#and that this story was going to continue but now with more focus on Rex and Echo

[heyclickadee]

I understand that people are going to cope how they are going to cope, and trying to find meaning in the handling of Tech in season three is part of that, but it’s also okay to criticize the show.

I like a good character death. Tech’s departure was not that. My issue is not that he’s presumed dead, my issue is that it and the handling of it is nonsense. So (I once again get very negative about my favorite show under the cut):

1. When you kill off a main character, you really have to kill them off. How you do so can vary from story to story, but you really have to do four things:

One, you need a good reason to kill them off in the first place. (“Stakes” is not a good reason. A secondary character, sure, but not a main one. More on that in a minute.)

Two, you need to make it perfectly clear that the character is, in fact, dead.

Three, you need to show the other characters processing and accepting that death. This is important because doing so will allow the audience to do the same and let the character go. This is especially important if you’re writing for a young audience.

Four, you need to make it explicitly clear that the character cannot come back. This is especially true in sci fi or fantasy. Especially if you’re the Character Resurrection franchise.

And guess what the show didn’t do?

Any of that. Any of it. What it did instead was ambiguously remove Tech from the story (uniquely in a show that loves making us watch characters die on screen; last time we saw Tech for sure he was alive), never gave a good reason for doing so in or out of the show, never showed us any character working through the impact of his loss (even though there was ample opportunity for Omega, especially, to do so), and ripped the “could he come back?” box wide open by parading CX-2 in front of our faces. It is never, at any point, handled like an actual main character death. It’s handled as a plot point from which the narrative moves fairly quickly, and treated by all parties as an absence. By all the rules of storytelling, Tech isn’t dead. He’s just ambiguously gone. And that means the writing team did a terrible job if what they wanted to do was kill him off. We should not be debating this after the show has ended if he’s actually dead.

2. I understand why some fans are trying to find meaning in losing Tech. I am not, because that meaning is not offered by the text itself. And, if the plan was to never bring him back, it should have been.

We are not, for example, offered a lesson about how not everyone comes home from the war. In order for that to have been the case, we would have needed to see someone, probably Omega, working through that. We would have needed to see her refusing to accept that Tech is gone—like we do in Plan 99, by the way—and slowly coming to terms with the idea that her brother isn’t coming home. But we don’t get that, not even as subtext.

Something else we could have gotten that would have worked with all the little visual reminders of Tech, empty chairs, name-drops, and even the CX-2 leading? The batch being so haunted by losing Tech and not really knowing what happened to him for sure that they start seeing him everywhere. But for that to work we would have needed, again, to see that as an explicit subplot where someone, probably Omega, again, gets really invested in the signs that Tech is coming back and even starts assuming that CX-2 is him, only to realize that she’s seeing what she wants to see and having to accept that Tech isn’t coming back, but that she can still keep Tech’s memory alive by following in his footsteps. That’s something you can kind of project onto what we’re given in the epilogue, but you do have to project it, because it’s entirely absent from the rest of the show.

As is, Tech’s sacrifice isn’t given any weight. From a narrative perspective, it was an incredibly contrived set of circumstances that accomplished nothing except punting Tech off a train, and gave Tech no choice but to remove himself from the story—exit, stage down. Losing Tech doesn’t, even sub-textually, serve as anyone’s motivation. It does nothing to move the plot or anyone’s character development forward. The primary motivators of season three were Omega’s kidnapping, Crosshair’s PTSD, and Hemlock needing to get Omega back.

Tech’s absence does nothing to move anything forward and only really serves to slow the plot down and make the others struggle to do anything because he’s not there to carry the team like he did in the first two seasons—and nothing about that would have played out any differently if Tech spent the season in a coma in a bacta tank. The only part of Tech’s sacrifice that has meaning is that he loved his family enough to offer it. And that is profound, but that’s not something that would be negated by a return because the love and the offer remain. As for his presumed death? His return couldn’t have taken meaning away from that, because the show never gave it any meaning in the first place.

And no, Tech “dying” isn’t something I have to accept. Tech isn’t a real person, he’s an idea, and an idea that didn’t come to fruition. I can point out the ways the handling of his departure didn’t work all day if I want.

3. CX-Tech was not an overly online theory. I need people to understand this. It was an assumption made by most of the casual audience. My sister, who has no contact with the fandom and doesn’t like me discussing the show at all until she’s seen it, assumed he was Tech. My brother-in-law, who was a die-hard Tech-has-to-be-dead-shut-up guy for the entire hiatus and the first half of season three, was convinced he was Tech. Every kid I’ve spoken to who watched the show thought he was Tech and is deeply confused that he got speared like that. My brother, who doesn’t even watch the show but who does walk by when I’m watching it sometimes, thought he was Tech. You can’t get more casual and away from the fandom than that.

The thing is, the answer we get isn’t that he’s not Tech. It’s, “We’re not telling.” Which means that as it currently stands, a season-and-a-half of CX buildup amounted to a five minute boss fight and a non-answer. That’s…not something that works! That’s atrocious writing if that was the whole sum of their intent all along.

And you can say, well, that was a clever misdirect! Plot twist! Except, one, misdirects and twists only work if the real answer is more satisfying than the false one, otherwise it just falls flat. Two, if it was a misdirect, it’s not one the creative team is willing to own. No one will touch the Tech-CX-2 parallels with a twenty-foot pole, except the Kiners, who have incredibly meaningful explanations for every musical choice but then say shit like, “that chord just sounds good in brass” about Battle of the Snipers (…before going on to say that the four note lose motif from “Plan 99” is Tech’s leitmotif…which is also all over Battle of the Snipers…and is only there according because the batch is divided in that scene, a scene in which Crosshair’s leitmotif is entirely absent even though he’s just supposed to be fighting his own dark side represented by a guy who’s totally not Tech. Sure. I’m going to go eat drywall.) Because acknowledging that and saying that was supposed to be Tech will just make the audience angrier, and they may not even be allowed to do so, and saying that it is Tech—you can understand why they can’t do that, right? The implications are horrific. But that horrific implication is probably what at least some of the casual audience who will never interact with the fandom or a single interview is going to walk away with.

4. The thing that bothers me most about all of this is the combined toxicity of the fandom and the leading from the marketing and social media. Part of the fandom saying that there were never any signs Tech could have survived (in Star Wars, no less) is starting to feel like gaslighting; and while I don’t think there was any malice in the leading in the marketing and social media—I’m even willing to give a tiny bit of leeway for the creative team maybe knowing something we don’t yet—it was handled badly, expectations for this season should have been set early and clearly, and as of right now it all feels like an incredibly cruel prank at autistic fans expense, whatever the intent may have been or may still be.

5. And finally, here’s the thing: I’m willing to give the writers a bit of leeway on this. I’m willing to grant that some choices may have been out of their hands for unknown reasons. I’m even willing to say that maybe they’re not really done with this story yet, that The Bad Batch could just be the first chapter of a longer show that was split up for stupid business reasons, and that the finale is the way it is because they had to have an ending of sorts without actually resolving anything. I’m willing to grant a lot of grace there. In fact, I actually think there’s a very good chance we’ll still get Tech back alive in canon, and sooner than later, if only because no one (not even the voice actors) seems happy about this, most fans are coping but disappointed at best, the creative team got asked about Tech non-stop for a solid year and a half, and the writers don’t seem at all committed. We know from the rest of the show that they know how to definitively kill a guy, and, frankly, Tech in the first two seasons comes across as something of a writer favorite. They like using him!

But whatever I’m hoping or suspecting, and whatever leeway I’m willing to grant the creative team here, the final product is all we have right now. And I am going to criticize that final product for badly handling a (presumed) character death and straight up breaking the central conceit of the show in doing so.

#the bad batch #one thing I will say #is that if I knew for sure #that ‘the cavalry has arrived’ was simply a midpoint #not really a series finale in the writers’ heads but just a season finale #and that this story was going to continue but now with more focus on Rex and Echo #with Tech as the bridge between the two series #I would not be nearly as harsh about the finale as I am #it doesn’t resolve anything it simply stops #because it had to end

[zhongrin]

| ◆ ch. vago mundo ⑊ zhongli

--⟢ i. tales passed down for generations |   the people of liyue know of many tales…

𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 ⬙ 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 ⬙ 𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡

◇ tags ◇ (all tags from the series masterlist), sagau, pure fluff, dragon!li

◇ a/n ◇ yk what i told myself i won't post this until after i wrote the liyue chapter but ✨i✨don't✨care✨anymore✨ hsdlkfjskldjf i have no idea when i'll update universe abound and this has been sitting on my drafts for FAR too long... besides, it can be read as a standalone anyway. now. once again i am here to tell you that dragon!zhongli is love, dragon!zhongli is life. thank you for attending my ted talk-

you stare.

dark brown scales, decorated with shining gold lines seem to pulse under the sunlight filtering through the curtains.

you stare harder.

the long appendage twitches before it shifts to hide behind the man standing right in front of you.

"your grace," morax coughs awkwardly into his fist and upon being greeted with your silence, decides to go back to fiddle with the coat he was halfway putting on before you barged in, "i believe it is still… thirty minutes before our scheduled stroll. is something the matter?"

instead of answering, you blurt out in an amazed voice, like a young child that just spotted their favorite candy, "you have a tail!"

"i… yes, well, considering that i am a dragon, and they do have tails-"

"it's so pretty! why don't you have it out more often?"

the genuine enthusiasm in your voice makes him smile.

"it's- ah, it could be an inconvenience sometimes."

you blink, not understanding the meaning of his words. he gives you a bashful look and proceeds to focus on his garments instead. knowing that he's not going to elaborate anymore, you choose to study the scaly appendage - unlike morax's still body, it's twitching and swaying around where it rests on the floor, almost as if…

….. hmm?

"zhongli."

"yes?"

"i love you."

the sudden confession makes him go still, and you observe his reactions in interest.

"i love you too, dearest."

aside from the short pause and the elegant smile on his lips, the man looks as dignified and unaffected as ever. however, your impossibly wide grin strains your cheeks as you eye the rhythmic thumping of his tail against the floor.

"rex lapis," you gasp, "… are you wagging your tail???"

"ahem. c-certainly not, i don't-"

"oh. my. god. that is the cutest thing ever!"

"............ beloved….."

"no no no no no if you hide your tail then i'm revoking our daily walks and regular kisses!"

zhongli's tail perks up and begins to sway anxiously, and you feel like crying from how adorable this whole thing is.

"now, let us not take such drastic measures, darling. i believe this matter can be discussed, perhaps over some tea-"

"please please please let me pet your tail!"

your lover's cheeks flush pink, and you feel like the happiest deity in teyvat.

people of liyue have heard of many tales. stories about adeptus protecting liyue behind the city itself, of fearsome plains drenched in monster dust as they were struck down by their god, of the stone gate collapsing and effectively cutting off supply routes from the city of freedom - not that it has been used for quite some time now….

people of liyue have seen many things. terrifying disasters almost sinking their whole city into oblivion, their beloved archon appearing once more and taking charge against vicious monsters overrunning teyvat's landscapes, their own creator coming into liyue after continuous years of prayers and offerings…

but never in their life they would have thought the day would come when they see the god of contracts himself - known for hurling stone pillars that now stand as guyun stone forest, vanquishing countless gods in the archon wars, and sealing many divine beasts who have run rampant across the land - stroll about the city arm-in-arm with the divine creator, his draconic tail proudly in full display and gently swaying side to side as the two converses softly, eyes staring deeply into each other's akin to lovers who hadn't seen each other in eons.

they see it, and they think: yes, this tale too, shall be passed down to the younger generations.

© zhongrin | 2023 ◆ no repost. reblogs much appreciated. feel free to reach out to submit suggestions, feedback, comments, or if you just want to talk!

◇ taglist ◇ @genshinparty | @abyssmal-skies | @hamdehlesmis | @depressivecomforts | @sophiethewitch1 | @why-am-i-here-someone-save-me | @sunnshineflxwer | @heartonthemoon | @yuutasbabe | @percyval-archives | @carbs-need-more-love | @rebeccka | @queen-belial | @stygianoir | @silentmoths | @niktwazny303 | @dustofthedailylife | @herdrops | @diebischesther | @marina-and-the-memes | @angryhope | @mixed-kester | @shuangxo | @fiannee | @lordbugs | @anonymousficreader | @shizunxie | @ladylofspades | @sup-zfam | @ansy-tea | @irethepotato | @nachotrash | @algrimmammon | @sassy-cat-in-town | @syrenkitsune | @smokipoki | @pvbbyb0y | @shipperxchaos

#genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #rex lapis #morax #zhongli #zhongli x reader #universe abound #rin writes

[antianakin]

Antianakin's Anti-Anakin/Pro-Jedi Fic Rec List

The theme for this rec list is fics that either center on Anakin getting some consequences for his actions or are just generally more critical towards Anakin as a character. Please note that this means these fics will also be critical towards most Anakin ships, most notably Anidala and Obikin.

This list is dedicated to all of the people who have been sending me messages asking for fic recs over the last several months, there's clearly a market for fics that aren't kind towards Anakin.

A lot of these fics take things like the Tusken massacre, Order 66, and Anakin's treatment of Padme, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, and Rex very seriously. Please take that as a warning if any of those things might be triggering, and keep an eye on the tags for all of the fics included here just in case.

Here are the categories!

Anakin/Consequences: Anakin experiences consequences for his actions in some way shape or form, but doesn't die.

Spoiler Alert, He Doesn't Make It: Anakin experiences the specific consequence of dying by the end of the story, usually at the hands of someone he's hurt.

The Jedi Deserve Better: There's a bigger focus on the Jedi recovering, Jedi culture, or the Jedi being philosophically right than there is on anything specifically "anti Anakin" as such, but the story is still critical of Anakin's beliefs and/or behavior.

Helpful terms:

Unfinished: Any fic that is marked as incomplete, or a series where the fic(s) in it are still incomplete and cannot stand alone

Ongoing: Any series marked as incomplete, but the fics in it are marked as complete or can stand alone as they are

There is no specific order to this. I tried to group fics from one specific author together, but other than that, I didn't place anything in any specific position for a reason.

This is not an exhaustive list of good anti-Anakin fics that exist, obviously. If your fic or your favorite fic isn't on this list, please feel free to rec it yourself in the notes, leave a reply or reblog with a link. I'm happy to read more anti-Anakin fic, especially if it's very Pro-Jedi!

One final reminder: NOTHING IN THIS LIST IS ANAKIN FRIENDLY! If that's going to bother you to read, please just skip this entire list, it's not for you.

Anakin/Consequences:

and the tide rises, the tide falls series by @blackkatmagic (unfinished, 119k): When Anakin's actions with the Tuskens on Tatooine become known a few months into the Clone War, Agen Kolar comes in to temporarily take over the 501st while Anakin is sent back to Coruscant to face the Council. I cannot recommend this fic enough. This is the fic that introduced me to Agen Kolar as a real character (as opposed to just one of the random Jedi who immediately die going up against Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith) and now he's one of my favorite Jedi of all time. Agen is such a beautiful character and his relationship to his identity as a Jedi gives me just about every feeling I think I've ever felt in my life and the development of his relationships with Rex, Kix, and Ahsoka as the fic continues is such a well-written slow burn. I'd recommend reading more of blackkat's works just in general, too, because they're pretty much all Pro-Jedi and have a delightful tendency to focus on more niche Jedi and clone characters and rarepair ships if you're interested in that.

Commander Fox's Ultimate Bucket List by @blackkatmagic (27k): Fox is sent back in time, immediately murders Palpatine, and surprisingly nothing but good things follow so he's got plenty of time now to get to the other things on his bucket list, including but not limited to: murdering Count Dooku, murdering Anakin Skywalker, saving Senator Amidala from her atrocious taste in men, and seducing Mace Windu. This fic is BLISTERINGLY funny, Fox's very dry point of view on things and readiness to shoot Anakin at literally any moment literally had me struggling to not laugh out loud at work. This is also an INCREDIBLY pro-Mace Windu fic, with all of the clones, for once, in love with Mace Windu instead of the more popular suspects. It's what he deserves, and Fox agrees.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Time Travelers by @blackkatmagic (unfinished, 78k): Fives is stuck in a time loop where he tries to stop Order 66 from happening and his latest plan is to kidnap Mace Windu for his own protection because he's the only person capable of defeating Palpatine. Fives' opinion of Anakin is now INCREDIBLY low, and the constant comparisons to Mace and how much better Mace is, are deeply satisfying. Fives' immense distress and somewhat manic passion don't take away from just HOW competent Fives is, and I really love getting to see a depiction of him that really allows him to fully be both at once and neither one takes away from the other. I love how his relationship to Mace develops from Fives' initial desperation into something so trusting and passionate through difficult circumstances.

in search of a sky for smoke to rise to by @blackkatmagic (7k): Padme has to go on the run after reporting Anakin's massacre of the Tuskens to the Jedi in fear of Anakin's rage. She lands on Sundari to try to hide there and meets with Arla Fett who sparks her interest. Padme gets to be a total BAMF in this which is always fun, and I LOVED Arla in this so so much!

sanguine series by @glimmerglanger (157.5k) (EDIT: this AO3 account was deleted several months after I made this list and so the link below is now broken. I am leaving this series in regardless, as a record of the incredible work glimmerglanger did and as a reminder of the consequences of online harassment): Obi-Wan is a vampire in an AU where vampires exist in the GFFA and this changes some things. The ramifications of what it means to be a vampire in this AU and the biases and prejudices that Obi-Wan has to deal with are so interesting from a worldbuilding standpoint. The way Anakin's relationship with Obi-Wan CHANGES because of it is also an interesting thing to see develop in this series.

uncomfortable by @panther-os (1k): When Anakin won't respect Padme's boundaries in the beginning of Attack of the Clones, Padme requests a different bodyguard from the Jedi. Short and sweet and removes the rather unfortunate "yes means no" theme that taints Padme's storyline in Attack of the Clones.

Slices of Happiness series by @feybarn (unfinished, 40k): No Order 66 AU where Obi-Wan takes a short sabbatical after the war to handle his mental health and is joined by some of the clones before he returns to the Temple. It is, as the title of the series says, mostly just little slices of stories as the clones and Jedi heal and reconnect after the war. There's a large emphasis on Obi-Wan healing from Anakin's rejection of the Jedi and having to come to terms with his relationship with Anakin having perhaps been less healthy than he'd realized and learning to enforce healthier boundaries when Anakin gets entitled and selfish.

Wasted Training by @thesecondbatgirl (700): Obi-Wan finds out about Anakin's "training" for Ahsoka from TOTJ. Very short but OH so satisfying to see someone react appropriately to this.

Liberosis by Be_Right_Back (2k): In a No Order 66 AU, Anakin's secret marriage comes to light and the Council asks Anakin to make a choice. This one is a tad softer on the "anti Anakin" aspect of it, but the Jedi are portrayed as entirely within their rights to make Anakin choose which life he wants to live.

Stay by @amukmuk (2k): Commander Thorn has been helping Padme out in a No Order 66 AU as Padme's been dealing with her divorce from Anakin, and Padme finally comes to a decision about her feelings. I am an unrepentant Thornidala shipper, and as many problems as I tend to have with the way Padme's written and the implications about her as a character because of that, I also have a nostalgic attachment to her and wish she could just... have a happier healthier relationship with someone who ACTUALLY loves her and respects her. I would take an entire series of this AU, I'd read a longfic of this AU, but I will also happily accept this short sweet little peek into this AU and let my daydreams do the rest of the work.

The Burden of Secrets by @jedi-order-apologist (9k): In the aftermath of the Deception arc, Ahsoka discovers the truth about the Tusken massacre and confronts Anakin about it. This one is a little lighter on the "anti Anakin" elements, but his choices on Tatooine are very much called out for the horror that they are, as are Padme's for hiding it. The fic also delves a little bit into the Rako Hardeen arc, Obi-Wan's choices in it, and Anakin's reactions to it and how appropriate they are.

Consumed by Greed by virdant (900): Obi-Wan travels back in time to the beginning of Anakin's apprenticeship and tries everything to try to keep Anakin from joining the Sith, and fails until he comes to a crucial understanding about Anakin as a person. The concept of this is absolutely heart-wrenching, thinking about Obi-Wan going back over and over, changing everything about himself and the Jedi in an attempt to save Anakin, only to finally realize that the problem lies in who Anakin is at his heart, and he can't change that. The ending is a gutpunch, but it feels so absolutely true, too.

Justice by virdant (1k): Padme makes a different choice at the end of AOTC and decides to report Anakin's crimes on Tatooine to Obi-Wan instead of marrying Anakin. Obi-Wan confronts Anakin about what he's done in the aftermath and forces him to face the consequences of the choice he made. I really like that the concept here isn't just that Anakin gets kicked out of the Jedi and sort-of set loose upon the galaxy, but that either the Council or Obi-Wan decided Anakin also needed to face reparations ON TATOOINE, from the Tuskens themselves, and that Obi-Wan plans to ensure that it happens. Anakin cannot be a Jedi until he makes as many amends for that as he can, until he recognizes the truth of what he's done and accepts the responsibility for it, and even then there's no guarantee he could be a Jedi afterwards. Either way, the Jedi are not not the only people Anakin has hurt, and not the only people with the right to ask for reparations from Anakin.

The Cost by luvewan (5k): Anakin jumps off the gunship after Padme in Attack of the Clones and deals (badly) with the fatal consequences of that choice when Obi-Wan dies at Dooku's hand before Yoda can show up. So this has been a favorite of mine for just about as long as I can remember, predominantly because of just how tragic it is and the very realistic consequences of the choice Anakin makes here. This fic was written before Revenge of the Sith had come out, so none of the choices Anakin makes in that film are taken into account, but the accuracy with which Anakin absolutely unravels and devolves into darkness because he lets his guilt turn into anger that he turns on other people in the name of justice feels so immensely in character. Seeing it all happen from Padme's point of view as she watches Anakin's descent, knowing she's the reason it happened in the first place, is so devastatingly beautiful.

Spoiler Alert, He Doesn't Make It:

@glimmerglanger's fics are getting an entire section dedicated to them again. I'd honestly just recommend reading all of glimmerglanger's work, but here's some fics that specifically showcase (deadly) consequences to Anakin below (EDIT: this AO3 account was deleted several months after I made this list and so all of the links below are now broken. I am leaving this section in regardless, as a record of the incredible work glimmerglanger did and as a reminder of the consequences of online harassment):

A Treatise on Breaking and Repairs (60k): Anakin captures Obi-Wan shortly after Revenge of the Sith and it goes very badly for Obi-Wan. This shit's dark, y'all, and things get way worse before they get better, please mind the tags, there's a reason the series is labeled the oof!au. That being said, this fic is sort-of the peak example of what I want out of a really good hurt/comfort story, where both halves of that are equally emphasized.

But What We Make series (ongoing, 125.5k): Cody from post-Return of the Jedi travels back in time to just before Order 66 and this changes some things. My favorite part of this series (so far) is the way Obi-Wan, future-Cody, and present-Cody are all forced to come to terms with their respective traumas and relationships to each other and none of them are handling it perfectly, but none of them are treated as more or less important than the others either.

Convergence Zones (115.5k): A sort-of modern day fantasy Jedi AU where the clones are made of clay and brought to life via magic. It's a little hard to explain in like 20 words or less just read it, it's so great. The collaboration between the clones and Jedi in this is so sweet, and the worldbuilding of the "clones" in this verse is really good.

Haunt Me, Then (31k): Post Order 66, all the surviving clones can see their Jedi as Force ghosts except Cody and the 212th, and when Cody's chip breaks early he helps start a revolution to gain justice for their Jedi. Cody's going through it in this one, too, and things get pretty dark, but this is another really great catharsis fic if you're in the mood for that.

Make Your Bed (Lie in It) (58k): Cody and Obi-Wan share a bunk during the war and this changes some things. I love all the ways in which this AU moves events just SLIGHTLY to the left and then the butterfly effect impact afterwards. The Cody and Obi-Wan relationship development is also just impeccable.

Natural Wonders (56k): Shapeshifter modern AU with nature photographer Cody and park ranger Obi-Wan and a murder mystery they solve together. There's some really cool facts about Yellowstone National Park in this fic as a delightful bonus to the sweet relationshippy stuff and the fun murder mystery storyline.

Greater Than Your Hoarded Gold series by Quietbang (ongoing, 96k): Anakin doesn't burn on Mustafar AU where there is a different kind of rebellion in the galaxy post Order 66. This author focused in on and centered the Jewish elements to the Jedi and brought in more Jewish culture to the Jedi, which is so interesting to read. The shifting perspectives, including totally outside perspectives, on the Jedi and the situation in the galaxy at large, makes for a really cool story with some incredible worldbuilding.

Unmasked by @schizo-fractured (17k): Footage of the Temple during Order 66 is released and this causes a series of changes in the galaxy as they confront what REALLY happened to the Jedi and the person who caused it. This got recommended to me based on a post I made wishing we could've seen Beru and Owen learn the truth about Anakin and what might've changed for them as a result, and while that's not the singular plot of this fic, it is kind-of an example of the underlying theme of the entire thing. It's a nice almost wish-fulfillment style concept where the loss of Anakin Skywalker's good reputation allows the general populace to rise up in defense of those he betrayed in righteous rage. It's time for the galaxy to defend the Jedi for a change.

the time when stars align by @deniigi (7k): Cody accidentally adopts some young stormtroopers post Order 66 and escapes with them to the Rebellion after Vader finds a way to "cure" him of his accelerated aging. Cody goes through so much horror in this fic and is still so SO funny with the way he looks at the world and speaks to his loved ones, allowing this fic to still feel sweet and wholesome despite how awful Cody's life is and has been.

When Night Falls series by Penguin Kiwi (ongoing, 7k): Cin Drallig gets more of a warning in the Force just before Order 66 and is able to put up a defense of the Temple and stop Anakin at the steps. I love these AUs that allow more niche Jedi to shine through, especially when it means they get to defeat Anakin because the Force looked at Anakin's choices and decided to abandon him for a better option. The conversation between Cin and Obi-Wan in the second fic really hits home, too.

The Jedi Deserve Better:

grow bold in a barren and desolate land by @blackkatmagic (5k): Mace survives Order 66 and Anakin's betrayal and stages a rescue for two clones left in prison who he knows never would've had their chips activated: Slick and Dogma. This has literally the barest mention of Anakin, but that mention is that Mace could easily beat Anakin in a fair fight, so I'm including it anyway. This is another one of those AUs I could read an entire longfic or series for and be eternally happy. There's a follow-up to this fic that's more explicitly Mace/Slick which is by no means ever a ship I had ever even considered before, but it works SO WELL here and gives me some interesting feelings. I'm also just always down for Dogma being treated kindly and getting a happier ending than canon chose to give him.

i am creation, both haunted and holy by @blackkatmagic (800): A'Sharad Hett makes a visit to Kamino where he meets Alpha-17 and finds they share an opinion about Anakin Skywalker. I'm so intrigued by A'Sharad Hett as a character and wish there was more content written about and for him. A'Sharad and Alpha-17 bonding over thinking Anakin Skywalker is an entitled selfish jerk is the best possible beginning to a ship, I'll be honest.

that was a spring of storms by @blackkatmagic (unfinished, 9k): When Alderaan is destroyed by the Death Star, Leia's grief causes herself, Luke, and Bail Organa to travel back in time to 8 months into the Clone Wars, where they are determined to ensure things go a little differently. This fic is only 2 chapters in, so I don't know precisely what kind of consequences Anakin may or may not end up getting, which is why it's in this category, but unsurprisingly neither Bail nor Leia are feeling particularly benevolent towards him and it is so incredibly satisfying. But holy FUCK am I hooked to this entire concept. Bail and Leia's relationship is heart-wrenching as all get out, Bail's protective instincts towards the Jedi absolutely kills me, and I'm so intrigued by these ship tags!

The Crime of Grief Series by @feybarn (ongoing, 34k): Padme goes into labor early while on the way to Mustafar, so neither she nor Obi-Wan ever make it there, and they go on the run with Rex and Ahsoka afterwards instead. Sides are drawn in the aftermath of Anakin's choices that causes friction among them before they can find healing. There's a large emphasis in this series that Anakin's choices are, in fact, HIS CHOICES, and the blame for them cannot be placed on anyone but Anakin, as well as the conundrum of whether it truly matters whether Anakin's got good left in him or not and if it's even worth it to try to save him.

吃飽了嗎? | Have you eaten your fill? series by virdant (1.5k): A look at Obi-Wan and his experience of Jedi culture through food. Virdant's fics focus in on the Asian influences in the Jedi and builds out their culture from there. Not every fic in this series is explicitly anti-Anakin, but a few of them are more critical of Anakin's view of the Jedi and his unwillingness to understand their culture or point of view.

things the way we want them to be by virdant (600): No Order 66 AU, where a teenaged Leia talks to Obi-Wan about the struggles she's having with Anakin as a father and the future she knows she (and Luke) should've had but weren't allowed. Leia is just absolutely heartbreaking in this, and Obi-Wan's inability to truly help her the way they both want is equally so. It's a devastating look at a possible less happy future even in a happy fix-it AU because leaving the Jedi would never be enough to "fix" Anakin.

Not This Crude Matter series by @talesfromthebitterbeast (53k): The clones have picked up some misconceptions about the Jedi which causes the Jedi to distance themselves from the clones, even after the war ends in a happy fix-it AU. The fics showcase the situation from multiple different perspectives as misunderstandings abound, but is always firmly on the side of the Jedi. I really like the way the Jedi relationships are showcased here, the ways they communicate and lean on each other even in the face of being misunderstood and misrepresented by people they'd hoped would understand them better than anyone else.

Harmonic Oscillation by @jessepinwheel (2k): Originally a short tumblr fic that has since been posted to AO3. Obi-Wan time travels back to the Clone War era and confronts Anakin about what he's done. I always love getting to see Obi-Wan refuse to let Anakin get away with his bullshit and finally see Anakin for the piece of shit that he is.

Released by @jedi-order-apologist (6k): Cody is rescued from the Empire post-Return of the Jedi and has to come to terms with everything he's happened to him now that he's at the end of his life and spent the majority of it brainwashed and enslaved to the Empire. This is a fic I come back to a lot because I really love the way Cody works through what's happened to him and the way he's viewed from an outside perspective via Luke. I also really love how the relationship between Cody and Obi-Wan isn't made explicitly romantic, but is portrayed as immensely important and meaningful to both of them, regardless of how you choose to view it.

Knightrise by @deviantaccumulation (unfinished, 89k): Obi-Wan and Yoda choose not to try to fight Anakin or Sidious and instead retreat to Mandalore to attempt to rebuild the Jedi Order as much as they can there under Satine's protection. This is an AU where Maul genuinely dies on Naboo which is a major plus in my book all on its own, quite honestly. There's some interesting political aspects in this for how the Jedi Order attempts to rebuild an actual community within Mandalore, with Mandalore still being a member of the Neutral Systems, and the Empire having risen already and all of the ensuing issues with that.

|keep the wolves away| by littlekaracan (unfinished, 46k): Obi-Wan and Yoda find Reva in the Temple and she accompanies Obi-Wan to Tatooine where they have to survive and recover together while watching over and protecting Luke. This is such a brilliant character study into Reva as a young child survivor of Order 66, being taken care of by someone who loves her but is equally as traumatized by the same event and the way that shapes their relationship and Reva's upbringing. I love her SO SO MUCH and I adore her perspective as she struggles to figure out what it means to be a Jedi in a world where being a Jedi openly means certain death but it's the last connection she has to her home, her family, and her culture.

our caches and constellations by johanneb (98k): "Eleven years ago, the Jedi order got wind of the closing pincers of a Sith trap and scattered to the remote corners of the galaxy. Ten years ago, millions of clone commanders and troopers were introduced as the Republic’s new Army, made for fighting a war alongside people the galaxy seemed to be forgetting ever existed." I couldn't come up with a better way to explain the fic than its own summary, but Cody and the 212th pick up Obi-Wan and Luke on Tatooine, while Senator Organa has to figure out how to get himself, Leia, and Leia's "tutor" to a rebel base without their two new Coruscant Guard escorts figuring out exactly how disloyal to the Republic they actually are. I absolutely SLAMMED through this fic, it's so good. Despite some of its heavier themes, it's honestly very sweet and wholesome with lots of cute Luke and Leia, some incredibly wonderful romances, and really interesting worldbuilding for this just slightly to the left version of the gffa. Anakin never makes an appearance in this, but he does get mentioned a few times for his betrayal and his part in the current state of the galaxy, and I REALLY loved that at no point in this fic was it ever important to either twin who their biological parents were.

ring the bells that can still ring by rain_sleet_snow (22k): Reva's been working with the Rebellion in-between the events of the Kenobi show and A New Hope, but when she hears Obi-Wan has made an appearance recently and goes to try to find him, she discovers Luke and Leia instead, with nobody left to train them but her. This fic was like a warm bread roll or a perfectly brewed cup of tea, it was just absolutely wholesome and exactly everything I could have wanted from this concept. The relationships between Luke, Leia, and Reva are both hilarious and sweet while allowing their respective traumas to still remain relevant to their journey together. Their discussions about Darkness, Reva's past, Obi-Wan, Anakin, the Jedi, and the events of A New Hope are all heart-wrenching and really feel so in-character but also so in line with the tone of the original trilogy. I could sit here and list things I liked about this fic all day, but it'd be faster to just read it yourself.

#fic #fic rec #star wars #anti anakin #anti anakin skywalker #anakin critical #anakin skywalker critical #jedi #pro jedi #obi-wan kenobi #ahsoka tano #captain rex #the clone wars #star wars the clone wars #swtcw #anti anakin fic rec series

[the-bi-space-ace]

Let's Talk About Echo & Crosshair

This is going to be long winded so I will put my thoughts under the cut <3

Echo and Crosshair have a lot of similarities and I think a lot of that has to do with their experiences with trauma. They have reacted differently to that trauma but still, those similarities are there.

Let's start with the lightest of this discussion: their wit and personalities. Crosshair has a dry delivery, borderline or outwardly mean at times, and he tends to never beat around the bush. He's forward and stubborn and he will call you out if he thinks you're wrong (immediately his treatment of Rex comes to mind). Echo is similar in this dryness. He rolls his eyes a lot and he strikes me as the person to call out his loved ones when they're being absolutely obtuse. He speaks his mind and doesn't hide when he's upset. They are both on the blunter side of things but the way people react to Echo's bluntness versus Crosshair's definitely varies. I think this is because Crosshair can be cruel while Echo tends to hold his tongue and go for a, still forward, but more diplomatic way.

I also think they both lead with emotion. Crosshair we see be angry a lot more than any other emotion (but that doesn't mean he doesn't have other emotions). We see Echo have a lot of fire within him - usually pointed towards an injustice. He's willing to stand up for his family, testify for Riyo, and fight with Rex to save their brothers from the empire. We see Crosshair do this too when he fights so hard for Mayday. He sees a person who is so deserving of saving that he puts his all into doing just that. They are both willing to let their emotions guide them, it just manifests a little differently. Crosshair's is more passion and surges of protectiveness and loyalty while Echo's is more sustained and dialed in. They both have this loyalty towards their loved ones and their brothers but Echo's is more doing the right thing to keep people safe and Crosshair's is more: whatever it takes to get the best end result is the path I will take. Same idea different approach.

This plays into a trait that both of them have: a strong sense of loyalty. Loyalty is extremely important to both of them but Echo tends to let this loyalty drive him towards the greater good, a willingness and need to protect everyone not just those closest to him. Crosshair, on the other hand, lets this guide him to do just about anything to stay true to it. He'd willingly kill and die for those he is loyal to. Again we see their paths line up in a way that is just so similar and yet their reactions and how they use it is very different.

Now, for the biggest part of this: their trauma. We are well acquainted with Echo's trauma. He was left behind, captured, tortured, and mind controlled before his rescue. He suffered immense pain and has massive guilt over what he did when he did not have control. We see him struggle with PTSD, anger, and probably a lot of survivors guilt. His story is one soaked in tragedy but ultimately it is about overcoming odds and staying true to who you are even as the world caves in around you. We can see this struggle with Crosshair too. He was left behind which led to his continual torture and mind control. He was forced to do horrible things and endure a lot of pain and suffering along the way. But then we see him continue down a path with the empire and instead of overcoming and staying true to himself he latches onto the empire and starts to build his life around that instead. (We definitely got a lot of development in this area with episode 12 with seeing him save Mayday and shoot Nolan.) What I want to focus on here is why their responses to this are so different.

Echo, upon being rescued, had a massive support system to help him. He had Rex, this new squad, and an environment that was familiar to him despite how much he himself had changed. He had to adjust and adapt to this new reality of his but he still had so much of what he was used to that he was able to take that pain and start to cope with it. I definitely think he's got a lot left to work through but my point is that he was able to start the process in a healthier way. There was a stability built into it and it allowed him to grow and mature and hold onto his kind heart.

Crosshair on the other hand... He finally starts to wake up from the mind control. The brain washing wears off. And he's alone. There is zero support system for him to feel safe enough to be vulnerable. His family is gone. There is no one around who loves or supports him. He has done horrible things and hunted down the only people in the galaxy that care about him. And instead of coming out of the ordeal with a greater sense of self and an ability to overcome the anger and resentment inside of him it leaves him hollow and burrowing into himself to keep himself safe. He has no support system to help him emotionally so it festers and ends up hurting him even more.

They have such different reactions to coming out of the other side because they came to in much different circumstances. But in the end they would understand each other better than almost anyone else. They’ve been through very similar things and have made it to the other side. (and I think if anyone would understand Crosshair's anger it would be Echo, even if he doesn't agree with Crosshair's choices.)

I think it would be fantastic when Crosshair is reunited with his family that we see a moment where the two of them get to acknowledge that they have something even greater in common now. Even if it's silent or short. These two could draw so much healing from each other.

If you have things to add please please please feel free! I’m so interested to see what everyone else sees.

#the bad batch #echo bad batch #tbb echo #crosshair bad batch #tbb crosshair #tbb spoilers #tbb s2 spoilers #crosshair and echo mirror each other in a lot of ways and I want to scream about it #I apologize for being so long winded I just have a lot to say!!!!!

[zoeykallus]

Rex - In Love And War - Where Do We Go From Here?

Rex x Fem!Reader (FF)

Warning: Angst/Hurt

Aftermath Of Order 66 / Sad Rex

__________

Author's comment: This one has been on my mind for a while. Because I already have so many projects going on, I kept putting this one off, but I'm not the most patient person, so now I've started it after all.

As you'll notice, I changed the ending of the seventh season of Clone Wars to tie in here. This is practically right after or during Order 66.

The reader is a (former) superior officer of Rex. The beginning of this story will focus on how the reader and Rex deal with the new situation, being on the run, and over the course of that, the two will become closer. Either way, this will segue into a romance between Rex and the reader. There will be fluff and of course smut, those who know me a bit won't be surprised by that.

_____________

Summary:

Order 66. the galaxy is upside down, nothing is the way it used to be. Rex and you have been through hell and are now on your own in a new order spreading across the galaxy that is hostile to you. The shock is still deep in your bones, the circumstances are hard to comprehend or even accept, but you have no choice, you must adapt. You have only each other, a former captain and his commander.

_____________

Following Chapters:

Part 2 -Noises In The Dark

Part 3 - Sinful Dreams

Part 4 - Mesh'la

Part 5 - Old Friends

Part 6 - Unspoken Things

Part 7 - Lies And Other Things About Love

Part 8 - Guilt And Forgiveness

Part 9 – Love At First Sight

Part 10 – Mine At Last

Part 11 - Unpleasant Surprises

Part 12 - Moving On

Part 13 - Hunted

Part 14 - On The Run

Part 15 – Healing And Foolish Ideas

Part 16 - Give Me Orders

Part 1 - Where Do We Go From Here?

How could it have come to this? How was it possible that something of such magnitude had been overlooked? Well, actually, it had been discovered, but no one had believed it, even though Tup's and Five's demise had left a very bitter aftertaste, even with you. But that didn't change the fact that the danger had been ignored, that Five's desperate attempts to uncover the truth ended in his senseless death. And everything he said had been the truth.

You swallowed, had the bitter taste of bile in your mouth, everything that had happened in the last few hours had turned your stomach, turned your world upside down. Nothing was as it should be, nothing at all. In retrospect, Five's death now seemed even more senseless, even more painful.

Your breath was heavy, your eyes burned from the smoke rising from the wreckage of the crashed cruiser, blown in your direction by the wind at the moment. With wet eyes your gaze wandered over the countless graves, the helmets, over the partly very familiar paintings of the helmets. Today you had lost even more friends and comrades, so many that you didn't know how to deal with this.

"Commander."

You blinked. Rex's voice behind you, calm, soft, yet full of sadness brought you back from your thoughts to reality. You sensed his grief in his tone, even though he held himself bravely upright, inside he felt shattered. You could literally hear the shards of his broken soul in his voice.

"Please don't call me that, Rex," you spoke quietly.

For a moment there was silence and it seemed as if the former captain of the 501st, was thinking about your words.

Before he could say anything, you continued, " That' s not who I am anymore."

You looked down at yourself, at your uniform, you ripped your badges from your uniform jacket and threw them to the ground in front of the graves. You had once been so proud of those badges, so flattered that you had been chosen and promoted by the Jedi Order to this mission, especially since you were not one of them.

But the fact that you worked for the Order had made you a target in the ominous order 66 as well.

Your thoughts wandered to Ahsoka and you were glad that she had decided not to accompany you, but had traveled on with Bo Katan after Maul was captured. That you had used Maul to escape was another sting that led to the bitter aftertaste in your mouth. The chaos and suffering he had caused lay heavily on your shoulders, after all it had been you who had freed him from his bonds. But you had hardly had any other choice, Rex and you alone would never have been able to stand up to all his brothers, who could not be dissuaded from their intention to kill the both of you, after it was clear that Rex's chip wasn't working and he wouldn't follow Order 66.

From now on, everything would be different, your old life was a thing of the past, and as you suspected, so was the Republic. There was no more headquarters, no more orders, no more home, the two of you were on your own. The thought was strangely frightening, until now you had always had a belonging and a home, if not a family. The Republic had been your home, your comrades your family, you knew for Rex it was the same.

"What should I call you then?" you suddenly heard Rex ask.

You finally turned to face him. Captain Rex, whom you had always looked up to in a way, whose strength and discipline you had always admired, almost envied, looked so vulnerable at that moment that you would have liked to hug him. But you held back, not sure how he would react. You were friends, but your relationship had always been quite professional.

You gave him a tentative smile.

"How about my first name?"

"Y/N?"

You nodded encouragingly.

Silence descended again, you looked at each other mutely for a while. You were afraid of what was to come, of what your life would be like in the future, on the run, but you hoped he wouldn't notice. Maybe he had similar thoughts, even if you could hardly imagine that Captain Rex was afraid, but he was only human.

They had all been people, all the soldiers on the cruiser, your subordinates, your friends. You thought of the moment when Rex tried to get through to Jessy, but to no avail. The heaviness in Rex's voice when he realized that he would not be able to convince his brothers not to kill their commander, you could still hear it in your thoughts, almost feel it physically.

You wanted to tell him how sorry you were for all this, how sorry you were for what he had to go through today and the things that were to come, the things he had suffered before, the losses, the confusion about Fives. You wanted to comfort him, but you didn't know how, besides you were overwhelmed with the situation yourself.

You've been in a few battles with Rex, though mostly as a strategist in the background or a gunner from afar rather than on the front lines. You had even been on Umbara, probably the darkest chapter of the Clone Wars in your opinion. But what had happened today overshadowed everything.

When you realized the extent of Order 66 and couldn't reach anyone to warn them, the terror crawled deep under your skin, into your bones...there it still sat, a persistent echo.

Your eyes met, his amber eyes looked at you questioningly, as if you had hidden the answers to all his questions somewhere from him. This man you had always admired so much, whom you had looked up to even though he was your subordinate, still saw you as his superior officer.

At this realization you suppressed a sigh, you couldn't blame him for looking for support after all that had happened. It was also his life that was now completely turned upside down.

A small explosion in the wreckage behind you made you wince, while Rex didn't move a muscle. He was used to loud, unexpected noises from the battlefield.

It was probably force of habit talking, yet you blinked in irritation when he asked, "Where do we go from here?"

You were his former commander, until just a few hours ago, so it was probably natural for him to ask you that question. At the moment, however, you felt overwhelmed by this deceptively simple-sounding question.

You didn't give him an answer right away, you thought for a moment. You realized that you didn't have a concrete answer to that, you didn't quite know how far Order 66's influence already reached. Maybe it already went further than you thought. A good chance, at least for the moment, might well be the Outer Rim.

"We need to put distance between us and our pursuers. I think Batuu might be a good option."

Rex frowned critically.

"From what I've heard, rumor has it, Batuu is a retreat for deserters, smugglers and pirates".

He sounded less than enthusiastic.

"I know Rex" you said patiently "Strictly speaking we are deserters at the moment though".

The startled expression on the Captain's face made you realize that he had not yet internalized this thought at all, the dutiful Rex was suddenly a deserter, that had to be an uncomfortable feeling for him.

He finally nodded and boarded the shuttle you had stolen from the hangar of the crashed cruiser. You followed him and automatically sat down in the co-pilot's seat.

Rex started the engine and the cockpit closed.

"What do we do when we get there?" he wanted to know.

"We'll find a way to adapt to our new situation. Don't worry, we'll be fine," you said more confidently than you felt.

As the craft took off and finally broke through the cloud cover and the black of space loomed before you, you felt an unexpected surge of hope. You weren't alone, you had each other, you and Rex, that was a good start. You didn't know what you would have done if you had been on your own.

@chxpsi

@andyoufollowyourheart

@the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond

@brynhildrmimi

@nunanuggets

@clone-whore-99

#clone rex #star wars #the bad batch #clonelove #captain rex #captain rex x reader #captain rex x you #clone captain rex #commander rex #rex #rex x reader #rex x you #clones #clone wars #order 66 #rex fanfiction #rex fic #rex x female reader #ct 7567 x reader #ct 7567 #star wars the clone wars #star wars clone wars #angst #hurt #rex angst #rex hurt #rex x y/n #clone rex x you #rex ff #eventual romance

[usamamoweek2024]

Meet the Creators - RiverLethe

What username(s) and platform(s) can folx find you on? (Please include links!)

@riverlethe - I am on Tumblr and Ao3!

(Fun Fact) What is your favorite kind of potato?

Yes. If it is a potato, I will eat it (except for mayo-based potato salads - no thanks), and my preference absolutely depends on mood, but if I had to pick one.... Have you ever tried Chef John's Potatoes Romanoff? If the answer is no, go fix that right now! (add in crisped up pancetta before baking - you're welcome)

How long have you been creating works in fandom spaces? How long have you been active in the SM fandom?

If reading fanfic counts as being active in the fandom, I've been active, on and off, for a little over 20 years, but I didn't actually start writing fanfic until 2 years ago.

What type(s) of creative works do you usually make? (fanfics, digital art, cosplay)

Fanfics are my #1 contribution, but I also crochet. I made @linlamont's Sailor Rex plush based on her amazing artwork for her adorable story "Treasures", and I am currently working on a custom Sailor Rex for my 6 yo daughter. There are plans for a Tuxedo Rex and Tuxedo Kamen

What do you enjoy about creating for the SM fandom?

I love the sense of community and making friends within the fandom. Discussing and theorizing all things Sailor Moon is one of my favorite things! Plus, there is just so much to explore, both in canon and fanon

Are you strictly UsaMamo or do you create for other pairings as well?

I wrote a Kunz/Venus fic for Heavenly Pearl's/@kaleidodreams' first ever Rare Pair week, but I otherwise exclusively write for UsaMamo. Who knows, maybe I'll be inspired to create for another ship in the future. Never say never!

What inspires you to create works for Usagi and Mamoru?

The emotions! Everything these kids go through is dark, scary, intense, etc etc, and I love to explore how it affected them, how they're feeling in the moment, and how Usagi and Mamoru support each other through it.

Do you tend to work on multiple projects (WIPs) simultaneously or try to finish one at a time?

Ideally, I would work on one WIP at a time, but with my ongoing story Once More, with Feeling!, I always have multiple going on. While I normally don't mind putting OMwF aside for a OS or two, I haven't updated it in almost a year, which I feel really bad about, so I am trying to put any new ideas on hold right now so I can get Chapter 13 done. OMwF will eventually update, I promise!

Do you prefer large projects (chaptered fics, webtoons/zines, highly detailed art) or small projects (one-shots or simple art)?

I love how much of a story can be explored and fleshed out in a chaptered fic, but, for fans, they can be daunting to start reading if you aren't there from the very beginning (depending on length), and there is always that ever present nemesis: time. As a writer, I like the regular engagement with the community that posting new chapters allows, but writing as I go can be very stressful, especially when motivation just isn't striking. For OSs, I love that ability to focus on one small part of the characters' lives without needing to generate a lot of backstory or lore. Will I do another Chaptered fic once OMwF is finished? Probably, I do want to continue into R, but I will hopefully take everything I've learned working on OMwF (it's my very first ever fanfic!) into the sequel so I'm a little more prepared.

Are there any common themes, situations, tropes, or mediums in your work?

Angst and Romance are probably the most common as I love the emotional impact the angst imparts and how Usagi and Mamoru support each other through it. Honestly, I find the original anime (and the manga to a lesser extent) a bit emotionally stunted, so I absolutely love fics that elicit emotions, in me, either happy, sad or anything in between!, and I strive to do that for my readers. With any luck, I succeeded!

Is there anything you haven’t explored artistically and would like to try?

If I could draw, I would totally do art. I am in awe of what artists can create through their medium and would love to be able to visually see what so many of us use words to describe, but, alas, I'll stick to crocheted dinosaurs with odangos! Regarding writing, I have more OSs in mind for stories and ideas I haven't explored yet, and maybe I'll actually learn some restraint and create chaptered fics that aren't 12+ chapters long at 5k-12k words each. Anything is possible! (Except for me and art. Not gonna happen)

#usamamoweek2023 #meet the creators #sailor moon #usagi x mamoru #usamamo

[thealterscrolls]

WIP WEDNESDAY BUT IT’S A FRIDAY

many a wednesday has passed since @wispstalk tagged me to do this and i’m finally getting around and remembering to doing this! here’s a segment from the Raining Stars draft, my hero of kvatch/martin fic! snippet is from the perspective of ambrosius rex. ambrosius has DID (unaware) and dissociates in this snippet. i know i’ve shared this one in places before but i’ve changed it up a fair bit since then. also i really like it so idc

i honestly don’t know who’s all actively writing stuff at the moment so i’m not going to tag anyone specifically. boring i know. sorry. consider this post a tag and tag me if you share a wip because i want to read them!

without further ado, the wip:

Jauffre leans away from me, attempting to stand on his own. “We don’t really have time to talk. We must get Martin somewhere safe.”

Martin turns to him. “Who might you be?”

I quickly speak for him. “This is Jauffre, grandmaster of the Blades.”

“Jauffre,” Martin repeats to himself quietly, pausing to think for a moment. “I’ve seen you before. I know your face.”

Jauffre sighs. “I travel a lot in my line of work.”

Martin visibly scrutinizes him but says nothing.

“Jauffre’s right,” I interject. “We have to go.”

Before any of us can say more, Savlian strides up beside me and claps a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure Ambrosius here told you the good news, brother Martin, that the gate is closed, but I doubt he mentioned that it’s all thanks to him. You should have seen him. Man fought like a beast!”

“Oh, did he now,” Jauffre asks.

I don’t know if he doubts it or if he’s impressed by that question. I can’t find it in myself to say anything.

“Ambrosius practically slaughtered all those daedra on his own,” Savlian continues. “We simply followed.”

“Last night I would have found that hard to believe, but today—” Jauffre doesn’t finish the thought.

“I saw him with my own two eyes and could scarcely believe it. I wasn’t sure who I was more terrified of: him or the daedra!”

All I can do is nod along with him. I feel strange. Exhausted. Empty. A bit uneasy in my stomach. As much as I want to hear Savlian’s story of what I can’t remember, I can hardly pay attention to what anyone is saying. I’m not sure I want to hear it anymore either.

Before I get lost in myself any further, I politely excuse myself from the conversation. Martin offers an arm to Jauffre who in turn acquiesces and takes it. I wander away a distance, sitting down in a pew to catch my breath. My body sinks down heavily against the stone.

I’m not sure how long I sit there, fading in and out of focus. After a while, someone sits down a space over from me.

Martin speaks. “Savlian and his men are taking back the rest of the city. They figured you deserved a chance to rest.”

“Where’s Jauffre?”

“Oleta is seeing to him. She’s the healer here. One of the best in Cyrodiil.”

I lift an eyebrow. “However did you manage a thing like that?”

“Well it wasn’t easy,” he laughs. “Oleta was stern with him, and I might have told him I wouldn’t leave otherwise.”

“I’m surprised you got that to work.”

He shifts in the pew, taking a breath. “I don’t savor the idea, but I imagine it has something to do with being the only heir. Allegedly, that is.” His tone sounds lighthearted but if I didn’t know any better, I’d swear there’s a weight to it as well.

I snort softly in acknowledgment. There isn’t much I can say to that. I’m hardly one to pretend to understand the complexities of such a situation.

“Well, anyhow,” Martin continues. “Tierra plans to escort the townspeople to the camp outside the city, but we have to make sure everyone’s ready and safe to move, including Jauffre.”

“That makes sense.”

We sit in silence for a moment. Then he turns towards me slightly. “Are you doing okay?”

No. “I’m fine.”

He may as well have scoffed. “Nobody is fine. Not when the daedra are slaughtering our people and it feels as if the world is coming to an end. I know things are wrong, so you’re not sparing me from anything by pretending otherwise.”

He doesn’t know what’s wrong, not completely. I nod my head anyway. “Alright then, I’m not fine. But forgive me if I don't explain further. I’ve got nothing to do with the gods so I don’t think I’d find a priest’s words very comforting.”

Martin takes a breath and looks away, appearing visibly shamed. His voice is quieter than before. “No, forgive me. It wasn’t my intentions to preach at you. If it’s any consolation, I had no such ‘priestly’ words to offer. Truth be told, I’m having trouble with my own faith now.” He pauses, and almost laughs out his next sentence. “And something tells me I won’t be a priest anymore after this anyway.”

“Not sure that makes me feel any better either,” I say, slightly bemused.

“Didn’t think so,” he snorts softly. “But I prayed—I hoped for deliverance. And it came. So that’s comfort enough for me. I don’t think I can thank the gods quite yet, but I can thank you.”

Saying “you’re welcome” doesn’t seem an appropriate response, so I nod my head again. I turn my head towards the people huddled in the chapel, towards the living and the dead. Few among them appear hopeful. The rest are scared, perhaps not of the Gate or the daedra anymore, but rather, of the future and the uncertainty of it all. I can’t take credit for saving any of them.

I wonder how many of them are experiencing such a thing for the first time in their lives. Is this their first crisis? Perhaps their second? Maybe all their problems had been small, which is not to say they were any less painful. Of all the crises I went through, none of them had ever reached this scale. None threatened all of Tamriel. Maybe it’s a first for all of us.

“I haven’t saved anyone,” I whisper. “I didn’t stop anything. Their lives are forever ruined and I can’t help them. I’ve placed a sackcloth scrap on a severed limb.”

Martin shakes his head. “There are times when stopping the bleeding is all you can do.” He almost doesn’t sound convinced of his words himself when he says it.

I want to tell him that’s not so. I want to say that’s more than what I’ve done. I want to say many things. I know I could keep arguing with him, but it would all be futile. Nothing comes out. My eyelids fill with heavy moisture and my mind feels far away again.

I’ve been bleeding my whole life.

#oc: ambrosius rex #fic: raining stars #tag game #wip wednesday #my wips #tes iv: oblivion #tes #martin septim x hok #tas caspian

[hedonisticjedi]

A Padmé lives au where she still has to give up the twins for their safety and she herself goes into hiding bc Palpatine is determined to kill her as she's the only one who could bring Vader back to the light side.

Rots goes exactly the same cept Padmé lives after giving birth. Obi-Wan and Yoda do something to alter her force signature so Vader can't pick up on it anymore. Palpatine and Vader assume Vader killed her. The Jedi do some plastic surgery on a random corpse and give Padmé a funeral. (She keeps the japor necklace tho. I think she would struggle a lot with whether to keep it or not bc she would struggle with Anakin's fall but I think she would keep it bc she's not willing to give up on Ani).

Instead of finding some backwater planet to fuck off on she would immediately continue her work of trying to unseat Palpatine and bring the republic back. Luke and Leia would still join the rebellion and would be drawn to Padmé but not know why and would just chalk it up to her dotting nature. She would keep her secret until they found out Vader was their father.

I think Padmé would become a pilot and command a ship (she's not a senator anymore, and she's a good pilot and strong leader. She feels more of use being the commander of a ship vs staying in the war room esp once Leia is there bc Leia is more than capable (it makes Padmé proud))

So Padmé would be on Endor celebrating with the other rebels and she would find Luke and help burn Vader and she would cry. She would try to hide it at first, but it would consume her, and Luke would comfort her "it's okay, it's all over now". But that's why she's crying, it's over. Ani is never coming back to her but at least he's free now. And if we take the fanon that Rex is there too: he puts his hand on Padmé's shoulder bc he is going through similar emotions then Luke is like "...you knew Anakin before he was Vader". And Padmé stops crying and she looks at Luke and very softly says "yes. He was my husband" and Luke thinks "HUSBAND?!" And the math symbols floating around gifs and Padmé keeps going "yes. Luke, i am your mother" (bc I love a good parallel). For 15 seconds Luke goes through the entire breath of human emotion before he just collapses into Padmé's arms and cries and she's crying and Rex is crying bc it's over. None of them will have Anakin back but the war is finally over, they're safe, they have each other.

They come back to the Ewok village and Padmé would hug everyone and she's trying to figure out how to tell Leia and while Leia is watching everyone, Luke would come up behind her and whisper "she's our mom" and Leia would smile and Padmé would marry Han and Leia.

Then at some point, the 3 of them would go through the archive as Padmé told them Anakin's story.

(side note: I think together Rex and Padmé would put together Palpatine's plan. I think Ahsoka and Rex's story could either follow their canon timeline or bail + Padmé would pull Ahsoka into the rebellion sooner and she would pull Rex in. Ahsoka would still become a fulcrum. I think Rex would become a fulcrum too but he would focus on freeing other clones in hopes they would join the rebellion but understand if they wanted peace. Ahsoka and Rex would tell everyone about the chips. They would tell them about Fives and how he discovered the plot and there was more to it. Bail would try to find out more bc he was the head of the security council in the senate but it still wouldn't be accessible. So discovering the plot falls to a standstill. Folks know it's important but they can only allott so many resources to trying to figure it out. None of them can stay on Coruscant anyway. So then one day Padmé and Rex are just hanging out, maybe havin a drink and Rex mentions something off hand, something unimportant and that triggers a memory in Padmé, something she thought was unimportant (i haven't watched tcw so I'm not sure what it could be). Rex sneaks back to Coruscant and downloads the files he and Padmé need. When he gets back to the fleet, he, Padmé and Ahsoka go over everything. They would see how Palpatine manipulated the senate, how he exploited the clones and Ahsoka would share about how fighting the war pushed so many jedi to the dark side. How those that fell weakened the public's view of the jedi. How it weakened and confined the order. I don't think they would figure out every single piece, I'm sure there's lots of things Palpatine had a hand in that can't be gleaned from raw data esp since he went out of his way to make sure others did his bidding without him explicitly saying so and then killed them. For ex they could figure out the invasion of Naboo by the trade fed was to set the stage for Padmé (or whoever since he ordered her killed) to call for a vote of no confidence + to garner sympathy in the senate to increase his chances of being elected chancellor but they probably wouldn't be able to figure out who voted for him bc they genuinely thought Palpatine was the right choice (or why they thought he was the right choice he could easily set up scenarios where he gets to swoop in and be the savior) or who voted for him bc they had been bribed/exhorted into voting for him).

I think the twins would spend a lot of time reviewing tcw bc they would be able see it as the cautionary tale it is. Leia is determined to build the republic better and Luke travels the galaxy, helping ppl and establishing a jedi order. Luke's order wouldn't be one formalized institution but instead lots orders that are set up on planets so they can remain culturally relevant and peacekeepers in their communities but there would be something like a UN so each temple could have support and still work in cohesion. I think Leia would come to the conclusion that one republic won't fit all of the galaxy so she would focus on relationship building between systems. Padmé would be some high-ranking politician and be crucial to creating a new form of government. Rex would be her advisor and unofficial bodyguard

#padme amidala #luke skywalker #leia organa #star wars #padme lives au #my writing #captain rex

[thefact0rygirl]

good morning love! :D

i just wanted to say i noticed something you do with cody that you don’t do with anyone else is that cody stutters. i noticed it again in your most recent ficlet and i quickly leafed through your other works and noticed it’s really just for cody and i LOVE THAT I don’t know if you’ve been doing it intentionally/knowingly but idk it really warms my heart i guess?

i’ve noticed you doing it with him but i guess i didn’t realize until now and it seems like a really small thing to focus on but idk if i can give enough kudos for that? i love love love seeing that kind of stuff in writing, tangible differences in how their stuff reads and i know that’s typical, that’s how it’s supposed to be i guess, but unfortunately, especially in clone fic, the boys tend to all act/talk/sound the same and i feel like you’ve really mastered not doing that

so i just wanna say you’re amazing and i love you

KIT MY SUNSHINE GET OVER HERE 💛

I didn’t think anyone noticed! It's subtle, but I try to include Cody’s stuttering when I can.

Cos okay Cody is always composed in TCW. He speaks in a clear and concise manner. Like when Rex is talking to him about Echo in season 7; he is taking time to pick his words as to not upset Rex.

But I think he has a tendency to stutter or trip over his words. It’s sort of a subtle manifestation of the trauma of war. Because as commander, if he stutters or misspeaks battle plans, that could mean unnecessary injury or death to his brothers. That’s a lot to deal with and as much as he tries to manage it, I think his stuttering comes out in certain situations. Like when is totally relaxed and comfortable. He doesn’t have to be Commander Cody of the 212th Battalion, he’s just Cody. Nobody is going to die or get hurt if he misspeaks. He can let his guard down and idk I like the idea of Cody having someone where he feels comfortable enough to not worry about how he speaks.

But yeah 😅 I want to ramble more but yes, Cody’s stuttering is intentional and it makes me so so happy you noticed! Thank you for your kind words please know I’m clutching my phone to my chest and smiling like an idiot 💙 and I totally know what you mean about the clones sounding/acting the same. Those subtle differences hare SO important! They have such an impact on the characters. Cos if I’m writing about Cody, I want you to know this is about Cody. I don’t want you to be able to change out Cody for his brother and the story continue on, you know?

#idk I don’t think I’m explaining myself properly but know I have a lOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS #but thank you my love you are equally as amazing and I love you too #vee answers #patchmates #commander cody headcanon

[umbramoons]

Soooo there’s this Tech fic I’ve been working on, but it’s getting pretty long, and I don’t want to post unfinished work. So, I had an idea! How about some of my favorite moments? (Spoiler-free, don’t worry) Let me know if you would want to see more!

Background: Cora is a former bounty hunter who is now working for Cid (she’s also Force-sensitive, but not many people know that). The Bad Batch shows up like usual, and Cid sends her with them since she typically does this kind of work. Long story short, she and Tech end up falling for each other. The fic follows the basic plot of the show, and this snippet takes place when they're on Bracca during Episode 7: Battle Scars. 

It wasn’t a comfortable walk. Cora had to constantly focus on where to place her feet. One wrong move and she would-

“Oof!” Cora stumbled over a pipe and lost her footing. 

Tech quickly grabbed her before she could hit the ground. He instinctively pulled her to him, then loosened his hold on her once she was back on her feet. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Thanks." Cora stepped away, somewhat embarrassed at her sudden lack of balance.

Echo glanced back at her, and even with his helmet on, she could tell he was smiling. “I swear you could trip over your own shadow.”

“My shadow’s a tricky little idiot. I wouldn’t be surprised if it liked seeing me fall to its level.” Cora straightened her tunic self-consciously. “And I did not trip.”

As Echo turned away to continue his conversation with Rex, Tech faced her again. Cora could see amusement sparking in his eyes, as well. “You tripped. Straight into my arms, might I add. You know, if you wanted my attention, you didn’t have to go to such extremes.”

Cora rolled her eyes. “Oh, yes, I totally need to throw myself at you for you to notice me.” She bumped into his side. “You’re the one who grabbed me, not the other way around.”

Tech shrugged and resumed walking. “I suppose I could have let you fall. Would that have been preferable?”

“Maybe, if you’re gonna be so smug about it,” Cora huffed, following after him. 

After a few minutes of silence, Tech looked back at her. "Are you certain that what you sensed was nothing serious?"

That depends on how you feel about another active Force wielder being nearby, Cora thought.

Instead, she said, "Nothing we need to worry about, I promise."

Tech hauled himself on top of the last ship blocking their way, then reached down to help Cora. “As long as you’re sure.”

She accepted his hands, trying not to be distracted by how he gently gripped her wrists as she scrambled up the side of the ship. “I am. And that’s enough chivalry for one day.”

He quickly dropped her hands. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I simply thought I should help-”

Cora retook his hand, leaning into his side. “I’m kidding. Be as gallant as you want.”

Letting her go, Tech jumped and slid down the opposite side of the ship. After reaching the ground, he reached up for her. He was grinning again, and Cora was once again mesmerized by how striking his eyes were. “Then you won’t mind me catching you?”

She couldn’t help the smile that sprung to her face. “Not at all.”

Cora jumped and skidded down to him. Tech swept her up in his arms before she could land, spinning before setting her down. 

He tilted his head as Cora started laughing. “Why was that amusing?”

“Tech.” She lowered her voice to a teasing whisper. “You literally swept me off my feet.”

Now he was laughing, too. “Well, I thought I already did that.”

“You did.”

#the bad batch #tbb tech #tech x oc #clone trooper tech #tech tbb

[gazrgaley]

Manifestation of a Monster (chapter 22)

“The new one, the one that’s white brick with blue trim, right?” Amy’s mouth twitched into a grin as Richard’s face became completely white. That’s right, I’ve been diligently studying. On top of that, I have managed to contact C.R.O.W. Do you know who they are? They don’t appear to like you or your ‘family’ very much. I’ve set up a recurring email to C.R.O.W. to be sent at night with the day’s findings. Vampire slayers, as you may know, them.” She leaned forward, hands clasped on the table. Each passing second caused the man to become more and more distraught.

This impressed Amy. She had been warned that he was someone who shouldn’t be trifled with. But here she was nonetheless. Poor little her, she has him concerned. She realized she couldn’t maintain this pace. Although temporarily, she was in command. She wondered if this was how Rex felt when killing that vampire.

“I can keep pushing back the clock as long as I’m here. Of course, if the worst should happen to me, I can’t keep anything from them. That goes for your home as well as where Milo is. It’s safe to assume that you enjoy them. The ones you have to really interact with on a daily basis, not simply exploit. Oh, and may I just say that your daughter is really adorable?” Amy had left his family out of her findings. She didn’t know if they were killers, but didn’t want the blood of a small child on her hands, regardless. But Richard didn’t need to know that.

The man’s usual cool demeanour had vanished. He looked at Amy as if he wanted to jump over the table. He could kill her right here and now, witnesses be damned. His fingertips sank into the table as his jaw clenched. “If anything happens too-” But Amy didn’t have time for his threats.

“Let me ask you a few questions now. I think my boyfriend has turned. You’re going to tell me what I need to know, or this will not end well for either of us.” Amy kept her eyes on him. She could understand his rage. If it had been her own family members, she would have reacted the same way. However, she wasn’t a murderer. You can’t build a name for yourself as he did by pretending to be the model family guy he did. It made her worry how much his loved ones knew. She had the impression that they were average people.

Richard got to his feet, and his eyes were as cold as ice. “It’s too late for your little boyfriend. Nothing can be done to change what he is today.” He leaned very close to her ear, his jaw still clenched. “And it will only be so long until he kills. And if he tried to hold back the urge, you’ll be his first victim.”

As she tried to get to her feet, Amy was pushed down. She could see the front door, but for what it was worth. She might as well be in a locked room. Richard’s grip on her was tight. But at that moment, a server was at Amy’s table in a flash. “Hey there, young lady, would you like a drink?” Richard released her arm as she continued to speak. “Sir, the same goes for you. Can I get you anything?” Amy had never seen such a pleasant ‘fuck you service grin’ on someone’s face, but she was never happier to see it.

“No, thank you. I was just leaving.” With the most awkward smile she could muster.

“I understand.” She smiled at Amy in a way that was far more warm and fuzzy than the one she’d given to Richard. This was when she noticed her two canine teeth were significantly bigger than the rest of her teeth. However, she was lending a hand, and she wasn’t the kind to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The focus was once again on Richard. “I can grab your bill if you are also going. But first I need to check a few tables. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She turned and offered him one more ‘fuck you’ smile before leaving.

He waited until the server’s attention was diverted before turning around. He snarled between clenched teeth, “If you get near my child or wife again.” She looked away from his intense red eyes as much as she could, but she could not take her gaze off of them. “I hope you’ll forget all you’ve learnt in the previous few days for the benefit of your loved ones.” She felt the same depth of anguish that she had when she watched Milo sleep while he clutched her arm. There was nothing else she could do but tell Justin the truth.

“Enjoy the rest of your meal,” Amy said. The dreadful feeling still lingered within her. But it felt good to get a jab in before she left.

#warm blooded vampires series #gaz042 #vampires #writing #vampire book #wattpad #a day at the park #grendel #writing stuff

[watevermelon]

Just Enough | Diluc (Genshin) x Traveler!Reader

✧ Summary: Between freeing Dvalin and pursuing the Geo Archon, you were constantly moving forward to find your brother with hardly a second to look back. You were in a rush to find your lost sibling, not realizing how your heart had stopped in Mondstadt. Visiting the city while waiting for things to die down after Rex Lapis’ death, you return to a… jealous Diluc?

➳ Spoilers for the Dark Knight Hero quest and some of the manga background ➳ Notes: lots of fluff, slight angst and jealousy, character development, mutual pining at one point, a long one-shot that covers the (1.0) beginning of the Liyue story  ➳ Navigation

---xXxXxXxXxXx---

If he had only asked you to stay.

To say that these past few weeks were a blur would be a severe understatement. For months you were simply a lost wanderer, traveling from world to world for any sort of clue that could lead you to your brother.

And in just a matter of weeks you were suddenly Mondstadt’s hero.

From bringing peace to Dvalin’s heart to meeting Mondstadt’s infamous Dark-knight hero, you were familiarizing yourself with a people and a place for a world you knew you did not belong to. Learning of the history of the Seven Archons, the Gods’ of contracts or of freedoms, suddenly you were being thrust into it all at once.

You shared the burden of knowledge with a few of Mondstadt’s elite, the true God of Freedom walking in plain sight to the citizens of his nation. And with him, were the quick allies you found side-by-side when fighting a dragon. 

It was all happening so suddenly and Lord Barbatos himself was giving you directions to the next country over, to continue on your journey in meeting all seven Archons to Liyue. 

To this day, you could fondly recall your final celebration in Mondstadt.

“To think that despite his small stature he can drink so much.” Kaeya commented from his seat at the table, eyes slid in the direction of Venti at the bar next to you. You could see the impatient stare behind Diluc’s eyes, not at all happy that their God was indulging himself so freely.

“Honorary Knight, Mondstadt thanks you for your service.” Jean formally stated, for the nth time since Dvalin had been freed.

“I’m just glad I was at the right place at the right time.” You answered back, offering a placating smile in return.

“Humility doesn’t pay for dinner!” Paimon hmphed next to you.

“But aren’t we at a feast now?” You countered, gesturing to the table. 

She sighed again before moving to get a taste of some of the honey roasted ham. “Fine, don’t blame me when we have to settle into that poor excuse of a tent!”

“Please, do not feel you are in any rush to leave.” Jean offered, “You are welcome lodgings at our Favonius Headquarters.”

“With the other Knights of Favonius?” Diluc asked, face completely blank if not for the small upward tilt of his left brow.

Kaeya flirted with you from across the room, uncaring of the other partygoers, “You could always stay with me.”

You laughed lightly and responded, “That’s a hard pass.”

The Cavalry Captain simply shrugged, offering it to you again if you changed your mind before grabbing another glass of wine and walking with Jean toward the busy table.

Barbara was trying different dishes and offering some to her older sister, spouting descriptions with medicinal purposes and flavors that compliment one another. Lisa was no better as Amber egged both of them on, completely sober as she continued to feast on the food laid before her. Other Knights of Favonius that you recognized were scattered about, enjoying the first truly peaceful night in the past few weeks.

“You are welcome to stay at the Dawn Winery, while you look for your brother.”

He relished in the sight of your smile.

“Thank you, Diluc.”

That was three months ago.

And since then you had been thrown into more of not your business but suddenly IS your business, business.

You remembered your last day before setting off from Mondstadt. The Knights of Favonius would surely call on you again and so you had quick goodbyes with Jean and Kaeya the day before. Venti was saved for last, a somewhat light-hearted and yet somber goodbye as he was the first and last person for you to see in Mondstadt. 

But Diluc… How could you even start that conversation?

He was the lone wolf with a prickly reputation and an even worse sense of patience. You remembered the first time you even spoke to him, clipped words meant to get straight to the point. Not to mention that he was the first person to antagonize Kaeya, who was one of the few people you kinda trusted in the beginning.

It was not until the side adventures, the little quests you did one-on-one that you realized how much more there was to the edgelord that was Diluc. 

Of course, he was still the strict type to focus solely on the mission. 

But you realized more about why Diluc had come to be this way. 

‘The uncrowned king of Mondstadt.’

As you worked together against the possible abyss invasion of Mondstadt, you poured over strategies and testing of his slime potion. And while slimes were not the hardest enemies to fight, he still complimented you on your form and appreciated your quick style with the sword.

You had a unique style, unlike Kaeya or anyone else of this world.

“Elegant, but deadly.”

You took that as a compliment.

And little by little Diluc opened up to you, cluing you into his personal history. 

He and Kaeya were step-brothers, growing up together at the Dawn Winery. How he knew Jean since he was child and once served as her superior in the very organization he now despised. How he still has things to protect, to avenge. And while his description about what happened to his father was nothing more than a quiet stare, you were still grateful that he was entrusting you into his world.

You remembered Kaeya’s words as he discovered Diluc’s nighttime secret:

“I’m glad you’re working with an assistant.”

Kaeya’s tone may have come out scathing, but you knew better. Kaeya and Diluc used to be close, close enough to entrust their lives with one another. There was no doubt that Kaeya still cared about his brother, but with Diluc pushing everyone away….

Again, you were so appreciative that he chose to let you in.

When Kaeya finally left the bar, you turned to Diluc with a smile. “I think my work tonight earned me at least one glass of wine?”

That broke a small smile on his face, not the slight tilt on the sides or the wistful, far off look he got when he recalled something beyond your knowledge.

“Alright.” He waved over a nearby waitress, all of the customers tonight employees of the Dawn Winery. “Let’s take this up to the balcony, I’m going to close up anyway.”

“Oh?” Paimon’s squeaky tone somehow went up another octave in curiosity, “I just remembered I have to ask Venti something! Why don’t you two enjoy your date alone.”

She flew away before you could swat at her for her teasing words, blush apparent on your face. Diluc kept his flat face as he maneuvered things behind the bar, wiping at something before putting something in the below cabinet. 

To your surprise, he handed you a bottle and two glasses, motioning with his head toward the second floor. Charles was among some of the ‘customers’ tonight, taking his usual spot behind the bar as Diluc stepped out.

You followed him wordlessly, walking up the steps and out the second-floor door closely behind him. He pulled out a wooden chair next to the table outside, you taking the seat underneath the stars as he plopped down alongside you.

“I thought the stars here in the city would get overcrowded by the lights.” You admitted, “But they’re beautiful even here.”

“Yeah, they are.” Diluc agreed, making you smile before turning to him.

“You’re not even looking at the stars.”

The pyro-user simply smirked, before looking up at the starry sky with you. You relished in the moment, glad to have some time alone with Diluc. Many had commented that the winery owner was so elusive, missing from the bar weeks at a time and unseen within the city walls. And yet here he was, enjoying the crisp air and a glass of wine with you.

“Thank you.” You started.

“Shouldn’t you be demanding thanks from me?” Diluc asked.

You laughed lightly, “Yeah, cause I’m sure that the abyss mage would have totally kicked your ass without me.”

Diluc had that slightly amused expression on, looking a bit more light-hearted as he turned to you with a slight tilt at the corner of his lips.

You continued, “I mean, thanks for entrusting me with your secret.”

Diluc paused, looking you straight in the eyes, probably to gauge your honesty. And he would concede that there was nothing else there. You wanted to be his friend, the first in a long time to have approached him without your own agenda regarding either the winery or his fortune.

In return, he poured you a glass of wine and replied, “You’ve long earned it.”

“Thank you, Diluc.” You took the glass and felt your heart flutter at the brush of his fingers. “I’m glad I got to know you.”

“I’m glad you’re in my life too.”

He shot you another one of his genuine, millisecond smiles before pouring some from the bottle for himself. 

“Wine and not grape juice today?”

But he did not answer, instead eyes latching onto the rise of goosebumps on your arms. You could not help it against the crisp Mondstadt air, naturally feeling a chill at this time of night. Without a word, he shrugged off his outer coat, the thick black one he wore at almost all times of day, and rested it casually on your shoulders.

You muttered a small thanks as you snuggled into it. Diluc’s iconic dark coat, a complete contrast to yourself. While you wore a white dress with open sleeves and plenty of skin, Diluc wore black covering most of his body with the exception of his neck and face. Seeing it on your shoulders only reminded you of that fact.

“Don’t need you getting sick anytime soon.” Diluc stated plainly, as he returned to his seat.

You huddled into it more and replied, “Aw, Diluc cares.” Again, you were rewarded with another flat expression. “Or rather, if the events of today are to show anything, you’ve always cared. Just in your own, protective way.”

He slung an arm across the back of your seat, leaning closer before stating in a low voice. “Don’t forget that.”

Your eyes snapped to his, the both of you basically sharing the same breath in your close proximity. His scarlet eyes, usually a searing color when on the battlefield, looked surprisingly tender only inches from yours.

“You mean so much to me, Diluc.” You whispered back, afraid that anything above a whisper would punctuate this amorous atmosphere.

He slowly dragged his face alongside yours, stopping beside your ear and continuing in his low voice. “So do you.”

There was no stopping the shiver of anticipation that crawled up your spine.

You could feel the small smirk grow against your skin before he pulled off and grazed his lips against your forehead.

The expression on your face was practically begging him to kiss you. From the small lean in your side against his arm slung around you to the way your eyes slowly fluttered closed, it took all of his self-control to stop himself before he pulled you closer. He wanted nothing more than to grasp you by the back of your neck, relish in the way you melt against him. To kiss you now and tomorrow and maybe even the morning after at the winery.

Diluc had to remind himself that in less than a week you were going to be long gone.

He did not want to ruin this memory a week from now, asking what if and why. And so he settled on a simple kiss above your brow before leaning back in his seat, enjoying the moment he had with you tonight.

You were disappointed, but actually not surprised. It was a feat in itself that you were so close to Diluc in this short amount of time, it would do no good in pressuring him into anything else. But also, another more rational part of you, had to remind yourself that getting attached to the people of this world would only make it hurt more when you had to return home.

This was for the better.

But no matter how much rational thought Diluc used to push you away, you were sure that you had already fallen for him. From the small interactions with Diluc, you could barely recognize the moment that you were completely enamored with him. It was not during the first time you saw him fight or even the night he leant you his jacket. No, you feared it was much before then.

To think you had gotten attached to Diluc in such a short amount of time.

But then you had to say goodbye.

“Safe travels.” Diluc stated from behind the bar when he saw you enter on your last day.

You were not sure what you expected, a drawn out goodbye or a fore longed hug, but Diluc was still, well. He was still Diluc. And to see him re-erecting his walls before you left for your journey was a sad thought, but needed while the two of you were hundreds of miles away from one another.

But you would regret it if you didn’t say anything.

Instead you settled on, “I’ll miss you.”

The hopeful look in your eyes spelled out exactly what you wanted to hear back.

Diluc instead replied, “You fight good.”

“Oh. Um.” The hesitation was clear in your voice.

Was this really how you were going to leave things?

But with Diluc turning his attention back to the wine glass he was previously wiping, yes. It seemed that this was exactly how he wanted to leave it. Paimon scoffed, but said her own goodbyes before flying away.

“Goodbye, Diluc.”

Outside the tavern, you let your frown grow at that interaction. After everything you had been through together, Diluc complimented you on your fighting? Then said peace out?

“That was really lame.” Paimon commented aloud as she floated alongside you. You could not help but internally agree, but you had a whole journey ahead of you. At least the busyness of Liyue would keep you busy from dwelling on that conversation.

But as you said goodbye to Venti, the both of you stood in silence under the giant tree staring at the city. You thought about going back three times, to get a proper goodbye out of Diluc. But doing so would do neither of you any good, since it would only open more issues.

“No more questions about the other Archons?” Venti asked, voice surprisingly serious.

“Can’t think of anything.”

“None even of a certain… winery owner?” You could almost hear the smile in his voice.

You rolled your eyes and responded, “You’re such a little shit.”

“Hehe.”

You both continued to stare at the city, the marvels of its people and history within its high walls. To think Barbatos and Dvalin were finally free, because of your otherworldly intervention. Venti was truly thankful for you, and while he knew his words were on the more mischievous side, he knew that you understood.

Venti’s voice permeated the air. “Be safe in Liyue.”

You smiled back and offered him a tight hug, replying. “As always.”

To think that the same day that you stepped into Liyue, Rex Lapis was murdered before your very eyes. It was like the Gods actually hated you, having to rely on a Fatui to run away from the government officials hot on your trail.

Since then you had been working with Zhongli to prepare for a parting ceremony. From running around for certain types of Jade materials to singing to flowers, you were happy to take a second to yourself at all. You were afraid that trouncing around Liyue with a bounty on your head would do you no good and often stayed in the wild areas. Visits to the city were for necessities only, which often left you relying on the ever so truthful Childe or the mora-averse Zhongli.

More than three months after your initial departure to Liyue, you stepped back into the walls of Mondstadt’s bustling city, a commission nearby and you figured you were safe simply due to your reputation under the Knights of Favonius.

Venti was the last face you saw and the first face that greeted you, beckoning to join him for lunch. With your final commission of the day finished, you joined him with a smile and ordered some honey roasted ham.

You recounted some of the news to Venti, meeting many of the adeptus and how out of touch they seemed with the region. You described Zhongli from the funeral parlor who always felt like he knew more and played a higher part in Liyue (and you inwardly noted how Venti’s eyes lit up in recognition at the name). And also, Childe the Fatui Harbinger that had you on edge. 

“You’re hanging out with a harbinger?” Venti asked.

“Uh oh.” Paimon reacted.

“Well.” You remembered your last encounter with Signora. “It’s complicated.”

Venti paused before sighing, “Is he cute?”

“That’s not why!” You huffed back instantly.

“So he is cute!”

“And rich!” Paimon added, joining in on the teasing.

“Not the issue here.” You stated, “He saved me from the Millelith and helped me get into contact with the adepti.”

Venti’s mischievous smile from the earlier teasing turned blank, as if he was fully ingesting your words. “... Why would he do that?”

“Huh?”

But Venti quickly recovered, waving away the question and urging you to move past it. “Just thinking out loud, continue. What happened after?”

And so you recalled everything from then. How the soldiers followed you all the way up the mountain and how you had to defend yourself from people that were supposed to be on the same side as you. 

How there was someone out there with the strength to take down a God.

Venti laughed at you for like, twenty minutes.

After his laughter subsided, he held a hand over his stomach and asked. “They think you killed Rex Lapis?”

He took another look at your pouting face and laughed again.

It only made you scowl further. “I’m glad you think my supposed war crimes are so funny.”

“I think I’m missing the punchline again.” Paimon added.

“Hehe. You’ll be fine.” Venti shot back his mischievous smile, “Besides, I’m sure you’re looking forward to laying low here with a certain… someone here.”

You paused and put your fork back down, “What are you trying to say?”

“Well, the Dawn Winery is throwing a festival tonight.” Venti stated clearly, “Isn’t that why you’re here?”

“Wait, really?”

The mischievous light was back in Venti’s eyes, “I’m sure the winds of fate have brought you here purely on coincidence.”

You sighed and turned to him fully. “You trying to fight, old man?”

“Hehe.” His signature giggle, one you found almost endearing, was undoubtedly mocking you. “We should go together later.”

And true to his word, somehow you found yourself with the Anemo Archon heading over to the bar. To think that it was Venti who introduced you here and now he was bringing you along again.

That is, if you even had a chance to make it inside at this rate.

The area was packed to the brim, all the seats outside in front and on the side of the building already taken. There was a line out the door, many hopeful young women with gleaming eyes trying to get a one-on-one conversation with the current barkeep and owner.

You peered into the open door and saw Diluc and Charles behind the bar, the red-head adorned with his usual flat-expression. It was the first time in months since you had seen him, but he looked exactly as the day you had left. Still the same colored wardrobe and prickly atmosphere, Diluc was still, Diluc.

What did not help was the ever growing line of flirty men and women trying to vye for his attention.

It only seemed to further nail the pit in your stomach.

Was this… jealousy?

You didn’t dwell on the thought for long.

Instead, you considered for a single-second if you should just turn tail now, but Venti must have seen your hesitation and grabbed you by the arm to walk inside. Dozens of eyes followed you on the way in, many people recognizing you as the young hero of Mondstadt and honorary knight of Favonius.

The crowd was surprisingly less inside, but knowing Diluc he probably would have tried to corral everyone to the outdoor areas. Venti continued to lead you towards a table in the back and you saw a familiar red-bowed Outrider.

“I didn’t even know you were going to be here today!” She greeted you excitedly. 

“Tone-Deaf Bard here convinced us to stay the night.” Paimon replied.

“Oh?” Her voice lifted in a tone that only spelled trouble, “No matter, I’m glad to see you in one piece.”

“I’m assuming you’ve heard.”

Amber stretched in her seat and lowered her voice, smile turning to a smirk. “Well, I won’t confirm anything. But my suspicions are that the blonde person the Knights were pursuing for stealing the Holy Lyre may be the same blonde person running from the Millelith.”

“What a crazy theory.” Paimon responded as she cleared her throat.

“At least it’s just a theory, right?” Amber replied. “Anyway, we’ll hold the seats. Do you mind going up to the bar to order?”

Paimon chimed up as she floated down into the wooden seat, “Yeah, you should go.”

You barely had a second to object before Venti agreed and was motioning for you to go back to the bar. If not for their eager stares at you, you would have rolled your eyes at how obvious they were being.

“Fine, fine. I’m going.” You stated aloud, getting up from the seat you inhabited for at most ten minutes. 

Turning towards the bar, you took in a deep breath to collect your thoughts. To think you fought the Wolf of the North and Oceanid with more courage - it was just Diluc.

“Long time no see.” You greeted, trying to sound extremely casual. “Bottle of wine for one of your favorite people?”

Diluc looked at you for a quick second, then back down to the bar, then rapidly snapping back up to you in surprise. “Hey. Of course.”

Unsure what to say, you responded back with a simple, “Thank you.”

“Didn’t know you’d be in town today.”

“It was all coincidence. Venti told me about your event tonight.” You mentioned, motioning behind you to the table where the three of them were waiting. Amber waggled her eyebrows in response and you turned back to Diluc in embarrassment.

But he was looking at you the entire time. “For a war criminal, you look well.”

“Ugh, not you too.”

“Ironic how you delinquents always return here while hiding it out.” Diluc did not answer, instead openly teasing you.

Honestly, it was a little ironic that you and Venti ran here after stealing the Holy Lyre, just to end up back here while the Millelith were on the hunt for you.

Instead you replied, “They didn’t release any names.”

“Right, it’s probably some other sword-wielding blonde with white clothes and access to the Anemo vision.”

“Obviously.”

To think you were so involved in Teyvat's politics. An otherworldly being with no prior connections to the people or nations was somehow involved with the highest ranking people of every country you’ve stumbled into.

Everyone from the Dvalin team knew about your primary objectives: to find your brother and regain your full power through the seven Archons. And when news of Rex Lapis’ death reached Mondstadt, Diluc could almost physically feel the dread in his heart that something had happened to you. And when the Millelith released their man-hunt of your exact profile, there was no doubt that you were involved. 

To see you standing before him, in association with an Archon of all people, it was like a breath of fresh air on his heart. You were here in the tavern, fine and even enjoying the night. 

A large part of him wanted to ask about your journey, what was it that had you on the run again? But with the growing line out the door, he knew he barely had time to keep this conversation going.

So instead, Diluc grabbed glasses and a bottle of wine from beneath the bar and asked, “Spare a few minutes for me later?”

You nodded quietly, handing him the necessary Mora before returning back to the table.

Amber did not pull her punches, “So, you guys dating yet?”

You almost dropped the bottle, but Venti was quick even through his laughter.

“Yeah and I’m the Archon of Snezhnaya.” Paimon replied sarcastically.

“Shut up.” You pouted, “It was just nice to see each other after all this time.”

“Oh so you had a good conversation? Did he ask you to stay after? Are you going to stay the night? Did he offer for you to stay at the Dawn Winery?” Amber spit out question after question, not a sense of patience or tact in her words.

Venti was still laughing like the Archon of assholes he was.

While they prodded through their multiple questions, you tried to wave them away to another conversation topic. If Amber was prodding you like this, you could only imagine that the other Knights, such as Kaeya and Jean, were also aware of your strange relationship.

Amber tried to push it a bit more, but you were able to spin the conversation to ask what the others were up to. It was interesting to hear about the little tasks in Mondstadt, small commissions that the Knights take care of in the city as well as guarding the areas further out into the country.

And while you hated to drift off with them sitting right in front of you, your mind often wandered toward the red-head behind the bar. Diluc had personally asked you to stay back later, undoubtedly to speak to you about something one-on-one. Would it be cowardly if you left early? Would the others notice if you tried to make a break for it at one point?

Again, it seemed as if Venti was capable of reading your mind, lightly calling you to attention and putting a casual hand on the back of your chair.

He was not letting you get away from this.

Venti even shifted the conversation to you, asking about Liyue and the local adventures you had while in the city. Unable to ignore the direct questions, you told them about the stories of the people you met so far and the strange events you seemed to be dragged into.

“Wait, start over.” Amber cut into your most recent story about a ship just outside of the Liyue city. ”You just glided down onto the Pearl Galley?”

You paused then replied, “Well. I mean the ship was just sitting there outside the harbor and I was curious.”

“And so you boarded a luxury ship without an invitation?”

“Yeah, so?” Paimon answered with a question, genuinely confused.

“And yet you wonder how you keep getting involved in all these crazy schemes.” Amber answered ambiguously.

“Well, eventually I did get an invitation.”

“But after you were already on the ship.” Amber pointed out. “How did you even glide that far out?”

“I climbed to the top of the nearby mountain and then just dropped down.”

“Wow.”

“Is it really a surprise?” Venti commented, “She doesn’t even follow the proper stairs here in the city. Don’t think we don’t see you climbing over every wall here in Mondstadt.”

“You’re such a weirdo.” Amber sighed with a smile, “You’re lucky we love you so much.”

You continued on with your stories, some in the city and others within hidden temples deep in the wilderness, puzzles and timed traps masking treasures you sought to find. Amber and Venti listened on in rapt attention, asking questions here and there and even teasing you about your constant climbing.

You hadn’t even noticed how the bar patrons were starting to slowly thin out.

The night with Venti and Amber was such a refreshing feeling compared to the nights you spent staring up silently at the night sky, only Paimon at your side. It was nice to hear and speak to other people, to not be on the run and always looking over your shoulder.

Feeling a light tap on the side, you turned to see Diluc standing at attention.

“Hey.” He greeted you again.

“We were just on our way out!” Amber exclaimed, standing instantly with Venti not far behind her. “Mondstadt’s star Outrider has to be up bright and early tomorrow.”

“Which is why you’re both leaving…?” You asked.

“It’s my duty to ensure the safety of the city and we said we were going to discuss something.” Venti answered ambiguously.

You crossed your arms, “Discuss what?”

“The— !” Amber paused, “The thing. You know, with the stuff at the Seven Winds Temple.”

“Right! Let’s get going.” Venti turned to Paimon at the last second, “I think this will interest you.”

Paimon winked at you before turning to Diluc, ”Right, the stuff!”

Diluc motioned you to follow him and so, once again, you found yourself following behind the Pyro-user out the second-floor balcony. However, instead of sitting at the table, you learned against the railing while Diluc stood to the side.

“Wasn't expecting you to be gone for so long.” Diluc started with a flat voice.

You turned to him with a slight grimace. “I’m sorry, I ended up getting caught in something important back in Liyue.”

More important than him.

The implication was quiet in the back of Diluc’s mind.

But that would always be the case. To think that the first person in years to open up his shell was someone who could only be in his life temporarily. You intrigued him to the high heavens - the strange mix of both pride and humility as you fought and carried yourself. You were strong, but merciful. Kind, but a purveyor of your own brand of justice.

It had been a while since he met someone with such genuine reservations as you.

But your time together was already ticking down, from your time in Mondstadt to your time in his world. You were looking for your brother and who knew if he was even in Tyvat currently? It would be unfair to be bitter towards you. And so he resolved long ago to simply cherish the moments you had together.

So instead of snapping back, Diluc teased you.

“I’m sure. I’ve heard of your extensive… wanted days.”

You sighed aloud, “How did the news travel here so fast?”

Diluc smirked, “First Barbatos and now Rex Lapis? What kind of luck do you have?”

“The worst kind.”

Of course, there was something he wanted to learn more about. After he had caught wind from Katheryn in Liyue, Diluc still wanted to be informed about your current situation. To think that you were in close association with one of the high Fatui Harbingers after Signora personally attacked you, it was almost like you were openly inviting trouble.

It also did not help that many of the gossip mills included how attractive this particular Fatui was.

He goes by the alias of ‘Childe.’ Young, but deadly!

A Fatui, but doesn’t wear his mask - for good reason! He’s quite the looker.

I wouldn’t mind if he impaled me somewhere. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Needless to say, his sources did not alleviate his worries.

Of all people? A Fatui was one of your close associates in Liyue? A party of him wanted to snarl, the thought a worse downgrade from the Knights of Favonius. At least he knew Kaeya would do you no harm; he doubted the same could be said about Childe.

Archons, why did he care so much?

Diluc told himself multiple times that your abrupt parting was necessary to keep himself from getting too attached to you. But it hardly mattered when he was worrying this much anyway in spite of that.

Fuck, why did he just let you walk away like that?

Diluc was not going to make the same mistake.

He turned to you and asked, “Like the Fatui kind?”

You sighed, “Believe me, I don’t like it either.”

“And yet somehow here we are.”

“It’s complicated, okay?”

“When is it not with you?” Diluc asked, more hypothetically. And while from anyone else, it may have felt offensive, you could tell from his tone that it was just a tired sigh.

“Tell me about your journey.” He continued.

“What?” You answered with a question, genuinely surprised. “It’s a long story, not all that interesting.”

Diluc took a step forward, taking the spot next to you against the rail as your shoulders touched. “I want to hear it from you.”

You couldn’t help but smile, “Okay.”

And so you recounted your journey to find the Geo Archon, how the adepti set up strange puzzles and at some point you swore you were pulled into a teacup that somehow contained a full domain.

There were also other missions on the side, other things you would do to collect Mora or materials if you were going to get any stronger. Some of them made sense — doing deliveries, clearing abyss camps, and other mercenary like duties. Other instances, not so much.

“Only you would accept a commission from a ghost.” Diluc teased as you recounted the treasure in the mines.

“In my defense, I didn’t think he was a ghost at first.”

“Right. Nothing suspicious at all about a transparent old man in the middle of an abandoned village.”

“I was reading the poster he was showing!”

“And when did you realize he was a ghost?”

“... After I met three other ghosts.”

Diluc cracked a smile at that, only making you pout more. You had adjusted your postures overtime, standing against with rails to your backs as you faced the tavern.

“He paid me good Mora!” 

“How…?” Diluc thought about it before waving it off, “Forget it. I don’t want to know.”

You laughed back before you saw the lights inside the tavern switch off, complete darkness in the windows as the remaining employees packed up and went home. 

“Oh wow, I hadn’t even realized how long we were out here.” You admitted, “I’m sorry I took up so much of your time.”

“Don’t apologize. I wanted to spend this time with you.”

“Still, it’s already late.”

“You’re right. Where were you and Paimon going to spend the night?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.” You admitted, “Venti convinced us to stay, but I don’t even know where he is.”

Diluc pushed off the railing to stand facing you, “You could stay the night at the winery. We can retrieve Paimon tomorrow.”

What game was he playing? Your disappointing departure with Diluc cutting you off and now he was asking for your time and space back into his life? You hated that he pushed you away just to pull you back in at his convenience. And while you understood his personality tended to keep people at a distance, you had your own limits as to what you could withstand. 

“... Diluc, what are you doing?”

“You’ll have to be more clear.”

You closed your eyes, trying to gather your thoughts and hamper down on your rising temper. “Come on, why are you being so nice to me?”

He stared at you expectedly, blank eyes urging you to continue.

It only served to make you more angry.

“Diluc, when I left you hardly blinked. And now that I’m here, after months of us not talking, you want me to spend the night?”

“I told you before how much you meant to Mondstadt.”

To Mondstadt? Not even to himself personally? 

You decided it was better to confront him cleanly asking, “Why didn’t you kiss me that night we were drinking here?”

Diluc paused, not a single hint of surprise on his face as you addressed the situation head-on. “Why should I have?”

“Don’t act like you didn’t feel it. There was something between us.” You scoffed.

He noticed your use of past tense.

“Does it honestly matter? You would’ve left anyway, I saved us both the trouble.”

You visibly recoiled in response. “Is that what this is about? I have to go to Liyue and the other counties, Diluc. I have to find my brother.”

“I know that.” Diluc cut in, before you got the wrong idea. “You don’t think I’m acutely aware of that fact? The fact that this is my home and not yours. That one day you’ll find your brother and I’ll never see you again?”

“Wait.”

“Believe me, I know better than anyone that you’re off to find your brother. And I’ll help you in any way that I can.” Diluc continued, not heeding your confused attempts to stop him. “But let’s not pretend like I was anything more than a stepping stone in your journey.”

“That’s not true!”

“Oh?” Diluc’s tone was almost challenging,  “It’s not? So once the dust is settled, if I asked you to stay here with me, would I be enough?”

You stuttered over your words, “I --”

“I don’t want to hear your excuse because we both know the answer.” He cut you off, “I was trying to save myself from that before it happened.”

“Will you let me speak, you idiot!?” Your voice cut through the silent evening air.

Diluc paused, standing a good ten feet away from you and looking angrier than you’d ever seen. But he did, thankfully, stop talking.

“Is it crazy to think that I feel the same way about you?”

“What?”

“Diluc, I’m just me!” You answered, “I have nothing to my name but an objective to find my brother — if he’s even alive at this point. I need to try and I need to continue on this path…”

He crossed his arms, but stayed quiet as he listened. 

“But just because I have so much ahead of me, that doesn’t I don’t care about where I’ve already seen.” You took a few steps toward Diluc as you spoke, “You mean so much to me and I wouldn’t ever want to throw that away.”

“You won’t have a choice if you have to leave this world.”

“If!” You pointed out, “Diluc you’re so worried about the future, about me walking away from you forever, but it doesn’t have to be this way.”

“And suddenly there’s an alternative?”

“There’s always been one, you idiot! You just never bothered to actually talk to me.” You put your hands on his chest, the light material of his dark clothes underneath your palms. “I would’ve tried. If you asked me to make this work, to come back to you at the winery back then, I would’ve done it.”

Diluc closed his eyes, taking in your words as his hands snaked down to your wrists.

“Don’t give me empty promises.”

“I mean it!” You defended, “You aren’t just another person, Diluc. I—“

He opened his eyes then, reflecting back to you as hopeful and curious. “You…?”

“I care about you more than you know.” You settled on, still unsure about the extent of your feelings. “Why are you giving up on us before even starting?”

You stared right back at Diluc, his silence paramount to the inner turmoil you were sure he was going through. From his late father to the betrayal from the Knights, there were plenty of reasons why Diluc was so hesitant to connect with other people.

But you’d be damned if you didn’t try.

Your hands felt heavy against his chest. Despite your small demeanor and even smaller palms, the weight of your hands seemed to play seesaw between his heart and mind. He had logical reasons to keep you at a distance, but here you were trying to carve your way through back to him.

It had been a long time since he cared about anyone like this. And Diluc could not even recall the last time he wanted to sorely kiss someone at all. But how could he not want to now? You stared up at him, eyes blazing with determination as you tried to convey your feelings.

“You mean so much to me.” Diluc stated after a few silent minutes, “Let’s make this work.”

The smile you shot him was wide and radiant, a private blessing that only he was gifted tonight. He wrapped his arms around your waist, eager to feel more of you — to envelop you in his arms and keep you within them tonight. 

One hand strayed upward, carding itself in your hair and pulling you closer until both your eyes fluttered closed. The soft skin of your lips slotted against his, an endearing frenzy to give one another tender pecks. You could not help the happy mewl that escaped your lips as Diluc licked against the crease of your skin.

Moaning aloud to his tender touch, Diluc was eager to explore every inch of your wet cavern. There was no battle of tongues, simply moving in tandem as Diluc dominated the kiss. You tried to maneuver to give him more access, but with your height difference it was the best you could do.

Diluc lifted one of your legs, wrapping it around his waist and lightly tapping the other to do the same. Eyes clouded with lust, you did as instructed and quickly felt the soft thump behind you, the wall of the tavern helping hold you upright.

You fell more and more into the passionate lip lock, pushing to match his intensity as Diluc connected you in one of the most intimate ways possible. One hand was still in your hair while the other continued its scandalized trail downward.

You prayed to Barbatos that nobody heard you outside the tavern.

The both of you would later attribute this impassioned frenzy due to the prolonged time apart and mutual pining (culminating in a mistake outside on the balcony, twice inside the bar, and the rest of the night back at the winery).

For the first time, you enjoyed the morning sun streaming in through the windows, a lazy arm strung across your waist as you snuggled in the chest of the man you were growing to love.

Diluc woke long before you, hand threading through your hair silently as he resolved to remember this moment. You kissed at the naked skin of his chest twice before nuzzling him, feeling the light arm pull you closer.

“Good morning.” You started, voice muffled against his skin.

But you would have never expected Diluc to be so affectionate.

He kissed the top of your head, murmuring in a low tone. “Good morning, my love.”

Nothing about your relationship was perfect. You still fought and cried like every other couple. But you both knew that what you had was real, willing to fight for it no matter the obstacles that came with the future.

It did not matter that Tyvat was not your home.

Wherever Diluc was, that was where you’d return.

---xXxXxXxXxXx---

Extra: “What if they end up fighting?” Amber asked the other two as they walked down a side-street of the city.

“Then we’ll find out the moment it breaks out. Trust me.” Paimon replied. After all, your Anemo power would only serve to make any fire larger.

“They’ve both been in that pining puppy phase for so long, I doubt it’ll come down to that.” Venti added.

“500 Mora says they’ll be dating by the end of this week.” Amber bet.

“1,000 that they’ll be together by tonight!” Paimon countered.

“10,000 that they’ll be joined in every way by tonight.” Venti added, the mischievous tone not missed by either woman.

“You tone-deaf bard!” Paimon exclaimed as she slapped her hands over her red cheeks. “The traveler is more dignified than that!”

Amber had a hand on her chin, “Dating? Probably. But more than that…?”

Venti held out a hand to both, vying for both to shake one and accept the bet.

Nothing, but a couple of suckers. 

Amber grumbled once when she heard the news, but otherwise excitedly congratulated you two on finally accepting your feelings. Paimon’s whine could probably be heard in a fifteen mile radius and Venti’s proud smile didn’t help either — accepting the easiest twenty thousand Mora he ever made. 

And, just to gode the tiny guide a little more, Venti turned to Paimon in the middle of her complaining rant. 

“Hehe.”

---xXxXxXxXxXx---

A/N:

The festival idea comes from Diluc’s story 1: “The winery holds festivities from time to time. These events are routinely attended by enthusiastic fathers, eager to introduce their wonderful daughters to the young and single winery master.”

#genshin diluc #genshin kaeya #kaeya #diluc ragnvindr #diluc x traveler #diluc x lumine #diluc x reader #amber genshin #genshin venti #genshin childe #genshin zhongli #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact imagines #diluc #diluc Ragnvindr x reader #x reader #fluff #angst #jealousy #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact scenarios #Jean Gunnhildr #genshin jean #genshin traveler #genshin impact #genshin impact fanfic #reader insert #genshin impact imagine #genshin impact headcanon #genshin impact reader insert

[witch-hazels-musings]

It’s 🍪!

You have this ‘My Sunshine’ (?) fic where the reader is an absolute ball of sunshine and I LOVE it! Could you do a part two with Zhongli, Childe and Albedo please?

Mwah!

My Sunshine

( what an incredible choice of characters! Thank you for adding to one of my favorite fics!! ) 

Warning -> SFW, Fluff

Character X GN Reader | Anthology 

Includes: Albedo, Childe, Zhongli 

Albedo 

It was the way you greeted the world around you - with pleasant smiles, patient hands, caring and compassionate eyes. You saw the world for what it could be, the beauty of it and while Albedo searched for the answer in the universe, you already seemed to have found them 

He noticed you on his wanderings through the city. His hands were already moving to draw your expressions in a hope to capture everything that he possibly could - how could he capture the intensity of the sun itself, of a flower basking in the afternoon glow, or a firefly so vibrant that it burned orange and beautiful 

You were bouncing on your toes, smiling kindly at the people who walked by while you patiently waited for anyone to stop by. Not many people purchased flowers every single day, but you found it wasn’t hard to proposition people with your generous smile and pin-point compliments. 

“My! I have never seen something so beautiful in all my life.” You began, bending to rest your hands on your knees while catching the attention of a small young girl who had been glancing at the array of flowers at your side. She looked at you confused, a bit nervous but didn’t back away. 

Reaching for a small white flower, you trimmed the leaves and hummed a little tune before turning back to her. “A lovely flower like you must attract so much goodness. Even this daisy is impressed by your radiance!" She giggled and you continued, "Would you do me a favor?” You smiled at her, eyes showing only the purest of shine. The little girl nodded her head and you began again, “Could you carry this flower and help it grow? If it's you, I'm sure it'll turn just as beautiful?” 

The little girl wrapped her small fingers around the stem, her smile and giggle so powerful that Albedo was sure you cast a magic spell because as he watched her gallop away back to her parents, the flowers near you began to glisten and the sketch on his page came to life. 

He was unsure how to make a connection with you, so more often than not he would find himself purchasing flowers he didn’t really have the necessity for - but perhaps if he gathered enough up, he’d have a bouquet glorious enough to equal your soul 

“Mr. Albedo, pleasure seeing you again.” You brushed off your apron and turned to him. Your eyes closing and head tilting, a standard greeting of yours. “I have some rather rare flowers in stock today if you’d like to take a look.” 

“I am actually here to inquire if you had any Asters; the research institute has just run out.” 

“Hmm, let me check for you.” You bowed slightly before disappearing behind the many stalls and carriers of your wares. He scanned the flowers as he waited for your return. Gloved fingers inspecting the petals of flowers and, in his wandering thoughts, he began to investigate which one reminded him the most of you. “Mr. Albedo, I am sorry, it seems we are fresh out.” 

“I see …” 

“Ah! However, I needed to gather several other plants today. If you come back tomorrow I will set them aside for you.” You waved at the other worker as if to inform them of your intentions and quickly reached for the basket near the stall. 

“Actually, would it be too much of a bother if I were to travel with you?” 

You paused, staring at him with eyes wide and mouth slightly parted. What was this feeling in his chest, it hurt. “I would never pass up an opportunity to share in your company! What a splendid day this is turning out to be.” 

“Thank you, I will keep out of your way.” 

“Not too much I hope. So, Mr. Albedo, are you ready?” You turned to head toward the front gate and he followed after you. 

“Yes, and please, just Albedo is fine.” 

“Alrighty then, Albedo.” Ah, yes, that’s why his heart hurt. 

There you were, the wind wrapping around you as you stood in a field of flowers - the reflection of light difficult to pinpoint for as bright as the sun shined down onto the plane below, you were just as intense and, in fact, you may be the most luminous creature to ever exist -- how could he possibly reach something like you 

Childe

His world had never been bright -- from the snowy landscape that threatened every day to freeze the warm hearts that beat on its surface, to the dark void that he fought through as an adolescent, to the harsh and demanding ladder he climbed in service to his cause -- he’d never known the light … his had been seized so long ago 

So when he found a flicking candle, a small flame in his dark corridor, he walked to it - ran for it - and to see the glory reflected on the other side was something he fixated on until he could hold the candle safe in his arms 

He clenched his jaw and sighed. These boring briefings were never something he cared to participate in. He was more for action rather than words, so instead of listening to the updates from the short, purple-haired harbinger, he instead gazed out the open window at the city below. 

Liyue had shifted from a temporary destination into a permanent one as the tasks and duties continued to lengthen his stay. At least he didn’t mind the city, not like some of the other places he’d stay at. Just as he was about to drift back to the boring discussion, he heard a voice drift up to him. A lively, giddy voice that stole all of his attention and focus, but as soon as you entered into view his minimal interest piqued into desperation. 

“Wait up! You can’t tell me that this isn’t a beautiful day, just take it all in!” You spread your arms wide and spun with so much energy that the inertia made you stumble, luckily you caught yourself before running into some poor passerby. Childe smiled and rested his chin on his palm as he looked down at the loveliness that was your everything. 

You laughed, and the way your hands flew to your lips to cover the sound made him jealous of those fingers. You spoke, words falling off of your tongue like sugar and he grew antsy at the thought of not tasting it. You existed, and he needed a piece of it. 

Waving to his subordinate, he spoke in a hushed whisper, and while the meeting continued to drone on, he made his first step at capturing a star. 

The more information he gathered, the more interactions he had with you - the more he fell into your luster, the richer his feelings grew for you 

His actions were that of a child just looking for a comforting glow in their endless darkness, hands cupped to keep it alive, breathing held for fear of accidentally blowing it out - stay, please stay 

He called your name, the sound of his voice dissipating in the open space as he searched for any sign of you. 

“Hey there!” You called out to him, and when he looked up toward your voice, he smiled. Your legs dangled off the tree limb, your hands wrapping around the bark as you balanced there. 

“How is the view?” He asked, crossing his arms and staring at you from below. How did you get up there, he wondered. 

“Beautiful, I can see so much from up here. It’s like a whole different perspective.” You breathed in deeply and lifted your arms to reach for the sky above you. “How about you join me?” 

“I’m not sure I can, I don’t even know how you got up there.” 

“Sheer will and determination!” Giggling, he thought maybe you were actually a mythical creature in the fairytales he used to read as a kid. There was no way you could live in this world and be so positive, it had to be you were something beyond this world. “I’ll come down to you.” Twisting, you wiggled onto your stomach before letting yourself drop onto the ground below. It was further than you thought and as soon as your feet hit the earth, your body became off balance and tumbled backward. 

Childe easily caught you, his sturdy chest supporting you and arms extended so your hands could have something to grab onto. 

“Ooh, that was exhilarating.” Tilting your head, you turned to look at him and for a moment he felt his lips scream for yours. He wanted to let you go, but how could you when you fit so perfectly in his arms. “Childe?” 

“You’re something else.” This was dangerous, you were dangerous, and now that he knew what it was like to feel the brightness of the light, he would never let the dark creep back in. 

He needed you - it was apparent - and he hoped one day you’d realize you needed him too. A light like yours truly needed to shine in the darkness of places, so choose his, please choose his 

Zhongli 

There is no one in this world that would understand luster better than he - no one who could see the shine inside a being as clearly as one with eyes who’ve witnessed the birth and eventual death of the universe. The great Morax, the ruthless Rex Lapis, the gentle and patient Zhongli are one and the same, and the visions they’ve witnessed cannot be forgotten 

So, to see a person with purity so refined, that even the dullest observers could clearly recognize, he found it nearly impossible to look away 

He heard tell of a new performer joining the Pearl, someone who had shown great elegance and glorious promise at wowing the crowds. As a man who fancied the arts of all kinds, he was intrigued by the rumors and whispers. So, when the schedule showed the name of this new performer, he made his way to the boat drifting on the sea. 

His lips tasted the sweet flavor of tea but his eyes soaked in the delectable movements of your body. The graceful bow of your spin, the bending and twisting of your limbs as you moved just enough to tell your story on the swaying stage. He felt the history in your dance, the pride in your fluttering fan as you moved it across your face, the snap of truth as you forced it up toward the sky. He was transfixed, as he was sure all were. 

When you finished, you began to greet the many interested patrons eager to hear the sound of your voice. There was no way he could have known how transfixing you would be when he heard it. 

“What a stunning performance.” Zhongli mused, his head bowing, a mirror of your own gesture. 

“That is great praise from someone such as yourself.” You smiled and he was reminded of glaze lilies. 

“Pray tell, what was the inspiration for your dance?” 

“Ah, an insightful question, not unexpected I must say.” You laughed and moved your hands to your chest, elegant fingers resting over your heart as you answered his question. “The light of a soul has so much insight, don’t you think? If the soul is radiant, the vessel's beauty is so easily seen, and if there is beauty shining so brightly that it can communicate out to those who look, it may shift just the tides of the future.” You laughed again, a bit more unreserved than the last, and somehow more telling to your honesty. “I’m sorry, I hope that answered your question.” 

“Splendidly, and then some.” He found himself transfixed, captivated by a spirit shining before him. 

Spending time with you was as refreshing as standing in a mountain stream, as filling as a warm meal, as bright as the basking stars that littered the sky above and reflected in your eyes even in darkness 

“Zhongli, hello again.” He wandered into the garden, the gentle bubbling of the water as it fell along the rocks provided a lovely background to your visage. Carefully, you rested your fingers against the pages of your book as you looked up at him. The shadows of the shifting trees let highlights of the sun dance across your face and he couldn’t help but capture this image in his mind. 

“Good afternoon, you seem to be enjoying the day.” 

“As I always am. Nature has provided such elegant and lovely conditions that it would be a waste to not thank it, don’t you agree?” 

“Wholeheartedly.” He smiled, his hands gripping tighter around each other as they rested against the small of his back. It was incredible how nervous you made him; for a man who was a powerful as the mountains that looked down over the city, you made him feel like a tiny pebble in the stream begging to be touched by you. “May I join you?” 

“Absolutely, anything in this world can be improved by good company, and yours is always my favorite.”

“As yours is mine.” He sat on the stone bench next to you, his hands resting on his lap as he looked out across the scenery. You moved closer to him, your arms touching as you shared in the company of each other and, while his eyes drifted to your face, he watched how your smile and good nature made the flowers bloom. 

You were a compliment to his life. A perfect addition to the drift of time and as he looked at the future that stretched before him, he found your red wrapping perfectly around his amber 

--

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[jangofctts]

Mirrored Heart (captain rex x fem!reader)

rated: 18+ explicit 

word count: 5.6k

warnings: smut, p in v sex, unprotected sex, creampies, fingering, blow jobs, clone space racism?  

a/n: ANYWAY HERE IT IS. ive had this draft saved since like a year ago and just now finished it. anyway kwjrkejh here YALL GO. also thank you @jango-fettish​ FOR LETTING ME BORROW SYRENA 

It's curious. 

Well, you, as a whole are curious—completely outside the realm of what Rex considers normal. As far as senators go, that is. 

You're grumpy for one—worse than Skywalker and far more snide than Kenobi—a near gargantuan task bordering impossible. Wit and cleverness come to you easier than breathing, but it's your unwavering kindness towards himself and his brothers that sticks out like a blaster burn against alabaster white walls.  

He passed it off as a joke—some sort of mockery. Rex’s existence has been full of them. The past year it’s been made glaringly clear as to what the clones are to the people of the republic—tools. Mindless war machines dressed with flesh and bone, heart and sinew instead of durasteel and a circuitboard. Humanity has been skimmed over with excuses and debates over the hollow argument that clones were created for the sole purpose of war—nothing more. Ignorance is bliss when you are not the one fighting tooth and nail for petty skirmishes and the survival of your family.        

Ithyea, your home monarchal planet, is a newer member of the Galatic Republic—one of the firsts to advocate for clone rights—cutting through each argument with the steel headed javelin of hope and determination. Controversial in the eyes of the galaxy but no less than true. Yet with controversy, comes chaos. 

Wedged between Takodana and the Cerean Reach hyperspace lane—it’s an essential key to accessing more neutral space sectors without stepping on any toes. While the planet does mirror the size of a larger than average moon, there’s nothing but grandeur with the cutting edge advances in space travel and military innovations. An arts district too, one that’s presented multiple times for the Senate apparently. Rex has yet to see it. It’s an easy guess as to why Ithyea has gone under pointed attacks from the Separatists—it’d be foolish not to try.     

And of course comes the intergalactic mess of politics. You are not Ithyea’s first senator. Or second…or third. Just in the last six months, three of your predecessors have been picked off—two disappearances and a suspicious poisoning sandwiched between them. Which sides these assassinations stem from is anybody’s guess—a mix of both perhaps—all to silence and stamp the voice of your people out.

Heavy are the shoulders that wear those abhorrent senatorial robes, and Maker did it take some convincing for another Ithyean to step to the chopping block. It’s just…no one thought  it’d be you. The infamous captain of King Arrian Felian’s elite guard—trained in combat levels high enough to contend some of those within the ranks of the Jedi Order. When your name comes up in conversation, it certainly doesn’t scream diplomacy.     

Rex is not surprised that you hold the current record of Ithyean senators for surviving the longest. Evading an astonishing two attempts on your life by the skin of your teeth. You were just downright lucky the third assassin missed their mark. Sure, the blade of Syrena Aster skimmed the right side of your cheek and left behind a nasty scar to remember her by, but kriff—even with your background and low levels of public presence, you’re a high priced target. Whoever placed an order with the Heretics, really wants to see you six feet under.     

Rex hasn’t been given the full report on exactly who the Heretics are—a rag tag bunch of untrained Force users and skilled assassins from what he’s gathered—but regardless, this attack is just the beginning. Until the Senate and the Jedi are able to retract the price on your head, you’re stuck under protective custody. Usually ushered away into the Jedi Temple or tagging along with General Kenobi and Skywalker. Despondently, no matter the circumstances of your protection, it can’t shield you from the dreadful invitations to senatorial luncheons.

 And yes, you tried to slip by for this one. 

You don't brush elbows with other senator’s like many of the members in the Jedi Order and your own cohort do. In fact, you actively avoid even speaking to them unless necessary, let alone stand in the same room with seven of them. Odd for an elected official of diplomacy such as yourself to be so cold shouldered—Rex would think senators wanted to mingle.    

It's curious because you're standing in plain sight and yet no one pays you any passing thought. General Kenobi and Skywalker hold the majority of their attentions, shoulders already taught with exasperation at keeping everyone from tearing out each other's throats for, kriffing five minutes. Yet you...you are completely at ease, leaning up against a stone pillar, observing the unfolding chaos from afar with a keen eye. 

Before Rex realizes he's stepping towards your position, you glance over and dip your chin in greeting. The ghost of a smirk pulls at your normally grim facade—his heart skips. "Captain."

"Senator," he mimics, posting himself to your right. There’s still a thin, healing scab from the assassin’s blade that extends from the swell of your cheek to your ear. Ouch. “Enjoying the evening?" 

You snort. "Hardly enjoying it, Rex."

Stars—you shouldn't be allowed to say his name. Your words are razor-sharp like a jagged vibroblade, meant to jab and pierce through armor—tear a person to pieces without having to lift a finger. Everything about you is rough, gritty, brutal, unbecoming of what a senator should be, but— 

You mouth his name, purring out the singular syllable with such tenderness that it's like a punch to the gut. 

It's hard to swallow and he needs to clear his throat—an embarrassing act on his part, but your attention has already returned back towards the meandering senators. "How d'you mean?"

"Well," you sigh, "let's just say smalltalk isn’t my strong suit." 

"Aren't you senators s'pposed to like diplomacy n' such?" 

Your thumb smoothes over your bottom lip in thought as you shrug. "Diplomacy? Sure. Politicians? Can’t say I like them. I just—"

You wave your hand around, gesturing vaguely to the crowd. "I just don't understand why they can't say what they mean. Telling someone to have a nice day shouldn't entail certain death, y'know?"

"Speaking from experience?" He teases, gently prying into that harder than beskar wall you've created for yourself. There's fissions in your foundation and he means to tear it down all for just a mere scrap of information. 

Your eyes flick over, your lips curling into a vulpine grin. “Perhaps...Though, it was partially my fault, I have to admit.” 

“You’ll have to tell me the story sometime, Senator.” 

You nod. “Yes, one day—when there aren’t so many political ears jumping at the chance of gossip.” 

A swell of laughter interrupts your chat, your attention gravitating to Obi-Wan—ever the charmer with the crowds. The end of your mouth pulls into a frown as you sigh and carefully scratch at your brow with the back of your thumb. Rex might be pulling at straws, but what he mistook as you being standoffish may just be your nerves. Socially awkward and flustered when speaking in such an intimate setting. 

Rex’s first instinct is to reach out and place a hand over your shoulder in comfort, but he’s not sure how you’ll respond to the touch. Flip him over your shoulder probably—

Instead he forces himself to jumpstart the conversation—something to distract from your anxieties. “I hope you don’t mind me asking—“ His heart beat kicks up into a flurry of wild beats as you turn you head. “What uh..wh—did you want to become a senator?”

He likes it when you smile—like you’re letting him on some sort of coy secret. You shift your weight and shrug. “The king asked me personally. I’m flattered he thinks I’m clever enough—insulted he sends me to these abysmal gatherings like some sort of show pony.”

Rex chuckles. “Yeah, can’t say I like ‘em either.” 

“Although…” Your thumb runs over your lip again, a sparkle of mischief igniting behind your eyes. “As a senator, I do get the occasional tidbit of gossip. Here, I’ll catch you up—“

The captain startles when you snatch his elbow and yank him closer. Maker he’s glad for his helmet because your lips brush against his earpiece as he leans down to reach your height. 

“Look." You whisper, nodding casually in the direction of a particularly young senator with a shock of white hair. She's swathed in a pool of royal blue silk, much too large for her tiny frame, and all but hanging off Skywalker's arm with glittered nails filed into points. "That is Senator Ceci Paare of Corellia. She looks innocent, no?"

She does. Wide, crystalline green eyes stare up at the Jedi Knight as a pretty giggle escapes past her ruby painted lips. Skywalker grimaces. 

"I quite like her," you continue with a sly grin. "Even if she does try to influence public opinion by an invitation to bed." 

There's no time to process as you focus in on an older man. His hazy blue skin, ash white lips and vermillion green eyes cut an almost nightmarish profile, accentuated by mountains of black robes. Rex can’t recall what planet the senator represents. The senator holds his head stiffer than rebar to keep the ornate golden circlet from slipping off, his white lips curling in distaste as Orn Free Taa of Ryloth places a meaty hand over his slender shoulder. 

"He is Lord Tal’en Sol Ra'ah. Cunning, but sympathetic to the pleasures of gambling."

It's a game to you—of perceptions and nuances only a trained eye can roll over. Rex expects nothing less. This sort of thing has been hammered into the very essence of your being since you were little—reading an enemy before they can strike. It works on politicians marvelously well. 

Truth be told Rex should be paying more attention—but the closeness of your face to his helmet is maddening. His heart twists and coils as your bare hand skims along his gloved one—kriff. He’s not gonna make it before he bursts into a thousand little pieces.  

Rex’s spell of lovesick yearning recedes as you swear under your breath. It was only a matter of time before someone approached your little corner.  

"Oh, Maker save me," you hiss under your breath as a young Mirialan saunters over, the swatches of rich red and brilliant gold accentuate his violet skin like a bloody bruise. "Pretend you're speaking with me." 

"I am speaking with you," Rex snorts. 

Your hand waves in dismissal as your brows stitch together, hands balling into fists. Your jaw clenches as the senator in question puts on a dazzling smile. You look downright panicked. Rex has witnessed you face down numerous senators older than dirt and close to blowing away in the wind with plucky fervor, assassination attempts, being held captive, and you're frightened…by this? 

This is too good. 

Rex has half a mind to help you, wheel you away from your little predicament, but his intrigue with seeing your oh-so-solid resolve crumble is much too valuable and entertaining to pass up. He's going to remember this for years.  

"Rex."

"Senator," he mimics, not at all frightened by your poisonous glare. "Some diplomacy might do you good."

You begin to snarl out a threat but are decidedly cut off by your object of horror planting himself before your hiding spot. You cower into the corner like a boxed in loth-cat. "Ah, my favorite Ithyean! I had begun to worry you would not make it, my dear friend."

"Senator Lin," you sigh. The smile you offer is tight and thin; a nervous one much in the same way one would be if presented with a box of toenails for a birthday gift. “How pleasant to see you."

Senator Lin’s deep violet lips part with an easy smile. He waves a hand in dismissal, his silver rings glinting in the warm lighting. "Please—call me Toluka. No need to bother with such formalities between companions." 

Rex suddenly understands your trepidation with the Mirialan—he’s slimy. And, not to mention, not at all ashamed with the lecherous looks as his eyes sweep down your body. Rex clenches his teeth and folds his arms behind his back. He’s regretting not heeding your warning now…  

Try as you might through brutal small talk and chilly answers, Senator Lin refuses to take the hint. A dark plume of venom green lashes through Rex’s chest as the Mirialan places a friendly hand over your shoulder. You grimace as Rex bristles and glares through the visor of his helmet.  

Senator Lin’s lips pull into a gaudy smile as he glances at Rex and then at you.“My dear, don’t you know? It’s not worth wasting your time with a clone. After all, they’re all the same person. How boorish—come join us at the table.”

Your teeth bite into your cheek as your temper, like the silver of blade through the darkness, cuts through your steely irises. With poised nonchalance, you lift your hand and pinch Senator’s Lin’s fingers between your own and pry them off your shoulder. “Is that so?”

“Your campaign, valuable as it may be,” Lin continues, “is a useless endeavor. They are not our equals and never will be--you must know that." 

Rex forces himself to remain calm—collected and certainly not imaging a thousand and one ways he’d like to see his fist breaking the fragile bones of the senator’s face.  

"Fine buttons stitched upon your shoulders do not compel your worth, Senator,” the harshness of your words is a blow straight to Lin’s ego. His well-groomed brows furrow drastically as his tongue struggles to play catch up and find words to repair his shattered pride. 

There’s no chance for Senator Lin to regain his footing as your snatch Rex’s wrist and sweep him out into the hall. Rex can feel your anger roll off of you in waves, frighting and holding the same caliber of roaring waves thundering against black, craggy rocks. It’s a miracle the night didn’t end with your hands wrapped around the senator’s throat or a blaster shot through the chest. 

When you reach the lower halls of the cruise ship is when you release Rex’s wrist. You pinch the bridge of your nose between your fingers and release a long, dramatic sigh.   

"You are worth far more than that pompous ass," you say with enough edge to slice through a droideka's shields. "He has no right to say those things to you." 

“It’s alright,” Rex soothes, placing a hand over your bristling shoulder. “I’ve heard worse.” 

Your features scrunch up into a wince. “That...that doesn’t mean you have to suffer through more of it, Rex.”

Sighing, you run a hand through your hair and loosen the heavy outer robes strung around your shoulders. You shrug out of them and fold the thick swaths of fabric over you arm—revealing the under layers of your uniform. You toss the bundle of fabric to the floor with a disgusted grimace and sit on the cargo crate closest to your left. 

“Really—it’s ok.” Rex assures again. “I—“

You hold up a hand and shake your head. His mouth snaps shut. “I won’t hear it. To me you are nothing short of perfect and I refuse to argue about it. Maker knows I already do that for a kriffing living.”

There’s a fragile lull in the hollow space—the distant chatter of voices and strange music collecting in the corners. You stand once again, toe to toe with the Captain and there it is again, that elated pitter patter of his heart thrumming through his veins. The nerves of being so close to you—you sweet face and not being able to touch you.  

“Let me see your face.”

His hands come up to the edges of his helmet without hesitation, a hiss of hair escaping the seal once he pries it off. You smile and take a step closer until the only thing separating you and him is his helmet. 

Rex’s eyes flutter shut, leaning into your hand you gingerly place over his jaw. “I wish the entire galaxy could see you through my eyes,” you whisper, the warmth of your soft palm radiating out and warming his entire body.  

It’s a matchstick to kerosene—his helmet clatters to the ground and there’s only a second to spare as both hands move to cup his cheeks, dragging him into a mouthwatering kiss. 

He hasn’t kissed many people—save for those rare times at 79’s, head swimming under the haze of one too many shots of Corellian fire whiskeys where he could barely distinguish his ass from his hand. Those drunken make-outs were nothing like this. 

No—this…this is what a kiss should be like.   

He dreams about you all the time—so constantly ravenous that all he can feel some days is pure ache. Every and all words that spin around his head starts with you and finishes with his pounding heart close to bursting free from his ribcage. Not in the same way a flood rips through an unsuspecting village—more like the brilliance of a thousand doves, marble white plumage thrashing free from their gilded cage. Your lips taste like the core of a newborn star—scorching and yet still so sweet upon the tongue the same way caramelized sugar sticks to the roof your mouth. You are his first and last everything. 

There’s a certain kind of tragedy hidden beneath your tongue, fragile promises and the eggshell thin shards of hope stapled to the roof of your mouth. Rex will take it—seize any threadbare strand and run with it—spool it into the palm of his hand until you’re wound so tightly together it’ll be impossible to untangle.     

Just when the dizziness sets in from elation and not enough air, you part and leave a sticky trail of warm kisses up his jaw. Rex groans and hugs you closer, you humid breath blooming across his skin. “Let me take care of you.”

The words on his tongue crumble to ash once he nods in agreement. Your kisses dip lower, not even stopping when the reach the edge of his chest plate. Stars, you’re…he never entertained the idea that your lips could look so divine in contrast to the battered plastoid. When you fold onto your knees his heart leaps to his mouth, a flare of arousal flashing through his groin. 

You rest your chin over his codpiece and smile. “Do you like seeing me on my knees, sir?”

Rex huffs and studies at the opposing wall—

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Your fingers find the claps over his codpiece. “Can I take this off?”

Rex jerks his head in a yes but grabs your wrist. Not a rough hold—a tentative one as hesitation swirls in his eyes. “Don’t—don’t have t’ do this for me—“

You quirk a brow. “I want to because I like you, Rexy.”

A rosy blush blooms over his sharp cheekbones. The captain nods again.

The codpiece clatters to the ground and immediately you move your hand to palm him through his blacks. He grunts and squeezes his eyes shut. There we go.      

Biting your lip, you pull down his blacks as far as the plastoid plating allows, greeted with the hard length of his cock, beautiful and flushed a rosy brown. Fuck—he’s thicker than you thought. You wrap your fingers around the base, delighted by Rex’s airy gasp as he throbs in your palm. A bead of liquid shines at the tip and just the sight of it makes your mouth water. 

Moons—you should’ve done this sooner.

With a stuttering inhale, Rex trails his forefinger along your cheek and tucks a stray hair behind your ear. The pads of his fingertips skim lower and lightly pinch your chin between his forefinger and thumb. Your eyes lift to meet his. “You—you sure?”

You answer with a kiss over the dip of his navel, the skin searing hot under your lips. Rex curses and rolls his head back onto his shoulders when your palm slides up the length of his cock and then back down. Your grip is firm and tight as Rex slumps onto the crate, goosebumps rushing up his exposed flesh. Stars, when’s the last time he’s gotten release like this? 

You lean forward and lick a languid line from the velvety skin of his balls all the way up to the tip. Rex’s hips jolt. You purse your lips and suckle at the head, dipping your tongue over the slit then down to trace the ridge of his frenulum all the while your hand rolls up and down his shaft. Rex tangles his fingers into your hair with a hiss. You open your jaw a bit wider and take him down a few inches into the wet heat of your mouth, feeling your lips stretch around his cock. You you drag the flat of your tongue along the underside of his shaft to make the thickness easier to swallow down, but he's still only halfway into your mouth when he hits the back of your throat.

“Fuck—" Rex moans as his hips strain to remain still. “S’good—such a good girl.”

You glance up, eyes devouring the attractive length of his clean shaven throat and the underside of his chin. Rex swallows and let’s out another little sound. You whine softly in return and slip a hand into your pants, pressing your fingertips against your throbbing clit as you start to carefully bob your head up and down. Yeah—your jaw already aches just from holding his cock in in your mouth but fuck it—it’s worth it.   

Rex's chest heaves with exertion as he mindfully rocks his hips up, pushing and rolling his cock deeper into your mouth until his shaft is nearly seated all the way in. Ditching your own pleasure entirely, you swallow around him, forcing down the urge to gag and simply hold him here. Allowing him a moment to just enjoy the soft warmth of your mouth before launching into the main event.  

Rex murmurs your name and strokes his thumb over your cheek. “You’re beautiful—so pretty like—like this..ah—” 

You pointedly hollow your cheeks and suck, his flattery warming your chest with pride. You swallow around him another time, squeeze his shaft, your fist following your mouth as you lift up then back down to the base. You grunt at the abrupt jolt of his hips. There’s no distinctive rhythm you can follow as you pull halfway up and let Rex rock his hips into your mouth—seeking out his pleasure without a coherent thought in sight. Just a cacophony of gasping breaths and rough moans of your name. 

Soon enough he’s twitching in your mouth, his eyes fluttering shut as his head tips back onto his shoulders. The gloved hand sweetly cradling your cheek slips to the nape of your neck, tangling his fingers into you hair to anchor himself. He’s close—quiet gasps and broken curses tumbling out, hips unconsciously rocking into your mouth in search of release.

Rex whimpers your name, his leg jolting as you work your jaw wider and swallow him down, the dark curls tickling your nose once it brushes his groin. “Oh, fuck.” 

You hum around him, delighting in the mumbled praises. Almost there…That’s it. 

He’s dangling on the precipice—on tiny shove away from euphoria—

“Wait—“ Saliva dribbles down your chin when his cock pops out from your swollen lips, throbbing from the unintentional tease. “Maker—shit.” 

If not for the gloves covering his hands, you’re sure they’d be turning white from how tightly he grips the edge of the crate. His eyes are squeezed shut, slightly bent forward as he falls away from the edge of his release. Rex sucks in a steadying breath, amber eyes meeting your confused ones. 

“I don’t—can we—“ Rex’s eyes flit and focus on anything but you as he stutters and works up the courage to ask for what he wants. “Do we have time—“

You rolls your eyes and rest your cheek on his thigh. Silly man. “You wanna fuck me, Rexy?”

“Kriff, yes.”

You smile and wipe your mouth with the back of your hand. “I don’t think they’ll miss us."

Rex doesn’t complain when you take his hands and yank him onto the grubby floor and over your senatorial robes. He props his back against the crate as you shuck off everything below the waste and clamber into his lap. His hands, warm even through the leather, land over the swell of your hips and wrench you closer until your front presses up against his chest plate. 

The rough prickle of his stubble is, in all sense of the word, addictive. He tilts his head to kiss you, the slick touch of his tongue on your bottom lip adding jet fuel to the fire low in your belly. Rex groans and cups your jaw, holding your mouth open to dance his tongue along the length of yours. You whine and shudder as he purses his lips and lightly sucks on your tongue before you both part. 

Rex drags his teeth over your bottom lip as you both pant for precious air. His dark lashes sweep up his cheeks when he looks at you. This close you bare witness to the dazzling color of his eyes—crystalized pearls of amber over the crackled bark of pine tree in the midmorning sun. Muted gold threaded through the brown like fine lace and the slow shimmer of the sun dappled through water. To think such a man like him is dredged through the bloodied mud of war is despicable.

You blink away the swell of tears prickling at your eyes and kiss him once more. Sighing, you whisper down, mouthing soft nibbles and teasing kisses over his jaw and down his neck. Rex squirms and rock his hips up, your cunt clenching around nothing. You need him.   

“Rex,” you groan. You slide your hand between your bodies and grab at his thick length. Rex gasps into your mouth, long fingers clamping onto your waist in a death grip. “I want you.”

“I’m yours.” 

Your nibble at his earlobe as you grind your hips against his length, the folds of your cunt teasingly out of reach. “Touch me, Captain.” 

Rex tears off his vambraces and gloves, hand wedging between your thighs, touching the very tips of his fingers to your throbbing clit. You whine and clench your jaw—the pleasure is raw—sizzling electricity that crackles with the deadly promises of your pleasure. It’s as if you’ve had the breath knocked out of your lungs the second he bears down a bit more on your clit, drawing tentative circles, each completion sending a shockwave of tightly spooled ecstasy through each and every nerve. You nearly sob as his fingers slip away. 

“So wet already,” Rex moans as you tip your head back when two of his fingers begin circle your dripping cunt. They’re thick and long and perfect. Your hips stutter as your cunt easily accepts his fingers, the heel of his palm slotting perfectly against your pussy to stimulate your clit. 

Maker you’re seeing stars as Rex rocks his hand into you—the bend of his fingers the perfect angle to catch all the right places that make you tremble. He kisses your cheek and moans your name into your ear, all low and gravelly— 

Your body seizes up tight as you soar, plummeting off the edge only to tumble so fast and so hard that tears prick the corner of your eyes. Rex peppers kisses over your cheeks and runs his free hand through your hair, purring praise and adoration as you shudder—your mouth parted in a silent cry as you cum and dissolve into his hands. 

When you suck in a steadying breath and open your eyes, Rex is gazing upon you with starstruck eyes—pure adoration that makes your cheeks flare hotter than the surface of two mini suns. Your teeth catch your bottom lip. You’re not sure you deserve to be looked at like this…

However, you’re impatient and running on stolen seconds. As much as you’d like to just simply stare at him—there’s not enough time. Rex wraps his fingers around the base of his cock and slides the tip of himself through your soaking folds. Each stroke against your still throbbing clit makes you buckle into yourself, but the angle that your knees are propped over his hips means you're stuck here. 

Rex pauses and cups your cheek. His thumb scrapes over your cheekbone. “You want this?”

You place your hand over his and turn your head to mouth a kiss over the lines of his palm. Oh, fuck yeah. Kind of him to ask as if hadn’t just cum over his fingers but—no. “I need you to fuck me, Rex. That’s an order.”

Rex huffs out a low chuckle and bumps the crown of his forehead against yours. “As you wish, Senator.” 

Rex runs the blunt head of his cock through your folds again, slicking himself up with your arousal. You mewl and dig your nails into the hard plastoid as the wide tip of him pushes into your entrance—he shudders as you clench and wiggle. It doesn’t hurt, but he’s in no small. You’ll feel him for days, you’re sure of it as your cunt swallows inch after inch. 

You both groan as he finally bottoms out. His jaw his clenched tight as sweat beads at his blonde hairline—Stars above, he’s a sight, struggling not to loose control the second he’s buried inside of you. Desire tickles up your spine, tugging at the fabrics of your being until all you can focus on his how Rex isn’t moving. You shift your hips in tiny, almost imperceptible motions, and squeeze around him. 

“Damn—“ A ragged moans slices through his words as your gentle rocking morphs into needy jolts. It’s easy to fuck yourself onto his cock like this, but the measly thrusts are meant to tempt him. “Fuck, cyare, you’re tight.” 

You smirk and grab at his sculpted shoulders—it’s the push he needs. Rex snarls your name, cups his hands under the globes of your ass and pulls you off his cock nearly all the way out only to slam back in. There’s no time to adjust before Rex sets a pace, fevered and rabid All pent up energy collecting over the weeks you’ve known each other. Each roll of his hips borders erratic, taking his pleasure without thought—intent on reaching his own end after being denied for what feels like ages. 

You squeal in surprise as Rex pushes you onto your back and hoists your legs around his hips. Rex buries his nose into the crook of your neck and moans your name like a sweet prayer wrapped in honeycomb. Rex shifts his weight, widening his knees to sink deeper into your cunt—his stubble tickling your throat as his staggered exhales burn hot over your skin. 

You choke out a groan and feel your arousal begin to drip down your thighs—hear the thrusts of his cock into your cunt become shamefully wetter. Electric heat sears down each vertebrae in your spine, scorching through each and every veins with the catastrophic brilliance of an imploding star. Shit—

“So good t’me—so perfect,” he huffs into your ear. Rex turns his head and steals a kiss. “Feel fuckin’ good stretched around my cock."

You clench around him hard as Rex’s hand sneaks between your bodies and rubs tight, little circles over you swollen clit. There’s barely any build up to your orgasm—just a blinding surge of devastating warmth that sweeps through your body, from your aching center down to your toes. It steals away all the air left in your lungs and leaves your clutching his arm and shuddering for a hold in your own reality—the steady warmth of his body that’s unburdened by armor a much needed anchor for the madness that threatens to drown you. 

His gentle, and pliant kisses morph into little pricks of his teeth over your neck and collar bone as his hips struggle to keep a definitive pattern. Rex’s curses string together and blur into nonsensical noises and loose tongue admittances that are comparable to moving inches from an imploding star.   

“Where can—can I?”

You grab at his head and whine his name. “Anywhere—in me—you can cum in me.”

With a loving caress over back of his neck and a sweet whisper of his name, he reaches release. Rex’s moan is airy as his eyes slam shut and captures your mouth in a sizzling kiss. He’s twitching in your arms as his hips erratically jerk, hot spurts of his release coating your insides and beginning to leak over your robes you lay over. Whatever. 

Rex nips at your skin as the last dregs of pleasure jolt up your spine. Neither of you say a word as Rex’s hips come to a slow. Time trickles through your fingers like sand through an hourglass half empty but instead of rushing to dress, you choose to lie on the ground—two halves of a mess someone’s been meaning to clean up for the better part of a long while. You feel at home here—content as your fingers run up and down the back of his head, a bit irked by the armor still covering his back. You’re terrified of the months to come—but at least you have each other. After all, gardens will bloom and flourish with fresh blooded love and wild mistakes sculpted from passion forever if you believe hard enough…wont they?

#we out here #yeehaw #my writing #captain rex x reader #captain rex x you #ct-7567 #captai rex #clone x reader #clone trooper x reader #the clone wars #tcw #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #star wars #sw

[theladyfulcrum]

Echo is everything to me. Let’s make sure that’s clear. I can’t even express to you how much I love this sweet, wonderful, darling of an angel. So I don’t want anyone to jump to conclusions when I say he doesn’t need “character development” in the way that people are complaining didn’t take place for him this season. Character development does not happen in single episodes— it’s what you get when you look at a character’s story as a whole. And Echo’s story is arguably one of the most deeply explored for any of the clones. We watched him from the time he was just a babie™️ on the training room floor to when he became an ARC Trooper in Anakin Skywalker’s battalion. We watched him go from a wide-eyed shiny to one of Captain Freaking Rex’s closest friends and strategists. If he had died at the citadel, his progression as a character could have been considered (heartbreakingly) complete, because he is Echo and he was already everything and he sacrificed himself in an effort to save his friends. That’s who he is. Then he came back to us, thanks to Rex and the Batch, and he had an entire three (four if you count Rex finding out about him) episode arc dedicated to what he went through and the man he is now. Echo is, in a way, living his second life. And I think TBB actually did an excellent job of showing that. He is every inch still the powerful ARC Trooper he was, but now it’s with the added trauma of remembering what he went through and how he is different. Now he’s always trying his best to use what happened to him for the good of the ones he cares about. Within the show’s plot itself, he went from “she’s a child, what are going to do with her” to holding her comfortingly in his arms in ep 16 (and everything soft that happened in between, like the trooper doll and archery lessons). He had so many wonderful moments this season, and there was definitely a progression for him from Aftermath to Kamino Lost— no, it wasn’t drastic, but he doesn’t need drastic changes in his character at this point in his life. I also think the “where is Echo’s development” argument is missing out on enjoying the fact that he’s alive and here and getting more screen-time than 95% of our favorite individual clones from TCW itself. Of course he could have more, and I’ll never not want more Echo in my life, but he’s part of a squad. These episodes are 25 minutes long. Counting Crosshair and Omega, there are six members of the Batch. A balance has to be struck between telling a story and giving everyone “equal” time, and the story is always going to be more important. Echo has already had his time as the story’s main focus. He is already everything he needs to be. And the fact that we actually get to have him in every single episode is, to me, a gift. His story is by no means over, and I do think that when taken as a whole his time with the Bad Batch will see him continue to grow in little ways, but the idea that Echo needs fundamental development after all this time doesn’t take into account everything he already is, nor the structure of TBB as a show. Now— if you want Echo to have more screen-time, for the love of God just say “I want more Echo!” not “these writers don’t know what they’re doing, where is Echo’s cHaRaCTeR dEvLoPmEnT??” I assure you, the writers recognize how character development works, and they’re subtly masterful at it, and I’m tired of hearing that they’re not.

#bad batch echo #clone wars echo #arc trooper echo #clone trooper echo #echo tbb #tbb echo #tbb spoilers #the bad batch spoilers #the bad batch #bad batch

[djarrex]

From Where We Stand

Chapter 4: Recollection

Post-Stasis!Kix x f!OC

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Chapter Rating: M

Word Count: about 5.7k

Warnings: language, memory loss, mentions of alcohol consumption, angst (clone feels, tbh)

Chapter Summary: Bits and pieces of Kix's memory start coming back to him, and even though he has many questions that have yet to be answered, he decides to put his focus on other things - on someone in particular.

Note: as always, thank you to the darling @rowansparrow for beta reading! This chapter is in Kix's POV. #feels

This isn’t right.

He’s never seen him this… frantic before.

He’s cornered - should he be worried? Maybe not for himself, rather, his brother who is approaching him cautiously, unlike anything he’s ever witnessed in the famously headstrong trooper.

It is worrisome. Something isn’t right. Something is very, very wrong.

Is it the virus he’s supposedly infected with?

Wait… framed? Danger - us, the Jedi. All of us.

Ouch. He’s grabbing him by the shoulders - trying to explain. All the way to the top? Conspiracy?

Kix wants to help - that’s what he does.

He can help him. He will.

“Thanks, Kix. I appreciate it.” The shaken-up trooper reaches for Kix’s arm - tapping away at the buttons of his vambrace. “Here. Here are the coordinates.” Several, short beeps followed by a longer confirmation beep signals that the location had successfully been inputted into Kix’s comm and had been sent off to their captain. He can’t guarantee that Rex will bring the General; he made sure to tell him that.

He did his part - for now - but Kix knows in his heart that he could do more.

He can help him. He will.

Kix watches as his scared, anxious, almost unrecognizable brother secures a piece of his disguise atop his newly-shaven head - hiding the signature tattoo inked above his temple. He’s hiding in plain sight, risking it all just to get his story out there. This has to be important.

As he walks away and without so much as a glance over his shoulder, he concludes, “Just make sure he meets me there.”

Kix turns to watch him leave, finally finding the words to say after the trooper had exited to the main area of the lively club as the door to the ‘fresher whisks closed behind him.

“Right. Good luck, Fives.”

<<<>>>

“He’s gone.”

Rex stands before Kix, his head hung low, bucket at his hip. His captain’s expression says it all, but at the same time, doesn’t say enough. Kix is able to translate grief because he’s known him for a long time, but aside from that, Rex remains as collected as a CO does when in the presence of another. Hiding the real pain; Kix has seen it before - not just with the physically injured, but with those who suffer with emotional turmoil as well.

They’re not droids. They’re men.

Did Fives make it to Rex? Did Rex witness what happened - or - is Rex what happened?

No. No, Rex wouldn’t have. Couldn’t have.

“You were the last one to speak with him,” Rex continues - his voice forcibly remaining steady. “What happened?” He’s digging - comparing the encounters.

So he did make it to Fives.

“He must have been waiting to get either Jesse or me alone, because he followed me into the empty ‘fresher at 79’s,” Kix answers honestly - also keeping his voice as steady as possible. “He mentioned something about a conspiracy - going all the way to the top - how he was being framed.” Kix pauses - his eyes holding with Rex’s in the thick silence. Searching.

“How… did he seem?” Rex asks - stepping closer.

“Frantic, sir. Scared, even. I - I didn’t know what to make of it. He asked me for help, to get into contact with you and General Skywalker. He was adamant about speaking with you two, alone.” Kix pauses again, pinching his brows together and looking down at his boots, then meets Rex’s eyes once again. “He inputted and sent the coordinates himself, Rex.”

“You’re not in trouble, Kix,” Rex assures with a gentle smile. Kix can’t help but sigh in relief, though in all reality he knew he wasn’t in any kind of trouble. Not with his captain, anyway.

Rex looks around the barracks and steps even closer - noting the few troopers who are cleaning their weapons at the far side - his chin hovering just over Kix’s shoulder. “I’ve filed a grievance report,” he says quietly. “I’m coming to you because I don’t think Fives was... wrong. At least not completely.”

Kix blinks - brows raising. “Sir?”

“He’d spoken of the same things when he had the General and me trapped in a ray shield. He… he just wanted to be heard. Did he mention anything about ‘chips’ to you, Kix?”

Trapped in a ray shield? Chips?

“I don’t recall, sir. I don’t think so, no.”

Rex hums, and notices the new confusion growing in the medic’s expression. “Inhibitor chips,” he begins to explain. “The Kaminoans implanted organic chips into our genetic code, our heads, when we were embryos. Tubies. Supposedly, Tup’s malfunctioned, which caused what happened on Ringo Vinda… to happen.” A beat. “Fives had removed his on Kamino, before the incident with the Supreme Chancellor.”

<<<>>>

Kix all but shoots awake in the dark room - only the dimly lit lanterns hanging just outside illuminates the sheer curtains hanging over the interior of the window. The thin but firm mattress barely gives to his weight as he shifts to sit all the way up. It’s quiet, more so than it was as he was falling asleep just hours before, and he figures it must be early in the morning with the sounds of native, desert creatures chirping softly in the distance that can be heard through the thin walls of the room. Pushing himself to sit up against the wall at the head of the bed, Kix sighs - scrubbing his hands over his face and letting his eyes adjust to his surroundings. The canvas sack of armor still sits on the chair that’s positioned in the corner of the room, hanging wide open from when he’d deposited the remaining pieces into it after stripping for the night, and exposing the familiar red insignia that’s painted on his left shoulder bell.

His duty. Or - it was.

The dream - or was it a memory? Both? Kix pulls the sheet from his waist and lets the stale air hit his bare legs - the heated skin of his thighs and abdomen. His eyes burn a hole through the armor peeking from the sack, and the sight of the blue buttons on his vambrace laying just underneath the pauldron hits him with a realization: it was a memory - my dream.

Kix knows he’s too late. He knows he’s decades too late, and from the little information he’s gathered so far from listening in on Ahri and her crew speaking of the matter, his brothers are long gone. Ahri and the Twi’lek - Reveth - hadn’t even been born when Kix last spoke to Fives.

Fives.

Kix was there, as one of the last people to speak with him. Fives died shortly after that, that much he can remember now.

What happened after that?

“What happened to me?” Kix mutters to himself - tearing his eyes from the heap of disassembled armor. He swings his legs around to the side of the bed and glues his heels to the ground, staring at his toes as they wiggle against the cool, smooth sandstone. He’s instantly reminded of his first attempt at standing in the desert - the humor that came with the pirate’s words of warning.

“You can’t just use your legs after they’ve been asleep for five decades.”

His lips curl up at the corner. Ahri.

There’s something about her that is drawing Kix in, as if her gravitational pull is far too strong for him to escape unscathed. He can’t say he minds it, though. She’s tough. Kind. Full of sarcasm. Beautiful… no, don’t go there. Going through some shit that Kix can relate to. Easy to talk to. Striking…

Kix shuts his eyes and shakes his head - scolding himself. “Di’kut.”

She’s tough, he reiterates in his head. Tough enough to handle that relentless creep at the bar by herself - far from accepting Kix’s assistance when things sounded as if they were heading south. She can handle it - ‘it’ being anything, apparently. Kix isn’t used to that with women, or with any civilian for that matter. It’s all so new to him - not ‘needing’ to help - to be told to stand down. He isn’t sure where he stands in this future, but he’d be damned if he doesn’t act if someone appears to need assistance.

Even if he gets chewed out by a gorgeous, fierce, redheaded pirate after the fact. Just as he had yesterday evening.

He’d been sitting at the bar, Rev seated a little too close to him. The Twi had been sipping her drink and tinkering with something at the elbow of her cybernetic arm, not making much conversation of note after Kix had shot down her advance upon taking her seat at the stool beside him - sliding him one of the two drinks she had in hand. “Wanna get out of here?” she’d muttered while bringing the lip of the glass to her red lips. Kix had blinked at her a few times, pretty quickly realizing that she hadn’t been joking. Rev had been making a blend of subtle and not-so-subtle passes at the trooper since he and Ahri had walked back into the cantina - actually, since he’d woken up in the damn desert.

The band had since resumed playing their lively tunes after the small scene Ahri had caused. The redhead had been quick to recover after their talk outside, standing right to her feet and nodding at him in thanks for lending his ear - his thoughts. He’d followed her back inside, and she went straight to a booth in the corner; he’d assumed that was her go-to spot. Quiggold had brought her a drink and left her be after handing it to her, and Kix figured she could use a moment alone. So, he’d stepped over to the bar - taking a seat at one of the empty stools. Rev had joined him moments later, and with the offering of a glass of much-needed liquor came the punctuation of all advances made in a single rotation.

“Sorry,” Kix had responded after staring at her for a moment - frozen in thought. “I, uh, I think I just need some time to adjust… first.”

She’d chuckled - speaking an amused ‘suit yourself’.

They’d sat in silence after that, and Kix couldn’t help but discreetly glance over his shoulder towards the direction of the booth Ahri was sitting in. She wasn’t alone, now. Someone had joined her, and by her not-so-relaxed body language and the little sliver of her face that Kix could make out, she wasn’t enjoying the male Twi’s company - her fingers presumably anxiously tapping at her glass.

“Fuck off,” she’d spat - clipped, feigning confidence but Kix knew what state her mind was currently in from their conversation twenty minutes prior. Kix had tried to separate the bustling tune thumping throughout the place from the guy’s irritating voice, and was able to catch little fragments of his arrogance.

“C’mon, baby. I haven’t been with a human for a long time. You look like you’re in need of a little fun, am I right?”

Kix had nearly turned all the way around in his seat upon hearing that - his eyes narrowed in their direction. Ahri had slid out of her seat and stepped around to the asshole’s side of the booth - hands on her hips and glaring down at him.

“I’m not interested. Now fuck off, you blue cock sucker.”

Kix had chuckled internally at that, but kept his focus on the man who’d been getting visibly more and more impatient and angry that his advances were getting passed on. He’d watched as Ahri turned to walk away when the Twi’lek grabbed her upper arm - yanking her back towards him. She’d nearly fallen into the seat on top of him.

“Hey-.”

Kix had reacted before taking a moment to think.

“She said she’s not interested,” Kix had forcefully reminded him - instantly standing at her side. “Now fuck off.”

Luckily, the guy hadn’t been in the fighting mood. But Ahri wasn't exactly pleased with Kix for stepping in.

Sighing and shaking his head at that memory, his focus now shifts to the folded pile of clothes that lay on a different chair, one that sits turned towards the other. Civilian clothing. A basic tunic, basic pants. Items of similar look had been worn by the trooper only a small handful of times, mostly when he was on shore leave. Those rare times. Kix stands up now, dragging his feet towards the large standing mirror that leans against the shared wall of the tiny ‘fresher. Through the spidering cracks and layer of dust and sand coating the reflective material does Kix take a moment to notice his attire - or lack thereof. In only his gray, GAR-issued briefs, he scans himself toe to head - letting his eyes rove over the parts of his body that he rarely sees.

Kix can’t help but smirk - smoothing his large hands over his toned pecs and defined abdomen. All these years later and I still got it, he thinks with a pleased look on his face. But more importantly, he notices how he’s unscathed, somehow. No bruises, scratches, nor abrasions. Strange, considering the state of which he was found trapped onboard a Seppie ship. He turns to check his backside - chin pointed down against his shoulder. No physical harm is detected on his nearly naked body. He drops his hands to his sides. No clues.

How did I get on that ship?

The rising Ponemah sun - the start of another day in this future - reaches Kix’s feet from where it’s pouring onto the floor from underneath the curtains. Skipping over the thought of taking another shower after having taken one last night just to slip on the same pair of underwear, he moves towards the folded clothes and slides the shirt over his head, and steps into the pants.

I need answers.

But what questions do I ask? What could this pirate crew even tell me after all this time?

Stepping back over to the mirror, he sighs - cocking his head to the left. The man that stares back - the person standing tall in the reflection - may look like Kix, but he doesn’t feel like himself. Not really. His head aches - attempting to grasp at the shards of his memories that are too sharp to put back where they belong without cutting himself. Fixating on his frozen reflection, Kix thinks back to what felt like yesterday for him, how he was a medic in the Grand Army of the Republic, serving primarily in the Five Hundred and First Legion under Captain Rex - one of his closest friends - his brother. He recalls the good times - the sharing of juicy tidbits with Jesse, the drinking and laughing with the rest of Torrent at 79’s. The bad times - the very, very difficult times - also come to him just as easy; Kix could never suppress the memories of what happened on Umbara - the betrayal, confusion, stress, and despair he and the rest of the boys were feeling during and after that brutal campaign.

The most recent and newly discovered memory - Fives coming to him in desperation and the subsequent news of his death - haunts Kix. It’s too incomplete for comfort; the tragedy is missing important details; he can feel it in his bones. The fallen ARC has something to do with what happened to the amnesia-ridden medic, and he needs to figure out how.

Kix can’t do it alone.

Running his fingers through his thick hair, he shakes his head. “Who am I now?”

A cluster of short, hesitant knocks against the other side of the door pulls Kix from his existential haze. He straightens his back, making sure he is in fact wearing the clothes he believed he’d put on. Looking to the covered window, the sunlight stretches further up the curtains and coats the entire floor below with its glow.

Damn. How long have I been standing here staring at myself?

“Hey,” he hears a familiar voice call from the corridor, slightly muffled by the door in between. “Are you, uh, hungry? I brought over some-”

The voice is interrupted when Kix pushes the button, the door sliding open and making the loose hairs hanging over Ahri’s forehead bounce briefly.

“-breakfast,” she finishes - eyes slightly widened. She forces a smile and extends her hand - a native-looking, brightly colored, spiky desert fruit and a triangular, vacuum sealed half pack of polystarch bunched in her palm. Kix eyes the sustenance before flickering his gaze up to hers. Exhaustion - he sees it in and sinking underneath her normally bright eyes. He can nearly feel the conflict going on inside of her from where she stands just a few feet away from him. A lot has happened since they’d found him, he knows that, but wants to try to help ease her mind. Helping others is what Kix does.

She’s watching him as he observes her and the meal, looking down at her boots almost as if she feels guiltyabout the selection. Embarrassed, perhaps.

Why?

“Thank you, Ahri.” Kix reaches to grab the items from her palm with a grateful smile stretching on his lips, his fingers unintentionally brushing over hers in the transaction. “This is perfect, thank you very much.” She returns his smile with her version of one - dropping her hands to her sides. Instead of either party retreating to their respective rooms, they both stand there for a few moments longer. He continues to smile at her, and he can tell she’s trying not to look him right in the eyes.

“Well then.” Ahri smacks her arms against her thighs. Kix can’t take his eyes off of her - grinning like a fool at her demeanor. “I’ll leave you to it. Come find us when you’re ready.” She spins on her heels and starts to head down the dingy, ill-lit corridor but pauses before turning the corner. With her head turning back to look his way from over her shoulder, she calls: “We have a lot to discuss.”

She vanishes around the corner and it’s then Kix looks down at the food resting in his hands. It’s been… fifty years since he’d last eaten anything? A few days? He isn’t sure how this ‘waking up in the future’ thing works. Regardless of the timeline, Kix’s stomach starts to groan as he’s thinking about it. Heading back into his room and shutting the door, he makes his way towards the tiny, high-top table stationed near the small closet. The fruit is unlike anything he’s ever seen: palm sized and ovular in shape, bright pink with flat, emerald green ‘spikes’ protruding from the rough skin of it and curling at the ends. It’s set down on the tabletop, rolling an inch or two from the unevenly balanced and wobbly table.

How in the hells do I eat this thing?

<<<>>>

Kix walks down the hall in the same outfit he’d worn the day prior, the same pieces of plastoid secured in the same places above the stolen clothing. He supposes that he really has no need to wear bits of his armor while omitting some of the more crucial - albeit, bulky and heavy - pieces of his kit, but it feels routine. Familiar, unlike the clothing draped over his body that the crew had stolen for him yesterday. Truthfully, the outfit they’d plucked from the clothesline for him fits him quite well, and is actually pretty comfortable for the weather conditions of this desert planet. Although he would have been fine in his full kit, he’d agreed then just as he agrees now that he’d stick out like a sore thumb amongst the people of this town if he were to strut around donned in plastoid. Times are different now; he feels it, even if he doesn’t know why.

She’d called me a… ‘storm’ trooper? The kriff does that mean?

Adding that to my growing list of questions.

His stomach no longer cries at him, though the portion-sized bread and small fruit didn’t do quite enough to satiate his hunger. The vibrant desert fruit was pretty much completely mush by the time Kix got around to eating it - the pink skin and greenery peeled clean off, revealing a moist, white interior. He’d poked at it and tore bits and pieces of it apart before bringing it up to his lips, and to his surprise, it was quite delicious - unlike any fruit he’d ever eaten. Still, Kix doesn’t think that he had utilized all the edible parts of the fruit, but he’ll try again next time. He has a feeling that there will be more than enough opportunities to get it right.

His boots knock against the sandstone floor as he rounds the corner, the corridor opening up to a little seating area. Ahri and the others are sitting around, sipping caff from clay mugs and watching the screen on Quiggold’s ‘pad. Rev looks up, her expression quickly turning mischievous and eyes honing in on Kix as he slowly approaches the group - avoiding the Twi’s gaze.

“How’d you sleep, pretty boy?” Rev asks with a grin.

Lifting his brows at her immediate blatancy, Kix looks to Rev and gestures to the ‘pad they’re all focused on. “Good. Not long, but I don’t think my body exactly needs much more of it right now,” he answers plainly. “What’s going on?”

“Researching transport that’ll get us back to the wreckage we found you in,” Ahri informs - her eyes not leaving the ‘pad. “He could still be there, alive. He’s survived worse.”

He? Oh. Captain Ithano, if I recall correctly. The man who’d sacrificed himself for Ahri, the crew, and… me.

“Don’t you guys have a ship?” Kix asks. All pairs of eyes are now on the trooper, and Ahri throws a “duh” look and a slow nod his way. He backtracks - recalling that on-foot journey through the scalding, coarse sand. “M’sorry, but I don’t remember getting back into town on anything resembling a ship.”

“We cannot fly the Martinet over the Sea of Sand,” Quiggold replies. “It is not a safe zone for flying ships of its size.”

“We’ll need another sail barge. That’s what we’re lookin’ for.” Ahri grabs the ‘pad from Quiggold’s hands and shifts from the arm of the chair down into the seat. The three others look to Kix with nearly the same expression, and the trooper is able to read it all too well.

They don’t believe their captain is still alive, or at least, they don’t believe this idea is a good one. They’re doing this for her.

Ahri is lost in the device in her hands and the information displayed on the screen - her tanned, lightly freckled face splashed in the soft glow of the ‘pad. Her fine brows pinch together in concentration as her finger drags slowly across the screen.

“She’s been going on all morning about how he should’ve been back by now,” Rev murmurs to Kix - purposefully leaning in close. “She is right, though. The Captain has made it out of far worse before, so there is some hope that he could return to town.”

“Ahri had suggested going back to the wreckage, that maybe we would find Captain Ithano trapped inside,” Quiggold adds, though not as quietly as Rev. “I had countered with the suggestion of keeping the crew here for another couple of weeks to wait it out. I have to think of what is best for the crew. It is my duty.” The wise Gabdorin finishes with a nod and walks off towards the egress just around another corner. Squeaky shrugs and follows their first-mate - or, Captain, now, perhaps - as he ducks under the low thresholds. Rev stays put, though. Moments later she’s tugging on Kix’s arm and leading him the opposite way, just out of Ahri’s earshot. Not that Ahri is paying any attention to the rest of the world right then - too lost in her thoughts. Doused with a determination that is concocted from anger and sorrow.

“I’m worried about her.” The Twi is much more serious now - her tone making that known. “She hasn’t been herself since… you know.” Kix nods, looking back over his shoulder at the redhead. Biting the inside of his cheek, he can only imagine what she’s thinking about right now. “It doesn’t take long to find a sail barge around here, normally. A lot of them are shut up for repairs since that destructive storm came through not too long ago. She’s been adamant about going back, but, there’s just no way. Maybe… she’d listen to you. If you were to talk some sense into her, I mean.” A beat - her tone mildly accusing. “Something tells me that you know exactly how she’s feeling.”

Damn.

Turquoise eyes pin his honey ones down in the silence - Kix’s lips pressing themselves into a thin line. He sighs - a nonverbal accord - then backs away from Rev and returns towards where Ahri is slouched in the chair with the device held close to her face. He softly clears his throat - tentatively - to be greeted with that fiery look in her eyes that has since watered down by something else of which he is familiar. She flashes him a weak smile as she sets down the ‘pad on the little clay side table - bringing her legs up and crossing them in front of her on the seat.

“Can we talk, Ahri?”

What he wants to know is how he ended up in the future. He wants to know what happened after Fives had died, after Rex had met him in the barracks to deliver the awful news the morning after. He wants to know why he was frozen onboard the ship of a Seppie - of Count Dooku - of a Sith. He wants to know it all, but Kix, once again, pushes that desire for answers back behind the part of him that wants to help his new friend.

Or at least he thinks they’re friends.

She lifts a single brow - studying him closely as he kneels down in front of her. His hands falling against his thighs, Kix rummages through his mind to find the right way to approach this. This, being how he’s supposed to talk this woman out of wanting to risk her life to find a man who is more than likely dead.

She clicks her tongue - cocking her head to the side. “What’s goin’ on, Kix? What did they say to you, hm?”

“Rev said she’s worried about you,” he answers honestly and probably a little too quickly. Her eyes widen at that, then she’s silently standing up and pacing towards the egress - slipping right past where Kix is kneeling on the ground. He sighs as the door whisks shut. When he turns towards where Rev was standing, he finds that she is no longer there. It’s just him in this little seating area, alone and mentally cursing himself for kicking it off that way.

Osik.

Go after her, di’kut.

Kix stands and bolts out the door, looking around the alleyway that the egress had opened up to. A couple of passersby holding canvas bags of fruits and bread from the nearby market meander towards the opening at the other end of the alleyway, and as his eyes follow them down, they land on Ahri. She’s leaned back against the stone wall, her arms crossed across her chest and right boot kicked over the left one. Her face is tilted down, staring at the sand depressed around where she’s planted.

“Ahri.”

His voice was too quiet, too soft and careful when it fell from his lips, but she heard. Kix walks in her direction, and is relieved when she makes no attempt at putting more space between the two of them. With his hands folded behind his back, he pauses at her side - her eyes returning to her boots.

“You said so yourself that Captain Ithano had made it out of far worse situations.” Silence is his response, but he continues on - softer now. “I know how you’re feeling, Ahri. I know that the need to help in any way you can is eating you from the inside out.”

Kix watches her with pinched brows - the way her head moves in an almost unnoticeable nod.

“He’s alive,” she whispers - looking up at him. “I know he is.”

“Maybe you’re right, but think about what Quiggold suggested,” Kix implores. “You have to consider what’s best for your broth- crew.” He catches himself - clearing his throat. “Your crew.”

“Maybe you’re right,” she echoes. “But tell me, Kix.” Standing up straight, Ahri turns to fully face him. “Wouldn't you have done anything you could to save one of your fellow troopers if they were in trouble? If you knew you could have done something, even if it seemed too risky?”

Unwittingly, her words hit Kix like a speeder.

Fives.

I helped Fives.

How?

I helped him get in contact with Rex and the General, I know this already.

No, there’s more. It’s deeper than that. I knew I could help, even after Fives was gone.

But how?

What was Fives going on about? ‘Chips’? Rex had mentioned chips. In our heads - in the heads of all clones.

Chips.

Wait. Ahri had mentioned chips, too.

Organic chips.

No, I’d mentioned chips when they’d found me. Ahri only repeated what I’d said. Why did I mention ‘chips’?

“Kix?”

That’s me… I’m Kix. CT-6116. Kix. Clone medic. Five Hundred and First Legion.

“Kix?”

“Chips.”

“Kix?”

Blinking rapidly, Kix’s vision fades into focus on Ahri’s expression - her eyes wide and brows scrunched in concern. She’s close to him - analyzing his face.

“Hm?”

“Hey, are you okay? You... zoned out or... something just then.” Noticing her own hands on his shoulders, she slides them down his biceps before dropping them to her sides.

“M’fine,” he says - rubbing at his temples - the thick hair growing along his hairline that he’s still getting used to. “It’s just… never mind. Like I said, I’m fine.”

“No.”

He shakes his head - confusion lacing his features. “No?”

She sighs. “C’mon.”

Grasping his wrist, Ahri leads him through the alley and out into the open - market stalls of various species of venders and their goods bordering the narrow path between residential structures. Neutral colored canopies and tarps hang overhead, stretching from the roofs of one structure to the next, casting shade upon the merchandise and the sentients shopping around. Vendors call out to shoppers and to other vendors, laughing and arguing and everything in between. It really is a nice day for a desert planet; the red sun is not as devastating as it must usually be. Nearing the end of the market, an Aleena shouts in Basic at Kix about her unique and rare jewelry and gems for sale - how such a pretty young woman deserves the finest desert jewels credits can buy as she winks and gestures towards the redhead practically holding Kix’s hand.

She isn’t wrong.

Kix holds up his free hand and respectfully declines with a shake of his head. Ahri scoffs at the merchant when she takes notice of the Aleena’s hassling and tugs Kix along a little quicker.

It’s about a minute into walking when she drops his arm from her hold, though he still strides beside her, silently questioning where her head is at, and where they’re going. Kix’s mind feels fuzzy, aching and incomplete; if that feeling were to be described, he wouldn't know how to in detail. The strangeness that’s rattling in his skull is foreign to him. Unknown. Never before experienced by himself nor any of his brothers that he’d treated. Or at least, not that he can recall.

After several minutes, the pair comes up on a small hanger that’s enclosed on three sides by surrounding sand dunes. Crooked pillars constructed of chipped sandstone frame the entrance; a sign with a faded, indiscernible scribbling is etched into the wood, marking the designation of the hangar. A few ships to the left appear to be under repair - pit droids hopping around and working in and out of the parked vessels. Crates opened with random parts haphazardly thrown around litter that section of sand. Junked speeders and barges that had been stripped for parts sit at the far side, and on the other end of the dingy hangar, several ships are parked that must be the vessels of those who are visiting the area. That’s the direction Ahri leads Kix in.

They pass the first couple of docked ships, but then she’s stopping in front of a ship unlike one that Kix had ever seen. His brows raise as he appraises the large shuttle.

“This is your ship?”

“The Meson Martinet,” Ahri answers - rolling her eyes. “It’s not my ship, but, yeah.” Starting towards the rear of the ship, she looks back over her shoulder and calls to Kix, who is planted in place, unable to move for some reason.

“You comin’?”

He takes a few steps forward before pausing again. This ship is nothing like a Jedi cruiser, nothing like a gunship, nothing like a medical frigate. It’s the ship of pirates, though that isn’t why his legs are refusing to carry him the rest of the way. This is all so new. Different. Unfamiliar - boarding a ship that does not belong to the Republic and is not piloted by Republic pilots.

Clankers, and a lot of them. Surrounding me. Blasters aimed directly at me, but not firing.

Why didn’t they kill me?

A ship - a small Separatist transport piloted by clankers. Nothing but clankers.

I was on that ship. On route to somewhere.

Somewhere not good.

Ahri extends a hand. “Hey, it’s alright,” she assures - pulling him out of his haze once again with her soft voice. He’s no longer standing; his knees are digging into the sand. “I told you we have a lot to discuss, and we still do.”

series tags (sorry, I'm not including my entire tag list):

@notfivefives @book-of-baba-fett @ashotofspotchka @threevie @dar-manda-rjct @moonstrider9904 @gotomarvelgal @saltywintersoldat @megafrost4 @wisegrape @revengeisaconfesionofpain @imrowanartist @salaminus @thefact0rygirl @murdertoothpick @kaorikoizumi @theroguesully @sugarpuffsstuff @droids-you-are-looking-for @rowansparrow @nyravioppri

If you wanna be tagged in future chapters, please let me know either in the replies, through inbox, or through DMs.

#from where we stand #fwws #djarrex writes #OC Ahri #kix x oc #kix x reader #clone medic kix x oc #clone medic kix x reader #clone trooper kix x oc #clone trooper kix x reader #clone medic kix #clone trooper kix #kix #kix x ahri #star wars fic #the lost treasure of count dooku #the Crimson Corsair #Sidon Ithano #Post-Stasis!Kix #resistance era kix #pirate!kix