#strike commander jack morrison | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

crystal-ball-of-ow-canon · 9 months

Note

In your post about how Gabe was being pushed aside for Jack in Genesis I wanted to ask why you thought Blizzard hated Reyes? Is it more than just how bad Code of Violence was?

I never really engaged with overwatch content back in the day until Overwatch 2 came out and all the controversy got me interested in the characters, so I wasn't around for most of the ride.

Thank you for asking! This is going to be a long one so buckle up

So before we proceed I want to clarify that part of “Blizzard really does hate Reaper” is a bit of a joke, a good old ribbing in Blizz’s direction just because of the lack of Reaper lore that we get and the lack of quality, it really does seem like Gabe gets the short end of the stick

And I’ve said this before but also me being critical of Gabriel’s story line and making these jokes that Blizzard hates Gabe and Blizzard doesn’t know it’s own lore isn’t me trying to attack any of the writers individually or as a group. Ongoing stories are prone to complications and change, that’s to be expected, Jeff Kaplan famously could not keep track of any of the lore and constantly said things that Michael Chu had to later come out and correct. A lot a lot of work goes into making Overwatch, mistakes often come from things being rushed or unable to be double checked (the video game industry should unionize) they have to deal with incoming demands from execs, they’re having to create new lore for new maps and new heroes, it is not an easy balancing act at all and these people are pouring their passion into something they care about and that is not to be dismissed

With all of that out of the way

Does Blizzard Hate Gabriel Reyes?

I have talked extensively about Gabriel Reyes on this blog, famously I have a giant actual 3000 word dissertation on my main critiques of how blizzard has handled Gabriel from his characterization to his lore.

To get specifically to your question tho, I don’t think inherently Genesis itself sidelining Gabriel is Blizzard hating Gabe, but more of what my anticipations for not only Genesis pt 3 as well as the hero mission will continue to handle him.

Genesis is an in universe documentary of the Omni crisis and the forming of Overwatch’s original strike team. Gabriel was the original strike commander however in the post I believe you’re talking about Gabrie does not seem to be the focus once the documentary timeline shifts to discussing the forming of Overwatch, something that would be weird (at least in my opinion) again given that again Gabriel is supposed to be strike commander at this point.

I did not mean to infer that the documentary itself was proof that blizzard hates Gabriel, I was merely making an observation that “wow Gabe sure is being pushed aside, almost like he’s not the strike commander lol”. I apologize if that’s what you took from it. I did talk a little about if the documentary is an in universe propaganda piece for Jack (thus justifying why Gabriel isn’t focused on) as Jack actually seems to be the one at the forefront of the strike team, he’s the one who shakes hands with Mina and his uniform is the very same as his strike commander skin. So the post was trying to say “I wonder if there was purposeful thought behind this decision or if blizzard straight up forgot that Gabriel’s actually supposed to be strike commander, wouldn’t be surprised because blizzard hates Gabriel lol”

The reason why I say “Blizzard hates Gabe” is a combination of things. I’ve already said they just can’t seem to keep his lore straight but that’s a more general problem. Gabriel just doesn’t get a lot of lore attention especially given the fact that he’s one of the key players in the story. One of my biggest problems is what seems to be the overexplaining of Jack’s narrative with the underexplaining of Gabriel’s narrative

“For whatever reason Blizzard feels the obsessive need to explain and justify Jack’s character. He has an origin story (which by the way doesn’t mention Gabriel’s tenure as Strike Commander making Jack infer that he lead Overwatch through the omnic crisis, I’m just saying), his animated Hero short, the Bastet short story where he shares a perspective with Ana, the Old Soldiers comic, and the Uprising comic. All there to show Jack beleaguered as he might be, still a good person trying to do the right thing because don’t worry he’s still a good guy. Gabriel gets no origin story, no dedicated short to himself, just the comic Retribution alongside the archives event, and finally in 2022 6 years after the game release the short story Code of Violence which turns Gabriel into the Punisher. Sure Gabriel is involved in a lot of stories, but we don’t much get his perspective on events and for someone who’s apparently the linchpin in the whole Overwatch story (being what really happened between him and Jack at Zurich), I kind of think there’s a discrepancy in point of views provided.” - my dissertation

Furthermore I have this whole thing where still to this day blizzard hasn’t given any good reason as to why Gabriel is in cahoots with Talon. There seems to be this giant double standard with how Blizzard frames Jack and how they frame Gabriel. I consider them two sides of the same coin, former military who have become disillusioned with the system seeking justice for the wrongs done upon them except Jack is a vigilante and Gabriel is… a terrorist again for no explainable reason (to keep me from making this tangent any longer I cannot impart how poorly blizzard has explained how Gabriel went from assassinating former the former Talon leader to working directly with/for Talon)

This has been an ongoing problem from the beginning, Code of Violence just made a lot of things worse as it is in general a bad take (and poorly received) as well as making the timeline more impossible

I hope this explained at least a little bit for you, again apologies for how long the post is (as you can see I’m a little neurotic about the whole thing)

If you have any more questions I am more than happy to chat (you can ask or dm me)

#i don't know if i actually answered anything #overwatch #blizzard #gabriel reyes #ow reaper #overwatch reaper #reaper #jack morrison #soldier 76 #soldier76 #ow genesis #overwatch genesis #strike commander reyes

27 notes · View notes

nitewrighter · 2 years

Text

Soldier 76: If you knew what Blackwatch was up to, why didn’t you stop them?

Genji: My vision was clouded by anger.

Soldier 76: And now the world pays for your actions.

Genji: In that we are the same.

Me having my headcanons about Genji’s moral development being further stunted/manipulated by Blackwatch validated:

Also jesus Jack what the hell did you expect? You guys dragged this guy as a bloody pulp out of the Shimada clan, with his primary incentive in working for Overwatch being “Vengeance and also not being prosecuted for my family’s crimes” and you stick him in the Black ops division run by your buddy with terrifyingly little oversight and a shit-ton of complicity with your buddy’s own “Whatever means necessary” methods. Like!!!

#overwatch #overwatch 2 #genji shimada #jack morrison #soldier 76 #JACK HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO YOU THAT YOU ARE THE STRIKE COMMANDER

213 notes · View notes

sfnerdyart · 1 year

Text

Locked and Loaded (2022)

Time for me to post my Overwatch Art on Tumblr! (There's going to be a lot of Jack; he's my main)

Likes and reblogs are always appreciated!

#overwatch fanart #overwatch 2 #overwatch soldier 76 #soldier76 #soldier 76 #jack morrison #strike commander morrison #overwatch art #fan art #blizzard #ow2 #overwatch #heroes #digital art

60 notes · View notes

noniez · 2 years

Photo

should have been me

#overwatch #overwatch 2 #gabriel reyes #reaper #reaper overwatch #r76 #i'm a huge huge fan of the fallout that occurs between reyes and morrison when jack gets the strike commander position #god. can you believe #the parallels between them are scrumdiddlyumptuous #blackwatch reyes #my art

22 notes · View notes

max1u3 · 7 months

Text

Blackwatch timeline

Ok, so, bear with me, this is going to take a lot of little points for me to peace together to make the bigger picture here.

So, we know that Gabriel Reyes worked as a police officer and was know for arresting lots of criminals, but then he didn't find his work having any sort of impact of the criminal rate and figured that to destroy crime he had to cut it off at the source, correct?

And he was born in 2018, making his 58 in the current (Overwatch) year of 2076. We also know the Omnic crisis started exactly 30 years ago, when he was 28.

Then (If we're going with the earliest years possible for everything) Overwatch was founded a year later and he was put in charge of Overwatch as Strike Commander when he was 29.

If we're approximating that the Omnic Crisis lasted about 3 ish years, then he was 32 when it ended and his Command was switched to Blackwatch.

He was 32 when Blackwatch was created!

The sting operation that resulted in Jesse McCree (or Cole Cassidy whatever you want to call him) joining Blackwatch took place when McCree was 17. Which leads me to the question of who was Gabriel Reyes even working with on missions before hand? Did he have a strike squad before he picked up Jesse McCree?

We also know there's about ten years age difference between Gabriel Reyes and Jesse McCree, which means McCree was 12 when Blackwatch was formed.

And Genji joined Blackwatch in 2066, which is only 10 years prior. Making Gabriel Reyes 48 and Jesse McCree 38. That is a huge age gap and what do we even know about what happened during that time?

Roughly a year or so later we know that Gabriel Reyes invites Moira into Blackwatch and she starts her experiments on him? But like, we know nothing about these experiments, only what they did. And if the short story 'Code of Violence' is being added into the mix, then we're led to believe that the initial experiments that Moira conducted on him did not have as dramatic effect. I don't really know what that entails, but it could mean that he could mist and move around a little bit, but was otherwise a full man. In the 'Code of Violence' short story it's mentioned that Moira is the one to find Gabriel Reyes after the explosion of the Overwatch facility, and to 'save' his life she pumped him full of the chemicals she used in her prior experiments, the results being Reaper. It meant his body became more mist like and he had to concentrate on being a full man almost every moment of the day, it also meant he was in constant pain and his anger was harder and harder to control. He also started to find gratification in the more gruelling and cruel acts. Or at least that was the impression I got from the story. But my point is, the most we have referencing the experiments Moira conducted on Gabriel Reyes are this picture:

And a paragraph or two in the story 'Code of Violence' which more focuses on his internal struggles immediately after the incident.

Then, (getting back on track, that was a bit of rant sorry) we know the Venice incident took place 8 years ago, when Gabriel Reyes kills Antonio Bartalotti and reveals Blackwatch to the world, and putting it under the investigation of Jack Morrison, Gérard Lacroix and Ana Amari. As seen in the end scenes of Retribution and in the photo below:

We also know that somewhere in between the next two years Genji moves from the Blackwatch divison to the Overwatch strike team including Tracer, Mercy and Winston. We also know that his cybernetics have been updated in this time. But, I'm not entirly confident on the idea that he was moved to Overwatch from Blackwatch, there's nothing that we know (or I've found) that supports that idea, other than him appearing in the Overwatch strike team during the Storm Rising archives mission and his updated cybernetics.

Then, 6 years ago the Overwatch Swiss HQ is blown up and Gabriel Reyes and Jack Morrison are presumed dead. The Petras act is ratified and Overwatch is disbanded.

A lot of investigation is put into Overwatch and Blackwatch's activities between the time period of the Retribution achieves mission and the Petras act's ratification. Which is a time period of roughly 2 years.

My point is, there are huge gaps in the timeline and not all the information is concrete, a lot of it is inferred from what we have. (Blizzard I beg give us more lore).

There's the 5 years between Blackwatch being founded and McCree being bought into the organisation, where we know next to nothing.

Then there's 21 years between McCree and Genji joining Blackwatch. What happened in those 21 years? Surely there are some important events to note in 21 years?

The later years of Blackwatch are less murky, but there's still no solid dates or years being handed to us by Blizzard and it's been 7 years! I mean come on! All the dates and ages I used in this are drawn from the Overwatch Timeline on the fandom Wiki, and those are only approximations that make sense with the ages we've been given for the current game.

Anyway, I just wanted to complain about this because I feel like I don't hear enough people complaining about it. It's probably the same for Overwatch, but at least we have more of an idea what the Overwatch organisation was like. We roughly know that there were a lot more foot soldiers than Blackwatch had, at least that's what I thought was implied every time it was bought up or featured. It's easier to fill in the gaps between the years as general peace keeping, but Blackwatch was supposed to handle the more rogue missions (Can't really think of a better word for it). There's only so much guessing and filling in we can do Blizzard!

If you read this far thank you, you're a real one.

#ow2 #overwatch #overwatch 2 #ow #gabriel reyes #reeaper #blackwatch #moira #genji #mccree #cassidy #jack morrison #ana amari #retribution #storm rising #venice incident #timeline #this doesn't make sense!

63 notes · View notes

theshimadaslovers · 10 months

Text

INSPIRED BY ART- IBA

Bandit Crush

(CASSIDY BLACKWATCH X FEMALE!READER)

I just look at this art and is so cute, I wanna give it a try!

*Blackwatch base, they were having a reunion about last mission...failed mission*

Gabe- I told everybody to back off! Why the fuck you stay there, Genji?!

Genji- Hm...*cross his arms looking away*

Gabe- ANSWER ME, BOY!

Moira- *open the door* I got bad e good news.

Cassidy- Ooh hey snake poison, we missed you *chuckle*

Gabe- Where the hell were you, Moira?

Moira- Jack Morrison find me on the laboratory and he wanted me to give news for you, commander.

Gabe- *sighs* What is the good new?

Moira- We're having a little help for the next missions.

Gabe- And the bad one?

Moira- Is a She.

Gabe- *looking around* And why this is bad?

Moira- Bad for me having to handle with young girls trying to look strong and feminist *roll eyes and step out the room*

Gabe- Moira we didn't...! WE DIDN'T FINISH THE REUNION!

Cass- Jesus...! Commander, can you scream lower? *lighting the cigar*

Gabe- No smoking inside...

Cass- ...fine...*sighs putting back on the pocket* So! Is a "she"? Interesting have a new woman figure here...I hope she is more...normal.

Genji- I hope she is at least hot...

Cass- Hey hey! *laughs* Don't be so thirsty, Genji.

Genji- A pretty woman would definitely make me feel better....

Cass- Oh yeah, I forgot that you were a playboy guy. Anyway! *gets up*

Gabe- Sit down, I'm not finished.

Cass- Alright...*sit down*

Gabe- Next mission...I- *someone open the door* GOD DAMMIT! What is it now?! *look at the door and feels embarrassed* Oh...

You- Should I have knocked, commander?

Gabe- *look up and down* Yes but I'm sorry yelled at you, miss. You may be the one.

Cass- Howdy, lady...*gets up taking off the hat holding against his chest*

You- Cole Cassidy...*wink and smile*

Cass- Oh...*laughs embarrassed* She knows my name! *whispers to Gabriel*

Genji- *take a look and sighs* Ok, she's hot. I'll take it.

You- Excuse me?

Cass- Hahaha! I'm sorry, miss! *put his hat on Genji's face* He is just a kid, you know!

Gabe- Well, so...can you introduce yourself, please?

You- Y/N strike commander of the Unit Forces in Canada.

Gabe- And you're Canadian?

You- Does it make a difference?

Cass- Uuh she's a tough...*talking to himself*

Gabe- How do you know Jack Morrison? He never mentioned you before?

You- Are you jealous, commander? *smirk* He never had a reason to mention my name.

Gabe- And what make you so special to come help Blackwatch? We make the dirty work here...

You- *laughs* I know, that's why I accepted... I'm the one who murder in cold blood, torture... first, I was trained to be a assassin and second, strike commander. I pass trought some good shit, commander Reyes. Trust me.

Genji- I trust her *wearing Bassie*

Cass- Give me the hat! *grab it putting back* Anyway! I need some coffee break, we'll leave both of you to speak a little bit more about...missions and...torture *wink and pull Genji with him together outside*

*After a few minutes, Gabriel and you leave the room and you spotted Cassidy coming out of the kitchen with another coffee mug, he stopped looking at you and smirk*

Cass- Howdy, miss.

You- Howdy...Jesse Mcgree...*cross your arms and smile* Changed your name?

Cass- Yeaah, you know...starting life from 0.

You- *smirk* It worked?

Cass- We will see *take a sip* Wanna a coffee?

You- No, thanks...*approching* I've heard that you were in Deadlock gang...*look at his tatto*

Cass- Well, old times! *laugh nervously* I mean, the boss there doesn't know I'm here yet, so...

You- Elizabeth Caledonia?

Cass- Oh...you know her.

You- I chased her for a long time, but now...whatever *fix his vestments* I could use you to catch her, but...I dont want to waste your charming, Cassidy.

Cass- M-My...My charming? Hehe...! *blushing*

You- *Grab him by the clothes pulling him to you* But if I catch you with Deadlock gang...you're a dead man! Understood?

Cass- Yes...! Yes! Of course! *swallow dry* Don't worry, strike commander, I will never be affiliate with Deadlock again, miss.

You- Good boy... *tap his chest and smile* You know...I always felt a little uneasy with cowboys *Playing with his collar*

Cass- Uneasy in a strong word, lady...*blushing* ~Why the hell I'm so fucking nervous around this woman?! I don't even know her! ~

You- Always so rebel and egocentric.

Cass- Don't believe in what you see in the movies *chuckles* I'm a cool cowboy.

You- You're a nice cowboy? *sexy voice taking your hand to his face feeling his face warmed*

Cass- Ye-yeah...*blushing harder* I'm...nice!

You- I always had a crush on you, Cassidy. Don't disappoint me...*pull his chest and smile walking away*

Cass- I...I...*laughing like a goofy* Yeah...I won't...*hearing something dripping and looking down, the coffee was dripping out of the mug* Wha...?! AH! My coffee! Clumsy cowboy! Dammit!

Genji- ...the fuck was that? *looking at him from the sofa*

Cass- Wha? Which part?

Genji- You literally turned you mug...are you ok?

Cass- *laughs* I'm feeling wonderful, partner! Hehehe!

*Later at Gabe's room*

Gabe- *laughs* She flirted with you? Really?

Cass- Yeah! I'm not lying!

Gabe- *take off his shirt* Right, you did not flirt with her? She did?

Cass- Yes!

Gabe- How can someone leave you so fucking embarrassed, Cole?

Cass- Her! She's so...! So everything!

Gabe- You just met her, Cassidy...

Cass- She knows me! And she said that always had crush on me!

Gabe- A crush on you?! Come on, Cassidy! *laughs*

Cass- She knows the Deadlock gang, God Dammit, Gabe! She were after Ashe a few years ago, I do even remember her talking about someone following all her tracks!

Gabe- Really? Oh, so she may have some stuffs about you.

Cass- Exactly, that's why! She have a crush on me *smirk* Got it?

Gabe- But you were a bandit.

Cass- She may like the bad guys *laugh*

Gabe- You're...not...a bad guy, Cass *holding laugh* Actually you're pretty nice for a bandit.

Cass- Hey, come on! I use to rob and...

Gabe- Kill innocents? I don't think so.

Cass- Ok, I do have a problem with being a actually bad guy! *lighting cigar and Gabe open the windows*

Gabe- *sighs* Well...so, what you gonna do? Hook up with her?

Cass- That would be interesting *walking close to the window*

*someone knock the door*

Gabe- Come in.

You- Excuse me *go in with some papers, look at Cassidy and smile* Well, am I interrupting something?

Gabe- No no...just talking. What is this?

You- Next mission, take a look yourself, commander.

Cass- Well...good thing you'll be with us this time *smirk looking outside the window*

You- *smirk* Yeah? It would be a good thing if you show up at my room tonight, Cassidy.

Cassidy- *look at you completely red, like the photo* Wh-what...?

Gabe- *surprised and trying not to laugh* ...!!

You- I need some cowboy to teach how to ride tonight...*wink and walk out the room closing the door*

Cass- *paralyzed*...oh...

Gabe- That was...*chuckle* insane!

Cass- I...I talk to you later...Commander...*getting out of the room* I got some...business to...take care.

Gabe- Take a good care, Cassidy, I'll only let you both do this time! *laughs*

Cass- Yeah yeah, whatever! *ran away*

Yeaah a short one! 1 shot! Yay! \o/

#she/her #overwatch #overwatch x reader #fem!reader #overwatch x you #cole cassidy #cassidy x reader #cole x reader #overwatch fanfiction

61 notes · View notes

cooplagoop · 7 months

Text

Honestly kinda tragic that Jack used to be the heart of the original strike team and was so in touch with other people's emotions he could comfort Sojourn (in the book) , someone he only knew for a few months, but as an old man Jack became emotionally unstable, unable to make rational decisions, never opening up to others not even Ana, is socially withdrawn and never expressing strong emotions other than rage.

Like being Strike Commander Morrison and Soldier 76 has acitvely regressed Jack's emotional wellbeing and I am unwell 😟

#overwatch #soldier 76 #Jack Francis Morrison pls get therapy ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

26 notes · View notes

kissymeowmeow · 1 year

Text

strike commander jack morrison the women you hired to advance medical science are forming a homoerotic rivalry !!!!!!!!!!

#overwatch #moicy

76 notes · View notes

76istracersdad · 6 months

Text

plants - 3.2k words, incomplete

ft. a lot of jack comparing himself to lena and feeling guilty about it, speculation about the slipstream & overwatch's involvement in it, and government coverups

hi all - i figured i'd start posting some of the fic i've written over the years to make this a better archive. note - none of these are complete :(

this one is titled just "plants" and was written late 2020. i think i was aiming for an overarching theme of perennials vs annual plants (ie ones that last and ones that die to put it bluntly) thus some of the plant based commentary.

only change i've made is cassidy's name.

Lena Oxton is, by far, the best candidate for the Slipstream. Her test scores are perfect across the board, her commanding officers give glowing reviews of her abilities and all mention her natural aptitude for taking on challenges, and leadership abilities that shine despite her position as a non-commissioned officer. Despite the flight program not technically being under Jack Morrison’s command, he is currently the highest ranking officer in Switzerland right now, and Director Petras wants to give this ace pilot a warm welcome. And neither he nor Ana Amari, his second-in-command and the woman sitting directly to his right, know anything about this mysterious pilot.

“They didn’t even give us her age,” Ana comments idly, legs crossed at the ankles and fingers tapping on the table. “She could be older than you, Jack.”

“I thought you said that was impossible?” Jack tosses back, smirking a bit despite the uncomfortable situation they’re both in. First meetings in any military-esque organization are rarely actually first impressions, due to the personnel files stored on anyone who’s ever so much as sneezed on a recruiter. He runs a hand through his grey hair, thinning and receding at the front. Ana’s has gone grey as well. Gabe, the lucky bastard, is the only one out of the three of them to even have a hint of his original hair color left, and he shaves most of it off and sticks a beanie on top just to spite them.

Jack’s pulled out of his musings by the sound of a knock on the office door, and he and Ana stand up straight. “Come on in,” Jack says, a little unprofessional and hits the button to open the door.

Lena Oxton is, in fact, not older than Jack or Ana. Ana stiffens a bit next to Jack when she sees the younger girl, smiling wide and walking confidently in RAF service dress, two chevrons on her arms denoting corporal rank. Her hat is tucked underneath her arm, and the sergeant who walked her here nods and salutes to Jack. Jack nods back at him, and he takes his leave. It’s a meeting just between the corporal and Overwatch, after all.

“Good morning Strike-Commander Morrison, Captain Amari,” Lena Oxton says, maybe out of turn but her eagerness and the sharp salute she gives them, all with a cheerful grin on her face, makes Jack let it go.

“At ease, Corporal,” Jack says, waving his hand and motioning towards a chair across the table from him and Ana. Ana is still silent next to him, and it’s only from years of service together does he know that she’s silently furious. He hasn’t let himself feel any anger yet, and instead pulls a notepad out from underneath the limited files he has on Oxton. Clicking his pen once, he gives her a small smile and says, “I have to say, you’re not exactly who we were expecting.”

Lena smiles wider, back straight but legs kicking in the seat a bit. “I get that a lot,” she admits, tilting her head. Her hair is short, obviously growing back out from a buzzcut, and is already beginning to show signs of wildness. It makes Jack wonder how recently she got out of basic training.

Ana’s one step ahead of him as she asks, “When did you become a corporal?”

“Earlier this year,” Lena answers. Ana frowns, and Lena’s posture becomes nervous, looking between Ana’s own displeased face and Jack’s clearly shocked one. “They streamlined me, sir, they said because of natural aptitude. I’m far from the youngest enlisted.”

“How old are you?” Jack asks, a bit afraid of the answer. The RAF would know better than to send them a child. Cassidy was strictly kept off the battlefield and not given an official position until six months after he turned eighteen, all at Reyes’ hand. Even then, it made them all uneasy. Jack and Gabe knew too much about being selected for a special program when they were too young to understand everything that was going on behind the scenes, blinded by patriotism and the concept of being special. They were eighteen then, too.

“Eighteen, sir, as of a few months ago,” Lena replies, grin gone and face now matching the solemn feeling of the room, although she doesn’t seem to understand it. She looks as if she wants to argue for her case, prove her worthiness, tell them to give her a chance and let her show her skills, thinking they might reject her because of naivety. Neither of them doubt her skills, though, and neither does Director Petras, who all but ordered Jack to approve this girl for the Slipstream.

The rest of the interview goes normally, with Oxton thanking them effusively when Jack tells her the position is hers. Jack knows this was all orchestrated over their heads when she tells him the RAF already shipped her belongings over to Zurich. They insist on walking Oxton over to her new quarters, where her room is designated by a fresh new nameplate and a singular cardboard box on the desk inside.

“Wicked,” she says, looking around the room, and then turning back to them and saluting crisply. “I’ll do my best here, Strike-Commander, Captain!” She promises, and Jack just nods and gives her a thin smile as he and Ana walk away. It’s not until they’re in Jack’s office again does Ana speak.

“She’s younger than Fareeha when she left home, for goodness’ sake!” Ana yells, Jack sitting in the office chair and looking thoughtfully at the personnel files. Mysteriously, they only showed up when Jack had approved Oxton for the Slipstream position. Ana reads them over his shoulder, flipping the page before he finishes, making him look up at her, annoyed.

“Listen to this. Lena Oxton, age eighteen. Applied for the Royal Air Force when she was fifteen, Jack. Fifteen. Enlisted as early as she possibly could.”

Jack rubs at his eyes tiredly, already resigned to the whole situation. Petras already strong armed everyone into it, and it seems like he has the backing of the United Kingdom.

“I know that, Jack.” Was he speaking out loud? “What I’m saying is, she’s maybe not the youngest person to ever be drafted for Overwatch, she is the youngest one enlisted on base right now.” Ana frowns, sitting down on the desk across from Jack and sighing. “I just don’t like it.”

“Me neither. But it seems like it's gone above our heads, again,” Jack grumbles, running a hand through his hair again and leaning back in the chair. “Best we can do is offer a support system. Maybe introduce her to Cassidy.”

The conversation switches to a less disheartening topic, from the new recruit to old friends and their new updates. After an hour or so, Ana excuses herself to go to dinner, chiding Jack lightly and reminding him to eat. After threatening to set Angela on him, she leaves, the door shutting quietly behind her. Jack gathers up Lena Oxton’s scattered files and reviews them again, this time without Ana grabbing the papers out of his hands.

The majority of it is test results in more detail, seemingly to justify choosing Oxton over a more experienced candidate. They even included her high school transcript, which shows a fairly average student before it stops abruptly, replaced with military academy grades. It shouldn’t surprise him. The United Kingdom had increased their recruitment rates for the Omnic Crisis and continued to take on new recruits after it ended.

At the very end of the file are photos from various points of Oxton’s career. The most recent was only taken a few days ago, Oxton giving a half-smile at the camera. The oldest two are most striking, however. They seem to show a before-and-after: in the before, Lena Oxton scowls at the camera, head half-shaved and hair dyed white. The after shows her, still scowling, in a military academy uniform with a nearly-bare head. The pictures give him more insight into Oxton than any of her official records do.

Jack makes a note to himself to talk to Lena Oxton before she leaves the base for the Slipstream project.

Of course, he never gets that opportunity. It isn’t until a week after the Slipstream incident that Jack gets to read the report. One pilot missing in action. One teleportation matrix currently being searched for. The scientists note that the chances of finding the matrix are likely, due to the magnetic fields or whatever the technobabble is, but that the fate of Lena Oxton is completely unknown.

“It’s none of your concern, Commander Morrison,” Director Petras tells him over the phone. “Research and development isn’t your jurisdiction.”

Jack grits his teeth. “I understand that, Director.”

“Great. I know I don’t need to remind you that the Slipstream project is highly classified. As such, our official stance is that there was no experimental flight program, no test flights, and no missing pilots. Understand?”

Jack stays silent as he thinks. He thinks about a twenty year-old young man laying in a hospital bed in a classified military hospital. He thinks about the way the injections made him feel like he was burning from the inside out. He thinks about seeing doctors wheeling covered bodies to the morgue, whispering about another failed subject. He thinks about being told to never speak of it again.

“Of course, Director,” Jack says, and the phone line goes dead.

He hasn’t forgotten the lifeless bodies in the beds next to him. He doubts he’ll forget Lena Oxton, either.

They recover Slipstream’s flight recorder two weeks after the crash, one week after the gag order is placed. In the audio recorded by the cockpit voice recorder, Lena Oxton speaks clearly and confidently, reporting all signals normal.

“Order received,” she says, her voice tinny. “Activating teleportation matrix in fifteen seconds.” And then, almost too quiet for the recorder to pick up, Oxton says, “This ought to be fun!”

A few moments pass before Oxton speaks up again and announces the activation of the teleportation matrix. Harsh static follows, and the recording ends.

Morrison isn’t sure if the hint of a scream before the static is real or just his guilty conscience.

Lena Oxton was never a part of Overwatch, officially, so Jack Morrison has no flags to place over caskets and no next of kin to inform - not that Oxton had any, he remembers grimly.

There were no flags or ceremony for Soldier: 75, the teenager in the bed next to him who cried out in the night, whose bed was empty when Soldier: 76 woke up in the morning. Jack hadn’t even known his name. He hadn’t even thought of him for decades.

That night, when he sleeps, he dreams of the soldier enhancement program for the first time in years. In his dreams, Lena Oxton is wheeled out of Jack’s room, her still body covered by a white sheet. The doctors tell him not to think about it, tell him that the bed next to him was always empty. The doctors tell him to forget.

Ana brings it up first, when they’re sitting alone in his office. Jack has his hands folded and pressed against his face. Someone who didn’t know him would assume he was praying.

“We failed her,” Ana says. Jack doesn’t look up. “What are you going to do about it, Jack?”

“There’s nothing I can do,” Jack replies without looking up. “She accepted the position. She knew the risks. This is what happens in war.”

“I know that. It doesn’t make it any less wrong,” Ana retorts. She’s been a soldier longer than he has. There’s another long pause.

“After I had Fareeha, I fought so she wouldn’t have to,” Ana says. “I thought that she could grow up in a time of peace. I hoped that she would become something - anything besides a soldier. I failed her too.”

“Fareeha made her own decision. She knew the risks. This is what happens in war, Ana -” Jack repeats, but Ana cuts him off.

“What war, Jack? What war are we fighting?” Ana stands and moves to leave. “The Crisis is over. You and I and Gabe each have the medals to prove it. So why are our kids soldiers?” She hesitates by the door. “We failed them, Jack.”

The door slides shut behind her.

Lena Oxton doesn’t let any of them forget her.

The Slipstream’s teleportation matrix is found after months of searching, with some reclusive new signals expert named Winston apparently being the one to pinpoint its location. Within a week of its return, the scientists note chronal anomalies surrounding it and place it in an asymptotically timelike chamber in the Swiss base specially designed during the beginning of the Slipstream experiments.

Jack takes a moment to scrub at his eyes, squints at the page, and skims over the next few dozen lines of equations. He respects the scientists, but he wishes he knew how to ask them to dumb their reports down without coming across as dismissive. He flips the page and begins to skim over the paragraphs when he reads:

Upon reactivation of the chamber, the pilot previously assumed killed in action, Lena Oxton - callsign Tracer - reappeared, though she exhibited many anomalies that could not completely be contained by the chamber.

Five more pages of analysis follow. The report concludes by stating that Dr. Ziegler and the scientist from earlier, Winston, have been assigned to her case.

Jack goes back and rereads the paragraph. He rereads it again.

“Athena, where is the, ah, asymptomatic timelike chamber?” He asks out loud.

“The asymptotic time chamber is located on level 2B, wing E,” Athena replies.

Jack sprints the entire way there.

---

They make her speak at his funeral in Arlington.

He’s watching from a distance, hacked into some security livestream via drone, less than a mile from the actual thing. All the old heroes of Overwatch, the ones alive, anyways, are gathering around his grave. The sun is shining brightly. He can see Reinhardt sweating in his old Overwatch formal dress. Jack Morrison’s glad it doesn’t rain for his funeral, because it would just be another nail in the empty coffin.

Lena’s been made to speak. It makes sense that they would - the funeral is popularized by the media, with Overwatch’s downfall and the scandals that led up to the explosion, why wouldn’t it be? He wonders where she’s going after the Petras Act, the heroic law that saves the world from any other superheroes trying to do good and fucking up the planet more than it already is, goes into effect. For now, she’s still the golden child, the posterboy of Overwatch, for better or for worse. He’s read his own slander. He can’t bring himself to read anyone else’s.

“He was an excellent commander.” A goddamn lie. He couldn’t run a military company for his life. Maybe he was charismatic enough on the field, enough of a solid figure in a rapidly shifting war-torn field, to be considered for Strike-Commander, but it blew up in his face. He touches the lesions that are just starting to heal, ugly stripes breaking his facial features. Blew up in his face, alright.

Lena’s never sounded ungenuine in her life. She quips advice sometimes, to whoever she feels needs it at the moment, never sounding haughty or out of line. Even now, when she’s spouting lies that he’s sorry she believes, she has the conviction of someone announcing the sky is blue and the grass is green. “He was a mentor to me, personally, after the Slipstream Incident. I could have gone back to civilian life, but he inspired me. I wanted to make the world a better place. Jack Morrison helped me learn how it could be done.”

He tunes out. Stays on the drone’s line for hours, waiting for anyone to say anything about Gabe. He’s not sure why he cares so much. Morbid curiosity? Looking for revenge? Nothing interesting turns up until it’s late into the night, and the motion-activated camera has been off for hours. Its night vision spins on quickly, and Jack sits up, studying the footage.

There’s a small figure standing in front of his gravestone, a baggy hoodie barely concealing the light of a chronal accelerator. Lena’s changed out of her formalwear and is back in front of Jack’s grave, obviously trying to stay hidden. The drone picks up every word she says, and though he can’t see her face, the tears are obvious in her voice.

“I hate you,” Lena says, voice shaky as she lowers herself to sit on the ground. “...I don’t mean that. I hate...I don’t know what I hate. But I hate this situation, and I hate Director Petras, and,” her voice cracks, but she continues, “I hate that you’re gone.” Silence for a few more moments as she picks at the grass around his grave, then picks up the flowers someone had left there and inspects them. “You would’ve hated these,” she says. “This is an annual. One year and it’s gone.” She picks at the petals absentmindedly, voice still thick. “Y’know, I’m coming up on my first year as an active field agent. Streamlined me so fast, people seem to think I’ve been here for years. I think being new is the only thing that’s keeping me from being demonized in the news, like you.” Jack shakes his head. He deserves what they’re saying about him, and more. But he can’t tell Lena that. She drops the flower and stares ahead at the gravestone, not saying anymore for a few more minutes, just crying quietly to herself. Sometimes she starts to say something, but breaks off. It’s not until a car pulls up to the road nearby, and Angela comes out, pausing by the car door as Lena whips around to look at her.

“Listen, C’mander…” Lena begins again, standing up and tugging the hoodie firmer around herself. “I told you about my shit family and all, but, ah.” Jack watches Angela walking closer, his own throat growing tight at the words coming out of Lena’s mouth. He doesn’t want to hear them. Doesn’t want to disappoint anyone else.

She says them anyways. “In the end, I had a pretty good one. I don’t think tossing pulse bombs at me to teach me not to drop them counts as catch in the park, but what the hell would I know?” Lena shifts where she stands, digging a heel into the dirt. “For what it’s worth...I would have liked to call you dad.” The last bit comes out almost silent, almost too quiet for the drone to capture and almost too quiet for anyone but a supersoldier to hear. Angela comes up to Lena and wraps her in a hug, and Lena loses it again, crying into her shoulder.

“Oh, liebling,” she says, guiding Lena away from the gravestone after pausing for a moment at it. “Come back to the hotel room. Winston’s worried sick about you.”

Jack shuts off his connection to the drone, heading out of Arlington through the shadows.

It takes him months to locate Lena, find where she’s settling into civilian life. With the networking today, it hardly takes any time at all to pick out some perennials and have them sent to her apartment. The hardest part, he thinks, as he clicks the anonymous option, was not having them sent with the message, ‘to my daughter.’

#overwatch #soldier 76 #tracer

8 notes · View notes

wildissylupus · 7 months

Note

I dont know if you listen to taylor swift but I do. I was listening to one of her songs and the bridge really reminds me of Jack. Specifically after retribution. I dunno if I'm just being dumb but here use your analysis skills <3

the last point on the annotated one says "he didn't want this to happen" btw

Yeah I don't really listen to a lot of Taylor Swift, most of the time when I listen to her songs it's just songs Spotify thinks are similar to my music tastes. But from the looks of it this does seemingly fit Jack's vibe.

And honestly your notes hit me like a truck omg-

It made me want to listen to the rest of the song to see what else fits, and when I did good lord-

The first verse could be directed towards the end of the golden age of Overwatch, when the cracks first started to spread and public opinion first started to waver. It could also be compared to Jack first starting to isolate himself from the people around him, thinking everyone need Strike Commander Morrison instead of Jack. It should also be of note that I think the first verse also fits the idea of him attempting to push away people like Cassidy, Lena and Sojourn who are trying to reach out.

The second verse could be his guilt, the Rialto incident, what happened to Lena, what happened to Ana, how he bit off more then he could chew and now everyone is paying the price.

The Pre-Chorus I definitly see being a present day Jack, everyone still trying to help him but him either pushing them away or not fully listening to them. Either greeting them with hostility and walls or just plainly not getting the point of what they were saying.

#overwatch #overwatch 2 #overwatch lore #overwatch headcanons #analysis #jack morrison #soldier 76 #overwatch soldier 76

9 notes · View notes

lovingoverwatchguys · 1 year

Text

Random tangent: ‘Soldier 76′ is just as much of an image as ‘Strike Commander Morrison’ was

I think people often do Jack a huge disservice when they ‘analyze’ him by taking his image at face value. Often, to understand his thoughts, you can’t take his word for it, and have to look at what he’s feeling beneath.

Let me explain a bit. (Under a read more because I don’t want to clog up any tags with super long posts)

Why would you be able to take his word? Jack has never been able to express himself fully in his entire adult life. He had to put on the image of ‘Strike Commander Morrison’, the beacon of positivity and strict commander, for decades. Because Jack has a massive martyr complex, and he sacrificed being an authentic person because he thought that was what the world needed. The world wanted ‘Strike Commander’; he thought it couldn’t care less about ‘Jack’.

Most people seem to be aware of that, yet they still take ‘Soldier: 76′ at face value as how he actually feels, and it baffles me. No, it’s a (literal and theoretical) mask, just a different one.

Look at how he acts in the Bastet story; he’s willing to crack jokes and have fun with Ana, smiling and saying silly things, to the point that even Ana says he’s “like a child sometimes.”

But that makes sense when you think of his relationship with Ana - as his closest friend, she got to see beneath the mask of ‘Strike Commander Morrison’, and she still can see under this one, too. (Honestly, I think Ana would see right through Jack anyway; he’s not as good at hiding his emotions as he thinks he is)

In fact, image seems to be a theme in Bastet in general - note the way that Ana puts on a new mask to become a protector. It’s the same thing Jack did. He wants to help people, and he thinks this is the best way to do it. Just like before - the world needs ‘Soldier: 76′, and he thinks it couldn’t care less about ‘Jack’.

‘Soldier: 76′ is not a person. He’s a name. An image. (Also, they are so cute. I love them. A cool girl and her gay best friend.)

And to be honest, I think some of the other characters can see through him, to an extent. This interaction has always caught my eye:

What Jack says might sound condescending at first glance, but when you think about the fact that Jack's whole deal is "fighting so other people don't have to"...it makes me think he's concerned for her and doesn't like that she has to fight here.

I think Mei picks up on that, and that’s why her response is a bit teasing. Tracer does the same with the ‘Okay, dad!’ interaction. The two of them can tell he’s more of a pushover than he lets on, no matter how desperately he tries to hide it.

But I also argue that Soldier: 76 isn’t just an image done out of necessity. I don’t think even Jack himself is aware of this, but it seems very convenient that by donning an aggressive face that shuts other people out, he doesn’t have to let others close to him.

Some people don’t seem to consider the immense amount of trauma both the fall of Overwatch and the Swiss Base explosion would cause for him. He was surrounded by constant public degradation for months to years. He saw everything he worked for get undone largely because of negative public opinion and betrayal, and was then in a serious disaster that likely had many casualties.

After something like that happens, I doubt he feels safe letting almost anyone close at all. This mask doubly functions to protect him from getting hurt in such a horrible way again. And devoting all of his thoughts and emotion to this moral crusade means he doesn’t have to face all of the real emotional issues he has. It is, as the kids say, a cope.

None of this is to say Jack isn’t bitter or angry. And I’m sure as hell not saying he’s emotionally healthy. He needs more therapy than almost anyone else in the cast.

But so many people only give Jack a surface-level analysis, and I think that’s lame. Ironically, taking the image at face value would in-universe just prove his bad worldview. Life imitates art.

#soldier 76 #overwatch #character interpretation

15 notes · View notes

crystal-ball-of-ow-canon · 10 months

Text

okay I don’t want to say too much before the final part of Genesis is out (and the hero mission)

but I’m glad other people are noticing it and not just me

Gabriel really seems to be getting shoved to the side in this ‘documentary’ even tho he’s supposed to be the strike commander at this time (this is the original OW strike team which was under his lead) and also Jack is already in his strike commander outfit

I talked way long back in my “dissertation” it seemed like a possibility in universe Gabriel seemed to be intentionally pushed down to prop Jack up on a pedestal as to not besmirch his image and a post Zurich smear campaign/Jack propaganda campaign was run and I wonder if the is is intentionally part of it

(as far as Jack being the one to shake Mina’s had it was established that he was the one who wanted to invite her on so I’m not sure about counting that interaction yet)

or if blizzard just hates Gabriel Reyes (which we know they do) and/or they forgot Gabriel was originally strike commander

#it’s probably the latter #blizzard hates Gabriel Reyes #this is why we can't have nice things #overwatch #gabriel reyes #blizzard #ow reaper #overwatch reaper #reaper #jack morrison #soldier 76 #fuck blizzard i’m canon now #strike commander reyes

18 notes · View notes

sheep-and-lykos · 1 year

Text

What Makes A Soldier: Werewolf!Jack Morrison x Reader

Reader and Jack aren’t quite together

Contains: Werewolf transformation

Overwatch.

The big brawn against the vicious bad in the world. The soldiers that would go anywhere in the world to bring peace, even if it meant force. Men and women putting themselves in front of the wars for the citizens.

Such a big and powerful force has it’s secrets, and Overwatch was full of them. From a secretive task force that employed a gang member, a yakuza member and a mad scientist to sweeping mistakes on their part under the rugs of the billionaires that fund their operations. The walls were full of awful secrets that would destroy the agents’ lives should they get out.

And now that you were apart of Overwatch, you could find yourself in hot water should something happen despite not having dirt on yourself. This was a ship that sunk with all of the sailors in it.

What you weren’t expecting was to be assigned to one of said very important and very dangerous secret on your first day in the medical wing. You were one of Morrison’s right hands, working very close to the Strike Commander during the Omnic Crisis. But now here you were, paired with Doctor Zeigler as she slapped a massive file in your hands on your first day labeled in big letters ‘Solider Enhancement Program: #76.’

The enhancement program was controversial itself. It pushed the limits of what people could call humane, hell, they tip-toed on the edge of violating laws across most nations. Sire, it produced soldiers any government could only crave about; Faster than a normal human, stronger than a normal human. But how they get to those results? You couldn't help but shiver as you opened the folder.

To your surprise, it was a file for a special containment in the cells beneath the base you stood in. It wasn’t for an enemy either, it was for one of your own.

As you flipped past a few pages, you were met with the medical file of the soldier with their photo. Your jaw dropped, eyes widened as you were met with the pages of Jack Morrison, your very close friend and fellow soldier. You couldn’t help but admit that you felt something for the man, something all fluffy and warm inside when you were around him, but this was a shock.

You were assigned to make sure he was contained for a condition brought on by his involvement of being in the program. From what you were able to understand, every number of soldier had a different experiment. One experiment had an immunity to radiation but had went blind, another was made terminally ill but could regenerate their dying cells in an odd way.

But Jack’s condition was something else.

They had made him into something awful.

It was almost as if she knew as Doctor Zeigler stood before you, practically waiting for the horrified questions you were about to ask.

In the folder laid documents for human experimentation, turning the once average United States army soldier into a monster. You picked up the one singular photo of when the experiment first paid off: A monster was in the photo. A big, hulking, hairy monster hunched over something you couldn't make out. It looked to be like a werewolf from the snout and the odd legs. Hell, he even had shreds of his remaining clothing. Army-issued came shirt barely clinging on around his neck and chest, his issued pants tore apart and barely hanging on by the belt, combat boots destroyed on the floor.

"Are you serious? My first real assignment after being shoved here is making sure a god damn werewolf is kept silent here? And it's the Morrison!" you grit your teeth. “How the hell has he gotten by without this being made to the public? Why didn’t I know? I’ve been working with him for years!”

Angela tried to calm you down, stating that it was to keep the image alive for Overwatch. Only a few people knew and if the news ever broke, investors would pull out quickly and Overwatch could be seen like Talon. It wasn’t just Morrison either, apparently Reyes was one of the experiments as well and that’s why Moira is always in his business.

You both didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for tonight, but the good doctor was quick to take you to the cells to show you around.

The observation room you stood in was near frigid. The walls were a dark steel and the floors an even darker stone. The overhead lights weren’t on but the room was illuminated by the control panel before you and the small television screens to your right. Before you was a wall of glass thicker than the rest of the specialized containment cells in this corridor. Past that glass was a room, it was expansive, wide enough to fit dozens of soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder. The walls and floors matched the room you stood in with the small ring of Overwatch agents allowed to know; Captain Amari, Lieutenant Windhelm, Commander Reyes and Doctor Ziegler with a few of her medical nurses just in case. There were deep marks in the stone floor, small ravines scratched right in along with many cracks and impact marks. Hell, the glass was even cracked in a few places here and there.

In the room before you sat Jack. He looked miserable. He kept his back turned to you as he sat nearly hunched over on a small metal stool. You could see the goosebumps scattered across his skin, you could also see the sheen of sweat that was now tinting his shirt darker along the spine. He wore a cheap t-shirt and gray sweatpants, he wore no socks or shoes.

You don’t know how long you all had waited here in silence, just watching the glass, staring at him as if he were a zoo animal. Reyes had told you it could happen at random sometime during the night. Once they waited three hours for him to turn, another time they barely got him inside of the room as he had started turning on the way down here.

You could have pinpointed the exact moment it had started. It was like a faint ripple had washed over him as he suddenly choked on his own breath and keened over and off of the stool.

The noises that were coming out of him made you wince, seeing him claw at his throat for air and pull at his clothes for them to come off. The sudden snapping of something inside of him cut clean through the air as Jack shouted in pain.

It all happened fast: His nails had grown long and sharp from his lengthening fingers, shoulders snapping out of place to reform broader, spine crunching up as his muscles tore and reformed themselves. His shirt had ripped at the arms, the sleeves splitting as the rips went down the sides, revealing stretching skin that looked like it could split at any moment. It made you nauseous to see this happening, to see something in real life when it should only be in a horror movie.

The way he moved and jerked around, the way you could see what was happening to him through his skin, the noises he was making, it had your stomach in knots and your throat tense as you tried not to vomit in the observation room.

Jack started to claw at his face and yank at his hair, his shouts becoming deeper and less human. You could see his teeth were sharp, they were too big for his mouth as blood had split from his gums. His face just seemed to melt, pushing out his mouth and nose into a sort of muzzle that finally allowed his teeth to fit.

His feet had started to crackle, toes curling as claws pushed from the nails. He yowled as the balls of his feet snapped loudly, his feet lengthening as they grew long, his heel hiking up and adding more length to his leg. His pants had grown tight, tears and rips splitting into the very cheap materials, exposing more stretched skin.

His skin was starting to look gray as you finally noticed the hairs that had been growing across his body. The blond was so light you couldn’t make it out until there was an abundance all over him. It was growing in thick, various shades of blond all over his gray skin and lanky body.

With a shake of his body, the fur had scattered across him, covering him head to toe with hairs to cover his shame. His ears had crawled to the top of his head like a dog’s, hell, his head was that of a wolf’s.

He was hunched over the floor still, but even as he tried to curl up tightly to try to hide the pain, you could tell he was easily as tall as Reinhardt who was behind you, standing like a strong wall to stop Jack should he get out. His limbs were lanky and oddly muscular, his hands were the size of baseball mitts, and his teeth looked razer sharp.

You watched as he stood to his feet, shaking off the scraps of clothes clinging to his patchy blond fur, what remains barely clung to his shaking body. Clawed fingers flexed, his maw parted as he gasped and panted, and those ears on top of his head swiveled around to try to find anyone near him.

His head snapped in the direction of the expansive glass that protected you all from him. You could practically feel the snarl he emitted as he turned, those haunting blue eyes piercing right through you as the beast gave you all its full attention.

#Jack Morrison #jack morrison x reader #Soldier:76 #soldier 76 x reader #soldier:76 x reader #werewolf!jack morrison #werewolf!soldier 76 #werewolf!soldier:76 #Overwatch #overwatch imagines

24 notes · View notes