vxdfives

[vxdfives]

Sometimes, I find myself breaking down Kix’s character, turning over his traits, his patterns and behaviors… and more and more I find the personality construed by fandom for Kix to be so wildly jarring from what we do have of Kix.

Kix has, roughly, 17 minutes of screen time across the entirety of TCW, which, when compared to the likes of Fives and Rex, who clock much more screen time than most other clones, this doesn’t seem like a lot—but when you factor in most clones' screen time, we get a lot of Kix, and there’s a lot you can learn about him if you pay attention to the moments he does have on screen.

And to illustrate my point, and because I genuinely love Kix, I’m taking it upon myself to examine what we do have of Kix—both for my own purposes, creatively, and because I also happen to enjoy being neurotically intense about my favorite characters.

From “The Deserter” (S02:10) which is also Kix’s debut episode:

1. Kix speaks with a softer and gentler affliction in his voice compared to other clones (as seen with Jesse, who debuts alongside Kix and contrasts him in being more assertive.) I generally extrapolate this to be reflective of a softness that underscores Kix’s mannerisms. 2. When confronted by Suu, Kix doesn’t react with aggression of defensiveness (even if he’s also escorting an injured Rex and has a rifle pointed at him,) instead he opts to gently, and slowly, explain the situation, (in fact, Suu cuts him off and it is Jesse who has to explain, Jesse, who speaks quickly and in a more assertive manner than Kix did.) Kix’s tone is also likely influenced by caution. 3. The most notable scene in this episode that Kix appears in is when he’s tending to an injured Rex—I say notable because I think it informs much of how Kix treats his patients, even when they’re being uncooperative. Because in this scene, Kix is nothing but gentle an caring towards Rex, even when Rex tries to order Kix into letting him back into the fight despite the nerve damage he’s taken from the shot to his chest. When he pulls rank on Rex it is done so firmly, but kindly, and his face is one of sheepishness. If this scene shows anything, it’s that Kix is patient.

From Kix’s debut episode, what can be described about his character is that he’s much more reserved and gentle in comparison to the much more assertive personality of Jesse—from his mannerisms to the tone of his voice. He will be firm, but he is not unkind. He also shows patience towards his patient, even when said patient is, initially, being uncooperative.

From Umbara (S04:07 - S04:10) which is when Kix gets the most screen time:

1. The first moment of note Kix appears in is when he raises concerns to Rex about the pace Krell has had them marching at, that this pace is taking its toll on the men and they need to rest. Kix raises these concerns respectfully, secondly, Kix is doing his duty as a medic, which, is fundamental to his character, finally, Kix cares about those around him and he does what he can to ensure the welfare of these men. (And also, I think it’s quite telling that Kix doesn’t press the issue after Krell scolds them for it, as noted before, Kix does not have an assertive personality.) 2. When Kix is taking care of an injured clone he’s dragged into cover Kix retains his professionalism and keeps himself together even under stress. Kix comforts his patient instead, and I think it speaks of that gentleness I keep mentioning that Kix says, “You’re gonna be okay, buddy, this’ll ease the pain.” Kix is comforting, and he holds himself together under stress because he has his brothers to take care of. 3. I think it’s also notable that when Torrent is starting to express their distrust in Krell, though you can tell Kix is beginning to get frustrated with the treatment of the men (expressing that with Krell’s plan, casualties will be high,) his comments are not nearly has harsh as those of Tup or Jesse. Once again, Kix is shown to be more reserved, and I see it as him maintaining his professionalism in raising these concerns, even as he is beginning to grow frustrated with this poor treatment. 4. The note of Kix beginning to grow frustrated with the treatment of his brothers will be expanded upon throughout the Umbara arc; especially in light of Kix taking his frustration and horror out on the wildlife of Umbara for feeding on the corpses of his brothers. If I am to extrapolate, those dead clones serve as a reminder to Kix; a remainder that he, more and more, has been unable to properly care for all his injured brothers. These clones are a reminder to Kix of the brothers he could not save. This is the first crack within Kix, due to the stress of Umbara, and I have to emphasis, this is not Kix’s normal pattern of behavior. 5. Continuing the thread of Kix beginning to crack under the pressures of Umbara, there is a moment in Umbara where Kix is tending to an injured clone—one that’s in his arms, and this clone gets shot to death in Kix’s arms. This is directly Kix being unable to save a clone’s life despite being right there, because Umbara is that overwhelming—to such a degree that he’s forced to leave behind the injured in this moment, even if he can save them. And this is another crack in Kix’s composure, because he snaps at Rex, he drops his professionalism and his respect, and even resorts to barbed comments against Rex for ordering him from tending to the injured because Torrent needs Kix alive. This is not Kix’s normal behavior, this is Kix, stressed and crumbling under the weight of Umbara. 6. The last notable scene Kix appears in, and this is the moment where Kix finally breaks under Umbara’s pressure—it’s the moment where he starts haphazardly firing his blaster at the enemy. This is intended to be shocking—because this is not how Kix nominally acts, he’s in immense distress, and it takes Tup pulling him into cover to get him to calm down. Kix holds his composure for so long, and when he does break, he breaks hard. 7. To cap off the Umbara thoughts, though Kix does have more scenes, he is relegated to a background character for the most part—but, I can only imagine what was going through Kix’s head when he had, under the orders of Krell, fired upon other clones, it is completely counter to who he is, both as a person and as a medic, and I imagine it cuts deep—as it did for all clones involved in that moment, but for Kix… some of that hurt I imagine would be coming from how he’s meant to save his brothers lives, he’s the medic… and yet, in that moment, all he did was take theirs.

Umbara shows that Kix—who has been shown to be a respectful, kind, and helpful clone who just earnestly wants to do his duty in providing his brothers with the care he needs—is broken by an inability to help.

From the Chip arc (S06:01 - S06:04):

1. Not much to be said about some of Kix’s first appearances in this arc, as Kix is doing what he does as a medic (and expressing concern for Tup.) But the scene where Tup is in the infirmary, and Kix is confused about what’s wrong with Tup, I do think that Kix being willing to say that he can’t figure out what’s wrong, and that if they want answers, he’ll need to be sent back to Kamino, is indicative of Kix is aware of the limitations in his knowledge and is willing to humble himself. 2. This is more light-hearted scene (at first, anyway,) and is mostly conjecture on my part but I find it too amusing to leave out. That is the scene in which Kix is checking himself out in the mirror at 79’s. I do not think this is indicative of Kix being conceited about his looks—rather, I think it’s indicative of something else entirely in light of how he also talks in this scene. When he realizes someone else walks in, he talks with a deeper tone that I can only describe as Kix trying to present himself as being cool and mysterious. All the while he’s nonchalantly brushing his shoulders off. It’s so funny to me, especially when he realizes it’s Fives who just walked in, and immediately he tone switches to his typical inflection—and his mannerisms return to the typical ones we’ve seen of him. (Yes, I also think Kix had the haircut he does because he tries to present himself as cooler than he actually is, I imagine he grew embarrassed by this insistence given he grows it out later on—Kix is a dork, I said what I said.) 3. And yes, Kix immediately jumping to concern, before offering his help to Fives—even if his duty would insist that he turn Fives in because of the attempted assassination—I think, this is because Kix fixates on Fives’ distress, and he focuses on how to alleviate that stress, so even as it’s clear he’s confused by what Fives has gotten himself into, Kix still offers his help, and gives it freely in getting Fives in direct contact with Anakin and Rex at his behest. It’s a strong moment for his character, and his face when he asks what he can do to help… it’s so earnest. He’s loyal to his brothers.

And finally, there is the Echo arc of season 7, (S07:01 - S07:04):

1. When their gunship gets shot down, Kix is the first to notice that Cody was injured in the wreck and is trapped; I put this down to Kix being attentive and keeping track of the head count of the party he’s with, something done because he is the team medic and he is responsible for the well being of those around him first and foremost. 2. Then there is the scene at the campfire, which, firstly shows the bond Jesse and Kix have given the ease of banter between them and the comfort between them in their interactions. Secondly, I find it interesting how when Wrecker strangles Jesse, while Rex resorts to more direct action (trying to pull Wrecker by his collar,) Kix kind of just hovers, it’s a pretty… non-violent action when Rex and Jesse both jump to the defensive with the batch (Rex, even more directly, later on, when he actually punches Crosshair.) Similarly, even when Crosshair shoves Kix away, Kix shoves back before getting stuck in a headlock, and even after getting out of the headlock, at most he puts his hands on Crosshair to keep shoving him away. Generally, Kix is a lot less confrontational compared to either Jesse and Rex are in regards to the batch—which, circles around to my point of Kix not being as assertive, neither will he be overly aggressive towards allies. (This may be extrapolated as Kix refusing to take more direction action against another clone, given Umbara. But, that’s just extrapolation; a theory, a musing on motives.) 3. (Also yes I am aware that Kix makes jabs about the batch and I mostly construe this to be that Kix can be judgmental about others when he’s skeptical of them, I have my reasons as to why I’m not putting a lot of weight on this but it’s tied to a critique of the arc’s writing, which is not what this is about.)

In summation, Kix is shown, repeatedly, to be someone whose kind and helpful—what matters most to him is the care and well being of his brothers. He’s earnest in that care, and he’s got a softness that underscores a lot of his mannerisms and speech. He does his best to hold himself together for the sake of his brothers. He gets frustrated and breaks down in the face of mounting casualties and an inability to help his brothers. He’s respectful and professional in how he conducts himself as a medic, and even if he pulls rank, he’s firm but kind about it—he expresses patience in how he handles those under his care. Additionally, and in my own conjecture of his character, Kix tries to present himself as cooler than he actually is, suggesting a level of dorky insecurity to him. He’s also shown to lash out and make barbed comments when he’s incredibly stressed, and Kix carries judgment towards others when he’s skeptical of them.

What Kix is not is a hard ass medic whose sick of everyone’s shit, who berates and scolds his patients relentlessly—complaining about how they make his job harder. He is not quick to anger nor does he easily take his frustrations out on those around him—especially those under his care. He does not constantly throw his rank around to get those under his care to do what he wants.

It is a far cry from Kix’s character, and I think it’s a damn shame Kix’s actual character gets ignored in favor in fanon, because honestly, Kix as he is in canon is incredibly interesting—carrying a host of traits that can be explored and examined in their own right.

(Also, in quick references, I’ve narrowed down two videos that compiled Kix’s screen time across TCW, this one which clocks at ~14 minutes, and the second one with clocks in at ~17 minutes.)

[vxdfives]

Okay posting this because I just had to suffer through listening to the most out of pocket defense of the Empire I’ve ever heard—just so everyone’s clear, the Empire canonically committed AT LEAST FIVE genocides (Jedi, Lasan, Geonosis, Alderaan, Mandalore), enslaved millions of individuals and peoples (clones, twi’leks, wookiees), used child soldiers (swr episode “Breaking Ranks”, where the instructor explains to the teenager cadets they’ll leave the academy in a “few short weeks” as soldiers), just to name a few

Like, how can you get on your soap box and claim the Empire was right? How can you look at all of the evils they’ve done, the hundreds of atrocities they’ve explicitly committed in canon, and possibly claim it was in any way justified?

I don’t care if you think the Jedi Order was “wrong” or corrupt. Nothing the did could have justified the thousands of lives that were killed.

I don’t care if you don’t agree that the clones were sentient people. Nothing could have justified the mass subjugation of their free will (those chips were implanted in their frontal lobe; O66 literally overroad their ability to make choices)

I DON’T CARE if you think the Republic was corrupt and was destroying itself and the rest of the galaxy. Nothing it did could have justified the millions of lives that were taken by the Empire’s hand.

The Empire was evil, straight up. We learn that truth in A New Hope, and that has never changed. If anything, the countless additions to the franchise following the original trilogy have only reinforced the Empire’s evil by expanding upon the world building of gffa, the hundreds of other layers to its evil that have been stacked on top of each other since.

[vxdfives]

The Clone Wars

Pros: Clones

Cons: War

[vxdfives]

DODGE

[vxdfives]

i have brought peace [citation needed], freedom [citation needed], justice [citation needed], and security [citation needed] to my [citation needed] new empire

[vxdfives]

Ever think about how Fives always stuck to his principles and always did what he believed was right and had such a strong moral compass and loved his fellow clones so so much and put so much importance on his individuality and never faltered and always took accountability for his actions because of all of this and how smart he was and and an-

[vxdfives]

sometimes i read a fives fic where he is characterized as something of an idiot, gets ahead of himself, a flirt, too impulsive, echo is his better half, all that stuff. and then i go re-watch the chip arc and seethe with rage at what the fandom has done to this man.

[vxdfives]

Behold, the Domino Twins

Absolute finest troopers!

[vxdfives]

They did not 💀

Ok so I wanted to buy myself a Star Wars Coloring book because I like coloring books and when Im stressed its relaxing to not have to think about what to draw and just color.

Simple idea.

So I bought one and just looked through all the pages and wow......just wow

Who doesnt want to color in Fives death scene!

I dont know if I should laugh or cry at this.

I already know I might never finish this page because no matter how much work I put into it, it will never be good enough to give honor to his death.

[vxdfives]

The Empire couldn’t have been defeated without Fives’s sacrifice almost 30 years earlier

I mean almost everything accomplished by

Rex

Ahsoka

Gregor

Wolfe

Wrecker

Omega

and probably

Echo

Hunter

Tech

Crosshair if he ever gets around to accomplishing anything good

post-Order 66 would not have been possible without him.

We haven’t seen much of CF99’s astropolitical influence yet, but Ahsoka was central to forming scattered rebel groups into the Alliance, and Thrawn probably would have kept Lothal if the clones hadn’t helped oust him. Can you imagine the Original Trilogy with Thrawn and/or his TIEs kicking around? And a Rebellion without all the groundwork Ahsoka laid? It was all possible because of Fives.

And that’s what we call the Domino effect 😉

[vxdfives]

Redrew some Clones!! I love how they turned out💕 commissions are open! -

[vxdfives]

“Find him. Fives. Find him!”

a product of my clone wars-induced-at-2-in-the-morning depression episode

[vxdfives]

There is a behind the scenes discussion for the Umbara arc (it’s on YouTube and it’s really interesting so I definitely recommend watching it) and they actually said that they made small changes in the facial structure of the clones. Things like having the eye brows higher or lower. So there are supposed to be differences but I haven’t figured out what they are yet (besides the obvious lol). So no you’re not crazy

Ok I don’t know what it is, but Howzer looks so much like Rex. I know you probably are all like ‘well no shit they are clones’ but if u look at like Rex and Fives side by side THEY BARELY LOOK ALIKE. Same with Rex and Jesse and everyone else, but u put Howzer and Rex next to each other and they look so alike. Like I’ll see edits and the top bit of Howzer gorgeous hair is cut off so u just see the buzzed sides and I have to do a double take because for a second I think it’s Rex.

These are all from the Umbara arc so they all have the same design model (Rex, Fives, Jesse, Hardcase)

IM TELLING YOU IM NOT CRAZY

[vxdfives]

Please don’t take this as an attack or anything like this but I’m a little confused. What was he supposed to do different with Dogma. The only times they interact is in the beginning of the arc where he ignores one of dogma’s takes about Krell. Then when he’s in charge of Fives’ and Jesse’s “execution”, when dogma stopped them from going after Krell and when he killed Krell (wich took Fives by surprise). I just don’t understand where Fives should have acted differently. He was never in any position to change something about Dogma’s fate. Sure Fives isn’t particularly nice to him but considering how the whole execution thing was probably pretty traumatic I don’t blame him one bit. And based on his reaction after Dogma killed Krell he knew what would probably happen to Dogma and he definitely wasn’t happy about it. Again no attack I just don’t understand this take at all

Ok but listen.

I have this love-hate relationship with Fives. As in half the time I love him, half the time I hate him. And the other half of the time I love and hate him with and without discrimination.

It's like -

On the one hand, Fives and Echo. ARC Fives, Rex's right hand man. Second only to Rex. Natural leader. Talented soldier. Determined. Loyal. Righteous. Managed to single-handedly come this close to winning the war.

On the other...

Look, he's an asshole, and nothing proves that to me more than how the Dogma Situation is handled during and after Umbara. My personal hcs aside, Fives did a lot of wrong there that can't all be blamed on the stresses and reality of the situation.

So, yanno. Echo is the better twin Lol

[vxdfives]

This could be either way but I don’t think she knew. Mainly because they wanted to keep the chips secret from her. At the time she still assumed the chip was just a tumor. And yeah Fives technically disobeyed orders but I just don’t think she would have agreed to erase his mind. I mean how would the Kaminoans justify it to her without being suspicious. So I think they just told her the same lie and the “it will be good to put this entire incident behind you” was just her trying to comfort Fives. Wich is something he really needed in that scene. So yeah I chose to believe she didn’t know

Did Shaaki Ti know Fives was going to be reconditioned? Rewatching S6E3 and after she tells him he has one more physical to pass, she says "It will be good to put this entire incident behind you, trooper." So did she know? Or was she simply trying to give out some advice?

[vxdfives]

I don’t think they even knew. Rex statement that Ahsoka found was locked up behind a password. Palpatine told Nala Se to keep all of this confidential. They came up with the cover up about how Tup and Fives got parasites that made the chip decay (idk why Shaak Ti didn’t notice that Fives’ chip was very much not decaying but let’s ignore that). That was the story they told the Jedi. I don’t think anyone told the other clones. Why should they? If anything Rex probably told the 501st about what happened but I also don’t think he told them about the chips. Because he didn’t even really believe it himself “Fives tried to warn me about the chips, but I didn’t understand at the time”. And I don’t even think Rex was told about the “parasites” because they wanted to keep it secret so the last thing they would probably want to do is to tell Rex that the clones actually have chips in their heads. We know from Kix that the others were told that Fives had the same thing Tup had and I believe they just kept that story to explain what happened. Basically my point is the only one who knew about the chips who would have told the clones was Rex. But he didn’t really believe it himself so I don’t think he had a reason to tell the others. And I don’t think the other clones questioned the official explanation (well expect Kix) because they didn’t have a reason to do so. Sure Tech said that he believed the chips were common knowledge but we all know how he is. Plus he probably had more access to information and was probably one of the few who cared enough to get that information. I don’t think your average clone had access to that kind of information.

I wonder what happened once it became common knowledge that there were chips inside the clones. According to the Jedis (Anakin mainly), the chip was nothing more than a failsafe, without which the clones had it in them to become violent.

Rex was the first clone on Coruscant to learn about the chips. When Fox would have learnt about the circumstances that led the CG to the garage, Rex must have told him. About how Fives was incoherent but seemed to believe that there were chips inside each of them, which could be used to control the clones, and even hurt the Jedis.

And when more and more clones find out, did they feel they could talk to their Jedis about this? Did Wolffe think he should walk up to Plo Koon and express how conflicted he feels knowing that there is something inside his brain that is supposed to stop him from being violent, even though he knows that violence has been a constant part of his life? Did Cody think he could discuss this matter with Obi Wan? He was the first Jedi to learn about the clones’ existence, maybe he knew about the chips? And what did Rex do after he saw Anakin lose his cool at the mention of the Chancellor’s name. There was no way to talk to him about the chip and what it’s presence meant to him, as a living person. Did he convince the rest of the 501st that the chips really were a failsafe, even though he didn't believe it himself?

And even if the clones didn’t approach them, did the Jedis ask their men how they felt about this new knowledge? And did they feel ashamed when the clones asked them how could they have never known about the chips? Wasn’t it a Jedi who was responsible for the creation of the army?

[vxdfives]

⚜️FIVES⚜️

#stormtrooper #star wars #sandtrooper #empire #lucasfilm #the clone wars #captain rex #the clone boys #arc trooper fives