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paperback-rascal · 2 years

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Okay okay okay okay but consider...

Crosshair, in a self-hatred fueled fit of desperation, attempting to remove his own chip and it, of course, goes wrong and he winds up with a horrific infection.

He collapses on a mission and gets left behind by his conscripted team. Luckily for him, the Batch stumbles across him—they were on the same planet, unknowing going after the same target.

Well... Specifically, Wrecker stumbles across him. He knows that the other Batchers don't trust Crosshair anymore, but... He's still their brother right? They can't just leave him behind... But, he's worried about how the others would react, so he sneaks Crosshair onto the ship and stows him away in the Cargo Hold, doing his very best to keep his presence a secret while also trying to heal him.

Unfortunately, medicine isnt Wrecker's area of expertise, which puts him in a bind: he needs to convince one of the others to help Crosshair, but who is the right person to go to? Hunter's probably a no-go, he's made his feelings towards crosshair very clear. Tech had the most medical knowledge, but he seems adamant that Crosshair is "severe and unyielding" and what if Tech doesn't want to help Crosshair because he believes the sniper is a lost cause? Omega also knows stuff about medicine, but she's just a kid, right? Besides, what if she tells Hunter? Echo is pretty compassionate, even if he doesn't know a lot about medicine, maybe he could help? But he knows that Echo doesn't like to rock the boat, so what if he refuses?

Crosshair is sick, maybe to the point of delirium, and the clock is ticking. Wrecker just wants his brother to be safe, but he doesn't know who to trust.

Wow, @ct-crosshair you’re one of those people that always keep me on my toes! This is an idea that could easily be turned into a whole comics ISSUE not just a comics strip! I hope you won’t mind me... expanding your prompt more than just answering the question.

I’m not exactly sure if that’s what you expected but I hope you’ll enjoy it nonetheless!

It kind-of got longer than I though, thus the whole reply is under the cut/“read more”.

I think it would be more intense if Crosshair was subconsciously digging into the scarring at the side of his head (something akin to a tic?). He scratches the surface constantly because it BOTHERS him - it might be a feeling of tightness/itchiness or maybe he “sees”/”feels” a lump there and just dig his fingers at this spot, to kind of feel what is it, but he can never get “deep” enough to get it out.

He is kind of getting paranoid about it but every time he goes to medics, they just brush off his concerns as “Clones being weird for no apparent reason”(maybe the feeling of something alien being under their skin is a symptom ALL clones have post-Order 66?). Despite ointments, bacta patches, meters of gauze, even trimming Crosshair’s fingernails to the skin, the sniper’s fingers constantly prod at the wound.

I think the mission that kicks-starts your idea, had him being up-high on a sniper’s perch alone, per usual. During mission, Crosshair barely talks to his team (or they have to have radio silence of some sort, due to delicate nature of the mission) they don’t know the wound started to bother him more than usual (developing infection).

Since Crosshair tend to keep to himself post-mission, the team assumed he is just brooding somewhere alone, not bothering to come back just yet. So they are not alarmed by his absence also... they’re freaked out by his judgmental stares and remarks that cut just a centimeter too deep for their liking. With Crosshair gone they, themselves, can have a little breather.

Clone Force 99 are on the same planet as Crosshair’s team - they have the same target but different objective. However after the mission, TBB is stranded there because either/or:

they have to lay low for few days before leaving (most likely they weren’t subtle about their mission - thanks to Wrecker)

their ship broke down (thanks Tech’s chaotic flying)

they can't leave, because Crosshair's team is waiting/searching for the sniper and don’t want their position to be compromised.

I think with Wrecker when it comes to: head injuries, burns (he is a sapper with affinity for explosions) and festering wounds, he had plenty of first-hand experience. His first gut reaction would be "it's OK, Crosshair's not THAT bad, I had it worse" and he would try to help Crosshair himself with his limited knowledge.

I don't think he wouldn't hide him on the ship, tho - Havoc Marauder is a very small vessel, too small, in fact, to have any "secret", unused spaces. Every cubic centimeter of it is there for something all day, everyday (even the unused/cleared out corner at cargo, is the leave-me-alone space and it is... frequently occupied). He would find a decent secluded area (a cave or he would build him a temporary shelter for example) to keep the sniper safe... and to cool him off as "well, he feels slightly warmer to the touch but it's not that bad".

The rest of the team would notice Wrecker disappearing and appearing at random, but the planet/weather is super nice, so no wonder they all just want to be away from each-other as much as possible to recharge.

So with all that, I can see the sniper getting gradually worse, but Wrecker is in denial about his condition. Mostly trying to excuse it with the good old saying: it has to get worse before it gets better.

The sniper never was too lucid to begin with and treated the sapper like a hallucination but one day Crosshair gets WORSE (or Wrecker finally understands how bad the sniper got) on top of that weather also gets worse, Havoc Marauder was THIS.CLOSE. to being detected AKA EVERYTHING.CRUMBLES.ALL.AT.ONCE. so Hunter orders them to leave.

Wrecker considered, as a valid option, to give Crosshair back to his Imperial squad. Empire has better medical facilities than CF99 would ever stumble across and he assumes they had better medical equipment in the ship. However seeing how unbothered the squad was with their commanding officer absence, also fever-induced/delirium Crosshair was saying stuff that just made NO SENSE as to why the sniper wanted to stay with Empire.

So... Once Hunter comms Wrecker to come back NOW, we have to leave NOW. Wrecker decided to “kriff it! I’m taking him with me. What’s the worst that can happen? If Hunter leave me behind with Crosshair, so be it! At least sarge can’t sell Lula, because Omega needs it to fall asleep.”

All the way to the ship Wrecker is super gentle - it’s definitely not his usual sack-of-space!potatoes-carry but more like a wet-space!cardboard-box-of-sleeping-tooka-kittens-carry.

Hunter had to make split-second decision what to do with Wrecker just appearing at the Havoc Marauder ramp with Crosshair in his arms, but before he could even open his mouth to give any order, Omega sprung to action forcing the sapper inside...

that was like opening floodgates, with Echo being a first adult responder. But since he has just one arm, he pulls another person to the mix.

Hunter just stared at the commotion of everyone trying to help/stabilize their estranged brother. The whole mood was so heavy it could be cut with a vibro-blade.

Then, what Hunter feared the most would happen, happened - the emotional fallout.

With Wrecker thoroughly interrogated by CF99 and chastised for poorly made decision that almost caused the sniper his life and the safety of the team/mission, whole team, one after the other (not knowing about other team members doing the same), came to Hunter in private with exact same request - they begged/reasoned with him why they can’t leave Crosshair behind again.

No matter how many times Hunter said it was the sniper’s choice, no-one accepted Hunter’s reasoning.

Omega is making childish promises on how she’d help even more around the ship and do her homework better and eat everything off her plate at dinner;

Tech announced he “rethought” the whole situation that happened during the sinking city of Kamino, and now have several theories about the chips and one of them might just be an answer to the sniper’s odd behavior;

Echo’s at the brink of a PTSD episode as he himself was “the one left behind and then found”;

Wrecker being ready to just fight his way through Empire to get Crosshair back if Hunter let him go;

It was like talking with five stages of grief personified... with Hunter being also one of them.

Because deep down inside, he knew something just made no sense... but Crosshair’s decision is his own and it should be respected... right?

===

STAR WARS: The Clone Wars/The Bad Batch © George Lucas/ Dave Filoni/ LucasFilm/ Disney

#star wars #the bad batch #bad batch #TBB #Crosshair #CT-9904 #Wrecker #Hunter #Tech #Echo #sergeant hunter #arc trooper echo #clone force 99 #CF99 #headcanon heavy #it's basically a fanfic at this point #CT-1409 #paperback-rascal replies to stuff

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wreckerslula99 · 11 months

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your touch (love) warms my body (soul)

PART ONE: PRE-ORDER 66

Summary: During a snowstorm on a foreign planet, the Bad Batch are trying to sleep inside their ship, the Marauder. Someone bitches a little too much. Enter: Wrecker and his insane natural body heat and love for cuddles. AKA: The Bad Batch cuddle because it's cold.

Word count: 1,814 words

Author's note: There will be a second part to this post order 66 where Omega is included instead of Crosshair! (No beta we die like the Republic)

Part Two

This is also available on AO3 here.

On several occasions, the Marauder has been put through inhumane temperatures. Sometimes the Bad Batch will be on a hot planet and the ventilation will break, or be turned off by Tech to “save power”. This is often followed by a bout of groans and complaints from his brothers, mainly Wrecker. Other times, they will land on planets so cold that it seeps into the ship. It’s easy for the ship to stay warm when flying through space, but when powered down and stagnant, not so much.

Usually, when this happens, Crosshair is the first to complain. Which is exactly what is happening right now.

They had been on the planet of Kijimi for 10 rotations and luck had been on their side regarding the weather. Until now. Only a few hours before dark, a snowstorm had started building and by the time it was nightfall, it had reached their area. It wasn’t dangerous, but it was cold enough to the point where the small heater they brought for emergencies wasn’t enough. And Crosshair was never one to be silent when something bothered him. Even if his complaints were involuntary and in the form of shivers, teeth clacking together and small grunts of displeasure.

“Crosshair, are you really freezing that much?” Hunter asks, his tone obviously annoyed as he turns around in his bunk yet again, unable to find a comfortable position with how cold he was.

“Shut up,” Crosshair growls, but with his incessant shivering, it really didn’t pack the same punch it usually did.

“Brother, if you’re really freezing that much, I suggest you put on some more clothes and get out the heater,” Tech says from where he is sitting against the wall in his bunk, wrapped up in his blanket and with his datapad in his hands.

“Heater’s broken,” Wrecker pipes up, his voice rumbling with guilt.

“Perfect,” Crosshair hisses, turning over in his bunk yet again to face the wall, his figure still visibly shaking underneath his blanket.

“It wasn’t my fault! I didn’t mean to sit on it,” Wrecker whines.

Out of all of them, Wrecker was the only one who was never cold in these situations. Sure, he felt the cold, but his body was always warm. Teach theorized it could be a by-product of Wrecker’s specific genetic enhancement. Remembering this fact only pissed Crosshair off even more. He wasn’t actually mad, of course. He was just cold and tired.

Hunter sighs. “We’ll get a new one next time we’re in town.”

“Assuming we survive the cold,” Crosshair grits out sarcastically. “And each other.”

“Wait, what do you mean by that? What does he mean by that, Hunter?!” Wrecker sits up in his bunk, letting out a small yelp followed by a groan when he hits his head.

He brings a hand up to rub at the sore spot on his head and Crosshair lets out a small, devious chuckle. “Serves you right, you big oaf.”

“Hey! You know I feel bad about not fitting into spaces where everyone else does…” Wrecker exclaims, but the soft sadness in his voice gives away that he was genuinely hurt by his brother’s comment.

“Oh, come on, Wrecker. Don’t always take everything so seriously,” Crosshair rolls his eyes.

“Will you stop?” Hunter finally interrupts. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow, and I’ll be damned if I let you two make this into a long night! So zip it, chill out, stop complaining and go to sleep.”

A few seconds of silence pass before Wrecker speaks up again, his voice small and timid, his pout evident in his tone. “Hunter, my head really hurts.”

Hunter lets out a sigh mixed with a groan, running a hand through his long hair and sliding it down his face. The tip of his nose feels awfully cold to his touch and he tries to figure out how to help his brothers.

“Wrecker, you’ll be fine. It didn’t sound like you hit your head that hard,” Tech states matter of factly. “Besides, there’s hardly anything that could happen either way. You seem to be better protected against injuries than any of us.”

“Okay…” Wrecker accepts this, nodding along while Tech is talking, even though they couldn’t see each other.

“Stop talking,” Crosshair seethes, perhaps more from the cold than the annoyance he felt.

“Oh, come on, Crossie! If you can’t sleep because it’s cold, then it doesn’t matter if we talk!” Wrecker argues, clutching his Lula tightly in his hands.

“Oh, come on, Wrecker!” Hunter lets out an exasperated groan.

“Echo, you’re awfully quiet, don’t you have something annoying to say as well?” Crosshair says instead of responding to Wrecker, completely ignoring Hunter as well.

“No,” Echo’s voice is small and shaky, coming as a big surprise to everyone.

“Echo? You okay?” Wrecker called out.

“I’m fine, just c-cold…” he responds.

“It’s most likely all the metal that is attached to his body that is making it harder for him to stay warm, as metal becomes cold quickly in cold temperatures, just the same as it becomes hot in warmer temperatures, because-”

“Tech, shut up,” Crosshair says sharply.

“Oh… you’re cold because you’re a little bit of a droid?” Wrecker asks and before Tech can speak up to correct his phrasing, Echo bursts out.

“I’m not a droid! Droids don’t kriffin’ freeze, do they?!”

Silence falls upon them. Even though he hasn’t been with them for very long, they’re all well aware of how Echo feels regarding his current anatomy given to him by the separatists. The silence goes on for a little too long, to the point where Hunter thinks he’s about to be able to fall asleep until Wrecker speaks up again, his rough voice breaking through the silence with ease.

“I’m pretty warm,” he says, more like a discovery than a fact.

“Oh, would you two just cuddle up together and be quiet?” Crosshair exclaims, still sounding very cold.

Silence falls over them again, until there is shuffling and the sound of a blanket moving coming from Wrecker’s bunk. Next there are steps heard as he stomps around the room. Hunter rolls his eyes and puts his hand over his face.

“Wrecker, what are you-,” a small yelp is heard and it’s definitely Echo.

To everyone’s surprise, more stomping is heard and a small light is turned on right by Crosshair’s bunk.

“Turn it off, Wrecker. I’m not joking, I’m gonna-,” Crosshair is interrupted by being pushed against the wall of his bunk by a large, warm body.

Wrecker. With his Lula right in Crosshair’s face.

“Sorry, Crossie, I didn’t mean to push ‘ya,” Wrecker says apologetically as he settles into the bunk of his grumpy brother.

“What are you doing? Get out of my bunk!” Crosshair starts complaining as he wriggles slightly so he is able to turn and look at Wrecker.

Much to his surprise, lying half on top of his giant brother is Echo, who sends him an apologetic, but also confused and relieved smile.

“I said go cuddle each other, not me!” Crosshair continues to complain, even though the warmth radiating off his brother was very tempting to fall into. “Echo, move your karking metal leg off my ankle!”

“Sorry,” Echo says, still fairly new to the team and their dynamic as he tries to shift in his place.

“Wrecker, you’re pushing me against the wall,” Crosshair continues complaining, although rather half-heartedly since he’s starting to warm up.

“Oh, for the love of…,” Hunter mumbles, throwing his blanket off of himself, grabbing it and scooting over to the ladder to climb down from his bunk.

He walks over to Crosshair’s bunk with his blanket wrapped around himself, thinking that he would probably be laughing at the sight of his three brothers squeezed into the bunk if it wasn’t for how tired and annoyed he is.

“Will you please be quiet?” He exclaims, staring them down

They were still trying to wriggle into a comfortable position and Hunter sighs before getting to work. He slaps Crosshair’s shoulder, who looks at him with narrowed eyes, but follows the movement of his hand anyway and sits up. Hunter orders Wrecker to move against the wall on his back, his legs away from the wall so Echo could lie on top of him and rest his metal legs in that empty space against the wall. Crosshair got put next to Wrecker on his side.

“Happy?” Hunter asks, but it sounded as though he would lose it if anyone said no.

The Sergeant then scoots in at the foot of the bunk, resting his legs on top of Wrecker’s underneath the blanket and pulling his own tighter around himself. There is a moment of silence in which Hunter contemplates getting up again to turn off the little light he accidentally left on, but decides it’s not worth the risk of stirring up his brothers again.

“Tech?” Wrecker speaks up after a minute or so of silence and Hunter wants to slam his head against the wall behind him. “Aren’t you gonna join us?”

“No, I prefer to stay on my own where I have space to read through some more informational manuals,” he says from his bunk, where he is sitting with his datapad.

“You can keep reading in the morning, Tech,” Hunter says. “Come on, you need your sleep. And I know you’re freezing too.”

“I’m just fine on my own, thank you very much,” Tech replies, pulling his knees closer to his chest underneath his blanket.

“Liar,” Crosshair rolls his eyes.

“Come on, Tech. You know it’s erm, scientifically illogical to stay on your own during these temperatures,” Hunter tries to play into his brother’s weaknesses: science and logic.

“I don’t appreciate it when you pull that card,” Tech sighs and rolls his eyes, then starts trotting over to the rest of his brothers.

He turns off the small lamp next to the bed and then settles in next to Hunter with his blanket still wrapped around himself.

“Don’t you dare,” Crosshair threatens when Tech moved his legs half on top of his, which earns him a small kick from Hunter and Tech lets the full weight of his legs rest on Crosshair’s lower body. “I hope you know you won’t wake up in the morning.”

“Oh yeah? I hope you know if you don’t all settle down and shut up right now, none of you will make it ‘til morning,” Hunter growls. “Go to sleep.”

“Good night, guys,” Wrecker says only a few seconds later, groans and sighs erupting from all around the bunk

“Good night, Wrecker,” they all say in unison and then it’s silent for good.

Slowly, Wrecker’s body heat warms the others enough for their bodies to relax and allow them to fall into a deep sleep, all huddled together in the little bunk.

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sharonccrter · 2 years

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I don’t know if anyone else is following the Star Wars drama on Tik Tok but I find it so polarising and I wanted to talk about it. It’s no surprise that there are widely different opinions on Obi-Wan Kenobi, when you have a show with this much hype its going to happen. What it seems to me is there is no space for comprise. You have the fans who are loudly proclaiming their disappointment, because they let fan theories, and what they built up in their head ruin the show for them. Then you have the other side of the coin who say any criticism is unwarranted because we should just be happy we’re getting Star Wars content and its not the show’s fault its not the story you wanted told.

Where is the space for people in the middle? There never seems to be any; it’s always you hate it, or you love it. But I find with Obi-Wan Kenobi, there are things I love and things I hate, which is the same for most shows I watch. I happened to really like the first three episodes, I thought the third in particular was fantastic but I'm with people who felt episode four was a let down. I agree that the “kidnap Leia” storyline has been dragged out too far and I’d have concluded it after episode three; but that’s just me.

I don’t agree with people who are saying Obi-Wan is a side character in his own show, or that the show is about setting up Reva and nothing else. We’re clearly seeing Obi-Wan deal with the trauma of Order 66 and Anakin becoming Darth Vader, which is all good shit. I do however agree that Hayden Christensen has been under used until this point and yeah that is disappointing in my books. He was heavily used in the promotion of the show (get that Mickey Mouse money Hayden) and yes, that may have given people the false impression that he would be in the show more than was actually intended. But I still don’t think it’s the fans fault for getting hyped and then disappointed when we know full well Disney knows what they’re doing.

I don’t agree with fans who are saying “we had Clone Wars, what do we need flashbacks for? You just want fan service and want to be disappointed.” I loved Clone Wars, but the reason I was excited for the show was because after 20 years, Ewan and Christian were coming back to play Obi-Wan and Anakin/Darth that’s what made me excited for the show, seeing these actors playing these characters again. So yes, I want a Clone Wars flashback, in a perfect world we’d get more than one because I’ve wanted a live action Clone Wars for a long time (I know I wont get it but still.) There is nothing wrong with fan service. Entertainment is a symbiotic relationship I had over my cash whether its to pay for a streaming service or a cinema ticket and in return the show is made. Both parties are getting something out of it; so why not want some fan service?

Don’t get me wrong I hate fan service for the sake of it when it doesn’t further the plot or makes no sense within the story being told. But in terms of Obi-Wan Kenobi, there is plenty of space to fit in fan service and make it make sense; and in rich the story and I think there is nothing wrong with wanting that. Obviously, I’m against the fans who send hate to the writers/actors because grow up at the end of the day it’s a tv show, the world isn’t going to collapse because you didn’t get what you want. But I think criticism of any show, is fine, I certainly don’t buy into the idea that we should kiss Disney’s ass because we’re getting any content because the Star Wars shows have been hit and miss up until now.

So this is a post for the people in the middle. We exist; its okay to love something, but have criticism of it, to wish things were done better and to be disappointed, we’re just not dicks about it. Anyone else feel the same?

#obi-wan kenobi #ewan mcgregor #Hayden Christensen #anakin skywalker #darth vader #inquisitor reva #reva #leia organa #star wars #disney plus #long post

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bejeweledgoth · 1 year

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Here it is, the sneak-peak for @cloneshippingbigbang !!

Author: @bejeweledgoth

Artist: Neon_Black

- Title: All The Cracks and Breaks Than Still Remain

- Major archive warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence

- Pairing: Gregor/Rex/Wolffe

- Tags: Minor Character Death, Suicide Ideation, Suicide, Trauma, Healing From Trauma, PTSD, Post Order 66, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending (or as happy as post order 66 can get), Building a Life Together

- Fic rating: Explicit

- word count total: 36k+

- Summary: They were all three of them broken and shattered, what remained of them less than whole, but those ragged edges fitted perfectly together, the sharpest corners of them smoothed down by each other, and now they were only ever whole when they were together.

After Order 66 Rex felt it was his duty to try and save as many as he could, to try and find those whose chips might have malfunctioned or never even activated. He finds two whose minds are still their own, Gregor and Wolffe, but many of the others they saved who did execute the order admit they would rather be dead than saved, unable to live with the memories.

Only three of them with the will to live, still, to try and pick up the pieces of who they were and form them into who they can be, together, away from all the hurt and grief that was meant to have been their destiny. What lies ahead will be a long road full of healing and learning the softer side of life, of maybe even learning to love.

By now they had reached the ship. Gregor unlocked and lowered the ramp before heading inside to most likely start in on the pre-flight checks.

Just as he was about to follow, a heavy hand gripped Rex’s bicep and jerked him to a stop, locking around his arm like a vice and he could feel the faint tremor radiating out through it from Wolffe’s trembling. “Rex, I think mine activated. Please tell me you can get it out.”

There was something so incredibly broken and desperate in Wolffe’s voice that Rex couldn’t help but turn and pull their foreheads back together. “Of course we will. We’ll get it out and you will be completely yourself.”

Wolffe nodded, nose bumping Rex’s and he let out a shaky breath. “Good, thank you.”

The two of them made their way inside the ship, settling inside the cockpit alongside Gregor. There were only two seats inside, the ship too small for anything more, but Wolffe simply sat himself down on the floor next to Rex’s feet, one hand wrapped around his ankle the whole flight.

“I’ve got moments where I black out,” Wolffe suddenly spoke into the silence that had wrapped itself around them a couple hours later. “Moments where I felt proud of the pack for killing Buir, for killing a traitor, moments where I considered myself a traitor or felt like I needed to do whatever I could to get back to the fleet. I didn’t know what was happening and it was absolutely terrifying, not always being in control of my own actions. I would sometimes come out of it and realise I had been working towards getting closer to the fleet. It’s why I came here, as far into the Outer Rim as I could to buy myself some time if I had another episode. I used to knock myself out at the beginning to prevent it. It doesn’t happen as often now as then, luckily. Please don’t let me hurt either of you if it happens again before it’s out.”

The words hung heavy and dark inside the cramped little cockpit, at least for a moment, and then Gregor reached out and placed a hand on Wolffe’s shoulder. “We can get it out, as soon as we get back. I never had mine activate, but I still got it out. The thought of it possibly taking away who I am, it was one of the scariest things I’ve ever encountered. I’m so sorry it happened to you.”

Rex’s hand settled onto the back of Wolffe’s neck, sending Gregor a quick, appreciative smile. “We’ll take care of you, Wolffe, don’t worry.”

With a nod, Wolffe leaned his head against Rex’s knee and breathed out, “Okay. Thank you.”

Rex ran his fingers through Wolffe’s curls in a soothing, rhythmic motion and it wasn’t long before he slumped to the side and the tension bled from his shoulders as he fell asleep.

#csbb22 #CloneShipping BigBang 2022 #Cloneshipping #Rex/Gregor/Wolffe #Rex/Wolffe/Gregor #Wolffe/Gregor/Rex #Wolffe/Rex/Gregor #Gregor/Rex/Wolffe #Gregor/Wolffe/Rex

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gwiazdowe · 2 years

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“Whatever you do, don’t go wandering around after dark.”, Ziv lifted a small paw and waved away one of the flowerranks that had reached for her like a curious child. The plant growing from one of the pots the Tynnan had put up along the walls of the small cabine she used as a treatmentroom, pulled back their rank sulkingly: "My patients said some very kriffed up Kriff about missing cattle and people." @irrfahrer [post order 66? who knows?]

Cirz sits on the edge of one of the cots, carefully he inspects a couple purchased little jars and fiddles with the logistics of making them fit in his pouches. It’s not the first time he sits on Ziv’s cot, but thankfully this time he isn’t around as a patient to treat.

The warning he receives makes the (older now but still young) Pantoran look past the various plants outside the window. It isn’t dark yet, but judging by the sky, not for long. He should leave soon, he thinks, but he doesn't move yet.

“... People go missing all the time now.” He tells Ziv quietly, almost like a complaint she would know what to do with because he doesn’t.

“Cattle though.” He adds quickly, if only to stop his thoughts from spilling sour in the air. “Is it the mountain beasts? Do you think? I heard something is being built in their caves” Then again, if it was simply the matter of wildlife he supposed Ziv would already know all about it.

When was the last time something was simple anyway??

#yup post o66 works even like years post it #im here for cirz reaching out to ziv occasionally because normal medical facilities are off limits to him idkk #irrfahrer #irrfahrer | 02

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thefact0rygirl · 3 years

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STAY SOFT

Rating: Explicit 18+

Pairing: Captain Rex x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 1.2k

Warnings: reunited lovers, gentle sex, handjob, fingering, enough fluff and angst to make you hurl

A/N: Just some self-indulgent word vomit about you and Rex reuniting after Order 66. I tried to channel @djarrex and her dom, post-order 66 Rex but I’m in my feels tonight so we’re getting hardcore yearning with a side of softness. i’ll proofread later tonight 😬

{cross-posted on ao3} {masterlist}

He’s nervous, you can tell from the way he won’t meet your eyes. It’s the guilt, you think, watching his hands shake as you lift his shirt over his head.

Guilt for failing his brothers,

Guilt for leaving you on alone after the war.

It’s been hours since you reunited, but Rex still wears a face like he is expecting anger from you, anger that just doesn’t exist. All you have is love, all you want is to keep him safe with you. He won’t accept your love just yet, and so you take his shaky hands in your own and guide them to take off your shirt.

He wants to own his mistakes, but he needs to forgive himself, too. Until that happens, he will never let you in to help him heal. But until then, you can try to help him forget. Cut the bitterness with the taste of honey.

Staring in awe as more of your skin is revealed to him, he doesn’t want to look away. Not now, not ever. Your skin looks so smooth, so soft and inviting. His memories don’t do it justice and he wants to press his hands against you, hold you close enough to destroy the space between you.

So, he does. He runs shaky fingers along your arms, honey eyes blown wide in amazement because he still can’t believe this is real. You’re here with him. He doesn’t have to rely on memories and dreams anymore.

Heart warm and swelling, all he wants is for you to know that you are the most beautiful person he’s ever seen and his allegiance is now to you. He will protect you, all so you can stay soft and sweet and gentle.

His mind blanks as the rest of your clothes fall away until there is nothing but tense air surrounding you both. He wants to close the gap, wrap you up in his arms until you’re molded to him, but you beat him to it, shifting forward on the sheets to press a hand against his chest to push him further back on the bed so you can sit in his lap.

He breathes your name, swallowing the cold air of the room, as your other hand shakily slides along his torso until you grasp his hardening member. The sharp inhale of breath he takes doesn’t slip past you, and you give him a comforting smile, “I missed you so much, Rex.”

His head falls to his favorite spot, the curve where you shoulder meets your neck and he inhales. Your scent fills him and all he manages to do is whimper. He lets you stroke him to hardness, reveling in the way your hands run along his shaft, your thumb smearing the budding beads of precum.

His own hands move to hold you, fingertips smoothing along flushed curves and dips of your body, branding your neck in discolored love bites and gloating when he hears your breathing crumble into short, shaky pieces.

Traveling lower and moaning your name, as he spreads your thighs until you’re straddling him. You stroke his cock while he slides his fingertips against your slick entrance, smiling against your shoulder and pulling you close when you squeeze him a little harder.

He is ready to get lost, ready to lose himself in your being, before you murmur his name and pause your ministrations.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, quiet and breathy as if scared any loud noises will scare you away. His hands return to cradle your jaw, acutely aware of the way his palms fit against your jaw like puzzle pieces.

Pressing his forehead to yours, he continues as your hands remains on his cock, “We can stop. It’s been a while, we don’t need to do this.”

He wants to pour his love into you, but he’ll die before he hurts you or forces you into anything that you don’t want to. He allowed you to believe he died in action, he wouldn’t blame you if you refuse to accept him.

But then you offer him that reassuring smile that brings him peace. Your saw pieces of him in every person you met. Now, he is here, in from of you, open and exposed. No way did you want this to stop.

“I want to, Rex. I didn’t think I would ever see you again. Don’t stop now.”

He lays you down, shuffling until you’re spread out beneath him, just like before. He pauses, memorizing the look on your face just in case this is another dream. He takes in the way your pupils are big enough to overtake your irises and the way your hair fans out on the pillows. He watches the way your lips frame his name and he can’t wait anymore.

He bends down, pushing all the love he has for you into a kiss, as he situates himself between your legs. Positioning himself at your entrance, he pulls away to ask, “Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” Your legs move to lock around his waist. “I want to feel you.”

With your confirming plead, he cradles your head between his hands and moves. He pushes in and it’s the most complete Rex has ever, will ever, feel. You tense around him, your arms clinging to his neck as you adjust to the familiar stretch of your body adjusting to him. Digging your nails into his shoulders, you hide in his shoulder as you cry out.

In that moment, your hearts and souls are connected in sheer bliss. He wants to stay here forever, keep this moment wrapped around him just like how your arms and legs are wrapped around him. You’re clinging to him as if you’re terrified he will pull away and leave you. He wants to tell you he would never do that, not again. He wants to tell you he will always, always be by your side. He can’t bear the thought of abandoning you again. The war is over, he is free, and he is yours.

He starts to move, pulling out as much as your legs would allow before pushing back in, faster and harder than before. You hiccup on your breaths as he moves faster, stretching you and sliding along your body. Chests pressed against each other, he can feel your hears beating against your ribcages as they’re trying to escape and reach one another.

It had been so long, and a fucking miracle that you are here together. He wants to feel you squeeze him, just like before, feel your ways pulse and your limbs shake against him as your heady breaths and moans harmonize together in the most beautiful song he’s ever heard.

Slipping a hand between your bodies, he finds your clit and rubs.

“Go on, pretty girl. Come for me, just like before. Can you do that for me?”

And you do, and Maker, it feels amazing. Your fingers claw at his back but he doesn’t notice, just keeps moving, desperately striving for the distant light of relief and you’re crying his name, over and over like a prayer.

“Rex, Rex, Rex.”

He feels your pussy spasming around him and he pulls your head back from his shoulder, his hands gripping your scalp as your eyes lock together. You’re whimpering, moaning loud enough to alert anyone nearby, as your walls coax him into his own release.

He groans something that sounds like your name as he throbs, emoting himself in you. He bends down to kiss you again, hips still stuttering as the last of his release paints you white. The words are escaping his mouth before he knows, but he doesn’t care anymore.

“I love you. Love you so much, pretty girl.”

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#captain rex x reader #captain rex x you #captain rex smut #captain rex fanfic #captain rex #the clone wars #the clone wars fanfic #star wars #star wars fanfic #my writing

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hobiiwan · 3 years

Text

mirror • cpt. rex

pairing: captain rex x gn!reader

warnings: post-order 66 angst, hurt-comfort but i thrive in the hurt

w/c: 1.6k

notes: i'm back with lots and lots of feelings bc i've been ghosted and it's 5 am so i should probably sleep but i hope you enjoy :D

lovely gif credit to @pieklalat!

Framed by distant moons and even further stars, the night sky never seemed more vast. If you closed your eyes, it didn’t take much to picture a Republic Star Destroyer slicing through the atmosphere of the moon whose gravity became inescapable, with you in it.

Glancing over your shoulder at where Rex had made camp for the evening, you could tell he was thinking it too. Though his eyes were closed, it was clear as watching a holofilm; reliving the searing heat of plasma bolts, shot from the blasters of his brothers, the ones he had served beside for years—the same ones he had buried just hours prior.

It felt as though there was a vice wrapped in a deadlock around your heart, constricting your chest until it threatened to collapse in on itself. You exhale sharply, willing yourself to push past the hollow ache of the now-dulled Force connection, the flashing faces of the clones and Jedi who had perished under the Order—the fear they had felt in their final moments. It was now your fear that you would never escape it.

The price of surviving the command settles atop your shoulders, making a home. A bitter, weighted reminder that you are here, alive, when you shouldn’t be—when you aren’t supposed to be.

You collapse onto the ground next to Rex, which pulls him back to the present. His eyelids flutter as he blinks slowly, once at you, then back up to the stretching expanse of the inky black overhead. He lets out a sigh, leaning up on his shoulders to cast a weary glance at his surroundings. “How long was I out?” He questions.

You reply with a thoughtful hum, “Not long. You need the rest, anyway.” It’s true. The day’s events have undoubtedly taken its toll on the both of you. But how does one go about resting after being hunted to the death?

“I’ll take first watch. Get some sleep, cyare.” He says, now sitting upright and then you know there’s no point in fighting it. You both need rest, but with the way Rex’s frame is pulled tense as a bow, his hand twitching ever-so-slightly towards his blaster, you know there’s no way he’d rest easy.

So, you offer him a victory, albeit a minute one. You pull his unarmed hand into yours and close your eyes, feeling the way he lets out a shaky breath, releasing some tension along with it. A victory—you’re still here with him.

Neither of you can be certain how long you stay that way. The low croon emitting from the transceiver is the only sign that time actually passes. Neither of you complain about the noise, either. It didn’t need to be said that the silence—this silence, was much too loud.

You do try to sleep, Rex gives you credit for that. Though, after turning for the fifth time (he counts) you give up and sit up beside him. He’s got his knees pressed to his chest, one hand curled tight around his blaster. In his other, his thumb rubs circles against the back of your hand. The answer to whether it soothes you or himself doesn’t matter.

Wordlessly, your head lowers to his shoulder, propped gently against the curve of muscle.

“Did I ever tell you I wanted to be a singer?” You murmur, glancing at the transceiver. You don’t recognise the singer on broadcast, though you do take note of the melody, slow and mellow.

Rex watches as you even try to hum along, as offbeat as you are.

“No,” he huffs something short of a chuckle, “you didn’t.”

He knows what you’re trying to do, sees it clear as day. Yet, as he watches your feet tap to the tempo of the ballad, he can’t stop himself from humouring your attempt to comfort him.

You nod eagerly, eyes widening as if to express your candor. “I was about to be one, too! Then the Jedi came and…”

Rex waits as you trail off, then clocks the far-off look in your eyes. He picks up where you left off. “Would you sing for me now?”

You return in a split second, your lips pulling into a bashful smile as you avoid his eyes. “I’m definitely rusty by now, I don’t want you losing your hearing because of me.”

The Captain nudges you teasingly, grinning when you break into soft laughter. “It would be an honour, though,” he quips.

He wonders how much of you has been hidden behind the mantle of a Jedi’s title. Who would you have been had you not been brought into the Order, raised from young to be one thing, and one thing only? Who would he be?

Once again, Rex is dragged out of his thoughts. This time, you’re tugging him to his feet. It takes an effort and a half, which you currently lack in your fatigued state.

As he looks up at you questioningly, you motion to the transceiver, dropping his hand to raise the volume. It’s enough to provide a comfortable backdrop instead of a desperate attempt to quell silence.

“Dance with me,” you propose softly, “please?”

“I don’t know how to, mesh’la.”

As if pointedly ignoring his feeble protest, your hand remains outstretched, beckoning his participation.

Maker, he’s only ever seen couples dancing on holofilms and is even more certain he has two left feet. But gazing up at your expectant self is like looking at a promise of escaping the sorrow he now knows as reality.

Really, it’s all up to him.

Rex swears he feels three times lighter from the way you beam in delight when he fits his palm into your smaller ones and helps you lift him to full height.

He stands awkwardly, clueless as to where his hands should go, how he should move. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea.

Below him, you soften at the uncertainty tainting his features. Taking mercy on the poor man, you lift a hand to cup his cheek, garnering his attention.

“Put your hands on my waist,” you murmur, eyes twinkling when Rex’s hands fly up to root himself to you. Your own arms loop behind his neck and he takes it as a sign to pull you into his chest, no stranger to the position.

“and now we sway.”

Such a simple command, yet Rex feels like a fish out of water. His limbs are stiff, like the serenity of the movement is a stranger. To an extent, it is.

When you take over, moving him to the beat instead, he gratefully surrenders, allowing himself a moment of tranquility.

The only sounds that reach him become the silky notes of the singer and your soft, steady breaths. If he tries hard enough, he can pretend to be in a distant galaxy, where he is not a clone and you are not a Jedi, where the war is nothing more than a brash concept and his brothers are alive and well.

Rex doesn’t realise he’s crying until your thumb smooths away a tear rolling down his face. His eyes stay closed as he wills himself to keep pretending, but he can’t.

He is still a clone but you are no longer a Jedi. His brothers are gone.

You hold him when he finally breaks, cradling his head close when his shoulders tremble with the force of his sobs. His tears soak into the collar of your singed robes, but you truly can’t find the will to care—not when the man you love is falling apart, barely held together by the threads of your embrace.

“It wasn’t them,” he chokes, shaking his head, a wretched attempt to convince himself, “—it couldn’t be.”

At that, you’re positive your heart shatters. Stars, he doesn’t deserve this. You wish with all your might to take the pain away, to rewind every clock in the galaxy and then the next, but all you can do is watch.

“It wasn’t,” you nod, lowering your forehead to press against his, “not the real them. You know they loved you.” And by the Maker, you know.

Rex’s hands clutch tightly at your robes, as if letting go of that would mean letting go of you. The last tether to what is now his past, his only constant.

What if you hadn’t made it off the ship? What if Ahsoka hadn’t gotten the chip out of him in time? What if he had hurt you?

He briefly registers your voice calling his name, cutting through the despondent scenarios that could have, by any deciding factor, become his present.

“Rex, my love,” you plead, “please look at me.”

When he raises his eyes, he finds that yours are a mirror of his own. The anguish that parallels his agony. He feels you, your presence. He’s never understood much about the Force, but he thinks this is pretty damn close.

“I’m here,” you whisper. The promise of those two words anchor you both. “‘M not going anywhere.”

You mean it. If you believed it before, there was no chance in any star in the galaxy that anyone would be able to tear you away from him now.

For the current moment, you weren’t sure if there was a place to go, even if you wanted. Less than twenty four hours ago, you had been anticipating the end of the Clone Wars. Now, it feels like you’ve been thrown onto the losing side.

“What do we do now?” Rex asks, but you both know there isn’t an answer. There’s no precedent to go off of.

Two of the finest leaders in the GAR and the Jedi Order are lost, with no one left to follow them.

There’s nothing to do but move on.

“We keep living,” you say with a heavy sigh, burying your face into the crook of Rex’s neck, “we live for them. We’ll find a way.”

You always do.

#yoinks sorry i’ve been gone for so long lads #pls take this fic as an offering #rex x reader #captain rex x reader #star wars #the clone wars #the clone wars x reader #the clone wars imagine #captain rex imagine #captain rex oneshot #501st x reader

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happytroopers · 3 years

Note

Fives and Dogma for 20. "What-ifs/Alternate Timelines" maybe?

Fives:

In my mind, he survives the whole Chip ordeal. Like skin of his teeth everyone besides Rex thinks he’s dead

Rex smuggles him to Salecumi (idk how to spell it) where Cut and Suu nurse him back to health

Think Fennec in the Mandolorian, mechanical insides and such

Obvs this makes Rex more Savvy to the chip situation but like one battle at a time

Once Fives stabilizes and is able to make more sense, Rex gets his chip out, which enables him and Ahsoka to rescue a couple more clones when order 66 comes around

When Rex first suspects Echo is still alive, He keeps it from Fives not wanting to get his hopes up for nothing - plus it’s dangerous to communicate too much lest Cut and Fives be discovered.

But until he can be sure Echo is still completely himself he can’t tell Echo ab Fives but he never explicitly says he’s dead either he’s always just like “he’s not WITH US anymore”

Flash forward to post order 66, Echo is with the Batch, Fives is with Cut, the galaxy is currently in chaos

As we know, Rex blew through Salucemi and finally told Fives everything. He’s mad at first but long term understands, he’s relieved that Rex and Ahsoka are alright, and they both mourn the 501st together

Fives knows he has to go find Echo, bc the domino squad sticks together and he lowkey feels guilty he left him at the citadel AND never figured out he was alive

BUT Cut and Suu notice all the empire stuff and know they have to get them and the kids out of there so instead of leaving with Rex he agrees to stay and help Cut and Suu until they leave and then he’d strike out on his own

He goes to town the next day for whatever reason

Low and behold when he comes back there’s this little blonde girl that looks a lot like him playing with the kids

And then Cut comes out followed by the batch

He doesn’t immediately recognize Echo

Echo would recognize that stupid goatee anywhere

OBVS they reunite and it’s beautiful and touching and heartbreaking.

I genuinely think Fives and the Batch would vibe ESP without Crosshair ++ I just know him and Omega would get along

Idk how he’d really fit in the plot of the Bad Batch / helping Rex with the rebellion

But after the chip incident I doubt he has a lot of trust for any form of over arching authority

But he’s just like “I FUCKING TOLD YOU REX.”

But I doubt that he and Echo would separate again

This leads them to get their chips out earlier saving Wrecker a lot of trauma

Speaking of, I think he’d REALLY vibe with Wrecker Bc Wrecker would remind him of Hardcase

Tech upgrades his mechanical lungs and such bc the black market stuff Rex was able to get his hands on was not up to Techs standard.

Hunter is slightly indifferent but appreciates another set of eyes and hands, more ppl to keep Omega safe. He’s glad Echo was reunited with Fives though bc he knew how hard it was for Echo to come back and barely know anyone but Rex.

He and Crosshair(should our fave sniper ever return) would not vibe. At all.

Think Steve and Bucky but if Steve didn’t time travel back to his side piece

Dogma:

My alternate timeline Dogma makes very little sense but I love him all the same

So the event of Umbara happen as they did canonically

Despite feeling a lil guilty ab it Rex sends him back to Kamino feeling a lil guilty ab it but Dogma understands. His brother don’t trust him anymore which is heartbreaking all in it’s own right, he doesn’t trust himself, and now he’s learned that he can’t even trust command as he used too

But despite all that he’s seeing the world through a mew lens. His moral code has been flipped upside down, he’s not sure who to trust and for the first time he’s allowing himself to question things

He’s distrustful of the Kaminoans as they move him through his “psych eval”. They keep saying that as soon as he’s deemed fit for duty, he’ll be reassigned to a new unit

He stops answering their questions as honestly, telling them the “correct answers” he knew he was supposed to

One day as he’s waiting for his brain scans he sees a data pad laying on the side table, outline his treatment plan.

This wasn’t a brain scan- this was reconditioning. To forget what he saw on Umbara and be retrofitted as a maintenance clone.

He does a little more digging as he waits for the Kaminoan scientist to come back, and of course he eventually comes to some information ab the chips.

First and foremost, after having his world view rocked, he’s immediately like, “ok excuse you, you can’t take my memories just bc you don’t like the negative light this puts on you and the Jedi.”

Then, esp with this newfound distrust of the Jedi and most of high command, he’s really not as chill with the chip as he once would have been

At that moment there’s no way to escape, he’s sitting on an operating table, there’s two armed guards on the other side of the door, he’s in nothing but Kamino plain clothes, there’s approx 100,00 soldiers between him and anything that could fly, not to mention the blockade around the planet. He needed more time to plan al he could do was grab a piece of flimsy and write down bullet points on what he found and who he was, he shoves in between the layers of his clothes and just hopes it’ll be there when he comes out on the other side

He has to put everything as he found it. As the Kaminoan comes in and asked questions as if they weren’t about to psychologically torture him, he forces himself to answer as if he knows nothing. Even if it’s through gritted teeth and with a harsh glare.

They give him a sedative and all he can think before the medicine takes affect is “don’t forget who you are. Don’t forget what they did to you. Don’t forget what they’ve done to your brothers.”

He wakes up in a random bunk, he feels angry but can’t remember why. He knows there’s something he needs to do, but can’t remember his purpose. There’s a uniform folded on his foot locker- he recognizes as Kamino Sani-Workers uniform?? Was that what he was supposed to do? Why couldn’t he remember doing it before? But what did he do before?

He sits up, something is rustling and crinkling under his clothes. Even more confusion but before he gets the chance to check a Kaminoan escorted by an officer walk in.

They call him by his CT number which shouldn’t have been a problem, but he knew that’s not what he should be called- but didn’t know what he was expecting. They say their glad he was awake, that he injured himself in a fall while cleaning- that would explain the amnesia, but somehow he just knew that was wrong. He was almost shocked by the amount of anger that surged through as his brain just screamed- they’re lying to you!

The Kaminoan told him that once he underwent some scans and check ups, another Saniworker would fill in any gaps and explain his jobs, and then left saying they’d be back for him tomorrow, not to leave to room barracks and that dinner would be brought to him later.

Once he was alone again and he knew he was alone, he inspected the odd rustling in his clothes and pulled out the flimsy that had been shoved behind in between the layers. It was folded twice and the handwriting inside was frantic.

It was bullet pointed, informing his that his name was Dogma, it outlined the events on Umbara, Don’t trust the Jedi was underlined emphatically, Don’t trust high command was next, that they had reconditioned him and then something about a chip in his brain that needed to come out once he got away.

Some of this sparked flashes of memory and surges of emotion, a bioluminescencent planet, a blonde clone with an angry look on his face and then the same clone with a sympathetic look in his eye, two clones in an execution block, they looked scared and angry, Dogma was holding a gun, then he was holding a different gun, he was in a cell, and now another blaster it was smoking, a Jedi in cuffs was dead, he killed the Jedi? A surge of anger, pride, and then immediate wariness- a transport to Kamino, scientists poking and prodding at him, a syringe, the inside of a scanner, darkness…

The onslaught of images- memories, he realized- split his head with a migraine. Later he would find out that reconditioning was most successful when subjects are unassuming and not brought into contact with environments or people that could trigger memories. But even unsuccessful, it fractured the mind to be toyed with like that.

With nothing to do, all he can do is sit in his bunk and think about what he knows, even if it splits his head to do it. He slips the piece of paper into an air vent, wedged under a loose screw so it wouldn’t blow into the wrong hands.

Days pass, all he can do is play into this new role he’s been cast in. Old memories flood back, a trooper with long hair and a tear drop tattoo, a human Jedi that didn’t spark the same hostility as the other. But so did inorganic memories- his brain trying to fill the gaps of his reconditioning. False memories of never leaving Kamino, spending days cleaning and fixing things.

He fights against those, forcing himself to read his piece of flimsy every night. Leaning into the memories that felt real, but not quite sure if he could trust those either.

Weeks have passed, it’s harder to not stay mad at the kaminoans and high ranked officers who knew what happened. How could his brothers let this happen? Did his former squad know this is what would happen when they shipped him off?

But the good thing about maintenance clones is that no one plays him any mind. Dogma knew that. So he kept jobs done perfectly adequate and perfectly on time for weeks, and before long the Kaminoans lost interest in him. Assuming the reconditioning had done its job.

This gave him wiggle room. He knew where the cameras were, and therefore the blind spots. He knew when security made their rounds, when which cadets went where for training. He knew that how much time he had down the second that he wouldn’t be seen as he accessed the data terminal in one of his blind spots.

It was in those tiny time pockets he learned more about himself. What he accomplished, this missions and planets he’d been on, who he had served with, the names and numbers of his batch mates and which ones of them were still alive. He had been in the 501st, with war heroes CT 7567, ARC 5555, ARC 1409, Commander Ahsoka Tano, and General Anakin Skywalker.

It was also there that he found the nitty gritty about the Umbara mission, the unabridged version of what happened there. He used a stolen data stick to download both Captain Rex’s, Arc Trooper Fives’, and a Tup (one of the last remaining member of his squad.) so he could watch their debrief statements in their entirety.

And since the Umbara mission was still under investigation, it was there he found his his armor and weaponry were being held in Kamino’s archives.

One day, when being assigned his tasks for the week, he’s assigned to a hangar bay for the almost every day. That’s when his plan formed.

Using help from his maintenance droid co workers, he used them to transport his armor to a cargo ship- civilian piloted- and then once he had the chance, he smuggled himself on the ship.

He felt a little guilty for stunning the poor civvie, a peach skinned twilek girl who hadn’t even seen him before she slumped over unconscious. With her stunned and safely locked in her quarters, he landed the ship on the nearest backwater and disappeared into a city’s underbelly with the ships cargo.

Which was immediately pawned off to a black market dealer- dogma didn’t feel too bad, the ship was mostly carrying first aid supplies and droid poppers, nothing too dangerous, and it padded his pockets with enough credits to get by for a while. The republic would think it was raided by pirates.

With his distrust for his brothers and the army now, he could never bring himself to fully don his armor again. He mostly used the arm guard vambrances, shin guards, and occasionally the chassis. But old habits died hard, even the pieces of armor he didn’t use were kept in pristine condition.

The pistol labeled “ARC 5555 DC17, execution weapon” had been in the same box as his armor. If the files and his fractured memories were true, he had used that to kill the traitorous Jedi that killed his brothers.

He carried that everywhere, a reminder to himself to never value authority over morality. And a reminder that he could do what needed to be done.

Eventually he got in the the private security sector on the backwater planet he landed on.

And once comfortable, he got a shady medical clinic to remove his chip

The war came and went, the Empire eclipsed the Republic. If Dogma had a distaste for the Republic, he harbored hatred for the Empire.

He never officially joined the rebellion, but every now and then Rex would hear rumors of a rogue clone that sabotaged an Empire shipment or freed Imperial prisoners.

Eventually found a comfortable life hopping between the same four planets, he made friends he could trust and eventually learned to trust his own mind again. It took him awhile but eventually he forgave his brothers for letting what happened to him happen

It might have taken years but Dogma did find peace

#everybody lives au #Fives imagine #Fives x Reader #Dogma headcanons #clone trooper Dogma #dogma x reader #dogma imagine

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warsamongthestars · 2 years

Text

Alright. Serious time. Big “We’re hitting Reality like Chicxulub hit the Earth” time.

I know I don’t do this, I purposely don’t normally do this.

Because Reality is cold, and Society and People are messy. Its complicated on an unfathomable level, and I’ll explain what I mean by that if I’m asked.

(Unfathomable being one of those fun words of “I have a personal context for this, but its probably not the your personal context, and its very confusing that we don’t all share the same context”)

And this is gonna get messy. I’m gonna say a lot of serious stuff, and I don’t know how delicate I can make things. At best, I will not foam at the mouth and swear at you. There is no “Do not tap the glass” signs here.

This is probably gonna make you feel things, if you desire to read. Powerful things. Where the only response might be to hunt me down like the insect I am, shake me and ask me “How fucking dare you”, before promptly pinning me to a board, so that you can show off me to your friends at parties. “Look at this strange and peculiar tumblr user, that they say such things, I tells you.”

But, self-depreciation and complete fear of tumblr’s unending wrath aside, to the point.

You know.

One of the most powerful things in The Bad Batch (the series), can be found by its most basic breakdown...

Four men are raising a little girl.

That’s Significant. You have any idea how significant that is? Most places question one man raising a little girl. Most places have very critical judgements against just one man raising a little girl, even if he was the biological father. Even if he was the best person that ever did parent, ever, of all time.

And it gets better, it gets starts getting powerful, as the details are added.

The fact that two of the men are disabled, either by being severely wounded (Echo, who without his mechanical legs, would have no legs, and who still does not have a right arm as of this writing) or possible brain damage (theorized by the fact that Wrecker took something explosive to the face / head / skull, and high percussive damage like that is bad for delicate brain tissue), and they’re some of the most loving and caring of the group. That’s powerful.

The fact that several of them are theorized to be neurodivergent (The main person I tend to see in fics and posts is Tech, but there are others), coming out of a media made by a real-world culture that stigmatizes several neurodivergencies. To a point that limits lawful and social function unless you fit a false role or persona, what someone else thinks you should fit, inspite of what it does to your health and livelyhood. These characters, theorized to be neurodivergent, and yet are living the best they can as what they feel is most comfortable? And succeeding? That’s powerful.

The fact that there is a distant uncle or possible parent, living or forced to live in a bad place with either neuropsychiatric illness (the chip as a brain tumor) and or mental illness (Crosshair’s forced enhancement of the chip, causing a number of effects that would severely affect the health of the brain, thus the conscious perception of one’s self and reality around them, effectively worse than shock therapy cos now it has voices and can actively control your actions).

But the rest of the family seeks connection and have a desire to help that parent / family member find their health and happiness? That’s powerful.

The fact that these men were consistently ostracized by their family (regular clones, both before and after Order 66), by their health providers / doctors (Kaminonians, and the less said about that for now, the better for this specific post), by their government (Again, the Kaminonians, and then the Republic, then the Empire), by their first job (As soldiers, being placed in constant suicide runs), from the job they had to take when everything failed them (being placed in constant debt, giving the bare minimum to survive, and getting more and more health threatening, mind threatening, life threatening work loads).

And yet, are still trucking, still trying the best they can, to raise a little girl. So that she will not be forced to live in the hell they had to survive all their life?

That’s powerful.

Because reality is cold, and people and society are messy, and its complicated on an unfathomable level.

But, that four men, four People, four characters, all with a punishing history and the scars to show it, and they are trying to raise a little girl to the best of their ability, in order to ensure her health and happiness and future. So that she can live the best life she can? As whoever she wanted to be?

I don’t know about you.

But I’d call that powerful.

#star wars #the bad batch #bad batch #serious #extremely serious #chicxulub was the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs #ive heard theories that it created the gulf of mexico #so expect high impact #but with a lot less dino killing #no dinosaurs were harmed in the making of this post

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lilhawkeye3 · 3 years

Text

Her Warrior

Rating: G+ ||| Word Count: 1.7k ||| Post Order 66 ||| AO3 Link

"Have you ever heard of Aayla Secura? ...she benefited the people of many worlds, and entered the folkloric cycles of several primitive cultures, where she often was merged with local historical figures or goddess-characters." (Legacy of the Force: Betrayal by Aaron Allston)

There's a bit of truth to every story. This one starts with CC-5052.

A/N: 😌✌🏽

CC-5052 didn’t give it much thought when he was assigned and shipped off to another outer core planet. Orders were orders, and he followed them.

Orders had said to execute Aayla, the General, the traitor Jedi, yet she had always treated them well. She had been a good leader, not like the others, not like what he heard of the Marines or of Umbara—

The headache came back. CC-5052 didn’t give it much thought.

———————

He knew there were others with headaches or fragmented memories. The first didn’t understand why order 66 had been followed. They were quickly sent off for medical checks to Kamino and reassigned.

Some had malfunctioning aggression inhibitors. They fought against the new nat born officers. They were sent on scouting missions or reassigned.

Some… some had headaches. Some of them complained of dread, or an ache behind their eyes. Some didn’t come back from the medbay. Some went to sleep in the barracks and didn’t wake up for their next shift.

A few turned their guns on themselves.

CC-5052 didn’t give that much thought either. It was safer not to.

———————

CC-5052 wondered if the change in environment for his deployment might reduce his headaches. Different planet, different atmospheric pressures, different stressors.

There are less soldiers that look like him on this mission. The number has been steadily dwindling. CC-5052 stays silent, so there won’t be a reason to decommission him.

The thoughts continue, but CC-5052 pushes them aside.

———————

The civilians of this planet don’t appreciate the Empire’s presence. This planet is just like every other CC-5052 has been deployed to in the past months. Another with rumors of a rebellious population, another that will not bow to the Empire’s might.

They’d ignored curfew warnings to huddle along the sides of the road that the stormtroopers now marched down. It was a show of force, and it seemed to be proving effective. CC-5052 took no joy in it– joy had no place – but he would ensure these citizens fell in line. He would not have the stain of failure on him or his squadron.

———————

The ignored curfews grow into assaults on isolated troopers. Rocks, trash, even food scraps. The people used anything they could get their hands on. CC-5052 didn’t see the point in increasing the amount of force on the majority of the perpetrators. Most of them were younglings. They weren’t innocent in the eyes of the Empire, but hurting them would only make the civilian population more volatile.

If ever asked for an opinion, CC-5052 would say a volatile population meant more room for error.

His superior officers would say that it meant for quicker use of force from their troops.

CC-5052 wasn’t asked, so he did as ordered.

———————

The first trooper murdered and left in an alley resulted in a riot, five dead civilians, and a dozen belligerents put into holding.

CC-5052 pulls a 36 hour shift and returns to the barracks with scuffed and dented armor, a damaged shoulder piece, and far fewer plasma rounds in his blaster than he had left with.

Two nights later, another trooper goes missing. This time, the investigation is led back to a group of street younglings who claimed to have been unfairly targeted by the newly recruited natborn and acted out of self-defense.

If CC-5052 was asked, he would believe the youngling’s account. One of them bore several fresh burn marks from a regulation blaster.

CC-5052 wasn’t asked.

When three of the younglings were arrested for treason and sentenced to death, the headaches returned.

———————

CC-5052 dreamed that night. He wasn’t certain when he’d last dreamt– or when he’d stopped.

It was dark, wherever he was. There was a body pressed against him, fingers in his hair while his thigh pressed up between strong legs. He could feel lips against his neck, breasts pressed against his chest, soft skin underneath his palms. They smelled of a sweet perfume– something from a flower on a planet he didn’t remember the name of– and when their lips met his again, they tasted of starlight.

His spine tingled with pleasure as warmth spread throughout him, and he bucked up against them, pushing them back against the wall so he could loom over them and tilt their chin up towards his face…

He found himself staring into sparkling hazel eyes. He knew those eyes. Those were hers, were–

———————

It was only years of training that kept CC-5052 from bolting upright as he suddenly awoke, skin flushed and heart racing faster than he could ever remember. He remained laid flat on his back for several more minutes, keeping still so he could force his vitals back to normal.

CC-5052 turns his face towards the wall and closes his eyes to try and get his migraine to subside.

———————

The migraine gets worse. CC-5052 alters his HUD to filter out brighter lights and dampen down on harsher sounds.

The days get longer, and the migraine gets worse.

———————

The riots continue to grow in size and fervor. Even the natborn officers know that reacting too strongly will cause a full-blown revolt. If that happens, the civilians won’t be the only ones being punished.

CC-5052’s head throbs in time with the chanting of the furious crowds below him in the city square.

———————

“Do you ever feel like what we’re doing here is wrong?” CT-2448 asks his bunkmate in the low of night.

CC-5052 remains silent despite the worsening pain behind his right eye. If he acknowledges the conversation, he’ll have to report them. Orders are orders are orders–

CC-5052 remains silent and listens.

“Does it matter?” Comes the weary response from CT-9357.

There are several heartbeats of quiet before the first trooper responds. “It used to.”

CC-5052 remains silent.

His migraine gets worse.

———————

The city glows a dusky orange the night it’s announced the younglings will be executed for treason against the Galactic Empire. The streets overflow with the fury of its people. CC-5052 and his fellow troopers are deployed.

The orders are to set blasters to kill.

CC-5052 fights through the increasing stabbing pain in his head and sets his to stun.

———————

He stumbles into a side street halfway through the night and tears his helmet off of his head, throwing it roughly to the ground. There are skirmishes echoing from deeper in the city, where he’d come from and been separated from his squad– his brothers, his mind supplies– are they even his brothers? So many have vanished, being replaced over the past few months.

Brothers. How had he forgotten that?

Orders are orders a good soldier follows orders–

He grips at his temple, staggering until his back hits a wall and he slides down to the soiled ground. The real battle is going on in his head, and everything else fades away in comparison.

Bly, a quiet voice whispers.

He whirls around, looking wildly for where it could’ve come from. There’s no one in sight, and yet he could’ve sworn the speaker was right next to him.

Just a bit further, Bly. A breeze caresses his cheek on an otherwise still night.

Who is Bly? He wants to shout his question, scream it to the sky. Why can he no longer tell up from down, right from wrong, orders are orders a good sold–

CC-5052 tries to rear his head one last time, but flowers and embers and starlight fill his nostrils without warning, and the constant agony behind his eye blows away like dust on the wind.

He’s not Bly– not yet, maybe not ever without Aa- without her– but he’s closer than he’s been in many, many months.

He’s not the Bly from before Felucia, but even the broken man he is now knows that this is wrong.

He won’t stand by and allow this to continue without doing anything.

———————

He left his helmet behind.

He would no longer act as the faceless will of a tyrant.

He let the cool air splash across the markings he chose to show the universe his love dedication belief in his general.

———————

Innocents in danger. A warm lekku brushes against his jaw as her soft but firm voice urges him onward. Go. Save them.

I believe in you.

———————

They’ll speak of this moment for generations afterwards: the man with the golden kiss of the Goddess on his cheeks, taking on an entire unit of stormtroopers ready to execute protesting younglings cornered in the town square.

They’ll speak of the Goddess who took the form of a blue twi’lek to guide him, hand pressed between his shoulder blades as if she were bestowing upon him a pair of wings.

They’ll speak of the scattered troopers that froze and murmured varying names: General, Aayla, Jedi, ghost– but particularly of the two troopers that tossed their helmets aside and gazed at her with reverence before springing into action, one shielding the children while the other took up second in command on the charge against the oppressors.

They’ll speak in hushed whispers of how when the fighting was over and the surviving troopers all removed their helmets to reveal the same face, that the Goddess had gifted Her Chosen warrior with the valor of an army but could not fit such power within only one body.

They’ll remember how Her Chosen checked over each and every child youngling before embracing each other and crying over brothers found again, while the one who alone bore her marks wandered off to the edge of the courtyard alone.

Only the most devout will learn of how the Goddess appeared to him in that moment, her glittering form bathing him in starlight in that darkened corner of the battlefield. The details of what passes between them is speculated but never known, for it was a sacred moment no one wished to blaspheme.

———————

“Aayla, I’m so sorry, I– please, tell me what to do, tell me how to fix this!”

Live. Her lips brushed against one golden tattoo. Love. She kissed the other marking.

“I can’t do that without you. We– we were going to do this together.”

I’m here. I’ll always be right beside you.

“Aayla…”

Go. Help your brothers. Protect and serve the innocent.

“Don’t leave. Don’t leave me.”

Never.

———————

...but they all tell of how Her Chosen fell to his knees before her, how she drew him into her arms before vanishing into stardust, gone in the blink of an eye.

#commander bly #aayla secura #blyla #bly x aayla #star wars #the clone wars #fanfiction #moodboard #post order 66 #hurt/comfort #goddess #clone trooper #327th star corps

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tiredbastard59 · 3 years

Text

Wait, I made an old post about how Anakin betrayed the clones as well by enabling Palpatine stripping them of any bodily autonomy and freedom.

But it somehow gets even worse when you realize that Anakin was probably aware that order 66 would occur across the galaxy putting the lives of any Jedi(or former Jedi) in danger. Like Obi Wan and Ahsoka. Anakin basically enabled Ahsoka and Obi Wan being attacked or potentially killed(which almost happened to both.) And he also forced Rex to try and kill Ahsoka and then had to kill his own brothers and that all ended with the entire 332nd company dead… ouch.

And not only that he betrayed Padme by utterly destroying the Republic which she loved in and wished to protect. And of course choking her in a fit of rage. So basically Anakin betrayed the four people that he cared the most about and all of whom trusted and believed in him. That alongside murdering children and Jedi and helping to establish an empire that would go on to commit numerous genocides and countless violations of peoples basic rights. And Padme still died.

And that really helps explain why Vader is the way he is. Just imagine knowing you killed kids and innocents, betrayed your closed friends and loved ones, got countless people killed or abused by the empire and for it be for nothing. I mean honestly how can one even think of themselves as not a monster after that?

I still think knowing what your doing is wrong but continuing because you don’t think you can be redeemed is just being a jackass, but damm that self loathing must have been strong.

#star wars #obi wan kenobi #ahsoka tano #anakin skywalker #padme amidala #darth vader #it’s past 11 I need to sleep.

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eurydicees · 3 years

Text

top 10 ouran manga-only arcs

this is going to be such a long post i apologize in advance. the ranking system has absolutely no criteria other than "does this pass my vibe check.” bonus points were awarded if i could think about tamakyo while reading it; points were also awarded every time tamaki did something cool. this was a delight to make. anyways, without further ado, here are my personal top ten favorites, and no i will not be taking criticism.

1. THE TAMAKI EXTRAVAGANZA

(vol 16 chp 73 - vol 18 chp 80)

PLOT:

So much happens here that I couldn’t think of an actual name, and uh does it count as a single arc? Probably not, but I’m counting it as one because it has a single thread: Tamaki. My beloved. So. First, Tamaki finally, finally, finally moves into Suoh mansion #1, but when he gets there, he gets told that he’s only allowed to study the Suoh business and go to school and nothing else— meaning he has to quit the host club. Shizue threatens to out Haruhi as a girl and ruin her reputation— possibly losing her the scholarship— if Tamaki doesn’t break off all ties with her.

The Host Club disbands. Kyoya begins an Investigation™ into Tamaki’s mother— she had been incredibly weak and unhealthy when Tamaki was a child, but when Kyoya met her, she was pretty healthy. After some sleuthing, the hosts minus Tamaki discover that she probably had Bisco Hatori’s fictional version of lupus, which was cured by a mysterious foundation— which they discover was run by the Grantaine family, funded by the Suoh corporation, and actually researched by the Ootori conglomerate. Literally everyone is in on it. It’s fucking wild. Like. Huge “holy fucking shit I need to stop and take a breath” moment.

This information is suddenly released to the public, and then the Suoh corporation all vote Shizue out of her position, saying that she’s no longer fit for the job. She locks herself in her room and refuses to speak to anyone, breaking Tamaki’s heart. But now that she’s no longer top dog, Anne-Sophie can come to Japan— Yuzuru is super hyped and expects Tamaki to be as well, not understanding that Tamaki’s family fantasy includes his grandmother. Tamaki stops going to school and plays piano every day in order to cheer up the house, eventually luring Shizue out to listen to him play their shared favorite songs from J-dramas.

They begin to bond and Shizue sees that he’s not a failure because of his parentage, but it’s too late because Anne-Sophie is about to fly back to France. All is hopeless.

EXCEPT THEN. All of the hosts and all of the clients realize what’s happening and rush to help him get to his mother. They all adore him so much, and give their all into getting Tamaki to the airport. Shizue finally encourages him to go, realizing— with the help of Haruhi— that she has been bitter and selfish and Tamaki deserves better. They rush to the airport, and through a series of shenanigans that are no match for the combined power of the hosts and every single girl at Ouran, Tamaki makes it to the airport. They make it there JUST in time, and Tamaki gets a five minute reunion with his mother. Haruhi finally confesses to Tamaki that she loves him.

WHY I LOVE IT:

oh my God oh my God oh my GOD. Like. This is just. So much. So Much. We all know that I’m like. The #1 Fan of Tamaki Suoh. Like. President, vice president, treasurer, and secretary of the fan club, all at once. I love him so much, and this just gives him so much development. There is so much opportunity for him to grow and you not only really see who he is as a character, but you also see how much he’s grown as a person from his first introduction. You also get more of a glimpse into the world of Rich People, and the way that all of their families interact with each other, and then also with the way that they interact within their families. It’s just such an intense arc and it’s so beautiful and I love it so much.

2. THE SPORTS COMPETITION

(vol 10 chp 46 - vol 11 chp 49)

PLOT:

This one is HARD to rank, because I love it, but it also Hurts. Like. I genuinely cried over this one, though that’s not actually saying much because I cry at everything. So. Here’s what’s up. Tamaki gets into this idea of a sports festival, and then Kuze wanders in to fight Kyoya again, so Tamaki suggests a competition between the two of them. This is a very Tamaki thing to do, but Kyoya gets fed up with it and refuses to participate— until Kuze accuses him of being “Suoh’s pet” and that he’ll always let Tamaki win, and then Kyoya gets fired the fuck up.

But he’s still bitter at Tamaki for starting this, so the two of them stop talking and my heart breaks. This does not stop Tamaki from having heart eyes for Kyoya 24/7. Hikaru and Kaoru are assigned to competing teams, and begin their Very Long Journey into not being so codependent— Hikaru is on the red team with Tamaki, Haruhi, and Kuze; Kaoru is on the white team with Kyoya and Honey.

Essentially, each team goes through rounds of races in different areas that are like. Complete bullshit games, but whatever. It’s Rich People World. The white team gets ahead; the red team performs a scene from a Shakespeare show to rally their losing team together and begins to win, until they’re on even footing. The final race is between Kyoya and Tamaki.

There’s a heartbreaking series of panels of Tamaki just… thinking about Kyoya. I cannot get enough of it. Then there’s an even more heartbreaking series of panels of Kyoya just… thinking about Tamaki. You realize, alongside the other hosts, that Tamaki pushed for this race not really for benefit or fun, but to give Kyoya a chance to compete in something for real, without having to set it up so that Tamaki wins (as we see in the race for the central salon). It’s a chance for him to win and not put his family first. Tamaki still tried his best, because Kyoya would hate him if he threw the race, but he lost because Kyoya fought with the intention of winning for HIMSELF, and not just playing support to Tamaki or impressing his father.

Finally, in the last panel, it’s revealed that the class trip will be to France.

WHY I LOVE IT:

God it burns so good. So Good. The Tamakyo, the Hikaru & Kaoru character growth, the Kyoya development, the Tamaki being so so so good, the Kyoya being so brilliant, everything oh my lord. This is really one of the biggest points of Kyoya’s character development, and it’s the first place I’m going to point to when thinking accurately about who he is as a person. It shows who he is, and who he believes he is, and who he wants to be, and who other people see him as. It’s also just a Tamakyo goldmine, even though they don’t ever actually talk. It’s so beautiful and it makes me cry.

3. THE ORIENTEERING RACE

(vol 14 chp 66 - vol 15 chp 68)

PLOT:

In an attempt to make Tamaki realize that the hosts all love him just as much as he loves them, the hosts sans Tamaki put together an orienteering race. There are six checkpoints, each one with a task to be completed in order to get an ingredient that will make the best meal at the end of the race.

Hikaru and Kaoru play the return of the “Which one is Hikaru?” game, knowing that Tamaki has been able to tell them apart for a while by now; Nekozawa’s checkpoint is a quiz on cursed items, knowing that Tamaki is familiar with Beelzenef; Honey’s checkpoint is a game of whack-a-mole with little mini Usa-chans, knowing that Tamaki isn’t afraid of making him upset over a game, though all the girls are; Mori’s is a sword slicing thing to show that Tamaki will never give up on something; Haruhi’s is a “tell the truth or never pass” kind of thing; and Kyoya’s is a crossword puzzle of all the answers made up of things from previous club themes.

Tamaki pairs up with Konoya— who is in love with him and is the “perfect Haruhi” trope— and realizes that she’s incredibly different from Haruhi, and that he loves Haruhi for who she is and not who he thought he wanted her to be. He also realizes that— because the hosts have gone through all of this for him— they do love him for who he is, no matter what, no matter the bad parts of his personality, and they’re never leaving him.

WHY I LOVE IT:

Look. We know that anything about Tamaki is gonna make me happy. I am a simple woman and so easy to please. This is literally just three chapters about how much all of the hosts love Tamaki and want him to be happy. I cannot express in words how rewarding it is to watch Tamaki realize how important he is and how much he’s loved— because he is loved, he’s so loved, he’s so so so loved. This is also the arc with the building block / building a home metaphor, and it destroyed me both physically and emotionally (vol 14 chp 66). This is where the found family is really solidified, and we all love a good dosage of found family.

4. RACE FOR THE CENTRAL SALON / THE SCHOOL FAIR

(vol 6 chp 22 - vol 6 chp 26)

PLOT:

This is where the anime diverges from the manga, and I have to say that this version of the school fair is just so much better than the anime version. Like. Just So Much Better. Basically, the club is setting up for the school fair, and the best spot to set up— essentially, the spot that will get the most foot traffic form the parents— is in the central salon. To figure out which club is going to get the spot, they all compete in a literal race, both mind games and physical games and it just slaps overall.

The b-plot is that the Host Club is getting threatening letters telling them to drop out of the race, alongside blank papers that are sent with the notes; the hosts have to figure out who is sending the notes and confront it. This is the arc that introduces both Kuze and Yuzuru Suoh for the first time. Kuze is captain of the football team and Kyoya’s rival and also definitely his secret ex-boyfriend. Chairman Suoh is… just. A lot. Just. That’s it. A Lot. He’s A Lot.

Anyways, part of the winning race is capturing this crown that’s hidden on campus, which turns out to be at a swimming pool. The football team gets there at the same time as Haruhi, and Kuze pushes her into the pool and goes for the crown. Kyoya and Tamaki reach her at the same time— Tamaki’s instinct is to go for Haruhi, but Kyoya tells him to get the crown and thus the glory of winning, while Kyoya rescues Haruhi.

Later, it turns out that Yuzuru was sending the blank papers with harmless messages written in invisible ink as a prank to emphasize the literal hate mail that the hosts were getting. The follow up to the race is the actual school fair, where we meet Yoshio and Shizue. Fuck Shizue, not even going to get into that right now because I WILL cry, but just know that it’s even worse than it is in the anime. Yoshio, though, is eons better in the manga than in the anime— he is genuinely proud of Kyoya and says that he actually wouldn’t mind appointing Kyoya as heir.

WHY I LOVE IT:

Volume 6 does SO MUCH for Kyoya and Tamaki and we all know that I’m ride or die for the two of them. Kyoya finally gets a chance to shine as team leader and it’s what he deserves! Tamaki takes a little more of a backseat, which I don’t even mind, because Kyoya does such a good job of pulling attention here. The scene at the swimming pool is just so good— it really shows the huge amount of trust between Tamaki and Kyoya, and does a good job of setting up the relationship they need to have as Rich People, outside of their friendship, which is something that we don’t see a lot of. Overall, it’s a very Kyoya-centric arc, and it does amazing things for the development of his character and personality. It’s one of the biggest insights into how he functions as a kind of mastermind for the club. We also finally get Tamaki’s full-ish backstory, which genuinely makes me cry every time.

5. THE HITACHIIN FAMILY

(vol 10 chp 45 / vol 11 chp 51 - vol 12 chp 53)

PLOT:

So this is technically two plot lines, but I’m going to count it as one because it’s all about the twins, my loves. In vol 10 chp 45, we get a little insight into the life of the Hitachiin family and why the twins are as fucked up as they are. Quick rundown— their parents can tell them apart but pretend not to for whatever godforsaken reason; Kaoru admits he’s in love with Haruhi for the first time and Hikaru remains oblivious; Kaoru begins to realize how unhealthy he and Hikaru’s relationship is and how, one day, they aren’t going to be able to have all of the same things; there’s a cookie metaphor; Tamaki gets lost in the Hitachiin manion; it’s all a good time.

In volumes 11 and 12, we begin the actual split between the twins, where they realize that they can’t stay the way that they are forever. They can’t be one person forever. They realize this in a fight over Haruhi, where Hikaru suggests they “share” her as a sister, and Kaoru rightfully thinks this is bullshit. They get in their first— and only— genuinely real argument. Hikaru breaks down in Mori’s house, Kaoru breaks down at Honey’s place, literally no one is happy and I am crying.

Kaoru asks Haruhi out on a date, and then ends the date by explaining that he could never date her knowing that it would be hurting Hikaru. Haruhi is, understandably, very confused by this whole thing, and no one is telling her anything.

Kaoru then makes up with Hikaru, saying that he’ll give up on trying to pursue Haruhi, but tells him that they actually do need to live separate lives at some point— and that point might as well be now. He wants to break apart entirely, but Hikaru explains that while they need to break apart in a lot of ways and find their own identities, they can never fully forget each other. They agree that they can influence and love each other without depending on each other for a personality.

They keep up the incest ACT at the club, though. Bisco Hatori couldn’t manage to write her way out of that one.

WHY I LOVE IT:

So this one just. Really hits home for me. It’s a genuinely heart wrenching arc, and the progression of the whole thing was just so slow and so steady and it was so well done. The twins are two of my favorite characters in the show/manga, and their relationship is something that I can analyze for days, and this arc is a huge part of why it’s so interesting. It does amazing things for both of them as developing characters, but it does even more amazing things for their character growth as people. It also provides a nice catalyst for the Hikaru/Tamaki/Haruhi love triangle. Anyways, it made me cry and apparently that’s my only criteria.

6. THE FRANCE ARC

(vol 10 chp 46 - vol 12 chp 56)

PLOT:

On the Ouran 2nd year school trip to France, Kyoya decides he’s going to spend the trip searching for Tamaki’s mother, rather than spending it with the other students. He works himself to death trying to find her— he ends up literally falling asleep on the ground because he’s so exhausted from searching and taking literally no breaks. Kyoya finds her eventually, and has a really nice conversation with her— she has a bunch of photos of Tamaki, and clearly is constantly thinking about him. When he gets back to Japan, he tells Tamaki about her— about how beautiful she is, about how she smiles, about how she thinks of her son every day.

We get more of Tamaki’s backstory, and his close relationship from his mother and how his mantra— living life in Japan to the fullest and being as happy as he can be every day— all comes from his mother. She told him that she’s happiest when he’s smiling, and so when he leaves her behind in France, he decides to be smiling every day and make everyone around him smile as well.

While Kyoya is in France, Tamaki stays behind in Japan— he gets closer to his father, who offers to begin to train him to take over the Suoh business. He visits Haruhi, and tells her a little bit about his life in France, and Haruhi’s love for Tamaki begins to make an appearance for the first time.

WHY I LOVE IT:

So I went into this list thinking that this would be my favorite plot, so it’s wild to me that it didn’t even make the top five. It’s kind of weird and I didn’t expect it, but I’m still satisfied with this list. Anyways, I really love this one, even if it’s not the top five. It’s like. The ultimate Tamakyo story, and there’s just. There’s just so much to unpack there. Like. We don’t have time for me to go through the whole thing and analyze every part of it because there’s just so much of it. It’s so good, and it makes my heart grow three sizes. It’s another brilliant development piece for Kyoya, and shows his softer side, as well as just how much he loves Tamaki.

7. MORI AND HONEY GRADUATE

(vol 15 chp 71 - vol 16 chp 72)

PLOT:

Honey and Mori announce that, after graduation, they’ll be splitting up and going to different universities. This proceeds to emotionally destroy literally everyone except for them. Mori is challenged to a series of duels at the Kendo club in which he has to fight every underclassman who wants the honor of fighting him before he graduates. He’s exhausted and worn down, and he loses to a second year, which is bad for like. Honor reasons. RIP. Anyways. He reveals that he’s just been really worried about something but before he can tell anyone, he has to duel Honey. It hurts.

They start preparing for the fight— which Kyoya is capitalizing off of via movie rights and betting rings— and scare everyone that they’re going to never speak again. When the fight comes, they fight on the Windswept Hill™ at Ouran (the same place that Chika and Honey fight on way back when). They go for it and pull no punches, until Honey tries to do a flying kick and Mori catches him and gently places him outside of the boundaries of the fighting ring, thus winning the duel.

Because he won, he pulls out a sheet of paper in which he’s written down all of the things that Honey needs to do in university because Mori isn’t going to be there to take care of him: brush his teeth, cut down the cake by 90%, and stop bringing Usa-chan to classes. Mori felt that he didn’t have the right to tell him these things until they were on equal level because he had won the duel.

They make up and everything is okay— they graduate, everyone cries, including me. Kasanoda gives Mori flowers, it’s all very cute. Haruhi makes cookies, and when Tamaki goes running down the hallway to find her, they bump into each other and drop all of the cookies. While they’re picking them up, they share the classic ~accidental kiss~.

WHY I LOVE IT:

This is one of the only Honey & Mori-centric plotlines that gets fully fleshed out and like. More than a chapter. It really does lovely things for their relationship, and it’s the end of an era. Even though it’s the end of an era, though, the resolution is incredibly satisfying— Honey and Mori’s stories are wrapping up, but it’s really well done. It’s sad, but it’s a really rewarding ending. They’re such sweet boys. Also, it’s not like they’re gone forever, so it’s all okay.

8. REIKO x HONEY

(vol 10 chp 41)

PLOT:

Reiko is part of the Black Magic Club, and falls in love with Honey when he gives her a hand in getting up after she trips over Usa-chan. However, she believes that falling in love with Honey is equivalent to him “stealing her soul,” and so she uses “curses” to steal his soul back. These curses are basically just love spells.

In the end, Honey tells her to just, like, be herself. Talk about her interests. Get to know him. Be honest. Then she won’t need love spells to make him like her. Even if she messes up or is awkward or says something weird, he’ll still like her because she’s being true to herself. This is one of the only Honey-centric chapters, and Reiko is one of my favorite side characters.

WHY I LOVE IT:

They’re the OG goth x pastel couple. The blueprint for all other couples. Icons. I love them so much. This makes it on the list just because I love their relationships. I also love the whole Moral Of The Story, in that it’s important to be true to yourself. It’s so sweet it hurts.

9. HARUHI AND TAMAKI’S FIRST DATE

(vol 18 chp 81 - vol 18 chp 82)

PLOT:

So. Right after the two of them confess their love to each other, everyone expects them to get together and be a couple right away, but Haruhi is just kinda chilling. She’s not super stressed about dating, it’s just a relief to have said it out loud. Meanwhile, Tamaki is kind of a mess, stressing out over their first date and trying to make it as perfect as he possibly can. Seeing him so stressed, all of the hosts band together to help him out in planning a date. When Tamaki finally gets up the nerve to ask her out, he falls in the fountain and Haruhi has to fish him out. She’s then the one to ask him out to the amusement park.

In true Tamaki fashion, he gets incredibly stressed out again. He gets fashion advice from a series of unfashionable people. The hosts sneak around the amusement park and follow them around, finding out that it’s actually going really well, as long as they’re not interfering. After the Lobelia girls show up and try to sabotage the date, Tamaki and Haruhi run away— while Kyoya Handles™ the situation— and they go to her mother’s grave. There, it’s revealed that Haruhi will be going on an exchange program to America.

WHY I LOVE IT:

It’s just. So cute. Like. I’m Tamakyo for life, but I do adore them so much. It’s lower on the list because of the sheer amount of second hand embarrassment, but overall, I loved reading this one. Tamaki is just so genuine and earnest about everything he does, and I think these chapters do a lot to show why the two of them work as a couple. It also does lovely characterization points for Haruhi, and begins to wrap up the ending. Bonus points for a jealous and heartbroken Kyoya.

10. PRINCESS MICHELLE

(vol 9 chp 38 - vol 9 chp 39)

PLOT:

Princess Michelle comes to Ouran to do a week of school in Japan. After meeting her, Tamaki essentially puts him and the Host Club at her beck and call, doing anything that he can to make her happy, no matter how insanely extravagant her demands are. Everyone else finds this infuriating, until Kyoya points out that Michelle looks similar to Tamaki’s mother, saying that the last time Tamaki saw his mother, she was crying— and if he sees Michelle smile for real, it might help him picture his mother smiling again.

Overall, it’s just a very soft arc that begins to unfold Tamaki’s family-related trauma. It also kickstarts Tamaki’s realization that he’s in love with Haruhi and doesn’t actually have paternal feelings for her (that’s the whole next chapter, but make it funny rather than introspective); and it’s one of the moments that Haruhi realizes that Tamaki is genuinely just a good person.

WHY I LOVE IT:

I wasn’t sure that this one would make the list at all, but I do really love this story. It’s pretty short, just two chapters, but it’s overall really sweet. I like Michelle as a character a lot— she seems a bit like a bitch at the beginning, but she gets fleshed out and given an actual personality as the chapter goes on. It’s a really good example of Bisco Hatori’s writing.

HONORARY MENTIONS:

Mei (character): probably the most significant character in the manga that doesn’t appear at all in the anime, which is pretty tragic, but I think that the anime really wanted to emphasize that Haruhi doesn’t really have any female friends / friends outside of the hosts. But anyways, she’s Misuzu’s daughter and Haruhi’s friend; she’s lowkey transphobic but she’s getting better! Had a brief crush on Tamaki but she ends with being the #1 Tamaharu stan. Great friend to Haruhi.

The masquerade ball: Haruhi's going away party, and the reveal that she's a girl.

Haruhi gets kidnapped: Haruhi is kidnapped and held for ransom, the hosts find her and break down doors to get there.

#ohshc #ouran manga #ouran koukou host club #ouran high school host club #ouran liveblog #ouran #ouran high school host club manga #please rb this i worked SO HARD on it #also please add your opinions #there are a few different lists that are valid. and many that are not.#i will vibe check your lists if you post them

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alderaani · 3 years

Text

fragments

written for @commandercodyweek day 4: post-order 66 with a flavour of purge trooper cody and a sprinkling of regret.

summary: All that trouble for this - a small body on a cold floor, and another name to cross off a dwindling list. CC-2224 is good at hunting Jedi, but he cannot figure out why it hurts | also on AO3

warnings: graphic-ish violence/injury, character death, the usual order 66 angst

The Jedi pleads with him as they die.

He doesn’t know why he stays to watch, why he always watches, his breathing steadying even as theirs sputters out. He should be confirming the kill, finishing off the job, searching them for intel he knows they don’t have. And yet, still, he watches.

Perhaps some part of him wonders if this one will be different...if this one will really look like a traitor, instead of just scared. It’s rare he gets a real fight, these days, the big names and their bounties long since cleared away. It’s only proper, that they should clear away the scraps, is only thorough. Orders are orders, but the pitiful truth of this one makes something bitter settle on his tongue.

This target’s a Rodian, the galaxy in her eyes going dark as he pries her hands away from the vibroblade in her chest. It’s instinct to stop her spilling blood everywhere, ostensibly to make cleaning his armour quicker later, but also because it’s...easier, somehow. When they’re messy, his throat always gets a little tight, his chest a little sore. His medical checks always come back clean, save for the joints that he cannot stop getting old, so he’s learnt to just work around the problem, even if he can never figure out why.

The duracrete is harsh against his knees, but it’s nearly over now. Her species cannot cry, but the Jedi’s snout quivers feebly at the shouts and blasterfire echoing from above. The rest of his squad will be done soon, and then there will just be loose ends to tie and the extraction to execute, routine at this point, practised. All that trouble for this - a small body on a cold floor, and another name to cross off a dwindling list. There will be no more to kill, soon, and then he will be reassigned to something else, until he falls for the Empire or his age overtakes him.

A soldier does not worry about their mission, but it does feel alien, and unpleasant, to picture a mission where his orders don’t involve a Jedi at their core.

“Please…” the one beside him gasps, the sound thick and wet. Different now from the desperation of before, when she’d begged him to stop, for a reason why. “Please, let me…”

Her eyes slide away from his helmet, her trembling hands reaching across the floor. He turns his head, knowing instinctively what she wants.

“Please…”

His hands feel leaden as he lifts the cylinder of metal by his knee, his fingers settling instinctively on the groove over the ignition switch. The sensation itches at the back of his mind, the weight of it so familiar, as though he has done this countless times before. His breath rasps through the vocoder, seizing in his lungs as a thought in a warm voice surfaces in his mind - it feels like a memory, though he doesn’t know where from. They come more and more often these days, a malfunction he cannot seem to stop.

This weapon is your life.

He slides the saber into the Jedi’s grasp, fitting her hands against the hilt and folding it against her chest. It’s wildly against regulation, against every battle instinct he has, but it settles something deeper within him when her trembling fingers strengthen, and her snout quivers. She doesn’t say anything else before the end, but when her chest stills, she’s smiling, her eyes no longer searching, gazing eternally at something he cannot see.

Protocol dictates he should remove the weapon, to harvest the parts and repurpose the kyber at its core. Lightsabers can breed rebellion even without a master there to wield them, he knows this, has seen it play out in many systems and on various worlds. But...instead, he finds himself being gentle, easing his blade free and rearranging the Jedi's spreadeadgled limbs, his hands slipping when he realises he’s reaching to straighten phantom robes.

There is no reason for it, apart from the little voice inside him that whispers that this is right.

He pushes to his feet and turns away from the body on the floor, not understanding why his face is wet, or why his chest hurts worse than it ever has before.

#just to inflict this upon everyone #i was picturing ganodi from the younglings arc in season 5 while i was writing this one #like i know that arc is supposed to be happy #but every time i watch it a lil bit of my brain is stressin about o66 #thanks for nothing anakin #commander cody #ganodi #order 66 #codyweek2021 #purge trooper cody #star wars #star wars fanfiction #alderwrites

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maaruin · 3 years

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The Institutional Problems of the Jedi Order

Preface

I think it is time to finally write this post. These ideas have been going through my head for some time after reading some Jedi discourse. But I should preface this with: even though the Jedi made mistakes, this does not mean Palpatine’s genocide of them was justified. It only means that he saw certain flaws in the Order that he could exploit. I suspect that without these flaws, he probably still would have managed to take over and persecute the Jedi, but much more of the Order would have survived.

For this post, I am mostly using the prequel movies with a bit of lore added from the old Expanded Universe. I’m not using The Clone Wars, because its depiction of Anakin’s fall to the dark side is different from the movies. And I’m not using the new Disney Canon, because I don’t know what has been retconned so far and what hasn’t.

Depending on how we count, I think there were either two or four major flaws. I’ll number them as four, but the first three could be grouped together.

1. The Jedi Order is a religion but isn’t organized like one

The Jedi are a religion. They are a group that believes certain things about the universe and practices a way of life that fits with these beliefs. But they are also entirely organized as “Jedi Knights” who are “guardians of peace and justice in the [old] republic”. This is… odd. The entire religion is basically made up of full-time professionals. Or rather, monastics.

If you want to study the Force and use it, you have to become a monk, basically. And more than that, to be accepted you need to already have a special talent in using the Force. Actually, you can’t even do that, they only take toddlers, so your parents have to decide if you should join this religion and become a monk. (Or maybe the Jedi Order just takes all Force sensitive children no matter what the parents think, it’s not entirely clear.)

A normal religion isn’t organized like that. Normally most members of a religion are normal people with normal jobs with varying levels of devotion. They participate in the practices of the religion in a way that fits into their daily life. Then there are religious professionals like priests who work to make it possible for the normal followers to practice this religion. And then, in some religions, there are monastics who dedicate their life to practicing the religion, generally apart from the normal believers. The Jedi only have the last group.

That alone would make them much easier to target and wipe out. But it is even more like that. The entire Jedi Order is integrated into the institutional framework of the Republic. All of the higher ranked Jedi (we will talk about the lower ranked later) basically work as special police and special diplomats for the Republic. “and” not “or”, all of them must fulfill both roles. And, when the Clone Wars start, they all become officers in the Republic military.

Now, in principle I don’t think religious institutions working closely with the state and fulfilling important roles for it is necessarily a problem. But if this is the only way this religion can be practiced, the practice of this religion will become poor in variety and closed off to most people who would be interested in participating.

2. Slavery in the Galaxy

There is slavery in the Galaxy Far Far Away. It is illegal in the Galactic Republic, but it is widely practiced in the planets of the Outer Rim, which might or might not be members of the Republic. The Jedi know that slavery is bad. What should they do?

Well, as much as a like the image of a hundred Jedi waltzing into the Hutt Cartel and killing/arresting them all, that probably wouldn’t be the best idea and cause much more chaos and harm than it solves, at least in the short run. But there are alternatives besides doing that and mostly ignoring it. For a start, here are two:

Establish underground railroads to smuggle slaves to freedom or assist on already established ones. Jedi mind-reading and precognition abilities will be very helpful in such endeavors.

Assist in organizing and fighting in slave revolts. One Jedi can turn the tide on the battlefield and if they are respected diplomats, the can help the slaves in finding supporters.

But this isn’t what the Jedi do because they are preoccupied with their role in the Republic. Qui-Gon says to Anakin that he didn’t come to Tatooine to free slaves. Which is true, he was sent to assist the government of Naboo against the Trade Federation, not the slaves on Tatooine against the Hutts. And why was he sent to Naboo and not Tatooine? Because Chancellor Valorum decided that resisting the Trade Federation was in the interest of the Republic, but freeing slaves wasn’t.

As mentioned in part 1 the number of members of the Jedi religion is smaller than it should be and integrated into the Republic in a way that leaves little room for it to act independently.

3. The Clone Army

Suddenly, an army for the Republic conveniently appears in time when the Republic is about to go to war after centuries of peace. This army is made up of, for all intents and purposes, slaves. Slaves that have been bred to be especially obedient. The Republic is expecting the Jedi to serve as officers in this army. What should the Jedi do?

Serve as officers, because the clones would suffer more without them?

Refuse to serve because that would mean supporting the introduction of slavery into the Republic?

Throw their political weight around and demand the clone troopers be freed and given Republic citizenship and in addition demand an end of the clone production in return for serving in the war?

Serve on both sides of the clone wars because the Republic obviously doesn’t have the moral high ground anymore and if their service in the Republic army leads to less suffering, their service in the Separatist army will do so as well?

There are probably more options. The Jedi decided to pick the one that reduced the suffering of the clones in the short term, but by doing that squandered the opportunity to take a stance against the creation of the clone army. And we don’t even see meaningful discussion within the order about this choice. This is, I suspect, because the Jedi are so used to their role as enforcers in the Galactic Republic that the alternatives weren’t really on the table.

(Palpatine’s plan was counting on the Jedi to behave this way when he planned Order 66.)

4. Dealing with emotions (the problem with Anakin)

While the Jedi Order may not demand it’s members to be emotionless, it does demand that they keep their emotions under very strict control. Nonetheless, almost all the Jedi we see do seem to be emotionally well adjusted. Obi-Wan, Yoda, Qui-Gon, Mace Windu, all of them seem to have little trouble with this demand.

Anakin, on the other hand, has a lot of trouble with it. He often has emotional outbursts through Episode II and III, then shortly afterwards walks back and apologizes. Curiously, this isn’t the case in Episode I. There he is actually quite good in dealing with his emotions. In other words, his time in the Jedi Order made his ability to handle his own emotions worse. Much worse, actually.

I think the reason for this is that whenever he feels something, other Jedi tell him that this is not right. It starts with Yoda in Episode I. “Afraid are you? […] Fear is the path to the dark side... fear leads to anger... anger leads to hate.. hate leads to suffering.” Criticisms like this no doubt continued all the way through his training until, by the time of Episode II, every time he feels an emotion he is angry at himself for feeling that emotion, which leads to more emotional instability, not less.

But why is this a problem Anakin has and not for the other Jedi we see. Maybe it is because he started his training later than is normal for a Jedi. But I suspect it is something slightly different: The Jedi who go through their training either find a way to handle their emotions in a way the order approves of, or they are sorted out. In the Expanded Universe there is a so called Jedi Service Corps where Jedi who fail their training go to work as farmers, explorers, educators or medical assistants. These jobs are, however, seen as lesser and going there is considered a failure. This is unfortunate, I think the Jedi could do much more good in the galaxy if the best of them were able to work in different fields instead of all being stuck with warrior-diplomat. Nonetheless, the Service Corps actually mitigates one of the flaws the Order has to some extend, if it works like I suspect. If the Jedi don’t have a way of dealing with emotions that works for everyone, the next best thing is to only pick the ones that can handle it and put the rest somewhere where they are useful and can’t do damage. Certainly not ideal, but an understandable adjustment.

But anyways, Anakin wasn’t sorted out. It is never confirmed in the movies, but I would suspect they made an exception for him. Yoda already made an exception for him when they decided to train him at all. And because he was the chosen one, I think they thought that his potential would be wasted if he only got to be in the Service Corps. If we ignore the Service Corps and only go off the movies, my criticism still stands: Yoda recognized that Anakin might not handle Jedi training well and he should have stuck to his guns and refuse Anakin to be trained within the Jedi Order.

Why are the Jedi like this?

Personally, I like to explain these flaws of the Jedi Order historically. Now, the EU doesn’t really fit with the theory I have. Because in games like KotOR and SWtOR the Order seems very similar to the Order in the Prequels. On the other hand, other sources say that this structure of the Jedi Order is a product of the Ruusan Reformation which happened after the end of the last Sith War a thousand years before Episode I.

To defeat the Sith at the end of that war, all Jedi were brought together as one army, no matter what they had done before. They didn’t really defeat the Sith (the Sith were deceived by Darth Bane to destroy themselves), but they thought they did. They thought they almost single-handedly saved the Republic from destruction.

Because of this, they rebuilt the Jedi Order in a way that was explicitly integrated into the institutions of the Republic. They built it in a way that made the fighting Jedi the core of the Order, other forms of being a Jedi were downgraded to the Service Corps. Because many Jedi had fallen to the dark side in that war, they taught a very strict form of emotional control and only trained force-sensitives from birth. And because they were so linked to their role as enforcers for the Republic, the neglected many other things Jedi should do, like helping slaves free themselves.

A better Jedi Order

No matter if this is how it happened, I do think the Jedi Order could be different (better). Here is how I would change it:

A Jedi Laity: Every living being is connected to the Force, so let them participate in practices that serve this connection like Jedi meditation. They may never be able to move things with their mind, but that’s not the point.

Jedi who serve the people should live among them: Jedi priests, Jedi healers, and yes, even Jedi knights should not form their own community but instead be in the same community as the Jedi laity.

Monasteries for the monks: Jedi who fully want to focus on their connection with the Force could still live in monastic communities.

Don’t completely integrate into the state: Working with the Galactic Republic could still be a thing, but the Republic should never depend on the Jedi and only a minority of Jedi should serve the Republic directly.

Help people everywhere: Because they are not completely bound to the Republic, many Jedi can decide how they will serve the people in the galaxy. Some might decide to help the slaves in the Outer Rim.

A Variety of Emotion: Not every Jedi will be as capable of controlling their emotions as the others. If there is a large variety of ways to be a Jedi, I suspect that most of them could still find their place to fit into the Order.

Allow adults to join: With adults it is much easier to determine if they would make a good Jedi and what way of being a Jedi would suit them. If there is a Jedi laity, they can be trained as children to some degree before they decide if they want to join.

Would this Jedi Order have fallen to Palpatine’s manipulation? I don’t know. But I think it would have been harder for him. If most Jedi didn’t serve in the Republic military and weren’t in a small number of Jedi temples, Order 66 would have claimed much less of the Order. (Probably 10%-20% instead of >90%.) Jedi would find it much more easy to hide in the population and the laity could help carry on the Jedi traditions in secret. Anakin might have been more emotionally well adjusted and not fall for Palpatine’s manipulations. (On the other hand, in a more open Jedi Order like this, there might be more people who could be turned, so who knows.)

Well, this is my contribution the Jedi discourse. The Jedi aren’t evil, and they certainly didn’t deserve genocide because of this. But as the Prequels depict them, they have certain tragic flaws in the way they are organized that Palpatine could exploit.

(Maybe I’ll make a shorter Part 2 about how Luke deals with this.)

#star wars #prequel trilogy #jedi #jedi order #order 66 #there is no emotion #jedi service corps #fictional slavery #jedi critical #galactic republic #anakin skywalker #palpatine

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