#at least venat is there to mix things up a bit

[shivasdarknight]

idk i got bored while waiting on a download lmao

[vyingeyes]

I believe in my heart of hearts that there are five clones per squad in Star Wars. Yes, I am using Domino Squad as my lone supporting evidence. They are arguably the most definitive example of a standard CT squad we get (at least in the TCW show).

According to Wookieepedia, though, this does not add up. The wiki claims that each corps had 36,864 troopers to be led. This, notably, does not divide by 5. It does divide by 4, but why would Domino Squad be the outlier? I find it much easier to justify why the canonical 4-trooper squads (specifically the Bad Batch and Delta Squad) would have 4 members rather than a "standard" 5. And contrary to all of this, the wiki purports the idea of each squad having nine members. Which... Yes, that adds up, but the idea of ALL THREE OF THE AFOREMENTIONED SQUADS being outliers somehow drives me up the wall.

Instead, I propose a corps of 40,960 troopers. Each corps has 16 regiments (each being 2,560 troopers). Each regiment has 4 battalions (of 640 troopers), and each battalion has 4 companies (individually 160 troopers). This is where we get into the units that we're more familiar with—such as Ghost Company and Torrent Company. Breaking the companies up gives us 4 platoons, such as the one headed by Waxer. Here is where I step out again from the trenches of division and multiplication.

I want a division between Platoons and Squads. This is where my "Units" come in. A unit is two squads squished together. Unlike a squad or a platoon, which are static, a unit might be a combination of clones best suited for the assignment at hand. Units would be referred to as their squad names combined (ie "Green-Crown Unit", "Orbit-Nexu Unit") and the mix-and-match nature would allow skills to be better distributed for the needs of the clones within. You could pair a squad with a medic with a squad that's going to be under heavy fire, or a squad with a heavy gunner can be put with a squad that needs to be covered while they try to help retrieve the wounded from the field.

There would be two "heads" of a unit, since each squad would have a single squad lead. Rather than pick between the two, they would be expected to work together and coordinate their squad members together.

A platoon would be 4 units, or 40 troopers in total.

EDIT 8/27: This just got reblogged again and for anyone interested I have made a few tiny changes based on some reblogs (which I did not see soon enough to reply to meaningfully). For one thing, I agreed with the comment that it's stupid to not have something between Corps and Regiments. In come Divisions. As far as I can tell (from Wookieepedia and memory, because I'm not going through every episode to fact check for a niche military unit type) Divisions were Not really used consistently in TCW era. For my worldbuilding purposes, a division is 1/4 of a corps and composed of 4 regiments. Every day George Lucas makes me do more work. Someone needs to pay me for doing math in my free time.

Also, I think there's been a good bit of critique on my idea of units having two leaders. I use the term "leader" very loosely. In terms of actual power, they have none. They're in charge of keeping their squads on task and coordinating with each other; some squads will naturally have chemistry with others, especially if they've worked together before, but for squads that don't get along, think of them as supervisors connecting two different work branches. Their only special job is to make sure the ACTUAL jobs (determined by higher ups [Lieutenants, Captains, Commanders, etc etc]) is done.

I liked the bit of commentary on backend workers (In TCW, this would include the troopers we see on the bridge of the Venators or in the security rooms in prison, etc) but I do think they're just specialized squads/platoons/etc. I do not have the willpower to give them any sort of special category in my already incredibly twisting Obsidian vault.

Also, the question of "how long did this take?": I am an English major :') Math is hard. Many hours. Many separate days. I am still changing it when it seems unrealistic. I have no actual military experience so a lot of research is involved. I THINK my numbers are approximately comparable to Life but I may be wrong. Sometimes I'll be writing and go "wow, this is bad" and then have to clarify ANOTHER section of unexplored worldbuilding. Why did you do this to me, George? Save me Dave Filoni.

[synoxshots]

The Master KOTFE Adventure

My latest project has been playing through KotFE on master mode.

Why ever would you want to do that? you may ask, and I have asked myself the same thing. In short, it was a mix of having a light sided empire toon that I didn't want the autocompletes on, and the fact that he is also the best geared character I've ever had and the discipline I've had most experience playing. And I've run through KotFE quite a few times so, freshening it up I guess? 

So this is how it went. This isn't a guide - more, a record of my experiences as I went through. As ever, some things I found easy others might find hard, and (more likely, lbr) vice versa. 

The gamer:

I play a Rage Jugg, wear Descent of the Fearless set, gear level 306 with a full set of 286 augments. So - very well geared, but not fully optimised stats wise. Experience wise for this - I'd done a few chapters on vet mode before with a Guardian (Focus) and Powertech (Pyrotech) though not always at max gear (probably in the 290s when I first gave it a go), and I like trying to solo group content like vet fps (master for Red Reaper only) because I don't love myself, I guess. A smidge of ops experience. I'm reasonably competent as a player but also prone to stupid, I don't claim to be great by any means.

Chapter I

All went smoothly, died on the last fight against the BD-148 elite skytrooper - but that was just because I forgot about heroic moments existing, given that half the chapter is spent without a companion. Used my enraged defence a few times but never really felt at risk of dying. Apart from the one time when I did, obviously. Marr goes up to 28 influence automatically. Lots of mobs can be skipped as they're already engaged in fights.

Chapter II

Quite a few mobs you can skip around. Valkorion heals you though he's not a companion so no heroic moment. Last monolith did get me close to death sometimes, so there was a bit of running away so I could heal up a bit more, and making good use of defensive abilities. But no deaths on this one!

Chapter III

I died twice on this one, both were easily preventable. The first was against the Ground Assault Walker (massive droid before the bridge) and pretty much because I hadn't raised Lana's influence yet, so I upped it to 20 before starting the fight again and cleared it very quickly. Sidenote: a while back I bought a bunch of Spiced Aric Tongue from the Jawa scrap peddlers as I didn't know what else to do with all that, Lana accepts it so it's a nice quick way to up her level (Koth likes it too, a lot, which is handy). Second death was against like, a handful of skytroopers when I was shutting down the reactor and really it was mostly because I wasn't paying attention properly, though Lana died both times at this point. There's another fight where these prototype skytroopers keep swarming and I was a bit nervous because there were kolto stations there and I couldn't entirely remember how intense it got. The answer was...not intense at all and I definitely didn't need them. The final fight on this one is the two Zakuul knights but they didn't cause me any problems. All in all I'd say the deaths I've had so far have all been my own fault.

Chapter IV

This...did not go as well. And I'm not entirely sure why, just bad play on my part I think mostly, sometimes there are days when I just play like trash *shrug*. Not timing things like enraged defence, heroic moments and so on very well which meant I died a few times to wildlife - twice the larger bosses, twice mobs of normal/strong ones. Yeah... Kept upping my companion influence so all three (Lana, Koth and HK by this point) got up to 27 but I think even higher than that may be needed as they just didn't seem to be healing well. 

Chap V

I was a bit wary heading into this one, as it was one I'd run before on vet mode and remembered having trouble with the skytrooper waves. I was less geared then though, and had less companion influence doing that, having now taken everyone up to about 32. I didn't record any deaths on this though had a near miss - but I had saved my enraged defence/heroic moment and so on and hit them at the right time. Hey, I'm playing smarter! 

Chapter VI

I found this chapter easy when I'd run it on veteran not long before, but that was not the case on master. Died the first time against Oggo, that was my own fault though, although he does have one particular ability that hits very hard. Then came the Scions. Ohhh boy. The first two you face killed me, fair enough I hadn't had a chance to raise Senya's influence yet. The second two, Venat and Berusal, caused me pain. The good thing is that when fighting the pairs and you take one down, if you die the other doesn't respawn. The other good thing is that Venat and Berusal can be pulled separately, the bad news is I found this out after a few attempts. And Berusal still killed me on his own the first time. I was not having a fun time. And then you face Heskal without a companion. It takes a bit of tactics. I tried to damage him whilst he was doing Debris Storm, though still had to avoid the red circles. Turbulence gives a lot of damage, so had to hastily get out the way/interrupt it. He also stuns you which isn't fun. Valky pops up and offers you an out after the first phase, unfortunately I decided to stay true to character and not take it. Bad times were had. I went to lunch. I asked a friend to help. My internet got switched off before that could happen. I found out I was able to summon a companion...I know I'm not supposed to story wise, and I'm not sure if you can normally (there's a lot of times when companion summon buttons are greyed out due to story restrictions) or if this was only because I'd previously logged out...but suddenly the fight became a lot easier. Funny that. Sigh. Moving on...

Chapter VII

Honestly not much to say about this one, nothing that caused me trouble. A lot of it is in the open world so regular difficulty rather than scaled to master. 

Chapter VIII

This one wasn't much trouble either, did die once when stuff was on cooldown, once in the final Arcann fight. Kiting him over and hitting the conduits there is a big help as they stun him, that is probably very obvious but I've literally never bothered with them on story or vet mode. We're halfway there!

Chapter X

This one also gave me a Time. The problem I had was when you come up against Faedral and Zaamsk. My first thought was the difficulty was because I hadn't raised Kaliyo's influence (oops, but you get her on the spot and I didn't have gifts handy...or at least the ones I thought she liked she didn't actually) (this is how I found out that agent!Kaliyo and alliance!Kaliyo have different preferences, apparently this will also apply to other - but not all - returning companions). But I raised her to 28 and still kept dying. It's a bit of a nasty fight honestly, and the guide I looked at said that juggs...aren’t ideal for it. Crowd control and interrupts are very handy. I kept getting really close to getting one of them down and dying just before I could, super annoying because it's another of those where if you take one down and die, you only have to face the other one. I took a break and read the guide more closely, watched some videos, and ultimately just decided to bring someone along to avoid the pain, or maybe share in it. I still died but we got through them. The fight against Tayvor Slen, the boss fight of the chapter, took a couple of tries with two of us - the first time I got stuck in a red circle and pretty much insta-killed. There was a bit of a close call on the second attempt but it was under control really. The achievement then comes through for chapter completion, all you have to do then is get out of the Overwatch, all things rosy right? Oh how wrong they were. A bunch of Zakuul Knights came along and literally just slaughtered us, full on, one-shotting us both - it was hilarious and extremely confusing because why?? how?? Did the bonus mission to get the prisoners to escape (look out for the glowing terminal, it says 'Overwatch Prison Logs' when you hover over it) - they one-shot a few Knights but then disappeared on us too. Who knows. But we got through it.

Chapter XI

A much nicer one though still had a handful of deaths. Where you meet up with Havoc Squad there's ambush of Skytroopers, followed by a couple of walkers - and the walkers beat me. They cast circles that I just couldn't get out of in time to save my health, even with my defensives. I'm not sure if they were the type to follow you or a sort of stamp move (I should have looked at the cast bar, come to think of it) - I suspect though it was the latter and so it wouldn't be an issue on a ranged character. The fight though does continue around you if you die so you don't lose the progress you make, just use the med probe, revive and rejoin. I only took Jorgan to level 7 because that was all the gifts I had, but most of the mobs were just regular trash, typically 3 at a time, which was no worry. When you attack the base the Knights are a bit harder - there's one round the back that does stealth strikes and that's a difficult one to face. I died - the respawn to medbay actually puts you inside the part with the forcefield you're supposed to take down, and then you can't get out of it...I maintain that I did find a way past the forcefield but it doesn't work as a cheesing method. Use your med probe, otherwise it's quick travel out and re-enter your phase. The final battle is a big droid (I forgot the name of it). It spawns a bunch of smaller droids, just ignore those and go for the boss - I didn't the first time and that's why I died - I lost Jorgan, I had two Knights chasing me whilst the droid put up shields, it didn't go well - second time I did it in less than a minute whilst using a heroic moment.

Chapter XII

This one you don't have a companion for, though it's not a big deal - for the most part my main enemy, as tends to be the case on this chapter, was the map. I think the regular mobs are scaled down a bit for playing without a companion. You can pick up an animal to help you as well, which you may as well do as things just die quicker. It runs off in caves. Valkorion does take your health down a fair chunk before he gives you his beat down but it wasn't so bad. Vaylin though took quite a few attempts. You can't interrupt her so you have to be on the ball with your defensives and timing them all, which includes the shield and medpac given in your temporary bar for the chapter. Really the medpac isn't that effective so don't count on it. There's a lot of running around as she casts red circles. Probably easier with a character with more self heals. I got through it after a few efforts, after getting close a few times, though even then I was still low on health by the end.

Chapter XIII

Yeah, this one was no trouble really, and that was with Gault at only level 4 influence. If things get hairy whack a bit more on him, there's no real mechanics to pose problems. As ever, good practice to stay out of circles on the boss fight, you have Vette there as well so a bit of extra damage going and yeah. Nothing to worry about.

Chapter XIV

Another that was nice and simple, I didn't even have any gifts to give Torian so was wandering around with him on level 1. Just a matter of timing defensives and heroic moments in that case. Lots is open world, too. Final boss fight was no problem at all.

Chapter XV

Reading guides for this put the fear of god into me, so I was pleasantly surprised to find it better than expected. The bosses were the toughest parts. The first is the Skytrooper Constructor, that one does spawn adds after a while as well. It killed me a couple of times but really I'm not sure what the best strategy was so I just went for the classic, burn it as fast as I possibly can and making use of heroic moment/defensives as well. The GEMINI droid at the end had me worried. That took 3 attempts (maybe 4, I think it was just 3 though), one of those my heroic moment was still on cooldown and Senya died quickly on it too. It was really just about managing defensives effectively as well, running away when she has the red cone in front of you, using the heroic moment for extra speedy damage. It was a close call in the end but my enraged defence came off cooldown at the perfect moment, thank you Grit Teeth. I wouldn't say this was an easy chapter by any means so quite proud of myself for getting through it on my own! The other thing I would say is watch out for the lasers - they don't do lots of damage on story mode, but on master they one-shot you if you get caught in them! The other various traps I probably got through easier than I have on the lower difficulties which may just be a testament to this being like, my fifth complete kotfe run at this stage haha.

Chapter XVI

The final chapter...and the one I was the most scared of. Took Lana up to lvl 50 in preparation...she duly died early on in the first boss anyway. KJ-931 is the first boss - I say first boss, there's still a high rank enemy immediately before that I died to a few times anyway and needed a heroic moment to beat. First attempt against KJ I actually came really close. Stay out of the aoes - there's a white circle and a yellow cone, as well as a big red laser thing where you have to rush to the corner and if you can - micromanage Lana well enough that she doesn't get caught up in them too. So I learnt that I am not good at micromanaging companions like that. Take the turrets rather than the shields, definitely - apparently the shields also have limited use, the turrets pull aggro as well as giving you damage so they're very handy. Sometimes on this fight I got one-shotted very quickly, others I managed to hold on a bit - but it was the first attempt that was my best run until I actually did it. Honestly I can't say what the trick was to finally getting it right...just a lot of blind panic and luck. Second boss is Dara Nadal - I found it easier to just go for the intense burn on her - put down the turrets, use a heroic moment, set Lana to damage as well and burn. Still took a few attempts on her but each time I was getting very close so I knew I would get there.

And then came Arcann. Ooooh boy. I'd been reading guides and watching videos in preparation but there's still a lot to keep on top of. I decided to use the Marr & Satele Special Saber rather than my usual one - having the benefit of being able to run around quickly was handy, and the other ability reflects damage from his saber attack. This took many attempts - some that went very quickly, some that got him to his final phase. Rather than going into specifics I'm going to link to this video as it probably explains what to do best (it’s handy for all the bosses). You really have to watch for the moment he gets to ~25% and stands in one spot - if you aren't able to do the shield whacky he will kill you straight up. My first time running towards him with the shield in that very last phase I died on the way up. It took me a long time and a lot on repair bills but this is another one I was very proud of for getting through on my own as there were times I didn't think I would.

General stuff:

I would say doing this is not for the light-hearted but it’s certainly possible! Apart from one chapter where I grabbed a friend I got through them all on my own

Some classes fair better in certain chapters than others. I went with my Jugg all the way through, but if you have the characters geared and you know them well enough - and you're doing this for the cheevos rather than going through the storyline - you're likely better off mixing and matching as you go. There were many occasions I wished I had range.

You will die to trash mobs. It is a fact of life. It feels embarrassing in the early chapters, you come to accept this and move on.

Companion influence helps a lot. Koth, Lana, and Senya all like delicacies (especially Koth, that man can eat) - you can grab these from the Jawa vendors in the cartel bazaar on fleet.

Med droids are also a booming industry thanks to the amount I've spent on repairs in the course of this.

There are more mechanics compared to story mode, and some that exist in story mode that you just notice more on master. But apparently the difference between vet and master is just artificial - more health and hitting harder. 

Going Commando is another good resource for their experiences playing through.

[porta-decumana]

5.55 spoilers below:

The MSQ was good.  I’ve been pretty critical of the MSQ since 5.0 (it’s pacing has left a bit to be desired imo except for 5.3) and 5.5 did not feel like the hype train it needed to be but 5.55 rectified it somewhat.  I still feel as though most of my hype is from the 6.0 trailers/info from Fanfest, not from how the story is presenting the next expac.  But I still enjoyed it overall and thought it was def above passable.  Just lacking a certain ‘oomph’ aspect I feel would’ve made it better.  Definitely an A- in my book.

The solo instance was by far my favorite part of the MSQ and probably the best thing about 5.5.  I loved getting to swap between the characters and revisit spooky lunar versions of our old primal friends.  I was very excited to see Old Lord of Crowns back again when I got to play as Urianger.  I hope that’s a sign that they’re revising the cards again, at least to give AST something a bit more for DPS rather than Malefic, Gravity, Combust, and Earthly Star.  I really miss old Lord of Crowns.  Critting that felt good.

Poor G’raha was probably traumatized by my awful BLM play.

Aymeric with the “I beg your pardon” line had me actually chuckling irl.  I am glad we’re finally putting to rest the beast tribes as secondary, passive antagonists.  It feels like a plot point overdue in terms of needing to be wrapped up.

Estinien dodging Aymeric just to fail to dodge Aymeric = good shit.  I hope Estinien is also ready to have Nidhogg roar when he’s in my Trusts.  What is that Koji?  He wants to make sure he doesn’t go too hard and hurt us?  He didn’t seem to care during the Carteneau instance.  .__.

Fourchenault was very much what I expected.  I feel like he’s sus though for reasons the characters have stated.

I’m still waiting for Fandaniel and Zenos to do something that feels pertinent other than vague about things as they have for the past 3 patches.  It’s been nice and we did get a tidbit more with the roar from the tower but... I was wanting a bit more.  Just a smidge.  Also there’s no way that roar isn’t Anima.  Having just watched FFX footage, the roar sounds the same but louder in FFXIV.  Runner up thought: the roar is some primal embodiment of Garlemald which terrifies me more because what if that means a primal version of Solus?  Anima seems more likely though.

Venat being the person at Silvertear feels basically confirmed now with Hydaelyn-like dialogue to go along with it.  I question why nothing more is made of that scene.  The WoL at this point is probably seasoned enough to be like “hey guys... there’s some shit going down, I just saw a weird glowing lady over there that sounds like Hydaelyn” but I digress, maybe that’s me projecting a bit.

I’m not done with Bozja yet (gotta do the new instance) but some thoughts after hitting rank 25:

I’m ngl, once I would’ve been all for the Mikoto x Cid stuff but since I have a friend who ships her WoL with Cid, I’m just... hm.  It’s reaffirming the fact that I like having the NPCs having ambiguous love lives instead of having shipping in the actual quests.  I think Yoshi P has made good calls in the past about being as open with stuff like that as possible so people can headcanon whatever they want.  So seeing it up front... has me with mixed feelings.  

Where is Nero, where is my boy.  This entire experience would be improved if 1 Nero tol Scaeva was present.

Gaius getting namedropped was nice considering the entire Zadnor arc feels super ARR-esque.  Gabranth feels like a younger Gaius with less indoctrination and a different end goal.  Gabranth was my favorite character in XII and I’m excited to see more of him.

Oboro and Tsubame being in Zadnor were both pleasant surprises.  As well as the Nagxia lore from the field notes.

Overall, Zadnor being the exact same thing as Bozja is just... I mean, I expected this.  They told us this.  But that doesn’t make it any more palatable.  At least the level grind isn’t too awful (looking at you Eureka).  The first area was abysmally flat and uninteresting but the rest of the zone is okay.  I wish if we were gonna continue to get instances like that, they would be... less bland and flat?  It just makes the slog seem more sloggish imo.

SHEMHAZAI <3

Lilja is growing on me.  I wish her a happy be in more content in the future and a very live through all of it.

I continue to be conflicted about Misija.  I think if I resent her at all, it’s because she kicked my ass one too many times in DR.  I’m... intrigued about what will happen to her, I guess. 

Fran showing up again with the speeder and giving me big XII nostalgia.

Cid coming back for this arc of Bozja ALSO felt really good.  I was sad when he wasn’t around for the last few installments.  I’m glad he’s getting to resolve his feelings about the Bozja Incident.  

[heavenlysageee]

Storms Like These

Chapter 3: Hydrangeas in Bloom 

fandom: BNHA/Dabi/Shinsou

pairing: Dabi x GN!Reader

word count: 1616 words

!Possible TW!: complicated grief, depression, mentions of death

>> Previous Chapter <<  >> Next Chapter<< 

a/n: thank you so much for keeping up with the story this far! i have been a little pre-occupied with stuff at home and university but i’m doing my best to try and continue the story!

»» — —  —   —  ♡— — — — ««  ♡  »»— — — —  —  — ♡ — — —  — ««

Reader’s POV

Your hands carefully wrap the clear plastic around the wildflower bouquet and set it to the side for an order. It’s one of your favorites, it isn’t restrictive, it’s a spontaneous but pretty bouquet. The sun was almost setting, which means you’re almost free. You untie your flower shop apron and glance over at Hitoshi surrounded by purple wolfsbane, his hair was so bright it’s like he belonged there. He was spritzing it with water and mindlessly checking for their health. As if noticing your glances, he brings one particularly ill-looking camellia plant over and carefully pushes it onto the counter.

Looking at you expectantly, he gestured toward the flower and said, “Alright, do your thing and save the poor soul.” 

You gently smile and your fingers snake around the base of the potted plant allowing your quirk to regenerate the life of the plant. You feel heat in your finger tips and little sparks of green are apparent while you watch the original rouge of the flower return into its venation. Once the flower regains its former beauty, Hitoshi grabs it and says, “Imagine what you could’ve done if you were a pro-hero like me. We would’ve been partners roaming the streets and protecting its citizens just like how we told mom we would.” 

Your hands quickly slip away from the counter and you turn away toward the window. “And I tell you the same answer over and over again Toshi, it’s just not my thing. We were kids. I promised mom I would take care of the flower shop and I know she wouldn’t want me to abandon it.” The slight tension that filled the air after you mentioned your mom was palpable. The silence was so painful that it almost physically hurt. Your hands balled into fists at your side and you try to relieve the awkward tense energy filling your body by doing menial tasks like counting stock. 

“I’m sorry, for uh, mentioning mom.” You mutter before timidly glancing at your brother who hasn’t spoken a word. His face was devoid of expression while he looked at you. Crap. I really struck a nerve this time around. 

He gave a half-smile and replied, “No one told you to abandon it. Just - consider it at least one of these days. I’d like to hang out with my blood, after all, you’re all I have left of mom.” Hitoshi untied his apron and folded it onto the counter quietly. He looked you in the eyes and spoke in small sentences, “I’m uh - gonna start to head upstairs to your apartment for a bit just to clear my head. I’ll see you in a bit.”

The guilt washed over you like an icy bucket of water. When Mom passed away, Hitoshi’s grieving process was complicated. After the burial, you couldn’t get in contact with him for 3 months, he just disappeared. Always leaving unreturned voice-mails and countless calls, you couldn’t take the stress of wondering where he was. You drove 3.5 hours to his place and stormed into his apartment. 

Before you could even open the door, your body froze. Whether it was the stupid sibling “intuition” or your own fear, it took every muscle fiber in your body to turn the spare key to his apartment. You opened the door and his apartment was absolutely horrific. The stench was a mixture of old food and unwashed laundry, plates were stacked high in the sink, shattered alcohol bottles and pictures of your mom littered the floor. When you got to his room, you found him on the floor curled up in a ball releasing the most gut-wrenching cry. His room was just as equally messy with the bed sheets haphazardly thrown off the bed, laundry basket overflowing, and no light in his room whatsoever. 

You’ll never forget that moment, you didn’t know what else to do except scoop him into your arms and hold him. You’re all he has left. He wasn’t wrong. 

Shaking yourself from the memory, the door to the storefront swung open with a little ring. “Hello, welcome to The Garden, how can I help you?” Familiar purple and olive skinned hands pressed flat against the counter filling your nose with a mix of leather and cigarettes. Your eyes trace up to find Dabi leaning onto your counter holding his chin up with a confident smile plastered across his face. 

“Hello angel, how’s it been since the last time we met? Missed me?” You rolled your eyes to try and hide the little sparks that flittered along your skin into your stomach. You met his eyes and brought your face to the same level as his leaving only a few inches of space between you two. “It was just last night, I couldn’t miss you even if I tried.” 

His eyes seemed to run down your features as if he was burning every inch of your face into his mind’s eye, stopping at your lips. “Well, I sure as hell missed you gently tending to me. So I just had to come back for round two.” This man is too damn smooth - it’s almost alarming. Straightening your posture, you returned your position at the register and asked him, “What’s the real reason you came to my flower shop and not my apartment?”

He straightened at your question and began to take a look around the entire flower shop. “You said I could ask you for help with absolutely anything. So I came here to your business to ask you for a favor as a prospective business partner.” You raised your eyebrows at his suggestion but figured it wouldn’t hurt to hear him out. Crossing your arms you pivot your attention toward the burnt man in the leather jacket. “Go on.”

His lips upturned into a half smile and glanced at you from the side. “I can’t say it here though, it’s a bit of a private affair. You know, just between you and I. I can’t just let anybody hear it.” Your brows furrowed in confusion. What the hell is he talking about? What kind of favor is this? 

Before you could inquire any further, he shook his head and shoved his hands into his ripped jean pockets. “I’ll call you and we can just meet up at a joint I know. Somewhere you and I can talk comfortably.” He pulls his phone out and hands it over to you expectantly. You tilt your head to the side still clouded in slight confusion but texted yourself from his phone nevertheless. He grabs his phone back from you and his other hand slides cash across the counter toward you. 

You laughed a little, “Dabi, what is this for? You don’t need to pay me for giving you my number.” He shook his head and picked up one hydrangea, “I’ll contribute to your business in exchange for helping me. Consider this my expression of gratitude if you will. It’s a pleasure doing business with you dollface.” 

Once his lanky figure disappears from sight, you finish closing up the register and lock the store. You’re not sure what it is about him but he makes you feel valuable and pursued. Maybe it’s just your heart getting a little lonely or bored, but it’s a nice feeling to be chased by another person. You flip the light switch, do one last check that all the closing tasks are done and post a little post-it note for the opening staff to look at. 

Going up the stairs to your apartment you notice that Shinsou was standing in your kitchen drinking a bottle of water looking slightly disgruntled. You fell onto the couch and gave your legs a much needed stretch from standing the entire shift. Turning toward Hitoshi, you frown and ask, “What’s got you all mad like that for? You look more dead than usual?” 

Your question seemed to shake his mind out of whatever was bothering him and he put on the warm smile you liked. “Nah, it’s nothing. Just stressed about work, big hero things.” You shrug it off and flip through channels on the TV, “Yeah, no that sounds like something out of my specialty. All you bro.” 

He approaches you onto the couch and after a few minutes of enjoying each other’s company, he asks, “Do you keep track of all the customers in your store?” You chuckle and turn to him, “Uh, not really Toshi. There’s usually too many people to keep count of. You know, there’s weddings, funerals, and the usual couples or filial children.” Before you could continue any further he replies abruptly, “Just watch out okay? Like I told you, I’ve been assigned to a nearby area. So I don’t want you letting your guard down.” 

Giving him a comforting nudge, you smile, “You know me better than that, you know I’m not like that.” He looks down and seems to be satisfied with your answer. He stretches his legs out and leans back on the other end of the couch opposite of you. “You cool with it if I sleep over in the guest room for tonight? I’m a little too lazy to drive back right now. Plus, I have a shift patrolling here tomorrow anyways since it’s my first day with the agency I was telling you about.” You kick him in the calf with the one leg that was resting on the couch. “So that’s what you were planning all along loser?” You shook your head and continued watching the TV. Hitoshi playfully sings, “I didn’t hear a no, so I’m gonna take it as a yes.” 

[siennahrobek]

Rex hadn’t been entirely sure what all happened in between him, Feemor and Ahsoka finding Impulse and a few of the other 501st and the beginning of the evacuation. He had held onto his brothers as they woke up and cried, whispering nothings and forgiveness in their ears while the two jedi called a senator. He didn’t completely know what was happening; he just knew everything was going to change.

The captain was a bit adrift at first and everything he saw and did, it felt so surreal, like was controlling himself as a videogame rather than physically moving. He had mostly had stayed with Ahsoka and General Feemor during the launching stages of the evacuation. It had been quiet one moment, he remembered. He didn’t recall what they were doing at the time but knew it was rumbling the next, the walls shaking and dust and small pieces of debris falling and shuttering around them. Later, they all found out it was explosions that were designed to trap the attacking forces out and the surviving jedi inside.

It wasn’t long when General Shaak Ti emerged from nowhere, battered and bruised and dirtier than anyone had ever seen her, announcing orders about the evacuation. She had made a few masters leaders to help organize; the three of them had listened in; they needed to prepare and begin to move, as ships were already being sent down from General Kenobi’s ship with the 212th.

Ahsoka got herself to the front of the crowd and had told everyone, right now, her 332nd was safe as well. General Shaak Ti had looked at her for a moment with an unreadable expression (Rex thought her expressions were always unreadable) and nodded, directing Ahsoka and Feemor over to Oppo Rancisis and Coleman Kcaj to help with bringing up supplies to the hidden away venator that Ahsoka had brought with her, away from prying eyes.

Rex was separated from them after that, although on accident, when he found a young padawan struggling to drag an unconscious trooper towards the medical halls. He had immediately gone to assist and although he would never regret helping his brother – or the padawan – he nearly did regret looking inside the Halls.

There were troopers everywhere, sometimes even two or three to a cot, in sitting positions after their surgeries, holding their heads in their hands, asking questions and more often than not, crying. Impulse and his group had already been ushered out, no doubt being included into the evacuating groups that were already on their way towards a venator ship.

His chest practically closed up, seeing his brothers, brothers he knew so well, as many of them were from the 501st, trying to come to grips about what was happening. Most of the experienced healers were helping with surgeries, as they were trying to get them done as quickly but safely as they could but other aides and padawans were right next to the troopers, trying to answer questions and explaining what was happening. To keep them calm.

It was a difficult task.

They could only see the blood on their hands.

The aides and padawans often held their hands, despite many of the troopers’ fears, and no matter how bloody, muttering reassurances and forgiveness. He could feel it in the air. They held no ill will towards his brothers.

Commander Appo was sitting on his cot in the corner of one of the rooms, holding so tight to the sheets that his knuckles were just about as white as the fabric. He was staring at the floor, wide-eyed and breathing quietly but erratically. Shaking and silent tears were flooding his eyes.

Rex approached, carefully.

“She couldn’t have been any more than five years old,” he whispered in a sob.

Rex stopped in his tracks. Appo probably wasn’t talking to him particularly, but it was heartbreaking all the same. As much as the Commander was trying to pull himself together, Rex could tell he was trying, he also couldn’t even imagine how he was feeling. His chip hadn’t been activated and he could not envision trying to kill anyone under the influence of the chip. He knew who would have been closest if it had. He would have gone after Ahsoka, he knew. That was unthinkable.

Somehow, his mind went to his General. Hearing that he had led the attack from Feemor at the beginning was rather unbelievable. Hearing what Skywalker did before the attack from Impulse didn’t seem real. But seeing this, the near entirely of the Jedi’s healing halls filled with wounded jedi and clones, brainwashed brothers, he knew. Before, with Feemor and Impulse his brain knew but his heart had continued with disbelief. With this, seeing this, his heart knew too.

Skywalker hadn’t just brainwashed and led them to fight against adult jedi – as wrong and horrible as that was by itself – but he led them to slaughter children. The helpless and vulnerable. He had meant for the entirety massacre of the Temple. A place which was rather full of non-warriors, of retired elders, of younglings, of the sick and injured, of healers, of children and kids and babies.

The youngest baby at the Temple was three months old.

He remembered Skywalker mentioning that and how the General was surprised that someone left the child on the steps during this time of war since most public opinion of the Jedi was rather poor. That their numbers were declining; people were scared.

How could she possibly warrant being killed?

How could anyone be warranted the genocide of an entire people?

Rex felt like he was about to vomit. This felt like a near worst case scenario. The 501st had already been burned by a General, but at least Krell always made it fairly clear that he didn’t actually care about them. He had called them by designated numbers, if that even, as clone was a worthy enough name for them when it came to him. He never did treat them like the other jedi generals did. Skywalker….Skywalker, he made it seem like he sometimes did, like sometimes he cared. Like their lives at least mattered, to an extent. Sure, when it came to the life of Senator Amidala, it was different, but at least, generally for the most part, in battle he didn’t throw them away like fodder. Skywalker hadn’t been great at leading large groups of men; he was better at going off of impulse, throwing rocks and figuring out how to win on the fly, but he didn’t purposefully use tactics knowing it would produce large causalities. General Kenobi was better at the larger scale tactics, figuring out the best ways to achieve victory with getting as little many men killed as he could. It just so happened that his plans were usually foiled by something…or someone who thought differently.

Captain Rex knew a of things too, he was good at strategy and tactics and planning and out of the box thinking. He was good at predicting movements and making plans that even Skywalker could use and go along with, and what to do if something different happened, if initial plans didn’t pan out. But this? This he never could have predicted. He could have never guessed.

He never thought that someone like Anakin Skywalker would lead brainwashed and unwilling slaves to murder the people the troopers cared about and the people that were supposed to be Skywalker’s family. Rex thought the Jedi were Skywalker’s family.

Rage was boiling in his chest, and he barely recognized it. He had been upset and angry before, even at Skywalker at times, but this was different. This was something harsh and strong and undeniable. Something that made his heart feel like it was going to explode. He tried to focus on something, anything, besides that feeling.

He could only watch as brothers broke down into tears after waking up, with no understanding why this was happening; why them, why the jedi, why at all.

Emotions were rolling off of him as he stood in the corner, watching and staring. What does one say to these brothers? The brothers that had what little they possessed stripped away from them from someone they cared about, someone they thought cared a little about them too?

Rex had cared about Skywalker. He liked working with him. He liked working with Commander Tano. They were good people, talking with him and even asking him his suggestions, since they knew, at least most of the time, they could trust him and his ability. He thought Skywalker valued him; not only his expertise but also him as a person.

He thought about Impulse. The boy had been mixed up in the evacuation already, probably even on a ship by this time, but the look on his face, the tone of voice, would probably stay with Rex forever.

How easily it could have been him?

Rex was the person that was nearly almost always standing right next to Skywalker. Everyone knew it. He hadn’t been a commander for the war, but he had proven himself able to generally keep up with Skywalker and well, Skywalker seemed to want him around. So, Rex was nearly always around. Always by his side. Would it have been him? If he hadn’t been on this on the mission with Ahsoka?

Would have Skywalker lashed out and took off his head without a second thought?

Would he even regret it?

It was a terrifying thought, one he hoped no one else would think of.

The betrayal that the 501st was going through, the survivors currently, that sort of betrayal was very often undying.

Who was to care about them now? The Jedi, commonly, cared about the clones, sure, but most groups of them had a jedi that just…cared more. A Jedi’s general was something battalions and legions and groups of clones were often proud of. Wolffe, as grumpy and annoyed as he always seemed to be, would do anything for his general. Would follow him to the ends of the earth and his close-knit wolf pack would agree, especially seen by the unique nose art their gunships often sported. Gree and his men often said they couldn’t imagine anyone else. Doom and his troops had mourned master Tiplar; had been completely devastated by her loss. Bly and his troops were so proud and protective of their general, snapping at anyone who dared even try a comment they deemed inappropriate. Grey….Grey practically adored his General, Depa Billaba and their padawan Commander, Caleb Dume. Caleb had actual, real friends within the ranks under Grey and Billaba.

Battalions and legions and squads, they were all protective and close to one or two jedi more than the others.

That being torn away, that betrayal, he wasn’t sure how the surviving 501st was going to handle that, especially being around more jedi. Would they reject jedi completely, afraid of getting close again? Would a jedi try to embrace the survivors? And if anyone did try, would the survivors even allow it? There wasn’t many of them left, Rex couldn’t predict what would happen next.

His fingers curled into a fist, with a consistent pulse of tightening and loosening the grip. Breathe, he thought.

“Are you alright captain?” a familiar accented voice asked quietly.

Rex nearly jumped and turned to come face to face with General Kenobi. “Uh, sir, yes, o-of course.” Out of all the people that were in the area, he hadn’t expected to come face to face with him. But then again, it shouldn’t have been surprising either. General Kenobi was known for visiting the wounded. Rex had just thought right now, he would have better things to do. “W-Why would you think I’m not?”

An eyebrow was raised, silently but all Rex could see was the bruises under his eyes and the tired near resignation in his gaze. “You have every right to be not okay,” he started, a bit slowly, before his gaze turned out to the others. “But you are projecting your fury and anger. It is being felt by others.”

Oh. “I’m sorry,” Rex croaked.

General Kenobi took a breath. “It is natural to feel these things, especially going through what you and your brothers are.”

Rex racked his brain for information on projection of feelings. He was certain he had heard General Kenobi talk about it with Skywalker before. The answer was a realization that he didn’t like. He winced at the thought. “It hurts them, doesn’t it?”

The general’s expression was sympathetic and kind. “It depends on how strong everyone’s shields are. You, specifically, do not project too bad, probably due to natural shields procured being around…around Anakin all the time, but most everyone is feeling at least somewhat similar to what you are feeling. It feeds into everyone else’s fear and anger, which creates a feedback loop which feeds into itself and becomes a perpetual cycle.”

Swallowing, Rex tried to push down those feelings. His brothers had enough to deal with, they didn’t need his fear and anger to pollute them even more. “What…what do you do when you feel like this?”

“Any number of things,” General Kenobi replied, not quite looking at Rex. “I like to meditate, mindfulness is a good tool to deal with emotions and feelings, to help one understand, deal with and move past them.”

“Have you?” Rex was pretty sure he knew the answer.

The general shot him a smirk that didn’t hold much amusement at all. “Not a chance.”

He had to ask. “I heard you fought him, Skywalker,” he added quietly.

General Kenobi’s face went blank. “I did.”

He was alive and here and didn’t seem too injured. He won, obviously, but Rex couldn’t quite imagine the cost.

“Did you kill him?”

“No.”

Rex had mixed feelings about that notion, probably influenced by his emotions and feelings. “Part of me is a bit disappointed because he deserves it,” he started gradually, carefully. “If he’s not alive, that’s one less person for my brothers to be betrayed by again, one less person to be used by. One less person to fight, one less person to hate being alive. One less person to worry about taking their minds away from them.”

General Kenobi nodded, understanding.

“The other part is a little glad,” Rex admitted, grudgingly. He didn’t like that he felt like this but the rage in the pit of his stomach demanded its pound of flesh. “Part of me wants him to burn, for all that he has done to my brothers and everyone else. I know it isn’t very jedi like.”

“It is not the Jedi way,” General Kenobi agreed, evenly. “But I am sure plenty of those here – even jedi – are feeling quite the same.”

“They can?”

“Of course,” General Kenobi glanced at him again. His grey blue eyes were full of everything and nothing at the same time. Rex couldn’t read them and he wasn’t completely sure he wanted to. “Feelings and emotions are not controlled in the moment internally, or even prevented. They just come. It is action on them that is worrisome when it comes to the Jedi.”

“If I see him again, I will shoot him.”

“I suspected so.”

“You…you aren’t upset?” he asked, hesitantly. Rex’s conviction was not in question, to either him or General Kenobi, but he was a little surprised General Kenobi had simply acknowledged and accepted that occurrence, that possibility. “I just said I would shoot him if I saw him again. I think I would kill him, given the chance.”

“You are not beholden to my beliefs,” General Kenobi responded with a small, one shouldered shrug. “And…it may not be something I personally am able to accomplish, I cannot fault you for wanting to protect your brothers.”

“I’m sorry. I know you love him.”

“I love Anakin Skywalker, he is my brother,” General Kenobi admitted, hushed and mournful. He couldn’t meet Rex’s gaze once again but instead let it wander into the rest of the room, flitting between grieving and crying soldiers and those who were pulling back their shoulders, clearing their eyes and moving forward until everyone would be safe. It was admirable, Rex always thought, to be able to pick up and go, to not let feelings completely destroy you, to do your duty. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it anymore. General Kenobi watched a soldier leave, asking to help any way he could. A padawan directed him towards the landing pad for evacuation. He continued, quietly. “But I don’t think he is that person any longer.”

“I think I might hate him,” the words came out before Rex could stop them. Whether they were true or not, at the moment, he thought they were. “I hate what he has done to you, to our brothers, to the Jedi. Force, he came here to murder children. Children. Not enemy combatants; kids. It makes me wonder – was he always like that? Just hiding it from everyone? Did he ever actually care? Was the person we thought we knew ever there? Or was it a front?”

“I can’t believe that,” General Kenobi whispered, voice suddenly a bit hoarse and choking. “I just can’t.”

“I don’t know if I can either,” Rex confessed, the truth seeming to ring out. He wasn’t entirely sure what he felt or what he believed about Skywalker. Did he exist? Or was he just hiding? Rex wasn’t sure if he could believe that he never cared about them. “But it is what he is now – a monster. Even if he could ever come back from that, the 501st, me, we could never trust him again.” Rex didn’t think he could. Honestly Rex didn’t think he or Cody or anyone one of his brothers could stop themselves from shooting Skywalker in the face. This betrayal would hurt for quite some time to come.

“I think…” General Kenobi started, clearly struggling to speak. “I think I will always love him. No matter what, he…he is my brother. I…I tried to raise him. Arrogant of me, perhaps, to believe that I could, but I tried, all the same,” General Kenobi looked down at his hands, dirty, bruised and a bit bloody. “But I do believe you are right. Even if by some miracle we ever got Anakin Skywalker back, it wouldn’t be the same. We – I – could never trust him again."

A silence fell over them until General Kenobi patted his arm and stepped away, walking through some of the cots. He knelt next to a soldier who was curling tighter into himself, crying and his hands shaking as he stared at them, blood-stained. General Kenobi put his hand on the brother’s shoulder and whispered a few things quietly to him before tucking the crouched soldier underneath his chin and to his chest. The brother – Rex didn’t know his name at glance – practically threw himself into the General with renewed sobs. Even Rex could feel the forgivenesscalmpeacelove that the general had pushed forward.

Rex had stared for a moment, a realization dawning over him gradually. It was slow coming, but it came all the same. The 501st had been betrayed by Skywalker yes, but Skywalker wasn’t the only Jedi who cared about these, specific soldiers. General Kenobi had commanded and directed many groups of men, including the 501st – often the 501st – as they were a part of his third systems army. He knew a lot of them by name. He knew personalities and quirks. The 501st never just had one jedi they cared about or one jedi that cared about them.

They had been betrayed by Skywalker, yes, and so had General Kenobi.

Rex was fairly certain he knew where the 501st would turn to.

He looked away after the thought raced across his mind and then, after another moment, he left the room. His hands were shaking again, and he ended up having to lean up against the walls of the hall for support to stand upright. So much going on, so much to think about, it was rather overwhelming.

“Rex?”

Taking a deep breath, Rex slowly turned around. He knew that voice, every brother knew that voice. Rex just wasn’t sure if he could handle it right now.

To his relief it was Cody. Cody stood in the hall in front of him, eyebrows creased in worry with his helmet and an unfamiliar lightsaber clipped to his belt and a small package in hand.

“H-Hey Cody,” he greeted, his voice wavering. He was doing his best to get a hold of himself. Being in the Healing Halls with so many of his brothers…it had been difficult. His brother got closer and up to his side as Rex struggled to continue to speak. He studied Cody further. There was blood, streaking down some of armor, splattered on his hands. There was even a bit on his helmet.

As always, Cody seems to read his mind. “It’s not mine.”

Rex doesn’t know whose it is. He’s not sure if he wants to know. Instead, he asks, “You got yours out?”

Cody blinked, a bit surprised and confused, but after moment, he realized what he meant and touched the side of his head where the scar was. “Oh. Yes. I uh…I kind of kickstarted this whole thing,” he admitted.

“Kickstarted?”

“The Sith Lord contacted me while General Kenobi and I were walking down the Temple halls, activating my chip directly,” he explained, his nose curling and eyes narrowing in disgust. “Luckily, they ended up bringing me to the Healing Halls where they found it, along with another trooper, Inkspot. After we recovered, Inkspot and I joined the defense.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. My orders didn’t completely supersede that of the emperor’s, but it did help trapping them,” Cody said, uneasily. “I did the best I could but then I got separated from the battle. And then…I was there are the tail end of General Kenobi’s duel with Skywalker.” Rex stared at him with a million silent questions. “He defeated him quite thoroughly.”

“M-Meaning?”

“Relieved him of his three remaining limbs.”

Yikes. Whatever Rex had been expecting when it came to General Kenobi and Skywalker’s duel…that was not it. There was a bit of shameful satisfaction growing in the pit of his stomach. He squashed it down the best he thought he could. “That…that uh would do it,” he added.

“We are on the tail end of the evacuation,” Cody continued, looking around. The change of subject near gave Rex whiplash. “Soon there will be just a handful of troopers and Master Drallig’s guards and helping knights. Soon, there will be little left. Madam Nu said she will blow up the archives for whatever we cannot bring. I’m not sure if she intends to use it on a delay or use it to aid our escape into hyperspace,” he explained, rather musing to himself than anything. He shook his head. “Is General Kenobi in there? He mentioned wanting to check up on some of the 501st survivors, tell them it isn’t their fault, I got pulled away by some troopers and lost track of him for a bit.”

“He is,” Rex’s voice felt hoarse and croaking. “Think the 212th battalion might have some competition.”

The attempted humor fell flat as Cody just shot him an unusually soft and sympathetic expression. “There won’t be a competition,” he assured. “The 501st will be welcomed, as always. It isn’t the first time a betrayal has brought them closer.”

Rex nodded. One would think after the friendly fire incident on Umbara that Krell had initiated, the 212th and the 501st would have been bitter and avoided one another. In actuality, it had brought them closer. A horrible thing, two groups coming more together in tragedy and pain.

It just seemed to keep on coming. Over again.

“The 332nd is okay,” Rex forced out, trying to keep himself talking. The more he did it, the more it would be easier to do, to continue. “I mean, they weren’t activated. General Kenobi had warned Commander Tano. General Shaak Ti knows, she sent a few ships up there, mostly supplies.”

Cody nodded. “Do you want to stay with her?”

“I should, for now,” Rex admitted. “I should probably have the rest of the 501st come with me but…I don’t think I should. Commander Tano could use my help and I think, although part of her will want to be on General Kenobi’s ship, with him, she will probably stay with us.”

“It’s not long until Kamino, our first stop,” Cody shrugged. “We can figure out more then. Does that sound okay?”

Rex could barely feel himself nodding but he had little idea about the future. He didn’t know their first stop was Kamino. That didn’t seem very…safe, at least for the Jedi. Or anyone unchipped for that matter. He decided not to question it for now. The Jedi had to know what they were doing. “Uh, yeah that’s fine.” Something else popped in his head, another thing that had been bugging him. After all, Cody should know about what he had learned about his General. “Did…did General Kenobi meet back up with General Feemor.”

Cody’s eyes narrowed, full of suspicion. “Not since I woke up. General Kenobi told me he helped him with the beacon and with the duel with Skywalker. Why?”

Rex had no idea why his mind had gone to that, but it seemed at least Cody knew Feemor’s name. “Well, he uhm…Ahsoka told me that he claimed to be General Kenobi’s lineage brother.”

The suspicion was even fiercer now. “Did he?”

“I don’t know the specifics and I don’t think General Kenobi knows about him but…I just thought I should let you know, just in case,” Rex confessed. “We have been burned a lot and Count Dooku was related to General Kenobi too through their…lineages.”

Cody nodded. “Thank you for letting me know. I will deal with it.”

Overhead, wafting through the halls, General Shaak Ti’s soothing and calm voice rang overhead. “Remaining Jedi and Troopers, please start making your way towards the landing bays for final evacuations.”

“The end is near,” Cody muttered. It was probably mostly to himself, but he had caught it all the same. Rex had a bad feeling about this, but he silently agreed. Whatever was to come, an age was near its end. He just hoped they would survive through it.

[howdidthisevenhappenanyway]

I mean when I have them use mando’s it’s as a fuck you to the trainers like…they were raised by these people who were fucked up and most were mourning a sub-culture that no longer really existed once jaster mereel died and that’s sad but the way the clones experienced that was in bitterness and pain and cruelty. and jango was this figure of like…most of the mando trainers were just holding their breath and waiting for jango to say the word and tell them to rise up…but he just never did. and meanwhile the things they were doing were pretty much on a par with death watch at that point. and they would have defs been taking their trauma out on these defenceless kids and then justifying it to themselves as them toughing them up.

and jango chose one clone to have a soul basically, and then was like…fuck the rest of you. So yeah, only the alphas had any real contact with jango and they hated him. so presuming the younger clones had contact with the alphas, then it stands to reason that kids would be like ‘you don’t want us to have the language or culture? fuck you!’ and the clones are so very good at learning things, even things that aren’t said to them outright. so they’d learn that shit to perfection, out of the kind of spite only teenagers are capable of lmao.

but like…by the time they get deployed I feel like it’s not mando’a anymore. they’d have turned it into their own culture that has been shaped by mandolorian culture because that was the very foundation of how Jango designed their…everything. but it would be mixed in with basic and kaminoan and maybe other cultures represented by the trainers and become its own thing.

I know that’s not how everyone sees it, but that’s at least how I look at it. in canon they have learned the mando tapping language and made their own, so it stands to reason that they would do the same with spoken language.

…so like I agree with you, but I don’t see why if they’re making their own culture it has to all be in basic?

and I think the kote thing was originally used by authors to represent cody’s struggle with identity, and his relationship to prime who spoke to him like once or twice, and gave him a name but it’s one he hates and loves and hates

but fanon is like…a monster that gets out of hand, so I know that’s not how it’s always presented that way. so yeah I agree with you there too sometimes but not always

edit: I just went through the notes and realise so many people have said this now so I appologise for addibg to the deluge of people explaining things lmao

I reiterate that your pov is valid, OP and I think it’s just a case of different people coming from different ideas about how things were on kamino and on the venators etc during the clone wars

I tend to find fanon kind of fascinating in the way these kinds of things will just bubble up kind of suddenly from one fic, and then two, and then seven and they can get a bit out of hand and then there will be others hanging out who never read any of those fics, or disagreed with the original idea and will be like what the fuck are you all talking about?

Am I the only who hates more and more when I see clones speaking Mando'a?

Like they deserve their own culture, they might have Mandalorian blood, but they are not Mandalorians, they have no reason to speak that language. Also so many people write that clones' names are so important for them, but then they change Cody's name to Kote? Why?