"batmans Only Superpower Is That He's Rich"

After the war, Rex does a lot of thinking about the entire thing, about how it was unnecessarily bloody, how it cost the lives of millions of innocents (Jedi and clones combined). He thinks about his brothers and their sacrifices, about how they’d thought they were made to protect the Jedi but were never meant to be anything more than their executioners.

Rex has many regrets. He knows there’s no use in dwelling on what could have been, but if there was one thing he could change, it would be that he listened to Fives the first time around, both during Umbara and in that decrepit warehouse.

Rex comes to the conclusion that Fives had always been smarter than him. He’d been the best of them all, willing to do whatever it took to save as many lives as he could.

Fives had indirectly saved Ahsoka and Rex and any other clone who got their chip out, but Fives himself had been killed for attempting to save others. No one had been able to save Fives.

It pains Rex to think that Fives will be forgotten over the course of time, that Fives would only ever be a speck in the entire course of history. Fives was a great man, possibly one of the greatest to ever live in Rex’s opinion, and great men deserve to be remembered. Rex knows he himself will also only ever be a speck on history, but he resolves to do what he can to make sure that this great man is remembered.

He writes down every detail he knows about Fives: from Domino Squad, to Rishi, to the 501st, to the promotion to ARC after the Battle of Kamino, to the Citadel and losing Echo, to his bravery on Umbara, and finally to Ringo Vinda and the discovery of the chips. Rex doesn’t know all the details of Fives’ private life, of course, but he writes what he observed.

He makes sure that whoever stumbles upon this will know that Fives was passionate, brave, kind, funny, loyal, and incredibly intelligent. Rex notes his penchant for impassioned speeches with a chuckle. He never understood how Fives came up with those on the spot, but he supposed the ARC had always been a natural leader. Fives had been a voice that his brothers had always rallied behind; Rex always admired him for it. He had always been sure of himself and his brothers, even at times where Rex couldn’t find that confidence in himself.

Rex keeps what he’s written about Fives with him at all times. He sends a copy of it to Echo one day, knowing that Fives’ twin will be glad to have it. The days on Seelos with Wolffe and Gregor become monotonous, and he catches each of them reading the memoir at some point. One has to pass the time somehow, anyways.

When Rex joins Ghost Crew, he regales them with tales of his brothers. He talks about Fives the most and practically begs them all to carry on his memory. He can see a piece of Fives in each of them, especially in the young Ezra Bridger.

On Endor, after the Empire has been defeated, Rex meets one Luke Skywalker. They mourn and remember Anakin Skywalker together, but later Luke begs him for stories about the Clone Wars. Rex cannot help but speak about Fives, and when he mentions the memoir, Luke asks if he can see it. Rex readily agrees, and decides to ask Luke a favor. Rex knows that his time is running short, and soon there will be no one left alive who knew Fives. He asks that Luke pass on the story of the greatest man Rex ever knew, and Luke easily agrees. Rex leaves his writings and the old holopic of himself, Cody, Fives, and Echo with Luke and passes on a few months later.

Luke tells his family of Rex and Fives. They all read the manuscript, awed by the stories held within. Young Ben Solo adores the escapades of Fives and wants to be just like him when he grows up. Luke decides that Leia can keep the manuscript and holopic so that she can read Ben stories from it while he’s younger, but it stays with her even after he’s joined Luke’s school. Besides, Ben has read the stories so many times that he no longer needs the words in front of him. He joins Luke in telling his peers of the greatest man to ever live and asks them all to carry on the memory as well.

Things don’t go quite as planned. Ben does not grow up to become like Fives, but instead becomes the very thing Fives had fought so hard to destroy. He forgets the stories and kills almost everyone who would remember them.

The manuscript and holopic, however, remain with Leia. She keeps them to herself, waiting for the right person to share the stories with. She finds that person in a deserter stormtrooper who doesn’t quite know how to find his place in a world he’d never set foot in before. She gives him the manuscript and holopic and asks him to carry on the memory of the person inside.

Finn, too, is amazed by Fives. He finds a kinship in him— clones and the stormtroopers of the First Order are not all that different, it seems. He resolves to pour the same passion that Fives had into his own work with the Resistance. Without realizing it, he even picks up Fives’ tendency for passionate speeches, which amuses Leia to no end.

Finn spreads Fives’ story to his friends and many other members of the Resistance. The phrase “same heart, same blood” takes root in its members, inspiring them all to fight against tyranny.

One day, a wayward clone trooper finds his way into the Resistance. To say he is shocked to hear his dead brother’s name spoken with such reverence is an understatement, but soon he gets the story out of Finn. Kix nearly breaks down into tears, never imagining that one of his brother’s legacies could’ve lasted this long.

Eventually, the First Order is defeated, and the galaxy can finally rest. The Resistance puts up statues of its heroes from both the original Rebellion and the new one. One, however, stands out from the rest. It is of a clone trooper.

The statue of Fives stands tall and proud in the center of Coruscant. The holopic had been useful in capturing his likeness, as had directions from Kix. Fives stands with his helmet tucked underneath his left arm, his right arm held up in a salute. There is a relaxed smile upon his face, one that reassures anyone who gazes upon it.

Underneath it is a plaque that reads:

“Fives

Not Just Another Number

But A Great Man”

—————

I got emotional about how no one would remember Fives and this is what happened. I have zero (0) regrets and I hope you enjoyed this! At first I was just gonna write an analysis but I thought this would be better expressed through a fic. I wrote it all on tumblr and I’ll post it on Ao3 sometime but it’ll be a bit. I know the ending sounds like that quote from Captain America but it’s what fit haha, it’s not intended to be a reference to that at all. Thanks for reading!

for the fic title game, 'you're the ghost of your predecessors'?

OKAY so I know a lot of people will be thinking like Tim or Damian for this one, and I get it. I get it. But Steph. Fic with Steph focusing on her sense of identity and how it's always been tied so closely to other people. First, her father, as Spoiler. Next, as Robin, everyone that came before her—Dick, Jason, Tim. Wanting so desperately to be her own Robin—good like they were, but in her own way, but at every turn she was condescended to, compared, disrespected, and just couldn't be her own Robin.

Then there was Batgirl, and Batgirl was a breath of fresh air. Batgirl wasn't under Bruce’s jurisdiction any more than Oracle was—Batgirl wasn't Robin. But, but, but. As Batgirl, she had to be as smart as Babs, as strong as Cass, and as kind as the both of them. As Batgirl, the load to be as good as her predecessors was one she put on herself, to prove their trust in her wasn't misplaced or misguided. Another mantle, more legacies to uphold.

Then, fast forward a bit, and she's Spoiler again. And Spoiler was created to spoil her father's plots and get him in jail, but, well, he's been in jail for around three years now, and with the strings she's sure were tugged, he's not getting out any time soon. And, she- Spoiler is hers. Nobody's but hers. And she doesn't know how to feel about having a title that's just hers.

She's still got the weight of Robin and Batgirl on her shoulders, but maybe this is one she doesn't mind bearing. She's a ghost of her predecessors, but it doesn't sound so negative now. Maybe she can live with that.

She's a reflection of everyone that's come before her, and that isn't too bad. Dick's determination, Jason’s compassion, Tim's crazy-smart kindness, Cass' strength, Babs' intelligence. Bruce’s paranoia.

Damian has your bravery, Tim tells her once, and she almost breaks down sobbing. She can be a ghost of her predecessors, if that means those that come after her will be a ghost of her too.

All the doodles I’ve done for @ohboyhowdybuckaroo ‘s gem au fic I’ve been working with them on!

i know a lot of you still really like the gem au, sorry im kinda over it, but i hope this holds you over :)

please leave some good comments over there :D

gaza has just been completely cut off from the world.

after increased intensity of israeli aistrikes tonight, the last cable providing communications was destroyed. telecommunications have been completely cut off. they cannot reach one another. they cannot reach paramedics. the red crescent society has completely lost contact with their branch in gaza. nobody inside can reach anyone inside, and especially not outside of gaza to tell us what is going on. this is a complete atrocity.

some undercover mission doodle 🤔

they are older (Hobie is 22 and Miles is 20), so they are allowed on more complicated missions.

but they r not dating (yet), currently torturing everyone with their 5-years-and-counting slow burn 😔

Hey have a fun AU I came up with the other day after reading a bunch of fics with related tropes

It's a raised Sith AU. Anakin was found by Sidious well before he was found by Qui-Gon. He was raised by the Sith, is a classically horrible monster stalking about TCW to be Vader (mask and all, just as an intimidation factor instead of life support) while Ventress and Grievous and Dooku do their own things in a different section of the war. He's got a Really Fucking Weird dynamic with Obi-Wan, mostly attempting to kill him etc.

At some point, Palpatine allows Anakin and Padme to meet. The romance that blooms is one that Sheev decides is useful to him, so he lets it happen.*

Padme gets pregnant. Sidious arranges for her death. Anakin loses his entire shit and tries to kill Sidious. Obi-Wan is off trying to save Padme, unaware of Anakin getting his remaining limbs cut off by his this-universe Master. (This is important, because Anakin does remember Obi-Wan trying to save Padme.)

So we have Anakin, who was raised Sith, and just lost the only things that have mattered to him since his mom died when he was a kid, and Palpatine has pushed him further into the Dark than he ever has. Anakin… knows more about the Sith Secrets in this universe.

Anakin finds a Sithly Time Machine. Maybe on Malachor. There's an owl? Whatever.

Anakin, someone who's been Vader for the vast majority of his life, wakes up at age nine. Maybe even younger, like six. His mother is already dead at Sidious's hands. He's already roommates with Maul. He's already being trained as a baby Sith.

Anakin, being a 20 year old war veteran, is much better at escaping than Sidious has planned for. He reprograms a medical droid to take out his slave chip, steals a ship, etc. All the stuff that Maul wasn't very good at, and Anakin was too young for, so Sidious didn't have the preventative measures in place for yet.

Anakin heads for the one place and person he thinks he can trust: Obi-Wan Kenobi.

(Obi-Wan is still a padawan. But this Baby Sith just declared him Adoptive Teen Dad, so.)

@lizasweetling (all indented bits from here will be hers):

Because Sith. Bad for mental health of the user and generally bad for their environs But also baby. And if hes dragging Maul around no doubt the dude is constantly himself confused why he is here Like yeah, Sidious sucked, and this 6-9yo is way powerful and knowledgeable on the dark side (?????) But why are we going to the Jedi? And not even trying to kill them apparently?????

Anakin is very much being affected by Baby Brain and Baby Endocrine System. He cries a lot more than he should.

I WASN'T THINKING OF HIM BRINGING MAUL BUT YEAH. THAT'S. THAT'S A POSSIBILITY.

Jedi Council trying to decide if this is more "Adult Sith got shrunk" or "child got evil man's memories." Vader wants to know why it even MATTERS. (He didn't actually plan on telling them, but he has very little self control right now.)

The first Good Act he does is tell them where to find Ventress and Ky. (In the originally timeline, he viewed Ventress as like. Cool older cousin.)

Vader's right, that distinction does not matter Aaaw, she deserves that, that's nice Maybe she will be like 20% less homocidally traumatized

Anakin is furious when Maul and Obi-Wan pick him up under one arm like a package. He is a GROWN MAN he is an ADULT he was a SITH LORD and about to be a FATHER, he is TOO OLD FOR THIS.

They point out that he is Baby.

😂 sorry lord of evil, you're too baby, have a nap and maybe your feel better. Assuming the crisis on Naboo is still happening, and as such the vote of no confidence is right now, it might be a great time to report Sidious as a Sith lord. Post-escape from Sidious, both he and Maul definitely will need a nap. It's that kinda place.

Oh, it's probably at least a year before. Anakin keeps trying to sneak off to kill the man himself, but the Jedi are more ready for his Sneaking than Mustafar was, so he keeps getting caught before he can reach the Senate.

At one point he tries to just CHARGE the place and you get Mace and Obi-Wan sprinting after him. The News captures videos of this very small child getting chased by an older Padawan and a Master and they are mostly yelling for him to PUT DOWN THE SABER.

(Sidious might see him but what's he going to do? Might cause too many problems for Sidious to be aware of Anakin's presence with the Jedi, though. Best not.)

It's probably more expensive on average to hire an assassin ona child, just in general But on a jedi youngling??? If he can even find someone to do that, it will be so very, ridiculously expensive And likely 70%+ upfront payments

Ahsoka definitely seeks him out. Toddler baby child. She adores him for reasons unclear to anyone and everyone.

!!! Baby has baby!! Vader's probably a little thrown by this. Been a while subjectively since someone just loved him. And not even for like, a reason. Baby Vader coerced into sitting obediently for nap by tired kiddo: [The council liked that]

The number of times that vader could only be convinced to nap by Obi-Wan grabbing him, caging him in his own lap, and forced to Sit Quietly until he just fell asleep like that...

He has things to do, he's not tired 😡😡😡💢 (He's 9. Distances are between 150 and 195% longer when measured with steps, he's hungry (subjectively) all the time, and has only middling coordination He so is too tired)

Anakin doesn't know Qui-Gon at all but he keeps getting stuffed into the man's top because he's just. Small enough to fit.

Like the bomb boobs gif, but it's a small child.

the indignity

You just. You can't let him get too self-important.

Vader is Disgusted every time the pediatric healers try to talk down to him like they do to other 6yos.

The difference between this and other "Vader goes back in time to the Jedi" AUs (like Force of Many Sights) is that this Vader has never been a Jedi, and doesn't know anything about them except how they fight when he's trying to kill their friends.

Also Maul's there.

Because even he has a hard time taking himself seriously when hes so easy to manhandle Rest of the time; I am fear, I am death personified As luggage child: I am so small. The tiniest. I crave violence He's probably very annoyed they keep taking away his saber And hey! Obi gets practice not losing his! Woooo!

Something something Anakin clinging to Maul's back (piggy back ride) and chewing on his head or something stupid like that. Perfect height for head biting.

You know, the classic anime head bite

Maul probably has been nominally talked into this because this 9yo is a powerful darksider But he is also the world's most annoying tiny kid Maul would've thought his phenotype would make him immune to this ridiculousness He was wrong At least the teeth are a bit less pointy than his other little brothers'? Appreciating the little things

tfw your unwanted little brother drags you to what you think is a cult but actually they're way less culty than your last two places so you just stick around to keep an eye on the little shit

Anyway. ObiMaul for this one.

They're peers They're tired They just want to sit down and not have to chase this weird little murder child They have a lot in common 😊

They are all just a little bit stupid, I love them.

Qui-Gon is a Cool Mom (throws condoms at them and books it).

Yeah, that's about as much involvement as would be appreciated They probably did a lot of sparring before the tension broke Which did not relieve said tension, generally made it worse (Competence, athleticism, sweat-) Vader is confused, but probably doesn't mind He's probably glad they're distracting each other from stopping assassinating a certain someone (Which- that is 9yo hubris. He would need help to do that)

I still can't decide where on 6yo-9yo he falls but somewhere in there

Babies means easier hiding in shirt, teenie Ahsoka, and longer for him to convince the Jedi council to do a Sith hunt before the Naboo situation

Also longer for Maul and Obi-Wan to faff about being all Tension

* Vaguely inspired by the backstory of Rulebreaker/Wildheart, which is great but significantly more of a romance fic than this.

Boss is asleep, cannot stop me from frogposting

I see an animol I name it

Time meassured in Robins and Commissioner Gordon’s Hair. EDIT PATCH NOTES: Added steph.

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