#meta: republic commando

[mamuzzy]

Hey dear :D can you tell us about your headcanons on Jango training the Alphas ? :D

I finally got here to answer this ask. <3

And ooooh boy do I have??? Only angsty ones, love.

I use RepComm lore as a base of my headcanons, just to make clear in what continuity I'm creating in. And that means: NO INHIBITOR CHIPS.

The whole idea of the Clone Army revolves around one thing ultimately: to completely exterminate the jedi. To create an army that is ready for the decisive moment of taking down the enemies of the Sith without the jedi even noticing what is coming at them.

The trainers of course didn't know that this is the ultimate goal of the army, but they knew they had to train a whole army for a future war that who knows when will come. They had be loyal. And they had to be effective.

Every trainer had different approach:

Kal Skirata used love and insisted on the importance of comradeship which ultimately didn't necesserily made his commandos loyal to the Republic, but to each other.

Walon Vau used harsh discipline and insisted on the importance to make his commandos remember: they are superior than others and they have the most important mission in their life. Nothing awaits them outside because they have everything they need: their duty. Vau's trainees remained loyal even after the regime change.

And then we have the Alpha ARC Troopers trained by Jango Fett.

The Alpha ARCs in their mind are the unaltered version of Jango Fett. 100 copy of Jango Fett with their brain remained untouched (compared to the Nulls who's brain was tampered with). Meaning, the Alpha's undying loyalty to the Republic is not pre-programmed, it is not in their genes. It is conditioned with traditional methods: And that is FEAR.

More under the cut

Jango Fett didn't care about the clones and I will sparta-kick everyone from this hill who tries to fight me. I don't have a single worldbuilding where Jango was a "good daddy" for the Clones. He was a great, loving and caring father to Boba and Boba alone.

For him, the clones are products, but also they are part of his agenda: Even he dies, there will be millions of Jango Fetts who will fulfill his revenge of killing off all the Jedi.

The books often mention that Jango was a sociopath (meaning he is on the spectrum of ASPD), and this template was able to make the clones to be so effective. His brain is just built different and wasn't cluttered with moral based inhibitions. That's why I think that Jango wasn't actually a sadist who enjoyed tormenting his trainees - The Alphas - out of joy and personal amusement. It served the purpose, it was all pragmatic.

There wasn't any more description what was Alpha's training like on Kamino but these little snippets of lores made my brain go brrrrrrr about the theories. If the Alphas - THE ALPHAS!!!! - were scared of Jango it could mean that their training included something that gave a reason to fear him.

We know that he installed his own commands into the Alphas such us destroying the Clone Facility in case of Separatist attack on Kamino which Alpha-17 almost fulfilled. But also, being unquestionably loyal to the Jedi. For me, these commands weren't installed. I truly love the unaltered brain-Alphas.

-- Physical pain --

When you are in the military and under training, the line between educational violence and actual physical abuse is very thin. Insubordination had to be punished. Jango had to make sure that the Alphas remain loyal despite not having the same inhibitions like the rest of the clones, so there must have been exercises where he tested how far the Alphas would go to fullfill their duties, achieve victory, enforce an order, AT ALL COST.

They had to put through physical hell, pushed over their limits, pushed over their thresholds and beyond. If caught crying, if caught showing pain, if caught showing the single muscle of questioning Jango's orders, they had to be punished. They weren't made to compete with each other, but they also couldn't protect each other publicly when Jango punished the Alphas for insubordination. They had to watch. They had to learn from it.

The Alphas found secret ways to communicate with each other. To find comfort in each other in one way or another. Oh they knew the concept of love and caring. They watched Jango and Boba from the distance. The reassuring words. The caring touches of a father. They watched how the Nulls were running to their precious sergeant for comfort when hurt. They were very much aware that this is not something they would get.

-- RECONDITION: THE ULTIMATE DEATH --

The Alphas needed only one case of serious insubordination to learn their places and that was Alpha-Ø2. He was truly an independent mind and free-thinker, a true inspiration to thrive for individualism in the sea of Jango Fetts. Spar refused to comply and refused to sworn loyalty to "a republic" which he didn't knew.

And one day Alpha-Ø2 disappeared. Only to return without his memories. Returning without his fiery temper, without his free-spirit... and without any knowledge of how he used to love his Alpha-brothers dearly.

The brainwashing of the Alphas were so much successful later in time, when Alpha-Ø2 - called now Spar - actually deserted at age 8, two years before Geonosis, most of the Alphas felt disgust just by thinking about him - they had to.

Alphas had to believe that Spar was the utter disgrace to the Republic, otherwise it would mean, that they were actually treated wrong.

They had no idea that Spar's desertion was orchestrated by Mij Gilamar and Jango Fett himself after Spar regained his memories - probably the only mercy Jango showed for a clone.

-- Jango had to find the perfect balance --

The Kaminoans wanted soldiers who are independent thinkers but still loyal. Completely supressing their individualism wasn't an option, learned from Spar's case.

What the Alphas did in their non-existent freetime wasn't his business. But the Alphas had to drop everything that is them, when Jango ordered them to do so.

Jango hated every form of authority and realized that the Alphas inherited this trait for his disdain. So he used this train in them to be more effective as advisors for the Jedi. The Alphas had to make sure the Jedi survive until the critical point after all.

Alpha-17 is the smartest of them and the closest thing they had for Spar, which made him always walking on thin ice.

Tavo and Sull, lovebirds.

Maze had knowledge of wide variety of things due to reading forbidden literature that wasn't their in their curriculum.

Fordo communicated only through sign language due to trauma, and his closest friends learned too so they can speak to each other. He only spoke when Jango ordered him to do so.

They were smart enough to know what is was truly considered disobedience. And that was going against the Republic and Jango. If they comply to these rules, they will be safe.

-- ALPHA vs NULL conflict --

Jango always had to remind the Alphas that they were expected to be better than their precedessors, the Nulls. If they fail to meet with the standards, they won't have "a kal skirata" to save them from recondition.

Alpha-Ø2 sure didn't have.

The Alphas after a while didn't need outside motivation to be obedient and loyal. Because they were meant to be everything the Nulls couldn't be. Seeing the examples with their own eyes, how chaotic the Nulls were, how the Nulls as children were actually unruly and sadistic toward the kaminoan technicians, how they disobeyed everyone who was not Kal Skirata, they finally saw what is expected from them: BE BETTER THAN THEM.

And they finally found their positive reassurance on their own. How to take pride in being the true servants of the Republic. Only the Nulls didn't give a shit about this rivalry. They didn't care about Jango or the Alphas or being better than the Alphas.

Being obedient without question was totally against he Alphas nature but they tried. They tried fucking hard.

Alphas: We are the perfect soldiers of the Republic because we are obedient, well-behaved, and we don't cause trouble to our trainers unlike you.

Nulls: We are perfect soldiers because Kal'buir said so, nyenyenyeeeee!!!

Indeed. That Alpha's didn't have "a kal skirata" in their life to tell them they are enough. That they are perfect. That they do the best. Because their best was never enough.

And they weren't enough.

The Alpha ARCs deemed to be failure in the end and their template genes weren't put in to mass-production. When the deployment to Geonosis began, they realized that they weren't meant to be used in the battle and it almost broke them.

Despite their effort and hard work, the Alphas still deemed a failure. Unpredictable, unruly, and because they didn't have any inhibition in them, the Kaminoan didn't trust that they would fulfill their roles. Alphas had to watch the Nulls leave to Geonosis while they were put into stasis.

They didn't have "a kal skirata" to save them from this fate. They didn't have Jango Fett, he wasn't there at all.

They were all alone.

-- Did Jango's approach work? --

My answer is: no.

Despite the conditioning, the Alphas had wide-variety of reactions to the Republic, to the Jedi, and Order 66.

Some were able to shake down the effects of the conditioning, and realized that this dead man won't come after them from the grave to punish them for disobedience.

Some Alpha deserted and died by the hands of Clone Assassins sent after them during the Clone Wars.

Some Alpha remained loyal to Jango's orders, the Republic and then the Empire, training the new generation of soldiers.

Some Alpha went into hiding and became bounty hunters.

Ultimately, how they interacted with the world around them as individual and how the environment treated them decided their own fate.

[ranahan]

I just read the Republic Commando: Hard Contact and Republic Commando: Triple Zero novels by Karen Traviss. Republic Commando is Legends now, but here are a few points that struck me about arguments I’ve seen go back and forth here on tumblr. Spoilers for the books!

Several mentions of entire batches of brothers “disappearing” for minor variances & clones being more afraid of the kaminoans than their training sergeants. Kal Skirata drunkenly breaking into tears over the poor boys. Very clear that in Traviss’s books, clones were being decommissioned.

Several mentions of clones dying in live fire exercises on Kamino before being deployed & the training sergeants standing by and doing nothing.

There’s a blurb of a retired commando, chronological age 23, biological age 60. Again, in Traviss’s books, the artificial ageing doesn’t stop when the clones reach adulthood. The main characters are also described as visibly ageing between the two books.

Pretty chilling description of the kind of brainwashing that you believe because you don’t have any reason not to when your entire life so far has lined up with it. I would completely believe these boys could execute Order 66 without the chips & all I could do would be to empathise with them.

Troopers telling their concerned jedi to not worry their pretty little head about what happens to dead troopers. Later a reinforcing mention of no bodybags needed in the GAR.

Vau nearly killing a trooper in training & making the troopers beat each other into a pulp in training.

So again, Republic Commando are Legends now but if anyone wonders where the fandom got the idea that these things happen, here’s your answer. They aren’t fandom inventions.

Other notes and personal opinions:

I mostly enjoyed Hard Contact. There were some bits near the end that fell a little flat, but overall an enjoyable military action/military science fiction novel.

Triple Zero on the other hand, not so much. The pregnancy storyline was just icky. Both in how Etain herself makes it her entire raison d’être, how she makes it the reason for why Darman now has a future, and the lack of consent on Darman’s part. She intentionally gets pregnant without ever discussing anything with him (they’ve been together for two whole weeks at this point), whether he wants kids at all, wants them with her, wants them in the middle of a war, or sees having children in the same light as she does. She’s had the most superficial of introductions to Mandalorian culture and has no idea whether or to what degree the clones or Darman as an individual share those notions—given that they probably have an understandably complicated relationship with Mandalorian culture and especially the notions of children, parents, and legacy. For all we know at this point in the series she could have completely misconstrued the whole thing. But there she goes, and decides that this is how she will fix everything and give Darman a future: a genetic legacy to outlive him.

The force-accelerated pregnancy reads like a bad fan fiction and the whole “go undercover to hide the pregnancy” reads like a Victorian novel.

Etain feels like an odd choice for a point of view character in a military science fiction story. She’s aggressively the-girl-next-door, pointedly unremarkable and ordinary. I guess the point is that readers could have a regular person’s point of view, with which to contrast the commando mindset, and to whom things can be naturally explained without infodumping. But it goes overboard and makes her seem incompetent and immature, so you start wondering what the hell is she even doing in the story or on a battlefield or what does anyone see in her.

There are sexist attitudes straight from the planet Earth. It’s in men and females, how Etain and other female characters are seen through their sex first and other characteristics second, and how they are always “other” in comparison to men. But it’s not just the women, it’s young men—the clones—too where I get this vibe. It’s very bioessentialist. There seems to be this underlying thread of pairing up and reproducing being the most valuable thing a person can do with their life. Which again, seems like an odd choice for a thematic storyline in a military science fiction novel. Like, this is not what it said on the tin.

Some of the tactical/counterterrorism side in Triple Zero feels inauthentic to me as well. There’s too much being bad boys for shock value and too little professional soldiering for my tastes anyway. But I don’t kick in doors professionally so what do I know.

No sense of numbers for galactic economy. Exhibit A: Qiilura.

Lastly, fandom: can we get more Corr? This is an EOD trooper who gets both of his hands blown off early in the war, gets stuck in a logistics centre duty while waiting for better prosthetics, still determined to get back into action to fight alongside his brothers, gets accidentally adopted by some commandos, and makes a career change from disabling fiddly explosives to kicking in doors. A round of appreciation for Corr!

[arliganzey]

Some GAR HQ Zey thoughts in no particular order:

In addition to the blue lapis desk and bantha leather chairs, Zey’s office also has a small sofa and table up against the wall. It’s meant to be for less formal, private meetings but Zey doesn’t have many of those (if at all). This is referred to by Maze and Zey as the “nap couch” because it’s where they take 20 minute power naps. Those two can probably count on one hand the number of times they’ve seen their actual beds since the start of the war.

When Maze says Zey “makes caf” it should probably be clear that the tapcaf machine actually makes the caf--it's one of those 'put cup down and push button' machines. But Zey has taken it upon himself to make sure the tapcaf machine is up and running, like actually cleaning the machine when the 'clean' light goes on instead of ignoring it and hoping for the best like everyone else does.

It’s also Zey who gets a mini conservator put in and stocked with milk/cream/etc and actual mugs in addition to the to go cups. He gets good caf instead of GAR issue, but he keeps it on the down low because he feels bad he can’t distribute the good caf more widely in the field. GAR HQ just has “the mysteriously good caf.”

Zey’s love language is serving caf. It's always been his thing, making sure there's caf out for visitors, and now that there's a war on, he still makes a point of it.

[constantlymisspelled]

(Don’t mind me, just making a self-reference checklist for my clone encyclopedia, nothing to see here)

GAR

ARC CLASS

ARC

ARC MEDIC

ARC HEAVY INFANTRY

ALPHA

NULL

BARC / BIKER ARC / LANCER

NAVY / CC-CT CLASS

TROOPER / INFANTRY

LOGISTICS / SUPPLY

OFFICER

NAVIGATION OFFICER

CORPORAL

LIEUTENANT

SERGEANT

MAJOR

GRENADIER

GUNNER

MAINTENANCE TECH

FLIGHT CREW

COMMS TECH

COLD ASSAULT

HEAVY INFANTRY

COMMANDO CLASS

MARSHALL COMMANDER

CLONE COMMANDER

CAPTAIN

ENGINEER

PILOT

MEDIC

SNIPER

SCOUT

ARTILLERY

ARF CLASS

ARF

GUARD DETECT / SECURITY CORP / MASSIFF TROOPER

ORDNANCE / BOMB UNIT

SHADOW ARF

ARF SCOUT

MARINE / MEC CLASS

MARINE

AERIAL RECON

FLAME TROOPER

SPECIAL OPERATIONS

SCUBA (SUB)

JET UNIT

BLAZE / ZERO-G

PARATROOPER

[Certifiably insane at this point. But for some reason, I had to have a military that made sense for this single fanfic I wanted to write. Wack.

I'll hopefully add full scans to each unit type. It's all because I wanted to actually make a sensible military model, and design armour. I will hopefully also have options for phase 1, phase 2, and the theoretical phase 3 armour types.

This is the REDUCED Unit variety. The wiki, and what I can find from forums have even more unit types, but I can't see anything different regarding symbols, or kit, so this is the current list. For now.]

[delkios]

As I put at the end of the fic, here's the Tie a Knife with a Ribbon Commentary post

I don't think I've ever actually done a commentary thing for a fic before. But I had a lot of thoughts, headcanons and worldbuilding while making this that wouldn't fit as well as some things that I wanted to put in there but couldn't for one reason or another.

I might have one more fic in me for this 'verse but after that, who knows.

After weeks of ambushes, they’d finally managed to turn the tables on the commandos that had been chasing them.

So ever since Scorch's cameo in the first season of The Bad Batch I've had ideas about Delta Squad having to hunt the Batch down, how they'd go about doing it and how well they'd match up. The biggest question, of course, is why is (the remainder of) Delta Squad separated in the first place? I originally thought that maybe they had ulterior motives- mostly using the Empire's resources to get a lead on Sev among other things -and splitting up would make it easier to achieve. Recently I've been leaning a bit more into the idea that the Empire split them up, as well as any of the remaining first gen commandos, essentially holding them hostage in order to ensure they cooperated.

Basically I just want a reason other than 'because loyalty/the chip made them' because that would be boring. But when Scorch was sent to hunt down the Batch none of the crosstrained commandos could keep up with him so he pestered his CO into letting him bring in the other Deltas.

Also, I know everyone wants Vode An to play when Delta Squad shows up but I propose something different: if Delta starts off as antagonists, I say the song that should play is Rage of the Shadow Warriors. Then, after the two groups ally up and the Batch get in over their heads and Delta comes in as the cavalry

THEN Vode An can play.

They knew how to use Clone Force 99’s abilities and knowledge against them... the best way to counteract that would’ve been to stay together.

I know there's at least one video floating around that pits the two teams together but I haven't watched it so I don't know what their conclusion was but this is mine:

Due to the difference (that I headcanon) in their training, I think Delta Squad would have better teamwork and, knowing who they're up against, would be bettered prepared for the fight, especially if they're able to get the Batch into an area they've prepped. Both advantages the Batch could overcome eventually. I think Delta's best bet would be to isolate one of the Batch from the others and find ways to neutralize their abilities. For instance get Hunter in a place that would overwhelm his senses, rendering them useless. For Wrecker, get him in a situation where his instinct is to build an IED and booby trap the materials he'd use. And so on.

Hunter had closed the distance... opting for hand to hand combat rather than ranged.

Knowing Fixer's favorite weapon is the Katarn gauntlet vibroblade, this match up is about half the reason I wrote this fic. The other half is the idea of them bonding over knives.

These commandos weren’t to be taken lightly... how easy it was to lose sight of them even with glowing visors.

I love the commando visors but I have to admit that giving a unit whose job is to infiltrate armor with a distinctive glow seems silly.

...it wasn’t until the commando fell back into an attack stance that Hunter realize he’d stolen the knife right out of Hunter’s hand.

The idea of Fixer (accidentally) stealing Hunter's knife didn't come to me until I started thinking up scenarios for this fic but once it did I knew there was no other way for this fight to go. I like to imagine that when he regroups with the rest of Delta the conversation would go something like: Scorch: Did you steal a knife? Fixer: No... Scorch: What, he just gave you his weapon? Fixer: I didn't steal it intentionally. Scorch: So you're borrowing it? Fixer: (looking the knife over) ...it's a really good knife. Boss: Do I really have to go over the 'don't take other people's things just because you like them' rule with everyone again? Scorch: Yeah. Our thefts are purposeful!

“/Yes. I’m heading his way right now. The commandos seemed to have fallen back./”

Even though I like the idea of Delta Squad hunting down the Batch, in every scenario, Delta isn't doing it with the intent of beating them. They're making a good show of it but always leave the Batch at least one out and so long as the Batch keeps finding those outs or make their own, Delta won't bring them in. Either because having the Batch running wild figures into their own plans or because they're failing out of spite.

None of them were exactly happy with the situation. Certainly they were glad for the return of their missing teammates...

The very first scenarios I thought up way back in season one all had to do with Delta Squad giving the Batch an ultimatum: Delta would pass along all the information they had on leads to Sev to the Batch (some scenarios included Rex) and once Sev was found, either alive or dead so long as there was proof, they'd bust out Crosshair (and, in the Rex scenarios, Cody).

They'd been in high demand ... Only a fraction of the original generation of commandos survived and the three remaining Deltas were among them.

In the Legends books the commando's numbers were cut nearly in half in the first battle of Geonosis due to mishandling by the Jedi: being thrown into the battlefield instead of what they were actually trained for, infiltration and sabotage. After, some clone troopers were picked to crosstrain as commandos.

Given the kind of time crunch there must have been to try to fill out the commando ranks, I find it doubtful the crosstrained ones were as good as the first gen commandos. Not a diss, just pointing out the difference in what was likely a few months of additional training verses several years worth. Crosstrained ARCs likely weren't as good as first gen ARCs, either. For the record, I consider Gregor to be crosstrained as a commando as, in Legends, commandos were given RC prefixes while Gregor is a CC which has already been used by other non-commandos.

Also, fun game to play: how many missions in Clone Wars would've gone better if they'd used commandos?

Hunter didn’t know how it went down behind the scenes but it didn’t feel right leaving without thanking Rex for his part in this.

I thought about going into detail about how Rex brokered this deal but then decided I didn't actually want to figure all that out.

Chiding himself for the foolish thought, Hunter took it and slide his knife back in its sheath.

Look, let's just pretend that Tech isn't the only one that actually has gear and weapons as part of their model and everyone else pulls their stuff out of nowhere.

As much as he hated to admit it, Delta Squad was trying to survive this mess as best they could... he couldn't blame them anymore than he did Crosshair.

Look, I understand why the inhibitor chip had to exist but I think it's ridiculous that people push it as the reason clones worked for the Empire. They're slaves that were created and taught only one thing: to wage war. The Republic didn't look out for them. In Legends they originally weren't even paid for the work they did. They weren't seen as people, they were considered property and the civilians certainly didn't think much of them and many probably thought they were basically droids themselves. Clones would've had no where to go, no money with which to leave and most of them wouldn't have employable skills to fall back on. That uncertainty versus something they know they can do and know they'll at least have food and shelter, it's no wonder they'd stay with the Empire, even if it meant doing things they didn't like. They were essentially raised to be as dependent on the Republic (and Empire) as the Republic was made dependent on them.

“If anyone could survive this long, it would be Sev.”

For a while I've considered Sev not surviving. But then, after a few years away from the fandom, I decided I preferred him being alive. It helped that the game devs were considering a sequel in which he did survive and fell in with the fledgling rebellion before it was canceled.

And, even with Scorch potentially about to be an important character in the Batch, there isn't a guarantee that particular cliffhanger will be addressed (for the third time) so I'll do what I want.

“Some of our training sergeants set up a place for commandos to retire to, but…”

In Legends, some of the commando's training sergeants- a hundred people, mostly Mandalorian, hand picked by Jango called the Cuy'val Dar -set up a colony for clones (mostly their commandos but also any other clones than found them) at Kyrimorut on Mandalor. Delta's trainer, Walon Vau, was among those that helped set it up. They also researched how to stop the clones' advanced aging.

Even in their isolated corner of Tipoca City, they’d heard horror stories about what the commando trainers put their men through.

From a young age commandos were trained in live-fire exercises (meaning using actual ammunition and not simulation rounds), interrogation resistance (i.e. torture), etc. Fatalities sometimes occurred during training and Vau was considered one of the more brutal trainers. He treated his commandos as soldiers from the beginning and was determined to push them to be the best of the best even if he had to thrash them to do it. If memory serves, he was the only on that didn't lose any commandos on Geonosis.

When Hunter inspected his knife... he found it had been newly sharpened, the blade cleaned and oiled until it gleamed.

Fixer, 1000%, always intended to give Hunter's knife back even if it took years to do so. He always kept it on him, never used it and did his best to ensure it was in the best condition possible. Boss and Scorch might've thought he was being ridiculous but when Fixer commits ain't nothing swaying him.

“He seemed confident you’d get out of whatever trouble you might’ve got into on your own.” Boss had also sounded a little hesitant, like he was forcing himself to believe that...

I imagine, after losing Sev and the rift it caused and getting split up on top of that, Boss got overprotective when they were all back together again. He'd always been a little overprotective though that was mainly in things like taking responsibility for the squad and chaffing whenever control of them was taken out of his hands (Boss has control issues, fight me). But he'd always had faith that his squad could handle anything thrown at them. So having him be suddenly overprotective about everything grated with the others, especially in the beginning and Boss had to relearn how to let them out of his sight all over again.

“You’ll have to get them out of my pack, then. They should be in the left side, grab two just in case.”

How do these packs work? Are there divided sections like a backpack? How do they attach? What do they do? Why won't the game devs return my calls? I need answers, people!

Stealth had always been one of Hunter’s strengths, his enhanced senses locating any nearby guards before he was ever in danger of being spotted.

Man, how I wish the show actually utilized Hunter's enhanced senses in a consistent manner.

Hunter abruptly realized that this was the first time he’d seen Fixer- or any Delta -without a helmet

I haven't really put all that much thought into how much older I think Delta Squad is verses the 99, anywhere between two to four years old. Which would, biologically, make them about four to eight years older but I imagine Delta looks older than they are due to how hard they've been worked and the stress of their missions. They probably wouldn't look as old if they got a healthy amount of sleep on a consistent basis. Someone get these boys a vacation.

...new blood on his lip partially covering up an old scar and a long healed notch at the rim of his right ear, like something sharp had taken a slice out of it.

The scar and notch he got during training: Fixer has a tendency of biting his lip when he's stressed and, during interrogation training when one of his squad mates was being tortured next to him in order to get Fixer to break, he damn near bit through his lip to keep quiet. The notch he got while fighting another commando during knife training. They took a slice of his ear, he sent them to the infirmary. Vau was both mildly irritated and grudgingly impressed that Fixer made no move to deal with the injury until Vau told him to.

Also Fixer's nose had been broken when Scorch punched him in a fit of anger after they were sent away from Kashyyk without getting the chance to look for Sev. Fixer didn't bother getting it set properly, he claims because it didn't affect his performance but it was also due to guilt.

“People don’t usually notice me.” Fixer eventually said.

This is totally not me calling out fandom (and the books) for the tendency of pushing Fixer into the background at best or completely ignoring him at worst. It's fine that he's not people's favorite- he isn't my favorite, either -but he's not just a bland stick in the mud. I don't know why people think he would be when he's had to deal with Scorch and Sev every day for his entire life and was part of one of Vau's best squads. Fixer is just as ruthless and capable of getting into just as much trouble, he just hides it better.

That got him that soft almost-laugh again

I imagine Fixer's most common laugh is more of a huff that could easily be passed off as a sigh. It's a defense mechanism because Scorch knows Sev and Boss find him funnier than they let on and if Scorch knew Fixer did too, he would become insufferable.

(Spoiler: Scorch knows but is trying to get Fixer to admit it first)

The shield in the first gen commandos’ armor was good for dissipating the kinetic force from energy bolts but a powerful enough electric blast could shred right through it.

I know it didn't show up in the episode but I imagine the shield is why Scorch was able to tank so many stun bolts before going down. In the game there's no real pattern with the types of weapons that can shred through the shields- Geonosian beam weapons, scav droids' lightning, Trandoshian mini gun -and they don't come up in the books. My take is that they're like a weaker version of a droideka's shield. They're mostly made to hold up against blaster bolts while the armor itself deals with physical attacks. A strong electric current can overload that shields and while their blacks insulate them from weaker surges, EMP grenades or a shock stick can still leave them vulnerable to follow up attacks.

Despite their usefulness they weren't put in later iterations of the Katarn armor, probably because they weren't expecting to replace as many commandos as they had to after Geonosis and couldn't manufacture enough shields to keep up.

Hunter didn’t know when or why they’d stopped being integrated into the Katarn armor...

I haven't figured out a reason for that, though. Or why they don't show up anywhere outside of games.

...he realized very suddenly that he practically had his fingers intertwined with the commando’s.

I'll admit, that's for me. Give me all the hand holding and fingers tangling together.

“It won’t take long and it just needs some common supplies... it’d be easy for you to install once you find a compatible one.”

Even though Fixer is explicitly stated to be a tech aficionado, between it making sense that commandos would be able to maintain their armor themselves in case of damage or malfunction while in the field and Fixer's preference for the gauntlet blade, I don't doubt he'd be able to take apart and reassemble it. Whether the mechanism is easy to build from scratch, I have no idea.

Fixer finally seemed to get annoyed... “If you don’t want it-”

When Fixer offers you something, take it. He's absolutely not the type that will put up with hemming and hawing or play the polite back-and-forth game.

He was fairly ambidextrous with both pistols and knives so he supposed it didn’t really matter. “Left.”

I don't recall if he tended to use a knife in a particular hand and didn't feel like combing through episodes to find out. So ambidextrous he is.

Tech hated people touching his armor- his helmet, especially -without his permission. Fixer must be the same way.

I don't think it'd be common for clones to swap their helmets around and I'd bet some are very particular about others putting their helmet on. Fixer is definitely going to give his helmet a thorough cleaning. Also I'd bet he's done unauthorized modifications to his helmet, another reason he doesn't want people getting too close a look at it.

Sev had been trying very hard to pass off any responsibilities he’d been given during the forming of the rebellion to Boss who repeatedly declined.

I'm a firm believer that half the reason Sev stayed with the rebellion is because he was so offended by their lack of tactics and by the time he'd realized he'd become a trainer it was far too late for him to back out. When he reunited with his brothers, they all agreed that Sev called the shots for the squad which is why they also joined the rebellion. The one exception to that is Boss refusing to take over Sev's position both as a trainer and part of the rebellion's hierarchy. Partly because Boss was amused that Sev got himself in this position despite how much he complains about it and also because he's really come into his own in that time. In the field, they still fall into the habit of Boss taking the lead (and Fixer his second) unless other circumstances requires Sev doing so.

The commandos’ attitudes had changed drastically since reuniting with their lost brother.

I feel like it shouldn't need to be said that Delta's bond was irrevocably damaged after they left Sev behind. Reuniting with him helped to heal the rift but it'll never be the same way it used to be. Ironically I think Sev was the one least affected. Were he in the same position, he couldn't say what he'd do so while there is some resentment due to what he'd suffered in his time alone, he doesn't blame them for following orders like they were trained to. It probably helped that he was so shocked at how that decision hurt his brothers that, even if he didn't realize it, he was quick to forgive them.

“Because he’s used to doing things his way, he hates the idea of someone else coming along and taking over,” Crosshair once observed before turning a lazy, sideways look to Hunter, “just like you.”

Again, Boss has control issues. He's perfectly deferential when dealing with someone that outranks him, it was usually because when out on missions there was very little oversight and Boss still made most of the decisions. He tends to be more abrasive, competitive and arrogant when dealing with peers, subconsciously seeing them as a threat to his position. In Legends he nearly came to blows with another commando sergeant in part due to his attitude.

I'd imagine Hunter is much the same, especially with the tenuous position the 99 would've been in. The Kaminoans made them as an experiment but they also had no qualms with reconditioning or decommissioning clones that weren't up to their standards so Hunter would've had to simultaneously push his brothers while protecting them. It's no wonder he doesn't trust others to have his team's back.

Childhood trauma is a bitch.

Maybe it was the way Fixer seemed to prefer to fade into the background, letting his more gregarious brothers draw all the attention... Hunter couldn’t help taking great pleasure in bringing Fixer to the forefront whenever possible...

It's probably because Fixer's armor is my favorite but I tend to think he has an understated vanity, not just in terms of looks but also in his skills. He doesn't need people to acknowledge it, he already knows he's good at what he doese. That doesn't mean he won't flaunt it on occasion. In terms of teamwork, Boss and Scorch tend to draw attention while Fixer and Sev hit where the enemy isn't expecting them and, when something needs to be sliced in the heat of battle, that's usually Fixer's job so he tries not to draw attention. Staying in the background is kind of his thing, so having someone consistently noticing him, going out of their way to acknowledge him is something he isn't used to dealing with. He's very much an introvert.

Hunter could feel Fixer watching him afterward, as if Hunter was a great mystery he hadn’t been able to puzzle out.

When this first started happening, Fixer was just confused but he'd respond promptly. As he started getting more flummoxed with Hunter's behavior, he'd take longer to respond, trying to figure out what was happening. That would be the point that Scorch and Boss, who had found it hilarious in the beginning, would start redirecting attention to themselves and Fixer would stew over the interaction for sometimes days. It got him out of his comfort zone, forced him to figure out things like what about it made him uncomfortable, if he actually was uncomfortable or just not used to it, if he didn't mind the attention, if he was okay with Hunter closing that distance, and so on. Once he got all those questions sorted, Fixer began replying promptly again though not as clipped and impersonally as before. When he realized he actually looked forward to those interactions, his replies- though still always professional -were warmer and he relaxed enough to throw in a dry joke or tease in there occasionally. His brothers definitely noticed this but were so caught off guard they never brought it up with each other.

In any case, whenever a mission required them splitting into two groups, Boss always lead one and Hunter the other... they were joined by Crosshair, Scorch and Omega...

This is actually based off an old scenario I had long ago using almost the exact same teams though back then it was Echo instead of Crosshair with Tech on the other team. I thought it would be fun to mix up the two groups because I wanted to imagine how Boss and Hunter specifically dealt with the other squad's eccentricities and how well their leadership styles would allow them to work around those difficulties. But I had no idea why they were working together, what they were doing or who they were dealing with so it never got further than a vague idea. But it was where I first got the idea of Hunter throwing his knife for Fixer to use and the first time I considered the two could possibly get along.

Fixer grabbed the hilt, ripping the blade through the side of the neck. From there the commando was a whirl of movement and Hunter was transfixed.

Is this maybe me projecting onto Hunter? Maybe. Action scenes full of flashy attacks requiring lots of space to do large movements like flips and spins are all well and good but I prefer my action sequences to be full of quick, sharp movements. Where attacks are meant to either be lethal or create an opening for a lethal follow-up attack. I think there can be beauty in brutality and that needs to be embraced more in media.

“It’s a quality knife,” Fixer said. “Good weight, well balanced.” ... His voice dropped, turning something dark and silky...

This was a bit of an odd scenario because I'd had it in mind since I first imagined Fixer using Hunter's knife and it kind of went back and forth between how flirty it would be. I'd probably say this scene was what made me go from "Oh, Hunter and Fixer connecting over knives, how fun," to "What about exploring how their relationship changes using knives as a mirror". So, really, I blame all of this on this one scene.

“You are not flirting right now,” Scorch cut in. “Stop it. Sev’ll never believe me.”

That is, honestly, how I kind of feel about this entire relationship. In all my headcanons Fixer was the most insular one in the group. He was always the one most resistant to socializing outside of the squad and had the hardest time wrapping his head around why his squadmates might want romantic relationships, struggling to understand what was lacking in their fraternal one. Of all the Deltas, Fixer was the one I never saw getting into a relationship, either long term or casual. So, when this idea hit, I kind of had to sit with it, puzzle it out. Figure out how Fixer would react to it: the things that would get his attention, the things that made him want to be intimate, the things he wouldn't like, etc. It was enlightening.

I figured, as far as physical intimacy is concerned, that Fixer is more on the asexual end of the scale. He doesn't care much for sex mainly because he's repulsed by all the mess and stickiness involved. He's not above masturbation, he has an interest in toys and things like gloves, condoms, whatever will keep fluids from getting everywhere is appreciated. But, if he's in the right mood- and that seems to be following a good sparring session -he could be more receptive to something hot and sloppy.

The four of them reminded Hunter more of Fennec Shand than they did a reg, moving more with a hunter’s glide than they did a trooper’s march.

I think about clones a lot. I'll be honest, I'm not sure how much I'd care about Star Wars were it not for them. I liked the original trilogy alright but the rest is.... eh. But I have so many thoughts about clones, clone culture and the ways they differentiate themselves. To an average person there'd be very little difference between commandos and troopers. To clones, who developed the ability to easily spot differences between each other, commandos and troopers are nothing alike. The way a small group who grew up trained by a mercenary would move and act would naturally be different from a massive group who grew up trained for large-scale military maneuvers. I wish the media we're given would focus on that kind of minutia more because I don't want to be the only one that spends their time thinking about these sorts of things.

He composed himself as he’d been taught, putting on an air of confidence he absolutely did not feel and approached Fixer, pulling his knife- sheath and all -from his belt. “Here. Keep it.”

When I decided that this relationship was going to be romantic, this was obviously going to be the next step. Knives are a love language. There are few gifts more romantic than knives. And I'm not just talking about me. For a group that deals with practical and life-threatening situations regularly, one giving another a weapon they very clearly cherish is probably THE most courting gift possible.

...he said with a wink and much more bravado than his nerves were currently capable of.

One of the secrets I learned while in the military: it doesn't matter what you say, just say it with conviction. Even when asked questions during an inspection, even if you know your answer is obviously wrong, say it with your whole chest.

Fake it 'till you make it, baby.

Fixer just stared at him, looking dumbfounded and if it weren’t for the subtle shift in his scent or the rise of color in his cheeks, Hunter would’ve thought he’d made a fool of himself.

The moment Fixer realized his feelings shifted from "I'm curious as to where this goes" to "...oh".

Boss shook his head before following- Hunter could’ve sworn he chuckled as he did so...

I debated on how I'd write Boss's reaction because while he's mildly annoyed by it, it's only because it's Hunter but, 1) Boss is aware enough to realize there's not actually anything wrong with Hunter, and 2) Fixer having an interest in someone is such a surprise occurrence that he's not going to ruin Fixer's happiness by what Boss recognizes as a him-problem.

And then I was amused to because Boss is on the other end of that same situation in regards to my preferred ship for him.

Days later Omega was happily updating Tech on what they’d been up to on their weekly check-in call

I debated about being vague about Tech surviving and leaving that up for the readers to decide but what the hell. Not like this is going to be canon compliant once the next season drops in any case. So he's alive and still very much a part of the crew despite essentially being forced to retire due to injuries.

As far as canon goes, personally I don’t believe he’s dead. We watched Gregor and Echo get blown up and they inexplicably survived, Ashoka literally died fighting Vader and was saved via space-time portal. Even if he doesn't show up next season Ashoka was brought back after being missing for a season and the other two came back after even longer. If this were Clone Wars I might feel differently but it’s not like Bad Batch has issue showing dead bodies on screen so. We’ll see, I guess.

As far as Tech's state goes, he was obviously badly injured in the fall, broken bones, punctured organs, severe brain damage. Hemlock's forces found him fast enough to stabilize him- though I imagine there were periods in which he was technically dead before they managed it -and gave him enough bacta treatments to heal the worst of his brain damage but left his body badly broken. By the time he'd been rescued his body's natural healing caused a lot of that damage to become permanent, even if he was willing to get surgery (he wasn't because of the time and money that would take, finding a reputable hospital capable of doing all that surgery would mean a higher risk of the Empire finding him and, even if he got the surgery, he wouldn't be able to keep up with the Batch and would be sitting out missions anyway). I haven't thought what the exact nature of his injuries may be but it would be some amount of paralysis, chronic pain and some permanent side effects from traumatic brain injury. At least.

“He knows how to handle my knife.”

I struggled with finding a response that I liked until I decided "What would be the most innuendo" and finally liked what I wrote.

Tech’s voice was far too amused, “/I’m sure he does./”

Did Tech, despite not being there to witness it himself, deduce just from talking to the others that Hunter had a crush on Fixer before anyone else? Absolutely. Well, Phee probably figured it out first because she's very emotionally intelligent, but Tech can catch patterns quicker than most anyone.

Echo’s digestion was permanently karked from his time as a Separatists prisoner.

I firmly believe Echo has to deal with chronic pain and internal issues. I don't know if this is common in the BB fandom as I haven't done any real delving into it but I kind of hope so. The details canon doesn't give to me, I can only hope that fandom picks up the slack.

“Hey, we came bearing gifts for our poor, malnourished vode!”

I had wanted to put in a scene somewhat early on where it was discovered that the Batch don't know Mando'a. In my head, they were trained after all the Mandalorian trainers left and they didn't spend enough time with any one company to pick it up from them and Nala Se certainly wouldn't have bothered teaching Omega any Mandalorian culture. Upon learning this, Echo would've been abashed. He'd assumed, because the 99 were a later addition, that they'd refused their Mandalorian heritage like many clones did near the end of the war. He hadn't realized it was because they were never given the choice and was determined to teach them everything he knew.

Whenever he or Fixer shifted or anything happened to make him aware of Fixer’s leg against his- and he was incredibly aware of it -Hunter seemed to forget that anything else existed.

I don't know if it would be considered in character for Hunter to be this flustered but, in my defense, nothing like this occurs in canon so you can't say he absolutely wouldn't. Besides, between this probably being his first (serious) infatuation, being in close proximity with the person he's infatuated with who he doesn't really get to be with all that often and senses that can zero in on the tiniest thing, I feel justified in saying he wouldn't be able to help hyperfocusing on Fixer.

This, meanwhile, is quite a bold move on Fixer's part as he's neither a big toucher, sometimes even where his brothers are concerned, and is the least likely to socialize with non-Deltas, let alone share his space with them.

The 99’s trainers were only there for training, outside of that they only dealt with the Kaminoam scientists... and, on occasion, Shaak Ti.

This is probably going to be a hot take but I don't consider the Batch to be commandos (obviously not Echo, who's an ARC and Omega, who was meant to be a non-combatant). I certainly believe the 99 have some amount of commando training but, given they were specifically created with genetic mutations in mind, their training would most likely focus on developing and exploring those limits more than anything else. In fact, in an alternate universe where Delta and the Batch are more teeth-clenched allies, Fixer disparages the fact their commando training was a secondary concern at best.

Of course the knowledge that the Kaminoans made the 99 the way they are is hilarious when held up to Legends in which the Kaminoans' first attempts at fulfilling Jango's request for special forces clones resulted in the Null Class ARCs that were deemed too willful and unpredictable and were slated to be decommissioned if not for the intervention of one of the commando trainers. The succeeding ARCs were less independent but made to Jango's specifications while the commandos were created to the Kaminoans' specifications and were made more obedient than the ARCs.

And then with the 99 it's like coming full circle.

Hunter kind of liked the flash of warmth he felt whenever he became aware of the empty space on his belt and knowing Fixer held the missing piece.

This part was one of the first sections written and in the back of my head I kept going "oh god why is this so cute".

“One of the commando training sergeants had one like that...”

This is a reference to Kal Skirata, one of the main POV characters in the Republic Commando novels who was the trainer Delta Squad probably had most contact with outside of Vau. It was often mentioned that Skirata favored a three-bladed knife that he inherited from his father and while I don't think it was ever brought up in the books, I'd imagine someone that could appreciate a fine knife like Fixer would find that style of blade intriguing.

“This must’ve cost you a fortune!”

I don't know if this was ever addressed in the new canon but in Legends there were zero systems in place for the Republic to offer any support or compensation when they suddenly found themselves in possession of a clone army. And it didn't improve that much over the course of the war given the absence of any kind of retirement benefits and that clones who were too injured to fight would sometimes be euthanized in order to free up resources.

Vau was born into a rich, influential family before he was disowned and became a Mandalorian. At one point, enlisting Delta Squad's help to get him inside, Vau staged a bank robbery to take what he felt his inheritance from his birth family and to cover his tracks, stole millions from the vault. Everything, save for his inheritance, he put toward gene therapy research to slow the clone's aging. For all his brutality and cruelty- and one could argue he was perpetuating the cycle of child abuse he went through but I argue absolutely everyone that had anything to do with clones committed child abuse even if they tried to be nice about it -Vau cares for the clones and his men and was not happy with the Republic's lack of care for them. Therefore I believe he split his inheritance among his surviving commandos, giving them the means to be independent from the Empire and even from himself if they wanted. And, since Delta likely wouldn't have much need for the finer things in life, with some shrewd investing they probably don't worry much about money.

Looking back at Fixer’s face, Hunter could see a tightness in his brow and the corner of his lips, something shuttering behind his eyes like he was preparing to be hurt.

If you guessed that Fixer believed he was being rejected and Hunter nearly inadvertently broke his heart, congratulations on leasing a spot in my head. Rent is $5 a month or talking to me about clones.

...he saw Fixer’s helmet tilt and Hunter desperately wanted to know what that meant, if he was smiling underneath it.

In all my time in various fandoms I've come to realize there's something I enjoy about faceless or near-faceless characters and how they- and, subsequently, the people writing/drawing/depicting them -need to move or stand or gesture to get their feelings across. How does the angle of the head change how the audience reads their emotions, what's the difference in movement between a hand gesturing with emphasis versus gesturing with apathy. Seeing the character's romantic interest noticing those differences, learning the subtleties been their moods and how they hold themselves makes it even better.

...long enough to stop Wrecker from trying to sneak a pack of ryshcate into a purchase...

Hunter pays attention when it counts. Mostly.

Stealing shuttles seemed to be a habit of theirs.

Okay, I think that only happened once in the books but I enjoy the idea that Delta doesn't need their own dedicated shuttle, they'll just steal it from whatever asshole is in their area.

They said they knew some people that would strip the shuttle of anything trackable...

This is another reference to the clone colony at Kyrimorut. Assuming I'm remembering correctly and not attributing this to some fic I read, they started amassing a collection of different ships, some imperial ones to help with infiltration and information gathering. I like the idea of Delta passing some of their more useful, ill-gotten shuttles off to the Nulls to make use of.

Unfortunately for them the vessel they chose to sack happened to have Delta Squad on it... then took over their ship for good measure.

One of my favorite things is having some fools busting in some place, talking a big game and making demands, only to find themselves thoroughly outclassed by someone who was there merely by chance. And then the person in question taking the fools' stuff because they started it so why not?

As the knife felt more and more like an extension of his arm, Hunter began to move faster, the rounds getting longer until they were nearly dueling.

As opposed to the ruthless efficiency of the earlier fights, this I picture more like the sword fights from old movies like The Princess Bride or Errol Flynn/Basil Rathbone duels. Testing each other's guard, not aiming to hurt but willing to take the opening if it presents itself. It's about finding each other's rhythm and matching it, like a song, like a dance, like a heartbeat. Even though Hunter could see beauty in Fixer's brutality, the beauty in this is how in sync they are.

(oh my god they're drift compatible)

...just wanted to stay in that patch of the docking bay with Fixer in front of him and all the people he cared about around him.

These boys been through a lot, they all need hugs and drinks and a therapist.

“Sooooo?” Omega drawled out before Hunter even acknowledged her. “When are you going to tell him you like him?"

Omega had been lightly grilling Fixer every time they've met because she's been on board this ship for months. He's nice, patient, has an answer for nearly any question she's had, he's a little awkward at socializing but he doesn't treat her like a child (which is probably because he's never been around a child before). So while nearly everyone else is willing to spoil Omega with things like sweets or gifts, Fixer is the one that will let her do to more adult things like explaining to her how different firearms work and being able to tell when an explosive device has been armed. No shying away from the grislier side of what they do just because she's young. She's old enough that if she wants to know, she should know. Also he seems just as invested in Hunter's well being as she is and Hunter is always happier when they see each other. If Hunter hadn't decided to make a move, she was about ready to make one for them.

Because there wasn’t much else to do when flying through hyperspace for hours on end. He and Crosshair would bitch at each other over the characters’ idiocy afterward.

Though Crosshair was able to get back on good terms with the others and Hunter was understanding of his reasons, they had a difficult time trying to get back on an even keel with each other. Complaining about those soap operas helped them to bond again and they'll deny it to the heat death of the universe but they've gotten invested in the story. Echo may or may not have been the one to encourage those discussions between them.

“Guess we’ll swing by Pabu when we get some free time.”

I really like the idea that Pabu and the people there being a sort of sanctuary for the Batch. A place to go when they need to lay low or take a break and people who are willing to explain things natborns consider second nature but was considered unnecessary for clones without judging them for it. And that's before they settled Tech there, knowing he'd have a place to recuperate as best he can with people that will give him the best possible care.

He wasn’t sure any clone did though whether that was genetic or a result of their upbringing was unclear.

Clones have a very distinct love language that a lot of other people would just pass off as them being nice. No, my dudes. When a clone shares their food, that means something. If they allow you to take care of their gear, it means they trust you with their lives. Should they give you one of their very few possessions, you're basically part of their family. And being gifted a neigh indestructible weapon is all but a proposal.

“Just do stuff for him. Take care of him.”

The unfortunate part about being aware of the differences between clone culture and natborn culture (among many things) is the subconscious worry that the way clones do things is the 'wrong' way. Clones weren't taught to be paternal, therefore they don't know how to properly care for children. Clones were never taught to be romantic, therefore their ways of showing affection that's more than platonic isn't good enough. All clones need non-clone friends to explain there is never just one proper way to do things.

...friends that aren't Jedi because by the end of the Order they were kinda yikes.

When they reached out to Sev, he grumbled and made a show of being far too busy to deal with them before transmitting a passcode to land.

Sev tries so hard to keep up a persona of being too hardcore and angry to be nice these days. Only the newbies fall for it, everyone else goes along with it just to make him happy.

“You kidding? We were about to start making bets on you two!”

I assure you that bets had already been placed but if Hunter knew that then he'd want to know how long that had been going for and would probably be mortified at the answer. Wrecker is just being a good brother by lying and making sure payments are dolled out when Hunter isn't around.

“We’ve taken to using voice changers to make it easier for the natborn to differentiate between us.”

I know why and fully expected Delta Squad to be given the same voice as everyone else but I still write them with their original voices in my head. So any scenario in which I can give them voice changers so they'll have those voices, I'm doing it.

“They can make their own excuses... I don’t know the reason behind every time they get weird.”

Boss says a very similar thing whenever his squad gets into trouble because he just needed to take a goddamn nap.

...but with the blaster holstered on one side and knife on the other, he was still framed quite nicely.

Tangentially: I never really cared for Bo-Katan as a character but in The Mandalorian, her dual pistols and the nice little box they make? Wow.

...the town was built on a combination of rock and giant mangrove roots which essentially divided the town into two levels... here the trees had been dug into and, in some cases, straight through.

I originally had zero intention of describing this outpost but this 'mini date' section, as I think of it, was the second to last thing I had to write and realizing I had to have them moving through a space in order to get the moments that I wanted out of it, I ended up making a sort loose amalgamation of two video game locations: The Grove from Guild Wars 2 and Torigoth from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, specifically the area with the suspended bridges.

“It’s a wedding boat.”

Originally it was just going to be a fishing vessel making a lot of noise as they brought up a huge haul but that seemed too mundane, too uninspired. I'd recently watched a documentary that featured ethnic groups in the Philippines and some of the nomadic people's transition to a stationary lifestyle. They spotlighted a wedding and one of the traditions was the bridal party traveling on a boat in a similar manner. This wasn't meant to be a 'nudgenudge you boys getting any ideas nudge' kind of thing, it's just that that portion of the documentary really stuck in my mind.

“You’ll have to show me that some time.” Fixer’s hand squeezed his. “Of course.”

Fixer took him out that night, after Hunter finished making dinner and they ate under the stars with the crashing waves glowing blue and soft green and orange lights around them because this was a date and Hunter deserved better than to spend it in a cramped, ramshackled room filled with random junk.

Hunter began to tense from the overwhelming sounds and smells...

Again, don't know how fandom does it, but I imagine Hunter tends to suffer from migraines, especially in places with lots of strong smells and constant loud, overlapping noises. He can- and has -suffered through it for the sake of missions or to get tasks done but it sucks and he tries to avoid crowds when he can. If he can't, he'll wear his helmet if possible so he can shut off necessary filters if it starts to get too much.

“It’s more for my peace of mind- our peace of mind.”

Fixer may treat Omega most like an adult but that doesn't stop his instincts from pinging whenever he sees her. He can't stop thinking about things like "You need more weapons than just an energy bow" and "Why do you have a helmet but no chest plate, torso shots are more common than head shots". But, as someone who is 1) not part of her family, and 2) has not been part of any discussions regarding what kind of protection she has, and 3) knows the Batch are the most invested in her safety so they'd already cover that sort of stuff, he knows it's not his place to get into that. But he'll make her that knife because, c'mon, whose gonna turn down a concealed blade?

And to find whoever made Fixer doubt his capacity for kindness and beat them to within an inch of their life.

It's not so much that Delta Squad are surprised that they're able to be kind as it is they're surprised that they'll extend that kindness to others without thinking about it. Vau was a very pragmatic and blunt trainer. He made sure, given the things commandos were expected to do, that his trainees understood that, behind enemy lines, they'll only be able to depend on themselves and if anything were to happen to them, no one would help them, the only ones that would ever look out for them are each other. Even if he didn't say it outright, he implied that offering a kindness to people that wouldn't offer it back was nothing but wasted energy. So whenever they realize they're doing so- especially when people show appreciate or give kindness back -it kinda shorts out their brains a little. They'll get used to it, though. Eventually.

“In case someone needs some space.”

That's a bit of a deflection as much as it is an answer. As stated before, leaving Sev behind caused a rift and things were said and done that Sev's return wouldn't be able to heal over. It was worst between Scorch and Fixer and, even still, if both happen to be having bad days at the same time, neither wants to look at the other be it out of resentment or guilt. Boss did his best to keep the three of them together and maybe his responsibilities now aren't as numerous or stressful or demanding but some times he just needs to get away from everyone and recenter himself. Often when there are bad days, Sev gets the brunt of it because his brothers need reassurance that he's there, that he doesn't hate them and he tries to be as patient and understanding as they need but if he couldn't get away from their smothering he would explode at them. And then there are times when they just don't want to be cuddled because it's too hot or they're feeling restless or maybe someone is too gassy and needs to be exiled from the pile.

“Didn’t realize I missed being able to pile up with my brothers until I saw that.”

Poor Omega never got to be part of a cuddle puddle. Once Hunter realizes that, he'll rectify that the next time they're on Pabu. There will be tons of cushioning for Tech and Crosshair may be skittish at the start but Hunter and Wrecker and Echo will show her how it's done and afterward Omega will demand they make it mandatory every so often.

There was a long stretch of silence and then Fixer asked uncertainly, “Is this a date?”

The thought occurred to him after everyone else made themselves scarce. It just took him this long to get the courage to ask.

“I’d like to, if you don’t mind. I like watching you handle a knife.”

And, of course, it all comes back to knives.

[ranahan]

Does anyone have references? I’d love to have something to point to.

i think about this tweet a lot

[mamuzzy]

Reading Republic Commando while having TCW and TBB in mind is insane. These two are separate universe! TCW is literally rewrites Republic Commando. Imperial Commando was literally cancelled because of TCW.

The clones initially didn't have brain chips. They obeyed O66 because they were given an order and that was it.

Republic Commando, while giving in-depth personalities to the clones, had to find an explanation why the clones obeyed O66 on their own account.

Bly still had to obey. Bacara still had to obey. Neyo still had to obey. Cody still had to obey Gree still had to be decapitated. Plo Koon still had be shot down and so on. Because that was in the movie. And I think Republic Commando follows the narrative that the Jedi and the Clones weren't close at all.

Because only those Jedi survived the O66 who formed meaningful bonds, like the heroes of the story. Bardan. Etain. Zey. Yes, i know, they are KT-s precious little OCs. BUT SHE COULDN'T SPARE CANON MOVIE CHARACTERS.

The only explanation for our beloved clone commanders mercilessly killing the jedi on their own account, if they truly believe they are traitors. Because they don't have any reason not to believe that. You won't have moral dilemmas about shooting a friend if you weren't friends to begin with.

[ranahan]

Hot take:

Mando’a is often criticised as a conlang for being a “baby’s first conlang” kind of a work. And it is—but it’s actually not half bad for a first attempt. Traviss absolutely sucks at explaining what she has done and her explanations frequently contradict the actual product. And her documentation sucks. But the actual language? It’s better than her explanations would make it seem. Actually many of the criticism hold true for Traviss’s explanations (“English word order”), but not necessarily for what she’s written (even Traviss doesn’t do English word order).

Traviss clearly has a keen ear for how languages work, but no theoretical linguistics knowledge to explain what she’s done.

Mando’a does have first-attempt-bugs, but it’s not unsalvageable. The phonology and morphology work fine with some minor adjustments; syntax has been so poorly developed that there’s enough degrees of freedom to develop something workable there.

Plus! I think the best measure of success is that fans adore and use it. No better barometer than that.

[lesquatrechevrons]

so I’m finally reading the Republic Commando books (at least I’m 2% in), and I keep on wondering if really the official narrative for the clones is based a lot on castes.

I would say castes (the word is very loaded though so I am happy to be corrected) rather than classes because for example, at birth you have fandom favorite Commanders, then you have Alphas, Nulls, etc. and, again, they’ve been determined since birth. ARC seems a training based venue (upwards social mobility?) but I wonder if the first generation was also assigned ARC at birth. (!!!) they interact conscious of each other’s role, and especially of how their PurposeTM shapes which place they fit in the GAR (their world)(their whole damned world)(the clones really are child soldiers raised in a military cult like we know but also ????)

anyways, in canon post o66 given that they’re not really out in numbers I don’t know if gets explored, but I’m so curious whether anyone actually did so in various fandom works, especially those no-o66 or fix its where clones build their own society (or which kind of society would they build???) im pretty sure fans out there must have grappled with this possibility, if nothing else because casteism (vs classism) is a social dynamic that still exists I various part of the world, so someone must have had thoughts about it?

anyway if you have recs for fandom works (fics or meta or anything) that interrogate this scenario I’d be grateful!!

[ranahan]

Anyway, that's exactly how I read the situation in general and the verd'goten in particular. Coming-of-age ceremonies are one of the regular rituals across cultures.

That’s how I read verd’goten as well: it’s a cultural coming-of-age ceremony. We have those on planet Earth as well: Christian confirmation, Jewish bar/bat mitzvah, and many others. Verd’goten is just space bar/bat mitzvah! It does not mean that a child is considered a full adult at 13.

Verd’goten might come with some legal rights and responsibilities, but so do cultural coming-of-age ages: not coincidentally, in my Protestant home country, 15 is the age when one may be sentenced for crimes, and also the age when one may legally leave the church even against their parent’s wishes. Are those tied to confirmation? Not anymore. But I rather suspect that that’s where the age limit comes from originally.

All that is to say, the verd’goten is an example of why it’s not a great practice to nail down numbers in fiction if you don’t have to. If you don’t give readers hard numbers, they will extrapolate from their own knowledge and experience: a teenage coming-of-age ceremony? I know one of those! If you give them a number, people tend to stop filling in the gaps and it’s *gasp* adulthood at 13, outrageous!

I wanted to talk a little about the hauling 8-year-olds into active war zones thing, and how I’ve sort of come to the conclusion that it’s not even remotely standard practice. It seems to me it’s more likely very specifically a “those Skiratas are weird as fuck but they keep to themselves so we don’t really do anything about it” kind of a deal instead. 

Prime evidence: Munin.

Keep reading

[nocturius8015ficore]

**UPDATED VERSION September 21**

Nocturius: Oh? What is it? A fanfiction on tumblr, how quaint!! :O

I did that one for the 1 month anniversary of my Fi-Core facebook page. I was pleasantly surprise to have the beginning of a community and nice interactions with other -Core pages. English is my second language (after French) so I was very insecure about writing actual fanfiction but after a bit of RP with some of my followers, I decide to try it anyway. It's just fanfictions, not a 5000$ writing contest...

So, I wanted to celebrate that anniversary with my followers, the story is a little bit 4th wall-breaking meta but roughly, it's just a sweet moment between Parja and Fi.

PS: The ''comlink party'' was just a Fi-Core facebook page thingy of us sharing ''glimmik music'' posts and talking osik around it. XD

tagging: @the-rain-on-kamino (tell me folks if you want me to tag you in the next one!)

-----

Fandom: Star Wars Republic Commando books by Karen Traviss

Characters: Fi Skirata and Parja

Rating: Family-friendly ** Fairly accessible to people who don't know RepCom **

Topic: Slice of life, anxiety, romance

Pitch: Fi is missing her wife after a few weeks of busy work. He fear she might be losing interest about their relationship.

It has been weeks since Parja got back from town. She has been busy at her workshop while Fi stayed with the aliit.

‘’ I should have gone with her. ‘’ said Fi to himself.

During winter, there wasn’t a lot of back and forth between locations. Clan Skirata lived in a hidden base called Kyrimorut. This was his home now. A real home. With family and friends. Everything Fi’s ever had dreamt for.

Well, almost. Niner, Darman and Delta squad were still stuck as Imperial Commandos. Still no news of Sev.

Fi was getting nervous, Parja was about to come back in any minute. He made an effort to look his best. Freshly shaved, tooth brushed, combed his mid-long haircut. However, his nervousness turned into actual anxiety.

‘’ Fierfek…What if she is getting bored of me already? ‘’

Parja and him were married since nearly the day the Republic turned into the Empire. But he was still injured back then. Nowadays, he technically didn’t need her to nurse him anymore. Getting better gave him very mixed feelings though. She used to take care of him like a devoted mom when he was in his worst state. Unable to walk, talk nor feed himself. It wasn’t the kind of love story he had imagined for himself. He was torn between his longing for attention and his wish to be fit for her. Be seen as a real man. He didn’t want pity-love, but would have taken it anyway. Clones usually weren’t that lucky.

Then she arrived. In full Mandalorian armor like most Mandalorian women did it for traveling. Fi looked at her and didn’t even try to hide his smile.

‘’ Don’t stand like this, help me with the grocerie’s bags! ‘’ she said, mildly amused, taking off her helmet.

‘’ Yes ma’am! ‘’

He was distracted by the sight of her thick braids and the cute kama around her thighs but snapped out his mind to help her.

‘’ What have you done while I was gone? ‘’

‘’ I’m… I’ve been useless. I only wrote and shared memes on my datapad... ‘’

‘’ No need to worry about it, that’s ok. Did you have fun? Did you make any new friends? ‘’

‘’  Mhh, yes actually! ‘’ said Fi, grinning. ‘’ I didn’t expect much at first, but the Facebook Star Wars coremunity is quite nice! I met other clones, kept in touch with Atin and Scorch on their -Core-pages.  Met sweet civilians like Jack, Amanda and Lacy who liked my post daily. I even met friendly Imperials! One of them was kind enough to share a comicbook with us. Another one sent us a barrel of spotchka and did a thingy with my avatar's face and his as a token of friendship.’’

‘’ That’s great! I couldn't be there for your comlink private party you threw the other day, but I brought something for you and your friends. Look in the box.‘’

Fi looked on the table and saw a big white box which smelled very nice.

‘’…Is that what I think it is? ‘’

‘’ Yep. Uj cakes with cinnamon and honey! You may share it with all your followers and the ones who are yet to come when they read that fic.‘’

She took one of the cakes, took a bite and fed the rest playfully to her overjoyed husband. Then she kissed him on the nose.

‘’ Happy 1 month anniversary to your Fi-Core page! ‘’

He kissed her on the forehead as she hugged him. His heartbeats went even faster when he felt her fingers unstrapping his armor plates.

‘’ ...and let’s have that private party! ‘’ she whispered to his ear.''

Fi-Core/Nocturius 5th of February 2024/ updated 21 September

[sealeneee]

SWTOR OC Masterpost 2: Electric Boogaloo

because i've gotten some new blorbos or changed the existing ones since january. as usual, most info below the cut. take a shot every time you see "operative (secondary)"

Republic:

Katona (main)

nickname(s)/alias(es): none age: 16 (prologue), 33 (LotS) class: jedi knight combat style(s): sentinel (primary), assassin (secondary) alignment: full dark side relationship: married to Doc basic info: main blorbo, source of brainrot. terrible jedi. she starts out being moderately fucked up, then goes full bonkers during kotfe and slowly gets moderate again after kotet ends. also has adhd.

Vyrjea

nickname(s)/alias(es): none age: 19 (prologue) class: jedi consular combat style(s): shadow (primary) alignment: mostly light side relationship: none atm, might romance Lana basic info: a prime example of a good jedi. doesn't like fighting, but is very fond of research and finding or preserving knowledge. most of her dark side choices are from pragmatism/choosing the greater good, such as saving the holocrons on taris and not the people. she's also autistic

Debriata

nickname(s)/alias(es): Debri for friends, and Risha sometimes calls her Debris as a joke age: 26 (prologue) class: smuggler combat style(s): scoundrel (primary), operative (secondary) alignment: light-side leaning relationship: none :] basic info: aromantic disaster. somewhat selfish but not a total jackass. sometimes a bit too destructive (hence the debris joke) but ultimately she's a good person

Sharieli

nickname(s)/alias(es): none so far age: 24 (prologue) class: trooper combat style(s): commando (primary), operative (secondary) alignment: primarily light side (?) relationship: married to aric jorgan basic info: a very good soldier who follows orders as long as they are sane and doesn't bend to bureaucracy.

Rhaes'sa

nickname(s)/alias(es): none so far age: 20 (prologue) class: jedi knight combat style(s): guardian (primary) alignment: light side relationship: you guessed it. she's going after Doc as well basic info: she exists because i wanted an LS knight after having three playthroughs with murderhobo Kat. also because i wanted to explore a lightsided knight's dynamic with Doc. that's the meta. as for character info, she strives to be good but can be quite impulsive and reckless. bc she's a guardian and ls i hc her as having a pretty defensive, tanky fighting style.

a few spares that I currently don't plan to develop or play with but also not deleting

He'rrah, smuggler

Solraca, consular

Xey'ara, trooper

Empire:

Schixar (main)

nickname(s)/alias(es): Cipher 9 age: 25 (prologue), 42 (LotS) class: imperial agent combat style(s): operative (primary), sniper (secondary) alignment: neutral relationship: married to Vector Hyllus basic info: went independent at the end of class story. loyal to the empire but thinks it's very flawed and hopes to right some of its wrongs one day.

Caran'ta

nickname(s)/alias(es): held the title of Darth Imperius as a dark councilor age: 19 (prologue), 36 (LotS) class: sith inquisitor combat style(s): assassin (primary), sorcerer (secondary) alignment: light side relationship: married to Theron Shan basic info: don't let her alignment fool you -- she's still very cunning and won't hesitate to take decisive action if needed. very pragmatic and never wastes a potential resource or opportunity.

Cordovia

nickname(s)/alias(es): goes by Darth Nox as a dark councilor age: 18 (prologue) class: sith inquisitor combat style(s): sorcerer (primary), juggernaut (secondary) alignment: dark side relationship: whatever the hell is going on with Andronikos Revel basic info: your average unhinged evil nox who went power hungry. not entirely merciless, but unlike Ranta, her first thought is usually violence. likes flowers though.

Karsovia

nickname(s)/alias(es): the Emperor's Wrath, Empire's Wrath age: 19 (prologue) class: sith warrior combat style(s): marauder (primary) alignment: dark side relationship: something Very Complicated with Malavai Quinn basic info: your average brutal sith warrior. i really don't have much to say about her it's been a while since i played sw

Ascoriel

nickname(s)/alias(es): the Emperor's Wrath, Empire's Wrath age: 22 (prologue) class: sith warrior combat style(s): juggernaut (primary) alignment: mostly dark side relationship: will romance Theron Shan basic info: he's more pragmatic than most sith, but still ruthless and often unforgiving. he ised to pine for Quinn until the betrayal which he found unforgivable, and later pursued a relationship with Theron. palpatine-saying-ironic.gif. Shan lived though

Ares'sea

nickname(s)/alias(es): none age: 23 (prologue), 40 (LotS) class: bounty hunter combat style(s): mercenary (primary), scoundrel (secondary) alignment: dark-leaning neutral relationship: married to Torian Cadera basic info: primarily motivated by money or other kinds of profit. has a dry, deadpan sense of humor. also while my characters are all in separate universes unless stated otherwise, if they weren't, she'd be the reason Katona got the job of battlemaster and would thank Ares'sea for this a lot. bc she hated her predecessor.

Rezerra

nickname(s)/alias(es): Razor age: 22 (prologue) class: bounty hunter combat style(s): mercenary (primary) alignment: light-leaning neutral relationship: unknown yet basic info: she's lvl 1 so there really isn't any. sorry

Raettmyr

nickname(s)/alias(es): Cipher 18 age: 24 (prologue) class: imperial agent combat style(s): operative (primary) alignment: dark side relationship: none so far, might end up with someone from expacs basic info: he's very horrible. imperial bootlicker and patriot. he would sell his own family if it strengthened the empire. his eye color, scars and cybernetics are all a result of artificial vision enhancement.

Melniati

nickname(s)/alias(es): Cipher 14 age: 26 (prologue) class: imperial agent combat style(s): sniper (primary), operative (secondary) alignment: dark side relationship: none, i want to spare the characters of swtor from her basic info: she's also horrible like raettmyr, but unlike him, she has zero loyalties, not even to the empire. she's the most vile and evil and unprincipled agent you'll ever meet. she makes great soup though

Non class story characters:

Korse'yn

nickname(s)/alias(es): Informer 34 age: 22 affiliation and job: imperial intelligence informer who specialized in scouting. Melniati's brother combat style(s): operative (primary) alignment: light side relationship: gets with Lana Beniko in the expacs basic info: unlike his sister, he's quite sane and a mostly normal person. he's younger, but smarter than her, which resulted in him getting a less combat-focused designation.

Lesya

nickname(s)/alias(es): none age: 29 (class story start) affiliation and job: a combat medic, Doc's friend who finished the same university. combat style(s): scoundrel (primary) alignment: light side relationship: none so far basic info: at the middle of kotfe she joins the alliance and works with the commander (Katona), later finding out about their shared… acquaintance. information about the exact nature of the relationship doesn't get revealed until JuS, which results in a bit of yelling and confusion. don't hide the fact that you're married to their best friend from people.

[reallygreatblogname222]

The Ones Who Live opinions

In an effort to keep my blog Mostly Cegan, I’ve compiled my The Ones Who Live thoughts into one post that no one asked for! I’m open to discourse so let’s discuss 🗣

First off; WOW. It was incredible and everyone should watch it - even if you gave up watching TWD, TOWL is for you!

The Civic Republic and the CRM are SO cool. We see them a bit in World Beyond, and I’m so glad they expanded that part of the universe further in TOWL!!!

Six years really isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things; I think consignment could be fun for a while – plus, you’ll be in great shape when you’re let into the city 😉

Yeah I’d love it if Jadis/Anne could simply not exist please and thank you.

I hope there’ll be a limited series from the perspective of the Civic Republic and the various CRM-guarded safe zones/secret cities with a more in-depth view of them. World Beyond shows you how incredible the CR is, and why the CRM has to do what it does… To get meta with it, there isn’t a lot of rebuilding society in zombie shows/films; usually they either show the before or the after, but the TWD universe is showing the during 👌

What the actual fuck did poison gassing Michonne’s group do for the CR?? The CRM gained *nothing* from that; why did they do it??

Noooo Nat!

In episode three, the first time Michonne and Rick talk after he tricked her, the way she took his helmet off, threw it, and just glared at him is unintentionally hilarious. Like ‘this love is about to get conditional after what you just did’. He knows he fucked up, and he’d do it again in a heartbeat because his mind is Made Up.

Excuse me. Passive aggressive Michonne is my favourite person ever. Their snippy ‘heart’s not really in it because I love you more than life itself, to the point of detriment’ arguing while in life-threatening situations is adorable. “Commando, really?”

The Roomba! Hahahaha, love it. Rick and Michonne’s interactions feel natural, idk how to explain it but Michonne laughing and saying “that explains why it’s so spotless in here,” feels domestic and normal in a way that throws you right back to season five.

If these characters weren’t so well-established, their back-and-forth would have eventually crossed the line into being annoying, but because we know them and their journey so well, I was hanging on every word, man. Damn.

Not Rick shoving a knife through the fandom’s communal heart by dreaming about Carl… 

I appreciate that quick lift make out, then that quick car make out. Gotta get a smooch in while you can 😂 Also let me tell you, Rick wearing a plain jumper is *doing it* for me for some reason…

Uh. Hello Gabriel? I guess it makes sense because of Jadis but… didn’t expect to see him here…

Okay how is Rick tied to the bed - he has ONE hand??? Surely the tie would just slip right off? Unless he’s wearing his fake hand, but why would he be wearing it while sleeping? Is he faking?

Jadis/Anne/Bitchface was already an irredeemable asshole, but then episode five happened and OH MY GOD there’s a spoiler for Huck’s death! (I haven’t got to that episode of World Beyond yet and I’m dreading it). Though as much as Jadis is unpalatable, it’s difficult not to feel bad for poor Gabriel. He saw the best in her so he was ultimately the only one to lose her.

I was on the CRM’s side until that last episode – man, the Echelon briefing really shines a light on everything. But it’s good to know that the Civic Republic lives on!!

Rick, my man, why did you leave your insanely awesome hand behind? What was that about?

THE REUNION! I have no words.

[stuffedeggplants]

Remember in Hard Contact where Niner pretends to be mortally wounded so everyone can lure Ghez Hokan into a trap and kill him? Niner “realizes” he doesn’t know how to scream and imitates dying men he’s heard before, but in Ghez’s POV it turns out that Niner is so good at it that he fools our Mandalorian mercenary who has heard plenty of people in pain, sobbing at death’s door before. Ghez buys this completely, at no point realizing that Niner is “acting.” 

And I just had the scary thought that Niner might not be acting, and Niner himself maybe doesn’t realize it?

He’s had neither the time nor the space to process the pain and trauma of Geonosis. He does reflect on it in the first chapter where we meet him, but after that it’s non-stop go go go for Omega. Then Darman gets separated from the group almost immediately on Qiilura-- the cherry on top would be if Omega does end up losing him too--and later Etain uses the force on Niner twice to help him be calm and have more confidence while worrying less. Things are high stress, they do not stop, and Niner’s constantly trying to be controlled and aware of how others might perceive his behavior. When Niner has to scream as he pretends to be dying, he really doesn’t have to do anything but let out all his built-up negative emotion in one of the most visceral ways possible. 

[thesummerstorms]

Hello! I Just read the republic commando books, and then I was reading your amazing meta, and i’d like to ask you a question if you don’t mind: what do you think would have happened if Etain or kad or both had died during the birth (not an improbable scenario considering everything)? How would kal, Darman etc, react? (Not that I wanted Etain to die, obviously, I really hated her death scene; wouldn’t have been better if it had been Jusik, killed by clones because of order 66?) Thank you

So…. there’s a lot to unpack with this one and a lot of specific but variable details that could change how even one of the three scenarios plays out, so this will be a little general.

Also, the entire topic of the ask is of course upsetting, so consider this a blanket trigger warning.

All three of the scenarios, frankly, are variations of the Worst Ending ™. I don’t see any of them ending well, although their specific injustices and heartaches have a hell of a lot of room to vary. The one thing I do see staying consistent? 

Kal can’t, or won’t tell the truth.

In no scenario I can think of does Kal play a good or helpful role in all this. He is, after all, the one who had backed Etain into this corner to begin with, and who endangered her and her child. He put her on Qiluura. He isolated her from emotional and medical support. He threatened to kidnap her child and forced her to hide her pregnancy from her lover. None of that is something he never really owns up to and the situation is one he wouldn’t like to have to deal with the consequences of.

Scenario One

If Etain loses Kad during the birth but survives, I absolutely see him manipulating her into keeping quiet about it and pressuring her to return to her command and pretend it didn’t happen. After all, he’s already forced her silence for this long, and repeatedly used her affections for Dar and her guilt to manipulate her reactions. He also doesn’t truly “forgive” and soften towards her until he sees her actually holding Kad.

 In a scenario where Kad doesn’t survive, where pity and a sense of ownership/familial control don’t set in, I think he would absolutely strong-arm her into hiding the fact that she had given birth from Darman, in the name of “protecting” Dar from the grief that is currently tearing her to pieces, and on her returning to front as quickly as possible, “to ease suspicions”. “Why break Darman’s heart when it could distract him and get him killed?”- just a variation on a theme, continuing to ignore Etain’s own loss and agency.

I would absolutely then see that as the beginning of a downward spiral for Etain and her mental health. It the past few years, she’s been repeatedly exposed to war trauma, been “orphaned”, and been emotionally abused. The one certainty in all of it is her belief that the Force meant for her to have this child, that there was something waiting for her at the end of the hardship that was meant to be.

Her grief if that were proven false, if she lost the baby she wanted so desperately, would be immense. More than that, Etain would absolutely be vulnerable to guilt and to Kal’s manipulation, and I 100% believe she could (would) be convinced it was her fault. She was the one who chose to walk into the minefield (stupid). She was the one who got pregnant during a war. (stupid). She was the one who risked, and ultimately lost her child’s life. (Whether or not that’s an entirely fair assessment.) 

From there, it isn’t very far for Kal to lead her to just… not mentioning it to Dar in order to protect him from the misery she’s feeling and “has no right to inflict on him”, especially when he never knew to begin with. (And that’s a little bit more than she can face, the idea of having to tell look Dar in the eye and tell him she lost their baby before he ever knew it existed.)

Etain’s tough in general, but I’m not sure what that would do to her will and ability to cope, especially if grief is compounded by guilt/self-loathing/isolation from the secret, fed into by Kal. I’m not sure if it wouldn’t lead to some self-destructive behavior or reckless decision making.

The only potential good things in this scenario are Rav and Mereel, both of whom she seems to have gotten close to, being nearby ish to maybe notice that Etain is spinning out of control and try to talk to her/ talk her into talking to Darman so she can grieve and heal properly.

How Darman finds out in this scenario… I’m not entirely sure. I can pretty easily seeing him being worried and hurt by the change he sees in Etain’s behaviors towards him- her grief/guilt playing out in unintentional distancing or recklessness. It’s not pretty. But I don’t know how exactly it gets resolved.

 I don’t think Etain herself would want to, or even think to implicate Kal in the mess, not given the way she tried to protect him in Order 66. Even if or when he does find out- I’m not sure the proper amount of guilt would ever find its way to the man who actually hid her/threatened her into the war zone and denied her medical care.

Scenario Two

Etain and Kad both die. Kal 100% abso-fucking-lutely covers this one up and fully intends to hide it from Darman as well. After all, if Etain’s dead anyway and Dar never knew about the kid, why make the grieving process any worse. Somehow he stages a scene that implies Etain died somehow in some secret combat related way that left only enough evidence to be certain, but not enough for a Jedi to gather/examine/bury her remains and discover that she had been pregnant.

Maybe he feels some twinge of guilt- but it isn’t enough to accept responsibility for the loss. And remember- he hasn’t come to see Etain as his yet. Etain and her child are mourned by only a handful- Rav and Vau, Mereel and Ordo, Parja maybe, Jusik. And then Kal does his best to bury them both. He’ll tell Dar “someday”, “at the right time”, “when it won’t get him killed”. Meanwhile Omega is left to deal with it, and to pull around a devastated Darman. Zey is really the only one in the Order to mourn or think about Etain’s death very intensely, and while some of her men might pay respects, no one has time to dig too deep.

Again, who actually ends up telling Darman the truth is an interesting question. Notably in this case, I don’t think it’s Jusik. Jusik is slightly guilty at knowing, I’m sure, but he doesn’t have the full picture, doesn’t know that there was anything more to Etain’s medical issues than random bad luck, and is deeply enough under Kal’s influence to accept the need to protect Darman from that second loss. And while I love to picture some resulting showdown between Rav or Vau and Kal, that’s probably OOC. They just don’t have the strong motivation here.

Ultimately, I think the revelation would have to fall to one of the two Nulls. 

Mereel has been shown in the months Etain spent on Mandalore to have formed a very strong friendship with her. He demonstrates a trust/vulnerability with her that we seldom see him elsewhere. He treats her with an affection that at that point she receives from no one else outside of Omega, including joking nicknames and the ‘ika suffix. He trusted her as a competent individual and as his partner in the work of breaking down Ko Sai. What’s more, Mereel has also demonstrably shown that he loves his brothers (i.e. Darman) more than he loves Kal, and he’d be witnessing Darman suffer/ be lied to and forbidden the right to knowledge and choices. I really don’t imagine that sitting well with him. The only issues being timing and the fact that Darman doesn’t actually know Mereel well at all.

Ordo is a bit trickier, especially since he’s so caught up in the need not to disappoint Kal. His relationship with Etain in True Colors is also trickier. But he pities her- even likes her. Despite the sometimes awkward or harsh tone of their interactions, he does respect her. He was also party to the original deception that kept Dar from knowing about the baby -the baby he would then never know- and got Etain sent away in the first place. It’s not his fault, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he would have to grapple with a pretty intense guilt of his own. That maybe, eventually, that guilt would win.

Again, how Darman reacts is largely based on the circumstance he’s in at the time, which seem to have too many possibilities for me to write through fully.I think he’d be pretty damn mistrustful of everyone afterwards though- and he’d be left to grapple with Etain’s lie of omission without ever being able to resolve it or even talk to her about it. Without ever being able to tell her how much he loved her, how much he would have wanted to raise a child with her.

Scenario Three

Kad lives, Etain dies.

This one I can see going two ways. I would not put it at all past Kal to pull the stunt where he continues to pretend Kad is his biological grandson, even to Omega, “until Dar is ready to be a Dad”. Without Etain there to prove parentage or to push for her right to speak to Dar, and also given that telling the truth would “expose Kad to Jedi” and force Kal to talk about why Etain couldn’t survive childbirth in a galaxy where humans regularly survive the loss of large percentages of their organs and body parts.

In that case, I might actually peg Jusik as the one who ultimately comes clean, particularly as he sees Dar struggling or notices the things Kad’s so clearly inherited from his mother, like the shape of a smile or a way of reaching for the Force. Ultimately, he’s soft-hearted and confesses in a moment of sentiment rather than planning.

Jusik, however, still doesn’t know how entangled in it all Kal is.

It’s also possible Kal tells Darman about the baby in order to try and motivate Dar to keep fighting through his grief/ to provide a “silver lining”- but in this case disguising Etain’s death as an unfortunate/unforeseen accident or stroke of bad luck. Maybe Kal, with his lack of self-awareness, is even convinced that’s what it is. 

That again puts those who know (just Rav, the Nulls, and Vau) in the uncomfortable position of trying to decide whether it’s worth it to tell Darman the truth, given what he’s already lost. Telling, after all, won’t bring Etain back, won’t heal Darman any. It will just drive a wedge between Kal and Dar and add to the pain of the whole mess.

Vau might do it- Vau is a monster, but he is honest about what he is, and he is frustrated by Kal’s self-deception and back pats. Darman has no reason to trust Vau over Kal, though, and doesn’t take it well, even in the face of gnawing, quiet doubt.

Mereel might do it- as a warning, in Etain’s memory, to try and urge his brother to keep his nephew just that little bit safer, even if none of them can easily walk away from Kal.

In the end, though, Darman is still left with that permanently unresolved doubt, that same argument with Etain that never happened about her secret keeping, is left with all the things he should have but couldn’t have said. There isn’t any justice in this scenario, not with her already lost. There’s only clarity.

[mamuzzy]

I only wanted to answer in reblog but it got so long i decided to make a separate post. But it had me thinking about media consumerism and how it could affect the open-mindedness for different shows soooo...

Here is a guide to...

HOW TO GET SOMEONE TRAPPED IN THE CLONE HELL

... not entirely a guide but more like an observation.

If we want to look at the problem with the fast-paced media consumer viewpoint, I think starting with the Bad Batch it's actually not a bad idea for someone who never watched Star Wars animated media before. It's sad but cartoons, animations can repulse people to watch things because they link them to child stories, something only a child would watch, also most of the people prefer live action instead of animated stuff. Especially if the said movie/series is quite old. cont. under the cut...

There could be a reason why people are not interested in clones

If a friend, family member, boyfriend/girlfriend/whatever only saw the movies and were not interested in TCW before, had not seen it as a child on TV, they will probably have prejudice against the clones. - They weren't the main characters in the movies therefor we have not seen them interacting that much with the main cast. - But even if you don't know star wars, you will probably know the clones for Order 66, white armored assholes who murdered the jedi aka good guys. And when the movies came out, inhibitor chips weren't in the picture. ---> this observations came while watching TCW with my dad who didn't like the clones because for this exact same reason: the clones basicly serve antagonist without question in a world where rules were set: jedi are good, sith are evil. -> I don't care that it is more complex that. It is what was shown. While he enjoyed the clone-centric episodes, he still stood at his point. They killed the jedi. End of story. - People have different interests :'(((((((

THE CLONE WARS 2003

Why do I recommend this first.

You can always say it's made by the same guy who made Samurai Jack. Strategically speaking Clone Wars 2003 would be a good starting point despite not being canon anymore because TCW is adapting some of the stories shown here. It recaps well what happened between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Also this is the first media where Asajj Ventress and Grievous were introduced, and where you can actually see Grievous in his prime, an absolutely terrifying foe who actually can mop the floor with the jedi. Lots of jedi were introduced here which later also appeared in TCW. Why is this important: Having familiarity with the characters shown in memorable scenes helps that you will recognise them later in other media. Like... Hey it's the jedi dude who stripped in the middle of a fight! Hey, aren't these the same guys who mutated an entire village out of fun who kidnapped Echo??? And so on. TIME: 25 x 5 minutes episodes full of action so it keeps up the interest, and... FORDO. 5 minutes of full clone badassery. While TCW emphasises on the theme that the clones are living, feeling human beings who can die exactly like a human, in CW2003 they are shown like really the badass super soldiers (especially the ARC Troopers) who were bred for war. How much time it takes an episode to watch is an important factor. Because someone who binge watches 10 x 1 hour long netflix series under one day without sleep, drink, eat is not a guarantee that they will be able to sit through 133 x 22 minutes episodes. The sheer numbers will scare them away, nobody has a time watch 133 episodes when you can watch like... 5 different series instead! STORY TELLING COMPARED TO TCW: CW2003 goes for mostly visual story telling instead of talking. It's suspenseful, it's scenic, it's extreme, sometimes silly (rocket-launcher clone in the elevator with zero fuck given is still my favorite) but it's guarantee that you will remember. TCW episodes are varying from episodic to two-to-four episode arcs, it has silly comic relief episodes, it has serious dark episodes, obligatory beach episode, obligatory valentine day episode, obligatory school festival episodes obligatory-just kidding lol , so the lenght of one story can be varying, so is the quality of them. So unless you have a hyperfixation, or are a completionist, or interested enough, the episodes - in psychologycal term -, won't urge you the continue. Because in one 22 minutes episode you got a complete story without cliffhanger it won't make you think, because all the questions asked in the beginning of the episode was answered at the end. It won't rush you to continue, because you know that probably the next episode will be about an entire different conflict. You can stop anytime without the feeling of "just one more episode, just one more episode". Also, it doesn't help that you know how the story will end if you saw Revenge of the Sith. The forementioned uglyness... It took me years to finish TCW. I hated when it came out back in 2009 despite loving Star Wars and CW2003 and only after a decade picked up my interest again, it still took me years to finish it anyway. Back then, I really hated how everything got quickly 3D in neglection of 2D. But can't say it's ugly because it's old, it was ugly when it came out! You really have to force yourself to accept how it looks until you are fine with it, because your eyes got used to it. Also some episodes were boring, not entertaining, I just lost interest and only came back later to continue and I even forgot what happened before. I can't remember most of the arc expect those I was interested in to rewatch it again in the last years. Yes, the quality will improve. Season 7 is beautiful. The visuals of Bad Batch is also beautiful. But between season 6 and season 7, years passed.

THE BAD BATCH

Why do I recommend TBB for someone who ain't got time for shit™:

- TBB season are 16 episodes long. It's friendlier than 133 number wise. - There are only a few main characters to follow. It's important because when there are a large cast of characters, it's easy to get confused who is who and with literal CLONES as main characters, it's hard to distinguish them from each other. I know I can distinguished them, because I'm so fixated on them that every single verbal and non-verbal gesture they make will shoot me into outer space. - The Batch uses popular character tropes, different looks, different voices and tones, so they are recognisable, therefore, you will remember them for the rest of the show. So it will be a chance that you will fall for at least one member of the batch. And then you'll be thirsting mess over one character and eventually you'll be staning all of them, and eventually you will seek out more contents,fanfics, fanarts, headcanons with them that will attract TCW characters or events as well that will lead further deep down into the clone-hell. --> You can start showing the Bad Batch arc TCW where Jesse, Kix, Rex, Cody is also present, so there are plenty of topic and characters to talk about later. Also... Who is this Echo guy, how did he end up here? You can show the Domino Squad episodes, Kamino arc, citadel arc... - This could be a double-edge sword, but TBB are shown resemblance to Delta Squad, Omega Squad and Null ARC troopers. You know Delta Squad from the Video Game, Republic Commando, while the Omegas and Nulls are the main characters of the book series with the same name by Karen Traviss. I say it's double edged, because without these fantastic characters we wouldn't have The Bad Batch, but also I can understand the fans who wanted the Deltas adapted properly instead. - In season 1, the "fillers" add to the story and the characters as well and they won't get episodic-amnesia. (they may have TCW amnesia though... yes, I look at you Echo.) - In Season 1, there is a clear conflict which shadow always lingers even if the plot of the episode does not directly touches it. - Returning characters from TCW like Rex and Gregor could make the consumer ask the questions: who are these guys and why are they important? Rex is cute, is there more episodes with him? Oh yes, my dear prey friend, there is a whole series about him. - I only say season 1 because I'm not entirely satisfied how season 2 were handled while I enjoyed the first one. My hyperfixation for TCW last year literally started with Bad Batch. The trailer was so misleadingly awesome I wanted to watch it before season 2 would come out, but I wanted to finish TCW first (finally!). Season 6 and Season 7 were basicly binge watch and it got me interested again in the previous seasons too.

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS 2008 (movie)

Why do I recommend this before TCW - It has Fox - Because sitting through a one-night movie is still easier than watching 133 episodes while maintaining the same quality of the show. - It has Fox - It shows the story how Ahsoka is introduced as Anakin's padawan the first time and we get a glimpse of their initial relationship and dynamic. - It has Fox - Basicly two arc in one movie but the introduced characters stay the same the entire time so you have time to get to know them, recognise them, and later you can remember them. - It has Fox - It has Fox.

TALES OF THE JEDI

It has that one episodes with the clones where they train Ahsoka. Possible questions could be asked: wtf happens at the END? Where is the rest of it? You can instantly show the last arc of season 7. Which would lead to another questions: wtf are the mandalorians, why Maul is here, wtf happening with Rex during O66, why is he hesitating to shoot Ahsoka? Now you can show the Chip conspiracy ARC with Fives! This Fives is a nice guy, is there more episodes of him? Oh boy~

And if they are interested in watching TCW with you..

- Watching together as spending time together usually helps. I think discord also has a function where you can stream movies to others. - You don't have to watch it in the exact order the episodes came out - Show arcs. There are lot of clone centric arcs. I literally collected all the episodes where Echo and Fives are present. --> Dad remembered Echo the whole time and he felt sorry for him. I showed the episodes in such order that his story could be followed easely. ------------- I know. I get it. Every episode is awesome. Every character is awesome. They are. They are all blorbos. They are our blorbos.