#so i think first i'm going to definitely do rex and cody. and probably also wolffe and fox. and those four will share a reference sheet

[margindoodles2407]

Hey so you know how yesterday I posted that art of Ahsoka and Rex for High Fantasy Star Wars?

Well. Uh. In the process of doing that. I realized I don't actually... have an official reference for Rex himself.

So guess what I'm starting todayyyy

[omaano]

HELLO IT'S ME AGAIN and i think i overdid it with this one, so i'll probably split this into separate parts, there should be five! this one, boon givers, non-boon givers/npcs, weapons, and aspects :D in reference to who you've got as who from hades game--- so i'm going off the (hopefully accurate) assumption that those with boons are the 'gods' of this au, so-- barriss, kit, shaak, cobb, boba, ahsoka, quinlan (!!), leia, anakin/vader & maul. this leaves… literally EVERYONE else as NPCs, which i love and adore (the rancor [?], cody, satine, echo&fives, aphra, paz, bo-katan, sabine, omega, rex, wolffe, ezra, obi-wan, luke and the armorer!) okay this is just me trying to connect the dots (and from memory i think you've got a fair few more characters than the game does, so bear with me), but: (next ask)

Hello!

First of all, omg, you really put a lot of thought into this, damn! And you have so many insights and good ideas I could have never come up with (and a few assumptions I will have to correct as we go along, but that's mostly about things I haven't yet talked about, and thus cannot expect anyone to know) - especially about the weapons and aspects because... let's be honest I only got so far as "darksaber" and "spear" and the rest is not my problem lol XD

I will make a whole different post to reply to your asks about those (that one will be a LOT shorter, mostly because I will just be excitedly gushing over your ideas), but this one is getting so long I feel like I should offer something in compensation to anyone who'll read to the end ^^; (You'll see more art by mid-August when it will be time for the next monthly update, don't worry!) But I felt like that the FULL layout of all the characters would be better kept together in one post.

Waking up to all these messages had been so unspeakably good, thank you so much for taking the time not to just think these up but to type them out and send them to me as well, because omg your brain and enthusiasm!! I cannot say how much that means to me, I cannot say THANK YOU in big enough caps to encapsule that! ❤️❤️

I had so many things to reply to and talk about, please excuse me that I've taken this long to get to all of them ^^;

So, half of the replies and answers under the cut ->

BOON GIVERS

hades has ten, you've got ten! current associations-- you've said leia is a hermes adjacent character, which checks out. maul is chaos adjacent, as you've also said anakin is zeus, ahsoka is athena? ties into the parent-child/master-padawan relationship? barriss as artemis, kit as poseidon, shaak as demeter? quinlan as dionysus perhaps? cobb and boba are both boon-givers/deities and also romanceable--- boba as ares and cobb as aphrodite? vibes only man.

So the first assumption I need to correct here is that Anakin is most definitely not Zeus, but Demeter (I likely only hinted at that in the tags I think)! That was kind of the reason and realization that's wormed into my brain first and paved the road for my willingness to extend this AU with TCW characters as well. So this applies for later with your NPC adjacent ask too, because Luke is not in fact cast for Hades' but Persephone's role, as the one who needs to be found at the end of the whole mighty quest - and whom Din can also visit on the regular until he gets 75% custody of his kid back (that's a joke, but you know it checks out to a degree). So Anakin is suited for an overprotective parent figure (on a good day) who also doesn't know how to go about it without swinging in the other direction as well. (Plus in my humble opinion Demeter is stronger than Zeus anyway. This is not an objective statement, I just feel stronger with her boons with my game style XD)

I've also switched Fennec back from Barriss (I'm so sorry that I keep doing this, I hope noone's got their hopes up too high D:) because I'd taken a look at the lineup, considered my options for dialogue (since half the Mando cast has no clue about the other boon giver characters) and decided that I needed to bring back more Mando-adjacent characters. (A Boba-Fennec duo boon would be so good!) This way Fennec could technically still carry over to a potential Hades2 AU, and Barriss can appear there as a new character (I haven't watched Tales from the Empire, but I have the feeling that she would go very interestingly with Ventress).

So... they don't line up perfectly with their godly roles, but that leaves Fennec for Artemis (sharpshooter ayy!), and... Shaak Ti for Zeus, Ahsoka for Athena (your reasoning for master/padawan relationship thing kind of convinced me of this, even though Ahsoka has never been Shaak's padawan per se, but I like it when Shaak mentors her as another female togruta in the Order). You are pretty spot on with the rest, good job! :D (The guess at the Boba and Cobb vibes was great, I went with vibes too, but they check out pretty good imo :D)

NON BOON GIVERS

bo-katan is meg, and her night owls are tisiphone and alecto (given) aphra is charon (given) cody is achilles, obi-wan is patroclus (definitely heavily implied if not outright stated, i can't remember)

yes, absolutely spot on!

luke is hades (implied if not stated)

As stated above, Luke is not Hades but Persephone, except that he makes an appearance after the final boss fight to take Grogu off Din's hands (maybe even help out) as he does in the show. Hence why I'm planning to draw two versions of his character art: one for his stylish black Jedi Master getup with the lightsaber, and one dressed down to a "farm boy" and looser, happier and less serious (like how Persephone has her serious queenly look, and the one where she is just at home in her garden.

paz & axe are theseus & asterius? specifically paz as asterius i think (implied?)

Axe double times it for two boss roles (lol, although technically he exchanges one for the other to hang out with Paz later), and Paz also pulls double shift for ThAsterius (Asterius's size but Theseus' mouth and piss poor attitude XD) and Hypnos (I feel it very fitting that he would be the one to greet Din every time he crawls back to HQ, and be less kind and encouraging about it than Hypnos. It's their love language to be mean to the other, that's just how it is XD) All the same, a little bit subtly (at least while I don't have a drawing for Axe) but I'm pushing the Paxe agenda and you cannot to anything about it :P

Fun fact tangent: I think I've mentioned it in the tags for the helmeted Paz post that in order to have to two-character boss battle in the arena of Elysium before Axe can be bothered to drag his ass over there, it would be fun to have a father-son 2v2 fight like with Grogu v Ragnar and Din v Paz. Grogu can 3-shot Ragnar eventually, and then they would disappear from the field, done with their own little rivalry, but Din would have to avoid so much as brushing up against Ragnar, because if he does he's immediately lost dishonourably and would have to crawl his way back to beg for forgiveness.

din is zagreus (uh duh)

omega is melinoe (given)

Omega is Melinoe for a Hades2 AU*, but in this version that is mostly based on Hades (the first, and the only one that I'd actually played) she is leaning more towards Dusa - she's a friend, and is making friends while she stays in the halls, looking for the Bad Batch (and whatever time fuckery makes Rex look like that sometimes while Cody and Wolffe are eternally 20-somethings) and looking for ways and means to help her find them... as well as fleecing any- and everyone in cards. Gotta gather up the credits to hire a bountyhunter if necessary XD

*The next time I lose all my chill and black out for a weekend I'm planning to draw out just Omega, Ventress, and maybe someone else in the Hades2 style. I'll just have to pinpoint exactly where and how I should adjust things with the art style. I swear I never get overambitious, and know full well what's good for me (he said lyingly)

fennec is artemis but specifically in hades 2 (based on the fact that artemis plays a slightly different role in hades 2) rex is skelly (given)

As stated above Fennec has made her way back to being a boon-giver - but I didn't know that Artemis plays differently in Hades2 :o (I haven't played actually, I got overwhelmed by all the magic options when I watched my partner play OTL) Only that she's got a thing for the Moon??

the rancor (?) (i can't ID animals that well don't give me that look) is definitely cerberus

It's a mythosaur, actually. (or at least that's the intention behind it. I'm not entirely sure if there is a proper canon look to a Mythosaur, we mostly only see its skull after all, so I tried my best here with what references I could find on the internet.) He started out as Boba's rancor (so you're not entirely wrong there), but since it felt bad to separate it from Boba, I changed it to a more Mando specific creature. If I were ever to redraw the whole level that is the House of Hades (one can dream), there would be a little pool of water in the corner where Cerberus chills on his pillow, and the Mythosaur would rise from there on occasion.

the armorer i think fits the nyx role, as she's the mother figure of the main character, but she might also fit better as persephone? toss up between her and satine for that i think hang on now i am thinking, because the point of din's journey isn't to escape to find his mother, but to escape to help find someone to train his son, hence why luke is the final "boss". so, the persephone figure in this doesn't necessarily have to be his mother, but someone who can train grogu? in that case, i nominate sabine as persephone (MANDALORIAN JEDI, if you go by ahsoka canon) so: sabine as persephone- but wait. i just had a thought. sabine and ezra as platonic (?) orpheus and eurydice, i AM a genius. okay sabine works as orpheus and ezra as eurydice i think (based solely off the fact that sabine is the one actively looking for ezra, like orpheus is the one actively wanting to reconcile with eurydice [?]), so. i think the armorer works as nyx, because she's kind of a symbol of din's past.. not sure who to put as persephone yet. i mean… persephone symbolises a kind of peace in the underworld, so you could maybe slot satine in? satine as persephone, go

Okay, so first things first: that is such a fascinating theory, (and yes, yes you are a genius <3) I love it! It is all such good logic, and so much more galaxy brained than what I could have come up with, so I hope I won't disappoint with what i have in mind for these characters.

Sabine as a Mandalorian Jedi would be such a cool teacher for Grogu - but I don't think Sabine is up for the existential crisis of "ohmygod, I'm barely a jedi myself, and I'm definitely not old enough to be some 50+ year old baby's master!! D:" She would definitely have more than some insight to share with Luke though. Also just imagine Grogu looking at Sabine like she is the coolest aunt he could ever have (sorry, Fennec). Also also, as stated above and what you have also theorized, Sabine has been cast for the role and spot of Orpheus, looking for Ezra (through Din).

Okay, okay, hear me out: the Armorer as Hades. Her forge would work great as a center of gathering, same as Hades's throne/main desk, and it would be very natural that Din would go there first after arriving back to those halls. (I have so many thoughts about this and how I would want to redraw these halls... someday.) And while she is not the first final boss to beat once Din gets there (just before handing Grogu over to Luke), once Gideon (a temporary final boss) is defeated the Armorer can more than return to her Hades role for beating Din up as "training". Same as Hades and Zagreus do once they reconcile their differences.

And now, that I'm nearing the point why I want all these characters to be forced to gather/hang out in the same spot: Satine is Nyx. I know that she is dead, and we don't care for those tiny details, and I'm not planning to draw her as a shade/Force ghost like Fives, we're just going to ignore this little lore tidbit the same way how we accept that Rex can look both like his gloriously bearded Rebels self, and the fetching captain from the clone wars. We're just not talking about all this.

I deeply love the steel in her spine and her dedication in her ideals and beliefs, and I want to see her clash with the Armorer on what makes and Mandalorian with Sabine and Din (whose idea of what it makes a Mandalorian and to wear Mandalorian armor suffers a great blows through his meetings with Cobb and Boba, and Bo-Katan and her ilk) in the middle. I also feel like the clones would have their own opinion on the matter, even if it would be something like "you all have never cared for us, now leave us alone, we have our own culture".

I would need to do deeper research here for this (as much as I'd be willing to touch this ideological debate) because my knowledge of Mandalorian (or Star Wars, really) lore is all that I occasionally try to google and what I'd picked up from fics and the occasional meta post here on tumblr. But the same way that Nyx disagrees with Hades on some matters, she is still an (if not the most) important pillar of what holds up the underworld; and the same way Satine is just as important in what it makes to be a Mandalorian as the Armorer is to the Children of the Watch.

So I want them to clash (with the added drama when Bo-Katan starts hanging out there around her sister on occasion as well), and then come to a more inclusive understanding of what it makes to be Mandalorian, like what I believe Sabine and Din represent.

I know that Satine is super controversial in the fandom, but I'm willing to die on this hill, even if I'm not very good at articulating my opinions.

okay uh. we have more hades characters than star wars characters, but: echo & fives as sisyphus & bouldy, wolffe as thanatos?

Echo&Fives are to be understood as one character (there has been a thought to cast them for Orpheus and Eurydice, but then gave that storyline to Sabine and Ezra since it fits them so much better, especially after Ahsoka), and they are in Thanatos' spot (no other reason than that I wanted to include them, and they should be hanging out around Cody, Rex and Omega. I know that Thanatos doesn't make it through to Hades2(?) but you see, I don't want to line everyone up 100% with the already existing roles/characters).

With that mismatch it's actually Wolffe and Plo as Sisyphus and Bouldie. Wolffe needs quite a bit of extra work to be won over to become friendly, but once he gets to the world weary sigh of "you are okay, I guess, you can be allowed to meet my General" that's basically a shortcut to finding Grogu an alternate Jedi master, because Plo would just take him on, no problem with attachments and other concerns. There, game won, Din didn't even need to find Luke for that.

this leaves hypnos and dusa- i would like to nominate c3po as dusa, which leaves R2 as a slightly more chaotic hypnos. chopper, of course, is Tiny Vermin. (non-droid characters could be qui-gon as hypnos [idk man, something about the vibes], and… yeah, no, i think c3po fits dusa quite well) on an alternate note, i think padme and her [shade] handmaidens could fit the role of the queen/persephone quite well-- but maybe that's just me being a little padme-biased. anyway! not all of these characters quite fit, and i am in fact aware that you probably don't intend to match up all the characters exactly, but this was a fun little exercise for me!

I ADORE the idea of Chopper as Tiny Vermin XD

I wouldn't want to make Din face the horror that is regular interaction with C3PO (although I'm sure it would work in his favour if they could commiserate with Wolffe on the matter XD), he would never get over his anti-droid sentiments XD So no, sadly no appearance will be here for our favourite (?) gold plated protocol droid,but R2 would definitely be the one to wheel in and project Leia's hologram for Din to interact with, because she is a busy lady after all, he should feel lucky that she would take his calls in the first place when he needs help with getting out of trouble with the X-wing patrols.

And double sadly no Padme either, because I refuse to turn this AU into another Skywalker drama, sorry ^^;

TBC...

[vodika-vibes]

Blind Date

I think this is kind of cute, but I like aquariums. But I'm also not sure I managed to get Cody's personality down. He's harder than he should be.

Pairing: Cody x Reader

Word count: 842

Songs: None

Warnings: Mentions of a stalking

“Oh, stop being such a grouch.” You roll your eyes as your best friend, Bella, wraps both of her arms around one of yours, “This’ll be fun, you’ll see!”

“Watching you and your boy toy suck face does not sound like my idea of fun.” You say dryly, even as you allow her to drag you down the street towards the aquarium. 

“Wow, rude.” She huffs, “Look, Rex is bringing one of his brothers, so you won’t have to ‘watch me and my boy toy suck face’.” Bella quotes with a scrunched up nose, “Instead you can suck face with his brother!”

You stop in the middle of the sidewalk, “Are you setting me up on a blind date?”

“Um…wellll-” She is, tellingly, not meeting your gaze.

“Oh my god. You do remember what happened the last time you did this, right? Poor Cissa had to move!”

“Okay, that wasn’t my fault! How was I supposed to know that Cissa had a stalker?! And this is one of Rex’s older brothers, so he’s definitely not a stalker!” Bella exclaims, “Please? We’re already here.”

“Fine. But the second this becomes weird-” You threaten, though you would have had more luck talking to a brick wall, based on how she squeals and pulls you into the building.

She releases you as quickly as she latched on, instead flinging herself into the waiting arms of Rex. Rex, at least, seems to enjoy your friend's unique brand of affection, if nothing else.

“Ah, you made it.” He smiles at you, and then motions to his left, “My older brother, Cody.”

You flick your gaze over Cody, who looked about as thrilled as you felt at being there. “I’m fairly certain this is actually a kidnapping,” You admit to Rex as you fold your arms, “She kind of just, broke into my house, threw clothes at me, and told me to come with her. I wasn’t even aware that this was going to be a date until about 30 seconds ago.”

Rex blinks in surprise, “Well, you’re here now, and we’ve already paid.” He untangles himself from Bella, and lightly shoves Cody towards you, “be nice, vod.”

Cody rolls his eyes, “Yeah, yeah.” And then Rex and Bella are gone, apparently having planned this in advance.

“Yeah, that figures,” You say with a sigh, as you rest your hand against your cheek.

Cody glances at you, “You really didn’t know this was a date?”

“I never would have left the house with her if I knew. She doesn’t exactly have a good track record with this kind of thing.” You sigh, “But I’m here, and you’re probably not a stalker.” You pause and eye him suspiciously, “You’re not a stalker, right?”

“I don’t have time for something like that,” Cody replies blandly.

You laugh, “Good to know.” You shift so you’re looking at him properly, “The coral exhibit is one of my favorites, do you want to go see them?”

He’s quiet for a moment, and then he flashes the smallest smile, “Yeah, alright. Lead the way.”

You grin and reach out, lightly taking his unprotesting hand, “There, now you won’t get lost.”

At that, he laughs. He shifts his hand, just a little, and laces his fingers with yours, “There, now I’ll definitely not get lost,” 

You keep your face from flushing through sheer will. Though, judging by the sly grin forming on Cody’s face, you didn’t do a very good job.

You spin on your heel, and tug him down the hall that led to the coral exhibit, finally losing your battle against your flustered embarrassment. 

45 minutes later, you’re giving an enthusiastic lecture on coral and their relationship with various forms of sea life. Cody is watching you with amusement clear on his face, and the pair of you haven’t moved beyond the very first exhibit.

He leans against the wall, lightly tugging you away from the glass partition, so some other groups could see the coral. He gently sets his free hand on your hip and stands you between his legs, it’s the only way he can think to keep people from walking into you. 

Eventually you realize how close you’re standing to him, and your words trail off, a bright blush crossing your face. “Sorry, didn’t mean to ramble.” You murmur.

“Don’t apologize,” He chides lightly, “Your rambling is cute.”

Cody glances to the side for a moment, and then, upon realizing that no one is paying attention to them, he tugs you closer. Close enough that you can feel his breath against your skin, “Keep going, tell me about the sea horses.”

You grin at him, and reach out with one hand to lightly curl your fingers around the thin material of his tee shirt. “We might be here for the rest of the day,” You warn.

“I’m okay with that.” He replies lightly.

In the end, your date lasts three days. And at the end of those three days, you have a boyfriend in the form of Marshal Commander Cody.

[kartaylirnaak]

Fic Writer 20 Questions

Thanks for the tag @medic-6116

Rules: In a new post, paste these following questions with your own answers, and then tag somebody, just for fun!

1.) How many works do you have on ao3?

At the moment it's 11.

2.) What’s your ao3 word count?

29,647

3.) What fandoms do you write for?

Star Wars, specifically The Clone Wars.

4.) What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Lingerie Approval Board — Codywan, Obi-Wan/212th, Obi-Wan/Ghost Company, Smut, Chat fic, slightly cracky

9. Praise Kink (Fox/Dogma) — Smut, Kinktober 2024, Dom Fox, sub Dogma, Dogma is The Goodest Boy

5. Fisting (Bacara/Fox/Neyo/Wolffe) — Smut, Kinktober 2024, Trans Fox, Poly clones

3. Vibrator (Dogma/Hardcase/Tup) — Smut, Kinktober 2024, Poly clones, Dogma is a Good Boy

17. Fucking Machine and Gags (Cody/Rex) — Smut, Kinktober 2024, sub bottom Cody, Dom Rex, Clone Rebellion

5.) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! Getting a comment on a fic is so special and is often the highlight of my day. The lack of people that comment is so disheartening so if someone does go to the effort of commenting, then I'm definitely going to go to the effort of replying and thanking them for reading and commenting. Plus I like to hear about what they enjoyed and love seeing peoples feral reactions to the smut I've written >:3

6.) What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Nothing yet and likely never will. Not a fan of angst. The most I can do is light angst with a happy ending.

7.) What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my fics don't really have an ending per say, as the fics in my Kinktober 2024 series are more like moments in a larger scene, rather than whole complete fics. The only fic that really has a more concrete ending is The Lingerie Approval Board, and that's a fairly happy ending, particularly for Obi-Wan.

8.) Do you get hate on fics?

Not that I've seen but if I do, that shit is getting blocked and reported.

9.) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Hell yeah! Very kinky smut >:3

10.) Do you write cross overs? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

No.

11.) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No. Don't do that shit.

12.) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet.

13.) Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I haven't cowritten a fic with someone that we've then posted on AO3 but I have certainly rambled on and bounced ideas off others in discord servers.

14.) What’s your all time favourite ship?

How am I supposed to chose?! *cries in multishipper* My OTP is probably Jessix, followed closely by Codex and Foxma.

15.) What’s a WIP you’d like to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I've got a bunch of WIPs for other prompts from Kinktober 2024 that I really want to finish but I'm really not sure if those will ever happen. I'd love to do a whole fic and more about Match, my 212th ARC OC that I cover in more detail in an answer to this ask, but as I mention in that post, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to do that justice either.

16.) What are your writing strengths?

Not really sure what to put here. Does being detailed count? Though that's also a weakness. I do really like getting into the emotions of smut and the trust and vulnerability that is essential to kink and bdsm working. The safety that finally allows a character to let go and get the release they need.

17.) What are your writing weaknesses?

Rambling on far too much and going into far too much detail. Being unable to finish things. Planning too much and then not being able to write the actual fic because my brain thinks it's already written the damn fic.

18.) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I enjoy a liberal smattering of Mando'a in my fics but I usually stick to one or two words in dialogue. Anymore than that and I find it difficult to read and understand.

19.) First fandom you wrote for?

Star Wars. I only started writing fic fairly recently.

20.) Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

I'm not sure I have an outright favourite. I'm fond of various different ones for various different reasons. I'm quite fond of 13. Dom/Sub (Fox/Dogma) as it gets into some of the things I was talking about in my answer to question 16.

No Pressure Tags (NPTs): I never know who to tag in these things, mainly because I'm worried about tagging someone who's already been tagged by other people. So if you see this, consider yourself tagged! Especially if you write kinky smut.

[yellowocaballero]

Writing update:

Depa did not escape my wrath.

I'm finding that what's mostly happening is that I'm adding connective tissue between the stories to make the entire narrative more cohesive and add more character throughlines. A lot of themes are coming up so consistently, such as empathy and forgiveness, that are important (and Star Warsey) enough that I'll keep on bringing them to the forefront until they're finally paid off in Ben's decisions in Less Than Zero V3: Much More than Zero. Also somewhat hilariously, Ben's life has become a living nightmare of crashing other people's dreams. Haunting the narrative more like. Literally fucking haunting the narrative. Cody also has a predominant yet background character arc that is much more organized now. He's also way nuttier.

Next up is the Toxic Polycule story, which will likewise probably keep the same plot but will have to be revised heavily to fit in with the very new Rex and Ahsoka characterizations. Rex's first story set up a lot of new character throughlines that will have to be resolved in the polycule story. Thinking about it is already a little tiring I need to goof off with stupid shit somehow.

Most of the breaks I've been taking between stories have been chipping away at MMTZ. Ben is also much, much nuttier. Kind of concerned that my definition of 'stronger characters' is 'just, like, way fucking crazier' characters. I'm currently trying to figure out how explicit the metaphor for Indian residential schools should be. The OCs have also become extremely chaotic.

MMTZ is really going to be the single-handed reason why the story is going to take so long to come out. Text of excerpt under the cut.

The words didn’t permeate. The two figures barely permeated. They only noticed Ben as he walked further into the room, and they only stopped talking once Ben fell down onto the bed. He sat on the opposite side of Thirty and the handmaiden, feet firmly on the floor and trying half-heartedly to ground himself. Thirty was speaking again, and it took concerted effort to tune into what he was saying. 

“ - that bad? Because talking to rich and powerful ladies shouldn’t be that traumatic.”

“Did you ever go to boarding school?” The handmaiden asked. “You wouldn’t be saying that if you’d gone to boarding school.”

“Cannot be worse than my military boot camp. You should have seen the bullying. The hazing. It’s ridiculous.” Thirty contemplated a very serious matter. “And the child culling, of course. But it’s the hazing that leaves that scar, you know?”

The handmaiden nodded wisely. “We didn’t have child culling. But we did have systematic exclusion and shunning of girls we didn’t like.”

“Oh, god of suffering, the shunning!”

“I was quite good at it.”

Thirty gasped in delight. “You were a bully?”

“One woman’s bully is another woman’s freedom fighter,” the handmaiden said humbly. “I believe that it’s a political term.”

“Four year term?”

“Two, if you’re bullied hard enough.”

“We could be best friends if we tried, I think.” Thirty pulled at his collar, looking around the room. “Hey, is it getting kind of hot in here?”

It was, indeed, getting kind of hot in there. In Ben’s defense, he really was just trying to melt himself. Like a snowball on Tatooine: melted, absorbed, gone in only seconds. Ben wondered absently if this bed was capable of snapping a predator’s jaws and swallowing him whole. 

“Um, Ben? Is this supposed to happen? Do you have a loose wire or something?” A calloused finger poked Ben on the back. 

The handmaiden popped up at Thirty’s shoulder. “Do you need a hug?” 

“Dude,” Thirty said. “I’m not giving him a hug.”

“Well, I’m not doing it.” The handmaiden thought hard. “Cody gives good hugs…”

“He doesn’t seem like the hugging type. Like, I bet he nods proudly at you once every ten years. Rest of it’s just chasing that approval.”

“Cody gave me a hug after he killed my parents. It was quite nice of him.”

“Whoah!” Thirty said, impressed. “So you’re, like, secretly weird! Cool!” 

The stupid conversation was weirdly grounding. Ben focused on his breathing, twirling a mental knife in his hands and shearing off the overgrowing thorns and vibes that were worming into the cracks of his manda. Breathe with the flickers of the candle flame in your gut. 

Peel it away. Carve it out. Steal and scavenge. Fill it. Do whatever you have to, Ben. Control the emptiness. Don’t let it swallow you. You still have shit to do.

The finger poked him again. “Did the call with Lady Amidala really go that badly?”

And Ben - 

He straightened and turned around, smile plastered on his face. Thirty and the handmaiden leaned back a little. 

“Oh yeah, went great,” Ben said breezily. “Couldn’t sneak any codes in, but at least Padme knows I’m safe. I assume there’s a reason why you’re distracting this handmaiden from her work, Thirty?”

Thirty leaned to the side, towards the handmaiden. The handmaiden leaned to the side, towards him. In a very loud whisper, Thirty said, “He’s got the crazy eyes.”

“Temperature’s gone down,” the handmaiden observed. “Maybe crazy eyes are what sanity looks like for him.”

“Alright, now I believe he was raised by these people.”

Writing update

I should probably give an update because things been slightly whack. Roughly, in order:

Was having issues with my medication, and writing got really difficult. Wanted to write Naruto, could not. Continued writing that Jason Todd story because what am I going to do, not write?

Fix medication issues. Feel like I can write again. Open up literally almost fucking random word document, see that it was the first paragraph of the More Than Zero rewrite (the story from my Star Wars No Chip AU) that I never did.

Go nuts.

Sixty pages into doing the rewrite, I decide that actually this story cannot function at all if I don't stop writing it and go write an entirely different story, which is somehow necessary for the quality of this story. Time to write the one of the many other No Chip AU stories I never got around to writing.

Go nuts.

40k of the Neyo story now exists. It's good, mostly.

Realize at this point that I cannot post a 40k fic on Tumblr and that the complete series is now clicked into my mind as an anthology, which means that it needs to go on AO3.

For several different reasons, one of which is admittedly marketing, I would like the series to stand on its own, so I need to completely rewrite the Order 66 story to establish everything about the universe that the ordinary roleswap fics established.

Realize I've gone nuts.

Decide to completely rewrite the Order 66 story anyway, it is at least twice as long and basically completely different.

As I do this, I realize that now the Rex buildingsroman story doesn't work at all, so I need to cut one section of that and rewrite a portion of it as well.

I would also like to make some semi-significant changes to the Bly story.

I am currently in the state of going nuts and will continue to be going nuts until some undetermined point in the future, at which point I will post every single fic in one story on AO3. There will be a metanarrative.

Decide that I was completely correct in aggravating literally everybody by refusing to post this on AO3, because if I had posted it on AO3 then it would have been way more difficult to rewrite all of this. I also feel a lot more confident in the quality of the rewritten versions and have, fortunately, improved over the last two years as a writer.

I think.

SO YES, I WILL BE POSTING IT ON AO3 THIS TIME. OKAY?

This is all BIG news for like maybe three people. All that to say, I will not be posting anything for a bit and then So Much will be posted. The revamped series should stand on its own and not need any knowledge of its parent AU. This is why I've disappeared off the face of the Earth. I will come back with Star Wars.

[wanderinginksplot]

Clone Wars 'Hidden Enemy' Appreciation Post

Any time I recommend The Clone Wars to anyone (which is pretty often, ngl), I always tell them, "Yeah, the quality of the first season is pretty rough, but once you make it past that, the rest is great!"

Well, S1/E16: The Hidden Enemy is one of my favorite episodes of the entire series. It comes second if you're watching in chronological order, it's set just before the Clone Wars movie, and it's definitely one of the most heavily clone-featuring episodes of the whole show. As I was watching it, I was struck by some of the details.

I'm putting the pictures under the cut because I don't want to clog anyone's feed with a long post! If you don't read further, just know that I have changed my mind and that I think all Clone Wars animation has a place and should be appreciated. And that all of the clone troopers and their various expressions are amazing!

Look at Rex's little smirk! This is just after Anakin tells Obi-Wan that he has some men who are ready to take down these droids (or something to that effect)

I freaking love Chopper! Look at him, all scarred up and embarrassed about taking a war prize (droid fingers). But like, 30 seconds later, he tells Rex and Cody that his sergeant - his direct commanding officer - had snuck off and was acting suspicious. Yes, Chopper was already being thrown under the bus as a traitor, but if he had been wrong about Slick, the repercussions would have been unpleasant. Chopper is great!

I'm sure we've all seen this screenshot before, but this is just after Cody tells Slick that he took the power pack out of the blaster. The triumph on Cody's face, the dawning realization on Slick's, and the satisfaction on Rex's... All of them are so perfect.

Here, we have Slick explaining his reasoning for betraying his brothers. This one may just be uncanny valley striking, but look at the fervor in his expression. This is not a man you can reason with. Also, maybe it's just the reddish color of his eyebrows, but I swear that his eyes have more of a hint of red than any other clone trooper we see. This isn't the best example of it, but they're definitely more of a mahogany shade.

This last one has nothing at all to do with facial expressions (obviously), but this is just a really smart way to carry lightsabers. If they accidentally activated, she would probably be able to stop her arms from swinging long enough to keep them from being chopped off. Anyone who carries their lightsaber hooked vertically to their belt is running a very real risk of stabbing the muscle of their thigh in case of accidental ignition. It's like when people in movies carry a gun tucked into the back of their waistband. It's probably not going to go off, but if it does, you're shooting yourself in the butt cheek.

[angelwars11]

At Ara'Novor (Part 3)

What's up what's up everyone!!💯 We're fucking back with the 3rd and final part, the ending to At Ara'Novor 🎊 I wanna say something before you all read this. This story was created over 2 MONTHS ago: planned and started in December to 3 parts completed and posted in January. This story has been an amazing journey with my Captain @colorfulloverbatturkey and I literally would not have made this story without having meeting her, she's literally the best; the story is emotional and can pack quite a punch to the feels of any Star Wars nerd or Fanfic reader!

The 3rd part was made super long anddddd... There's a special BONUS at the end for our loyal readers, anyone who's followed and read this story from the very first post. The BONUS is a gift to all of you💕 my fingers are tired now from typing so here it is! I finally give to you *drum roll* At Ara'Novor part 3 and BONUS. Content warning: (ooo, our first one😱🤣) There is cursing in this part (not Star Wars universe related) I mean like, the F-word and stuff. Also, we've snuck in a Rex thirst scene for all our fellow Rex lovers😍 (not explicit or anything but still, here's a warning)

Btw! Here's a link to part 1! And here's a link to part 2!! Enjoy!! 👋🏼 "I'mma head out."✌🏽 *gives a two fingered salute and uses instant transmission*

L.

Previously.... On "At Ara'Novor". Cody made it back to the village and told General Kenobi Rex was missing was a little girl. Cody sends out Jesse and Kix to retrieve them and bring them back. Rex spends some quality time with the little girl, he soon learns her name is Eida, and they bond over a long conversation. Kix and Jesse finally reached them.

*echoing footsteps*

"Captain? Rex, are you ok?" Kix said, spotting his Captain on the floor before him. Silence was the only response he'll receive so he rushed over to Rex immediately, crouching down next to him to start, he obviously needed treatment right away. He was about to lift Rex‘s hand off the wound when he cocked his head to the left and hissed, "Her first, I'm ok." Kix eyed him doubtfully, but proceeded to get up, appeared on Rex’s left and kneeled down before the shivering girl. He took off his helmet, "Hello there little one, is it ok if I examined you real quick? It won’t hurt, I promise!“ Kix smiled. He treated many children during other raids and commissions, and the practice of trying to help and calm down scared vod made it easier. 

He knew how to comfort patients. Eida looks up to Rex for reassurance, and when he nodded, she looked back to the medic and said with a trembling voice, "Okay…" Kix smiled and pulled a blanket out of his bag and handed it to Eida, who gladly took it and wrapped it around herself. She sat patiently as Kix checked her heart, her pulse, and her lungs. He also checked her reflexes and shone a flashlight in her eye, after which she blinked furiously. Kix chuckled "Ur all done, kid. you got a few bruises and you’re probably still in shock, but you’ll be able to sleep it off.“ Kix knew she didn't understand what "shock" was but sleep, definitely. Poor thing looked exhausted. 

Eida snuggled back into the warm blankets and stares at the medic. She was looking at Kix's face and tries to process something, then Jesse takes off his helmet as well, this confirmed her suspicions and her eyes grew even wider, "You all look the same!“ She pointed in awe, looking between the three. 

"As I said, they’re my brothers!“ Rex said, smiling as best as he could in his state, but it looked more like a grimace and Jesse smirked at Eida. "Sir, you’ll have to take your hand off so that I can inspect the wound.“ Kix said, kneeling beside the Captain, opening his bag and pulling out tools. Rex hesitated because he had his hand on the wound for so long and he was feeling a little nervous, but he did it anyways with a hiss. Shaking with effort he slowly moved his bloodied hand away from the sticky, painful wound. Kix shone another light onto the injury, inspecting it. "Kriff, I think we have no choice but to start treatment right away. You’ve been sitting here far too long!“ He murmured, handing the flashlight to Jesse so that he had free hands. 

 "You mean… perform surgery? Right here?“ Rex said, his eyes widening for a second and he shivered. It's starting to hurt quite a lot again. "Yes, Sir, if you try to move the wound it'll only get worse. It is cauterized, but still sensitive, and it's in a place where it will only rip open further if jolted wrong. We’ll have to perform mild surgery here.“ Rex took a deep breath. Don’t be whiny. You’re a soldier and you’ve been worse off than this. He thought to himself. Rex looked over to Eida, who was staring at the wound with terrified eyes. When she looked up at Rex, he said "Kid, I need you to go outside, this could turn really nasty, I don’t want you to see that." Eida's eyes widened even further, and tears started to form once again. 

"No! Don’t hurt him!“ she whined, shuffling closer to Rex and wrapping her hands around his left arm. "We’re not gonna hurt him, we have to treat his injury. We have anesthesia, uhh, something that'll block the pain. Don’t worry.“ Jesse reassures her, he walks over to Eida, extending his hand for her to take. "No, I'll stay!“ she refused and clung to Rex‘s arm even tighter, Rex held in a slight groan as her nails dug into his forearm, but she wasn't the reason, it was the goddamn wound. It's hurting more. "Kid, please you really should'–" Rex started, but then Eida crossed her arms over her chest once again, pouting.

He sighed in defeat. Knowing that arguing with this girl was pointless. "Fine. But please, go over there, you really shouldn‘t watch something like this.“ He said, nodding to Jesse behind her. Eida accepted his terms and slid further away from the three men, still looking at Rex. He smiled back at her reassuringly, only to flinch a second later when Kix started to sterilize the wound. Here goes nothing Rex thought, focusing on a spot on the ceiling as Kix injected a bit of anesthesia close to the wound. "Sir, just so you know, we can only use a bit of anesthesia here, because this particular anesthesia doesn’t do too well if combined with bacta, and we don’t want your injury to get worse. So, I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm afraid you’ll have to fight through this one." Rex rolled his eyes. 

Of course. Great. 

Kix started by delicately removing pieces of dirt, shrapnel and other things that don’t belong in a body from the wound with tweezers. "This–isn't so bad." Rex murmured to himself. However, he could still feel every little thing Kix was doing. that's going to be a problem. "Yeah, about that—there seems to be some form of unusual crust in some places, an infection's starting to develop… we’ll have to cut those away, otherwise the bacta-spray won’t properly help with the healing…“ Kix said, glancing at Rex sideways, only to be met with a neutral expression. "So… it’ll...hurt, probably. Sir.“ Kix said. "Yeah no kidding, just get on with it so we can get out of here!“ Rex gritted through his teeth, letting his head fall back against the wall again. "Yes sir. “ Kix said. He quickly grabs a scalpel and steadies his breath. "I'm gonna start now.“ 

It was completely quiet in the room as Kix slowly cuts away the crust of the wound and placing the pieces on a towel. The only thing that could occasionally be heard was when the Captain's breath caught in his throat whenever Kix hit an extremely painful spot. Kix was almost done cutting away the last bit of crust when...

*ACHOOOO*

Rex let out a blood curdling scream when Kix’s scalpel dug deep into his flesh, startled by the pain and the sudden noise of Eida sneezing. "God dammit!!" Rex slammed the back of his head into the wall behind him and he whined, the wound in his abdomen was burning with incredible and unbearable pain. He moaned and rocked his head side to side and tries to ignore the raging river of lava deep within his abdomen,  "Kriffing…. K-K-Kriff… F-F-Force." he was trembling violently as the pain smacked him in rough waves, like an ocean during a storm. Jesse immediately rushed to Rex’s side, holding him down by the chest and trying to calm him while Kix was quickly wiping away the fresh blood that was oozing out of the wound. Rex whimpered when Kix grazed the jagged edges of broken skin and he stared up at the ceiling. 

All the while Eida walked backwards, away from the man she had hurt. "M- I'm sorry I–" Eida whimpered, moving closer to the still grunting Rex "I–I didn’t–" "Just be quiet!“ Kix shouted, he didn't mean to but it was the stress. He tries to get the scalpel out of Rex while Eida ran out of the room towards the exit, her cries filling the entirety of the cave. "Kix that really wasn’t–kriff!" Rex screeched at Kix, only to be cut off by the excruciating pain coming from his abdomen.

*panting*

"Jesse *chokes* go after her…dont–fuck! Don’t let her run away!“ He was squeezing his eyes shut, trying not to move so Kix could patch him up again. Rex held his breath but let it out very quickly as his lips trembled, his head hurt and it was just everything. Everything hurts, force, why does it hurt so much. Jesse made sure Kix would be alright on his own before he grabbed the blanket the girl dropped and jogged after her, the tiny sobs still echoing off the walls. 

Rex's breaths were drawn in and out in shallow gasps and panting, the wound was burning. "Hey, Rex, I need you to breathe for me. I know it hurts but you gotta take a breath alright. " Rex took weak, shallow breaths, heat surrounded his wound and it hurt so badly, but he followed Kix's direction well. Kix moves to grab the medical equipment again but Rex was trembling too much. Not good, not good at all ori'vod. So he placed his hand on his shoulder to calm him. "Sorry sorry. " Rex apologized and tried again, Kix only nodded in an encouraging manner. That seems to work. Rex stilled and Kix continued what he was doing before while his brother kept up tranquil and steady breaths; he just hoped that Jesse caught up with the kid in time.

Jesse found Eida sitting at the exit of the hideout, her cheeks and nose bright red from the cold and probably the crying. She was resting her head on her knees, leaning against the wall to her right. Jesse carefully sat down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder, to which she flinched. “Hey–it’s ok. It’s only me.” Jesse cooed, taking his hand off her shoulder to drape the blanket around her, protecting her from the crisp night air. They both sat in silence for a while, looking at the dark forest trees that hovered above at the top of the ravine. “I'm sorry. " she suddenly apologized, followed by a sob. “It’s not your fault, ad'ika. Accidents happen, don’t blame yourself.” Jesse said calmly, turning his head to face her. “He got hurt because of me! I didn't want to hurt him." Eida sobbed, new tears forming and rolling down her cheeks. 

“Rex is fine, I checked up on him. He was just startled, nothing more!” Jesse half lied, kind of. Rex was hurt but he'll pull through and Jesse figured that lying was definitely okay in a case like this. *sniffles* “Really?” she quietly asked, wiping her face with her hands. “Yep, he’s okay. Honestly, I was about to sneeze as well, it’s verrrrryyy, dusty down there!” Jesse joked while wiping his nose and Eida let out a giggle. “So, are you ok now ad'ika? Wanna go back inside? I think they should be done by now.” Jesse smiled, standing up and offering his hand to pull her up. She was hesitant. “Aren’t they going to be mad at me?” She asked, her worried eyes looking up at him. “No, I promise.” He replied, and she took his hand and he pulled her up with ease. 

They walked back inside to see Rex sitting upright, wearing a fresh set of blacks. Slightly pale but a bit of color had returned. A medical patch was visible through the tight fabric where his wound was. Kix was putting away all the supplies when they both lifted their gaze to the figures walking inside the room. “Hey! There you are!” Rex smiled warmly at the sight of Eida. She walked over to him in tiny steps and mumbled  “I'm-I'm sorry.” keeping her gaze to the ground. “What for, ad’ika?” Rex questions, wanting to lift the child’s spirit. “Yunno…when I sneezed.” she explains, looking up at the two men. Kix kneeled down beside her and with sincerity he said, “No, I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that, you did nothing wrong. I'm sorry.” 

Eida was hesitant, then extended her arm,"I accept your apology, sir!” She was obviously trying to sound grown-up. Kix chuckled at that and took her little hand to shake it lightly. She then turned to Rex, taking a seat beside him, looking back and forth from his face to his covered up injury. “Are you feeling better now?” She asked, pointing to his stomach. “It still needs to heal, but yes, I am feeling better.” He smiled. His brothers stood behind the two and watched the cute interaction. 

– – – 

A few minutes later, they had everything packed up, Rex was wearing most of his armor again, for warmth and protection, and he was being supported by Kix; after insisting that he could walk alone and almost falling over. Eida was getting sleepy and the night air was extremely cold, so Jesse carried her on his hip and it seemed so paternal. Her head lolling slightly with each step that he took. Rex leaned heavily onto Kix and whimpered, this worried his brother. "What's wrong?" Rex tilted his head and shook it dizzily, "F-F-Feel hot. " Kix felt his forehead and murmured to himself. His hand felt amazing to Rex and he moaned with a sigh. Jesse looked over, "What?" "He has a fever, we need to hurry it up a bit." Kix walked a little faster while dragging Rex along, Jesse followed and tried his best not to jostle around the sleeping child. 

– – –

Corel Village

Time: 0740 (7:40 p.m.) 

The sun had completely set hours ago and it was so cold. A lot of voices echoed from the huts surrounding the outer part of the village, this is the part Rex and the others passed by. They overheard the villagers discussing plans, comforting each other and tucking in the children.  They also heard footsteps that could be identified as military boots pounding into the dirt and the voices of many brothers speaking through their helmets with hushed voices, talking about further actions and how much they wished they were on a warmer planet. As soon as the four walked further into the village they were immediately recognized and spotted by two brothers in 501st blue, who approached them in a hurry. “Captain Rex, sir! Jesse! Kix! You found him." One of them gaped, it was Tup, one of the shinies. He strolled around to Rex’s right and supported him with his left arm. “He needs to lie down, come on Captain.” Kix led them to the nearest shelter. 

Dogma, who was the second approacher, started to walk with Jesse. He was still carrying the now sleeping child. “So, what happened?” Dogma asked in his usual loud and nosey voice. “Shh, keep it down will you? She's asleep!” Jesse hissed, gesturing to the girl. “Right. Sorry.” Dogma replied, now more quiet. “We found them in a hideout about 15 klicks from here. The Captain was shot while trying to rescue the little one on their way there. That's all I know.” Jesse whispered. Dogma nodded. “And what now? Where do we put her?” He asked, looking at the kid and raising an eyebrow. “We are not ‘putting’ her anywhere. We’re gonna find her parents, so she can go home safely!” Jesse said, rolling his eyes at Dogma. “I don’t think that's our job. She’s back in the village, whatever happens to her is not our problem.” Dogma replied, visibly annoyed. “Leave that up to me, will you? If you won’t help me, I'll find the kid's parents myself.” Jesse said, starting to walk towards the biggest hut where he assumed the Generals would be. 

He walked through the door and immediately trailed over to where the Generals and Commanders were. The group wasn't talking at the moment, they were just staring at a hologram and it looks like it's one of the masters from Coruscant. 

"Yes Kenobi, when you finish up there then come back to Coruscant immediately." 

"Of course." General Kenobi responded and then the call ended. 

Ahsoka turned around when she noticed another's presence behind them, Jesse stood in the doorway with Eida snuggled into his arms, for a soldier who was placed into violent situations he was shockingly handling her with such care very well. Ahsoka became distracted when her eyes landed on the tiny little thing and she moved closer and chooed. "Awww, she's so precious. " And Eida made a gurgling sound and rubbed her cheek into Jesse's armor, then she sighed and stopped moving again. Anakin and Obi-Wan had noticed they came in but they were too busy talking about war issues and the call they had received a couple seconds ago. 

"What's going on?" Jesse whispered. "Oh, we'll have to return to Coruscant soon after this. " Ahsoka shrugged and then stared at the child again. Jesse chuckled under his breath, Ahsoka was so predictable when it came to younger children. Sometimes. "You wanna hold her?"  Ashoka nodded with such an eager movement, Jesse softly handed Eida to Ahsoka and she immediately walked over to a table in the corner and cradled the youngling. While Eida was occupied Jesse deemed the time was right to go ask Commander Cody a question. "Sir?" 

Cody turned around and nodded, he was watching the generals argue again. "Yes." Jesse straightened up a little at attention, "I have a question sir, about the villagers. Sir. " Jesse added an unnecessary "sir" At the end, but it was only because of stress. Cody smiled and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You can relax. The battle is over vod. " Jesse physically relaxed, shoulders slumping slightly and he sighed in relief because sometimes it hard to stay at attention when you're tired. “Captain Rex rescued this girl. ” Jesse pointed to where Ahsoka was standing. She was poking the child on the nose with a soft "boop" sound to make her laugh. She was entranced by Eida's adorableness. “We need to get her back to her parents, but we don't even know how to start to look, Sir?” He asked the Commander for a solution, perhaps he would know. Cody stroked his chin in deep thought, looking at the girl. 

“Good question. No one has reported a missing child, maybe her parents are injured. Knocking on every door will take too long and will only further stress the villagers. We shall find the girl’s parents tomorrow.” He nodded and turned around to work on some reports. “And where will she stay the night, Sir?” Jesse asked, to which Cody turned back around. “Uhh, the barracks are too loud, definitely. We can’t just drop her off at a random house either…” Their conversation peeked Ahsoka's attention and she walked over to them, "I'll watch over her, she can stay with me for the night." She offered. Cody and Jesse exchanged looks and then they agreed. "Alright Commander, good luck." Cody smirked and walked away. Jesse placed his hand on Eida's forehead and sighed, "Well, guess I gotta head back out. Watch her for me will yah?" Ahsoka smiled, "Of course." And Jesse gave one last look before leaving the hut. 

Ahsoka sat on the bench a little longer till her Master walked over and placed his hand on Eida's head. "Hm, and who dropped this little one off?" Anakin smiled to himself when the little girl snuggled closer to Ahsoka. "Jesse did. I'm taking care of her till tomorrow, then we're going to look for her parents." Anakin nodded and slipped away, "Well, get some sleep snips. The both of you." Then he left the hut with just Ahsoka and Eida still inside. 

Rex's POV

Rex laid on a cot in one of the many shelters. He felt hot again and he was confused on where he was, he thought he was back in the Hideout with the kid but then he looked to his left and saw a brother. He was laying next to him on another cot and didn't look too good either. 

"Hey vod, looks like you finally woke up." His brother waved at him with a wonky smile. Looks like he was on drugs. "Uhh–" "Hey! Don't bother, he's conked out too!" Another brother on his right side yelled and then silenced himself when Coric walked past them. He gave them a suspicious glance and smiled with enjoyment, then he walked away. 

"Shitttt, now look what you did! He's going to get Kix!" The drugged brother on the left hisses at the other. Rex stared at the ceiling in exhaustion, why are they so goddamn loud. "It's not m-m-my fault!" The other brother on his right yelled and then crossed his arms over his chest with an "umph", there was a shuffling sound and then a raspy and brute like voice from the cot on the other side of the tent. "Hey! Shut up will yah! Before you get us all in trouble." He demanded. Rex raised his hand and smirked when the two on either side of him sat up to defend themselves, this caused an all tent brawl of yelling insults back and forth. 

*curtains shuffle*

*immediate silence*

Kix walked in with Coric right behind him, he had a sly smirk on his face when the yelling of insults quieted down. Kix walked to the middle of the room and glanced at every single one of them, giving them the stinky eye. "So, does anyone want to make anymore commotion and bring more droids down on top of us! Or are you going to be quiet." It was not a question, if one unaware and unlucky shiny opened their mouth to answer then they were all done for. A shiny who was a cot down from the brother on Rex's left sat up slightly and his mouth opened just a smidge, found the unaware shiny, and then the brother on the left from Rex launched himself over and pressed his hand over his widening mouth. "Be quiet." he whispered in warning to the vod'ika who just nodded along nervously. "Good. Now go back to sleep everyone." Kix walks towards Rex's cot with a satisfied grin, he likes having control of the patients. He was notorious for it. 

Kix was checking a couple things next to Rex and then waited for Coric to finish checking up on his patient, Coric walked over and then he took some stuff out. Antibiotics. When did they get those? "Hey Rexter, stay still for us ok." Kix said and then he began to unwrap the bandages around his chest and abdomen. Coric stood away but he was ready for anything, IF anything happens at all. The bandages were unwrapped and Kix immediately started to check the wound while Coric searched for clean bandages. Rex looked down at his stomach and hissed, it looked kind of red but it was also healing at the same time. "It's infected, we'll have to use our antibiotics on it so it'll start to heal faster and then we'll bandage it up." Kix talked Rex through the process of what they were about to do. This usually calmed down his patients. 

*panting*

"Ok." Rex nodded. Kix dabbed the alcohol onto a wash cloth and then he nodded to Coric who had a tight grip on Rex's arms. The wash cloth touches his abdomen and he yelled and groaned while gritting his teeth. The antibiotics stung like the fires of hell were dancing on top of his stomach, it hurt so bad! Kix rubbed it in and then went for MORE of the stuff and Rex couldn't handle it again. He reacted in an involuntary flight-or-fight response as he tries to get up off the cot but Coric pressed all his weight into his arms, "ahh, k-kriff! Let g-go! You son of a-a Bantha!" Coric however only smiled down at him and made a "tsk tsk tsk" Sound with his tongue, "Your insults don't scare me sir. And I've heard worse. " He calmly teased and continued to hold him down. 

Kix reached down with the wash cloth in his hand, ready to wipe it on his abdomen again. Rex stared at it and then looked up at his brother's eyes pleadingly and Kix just looked at him with a blank stare. He wasn't going to pull away in mercy, that just wasn't his style. The cloth landed on the wound again and he screeched, slamming his head down into the pillow behind his head and he moaned loudly. All the clones in the tent were trying really hard to go to sleep and not piss off the medics by watching them take care of the Captain. It was very hard not to, if they managed to look away and simply ignore then they should earn a gold medal for not being intrusive. "Rex, breathe for me." Kix whispers. 

*inhale*

*exhale* 

"K-Kriffing…Haar'chak." He exhaled and shivered, Coric patted his right shoulder and Kix inspected the wound and nodded in satisfaction. "You're alright Vod. We should see some improvement by tomorrow. You can settle down now Cap." Kix began to wrap up his side while Coric stared at the brother behind him lying on the cot on the right side, he gave the medic something and then smirked. Rex looked over to see what the trooper gave him, in his hand was a wrapped piece of candy; the wrapping was red and has a golden stripe on it and it was round. Coric held it in his hand cautiously and when Kix spotted it he laughed to himself and snorted. "Yeah, he can have it. Apparently this di'kut says it calms those who are in pain. And guess what, his theory was actually true." Kix gathered up his equipment and Coric shrugged and tosses it over. 

"Huh." Rex lazily caught the small orb and stared at it, then he glanced over at the fellow bed-ridden brother. "Do it vod. You won't regret it." He nodded with a silly grin and then leaned back so he could go back to sleep. Rex unwrapped it, observed the tiny thing and without hesitation he popped it into his mouth; with everything he went through, a little candy was the least of his concerns even though it was contraband. The chocolate melted in his mouth as the saliva began to break it down and Rex moaned in appreciation, then he turned over and snuggles down into the blankets. Kix came back around and smiled to himself. 

"Guess it worked." He asked Rex. "Yeah, definitely." Kix took the rest of his stuff and touched Rex's forehead again. "Still have a slight fever. Here, drink this and it should be gone by tomorrow." Kix handed him a small cup filled with liquid. Rex tilted his head back and swallowed half of the white, pasty stuff and he instantly gagged. "Choy bu kriff!" Rex cussed and Kix snorted, he said, "It's not that bad, now take the rest of it and go to sleep. Night." And he walked away. "Goodnight Kix." Rex felt slightly disgusted, yet warm and better, the wound had stopped hurting a while ago and he was just happy. He hopes that tomorrow he'll be blessed to see Eida before they most likely get picked up by the larty. But for now, he needs some well-earned rest. 

Corel Village

The next day, 0700 (7:00 a.m.) 

*birds tweeting*

The beams of the rising sun warmed up the surface of Corellia, painting the landscape in a warm hue. It felt good to not be in a cold environment anymore. The troops were already up and busy cleaning up the village, aiding the injured and slowly starting to load up the ships again. Jesse and Kix were ordered by Captain Rex to pick up Eida from the main hut to help them search for her parents. When the two entered the house Eida immediately ran towards them and jumped so Jesse could pick her up. He scooped her up into his arms, "Hey ad'ika! You slept well,  I assume?“ He chuckled. Eida nodded, smiling brightly, "Yep!" She wiggled in his grasp, "Glad to hear it.“ Jesse replied. "We came to pick you up, it’s time to find your parents, don’t you think?“ Kix chimed in, motioning for them to go outside. "Yes! I miss them so much!“ She said, getting excited about seeing her family again. 

They walked outside and just stood there for a minute. It was quite a big village. Where would they start their search?  

"Do you know where your home is? Could you point us in a direction?“ Jesse asked Eida while Kix was looking around. "Um, I don’t go outside alone, always with my family. But our house is close to a big fireplace and our house has little bells hanging on the door.“ Eida replied, trying to picture her home in her head. She then looked around, trying to remember which way they would always take to get back home. "I think that way!“ She yells, pointing to their left. They started walking in that direction, they pointed to every house and hut asking Eida " This one?“ Every time, to which she shook her head. About a couple minutes passed and Jesse thought about what they could do in the meantime. "So, what are your parents names?“Jesse asked, maybe it would help with the search. Also, he was trying to start a conversation. 

"Uhh…“ Eida was confused, "Uhm, I don’t think children call their parents by their names, Vod.“ Kix replied, chuckling slightly. "Oh.“ Jesse replied dumbfounded. It surprised him every time when they were out on missions how little they actually knew about the outside world. They continued to walk for a while, pointing to more houses and asking Eida if they were hers. They reached a fireplace which was surrounded by beautifully painted benches and tree trunks. "This is the fireplace! Over there is my house!“ Eida squealed excitedly, scrambling out of Jesse‘s arms and running towards her door. The two troopers followed her, coming to a halt beside her. Eida had already knocked on the blue and yellow painted door, it had intricate swirls and circles painted onto the wood and there were purple bells hanging from the doorframe. 

The girl hopped from one leg to another, when a Brunette woman, around the age of 24 opened the door. Her eyes widened immediately and she picked up Eida with a relieved sigh and held her close, stroking her hair. Kix and Jesse watched the pair, smiling. The woman looked back into the house and shouted, "Lillian! Eida‘s home!! She’s back!!“ while tears streamed down her smiling face. She turned back to the men, never letting go of her daughter and grinned, "I can’t thank you enough! We were worried sick! Thank you for bringing her back!“ Jesse stepped up to explain what happened, "Actually, Ma‘am, our Captain rescued her, not us. She was running into the forest and Commando droids followed her. Our Captain was shot, but he‘s fine now.“ He glanced over at the medic and Kix nodded.

In that moment, another woman with black, curly hair came running towards the door, and when Eida spotted her she squealed, "MOMMY!“ and practically jumped into her arms. Meanwhile, the Brunette woman extended her hand to the two men, who shook it gently. "I cannot express how grateful we are, my wife and I, we didn't want to believe she was..she didn't make it. Our two other children got hurt pretty bad, so we couldn’t leave them to go look for her yet! Please tell your Captain how thankful we are! If there’s anything we can do. "— "Thank you, Ma‘am, but it's our job. We’re glad the little one is safe now!“ Jesse replied. "Then… I'd like to at least thank your Captain personally. If it weren’t for him, She might not be… I don’t even want to think about it!“ The woman said, looking at the two soldiers with hopeful eyes. 

Her wife came to stand next to her, putting her free arm around her while still holding the happy girl in her other arm. "I’d like that too! It's the least we could do." Lillian smiled. Jesse and Kix looked at each other, not sure if that was allowed and then they both shrugged and turned back to the family. "The Captain is in one of our shelters, he’s still healing, but I don’t think he would mind saying goodbye to Eida!“ Jesse replied while turning to gesture in the direction where the shelters were. "We should go now since we are leaving quite soon.“ Kix suggested, checking the time. The two women looked at each other, silently communicating. "I’ll come with you, my wife has to stay with the other kids.“ Lillian replied. The Brunette nodded, thanking the soldiers one last time and gave her daughter a pat on the head and her wife a kiss, then headed back inside when she heard their son cry. 

*door closes*

– – –

The four were on their way back to the shelter. During their walk, they talked about the attack on the village and about the rescue of Eida. The two men found out that Lillian helped to fight off the droids while her wife tried to find all the village younglings and helped the injured. "That was very noble of you." Jesse respected her. They arrived at the shelter a few minutes later and went inside to discover it was way more empty than it was when Kix was last in there; most of the beds were empty and a few troopers were already starting to put away equipment and getting ready for pickup. To their left was Rex. He was sitting on his bed leaning against the wall behind him, reading a holopad. 

When Eida spotted him she wiggled out of her mom's grasp and ran towards him, jumping onto his bed, to which he dropped the holopad; startled by the sudden movement. When he spotted Eida though, he smiled brightly. 

"Hey there ad‘ika! Glad to see you’re okay!“ He said warmly, putting the holopad beside him on the table. "Yes! Your brothers brought me back to my home! That’s my mommy!“ She said excitedly, pointing to Lillian, who approached the bed. She extended her hand to the Captain, who took it and offered a small bow of his head. "Captain, you have our eternal gratitude. Without you, our daughter would've never made it home. Everything you and your troops have done to protect the village will never be forgotten." Lillian gestures to him and to the many men gathering their equipment with a soft, motherly smile on her face. The gratitude was gleaming brightly in her eyes like the hot orb of Helios. Rex felt warmth crawl up to his cheeks. Not many people thanked him for his work and his sacrifices, he'd accept awards, medals and even the Jaig eyes that now rested upon his helmet but they were definitely not like this. He looked at her and then at Eida. 

"Uh–Thank you, Ma‘am. But this is our job, it’s what I was trained to do. I’m glad to know that the little one is safe!“ Rex smiled, trying to sound formal. The woman smiled back. "If there is anything you’ll ever need, our family will forever be in your debt.“ She replied sincerely. Rex looked at her and wanted to reply but figured it would be best to just simply nod in appreciation, so he did. They both smiled at Eida, who was playing with a bandage that she found at the edge of the bed, trying to neaten it up again. The three of them kept a light conversation for a few more minutes when a trooper in 212th colors approached Rex‘s bed and stood at attention. 

"Sir, everything is being packed up and brought back to the ships, we‘re leaving at 01000“ He said, handing a datapad to the Captain. "Understood. Thank you. " Rex dismisses the trooper before reading the pad.

The trooper saluted, Eida watched the military gesture before he walked away to help with the packing. "Well, I guess I better get up, before they put me away along with the medical supplies.“ He joked, starting to get up. "And I think it's our time to leave, tell the Captain goodbye Eida.“ Lillian said to her child, who was looking up at Rex with big wet eyes. "Can you stay?“ Eida asked, tears welling up. *sighs* Rex wished he could. He didn’t want to hurt the child. Don't get attached. he thought, but he knew it was already too late. 

He would definitely miss the little ad‘ika. "I… gotta go home, just like you did little one.“ Rex sighed. He couldn't give her the, "I'm a soldier and I have a duty" speech, she was too young to understand. But the one thing she definitely would never hear from him is the truth, that he was "a slave to the Republic and had no choice but to follow his Superior‘s orders". "Will you… will you come back? Please?“ the little one sniffled. Haar'chak! Why was this so difficult? It broke Rex’s heart. He would love to come back. But he knew he wouldn't live long enough to do so. "One day, I will. We'll see each other again, little one. Ok?" Was all he could say. It was a lie, he couldn’t promise anything. But he couldn’t bare to look at the child's eyes and see her heart break. 

*sniffles* 

Eida started to cry and crawled over to the Captain to hug him, trying to hold back her sniffles as good as possible. Rex was startled at this, he wasn’t used to hugs, but he smiled down at her and patted her head. "Ok." Eida responded with a sigh into his chest and smiled to herself, Rex's core felt warm; like something in his heart was budding, he's had this feeling before when he bonded with his brothers between battles and during cadet training on Kamino. It made him feel good, like he was just, happy. 

Entrance of Corel Village

01000 (10:00 a.m. Larty pick-up) 

The ships were fully loaded and ready for takeoff by the time 10 a.m. rolled around and all the villagers gathered at the front to say farewell. The Generals along with Commander Cody, Commander Tano and Captain Rex spoke with the Village Chief, saying their goodbyes. "Your village should be armed and prepared well enough. If they come back, we'll send assistance if able to. The Separatists are relentless.“ General Kenobi informed the Chief kindly. "Thank you, General Kenobi. Your help is much appreciated. If there is anything you should ever need, our village is forever in your debt." The Chief smiles, he offered the Generals' a small bow. The Jedi mirrored the gesture while the two Clone troopers stood at attention and saluted. Eida watched the military gesture from the crowd once again, she was surrounded by her family. 

All the troopers lifted themselves up into the larties and looked down at the villagers. The younger villagers cheered and waved. Commander Ahsoka joined her crew in the 2nd larty with her Master. *engines starting* A few moments later, the ships lifted upwards into the sky, leaving the small village below. Force, I need to take a nap when I get back. The Captain looked out the open bay doors and stared at the ground below, the only thing he saw was a little figure running over to the empty ground where they had been, waving. "Goodbye! Goodbye Rex!" Eida screamed. Fives and the others chuckled and Jesse smiled, "Heyyy! Stay safe kid!" He yelled out, even though she might not have heard them. 

Ahsoka elbowed Rex in the side. He turned to look at her and General Skywalker, "Looks like you made a friend Rex." Anakin grinned and Rex chuckled and waved back at Eida. She smiled and then lowered her hand to imitate the military salute, she memorized what the troopers did to each other. Her figure grew smaller and smaller, so far away as they lifted further away and her mothers' stood at the entrance with her siblings  they were watching her. Rex smiled to himself. "Goodbye Ad'ika." And they were enveloped in darkness. 

*Bay doors shut*

~Fin~

That's the end of the story!!! 🎊 *pauses* *leans over to listen to Captain* Oh. Oh! Really?! Well then, hold on folks, just wait. I just received word that there's a bonus!! Yes, you heard right, it's not quite over yet!

BONUS

Coruscant

2 weeks later

Clone troopers walked up and down the lowered ramp of the Resolute as they were docked on a durasteel platform. Everyone was moving around in patterns, hopping left and right and dodging each other when they almost collided and then they just continued on. The shinies were struggling to keep up with their ori’vod, they are more experienced in these kinds of pickups but the younger clones were not; so if they got in their way they basically got trampled. Used as doormats. Tup watches his older brothers speed walk down the long ramp and disappear into the crowd, he decided to stand next to the wall and wait till someone told him to join in and actually work. Jesse’s gaze scanned the entire pickup platform till his eyes landed on the infamous blue Jaig eyes of Captain Rex. Jesse walked up to him, as he got closer he saw that the Captain was inspecting the cargo, new supplies probably. “Sir, do you need any help with this?” Jesse asked, pointing to the shipment boxes. The Captain shot his brother a quick look and said “Yes, actually I was going to get someone to help anyways, your timing is perfect.” 

“Great.” Jesse reached over and started to heave up a big, heavy crate from the transport ship and set it down outside next to the ramp. When he went back inside to pick up the next one he spotted a metal crate that had colorful splotches all over it. He read the label and said, “Hey, Rex! We got some new paint! Finally, our armor really needs some touch ups!” he lifted the crate and carried it outside as well. “It’s been a long time since you touched yours up, too. And it’s been ages since you added anything to it!” He mentioned and turned to the Captain. 

Rex looked at him and picked up another crate. “I don’t really have time to worry about my armor Jesse.” he said, thinking this would dismiss the topic. “But what about adding something new, how about a little tribute to that girl on Corellia, what’s her name, uh..” “Eida." Rex said immediately, “Uh… that wouldn’t be appropriate for a Captain.” Rex added, walking back to the ship. Jesse followed him and said “Ah, come on Rex. We could give her a name...Cuyan! You could put that on there! It wouldn’t be obvious!” Jesse recommended. “Jesse, I said no. Now, help me unload this ship so we can get some rest.” Captain Rex replied, picking up another crate, leaving a frowning Jesse in the ship.

5 minutes later….

The clone troopers finished loading up the cargo and made their way back into the Resolute, some empty handed; specifically the shinies, and the older troopers were holding extra crates. Ahsoka and General Skywalker observed from the platform as their men worked and Ashoka helped from time to time but usually the men wanted to do it themselves. Either they were trying to show off to their fellow brothers or they just didn't want the Commander doing their job, Ahsoka insisted and she helped maybe 5 troopers with the work till she couldn’t find any others. “Well, that’s the last of it.” Jesse smiled at the crate he just lowered to the ground, “Guess we’re going to lift off sometime soon around dinner. Wanna join me in the mess?” Rex looked over at Jesse when he realized he was addressing him. “Oh, um, yes. After I undress and everything.” he nodded before heading towards the bay doors which led to a hallway. 

*silence* 

“Alright, spit it out.' Rex said, he knew Jesse wanted to say something, he just groaned in annoyance when he heard it, "I swear it wouldn't be a bad idea just to paint 'Cuyan' on your armo–" "I said no! Now drop it." Rex glared at him. Jesse raised both hands in surrender and shrugged, "Ok, fine fine." He gave the Captain a side glance before keeping up with him. Jesse exhaled and shook his head, "I'll probably just ask Kix if he'll want to do it with me then. You know, it would be nice because I don't want to be alone doing it." Jesse tried to guilt trip him. Rex just continued walking and contemplated the idea for a moment, "Yeahh, you should do that." Jesse did not guilt trip him at all, he failed. 

Jesse raised an eyebrow and followed his Captain down another right turn. "Oh, and I'd like to see the design you plan with Kix. Yeah." Rex smiled and headed down a left hall towards the bunks. Jesse stood alone in the blanched, brightly lit hall and watched Rex continue forward until he disappeared around a corner. "Ok Cap. We'll see about that." Jesse smiled to himself and walked in the opposite direction towards the med-bay. 

Back in his quarters, Rex unclipped his chest plate and pulled it off with ease, he's done it so many times it's like muscle memory. He had his own space and didn't sleep with anyone else, just him; but sometimes it got pretty lonely so most times he goes to the mess, the sparring room or shooting range. Anywhere where there were fellow brothers he could talk to, or he used the comm. *sighs* Rex left his armor on the bed and stepped into the shower in the next room over. A small bathroom meant for one person use only so here he was, privacy finally and no obnoxious vod'ikas. The shower turns on by a simple press of a button and hot water was sprayed out in consistent rainfall, the perfect pressure and temperature. 

(Warning: Rex thirst inbound *panicking sounds*)

Rex groaned as the water got into the creases and crooks, loosening the tightness in the overworked muscles; he closed his eyes and relaxed as the water droplets dripped down his bleached hair softly and it just cascaded down upon his perfectly toned body and the water defined his well organized, worked out frame. It pretty much massaged his aching muscles, his lips parted as he inhaled deeply in relaxation. Rex slapped his palm onto the wall in front of him, closing his eyes and allowed the water to flow down the back and front of his neck. The sensation of the steamy water calms me, it just takes my mind off of things. His thoughts swirled, it was like he was standing under an everlasting waterfall. The steam lifted from the shower and floated around the room above, making the tiled floor gleam and the mirror fog up. 

4 minutes later…. 

Rex stepped out of the shower wrapped in a white towel and made his way back into the bedroom, he shuffles on some fresh blacks and mosied on out of his bunk. He planned to go to the mess and eat something before heading up to the sparring room. A good plan for a good day. Rex walked further and further from his room until he was far from earshot. Out of the corner Jesse snuck his way around and chuckled before smashing in the code to Rex's room, how he got the codes? No one will ever know. Jesse looked over both his shoulders, making sure no one saw him before he went into the room, the door closing behind him with a *swoosh*. He looked around the room and he couldn’t remember ever being in Rex's bunk before. The room was illuminated by a light coming from the small desk; the bed was neatly made, just like the rest of the Captain's room and there was a dresser where his clothes were probably located. Jesse decided against snooping around because he didn’t want to further violate his brother's trust. He did however, spot three photos attached to the wall right over the pillow where Rex slept. 

The first picture was of: Rex, General Skywalker and Commander Tano, after a battle, the second one showed Rex and a few of his brothers and Jesse could easily spot himself on the picture too. He smiled at that. The third picture showed no one, it was just a beautiful sunset; a purple sky dipped into a ray of orange and yellow, peaceful and it made Jesse feel warm just looking upon it. Jesse didn’t understand the last one though. Why would the Captain hang up a picture like that? He shrugged and picked up the chestplate from the neatly stacked pile of armor and put it on the desk before him. He eagerly puts down the paint and his brush, when he halted in his movements. Should he really do this? He and the Captain trusted each other with their lives and he didn’t want to break that trust. Jesse placed down the brush and picked up a piece of paper from a stack resting on the desk and a blue pen, and started writing. When he was done, he read it over again, smiled and sat down to start his brilliant plan.

— — —

The mess hall was loud, just like after every mission. Rex didn’t understand how his brothers could muster up the energy to be this loud after an exhausting mission. Must be all the adrenaline. He decided to block out the constant chatter and continued eating his ration bars. Rex never realized how hungry he really was until he started eating. It’s like his body pretends not to be hungry just so that he can stay focused. He was peacefully eating his meal when suddenly, three of his brothers slid onto the bench across from him. Hardcase, Kix and Jesse. Ah, here we go again… 

 

Rex looked up at them, slightly annoyed that they disrupted his state of tranquility. They were all smiling like innocent angels. "Heya Captain!“ Hardcase said in a loud, excited voice. "Hello Hardcase." Rex answered in a normal monotone voice, continuing to eat his ration. When no one said anything else he raised his head again and asked, "How are you guys? I barely saw you the last few days. Except for Jesse. Everything's okay, I hope?“ The three troopers looked at each other and then back at the Captain again. "Yes, we’re fine, as usual. I'm sorry in advance if I am reading too much into this, but is everything alright with you, Sir? Because you don't look so fine yourself.“ Kix asked, looking at the Captain slightly worried. "Yes, I'm fine. Just very busy, nothing else.“ Rex replied, and when the trio still looked at him doubtfully, he gave them a slight smile. That seemed to sell it. 

They all talked about the upcoming training and about other half–important things for a while. When the conversation shifted to an uncomfortable topic for the clone captain, he excused himself, got rid of his tray and headed back to his room. Jesse watched him leave and raised an eyebrow mixed with confusion and concern. When Rex exited the mess he felt eyes following him, but he decided not to turn around because he was way too exhausted to be bothered. Screw the sparring room. While walking he went over his mental checklist. He still needed to write a few reports and then he can finally go to bed. Rex reached his room at last and turned on the lights, scanning his room just like he always did; the Captain immediately noticed his chest plate resting on the desk—where he definitely didn’t put it—and walked up to it. Frowning, he spotted the piece of paper that was neatly placed over the piece of armor and he picked it up. 

Sir, 

Don’t worry, I didn’t touch your stuff. Just this chest piece. Since you weren’t going to paint your armor, I did it for you and look, you can thank me later. Hugs and butterfly kisses, 

Jesse

P.S. I did look at the photos. I love you too, brother! :) 

Rex rolled his eyes and started getting angry. What was this little di‘kut doing in my quarters? The next time I see him, I swear to all nine hells I– That's when Rex spotted the blue word painted on his chest piece, just above where the chest piece meets the stomach, 'Cuyan', was written in Aurabesh and looked to be very neatly done, with a few accents surrounding it. Rex wanted to be mad at Jesse for breaking into his quarters, and for vandalizing his armor, but all he could do was smile. He reached for the chestpiece and ran his thumb over the dried words. 

The next day

 0600 (6:00 a.m.)

The 501st was getting ready for duty. Everyone was in full armor already when their Captain stepped into the barracks. “Captain on deck!“ Someone shouted, and they all stood at attention simultaneously. “At ease, brothers.“ Rex replied, scanning the room for Jesse. He approached him immediately and Jesse was getting visibly tense. The Captain came to a halt in front of him and just when Jesse readied himself to get yelled at for breaking into the Captain’s quarters, Rex poked him in the chest once and said, “Don’t go into my quarters ever again, understood?“ He said it in a low but stern voice, Jesse looked up at his Ori’vod and he thought he was going to see a frown and eyes filled with disappointment but instead he saw the corners of the Captain’s mouth form into a smile. They looked at each other for a second, communicating without speaking, and Jesse said “Sir, yes, Sir.” and smirked.  

Jesse was glad he didn’t get in trouble, he knew however Kix would reprimand him for it later but he wasn’t scared of him; until he gets his hands on a syringe. But Jesse was going to make sure he couldn’t find him for the rest of the day. All the troopers went on with their business. Carrying heavy loads around: crates, carts and machinery, they spoke with one another and quickly made way for incoming brothers who were carrying extremely heavy loads to the hangar bay. The sun was shining down on them again and the city in the distance was as beautiful as ever; hopefully they didn’t go back out into battle anytime soon and just stay here on Coruscant, where they were safe. But that was unlikely because they were soldiers. 

Ahsoka waved from where she stood next to Anakin as Rex passed and he gestured back to them. Rex learned something during this commission and he was sure his brothers did too: that the ones you saved become your family in some way, they’re appreciative and never forget; especially the little ones, Eida will always remember the soldiers that saved her and her home. War has its ups and downs, negatives an all, but it can also have some positive things result from it as well. Rex passed Jesse and the boys and they all smirked at him. Captain Rex smiled back, gave a two fingered salute and they all grinned happily in response, especially Jesse. Mission accomplished, Jesse thought. Rex continued walking, he inhaled the lukewarm summer air, everything was the usual except for one thing; the Captain of the 501st seemed to be puffing out his chest more than usual, and some people even caught him smiling. What a strange thing to notice? Not something you see everyday.

The End.

Its over guys!! *falls to knees* It's finally overrrrr!! *voice echoes* This was such an amazing journey from start to finish and I just want to say, thank you for joining us! 💕💕 This was amazing and I loved every single minute of it and just.... *sniffles* My brain hurts though, just saying🤣 but anyways! THANK YOU for joining me @angelwars11 and my special Captain @colorfulloverbatturkey on this wonderful journey and I hope to see you again soon! (Not too soon though, cause I'm tired😵) Goodbye everyone!! 👋🏼👋🏼

The song down below is for y'all, this fucking story and my Captain @colorfulloverbatturkey 💕 because brahhh this is amazing and I can't say goodbye, so I'll see you again. Brah *cries* please like and comment, on this post and my partner's! And please please PLEASE reblog! Thank you all! Ok I'm actually leaving now, BYE! *teleports away*

[thesunlikehoney]

#its also about codu/rex/etc clones bc clones arent really a good guys they are a warriors in a fucking war#<- PREV#clones KILLED people—not just ‘bad people’#your fave has definitely done torture

my first thought was "oh absolutely, good point," but the more i think about it?? kinda depends on what level of meta analysis were talking about. hi @ivvmell @corvod thank for the post and the tags i'm apologizing in advance this totally derailed me and i'm sorry this is now. ramble <3

first level meta analysis is just. what is actually shown on screen in TCW show.

yes, the clones are soldiers fighting a war. they killed people. rex killed that slaver guy no hesitation and no guilt. fox killed fives and that's kinda a major plot point. the clones are trained to go for the kill and they do. but also, they mostly fight droids. apart from some of the generals literally the whole separatist army is droids. most clones were put in a position to kill anybody who was not a droid (with some notable exceptions i'll get into below). part of their whole thing is protecting civilians no matter what-- numa and her village, cut and his family. rex's whole argument against cut is that fighting the war is making lives better for civilians. feeling like they're protecting people and doing real actual good is a big deal for the clones.

also, for the torture point specifically, i really have a hard time believing jedi would allow torture to happen under their watch. like the one time they do Torture (obi-wan and anakin and mace vs. cad bane) it's a Whole Thing that gets discussed and angsted over and there is much guilt and resignation. i have no doubt part of clone training was both how to resist interrogation/torture and how to interrogate/torture someone else, and sure i can see it happening in situations where the clones are just doing their thing and not running it by the jedi, but outside of the highly specific scenario of, firstly there being an actual flesh and blood person behind some separatist attack that has been captured by a battalion and secondly whatever jedi general is technically in charge of said battalion not paying any fucking attention whatsoever to what is happening with their prisoner? probably did not happen.

second level meta analysis-- is this a kids show, or a war show?

because TCW is like. baby's first war show. it is, generally, not a well thought through war show. it can be a nuanced depiction of war and it can also really really not be and it will always always sacrifice accuracy for spectacle. in fact it never really aims for accuracy at all. this is nothing like a real war, and that's kinda the point, because it's not a real war it's an elaborate chess game consisting of one particularly evil guy setting everything up so the pawns will eat each other and the board will self destruct leaving him the sole ruler of a pile of ash. so. it's hard to analyze TCW as it exists with any kind of nuanced questions about war because the show itself doesn't have that kind of nuance built in.

however. that doesn't mean we can't :) that just means it's harder, and this is why fandom is free :D

i think it's not very well thought through to insist that GAR culture is exactly like any other military culture because i really really don't think there is a 1:1 direct comparison between several million guys cloned from the same guy and raised from birth to fight and die in a war they have nothing to do with, and say, a draft (lucus you suck) BUT there are comparisons to be made, and i think the thing with killing and torture is one of them.

a big part of what the show pushes again and again is how much the clones enjoy fighting. they genuinely enjoy killing droids. that guy in slick's squad with the droid finger necklace? and i know it's a meme by now, but cody pulling out all the stops and kicking a droid's head off? i mean what else in life are they going to enjoy, but at the same time, there is a sense that battles are fun for them. the first episode of the umbara arc, it's one of tup's first battles i think, and he is Ready. he's nervous but excited, he gets encouraged and cheered on and watched over by the more experienced in the group. and they aren't fighting droids on umbara. they're fighting the local militia. and they approach this battle the same as any other battle.

umbara is the one campaign (that i can recall off the top of my head, sorry if i misremember it's been a hot second) where the clones fight a militia instead of the droid army. and nothing changes. this isn't treated as something they should take into consideration, this first battle is just another battle. and this is also the campaign where two battalions are set up to attack each other, and they shoot first and ask questions later as they always have, and-- yeah.

there is a lot happening with various clone characters in this mini arc, a lot of questioning the war and questioning the jedi and questioning what their future holds. and i think it's very interesting that the first time we see that happen on such a wide scale is when they're fighting an army they consider sentient while under the command of a jedi who does not consider them sentient.

i think if both sides of the war had been clone armies, or if the clones had more regularly fought people they considered people and not droids (not getting into droid sentiency debates right now, what matters is that the clones don't believe droids are sentient and that is a Whole Other Thing that i would love to get into but it's another ramble) then issues like killing in a war, killing in self-defense, the ethics of enjoying killing and the ethics of torturing prisoners would have all come up more often. and maybe even received proper attention and nuance.

i think the choice of a droid army vs. a clone army was specifically to stop nuanced questions/considerations like "has my fav done torture and did they like it" from happening in universe as much as it was also to stop little kids from being horrified by excessive gore, and i think in order to kickstart those conversations in meta/fic/fandom spaces there needs to be work put in to humanize both sides of the army. how would the GAR approach battles if they thought of droids as sentient? would anything change? what if they weren't fighting droids? how do clone ethics and jedi ethics differ on revenge, and abusing prisoners, and just taking a life? you can see moments where this could have been explored, but wasn't. and maybe the droid army was a very specific choice on sidious part. one army fighting under the jedi who the jedi would feel responsible for and suffer and mourn as they died, and a second army for the clones to destroy with no guilt and no reason to question their role in this war.

i dont like when people have gone crazy and accidentally remembered that the guy who(for example) really cared of kid and in our eyes was mostly good also killed a bunch( or more ) people, burned some innocents houses, harmed the kitty and etc, and then call them "bad" or/& "evil". no guys, its grey person. even if there was a kitty