#gallory rambles

Darth Vader: "Commander. Why did you not provide your troops with my description?" Commander Fox: "I... I didn't expect anything like this to happen, sir. I just didn't think--"

Listen, first we have,

1. Gree, an expert in alien cultures, aka Mr. "I named myself after an incredibly obscure alien species"

And then we also have,

2. Obi-Wan, who when confronted with a mind controlling worm, went, "No, no, wait, I'm curious. Do you think it'll go in through the nose or the ear?"

These two are NERDS that are completely FASCINATED by science and they definitely encourage each other in the worst of ways. Because if High General Kenobi thinks they should take a detour to examine that glowing moss, well, of course Commander Gree agrees, it's a strategically strong decision. And if Commander Gree says that the beetle that scurried over their battle plans isn't native to any Republic-controlled planets, well then of course General Kenobi agrees that they should investigate further, this could be a Separatist plot.

Basically, this is how I imagine it would go down whenever the 41st and the 212th are deployed together:

Cody: "General, have you made contact with General Kenobi and Commander Gree yet?"

Luminara: "Yes, I have. They should make it to the rendezvous by nightfall, if they don't get sidetracked by the flesh-eating moths."

Cody: "The flesh-eating moths, sir?"

Luminara, long-suffering, regretting the fact that her five year-old self befriended the tiny redheaded youngling who gave her half of his space dessert: "Yes, Commander. The flesh-eating moths. Could you inform your company's medic that we might have a... situation on our hands soon?"

now, firstly, let’s just start with this: quinlan would notice the little redirects fox was pulling to hide the fact that he was missing time, because they were the exact same things that he’d said after losing his memories, the exact same things he’d said when the topic of conversation was something he should remember, but didn’t. he’d said them to mace, to tholme, to aayla, to obi-wan, to luminara, and to countless other jedi, countless other civilians. listen, these were the exact same things that quinlan had said himself whenever he was confronted with memories he never got back, okay, there’s no way he’s not going to notice it.

like recognizes like, and all that. trauma recognizes trauma. victims of memory wipes done by sheev brian palpatine recognize other victims of memory wipes done by sheev brian palpatine.

so, secondly, we now know this: fox is going to notice too.

it happens less often with quinlan, yes, as that memory wipe happened ten-ish years ago, but it still happens. quinlan didn’t get all of his memories back, so even though it’s a more rare occurrence now, he still occasionally finds himself pulling out those old evasive maneuvers when he’s confronted with something he doesn’t remember happening. and fox... well, there’s no way fox isn’t going to notice that. the man works in the senate! hell, he probably has to testify as an expert witness all the goddamn time! he’s going to notice if the jedi he’s with suddenly gets cagey.

it’s kind of unnerving, at first, for both of them. actually, scratch that, it’s extremely unnerving. to randomly, completely out of the the blue, just see this reaction to trauma be mirrored in another being? that’s just kind of unsettling. to realize that this person knows the ins and outs of all these vulnerabilities you have? that’s kind of terrifying. the only thing that makes it a bit less terrifying is the fact that it’s a two way street-- they both know more about each other than their comfortable with.

blah blah, to be known is to be loved, blah blah, no, we aren’t there yet, but yes, i am thinking about that too, and yes, that is absolutely one of the reasons i adore this pairing so much.

but actually, now that i’m really thinking about it, it’s very much a same hat kind of thing, you know? except instead of same hat, it’s same trauma, which is both a lot less funny, and a lot more funny. i mean, come on, what are the odds that fox manages to stumble upon one of the only jedi who has personal, hands on experience with losing memories? and what are the odds that quinlan manages to stumble upon one of the only clones that has that exact same experience? that’s a helluva coincidence, and it’s a beautiful one, with so much potential.

hmmmm. hmmmmmmmm. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Like, Padmé and Bail and Mon are all famous for being honest politicians, and Riyo hangs out with them, sure, but she's also just nonchalantly committing felonies in front of Jedi Padawans on the side, and I find that extremely amusing. I mean, all I can think of here is this:

Padmé: So, what do you already know about politics?

Ahsoka: (blah blah politics stuff)... and if you want a business that's secretly working for the Seps to get rid of the blockade on your planet, you should threaten to expose them unless they do what you want!

Padmé: NO Ahsoka, that's called blackmailing someone, and blackmail is a crime.

Ahsoka: But Riyo said it was just business!

Padmé: ... ᴵ'ᵐ ˢᵒʳʳʸ ᴿᶦʸᵒ ˢᵃᶦᵈ ʷ ʰ ᵃ ᵗ

Ahsoka: That it was just business! Anyway, she was doing it to the Trade Federation, and they're the bad guys, so it's all cool.

Padné: ...

Ahsoka: ...

Padné: ...

"Brain Invaders" is one of my favorite clone wars episodes, mainly due to the fact that it's actually INCREDIBLY HORRIFYING and I am a terrible chaos gremlin who thrives off that kind of shit. Mind control! Betrayal! The irony of the clones saying that they're good at hunting/killing Jedi! Barriss dramatically telling Ahsoka to kill her! Tango Squad! Trap's GRUESOME DEATH OH GOD — Barriss, darling, love of my life... this is easily one of the most BRUTAL takedowns in the show, holy SHIT. And then that lingering shot of Trap's dead body, with the lightsaber wound that killed him still smoking?