#fulcrum sounds like a clone name on purpose

[lightsaber-dorphin]

This post sprang from an ao3 comment conversation where I mentioned my “Fulcrum sounds like a clone name essay” and the author said they wanted to hear it. This was supposed to be a short thought-dump…

Ahsoka is the original Fulcrum. The symbol is based off her markings, and she choose the name. While the alias was later used by other rebel spies, Ahsoka created it as her own spy persona, not a title for a rebellion spy.

When I say Fulcrum sounds like a clone name, I am being literal. It sounds like the kind of name a clone would have. Ahsoka’s other alias, Ashla, has a deep meaning but is common enough that people don’t immediately know she’s lying about her name or connect her to the Jedi. By contrast, the only group in the galaxy who would find Fulcrum a normal name is the clones.

A fulcrum is “a thing that plays a central or essential role in an activity, event, or situation.” It reflects how Ahsoka sees herself. (She has a bit of an ego, and that’s okay.) It represents what she wants to be and do as part of the rebellion. “Fulcrum” is a description of Ahsoka by Ahsoka. That is a very clone-style way of choosing a name!

For someone else it could be a coincidence. But Ahsoka, who fought alongside clones for years and was close to many of them, would’ve seen the similarities. What did it mean to her, to pick a name a clone might choose in a way a clone might choose it?

Take a look at Ahsoka’s other alias: Ashla. An ancient name for the light side of the Force. There’s no such thing as a “Jedi name,” but Ashla is arguably the closest thing to one there is. She used this name right after leaving the Order, and again when in hiding after the Jedi were massacred. Both were times when her emotions about the Jedi were very raw.

Ahsoka created Fulcrum right after she returned to her troops, they and every other clone had their free will stripped away, and she had to kill many of them to survive. What does Ahsoka do in that situation? Tell no-one about her past while going by a name connected to the group she’s having heavy emotions about!

Ahsoka’s relationship to the clones was different from her relationship to the Jedi. To the Jedi she was one of them, a Padawan. They betrayed her. She wasn’t one of the clones, to them she was a friend, an ally. To the 501st she was Their Commander. They trusted her to lead them into battle. Ahsoka rejected who she was to the Jedi but not who she was to the clones of the 501st.

Rex said the “I am no Jedi” line first. Ahsoka used that phrase specifically when she said she isn’t a Jedi. It framed her non-Jedi status in a similar way to Rex’s. She subtly aligned herself with Rex identity-wise as she unaligned herself with the Jedi. Ahsoka isn’t a Jedi and the clones aren’t Jedi. They are both non-Jedi Clone Wars veterans. Ahsoka doesn’t identify as a Jedi anymore but she does keep identifying as a comrade to her troops.

Her troops were the first to say that even though she left she is still Their Commander. The 332nd painted Ahsoka’s markings on their helmets— the same markings that she made the Fulcrum symbol. Her troops painted themselves to represent her and she named and illustrated herself to represent them. Like poetry, it rhymes.

Ahsoka couldn’t openly declare that she missed the clones, that she respected them, that she didn’t blame them for the rise of the Empire. Most of the galaxy doesn’t know about the control chips and thinks the clones are loyal servants of the Empire. No other rebels would trust her. So Ahsoka can’t do that. But she can fight the Empire under a clone-style name, and honor them in that way.

Fulcrum sounds like a clone name and that’s on purpose!

[b-radley66]

Opportunity Born 2: Fulcrum Is Not Pleased

The silent watcher does his job. He watches the figure with the tall hood sit in a back corner and sip a nearly full drink. His eyes lock on the vigilant scanning the figure employs over the dozens of bar patrons of varying species and genders. He looks closer at the figure. To most observers, what the watcher can see of her face would be determined to be pleasing to the eye. More importantly for his purposes, her sharp blue eyes are clear and focused, but she seems to be alone. Waiting for someone. The watcher is as well. He brings a small device to his lips and speaks into it. He sits back to watch the chaos. A part of him feels remorse for what he has done. The beautiful woman happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. He needs to know that when the response comes, it will come swiftly. So that he can act. He watches and he waits. ~=~=~=~=~= Ahsoka Tano takes a sip of her Garelian mineral water and makes a face. She pulls her cowl up tighter around her cheeks, to hide the facial markings. She sighs as she shifts her hips on the hard synthwood of the booth. She smiles as she hears a voice in her mind. <i>There is enough padding there, Runt. You should be comfy enough.</i> She remembers her rejoinder when the owner of the voice had actually said it. <i>Are you saying my ass is big, Bait?</i> Her smile grows soft as she remembers his sheepish reply. <i>Never, Ahsoka. It’s a work of art. Or at least that is what my Mando relatives say. </i>The shared laughter had led to other joys and light. The joy and light of merely holding each other after yet another half-year absence. Of falling asleep together, without one having to stay on watch. The smile disappears. For about the hundredth time, she looks at her comm. She thinks of hitting enter on the console, to send the call to the commcode. The date blinks accusingly at her. One day before the eighth instance of Empire Day. Eight years and no closer to bringing the Empire down. No closer to organizing into a viable military force. Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, Draq’ Bel Iblis, even his son Garm - not known as the most patient of men, had all said it would take time. Time apparently slowing to a crawl. Time spent building, then watching it fall down around her, at least lately. Two cells had been compromised in the last six months. Cells no more than a few months old. While the numbers of cells had grown in the last few years, much more than even three years ago, when she and her hunt-brother had reconnected, they still could not afford to lose more. At least the segregation protocols were working. There had not been a cascade of falling cells, and the two that fell had been compromised months apart, and hundreds of parsecs. She shakes her head. Her thoughts on the date had not been precipitated by thought of the creeping certitude of rebellion. Or lack of certitude. Instead, it had been initiated by the thoughts of that same ‘Corellian concern’ and their connection. Today, the day before Empire Day was his thirty-third name day. Since she and Bryne Covenant, a Jedi once known as Taliesin Croft, had reconnected, they had only celebrated two name days together. One, her twenty-second, celebrated on a desert world of scavengers with whiskey, jerky, and ration-paste. The other had been his thirtieth. When responsibility owed to his world could have separated them from fighting together. Her quarter-century had come and gone a month or so ago, while she had been ensconced in a tiny attic, vetting a possible new cell. Her Force sense sends a lance of awareness through her skull. She looks up, just in time for a uniformed Imperial naval officer and a squad of stormtroopers to walk through the door. She instantly comes even more alert than she had been with the edge from her solitude at the forefront. Her eyes widen with a sort of recognition as she locks onto the face of the officer. A face with its regulation Imperial disdain. But one familiar to her from her time in the Clone Wars. From her second campaign. She sees a Republic naval officer laughing with her over hot chocolate, in a rare respite from their duties and the pain of the war. Laughter and love while discussing the officer’s beloved younger sister. Ahsoka begins to calmly scan the room for escape options. There are not many, as other troopers, both the fully armored Stormtroopers, and lighter armored Naval troopers take up positions in ones and twos at the other two exits. She closes her eyes and reaches out. The entire wall of bottles and glasses behind the bar falls to the floor in an earsplitting crash. Everyone in the bar turns to look. The operative makes her move, with the inborn athleticism of her people. With a little help from a mystical friend. She bowls over the fleetie standing at the furthest entrance. A touch of the Force and the woman’s blaster no longer works. She grins as she remember’s Croft’s patient teachings to a roomful of younglings. Including her. She starts to increase her speed to move through the back exit of the building. A feminine voice cuts through her hearing. “Halt!” comes from behind her. A blaster bolt where her head had just been punctuates the cry. So much for a stealthy exit. ~=~=~=~=~= Commander Rae Sloane curses as her shot misses the figure. She turns to the troops in the bar. “Go, dammit. Get after him. I want him stopped!” She follows her own command and charges for the exit, managing to step on the Marine lying on the deck. <i>Stupid jarhead, </i>she thinks. She rolls her eyes. <i>You might want to rephrase that, Rae, my dear. For the next two months, you are one as well. </i> She curses again, this time directing her vitriol at her detailer, who had sold her on the idea of enhancing her career in command of a Marine security battalion on some Outer Rim hole. A hole with a sector’s Imperial Currency Reserve. Just after two others had been relieved of a great deal of hard currency. She can just see the cloaked and hooded figure at the furthest reaches of her vision in the twisting, narrow streets of the small town. A part of her realizes that she has left her stormtrooper detachment behind. Her own fleet troopers are nowhere to be found. She pushes forward, recalling her cross-country honors from her childhood on Ganthel. In the time when she could participate in sports. <i>Less patting yourself on the back, Rae, </i>her sister’s beloved voice says. <i>Okay, Jae, </i>she automatically replies. As if her sister was not eight years dead in the stars around Coruscant. In the back of her mind, she wonders about the anonymous commtext she had received. Telling her it might be worth her while to be in that bar with a few of her armored friends. She listens to the earpiece of her comm. Apparently other detachments had received similar hints to other locations. No others were chasing anyone, though. Her eyes widen with realization. She keys her comm. “All units move to the Reserve. Move to the Reserve, now!” She debates about turning away from her pursuit. Rae realizes she can no longer see her pursuer. She stops, breathing hard, but not panting. She shakes her head and starts to turn away. As she takes a step back towards her troops, she feels air displace around her. She turns to see a dark gray blur striding towards her. The blur leaps, the booted feet striking Rae’s shoulders. The figure follows her to the ground. Rae twists and sweeps her attacker’s legs from under her. The thug lands on their ass, a muffled ‘oof’ sounding as air explodes from lungs. An exclamation with a decidedly feminine sound. The woman leaps to her feet after only a half second on her rear. Powerful orange arms in bracers come up, when the sleeves of the robe fall. She assumes the stance. The Imperial gets the impression of a high hood, and powerful blue eyes from the full face concealment. Rae feints, then ducks under her opponent’s swing. The second feint from the opponent connects with Rae’s jaw. Her breath explodes from her lungs as a third straight punch connects with her abdomen. Rae doubles over, but quickly explodes upward with a high kick. The woman reels back, but Rae sees her place her left foot back to maintain her balance. Stars explode in Sloane’s head as the woman’s forehead connects with the officer’s. Rae realizes she is on the ground, staring up at the sky. The Imperial tries to move, but cannot, as it seems she has forgotten where her legs were. She notices the woman hesitating before fleeing, looking down at the young officer. She looks the woman in the eyes. She sees an odd light in the woman’s eyes. Something like regret. Rae strains and turns on her side. She shakes her head as blood streams from her forehead. When she looks up, the woman is gone. Rae slumps back down to the ground as she hears the booted feet of her reinforcements. She feels the bile rise in her throat. The troopers arrive just as she heaves into the dirt. ~=~=~=~=~= A ratty looking tooka cat watches as Ahsoka vomits into a corner. The tooka is not impressed that she is Fulcrum, intelligence whiz of a nascent Rebellion. A sharp meow cuts through Ahsoka’s senses. The tooka rubs against her side. <i>Might be more impressed now, </i>Ahsoka thinks. She reaches down and scratches the tooka's ears. A low purr sounds from the animal. In a lightning move, the tooka swipes at her hand, then runs away. Ahsoka sighs at the three new wounds on her arm. Above the bracer, of course. “Typical,” she whispers, thinking of her love-hate relationship with the two stray tookas that Dani Faygan’s adopted daughter had brought home. She reaches up and touches the single akul tooth in her headdress. Ahsoka wipes her face, the bile, snot, and blood staining the sleeve of the robe. Blood is oozing from her nose, and lips; streaming from her forehead. She stands and pulls a small flask. She manages to smile as the whiskey burns down her throat. As well as the lip wound. She looks at the flask for an instant. A flask she had lifted when she had last seen Covenant. Months ago. She puts her forehead against the wall. <i>Why the hell didn’t you just use the Force and get it over with?</i>She opens her eyes. <i>Is it because of what her sister meant to the owner of this flask? What she meant to you, the one time you met her? </i>She straightens and tries to force the memories away. She turns and starts moving as fast as she can to the port. Ten minutes later, she is standing before an older CR-90 in Corporate Alliance colors. The Captain of the vessel greets her stiffly at the ground elevator. He eyes her disheveled appearance with what looks like disdain. “Fulcrum,” he says. A brief smile quirks one side of his mouth. “Let’s get out of here, Captain Sato,” she says, not bothering with niceties. He nods. “What about your meet?” “It was a bust. Might’ve been a setup. Stormies crashed it,” she says. His eyes narrow with concern. “Once we’re away, there is a priority transmission for you.” His next words warm her, unaccountably. “From Advocate.”

[cupcakeshakesnake]

Watching SWR for the frist time: Through Imperial Eyes

Yep, been looking forward to this episode. Again, not sure if I’ll do any more SWR reactions, but yeah, I’m gonna do this one for sure.

(spoilers ahead)

-Through Imperial Eyes.  If you take the first letter of every word, you get TIE.  What else has the word TIE in it?  Yes, the TIE fighter.  Let’s take a look at the TIE fighter, shall we?

According to Wookieepedia, it was “the standard Imperial starfighter seen in massive numbers throghout most of the Galactic Civil War and onward.”

-But wait!

Did you see that?

ILUMANITI CINFORMED!!!11!1!!

-*cough cough* Okay, let’s get back to the actual episode.

-Did he just wake up? What time is this, 2a.m.?

-He sleeps in his uniform?

-”Battle stations, sir!”  “Yeah i’m just gonna ignore that and go back into my room to waste water.”

-If the top button closes doors and the bottom one opens doors, what happens if you press one of them repeatedly?

-If I was on a Stardestroyer I would get to the nearest one of those doors and just keep pressing the two buttons alternately until the troopers throw me out of the airlock. I love buttons. I’m so gonna break all their doors.

-He sleeps in his armor?

-I finally understand all the Kallus Simulator jokes on my dash.. but seriously, Imperial Agent Simulator 2017 v3.16, created with Unity Engine and supported on Space Windows Vista, 8, 10 and Space Mac OS 7 and up...

-At first I was like “Holy hell, his room is dark,” but then I realized I had turned down my monitor brightness a lot over the past few days.

-*turns brightness all the way back up to 100* That’s better.

-His sink doesn’t have a drain?

-Yep, he’s definitely been sleeping.

-How do time zones even work in space? You could determine it based on the part of the planet you’re orbiting on, but then you could go to the other side in a very short time. Maybe time just loses its meaning when you’re in space. Only relative. Two hours of sleep, sixteen hours awake, ten hours sleeping because you're going to a faraway planet, it’s not “Lunch on 2o’clock”, it’s “Lunch 5 hours after your last meal”.

-Eyyyyyyyy it’s Yogurt List again

-If you’re not under attack then why the fuck did you ring all those sirens

the fuck did you wake me up for bitch

-That shuttle looks like a plastic lunchbox.

^+kallus= the sideburn squad.

for a moment I thought either the stormies were super short or Kallus was on stilts.

-DUN DUN DUN it’s Ezra

-Nice voice changer mask Ezra, did you get it on eBay?

Sabine Paintjob™

-You were expecting Ezra

bUT IT WAS ME, DIO!

-(I’m so sorry.)

-AP-5, sassy as always, and Chopper, with that Imperial paintjob tactic again.

-I just realized the letters C1-10P are supposed to look like ‘CHOP’.

-WHY DOES AP-5 SOUND LIKE SNAPE FROM HARRY POTTER

I see an A, a B, an X, a Y, aaannnnd some illegible symbols.

-Wait, sure the Empire is big, but if Ezra is a rebel Jedi on the loose, wouldn’t there be posters of him all over the place?

-Kallus: *stands and does nothing*  Ezra: “Stop! I’ll tell you anything!”  Lyste: wow he’s good

-THRAWN

-WE’RE SEEING THRAWN

-I’m sure AP-5 would have winked there if he had eyelids.

-Poor Lyste. On the other hand, I don’t think being summoned by high-ranking officers in the Empire is all that good. They might be out for your throat for all you know.

-How the hell did Thrawn get that drawing on his ship?  Seriously, that’s an Imperial Class Star destroyer according to the Internet, it’s supposed to be 1.6 km long, did he just get a bunch of droids to turn the ship upside down to get that gigantic paint job?

yep, no visible barrier, nothing is being sucked out into space because Star Wars.

-KANAN AND REX ARE WEARING STORMTROOPER ARMOR AGAIN

-DID THEY STEAL ANOTHER SHUTTLE

-Jesus Christ the Empire needs better anti-theft mechanisms

Heyyyy it’s that officer again, what was her name? Oh yeah right, Captain Brunson. I spent ten minutes looking for that name on the internet.

-But Lyste has a cylinder right there...

-I feel like I am constantly reminded of how those are not pens these days. Okay, okay, I get it. Also I know in some other places I said those were insignia, and it’s not a precise term but it’s not wrong either because 1) the code contain information about the officer wearing it including their rank, and 2) the numbers and colors of the cylinders differ based on said officer’s rank/position.

is that a fucking hat

-THERE’S THE CLIP THE ENTIRETY OF TUMBLR WAS GOING CRAZY OVER.

-Override code: *german word*

-(I know it’s not German but it just sounds like it... I am learning German and their ‘ch’ is so hard to pronounce correctly...)

-How tf did he close the door though

-I have a feeling he let them hear the override code on purpose.

-Or... HE WAS SIDING WITH THE REBELLION THE ENTIRE TIME

-DUN DUN DUUUUN

-Sorry.

-Oh it’s that guy now. Disney certainly didn’t feel like modeling any new Imperial officers.

-Ahahahaha lizards  Let me guess, ysalamiri?

-YULAREN

-YOU’RE CANON NOW- hold on, A New Hope.  YOU’RE 3D ANIMATED NOW- oh wait, Clone Wars. YOU’RE IN REBELS NOW

-WOOHOO

-When Yularen has had more canon appearances than Thrawn.

-Every single Imperial acquaintance seems to come from ‘the Academy’.  “Hey, remember me? We ate lunch in the Academy together.”  “Remember me from the Academy bathroom?”  “I’m from your Academy, remember?”

His eyes are saying “yes you Kallus, you little shit, i know you’re fulcrum you lil bitch yes you right there”

He still has the Phoenix Squadron graffiti... and the lothcat doodle

-”--must be unmasked quickly”  Idk why but at first I thought he said “must be on Mars”

Free the Rose Quartzes-- oh, wait, wrong show.

-And now we run into Irina SpalkoPryce... It’s like they scraped all the Imperial characters together and put them on one ship.  Except those who are dead.  R.I.P. Aresko and Grint,Grand Inquisitor, Minister Tua, Fifth Brother, Seventh Sister, Eight Brother, and countless stormtroopers.

-Kallus: whoops another person i hate, let me just get rid of this person i hate so he can go with her

-Kallus: actually lemme just make them hate each other

-Kallus: i am such a genius

-Kallus you manipulative mutton chop

Aw come on, you can’t get tired of his shit already! How are you going to survive among the Rebels?

-Was Ezra hanging by his chin or something

-Lyste is so serious about this omfg  He wants to prove himself  Poor dude

-EZRA IS WEARING AN OFFICER’S UNIFORM

-Wait

-How the hell did they find the right size

-Are there smol officers on board

-ARE THERE

-”We’re not here to steal art!”

-Yep, because Thrawn’s definitely gonna look at that map later and go “Welp I guess this one planet here suddenly moved twenty light years to the side, nothing weird about that”

-Lyste’s in big trouble now. I feel sorry for that guy.

-Thrawn smells the traitorous scent.

-KALLUS WAS HIDING THERE

-WHY IS THIS SO FUNNY

-HE DIDN’T PULL ANY CLEVER ANTICS, HE JUST WENT AND HID IN A DITCH IN THE WALL

Is... that supposed to be Imperial insignia as well?

-How the hell did Kallus change the override code

-Wooo, Thrawn action!

-Ouch.  He alright tho

-What did he say? “Nix”?

-”Shuttle TY992, you are clear to land.″  NO IT’S NOT  IT’S A TRAITOR SHIP WITH TRAITORS IN IT

-”There must be some kind of mistake sir--”  Pryce: HOW DARE YOU ASSUME MY GENDER

-But really, gotta love how she didn’t even let him finish the first sentence, didn’t take any of the Jedi bullshit and just said “shoot him”

-She chill af

-DAMN SHE’S A BADASS

-I feel really sorry for Lyste but I can’t help cracking up for some reason

-Yularen why did you come alone

-You could have just brought a bunch of stormtroopers and tased the lot from a distance, or would Ezra’s huge plot shield deflect that too

-Annnnd Pryce faints. Again.

-Dammit Lyste.

-Poor Lyste, and poor Kallus.

-THRAWN’S ACTUALLY PAYING ATTENTION TO THAT PURPLE LOTHCAT DOODLE

-Thrawn knooooowwwssss... He aaaaalwaaaaayyyyssss knooooowwwwwssssssssssss...

-But seriously damn I’m gettin’ chills here.

-”I believe Agent Fulcrum will prove far more useful to the Empire than Kallus ever was.”  DAAAAmn

-Kallus is so screwed

-KALLUS. IS. SO. FRICKIN. SCREWED. D’YOU. HEAR. ME.

-This is such a good episode; I don’t usually rewatch episodes, no matter what franchise, but this one I want to watch again.