main
side
curve
  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Saga - PT Acronyms of the GAR (Written for the Mini-Games Challenge)

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by devilinthedetails , Mar 23, 2020.

  1. devilinthedetails

    devilinthedetails Fiendish Fanfic & SWTV Manager, Interim Tech Admin star 6 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2019
    Title: Acronyms of the GAR

    Author: devilinthedetails

    Characters: Ahsoka Tano; Rex.

    Genre: General; Friendship; Humor.

    Timeline: Saga-PT. Set during the Clone Wars between AOTC and ROTS.

    Summary: Ahsoka kvetches, and Rex promises to teach her Mandalorian.

    Author's Note: Written for @Findswoman's Joys of Yiddish Challenge in the Mini-Games Thread. My word was "kvetch." Hopefully you can see the influence of the word, which means complain or gripe, throughout this story. Thank you, @Findswoman, for the inspiration!

    Acronyms of the GAR

    Ahsoka stared down at the supply manifesto in her hand. She and Rex had been assigned the duty of checking the items as they were unloaded to ensure that everything on the manifesto was truly present and accounted for, a task that reminded Ahsoka of just how many of the supplies they had initially requested had been slashed by some flimsi-pushing, desk-bound official safe behind a desk far from the frontlines. Important, life-or-death decisions all too often came down to those sort of officials who had never held a blaster, Ahsoka thought bitterly.

    “SNAFU,” she muttered under her breath as she made an almost vicious checkmark beside a listed carton of rations as it was unloaded from the supply ship into the hangar bay. SNAFU was an acronym—standing for situation normal, all fracked up—because of course it was. The GAR (itself an acronym) loved its short, sharp acronyms. It was like another language that could only be understood by those who became fluent with it on the battlefield.

    She half-expected Rex to tell her to embrace the SNAFU because at least it wasn’t yet the FUBAR (Fracked Up Beyond All Recognition). Instead he shook his head. “I don’t know if it’ll ever sound natural to hear you curse, Ahsoka.”

    “I didn’t curse,” Ahsoka pointed out, checking off another carton of rations as it was unloaded from the supply ship. “I just used an acronym you taught me.”

    “I didn’t teach you that acronym.” Rex folded his arms across his chest, glaring at Ahsoka with one eye while the other surveyed the unloading. “Fives did. He wanted to create trouble as usual because trouble is what will happen if General Skywalker finds out you know that acronym so please don’t kvetch any more about this.”

    “All right,” Ahsoka proposed a bargain with a sullen edge to her voice. “I won’t tell Skyguy I know what SNAFU means if you tell me what kvetch means.”

    “It’s the Mandalorian word for complain or gripe,” Rex answered, and Ahsoka had another opportunity to marvel as she had many times before at how the Mandalorian language—modified to meet the needs of soldiers bred for battle in Kaminoan laboratories but not as much as Basic since Mandalorian had always been a mercenary language—had filtered through the ranks of the GAR.

    “I’m not complaining.” Ahsoka’s petulant pout argued against her even as she spoke. “I never complain.”

    “You’re complaining right now.” Rex arched an eyebrow, and Ahsoka wished he was wearing his helmet so she didn’t have to see his smug expression.

    “I promise to stop complaining if you teach me Mandalorian.” Ahsoka put on her most charming smile and widened her eyes to their fullest extent. She was always eager to learn and fill some of the long hours of boredom that came between the adrenaline-fueled chaos of open conflict. “I always wanted to learn Mandalorian.”

    Well, maybe not always, she amended mentally. Perhaps just since she had joined the war effort, becoming Anakin’s Padawan and working with the clone troopers. Maybe just since she had learned that Mandalorian along with acronym was a second language for the clone troopers that so far she didn’t understand as she did acronym. That was starting to feel like always with the memories of days training in the serenity of the Jedi Temple fading into a hazy, distant past that had happened to some other Togruta girl whose face she wouldn’t recognize gazing back at her in the mirror.

    “Oh, all right.” Rex sounded torn between amusement and exasperation, and Ahsoka believed she could make him crack a smile if she pushed just a bit harder. “I’ll teach you Mandalorian, but not swear words. Just numbers and colors and other innocent stuff.”

    “Colors but nothing colorful.” Ahsoka stuck out her tongue as she continued to mark off items on her inventory. Curses in her considered teenage opinion were the most raw, the most authentic, and the most expressive part of any language. “What’s the use of that in an army?”

    Rex mumbled something that was undoubtedly her first (indistinct) lesson in Mandalorian swearing but then he did crack a smile as Ahsoka had hoped he would. She would get her lessons in Mandalorian cursing, after all, even if in a roundabout way…She could be very clever about getting what she wanted…Some might call it being annoying, but she just labeled it as being persistent in her own head, where such judgements mattered the most.
     
    ZV-83, AzureAngel2, Kahara and 2 others like this.
  2. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Fun and lighthearted. You can sense their easy friendship. Adrenaline filled chaos of combat -- a very accurate description. Thank you for this Mini-Games entry.
     
  3. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2005
    So cute! It's true, though - the first thing you learn in another language is how to swear. At one point, I could swear in French, Russian, Greek, and Spanish. Couldn't speak anything else in those languages but I sure could drop a swear bomb or two on demand. :p

    I like how this all related to kvetch. Very clever approach! :cool:
     
  4. hitokiri-black

    hitokiri-black Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Aug 8, 2005
    "Colors but nothing colorful."
    Love that line. Very good use of the prompt! Great job.
     
  5. devilinthedetails

    devilinthedetails Fiendish Fanfic & SWTV Manager, Interim Tech Admin star 6 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2019
    @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha As always, thank you so much for your kind comments! :) This was definitely meant to be a fun and light-hearted piece so I'm glad that quality came through for you. I really enjoyed being able to explore the friendship between Rex and Ahsoka, and I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed that aspect as well, and you picked out one of my favorite descriptions in the story.

    @divapilot Thank you so much for your kind comment! :) I'm so glad that you found this piece cute, and I agree that in learning another language, some of the first words many people learn are swear words, and I imagine that is especially true in a military, so I couldn't resist having some fun with that concept in this story:p, and I'm happy to hear you found that a clever approach.

    @hitokiri-black Thank you so much for commenting! :) "Colors but nothing colorful" was one of my favorite lines in this piece, so it makes me so happy that you highlighted that line in particular. This prompt was really fun, so I'm so glad you felt I did a good job with it!
     
  6. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    She half-expected Rex to tell her to embrace the SNAFU because at least it wasn’t yet the FUBAR (Fracked Up Beyond All Recognition). Instead he shook his head. “I don’t know if it’ll ever sound natural to hear you curse, Ahsoka.”

    :) I remember this military term from my research which I did for an Orson Krennic story. He loves cursing. At least in my version of him.

    Anyway, Ahsoka learning Mando'a from Rex is a beautiful idea. And also a logical choice.

    Well done piece of fanfic fun. Badly needed in days like this. =D=
     
  7. devilinthedetails

    devilinthedetails Fiendish Fanfic & SWTV Manager, Interim Tech Admin star 6 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2019
    @AzureAngel2 As always, thank you so much for commenting! I have to admit that I stole both terms (SNAFU and FUBAR) from the real world US military and just made a minor alternation to make both more Star Wars forum friendly.

    I'm glad that you found the idea of Ahsoka learning Mando'a from Rex so beautiful and logical a choice since it came to me for this story and when it did I felt it fit the story I wanted to tell perfectly.

    It was nice to be able to write some humor in these hard times and hopefully bring some amusement to my life and the lives of others. :)
     
    AzureAngel2 likes this.
  8. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    devilinthedetails likes this.
  9. Mira_Jade

    Mira_Jade The (FavoriteTM) Fanfic Mod With the Cape star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2004
    Oh, but I loved every word of this! How cute and fun - and, honestly, a widely accepted fanon that Ahsoka learned Mando'a from Rex (and all of her swear words from Fives [face_laugh]) that is perfect for how well it fits, you're too right! You tackled the idea with aplomb and gave it a wonderful dose of heart and humor - just as these dears undoubtedly need in the middle of the war. [face_love]

    Again: FIVES! [face_rofl] BECAUSE HE SO WOULD, even if just to annoy Rex so much as he'd be delighted to hear Ahsoka swear. Honestly, for an ARC he has no sense of self preservation sometimes. But that's why we love him. :p

    In RL, I had a good chuckle the first time I realized what SNAFU stood for, too - honestly, it's a more than apt acronym when used! I liked your inclusion of kvetch, too - it was a great way to take inspiration for the theme as a whole (borrowing words from other languages) and mixing the meaning in as well. =D=

    I liked the last few sentences of this selection, in particular. Ahsoka grew up so, so fast during TCW, and for her too it must have been hard recognizing herself from where she started for where she is now. A great moment of characterization. =D=

    So dear! Ahsoka really is as determined as she is clever - I have no doubt that Rex doesn't even stand a chance in this particular battle of wills. [face_tee_hee] And, let's be fair - she's probably already learned much worse swearing in Huttese from Anakin than anything she can glean from Mando'a, so Rex doesn't have to worry too much on that count. She's already doomed. [face_laugh]

    This was such a fun, delightful vignette, again! Thanks so much for sharing!
     
  10. devilinthedetails

    devilinthedetails Fiendish Fanfic & SWTV Manager, Interim Tech Admin star 6 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2019
    @AzureAngel2 Great minds think alike and use the same sources;) I'm so flattered that you loved every word of this since it was me attempting humor, which I don't normally do, and I'm so happy you enjoyed it so much.

    @Mira_Jade As always, thank you so much for commenting!:D I love the idea of Ahsoka learning Mando'a from Rex and then Fives is the perfect candidate to teach her all sorts of swear words. Ahsoka and Rex definitely need humor in the difficult time of war.

    I totally agree. For an ARC, Fives has no sense of self-preservation sometimes and just loves trouble.

    SNAFU really does have a funny meaning in real life--so apt as you say--and I do love learning the history of real words and phrases especially when the history and phrase is so colorful.

    I really loved the idea of this challenge--borrowing words from another language--and so it was nice to be able to integrate that into the story and celebrate that idea a bit.

    The last sentences were some of my favorite to write since I could give a sort of tip of the hat to how much Ahsoka grew as a result of the Clone Wars so much so that it is sometimes hard for her to recognize herself in a way.

    Yeah, one of the great things about Ahsoka is her determination rivals her cleverness, which is an awesome quality, and Anakin probably did teach her some choice Huttsee words so Rex shouldn't be so worried.[face_laugh]

    It was nice to be able to write something a bit more light-hearted during these difficult times, and I'm so glad you enjoyed this piece. Thank you again for the kind comment. [face_love]