceived notion of being irredeemable & unworthy of love that generates the Love Siri brainworms, and that can be turned off - at least with the help of therapy. and I genuinely want to believe that if freed from a Love Siri filter bubble, Mical would still like Siri somewhat... but would he like them enough to want to romance them? it's up to Mical to decide. I am only the scribe ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

[thepunchingbag]

Mira wants to keep Mical around as eye candy omfg

I was snooping around in some kotor 2 dialogue files and… yeah

apparently this is Mical’s recruitment convo if you have Mira and Atton with you

transcription below

Keep reading

[hnnny]

I would have killed the galaxy to preserve you. I would have let the galaxy die. You are more rare than you know, and what you have taught yourself must not be allowed to die.

And it is for that that I love you.

(Alternates under the cut):

[crunchyncrumbly]

kotor 2 if it had fantasy vibes (Been re watching a lot of castlevania, hence the style tilt lol)

[kotor-week]

KotOR Week 2024

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Knights of the Old Republic: the Sith Lords, I want to celebrate with a week of prompts for artists, writers and every other creator in the fandom!

Any creations based on any character or place or event of the games or the world around them is applicable for this event! NSFW is allowed so long as it is put under a cut and properly tagged.

Day 1 (2nd December): Darth Revan

Day 2 (3rd December): The Jedi Exile

Day 3 (4th December): The Crew of the Ebon Hawk

Day 4 (5th December): The Mandalorian Wars

Day 5 (6th December): The Jedi Civil War

Day 6 (7th December): Post Game

Day 7 (8th December): Freeform

All these prompts are very wide and open, and mostly just inspiration, not something that needs to be followed, so if you want to make something entirely different, that would be completely fine!

Looking forward to see what people create!

[attonposting]

Just thinkin' about how showing your companions the Force in KotOR II is about healing, about teaching them to confront their traumas and cope with them in a healthy way, and on a Dark Side run, it's about yanking on that trauma and twisting it until it becomes all that they are.

Atton is a goddamn mess of a person. The war wrecked him and shaped him into a sadistic monster who committed mega war crimes until he met the one Jedi who forced him to see what he'd become. And instead of taking any responsibility, he bolted, coping by drowning out the world and doing his damnedest not to feel. The Exile forces him to stop running and confront himself – to face all those emotions he chopped up into little pieces and wore like masks, his guilt, his hate, his fear. I don't think Atton ever thinks of himself as a Jedi; him learning to use the Force is him learning not to be afraid of it, and himself, anymore. Atton decides he's going to finally try to do something with his life – maybe not for goodness' sake, but because he owes that last Jedi that much. And a DS Exile extinguishes whatever seeds of decency she planted, destroys his last remaining shreds of idealism, and convinces him not to fear himself in a much, much scarier way.

Bao-Dur is a genuinely good guy, but he's shackled by guilt. It's not straightforward, and it'd maybe be easier for him to deal with it if it was - Bao-Dur simultaneously regrets and doesn't regret what he did. He believes... not necessarily that Malachor had to happen, but that the war needed to end. But he's horrified that it was his hands and his mind that conceived the Mass Shadow Generator, can never banish the sight of so much death at his hand. And he can't reconcile how what drove him in the war was pure hatred, and the galaxy treats him like his service was a noble thing when he knows it was anything but. That rage hasn't left him even though he tried to move on and turn his hands towards kinder things. Through the Force, he's able to move on and at last find peace – but a DS Exile convinces him to give into his anger and let retribution rule him completely.

Mira is at her heart a scared little girl trying desperately to prove to herself that she's tough and capable – that she's over everything she's lost, that she's not alone and afraid. She tries not to care about anyone, because the galaxy certainly doesn't give a shit, but she does despite herself. A LS Exile teaches her how to come to terms with the things that hound her, and in that, find true strength. A DS Exile teaches her to cover up that fear by preying on others so that nobody ever has the chance to hurt her again, and convincing herself that hardness means strength until it becomes true.

Brianna has tried to find purpose in servitude, but she's isolated in an otherwise tight-knit unit. She's desperate to prove herself, but she's never good enough for anyone, and she knows why she continues to fail even as she's unable to let the source go. A LS Exile teaches her to transcend those concerns and be true to herself above all else – not only to follow her own path, but to find strength and value in herself, for the first time in her life. What Atris thinks, what her sisters think, is immaterial. A DS Exile doesn't free her from her mindset of servitude so much as twist her loyalties. That Brianna instead becomes convinced she's better than her sisters, better than Atris, and takes her anger out on her ex-family and beyond – becoming driven by scorn, seeing nothing but the failures of the Jedi to live up to their own standards.

Mical lost his future at a young age – something that probably saved his life, considering everything that happened in the following years, but which left him trailing in the shadow of the Jedi seeking answers nobody could give. He wants to believe in the Jedi Order, but recent history has left him with far too much evidence to the contrary. A LS Exile acknowledges the flaws of the Jedi teachings, even personifies those flaws through their history, but convinces him through their actions that their core still rings true and is worth striving for. A DS Exile utterly demolishes his faith in the same manner. Mical takes the Exile's fall as yet another betrayal by the Jedi, but it's the hardest hitting yet - this sheer debasement of the figure he idolized most. It finally extinguishes his idealism, even gnawing away at the compassion that defines him until he's yet another soulless cog in the Republic machine.

And Visas is already attuned to the Force, but a LS Exile gives her hope for the galaxy and teaches her of the beautiful little moments of connection and the greatness people can achieve together, where she'd become convinced that life was pain and the only thing any being could aspire to was an end to the suffering. What she witnesses is strong enough for her to come to terms with the death of Katarr and choose to keep going despite all that's happened. And a DS Exile... doesn't. They reaffirm her desolation and then give her the callous end she sought.

The Exile themselves went for ten years avoiding connections, and then the Force thrusts them back into the role of a leader – a role they've got decidedly mixed feelings about, when it was literally their empathy that caused their self-destruction in the Mandalorian Wars. Major YMMV on how you characterize your Exile's motives, but the way I saw it, a DS Exile isn't going to be hurt again. They're not going to get attached to their soldiers – they've made that mistake before and it brought them nothing. They know how to say the right words to get people to fight and to die for them, and that's all it is. And for a LS Exile... they know the danger of caring, but they won't allow it to stop them from living any longer, not after they've spent ten years dead to themselves. And it's the human connections they form that heals them, that allows for them to touch the Force once more.

Obviously a DS Exile is bad and they should feel bad. For a LS one, though - the Jedi Council's repudiation of your powers at the end of the game used to really bother me until this part clicked. You're all a bunch of broken people who find each other and learn to move on. Even if you're drawing them in with freaky black hole space magic, they are genuinely better off for your presence, and it's because of who you are as a person, not any way you've molded them through the Force.

[citronellals]

playing around with a mical redesign

[thepunchingbag]

Mical isn't a bad spy, actually.

He's got a surprisingly diverse skillset - he's trained as a soldier, field physician, historical researcher, and diplomat - he could easily insert himself into multiple occupations in any organization he's tasked with infiltrating.

Of course, he wouldn't call it 'infiltrating' an organization - he'd sugar coat it and say it's 'gaining discreet access to observe the organization's process' - there's a reason why Mical becomes a politician in one of his endings, he's surprisingly good at bullshit. Plus, he doesn't even SEE it as bullshit, he just tends to naturally spin things that way. He's not a "spy", he's a "representative of the Republic doing research on missing Jedi"....

Mical takes the subtle and strategic approach. He's a fantastic listener, and he's good at observing, gathering information. Unlike Atton, Mical tends to ask personal questions - the dude straight up brings up the Mandalorian Wars the first time the Exile speaks to him on the ship. Meanwhile, Atton makes a point never to ask personal questions, because if you wanted to tell him, you'd tell him.

I also headcanon that Mical's Force-sensitivity has something to do with the fact people just... tell him things. His bedside manner is pleasant to begin with, but there's something about his demeanor that makes people want to start unloading their problems. Being the healer he is, he just loves absorbing this and trying to resolve the pain - or just lend a sympathetic ear, if nothing else.

His superiors in the Republic noticed this and decide this guy is ideal for infiltration and fact-finding. He's low-profile, soft-spoken and he tends to take the careful approach rather than the forceful or confrontational one.

While Atton took the blunt approach (technically, he was less a spy and more of a special operative/assassin/interrogation specialist) of torture to pry people open and get inside - Mical is more of a therapist, emitting a very gentle 'best friend' vibe, gaining information from people who willingly tell him things they probably shouldn't disclose.

However, despite being a diplomat, Mical can be quite socially awkward at times (thanks, sheltered Jedi upbringing!), and he often doesn't pick up on sarcasm (thanks, autism!) - but as a fact-finder, he's good at his job and getting to the root of complex issues.

[songofamazon]

Whumptober 2024, let's go!

In lieu of NaNoWriMo this year, I've decided to try out @whumptober with whichever of my fanfics or original fics seem to fit the prompts.

Since it's October already over here, I got to writing! I thought I would be doing pretty much all the prompts in Thedas (specifically Solavellan Hell, because ouch), but a scene from my unfinished KotOR II fic that I've had in my head for 10+ years jumped to mind and wouldn't let me go.

So, 3330 words later, here we are. The rest of the fanfic, Echoes of War, exists only on ff.net right now, but I really aught to use this as an excuse to move it over to AO3. It's a novelization of KotOR II, with some twists of my own, including the addition of my ever-present Old Republic OC, the produce freighter pilot, Kionee Rinnh.

This hasn't been edited beyond misspellings, and it will probably be edited to fit the rest of the scene once I get to this part of the fanfiction (eventually? It's been on haitus for several years now.).

Kionee gripped her blaster rifle, the handle already slick with sweat. What was she doing here, again, in a secret war? She was a pilot, not a soldier.

“This warlord seems to like droids as much as he likes Jedi,” Atton scoffed, kicking a discarded robotic limb that lay scattered where someone’s lightsaber had severed it. It skid screeching back down the corridor.

“Atton,” Mical scolded, “They’ll hear us.” Always reasonable. Always steady.

And yet.

Atton bristled visibly. “We just tore apart a unit of guard droids. If they don’t know we’re here already—“

Bryony stepped between them, shaking her head. Although her voice was stern, she smiled fondly at them both. “It’s not worth arguing over. Once Bao-Dur finishes slicing the security console, we’ll be able to slip past their defenses.”

“As much as I like tearing apart droids--,” Atton chuckled.

“Threat: Watch yourself, meatbag.”

Atton rolled his eyes, still grinning at Bryony. “Why do we keep that thing around? Anyway, yeah, I’ll take sneaking past any more of these traps any day.”

Although Mical said nothing, the fond smile he gave was a near mirror of Atton’s—minus the swagger. Their endless bickering, once again diffused by Bryony Thuvell’s gentle presence.

She had that effect on people.

“I’m in,” Bao-Dur reported softly.

Kionee swallowed. Her chest ached. She’d only known Mical for a few years. Bryony had known him for so much longer. That he admired her, a war hero and now his Jedi master, it was unavoidable. She was a pilot, not a general. Not a Jedi. Not as beautiful as Bryony.

“I’ll go scout up around the corner,” Kionee offered.

“Just give me a minute to turn the defenses to our advantage,” Bao-Dur said, more to himself than anyone.

No one seemed to take notice of her offer, but she couldn’t stand still here any longer. Raising her blaster to the ready like Carth had once taught her, Kionee turned away from Bryony’s shadow of admiration, and strode down the hallway.

Suddenly, Bao-Dur yelled, “No, wait, that’s—!”

Kionee swiveled her head back towards him, “What’s—?” and slammed into a blazing force field.

Kionee screamed.

Droids and turrets unfurled from the walls, ceiling, and every other surface.

The field held her, blazing like plasma, burning across her skin. Ceaseless screams as everything in her writhed against it—frozen and flaming from every nerve.

“Hold on, kid, I’ve almost got it!”

Whose voice?

Blasters screeched.

Lightsabers hissed.

“Kionee!”

And Kionee burned.

So hot, it burned cold. Choking. All-consuming.

It burned like—

“Kionee!” a cough. Her mother’s voice, thin, hoarse. “Kionee! Where are you baby?” Fire crackled all around. Hot pain wove up her legs, her arms. She coughed and coughed. Whimpered. To hoarse to wail. Or was she screaming already? A beam cracked, tumbled onto the pile. Her legs seared with pain. They existed. She could feel them again. Just fire. Her mother coughed again. Not far away now. More distantly. Desperate. “Kionee! Javan! Where are you?” Dad. “Mom,” she wheezed, “Daddy. Help me.” Another crash nearby. She coughed again. The air burned. Heavy. Hot. A figure, red and bubbling with fire staggered towards her and collapsed at her side. Kionee screamed again. “Kionee, baby, it’s me,” the monstrous woman spoke with the weak voice of her mother. It was her mom. No. No no no no. “Gad, we’re here!” Mom tried to yell, but it was a hoarse screech. To Kionee, “I’m going to get you out of here, baby.” Fire everywhere. Where is here? Mom tore at the pile of rubble pinning Kionee’s legs. A flicker of feeling beyond flames returned, and Kionee screamed again, voice tiny against the roar of the blaze around them. “I’ve got you free, we’re going to—“ coughs ripped away whatever Mom was going to say. Splinters and clatter, a blaze of light. “We’ve got you ma’am. We’ve got you, kid,” droid voices. Not her droid. Someone lifted her up. So much fire, so much pain—

Kionee dropped to the floor, and screamed again. Her shoulder, Her hips contacted unforgiving durasteel. Her right side throbbed from the impact.

But her left—so much fire, so much pain.

She tried to sit, to move, but it overwhelmed her senses. Around her—noise and bright movement. A fight?

“What—?” she tried, but surrendered to wails of pain. Tears streaked down her face, salt stinging raw skin.

“Kionee! Hang on!”

Mical.

She blinked away blurring tears for as long as she could will herself to stop crying.

He stood over her, bright cyan lightsaber whirling. Something shimmered around them.

She’d be okay.

Mical was like those firefighting droids.

He would make sure of it.

Kionee surrendered herself to crying at the writhing pain.

Mical will protect me.

[windsroad]

OK OK I'M DONE NOW

[ren-mick]

I played Kotor 2 again and my taste for this ship came back.