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writerbuddha · 6 months

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I watched a video on YouTube and it said Anakin and Padmé's relationship in The Clone Wars tv show showed signs of abuse. Do you think that was intentional at all by the writers?

I think that in Star Wars: The Clone Wars:

Anakin Skywalker does exhibit controlling behavior

Controlling behavior is when a person attempts to conform another person to their own needs or desires and trying to get their way by some form of manipulation. It's the outsized desire for control, and it's unhealthy, unhelpful, and may create relationship conflicts, but it's not always abusive. Controlling behavior becomes abusive when it is coercive (threatening). The Clovis Arc of Star Wars: The Clone Wars reveals that Anakin Skywalker exhibited non-coercive, thus, as far as the definition goes, non-abusive controlling behaviors, leading to relationship conflicts with Padmé Amidala. Let's examine them.

In Senate Spy, Anakin's fear of losing Padmé manifests itself in him trying to prevent her from fulfilling the Jedi Council's request to spy on Rush Clovis, "Because it's going to be dangerous. Whoever takes this mission will be putting their life at risk." Padmé, however, points out that she is perfectly capable of taking care of herself: "I've been in many tough situations before. It never seemed to bother you." Anakin ends up declaring: "I'm not gonna let you do it." But in the same time, it's very important to realize that Padmé immediately sets out and defends her boundaries, she repels Anakin's attempt to control her: "You're not going to let me? It's not your decision to make. It's mine."

In The Rise of Clovis, Padmé is asked by Palpatine to "work closely with Rush Clovis" to expose the corruption plaguing the Intergalactic Banking Clan. Anakin is unhappy about this, as he is not trusting him. Padmé tells him that he must trust her judgment on the matter. It should be noted that this time, Anakin's concerns are more founded, but his answer, "Like the last time, hmm? When you almost ended up dead?" is twisting the facts: first, Padmé knew that Clovis is a traitor and that she is risking her life by trying to expose him, second, even as it's true that she was poisoned during the mission, that was the result of Lot Dod tried to force Clovis to comply with his demands. Furthermore, adds, "Or how about you just getting arrested, and it was me who had to bail you out?" Which shows that in his mind, if Padmé chooses to do something risky, it's a poor and unintelligent choice. He ends up saying: "As your husband, I demand that you tell the Chancellor you are stepping down." Once again, he attempts to control Padmé, this time clearly showing that he views their marriage as a bond that supposedly gives him some control over his wife.

NOTICE: The Clovis Arc showed that there is a recurring unhealthy pattern in the relationship between Anakin & Padmé, showing that something must change. All the conflicts between them are arising from Anakin's fear of losing Padmé, which results in him attempting to control Padmé's decisions. In the same time, this behavior is not feeding into a pattern that extends to, and therefore defines every aspects of their relationship. It should also be acknowledged that Padmé is not allowing herself to be controlled and she successfully protects her boundaries and independency. Her reaction to Anakin's controlling behavior clearly tells us that he is not behaving in a way that she is used to, warning him, "we've been over this before." In other episodes, Anakin takes no issue with Padmé participating in the battle on Mon Cala, or with she sneaking to the capital world of the Separatists, thus, it seems that his outsized desire for control flares up from time to time, but it's not defining their dynamic.

Anakin Skywalker is jealous and is distrustful

Jealousy is a negative emotion and attitude focusing on our partner and a third person, in which we resent that person for appearing to take away or being likely to take away the affections of a loved one. Basically, we are scared that we will lose our special relationship to the third person, and as a result, we become intolerant to any rivalry or of possible unfaithfulness. It's not unnatural to experience jealousy in a close relationship, however, it's crucial to be able to manage it.

In Senate Spy, Anakin's attachment and the fear of loss flowing from it causes him to be distrustful and jealous toward Rush Clovis, as he realized that he and Padmé were involved romantically years before. Although in order to fulfill her mission to expose him as a spy, Padmé needs to seduce him, Anakin, disguised as a Naboo pilot, clearly tries to sabotage that. Later, he walks into the room in the moment when Padmé throws herself into Clovis' arms in order to distract him. He is flooded by jealousy, staring at her with anger and in pain. She signals him, revealing that she is actually hiding the data they need. When Padmé and Anakin are leaving with the evidence, Padmé tells him, "I'm sorry", since "I made you doubt me." Anakin answers he "never" doubted her, but this is not exactly true: there was a moment when his emotions clouded his judgment and let them to make him jump to the conclusion that he is losing Padmé to Clovis.

In An Old Friend and The Rise of Clovis, Clovis is back, and so does Anakin's jealousy and insecurities, and this time, they're manifesting themselves more clearly and more disturbingly. He claims, he doesn't want Padmé to work together with Clovis because he is worrying for her safety, but there is more to that: his fear of losing Padmé feeds into anger toward Clovis, who is, in his mind, a threat, both to Padmé and to their relationship, which feeds into burning hatred toward him. When they're together in Padmé's apartment, Clovis makes advances on her, but she firmly turns him down. He is frustrated, asking, "It's that Jedi isn't it?" Padmé insists "there is nothing romantic between" her and Anakin. Clovis says, "Then there is absolutely nothing to stop us from doing this", taking her and leaning in to kiss her, and Anakin enters in the exact moment she utters, "Clovis, no!" Anakin is mortified and snarls, "Get away from her!" Startled, Clovis backs away from Padmé. Anakin grabs him with the Force, he strangles him and slams him against the wall. Drawing his sword, he is marching towards him. Padmé is in shock, crying, "Anakin! No!" She is ignored by both Anakin and Clovis: Clovis invites Anakin to fight, "like a man without your Jedi tricks", something that Anakin gladly accepts. During their fight, Clovis sarcastically asks Padmé, "I thought you said he didn't have feelings for you?" to which Anakin reacts with staring at her, shocked and hurt. The two are beating each other up in a fist fight, and when Padmé screams at them to stop, Anakin yells at her, "you don't have a say in this!"

There are some who would insist, the scene shows Anakin gallantly saving Padmé from the man who is harassing her sexually - however, this interpretation is seriously problematic. The first thing to note is that Anakin attempts to explain his actions by saying, "I'm so sorry, Padmé. I don't know what came over me." and "It's just when I saw you about to kiss him..." Not "he was about to kiss you." Padmé tells him, "I regret that, but it was not what you thought. And you must know I don't care for Clovis." To which Anakin reacts with asking her: "Don't you?" Anakin's reaction - outrage, demanding Clovis to get away from Padmé then attacking him - was entirely the result of him perceiving the situation as Padmé kissing Clovis, and his reaction would've be the same if Padmé would've been a willing participant in the kiss with Clovis, because as he said, "you don't have a say in this." Which means, whether or not Padmé wants to be kissed by Clovis is irrelevant to him, what matters is that he doesn't want that to happen. Then, he accuses his wife with being unfaithful. This scares Padmé and it also hurts her, and she is explicitly telling him, "This marriage is not a marriage, Anakin, if there isn't any trust."

NOTICE: Anakin is not portrayed to display habitual behaviors of distrust. The core of his issues, harming his relationship with Padmé is his attachment to her and also his inability to be mindful of his emotions. Emotions are not bad at all, but when they awake as a response to our perception and understanding of a situation, they usually make us to stop thinking: we respond immediately, without any conscious thought, pushing us to act upon them and we're driven by them. To be mindful of one's emotions is to be conscious and aware of them. By bringing our emotions into the space of our conscious and passive, i.e. non-judgmental and non-reactive awareness, with calmness and inner peace, their power to kick us out of the driver's seat, to narrow our perspective and distort our perception of reality falls away: we can find the gap between the moments of our experience and the reaction, the response, where we can appraise the situation accurately, rationally. His distrust in Padmé lacks any rational basis - it's the result of him not being able to deal with his fear of loss, which drives him to act negatively.

It should be noted that Clovis' attempt to kiss Padmé has the potential to be read as sexual misconduct, thus, Padmé telling Anakin that she "regrets" what happened can also be read as her apologizing for Clovis grabbing her and then trying to kiss her, and this leads to the notion that Anakin blamed Padmé for being assaulted.

Now, it must be taken into consideration that Star Wars is not a "may I have your expressed verbal consent to kiss you?" type of romance, instead, it follows the "kiss borns out spontaneously from the situation" style, so Clovis (just like Han and Anakin in both trilogies) going for a kiss is not exactly out of place. The difference here is that Padmé clearly doesn't want to be kissed by him, but there is nuance to this. Clovis is leaning closer to her as she is telling him, "Clovis, no!" and she is drawing back to avoid him. As we cut to Anakin right after she says "no", and as she is finishing the sentence, they're both in the middle of movement - Clovis is leaning closer and Padmé is leaning backwards. Because we cut to Anakin, we don't see if Clovis was still going after the kiss after Padmé declared that she doesn't consent, or did he stop after that. When we cut back to them, Clovis is still holding her, but they don't appear to be closer to each other than before, so if he didn't move closer to her within the (roughly) 2,5 seconds during we were shown Anakin, it seems safe to conclude that he did stop. This is supported by the fact that neither Anakin or Padmé registered his behavior as assault and that Padmé makes no attempt to tell him that Clovis was actually forcing himself onto her, ignoring her protests. It's more plausible that what Padmé expresses "regret" over is that she didn't resist physically, only verbally.

In Conclusion

In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, it's very clear that Anakin and Padmé were written in a way that it showed Anakin's attachment and his struggle to keep the anger, hate and aggression coming from that fearful grasp on Padmé, under check. This is undoubtedly intentional - George Lucas initially planned to hint their issues, mainly Anakin's jealousy, in Episode III, which was cut from the final script but was clearly introduced in Clone Wars:

However, based on my own limited knowledge, this is not enough to call their relationship abusive. An abusive relationship will involve one party using their power over the other party to prevent them from doing anything except what the abusive person wants - one party controlling the other’s thoughts, feelings, or actions. Some conflict is normal in any relationship, healthy relationships involve two people who are both free to disagree, debate, and have their own opinions. Anakin clearly tries to control Padmé, which leads to conflicts, but Padmé is not allowing him to do that. Anakin is clearly unhappy with this, but he actually backs down once he meets resistance. There is a power struggle, which is never healthy, but no power imbalance.

There were unhealthy patterns there that needed to be healed, but unhealthy patterns and patterns of abuse are not the automatically the same. If you experience unhappiness in your relationship because of the behavior of your partner, something must change and if it cannot be changed, then the relationship must end. No one has a license to make you feel unhappy.

But although an abusive relationship is always unhealthy, an unhealthy relationship is not always abusive. There is just no attempt on Anakin's part to monitor her communication, to isolate her or to try to control her financially, to coerce her and there are expressions of anger and frustration, but I can't recall one that could be called an attempt to manipulate her emotionally and obviously, there is no physical violence (in Episode III on Mustafar there is, but that's a totally different context). So, I would say that what we can see on the screen can be called "signs of abuse" only if we assume that we're outsiders observing a relationship, because we can easily suspect that the behaviors we see are feeding into a larger pattern. But a fictional couple doesn't have a life "behind closed doors", we have all relevant information about their relationship.

#anidala #anakin skywalker #padmé amidala #clone wars #star wars #tw sex assault

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charlestobiasiii · 21 days

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Background/setting

So tomorrow imma make a post as to the storyline for the story, but I'm impatient, so today I'm going to write a small bit, a few bullet points, giving the context of the story. Hopefully if you see it it might help see if you're interested in it? Or just a bit of an interesting read if not 😊

(please leave notes if I miss anything or anything you'd like to know, Ive never done this before, I won't hit every base)

Okay, let's go ->

- So first off, it's a star wars fanfiction I'm talking about. Set in the EU/Legends continuity, basically no aspects from canon, my hope is to make it as compatible with legends literature as possible.

-The story is from the perspective of the New Republic.

- Its set in the immediate post-Endor galaxy (also after the Bakura incident and the Nagai-Tof War. Admiral Gial Ackbar took the decision to split the fledgling new republic fleet into 4 separate fleets/battle groups, located in different areas of the outer and mid rim.

• 1st fleet, based on Saijo and located in the Western Reaches. Commanded by Admiral Firmus Nantz.

• 2nd fleet, based on Mon Cala and tasked with protecting Mon Calamari space. Commanded by Admiral Hiram Drayson.

• 3rd fleet, based on Bothuwei (later Kashyyk), tasked with taking ground in the north inner rim and expansion region. Commanded by Admiral Ackbar himself.

• Finally, 4th fleet, also based on Bothuwei, tasked with advancing up the Correlian Run, while also acting as a reserve for 1st and 3rd fleets. Commanded by Admiral Voon Massa.

Now the fanfiction will actually only concern first fleet, under Formula Nantz. He is basically the only established character that'll be present in any major capacity.

The main body of the story however relates to an O/C of mine called *Leilani Golbaren*. Now as I said, I'm making a full post on her and maybe some others tomorrow, but for now I will say that when we first meet her? She might not be the nicest of people. Recently promoted, it'll take a while for her to realise how high of a horse she's sat herself on, and come to learn what true leadership and comradery consists of.

Now, like I said, this is very, very basic. Any questions, if you're intrigued about anything, please do feel free to leave me a note or even an anonymous question if you'd like, I'm determined to answer any and all I receive, even if it's with a simple heart. For now, may the force be with you 🫡

#star wars books #star wars eu #star wars expanded universe #star wars fanfiction #star wars legends #new republic #star wars fandom #star wars fic #star wars lore #star wars oc #star wars original character #star wars comics #star wars

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inquisitorius-sin-bin · 7 months

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for the ask game :) 22, 41, 51, 86

Thank you for asking, let's see.

22. describe your writing process from scratch to finish.

Generally I get a prompt or what-if scenerio, stew for a couple of weeks on how to make it happen, figure out which key, delicious scenes will link the thing together, and then write it.

While doing dedicated writing I try to do 1000 words at a time. I ask my darling spouse to beta-read what I've done and tell me what he thinks, final proof read, then publish. No looking back.

Research happens in the act of writing. Detail seeding for longer works is dependent upon the later key scenes. In that way, I'm always working start to finish, in order. No skipping ahead to write the juicy bits first.

41. what is the weirdest story idea you’ve ever had.

A jedi finds a holocron that is actually an elaborate sith trap summoning undead Inquisitors a la Hellraiser puzzle box. This is a Hellraiser parody. The Inquisitors are cenobites. I don't think I ever got much farther than that. It would be a fun Halloween one-shot, much like my Evil Dead parody idea.

51. share the synopsis of a story you work on that you haven’t published yet

I know I've teased a bit of PT-118's story, but the particular short I'm working on now is in regards to this moment:

One lone Purge Trooper survives the battle on Mon Cala, and finds himself stranded after the Ninth Sister, Sixth Brother, and Darth Vader have left the planet. His memory of the events proceeding his long journey back to Fortress Inquisitorius is hazy, but his loyalty to the Inquisitors drives him home against all odds.

He knows one thing for certain- he has killed a Jedi named Prosset Dibs, and he intends to be rewarded for it.

86. which season best matches the mood of your wip(s)?

The fall, because well... I love to set characters up and watch them fail. Struggle and fall, darlings. Make meaningful mistakes, come completely undone. The dark side is sexy like that.

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corellianhounds · 4 months

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Bar Talk

Media: Star Wars (Original Trilogy)

Rating: Gen

Word Count: 2,742

Warnings: None

Art Credit: Johannes Holm on ArtStation

Summary: Set sometime after the Battle of Endor, Luke and Lando talk shop and discuss the difficulties it takes to rebuild after the war.

Base XIV had few amenities but the makeshift cantina was a popular one. It was just out of the way enough to have the illusion of a hole-in-the-wall dive, and it provided several much-needed distractions after days spent training, conducting briefings and debriefings, managing inventory, and performing routine maintenance. The uprisings against Imperial outposts and institutions across the galaxy demanded the remaining rebels’ support and there was little time to celebrate before yet another sector needed their help.

Too often many of the leaders forgot the second half of the sentiment “Work hard, play hard,” though, so the cantina had to work a foot in the door before it became a semi-permanent fixture by virtue of the fact volunteers kept it up and running in what valuable free time they had to spare. By the time the fussier lieutenants’ complaints made it up the chain of command, the infantry folks had reallocated improvised construction materials for the outer shell, and by the time it got to the commander’s desk, Leia was seen leaving with Wes Janson and Lieutenant Verlaine, so deconstruction was deemed a moot point and the lieutenants’ complaints were dismissed.

Lando had made time to meet up with Luke on a rare night off to catch up and chew the fat. Consuls had no end of paperwork and planning to attend to between missions, but they’d each somehow found themselves in a lull where most projects were waiting on the decisions of others, so the cantina now hosted the two war generals in a corner of the bar, overlooked in the hustle and bustle of a busy night and granted the rare-found indulgence of anonymity.

Lando was having a Takadian Sunrise, a flavorful and aromatic cocktail made with tihaar. The salt-and-pepper captain from Mon Cala, Toren Qavis, brewed the tihaar himself as a hobby on the side, and since it appeared his background in chemistry translated well to distillation, he occasionally supplied Jhon the bartender with it. Due to the limited nature of housing and storage space, Lando had had to ignore his more naturally inquisitive nature regarding how Qavis was able to create such a steady flow of tihaar. There were rumored suspicions cast on the ugly little C2-R4 droid that trundled about doing odd jobs near Qavis’s rooms: the man was a notorious pack rat and the droid— advertised by its Skor II creators as having limitless functions— was always picking up organic and inorganic material equally. The less Lando thought about the C2-R4, the better he was able to enjoy the home-brewed spirits. Ignorance was indeed bliss.

Captain Qavis’s tihaar never tasted exactly the same. Each batch was brewed in small quantities which meant those who enjoyed quality control had to gamble on whether they’d be getting a flavor profile they liked, and those more adventurous were never for want of a new experience. The monotony and tedium of what it took to build bureaucratic infrastructure could wear people down just as quickly as the constant fighting did, so Lando didn’t mind a bit of mundane unpredictability amongst his new delegations, and he enjoyed visiting with his friend over a hand of pazaak and good humor. Those days were coming fewer and farther in between, though.

Luke was barely into his twenties but the enormity of his responsibilities and the expectations placed on him were starting to show on his youthful face. As he sat next to Lando at the bar, Lando could see the far away contemplative thoughts sitting behind his eyes— Luke had been carving a divot into the wooden bar top with his thumbnail as he and Lando breezed through the daily trough patter they both knew by rote.

Baron Calrissian was more accustomed to bureaucracy than the farm boy was. Despite his efforts spent scouring databases and archives for information and history on the Jedi, Luke’s time was demanded of in a number of areas as they established the New Republic, and the divided focus was frustrating him. Point the boy in one direction and give him a clear objective and he’d accomplish it with aplomb. Split his focus and tell him to figure out how to manage both his time and his people in a number of unfamiliar settings and you get a fledgling Jedi and consul member forgetting important meetings and snapping at dignitaries they needed support of. He and Han were similar in those respects, and between their own harried schedules Lando and Leia had had to make time to smooth over diplomatic relations Luke had inadvertently ruffled the feathers of.

When it came down to it, Luke was a hands-on guy more accustomed to solving physical problems than he was performing administration. Gifted pilot? Yes. Ingenious mechanic? Yes. Unparalleled martial artist and strategist? Of course.

Diplomat? Not so much.

“Plan on digging a trench all the way across?” Lando asked. “A router would take you less time.”

Luke shook his head, resting his knuckles on the bar top. He was three black ales in and didn’t seem fazed by them at all. Lando wondered if there was much else to do on a backwoods planet like the one Luke had come from besides shoot vermin, drift speeders, and knock back ‘shine with the old-timers when you weren’t doing manual labor. Lando had met several hicks whose hold on liquor rivaled Coruscanti ironworkers— Union men were a sturdy breed, and still they’d stagger from going shot-for-shot against a scrawny hayseed with a competitive streak. Luke wasn’t a big man and still he’d shown no signs of flagging under the stout black ale that must have made up a quantifiable percentage of his body weight by now.

“Sorry, Lando, my focus is shot today. Meditation only gets me so far on the weeks we’re moving bases.”

“I don’t blame you. I’m surprised it's in your schedule at all; haven’t you been taking ten-twelves?”

“Something like that,” Luke said wryly. “I get it in during airtime.”

“Seems to me like that’s still work.”

“Eh, flying’s methodical,” Luke shrugged. “That’s the work I like.”

“What’s the old man have to say about your multitasking?”

“Haven’t asked him.”

The two of them chuckled. Lando slid the untouched tray of Zuǒ chicken over next to Luke’s forearm.

“Those bags under your eyes may match your wardrobe, but they aren’t a good look on you,” Lando observed. “Tell Leia you need to take a retreat, go to Dagobah for a bit and get your head straight. You’ll feel better after.”

Luke shook his head. “No need. I’ve got some downtime during the refinery recon and the meetings later this week.”

“Recon isn’t downtime. What’s eating at you, kid?”

Luke studied the wood some more while the fried food settled to room temp beside him. The general din of the cantina stayed at a low hum, sentients squeezing past each other but somehow still skirting the alcove they’d commandeered.

“… You ever been expected to give a speech on something you’re told you’re supposed to be an expert in but you’ve only heard of by word-of-mouth? Like somebody’s asked you to play a song nobody knows or has recordings of?

Lando frowned. “Is this about the Jedi business?”

Luke continued like Lando hadn’t spoken. “I can’t find any original codices for the Order. The representatives from other systems in the charter keep asking questions I can’t explain. “Why does the Force protect some people but not others? If the Force connects every living thing, how can so much evil go undetected for so long? The Empire wouldn’t have had the reach it did if the emperor had been stopped long before he took over. Are the Jedi really meant to live cut off from everyone else, or is that why they failed on Coruscant in the first place?”

“… Heavy stuff.”

“You’re telling me,” Luke said. “I’m just one guy and I’m expected to have all the answers.”

“Kenobi not been much help?” Lando asked curiously.

Luke shrugged and dragged a hand down his face with a sigh. “He’s irritated with me for arguing the logistics every time we talk. I think there’s a point to people’s questions but he’s still teaching from the old rule book.” Here he turned to Lando. “I know he’s only teaching me what he knows, but if the Jedi believed in accepting change, why can’t he see that the way we study and live by the Force now has to change? How can you reconcile a life of non-attachment with the very thing that binds us together?”

“A rope and a net will both keep you from falling but one’s going to do it better than the other.”

Luke couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. “See? You get it. Maybe you should be the Jedi.”

“Pass.”

“Smart choice.”

Lando tapped his fingers on the bar in thought. As far as he was aware the rebuilding of the physical Order wasn’t expected to be underway so soon anyway. Luke was one of the most wanted men across the galaxies; they were all keeping low profiles for a reason. The sheer enormity and reach of the Empire’s stranglehold meant there were still millions of Imperials and Imperial sympathizers stationed across every sector. There was no shortage of people who wanted him dead. If he revealed too much or didn’t remain off the grid, diligently toiling away at finding resources and forming covert connections, he could put so much they had worked for— to say nothing of millions of lives depending on them— in jeopardy. To not even have council members believe the Jedi were necessary or worthy of rebuilding in the first place meant Luke was fighting against the tide every time he didn’t gain a delegate’s trust, let alone support.

But to hear Luke struggle with how he viewed the original tenets of the code reminded Lando of just how new all this was to him, too.

“What is it Kenobi and Yoda do all day if they’re not giving you immediate resources?”

Luke drained the rest of his glass and tapped the bar twice for Jhon to refill it. “I won’t say they haven’t been helpful, but they ask more questions than they answer mine.”

“To what end?”

Luke put his hands up in a gesture of “Your guess is as good as mine,” baffled and frustrated. “To stretch my critical thinking skills, I guess— But I don’t have time for that. I need actionable directions. Contemplation and self-reflection are selfish right now when what people need is immediate help. How can I find others if they won’t give me the tools?”

Lando mulled it over. He could see where Luke was coming from and sensed he had a point. Han had told him a fortnight back that he’d found Luke working out his frustrations in bay 4-9 stripping down an X-wing from canopy to keel, muttering something about philosophy and accountability. By the time he emerged he was sweaty and covered in grease, but no closer to whatever conclusion he’d been using the ship’s maintenance as a stand-in for because his stormy expression remained in place and he immediately started in on another ship.

Grains of sand could beget pearls over time, but if you flooded a shell with sand without jetting out the buildup all you’d get was a dead mollusk.

So Lando changed the subject.

“How do vaporators work?”

Luke snorted and gave him a sidelong look that implied Lando was asking a stupid question (which, in all fairness, was part of the point). He held up his glass, water running in rivulets down the sides.

“Same way this does,” he said. “Why? Plan to invest in stocks before the dry season?”

“Naw, nothing like that.” Lando didn’t take offense to Luke’s sarcasm. “I was born on Socorro but my family lived so far removed from farm life I didn’t know how most essentials got from farm to table. I didn’t stay there long enough to learn anyway. Didn’t interest me.”

“And now suddenly it does?”

“The base camp up in the mountains put in a request for on-site equipment to help sustain them so they don’t have to rely solely on supply lines,” Lando explained. It was a true enough statement, though Luke needn’t know that the issue hadn’t necessarily crossed Lando’s desk. “There’s budget and time constraints they don’t have time to quibble over, and the railways are in poor condition because of the rockslides.”

Luke’s barstool swiveled a little more loosely to his left as he tapped his gloved, mechanical hand on the bar. “Vaporator cores run refrigerant through the main shafts to keep them chilled; they collect condensation and funnel it down to a tank beneath the ground,” he said, picking up a bit of chicken and chewing around his words. “Tatooine gets up to forty-two degrees on average and the mists rise at suns-up— Most of the water is collected in that window of time, and the rest of the day your work is spent on repairs and withdrawal rotations. The base camp is already up on the leeward side of the mountains though— Fog nets would be more efficient and easier to maintain. Higher elevation, less even terrain, and the fog’s already there. It would cost more money and effort to bore out the rock to install vaporators than they’d be worth in the long run.”

Lando stroked his chin thoughtfully. “What would the number of man-hours for maintenance be, assuming they have the space to dedicate to them?”

“For the whole compound? Maybe thirty hours across a standard week. The nets take up less space and there’s nothing mechanical or electrical to maintain. You could get the bigger cisterns and spend half the time across two shifts doing all the work at once, but the more often they’re maintained the less likely they are to build up mold. It’s not worth putting it off if it means running the risk of the whole supply making everybody sick.”

“What about groundwater?”

“Larger cost upfront to install the equipment, more work to purify it,” Luke said, shaking his head. Lando waved the barkeep down for another basket of Zuǒ as he talked, making a point to take some himself so Luke could continue uninterrupted. He had a bit more color to his skin than before, and the haze of stress and alcohol was a little clearer with a problem in front of him he had enough experience to solve in his sleep.

“Everyone can be cross-trained on nets, that way you can sub people in when needed. A specialized crew may sound more appealing but if they’re all waylaid or too many people are taken out you won’t have anyone to harvest a supply at all. You’ll need a foreman to track down screw-ups if you rotate schedules, though. Or you can give that job to a droid.”

“Any downsides to having droids do all of it?” Lando asked.

“… Droids just can’t get the taste right,” Luke said. “They’re good at filtering and testing for problems, and the water would technically be fine, but at the end of the day you need someone who’s going to care about more than just utility.”

The conversation reached a natural lull, and Lando didn’t feel the need to add anything else. He had what he needed.

Luke scrubbed at his face, sitting back in the stool and contemplating the condensation building up on the glass. “Seems all I’m good for some days is everything except restoring a creed. At least there’ll always be farming.”

Lando thought back to Qavis and the C2-R4, the cantina bartender and the makeshift pub carved into a quarry. He stood from his chair and dropped some credits on the bar before he put a hand on Luke’s shoulder and hoped it conveyed the reassurance he didn’t know how else to give.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Luke. There’s a lot you’ve got to contend with on your own, but you’ve got us to help with everything else.”

“… Ben thinks I can rebuild an entire order single-handedly,” Luke muttered sardonically. “But it feels like all I’ve gotten from him are criticisms and pushback.”

Lando shrugged. “If Kenobi didn’t want you in charge, he shouldn’t have left.”

Luke finally cracked a grin, the first Lando had seen in a long time.

“Besides,” Lando reasoned, “Seems to me like you’re already used to making something out of nothing.”

—

Notes:

Tihaar is a strong, clear spirit distilled from fruit. The inspiration for this specific home brew is taken from San Miguel beer in the Philippines circa 1980. Brewed in small batches, no two beers ever tasted the same. An older friend of mine said that during his stint overseas he was never happier than when he had a San Miguel beer in one hand and roasted monkey on a stick in the other.

Here is a link to a post I made about the C2-RV droids.

What Lando says to Luke about Kenobi is something my dad once said at a funeral. He was talking to his aunt (my great-aunt) at the last of her brother’s funerals, and she said in her normal matter-of-fact tone “Welp, I’m the last one. Guess I can raise all sorts of hell now.” To which my dad said “Well if they didn’t want you in charge, they shouldn’t have left!”

#Luke Skywalker #Lando Calrissian #Original trilogy #Star Wars #my writing #AO3 link in reblog #fanfic #Star wars fanfiction #original characters

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stopthatmyhandsaredirty · 1 year

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#the clone wars #star wars #swtcw #star wars the clone wars #ahsoka tano #i got polls #polls #cad bane #darth maul #clone wars #asajj ventress

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fiatluxillustration-portfolio · 11 months

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“Alderaan was a debris field now, along with Mon Cala and Chandrila—all destroyed by the battle station that had burned out the infections of Separatism and rebellion, leaving the galaxy at peace. Or at least free of conflict. That was the same thing, or near enough.”

-The Last Jedi

#del rey #del rey star wars #star wars #star wars quotes #star wars books #star wars book quotes #book quotes #bookblr #starwarsblr #padme amidala #queen amidala #padme amidala quotes #padme amidala books #queens shadow #queens hope #queens peril #naboo #handmaidens

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swan2swan · 2 years

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Star Wars fans don’t talk enough about just how much the Death Star’s destruction kriffed the Empire’s entire war effort.

The Imperial military and naval high command knew this weapon was being built. They knew what it meant, and they knew the timetable.

For years, the Imperial battle strategies for finalizing Separatist system conquest and subduing unruly sectors would have had one natural solution:

Don’t waste your resources hitting the major bases.

Chandrila, Mon Cala, and other systems probably went mostly-untouched for years before the Battle of Yavin. The Empire looked at planets nearby and sent their special forces to push propaganda, assassinate leaders, and stifle resistance cells on lesser worlds like Lothal (which was also, notably, ignored for the years leading up to Yavin).

After all, why bother coming up with schemes and resources to bring down the deflector shields of Chandrila when you’re going to have a superweapon that will ignore them? Just siege the system, harass it...you don’t want to attempt a full invasion because that’s going to waste ships and troops (picture the ion cannon on Hoth but, like, one in every major city on Earth and a hundred more in other places). Obviously having Chandrila exist as a rallying point is a terrible strategic move--every day you’re not invading is another blockade runner slipping through with resources and refugees, every day you’re not invading is another foxhole dug to resist you, another bomb planted on a key facility. And are you going to Base-Delta-Zero Chandrila? The planet with seven billion Republic citizens, billions of whom are still willing to follow the Empire once the traitors in power are gone? Families, relatives...you could risk igniting revolutions on Coruscant!

So, instead, the military focused on satellite worlds. Driving out rebels from the more midline population centers, winning them over to the Empire...and, like tiny pieces of dust being drawn to a source of static, the rebels who fled every system the Empire conquered gathered on these entrenched systems. The shipyards of Mon Cala were filled with workers, the schools of Chandrila were flooded with new diplomats, the hangars of Yavin were lined with excited new pilots. It was too easy for the rebels, really: every week the Empire delayed its invasion of these major systems was another month it would cost them when the invasion finally began.

Or so the Rebels thought.

Because the Emprie was laughing into its hand the whole time: as Imperial loyalists deserted the planets and pushed them further into Rebel hands, they only made sure that the collateral damage would be minimized when the Death Star’s light touched the planet’s surface. The central hubs of entire sectors of resistance, planets that were supplying troops to hundreds of neighboring systems, would be gone in less than a month of fighting. The Rebel supply lines would be cease to exist, their morale would shatter like the crusts of their fortress worlds, the basis for the past decade of resistance would be eliminated. No individual planet would dare to compose a resistance force to drive the Empire offworld, because if the Empire was gone, then the Death Star would appear in the sky. There would be no hope, no chance.

The only risk was that if the Death Star somehow didn’t factor into this and a lot of planets got upset, the central hubs would be almost impossible to conquer via conventional means and fuly prepared to assist all the freshly rebelling worlds. Fortunately, the odds of that are...oh dear.

#star wars #the death star #a new hope #''let them have their castles''

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clonewarsarchives · 2 years

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BEHIND AND BEYOND THE BATTLE LINES (#134, JUL 2012)

Supervising director Dave Filoni looks back on Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season Four—and looks forward to what’s in store for Season Five! Interview by Pablo Hidalgo

Star Wars Insider: What does Season Four represent technically and artistically for you? What can you do now that you couldn’t do in Season Three?

Dave Filoni: Everything. There’s really nothing we can’t do at this point. Creatively, we don’t have a situation where we over say, “Let’s not go to that type of planet. Let’s not do that type of scenario. Let’s not have thousands of people in a crowd.” We don’t avoid things. You still have to be creative and figure out how to do it. We make creative choices as to how we’re going to express visually the story that’s being told. There are creative choices that have to be made around the assets. I can’t use this, so let’s re-use this; let’s re-purpose this. But in any movie franchise, that’s what you have to do.

You saw it more in the ‘70s and ‘80s when they would re-use more things. Now it seems as if every feature film is about customization, so every culture has its own weapons and its own knives and spoons, and each knife and spoon has a whole story to it.

Season Four started with a pretty complicated environment in Mon Cala. Did that represent a benchmark at the time?

The complication of Mon Cala was how much there was to build in one episode. We had to build an entire civilization. That was a strain on the production, because we had none of it. We didn’t have any of the buildings, we didn’t have any of the coral elements. It all had to be created from scratch. When you’re doing that, you have the same amount of time to create an episode whether you’re creating a whole civilization or just the Jedi Temple. So that was very taxing.

The most complex environment still to date would be Wasskah, where Chewbacca was, at the end of Season Three. That is still the groundbreaking episode where we looked at the environment and said, “Every episode now has to be as detailed as this one.” In Season Four, the environments that were organic were becoming much more lush. At the head of Season Five, you’ll definitely see that, too, when we’re on this really wild jungle planet that we’ve never been to before.

Was there a sense of trepidation when you understood, storywise, that Grievous had to be defeated by the Gungans?

Although we are an animated show, there is a reality to it. When any great warrior is surrounded by hundreds of opponents, it just doesn’t matter anymore. You can take out the samurai if you have enough soldiers or, frankly. if you have a gun. It was as simple as that. We’ve romanticized these things, so it’s harder to strike down these fearsome opponents.

But Grievous represented a difficulty on several levels. Some people want Grievous to be Darth Vader, but he’s not. That’s a critical thing to remember. Fandom made him this powerful weapon of fear before we saw Revenge of the Sith, which is what Dooku wants you to think of Grievous. But as Obi-Wan sees in the movie, when you meet him face-to-face. he isn’t this terrifying creature. In fact, much like any Frankenstein’s monster, there’s this sadness to him, about what he probably once was and what this mechanized wickedness has turned him into. Having him face all these Gungans, Grievous has this arrogance, but he underestimates the character, the heart of what someone like Tarpals and Jar Jar have.

We thought it was important that if we were going to defeat Grievous and , have one of our main villains fall to an unlikely foe, we’d have to pay a penalty for that—and the penalty became Tarpals. We went back and forth, and I talked to George about it at great length. At one point, we had Grievous taken out of the arc, but the problem with that is then there’s nobody to trade for Anakin.

With that story showcasing Tarpals and Otoh Gunga and the bongo sub, it felt Like a contained tribute to Episode I. At the time it was made, did you know Episode I was going to be on people’s minds shortly thereafter?

No. It wasn’t in the plan when we went to make the episode. Most things like that happen through “providence” of the Force.

Did you get a sense of what the fan reaction was to the Umbaran arc and General Krell?

People didn’t like Krell. I think the reaction was perfect. I knew that if we went all the way with it when he proved to be a guy who had his own agenda... This was something very new, especially coming from George Lucas. I thought the fans were really going to be onboard for this. Krell definitely played his role. David Fenoy did a great job voicing Krell, and it definitely had the fans talking.

The reaction is fun, but it’s something that doesn’t really affect the creation of the show. That’s something that keeps us honest, because we’re so far ahead. The end of Season Five has already been shot. That whole season is locked down, and there’s really nothing fans can say—fortunately or not— that could make us change something. It also makes it difficult, because if there’s a character fans really like, say like a Bo-Katan, we can’t instantly sit down and write a whole bunch of episodes about her, so you have them for the next season.

Bo-Katan was, of course, seen in the episode that featured Lux and Ahsoka reuniting. How did “A Friend in Need” come about?

I like that episode very much. I had to fight for that episode. I wanted very badly in this season to have a Mandalorian story arc. I knew that people really liked Death Watch in Season Two, and people were interested in what was going on there.

In the original Season Four story conference, I presented an outline that didn’t end up being used. But what happened was another story, a planned four-parter, ended up being three parts, so we had an extra story. George said, “Well, let’s do Filoni’s Death Watch story.” To George’s credit. he really came up with it. I was pitching a story that was more centered around Satine and possible things for her future, but George definitely wanted Ahsoka and Lux in the story. When he fleshed that out and we worked on it in the room, I thought it was really interesting; it moves forward Ahsoka’s possible would-be relationship with Lux.

I also wanted to show a dynamic change in Death Watch. George wanted them to be more like a biker gang and more violent, which really allowed them to shine in a different light, and it gave me the opportunity to add a female Mandalorian to the screen. That was its own whole process of designing the helmets and bringing Katee Sackhoff on. It introduced a lot of new elements, and I knew that I wanted to direct it. I like to control Ahsoka’s destiny very directly at times.

This episode will pay off in different ways in Season Five. That story has a nice splitting of material, and there will be a follow-up with Lux and a follow-up with Death Watch that I think the fans will enjoy.

Season Four had a first in terms of a story that was an adaptation of a published comic, Slaves of the Republic.

George does read the comics, and I think The Clone Wars comics catch his eye because, obviously, he’s working on The Clone Wars. He also recognized Henry Gilroy’s name as the writer of the comic. We needed some stories to round out a season, and George said we have a couple of stories here, let’s think of adapting them. Henry had already written for the show, which made a real difference there. We called Henry and he decided to come back and work with us again.

We had to make a lot of tweaks to it, though. Ahsoka is older now than she was in the original comic book. Ventress is no longer working for the Separatists in our timeline. It was fun adapting with Henry and Steven Merching what Henry had done, and bringing it into the world of the Star Wars movie experience from the comic book page.

There is no more clear illustration of the difference between the Expanded Universe and the Star Wars created by George Lucas. The EU is a well of ideas, and there’s what’s on screen. They don’t live in the same universe. Everyone wants to think so, I know, and there is a lot of effort to make it all work, but it’s pretty clear when you start really looking at it that when you take ideas from the printed realm and bring it on the screen, it’s not always the same. They relate. There are similarities. I still enjoy a lot of those stories. I think there are a lot of great ideas. They influence you. They inspire you, which I think is the whole point of having an EU. We try hard to honor things when we can, to give nods to things, but at the end of the day there is a difference between what you see in the Star Wars films and TV series and what you see in those books.

It’s mainly because writing for the visual medium is different, as Henry Gilroy will attest to. I mean, look at the monumental task in the opposite direction that Peter Jackson had to go through in taking the written form of The Lord of the Rings and trying to distill it onto the screen. There’s a lot of difficulty in translating between the written word and the moving image. The writers of the Star Wars books have to somehow capture the energy, the excitement, the snappy dialogue, and all the things we get from the Star Wars world, and put it on a page. That’s a very big challenge.

We just need to think of it all as a creative collection of fun ideas separate from what George Lucas has made. I think a lot of EU creators think of it like that, and like it when they see their creations on screen, whether or not it’s used one-to-one as they created it or not. We get that every now and then. We got that when we used the Lady Luck, and the guys who originally designed that were excited to see it come alive on screen. We’re all just building that universe.

On behalf of all Obi-Wan fans, what did poor Kenobl ever do to you guys in Lucasfilm Animation to deserve the beatings, pain, and misery he got in this season?

Because he can handle it. Obi-Wan is a really fun character, especially with James Arnold Taylor playing him. He does such a brilliant job. Obi-Wan, in a way, is one of the characters who will let you know that when things are really bad, it’ll be okay. And things got really bad for him. He has to shoulder the burden all the time in Star Wars. Not just when he’s being captured by slavers or transformed into a bounty hunter, or has a nemesis from the past come back. He’s shouldering the burden of knowing he didn’t finish the job.

In the Darth Maul arc, originally, Kenobi was totally getting brutalized in that ship’s hold by the two brothers. The director, Brian Karin O’ConnelL, had him being thrown against these metal boxes. and dragged across the floor. I thought, Whoa, this is intense. Imagine that scene with no little snappy comebacks from Obi-Wan. So we sat in editorial and added a little dialogue here and there, like Obi-Wan saying, “When I cut you in half, I should have aimed for your neck,” and, “I like your new legs. They make you look taller” Because I know James so well, I can picture James saying this. Screening the episode with an audience, you realize you need that so the audience thinks, “Oh. he’s going to be okay.” Obi-Wan takes that punishment and moves on.

I think it says a lot about his character. He is very tough, despite his more elegant way of speaking, which doesn’t mean he’s not a physically tough and mentally tough Jedi. He carries that burden for years in the desert alone. We are watching the formative years of Obi-Wan. He was in a lot of scrapes and he did take a lot of punches, so that old man on Tatooine is almost hesitant to get back in the fray. “I’m getting too old for this sort of thing.” he says, because he knows what it’s like out in the big galaxy to be fighting for everyone’s freedom.

Does Obi-Wan have an easier or tougher lime in Season Five?

Oh, man. These are dark times. I think Qui-Gon summed it up: Being a Jedi is a hard life.

When it became known that Darth Maul was coming back, a lot of people said, “Wait a minute. How is that even possible?” How did this concept get introduced to you and did you have that moment?

When I saw Phantom Menace, and I saw Darth Maul get cut in half, I thought, “Oh yeah, George definitely doesn’t want that guy coming back.” And then many years later, I’m in a room with him at Skywalker Ranch, and he says, “This Savage Opress thing is going really welt... we’re going to bring Darth Maul back no.”

When George wants to do something, he definitely finds a way to get it done. In a way, we created Savage Opress for lack of Maul; he did turn out brilliantly and we were all very happy with that. And then George had us put this very quizzical image in this crystal ball at the end of these episodes. The introduction of the Nightsisters made a lot of things possible that we couldn’t have done convincingly otherwise, and that was what led to this whole genesis of it. Getting Katie Lucas to write it really helped, too, because she wrote all these sinister, witchy things in the first arc, and I think that really helped us in this arc.

One of the characters who didn’t get much of a spotlight in Season Four is Padmé Amidala. Will fans of Padmé see a return of that character in Season Five?

Padmé is one of the more complex characters we have to deal with because of who she is and the path she takes in the films. If you watch the deleted scenes materials in Attack of the Clones, you learn a lot more of who she is. While she’s given up a lot for a public life of service, she wants a lot more for her private life. I don’t think that’s different from a lot of people, the way they feel about their job versus their home life.

She does have a more major arc in Season Five. Padmé is always embroiled in the undertow of what’s going on in the Republic, but she doesn’t really know it. Like everyone, she sees it as political intrigue. But when you think about it Padmé is the one who is actually the closest to Darth Sidious. She’s the closest to what’s actually going on with the evil in the galaxy, and on some level she’s actually responsible for putting that evil in place. That is a very difficult thing for her, especially since she’s always trying to do right, and Palpatine knows that, so he’s always using her to push things a certain way for him.

She’s trying to do the most for the people of the Republic, but she’s being deceived by someone she thinks is her friend. Even when she has a victory, for the first time in Season Five, you see she’s starting to feel it’s rather a Pyrrhic victory. There are things that she’s getting wise to, that set up her wanting to Listen to Mon Mothma later on when Mothma starts talking about Palpatine stepping down. Because if you watch the Episode III deleted scenes, you see that these are not things that Padmé even wants to entertain. She supports Palpatine. It takes a bit to change her mind.

There is a major occurrence in Season Five, what she’s wrapped up in, which will set up a lot of the structure that allows things to happen under the Empire. It’s definitely an arc that proves that Anakin and Padmé have a more challenging relationship than people think. These two people have a Lot of challenges, probably more than we know.

FIVE PEEKS AT SEASON FIVE

STRANGE NEW WORLDS! In Season Five, we’ll be going to Onderon, a planet known from the Tales of the Jedi comics series. “We looked to ancient Rome for a lot of visual inspiration of the city, and we also go deep into the jungles outside,” says Filoni.

CRIMINAL MINDS! In between the Republic and the Separatists are the various crime organizations in the galaxy. We’ll see them surface from the shadows in Season Five, not only with the return of such rogues as Hondo Ohnaka, but also the series debut of the infamous Black Sun cartel.

A DROID ON A MISSION! “R2-02 has his biggest adventure yet,” teases Filoni, “and it’s definitely not a fairy tale.” Though Artoo’s exploits in Season Four were more side adventures, Season Five has what Filoni describes as “Artoo’s biggest contribution to the war effort.”

EMBO IN ACTION! Season Five will feature bounty hunter Embo in action, joined by his new shaggy sidekick, Marrok. As seen in this sketch by Filoni (right), the director likens their partnership to the one shared by the G.I.Joe characters Snake Eyes and Timber.

RECKONINGS! Filoni offers this ominous hint: “Some of the characters that we have created for the show will meet their destinies.”

#insider #i134 #season 4 #dave filoni #the clone wars #nice rundown of the season and character insights

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yuristarwars · 1 year

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Okay okay okay I NEED to talk about my Rise of Skywalker fix-it idea

The movies starts out with an EPIC space battle over the planet of Ajan Kloss. Poe is piloting the Falcon as Finn does his best to gun down the TIEs while they protect the Y-Wing bombers. The Resistance has a few Republic Venators and Mon Cala Cruisers, Leia at the helm of one of them. She barks orders at Poe and follows them. A group of FO transports manage to make it out of the battle and land on the surface. Poe gets worried, saying that Rey’s still down there. Finn tells him not to worry, “she’s got it handled.”

Cut to the transports landing and troopers entering the base, led by a shiny black-armored captain. The captain and a few troops stand outside while its being inspected. Slow zoom-out and pan to a hand holding a detonator, triggering it. Hard cut to the bombs rigged inside of the base as it blows up all the stormtroopers in there. Rey walks out from behind a tree and starts cutting down Stormtroopers, force-pushing them, and dropping large crates on them. The captain tries to duel her but she easily disarms him in 10 seconds flat, cutting his head off. The last remaining Stormtrooper yells into his comm: “The Jedi! The Jedi’s here, she’s-” before a flash of yellow comes down onto him and we cut back to the Star Destroyer.

The comms officer informs Hux. “They say there’s a Jedi there.” He sneers. “Can Captain Grave be reached?” The comms officer checks. “No, his armor shows no life left in him.” The Admiral watches as one of the Star Destroyers gets blown up. Hux purses his lips before ordering: “Tell all ships to retreat, this is not a battle we can win today.”

Poe looks on as they all turn to exit into hyperspace. “We did it, they’re leaving!”

Leia softly smiles as cheers echo throughout the bridge. BB-8 and R2 beep in joy while C3PO exclaims his happiness. Rey smiles down on the ground as she watches the ships jump into hyperspace.

END Scene 1

(I’m probably gonna be posting the rest of them soon)

#star wars #star wars sequel trilogy #star wars sequels #the rise of skywalker

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comm-caribou · 1 year

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Chapter Eight: The Good Generals:

Word Count: 2.0k

Warnings: death (let me know if I missed any!)

————

Juliette gently scooped up the primarily white plush with long limbs and black detailing.

“Hardwire, is this a doll?”

Hardwire hopped out of his desk chair, blushing crimson as he shut his door.

He turned to her, and awkwardly smiled.

“So… that’s Snugs,” Hardwire explained, “my… first General gave him to me.”

Juliette smiled, cradling the small plush clone trooper in her arms, “and you keep him under your pillow?”

Hardwire sat down on the edge of the bed, “please don’t judge me.”

“I don’t think I can judge,” Juliette held up her baby blanket.

“That’s different,” Hardwire smiled, “if you didn’t tell me that was your baby blanket, I’d assume it was just any old blanket.”

“So, what’s the story behind Snugs?” Juliette handed the toy back to him. “Why did a Jedi give you a little plush clone trooper?”

Hardwire brushed the trooper’s helmet, “where do I begin to tell you about Master Kip?”

****

“The General gave you a pastry?”

Hardwire hurried away as his Corporal chased after him.

“Vhere did he get it? Is it fresh?” Keks questioned, “vhat type of frosting?”

“Medic!” Hardwire laughed, “I need assistance!”

Laughing, CT-3396 got up from Hardwire’s desk, hopping on Kek’s back.

“Hide in the closet!” Tracks instructed.

“You all are so mean,” Cooper smiled. “But he is a glutton.”

Hardwire ducked into his practically empty closet, “exactly.”

Keks whined outside the closet, “no fair…”

“You didn’t share any of your burnt cookies with us,” Chaser reminded him.

“I tried,” Keks reminded. “You all said they were like rocks!”

Happily, Hardwire unraveled his pastry, and ripped it in half. Putting the bigger half back in the bag, he cracked the door open, sticking it out.

Like a gremlin, it was snatched away.

“Say thank you,” he heard Cooper scold.

“Thank you,” Keks said, with a mouthful already.

****

Juliette cuddled into his side, “so, I wasn’t the first General who bought you all presents?”

“No, you weren’t,” Hardwire wrapped an arm around her, “although, most gifts were bought more for me than the others.”

“Why’s that?” Juliette yawned into her fist.

“I kind of was a loner,” Hardwire wrapped her blanket around her, “and I was the first clone he ever met. Therefore, he worried about me.”

****

A salmon colored Quarren with kind turquoise eyes hobbled with a cane around the Stormrider, listening to Hardwire give his report.

He liked the old Jedi. While some found him odd—maybe even a bit annoying—Hardwire looked forward to these patrols.

“Very good, Commander,” Master Kip would say at the end, in that voice that sounded too high and bouncy for an old man from Mon Cala.

It always felt like a pat on the head, and Hardwire found himself walking a little taller.

“Tell me though, Commander,” Master Kip stroked his tentacle beard, “have you eaten today?“

“I’ll be heading to the mess now, sir,” he assured, “meeting some of the men there.”

“Excellent, can’t face the day on an empty stomach,” he chuckled to himself. “And we have a battle today. Not that I am looking forward to it.”

Hardwire turned to his General, his gaze now to the floor.

“So many lives lost,” Kip sighed, “I wish I could protect you all.”

****

Hardwire laid beside Juliette, facing her in his bed.

She looked tired, but her eyes remained opened, “you still haven’t answered my question.”

Hardwire smiled, “do you want me to skip ahead? I was going to tell you about how Boomerang got his name. Or how Mirage came to be his best brother.”

“I know both those stories,” Juliette pouted, “you’re stalling.”

Hardwire chuckled, “fine, I’ll tell you about Snugs now.”

****

It had been a hundred days since boots hit the ground, and a hundred days of being under Master Kip’s care.

When the old Jedi came to his private quarters at the end of the day, he expected the present he hinted at to be food. All his brothers loved food, and Hardwire did like the occasional treat.

What Master Kip was so excited to give him, was not edible at all. In fact, it was quite an odd gift in Hardwire’s opinion.

The item was less than a foot in height, and consisted of loose, lanky arms attached to its plush body. It was white and black, resembling a standard clone trooper with his helmet on.

“I could not resist,” Master Kip smiled, “you may find it silly, but I wanted you to have a least one item that is truly just yours. Consider a symbol of your brothers perhaps.”

Honestly, Hardwire didn’t know what he’d do with a toy. He was a soldier, not a child. Nor did he know the purpose of toys other than giving them to children on relief missions for comfort.

Still, he traced the troopers soft helmet, “thank you, sir.”

****

Juliette’s eyes were now closed, but she still tiredly murmured, “that’s sweet…”

Hardwire took Snugs, and placed him in her arms, whispering, “he’s very good at scaring away nightmares.”

Juliette softly sighed, hugging Snugs close as she started drifting off.

Hardwire got up, and crossed the cold, metal floor to the light switch. He flipped it off, and returned to his bed, getting under his blanket and pulling her closer to him.

Her head laid on his chest, snuggling in closer to him.

He wrapped his arms around her, and ran his fingers lazily up and down her back. He closed his eyes, and fell asleep alongside his best friend.

****

Besides a little bit of chatter, the gunship was quiet.

Master Kip was sadden to hear that he was given this very big, dangerous mission. The last thing he wanted to do was put his troops into more danger than they already were in.

From the moment the war began on Geonosis, Master Kip wanted to walk away. From the war he didn’t want to be apart of, the bloodshed he didn’t wish to bare, and the Jedi Order that he known his living years.

However, as he was about to go tell Master Yoda his plans to leave, he met a curious young man who left the impression of a child in the Force.

He was tall, muscular, and wore the same armor as the men who rescued them from the Battle of Geonosis.

The trooper turned to him, his helmet tucked under his armor revealing a face of twenty year old Jango Fett. Yet, this wasn’t Jango.

He smiled, and gave a respectful nod like a gentleman and returned his gaze forward with a half smile.

As Master Kip studied the mysterious figure in lilac painted armor and a kama on his belt, the familiar presence of Master Yoda approached.

He turned, seeing his dear friend approaching with Mace Windu and Master Ki-Adi-Mundi.

The small, green Jedi chuckled to himself, “Master Kip, see you met your Commander, you have.”

My Commander?

Master Kip turned back to the trooper, he was watching him from the corner of his dark, brown eyes.

“The 952nd will primarily be doing relief and rescue missions. Commander CC-0143 will be your right hand man,” Master Windu explained.

“Nine hundred fifty… CC-10… this a lot of numbers,” Master Kip stroked his tentacle beard, I’m an old man who’d be lucky to have ten more years left in him. I can’t possibly be apart of this.

“Permission to speak, sir?” asked a man with Jango’s accent, but not quite his voice.

He turned back to the Commander, now facing him.

Was that him? Is asking permission to speak really a thing?

“Yes?” Master Kip said unsurely.

“My brothers call me Hardwire,” he said, “you may also call me that, therefore you have one less number to remember.”

Master Mundi said quietly, “I was not informed they have names.”

Master Kip’s thoughts of leaving got pushed back into the deep crevasses of his mind. All the upset that plagued him of losing both his own Master and his former Padawan on Geonosis was replace with a need to protect this little boy who looked like a grown man.

Now here he was, over a hundred days later, with a Commander who he looked at like a son.

The Jedi Code forbid attachment, but he couldn’t help himself. This soldier had went from child to an adult in a matter of days in the Force, and Master Kip felt a nagging need to protect him the same way a parent coddled their own flesh and blood.

“We’re approaching the coordinates,” Tracks announced over the gunship’s speakers.

Master Kip looked at the men he brought with him for this assignment to locate General Grievous.

Sergeant Cooper had Corporal Keks were a pair.

Boomerang the medic was tight knit with his ARC brother, Mirage.

The pilots—Tracks and Chaser—had each other to keep company.

Then there was his Commander.

The first clone trooper he ever met would just drift from brother-to-brother. No one in particular stood out as someone he was close to more than the others.

Who is your person, Hardwire? Who do you reach out for when you are scared?

The ship softly landed, and the doors opened up.

His five brave troops exited the ship, helmets on and ready to face danger.

If this war never happened, these boys never would have existed. I would’ve continued on with my life, and these amazing young men would’ve remained unmade. They don’t even realize the change they made. The good they brought into my dull life.

“All good, General?” Hardwire asked quietly, “you’ve been quiet today.”

“Oh, it’s nothing for you to worry about, lad,” he replied tiredly. “Just been thinking about this war and where we’ll all be after it’s over.”

The clones remained quiet, not saying a word.

He knew what they were thinking.

Their purpose is to die fighting.

The next few minutes blurred together, all Master Kip could put together was they found Grievous—or he found them—and they were going to die.

“Tracks! Chaser!” Cooper barked, “get the ship ready for retreat!”

“Swinging back for you now,” Chaser responded.

As the only one with a lightsaber, Kip was engaged with the metal monster.

He could hear the gunship arrive, the men running aboard… all but one.

“General!”

Hardwire!

“General, come on!”

Using the Force, Master Kip pushed General Grievous back enough to look back at the ship. He could’ve made it, but he had grown too tired from this fight to run.

Hardwire took a step towards him, and then another.

This soldier was too loyal to leave him behind.

Master Kip pushed him back with the Force, but the Commander got back up again.

General Grievous also got up, and was charging at him.

Master Kip held both of them back, arms extended out holding them both away. With all his strength, he pushed back Grievous again.

Then, tiredly turned back to his troops.

He still had Hardwire pushed back, keeping him at bay. Yet, he now had his answer.

The clones—as Master Kip had noticed—always reached for each other. In the face of danger, their hands always extended out to their brothers both to receive strength and share it. The closest bond any of the clone soldiers had was with each other.

Cooper to Keks, Tracks to Chaser, Boomerang to Mirage.

Then there was Hardwire, who didn’t reach for any of his brothers. With both hands extended out, his Commander was reaching out to him.

It was forbidden to form attachment, and maybe this was why. For when Jedi Master Kip looked at that one soldier, he saw a child.

His child, willing to die for him.

Master Kip couldn’t help but love and admire Hardwire for that loyalty, and he hoped the next General valued his Commander just as much.

General Grievous got up again, coughing and hacking with four lightsabers ignited.

Soon, his own lightsaber would be his.

Master Kip was okay with that…

“General!” Hardwire cried out as he was lifted to the air. “Don’t do this! Wait!”

…as long as his son lived.

#caribou stories #caribou ocs #952nd #star wars #star wars the clone wars #commander hardwire #juliette trix

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the-cybersmith · 1 year

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Can you explain being a Star Wars fan and also a monarchist? The rise of the Empire is the takeover of an absolute monarch (Palpatine) that causes mass suffering and fascism across the galaxy. The only positively portrayed monarch in the movies is Padme, and she’s democratically elected, with a term that ends. Like, the whole series is against anyone holding absolute power. So like, how do you justify that to yourself while also licking the monarchy’s boots?

Gee, I don't know.

>"The only positively portrayed monarch in the movies"

Except that's not true. Princessl Leia was also royalty, she inherited the position of senator (her mother was Alderaan's queen. her father was the previous senator).

Palpatine was also elected, and I'm not sure why he's considered a monarch? The Empire was initially a Unitary fascist autocracy, which is not necessarily monarchic. It later became a stratocracy, as more and more of the administrative duties were handed over to high-ranking military officers (People forget, Tarkin may have worn a uniform, but he was a civilian, and the senate still existed up to just before the Battle Of Yavin when it was dissolved), but Palpatine never claimed his right to rule was monarchic, and there was never any suggestion that he should be succeeded in a monarchic fashion.

If we look at Lucas's inspirations for the Empire, a few major sources emerge:

Nazi Germany (explicitly not a monarchy, refused to restore the Kaiser)

Vietnam-War-Era USA (also explicitly not a monarchy)

The Roman Empire (not a monarchy, the Emperors were very clear that they weren't kings)

There are quite a few cases of monarchic systems (elective or hereditary) being portrayed positively.

Toydarya, Alderaan, Onderon (where the whole arc is about removing a usurper and restoring the true king), and Mon Cala are a few examples!!! King Lee-Char, King Katuunko, Queen Breha... I count a fair number of monarchs who are good people!

The First Order was a military Junta, ruled explicitly by the Supreme Leader, and the Final Order was a religious cult, in which the Senior Sith Lord was the highest authority, which happened to be Palpatine by dint of him being the only living Sith Lord left, as Darth Sidious!

#star wars #truth #monarchism #politics #ask #anonymous

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leon-anna · 2 years

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Game: Let’s get to know each other’s Clone OCs!

I’ll be doing Monsune today!

1. Name five things they love to do with their vod'e:

• Quality time; Like and unlike most of his brothers, whenever he gets time off, Monsune prefers a chill night in to just hang out and maybe sneak in some holodramas for the boys to enjoy(although he's probably the most invested in them).

• Go out on double dates/play the dating game(which most of his vod'e abhor)

• Researching different languages and teaching some of the vocab to the team(although he's probably the only one getting anything out of it).

• Watching his vod'e make fools of themselves/tease or correct them on their mistakes(commanding officer style).

• Sprucing up his brothers for a night out on Coruscant etc.

2. Four things they don’t understand about the world or people around them:

• Why most clone Captains or Commanders usually don't give a crap about their overall appearance or physical health.

• Why most of his brothers don't understand or like any of the holodramas he picks out to watch.

• Anyone who considers him or his brothers to be "organic machines" or whatever else those kinds of plebs have to say.

• The intense pressure and expectations placed on him and his brothers by the Republic.

3. Three things they cannot live without:

• Soap, deodorant, literally any self-care product he can get his hands on. After all, a dirty soldier is no soldier at all.

• Food. He'll never admit it, but Monsune is a foodie and is constantly in need of something to snack on.

• his alilt; brothers, family.

4. Two things they’re oddly good at:

• Avoiding getting caught; In literally any situation, whatever it may be about, Monsune is somehow extremely good at keeping things under wraps.

• Imitating other people's voices and mannerisms(esp certain Jedi Generals); Although it's rare to ever catch him doing it, or to have him do one by request, Monsune can pull off stunts like sending fake transmissions from General Fisto to the 301st battalion.

5. One traumatic memory that haunts them:

• When Monsune was first assigned his very own platoon during the Battle of Mon Cala, all of his men were killed in a catastrophic explosion made by the separatists. Even though there was nothing in his power he could do to prevent it, Monsune blames himself for their deaths, vowing that he'd never let it happen again; Even if it meant sacrificing himself.

Now it’s your turn! Take the above questions and answer them for your original clone characters!

#star wars #clone wars #the clone wars #swtcw #tcw #clone troopers #sw #clone ocs #clones #the boys are back in town #clone wars oc #clone wars game #oc ask game #facts about my ocs #captain monsune #star wars the clone wars #the clones #star wars clone wars #clone captian Monsune

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firstsportssharkbagel · 1 month

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Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Kenner Star Wars Admiral Ackbar - Return Of The Jedi 40th Anniversary Figure.

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umwmun-blog · 2 months

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Galaxy Asunder

Mas Amedda: A man of the people?

In a major publicity effort, Mas Amedda has taken to supporting the poverty stricken and the forgotten of Coruscant. The old Imperial Capitol sees the former Vizier under a new light, with public efforts on sympathy with the working masses of the Core. Across the Core, Imperial nostalgia flares, and Empire memorabilia floods the streets. Mas Amedda frames himself as a champion of Galactic continuity and political stability, and healing the scars of war. "With Amedda, all will be well"- Mas Amedda campaign slogan. On a completely unrelated note, societies of drinking and deathsticks have emerged amongst Centrists and former Imperials within Coruscant. The species liberation Militia changes its name to "Turwookiewoksters" and acquires a new ally in the nephran species.

Jar Jar Banks!

In a massive and unprecedented career comeback, Late Republic politician Jar Jar Binks has been appointed as the Head of the New Republic Bank. While many question the decision of the Senate to make such an action, with many viewing Jar Jar Binks as a collaborator and sympathizer to Palpatine, Jar Jar Binks promises to streamline the New Republic's financial policies and lead to an era of peace and prosperity. "Meesa will do a good jobsa!"- Jar Jar Binks Death of Benthic Two Tubes

The charismatic and violent leader of the Partisan rebels was found dead in Jedha, the heart of FLN control. Benthic was found with what appears to be lightsaber burns, a weapon used by ancient force users like the Jedi and the Sith. Most disturbingly, a Sith artefact was found nearby. Said artefact was located in the Imperial Palace, and was moved from Jedi custody under the orders of Mas Amedda. With the loss of their leader, the FLN's organization takes a significant blow. The torch of Saw Guerrera's rebellion burns dimmer now.

The 7th Fleet Strikes!

FLN forces in the Mandalore sector are ambushed by the 7th fleet after high jacking a remnant vessel. FLN naval forces take another heavy blow shaking the FLN. The 7th Fleet has begun their attack on the galaxy.

The 2nd separatist crisis

Following a breakdown of relations between the radical and moderate wings of Republic politics, many sectors of the Outer Rim have formally declared their effective secession from the Galactic Republic, joining a new "Coalition of Free Worlds". Ruled by an ad hoc council between Ryder Azadi of Lothal, Lando Clarissian and Admiral Ackbar, the CFW has become a new major force. Following the loss of their leader and fleet, the FLN has merged their assets into the armed wing of the Coalition. The armed forces also include major sections of the Republic fleet, including many new and advanced ships built at Mon Cala shipyards, as well as mercenary forces and battle droids of Lando Calrissian. The New Republic has yet to make an official response, and no active hostilities exist between the Coalition and New Republic yet. However it is clear that a new Separatist Crisis has torn the galaxy asunder. Scandal in the New Republic Senate

An unknown leak has delivered shocking news to the Galaxy, making public knowledge the familial ties between Anakin Skywalker and Leia Organa. The leak confirmed the once famed "Hero of the Republic" Anakin Skywalker as none other than Darth Vader, second in command of the Empire, enforcer to Emperor Palpatine and mass murderer. Furthermore, the leak has confirmed Rebel general Leia Organa as the daughter of Anakin Skywalker and the late Padme Amidala. This leak has had disastrous implications for Leia's position in the Senate, with many calling her out as a traitor and demanding justice for Vader's crimes. While Leia and her brother Luke served nobly in the Rebellion and fought directly against Vader on numerous occasions, the relation between Vader and Leia has left many in the Galaxy feeling betrayed, and is cited as a major reason behind the Coalition of Free Worlds' nominal declaration of secession.

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moobrvoobl-moobmoob-oobmpoobroom · 4 months

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Rough general rundown on Strike’s backstory until I finish a polished version

CWs: child death, experimentation, physical and emotional child abuse, war, death, the Kaminoans, Strike’s sad love and family life, my sadistic use of smiley emojis during angsty bits

spoilers for the fics I have not written (and one I have) lol

at first the Kaminoans were trying to clone assassins for their own use (bc who doesn’t like having a personal assassin?) but the fast-aging thing they were trying to do didn’t work and they terminated the whole batch, except for one kept by Nala Se as a side project: FC-0025

(ten of the other baby clones were saved by a nice Kaminoan, Gona Ta — the Mandalorian donor’s gf — and sent off to random places in the galaxy a la superman, but no one knows that until later)

FC-0025 is born around 37 BBY. then is trained by Dred Priest and Nala Se. is blissfully unaware of anything on Kamino, after a while starts to visit 99 sometimes (In the Stars segment 1) then gets yeeted off to war like the rest of the vode except Omega ksbdjdbdjdbh

Gets shipped off to planet Maoldis with Blink, is hidden in a supply room for a while, meets OG Theta Squad when they come to get stuff, punches Dryn out of surprise, Blink arrives like the meme with the guy holding pizza walking into the burning room and quickly explains and she joins Theta)

Battle of Teth (TCW film), Torrent gets wiped out, squad dies (some protecting her), she is Big Sad before getting new Theta

They almost die on a mission, but then she accumulates Some Leadership Skills and emotional journey

Battle of Kamino, gets chased by Grievous with '94, a cadet, and tries to protect him but he dies in her arms. she doesn’t know about 99 until Echo tells her [“was he a friend of yours?” “the very first”]

The Citadel, is sad after losing Echo (TCW stuff happens, Ahsoka gets kidnapped, Battle of Mon Cala etc)

Umbara. Gets thrown in the brig for ‘unauthorised communications’ until Rex and Co. mutiny then fights Krell with the others

Fives, Tup die (after In the Stars segment 3), she kind of meets TBB in TCW s7 but leaves with Jesse, Kix and Cody to tend to Cody’s wounds, and they find Echo on Skako

sometime near the end of the war, she finds out that the other clones from her batch exist and goes off to find them. only five of them besides Strike have survived. she brings them back to the Republic, only for the Kaminoans to assert that they are Kaminoan property and therefore have to fight in the war instead of going back to their families. tension moment between Strikey and her new friends but eventually they reach an understanding. they’re still not close, but they’re friends at least.

O66 is declared, she starts to go with Anakin to the Jedi Temple but sees a Padawan (Leo) and runs off to shoot him (she doesn’t remember much of this it’s fuzzzzzyyyy), Alex finds her and manages to KO her to get her de-chipped by a smarty friend with some fancy equipment She wakes up, tries to apologise to Padawan but he runs away, then she runs away and cries (In the Stars segment 9)

She leaves Coruscant, finds TBB in A Super Dark And Creepy Tunnel and kind of makes friends over their non-reg-ness, hangs out with them for a while and finds the Tribunal and Jesse’s helmet, is v sad (In the Stars segment 5)

After two years (17 BBY) ends up on some planet working at a diner for a bit, meets Kaydee and dates her for a while (slightly unrequited on Strike’s part bc she’s still a little in love with Alex. it’s complicated.) but then leaves soon after

At some point after O66, she cries over all her loved ones being missing or dead :) (In the Stars segment 2)

Goes to get a job (bounty hunting?), gets found by rebels in 9-7 BBY and joins the Rebellion (recruited by Cassian), reunites with Alex and they get married, she sees Kaydee in the rebellion again at some point Meets Phoenix Squadron sometime before Rex does, finds him and Ahsoka during Rebels (4 BBY), but then Ahsoka disappears (3 BBY) and she and Rex are sad :( (In the Stars segment 4) participates in the Lothal Liberation Thingy (0 BBY)

Is in the battle of Endor with Rex and Co. (4 ABY), then settles down and Five and Acho are born (9 ABY) then loses Wolffe and then Rex a few years later (16 ABY; In the Stars segment 6) to natural causes

Goes to some planet with a ‘local insurrection’, but SURPRISE! It’s the nascent First Order!! Alex d i e s (21 ABY), Five and Acho’s first childhood trauma \:)

She goes missing a few months later (on First Order investigation with Leia), gets captured and confronts Ben at some point and she just goes ‘something something you’re still the little boy who cried when Acho tripped him on his butt’ ‘I AM nOt I am eVil I am a SIth’ ‘ok lmao’

Eventually she finds her way back to her twins 🥺 and runs into a First Order base and blows it up, Not Throwing Away Her Shot (29 BBY)

Five gets the pistols and Acho gets… the recklessness They become X-wing pilots for the New Republic at first, then the Resistance after buir dies

#Swift talks #OC stuff #fic talk #Swift’s OCs #strike (OC)#backstory #swocs #clone OC #Star Wars #the clone wars #swtcw #Important #saved to refer to later

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