Saga - ST Bad Romance (General Hux, OC) - Chart Hit Challenge (author's thanks and thank you for the awards!)

Title: Bad Romance
Author: Divapilot
Genre: Drama
Characters: OC, General Armitage Hux
Summary: Even generals have a girl back home, whether she wants to be there or not.

Author’s note: written in response to the Chart Hits Challenge My song, not surprisingly, was Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance. The lyrics are right here .

Notes on OC. This is an AU of my AU that I wrote last year. The OC is Breha Amidala Solo, the fourth child of Han and Leia in the Legends canon. She is not Force sensitive. In the original stories listed, she falls deeply in love with a Barolian medic. In this story, they never meet. You can read about her here. She appears in True Blue and in The God of Second Chances.

Spoiler: Cover by Chyntuck and Mr. Chyntopolis

Armitage Hux lifted his cut crystal goblet and, over the light amber hue of the Arkanis wine (a suitable vintage although it lacked the vibrancy of wines from earlier years), he watched his wife quietly finish her meal. He placed his wine glass on the table and leaned back, assessing her. She was pretty, if not beautiful. Thin enough, dark curls that brushed her shoulders, her height a little too short for his liking but it was just as well. He hadn’t married her for her looks. Like everything else in his personal life, he was practical but he had an eye for quality and a taste for luxury. She had pedigree, and that was what counted.

As if sensing his scrutiny, his wife looked up and met his eyes. Armitage lifted his glass. “Happy anniversary, darling,” he said.

She tilted her head and a smile crooked out of the corner of her mouth. That annoying Solo grin. “Eight years of marital bliss,” she said, raising her own glass in a salute to him. Armitage frowned slightly, trying to detect sarcasm in her comment. If there had been, he decided it was insufficient to warrant an argument over. His time with his wife was short and he was determined to make the best of it.

He smiled at her, a smile that he hoped looked sincere and caring, and reached across the table. He lay his hand on the table, palm up, and waited for her to put her own hand in his. After a moment, she did. He frowned and then brushed the expression away. After eight years she should know what he wants. An open hand means you take it. He closed his thin pale fingers around hers. “I’ve a special gift for you tonight, my dear,” he said.

With her free hand she dabbed her mouth, then put the linen napkin down. She placed her free hand on her lap, smoothing the cobalt blue fabric of her dress. “How thoughtful.”

Armitage rose, still holding her hand. His wife stood up and followed him. Server droids scurried to clear the table.

The rays of the late afternoon sun slanted across the corridor as they walked back to their private quarters. His rank and his father’s service had been rewarded, and this mansion on Arkanis was the visible proof. It pleased him to walk the elegant halls again. Armitage took her hand and slipped it beneath his arm, drawing her closer to him. She looked away from the deepening blue sky and up at him. “Will you come see her?” she asked. “She’s waited for you to come home. She misses you.”

Armitage paused. “Of course.”

They turned down a side corridor, his boots clicking on the blue tiles, and came to a room. His wife disentangled herself from his arm and pressed the panel and the door slid open. They entered the nursery, where a little girl sat quietly at play with her toys under the watchful eye of a nanny droid. Armitage smothered an overwhelming surge of disgust. Toys, dolls, little holographic dancers, styluses and palettes of gaudy colors – all types of useless paraphernalia littered the child’s room. This is what happens when he lets his wife raise his child, he thought. The girl will grow weak and foolish. It was good that she would be leaving this environment soon.

The child looked up, her pale green eyes a perfect copy of her father’s. She leapt from her chair and ran over to him. Her red-streaked brown hair was held back with a broad blue ribbon, and she wore a yellow dress with little flowers embroidered on it in the Naboo style. He made a mental note to himself send the child proper clothing. He crouched down and the child ran into his arms, and he lifted her up. “How is my little soldier today?” he asked.

She flung her arms around his neck in a most sentimental way. “Daddy! I missed you!” she said. She leaned back in his arms and placed her small hands on his face. “I missed you so much,” she repeated.

“I missed you too, Marielle,” Armitage said. The child had been named for his mother, but there was an annoying amount of his wife, and by extension his mother-in-law, in the girl, especially in the fullness of her face. But this was his daughter, and such flaws could be surgically corrected if necessary.

“Will you stay this time?” the child asked. Armitage gently put her down and the girl grabbed onto the loose folds of her mother’s blue dress. He thought for a moment and decided that four was too old to be hanging onto a mother. Marielle would have to begin training soon, he realized, if only to keep her mother from completely ruining her chances for advancement in the service of the First Order by indulging in the girl’s childish fancies.

Armitage leaned down and kissed the girl on the top of her head. “We shall see. Perhaps you would like to come visit Father on his ship? You can come onto the bridge with me.”

The girl’s eyes grew large and she turned to her mother. “Can I?” she asked.

Her mother looked down at her, her expression inscrutable. “If that’s what your father wants.”

Marielle beamed. “I drew a picture of the ship, Daddy. Look.” She ran over to her desk and retrieved a flimsi. He examined the crude drawing of a red headed man and a child. The large triangular shape they stood in front of must be the Finalizer, he surmised. She had scrawled a blue background full of yellow stars behind them. She looked up at him. “See? I made this for you. That’s you and me on your ship. Mommy says that it’s a big ship and it goes all over the galaxy.” She began to spin in little circles.

“Yes, Marielle,” he said, “Thank you. Now go to bed, little soldier.” He folded the drawing and tucked it in his belt.

The nanny droid approached. His wife let their daughter’s hand slide out of her own and the nanny droid took the girl by the hand. Armitage turned to leave. He held out his hand to his wife, but her attention was on watching the girl walk toward her bedroom. Armitage stared at her. “Breha,” he said, a little more sharply than he intended. His wife blinked and stared at his open palm, then obediently put her hand in it. As they left the nursery, he pulled the child’s drawing out of his belt and placed it on the windowsill. The maintenance droids would dispose of it. If his wife saw him do it, she chose not to say anything.

“I’m thinking it’s about time that Marielle began her education,” he said as they strolled toward the private rooms.

“She can be educated here, with us,” his wife countered quietly.

“Any child can be educated anywhere, but we are talking about my child. My child will need specialized training to fulfil her potential. I’ve made arrangements for Marielle to go to the Arkanis Academy when the next term starts.”

His wife stopped and stared at him. Her hands dropped to her side. “Armitage, she’s too young. She’s just a little –“

He cut her off. Youth was key. He had married his wife when she was barely out of her teens, too young to really have much of a choice in the matter, and Snoke had been wise to suggest the union - it had worked out most profitably for Armitage. He would explain it to her so that even she could understand. “The younger they start, the more comprehensive her education will be. Tell me, how old were those children at your uncle’s Jedi academy? Some were her age, even younger.” Armitage began walking again. “The decision is done. Your sentimental babying of her will not help her.”

She stood in her place as he walked away. “Please. I don’t want her to leave. She should be home with us.”

“You don’t have a choice. Now, let’s go.” He stopped and held out his hand for her to take.

His wife’s hands stayed at her side. He walked back to her, his eyes narrowed. “Don’t be a fool, Breha. You always knew this would happen. From the moment you agreed to marry me you knew what the arrangement would be. Any children of ours would be subject to whatever I felt was best for them.”

She looked up at him, her lip trembling but her stance firm. “You don’t get to take my child away without my consent. I am your wife and I deserve to be treated as your equal.”

He stared at her, unimpressed by her little display. “You were a peace offering,” he spat. “I married you on the request of Supreme Leader Snoke so that we could find some way to control your rebellious little family.” He snatched her hand and squeezed it, and she winced. “You are married to a general. Act like a general’s wife.”

“My mother’s a general, too,” she muttered.

Now his rage flared openly. “Your mother is a traitor.” He pushed her against the wall, his hands on her shoulders. She flinched and turned her face away from his. “You took an oath to obey me when we married. An unbreakable oath. I am ordering you to never refer to that Force witch again. Thank the gods you didn’t inherit that ability from her.” He leaned in even closer. “You would be wise to watch your words, Breha. Your brother is on my ship. It would be unfortunate if something were to happen to him. You know how recklessly impulsive he can be.”

Armitage caught his breath, his temper subsiding, then he stepped away and dropped his hands to his side. He shook his head, then straightened his black tunic. He sighed. “Darling, let’s not argue. It’s our anniversary. I have a gift for you.” He held out his hand and waited. Slowly she raised her own hand and placed it in his. He patted it, smiling. “That’s better.”

They approached their private rooms. Armitage opened the door and waited for her reaction. He had spent quite a bit of money on her present and he wanted her to be grateful. She looked around the room at all the flowers, their heady scent filling the air with their perfume. “They’re lovely,” she said. She walked to the bed and scooped up a handful of the blue petals, letting them fall through her fingers like forgotten memories.

“Blue asterias,” he said. “They’re your favorite.” He came up from behind her and gently pushed her brown curls aside, then placed a necklace around her neck. “This is a sorra diamond. It’s one of the rarest gems.” He paused. “They mine them on Torkurra.”

He waited, testing to see if she would make a comment about the notorious slave laborers of Torkurra who worked in the backbreaking heat to mine sorra diamonds. But for once, his wife wisely kept her pretty mouth closed.

Armitage smiled. He hoped tonight they would conceive a child, a boy to replace the one she lost on him years ago at the start of their marriage. To achieve this, he had taken the liberty of replacing her repressors with useless placebos. Armitage would name the child after his father. Besides, it would give his wife something to occupy her time when Marielle goes off to the Academy in a few months.

Perhaps this would be a productive visit home after all. He kissed her along the nape of her neck. His wife stayed still and quiet, his touch as soft as a spider’s against her skin. Still standing behind her, his kisses traveled up her neck and his hands crept across her hips, pulling her closer and rustling the bright blue fabric of her dress.

His words breathed into her ear. “Happy anniversary, darling.”

His wife passively accepted his advances as she continued to stare out the window at the sky, its deep blue shifting to indigo as the bright promising hues of day surrendered into the darkness of night.

 

OOooooohhhhh Diva....

This was just incredible. Absolutely amazing. It reminds me of two characters in Game of Thrones (Ramsey & Sansa), and the elegance of some of those amazing Gene Kelly/Fred Astaire movies, and also some Nazi-esque elements. You made me feel the cold elegance of his riches.

This is so EVIL (the Bolded part). Holy cow nuggets. It made me really like, sit up and realize that Hux isn't just power hungry, or indoctrinated, or in a lifestyle. He's a JERK. A psychopath!

GET IT BREHA!!!! I love this little moment of defiance, that is so noble and regal as well. I can see Padme, Leia and Breha Organa in her!!!

EVILLLLLL!!!!

Anndddd now we're back to being the smooth operator. This part really made me feel like he's...got some issues. Like a bit of Bipolar? Or maybe he's just so convinced that she's his property that this type of behavior is normal. Either way, creeepppyyyy.

You are seriously incredible. I am (as always) in awe of your writing (which is practically perfect!) and of how you can paint me such a realistic picture that I can feel the things that you're describing. You're amazing.

 

Wow, this shows Hux in a different but no less sinister light, the very portrait of an abusive marriage. And yet everything he was in TFA is here as well, arrogance, supremacy, the need to control and dominate - poor Breha!

 

The song has lines such as "baby you're sick" and "I want your leather-studded kiss in the sand". Combined with the odd video, it just screams trouble. Basically, it's what it says on the thin, but Diva's story took it further, I think this is THE WORST ROMANCE.

...

On to my comment...

I read this and the first song that played in my head was Die Ärzte's Schrei nach Liebe, because this Hux is, err...such a twisted emo Nazi kriffboy that I can't even. I literally can't even!

And then, there was this song: https://booksoflove.bandcamp.com/ ...and a whole day of pondering the theory of multiple universes and not meeting somebody in this space-time. There are some sort of multiple micro-universes in this. And it makes me wonder of what happens

I'm not the kind who would go "aww" at Hux - and I know people who do - and a part of me enjoyed seeing him exactly the way I imagined him the first time I saw The Force Awakens - a Nazi Schatzi. But then, seeing how that Nazi Schatzi is behaving, I was...I just...this story. Language is failing me, because this is masterful and chilling on so, so many levels.

From the very start, his assertion that she is "thing enough" and "a little too short for his liking" imply that he's a control freak, the kind of a being who counts how many breaths somebody else has taken. And his hate of her Solo lopsided grin.

....HELP. HELP. H-E-L-P.

I mean, in the words of Bree's grandpa and uncle...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

And then comes the interlude with Marielle - which I almost feel was a way to delay procreating, but that thought may be too weird - and the subtle misogyny and sexism continuing to creep, even against an innocent child. The Nazi tones, too - she could have looked more like his side of the family, huh? Eeek!

The sweet child draws the ship, while her father wants to have her operated on and remove her to whatever scary Spartan place he had in mind, while not noticing the hypocrisy of living in a fancy mansion.

He...he just dismissed everything she is and everything she will ever be with his comment to this insurance commercial-worthy moment. My heart broke a little. He is literally killing the dreamer in her.

....no, no, no. And now my heart is completely broken.

I...I...I just...he has no single bit of love for Marielle - she is to be sent away to become a puppet of Snoke's (using Luke's Jedi Academy as the analogy was just...a complete fallacy, yuck!) and he already has a plan to conceive a new baby to occupy his wife's mind, so she would be...even more submissive?!


He stared at her, unimpressed by her little display. “You were a peace offering,” he spat. “I married you on the request of Supreme Leader Snoke so that we could find some way to control your rebellious little family.” He snatched her hand and squeezed it, and she winced. “You are married to a general. Act like a general’s wife.”

“My mother’s a general, too,” she muttered.

Can't even decide what's worse - his constant hatred against Solos and an implication that he would kill what I assume is Ben in this universe, the idea that a marriage is not an union of equals, calling Leia a Force witch or Hux physically attacking Bree.

And even the gifts are a trap - had she mentioned the slaves, she would have been very likely sexually assaulted, while with her submission, she only gets a tacky "lovemaking" session.

But now, at the end of the story, I am openly crying here and I don't think that my pets understand what's wrong with me. This dark, twisted monstrosity of an AU just took a whole different turn.

There is hope in this story...and here is why - for those who missed it.

Spoiler

Bree's true love, Blue, he does exist in this universe. He is the flowers. He is the sky. He is even the dress, the last thing protecting Bree from this awful man's advances. In some way, he watches over her.

And therefore, even in this nightmarish dystopia, the end of The God of Second Chances applies:

"The air in my lungs is the breath of his kiss. The sound of his voice fills the space between my heartbeats. He tilts his face to the sky, stretches out his hand, and illuminates the stars for me. I am his and he is mine, and our love will always be unbreakable."

And one last thought, which may be too abstract - the aesthetics I am imagining here is one from another female pop singer's oeuvre. Taylor Swift's video for Blank Space and some of the things happening in it would be so, so, so fitting for this Arkanis mansion and this bad romance.

Thank you so much for taking part in the challenge and acing it! If you dare make yourself unvoteable next year and there's no way to sneak a story of this quality into the voting, I AM GOING TO BE VERY VERY VERY MAD, OK?

 

Ow, ow, ow!!!! Superb characterizations and chilling! Loving Breha as you know I do and contrasting this "family life" with the one that resonated in "True Blue" and "Second Chances" and the absolute and true darling Blue is, made it even more gut-wrenching. I love Marielle and I hate her father trying to "make her over." Yeah, Hux Bree's mom is a general and true nobility so deal with that and Luke is something else altogether ... not just a valiant warrior but someone who knows how to treat a lady right.

 

Well, this certainly expanded on the personality and life of one General Hux, didn't it?

The story really picks up and motors along from the near iconic exchange:

Excellent stuff throughout, including descriptions that I was able to note and absorb to do with one hand waiting for another to submissively grasp it, pretty little mouths, descriptions of clothing, kissing along napes of necks.

LOLBUTBMBWSOOM! Laugh Out Loud But Unable To Because My Breath Was Shocked Out Of Me!

******* wow!

Great descriptions of the little girl, her dress, her interactions and natural things like grabbing her mother's dress, interlaced with this being's thoughts and attitude on everything.

There is a lot here that I can file away for when doing my own romantic / OTP work, descriptions that simply would not have occurred to me.

Divapilot, you did an absolutely excellent job here, and I hope to drokk I remember this work when the Awards next roll around.

 

Thank you! Hux clearly has a lot of Nazi overtones (the whole scene where he is addressing the troops, spitting his words in a frenzy of fanatical devotion, has such a Triumph of the Will vibe). I would think he would be all about the purity of the First Order. He seems to think he is entitled to whatever he wants, the way he barely tolerates the presence of Kylo Ren on the Finalizer.

The OC character of Breha Amidala Solo has her moments of adjusting her (metaphorical) crown and becoming the queens she was named for, and this is one. It’s her way of saying just because you have achieved the status of general doesn’t make you better than me. She may be caught in a bad romance, but she can still assert herself.

I wouldn’t say he has any kind of identifiable disorder other than pathological narcissism, if that’s a thing. Hux just sincerely believes that he is always right. He says that “they” are arguing, but all the aggression has been on his side. He thinks he’s being generous and considerate for getting himself under control from his overreaction. He’s the kind of guy who actually thinks his wife has it good being married to him – he’s not abusive (in his mind) because he never actually hits her. Look at everything he’s given her. How can that be abuse?

Thank you! Hux is not really developed in the film, we don’t know why he acts the way he does. But he does seem to have the qualities of an arrogant, dictatorial leader. He can barely hide his revulsion at having to share his command with Ren. Imagine being married to that.

Thank you for your generous words! Hux is out of touch with what a healthy relationship is, what healthy parenting is. He is the son of a military man, and Hux himself was raised in a harsh military environment, so he assumes that is the norm for everyone. He can’t even contemplate the idea of sharing power, even domestically with his spouse, and he sees his daughter the way his father saw him – in need of structure and discipline. In a way, you can almost (almost!) feel sorry for him, except that he has no intention of ever changing and won’t listen to anyone, including his own wife and the mother of his child, who should at least get a say in what happens to her daughter (and whether or not she wants any other children).

Spoiler

In my fanon backstory for this story, Leia was adamantly opposed to the suggested marriage, but Breha (who was pretty impulsive in her late teens) goes behind her mother’s back and agrees to it, thinking it will help stabilize the government and promote peace. Only after she’s trapped in the marriage does Bree realize that her sacrifice was for nothing as the war continues anyway. Shoulda listened to Mom – she knew best.

Breha does try to assert herself. It’s hard to get the Organa out of the girl, after all. But she knows the risk of pushing it with Hux, and her flinching when he shoves her shows that this is not the first time he’s done this. She knows that he can hurt her, even if it isn’t physical. Marielle is clearly the light of Breha’s life, and Hux’s cavalier declaration that he’s taking Marielle away from Breha is an example of that. Then the flowers and gifts – he wants her to be grateful. He expects a reward for his efforts. The necklace and the flowers are more chilling than an escalation of the violence because it proves that he has bought her as surely as if she were a commodity. His wealth obligates her obedience. She’s not a real person to him, just a part of the mansion that he feels he deserves. After all, it was her pedigree, not her personality or beauty, that was why he married her.

That really is one of the most appalling things he does to her. He takes control over the most basic right that a person has, when to use your body for procreation. Hux sees it as a concession to the fact that he is taking Marielle away – he will just leave her pregnant with another baby and she will forget all about the lost first one. He doesn’t love Marielle the way Breha does and he doesn’t see why Breha can’t just get over it – look, I gave you another baby so quit whining. In his mind he’s doing her a favor! There is no love here. It’s all manipulation and succumbing to his will. Her needs never even enter his mind.

One of the things that Lady Gaga said about the song was that it was about female empowerment, and the video shows an innocent young woman who gets kidnapped and trafficked, and then become a jaded killer. I kind of played with that idea. Breha innocently marries this guy thinking she’s doing the right thing, then finds that she is trapped in a horrible situation and there’s no escape for her. It’s the worst romance for sure.

Aw, thank you! Like I said above to Findswoman, there are a lot of (presumably) intentional Nazi parallels with the First Order, and to Hux specifically. Imagine living with that. Imagine having to share a bed with that. And in his screwed up mind, he thinks he’s the one doing you the favor.

He is a control freak. And he is very critical of anything that fails to meet his perceived level of acceptability, whether it’s the way Bree smiles or the shape of his daughter’s face. He expects her to obey him like he expects his soldiers to obey him. He expects his soldiers to never question his orders and give their lives for him, the same way he expects Bree to never assert her own ideas and give her body and her children to him.

I wrote Marielle to be a parallel to Lelila in the True Blue epilogue. They are both about the same age, both darling little girls who draw pictures for their fathers and want nothing more than to be loved by the men they love so much. However, whereas Blue picks Lelila up and hugs her closely, appreciating the effort she put into this gift for him, Hux sees Marielle’s activities as being a frivolous waste of time and just another example of Breha’s incompetence as a parent. Hux doesn’t care what Marielle wants. He has decided that she will be an officer of the First Order and that’s all there is to it. It’s not so much misogyny, I think, as Hux’s attitude that he is superior to everybody.

You kind of get the idea that there is a marriage contract with such a clause in it that states that Hux gets to decide what future their children will take, and Bree has no legal recourse to argue. And the analogy of the doomed Jedi Academy is just cruel. Bree knows painfully well that those children were murdered by her own brother. Bringing up her uncle’s failure and the tragedy of the massacre is rubbing salt in the wound. And as for the new baby, he figures it’s compensation for taking away the first child from Bree. See? He’s a nice guy. Of course, he will go off on his ship, leaving her to deal with the loss of Marielle simultaneous with the stress of a new pregnancy, and he’ll show up again later when Bree has gone through all the hard emotions all by herself. (Notice that there aren’t any actual people in the mansion beside Marielle and Bree…)

The gifts are indeed a trap. He knows that Bree has an advocate’s heart, and he baits her by reminding her of the people who suffered to produce that diamond she wears around her neck. She already asserted herself once; will she be bold enough to do it again? Or will she silently comply like a good soldier? And when she’s obedient, she’s “rewarded” with his sexual advances. But even so, she can’t bring herself to look at him. Bree spends her life walking a minefield with him around.

YES. Blue is still there. He’s the flowers she loves, the dress she smooths when she’s nervous, the sky she looks to for comfort, the ribbon in the little girl’s hair. Even if the man isn’t there, the hope is. The idea of multiple universes, and universes bleeding into each other and threads connecting them, has been in my mind lately.

That would be perfect for it, wouldn’t it? I had recently seen the movie The Legend of Tarzan and I was visualizing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kedleston_Hall when I wrote this story, but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oheka_Castle would work too. Bad romance indeed. Thank you so much for such a thorough and insightful response to the story.

Thank you! I know you love Blue & Bree (you inspired them, after all!) so this look at how life for Bree might have turned out with Hux instead of her sweet Blue is pretty awful, knowing how happy and loving her life might have been. Marielle is just another victim of her father’s narcissism. And yes, although Hux values Bree’s pedigree as the reason why he married her, he doesn’t respect the nobility that that pedigree brings with it. You wanted to marry the granddaughter of two queens and the daughter of a princess, but you don’t want her to act like Queen Breha, Padme, or Leia. Oh yeah? And Bree knows from her uncle Luke what true heroism is. Hux wants a trophy, not a real life-mate.

Lol – sure does! Thank you so much for your reply.

Thanks! Keeping it in Hux’s point of view lets the reader really grasp how he sees his wife as a person, his marriage, and his child. He views them all in their relationship to him – he constantly refers to her as “his wife” and rarely by her name. He’s a bit better with Marielle, but still she is just something he owns that he can do with as he wishes, regardless of what Marielle wants or is ready for. The spidery kisses on her neck give the whole “seduction” a very creepy feel, or at least that was what I was going for.

Eek! Love that acronym. Yeah, Hux thinks everything – including his daughter’s appearance – should comply with what he wants. Thank you for your thoughtful reply!

 

I wish I could write something more clever and eloquent now, but I am just stunned. Some fanfics are like gems, shiny, sparkling and outstanding. This is one.

When the new movies come, accompanied by many books, I will always shiver when I see Armitage Hux. Because I will remember this story here. Madness and cruelty are always but an inch away when you deal with states based on a military junta like the First Order.

Being a German and having met some fanatics here and there in person, I double my efforts to be a good kindergarten teacher. Because when they are so frightfully young, they are still open and honestly care. So I hope that I am able to give them some values on their way.

 

This fanfic is so creepy and unnerving that it's simply brilliant.
Hux is a complete control freak and home tyrant - a character that it's interesting to read about, but a one that I would never wish to meet in person, and never-ever end up in relationship with. Poor Breha. And even more poor Marielle who seems to truly love her father and he just doesn't care. The scene with him putting the picture on the windowsill was just heartbreaking. And the comment about doing plactic surgery to Marielle in order for her to not resemble her mother's family too much - Noooo!
In short - the whole fic was deeply disturbing and angsty - the closer to the end, the more, but the writing was superb.

 

divapilot - Wow. Words ... well, words fail me, for once.

This is, quite simply, one of those 'fics which make me rethink a character and their potential. Tbh, I'd thought of Hux as a Charlie Chaplin-esque figure in The Great Dictator - such an OTT parody of fascistic fanaticism that he was worth more of a laugh and a pitying eye, due to how he'd been raised. (And his not-quite-canon cat, Millicent, added a degree of silliness.)

But no. Here, you remind readers that this headcase is EVIL. He's monstrous enough to his troops, but how he treats Breha and Marielle ... it's a whole new level of sheer scumbaggery. And it's all the more heartwrenching because this sort of thing occurs all too often IRL.

Even Tarkin wasn't this kind of hideous, and that's saying a lot. (As kriffed up as his relationship with Daala was, he at least seemed to have some sort of actual affection for her, disturbing as the whole affair was by its very nature.) Armitage ... he's just wrong, on SO many levels.

Almost makes me root for Kylo to have an "accident" with that broad-saber of his while chatting with his co-worker ...

 

Oh poor Breha.
Hux treatment of his wife is just sick. He seems to treat her more like an object than as a person. How he casually insults her family, even threatening her brother really shows what a monster he is. I agree with Onderon1 here in the movie he comes of a little bit of a pardoy but in your story it becomes clear how monstrous he is. Not to mention Hux plans for his daughters upbrining.
The first order seems defenetly to surpass even the empire in its cruel mindset.

It really makes me feel pity for Breha and her daughter, for all the abuse they have to suffer through.
A disturbing, well written fic.

 

Thank you so much for such a generous reply! I’m glad I convinced you as to how evil he can be. Hux seems like an incredibly arrogant man, someone who is convinced without a doubt that he is right and his cause is just, no matter how cruel it is to others. He absolutely is a fanatic.

You sound like such a wonderful woman, and a teacher myself, I understand the need to give the children a chance to see the beauty and kindness of the world. There are too many out there who would destroy rather than love.

Thank you so much! Hux sees only what applies directly to himself. He does not consider anyone else’s feelings or needs, only his own. He feels that his goals are the only ones that matter. We see that in his scene addressing the troops; he is so into his rhetoric that he gets swept away by it. He is the scariest of all things: a true believer. Nobody else can possibly be right because he knows all.
Of course, I completely imagined this home life – but I can believe that being married to him would be an absolute nightmare.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply. As much as I love Millicent, there is something really, really scary about Hux. He has such a fanatical streak about him that, coupled with his power to literally destroy worlds, he can quite easily consider himself above the rules. This is HIS station, those are HIS soldiers. Hux comes from an unyielding military background and in this story he expects everyone around him to have that same rigid respect for authority. There is no kindness, no compassion for anyone. To Hux, everybody – even his wife and his little girl- are simply tools to be used to achieve his ends.

Breha is a classic abused spouse. She doesn’t have any marks on her, she lives in a beautiful home and he gives her expensive gifts, but she is a victim nonetheless. Armitage is the kind of man who thinks his wife has it good – what could she possibly complain about? But his rage and his callous treatment of her causes her to live each moment in fear. She has learned how to be quiet. She knows she is his possession and there is nothing she can do about it. She is, without a doubt, caught in a bad romance.

Oh, that would be interesting! If this were the case, then they would be more than co-workers; they would be brothers-in-law. Hux can hold the threat of something happening to Breha over Kylo’s head, too, the same way he implied a threat to Kylo for Breha.

Thank you very much! Hux does think of Breha as an object, which is why he refers to her as “his wife” instead of by her name. She exists only in relationship to him. What he plans to do here; to take her daughter away and leave her alone and pregnant, is appalling. But he will be gone on another mission so he just doesn’t care. The First Order doesn’t seem to be like the Empire in that the Empire was constructed to serve the Emperor, whereas the First Order is created by people like Hux who are ambitious and cruel and arrogant. They serve themselves, and they have no interest in taking care of anybody else’s needs.

Thank you for all who stopped in to read or reply!

Author’s Note: Thank you very much for the nominations on this fic! I am truly grateful and honored.

 

You deserve the nominations for your fic!

He is the scariest of all things: a true believer. Nobody else can possibly be right because he knows all.

Of course, I completely imagined this home life – but I can believe that being married to him would be an absolute nightmare.

Because you have such a vivid imagination and lead us straight into a frightening mind like that of Hux.

 

So it looks like I never reviewed this absolute, perfect gem This story is so creepy that it's given me nightmares, and I'm saying that as a good thing. This is excellent, excellent writing from someone who wrote a lot of excellent stories in 2016, but it still towers high above the rest.

I don't have much to add to what everyone said about the story itself, but I'd like to add to Onderon1 's comment above that Hux comes across as "a Charlie Chaplin-esque figure in The Great Dictator". The Great Dictator happens to be one of the movies I view as the greatest of all times, and if you'll remember Charlie Chaplin makes two speeches in the movie: one as the Jewish barber, at the end, and one as Adenoid Hynkel. The latter, which IMO was a clear source of inspiration for Hux's speech in TFA, is supposed to be funny (he's completely hysterical, he says "cheese and crackers", he causes the microphones to flip over or bow away) but it always gave me the creeps so much that I was never able to laugh. This story gives me the creeps in the same way -- not that there's anything to laugh about here, but it's this same sense of unease, of discomfort, and of not being able to distance myself from the story and tell myself that it's fiction, it's not real. This story just feels real, horribly real, and it's a real punch in the gut.

I'm kind of hoping that you'll write a sequel to this at some point where Hux gets his comeuppance, because just from skimming through the text again I want to throw him on the floor and kick him to death. Argh!

Meanwhile, congrats on your very, very well-deserved nominations!

 

Thank you so much, AzureAngel2! I appreciate it. And thank you for replying to this story. Luckily an abusive relationship with such a controlling, heartless person is just imagination. But I am sure it is unfortunately something familiar to too many people.

Thank you, Chyntuck! I appreciate it. I’m glad that it came across as creepy because that was exactly the intention.

Thanks for the compliments! I wanted to project the idea that living with Hux is playing an eternal mind game. He is never honest, he is never sincere. Everything is calculated so that he gets the advantage. He never considers anyone else’s situation or feelings, not even his own child’s. Bree finds herself in the sickening position of trying to bring some light and happiness to a sterile and cruel house, and she knows she is powerless to stop him from doing whatever he wants. Like Ewok Poet pointed out earlier, everything he presents her with is a test, and she has to capitulate because she can never win.

Oh, that would be lovely, but I don’t think it is likely. I suspect she is the dutiful wife who secretly wishes for him to have a terrible accident and never come home again. She’s had the resistance beaten out of her, not physically but emotionally. She just wants to survive this and fight for her child the best she can, even though she knows she can’t win. Hux will do whatever he wants because he controls the power.

Author’s note: I wanted to thank everyone who nominated this fic and those who voted for it in the recent 2017 Fanfic Awards. Bad Romance won Best Story in ST, Best Drama, Best Villain (for the Evil Ginger), and Best All-Around. I am sincerely flattered and honored that you liked this story so much. Thank you again for all your support and for the awards that this story won.