#Also i think it would be really ironic if wrecker was the only one to survive

[snippy-tano]

*waves* hello there!! I have this Image in my head of Tech liking to ramble about bugs (mostly because the fandom has decided to draw him fawning over them and it’s freaking adorable!) so the idea of Tech finding the reader and telling them about random bugs he found because they’re the only one who listens, and maybe starting to worry he’s imposing on the reader’s space, but hint hint reader thinks it’s the cutest thing ever and falls a little more in love every time he comes up to her with sparkling eyes and a new bug fact 💜

(Take your time please! THANK YOU FOR WRITING seriously you are sustaining all of us going through Tech withdrawal and ignoring canon together😂)

here it is friends!

this was so much fun writing. i think Tech grabbed me by the shoulders and wouldn't let go until i finished this because i was actually working on another one-shot when i suddenly skipped to this one. so yay! enjoy!

[my google targeted ads are going to be so messed up from looking up all these bug facts but it was worth it!]

masterlist is here!

taglist is here!

tagging: @pro-fangirls-unsocial-life; @marvel-starwars-nerd; @mackstrut; @dissapointingpancake; @quizznag; @ahsokatano-thetogruta; @welcometothepedroverse; @padawancat97; @fractiouskat; @mandaloriandin; @bantha-shit; @badbatch-simp24; @katelynnwrites; @s1st3r; @leotatombs; @torchbearerkyle; @rain-on-kamino; @the-navistar-carol; @bombshe77; @arctrooper69; @social-mockingbird; @littlebluebatbrat; @get-wr3ckered; @flowered-bicycles; @techissuperior; @dangraccoon; @lilyevans1

------------------------------------------------

Little Known Facts

The first time it happened, you weren’t sure why Tech had chosen you. 

You thought maybe it was because he had exhausted all other options and you were the newest member of the team. You also thought it was likely because you were the only one left who had yet to turn him away.

You were deep in the jungles of Kashyyyk when Tech materialized beside you, startling you slightly. 

“My apologies.” He said and you shook your head after you caught yourself on a nearby tree and continued walking beside him. 

“It’s alright Tech. Is everything okay?”

“It is. What do you know about termites?” 

You blinked.

“Leave her alone Tech.” Came Hunter’s exasperated voice from several paces in front of you. 

“Uh. Not much, just that they eat wood among other things.” You replied and you could hear Crosshair scoff in front of you. 

“Your funeral.” He had whispered and you shot him a glare. 

“The queen of a certain termite species can lay 40,000 eggs per day.” Tech stated. “They also use vibrations to communicate with one another.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes.” Tech said, somehow continuing to tap at his datapad without missing a step. “They are also a good form of sustenance as they are rich in iron, calcium, protein, and fatty and amino acids.”

Your nose crinkled. “I think I’d rather not eat termites.”

“As would I, but they would work in a severe survival situation.” Tech concurred and you nodded.

“Thanks Tech. Now I know what I can eat if I have no other options.” “You are most welcome.” “Alright you two. We’re coming up on the camp so it’s time to focus.” Hunter called and Tech gave you a quick nod before jogging to catch up with the Sergeant. 

After that encounter, Tech seemed to take your willingness to converse with you about bugs as an excuse to bring up every single bug fact he knew. The others of the batch would shoot you sympathetic looks (Hunter), make teasing remarks in passing (Crosshair), and slap you on the back forcefully as a way of offering comfort once Tech was out of view (Wrecker). They all assumed that you were just being kind and allowing Tech to talk your ear off about bugs because you felt bad. 

But the thing was, you really didn’t mind. 

You had been around the batch long enough to know that Tech rarely got the opportunity to share “useless” facts. He was usually shut down due to it not being a good time. Which was understandable, he didn’t quite have a filter even if you were in a high pressure situation. 

But every time he would approach you with a new fact rolling off his tongue or a small insect perched on the back of his hand, his eyes would sparkle. 

It had a smile spreading across your face before he even started speaking and a warmth filling your bones. 

*~*~*

“Approximately 2,000 silkworm cocoons are needed to produce one pound of silk.”

“Really? That many?”

“Indeed.”

*~*~*

“About one-third of all insect species are carnivorous, and most hunt for their food rather than eating decaying meat or dung.”

“Good to know. I will make sure to avoid bugs if I am injured.”

*~*~*

“The term ‘honeymoon’ comes from the planet of Alderaan, where it is tradition that a newly married couple is provided with enough honey wine to last for the first month of their married life.”

“That’s actually really sweet. How much honey wine would that be?”

“That would depend on the couple, but an average amount would likely be a crate.”

“Wow. I will have to remember that.”

*~*~*

“Ants can lift and carry more than fifty times their own weight.”

“That’s impressive. Has anyone ever tried to replicate that with technology? I would imagine that it would be useful.”

“I had not considered that. Perhaps I will try.”

“I can’t wait to see it, Tech.”

*~*~*

With each encounter you had with Tech, the swirling in your stomach grew more and more insistent. It was hard not to watch him with a smile as he rattled off fact after fact. And he never told you the same one twice. 

It was an uninterrupted time you were granted with Tech as most of the batch cleared out whenever he started rambling about bugs. You grew to crave these moments. 

And it wasn’t until Crosshair had said something that you figured out why. 

“You know, if you like him, you could just say something. Save yourself the trouble of listening to bug facts all day.” He had teased, startling you as you sorted through the newest crate of supplies you’d picked up off of Kamino. 

“I do not-” You started to protest, but then paused. 

You thought back to every time he approached you with that sparkle in his eyes. How your heart had clenched and you involuntarily began smiling every single time. You started to hope he would come by with a new fact, just for a chance to listen to him talk about something he so clearly loved. You purposefully sought out bugs now, pointing them out in the hopes he would have a fact to share. And every time he did, you felt like you were flying.

Oh kriff you loved him.

“There you go, doll.” Crosshair drawled and you took a step towards him, punching his arm. 

“Not your doll.” You hissed, turning back to the crate to hide your reddening face.

“Maybe not. But you shouldn’t wait too long to tell him.” He said and you stopped stacking ration bars. He took a step closer, fingers playing with the toothpick in his mouth. “A word of advice, Tech is starting to think he’s imposing on you and your space with his facts.”

“He would never bother me!” You cried and Crosshair smirked. 

“Just thought I’d share. Do with this information what you will.” He turned to leave and you let out a laugh. 

“Aww Cross! You do care about Tech’s emotional well-being.” It was your turn to tease and you watched as his jaw clenched. But he didn’t deny it before he stepped out of the room, letting the door slide shut behind him. 

When he left, you sunk down in a nearby chair, mind racing. 

Tech thought he was bothering you? That couldn’t be further from the truth and you had to find a way to tell him. And fast. 

*~*~*

You had your opportunity a few rotations later when you made a brief stop on Naboo. 

You had only really stopped to refuel before heading back out, but you were going to enjoy the sunshine and warm temperatures. While Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair headed into the city you had parked near, you and Tech had opted to stay behind, albeit for different reasons.

Tech wanted to run a few diagnostic tests on the Marauder and you cited organizing some crates, but really you wanted a chance to talk to Tech alone. And judging by the knowing look Crosshair had shot your direction, your flimsy excuse didn’t work on everyone. But no one made any comments and you were left alone with Tech for what was likely going to be a few hours. 

He immediately set to work doing what he had stayed behind to complete and you did take some time to organize a crate or two, but you didn’t do it for long. In fact, you took the time to open up every hatch in the ship with the hopes of helping it air out a bit. 

While you waited for that, you found yourself sitting in the grass outside of the ship, head tilted towards the sunlight. You could hear the breeze moving the nearby trees and the tall grass of the fields surrounding the ship. In the wind, you could smell the blossoms of the blooming flowers. Your eyes were closed as you breathed in fresh air for the first time in a very long time. 

You heard footsteps approaching you from behind and you waited as Tech approached. 

“Is everything alright?”

You hummed in response. “Why do you ask?”

“I thought you were organizing crates and then I turned and you were not there.” He replied and you opened your eyes and turned to look up at him, squinting in the light. Tech shifted and the sun was no longer burning your eyes.

“Sorry, I finished and decided I should enjoy the weather and fresh air while I could.” You said. “You’re welcome to join me.”

“I should finish my calibrations-”

“-come on Tech.” You patted the grass next to you. “Join me. Your calibrations can wait a few minutes.”

Tech hesitated for a second before speaking. “Very well then.”

You smiled as he sat down cross-legged next to you. He continued to tap lightly at his datapad, but you didn’t mind it. You leaned back against your arms and again tilted your face towards the sky, eyes closing. 

The two of you sat in silence, but it was far from awkward. You were enjoying the weather and you were enjoying it even more knowing Tech was here with you. 

“Did you know-” Tech began only to stop talking. 

You opened your eyes and turned to him. “Why’d you stop?”

He stopped tapping at his datapad and you watched as he shifted uncomfortably. “I did not want to bore you with facts you do not care to know. I will leave you to enjoy the weather and return to my calibrations.”

Tech started to move, but stopped when you hand closed over his. You watched as his eyes darted down to your joined hands and then back up at your face.

“I wouldn’t have asked you to stay if I didn’t enjoy your company.” You started. “And I love hearing about bug facts. It’s clearly something you enjoy, so that means I enjoy it too.” 

“But - that seems illogical.”

You laughed, giving his hand a squeeze. “Maybe it is, but it’s true. So please, never stop telling me bug facts.”

Tech regarded you with a strange look on his face. “Fascinating.”

You blinked at him. “What?”

He hummed. “Nothing. I will have to experiment with this further.”

You definitely wanted to know what he meant by that, but you didn’t want to push him. So you removed your hand from his and nudged his arm as you shifted to lay down in the cool grass. You moved around, trying to find a comfortable place to lay, but so far weren’t successful. When you noticed Tech watching you, you waved him on.

“Go ahead. Tell me what you were going to say earlier.” 

“Your head looks uncomfortable. I will go get you a blanket to lay on.” Tech said and began to move. 

“No! It’s okay! It’s not uncomfortable.” You said quickly and he paused, half standing. 

“You should still rest against something more comfortable.” He replied and your mind was racing. “Alright alright, I will. But please sit back down.” You said and he looked like he was going to protest, but you gave his arm a tug and he sat down, legs stretched out in front of him. 

Before you could talk yourself out of it, you shifted on the ground before leaning back, your head coming into contact with his thigh. You felt Tech tense and you looked up at him, hand blocking the sun. 

“This okay?”

He didn’t answer you right away, but after a moment, nodded once. “Yes. It is alright.”

You smiled up at him before dropping your hand to your stomach and closing your eyes. 

“Alright Tech. What facts have you got for me today?”

“Houseflies find sugar with their feet, which are 10 million times more sensitive than human tongues.”

You huffed. “Knowing that makes me wonder why they love our ration bars so much. They’re pretty bland to us, but maybe we’re missing something.”

“It is possible.” Tech noted. “Did you know that true flies have only one pair of wings, and sometimes, none at all. A hind pair of ‘wings’ is reduced to balancing organs called halteres.”

“I did not know that. But I do have a question.” 

“What is your question?”

“Do you know why flies rub their feet together? I see them do it all the time and have always wondered.” You asked and surprisingly, Tech fell silent. 

You allowed a moment or two to pass, thinking maybe he was waiting for you to say more. But he still didn’t speak. You held up a hand, squinting one eye open to see Tech staring down at you with a puzzled look on his face.

“You okay? Did I ask a hard question?” 

He continued to stare at you like he was studying you. It was equally slightly unnerving and exciting. “Curious.”

Your heart thudded loudly in your chest as Tech continued to stare at you. Even though it was comfortable outside, you could feel your cheeks starting to warm. “Uh, Tech?”

“Right, apologies. Flies rub their limbs together to clean them. It may seem illogical given their appetite for dirt, but this cleaning behavior is actually one of their primary activities as they rid themselves of physical and chemical residues and anything that can affect the sensors on their feet.” Tech said and you gave him another look before letting your hand fall and your eyes close again. 

Tech began to rattle off more facts and you did your best to come up with resulting questions. It was peaceful, and there was a part of you that wanted this to never end.

Abruptly, Tech stopped speaking and you squinted up at him. “Everything okay?” 

“Over there. It’s a brown marmorated stink bug. They are rare in this region.” He said and you sat up as quietly as you could. You reached for your glass jar that held the remains of your water, dumping it out on the grass. Very slowly, you climbed to your feet. “What are you doing?”

“You said they’re rare right? Let’s catch this one!” You whispered as you began moving quietly towards where the bug was perched on a nearby tree. 

“We should not harm it.” 

“Of course not. We’ll catch it in this jar to get a closer look and then let it go.” 

Tech slowly stood as well, quietly moving behind you as you approached. Just before you reached the bug, it took off. Both of you shared a look before following. It was hard for you to spot, but Tech seemed to know exactly where it was at all times, so he kept you both on the right path. The trees grew slightly thicker and you made probably too much noise crashing through the woods. 

The bug stopped high on a nearby tree. You didn’t even hesitate before clamoring onto a large nearby rock. 

“Please be careful.” Tech whispered, hands raised like he was concerned you would fall.

“Don’t worry Tech. I’ve got this.” You said, reaching slowly for the small stinky bug. Your foot slipped and you wobbled for a second before righting yourself. You felt the ghost of Tech’s hand appear at your back before disappearing again and you fought the warmth creeping up your neck. 

“Almost, got it.” You said more to yourself as you approached the unsuspecting bug. 

Two things then happened simultaneously. 

One. The rock shifted beneath you ever so slightly, but it was enough to set you off balance. 

Two. Now off balance, your foot slipped on the same spot as before and you began to pitch helplessly backwards. 

The jar slipped out of your hand and hit the forest floor with a soft thud. You looked at the tree and caught a glance of the bug hopping away as you fell backwards. 

You let out a yell of surprise before colliding with something hard. You tried to turn to catch your fall, but weren’t completely successful. Which meant the moment you hit solid ground, the air was thrust out of your lungs in one fell swoop. 

You gasped for air, desperate to breathe again. You coughed once, trying to get your breathing back to normal. Your back was killing you and your shoulder was aching from impact. 

It wasn’t until you felt the ground beneath you start moving that your current situation hit you. 

Your eyes snapped open and you were surprised to see Tech sprawled beneath you. 

“Kriff, are you okay??” You gasped. “I’m so sorry Tech!”

“It is alright. Are you unharmed?” He asked, voice a little scratchy. 

“Uh yeah. Are you sure you’re okay?” 

“Yes. I am fine.” 

You let out a breath of relief before tensing. Your face burned as you realized just how compromising of a situation this was. And suddenly all you could think about was getting out of it as fast as you could. 

You made a move to get up but were stopped by Tech’s hands gripping your waist. You didn’t move any further, instead raising your eyes to meet Tech’s that were already watching you. 

He had the same look as before. One you could only describe as fascination. 

It had your stomach fluttering in response.

“Remarkable.” Was all he said and you found yourself unable to respond. 

You again tried to move, but Tech’s hands held firm. 

“I have been conducting small experiments and I believe I have almost arrived at my conclusion. All I need to do is complete one final test.” He said and you narrowed your eyes at him.

“Okay?” 

“I would like you to kiss me.”

Your heart thudded in your chest as your face burned. “Wha - what? Why?”

“I told you before, I need to conduct one last test before I reach my conclusion.” He said, as if it was indisputable science fact. 

You blinked at him. “And to do that I have to kiss you?”

“You do not have to. Although I would prefer it.” 

You looked away from him briefly, trying to process his words. 

Was he serious?

He had to be. Tech never said anything he didn’t mean. 

But why you?

Why now?

“You’re serious?” Was what you finally settled on as you looked at him. 

He gave you a firm nod. “I am rarely unserious.” 

He’s got you there. 

“Alright, but stop me if you need to.” You stated, trying desperately to hype yourself up. 

“I will not need to, but thank you.”

Karking hells.

Before you could say anything else to delay it any longer or completely talk yourself out of it, you leaned down and kissed him. 

You didn’t want to overwhelm or push him so you kept it short and sweet, despite never wanting it to end once you started. He didn’t seem all that responsive, but you tried not to think too hard about that. 

You pulled back, eyes opening to gauge his reaction. 

He tilted his head slightly before opening his eyes and meeting yours. “Once more please.”

Maker, this man was going to be the death of you. 

But far be it from you to say no. 

This time when you leaned down and pressed your lips against his, he reacted by tightening his grip around you. You slumped further against him without realizing it and felt the rumble in his chest as he hummed. 

It was easy to get swept up in the feeling of kissing Tech and before you knew it, you were pulling away because you couldn’t breathe. Your forehead rested against his as you looked down at him, trying to gauge his reaction.

“Well? Did you reach your conclusion?” You asked breathlessly.

Tech nodded once. “I have. I have determined that my feelings towards you are more than platonic.”

You couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across your face at his words. 

“Good because lucky for you, I feel the same way.” You replied and he met your gaze. 

“Excellent.” He said before raising his hand from its spot on your back to grip the side of your face, pulling you back down towards him. You smiled against him, more than happy to oblige in his request. 

The sun had climbed higher in the sky when you finally forced the two of you apart. The rest of the batch would be returning soon and it was important both of you were back and presentable before that happened. 

The short walk back to the Marauder was full of lingering glances and shy smiles. When you entered the clearing the ship was parked in, to your horror, you saw the rest of the batch was already back. 

Hunter shot you a knowing smile before heading into the ship and calling out to Wrecker instead. Crosshair opened his mouth, likely to make a snide comment, but you cut him off.

“We chased after a bug and it won.” You blurted and Crosshair rolled his eyes.

“Might want to pull the leaves out of your hair if you want that story to be believable doll.” He said before ditching his toothpick and heading into the ship.

“Not your doll!” You called after him, running a hand through your hair and catching several leaves. 

You turned when you felt another hand in your hair and you watched as Tech also removed a small leaf. You gave him a smile which he returned. You reached out, giving his hand a squeeze before turning and heading into the ship. 

You heard Tech follow behind you as you thought back to your moment shared in the woods. 

Who knew hearing bug facts could have such a wonderful outcome? 

#seriously this was so fun #special s/o to my bestie caitlin who read this before i posted it to help me figure out the ending #you da best #asks #askBri #tech x reader #the bad batch #tbb #the bad batch tech #clone x reader

[totesnothere04]

Deviant With a Big Defect: Introduction

The Bad Batch x Sister!Reader, Obi-Wan x Reader

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the fanart, screenshots, or gifs used with my stories.

Warnings: This series describes injuries, pain, and some uncomfortable situations such as judgement, misunderstanding, and sexism later on.

Also for anyone who might be following this story on Wattpad, yes it is I, Jedi.Master.Rage. I want to address that this may seem like a wild ride, but I had this idea cooking in my mind for well over a year before I started writing for it. Side note: The artist is TrixEclipse, but I don't know if they're here on Tumblr. My friend sent this to me because they're so adorable!

Chapter 1

You were sat reading about the ships that were being prepared for the Republic military. Omega was currently working with Nala Se so she wouldn't be back for a little while. Well that's what you thought until you heard the door open.

   "Hey 2B!" Omega said as she sat down next to you. "Haven't you already read that?"

   "Yes, but I want to beable to fix whatever gets broken while I'm around." You tell her and she huffed.

   "Want to go get some food?" She asked and you raised a brow at her.

   "We never eat in the cafeteria, and for good reason." You tell her thinking about the last time you both went to eat out there. "I mean we could grab some food and come back if that's what you mean." You tell her and she smiles and nods. You both get up and head out to the cafeteria making sure to steer clear from other clones. "So learn anything new and interesting today?" You ask her.

   "No not really. Just kind of handed Nala Se instruments when she needed them." She told you and you smiled down at her. By standard years Omega was 8 years of age, while you were technically only 5. However, due to the enhanced aging you looked about 16 years old. As you both went to exit the cafeteria you bumped into a group that you and Omega would watch from a distance. Hunter looked at you curiously and you felt Omega step behind you to hide herself from them.

   "Who are you?" Hunter asked and the three other boys watched with curiosity.

   "I don't have a name." You said awkwardly and sneakily signaled for Omega to go out of the other exit of the cafeteria. You felt her presence leave from behind you, and you relaxed a bit.

   "Then what do we call you?" Tech asked, now just as curious as Hunter.

   "Uhm..." Your nerves started getting the best of you since you weren't sure if it would be a good idea to tell them. They didn't know about you.

   "CT-9902-B. It is good to see you socializing with your batch." Nala Se said from behind you. You turned to look at her as she stopped next to you.

   "Her batch?" Crosshair asked in confusion.

   "Yes. She is the fifth member of Unit 99." Nala Se told them. "Why don't you get your food and I will tell you everything you want to know about her. As well as her reintegration into your unit." Nala Se told them.

   "Wait reintegration? I get to be with my brothers again?" You asked excitedly, and she nodded.

   "If you are able to be re-accepted into their ranks that is." Nala Se said and followed your group into the cafeteria. You sat down at the table Hunter told you too, and Nala Se sat down with you. You stared at your food as a feeling of nervousness took over your appetite. After a few minutes of sitting in silence the boys returned and waited for Nala Se. "You may ask any question you would like."

   "How old is she?" Hunter asked.

   "She is the same age as the rest of you." Nala Se answered.

   "If she's one of us why haven't we ever met her before?" Wrecker asked.

   "She was separated from her twin for observation when she was old enough to be on her own. He was not particularly happy to lose his podmate." Nala Se tried her hand at a joke, but noone chuckled.

   "Twin? No clone has ever had a twin before." Tech stated.

   "It is ironic that you say that, since she is your twin." Nala Se informs Tech who drops his fork.

   "What?" Tech seemed stumped as he looked at his brothers who looked just as shocked as he did. "I- Why did my DNA create a twin?"

   "From what I was able to gather your genetic coding was stronger than most. Causing a second clone to grow with you." Nala Se tells Tech whose face goes from shocked to red with anger.

   "I've never seen him this angry before." Crosshair says. Tech looks like he wants to say something, but knows better and looks away.

   "Why separate us though? It seems very unfair for her to have been hidden away from us." Tech says and Nala Se looks at him surprised.

   "I don't see anything wrong since she was allowed to observe all of you from a distance." Nala Se said.

   "Observing from a distance isn't the same as being able to interact. She knew I was her twin, but was unallowed to have any contact with us. Mistress Nala Se don't you see how unethical that is?" Tech argued back, and Hunter set a hand on his shoulder trying to calm him down.

   "Tech." Hunter whispered in warning.

   "No it is quite alright CT-9901. He does have a point, as I've read that normal twins separated at birth are more prone to mental disorders. However, we wanted to make certain that she didn't have anything wrong with her. She was unplanned... A surprise. It was to make sure she was healthy." Nala Se said.

   "Then why wait this long to return her to us?" Crosshair asked.

   "I had to wait for the go ahead from the Prime Minister." Nala Se answered.

   "If you are my twin does that mean you have my intelligence?" Tech asked you as he looked at you from across the table.

   "Does a Venator Class Star Destroyer have a lightspeed capacity of 60,000 lightyears?" You asked him.

   "How are we supposed to know that?" Wrecker whined.

   "The answer is yes, Wrecker. You've been doing your homework." Tech said.

   "I want to beable to fix whatever gets broken while I'm present." You tell him.

   "You really are Tech's twin... I don't see the resemblance." Crosshair said.

   "Of course you wouldn't, because I'm one of only a few clones that turned out to be a girl." You said and looked Crosshair in the eyes. "You know for your enhancement to be that you never miss a shot, you sure blew it with that insult." You said to him and Wreckers jaw nearly hit the floor.

   "Oh burn! She got you with that one!" Wrecker said then laughed obnoxiously.

   "I will leave you all to get acquainted." Nala Se said and stood up from the table.

   "Wait! What will happen to her if she isn't accepted into the batch again?" Hunter asked her.

   "She is to be placed on maintenance with 99." Nala Se answered then turned and left.

   "Well I like her!" Wrecker said.

   "I like her too." Crosshair said with a smirk, but it fell when he noticed everyone staring at him in shock. "She knows how to argue in a fun way. Something none of you have figured out yet."

   "I'm with them." Tech told Hunter who nodded.

   "I like her too. Plus there's no way we could leave her to maintenance." Hunter said and everyone turned back to their food. "So have you ever shot a blaster before?"

   "Well I was kept for observation not sheltered. So of course I have shot a blaster." You told him.

   "Hand to hand combat?" Tech asked.

   "Yes I have trained there too, but I trained directly with those mandalorian mercenaries. Not too fun, but it got the job done." You told them and everyone looked to Tech.

   "I think we just found your greatest opponent Tech." Hunter told him.

   "I would very much like to test her skills... For research purposes." Tech said.

   "Uh-huh. Research purposes." Hunter said with amusement. "If you're so interested we could go train after we're done eating." Hunter suggested.

   "Alright. I'm in." You tell him. Everyone basically inhales their food to beable to get to go to training. You put your trays on the dirty stack to be cleaned and started to follow your brothers out of the cafeteria. An older clone spotted your group, and from your prior experiences with regular clones, you tried to hide among the guys. This clone pushed through to your group, but his eyes were set on you.

   "Hey kid. I think you might be lost. What's your name?" He asked and your mind raced as you thought of what to do.

   "Uhm..." Was all you could manage, before you set to hiding behind the scariest person in your group, Crosshair. You stepped behind him and he got the message that you didn't have any better of a time with regs than they did.

   "She's a clone like us." Crosshair said to the older clone taking a bit more of a defensive stance. The older clone looked confused but understood that you were nervous around him.

   "Your group has nothing to be afraid of with me and my boys. I'm Commander Garrett of the 75th. Why don't you come meet my unit?" Garrett offered you his hand and you looked to Hunter who seemed just as bewildered as you. You took Garrett's hand and allowed him to lead your unit over to his. "75th!" He shouted when he reached a table with a group of clones that were acting rather rowdy. The clones all stopped what they were doing to look at their Commander. "We have a clone who doesn't have a name here." The clones all looked at you, but one of them did a double take when he saw you.

   "Sir that's a girl. Clones aren't girls." The clone said.

   "She's a part of the experimental unit, Kit." Garrett informed Kit who looked to you.

   "You got hobbies, kid?" Kit asked you and you shook your head. "What about Hack?" He suggested.

   "No, Kit that sounds rude." Another clone threw a roll at Kit, which it bounced off of his armor harmlessly. "Hmm what about-"

   "No, Stim. You don't get to name people after you tried to get everyone to call Bluster, Ass." Kit told Stim who huffed. Another clone looked at you and smiled.

   "I'm Cut. How does the name (Y/n) sound to you?" He asked and you tested it out, and smiled at him.

   "I like that!" You told him and he shot a smile back at you.

   "So... You're really a clone?" Stim asked you and you nodded.

   "I'm a very rare multiple defect." You said sadly.

   "Why do you say that?" Garrett asked and you exhaled.

   "Well for one I'm a girl... Two I'm a twin. Three I hold high levels of intelligence like my twin." You told them and Garrett smiled at you.

   "Well I would gladly have you in my company any day. Defect or not." Garrett said and his unit cheered with him.

   "She's already in a unit CT-4427." Nala Se said as she approached.

   "Nala Se... His name is Garrett." You told her and she raised a brow at you.

   "Very well. She is a part of experimental clone unit 99, and will remain there, Garrett." Nala Se informed Garrett, who nodded.

   "Yes, ma'am." He said as he saluted her.

   "Come CT-9902-B. I would like to run some last minute tests, before youre completely settled back into your batch." You lowered your head preparing yourself for all of the needles.

   "Mistress Nala Se." Garrett said from behind you, and Nala Se turned to address him. "Her name... It's (Y/n)." He told her and she nodded. As you walked away you passed by your brothers, and they gave you a sympathetic look. Tech went to try and join you, but Hunter held him back and shook his head.

   "(Y/n)... That name suits you." Nala Se said as you reached her lab.

   "Thank you. Cut just picked it out for me." You told her and she patted your back. Omega came into the lab and smiled at you.

   "Hello!" She said to you and you smiled to her.

   "Hey Omega! I've got a name now." You told her and she looked at you excitedly. "My name is (Y/n)."

   "It suits you!" She said as she smiled. Nala Se patted your shoulder signaling for you to lay back, and you did while you frowned.

   "So what tests are you running on me?" You asked Nala Se.

  "I want to make sure that your vitals and immunity to disease are at optimum level. After they are done I will escort you to Unit 99's quarters." She told you and you nodded. You sat back and she drew some blood then put it in for testing. She and Omega went to the other side of the glass and the bed you were on slid into the x-ray machine. You closed your eyes so the lights wouldn't blind you. After a few minutes in the x-ray machine the bed slid back out again. You sat up and waited until Nala Se came back in. "You are clear to return to your unit. Come (Y/n)." You stood up and followed her out of the room, then she led you to the room your brothers were in.

   "Thank you Nala Se." You said and she bowed her head then left. You knocked on the door and Tech answered it.

   "You're back!" He said happily then pulled you into the room. You stumbled as you entered then the smell hit you.

   "It smells like the bathrooms after burrito day." You say and you hear a chuckle from behind you.

   "That would be Wreckers bunk. He doesn't believe in cleaning." Crosshair said and you exhaled through your nose.

   "So (Y/n) let's get to know you." Hunter said and gestured to the only table in the room. You sat down and waited for the first question.

   "Do you lead, or do you follow?" Hunter asked.

   "I do what I'm told to do... Sometimes." You tell him and he smiles.

   "Oh you'll fit in just fine." Hunter said and the others agreed. "So training?" Hunter asked and everyone got up to make your way to the training room.

          2,348 Words

#sw tbb #the bad batch x reader #the bad batch #obi wan x reader

[feltpool]

What they do

We’re told right from the start that the batch are ‘enhanced clones’ and that they each have an ability that makes them special.

But this is an oversimplification. They don’t have different abilities, they all have the same abilities, only in differing proportions. And I’m including Omega in this too. Five enhanced clones.

Hear me out...

Tech tells us: "They manipulated preexisting aberrations in our DNA, resulting in your brute strength, Crosshair's sharpshooting skills, Hunter's enhanced senses and my exceptional mind"

Now Wrecker is big. He’s tall and he’s broad, and looks like he should be able to lift a truck without pause, let alone a troop ship. We see him pumping iron using Gonky on more than one occasion. But bodybuilders also look like they’d be really really strong, however, it’s all about the look of the muscle and they’re actually a lot weaker than their bulk suggests.

But we saw him lift that ship off of Cody so where are you going with this?

I don’t think strength is really where his talents lie. His enhancement has increased his physical density, which gives the appearance of far more strength than he actually has. The structure of his body has become vastly dense which allows him to take the strain of lifting that weighty ship without breaking his own bones, or tearing his muscles to shreds in the process.

Any human can physically lift way more weight than we generally actually do, because our brains cut in with all the warning signals to tell us to stop before we break something important.

So sure, if hysterical strength kicks in and overrides those responses people can do incredible things like lift cars off of trapped people, but they pay a heavy price for that afterwards. Torn muscles, crushed joints, cracked bones and teeth, internal bleeding, etc.

So strength alone just isn’t enough to counter the damage caused by such an action. But density just might be.

Look at the scene in TCW where he’s holding Jesse up by the neck. Rex is pushing at him, trying to make him put him down. Now Rex isn’t a small man, but he doesn’t so much as make Wrecker sway slightly, and he should already be off balance by holding a wiggly Jesse.

And it’s easy to ignore how much the clones are struggling to pull him up and away from the dianoga on Bracca because we’re led to assume all of their struggle is them having to pull against the creature in the water, not that they’re struggling to lift his hugely dense and weighty body up to their level.

They get around this same issue in TCW by having Anakin force lift him out of the Echo Chamber instead of the others having to work out how they’re going to get him out of there.

Look how much he was struggling by the end of his fight with Muchi. Sure, it was made into a joke (“He’s losing his touch”), everything with him always is. Right up until it isn’t funny anymore. Like with bouncing his head off of every hard object until his chip activated and he went into full on murder mode. But what if his apparent lack of stamina is simply the byproduct of him struggling to heft his own body weight around for a prolonged period?

There’s a gap between the fight and him walking through the streets of Ord Mantell with Muchi by his side and we don’t get to see if he spent all of that time sitting down and resting (”chargin' up before I charge in”) any more than we get to see him returning to the ship post fight.

But what does this have to do with anyone else?

With Hunter we saw the Zygerrian slaver wrap his electro whip around his arm and he barely reacted to it. And while much of the whip was wrapped around the armour on his arm he was also holding it in his hand. Given just how much those things have hurt people when we’ve seen them used previously it seems unlikely that the thin fabric of his glove would be enough to protect him from feeling it.

Unless the increased density of his body maybe helps to decrease the sensation of pain? That remains unclear as yet, but it’s a possibility.

But we also saw him fall halfway down a mountain and get up again at the bottom. Gregor, a man also wearing the same class of armour that he has, had already said they couldn’t survive that jump, and that was before Hunter solidly bounced off a lot of rocks and trees as he descended.

Oh, he shook his head a little before he got up, but he should have been dead.

.

We don’t get to see Tech flex his muscles much but he peels that durasteel? panel off the brig wall like it’s nothing.

And what of Crosshair?

In the mess hall we see him trying to be a good boy and not get into a brawl up until the fight comes and lands right in his dinner, at which point he uses his increased density to put enough force behind that flung lunch tray that it not only slams into two other clones, but does it with sufficient force to knock them both right off their feet.

And that’s just not normal.

But neither is the way Omega manages to slide down a cable strong enough to moor the Marauder and prevent it from breaking free and escaping from the crab creatures (in the S2 trailer) without slicing both of her hands open and causing friction burns on top. She certainly should be in no condition to spring up, grab her bow, and start firing shots.

There’s a really good reason abseilers wear sturdy gloves.

.

It's 'Crosshair's sharpshooting skills', not Crosshair's phenomenal eyesight.

We’re led to assume that it’s his eyesight because we tend to think of shooting as being a linear thing, because straight lines are how projectile weapons work.

But blasters aren’t like slug throwers and we see that every time Crosshair gets his reflector discs out, such as when he mows down a corridor filled with droids, bouncing a single shot off disc after disc and cutting down everything standing in between them, or setting up his Elite Squad to die long before they walk into the training room.

His enhancement is an increased mental processing speed, just like we see in Tech and Omega. It’s his ability to calculate the angles super quickly in order to set up that corridor full of droids on the fly, or to target something 10 klicks/6 miles away and to pre-place a series of reflectors accordingly so they never see it coming that makes him special.

His ability to see where a child jumped into dark night waters after a sinking droid, to calculate the distance and angle, and to shoot a grapple at just the right velocity to hit his target even against all the water resistance. And to calculate all of that in seconds before anyone is stupid enough to jump in after her.

Chances are his eyesight is no better than any other clone.

But he also shows signs that he may feel less pain than is usual, just the same as Hunter does.

A high velocity rifle with a super long barrel filled with as many collimating components as will fit inside must give one hell of a kick. Even with the shoulder padding on his original armour the recoil from the firepuncher throws his shoulder back hard every time but he never shows any sign of pain. Does an increased density of tissue simply mean he doesn’t feel it as much?

.

And Tech? With his self proclaimed ‘exceptional mind’?

It’s all about the fast speed at which he can process the data he acquires. Which goes well with the excellent flight skills he’s displayed, such as over Ryloth and Daro, which suggest his reaction times are exceptional, allowing him to correct for changes in environment and in combat situations really quickly.

Very similar to Crosshair’s skill, but with a different application.

.

Omega displayed excellent strategy skills when beating everyone else at dejarik, she identified Cid when none of the others managed to work out who she was, she manipulated Todo 360 into allowing her to repair his leg so she could make her escape from Bane’s ship, while scared and handcuffed she then managed to find the comms station and operate outmoded equipment in order to contact the Batch, then she made her escape from Bora Vio all by herself.

So her processing speed doesn’t appear to be lagging any either.

.

When the Batch are on Onderon Tech says “I would not discount Omega's insight.  A state of heightened awareness is not unusual for an enhanced clone such as herself.”

But they’re all ‘enhanced’, I mean, that’s exactly what’s supposed to make them all so special in the first place.

A ‘state of heightened awareness’ is usually taken to mean a state in which you’re highly aware of your surroundings, hyper vigilant or focused. And those of them whose mental processes have been speeded up should be far more skilled at picking up on subtle cues and background information that other people don’t notice.

It’s like they want to make them force sensitive but without actually letting them access the force because something somewhere once said that clones aren’t force sensitive, so they’ve gone for the next best option.

So they can have hyper senses but no lightsabers.

Hunter sensed the probe droid when it was lurking in the trees and we put that down to his EM detection. But a little earlier, when it was watching them through the trees, Crosshair looked around too, even though there was no indication that there was anything there. So it seems like he felt it in some way too.

.

We all noted how Hunter appears to ‘feel’ Crosshair’s presence when they’re leaving Ryloth, but one person on a busy planet with a lot of people, communications, construction, etc wouldn’t give off enough of an EM disturbance to pick up at any sort of range unless they were deliberately sending out a signal, and hyper awareness shouldn’t apply since he wasn’t within sight, sound, etc range.

.

Crosshair seems to know where Caleb is hiding up a tree on Kaller, and he doesn’t buy that he fell over the waterfall for a moment even though there’s no evidence to show otherwise apart from knowing Hunter well enough to know when he’s lying.

.

In the mess hall fight Tech picks up the threat to Echo from the clone who slams him with the lunch tray even though he isn’t facing him, only turning towards him in time to warn him of the incoming threat.

.

We don’t notice Wrecker reacting to his surroundings in the same way the others sometimes do, but it’s possible that he might have a better sense of the space around him and the room he takes up and uses this to move around in a small area like the Marauder without bumping into things or stepping on anyone’s toes.

.

But no one of them noticed the scrappers on Bracca approaching noticeably before any other one does.

And it was no help to them when the Zygerrians snatched them either.

.

Hang on, Hunter’s skill is EM detection. Tech says so.

Yes, it is. But it’s everyone else’s skill too, they’re maybe not as good at it as he is, but they’re all picking up the signals to some degree.

However, if you’re trying to sell your team of enhanced clones as being unique individuals with a skill that makes each one special, you’re not going to want to point out that they’re all technically doing the same thing.

So they focus on Hunter’s EM detection, Tech’s fast processing, Wrecker’s apparent strength, and Crosshair’s sharp shooting.

Because it sounds fancier that way.

And fancier sells for a higher price.

.

When they’re talking about getting their experimental clones back Lama Su says “We only need one” and if they all have the same abilities coded into their DNA then that’d be right.

Any of them would suffice to allow them to proceed to the next phase.

#tbb #the bad batch #enhanced skills

[zoeykallus]

hcs on how tbbs rooms would be like? (and rex and fives because they b my kings) and I think fives room would be an absolute abomination 🤣🤣🤣

Oh I like that idea! Thanks for the ask :)

The Bad Batch (+Rex and Fives) With Their Own Rooms HC's

Hunter:

Hunter is a mixture of neat and messy. Actually, the room seems relatively orderly, he doesn't have much decoration either, just two posters of his favorite bands. And the only real mess you can find in his room from time to time are his music disks spread on the bed. He loves music, old rock songs mostly.

You know that scene with Tom Cruise in "Risky Business"? Old time rock & roll?

If you just barge into his room, you might well find him in a situation like that. Or very wrong singing along an AC/DC song.

There aren't many colors, Hunter is rather reserved about that, you'll find at most something in colors of his batch or earthy colors, colorful is not his thing. On one wall hangs a dreamcatcher, he doesn't really believe in it, but somehow he likes that thing. Oh and that drawing of a naked lady.

Echo

Echo is super neat, everything has its place and order, he always knows where everything is, and he doesn't like at all if someone changes something in his room without asking. The colors in his room are relatively sterile, almost everything is white.

Echo doesn't really own any decorations, he has one potted plant, a small rubber tree that he lovingly cares for. He also owns two framed pictures, one that shows him together with Clone Force 99, the other is with Fives and Rex, both of which he cherishes, dusting them regularly and looking at them, remembering good times.

His bed is always made correctly, almost to the millimeter, whoever enters the room must always take off his shoes and don't let anyone in street clothes sit on the bed, Echo can't take it.

Wrecker

Quite a mess in this room. Mainly dirty clothes spread on the floor and unwashed plates on every cupboard and table, because he constantly snacks something.

He likes it lively and colorful, he even has strings of lights along the ceiling that glow colorfully, his walls are painted sea green and his bedding is more colorful than a damn rainbow.

He has a lot of decorations, a lot of junk, hula dancer figurines, colorful posters, movie posters and tons of sports trophies.

All in all a very vivid and chaotic room.

Tech

It's very clean in here, but also total chaos. Paper chaos. Tech likes to do old-fashioned hand-drawing of his ideas, creating blueprints, blueprints of all sorts of things that come to mind.

His walls are pinned with drawings, bills, math problems he wants to solve, fantastic drawings of space speeders he's designed.

He usually falls asleep at his desk, his bed is full of papers anyway. But the genius supervises the chaos, as they say. He always knows where which drawing is, even if tons of them are lying, hanging and stacked in his room.

He doesn't care about decoration and colors.

Crosshair

You will never have seen a room so clean and tidy in your entire life, and never again will you. Absolute perfection whichever way you look at it.

Sorted, tidy, flawless.

It's so clean here, you could theoretically eat off the floor. He has an extra room for his guns and even a display case with velvet bedding for his rifle. His clothes are so organized in the closet, even his bedding in the closet is ironed and folded.

So I honestly suspect a slight OCD behind it, but that's just a guess.

Colors are dignified, black, white, silver, the furniture modern. He does have some esthetic nudes on his walls, nothing too naughty, just esthetic.

Rex

Everything has its place. Simple, practically oriented, pragmatic.

He doesn't really have much decoration, pictures of his closest comrades, the closest brothers, but otherwise rather nothing. He doesn't really have the time or the nerve for houseplants.

He's not overly neat, but neater than most men. As I said, everything has its place with him.

The colors in his room, are blue and white, the colors of his legion, his calling, his pride.

The only thing that is messy now and then in his room is his bed, he doesn't always have time and often doesn't feel like making the bed before he leaves the room. Often he has to leave very quickly, without warning.

Fives

Chaos, clothes on the floor and on the unmade bed. The desk is cluttered, take out packages, paper trash and other stuff- mostly reports he actually still has to fill out and give to rex.

His closet has a simple system, he just opens the door and throws things in, total chaos in there too.

The only thing that is always neat and clean are his shoes. Don't ask me why, I don't know.

He has a lot of nudes on the walls, of all kinds of women of different species and skin color, from green to white to pitch black, all shapes and colors, plus size, slim and athletic. He is an epicure.

@andyoufollowyourheart @clone-whore-99

@brynhildrmimi @kaliel2310

@misogirl828 @tech-deck

@pink-peachie-pie

@chxpsi

@nahoney22

#star wars headcanons #the bad batch #clonelove #clone force 99 #tbb #sw tbb #tech #tbb tech #tbb headcanons #headcanon #rex #commander rex #captain rex #fives #arc trooper fives #arc 5555 #crosshair #bad batch crosshair #clone trooper crosshair #commander crosshair #crosshair bad batch #crosshair tbb #crosshair the bad batch #wrecker #bad batch wrecker #clone trooper wrecker #tbb wrecker #wrecker bad batch #wrecker tbb #echo

[transingthoseformers]

I return from my haze with more.

But yes the whole Lost Light is twittering with this newest scandal while Getaway seethes–not caring–and Magnus acts as a Professional Cock Block while privately compiling a list of traits Rodimus prefers in a partner and ones Magnus believes would be improvements over Rodimus's past choices. He reluctantly concludes Drift, though it pains him, was the best choice, and that was an "almost"n a sniffly Rodimus had confessed halfway through Martinis and Movies night when they were watching romcoms.

Megatron's arrival and Rodimus's reaction seems to put a damper in the "cute" romance the rest of the Lost Light was invested in. Except of course, Magnus keeps personally bringing Rodimus updates on everything and denying anyone else the chance to. Getaway's offers are shot down per SOP Part 3, Non-Required Voluntary Interactions.

Getaway is almost convinced that it's a lost cause–and he is fine with that he's over Rodimus. The breakup was Getaway's decision anyway, vicious and irreparable and before the bright mech could break up with Getaway now that Hot Rod had the Wreckers fluttering around him like that sonova glitch Blurr.

And then he notices Magnus and Megatron brush their fingers when doing a hand off of datapads. A perfectly normal accidental touch. Except Magnus wiggled. Just a little field wobbled. No outward wavering. Getaway watches, and he did the same thing when the Slagmaker pats him on the shoulder and thanks him for his work. And, hmm, Megatron doesn't need to lean in so close or whisper so intimately, does he?

Oh, poor Rodimus. Getaway is now convinced Magnus is having an affair or at least the beginning of an emotional one, though Megatron seems interested in more if Getaway is pinging right. Now he just needs to get proof and show Rodimus for reasons because clearly their dear Captain needs to know. And if Getaway maybe helps give Magnus a little push, that's his business.

Clearly, he wasn't that great if he was cheating.

Getaway never cheated.

Though his usual group probably won't listen due to Getaway's…investment in the topic. But he does know of one person on board who is disgustingly obviously gone for Rodimus and would definitely want to help if there was someone wronging him.

Thunderclash. The guy who Hot Rod and he had initially bonded over disliking. Ironically, the one who was going to help him now.

-

Rodimus, meanwhile, has a crisis.

He doesn't think Megatron is good enough for Magnus, who has been helping on the whole friendship thing, which he really needed with Pipes and Drift gone and Riptide kind of tense.

But he also wants to support Minimus's feelings.

But Minimus isn't aware of said feelings.

But there's no reason Rodimus needs to help him realize there's anything more going on than friendship.

Rodimus decides cock blocking Megatron from getting to hold Minimus's hand is clearly the best way to repay that favor. Even if it means literally sticking himself between them at a both at Swerve's or pretending to be drunk so he can "drunk cuddle" Magnus as a distraction or has to volunteer to do paperwork so Magnus supervises as "encouragement".

Megatron definitely knows what is going on but also isn't aware of the rumors yet because he only socializes with Magnus (who doesn't know) and Ravage (who knows but knows they're false) and Rodimus (against his will).

I may or may not be being lectured the entire time I'm writing this but

Mmmhm yep there's Getaway "not caring" yet again

I HAVE ESCAPED THE LECTURE ZONE

Maggy is really playing the wingman goddamn!

Martinis and movie night

I would kill to see those two getting half drunk and watching comedies

Makes sense Meggsie's arrival will shake things up

Mmmhm suuuure Getaway. Interesting that it was him that broke it off, Oh Interesting that it was a "I know he's gonna break up with me so I'll do it first" sitch.

Hgghhhh yes and thus the Minimegs begins to bloom, and GETAWAY SEES ALL. another reason why Megs has to go in his book zdffdssf. Of all the things Getaway can excuse apparently assumed cheating is not one of them.

... getaway I see your plan here and I think it's hilarious. He's seriously gonna play matchmaker and encourage Mags to "cheat".

Thunderclash yes

Of course Roddie disapproves of Maggy's crush, makes sense makes sense, but also that he'd want to support his friend. Because that's what he and Minimus are now, he could've never predicted he'd be in this situation.

Mmmhm yes of course Rodimus, do for Mims what he did for you. Oh he is absolutely down to be a physical barrier, that's hilarious.

So Meggsie is absolutely in the dark because he's got the social circle of a goldfish in a tank full of minnows, gotcha.

These 💖idiots💖

#maccadam #transformers #getarod #minimegs #mtmte megatron #mtmte ultra magnus #mtmte minimus ambus #< same guy #mtmte getaway #mtmte thunderclash #mtmte rodimus #others

[xohalu]

i am so, so sorry for not getting back to you after that ask, life threw so much my way and i just got done handling 70% of it ;; but i shall be on regularly from now on, though it's only like. 2 days until christmas :c i will make sure to spend until the 30th/31st getting to know you better, i genuinely apologize once more!

you and your brother are so cute, though 🥹 i really love the number 2 myself. it's ironic how i used to hate it when i was younger because i would always get second (in) everything (2nd place at end-of-year evaluations, am the second child, would always get the second row/column seating, etc.) fjkdsdkf then i just grew to adore the little guy hehe omg that's such a pleasant colour palette⏤you must've been pretty happy with most photoshoot colour schemes and in tcc: freeze era! ah, runaway + long haired-hyuka... i totally understand 😌 that's personally my favourite era, but yeah, pre-debut and debut year were such fond days for me too :')

do you have more than one bias/a bias wrecker? also! your favourite season + txt album! ⏤ ☃️

omg no worries ! my bad too for not responding 😭 we have family over and my adorable little cousin has not let me go since she got here ahah take your time !! i hope you had a lovely (and restful!) holiday ❤️

my brother and i are certainly a pair even if we don’t talk that much we’re always there for each other when someone does need to talk and i’m very grateful for that ♡ there was this rhyme when i was little about first being the worst and second being the best and i definitely took that to heart even when my brother was top of his class and i was usually second or third

txt definitely own pastel colours!! the tdc star blue and yellow plus the blue hour blue will forever be iconic

ooh and as for bias i am so unloyal 😭 i think originally i was kai biased soobin wrecked but beomgyu has been creeping up on me ! and omg taehyun’s your fancams kept mysteriously appearing on my feed 🫣 plus yeonjun high fashion icon he has suchh a drawable face plus his gg dance covers go so incredibly hard but it really depends on the day for me though at the end of the day i’ll always be ot5 🩵🩵

i say i like winter but having just moved out of southern california i’ve realised winter means something very different up north and maybe i just like the fleeting weeks of spring instead

ooh and i have had tnc temptation on repeat these days ! though thursday’s child, blue hour, and tdc star are others i keep coming back to and i need to give tnc freefall another listen! i heard it briefly one morning and added the songs to my playlists but haven’t quite listened closely to each of them together as an album

thanks again for dropping in ! i hope you’re having a safe and happy holiday season 🫶🫶

[fandomwriterguru]

hey hi hello so this is really random but i just (mostly) read the artsy s/o hc’s for the bad batch boys & before i got to crosshair i was already betting it’d be dance (ofc it is bc that’s just him) but the first thing that came to my mind before even reading his hc’s was this scene from the sound of music ⬇️ (like i couldn’t even finish the whole thing before telling you this bc it feels so important but i pinky swear i’ll go back and read the rest of it)

https://youtu.be/dUFBOC6lQoo

cross is lithe and suave and perfect for all those complicated steps, insanely technical and places a very strong emphasis on practice bc if a dance is worth learning, it’s worth perfecting. outsiders would think he needs to loosen up (bc some ppl think perfect technicality = a stick up the ass) but in truth he’s never more relaxed than when he’s dancing with his s/o, it’s just his marksman precision and iron will that keep his steps purposeful and elegant. but don’t let his stature keep you from trusting him to hold your weight during lifts (namely The Dirty Dancing Lift™️), man carries a fuck ton of armor and weapons on the daily and spends a good chunk of that time with most of his weight being condensed and emphasized on his calf/thigh muscles

also a brief side note, holy shit does crosshair have some nice legs, like he’s an absolute model, they’re so toned and gorgeous glfjshsh

this is just a long winded way to say i wanna slow dance with crosshair

I didn't know I needed this in my life like I need air in my lungs but I do so.... Also as a musical theater nerd, and an absolute slut for The Sound of Music I absolutely adore this!

Am I the only one who gets huge Naboo vibes from from classic Viennese and Austro-Hungarian architecture? This fic didn’t end up how I was originally planning but I love the direction it took as I was writing it.

The boys had just finished a long mission on Naboo, and had decided that they had earned some down time. Currently you all were all sitting around outside the Havoc and relaxing. Not like the poor boys know what that is. Hunter was sitting with his back to a stack of crates whittling something with his vibroknife, Echo was reading a book, Crosshair had perched himself on top of the stack of crates and was cleaning his armor, Tech to no ones surprise was sat on the ground surrounded by the pieces of his latest pet project, and Wrecker and Omega were playing with Lula and the Batcher doll. You were still fidgety from the mission and needed a way to let off some steam. So you headed back into the marauder, grabbed your speaker, your dance shoes and your datapad and found yourself a quiet spot a few feet away from the rest of the crew. You began dancing as well as you could without a partner, and as you lost yourself in the music your mind began to wander. Remembering the festivals that would take place in your hometown when you were little, about Omegas age now that you stopped and thought about it. Oh, how you had hoped and wished to be old enough to dance through the night like the adults did, with some devilishly handsome man by your side. If only you could go back, to take your boys with you and dance the night away with Crosshair. His tall muscular frame holding you close, and twirling you with ease.

"What are you dancing to?" Called Omega, startling you back to reality. You turned around as the young girl abandoned Wrecker and came bounding over to you.

"Its a folk song that my people used to dance to during parties and festivals" You said kneeling down on her level. "Would you like for me to teach you some?" Immediately her eyes twinkled with excitement. "Yes, can you teach me some now?!" She asked practically bouncing with anticipation.

"All right, how about we do this I'll teach you some and then you can go and practice with Hunter." You say reaching your hand out for the girl to take. "Did you hear that Hunter, I'll get to teach you how to do it too!" She excitedly exclaimed, as the Sergeant barely glanced up from his project. "Okay, first step. Turn so that your facing me" You say taking the girls hands in your own. 'Now, normally you'd bow and I would curtsy but since your learning I'll bow and you curtsey." You say giggling at Omega’s attempt of a curtsey. "Now we go for a walk" you say as you let go of one hand and count the steps with her, "One, two three, one, two, three". You were so focused on teaching the young girl how to dance, you hadn't even noticed Crosshairs sharp gaze on the two of you. The sniper wasn't one to wear his heart on his sleeve, but the look he was giving you was nothing less than pure adoration.

"Then, we do a step, hop, step hop" You tell Omega taking her hands in yours. "Good, now turn under" You say, desperately trying to scrunch your body low enough to reach under the poor girls arms. "Not quite" you chuckle as you let go of one of her hands and turn her around the correct way. By this point Crosshair had hopped off his perch and come over by you and Omega. Suppressing a chuckle as he watched you yet again try to squeeze under Omegas outstretched arms. "Here "Mega let Y/N and I show you how to do it" Said the sniper ruffling the girls hair, and subtly bowing his head at you.

"Okay, but then I want to try it with Hunter" She exclaimed plopping her self down in the grass. But her voice was drowned out by the sound of your own heartbeat rushing in your ears as Crosshair sidled up next to you and offered his hand out to you. Gracefully guiding you through the next set of steps. Breathless and helplessly in love with the sniper you just loud enough for him to hear ask.

"How did you know about this dance?" Your hand coming up to take his other offered hand. As he seamlessly leads you through the next set of steps, a series of light graceful twirls. 

“I’ve watched you practice this for weeks cyar’ika, I figured it out”. He smirks, as his hand finds your lower back leading you in a wide arching circle. The two of you keep dancing, Crosshair perfectly executing every step of the long complicated routine. Neither of you can tear your eyes off the other, as you continue following the gentle push and pull of the music. At this point in the song you aren’t sure if your dizzy because you haven’t been spotting your turns, or because of the intensely loving look in Crosshairs eyes as he watches you dance.

“I didn’t realize you had been paying attention that closely” you tell Crosshair as he slides one hand to grasp your own behind your back, and brings your already clasped hands up above your head. You twirl like that for a second, noses brushing with how close he was holding you. With the music still swirling around the two of you, you stop dancing. Just standing there is Crosshairs strong grasp, only millimeters between you as he tears his gaze from your eyes to glance down at your lips. 

“I don’t remember any more” you say, as you gently pull yourself out of his grasp. Backing up just a few steps so you could get a better look at the sniper, you almost can’t believe what just happened. You were dancing, with Crosshair, in the middle of a clearing on Naboo. Its not like you haven’t danced together before, he practiced with you all the time. But you were always the one that initiated that, and he had never held you as closely as he had just done. 

Omega hopped off her crate when she noticed that the two of you had stopped dancing. She came to stand near you and said, “Your cheeks are all red, are you okay?” Hunter having seen the two of you dancing, called Omega back to teach him what she had ‘learned’ from you. 

Not breaking eye contact with Crosshair, you brought your palms up to rest against your cheeks, hoping to hide the very intense blush creeping across your cheeks. “I suppose I’m not used to dancing like that” you say, more to yourself than to Crosshair. As the music kept playing softly in the background Crosshair took a deep breath, straightened his back and took the last few steps back towards you. Holding his hand out again, he whispered “It’s okay meshla I’m not either.” You took his hand and he pulled you close to him, so close your head was resting just above his heart. He didn’t lead you into the spins and twirls that you had done earlier, but the two of you just stood there and gently swayed with the music. After a minute he pulled back gently to place a kiss to the top of your head. 

“Cyar’ika,” he said gently letting one of your hands go as he stepped back and slid down onto one knee. “I know that this life isn’t an easy one, and that things will be difficult for us. But there isn’t anyone else in this Galaxy that I’d want to live this life with.” He let go of your hand for a second to fish a small box out of his pocket. “Y/N, I love you so much more than I can put into words. Will you marry me?” He asked pulling the ring out of the box. 

You couldn’t believe it, out of all the ways you had planned for this day to go, this was the last way you would have thought. But you couldn’t be any happier, if your life depended on it. Through tears and sniffles, you manage to nod and whisper “Yes”. In a second Crosshair had slipped the ring on your finger and scooped you up in his arms to swing you around in his arms. He was so overjoyed he had almost listed you clear over his head. A la Dirty Dancing. When he finally placed you back down on the ground, he pulled you to him and gave you the most passionate searing kiss you had ever shared. 

#star wars #star wars the bad batch #the bad batch #tbb #the bad batch x reader #tbb x reader #crosshair x reader #hunter x reader #tech x reader #wrecker x reader #echo x reader

[hellothere-generalangsty]

Gloved hand (Crosshair)

Summary: Crosshair found a way to get rid of his chip, and went looking for his brothers in the depot, fully aware of the confrontation that would follow.

No pairing or reader description, only the member of the Batch

Word count: 2761

CW/TW: ANGST; Death, trauma, guilt, violent memories/ nightmares, burns/scar, some swearing; I don’t know how graphic my style is, so if I forgot anything please tell me!

Tags: @allamarisss @loth-wolffe @imalovernotahater (you all asked 🤧)

@razena88 @m-o-o-n-s-g-o-o-n-s (non of you asked but I thought you'd want to check it out since you reacted to my Crosshair post; if you don't want to be tagged just tell me and I'll remove it !)

Notes: I had to. Because you’re all nice and I love pain, so here is the Sad Hour: Crosshair Edition™; Enjoy! (aka, I hope you’ll suffer a bit)

PS: sorry about the little dots when I skip a line, it’s the only way I could well...skip a line. I’ll try to find another way for the future!

PPS: The Neighbourhood - Roll Call is the song I listened to while writing this 🤭

______________________________________

He knew they were waiting on him, on the move he would make. They didn’t know about his chip being removed – not yet – and he knew he only had one shot.

How ironic.

He was still wearing the Imperial armour, face covered by his helmet, rifle attached to his back. He could see the way Hunter tightened his fingers around the trigger, and he recognised that look; the one he usually gave to his opponents before he killed them. He could get away; Hunter was a good shooter and his senses did helped for that; but Crosshair was the marksman. He guessed by a simple look at the scenery that the shot would crush through his pectoral plates, and given the distance and the type of blaster, it would surely shake him out, but it wouldn’t kill him.

As much as he sucked at it, he had to resort to words. He wasn’t the Empire’s puppet anymore, and trying once again to threaten them…It was simply out of the question.

Slowly, he raised his hands to his helmet, grabbing the lower part of it. He waited a second, not sure about the short moment where his vision would be obstructed.

Come on, you don’t get to worry about getting shot. Take the damn bucket off.

He pushed it up his head, briefly closing his eyes as a ridiculous way to sooth his morbid thoughts. When he opened them up again, Hunter hadn’t moved an inch. He didn’t know how much time he had, so Crosshair dared to take a step forward. Then another, holding his helmet in one hand, keeping the other one on the plastoid covering his chest, gently taping it with a gloved finger.

He stopped at the fourth step. The Batchers tensed up, unsure of what his next move would be. Crosshair knew what he was doing.

T’s your time to shine, Cross.

“DC-17. Round it down to a 7 meters distance from the target, slightly move your arm to your left.” He taped on a small spot of his chest plate, never breaking eye contact with Hunter. “Make me proud.”

It was a bold move, he knew it too damn well. He forced himself to maintain eye contact with them, with him, as much as it scared the crap out of him. As much as he hoped, deep down, for his brother to take pit-

.

 It was quick, bright. Finger pressed against the trigger, Hunter noticed every wave in the sound of the shot as it echoed in the depot. He followed the blue deflagration as it got spit out of his blaster, sliding the air in a thin whistling, brushing past Crosshair’s left arm, hitting another clone further behind.

He didn’t know if it was the right decision; but he knew enough about Crosshair to try it.

“I said ‘to your left’” was the only thing that came out of Crosshair’s mouth as he turned his head to look at the man lying on the floor a few meters behind him. He wasn’t dead, and now they had to quickly evacuate.

But Cross was alive. For now.

“Tech, get in there and be ready to take off when I tell you to! Wrecker, you cover us. Crosshair.”

The sniper pulled out his own blaster, back turned to the Batchers, ready to shoot any intruder trying to rip him away from his family once again. He soon felt a firm hand grasping his shoulder and dragging him back. He didn’t fight it, didn’t look at it. His focus was on the men running in the depot, on the way he hit them with such precision it almost felt too easy.

He was the last one to get in the Havoc Marauder, still shooting as the door closed shut in front of him.

.

 “…Crosshair?”

His heart pounded so hard in his chest that for a moment, he thought it might go through the plastoid armour and crush against the wall. There was the next move. So easy to execute, yet so terrifying.

“Crosshair, look at us.”

It was the tone; too formal, almost polite. He hated it. But he obeyed anyway, slowly turning around to face his tattooed brother.

Don’t look down. Don’t look down and cut that crap.

Hunter remained silent for a moment, examining Crosshair’s face scarred by burns, his new shaved side and white patch on the side of his head. The violent pumping and barely shaky breath told him more than the stoic eyes he was staring at.

“How’d you do it?”

“A droid helped.” Hunter’s nod was the only answer he got.

Keep talking, di’kut.

“I-”

“I missed you.” confessed Wrecker. “I think we all did.”

Now it was his turn to nod. What could he possibly answer? ‘I missed you too, but mostly because my chip made me want to kill you.’?

You didn’t wanted it, you had no choice.

“You didn’t have a choice,” Echo got a bit closer to him, even though he couldn’t tell if it was a good idea. “We know you didn’t.”

“Now that you removed your chip, you’re out of risks.” commented Tech, trying to comfort him a bit.

Each second passing was getting him closer to the edge. He wasn’t looking at faces, he was looking at phantom targets, still feeling the stings stabbing his brain every time he hesitated before shooting at them. Their voices were hardly getting to him, they were so distant, probably a faint memory from a time where he still had control.

“…get you something to eat, and you’ll go take a shower. Works for you?”

“Yes, Sarge.”

He knew the small clap on his shoulder was more of a friendly kind than a brotherly one. He hated it. He deserved it.

.

.

 He never felt that uncomfortable while eating with someone before. Even lunches on Kamino’s cantina weren’t as awkward. Tech tried to initiate a small talk, mentioning their next mission, the supplies they would need to get, and Omega tried to keep him going by nodding and asking questions he knew were useless.

But really, it was just an excuse to avoid the talk. Given the situation, it would probably hurt less to just… confront him. Tell him he scared them, when he callously ordered Hunter to stand down and surrender, told his troopers to “aim for the kid”. Not that he didn’t know; he found the confession in their eyes every time they would look at him.

He barely ate, rolling a fresh toothpick between his gloved fingers as he weakly chewed on his food.

“I’ll take the first round tonight,” Hunter muttered, mostly for himself.

Crosshair slowly got up from his seat, putting his ration away, trying to avoid the stares. He slid his toothpick between his lips, nibbling a bit harder than usual on the wooden texture. All he had to do was turn around and leave the cockpit. He had done it countless time by the past, what’s one more?

He wanted to lay down and sleep his pain away, get drowned in the pillows and forget all about what happened. He took a few steps, pretended he didn’t flinch when a hand caught his own, but couldn’t bring himself to smile at Omega when she gently rubbed his knuckles.

She didn’t say anything, she simply followed him to the bunk beds. Crosshair could barely look at her, because every time he did he could only see the scared look she gave him when he ordered it.

Aim for the kid.

It was haunting; she was just a child, a mixture of a little sister and a daughter for the Batchers, and he tried to rip that away from them too.

His attention shifted to the beds when he noticed the lights around his. He could also see a glimpse of a plush – oddly familiar – and a soft blanket nicely pulled over the mattress.

“We – she needed a place to sleep, and you were gone so…”

Wrecker, who followed him too, was uncomfortable; he was the one who came up with the idea. As much as he missed Crosshair, he knew he needed to take care of his little one because she was here. But now, Cross was back.

“Keep the bed,” he murmured, “I don’t mind.”

And he meant it. He would have done the same if Wrecker, or Echo or whoever went missing like he had. The kid deserved a comfy place to rest, her life with them already being chaotic enough.

“I can sleep with you, I don’t mind. I can stay at the end of the bed if you’d prefe-”

“It’s fine, Omega.”

He painted a weak, yet gentle smile on his face, hoping for it to convince her. It did, because she nodded and held his arm against her for a few seconds as to hug it. Wrecker – and Echo later that night – offered him to sleep in their bed. “I can sleep with Tech if you want it all for yourself” the 501st vet assured him. But Crosshair declined each time, pretending that he would probably not sleep anyway tonight, just tonight, because he needed to get used to this place again.

In a way, it was true. He needed time to find his footing here, to get back to the way things used to be.

Don’t pretend it will go back to ‘how it used to be’. It could never.

.

 When everyone headed to bed, Hunter returned to the cockpit and found the sniper sitting on his own.

“I’ll take the first round, Crosshair. Go get some sleep.”

“I don’t have a bed,” he barely confessed, his usual sarcastic tone nowhere to be found.

“Take mine for now, I don’t need it before a few hours. Don’t discuss it,” he pursued when Crosshair tried to reply, “I’m not giving you a choice.”

It took him a second to realise how clumsy it sounded, but Crosshair spared him the embarrassment of an apology when he got up and nodded.

“Alright, sorry.”

Hunter grabbed his shoulder, unsure about his next move, but trying anyway.

“It’s…We can’t pretend nothing happened, but we’ll work through this. All of us,” and when he heard Crosshair’s heart pumping harder and his breath getting heavier, he added, “as a family.” Before letting go of him.

Crosshair couldn’t even speak anymore. If he tried, all that would come out would be confused babbling and an awkward throat clearing. He hoped on his brother’s heightened senses to read through him like an open book, throwing back one last look before he got back to the bunk beds. All the Batchers were already sleeping, peacefully wrapped in their blankets or holding their plushie against their chest. He sat on the edge of Hunter’s bed, his blacks still on, eyes locked on the soft lights emanating from his old bed.

.

 Hunter woke up when he felt a soft weight landing on his lap. The smell got him almost immediately, a mixture of gunpowder and iron.

“You should have surrendered.”

His eyes shifted to the slim shadow standing a few steps away, lurking on him with cold determination.

“Crosshair?” He looked down at the soft plush laying on him. Lula. Her head was almost ripped in half by a now barely fuming hole. He couldn’t hide the fear splashing his eyes, neither could he refrain his voice from breaking when he asked “what did you do?”

“I did what had to be done. This is why they put me in charge to track you. I’m efficient.”

Hunter shivered at the sick smile he could hear in Crosshair’s voice. His thoughts ran from the plush to Omega, to the bunk beds at the end of the hallway, to his brothers left unarmed at the mercy of a sniper who had none.

“You should have killed me in that depot.”

“Crossha-”

A quick thud filled the cockpit as a red, bright light stroked Hunter right through the chest. He fell back into his seat, unable to breathe, but way too aware of the burn on his skin, of the nerves flaming up under the chock and the heat, of his heart rapidly pulsing then slowing down in a macabre countdown. He got dizzy, eyes blurring out despite his desperate attempt to get them focused.

He struggled to keep his head up, until a gloved hand grabbed his jaw, forcing him to look up. He could guess the shapes of the helmet, the green and grey shades melting altogether as his eyes barely held open. As he felt his own heart stop, his last breath making him chock, he heard his brother’s voice taunting him, one last time.

“Good soldiers follow orders.”

.

.

  Pitch black. This is all Crosshair could see when he abruptly opened his eyes. The blanket was rolled up at his feet, his blacks soaked in sweat, and his head aching. A sudden terror grasped him as he held his temple, tripping off the bed as he tried to get up, muttering Hunter’s name. He choked up on the syllables when he realised he was sleeping in his brother’s bed, while the tracker was nowhere to be found. He found himself struggling for air, the same way he would if someone stabbed him repeatedly in the chest. He dragged himself to the refresher, locking the door as soon as he got in.

The bright light forced him to close his eyes for a few seconds, but once he got used to it he reached the tap. His hands, usually so precise and steady, where uncontrollably shaking, to the point of him getting cramps.

The cold water did nothing to help; he shivered to the wet contact, lightly gasping when he splashed his face, but did it again, and again, trying to wash off the pain of his body.

Did I killed them? Did I? What if I did, what will I do, what if I killed them, I can’t- I can’t lose them, not again, not this way, I-

His head was buried in his hands, and it demanded all his strength for him to look up in the mirror. He quickly regretted doing so.

He hated those scars. Mostly, what they represented, what they meant.

It means you tried to get them burned alive; you ordered for them to be burned alive by an active propeller. This is what they mean, this is what you did.

He hated his reflection, lurking and haunting him the same way his memory did. A phantom pain none of them could imagine.

You like to pretend they don’t get it, but they do. Their own brother tried to kill them. You did that, Crosshair; don’t put the blame on your victims.

“Kriff,” he bitterly chuckled, tears burning his eyes.

You did this to yourself. Take some responsibilities.

He tried to maintain eye contact with himself, fingers gripped so tight around the edge of the sink he could feel his muscles quiver. He didn’t have a choice, he knew that. The chip forced him, the Empire used him to do these terrible things.

If a gloved hand kills you, will you blame the glove, or the hand?

You’re the hand, Crosshair. Nothing you will ever say or do will change that.

Nothing.

“Shut the kriff up,” he gave up, angrily pushing himself away from the sink, but still catching a glimpse of tears running down his cheeks before he turned his head, defeated. “Keep the snide to yourself.”

He jolted when someone softly knocked on the door. He took a few deep breaths to calm down his pumping heart, wiped away the tears with the back of his hand, and opened the door.

“I didn’t find you in the bed,” Hunter explained while analysing his expression, “I thought you’d be in here.”

“I can take the next round.” Crosshair calmly responded.

“Mine’s not done yet.”

“Hunter, please I- let me take the next round.”

He couldn’t say which of the two, his muffled “please” or his begging eyes, convinced Hunter; but it worked and that was enough for him. He didn’t flinch this time, when his brother gently patted his arm; he even wished for a quick, warm embrace. But he doubted Hunter was ready to get affectionate with him so easily. Truth be told, he didn’t feel that comfortable either. It was a crave he couldn’t fill.

He still cracked a weak smile as Hunter nodded and returned to his bed to get some rest.

Crosshair dragged himself to the cockpit, his stomach twisting at the sight of the empty seat on his right. He fell into his own, a long sigh slipping from his lips.

.

Don’t fall asleep.

#I hope you're sad now #I am #crosshair feels #crosshair #tbb fic #the bad batch writing #the bad batch #tbb #tbb crosshair #angst #Sad Hour for Crosshair #poor lil sniper #mesa writes #sad crosshair #sad batch

[sineala]

Captain America: The Great Gold Steal

I wrote this up last week because I did not have access to my usual comics files but I figured I could review something that was just a book. So here is a review of the 1968 Captain America novel Captain America: The Great Gold Steal by Ted White, with an introduction by Stan Lee. I really liked it, actually! It was surprisingly good!

This novel features: Cover art of Captain America holding his shield in one hand and a very large gun in the other! A scene where the villains dramatically unmask Captain America and have absolutely no idea who he is! Captain America being extremely, extremely depressed about being in the future! Captain America dropping acid!

(I'm not kidding about the last part. In this novel there is a lot of LSD use. By Captain America. Talk about something the Comics Code wouldn't ever let you put in a comic book. Thank you, 1968.)

Faithful readers may remember that some time ago I posted reviews of Marvel prose novels from the 1970s. There was a line of prose novels featuring everyone's favorite Marvel superheroes, published by Pocket Books in the late 70s; I have reviews of the Iron Man, Captain America, and Avengers entries in the series; I liked the Iron Man one best, and I also have a Doctor Strange one I have not yet read. They're all short and action-packed paperback reads, of varying quality; the only one by anyone you might have heard of is the Avengers one, which was written by David Michelinie, who was actually writing the Avengers run at the time. That one was, um. An experience. 

(Yes, it's "prose novel" because otherwise the assumption is "graphic novel.")

Marvel still publishes prose novels now, of course, also of varying quality; some are new plots and some are straight-up novelizations of comics arcs, which I guess is useful if you want to, say, read Civil War and not look at pictures at the same time. I also have a bunch of those that I could probably review if anyone wants. But, anyway, I personally am particularly intrigued by the older Marvel prose novels, both because the stories are all original and not retellings, and also because I often prefer the characterization found in older comics. And the older prose novels of course use the then-current characterization. So reading a Marvel prose novel from 1979 is like getting to read a brand-new comic from 1979, and that's a whole lot of fun for a nerd like me. Also do you know what's not subject to the Comics Code? Prose novels. So things can happen in these that definitely could not happen in comics of the same era.

This brings me to my current prose novel, which is something else entirely. I mean, okay, not really, it's still a Marvel prose novel. But it's not part of the same line. It's actually a lot older.

Bantam Books actually published Marvel prose novels in the late 60s. Yep, a full decade earlier. They published exactly two, so I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that they were probably not bestsellers. The first one, which I do not own and now sort of want to track down, was an Avengers novel in 1967, The Avengers Battle the Earth-Wrecker. And then in 1968 they published the novel I am currently holding in my hands, Captain America: The Great Gold Steal by Ted White.

(I am still not sure why no one involved in titling this book thought of the word "theft.")

Judging by the back copy, it appears to be about Captain America foiling the villains' dastardly plan to steal gold from the Federal Reserve. Oh boy. Fun.

So this book is from 1968. The modern Marvel universe had kicked off just a few short years ago! Captain America was just getting his own solo book after the end of Tales of Suspense! And here's a novel about him, back when certain elements of his characterization were perhaps a little more flexible than they are today, by which I mean that the cover art -- which the internet informs me was painted by Mitchell Hooks -- is a striking full-body portrait of Captain America, head held high, shield in one hand... and a very large gun in the other. Hell, yeah. Not gonna see that in today's Cap comics, are you? It's amazing and I love it.

(Okay, you might see that in Ults. I'm pretty sure I have seen that in Ults, actually. But this is still cool.)

So the cover art is a definite plus, and apparently it's one of the few reasons anyone has ever heard of this novel. The other reason -- and the reason this is more expensive than the later novels, I assume -- is that Stan Lee's name is slapped on the cover, because he wrote an introduction. (I think I paid about $30 for this. The others were definitely under $20.)

All right. Here we go.

The first page is actually a brief summary of Steve's origin story, but not a version I was familiar with. Steve was born July 9, 1917 (yes, I was surprised too), was orphaned at a young age, and was a student at Columbia University (!) before Rebirth, which in this version is a gradual process that is also extremely body-horror. Steel tubing was inserted into the marrows of his bones. He was fed "high-protein compounds." Then they gave him a chemical that "gave him complete control over every nerve, muscle, and cell in his now-magnificent body." Sweet. Where can I get some of that?

The blurb also confirms his control over his own metabolism as well as his healing factor ("wounds would heal in half the normal time"), which is nice, because sometimes I wonder if canon even remembers the healing factor.

(I don't know why Marvel has this kink for filling people's bones with metal, though. It's not actually empty in there, guys! You need your bone marrow! How else do you want people to make new blood cells?)

The book is dedicated to "Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, without whom there would be no Captain America." Hey, Marvel, Joe Simon would like a word with you. I'm just saying.

The Stan Lee introduction is three paragraphs written in Stan Lee's, um, inimitable, distinctive and extremely florid narrative style -- if you've read any of his work, you know what I mean -- and making the point that Captain America is incredible and you will like him. If you are just discovering him for the first time, you will definitely like him. Okay. Thanks. I guess.

Oddly, the writing style here is substantially different than any of the other Marvel prose novels I've read; it doesn't immediately front-load you with exposition and a cast of colorful superheroes. It opens with a sort of James Bond spy-novel feel, running through a series of unnamed villains and bystanders, and a man who wants nothing more than to talk to Captain America but is killed before he can. Steve comes in halfway through the chapter, and he seems to be written for a reader who doesn't necessarily know who he is, and he isn't introduced as Captain America with his shield flying ahead of him to smite evildoers, or anything like that. He's just a tall, handsome blond guy who is reading a bunch of novels and is unsatisfied by all of them because all he can think of is the past. It's definitely an attitude I would expect from Steve in this era -- he is very much a Man Out Of Time here -- but it's also not how I expected the book to introduce him. You wouldn't even know he was Captain America by the end of the opening chapter, which then ends with a digression about the history of NYC subway tunnels. It's like it wants to appeal to someone who has watched a bunch of Man from UNCLE and just wants to read a cool thriller. Which is not at all what I was expecting.

By the beginning of the second chapter, of course, we discover that Steve is Captain America, as he changes into his uniform. The narration refers to him as Rogers when it's in his POV, if anyone is curious. He apparently keeps the cowl off in the mansion, because the cowl annoys him.

It was not so much that he needed to conceal his identity these days, because for all intents and purposes he had no other identity. Steve Rogers was officially dead, and had been for almost twenty years. Captain America *was* his identity. It was only when he donned the tight-fitting blue uniform with its shield chest-emblem, the red snug-fitting leather boots, and the heavy, yet pressure-sensitive red-leather gauntlets, that he began to feel real -- a complete human being.

Steve? Buddy, are you okay there? You're really not okay, are you, huh?

You see what I mean? They're really hitting the early-canon angst. Hard.

(Also it sounds like his uniform is a few sizes too small.)

We then get an expanded version of the backstory from the beginning excerpt. In this version of canon, Steve actually has an older brother, Alan, who is handsome and athletic and basically amazing, and when they are orphaned they are raised by their aunt and uncle. Steve gets TB twice as a kid, nearly dies from it, and when the stock market crashes, ends up separated from his brother and in an orphanage after his uncle loses everything.

(Honestly if I were writing this book, his brother would be the secret villain. Chekhov's Gun!)

Steve has glasses, gets bullied, is a nerd and an honor student, and studies law at Columbia because he wants to help stop fraudulent business practices and also fight organized crime. Legally, I mean. In a manner relating to law. I guess he's sort of like Daredevil. The lawyer part of Daredevil.

And then he joins Rebirth, and this is the part where I had to put the book down for several minutes, because Erskine's secret chemical, the key to making super-soldiers... is LSD.

Oh my God. You should see my face right now. My expression is, I am sure, indescribable. I'm trying not to wake the dog up laughing.

I just. Holy shit. This book is from 1968 in a way I definitely was not expecting. What the fuck, Marvel?

This project was headed by the brilliant biochemist, Dr. Erskine. His work with the endocrine system, and chemical body control, was well beyond that of his contemporaries. Only he, of all his colleagues, had fathomed the secrets of the Swiss Dr. Hoffman's 1938 discovery -- the mind-controlling LSD-25.

Let's just pause here for a few minutes and contemplate this.

I will point out that Albert Hofmann (yes, the book spelled his name wrong) didn't actually discover that LSD was a hallucinogen until 1943 when he accidentally tried it, but I am positive that 1968 here was a time when Some People were convinced LSD was a wonder drug. I'm still laughing. As far as I can tell, legal manufacturing of it stopped in 1965 so I am pretty sure that the author did not just decide to name a drug that had an ostensible legal therapeutic use, because it wouldn't have still had one by '68.

Anyway, in this version of events, Rebirth is a month-long process that involves a lot of vitamins, physical conditioning and training, and, yes, putting metal in his bones like he's the next Wolverine. They're filling his bones with stainless steel rods to make him stronger. That doesn't seem like a great idea to me, but I am also not sure about dropping acid to gain superpowers. Clearly I am not a genius scientist. Also Erskine knows what DNA is, apparently, because he's just that great. Anyway. Other than the metal, those all seem like relatively normal interventions. So far.

Now Steve has become fairly big and strong (and I guess he still has metal in his bones? this concerns me!) but they need to make him superhuman, so, yes, really, it's time to drop acid. Several pages of this book are devoted to describing Steve's acid trip. His acid trip is amazing and he discovers that he has conscious control of his entire body down to the cellular level. He can control the adrenaline in his bloodstream! He can tighten his muscle fibers! And when he's done tripping he still remembers how to do this, if not exactly on a conscious level, but he can still access the abilities. And that is how you make a super-soldier. It's LSD. Remember, kids, drugs are awesome! Do drugs!

Let's maybe take a few more minutes to think about this.

I just. I have no words. How did anyone at Marvel agree to print this?

I think for the most part superhero origin stories tend not to involve real drugs because people are generally aware that drugs they've heard of won't make you into a superhero. I guess this is what it looks like when you invoke the names of real drugs. They probably wanted something that sounded more realistic but somehow I don't think this was the best way to go. (Radiation, of course, will definitely make you into a superhero but I feel like most people have accepted that as one of the conventions of the genre.)

Anyway, after that Erskine gets killed by Nazis, of course, and Steve goes to war, and for some reason this book contains footnotes by Stan Lee himself listing the comics you can read all of this in. Just like the actual comics do!

We are introduced to Bucky, who for some reason is also from the LES in this version, although not anyone Steve knew before the war, and there is of course a description of Bucky's tragic death and Steve's subsequent icing.

They are really, really stressing the Man Out Of Time thing here:

No other man could have survived so fantastic a voyage through time. And no other man could feel so displaced by time.

He was a man twenty years in his own future. By rights, he should be nearly fifty years old -- nearly twice the age of his fellow Avengers. Yet his mind and his body were not yet thirty.

When the Avengers had brought him back to New York with them and insisted that, as an honored hero of the past, he join them, he felt a sort of melancholy homesickness for his own time and world.

We then get a few paragraphs with the usual being sad that he let Bucky down and got him killed, and also that he misses his family, and that Steve Rogers doesn't exist anymore, and that nobody is alive who remembers him, and that war is hell.

Hey, Steve, maybe the drugs you should do are antidepressants. Just a thought.

Also, this book is 118 pages and we're not out of the origin story flashback until page 34. I think there are some pacing issues here.

Actually, I lied, the flashback keeps going, but now we're up to the Avengers finding him, and I have to say that the list of things Steve finds strange about the future is kind of charming when the future is 1968. Men have long hair! Women have shorter skirts! Everyone is kind of blasé about rocket launches because there have been so many space missions now. (Oh, come on, you haven't even landed on the moon yet, 1968! You're not that blasé.) Color TV! And, excitingly, LPs! You can now listen to 36 minutes of consecutive music. (I actually don't know what previous standard he's describing that is a ten-inch record that holds six minutes a side because I don't think 45s are that big. Yeah, no, I just checked and 45s are seven inches in diameter. Hmm. Oh, never mind. He means 78 rpm, doesn't he? In my defense, the record player my family had when I was a kid didn't play those.)

The description of Steve coming into New York for the first time is definitely written by someone who knows New York, which is fun. There is generally a lot of local flavor to the setting of this book. That’s one of the best parts.

There is a brief summary of Steve's feelings about all the Avengers -- he is most impressed by Thor, which, I mean, fair, he's an actual god -- and Hank telling him all about how he can live in Tony's mansion. With Jarvis. Who Hank says is actually from Flatbush. Apparently Steve spent a lot of time at the NYPL branch at 5th and 42nd trying to catch up on history. And then of course the Avengers ditched him and gave him the Kooky Quartet, and for some reason they're not here right now either so it's just Steve being sad and alone and dealing with this mysterious dead guy. I think probably the book is also done explaining fiat currency now. This is definitely the weirdest Marvel novel I've read.

Anyway, we have now returned to what is ostensibly the actual plot. Steve shows up at the New York Federal Reserve Bank (I guess the theft is happening here and not, like, at Fort Knox) with the gold bullion that the dead guy from the beginning of the book had on him -- I think I got distracted by the LSD bit and forgot to mention that part, but the dead guy was carrying some US government gold -- because the actual plot is that villains are trying to tunnel into the bank vault and steal gold. Steve discovers this after he gets the bank manager to give him a tour. The bank manager tries to refuse, citing security concerns -- Captain America could be anyone under that mask, after all! Steve just smiles and says, "If I removed my mask, would you have any better idea of who I am?" and I guess that's a flawless argument because he gets his tour.

(I'm sorry, all I can think of is that one gif from the JLA cartoon where Lex Luthor bodyswaps with the Flash, announces that now that he's in the Flash's body he's going to discover the Flash's secret identity, then pulls off his own mask, stares at himself in the mirror, and says, "I have no idea who this is.")

Given that the theme of Steve's interior life in this novel is "Steve Rogers died twenty years ago" it seems even more sad that Steve is just walking around basically saying, yeah, well, I'm nobody. And apparently that is being reaffirmed for him by the narrative.

So Steve goes down the tunnels, takes out some of the bad guys, and gets himself knocked out and buried in a collapsing tunnel. Don't worry, he's gonna be fine.

A lot of this book, by the way, is from the POV of random people, like this bank guard who went with Steve into the tunnels:

He had wondered, briefly, if a man like Captain America ever knew the pinch of too many bills, had ever felt desperate over the arrival of yet another mouth to feed. But, of course, Captain America had no family, and would hardly concern himself with such matters. It didn't occur to Thompson to wonder if this in itself might not be something for which to pity Captain America.

Rude. I mean, come on, do we really need random characters telling us Steve is a sad sack whom nobody loves? Steve's already got that covered!  (Also, how does this guy know Captain America has no family?)

Anyway, thanks to the power of LSD, Steve is going into a trance, amping up his metabolism (he loses "several pounds" in a few minutes), and making himself super-strong so he can dig himself out. Hooray. This is definitely how human bodies work. Also LSD. This is definitely how LSD works. Yes.

Steve then finds out that a couple of the guards who were with him in the tunnels died down there and he goes home and eats dinner while stewing in miserable guilt because he was responsible for their deaths. He's really not okay. I'm not sure the book actually understands how not okay they have made him. Then someone from SHIELD is on the phone for him and he is briefly cheered up by the thought that it might be Sharon although I think we should also note that the narrative makes it clear that at this point in canon Steve still doesn't know her name. Remember when that was a thing?

Alas, it is not Sharon; it's just a random SHIELD agent who happens to have information about the plot and asks to meet. Then, as Steve leaves to go to the meeting, we get two pages of exhaustive description about the mansion layout and how it's built relative to the surrounding buildings. It feels like this book was written by a frustrated city planner. But anyway, the meeting is a setup and the villains capture Steve.

They knock Steve out, drug him, take him to their hideout, and tie him to a chair. Except, once again thanks to the power of LSD, the tranquilizer they're using wears off way sooner than they expected and so Steve feigns unconsciousness and listens to them discuss their evil plans.

And then the villains unmask him and I swear it's exactly like that JLA gif:

Rogers heard footsteps scuffing across a thick carpet, and then Sparrow's voice again, almost directly over him. His ears still buzzed, but he fought to catch the elusive familiarity of the man's tone. He wished he dared open his eyes.

"This is a moment which I, personally, have long awaited," Sparrow said, his voice rising in triumph. "*The unmasking of Captain America!*"

Then, his nails scraping along Rogers' face, Sparrow dug his fingers under his cowl, and ripped it back. Rogers felt air strike his exposed cheeks and forehead. Then fingers clutched his blond hair and pulled his head back. "Behold!" Sparrow said.

Raven was first to speak. "Well, I dunno about you, Sparrow, but it rings no bells with me. I never seen him before."

Starling agreed. "His face means nothing to me."

"He could be anybody," said Robin. "What good does this do?"

Sparrow let Rogers' head fall back to his chest, and his voice when he spoke was defeated. "I don't know. Nothing, I guess. I always wondered. I felt, if these guys -- these costumed heroes -- wore masks, it must mean something."

"Captain America was missing for twenty years," Starling said. "That could mean the first one died, and this one took his place. He looks awfully young."

"Perhaps. It doesn't really matter. Let's get going."

(Yes, the villains all have bird-themed codenames. I have no idea why.)

This scene just makes my day. I love dramatic unmaskings. I bet they'd have been a lot happier unmasking Iron Man.

The villains then leave Steve and go to a power plant, where we switch POVs to one of the plant employees and get two entirely unnecessary paragraphs about his racist and anti-Semitic thoughts about his coworkers before the villains murder him. Great. Thanks.

Anyway, the villains cause a blackout, while meanwhile they've left Steve alone with the girl villain, and Steve is busy trying to persuade her that crime doesn't pay. He's moved from the "do you know what they'll do to you in prison?" theme onto "how exactly are you going to spend a billion dollars in gold bullion when it's illegal for civilians to possess? who are you going to do business with?" and then points out that gold is heavy and hard to transport, which is when she gets out a a knife.

The bad guys are off to steal the gold, and Steve has now successfully turned the girl they left him with, because she frees him. Of course, the first thing he does is put the cowl back on.

"Why do you wear that?" she asked.

"The mask?" He smiled. "It gives people something external to concentrate upon."

"But..."

"Without it, I'm just another ordinary-looking man. With it, I become a symbol. For some people it creates awe; for others, fear. Look at me. I'm different now, aren't I? With the mask on."

"Yes," she nodded. "You look -- bigger, somehow. Stronger. Fierce, implacable. You look a little scary."

"Exactly. You no longer see me as a person, but as a thing -- an Avenger. It can be a potent psychological weapon."

"They were so disappointed, when they took your mask off. As though underneath they'd find a famous person."

"Maybe that goes on TV -- handsome playboys, and all that. But I've been anonymous all my life. Even my real name would be meaningless to you, to them. No, the mask is part of the uniform, a psychological device. That's the whole story.

Now: let's get out of here. You have a good deal more to tell me yet, and we can't waste more time."

Bwahaha. In a few years, Steve's going to be pretty surprised about who superheroes are, I think.

STEVE, now: Superheroes definitely aren't secretly handsome playboys! That would be silly! STEVE, after Molecule Man: fuck fuck fuck FUCK FUCK I'm such an idiot

I'm definitely looking forward to that.

Also, not that the issue of Steve's psyche actually recurs after this, but he's once again having the narrative vindicate his belief that Steve Rogers is dead and whoever he is under the cowl doesn't matter. Steve, I don't think this is very healthy.

Steve then tracks down the villains stealing the gold, has some geopolitical thoughts about where the gold could be going (he thinks either South Africa or Russia for the best laundering potential) and then hides himself in the villains' trunk while they drive to Staten Island, which is where they're taking the gold out of the country from.

During the final confrontation, Steve finally gets to see the villains, and he discovers that the one in charge is in fact the director of the Federal Reserve Bank who Steve met at the beginning of this book. Gasp. But that's not all! He's also... the Red Skull!

Honestly, I was kind of surprised; I didn't think this was the kind of book where we'd get any known comic villains, but I guess it's always gotta be the Red Skull. I think he's the only one of Steve's big villains who likes to disguise himself; Zemo has obvious disguise issues and I imagine it's also hard to cover up Zola's Teletubby-esque television body.

Steve shoots one of the villains, because I guess that's what he does in this era of canon.

So the plot wraps up in, like, two pages, because for some reason all these early Marvel novels wrap up very fast. Red Skull, of course, attempts to escape and then disappears and his body is never found. The end.

Well.

That was definitely a book. That I read. Believe it or not, I actually think it was the best of these early Marvel prose novels that I've read so far, even if it was also the absolute weirdest; I thought the thriller-style plot was entertaining, I liked Steve and his Extremely Sad characterization, I obviously enjoy all the identity themes, I liked how very detailed the New York setting was, and I do like how they tried to treat it all seriously. I mean, sure, this did lead to LSD in the super-soldier serum in presumably the name of realism, but I felt like the book was trying to present superheroes in a way that didn't feel silly and also didn't really take for granted that the reader would automatically accept superheroes.

It felt like a book that was written hoping that people who weren't superhero fans would read it, if that makes any sense. And I thought that was interesting, because most modern superhero work that I can think of assumes they've got complete audience buy-in and everyone is willing to suspend their disbelief and we all know the genre conventions and are expecting people running around in brightly-colored spandex. Whereas this is more like a James Bond novel if for some reason James Bond were called upon to defend his decision to wear brightly-colored spandex instead of bespoke suits. But I assume no one read it, because Bantam never published a Marvel book after this one.

If you can actually find a copy of this one for a price you're willing to pay. I recommend it. It was delightful and way more solid than I thought it was going to be.

Also, come on, you know you want to read about Captain America's acid trip.

#posts i actually wrote

[seokmingiggles]

transmarinus.

(from beyond the sea)

Prompt: "I like the way your hand fits in mine."

Pairing: Lee Seokmin x female reader

Genre: fluff, slight angst, slow burn, mermaid!au, kinda magical overall(?), probably set in the same universe as Ponyo.

6.03k words

Warnings: some alcohol consumption (everyone is of legal age), swearing, the reader has a phobia of the ocean, allusions to drowning (nothing explicitly mentioned).

Beyond the sea, within the sea—both are places you have no desire to explore. You have lived nearly your whole life with an intense fear of the ocean, yet something about it keeps haunting you.

Alternatively, in which you are afraid of the ocean, yet Seokmin shows you that you no longer have to live in fear.

A/N: I don't have much to say about this little passion project; perhaps that Seokmin is one of my main bias wreckers in Seventeen. In my notes prior to determining a pairing for this fic, I had written: "All three have this kind of magical wonder to them that I want to capture," about my possible choices of a protagonist (you’ll find out the other two contenders later on). I hope I have captured this feeling. Furthermore, there are some loose ends for a possible part two if I feel the desire to continue this au. Enjoy!

The lyrics (bolded) are from Somewhere Beyond the Sea by Bobby Darin.

•• Somewhere beyond the sea,

You've never liked the ocean: the seemingly endless dark depths and rushing currents that could pull you below. No, rephrasing your thoughts—you are afraid of the ocean. Sure, it can be pretty to look at on a calm and sunny summer day, and sure, the sea breeze admittedly feels pleasant brushing through your hair and clothes on occasion, but you refuse to give in to its temptation, to even go near it if you can help it.

Somewhere waiting for me,

It can be lonely sometimes, being the only one of your classmates growing up who refused to go swimming on field trips to the beach nearing the end of the semester. You often found yourself alone and listening to the fun they would be having in the shallow tides: a shimmering, azure blue. You learned to bring things to accompany you when your friends would prefer to enjoy their time swimming. A book and a beach towel resting on the silky sands was often your set-up. Not much has changed since then.

My lover stands on golden sands,

You've become better over the years at handling your fear. When before, you used to hesitate to even step foot onto the sand, now you have become comfortable with the squishing feeling between your toes. However, boats are another story. Your mom once took you on a cruise when you were a child, and honestly, you enjoyed it. Well, for the most part, only until the last night of the tour. Frankly, that's the trip that made you develop your fear of the ocean in the first place. Since then, you've refused to step foot on any watercraft. It's a bit ironic, really. You've grown up on a decently-sized island apart from the mainland—the only way to get across is by a ferry. You're not sure if you'll ever be able to regain your trust with the water.

And watches the ships that go sailin'.

•

"I dare you to go skinny-dipping."

"Oh, hell no. That's a hard pass."

"Really, Gyu? You think she'd do that?"

"You're gross, dude."

"What? Do you want me to go instead?"

"Not really. None of us need to see that."

Being friends with Mingyu, Jungkook, and Hansol—your best friend—is a recipe for no dull moments. You four have a tradition; you'd all take a trip to the Jeon family cabin near the island's peninsula as a way to start your summers. You've all been going for the past few years since your final year of high school, continuing the tradition into your college years.

It's where you find yourselves now, splayed out in drunken messes (some more than others) on the semi-private beach. To your right, there's a small fire pit in the center of your beach chairs. A cold drink is in your left hand to counter the heat in your cheeks from the flames.

"Sorry, (Y/N), I'm an idiot," Mingyu admits after finally realizing what he'd dared you to do. "You don't have to go into the water."

"I wasn't planning on it, but thanks," you reply and take a sip of your drink.

The four of you stare at the fire beginning to diminish. Orange embers glow in the ashes.

Hansol swirls the remains of his beer bottle around. "Why do I suddenly want to go swimming now?"

"Dude, no. It's nearly midnight, and you're drunk," Mingyu retorts, "None of that is a good combination."

The younger boy is about to quip back, but suddenly, a loud splash interrupts his thoughts, heard near the row of rocks separating this property from the next.

The tallest boy stands to try to see the source of the noise, but it's much too dark. "Okay, you're definitely not going swimming now. I don't want to be responsible for your death."

The splashing continues. It isn't as loud as the first time, but it's more constant as if something is struggling by the rocks.

"I'll go check it out," Jungkook puts his bottle down and slips on his sandals, already heading closer to the water.

"Not by yourself, you're not," Hansol is quick to jump to his feet and follow the elder.

You remain seated, and luckily, Mingyu remains at your side too.

•

Somewhere beyond the sea,

Seokmin adores the ocean. Well, he sort of has to since it's been his home for nearly nine decades. He loved playing in the currents with his brothers when he was younger—and now—appreciating how the colour of the water changes the closer he gets to the surface. The ocean makes him feel free. It's like he can go anywhere or see anything. Seokmin can't say he's ever felt love before first-handed, it's not a feeling he can define, but he considers the ocean to be the closest thing that he loves.

She's there watching for me,

He has breached the surface before. It isn't a forbidden action to his people, but it is to be taken carefully; however, there are different rules when you're one of the sons of the merking. There are countless cautionary tales of merfolk who have been spotted by sailors, more on what happens when they get too close to shore. Merpeople are supposed to live for centuries as they slowly age, but most of those tales abruptly cut their lives short. Seokmin feels like the only one who isn't afraid of those stories and wants to see for himself what would happen if he met a land-dweller. He's optimistic that they're not as cruel as the fables portray them to be.

If I could fly like birds on high,

Seokmin is a graceful swimmer. With decades of practice, it's a given talent. He used to struggle when maneuvering through the waves, especially when compared to his two brothers. Yet, with great perseverance and will, Seokmin trained himself to become better. Much stronger and significantly more elegant—he can now soar with ease through the water, quite speedily, too. In his younger days—what would be equivalent to teenagehood in humans—Seokmin would travel for days across the wide ocean, simply feeding his desire to explore.

Then straight to her arms—

Being a part of the royal family means Seokmin is eligible for arranged marriages. Soonyoung, his elder brother coming up on a century old, is already engaged to a beautiful mermaid, Tzuyu; the boy suspects he's next as the second-eldest in their family. Seokmin knows it's to benefit his kingdom, but he also knows that the chance of being in line for the throne is incredibly slim as the second brother. All he wants is to find someone he loves as much as he loves the ocean.

I'd go sailing.

•

"No way," Hansol whispers, breaking the silence between him and Jungkook as they've reached the rocky barrier.

Sure enough, the splashing sound is caused by distress. A boy, looking to be around Hansol's age, is stuck between a few large rocks that have fallen from the wall. It's shallow enough that his torso remains above the surface, but the position looks painful, nonetheless, with one of his arms twisted beneath the collapsed rocks.

"Here," Hansol approaches the stranger slowly, "we can help you."

The boy has a fearful look in his eyes as the human approaches. It's only when Hansol has rolled the legs of his joggers up and is wading into the shallows that he notices the lack of legs the panicking boy has, or rather, the glimmering tail he has instead.

He shrugs off the unusual sight and tries to move the rock, but it's much too large for Hansol to budge by himself, staggering slightly on the uneven ground. He calls Jungkook over to aid him, and the two of them together are able to lift the stone out of the way, freeing the trapped boy.

The stranger slips away and back into the depths before anyone could say anything.

"You saw him too, right?" Hansol asks his friend, pointing out to the vast sea and trying to find some evidence of what was next to him moments ago.

"Yeah," Jungkook is nearly speechless, drying his hands on his shirt.

"He didn't even say thank you."

•

"I fucked up. I fucked up big time!" The youngest brother rants to his siblings upon arriving back to his home safely.

"Alright, Chan, it's time to calm down now-"

"No, Soon, you don't understand! This time was different." Chan continues to ramble, "I would have really been in danger if I was stuck there until morning. The rising sun would suffocate me, no doubt. My precious sixty-one years would be down the drain in an instant!"

“So dramatic,” the eldest chirps. "It's a good thing that those humans found you when they did."

Soonyoung has heard enough of Chan's stories about always venturing off to the shore. He's somewhat jealous. Lately, the eldest has had to spend more time planning for his wedding and preparing to become the next-in-line for the throne. He wishes he could join his brother on an adventure like they used to a couple of decades back.

"Please, Seok, you'll listen to me then, won't you? You're a hopeless romantic."

Seokmin isn't sure if he should be offended by his brother's comment.

"And what if I am?" he asks with his hands fidgeting in his lap. "What does that have to do with this?"

"You're the one who enjoyed exploring the most years ago. I know you've done your share of people-watching before." Chan ponders, then adds more quietly, "Well, and also, the boy who first approached me was kind of cute."

"Oho, does our Channie have a little crush on a human?"

"Great, now you're listening, hyung."

Seokmin sits back and listens to his brothers playfully bantering. He admires them both fondly, sometimes wishing he could be as responsible as Soonyoung, or as free-spirited as Chan. Instead, Seokmin becomes more reserved around his siblings, despite not considering himself to be shy. But the three are well-balanced when they're together.

Noisy, but well-balanced.

"Why do I feel like I need to see him again?" Chan asks Seokmin as they're lying in their shared bedroom. Their older brother has a room to himself, being the next-in-line.

"Maybe you really do like him," Seokmin suggests, not quite knowing what to say. He's never before been enamoured by a particular human, nor any merfolk for that matter. "You're making me curious now. It's been a while since I've seen the surface," he sighs, struggling to remember what dry sand looks like.

"Then you should come with me!" Chan doesn't hesitate to suggest, "I can't guarantee he'll still be there, but it's worth a shot. Right?"

Seokmin hums in thought. As much as he would like to comply with his brother's request, part of him knows how they're not supposed to venture to the surface so freely. Especially with it being so close to Soonyoung's wedding, nothing detrimental should happen to them before the upcoming celebration.

"Besides, I should probably return... this... whatever this is."

Seokmin eyes the strange-looking object with a puzzled expression.

"You know, Chan, it's not very nice to steal things that aren't yours."

•

"Are you sure you checked your suitcase?" you ponder, trying to rack your brain of other locations the missing sandal could have gone. "What about by the hose in the back? Maybe you left it there after rinsing the sand off them."

"No, I've gone through my bags twice already, and I don't think I bothered with the hose last night," Hansol replies. "I have a feeling they're on the beach somewhere. Although, I can't remember if I walked up the path in bare feet or not."

"You were quite drunk, Han."

"Oh, hush. We're on vacation, aren't we?" the boy lifted his eyebrows at the question. "I'm allowed to get drunk. Anyways, will you come with me down to the beach? It's not like my shoe could have walked away on its own," he snickers at his joke, "it's bound to show up somewhere."

You try to ignore the rising uneasiness in your chest. "Do you really need me to go with you?"

"Two sets of eyes are better than one, (Y/N). And I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you. You don't even have to step foot into the water or even go close to it, for that matter."

You sigh and reluctantly agree, slipping on your own pair of sandals for the short walk down to the beach. You know Hansol would have asked one of the other boys to venture with him near the water, but Jungkook and Mingyu had left to get more groceries (and drinks) for tonight, so you were the only option.

"Where did you find the other shoe?" you ask as you scan the area around the fire pit. "Isn't it strange that you only lost one?"

"It was outside the front door. But as you said, (Y/N), I was quite drunk last night."

You giggle at your friend's comment, adding, "Maybe a bird flew off with it this morning," and continue to scan the sand.

"Wait, now that I think of it, I don't think I had that other shoe after we went to the rocks," Hansol considers and begins to walk to the familiar barrier.

The short wall looks smaller in the daylight, but you know the rocks are unstable despite their compact appearance.

You cautiously follow the boy as he ventures closer to the tide.

"You and Kook never did mention what you saw last night over here," you state, trying to create conversation to distract you from being so close to the water.

"Didn't we?" Hansol tries to recall, "I guess we didn't. Maybe because we knew that you and Gyu wouldn't believe us."

"Believe what?"

"Believe-"

You and Hansol turn the corner at the first large rock.

"-that."

Your stomach drops at the sight. There are two boys in the shallows; one is casually sitting and looking around, while the other is floating on the surface.

His rosy, fish-like tail is hard to miss.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Chan exclaims upon seeing the familiar figure, now sitting upright like his brother. "I believe this is yours."

The mermaid holds up Hansol's lost slipper while sporting a beaming smile on his face.

You're in shock. You've read about mythical creatures when you were a child, as most kids do at that age, but never have you thought that their existence is real. Let alone that you would ever come face-to-face with one.

"Thank you," Hansol mutters and carefully approaches the younger male.

Chan introduces himself along with his brother, and Hansol does the same with himself and you.

But you're beginning to panic. The feeling is bubbling up in your throat, and you don't want to break down. So instead, you excuse yourself and run back up the pathway to the cabin.

You miss the way the older merman's eyes remain on your figure as you retreat away.

•

It's far beyond a star,

Seokmin feels strange. It's not the first time he's seen a human-being that close, let alone speak with one, but there was something odd about your behaviour; the unusual feeling seems to stem from seeing you.

"Did you see the way she looked at us?" the second-eldest speaks, recalling your tense expression.

It's near beyond the moon,

"Why? Do you think she's pretty? That would be convenient because I still think Hansol is pretty. I thought he was charming in the moonlight, but now, I can say he's even prettier in the sunshine," Chan hums, repeating the boy's name for the nth time upon their return home. "I never knew humans could be so lovely."

I know beyond a doubt,

"No," Seokmin begins, "I mean, yes, she was pretty too, but she looked afraid of us. Of... me. Didn't she?" He pauses. "I've never had someone be afraid of me before."

Chan glances at his brother's concerned expression. "She was probably just surprised, Seok. Maybe she hasn't seen a merperson in-person before."

"Maybe," Seokmin mumbles, not entirely convinced.

The merman's peculiar feelings about you only fester as the days pass by. When Chan would return to that same beach almost daily in the hopes of seeing Hansol again, Seokmin would remain at his home.

He is strangely impacted by you. Not that you even said a word to Seokmin that day, but the way you reacted threw him off.

He longs to know why you ran away.

My heart will lead me there soon.

•

Not that you needed it, but you now have yet another reason to avoid the ocean.

Hansol ends up journeying down to the beach every time he sees the familiar crimson tail splashing in the shallows from the large cabin window facing the ocean. The other two boys have begun teasing their younger friend about his new fishy pal.

You have tried to express your concern about Chan to Hansol, explaining that he may be dangerous, but your friend has only dismissed your worries and encouraged you that Chan isn't a threat.

"He's a fun guy to talk to. You're welcome to join me down on the beach sometime, (Y/N)," Hansol says as he slips his notorious pair of sandals on. "Actually, Chan has been asking about you lately. If you're doing alright."

You look up from your bowl of cereal with a confused expression. "I don't think I even spoke a word to Chan. Why would he be asking about me?"

Hansol shrugs. "Apparently, one of his brothers has been worried about you. I'm assuming that's why he keeps asking, but that's all I know."

You remain puzzled in your seat at the kitchen table as Hansol closes the front door behind him, wandering down the familiar rocky path towards the water.

"Is (Y/N) coming?" Chan's posture perks up at the sight of the boy approaching.

He shrugs his head, "I don't think so. I'm sure you know by now how apprehensive she can be. Stubborn, too." Hansol takes a seat in the sand. His shoes are off quickly once again as he dips his legs into the water, the gentle waves lapping up to his knees.

Seokmin frowns. He's been accompanying Chan on his near-daily visits in the hopes of seeing you again. With all of the stories Hansol has been telling about the human world and his friends, Seokmin has convinced himself that he wants to properly meet you.

Just to make sure she's doing alright, he tells himself. There's no other reason.

Seokmin takes pride in helping people. As the middle child, he'd often take it upon himself to sort out his brothers' issues, especially on the rare occasion he found them arguing. A mood maker, his mother told him in his youth when she'd noticed the way he always seemed to strive to help others feel better. So when Hansol briefly mentioned your fear of the sea, there's nothing that the boy decides he wants more than to help you see that the ocean isn't something to fear.

However, it is a difficult task to accomplish when you wouldn't even venture down to the beach anymore.

There's part of Seokmin that feels guilty about your recent reluctance. From what Hansol has said, it seems like you were making gradual progress in becoming comfortable near the water. In fact, you hadn't always been afraid of the ocean. Yet, it all seemed to backfire the moment your eyes landed on him and Chan.

It makes Seokmin feel even more responsible for your fear.

•

It's raining today, a stark contrast to the previous perfect blue-sky, sunny weather that you've all been experiencing for the past week on your vacation.

You're the first one up this morning, making your way quietly down the stairs and into the kitchen to make some coffee.

You examine the horizon as the aromatic drink brews. The rain is only spitting down now, but you have a feeling it will pick up later with larger clouds slowly rolling in. It looks like the sun is trying to peek out from behind, although unsuccessful in its attempt.

You pour yourself a cup of coffee when enough fills the pot, hearing the sizzle onto the element when you impatiently remove the container as it continues to drip.

Making your way to the dining table nearby, you take a seat in front of the large window, holding your mug between your hands.

The coffee is too hot to drink right now.

Your mind begins to wander as you wait.

•

(Y/N), age seven.

You wake to a faint ringing sound.

"Mom?"

No response.

You shuffle to the edge of the bed to turn on the lamp. As your eyes adjust to the sudden brightness, you're met only with an empty room.

"Mom?" you say louder, just to once again, unsurprisingly, be met with nothing.

Maybe she's still at the party on the deck, you think to yourself. That would explain the sound. Maybe it's from the music.

You slip out from beneath the duvet and make your way to the cabin door.

You take a deep breath, not knowing why you're so nervous, and open the door.

There's no music. It's an alarm.

You suddenly feel the ship lurch to the side, throwing you off balance and into the side of the doorway.

"Mom!" you cry out, for someone, anyone.

You don't want to be alone.

Tears are prickling beneath your eyes, and immediately, panic rises to your throat.

"Are you (Y/N)?"

A young male rushes down the hallway in your direction.

You nod your head in response, not finding your words.

"Your mom said you'd be down here, come on. She's already up in the rendezvous spot." His nametag says Seungcheol.

You accept his outstretched hand and follow him as he hurries down the corridor back the way he came.

The boat sways again, but Seungcheol stands his ground, keeping you steady on your feet too.

"What's happening?" your voice crackles.

Seungcheol continues to guide you through the interior of the ship. "There was an unexpected storm suddenly. Captain didn't even see it on our radars, it came out of nowhere. We're taking precautions and gathering everyone in the lounge while he works on getting us to shore."

The two of you make it above the cabins where the wind and rain are pelting down stronger than you've ever seen before. You're having a hard time keeping your balance on the rocking boat, your hand slowly slipping out of Seungcheol's grasp.

A giant wave hits the side of the ship, effectively removing your small hand from Seuncheol's as you're thrown to the side.

You scream as the wave seems to drag you away and pulls you off the edge of the ship.

You hear someone else yell; maybe it's your mother, maybe it's Seungcheol, but before you know it, you are doused in the cold ocean.

The instant your body falls into the depths, you're frozen, petrified, unable to move. You try to struggle your way to the surface, but your clothes weigh you down, only making you sink further below.

Your lungs burn. Trapped in the darkness, you can barely see the moonlight above anymore.

You succumb to your watery grave, eyes closed and arms wrapped around your small figure in a final effort to gain warmth.

Suddenly, you are hit by a feeling of serenity like your mother is cradling you once again. You lean into the tender touch and begin to drift away into unconsciousness.

She belongs to the sea.

You seem to hallucinate a raspy voice hiss out the strange remark.

And then you're gone.

•

Each time you see the familiar grey, gloomy clouds in the atmosphere brings you back to that one fateful day from your childhood.

You know something else happened to you after you fell into the water, but you can't for the life of you recall what.

You know you somehow made it back to the shore safely in one piece. Could it have been that kind staff member who collected you from your room? Or perhaps your mother who dove in after seeing you fall overboard?

You've kept that day to yourself; the only one who knows the full story is Hansol. Not even Jungkook nor Mingyu are aware of all the details; they only know the gist of the origins of your fear of the ocean.

"Whatcha thinking about?"

Hansol's voice brings you back to reality. He's come from the kitchen and is currently standing next to you. Now brought back to your senses, you feel the slight sting from the hot cup of coffee resting between your palms.

"Nothing," you mutter out, removing your hands from the ceramic. You keep your gaze out the window at the hazy horizon; the tide seems to be rising with the weather getting progressively worse. "Are you seeing Chan today?"

"No," he answers, taking a sip from his cup. "Not that I know of, at least. I doubt he'll come if it's raining like this."

The wind looks like it's beginning to pick up. You can hear it howling on the other side of the windows.

"Right, of course."

The boy takes a seat across from you. "Are you sure you're doing okay?" he pushes, "You know you don't have to stay here for the full two weeks with us, right?"

"I know," you reply, "I've just been feeling more anxious recently, but I'm not entirely sure why." You take a sip of your coffee, burning the tip of your tongue slightly. "But I'll be okay."

Hansol's concern for you doesn't waver despite your words or the smile you’re presenting.

"Some storm, huh?" Mingyu's voice is heard from the staircase as he treks down to the main floor. His hair is still damp from his shower.

Hansol makes a noise of acknowledgement and takes another sip of his coffee.

Mingyu prepares a cup of coffee for himself. "Do you think the water will rise all the way up to the deck?"

You involuntary freeze at the thought.

"No, it shouldn't," Hansol says confidently.

And it doesn't, but it does come close. As the rain continues to pour, the entirety of the rocky path becomes submerged beneath the saltwater.

The sound of the storm keeps you awake as you lie in bed that night, picking at a loose thread on the duvet cover. You think you can feel the cabin sway with the heavy wind, but you blame it on your imagination.

She belongs to the sea.

You blame your imagination for the husky voice you hear too.

The sea.

The shutter on your bedroom window flies open; it's certainly not your imagination this time. You immediately stand up and make your way to the adjacent wall to close it, only to see just how high the tide has risen since you've retreated to bed.

Now you must be dreaming.

The sea level appears to be just below your window. Being on the upper floor of the cabin, that's more than concerning.

"(Y/N)?"

You back away from the window at the sound of your name spoken from the other side of it.

A vaguely familiar mop of damp brown hair appears outside your windowsill.

"Seokmin?" You squint your eyes at the face you see in the moonlight. Panic laces your voice, "What the hell is happening?"

Yeah, you really must be dreaming.

The merman reaches his arm through the threshold of your window with his hand open for you to take.

"Do you trust me?"

Every part of you screams no. No! You've lived your whole life in fear of the ocean and what resides within it. Taking this creature's hand would contradict your entirety.

"Please," he adds.

You feel yourself being drawn towards him, one foot after another taking you closer until your hand brushes against his. His fingertips are pruned, a sensation slightly rough against your smooth ones.

When he closes his hand around yours, you hear the rain abruptly stop.

Everything becomes silent, like the drops of water have stopped with time.

"It's okay," Seokmin whispers, warmly smiling at you.

Before you know it, his lips connect with your forehead.

And you suddenly remember that night you fell into the abyss.

•

The instant your body falls into the depths, you're frozen, petrified, unable to move. You try to struggle your way to the surface, but your clothes weigh you down, only making you sink further below.

Your lungs burn. Trapped in the darkness, you can barely see the moonlight above anymore.

You succumb to your watery grave, eyes closed and arms wrapped around your small figure in a final effort to gain warmth.

Suddenly, you are hit by a feeling of serenity like your mother is cradling you once again. You lean into the tender touch and begin to drift away into unconsciousness.

She belongs to the sea.

You seem to hallucinate a raspy voice hiss out the strange remark.

And then you're gone.

No, you think you're gone, but the burning sensation in your lungs is alleviated.

You open your eyes once more to find your small body enveloped by another being. It has a tail: a long, dark violet tail extending beneath you. Your fear hasn't left you completely, but the way you're cradled so carefully eases you.

"It's okay," a gentle voice whispers, causing you to look up to meet a pair of brown eyes and a warm smile. "You're safe."

"What's happening?" you hear your voice ask for the second time that day, unsure of how you're able to speak beneath the water.

"Your father wants you home," is the boy's response, "but I've tried to tell him it's not your time yet."

"My... father?"

You can't picture a face to the name you speak. Each time you've asked your mother about him, she's only said how he was a wonderful man. Was.

"Yes, (Y/N). Sorry about the storm. He gets emotional when thinking of you." One of the merman's hands supports the back of your head to his chest as he dashes through the water. "It's because he misses you."

"Are we going to see him now?"

"No, not yet. One day I'll find you again, and we will see him. Together."

Before you know it, your heads break through to the surface where the weather is much clearer than before. Your rescuer moves slowly towards the beach near the dock, continuing his hold on you until your feet can touch the ground.

You cough up some of the water that infiltrated your lungs before asking, "May I know your name?"

The merman smiles once more, the apples of his wet cheeks reflecting the moonlight. "You will, one day, little jellyfish."

•

Your eyes open only to find you still stood by your window with a familiar set of arms around you.

You take note of his purple tail extending below.

"You," you whisper, taking a step back from the windowsill to get a proper look at the boy residing on the other side, "We've met before."

Seokmin chuckles at your realization, "Yes, many years ago."

"You saved me."

"Kind of," he ponders. "You wouldn't have drowned; your father wouldn't have let that happen. I only made sure you wouldn't sink to the bottom of the ocean."

"Right, my father." The title still sounds alien from your mouth. You gesture to the flooded outside, "Did he do this too?"

Seokmin sheepishly scratches the nape of his neck, "Word may have gotten around that you were visiting the oceanside. You know how excitable Chan can get."

You smile at the idea of the youngest royal brother bragging about seeing you. "If my father's a merman, then why am I human?"

"Who said your father's a merperson?" Seokmin counters, "He's less of a merman and more of a sorcerer who resides within the waves."

"No shit."

The boy giggles at your remark.

"But if I technically come from the sea, then why have I been so afraid of it?"

"Are you still afraid of it now, jellyfish?"

You open your mouth, about to say your habitual response, but only to find yourself lacking one life-long phobia.

"No," you furrow your eyebrows.

"It was a spell I placed on you, back when you were a child," Seokmin fiddles with your hand; his is now dry. "It was to prevent you from returning when you weren't ready."

"Am I ready now?"

"My goodness, so many questions."

But Seokmin takes the time to answer them all for you.

You pull up a chair to the window as he remains in the raised tide.

That night, you learn that you're less human than you originally thought. You're not a merperson like Seokmin and his brothers are, but you do similarly come from the ocean.

Your father had unexpectedly met your mother one summer's day, the two falling in love faster than either party had expected. You weren't necessarily planned, but the two were ecstatic, nevertheless. Your father had to return back to the depths—his home—leaving your mother alone for the rest of her pregnancy. Yet, after she had you, she was significantly less lonely. She seemed to have the whole ocean supporting her, despite her lover unable to return to the surface.

When you were an infant, you were drawn to the water. Perhaps you could hear your father calling out to you for you to return home at sea with him, where he thought you belonged more-so than on land.

Seokmin had placed the spell on you to give you the opportunity for a normal youth on the surface. He recalled the way he so strongly loved being free of stress and confinement before his royal responsibilities became more prevalent and only wished the same for you.

Practicing magic under your father's teaching made Seokmin create a spell strong enough to last for over a decade.

He refrained from telling your father what he'd done that night when he found you. He knew how powerful the man was; a tsunami or hurricane could have easily been a product of his emotions.

Although now, the spell has worn off. Once more, you find yourself inexplicably drawn to the water and arguably even-more-so to the boy with his hands encased in yours.

"Will I get to meet him one day?" your eyes examine the way Seokmin's thumb grazes across your knuckles, tracing every crest and trough on your skin.

"Yes," he says, "though only when the tides lower again. I don't want him flooding the entire island out of happiness."

You hum out an "Okay" and catch the beginnings of the rising sun in the distance, illuminating Seokmin's already-glowing silhouette.

•

We'll meet beyond the shore,

"(Y/N), could I try something?"

Seokmin's ears are tinted a pretty pink as he examines your form sitting in the shallow water.

You shift your attention from feeling the silky sand beneath the waves lightly lapping against your ankles and to the merman sitting next to you. His hair is slowly beginning to dry from being in the summer sunshine.

We'll kiss just as before,

Seokmin takes your hand tenderly and brings it to his lips. It's a gentle touch, but the act sends a flurry of butterflies straight into your chest. The boy smiles brightly, his eyes slightly crinkling at the corners, and laces his fingers between yours.

Happy we'll be beyond the sea,

"I like the way your hand fits in mine, jellyfish."

Your eyes meet Seokmin's, who are trained on the pair of your intertwined hands.

"I like it too," you admit, smiling as his gaze lifts and meets yours.

He slowly leans in.

And never again I'll go sailing. ••

#caratwritersclub #lee seokmin #lee seokmin x reader #lee seokmin fluff #lee seokmin au #lee seokmin imagines #seokmin #seokmin x reader #seokmin fluff #seokmin au #seokmin imagines #seventeen #seventeen x reader #seventeen imagine #seventeen scenario #seventeen fanfiction #seventeen seokmin #seventeen dk #seventeen dokyeom #dokyeom x reader

[yukipri]

Some Bad Batch Ep 3 thoughts (Spoilers)

thoughts under cut, but wow did this ep give me some real mixed feelings...

On one hand, cool diverse group of people in the "storm" troopers group given to Crosshair to command! The one white guy is an asshole. The one white guy is also the only one with a conscience, while the others commit a massacre. The one white guy also ends up having way more dialogue and personality than the others. I feel like they're trying for "diversity," but I'm having real questions about the execution...(haha, execution....)

(it's like they said hey, we know the Empire was super white bc OT, so we'll let POC participate in the atrocities of the Empire too! and like, it feels like an attempt at representation, in a really skewed, not-quite-right sorta way...)

Also, I know they haven't had time to make stormtrooper armor yet but...didn't really like seeing nat-borns wearing clone armor. It felt wrong :/

~~

Given how that mission went, kinda glad it wasn't Cody...

~~

But at the same time, "elite clone chosen to teach batches of nat-borns" is a scenario we often see Cody placed in in fic, and I have a lot of mixed feelings about it being Crosshair, who isn't at all a good example of a standard (if elite) clone. Even if Crosshair does a good job, it's not at all indicative of the performance of the rest of the clones, and with the convo between Kaminoans, I'm a bit concerned that this show is going in a direction that makes regular clones completely irrelevant.

I know the show is centered around the Batch, so I'm expecting bias towards their perspective, but I'm still hoping that with growing understanding of how the chips work (and hopefully meeting up with Rex), their empathy towards regs will increase.

In the end, I'm personally much more invested in the fate of all the clones over just the Batch. I don't want them to be ignored or unimportant to the narrative.

~~

Yikes Wrecker's head...chip location....but you'd think hitting it would damage it and prevent it from working, not activate it, right...?

(and speaking of chips not working, I don't think they ever mentioned why Cut seemed fine? Rex told him about it, but there was no sign he'd undergone surgery. Or does the chip only activate in the presence of a Jedi?)

~~

I know I'm not the only one who had the thought that Omega might be Force-sensitive, but there were plenty of scenes this ep where she could have shown that, but didn't.

I'm beginning to wonder if her ability isn't anything related to the Force, but rather, maybe it's...imitation? Like I know it's super cute how she keeps copying Hunter, but maybe it's more than that? Like she inspects the dirt Hunter did, and we should assume she got nothing out of it because she doesn't have Hunter's skills but...maybe she did. The ability to copy and replicate an action after observing might be an ironically fitting ability for a clone...

~~

Admiral whatsisname has the most generic, forgettable white man look ever, and they're putting him in charge of the storm trooper initiative...?

~~

The Batch should really, really ask Omega some questions about what she knows about the chips and anything else really. It's clear she's got a lot of info and is willing to talk about it, but they just aren't asking her...?

...are some thoughts!

#the Bad Batch #bad batch #spoilers #YukiPri rambles

[sylvie-writes]

Bad (3): Memories We Used to Share

First inspired by this song ➳ Bad by Lennon Stella

(Ransom Drysdale x wife reader)

Summary: It’s time to move out! 6 months of getting your life sorted, along with a few surprises, some pleasant, others not so much.

A/n: My search history is looking weird, due to this series haha. I’ve been reading multiple articles about uncontested divorce just to get an understanding for this series lmao. 

Disclaimer: Just so you know, I’m not a law school graduate, so I can’t say I really know what in the hell I am talking about. With that being said, if I screw up the divorce process in this chapter and/or the next, please don’t come at me. Our law system is confusing and I’m just here to write, no one said it would be accurate lol. 

Warnings: mild profanity & your typical cheesy, predictable fanfic by yours truly. 

Shoutout: MANY THANKS TO THE ANON WHO GAVE ME SOME IDEAS TO MAKE THIS A SERIES!

As always, plz pardon any mistakes, the stories are always proofread but I tend to make many mistakes regardless.

Series Masterlist

For six months, you worked to get your life back together. 

By the end of April, a week after you yelled at your (ex) husband, you had successfully packed up your stuff, without being bothered by the man. Ever since the night you had confronted him, the two of you never stood in the same room or even looked the other in the eye. So it worked in your favor today that he was busy with his new flame, probably entertaining her with a trip to Prada. Never once did you take a break, for eight straight hours, you spent one whole Saturday organizing and strategically packing your things away. Around eight o’clock, all of the boxes were stacked by the front door, ready to be moved into the U-haul trailer attached to your car. Lucky for you, Ransom could care less about what was his and what was yours. The dog, also going home with you. In truth, ever since that day you rightfully ripped the man for his mistakes, a black cloud has loomed over his head, no matter what he may be on the outside, he’s broken on the inside. 

One more box was left in the bedroom, and you quickly jogged up the stairs to get it. Unbeknownst to you, as you were upstairs, Ransom and Blair had come home, apparently mindless to your car in the driveway, because when you walked down the stair box in hand the two pulled away from each other’s lips, staring at you.

You had made an agreement with Ransom that he’d not show up while you packed your things. He had done a good job so far, up until now that is. “Oh, (y/n), I didn’t think you’d be here this late. You should get some rest.”

His “concern” disgusted you. Now he decides to care about you? I think not.

Filled with rage, you drop the cardboard box, letting the contents inside shatter. In most divorces, there wouldn’t be this much emotion, but it hurt you beyond words can describe, to see this man that you loved with every inch of your body, kissing another woman, in YOUR house. You could even see yourself in her shoes, because damn, once upon a time, you WERE her. 

“Are you okay!” Blair came rushing to your side, to try and move you out of the shattered glass. She seemed like a genuinely nice person, and had she not been a home-wrecker, you’d want to be her friend. But at this moment, all you could think about was that she wasn’t even bothered by the fact that she’d been seeing a married man. So, just as Blair tried to help you, you pushed away her hands and collapsed on the steps, lightly sitting in the glass, yet numb to the pain. The weight of the world had finally, physically pushed you to the ground. You were at wits end, and things were looking pretty dark. At this point, you couldn’t even see the light at the end of the tunnel. What had you done to deserve this and would there be a second chance for you? 

Just then, Ransom came to remove Blair, telling her to go get ready for bed, the two clearly coming from a night of clubbing. As she ran up the stairs, mindful of the glass, Ransom came to pick you up. Grabbing your arms, you laid limp against his chest, willingly letting him carry you down the stairs. Oh how you missed his caring touch, why couldn’t things be different? It should've been you out dancing with him, you lip locked with him. Instead, here you were, letting the man who single-handedly destroy your life, carrying you to the couch, laying a blanket and a long kiss on your cheek. Consumed with emotions, sleep soon took over your body before you could protest and leave the house. Had you only heard Ransom’s apology.

“I’m so sorry my precious (y/n), it shouldn’t have been this way, my love.” A few stray tears rolled down Ransom’s cheek as he sadly sauntered up the stairs. 

Ironic, how in a house that was once yours, a new woman took your spot in the bed, besides your once husband, while you slept on the couch like a toy banned to the isle of misfits. 

The next morning, you woke up to the smell of coffee and giggles. You were angry at yourself, no doubt, how could you be so vulnerable by staying at the house? Before you could think anymore, you walked to get your keys, finding that Blair was in the kitchen, cooking pancakes for Ransom, who sat at the kitchen table with coffee and the newspaper. You kinda screwed yourself, by leaving your car keys on the kitchen table. It was your only escape and unfortunately it meant interacting with dumb and dumber. 

The two once again forgot you were there, shocked to see your form walking through the doorway. With a fake smile, you grumbled out a few choice words.

“Don’t worry, I’m getting out of your house ya lovebirds!”

Victory at last. Your words stung Ransom, well, rather word. In another time, you’d say our house, but now, it was no longer the Drysdales’ Household, no, it was Drysdale’s Household, hence why you reminded Ransom that he was alone. Sure, Blair was there but you both knew it wouldn’t last. 

That day, when Ransom and Blair had once again left, going god knows where, Ransom texted you that you could pack your boxes into the u-haul trailer. Since you just wanted to haul ass out of the place this morning, you left the trailer and boxes behind, making a beeline to the nearest bar. So far you had handled yourself without alcohol, but now you needed some relief, specifically in a few whiskey sours. Around 3pm, Ransom then sent that text, and you sobered up, gracefully throwing up in the bathroom stall, then driving to the house to officially get out of his life. Even with a major headache, you managed to pack the trailer. It was then that you realized you were destined to function alone, you didn’t need Ransom. Screw him. 

In May, you went around town, scanning different apartments finally finding one. Unfortunately, there was a waitlist with three people in front of you, the estimated move in time being late July or August. With that being said, you moved all your things into a storage unit and continued to live in a hotel room. Thank the heavens you kept your job, despite Ransom’s pleas for you to stay home when you were married. Somehow, you were able to juggle working and functioning around others, coming home to be your true self, the night normally ending with takeout and tv. This divorce had truly ruined your life, and Ransom’s. The two of you constantly lived with the rain cloud, never once catching a break and seeing a rainbow overhead. For now, you were just separated and soon you’d file for divorce.

Around the last week of May, your life was turned upside down once again. This time, for a good reason. 

Currently, you were on lunch break, eating at a nearby diner with your closest work friend, Lorraine Bailey. She really has been your best friend, taking the title that used to belong to Ransom. At least she was loyal, understanding, and wasn’t a backstabbing bitch *ahem* your ex.

“How are you holding up, honey?”

You were too busy staring into the nothingness of your chicken sandwich, that when Lorainne gently shook your resting hand, you let out an incoherent “huh?”

“I was asking how you are doing? With everything that’s been going on in the past few months--”

Before she could answer, you just snapped, quickly yelling at the woman, who wasn’t trying to be nosy, she was genuinely concerned. 

“Could you just stop nosing around? It’s none of your business really!” 

At that, Lorraine leaned back in her seat, lowering her head like a scolded child. Honestly, you didn’t mean what you had just said and you had no clue where it came from. Lately, your mouth has been an unreliable thing, for you could barely control your answers without acting like a moody child.

Quickly, you excused yourself, lightly jogging to the bathroom to expel the few glasses of water you drank. As you washed your hands, upon looking in the mirror, you were met with a face you barely knew. Sure, you looked the same  on the outside, but on the inside you were a different person. No longer peppy or truly happy. Ransom had taken it all from you, but it was time to take that back. Walking out the bathroom door, you vowed to yourself from this point on you’d try to become your old self. 

Surprisingly, Lorraine still sat at the booth, allowing you to give her a real and sincere apology.

“Lorraine, I’m so sorry, I can’t even fathom the words to justify my actions. Lately, I haven’t been able to truly control my emotions and I took it out on you. That was wrong and I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve it, after all you’ve always been here for me.”

The woman smiled at you, despite the tears rolling down your face. Why were you crying and since when did you become such an emotional person? You weren’t cold hearted, but nor were you one to cry at a movie. 

“That’s fine, I know you are under a lot of pressure. What do you say we get out of here and spend the rest of break at the bakery across the street?”

“I’d say you know me very well!” 

Soon, you flagged down the waitress and paid the tab, ignoring Lorraine’s pleas to pay for lunch. It was the least you could do after yelling at the poor woman. As you left the restaurant, the guilt was still surfacing in your body and you felt the need to hug your best friend, who was happily surprised, hugging you back. 

Once in the bakery, you were met with the sight of homemade chocolates, like your dog at home, you were practically drooling. Let’s just say the baker was stunned when you bought two dozens of chocolate, and then proceeded to eat half on the way out. What was even more surprising, was that about a seventy-five percent of your order was chili dark chocolate. 

As you were walking down the street, and to work, Lorraine reached over, tasting one of your chocolates, a chili one to be exact. Her face twisted with disgust and her suspicions were confirmed. 

“Uh, (y/n), I think I might have an explanation for your constant mood swings, the amount of times you leave to the bathroom, and why you’d buy this absolute garbage!”

The minute she listed all the symptoms together, you immediately denied her. 

“Don’t even say it. I’m just moody because I’m mad, I pee a lot because, uh-”

“Exactly! Even you can’t explain all of it. Just do me a favor and buy a test. It won’t hurt anything to try.”

“Yeah, but I know you are wrong, Lorraine.”

“I mean c'mon, don’t you want to know too?”

At that moment, the two of you were halted in front of a CVS, Lorraine pointing at the store like she was Vanna White. 

Your conscience: Maybe you should listen to the woman, after all she has three kids!

And so you did.

Thank god your friend was there, because you were an absolute novice in this field. Sure, you wanted kids, but right now you were praying that you were just having an irregular cycle due to stress. Lorraine, the best, best friend anyone could ask for, bought the test to spare you the embarrassment. 

The minute you walked into work, Lorraine pulled you into the bathroom, giving you instructions, you following them, then waiting for the timer to beep.

Any minute now you’d find your results, and for some reason part of you wanted this test to be positive. It would be nice to have a little company.

Once the timer beeped, you looked at the plastic stick that held your future, immediately smiling when your answer was pregnant.

You were pregnant!

But the father...

Unlike Ransom, you weren’t unfaithful and unfortunately, the father was no doubt him. Of course, the one time that asshole sleeps with you, he got you pregnant. And to think at the time, he didn’t even really love you just enraged you even more. It was gonna be a while till you got over this. 

So the rest of the day you were thrilled, and it was a lot easier to stick to your vows from earlier. Your mood was noticeably different to many of your coworkers, smiles all around. The old (y/n) was slowly reappearing. 

June through July, you spent your days, working and when not working, taking advice on a baby from Lorraine, even visiting her doctor who she so highly recommended. Fortunately, the doctor didn’t prod around in your life and was absolutely judge-free about your situation. You couldn't have been more grateful. 

In early July, you reached the second trimester, where the slightest bump formed on your stomach. Now it wasn’t noticeable to everyone, but to you, just the slightest site made your lips turn upward into a smile. Motherhood was the best thing to happen to you. And to make matters even better, your baby was going to be a Christmas baby, making his or her appearance at the end of December! 

Telling Ransom was gonna be a whole other story.

Finally, August 3rd came around, and the apartment complex office called, an opening for you. Lease signed, you shelled out your first payment and soon moved in, once again alone. It had been months since you’d heard from Ransom and honestly it was nice. 

The month of August flew by, and soon September came. Time passed by with flying colors and your mood had improved a bit, the baby in your stomach making life worth living. On the last Friday of September, your work friends decided that they all needed to go out, inviting you the first weekend of October to go ice-skating and out for dinner! It was time you treated yourself to something nice, so you giddily agreed. What could go wrong? 

That Friday, after work, Lorraine came to pick you up, the two of you going to meet the rest at the ice skating rink. Being 26 weeks pregnant, your stomach had finally started showing, allowing your coworkers to start nagging you. Last they had all heard, you were divorced. So when they asked, you kept your lips shut, it really wasn’t any of their business. The only one who knew was Lorraine, but she wasn’t a gossiper.

Arriving at the ice rink, the cold Massachusetts air was blowing, making you zip up your trench coat ever the slightest. Unfortunately, the wind wasn’t the only thing making your blood run cold. 

Most of your coworkers were out on the ice, Lorraine going out too, you told her you’d be out soon. It was nice to watch the skaters enjoy their time on the ice till you saw him. 

The familiar tan suede coat made your face lose all warmth, your own jacket no longer keeping you warm. Beside the laughing man, was the one and only, Blair, except this time a new accessory on her finger. A diamond ring you could see all the way from your table along the side of the rink. His laughter made you sick, and at this point you wanted to throw up the hot cocoa you had been sipping on. 

At the moment, you and Ransom were in the middle of divorce, thank the heavens an uncontested one, having been able to work many things out with your ex. This meant, zero court hearings (hopefully), a thin expense, and overall a clean divorce. Then, you had hired a paralegal to work on the legal papers and currently the two of you were waiting to see the judge to finalize the divorce, the approximate date set around the second week of November. 

Feeling suddenly insecure, and definitely not ready to tell Ransom, you pulled the large trench coat across your chest and secured it with the belt around the waist. The minute you looked at them, all the memories came flooding back. One specifically hitting you at this moment.

“Ransom, I’m gonna fall! You know I’m a klutz.”

Your husband just persisted and instead slipped on your ice skates, tying them up and resting his warm hands on your knees.

“Honey, I will be right beside you the whole time, and by the end of this, you’ll be a pro!”

His reassuring smile was all you needed, nodding, you placed your gloved hands in Ransom’s bare ones, trying to waddle your way to the rink entrance. First, Ransom skated onto the ice, turning and holding his hand out for you. The minute your feet made contact with the icy ground beneath, you fell straight to the ground, Ransom reached out to grab you, although he ended up going down with you. You looked at Ransom who wore an entertained smile on his face, laughing. Playfully, you slapped the man on the shoulder. 

“My failure isn’t funny!”

Ransom tried his best to cease his laughter, getting off the ice to help you up, although he was still chuckling the slightest bit. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t help it!” 

Once on your feet, Ransom locked arms with you, trying his best to balance you both, while also coaching you. 

At some point through the night, the fake snow was fluttering in the air, along with tunes of piano and jazz. You had finally gotten the hang of things somewhat, yet still latched close to Ransom. The man on your side, leaned down and whispered in your ear.

“I give you my word that every year I’ll bring you to this exact rink, just to teach you how to skate, darling.”

If only that same Ransom was the one you were staring at right now. 

But overall, looking back, memories like those, with him, are the ones you miss.

Why did he have to change?

“(y/n)?”

A tap on your shoulder, made you pop up from your seat to be met with the stare of that same man. He slowly gave you a once-over, making you slightly worry that he’d notice the baby bump.

He didn’t. 

“Ransom.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing, Drysdale.” 

Clearly, Ransom was trying to give you an olive branch, but at the moment, you just weren’t accepting it.

“I asked you first, (y/l/n).”

“Work.”

Your voice was monotone and Ransom gave a slight hum of acknowledgment. 

“Nice. Well uh- it was nice seeing you.”

Nervously, Ransom waved you goodbye, heading back to Blair who was removing her ice skates. You took notice how she was struggling and Ransom wasn’t down on his knees helping her as he did you. It did your ego good to see that your husband hadn’t completely replaced you. There was a difference between you and Blair. Ransom actually loved you, like the “die for you” kind of love. While Blair, on the other hand, was honestly there to fill the whole in his heart. 

It did intrigue you though as to why Ransom wasn’t being an arrogant jerk to you, yet he was being humble? None of it added up, but before you could do any more mental acrobatics, Lorraine came over, asking you to come ice skate, to which you smiled and put on your skates. 

Tonight was about you, not him. 

Something you hadn’t said in a long time.

taglist (series and in general tags): @kiwihoee​ @buckybarnesthehotshot​ @memissbee​ @tricereads​ @tonystankschild​ @coffeebooksandfandom​ @ria132love​ @what-is-your-wish​ @maan24​ @bval-1​ @jemimah-b99​ @turtoix​ @just-one-ordinary-fangirl​

lemme know if you wanna join, be removed, or if i tagged the wrong person!

#ransom drysdale #ransom drysdale x reader #ransom drysdale x you #ransom drysdale imagine #chris evans #chris evans x reader #chris evans fanfiction

[lokigodofaces]

thoughts on loki ep 2: the variant (spoilers)

under cut to not disturb your scrolling

Overall I enjoyed so that's good

Uh frick my mind blanked so sorry if things are completely out of order

I don't know, I expected the renaissance fair to be 2012 or 2021 or 2024 (Loki's time, our time, current time in the "sacred timeline"). So I was genuinely surprised when it was in 1985.

Ok, i really like the title card thing. And how the year scrolls around. It's a nice aesthetic touch there.

I wonder why the female Loki variant chooses her locations? Does she have a thing for renaissance fairs, French cathedrals, and Oklahoma?

1985 is when Back to the Future came out. And it's y'know, one of the most popular time travel movies ever. So I think they chose that year as a reference.

Again, not liking that the minutemen only have numbers, not names. It is giving me lots of Clone Wars vibes. If you don't know anything about Clone Wars, the clones are given number identifiers by the Kaminoans. Things like CT-7567. The clones would give themselves names (CT-7567, for example, names himself Rex). A really good sign throughout the series that someone is a sketchy person is if they call the clones by their numbers. The clones don't want to be known as numbers. They are people too, they deserve names, so they come up with all sorts of creative names (Rex, Fives, Cody, Tup, Hevy, Hardcase, Echo, Waxer, Boil, Wolffe, Jesse, Kix, Fox, Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair, Omega, Tech, Matchstick, etc). The jedi respect this, and the only jedi that i can think of that called clones by their numbers is Krell, who fell to the dark side. the Kaminoans and other sketchy people all call them by their numbers and the clones don't like it. A big focus of the show is on the clone's agency (at the end, they all have brain chips that take away their agency and force them to kill jedi), and how the clones need to be respected. So for me to see in another series that people are only given numbers is bad. What's worse is that the minutemen are fine with this. They don't see it as dehumanizing or belittling. They are brainwashed into being okay with it. Which says a thing or two about the Time Keepers.

did. did the renaissance fair really have Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero" for their renaissance themed fight? Is this normal? Was it normal in the '80's? We saw later that the female Loki can do electronic stuff. Did she rig it to play it? For the vibes?

Also the stuff before the song was about fighting for a princess, and in the end she kidnaps C-20.

Okay, btw, I'm just gonna say Lady Loki for a while because no one has explicitly said Sylvie yet, so I'm going to refer to di Martino as Loki until she or another calls her Sylvie. Cool? Cool.

I was thinking the "Holding Out for a Hero" fight would be the roomba fight or something. It is such a good song that has huge potential for this genre. Why did they use it in a lame fight as that one?

When Lady Loki did the spell on C-20, it looked similar to what Wanda and Agatha can do. As in, it had similar visuals.

Loki reading a random magazine he finds while sitting with his feet on the desk bored out of his mind because he has to learn sh*t is a MOOD.

What is Miss Minutes? She can jump around anywhere, and pop into computers. But she can't be just a projection. She took the effort to dodge Loki swatting at her, so that may mean she was corporeal. She also could be something similar to the Kree's Supreme Intelligence?

So, did Mobius give Loki the shirt, tie, and slacks, but really didn't give him the jacket until they had to call him in? What? That makes no sense? Did the TVA not have any jackets with the variant label? Did someone have to custom design a jacket for Loki?

What is up with this show giving me things I wanted to see only in holographic form? First we saw Coulson's death, and now Loki in his Jotun form in a holograph of another variant.

Okay, Loki being someone the TVA has to constantly deal with is very on brand. Loki is a creature of chaos, of course he's going to unknowingly rebel against the sacred timeline.

Also, headcanon that the Jotun Loki we see is king of Jotunheim because that would be epic.

Also, for personal reasons I choose to believe there is a Loki variant that defeated the Avengers and immediately went queer rights.

Loki's reaction to there being many Loki variants. He's seen what his life is supposed to be. I think he is even more upset that the TVA often deals with him, that there are so many things that could have been instead if it weren't for the TVA and the "sacred timeline."

Also, I totally think Mobius was waiting for another Loki to show up to help him defeat Lady Loki. They get them so often, it makes sense.

Loki explaining the difference between illusion projection and duplication was great. And very helpful to me personally understanding lore. Also, Mobius, get your crap together. If you're a Loki expert, figure this stuff out.

Loki calling the TVA out on propaganda, we love that.

The wolf quote is actually very nice, I quite like it.

Okay, the TVA doesn't even bury or cremate or do any sort of ritual for their fallen minutemen, they just reset the timeline. Which to me seems like another way to show how little the TVA actually care for their workers.

There are statues of the Time Keepers in Ravonna's office. The camera pays extra attention to it. Keep reading for more about Time Keepers and cinematography choices.

What. What sort of relationship does Ravonna and Mobius have? What is going on there? I am really confused.

Who is this "analyst on the side?" What is going on there?

Ravonna is MEGA SUS. Along with that, the Time Keepers are mega sus.

She signs R. Slayer. Yeah. Slayer. Not at all subtle, Marvel. Letting us know that she'll do the deed if needed.

Mobius you are sending me mixed signals. What do you want?

Okay, Mobius saying Loki was a "cold, scared boy" and an "ice runt" and stuff was totally a jab at Loki being Jotun.

Mobius saying Loki is insecure because of Lady Loki is...probably true.

With the elevator, the camera stops and focuses on the Time Keepers.

The Creation of the TVA, the beginning of time, the end of time, all classified. That is sus.

Loki almost crying over Ragnarok was good. Let him cry over the destruction of his home.

Loki being the one to discover something the TVA had no idea about after a day is on brand for Loki. And it shows how the TVA really are vulnerable.

Mobius: Really? In front of my salad?

No but the object lesson was well done and actually did help me understand what Loki was talking about.

Casey! Casey drinks grape juice! Imagine how confusing this is for Casey though. Loki is captured, threatens to gut you like a fish (whatever that means), and now he's dressed like an analysist, stealing your juice box. Does Loki get Casey more juice?

Honestly, Loki looking at everything logically and scientifically is fantastic. Adds to the science = magic thing Marvel's got going on, since Loki is a sorcerer.

Loki saying volcanoes are cool is fun. I agree. Volcanoes mean the planet is geologically active, which means we won't die. Also, there is a volcano named Loki on one of Jupiter's moons. I wonder if the creators knew that and put Loki in Pompeii because he is already linked with volcanoes.

Mobius telling Loki to start off small and Loki completely disregarding that felt very personal to me.

Loki being absolutely chaotic and telling everyone they were going to die while speaking perfect Latin was iconic. I want more of that content. Let the man be buckwild.

Again, Loki finding something out after a day that the TVA never knew about is on brand.

"Be free, my horned friends, be free!" I love that way too much.

Mobius being obsessed with jet skis wasn't something I expected, but I'm down for it. Heck, even Loki admitted they were cool.

The discussion on beliefs is going to lead to saying the Time Keepers are bullcrap. Hopefully.

Grapes and nuts are "candy" on Asgard. So, when Loki was eating grapes in Ragnarok, we can interpret that as him eating M&Ms. Second, this might add to something I've seen around here. I've seen things about a book somewhere with Loki saying chocolate fountains are mythical (which is really funny to me). So, I guess Asgard really doesn't have chocolate.

Oh my gosh, so many apocalypses between 2047 and 2051...hopefully none of those happen in real life.

Roxxcart is probably part of Roxxon, something that has been around in Iron Man movies.

Lady Loki got the shovel thing from Roxxcart that she left in Oklahoma! The minutemen said it was from the early third millenia, which is where we are now! 2050 also fits that category!

I saw something about the file saying Class 8 hurricane...there are only 5 classes...which means this is a crazy storm.

Does B-15 want Loki dead? This is a legitimate question, because I think she does. Dead or pruned.

Loki looking around at the storm, I love it. This could be him loving science, or him missing Thor, since Thor creates storms. Also, at this point Loki probably things Thor dies shortly after him in the sacred timeline, so Loki would be particularly sentimental about Thor.

I love Loki drying himself off and not anyone else. And B-15 yelling about his magic. And Loki's motions are so fluid, it's so aesthetically pleasing, I love it.

Dudes, I thought B-15 was going to try to prune Loki when they were alone.

Okay, was Lady Loki bsing about the azalea sale, or does Roxxcart actually do that? I want to know.

Wunmi Mosaku did a really good job as Lady Loki, I loved it.

Loki being annoyed at Lady Loki and saying he understood how Thor felt, does that insinuate Loki can do what Lady Loki was doing?

B-15 and C-20 were both very shaken after being possessed by Lady Loki. I wonder how that felt for them? We've had different explanations of mind control/brainwashing/similar from Clint, Bucky, Daisy, Mack, Fitz, and Monica in the MCU (including AoS). I wonder what is specific to Lady Loki's possession.

C-20 kept going on about something being real. What was that about?

C-20 revealed the location of the Time Keepers to Lady Loki!

Lady Loki not wanting to be called Loki could be a sign she is Sylvie.

There's something weird where Loki's voice echoed around while the camera focused on Lady Loki. Maybe she's telepathic?

Someone needs to keep a tracker on people telling Loki this isn't his story in a show literally about him.

But, that does add to themes for his life, and how everything was always about someone else in his life. He was always a supporting character for Thor, for Odin, for Thanos. Now, even in his own story, everyone insists he doesn't matter.

I was wondering what the reset charges would be used for. I wasn't expecting a massive bombing of the sacred timeline! Wow! That was unexpected and I loved it!

Okay, this isn't from me, this is from New Rockstars. But to list all the places mentioned on chronomonitors, either bombed or not: Knowhere, Barcelona, Niflheim, Dartford, Phong Nha, Lisbon, Vormir, Thorton, Cookeville, Asgard, Rome, Sakaar, Barichara, Porvoo, Ego, Titan, New York City, Tokyo, Hala, Kingsport, Xandar, Beijing, Madrid, Portland, Jotunheim. Bolded are other planets. Those are almost all the planets visited in the MCU. So fun easter eggs there!

I like Lady Loki's aesthetic. The fingerless gloves, the cloak, I love it. And YES SHE ISN'T SEXUALIZED. So many genderbent characters are excuses to sexualize women. But Lady Loki is just as covered as the male Lokis.

Lady Loki just...left the time door open for Loki to follow...for a really long time...I'm worried he's running into a trap.

What is Loki going to do now?

Theory time y'alls: Lady Loki bombed the sacred timeline to flush the minutemen out of the TVA, leaving it defenseless. And she's gonna go after the Time Keepers themselves. We know she gets into the TVA from trailer footage, and that's what I think we're gonna see next episode. I think she (like the Loki we are following) is upset over the lack of free will, and she plans to change that. That's why she wasn't interested in helping Loki "take over" the TVA, because she doesn't want to become the leader of a new TVA, she wants it destroyed.

Alright, back to the Time Keepers stuff. They keep focusing on the middle Time Keeper. Even in the end credits they have a weird cut to focus directly on his face. I'm not 100% on this, but I like this theory. That face is similar to Jonathan Major's, the actor confirmed to be Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Kang is a well known time travelling villain in Marvel. Maybe he is Kang, and is using variant versions of himself (that's a Kang thing in the comics) to mess with the timeline, and no one expects that from him. Also, Renslayer was his S/O for a bit in the comics, and they keep framing her in front of that one Time Keeper's face. I feel like this would be a good way to set up Quantumania and to show how sus the Time Keepers are.

Also, Loki was absolutely adorable the entire episode. And he got to sleep! Yay for him!

Again, I enjoyed, and can't wait for next week!

#loki (2021) #loki (2021) spoilers #loki (2021) review #loki laufeyson #tva loki #dimartino loki #sylvie lushton #mobius m mobius #ravonna renslayer #hunter b 15 #hunter c 20 #miss minutes #time keepers #aaaaaaaa im excited for the next episode

[thegayhimbo]

I saw your reblog about Alcide, if you don't mind answering what are your personal thoughts on him?

Hi there. Sorry for the wait on this. I actually thought this was going to be a simple answer, but I realize there's a lot I wanted to say about the character in relation to how the fandom perceives him as opposed to how he actually comes off onscreen.

When I first saw the show, my feelings about Alcide ranged from okay at best to indifferent at worst. I didn't hate him, but I didn't care for him. He wasn't my favorite character on the show, and I found most of his story (and the werewolf plots) to be boring. I was actually surprised when I came online and found out he had a following with certain fans.

Upon rewatch, I'm still mostly indifferent to Alcide, but I lean a little more towards mildly disliking him now. And a lot of that has to do with how the fandom (especially people on Reddit) treat him vs how he actually comes across in the books and on the show.

I’ll start off by saying that I never liked Alcide in the books. He was an asshole, and most of the time he used Sookie to advance his position in the werewolf pack. What little relationship he had with Sookie felt one-sided on his part. It also doesn’t help that he unfairly blamed Sookie for stuff that was out of her control (like the death of Debbie in the books or the death of his father.) His attraction to Debbie in the books is also something that doesn’t reflect well on him. Contrary to the show’s portrayal, Debbie in the books was written as a one-dimensional psychopath with a jealous streak and no redeeming qualities. She’s basically a cartoon villain with no depth to her. The result is it’s hard to understand why Alcide got into a relationship with her in the first place, and it makes it look like he was just thinking with his dick. In other words, Book Alcide was nothing to brag about.

As for the show, like I said, I’m mostly apathetic to Alcide’s character (with a few exceptions that I will talk about in a minute) and I thought he was pointless. I know he was suppose to be a vehicle to introduce Sookie to the world of werewolves, but the way that was executed didn’t work. Common consensus in the fandom seems to be that the werewolf plots in both the books and the show were tedious and forgettable. It’s ironic because I know there are Alcide fans out there, but whenever I’ve asked them about what they thought of the werewolf stories, their responses range from “I don’t remember them” to “They were bad.” A lot of fans didn’t care for them. They could have been cut from the show without affecting the main story. That’s a problem because Alcide was usually involved in those stories, and the result is it was hard to care about him because of how non-compelling they were.

As for the character himself, I wasn’t impressed with him for a number of reasons.

First, there’s his relationship with women. I didn’t pick up on this the first time, but a rewatch has shown me how sexist Alcide came off during certain moments on the show. Case in point: His relationship with Debbie. One of the big conflicts between Alcide and Debbie on the show is that they both wanted different things. Alcide didn’t want kids and was fine not being in a werewolf pack. Debbie was the opposite where she did want kids and wanted to be a part of a community. Nothing wrong with that, but it was pretty clear from the get-go that this relationship was never going to work out. The problem though is that Alcide never seemed to recognize that, and kept trying to force Debbie to be something she didn’t want to be: A housewife who didn’t have kids, who was isolated except for her and Alcide, and who spoke softly and cooked meals for him. Basically the opposite of what Debbie was. And yes, I get that Debbie had a lot of problems and made really poor choices, but Alcide’s method of imposing his idea of what she should be was not the way to have handled that. It doesn’t help that he didn’t really seem to care about what she wanted because he thought he knew what was best for her. Like I said, that’s pretty sexist on his part.

And then there’s Sookie and how she factored into Alcide’s relationship with Debbie in seasons 3-4. I find it telling that when it comes to how this situation was handled, fans are eager to blame Sookie and Debbie for the whole mess that resulted in Alcide abjuring Debbie and Debbie getting killed by Sookie, but people rarely call out Alcide for his part in all of this. Personally though, I think Alcide bears some of the blame here for what happened.

Something that’s been pointed out is that during seasons 3-4, Alcide has only known Sookie for a brief period of time. Season 3 for instance takes place over the course of 9-10 days whereas season 4 takes place over 10 days (October 21st-October 31st). That’s about 2-3 weeks at best. And yet, despite only knowing Sookie for about a week in season 3, and despite having been in love with Debbie for a number of years, he’s already pining for Sookie:

Now maybe you could argue that he saw Sookie as a replacement in season 3 because his relationship with Debbie deteriorated and he was heartbroken. However, that excuse doesn’t hold up in season 4 when he’s supposed to have repaired his relationship with Debbie during the year Sookie was gone in faerie-land, and yet he’s still lusting for Sookie despite only knowing her for a short period of time.

It’s so telling to me that only a few days after Debbie’s death in season 5, Alcide tries to have sex with Sookie when they’re both drunk, and he tells Sookie “I’ve waited so long for this.” It really puts his relationship with Debbie in a negative light, and calls into question whether he actually loved her at all.

I’m not saying that Debbie was blameless in this, and it doesn’t excuse her cheating on Alcide with Marcus or trying to kill Sookie, but it’s not like she didn’t notice Alcide was eyeing Sookie for some time. This was a woman who had hitched her sobriety onto Alcide and felt isolated and alone, and the man she was depending on was emotionally cheating on her. And rather than owning up to that, Alcide tries to gaslight Debbie into thinking she’s crazy and it’s all in her head. He literally says that to her when they’re in bed together, and it’s nasty.

What’s frustrating is this usually gets overlooked in the fandom when people talk about Alcide’s character, and he’s usually referred to in a sympathetic light whereas Debbie is blamed for being an unstable, violent whack-job whereas Sookie is blamed for being a house-wrecker, even though she was in a relationship with Eric at the time.

This is also one of the reasons I never liked Sookie/Alcide as a pairing, and why them getting together at the end of season 6 felt forced: Putting aside how their only sexual interaction up to that point was Alcide trying to have sex with Sookie one night when they were drunk and Sookie vomiting all over him, it was basically Sookie getting pigeon-hold into the role of domestic housewife for Alcide. And I’m sorry, but I find it unbelievable that they were together for 6 months and Sookie never once picked up on any unkind or dirty thoughts from Alcide during the time they were together until the season 7 premiere when that suddenly was a problem.

But even putting aside his relationships with Sookie and Debbie, the biggest problem I have with Alcide is he’s not a compelling character. He’s a character whose motivations and personality change when the plot demands it, and most of the time the writers didn’t know what to do with him and just stuck him in different stories with no rhyme or reason. It doesn’t help that he has no character development during his time on the show. There is no difference between the Alcide we meet in season 3 and the one we end up with in season 7. The result is I don’t care about him.

It’s funny because I’ve seen plenty of fans project these kind of criticisms onto Jason, but I actually think they apply more to Alcide than they do to Jason.

Jason actually had character development. He learned to become more responsible and be someone others could depend on. He began to move away from his womanizing behavior in the later seasons and eventually settled down and had a family. He re-evaluated his stance on supernaturals, and actually became an ally for them in several ways. There is a big difference between the person he was in season 1 and the man he became by season 7. If people missed that, or chose to ignore it, that’s on them, but it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

Alcide on the other hand..............what was his character development? How did he grow as a person? What did he learn from his relationships with Debbie or Sookie or Rikki? Or even from the whole werewolf pack nonsense? Cause I’m drawing a blank here. Was it suppose to be that pack life wasn’t for Alcide because it would turn him into a power-hungry asshole? I never got the impression that was a problem for him in the early seasons, and it was a contrived conflict that was manufactured for season 6. The show never did a good job fleshing out what his arc was suppose to be.

Also, say what you will about Jason’s stories, but at least they were memorable: Amy and Jason’s relationship. The Fellowship of the Sun. The werepanthers. Becoming a cop with Andy. His relationship with Jessica. His hunt for Warlow. I would also argue that each of these stories added something to Jason’s character, and helped him grow as a person. Alcide’s arc on the other hand.......................not so much. When I was rewatching, I had to take notes just to remember what was going on with the werewolves, and even when I was rewatching, I felt the overwhelming urge to hit the fast-forward button. That is how boring those scenes were. It says something that even Alcide wasn’t able to carry them.

TL;DR: I’m apathetic to Alcide (with a few moments where I find him unlikable), and I don’t think he was a good character. The werewolf plots were tedious at best and irritating at worst, and Alcide’s arc on the show wasn’t compelling or interesting. I don’t hate him the same way I hate characters like Bill, Hoyt, and Violet, but I don’t like him either.

#true blood #tgh opinions #alcide herveaux #debbie pelt #sookie stackhouse #jason stackhouse #happylittlepuppydog #the southern vampire mysteries

[ilooklikeaburntchickenugget]

Only Mine (Pt. 6)

A/N: We’re using Taylor songs again because we love Queen Taylor. So these are not my works (obviously) but hers. However if you’ve never heard some of these I would highly suggest you check them out because all Taylor songs are absolute bops. Pairing: Gerard Way x F!Pop Star!Reader Word count: 3,541 Warnings: Swearing, implied sex (no smut though), arguing (minor)

You found the release of Fractious to be the most ironic days of your life.

You were in the media everywhere, selling only a few thousands copies less in it’s first week than your previous record. Which you were fine with, that was somewhat of the plan.

But you were no where to be seen. Hiding out in a new house you and Gerard had bought New Jersey for just under three million dollars. But no one knew about that purchase, other than your closest family and friends. Because no one needed to know.

The suspense of it all started extremely high, as you only announced the album 12 hours prior to its drop. And the world went insane, fans jumping to Twitter to go absolutely crazy over this new persona that they had already began to love, and some had already caught onto the ‘good girl gone bad’ idea.

You released the entire tracklist only three hours before the drop, and you were already stalking fan pages who began making theories about what it meant. There were already a lot of ‘THIS ONE’S ABOUTE GERARD’ and theories already popping up about him, which made you lightly smile knowing damn well a lot of it was.

The tracklist read: Blank Space I Knew You Were Trouble Style End Game I Did Something Bad I Know Places Out Of The Woods Dancing With Our Hands Tied Don’t Blame Me Getaway Car Clean

You smiled and lightly laughed once you refreshed your phone on the couch, your face and name at the top of iTunes and various other music providers promoting your new album.

“Congrats babe.” Gerard said from where he sat next to you, giving you a kiss and squeezing your thigh, “I’m proud of you.” “Thanks Gee.” You leaned your head onto his shoulder, “I love you. So much.” “I love you more.” He smiled down.

What made it all the better was how MCR was entering into their punk era, only making your album and new persona more believable. You had to admit, Gerard’s red and shaggy hair was really hot, and you were living for it, as you had told him a million times.

And you knew how much he loved your new era. As much as he genuinely loved the real, bubbly you (which is of course why he married you) he continuously admired your new all black look, managing to wear skin tight jeans and short shorts with more crop tops than usual and leather jackets galore. And you can’t forget how many pairs of Doc Martins you had, plus Louboutin boots all for the red bottoms. You basically looked like a filthy rich home wrecker, AKA the look you were going for.

But at home and in private you were the same old Y/N, always letting your natural hair fall into its regular ways, with little to no makeup and not ashamed to wear whatever you wanted.

What seemed to put the cherry on top to this new era was the newest addition to your family, AKA a black french bulldog named Rocko the two of you got. He was a tornado of chaos who would run around the house with his dozens of toys, taunting you and Gerard with them as if to show some form of superiority that he clearly lacked. You treated him like he was a newborn baby, constantly. You bought him clothes, beds, and toys, letting him sleep with you and Gerard despite your husbands protests about how he “took up too much room”. To you, the little canine could do nothing wrong.

That was until he chewed up your favorite pair of shoes, which just oh so happened to cost multiple hundreds of dollars. Gerard was furious at his actions, complaining that there was no reason for him to do so with the countless amount of toys he already had. You were mad at first too, but after only a few seconds of the pup giving you his eyes of sympathy you forgave him and moved on as if nothing happened. Gerard was still in his state of anger though.

“Oh, look, the designs for the tour outfits came in.” You smiled from where you laid on the couch, checking emails on your laptop, Rocko at your feet sitting between you and Gerard who was reading a book. You opened up the file to be greeted with all dozen outfits, which were beyond perfect. Gerard looked over, interested in the topic. “I like that one.” You pointed to one especially scandalous duo of tiny shorts and an even smaller top that could have been easily mistaken for a bra if it wasn’t for the thicker material on the all black set with black tights. “It makes me look like a whore.” Gerard nearly spat out his coffee.

“But you’re not a whore.” “Yeah, well, my alter ego is.” You smiled. “And you made her that way.” You looked up at him from quickly, “Take that as a compliment.” “How is me turning my wife into a whore a compliment?” He asked, puzzled.

“Just take it as one.” You huffed.

“I do think you’ll look bad ass in it though,” He remarked, returning to his book.

“Awww, thanks babe.” You blushed, “Maybe I’ll ask them to make you a matching outfit.” You lightly laughed. “Haha, very funny.” He rolled his eyes.

“It sucks we’ll be touring at the same time.” You sighed, “I miss being able to see you and the guys more.” “Yeah I miss you too,” He sighed as well, “And Ray does too.” You lightly laughed.

“Ray’s coming to the first show, right?” You asked, looking up at Gerard. He nodded.

“He cleared all of his schedule to go and he’s pumped.” You smiled.

“Good.” You closed your laptop, climbing over to give Gerard a kiss, which he happily accepted and did the same back. “Somedays I wish you kissed me the way as you do Frank.” You lightly smiled, letting go as he chuckled.

“I mean, I could.” He smiled at you, running his hands through your hair, “But that’s more aggressive and in the moment. I prefer to savor the kisses I have with you, let you know how much I love you.” You smiled, lightly rolling your eyes.

“You’re so sappy sometimes, Gee.” You responded, “But I love it.”

That night, as you were going to bed, you stopped in your mirror momentarily to take a look at yourself. You had gained 25-ish pounds since your break from the spotlight, still recovering from your ED. Your doctor said that you were healthy now, but some of the fatrolls that fell on your sides and hip dips as well were starting to bother you. And your stomach still had that bit of blub that you were never very fond of.

Gerard walked past you in the bathroom, immediately getting the memo. “Am I too fat?” You turned around and asked him, his face turning to a form of ridicule.

“You’re a fucking goddess.” He said looking you up and down, “So no.”

“Are you sure Gee-” Before you could finish, he grabbed your hand and practically dragged you to bed where he pushed you down with ease beneath him, giving you a searing kiss.

“You’re fucking gorgeous and the most beautiful woman alive. If you say one more thing about you not being perfect I’m going to frame every photo of you in every inch of this damn house so you know just how incredible you are.” “Fine.” You sighed reluctantly. “Now say it with me,” He began, “I, Y/F/N Y/M/N Y/L/N-Way am perfect.” You sighed, choosing to go with it.

“I, Y/F/N Y/M/N Y/L/N-Way am perfect.” “Good girl.” He said with another quick kiss. You lightly laughed, rolling over to your side of the bed to give Gerard his. You took your hand, running your fingers through his messy hair as the two of you stared at each other.

“After these two tours, I think I want to take a break.” You admitted, saying so above a whisper. He lightly nodded. “Maybe we can start a family.” He nodded again. “And settle down.” He gave you a kiss on the nose.

“That sounds perfect.”

-Time skip because I’m lAzY-

You were on stage doing what you do best, simultaneously swaying your hips to the music and going along with some of the choreography, as if the skin tight black and sparkly body suit and above the knee black boots weren’t enough.

As usual, you would look over to your husband where he was in the VIP section and sing to him, a smile plastered on his face. You would occasionally look over to see both the approval of your family, and friends, including Ray who seemed to be having the time of his life dancing and singing the lyrics.

The show was going absolutely perfect, it was bigger than any other that you had ever done, a larger stage, larger screens, larger everything. Even a larger crowd with over 100,000 people for your first show on tour. You could hear the audience echo your lyrics, jumping up and down judging by the movements of their light up wrist bands.

You of course played a few songs off of your previous album, doing a few acoustic with just you and the crowd which were some of your favorite experiences and moments. You also did a quick speech thanking all of your loyal fans who waited for you to come back with new music, despite the long period of time where you were no where to be seen.

After the finale, you ran back with a huge smile still on your face with your team, drinking some water constantly to hydrate yourself. It only took you a few moments in the back hallways of the stadium before you saw your husband at one end, smiling at you. You smiled back, running up to him and clinging your arms around him. He hugged you back, giving you a quick kiss. “You did great.” He whispered with a huge smiled, “I’m so proud.” “Thanks.” You smiled back, giving him another kiss. The two of you walked away, arms around each other as you leaned onto him. You tried to keep PDA to a limit, especially since the documentary was actively being made and was recording everything.

Once you were back in your private dressing room where no one else was, he gave you an even bigger hug, swinging you around and you lightly squealed. “You’re just so good.” He laughed.

“Thanks.” You smiled at him, letting go to go and take off your makeup at the chair. “I just gotta meet a few fans then we can go back to the hotel.” You told him through the mirror and he nodded.

“Y/N?” You heard your assistant knock at the door. “Hey, Betty.” You smiled up at her and she smiled back.

“I assumed you would want Rocky with you.” She said, putting the small black dog and he ran up to your chair.

“Ah yes,” You smiled down at him, picking him up and giving him a bunch of kisses on his little face, “Thank you.” You told her and she nodded, “No problem.” She closed the door back. You held the small dog in your lap, finishing off your face and hair before getting up and putting him down to change into regular clothes from your stage outfit.

“Gee?” You asked and he hummed, looking up from his phone, “Could you unzip me?” You asked and he nodded, getting up to do so. Usually Gerard would pull something after that, making it less PG, but you shot him a quick glare warning him not to do anything, so he didn’t.

You quickly replaced your stage clothes with a pair of jeans and sweatshirt, turning around to see Gerard still staring at you, wide eyes. “Oh please,” you sighed at him, “We’ve been together for over eight years Gee, handle yourself.” “Sorry, it’s just really hard to.” He tried to defend himself, you rolled your eyes.

“I’ll be back soon, babe.” You smiled, giving him a peck on the lips before excusing yourself.

The meet and greet went by as always, taking about half an hour before you said bye to everyone, taking photos, and then went back to Gerard. He was still on his phone on one of the couches in the room, Rocko by his feet. “Ready to go?” He asked, looking up, and you nodded grabbing your phone and backpack.

On the way out you couldn’t stop smiling, hand in hand with Gerard going in one of the large black SUVs, you going in first, then Rocko, then Gerard. “How’re you feeling?” Your husband asked and you just smiled.

“Great,” You admitted, taking a sip from your water, “Everyone loved it.” He gave your thigh a squeeze and looked at you.

“It was definitely pretty bad ass.” He smiled and you lightly laughed.

You had walked into your suite, setting your bag and the dog down, placing him in his bed (in the living room part of the room) while Gerard grabbed him a bowl of water. You gave the dog a quick good night kiss, resorting to your own room where Gerard followed, closing the door behind you.

Almost immediately your lips were clashed together, his hands on your waist as he swiftly put you on the large plush duvet of the bed, moving down to your collarbone and neck.

“Do you want me to stop?” He asked for only a brief moment, as a double check. You shook your head violently.

“No,” You sighed out, “Please no.” He smiled down at you connecting your lips against. “Whatever you want, sugar.”

-Another time skip-

You wouldn’t have ever known if it wasn’t for the insane amount of fatigue and throwing up you were going through, only a month into tour. Initially you could’ve sworn it was just a cold turned to maybe the flu, as many of the symptoms you were having would go away within a few hours, so you were ready for show time.

But here you sat in your hotel room, curled up on the bed with Rocko next to you, your mind completely empty as you stared into the thin air, Betty had run to the nearest pharmacy. What were you going to do on tour? Fans would figure it out easily. But what would you tell Gerard?

Once Betty came back she gave you a somber, almost apologetic smile handing your the small bag. You thanked her, closing the door and going into the bathroom.

You stood over the bathroom sink, your hands gripping the granite edges for dear life as you stared down at the three tests. All positive. It took you a few minutes of staring, rocking back and forth, for everything to sink in.

This was not how you planned it, it was never supposed to go like this. You and Gerard were going to take a break, settle down, have your first child and be together all through your pregnancy. Now you were both on huge tours promoting your new work, away from home for at least the next five months. 

You could feel warm tears stream down your cheeks, a small sniffle coming from your nose as you grabbed your phone. Reluctantly, you pressed on your husband’s name, pressing the small phone icon displayed underneath it. You put your face up to the screen slowly. Only a few rings and he answered.

“Hey Y/N/N,” He said, “What’s up.” It took you a few seconds, but you immediately bursted into sobs. “Baby? What’s wrong?” He spoke up, voice with lots of concern.

“Gee,” You began, sniffing again through the sobs, “I’m um- I’m pregnant.” You said. No one spoke for the next few seconds, complete silence on both ends of the line.

“Sweetie,” He said in a light voice, a small laugh following afterwards, “That’s great!” “No, Gerard, it isn’t.” You snapped, “We had all of this planned out perfectly, no one was going to know unless we wanted them to. But no, in the beginning of a fucking world tour this has to happen.” You raised your voice, “And I get it, this is gonna be a fucking walk in the park for you because you’re not here, and you don’t have to play in front of over 50,000 people every night in body tight suits. And you’re going to be separated from your pregnant wife. Life’s probably fucking perfect for you.” You weren’t sure what had gotten into you, but whatever it was it wasn’t pretty.

“What?” He asked, “You say it like we never wanted this. Sometimes things don’t go to plan Y/N.” He snapped back.

“Well they have to in our world Gerard!” You yelled, taking a deep breath to calm yourself down, “We have our lives set out for the next six months. And this is a big deal, and something we can’t do right now.”

“So are you going to get an abortion? Are you going to put it into the adoption system?” He yelled back. You took a few moments to think.

“No.” You admitted, barely above a whisper, “Gee, I’m sorry.” You began sobbing again, your sad feeling taking over any angry one.

“No, sugar, I am.” He clarified with a sigh, “You’re going through a lot and I should be supporting you, not arguing.” “Well I kinda started it.” “And I shouldn’t have continued it.” He responded. “Honey, we’ll figure this out.” He insisted, “We’ll talk to your tour manager and everyone who needs to know, we’ll figure something out. Some way to hide it.” “Okay.” You said somberly.

“Give me a few minutes,” He said, “I’m going to figure out a way to get to you.” “Gee, you’re booked for the next fews months on tour.” “And so are you, but you’re also carrying our child right now.” He spoke back, “We’re going to figure it out, okay? We’re going to have a kid, and start a family, maybe a little off track from what we intended, but this is what we’ve wanted, right?” You nodded despite him not seeing you.

“Yeah, of course.” You calmed down. “This is what we’ve wanted.”

It took a full week for a plan to be made. A week of unnecessary stress and anxiety for everyone on your team who was high enough on the roster to know about the pregnancy. Not even your families or friends knew, everything right now was business.

Gerard managed to fly in during a three day break the band had, consoling your emotions during the time as you two began to discuss personal plans. There was a lot of crying, both tears of sadness and joy, as you two began to discuss where you would live most of the time, which room the baby would take, how to even handle a child.

You already knew the baby’s name, which could go for either a boy or girl: Shiloh Monet Way. You were still very unsure about planning to have a baby, but since your tour would end when the third trimester began, you would have at least a few months to plan and figure out everything.

Gerard had already talked to the guys and their managers about pushing back some of the dates so there was a month break for him to be home around the baby’s due date. At the very least he wanted to be with you while giving birth, but he also wanted to help both you and the baby recover.

New outfits and plans to completely hide your pregnancy were already in the working with your teams. It was like a completely undercover operation to keep both you and your child’s privacy to a fine tune. And of course. Gerard and the guys promised to not say anything at all, even a hint towards you being pregnant wouldn’t be dropped.

“I say we wait to tell our families and friends,” You admitted to your husband, the two of you on the hotel bed getting ready to go to a sound check. “Just in case anything happens. I mean, we have to tell our teams and the guys and stuff, which we did, but no one else.” He nodded.

“Just not for too long,” He said, “Or at least once we know that baby’s developing fine.” You nodded and sighed.

“I was hoping having our first child together wouldn’t be this stressful.” You admitted, almost shamefully in a way.

“It’s okay, sugar.” He put his hand on your thigh and gave it a light squeeze. “We’re going to make the best of it, okay? You have a little less than five months left on your tour and then I get to take a break. This’ll work out just fine.” You nodded, placing your head on his shoulder as you knew he was right.

“You make everything better, Gee.” You said, playing with his hand as he placed a kiss on the top of your head.

“I’ll do it for you, sweetheart.”

#gerard way #my chemical romance #gerard way x reader #mcr gerard #my chem #my chemical gee #my chemical gerard #my chemical romance x reader #gerard way fanfiction #mcr

[loridrabbles]

Mercy | Echo x Jedi!Reader

Warnings: Angsty as hell, sad as fuck. Blood and violence.

     (Y/n) couldn’t remember a time when her heart didn’t flutter when thinking about Echo. As a Jedi, of course, she wasn’t supposed to have these feelings, but her late Master Qui-Gon reminded her that feelings could be healthy and controlled. During her first few missions with the 501st, all she could do was stare at him across the room. As soon as her eyes would cross his, she’d look away or pretend she was looking at something behind him. She didn’t know it, but whenever his helmet was covering his face, he’d be staring just the same. 

     She expected her heart to jump to her chest when he decided to talk to her alone one day, but after meditating on Qui-Gon’s teaching for hours upon hours, she restrained herself. Yes, her heart was pounding and her breathing was quick and heavy, but she wasn’t distracted.

       "I know I shouldn’t be talking to you alone like this,“ Echo said to her one day after everyone else had left the meeting room. “And it’s against every regulation, but the books never said there’s anything wrong with flirting.”

      “Do the books say anything about a top-secret briefing with a Jedi Commander?” She asked, gazing into his eyes, twirling a piece of her (h/c) hair around her finger.

     "I don’t believe they do.“ He said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "And where would this meeting take place?”

     "In a private study room in the library as the base of the Jedi temple. The one that’s open to the public. I could really use some help understanding a few…“ She placed her hand on his cheek and ran her finger down his face to trace his jawline. "Protocols…" 

     "I’ll make sure to bring my manuals.” He purred.

     That’s one thing she always loved about him. He knew right from wrong and the risks of disobeying what had been put in place, but knew how to work his way around things that were unnecessarily ridiculous. She also knew he would never let her take things too far unless she really wanted to.  If she’d ask him to do something that would for sure get her kicked out of The Order, he wouldn’t let her unless she had been begging for weeks.

     "I know the consequences.“ She panted, straddling him as he sat on a cushion on the floor of the library where they met several times a week. Her fingers danced around the plating of his armor, trying to remove any piece she could. "Please…no one will know.”

     "You’ll be in serious trouble, my dear.“ He said cupping her face in his hands.

     "I’ll leave.” She said, turning her head to kiss the palm of his hand. “I just want to be with you.”

     "And make me a deserter? I couldn’t.“ He said. She brought her lips to his, giving him a quick peck on the lips, before resting her forehead against his.

     "Is there anything in the book about a classified stealth mission, where both the Commander and her Corporal lose their lives?”

     "Yes, it’s called a level 4 recovery mission that wouldn’t stop till they found our bodies.“ He snickered playfully, kissing her cheek.

     "I hate your books.” She said, leaning into him, her arms around him.

     He took a deep breath and closed, enjoying the closeness and placed kisses on her temple as he ran his fingers through her hair. His eyes opened when he heard a snap.

     "Haha! Got it!.“ She said victoriously as she removed his pauldron.

     "Hey!” He said, watching as she tossed it to the side. “You know how much trouble you’ll get in to. I know you want this, but-”

     "I do want this.“ She leaned forward, kissing him again.

     "But, you’re not thinking with your head right now.” He said, trailing his hand from her shoulder to her stomach. He moved forward to sit up, sliding her off his lap, and stood. He reached for his pauldron and returned it to its rightful spot over his shoulder.

     "Echo.“ She whined, standing up as well. He cupped her face with his hands and kissed her gently.

     "Think about it.” He said.

     "But I have th-“

     "Meditate on it.” He cut her off, his voice strict, but soft. “Give it some time. I don’t want you to make a decision before you’re ready to deal with the consequences. I’ve got to get going." 

     "Ok…” She said, disappointed, but glad he was looking out for her wellbeing.

     "I love you.“ He said, looking over his shoulder as he stood at the door.

     "I love you too.” She smiled.

     She had done as he asked and meditated on it for a while, thinking about what Qui-Gon would tell her to do in the situation. He didn’t think intimacy should be against the Jedi code, but just like feelings, it should be enjoyed in controlled moderation. She was glad she waited. Assisting a stressed-out soldier in her meditation room for one-on-one learning made for a much more romantic time than the floor of the library.

     She wasn’t supposed to join the 501st and 212th on their mission to the Citadel, but when Master Plo pulled her aside and asked her to go to keep an eye on Ahsoka, she happily joined. She had always been able to cope with loss before. It was difficult, but over the years, it became easier and easier. Her heart wrenched every time a clone fell beside her, but she no longer froze in place and learned to grieve later.

     No amount of meditation or experience could have prepared her for watching her dearest Echo turned to ash and bone in a fiery blaze before her. It had been years since she froze, but her legs were iron and weights of grief were shackled around her waist. She could hear Fives and Rex screaming for her to move, but it wasn’t until one of them grabbed her by her wrist and dragged her that came to her senses and ran. 

     She’d never felt this sort of bereavement before. She felt empty and numb and the world around her was dull. Getting out of bed in the morning was pointless, but it had to be done. It took her a great amount of effort to swing her legs over the edge of the bed. Feeling the cold floor on her feet sent the shock through her system that she needed to snap out of it and join the others. This went on for months. One day, she just couldn’t take the first step to move forward so she sat there, motionless, on the edge of her bed. No one ever knocked on her door, so when she heard a rhythmic rapping, it sparked her interest.

     "Who is it? Come in.“ She called, still unmoving.

     "Commander (Y/n).” It was Rex, panting, a bead of sweat on his brow. 

     "Rex? What is it? Calm down.“ She said, getting up and grabbing him by the wrist, placing a hand on his heaving chest. She led him to a seat and waited for him to talk.

     "Echo…I know you are going to think I’m insane. Cody did, but you have to believe me.” He tried to catch his breath. “The algorithm Echo and I came up with. The separatists are using it and…I thought maybe there was a chance he could be alive." 

     She scowled.

     "Stop it, Rex.” She said, dropping his hand from hers.

     "No. Listen.“ He said. "I didn’t even believe it myself, but-”

     "I said enough! He’s gone!“ She said, on the verge of tears.

     "I…I’m sorry, Commander.” He said, his voice calm and quiet. “But…please allow me to finish.”

     She crossed her arms, scowl still across her face as she stared at the floor. She ground her teeth as she heard him sigh.

     "He told me how close you were.“ He said quietly. 

     "He did?” She asked, her face softening.

     "Yes. We told each other everything.“ He said. "Will you please let me finish?”

     "Go ahead.“ She whispered after her voice hitched in her throat.

     "I myself didn’t believe he could be alive, but after our raid on a separatists base, I know he is. I heard him speak. I know it was him.”

     "H-how do you…“

     "I don’t know, but we’re headed to the source of the signal now. Please come with us.” He begged. She looked at him for a short moment, thinking it over and nodded.

     ”(Y/n), get in here!“ Rex called. She looked in the direction of his voice as she continued to deflect blaster bolts with her lightsaber.

     "Go on, commander. We’ve got this.” Wrecker said. (Y/n) jogged to the room and shut the door behind her. 

     Rex knelt on the floor beside Echo. He was thin, pale, hooked up to all sorts of sensors and machinery. He spasmed and twitched as Rex tried to communicate with him. He mumbled incoherently and his eyes looked empty and soulless. (Y/n) rushed to him, kneeling beside him placing a hand on his cheek, warming his skin with her touch. 

     "Echo.“ She whispered, tears pricking her eyes.

     "Tech, how is he?” Rex asked, standing up.

     "He’s…not all there.“ He said solemnly. He pointed to his datapad. “You can see here what’s been done to his brain. It’s like he’s only able to function properly if a certain signal is transmitted from the control center. He’s awake and conscious of what’s happening around him, but he can’t react to it. I can’t imagine the pain…and agony.” He said.

     "Is there anything we can do?“ (Y/n) asked, holding his trembling hand.

     "Unfortunately, no.” He said, shaking his head. “If we disconnect him he’ll die. But it’ll be slow…and horrible. We could quickly reprogram him somewhat, but he’ll never be the same. I’ll go and help the others. I’ll leave you two to decide what we’re going to do.”

     "Ok, Tech.“ Rex said. "Thank you.”

     Rex turned back to (Y/n) who had her arms wrapped tightly around the frail shadow of her lover, sobbing over his shoulder.

     "I’m so sorry, love.“ She cried, caressing his cheek, looking into his empty eyes. Looking for something, anything. She spoke through her sniffles and hiccups. "I should have sensed you were ok. I shouldn’t have left you behind. Please, I know you’re in there. Just talk to me. Give me anything.”

     She cried, placing a kiss on his lips, then several all over his face.

     ”(Y/n).“ She heard him whisper. She looked at him, hopefully. For a moment, he stopped trembling, his breathing slowed, and the color returned to his eyes. 

     "Yes. It’s me, love. I’m here.” She cried, placing another kiss on this lips, this time, getting a little something back. She rested her head against his forehead, listening for the faintest whisper.

     "Please…“ Echo struggled to speak. “E…end it…end.” He gasped. “The citadel. We have to get out of the Citadel. The shuttle…it’s.”

     And just like that, he was gone again. She cried, hugging him close to her, his head nuzzled into her chest.

     ”(Y/n)?“ Rex spoke softly. She turned her head to face him, blinking away some tears. She looked at his hip, then up at him, holding out her hand. He removed his blaster from the holster and placed it in her outstretched hand.

     "I know what I have to do, but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it.” She said. 

     "It’s ok, (Y/n).“ He said, placing a hand on her shoulder, kneeling down to kiss the top of her head, then Echo’s cheek. He tried to keep his voice from shaking and was successful, but couldn’t keep the tears from falling down his face. “It’s what’s best.” He stood and took a step back, looking straight ahead, his eyes fixated on the empty chamber, unable to watch.

     "I’m so sorry, Echo. I love you so much.“ She said, giving him one last kiss on the top of his head as she brought the blaster to his temple. She squeezed her eyes shut, as she pulled the trigger. The sound rang loudly in her ears as he slumped against her chest. When the ringing faded, the room was quiet. Rex silently walked to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

     "We should go.” He said. She stood, laying Echo out on the floor, the necklace he had given her clutched in his left hand as it lay on his chest. She tore a small piece of fabric from her cloak, brought it to her lips and kissed it, before covering his face with it. 

     "I love you.“ She whispered one last time as she stood to leave with Rex. As they stepped through the door, he gave her hand a squeeze.

      The ride on the transport was rowdy as usual with the bat batch aboard, but Rex and (Y/n) sat silently side by side. (Y/n) fiddled with her fingers and Rex sat with his elbows on his knees, hands folded in front of him.

     "Did I do the right thing?” She said. Rex took a deep, quiet breath and looked at her.

     "I would have done the same.“ He said, taking one of her hands. "I’m sorry you had to make that decision, (y/n).”

     "I couldn’t leave him in the hands of those bastards.“ She said.

     The two of them were silent for a moment.

     "I could feel it.” She said. “Like he was trying to tell me it was ok. Like…like he wanted me to…” She couldn’t help but start sobbing uncontrollably. “Did I do the right thing! Tell me I did the right thing, Rex! Please!" 

     Rex put his arm around her, pulling her close, shushing her gently.

     "You did the right thing, (y/n).” Rex tried his best to calm her down, but her erratic screaming and crying alerted the attention of the rest of the ship. As she looked down to her lap, she noticed the crimson red stains covering her chest and the spatters on her arms. “Get it off me!” She screamed. “It…it’s not my blood! It’s not my blood!”

     Tech stepped forward, a daunting looking needle in his hand and injected whatever it was into her neck. She slumped over onto Rex and her crying and panting became slow, steady breaths.

     "That should help her calm down.“ He said. "I…can’t imagine what she’s feeling right now, but she’ll be ok. Why don’t we all head to the front of the ship and give her some quiet time.”

     Rex stood, gently positioning her to lay on the bench as he walked to the door. Crosshair stood there, staring at (y/n) with a blank face, then to Rex. Remembering his comments, Rex furrowed his brow, upper lip raising ever so slightly.

     "What?“ He asked, almost spitting out his words. Crosshair sighed and looked back to (y/n).

     "I’m sorry.” He said putting a hand on his shoulder. “About everything.”

     "Thank you.“ Rex said, after a bit of silence. 

     "I’ll…make sure to apologize to her too when she comes around." 

     "Give it a few days.” Rex said. “But, I think she’d like to hear it and she’ll need all the support she can get.”

#the clone wars #echo #clone trooper echo x reader #echo x reader #arc trooper echo #crosshair #captain rex #jedi #jedi reader #echo x jedi reader