#i know its not actually clones but the argument is the first one i thought of so

[mistbornthief]

always knew klaus would be pro-clone fucking but its nice to see it confirmed on screen

#i know its not actually clones but the argument is the first one i thought of so #the umbrella academy #tua #'what is wrong with you two' i died

[lucabyte]

obligatory ramble about postcanon loop ask

also your art is amazing

Hiiiiiiiii :D thank you :)!!

and thank you for the excuse to post the. just absolute wall of text that i truncated down to form the tags of that post. (i did,,, hit the tag limit. i forgot tumblr had one of those...) so let me just paste that and tidy it up a bit...

I am putting this under a readmore because it's a bit long. but:

This is like. The General Context for all* of my postcanon doodles? (Except AUs obviously) Like this is the base idea I've been drawing them all in. So, feel free to backread with this in mind. I've basically had this 'postcanon' timeline set in my brain since finishing the game...

My general thoughts are that I like the idea of Loop (even if through dubiously ethical means) being able to slowly reintegrate with the party as a whole new person, because they are, in fact, their own person.

It's a muddle of thematic threads im pulling on and "wouldn't it be fucked up if", but. (at its core, it's powered by the fact that like, while narratively isat's theme of 'the only person who can truly take the first step to help you is yourself'. (wrt: loop helping the party help siffrin in act 5) which i LOVE AND IS GREAT NARRATIVELY…. would be super fucked up irl to learn that your friend 'learned as a lesson' while you stood by kinda uselessly. I know i'd be upset about it. but thats mostly background here. doesn't really come up. at least not until loop has to explain who they are and the party realises they had to fall back on literally themselves again for help, but i digress,)

The real core concept is: Occam's razor. It is like, inherently, a buckwild thing to accuse a person of being somehow a clone or copy of your friend. Even if they start vaguely alluding to a backstory it's far more likely they were some other person before all that. (I still think Odile has that theory in the back pocket but she's rational enough to know it's a really long shot without a solid explanation. and i think Loop deep down knows this, and would, if cornered into confessing, turn the situation around to go J'ACCUSE and make HER explain it instead. Ever longer dodging being direct with their emotions...)

And the party are nice! And if someone has changed and wants to keep stuff secret it's kind of not their business? (Though it's hard not to speculate… see: the main joke of the doodles) And they seem important to Siffrin so they just try to accept them abrasive quirks and all. And eventually the question of their prior identity just fades away since, well, they're Loop. Their friend Loop.

but yeah. personal headcanon is that a few months/weeks after picking up and getting aquainted with Nille** (since that was presumably the IMMEDIATE TASK postgame), Loop reappears (either after a literal period of nonexistance, or just spending a few months wandering the french countryside alone being attacked by wild dogs). Since Siffrin has had a while to be therapised by the party they're doing mostly okay, but Loop showing up and still being agitated/aggressive pulls them both into a bit of a backslide behaviourally and puts the party on the back foot again.

Hooowever, I do think that due to no longer being literally stewing in the worst pressure cooker of all time together, the two do mostly actually sort themselves out with productive conversation. (Via a cycle of: genuinely distressing argument -> weeeird lovebombing -> ok we're good -> repeat, that gets less intense over time)

Thus, allowing the party to just. Integrate loop as a new person. They and Siffrin shuffle into different ecological niches (Loop taking over stuff Siffrin is now too squeamish for, etc (see: hunting, mostly)), and while it's not exactly what Loop wanted they generally get that beggars can't be choosers and it's a pretty good deal. And the rest of the party does straight up just like them as a friend, especially when Loop quits trying to actively antagonise them after a few weeks of being around them, since they just can't keep up being mean to people they like forever.

As for how I think the truth eventually drags itself out. This is where I invoke The Isabeau Torment Nexus™. So its gonna get shippy here for a bit hold on.

Which is, I think giving them time before Loop reappears long enough that Siffrin and Iseabeau actually manage to become established, Isabeau has to be the one to nudge the pair of them and go. "Hey. You know we're in Vaugarde right. I'm okay with polyamory if we all communicate." Before Loop and Siffrin actually even acknowledge that whatever the fuck they have going on kinda looks a lot like a relationship of some kind. (or have already been agonising about that via fighting and arguing, depending) (Obviously this comes after Isa "Emotionally intelligent enough to keep a lid on the jealousy" Beau has managed to use that big brain of his to Not just go Scream somewhere on the daily because oh godddd they keep talking like theyre suicide-baiting each other jesus chriiist. is it overstepping his boundaries to bring that up?? god)

This, taking a bunch of the tension out of Loop and Isabeau's relationship (Since I imagine Loop is a. being weird for the obvious reasons and b. feeling kinda guilty about 'getting in the way of' Siffrin and Iseabeau), allows them to actually get close in a normal friend way. (I think an interesting turning point could be Isabeau actually taking Loop's side in an argument vs Siffrin, which would absolutely break Loop's brain. Especially if it's an argument that matters. Like what do you mean he isn't just going to play favourites. What?)

Then Isabeau, just actually open minded and charmed by Loop (and maybe even somewhat at Siffrin's suggestion?) tries to close the final open side on the polyamory triangle here and that's the final straw for Loop on "This lie by omission is too unethical to keep up, this is just actually sick and wrong. I can't do this while he doesn't know who I am." Though. Obviously it probably goes. Very poorly with emotions high like that. And the added element of several months of deceit. Getting dark here for a second but that dagger is going MISSING and so are THEY for a hot minute.

Then yaaay everything works out in the end 👍 yippieee!! all it took was maybe a lot of harrowed recontextualisation of all the weird shit your new friend said and did when it turns out they're your old friend. It's fine.

But yeah. this is basically the context all of my postcanon doodles have existed within? And those exist to give other people something to chew on. So this does too.

I suppose TL;DR: Imagine if sloopis almost fucking happens before isabeau knows who loop is. can you fucking imagine. can you imagine having to navigate that. nightmare.

*Yes this includes the implied cannibalism comic. Uhh. Comes part and parcel with headcanoning that Loop went way off the deep end similar to A5 Sif But Maybe Worse before giving in. Add weepy half-asleep confessions to murder wherever you see fit in your mind palace. 👍👍👍

**Re: Nille footnote. I don't have anywhere to put this besides here! I have some thoughts on Loop and Nille having an odd dynamic. I don't imagine Nille to be super gung-ho on trusting a bunch of adults (even if they are majority around her age) given their implied backstory. It's probably a big shock to the system, especially since Bambouche is a good couple hundred Kilometers up north from Dormont and these guys don't seem to have trains. She would've been unfrozen and without Bonnie for some time....

Which is to say: I think she's suspicious of them. I think she may be looking for excuses to distance herself, keep Bonnie safe. SO.... A new guy showing up? And antagonising the party? What do they know that I don't...? I should find out.

And since... Loop didn't ever know Nille, they have no ammunition or real reason to be cruel. Plus, if they're trying to stay on Bonnie's good side (SINCE... if Bonnie thought Loop was cringe they may as well kill themselves. In their mind.) they SUPER have no reason to antagonise Nille.

Mostly, they might be able to open up to each other easier than they can the rest of the party?

I feel like this resolves with Loop feeling compelled to apologise for what they and Siffrin let happen to Bonnie, though... Hmm... Depends on how you interpret Nille that they'd be glad nobody else had been told about that yet, or furious it had been secret this long. I lean toward the former.

#PHEW THIS IS LONG. i wrote some extra footnotes and tidied it up a bit. but uh. here you go! my personal headcanon baseline for postcanon. #i could probably elaborate more but that would get unwieldy. like i have opinions on loop's dynamics w each party member but. LONG POST... #lucabytetalks #isat #isat spoilers #in stars and time #isat loop #isiloop #sloopis #WONT be tagging everyone thats absurd. loop centric post though with a chunk about nille at the end #isat act 6 spoilers

[goosewriting]

One too many (Captain Rex x reader)

summary: set right after the bad batch s2 finale, reader feels like they’ve lost too much

relationship: Rex x GN reader

warnings: tbb season 2 spoilers, mention of character deaths, so much angst, reader dissociating, verbal argument, saying things to each other that you don’t actually mean, making up after a fight

word count: 2.8k

A/N: the tbb season 2 finale left a very bitter taste in my mouth so i had to do something about it. i made myself cry with this one and you shall too. bon appetit :)

big thanks to @snippy-tano for helping me out with this one!<3

(english is not my first language. constructive criticism and grammar corrections are very appreciated!)

— — —

“We’re going to get her back,” Hunter says firmly. “And we don’t stop searching until we do.”

Even though the rest of the crew is silent, he knows everyone feels the same.

“We need to regroup and resupply to make a plan,” Echo suggests after a moment. “I know a place.”

“Where?”

Echo turns to the navigation panel and enters the coordinates. The system beeps as it calculates the next possible hyperspace route. 

“That’s Rex’s hideout,” the clone explains. 

Once the jump is possible, Hunter pushes the lever, and the endless sky of stars before you blurs as you make the jump. 

Everyone on the ship is silent as you process what happened, and think about how to proceed from here on out. Wrecker is hugging Lula to his chest with silent sniffles, Hunter sits in the captain's chair with his arms crossed and eyes closed, trying to collect his thoughts.

The only thing you can hear is the steady hum of the ship travelling through hyperspace surrounding you. Echo and you are sitting behind Hunter, your chairs facing each other. The moving lights outside reflect on his pale face, creating a swirl of whites and blues. But you don't see it, as your gaze is fixed on the floor before you. You can feel Echo’s eyes on you though, yet you're unable to meet them. Your brain seems to simultaneously be going at a thousand miles an hour and have stopped entirely. You're not even sure if you're breathing anymore.

Echo places a gentle hand on your knee, but you don't react at all. In fact you don't even feel it. The ship, its sounds, everyone on board; you see them moving further and further away from you, shrinking into the distance, until you're left in the void. Everything is black and cold, inviting you to sink deeper into nothingness, and you can't tell if you're there as well or if you're long gone.

After a while, or maybe immediately (you don't seem to have a grasp on time right now), you hear your name being called very faintly, from really far away. You block it out, not ready to leave this hidden corner of your brain just yet where you don't have to come to terms with, well, anything.

But your consciousness is rattled awake by a hand shaking your shoulder. You can feel yourself coming back the whole distance you had gone back before, at an ungodly speed, and within a split second you're back on the Marauder. 

A wave of nausea crashes over you like a bucket of cold water. You lean forwards, suppressing a gag, your arms clutching over your stomach. You look up, eyes still unfocused and detached, and are met with Echo’s worried gaze.

“You okay?” he asks, concern very clear in his voice. “Not sure where you went there.”

His hands come to hold yours on your lap; you're trembling. Unable to form a response, you merely nod your head at him. Echo studies your face for a moment, and just as he’s about to say something else, Hunter speaks first. 

“We’re here,” he announces. 

The Marauder comes out of hyperspace, and you hear a voice through the ship’s comms asking for identification. A voice you've heard a thousand times in several dozen different people. A voice you've come to love, and lately despise, all at the same time. A voice that for you, held memories as well as burdens. A voice you sometimes wished you could forget. 

The ship wobbles when the tractor beam starts pulling you in, and Hunter leaves his post to gather some equipment.

“Get ready,” he orders, taking Echo to the back of the ship to discuss something. You also get up and walk straight to the door. The Marauder barely even landed before you open the hatch and jump out, taking a deep breath of the filtered air.

You turn around to see Hunter, Echo and Wrecker stepping out of the ship. The realisation hits you that they are the only ones now left of the Batch, and the thought makes you sick to your stomach again. You feel like gravity just grew tenfold, and lean with one hand onto your knee, trying to keep your balance, while your other hand comes up to wipe over your face in frustration. Taking deep breaths, you somewhat regain what little composure you have left, and straighten back up. 

This base is well hidden, small enough to not get any unwanted attention, but big enough to accommodate the ever growing group of clones that decide to stay after being rescued by Rex and his network from whatever imperial prison they were about to be forgotten in otherwise. 

A group of clones, a greeting party, approaches the Marauder, and you immediately spot Rex among them. You know you should be happy to see him. You are happy to see him. Yet you can’t help the despair still seething within you, given recent events. A despair that is slowly turning into rage and something else. 

The former captain of the 501st approaches you with hasty steps, reaching out to embrace you in a loving hug, but you take a step back, lifting your hands defensively as if you’re about to shove him away if he gets closer. 

“Wha–” is all he manages to say, disappointment and concern clear in his face. Your gaze falls to the ground, your face contorting into a grimace, as you’re feeling too much all at once right now. Rex throws a look over your shoulder to Echo, who is now standing a couple of steps behind you, but the pale clone can’t do much to comfort his brother. He merely shrugs with an apologetic, maybe even sad look, making Rex understand that whatever you’re going through, you need some time to process it. Rex doesn’t need to make a head count either to have an idea of what might have you so upset.

Seeing the hurt in Rex’s eyes at your rejection makes you feel even worse. But you know that if you talk now, you will say something you’ll regret, or burst into tears, or throw up. Maybe all of those, not necessarily in that order. So you hug yourself and push past Rex, quickly making your way inside. You navigate the labyrinth of corridors without a problem; you’ve been calling this place ‘home’ for a couple of months now after all. 

You had been the civilian attachment for the 501st for several years. Even back then, you knew there was something between you and Rex. It was only after the Republic fell and you ran that you regretted never telling him how you felt. But luckily the clone went looking for you, as he felt the same way, and you’ve been with him and his group ever since. Every now and then you’d go on missions with the Bad Batch to lend a hand, as had been the case with this last one. Except that now everything has changed. We were so good, you think bitterly, How could everything go so wrong?

With another shaky breath you finally arrive at your and Rex’s shared room. You punch in the code for the door, but it beeps and the light blinks red. You groan, ignoring the looks of two clones passing by, and press the buttons again, more forcefully this time. Again, red light. Now you can feel your whole body trembling, and the tears are stinging behind your eyes. You tilt your head backwards in an attempt to blink them away. A figure appears next to you, and you catch Rex’s blonde hair in the corner of your eye. He reaches out to the panel and punches in the numbers. As far as you can tell it’s the same code you just used, but the light blinks green this time and, with a hydraulic hiss, the door slides open. You give a very dry chuckle, directed at the keypad, and step inside. 

With what you feel to be the last remnants of your strength, you make your way to the couch, discarding your jacket, holster and weapons on the way, letting everything fall to the floor without regard. Rex closes the door, and the moment your body makes contact with the cushions, a violent sob runs through your body, making you tremble. 

Rex comes to sit next to you, hesitantly placing an arm over your shoulders.

“You wanna talk about it?” he asks gently. 

Now your sobs, tears and cries come freely, and your arms clutch tighter around yourself. You look up at Rex, and the room starts spinning. You see his face, and naturally, you’re seeing all their faces. 

You can see and hear them so clearly in your mind’s eye, standing behind Rex, laughing and joking without a care in the world. Then, one by one, their faces get crossed out with an aggressive red, and their bodies fall limp, dissolving into dust carried away in the wind. 

“I can’t do this anymore,” you finally choke out as another sob rattles through your body.

“What do you mean?” Rex asks earnestly. He sees how badly your hands are shaking and removes his arm from behind you to take your hands in his; they’re icy cold. You hold on for dear life. 

“Every time you sent me with the guys to some random planet, I went. We would be out there, risking our neck for whatever pay we could get. And I never complained,” you start retelling and sniffle. “When this whole… thing started, the conspiracy, the guys leaving Cid, I could feel something was gonna go awry but I- I didn’t say or do anything, and now they–”

Another sob, accompanied by a sound somewhere between a pained cry and a furious scream. One of your hands leaves Rex’s warm one to clutch the fabric of your shirt over your chest in a vain attempt to ease the pain in your heart. 

“I refuse,” you croak, looking Rex in the eyes with uncharacteristic anger. “I’m not going anywhere anymore Rex. I just can’t. It’s always been one too many losses, but this is the last straw. I’m about to lose it.”

“Take a breath and start at the beginning,” he tries calming you down to have you retell what exactly went down, but you groan in frustration. Tears continue to roll down your cheeks incessantly. 

“I can’t lose anyone else, Rex,” you cry, and start counting on your fingers. “Echo. Hardcase. Fives. I mourned them all. Then Echo came back a shell of the man he once was, everything goes to hell, and there’s a carnage between clones and the Jedi. The 501st, Cody, Wolffe, they’re all gone and- and then Crosshair stabs us in the back, and now Tech, he–”

Hunter ordered Wrecker to get Tech up into the car, which was barely hanging on, but with every step he took, the car creaked and hung just a little lower, threatening to break off the cable entirely, sending you all into the abyss below. 

You stood next to Omega, holding her so she didn’t fall when Wrecker dared one more step forward. You heard Tech through your comms, urging you to sever the connection hinge. But that would mean the other car, where Tech was attached, would fall off. You shook your head, your brain going at a thousand miles an hour trying to come up with a way to get him back up. The car shook once more as imperial troopers were trying to shoot you all down.

“There is no time, Wrecker,” Tech said with a calmness in his voice that had your thoughts stop abruptly and focus on him; you didn’t like his tone at all. 

“Plan 99.”

The blood froze in your veins.

“Don’t do it, Tech!” Wrecker pleaded with his brother. 

“When have we ever followed orders,” Tech asked rhetorically as he took his gun into his hand, then pulled off an incredibly precise shot which successfully broke the hinge.

Somewhere in the back of your mind you registered Wrecker and Omega’s yells, but all you could see was Tech falling to his death in slow-motion.

After that, everything was a blur: the car you were in launching forward on the cable, breaking through the building. Picking up an unconscious Omega to get to the ship. Flying back to Ord Mantell. Cid having sold them out. Omega being abducted.

“Tech sacrificed himself so we could escape, but the Empire took Omega,” you finish after remembering all that happened, and you shudder. “I can’t do this anymore. Please, let’s just… stop.” 

You look up at Rex with tired, pleading eyes. You don’t think you have tears left to cry. Rex’s expression changes, and is now unreadable.

“What do you mean ‘stop’?” he asks. 

“Everything,” you scoff; you thought he would understand. “This little clone saviour game you’re playing. Fighting against the Empire. Let’s just go somewhere really really far away and forget all of this.”

“Clone saviour game?!” Rex is clearly taken aback by your words and leans back slightly in his seat. “Are you listening to yourself? I will not stop and hide.”

Your hand reaches out to his, but he stands up, now standing in front of you.

“We keep fighting for those who got taken away from us on the way, and for everyone that will come after we’re long gone.” He shakes his head at you in disbelief, and grabs your shoulder, perhaps a little too harshly, giving it a squeeze to underline his words. “Everything we’ve done. Everyone we’ve lost. It can’t be for nothing. I won’t let it be for nothing. So please, don’t ask me to give up.”

Your nose scrunches up in rage, and you shake yourself free of his hold, standing up as well.

“Well I’m not genetically programmed like you to be okay with all of this!” you yell at him as you poke him in the chest.

“I’m not ‘okay’ with it!” he retorts firmly, smacking away your hand. “They were my brothers, not yours! At least you were born into a real family; they were the closest thing to a family I’ve ever had.” Rex’s brows are furrowed deeply, he brings down his tone but still speaks with venom lacing his voice. “So you lost a couple of friends throughout the years. I almost lost my whole battalion on Umbara in a single mission, or did you forget about that?”

“Of course not,” you reply, about to add something but he’s quicker. You can see the tears starting to gather in his eyes too.

“Fives died in my arms,” he says and his voice cracks slightly. “As many others did. Do you think my ‘programming’ stops me from feeling all of that pain? Do you think it gets easier for us the more brothers we lose?”

The world comes to a halt around you, the air leaves your lungs and you feel yourself shrinking as he towers over you. Everything you said was true but you chose the truly worst possible words to express what you’re feeling, and you’re already regretting it immensely. 

“Do you?!” Rex angrily asks, louder this time, as you didn’t answer. 

“No, of course not!” Your hands shoot up to cover your face, and you collapse back on the couch, now wailing. 

Rex stays where he stands for a moment, looking at your trembling form. He then groans, frustrated with himself more than with you, and sighs deeply. Taking a seat next to you, his arms find themselves around you and he hugs you tightly. This time you accept the gesture and bury your face into his chest, with no regard of the tears and probably snot you’ll stain his shirt with. Your arms go around his torso, fisting the fabric on his back, pulling him as close as you can. 

“You know I mourned them too,” Rex softly says after a while, his head on top of yours. Your sobs start subsiding. “Fives, Hardcase, Jesse, the guys. We mourned them together.” 

“I remember,” you say with a sniffle. “I don’t know why I said it like that, I- I’m sorry what I said about the programming thing, Rex.”

“I’m sorry, too,” he apologises and gives the top of your head a kiss. “And I’m sorry about today.”

Pulling back enough to look him in the eyes, you wipe over your face with the back of your sleeve. 

“I’m serious, though, about not going on missions anymore,” you repeat, searching his face for any signs of refusal, but you only find understanding. “From now on I’m sticking to your side. Let’s stay put for a while. Please.”

Rex leans in to place a gentle kiss to your cheek and pulls you back to him. 

“Okay,” he says. “We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

— — —

A/N: i actually looked up dialogue punctuation rules for this one because google docs kept telling me i did it wrong lol let me know if the flow is different/better :’) 

#goose feathers #sw clone wars #the clone wars #clone trooper x reader #star wars clone wars #rex x reader #captain rex x reader #clone trooper rex x reader #sw rex x reader #star wars x reader

[holodaxy]

Okay so stay with me as I've been having thought...mostly Hawk and Thrush Thoughts...sort of...

Is there a fic (and there isn’t because I’m about to get oddly specific – maybe this is more of a cry to write this because I won’t) where somebody has inadvertently gotten close to Beta (on purpose seems a bit cruel and horrible) as an Aloy replacement?

In my head it’s Talanah – in some way this seems wrong and a touch out of character, but you know those oddly specific details? Well yeah, she works for those oddly specific details so stick with me here…

So Talanah crosses paths with Erend and naturally they get on about Aloy and he mentions that she’s spending a lot of time helping reunite the Quen Fleet and rather innocently makes a joke about how Aloy is more interested in spending time with a Quen Marine than reuniting the fleet (because of course the GAIA Gang have been gossiping about Aloy and Seyka – not to mention they’ve got an inside source! Alva is right there!) Talanah isn’t impressed by this information, though doesn’t know why (Erend has a good idea, but he’s already opened his big mouth once so he’s not doing that again).

How Talanah makes her way to the base I’m not sure (I can’t work it all out!) and cue an awkward first meeting with Beta because of course Aloy didn’t mention that there’s this anxious identical ‘twin’ wandering around. So Talanah is about to leave (because this wasn’t on her ‘Life with Aloy’ bingo card) when she discovers Beta doesn’t know how to use any weapons and really, how could Aloy be so careless as to leave her twin sister all alone in the base with no way to defend herself? Anybody could walk in! As evident by the fact Talanah had just walked in – that’s her argument and she’s sticking to it, she won’t hear any objection from Beta about how the base security was likely programmed by Aloy to let Talanah in because she's been there once before.

So Talanah sticks around to show Beta how to use a bow (or any weapon really) and Beta totally isn’t her Thrush because that would just be weird (not that the whole situation isn’t weird to either of them, but its just a little nice for Beta to have company and for Talanah to be away from the stress of the Hunters Lodge). And I can totally see Beta being the one to tell Talanah everything – about Nemesis, about Zero Dawn and Elisabet Sobeck, about how she and Aloy are clones (again, none of this was on Talanah’s ‘Life With Aloy’ bingo card). She’d also give her a Focus (because Beta doesn’t understand why Aloy isn’t handing these out like sweets to people!) and shows Talanah how to use the Focus and oh look! They’ve taught each other things and that’s nice.

So one day they decide to venture out of the base (again, I don’t know, I really don’t know why) and who do they stumble across? Well Amadis of course (because every story needs a villain – that was harsh, he’s not actually going to do anything wrong this time). He doesn’t get a close look at Beta and just thinks Aloy has drastically cut her hair and changed her clothes (she did it like three time the last time he met her, where is she hiding those armour sets???) and he passes comment about how both he and Talanah were using each other to get over other people the whole time. Talanah has an ‘oh fuck’ moment and Amadis goes on his way again not realising he's caused total turmoil again.

So Talanah’s ‘oh fuck’ moment hits home that she’s drawn to Beta because of Aloy and she’s done exactly what she never wanted to be and made somebody her second choice. And deep down I think no matter how close the two of them were getting, Beta knows she’s an Aloy replacement and her self esteem is so far in the ground that she’s just pretty much ‘that’s just it for me, I’ll never be anything other than the inferior copy’ (and my poor baby Beta, I want to hug her) so she’s just kind of clung to somebody being nice to her even if it’s possibly (keep possibly in your mind) not meant for her in the first place.

I didn’t say this wasn’t angst – I mean, my opening summary of this didn’t indicate there wasn’t angst!

How this ends I’m not sure – I have two options, again…stick with me…

Aloy returns to the base right in the aftermath of the ‘oh fuck’ moment and is totally confused about what Talanah is doing there, but she’s kind of grateful that Talanah was looking after Beta. Then she finds out how close the two have gotten and is not impressed because how dare Talanah go near Beta! And Aloy totally won’t admit to being jealous and what Quen Marine? She’s be reuniting the Quen Fleet!

The two then have a long overdue heart to heart and all their feelings laid bare, happily ever after Hawk and Thrush. This ending seems a bit harsh on Beta who I don’t think deserves that so from stage right enter some unseen original character who has never, ever laid eyes on Aloy and knows nothing about her so they can like Beta for being Beta.

Option 2 goes totally the opposite way, enters rare pare mode and Talanah realises Beta is a totally different person to Aloy and while the original reason she spent time with Beta was Aloy (and was totally wrong) she’s actually rather drawn to Beta’s totally different personality and quirks. Cue Aloy returning to the base with Seyka and being totally confused about what’s going on – and has Beta just stolen her moment? She was about to introduce her girlfriend to the gang and now Beta and Talanah are a thing and…well…typical sibling bickering.

Of course there’s hidden option 3 which is everybody is miserable and unhappy, but that seems a bit bleak even for me.

Well thanks for sticking with me for this long…whatever this is – I don’t know what this is. I’m going back under my rock now, I’ll keep these wild idea to myself as this got out of hand 😁

#horizon forbidden west #aloy #talanah khane padish #beta hfw #hawk and thrush #erend vanguardsman #GAIA Gang #seyloy #this totally got out of hand #I should be working - I should LITERALLY be sat at my work computer and I'm turned around using my own laptop #that's home working for you #I'm going back under my fandom rock #I don't come out much

[somestorythoughts]

No Chips Fic

Okay so there's this fic about an au where the clones were raised to betray the jedi and change their minds and I have, not whole fic but a handful of conversations for it:

Rex is three very alcoholic cocktails in when Bly thumps down next to him with a beer and promptly faceplants into the table. "Mood." "She mourns our brothers when they die." Bly replies, barely coherent over the music and noisy brothers. "She mourns them with us and she found a way to get us those medical supplies when an admiral was stonewalling and she's freaking gorgeous on top of it - how am I supposed to handle this Rex??" "Don't ask me. I've got the crazy one remember?" He downs his drink. "Skywalker's supposed to be the non-traitor right? But he's crazy. I'm serious Bly. Completely batshit insane." "What'd he do this time?" The account of Skywalker's recent shenanigans (as if the 501st are not also somewhat crazy) is interrupted by Wolffe, Cody, and both Stone and Thorn as well joining them with their own drinks. Rex raises an eyebrow, mildly impressed that 2 Corrie Commanders managed to join, and asks "So have you thought about it?" "We're not fully convinced yet." Stone raises his hands as they start venting. "Cool it! We won't fight you alright!" He glares till they settle down, and continues "We aren't sure about your Jedi. But if you all decide, with absolute certainty, that this is the path you're going to take, we'll either back you or stay out of your way. Okay?" Bly lifts his head to say that's not good enough, catches sight of the bruising around Stone's eye, and changes his mind. "Maybe we should find you a Jedi. So you can see what we're talking about and get some extra protection." Both Corries snort and tell them that at the rate the Jedi seem to be going they'll get themselves all killed first because they're all idiots, which sparks an immediate argument over who's Jedi has done the craziest thing lately, and that's how they pass the rest of the night.

......

The next time they manage to get a bunch of commanders at 79s on the same night Fox and Thorn are there, and Fox is facedown on the table cursing under his breath. Bly grins like a shark and says "My general tells me you got a jedi?" "He's insane Bly. Completely insane." "Actually he's only mildly crazy." Thorn adds, pinning the hand that reaches up blindly to smack him. "Fox just says he's insane because he keeps flirting with-" Fox lungs but fails to stop Thorn up. "him and it makes Fox blush." Their brothers are all laughing like the little shits they are and Fox slumps down planning vengeance. "He's not that smooth." "You were redder than your paint!" Thorn does not dodge that smack and Cody grins and says "So you get it now?" Fox stares at him. "We pulled him out of a garbage bin. Four days later he found came across a Senator about to beat a Guard and got the Guard to us safely. That Senator showed up in the hospital the next day with four broken bones and no idea who put him there. So yeah, I get it. We're officially joining you in the "keep the Jedi alive and fuck the Sith plan." "I'm not sure that's what we're calling it." Cody mused and Fox threw his empty glass at him.

......

Cody hears the alert that signals a priority message and checks his secure comm. All the commanders and captains have one, they needed a way to communicate privately. Fox: Hey. You know the Sith who placed that order for us? The guy who promised when the war was over and we'd killed all the Jedi we'd be free? Oh boy. That was Fox's "I'm taking the time to say this because I'm pissed off voice." That was never good. Fox: ITS THE FUCKING CHANCELLOR. Cody freezes. Fox has attached evidence because of course he has, and the other commander is nothing if not thorough, so Fox has attached not only his evidence but also evidence of every time Palpatine has done some legal thing that would prolong the war, or voted against giving them rights. Alright. They need to rework their plans. Yesterday.

......

Here's the thing to understand. The clones never exactly trusted the Sith. A lot of them believed him when he set the deal out, but there were definitely some laying out back up plans and what-ifs and no one ever said anything about it because sure, they had a deal, but they only trusted their brothers. No one else. And sure, not every trooper trusts their Jedi generals, but they all hear about how General Koon found a replacement eye for Commander Wolffe, or how General Windu goes back for his injured troopers, or other stories. And even without that, they'll side with their brothers before they side with a Sith who put them in a war that's killing them. And when they find out that the Sith is the Chancellor who clearly has no intent of giving them their rights? Well, let's just say that was a mistake on Palpatine's part.

#for the record if wolffe had lost an eye before the corries met quinlan that would've been their turning point #star wars au #more plot bunnies #writing #clone wars #clone troopers #star wars

[mandomaya]

After a year of hoping, praying and wishing Tech is alive (I still do), to seeing the trailer, I'm 50/50 on whether or not he will actually come back.

Let's start with arguments AGAINST him coming back (which are looking more and more pathetic every new FOR argument I have):

1. Emotional impact. If Dave brings Tech back, the emotional impact of his sacrifice gets almost (not entirely!!) wiped clean.

2. His goggles. Now these darn goggles are in both my FOR and AGAINST arguments, but my thinking is, Hemlock could've just lied to Hunter's face and killed Tech himself, or he really didn't see a body. Not my strongest argument

Now let's go FOR him being alive (I really hope he is):

1. The classic Star Wars rule: If you don't see the body, they're not dead. We've seen it time and time and time again, and I wouldn't be surprised if it happened once again. This was my main argument back in March last year.

2. The trooper leading the army in the trailer. I'm not sure if you know who I'm talking about, but in TBB Season 3 trailer, there was a battalion being led by someone in dark green armour. I didn't think anything of it at first, I thought it was another clone assassin. Then I took a proper look at his armour. The backpack that he wears is basically an Empire-ified version of Tech's backpack. Like, the spitting image. Another thing about his armour is his helmet. The shape is almost identical to Tech's, AND he has glass eyeholes which I assume, if it is Tech, has all his gadgets the old ones had, which Hunter now has.

3. Speaking of these goggles AGAIN, Hemlock probably gave them to Hunter because he deemed them pointless, because he MADE TECH A NEW HELMET.

4. This is a bit of a longshot, but its what I noticed first. When Rex is having his Monologue about the end of the war, when he says "I thought the end of the war meant losing more of our brothers" the EXACT MOMENT that he says; "But I was wrong." IS WHEN THEY SHOW THE SCENE OF TECH FALLING. AT THE SAME TIME.

So yeah, I think he's alive. In my opinion he's either in a similar situation to Crosshair, or serving the Empire.

#the clones #tech the bad batch #star wars #sw the bad batch

[cienie-isengardu]

My RepCom Musing: Arla Fett and Death Watch

or: what the IC:501st could (should) give us but didn’t.

One of my biggest problems with the Republic Commando book series is the lack of presenting different point of views in regard to groups the main heroes (or more precisely, main Mandalorian ex-training sergeants) disliked or outright hated. Obviously, the Jedi Order was an usual target for critique with little counter-arguments, especially from Jedi characters themselves. And yes, Etain and Jusik Bardan had right to feel negative about it too, although I will not lie, there is something concerning how Jusik couldn’t stay in Order due to disagreement of its politics and use of clones but threw away any regard for law or morality that was so important to him in the first place (the reason for quitting) to be one of Skirata’s boys. 

Like the Jedi, Death Watch did not get a fair chance to present its values or actual similarity to generally presented mandalorian society. The Hard Contact had Ghez Hokan, the alleged member of said organization, said to be so brutal he was kicked out from Death Watch itself but who was both competent soldier and interestingly our first source of informations about Mandalorians before Kal Skirata and Walon Vau entered the series for good. Especially in regard to admiration for Jango Fett (who presumably should be his enemy). But of course, then came Order 66 and for whatever reason Hokan’s allegiance was retconned. Instead the Death Watch was represented by Dred Priest, who was described as a man that ran a fighting club on Kamino because of which clone trainees got seriously injured and some died(?). Vau was also presented as a sergeant who brutalized his commandos (and was the boogeyman to some characters in second book), but I guess it is more forgiven since Vau did it to “raise survivors” and through the storyline we could see him soften somehow toward his - and Kal’s - boys, while Dred was allowing the fighting for… his own amusement? Or at least, Mij drew such a picture, since Dred showed up and spoke for what? A one chapter overall just to be killed?

Then we have his girlfriend, Isabet Reau, who is known for speaking about Mandalorians returning to times of their glory. Like her boyfriend, Dred, most things we know about her comes from Mij who hated both with passion but they did not get any special focus as real characters. Ironically, Kal Skirata talked or thought about how Mandalorians should reunite and become one strong nation. So spoke also his biological daughter, Ruusan (“Don’t you think it’s time we started fighting for our own interests?” Ruu took the mug out of her father’s hand and peered into it as if checking up on him. “I’m not saying this guy’s right, but being at every aruetii’s beck and call and doing the dying for them doesn’t sound smart to me. Look at this world. It’s dirt-poor. That’s not much to show for the lives we’ve spent on shoring up other governments.”) and apparently this sentiment run deep enough in the family that Venku “Kad” Skirata at some point became the leader of a political faction who wanted to see a resurgence of the Mandalorian people (and even demands it from Mandalore Boba Fett). And by this also means making Mandalore strong in political and economic sense. So maybe not really a return to the Mandalorian Empire but for sure closer to it than farther since both visions demand from Mandalorians to have a solid economy like own production of weapons and food and standing army.

We have also Arla Fett, who was taken by Death Watch warriors who killed her family at Concord Dawn and at some point, presumably due to Mandalorian Stockholm Syndrome, became one of them, only to end in hospital for the mentally ill, from where she was abducted by clan Skirata and if IC would sequel, her memory would be wiped out on her wish and Arla would married her captor (Jusik).

And here is a thing: by using Death Watch as only boogeyman to main characters, we don’t only lost a chance to actually explore the complex nature of mandalorian society from different perspective but also, by examining the similarity between the “good” and “bad” Mandalorians we actually could have a solid critique of them all as a contrast to the overwhelming glorification of Skirata growing with each book. Even more! This could create a possibility for Kal to see his own - or in general, mandalorian culture’s - faults mirrored in action by Death Watch (taking in Arla) and maybe finally get some understanding of his own traumas, especially related to how he was trained by Muunin Skirata.

(There is something ironic that Jango and Arla Fett, though separated and taken by opposite sides of conflict, were allowed to keep their names and connection to their biological family. Jango didn’t need to take Jaster Mereel’s surname to be treated as son and apparently Death Watch did not keep Arla in the dark about the fact her younger brother survived. Meanwhile Kal Skirata’s “adoption” started with Muunin - intentionally or not -  erasing his identity by taking away his name and giving new, despite the boy's protest. 

"You can do all kinds of things when you're wearing armor that ordinary folks can't do, Kal."

Munin called him Kal. In the man's own language, it had something to do with knives and stabbing. Munin had nicknamed him Kal because Falin had tried to stab him with the three-sided knife when they first met; the Mandalorian seemed to think it was funny, and hadn't been angry at all. But Munin fed him, and didn't hurt him, and in the weeks since Falin had been part of the mercenary camp, he'd felt better even if he wasn't happy.

Sometimes Munin called him Kal'ika. The mercenaries told him it meant "little blade," and showed that Munin was fond of him.

"I'm Falin," he said at last. "My name's Falin." But he was already forgetting who Falin was. His home in Kuat City seemed like a dream mostly forgotten when he woke up, more a feeling than a memory. His family had moved to Surcaris while his father did engineering stuff on the new KDY warships there. "I don't want another name."

Munin ate with him. When he wasn't shouting, he was actually a kind man, but he could never take Papa's place. "Starting over can be a good thing, Kal'ika. You can't change the past or other folks, but you can always change yourself, and that changes your future." [Order 66]

And what kid wouldn’t finally gave up after a year or so of such treatment? And yes, Munin comforted him and was kind, unless he was pushing 7 years old past the boy’s limits and insults to the point other Mandalorian asked if he was trying to kill the kid. And somehow, somehow Vau brutality always set Kal in the wrong way and not for the first time I wonder how much it was just Skirata’s empathy toward clones and how much his own trauma?)

And here comes the main point of my thesis. Arla Fett’s subplot had one of the greatest potential to explore but sadly, the opportunity, as with most subplots in regard to female characters, was brutally dumped. Because we could see the parallels between her and Jango by learning more about her life under (presumably) Tor Vizsla’s leadership or we could have an actual storyline dealing with survivor of traumatic events coming with terms with what happened (instead of the easy solution of “wipe out memory with Force” and marry her to another male character, when so many heroes of the story assumed she was repeadly raped and/or brutalized). Or actually make Arla Fett the die-hard Death Watch member who wanted to return to the only family she knew and had at this point in life. But above everything else, we could explore the parallels between Arla’s introduction to Death Watch AND Kal Skirata’s introduction into mandalorian life and maybe, just maybe finally got more objective view of Mandalorian culture, when people attempt murder or kill ‘cause they hate each other’s guts and there is no one out there to control it since everything revolve around “the law of stronger (clan)”, or how they take orphaned kids into their clans and don’t ask if said kids even want to be Mandalorians themselves (or, as Kal did to his biological sons, decided to make them soldiers at age of 8), they just put them for long-termed “assimilation” and even brutal training to the point Mandalorian Stockholm Syndrome kicks on good. How they don’t mind killing people for money or for their own (political?) goals. 

Because Death Watch and True Mandalorian may have different goals and approach to what they are and should be, but ultimately, they all came from the same culture and were shaped by the same traditions, faith, mindset. Going on how Death Watch are the worst scum but not presenting much to support this claim (as in, letting us see their POV instead of forcing us to rely solely what main heroes think) while praising Kal and his clan for doing similar stuff, just for “good reason” makes the overtone of the Mandalorian culture, the glorification so… hypocritical.

To be clear, Death Watch is a brutal and dangerous group with a specific mindset but all Mandalorians are brutal and dangerous to outsiders if it fits their goals. And I would like the books actually to examine the similarities and differences, to give us as much as possible objective view on Mandalorians and to actually use Arla Fett in meaningful way by expanding our knowledge about her and Jango’s past or generally about Tor and Jaster’s conflict or at least let her to heal and find peace without making a survivor of trauma another “wife” to make one of favorite boys a happy man.

#star wars #republic commando #death watch #arla fett #My RepCom musing #republic commando critically #kal skirata critically #not really more like narrative critically #the death watch may be a bunch of bastards #fine #but at least give us one to examine for themselves #i want know their reasons not what kal or vau or mij think #i'm so mad about the hokan retcon #i'm absolutely furious about arla fett #and how awfully was treated her character #she had so much potential so much story to tell #but yeah let make another female character suffer #alleged rape(s) #and don't give a shit thanks RC books! #I DEMAND #JUSTICE FOR ARLA FETT! #etain laseema and arla #and sintas in legacy books #guess what they have in common? #etain at least had her POV #laseema was sidetracked fast arla was one revelation and they for most part just mentioned but no one bothered much #i don't even want rant about sintas #author has a great ideas and can write great characters but good damn somehow it does not include women and death watch #my rants #my angry rants

[carrion-carry-on]

Whumptober No. 8

Alternative No. 7 - Protective

More whump for The Bad Batch! This is going to be the last prompt fic where these events are concerned - I may pick it up and elaborate on things a bit further once this month’s spree is over.

AO3 Link

“Kriff...” came a muttered expletive from behind.

“Tech!” Wrecker shouted.

Hunter pulled his gaze up away from the floor, ignoring the slight sense of vertigo the sudden movement brought. He fixed his eyes with their recently-out-of-commission brother and sighed easily after noting the vibrancy in him. Assuring the others he was now fine, Hunter watched as Echo and Wrecker now swarmed Tech. A tentative tap to both of his shoulders, and Hunter glanced back at Rexyl, standing to help him up. He accepted the offered help, with Omega, bless her, grabbing onto his left hand to also try and help.

His footsteps were a bit shaky, but they got better as Hunter made his way to where Tech lay. Well, currently he was trying to sit up, with Echo pushing him back down, but close enough.

Hunter watched Wrecker gently press a hand to Tech’s back to get him up in spite of Echo’s efforts and huffed fondly. Then he said, “Welcome back, vod’ika. Gave us quite the scare.”

“My apologies,” Tech replied as he was finally allowed into a sitting position. Already, their brother was reaching for his datapad (which Hunter had made certain to secure in its designated pocket) and typing who-knew-what.

Tech had woken up expecting to be... actually, he wasn’t sure what his expectations had held. Certainly wasn’t the sound of panicked, heaving breath and his brothers shouting. But the shouts had died down, he’d gotten his bearings, and now they were hoping to leave. Tech wanted to ask what had happened, but then he’d spotted discarded, bloodied equipment on a countertop and stopped wondering.

It bothered him slightly, knowing his brothers had gone to some black-market, likely-unlicensed “doctor” to seek treatment. But given their lack of medical expertise and barring from usual methods (returning to Kamino for repairs), he supposes they’d had little choice. What he really wanted to know was why the kark someone had stuck Hunter - and why any of his brothers had allowed it.

Following an explanation by Hunter (an inadequate one, one that failed to ease his concerns), the doctor that had apparently cared for Tech clarified that his preferred payment was no longer required. Instead, they would owe him one, which Tech took to mean they’d accrued yet more debt. At least he had the courtesy to apologize to Hunter and the others - though Tech suspected this was because of Hunter’s likely panic attack, and not for the fact that he’d asked literal blood money from them.

When they boarded the Marauder, Tech still didn’t feel much better about what had happened in his absence from consciousness. He had wanted to fly, to get his mind off of things, but unfortunately had been declared unviable to do so thanks to the :you’re recovering from gruesome injury and invasive surgery” argument. Now he was sitting on his rack in the back of the ship, hands mindlessly twisting, thinking himself in circles. Hunter must have sensed this, his growing displeasure combined, as he soon asked to join Tech on his cot.

Tech did not give verbal reply, only moving minutely to one side in silent invitation. He remained with his gaze locked on his datapad, typing in updates and observations of his physical state and that of his squadmates. This was his comfort, his security, just as Hunter relied on sensing them, Wrecker on touching them, Echo on speaking with them, Crosshair on watching them. His mind jerked away from thoughts of his lost brother. He can’t bear to think right now. He’s doing this to not think.

“Tech,” Hunter tried, his voice reaching, pulling him from his thoughts.

The younger clone paused for two seconds, showing that he’d heard, and was still listening. After another moment of silence passing between them, Tech spoke first.

“Did you know that Feeorin grow stronger as they age, and not weaker?”

“Feeorin?” Hunter is humoring him, he knows, getting him to talk more about his interest, before they talk about... everything else.

“The doctor is Feeorin. What did you say his name was?”

“Rexyl.”

“Right. For their supposed strength through aging, I’m not certain as to why - and I can’t seem to find anything other than speculation. It has to do something with metabolism, apparently. I find it rather hard to believe.

“They’re similar to Nautolans, in that they are amphibious, with a purely aquatic heritage, a similarly wide range of skin pigmentation, and, most notably, possess head tendrils. Nautolans are sensitive to pheromonal changes, even amongst other species, giving them better emotional understanding and communication. On the other hand, Feeorin have not been noted to share similar chemoreception.”

As Tech spoke, Hunter was settling down on the bed next to him and stripping off his cuirass. He took up a familiar position behind Tech. Then he wound an arm over Tech’s shoulders and gently maneuvered them until Tech’s back rested softly against Hunter’s belly.

“It’s possible that similarities are resultant of convergent evolution, however, it’s interesting to note that the original homeworld of the Feeorin remains, as of yet, unidentified, or at least unspecified. There are some that theorize the two species may be distantly related. I do not believe this to be the case, given their current planets of inhabitance are relatively removed from one another. And the idea that the species gained space-travel capabilities, separated onto two different planets, and then have no record of such a migration in their recorded histories is ridiculous.”

“What is the scientific community of the galaxy coming to?” Hunter asked, tone joking.

“Nothing good,” Tech responded, equally facetious. He could afford to put aside his grievances for a while. At least where the alarming increase in failings of the afore-mentioned community were concerned. Grievances that could not be ignored had more to do with immediate company.

As though knowing Tech’s change in thought, Hunter’s easy smile faded somewhat. He probably had somehow sense it - Tech had never been good at hiding his emotions (he didn’t even know what he felt half the time, and the other half was spent barely feeling much at all). Hunter could tell that Tech was upset. That was (presumably) why he came back here in the first place. Now was as good a time as any to have this conversation.

“You would have let a stranger bleed you,” Tech said.

“I didn’t exactly have a choice, vod. You were hurt, he fixed you - before talking about payment. We showed up, asked for help, and he did,” Hunter reasoned.

“You thought he was trustworthy.”

Hunter was silent for a bit, absently running his fingers through Tech’s short hair. It wasn’t often they had time to relax together, not anymore. Not when it felt the whole galaxy was against them. Not the whole, but a good part of it, given that the main form of government was currently gunning for their small squad.

“I thought he could help. And I knew I would give anything to help you. All of you. I don’t want to lose you,” Hunter whispered.

“You took a risk,” Tech shot back. A risk without me went unsaid. Hunter knew that’s what he meant.

“Couldn’t ask you for input, Tech, you were bleeding out.”

Tech’s face burned. He knows that. Of course he knows that. But the fact that he hadn’t been there, the fact that he’d been incapacitated, and that Hunter and his squad - his family - had to trust someone like that... it made him feel... less.

“I’m sorry,” Tech squeaked out behind a tightening throat. He knew this pain to be a pretense to tears, that odd, uncomfortable, emotional display.

“Sorry? Tech, there’s nothing-”

“My apology stands!” Tech snapped.

He’s the rational one. He’s the smart one. He’s the technological and engineering genius meant to get them through locked doors and malfunctioning equipment. He’s the field medic that’s meant to lead them through trauma with procedural preciseness. And he’d been the one to fall. What could have happened? What might have happened if something else went wrong, and he hadn’t been there to try and fix it? Who could they have lost? Who might have gone missing next?

“Tech!” Hunter’s firm hands, one on either side of his face, brought him out of his spiraling thoughts. “Sushir, ner vod.

“There was nothing you could do. I know that bothers you. But that’s the way it is. I am fine, we are fine. We are all safe, including you. I don’t know if I would have lost you. I could have. You trust me, yes?”

Tech nods his head readily - of course he trusts Hunter. He trusts all of his squad.

“Then you can trust me with this... You are safe. I am safe. We are safe. I chose to trust Rexyl, you’re right. But I didn’t feel I had much choice. And Omega trusted him. She was the one who thought to call Cid. And Cid told us where to find Rexyl. Omega looked at that doctor, and said we could trust him. We did. And you’re still here because of it.

“I know it can hurt to trust sometimes. I know you - we are all hurt from... trusting...”

Trusting Crosshair. Losing Crosshair.

“But trust can be a lifeline. Trust in other people. In strangers. In brothers. You can’t get through life by trying to do everything yourself. You shouldn’t try to shoulder everything yourself. We’re a family, we have to trust each other like a family should.”

Tech wanted to allow himself comfort at Hunter’s words. But his assurances felt... they felt wrong. He did trust Hunter, and his brothers, still does and always would. There’s still one he doesn’t trust - himself. And he doesn’t know how Hunter and the others could.

Hunter was waiting for something, a reply, physical or verbal, and Tech gave it to him. He nodded at his brother. Hunter could likely tell Tech still wasn’t convinced, but they dropped the subject for now. There was nothing more that could be said.

#whumptober2022 #no.8 #whumptober #alt.7 #alternative prompt #protective #fic #star wars #star wars the bad batch #the bad batch #clone force 99 #OC (mentioned) #original character

[the-firebird69]

We hear them saying it we're in trouble this clones are everywhere and he's having a problem and it won't stop and it's a nightmare and the guys after him and it's a nightmare and I'm putting my diary out I'm sure it'll go to New York to a museum. So we have a lot of arguments and fights but he's over there forcing it but you know it's terrible and it'll go to a museum but he wants all of the diaries done in the same format the same size display but the book is the same size as the diary book and the same look the exact same look maybe not the same colors because it will be in brass and it will be a note that most of the time it's a note from the artist you see art that is representative of someone and a single act or some of its some of the work is revealed or it's really the artist's face or a painting but here is art that is truly what needs to be conveyed and it is a tragedy that has struck humanity it's an art form that the writer of the diary has created as well in that their writing thoughts and occurrences in their lives that affected them and affected millions and millions of people and are very potent and very powerful but the message is conveyed very clearly and it is a little bit different than most art where you have only a few messages although very potent and powerful this is something that people will never forget.

So I'm going to put that and not abbreviated or changed and Hera will put her statement under his and we're going to use their stage names no we're going to use the stage names you gave them. And his is Hogan and hers is similar and she's the girl that he talks to. And we might change the first name and they did change the first name so we'll put that there it's going to be wonderful he's never written it down but we do have his handwriting he says it's atrocious so we're going to go with this original and s*** her hand right is still the same as his it's beautiful and they we'll recognize it and he's not only the character but he's the artist and the artist who came up with the concept and others will sign it as their art with their characters names and they're actually here except for the queen who will come to sign it later. And she's going to be listed as Mia. A different designation known whereabouts but not revived. A lot of people are submitting there diaries and they're coming in pretty fast and what it is is an art show but it's like a presentation and it's all as one piece it's a traveling art presentation they're traveling show and it's one grouping all together of everybody of all of the diaries so far we have permission from Anne Frank and Frank's family Queen Elizabeth's family our son and daughter myself and my wife we have writings Nevada Ariana we saved a lot of people from both sides, Frank Castle Hardcastle Duke Nukem Blockbuster yeah what kind of be bunched together except for our son and daughter. And we understand that they're right there all the time and you're right we should be mixed in with them people will see it and understand who we are. And Mac Daddy's going to put one together although he had a diary back then it's not so sure he should Paul dodos says requested his father's be put there. Ineventia yes it absentia. And a lot of people are coming forward it's a great idea it's going to take some work.

And they'll be translated into a different languages and post it so you can look at the different languages thinking of posting it like you post posters in stores like hot topics and stores like the one across the way and Spencer gifts I think we're going to do that maybe the same size cuz you can look at it without moving in or hitting with your toes it's a crazy idea and he wants to put it outside and we have stuff like that that's very durable and it looks like paper inside but it's not it's etched on something and it's a solid piece and it's very very rugged and you can move it

Thor Freya

I get it too it's really like what we should have been doing for years but we're going to go up to it and it's going to feel a lot different than it feels now. And people want music pumped in and a son says nephew says that there are plenty of songs and a lot of people know them and they're playing them in the stores now and it went global and it's working and Brad Germany is selling Waccamole the game and he's making them.

Mac Daddy

[oyster-sauce-tart]

lol is it possible to request the overblot guys (if possible) with a martial artist mc defeating them during their overblots with just one punch like saitama?

One Punch Yuu!

Me: I should work on those requests i got during March

This ask:

Me: yoU MAKE A COMPELLING ARGUMENT 👀👀👀

Magic battles? Nah, these emotionally damaged teenagers are getting a fist to a face!

These bitches are so rude! Someone’s gotta punch some sense into them!

Scenario: Overblot Boys getting the blot punched out of them

Reader: Gender Neutral, Martial Artist

Characters: Riddle Rosehearts, Leona Kingscholar, Azul Ashengrotto, Jamil Viler, Vil Schoenheit, Idia Shroud, Malleus Draconia

Content Warning(s): Overblot spoilers

Notes: since I don’t know the accurate plot of Jamil, Vil, Idia and Malleus’s Overblot I kept them vague

Also this MC/Yuu ended up being less martial artist and more like a “punch now think later” type of character haha

“QUEEN OF HEARTS” RIDDLE ROSEHEARTS

the first overblot

the garden was in ripped up shambles down to its roots, everyone was running away with Crowley evacuating everyone, the only people who stood to fight were you, Grim, Ace, Deuce, Cater and Trey

Right now, everyone was getting to their limit. Grim was too tired to bring out flames, Cater was overexerting his clones, Trey was just barely hanging onto his Signature Spell

What to do.. what to do, at this rate soon it might be too late for Riddle

Unless…

“Hey Deuce.”

“H-huh what?”

“Throw me.”

“WHAT?”

“THROW ME LIKE YOU DID WITH ACE AT THE CHANDELIER”

“HUUUH-??”

He ended up throwing you

Everyone that was there watched as you got propelled towards Riddle and punched him squarely in the face

Ouch. That’s definitely gonna leave a mar- wait holy shit the ink blot monster is disappearing???

The first thing is Riddle notices when he gets out of the Backstory Sequence ™ is a bleeding nose

Actually it might be broken fuck what happened-

Then everything starts to come back to him

Right… he Overblotted… he can’t believe it…

And you… punched him out of it?

It’s a bit amazing to be honest, he thanks you for getting him out of what could’ve been a disaster

Then he lectures you for 5 hours about how you thought getting thrown to punch him was a good idea, what if you got hurt?!

“Don’t worry I got a black belt in martial arts back in my world it’s fine”

It’s really not.

“SCAR, KING OF BEASTS” LEONA KINGSCHOLAR

first off, how the fuck did you even survive???

He turns anything he touches into sand?? Are you seriously that strong???

Yes, you say, yes you are

Deuce did not want to throw you again so Jack did, swept up in the whole “saving Leona thing”

He apologizes profusely sometime after Leona comes to his senses

The first thoughts for Leona was “shit I overblotted??” Then “shit you punched me out of it???”

He’s pretty impressed by your strength tbh like seriously??

“I can turn everything to sand how did you even???”

“I have a black belt in martial arts!”

“… I don’t think that has any correlation…”

“I’m strong >:3”

“…”

“URSULA, THE SEA WITCH” AZUL ASHENGROTTO

At this point you’ve realized you punching the blot out of these guys is saving you a lot of time and effort for both you and the rest of your friends

So your first thought was “punch Azul” when you saw the overblot

but then you realized he’s like half cryinh so you’d kinda feel bad…

‘Kinda’ is the key word here

you punched him. Well… kinda?

You asked floyd to throw you and he went “!!!!” And immediately threw you over his shoulder and propel you towards Azul

The problem here that amidst Floyd’s excitement he didn’t aim correctly so instead of punching Azul, you just body slammed into him

You still snapped him out of it so 10/10!

The thing is both of you are equally disoriented thanks to the amount of force Floyd used to throw you

And he threw your head at Azul’s

Sooo

Infirmary Trip✨✨✨✨

Post-blot, Azul’s very much impressed by your bravery. Especially since you did this before in success

“Would you perhaps be interested in working at the Monstro Longue as a bouncer?”

“Azul!”

“Kidding!”

“JAFAR, SORCERER OF THE SANDS” JAMIL VIPER

when Jamil finally Overblotted you just cracked your knuckles and went “I’ve been waiting to do this since the first time he hypnotized me”

Floyd throws you (pt 2)

This time you didn’t even ask you just looked at him like “👀” and he immediately threw you

Azul sends Jamil his prayers

This time floyd actually does aim decently

Yes although you did bodyslam into him you immediately punched him before he could do anything

*fanfare* crisis averted!!

Okay so Jamil is slightly impressed after this whole ordeal

You’ve really shown how you can hold your own throughout the Scarabia arc

And this strength came from martial artist training???

Kudos to you, can you give him some pointers?

“QUEEN GRIMHILDE, THE FAIREST QUEEN” VIL SCHOENHEIT”

Rook held you back before you can get someone to throw you

“How can you punch such a beautiful face!!”

“ROOK LET ME PUNCH HIM”

Epel gives his blessing /hj

I don’t exactly know what happens here other than that they all go to the VDC and that Neige exists so like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But anyways after he gets punched he yells at you for ruining his face

That’s

That’s all I got

As much as I like Vil I don’t know a whole lot

Sorry :(

“HADES, LORD OF UNDERWORLD” IDIA SHROUD

all I know about chapter 6 is that the Overblotted (and grim) got kidnapped by Idia or smth and Yuu went to save them with Epel and Rook who just wanted to give Vil his skincare stuff

I have no idea how he overblots or how y’all even got in but Leona throws you when Idia finally overblots

He did it w/o warning too

He wanted to see how prepared you are to punch someone

Also he wanted to throw you for revenge that punch you gave him ached for days

You punched Idia twice

Once to get him out of overblot and another for stealing Grim

You don’t just steal the child and get away with it smh

Everyone so far has either been impressed or has new found respect for you

Idia is just scared of you now

He thought you were just some kind of shounen anime character that punched before thinking

But then you got the smarts to get into STYX and THEN beat him like shounen protag??

New fear ™

“MALEFICENT THE THORN FAIRY” TSUNOTARO HORNTON MALLEUS DRACONIA

you

Punched

A DRAGON???

No one threw you this time

Everything was kinda flying in the air thanks to destruction and you ended up on one of them and fell off

Then you noticed you were falling towards Tsunotaro Malleus so you just prepared and then boom punched

You broke your arm thanks to the velocity and, you know, thinking punching a dragon was a good idea.

Dragons have scales you think you’re gonna be alright after that??

Lol nah

Malleus feels bad ofc

“I’m so sorry Child of Man… if only I was stronger than maybe I wouldn’t have hurt you so bad…”

“Oh no it’s okay! When humans’ bones break and then heal they start to become stronger than last time! Imagine how hard I’ll be able to punch ppl once this heals!”

Everyone facepalms

#twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #disney twst #twst #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #twst x y/n #twst x you #twst headcanons #twst scenarios #twst imagines #riddle rosehearts x reader #leona kingscholar x reader #azul ashengrotto x reader #jamil viper x reader #vil shoenheit x reader #idia shroud x reader #malleus draconia x reader #Heartslabyul Masterlist ❤️ #Savanaclaw Masterlist 💛 #Octavinelle Masterlist 🤍 #Scarabia Masterlist 🖤 #Pomefiore Masterlist 💜 #Ignihyde Masterlist 💙 #Diasomnia Masterlist 💚 #yuuniverse

[lady-byleth]

Sooooo, Shepard had a clone right? Knowing how much Cerberus likes to go above and beyond, there's a high chance that there's more than one. And the one we meet was comatose until needed, which she never was...so what if there's a whole bunch of clones in various stages of growth that just got frozen after Shepard went rogue

And after the war Miranda decides to see if she can find the rest and uncovers a whole storage of clones. Most of them are dead, either due to complications during development or because of cryo getting interrupted during the war

But one is still alive and asleep, so Miranda tells Shepard, who has only recently been released from the hospital, and takes her there so she can decide what to do with the clone herself.

Of course Garrus is there too cuz he's not letting Shepard out of sight until he's 100% sure she's not gonna get herself blown up again

Tali, Liara, Joker and EDI obviously can't be dissuade from joining either - EDI makes a compelling argument about having to test her new body that is actually complete bullshit, she's just curious - and James and Cortez just tag along because everyone else is going and it's about clones and the have Experience.

Javik comes too, cuz he's bored and Liara made vague comments about there maybe being Cerberus agents to fight, and Kaidan has a Bad Feeling about all these knuckleheads being in one room together so he comes along to keep the peace. That's a lie actually, he's just happy to be here.

Samara somehow shows up too, though no one actually contacted her cuz no one knew how. She just heard "Shepard" and "Cerberus" and decided "that could be trouble" and here she is

Grunt would have loved to go but Wrex tells him if he can't go then Grunt can't either cuz that would be unfair.

Jack has the kids to take care of and Jacob has his kid to take care of, so they're not able to come but promise help should there be some Cerberus agents that need blowing up.

Zaeed just sends a photo of himself at the pool titled "I'm fucking retired".

So Miranda ends up having to fly a huge group of people to that lab she found, which she grumbles about but she's not fooling anyone anymore.

As it turns out the facility is completely abandoned and powered down, except for the emergency power in the lab that's supposed to keep the clones alive. They check the whole place before they descend into the basement, looking for the one pod still active that Miranda found

They move past a bunch of pods with clones ranging from young girls to women the same age as Shepard and it's both fascinating and horrifying at the same time.

Shepard for her part seems to take it pretty well though she does stick close to Garrus who slings an arm around her shoulders to steady her. Tali links arms with her and Shepard gives her a small smile.

The active pod is in the far back and, at first glance, looks empty. Liara immediately grabs the data pad sitting beside it and flips through the many charts and notes on it, frowning in thought.

She mumbles something about "no growth hormones administered", gasps a small "oh" and holds the pad out a little so Miranda can read along with her as EDI starts typing on the console attached to the pod itself

"Oh!" she says after a moment, as if to echo Liara. Joker steps up next to her, trying to make sense of what she's looking at.

"What? How evil is it gonna be?"

EDI doesn't answer but turns to Shepard, a strange sparkle in her eyes that wasn't there when she first got a body. She looks both delighted and amazed. "Shall I open it?"

Shepard looks at the pod, worries her lower lip for a moment. Garrus squeezes her gently, Tali hugs her arm closer. The rest of their group closes rank around her, steadying her with their presence.

They're all here for her, no matter what. So she nods.

"Do it."

There's a low hissing sound and a blast of cold air, fog rolls out of the pod as the lid slides open slowly. For some reason Miranda and Liara look almost giddy, though Liara has to keep pushing Javik's hand down because he keeps trying to aim his gun.

James is standing on his tip toes to see into the pod before its even fully open and almost falls over when a very unexpected sound suddenly echoes through the room.

It's a crying voice. A baby's crying voice.

Samara immediately bolts forward, the instincts of a mother taking over, and she bends down into the pod and emerges with what's indeed a baby.

"Holy shit!" James looks flabbergasted.

"Holy shit..." Cortez doesn't look any better.

"Holy shit, indeed!" Somehow Kasumi is here too.

Samara rocks the little girl in her arms, scrutinizes her closely and smiles.

"Yes, I feel a strong resemblance to you," she says, gracefully moving to a completely stunned Shepard.

If you've never seen a galactic hero speechless, suddenly confront them with a baby clone of themself and that should do the trick.

The baby of course doesn't know that, she's just screaming, probably cold and scared and disoriented. She's squirming in Samara's arms, oblivious to Liara, Miranda, Tali, Kaidan and - surprisingly - EDI who are crowding around Samara to catch a glimpse, cooing already

Samara doesn't even try calming the little girl down, she has other ideas. Before Shepard can refuse Samara deposits the baby into her arms, adjusts her grip and then steps back, an almost mischievous tilt to her serene smile.

The baby calms immediately, big eyes the same color as Shepard's blinking up at a face that will he hers one day.

Shepard is motionless, looking like someone just slapped her with a frying pan...until the baby suddenly starts squealing in delight.

The unease melts from Shepard's face, a slightly confused but warm smile replacing it, and she gently shifts the baby closer to her chest, speaking to her quietly.

Little feet kick with delight, small hands reach out to grab at her face, and careful, scarred fingers brush plump baby cheeks and Samara watches with obvious satisfaction as her friends crowd around Shepard to continue cooing at the little girl now laughing happily

Shepard doesn't see it, focused on the baby as she is, but James just bursts into tears at the adorable picture while Cortez tries to console him without looking away. .

Joker is sniffing a little bit too but instead of staying in the background he loudly says "brittle bones coming through" and pushes to the front of the group. The baby immediately steals his cap. He is delighted. EDI is delighted that he is delighted.

Javik pretends very hard not to be mesmerized by the first human baby he's ever seen. He's failing miserably, much to Kaidan's amusement.

Garrus sticks to the sidelines, arms crossed over his chest, a thoughtful expression on his face. He remembers London, the half joking half serious conversation about adopting kids after the war is finished.

He'd shelved the thought in favor of focusing on recuperating, fixing what the war had destroyed, and building up Shepard who had to wrestle with severe injuries, PTSD and survivor's guilt without the distraction of a galactic war to keep her from realizing how much she was suffering.

But...it had been months, life was slowly returning to some semblance of normalcy - as much as was possible after the heavy losses - and Shepard was getting better. Therapy was going well. She would never be fully free of what she'd been through, but she was determined to get better and Hackett had arranged for the best help in the galaxy.

She was getting better. And restless. She had started spending more time with the orphans, playing with them, teaching them.

She'd always loved children. And Garrus had been very serious about starting a family with her, not so much about the cross species babies that biologically wouldn't happen.

But here was a baby that Shepard already had a connection with, a baby that she obviously already adored. He hadn't seen her smile like that in a long time. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Yes. This could be good.

He feels Samara sidle up beside him, smiling knowingly. "You should suggest it," she says.

Garrus nods, shoots her a smile. "Yeah, I think I will."

#mass effect #shakarian #long post #garrus vakarian #commander shepard #me3 spoilers #I guess? #I mean it's a joke dlc

[nikxation]

Okay I'm making a post about this because it's bugging me...

Y'all don't honestly believe Crosshair got his chip taken out, do you?

Proof he still has it in below the read more:

Here's a shot taken from the season 1 finale when they're trapped in the lab, right before Omega comes over to talk to him, when he thinks he has a moment to himself (and I lightened the shot up a little bit to make it easier to see).

He's holding his head, in visible pain. And I know, you could make the claim that maybe he hit his head during the destruction of Tipoca City, and there's a good chance he did. But this gesture is very purposeful either way. The only other time we really see him doing this? Episode 1. When they're all in the holding cell together.

After the rest of the Batch are going off about him suddenly following orders and being all gung-ho for the Empire, and he keeps defending the Empire and saying the rest of the Batch are the ones in the wrong. He sticks to his guns and gets increasingly agitated during the argument before he goes and sits down and starts rubbing his head, groaning very much in pain. It's a very clear implication that his chip is giving him problems, implying that he was disagreeing a bit with the programming and it was causing pain as it was trying to reinforce its directives. He might still have an effective chip, but they confirm later that it's still not fully functional. They have to ramp up its effectiveness to make it work, so up until this, his chip reactions are very similar to Wrecker's.

I also wanna talk about this moment here:

Leading up to this is the following conversation:

Crosshair: Don't you see we're locked up in here because of [Hunter]? He had us disobey orders!

Tech: I never thought you disobeying orders was a problem.

Wrecker: Yeah, we do it all the time.

It's around here that Crosshair very visibly winces, and not in an annoyed way. It's very much an in-pain gesture, like he's shaking off a sudden spike headache. And then, after the wince, he turns around a fires off The Line(TM):

Crosshair: Good soldiers follow orders!

Which is a line we all know... too well. So, why is it significant here? It's not just a callback for the audience, it's important. The Order 66 conditioning programs them to kill the Jedi and follow orders. If a clone attempts to fight back against the order, the chip reinforces it, reminds them subconsciously "good soldiers follow orders" and so, being good soldiers, they comply. When Tup's chip went out of whack, he was saying it non-stop, like his brain was just running the reinforcement on repeat and got caught in a loop. It's a reminder, a nudge in the direction the chip wants them to go.

Here, it's proof Crosshair is fighting the chip (or at the very least is internally disagreeing with it because of what the Batch are saying), and it's trying to reinforce the need to follow orders, and that comes out verbally in the altercation and causes him a short spike of pain in the moment. And then, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Tup, Crosshair, and (eventually) Wrecker the only ones that say it out loud? And they all have f-ed up chips, so the subconscious reminder very much becomes a verbal, forceful one to try to force compliance. Like a loud voice in their head that just... slips out.

So what does this have to do with Crosshair not actually having his chip removed? Well, we've established fighting back against the chip causes him physical pain. We also know Wrecker's defective chip caused him pain and headaches. That becomes a pattern, the repetitiveness of it meaning it's now something to watch out for. We also have reason to believe that, leading up to these moments of pain, the chip was working overtime to get him to comply, stemming from moments of doubt or moments where the orders were internally questioned (leading to "good soldiers follow orders" slipping out as extra reinforcement).

So, let's take a trip back to that first gif, the one in the season finale.

He's in pain, and rubbing the right side of his head (where the chip is). It's a deliberate gesture. They could have had him doing anything else here. They could have just skipped this moment altogether. But they didn't. They made the specific choice to have him sit here holding the right side of his head in pain. And he stops and glances away when Omega walks up because, well, can't show weakness in front of enemies, right?

And what happened leading up to this? Hunter told him the Empire would only ever see him as a number, something that we know from Clone Wars is... very antithesis to the clones and their desire for identity. Crosshair rubbing his head afterwards, a soothing gesture, the very same thing he did after the argument in episode 1, is very purposeful. He knows Hunter is right, and he doesn't like it, and the chip is reinforcing that he needs to follow orders, that he's a good soldier, that he shouldn't question the Empire. They wouldn't have added the gesture for no reason. It's not a red herring, it's foreshadowing.

He still has his chip.

So why did he tell the Batch that he had his taken out? Well, I have 2 theories:

He went to the Empire and asked them to remove it. The Empire, being smart enough to not let a valuable asset have free will for literally no reason that would benefit them, told him they would. They have literally no reason to remove it, it would just create a possible liability, and it would be a waste of resources and time for them. The only reason I could see Rampart actually agreeing to let Crosshair undergo the procedure would be to prove his loyalty like his conscripted stormtroopers. But even then, Rampart doesn't like clones, so I don't see him wasting the time on one. So they pretended to take it out, or just told him they did, and he believed them. But it's still there, he just doesn't know it.

He is well aware he still has his chip, and he fucking lied. Why would he lie? He's trying to convince the Batch to join him, but the rest of the Batch are convinced that he's only doing this because of the chip. So, what better way to convince them to see "his side of things" than to tell them he's making these decisions of his own free will? Maybe if they think he's choosing this, then they'll join too. But of course, he can't see the absolute hypocrisy of that logic.

I like the potential of option 1 (holy hell the realization that they lied to him??? how much conflict that would cause him, he'd probably lose it and snap, and what a hell of a moment that would be). But I think option 2 is more likely (Crosshair is smart enough to realize he doesn't have a scar there, unless there's just an element of willful ignorance forced by the chip).

Also, on that note:

We know from Rex where the scar for the chip should line up.

Right side, between the cheekbone and the ear, up near the curve of the skull, top of the hairline.

The absolute last clear shot of the right side of Crosshair's face before it gets blasted happens on Bracca.

No scar. Which means he didn't have his chip removed prior to Bracca. But if you don't believe that shot (it's not the clearest, I'll give you that), here's one from the same episode while he was on Kamino, as he was informing Rampart of the Batch's position on Bracca.

No scar. We should be able to see the edge of it peaking out of his hairline (if his hair could even grow back in over it at all or that fast). And I highly doubt he ran and got it removed between this moment and going to Bracca (in which case he would probably have a bandage over the spot on Bracca, so it's not likely).

Because of that, the only other options are it got removed while his facial burns were still recovering, or afterwards. But even then, you would still be able to see the very clear, deep, horizontal scar if it was on top of the other scarring. I'm not a doctor, so my word isn't gospel here, but even if they did it while his face was recovering (which, I doubt they would, that's a lot of stress to put on a body), that scar wouldn't just blend in with the scarring of the rest. It's a very distinct, deep cut, very different from facial burn scarring. It would heal very differently and be very noticeable still.

So, all of this is to say that Crosshair still has his chip. I am 99% sure of it. And that last 1% is only because there's the very rare off-chance they're just doing all of this very clear foreshadowing and hinting to throw people off, which is bad storytelling, and Filoni and team haven't been known to throw red herrings like that before, not this blatantly. That, or it's on accident, which I really don't think is correct (again, him rubbing his head in the finale is very pointed).

So, yeah, everyone calling Crosshair evil and everything... He's still chipped. Chill out.

Morning edit: I would also like to point out that, story-telling wise, the writers immediately introduce doubt the moment Crosshair tells the boys he doesn't have his chip. They make it a thing for Hunter to very pointedly stop and check to see of Crosshair has a scar (and he can't be sure because of all the facial scarring, Hunter not having the benefit we had of seeing Crosshair up close before Bracca happened). They very easily could have left that moment out, but they chose to include it because it seeds that feeling of uncertainty, of doubt. They're setting us up for the reveal later by mildly hinting from the get-go that it might not be the complete truth. Little details in this show like that have meaning, otherwise they wouldn't have wasted the time/effort animating and including it. Just like how they took the time to have Crosshair holding his head or wincing in pain. It's part of the fun of animated shows; it's all deliberate.

#crosshair #the bad batch #bad batch #tbb #clone wars #tcw #the clone wars #he is totally still chipped y'all #they lay it right out for us #please stop with the hate #i'm not even a huge fan of him as a character #but he's not doing any of this of his own free will #he's still chipped #he's not a space fascist he's just being controlled by them #he's just as much to blame for all the shit he's done as any of the other clones #which is to say... there's not blame #because he's still chipped #and he has no control over it #my rambles #really hope i'm not the first person to make this post #i've been thinking about making this post since the finale aired #and i just rewatched the show and... finally decided to write it out

[itsclydebitches]

The Bad Batch: A Crosshair Analysis

Hello, Star Wars fandom! I have just completed watching—and loving—The Bad Batch, which you know means I now need to dump all my thoughts about the first season into the tumblr void. Specifically, thoughts on the complicated drama that is Crosshair. I have no doubt that the majority of what I’m about to say will be old news to anyone who watched the show when it came out (I’m slow...), but I’m writing it all out anyway. Largely for my own sanity enjoyment :D

I want to preface all of this by saying that the above is not an exaggeration. I love the show and I love the entire cast. My enjoyment in each of the characters is directly connected to my enjoyment of the season as a whole, which I say because I’m about to get pretty critical towards some of the characters’ choices and, to a lesser extent, the writing choices that surround those. Does this mean I secretly hate The Bad Batch? Quite the opposite. I’m invested, which is presumably just what Filoni wants. I’m just hoping that investment pays off. 

But enough of the disclaimers. Let’s start with the matter of the inhibitor chip. I’ve seen fans take some pretty hard stances on both sides: Crosshair is completely innocent because he’s definitely been under the chip’s control this whole time, no matter what he might say. Crosshair is completely guilty because he said the chip was removed a long time ago and he chose to do all this, no moral wiggle room allowed. However, the reality is that we don’t know enough to make a clear call either way. The audience, simply put, does not have all the necessary information. What we have instead is a couple of facts combined with claims that may or may not be reliable. Let’s lay them out:

Crosshair was definitely under the chip’s control at the start of the series.

He was able to resist it to a certain extent, resulting in a pressure to obey orders coupled with a primary loyalty to his squad. See: telling Hunter to follow the Empire’s commands—which includes killing kid Padawans—but not turning his team in as traitors when they did not. It’s an in-between space.

Crosshair’s chip was then amplified to an unknown extent. I’m never going to claim I’m a Star Wars aficionado—I’m a casual fan, friends. Please don’t yell at me over obscure lore lol—but within TBB’s canon, no one else is undergoing that experimentation. The effects of this are entirely unknown, which includes Crosshair’s free will, or lack thereof.

Crosshair then becomes a clear tool of the Empire, hunting down innocents, killing on a whim, the whole, evil shebang.

In “Reunion” he’s caught by the engine and suffers severe burns to his face. One leaves a scar that covers precisely the place where the chip would have been extracted.

Removing the chip leaves its own scar behind. If Crosshair’s was removed, we can’t see that scar due to the burn.

After these events Crosshair seems to mellow a bit. He does horrible things under the Empire’s orders—like shooting the senator—but is still loyal to his squad—killing his non-clone teammates to give TBB a chance, saving AZ and Omega, etc.

Crosshair claims that his chip has already been removed. However, Crosshair is arguably an unreliable source if he’s been lied to or if the chip is still there, encouraging him to manipulate the team.

Crosshair claims it was removed a long time ago, which is incredibly imprecise. As we can see from just some of the events listed above, precisely when the chip came out—if it came out—makes a huge difference.

Hunter realizes this and presses for clarification, but Crosshair dodges giving it. Again, a legitimate belief that it doesn’t matter, or evidence that he can’t say because something else is going on? We don’t know.

Hunter checks Crosshair’s head and finds the burn scar which proves… nothing. As stated above, they wouldn’t be able to see the surgery scar one way or another: its existence or its absence. It’s useless data, as Tech might say. I’ve seen a few fans claim that Hunter was also feeling for the chip with his enhanced senses, but 1. I didn’t catch any evidence of that in the scene and 2. Even if we assume Hunter did that anyway, the chips are notoriously hard to spot. Fives and AZ couldn’t find the chip at first when examining Tup. Ahsoka had to use the force to find it in Rex. TBB themselves couldn’t find it at first in Wrecker. If machinery consistently fails to find the chip on the first couple of tries—it’s meant to be a hidden implant, after all—why would we believe Hunter’s senses could pick it up instantly? Maybe he missed it, or maybe it wasn’t there at all. 

Crosshair appears to be struggling with a headache in the finale, just as he was at the beginning of the season and just like Wrecker was for the first half.

The point of listing all this out is to emphasize how ambiguous this whole situation is. I don’t want to use this post to argue one way or another about whether Crosshair’s chip is really out. I have my preferred theory (the chip’s still in, but only partially functional), but at the end of the day none of this is conclusive. The writing takes us in what I hope is deliberate circles. Crosshair says the chip is out? Crosshair is not a reliable source of information until we know if the chip is out. What other evidence is there that the chip is gone? A scar? We can’t see if there’s a scar. Hunter’s abilities? He only checked once for a canonically hard to find implant—if he actually checked at all. And why would the Empire want the chip out? Well, maybe it has to do with that push towards willing soldiers, but if that were the case, why leave Crosshair behind and have the “clones die together”? By that point he was one of the most willing, chip or not. Did they have to take it out because of the engine accident? Pure speculation. We just don’t know and THAT is the point I want to make.

Because it means the rest of the Bad Batch didn’t know either.

The core issue I have here is not whether the chip is in or out, or even how long it may have been in if it is out now. The issue is that TBB spent 99% of the first season believing that Crosshair was under the chip’s influence… and they didn’t try to do anything about that. They abandoned him. They left a man behind. Does this make them all horrible monsters? Of course not! This shit is complicated as hell, but I do think they made a very large mistake and that Crosshair has every right to be furious about it.

“But, Clyde, they couldn’t have gone back. It was too dangerous! Hunter had a duty to his whole team, not just Crosshair.” True enough and I’d buy this argument 100% if Hunter hadn’t spent the entire season throwing his team into dangerous, seemingly impossible situations to save other people. Crosshair became the exception, not a hard rule of something they had to avoid. They went back to Kamino for Omega, a kid they’d only had one lunch with, despite knowing how dangerous the Empire was. They went into the heart of an occupied planet to rescue not just a stranger, but one belonging to the Separatist government. They helped Sid when she asked and there was plenty of compassion for the criminal trying to take her place. Most significantly, there wasn’t the slightest hesitation to go rescue Hunter when he was under the Empire’s control, in precisely the same place. Every explanation I’ve seen fans come up with—Kamino is too fortified, they don’t know where Crosshair is, they can’t risk Omega being captured, etc.—also holds true for Hunter, yet there wasn’t a second of doubt about needing to at least try to help him. And his rescue was arguably far more dangerous given that TBB knew they were walking into a trap. Going after Crosshair would have at least had some element of surprise.

I think the problem with these justifications is most easily seen in “Rescue on Ryloth” and, later, “War-Mantle.” In the former, we do watch Hunter decide that going on a rescue mission is too much of a risk, only for Omega to talk him into considering it.

Hunter: “It’s a big galaxy. We can’t put ourselves on the line every time someone’s in trouble.”

Omega: “Why not? Isn’t that what soldiers do?”

Hunter: “It’s not worth the risk.”

Omega: “She’s trying to save her family, Hunter. I’d do the same for you.”

The arguments that sway him are ‘Soldiers should help people’ and ‘Soldiers should specifically help their family.’ So… what does that say about their feelings for Crosshair? They’re willing to put themselves on the line for the parents of a girl they met once at a drop site, but not their own brother? That’s the message the writing sends. “But, Clyde, the difference is that they had an advantage here. Hera’s knowledge of her home planet tipped the odds in their favor.” Yeah… and Crosshair is stationed on TBB’s home planet. Even more than them collectively having the same knowledge that Hera does, “Return to Kamino” reveals that Omega always had additional, insider knowledge of the base: she has access to a secret landing pad and the tunnels leading up into the city. That knowledge was given and used the second Hunter’s freedom was on the line, but it never once came up to use for Crosshair’s benefit. 

“War-Mantle’s” mission puts this problem in even sharper relief. Another claim I’ve seen a lot is that TBB only took risky rescue missions because they needed to be paid. The guys have got to eat after all. Yet Tech makes it clear that going after Gregor will lose them money. They’re meant to be on a mission for Sid and deviating for that won’t result in a payment. He explicitly says that if they decide to do this, they won’t eat. They do it anyway. No money, no intel, a huge risk “on a clone we don’t even know.” But that’s not what’s important, the show says. All that matters is that a brother is in trouble. This time it’s Echo pushing that message instead of Omega. When Hunter realizes that they’re about to try and infiltrate an entire facility and they don’t even know if this clone is still alive, Echo points out that they took that risk once before: for him. “If there’s a chance that trooper is being held against his will, we have to try and get him out.”

Yes! Exactly right! So why doesn’t that apply to Crosshair?

“Because he tried to kill them, Clyde!” No, that’s the easy, dismissive answer. A chipped Crosshair tried to kill them. AKA, a Crosshair entirely under the Empire’s control. The only difference between his enslavement and Gregor’s is that Gregor’s chains were physical while Crosshair’s were mental. And again, the point of everything at the start of this post is to show that no one knows when or even if that chip was removed. TBB definitely didn’t have any reason to suspect that Crosshair was working under his own power until Crosshair himself said as much. We might have been able to make that case at the start of the season, but “Battle Scars” removes any possible confusion. The entire team watched Rex reach for his blaster when he learned their chips were still in. The entire team watched Wrecker become a totally different person and attack them, just like Crosshair did. The entire team forgave him instantly and had their own chips removed. So why in the world didn’t anyone go, “Wow, Crosshair has a chip too. He was no more responsible for attacking us than Wrecker was. We need to try to get him out, no matter how hard that might be, just like we had to try for all these other people we’ve helped.”

But they didn’t. No one even considered rescuing Crosshair. They only went back for Hunter and, when they realized Crosshair was there too, they didn’t change their plans to try and rescue him as well. He’s treated as a particularly threatening inconvenience, not another team member in need of their help.

The problem I have with how this all went down is that the team treated Crosshair like an enemy despite all evidence to the contrary. Despite Omega outright saying that this isn’t his fault, it’s the chip, the group seems to decide that he’s gone crazy or something and that there’s nothing they can do. “It’s fine,” I thought. “They don’t really get what the chip is like yet. They don’t understand how thoroughly it controls someone.” But then “Battle Scars” arrives and Wrecker is treated with such compassion (which he deserves!) only for the group to continue acting like Crosshair is somehow different. It’s easy to say, “But Crosshair shot Wrecker” and ignore the easy pushback of, “and Wrecker nearly shot Omega.” Up until Crosshair’s own accusations and Omega’s ignored comments, TBB’s understanding of the chip’s influence and the lack of responsibility that accompanies mysteriously disappears when the show’s antagonist becomes the subject of conversation. This is seen most clearly in how Hunter tries to frame things during his talk with Crosshair:

“You tried to kill us. We didn’t have a choice.”

“Can’t you see that they’re using you? It’s that inhibitor chip in your head.”

“You really don’t get who we are, do you?”

Hunter mentions the chip, but he acts as if it’s Crosshair’s responsibility to overcome it: “Can’t you see…” Of course he can’t see, that’s the entire point of the chip, the thing he currently believes Crosshair still has stuck in his head. But Hunter and the others—with Omega as a wonderful exception—never seem to have accepted this like they did for Wrecker. When Crosshair “tried to kill us” it’s seen as a deliberate act that he chose, not something forced on him like with Wrecker. When Hunter talks about their ethics, he subconsciously separates the team from Crosshair: “You really don’t get who we are, do you?”, revealing a pretty ingrained divide between them. Even Wrecker gets in on the action, the one brother who truly understands how much the chip controls someone: “All that time, you didn’t even try to come back.” What part of he couldn’t try is not hitting home here? Again, for the purposes of this conversation it doesn’t matter whether Crosshair was chipped this whole time or not. The point is that TBB believed he was chipped… and yet still expected him to somehow, magically overcome that programming, writing him off when he failed to do that. He’s consistently held responsible for actions that they were told (and, through Wrecker, saw) were completely outside of his control. Even when we factor in his claim that the chip was removed, TBB has ignored all the evidence I listed at the start. No one, not even Omega, challenges this super vague and strange claim, or seeks out proof because they don’t want to believe that their brother could willingly do this. There’s just this... acceptance that of course Crosshair went bad. Why? Because he was an asshole sometimes? Taking it all as written, it doesn’t feel like the batch considered him a true part of the team. Certainly not like Wrecker or Hunter. As shown, the batch will go out of their way, risk anything, forgive anything, for them. They have a level of faith that was never shown to Crosshair. 

“Severe and unyielding,” Tech says and he’s absolutely right, but I’d seriously challenge this idea that any of the others would have automatically done better if the situations were reversed. It stood out to me that each batch member has a moment of doubt throughout the series, a brief glimpse into how they think the Empire isn’t that bad, at least when it comes to this particular thing. Basically, a moment that could lead to a very dangerous line of thinking without others to stomp it down. Wrecker announces that he’s happy working for whoever, provided they give him food and let him blow things up. Tech finds the chain codes to be an ingenious strategy and is clearly fascinated with their development. Hunter initially wants Omega to stay on Kamino, despite knowing that this Empire has already, systematically killed an entire group of people: the Jedi. Doesn’t matter. She’s still (supposedly) safer there than she would be running with the likes of them.

There’s absolutely no doubt that those three made the correct choice in defying the Empire, but I believe that their ability to make that choice is largely dependent on them having each other. They survive together, not apart, and it’s their unity that allows them to make the really hard calls, like setting out on their own and opposing such a formidable force. But if Tech’s chip had activated and he’d been left behind, would he have muscled through to escape somehow...or would he have gotten caught up in all the new technology the Empire offered him, succumbing to both his chip and the inevitability that if his squad no longer wanted him, why not stay? Would Wrecker have escaped, or been easily manipulated into a new life of exploding things? Would Hunter have been able to push through without his brothers, or would he have become devoted to a new team to lead? Obviously there’s no way to ever know, but it’s always easier to make the right decisions when you have support in doing so. Crosshair had no support. His team left him and yes, they had to in that specific moment, but the point is that they never came back. As far as we saw throughout the season, they never planned to come back. They all talk about loving the Crosshair who existed when life was easier, but they weren’t willing to fight for the Crosshair that most needed their help. When he says “You weren’t loyal to me,” he’s absolutely right. The same episode, “Return to Kamino,” gives Omega two powerful lines that the group rallies behind:

Omega: “[The danger] doesn’t matter. Saving Hunter is what matters.”

AZ: “You must leave.”

Omega: “Not without Hunter.”

The key word there is “Hunter.” Danger, stakes, risk, probability… none of that matters when Hunter needs help. Crosshair did not receive that same level of devotion.

Which creates a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. The group is upset that Crosshair isn’t rejoining them, but they fail to realize that he has no reason to trust them anymore. He’s not joining the Empire because he’s inherently evil and that’s that, end of discussion. He’s joining it because above all Crosshair wants a place to belong… and TBB has made it clear—unintentionally—that he does not belong with them. The horrible actions that Crosshair took under his own free will (theoretically) came after he realized that doing bad things while under the Empire’s control was, apparently, unforgivable. If it wasn’t, his team would have come back to rescue him. They could have at least tried. But they didn’t, so Crosshair is left with the conclusion that either what he did under the Empire’s control is something the group can’t forgive him for, or they can forgive that (like with Wrecker) and he’s the problem here. He’s the one not worth that effort.

“The Empire will be fazing out clones next,” Hunter says. To which Crosshair responds, “Not the ones that matter.”

He wants to matter to someone and events show he no longer matters to his brothers. So why not stay with the Empire? I mean, we as the audience ABSOLUTELY know why not. Self-doubt and feelings of isolation aren’t excuses for joining the Super Evil Organization. Crosshair, if he is under his own control, is still 100% in the wrong for supporting them, no matter his reasons. So it’s not an excuse, but rather an explanation of that very human, flawed, fallible thinking. He needs to be useful. He needs to be wanted. Crosshair is an absolute dick to the regs and I have no doubt that a lot of that stems from the harassment TBB has experienced from them (with a side of his inflated ego), but I’d bet it’s also due to Crosshair’s intense desire to be valuable to someone. He keeps pointing out the regs’ supposed deficiencies because it highlights his own usefulness. When Crosshair fails to find Hera, the Admiral says that soon he’ll get someone who can, looking straight at Howzer at the door. It makes Crosshair seethe because his entire identity is based on being useful, yet no one seems to need him anymore. TBB seems to no longer want him. The Empire no longer wants clones. Now even regs are considered a better option than him, the “superior” soldier. Everywhere Crosshair turns he’s getting the message that he’s not wanted, but he’ll keep fighting to at least be needed in some capacity, no matter how small. Even if that means overlooking all the horrors the Empire commits.

“All you’ll ever be to [the Empire] is a number,” Hunter says and he’s absolutely right. But to TBB recently, Crosshair hasn’t even been that. He’s been nothing. Nobody worth coming back for. To his mind, at least being a number is something.

I hope that all of this resolves itself into a conclusion that is kind to each side (preferably without a Vader-style death redemption), especially given the still ambiguous state of the chip, but from a writing standpoint I’m admittedly a bit wary. We’re obviously meant to believe that the batch all love each other, but as established throughout this entirely too long post, this season did a terrible job imo of proving that they love Crosshair. Or, at least, proving that they love him as much as the others. If this was really meant to be just a matter of miscommunication, with Crosshair making terrible life choices because he only thinks he was abandoned, then we as the audience would have seen the batch trying and failing to get him out. Or at least establishing a very good reason why they couldn’t take that risk, hopefully with entirely different side-missions so the audience isn’t constantly going, “So you can risk everything for Gregor... but not Crosshair?” I’m VERY glad that Crosshair was allowed to air his grievances to the extent he did, but the end result of that—Hunter continually denying this, Omega walking away from him in their rooms, neither Tech nor Wrecker actually sticking up for him and acknowledging the chip’s influence during at least some of all this—is making things feel rather one-sided. It’s like we’re meant to take Crosshair at his word and accept that he’s this garden-variety antagonist who joins the Empire because yay being on the winning side… despite all these complications that clearly have a huge impact on how we read the situation. It doesn’t help that the show has already embraced an inconsistent manner of portraying chipped-clones. We know every clone has one, we know only a couple clones are aware of the chip’s existence (and can thus try to get it out), we know they enter a “Good soldiers follow orders” mindlessness once activated… yet towards the end we see a lot of side character clones thinking for themselves. Howzer decides that he’s no longer loyal to the Empire, giving a speech where a couple other clones throw down their weapons too. Gregor was arrested because he likewise realized how wrong this all was. But how is that possible? Do the chips completely control the clones, or not? Are these clones somehow exceptions? Are the chips beginning to fail? All of that has a bearing on how we read Crosshair—what were his own decisions, how much he was capable of overcoming the chip, whether that changed at all during certain points—but right now that remains really unclear.

It’s details like that which make me wonder if all these other questions will be answered. Will the story resolve all those ambiguous moments surrounding the chip, or brush them off with the belief that we should have just taken Crosshair at his equally ambiguous word? Will the story acknowledge Crosshair’s points through someone other than Crosshair, allowing it to exist as a legitimate criticism, rather than the presumed excuses of an antagonist? I’m… not sure. On the whole I’m very happy with TBB’s writing—despite what all this might imply lol. Until my brain picks over the season and discovers something else, my only other gripe is not allowing Omega to form a solid bond with Tech and Echo, instead putting all the focus on big brother!Wrecker and dad!Hunter. I think it’s a solid show that does a lot right, but I’m worried that, unless there’s a brilliant answer to all these questions and an intent to unpack both sides of the Hunter vs. Crosshair debate with respect—not just falling back on, “Well, Crosshair is with the Empire so everything he says is automatically bad and wrong” take—we’ve just gotten the setup for a somewhat messy, ethical story. For anyone here who also reads my RWBY metas, I’m pretty sure you’re not at all surprised that I’m invested in going, “Hey, you had one of the heroes suddenly become/join a dictatorship and do a lot of horrific things, but within a pretty complicated context. Can we please work through that carefully and with an acknowledgement of the nuance here, rather than throwing the ‘evil’ character to the proverbial wolves?”  

God knows TBB is leagues ahead of RWBY, but I hope things continue on in not just a good direction, but one that tackles the aspects of this situation that many fans—and Crosshair—have already pointed out. As much as I adore the cast—and I really, really do—it was discomforting to watch a found family show where 4/5th of that family so completely wrote off one of the members and crucially have, at least so far, refused to acknowledge that. I want complicated, flawed characters, but that’s only compelling when the storytelling admits to and grapples with those flaws. We have quite firmly established Crosshair’s flaws in Season One. I hope Season Two delves into the rest of the team’s too.

Aaaand with that meta-dump out of my system, I’m off to write TBB fic. Thanks for reading! :D

#The Bad Batch #TBB #Crosshair #Star Wars #SW #mymetas #do I take my life in my hands #by posting SW meta? #probably lol

[trashy28]

Get Some Rest (Tech x Reader) Pt 2

Warnings: anxiety, angst-y ?, mentions of death/near-death experiences, blood/gore, mentions of violence, fluff at the end i promise (i would say im sorry, but im not) (bet you didn't expect this right after a fluffy first part >:))

Pairing: Tech x GN!Reader

Word Count: 5.1k

Part 1, Part 2

Summary: Oh no! It's a mission gone wrong trope! I wonder what could possibly be underneath this keep-reading cutoff! It totally cannot be where the reader and the bad batch go on a rescue mission only for something to go awry leading to treating injuries, and feelings.

"Everything is going to be okay. It will be alright. You got this y/n, you got this." You mumbled to yourself under your breath as you hid behind a convenience stall on some Outer Rim planet.

Something had gone wrong, VERY wrong. The mission was supposed to be easy: get in, get the prisoners, and get out, but it had all gone downhill faster than you could say dank farrik.

-

Earlier in the day, Tech had tapped into a secure Separatist transmission when messing around with his datapad. The Separatists were broadcasting a signal from a supposed neutral Outer Rim planet back to their base only a system away. They had taken the native people as prisoners and were going to use them for something, but none of you could figure out what. From then on, Hunter had taken charge, deciding that there was no time to ask for approval on the mission.

When the five of you reached the planet, you couldn't help but whisper to Tech next to you, "None of this seems right. If the Separatists did take these people as prisoners wouldn't there still be ships and droids?"

Tech simply looked at you before saying, "Not if they wanted to be secretive about it," and going back to his datapad.

You let out a huff. Things hadn't been that different between you two after the kiss you shared in the cockpit of the Havoc Marauder. When in private there would be shared tender moments, like there was nothing in the world that could come between you two, but with his brothers, Tech would regard you as the friend they all viewed you to be. They all knew something was going on between you two, and you had even taken it upon yourself to rant to Crosshair one night. He said he 'reluctantly' chose to listen, but he had calmed your anxious babbling about how you thought that Tech was embarrassed that you two were something now. That brought up another fact about how you two never addressed what you could call yourselves. Any time you tried to bring it up to Tech he would either cut you off with something else he was wildly researching, or one of his brothers would walk in and need either one of you. Crosshair's words did help to remind you that "That's just how Tech is sometimes. Clones were made to be fighters, not lovers." Leave it to him to say something like that. Out of every one of his brothers you knew he was the one who wanted a normal life the most even if he didn't show it.

As you and the rest of the group began your walk from the Marauder to the closest town you found yourself falling into step next to Wrecker instead of your usual placement besides Tech. Looking down at you, he asks, "Something bothering you? It sure looks like something is,"

Looking up to make eye contact with him you say, "I still don't feel like this is right. Everything seems to be falling into place too easily. This never happens to us!"

Wrecker turns his attention back to the surroundings passing a glance over the open area before stating, "Honestly, it is a little odd, but I trust the others and their intuition as much as yours."

The finality in his tone stood true as neither of you said anything for the rest of the walk into the town square. Walking past the empty booths would have been enough to send normal civilians running at the sight, everything was ruined. Curtains torn, fruit on the floor, and vendor booths destroyed. It was a depressing sight to see, but sadly one that the group was used to, it was a time of war after all.

After a little longer of walking and reaching the heart of the city, Hunter holds his fist up and all of the groups' motion ceases. "Tech," he says, "Can you pick up anything else from that transmission or anything that could give us a clue as to what else happened here?"

"I'm working on it, have been since we landed. The Separatists have scrambled all signals, so it’s taking me a while to try and find the frequency again," Tech answers before looking around the surrounding area, "As for what happened here, I think the evidence speaks for itself."

Hunter sighs before saying, "Alright, we'll split into two groups to cover more ground. Tech, and Wrecker you're with me. Crosshair and y/n, I expect no arguments coming out of this grouping."

Crosshair scoffs as you roll your eyes and make your way to stand next to him. "Didn't plan for arguments but maybe I'll start a few just to piss you off now," you say as you turn back towards Hunter.

"Just make it back here in one piece, we'll meet back up here at 1500, and if anybody is late, we assume they have gone missing and this was a trap," Hunter says before turning away and starting to walk down one of the many deserted alleys.

"Looks like we're stuck together again Cross," you let out before elbowing his side and starting to walk forward.

Following you and shoving a toothpick in his mouth he says, "As long as you don't complain about your problems with your boyfriend the whole time this might just be enjoyable."

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get going you karking toothpick lover."

-

It had only been around half an hour or so of walking before you and Crosshair could hear blaster fire in the distance. You ask, "Hey Cross, am I dehydrated, or is that actual blaster fire?" Turning around to face the said man, he already had his eyepiece down checking for heat signatures and was pulling you by your arm into a space between two buildings.

"There's nothing around us, but I'm assuming the others encountered some clankers. They must have found something because well, we found nothing and have no one after us," Crosshair states before tilting his helmet down to you and reading your facial expressions, "You want to go back and help them, don't you?"

"Of course I do Crosshair! Don't pretend that you don't want to either, I know how you care for your brothers. Let's just try to make it back without alerting any of those damn droids," you reply.

Crosshair tilts his head towards a stack of boxes and towards the roof of the buildings, you were situated between. "I think I have an idea."

-

"Why the hell did I let you come up with the idea to get back to your brothers. Running from roof to roof isn't exactly easy and leaves us out in the open," you complain before hopping another gap in-between roofs to catch up with Crosshair.

Crosshair stops short in front of you on the next roof almost causing you to walk into him before turning around to face you, "Look, I'm just as anxious as you to get back to them, but they are all capable enough to take care of themselves and I trust them with that. You of all people should know that as well," he spits angrily, and could almost hear a growl with his final punctuation.

"I know Crosshair, I get that you are worried, but I just can't help thinking that something had to go wrong. Let's just hope that my intuition is the wrong thing," You say before putting a hand on his shoulder, "C'mon, let's make this fast."

-

By the time you had made it back to the town square, to your luck, you still had not encountered any droids except for the ones who were scattered all over the floor in pieces.

"Looks like Hunter got to work on these guys," you say as you bend down to touch the large gash left by a vibro-knife in the torso of a droid.

Crosshair is examining another droid with its head ripped off only a few meters from you, "Looks like Wrecker got these guys too. But the question remains: where are Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech?"

At this, you paused and drew your focus away from the droid and instead survey the area, "The real question is, why is there no evidence of Tech fighting back? There are no electro-proton bombshells and even no blaster marks on any of these guys."

"Maybe they split up," Crosshair looks at you before pointing down one of the alleys.

"Fuck, I hope you're right."

-

It didn't take both of you that long to find Hunter and Wrecker, but it also didn't take long for another set of droids to ambush you. That's how you found yourself pressed behind the convenience stall mumbling under your breath. You had managed to take down a few droids but were forced to take cover. The others were still scattered around picking off droids one by one just as you remembered that Tech was still nowhere to be seen. Your mind was rushing faster than you could've ever thought trying to find out any idea as to where he could have gone.

Suddenly the blaster fire stopped as you heard a final clank from a droid hitting the ground. As you stood up you looked around cautiously, and deciding the coast was clear you jumped over the stall to group up with the rest of the bad batch.

As everyone began looking over each other there seemed to be only one thought shared between the group. This was a trap and Tech was gone.

Trying to alleviate the sour mood the group was plunging headfirst into you chuckled before saying, "You guys can finally say I was right now."

The others groaned before Hunter said, "Now is not the time y/n, Tech's missing and we have no clue where the kark he could be."

"You think I don't know that Hunter?" You let out through clenched teeth before continuing, "I'm just as worried as you are right now, but let's get somewhere where we don't have to worry about droids ambushing us."

Crosshair let out a sigh from beside you, "They're right. We won't be able to help Tech if we're dead so let's get back to the ship."

Picking up what he was putting down you finished for him, "We can re-group our thoughts on the Marauder, come up with a game plan, and then retrace our steps. It will do no good thinking while our minds are in 20 places at once."

-

Back on the ship all of you had gathered around the small datapad you placed in the middle of the table. "Alright, I tracked Tech's datapad's last known location to here, but who knows if it even with him," you say before zooming in on the location, "We can't guarantee that it would be safe either, we all know the number of clankers they sent after us just to try and keep us away."

"As long as I get to blow something up and get Tech out, anything is a good plan," Wrecker says before heading towards the back of the ship.

Crosshair nods at both you and Hunter before getting out of his seat to go and follow Wrecker.

"I know you're really worried, you don't hide your emotions that well," Hunter says while placing a hand on your shoulder.

"No shit Hunter," you start while rolling your eyes, "I'm worried about what might happen if we can't find him, or even if it's too late and he's already gone. I don't know what I would be able to do without him."

Hunter gives your shoulder a reassuring squeeze, "It will be okay y/n. For our sake and yours, let's think positively."

-

The four of you had made your way back into the town square better equipped and without a problem. You had some of your own plastoid armor on now for a bit of extra protection in case things decided to take an even stronger turn for the worst.

"The signal from the datapad is down the alley to the Northeast," you say while glancing up from your own datapad.

The group nods back at you as you continue your way down the alley. It was quiet, the tall sand-colored buildings surrounding you couldn't help but make you feel claustrophobic. The other alleys were not like this. They had seemed to be more open, with a lot fewer canopies, but this one had canopies blocking almost all the sun. It also didn't help that it was starting to get dark.

As you reached another intersection, Hunter held up his fist to signify everyone to stop. A wave of déjà vu flashed over you, and you prayed to any gods that would listen that you wouldn't split up again. After a few moments, Hunter turned to you and tilted his head to the side, to which you answered by pointing your hand to the alley to the right. In a whisper, you add, "If we continue straight down that alley, we should reach another intersection. Tech's datapad should be there."

The four of you continued walking again and when you reached the intersection you couldn't help but let out a strangled sob. There was a pool of blood on the farthest side of the intersection that was smeared on one side. Rushing up next to the blood, you stopped mere centimeters from it as your eyes caught sight of Tech's datapad. Your hands were shaking as you reached for it and you brushed a finger over one of the bloody fingerprints. "Oh shit," you say letting out a shaky breath. How could you have let this happen; how could you allow yourselves to walk right into a trap? Now Tech was gone, bleeding out, or dead, and there was no exact way to trace him.

You see Wrecker's hands wrap around your own but don't register the feelings. Your whole body has seemingly shut off and stopped processing the world around you. Wrecker takes the datapad from your hands and passes it to either Hunter or Crosshair. You are too shocked to care as you collapse to your knees. Wrecker is at your side on the ground in seconds and pulls you right into him. The plastoid armor that would bring you so much comfort as you used to hold Tech close only burned as tears began to fall from your face. The air was thick with remorse and regret, but you couldn't hold on to the fact that he could be dead. After a few somber minutes recollecting yourself, you pushed away from Wrecker and pushed yourself off the ground, offering a hand to Wrecker to assist him. Once both of you were up and you had cleaned the sand off your pants, you turned towards Hunter and Crosshair. They were silent as ever, Crosshair had taken a seat on of the nearby crates and had his head in his hands, and Hunter had taken to looking at Tech datapad.

Breaking the silence, you spoke first, "We can't just give up and believe he is dead," startling Crosshair causing him to jump in his seat.

"Yeah, we need to think he's still out there, that the Separatist kept him alive for information," Wrecker added, backing you up.

Hunter had turned back around waving the datapad, "They were smart enough to keep his datapad here, but they weren't smart enough to wipe any messages on it."

At this, you scrambled over to Hunter's side and pulled that datapad closer to your face. Displayed was an unsent message to you that contained various numbers. "Coordinates," you say breathlessly as Crosshair joins the rest of you standing in a haphazard circle around the datapad. Adding, you ask, "Do you think those are the coords of the base where they took the prisoners too?"

"Probably," Crosshair speaks for the first time since arriving at the intersection, "Let's hope Tech's there too."

Taking Tech's datapad from Hunter, Crosshair begins off in the direction leading away from Tech's bloodstain on the ground, but also opposite the way you came. The rest of you fall into step behind him and continue your way to your destination.

-

On the way following the coordinates, all four of you were on high alert, but no droids had come to attack you, relieving some of the stress. It didn't help relax you guys upon seeing the droids surrounding a large sandstone castle-like building. Stopping at the crest of a hill a while away from the makeshift Separatist base, Hunter and you took to scanning the surrounding area, while Crosshair and Wrecker began to formulate some form of attack.

"Once again, I can tell you're worried," Hunter said as you both had scopes pulled out to try and find any weak points in the droid formations.

"And once again, we all are Hunter. I just hope we aren't too late," You reaffirm before pointing at a space straight ahead, "Look, they're rotating shifts. Maybe we could find a way in on their next rotation."

Hunter turns to look at you before saying, "How would we know when the next rotation is?"

"I don't know, maybe figure out what time it is Mr. Survivalist," you taunt sarcastically.

Hunter scoffs before saying "It's 1900, we could use the fact that it's dark out now to our advantage. It could help us slip in and out undetected if we want."

Nodding before standing up, you say, "True, let's go tell the others and see if it can play into their plan."

-

Once getting back to Crosshair and Wrecker, all four of you focused on a plan and decided it was best to split into two groups to help divide the droid forces. There would be no surprise ambushes by the droids, but instead an ambush on them. You and Hunter taking the back way in, through the gap in droid shifts you noticed earlier, while Wrecker and Crosshair would work on some sort of distraction from the front.

Wrapping up the discussion of the plan one last time before separating Hunter adds, "Remember, this is a rescue mission. Once we have Tech and possible other prisoners we get out as fast as we can."

You, Wrecker, and Crosshair nodded before wishing each other luck as they walked off from your position.

"You ready y/n?" Hunter asks.

"Ready as I'll ever be," you say back to him as you two make your way towards your position.

-

Once situated towards the back of the building, Hunter commed Crosshair saying, "The droids are about to rotate positions, on my word start whatever distraction you have in mind."

The two of you waited on edge while the minutes drew on. After what felt like forever the droids finally began to move. At this, Hunter commed Crosshair again with finality, saying, "Now."

From your position, you could see the blast from the explosives Wrecker had set off, along with the heavy concentration of blaster fire. The droids that were covering the area where you and Hunter immediately went to act as reinforcement to those affected by the blast.

Hunter and you ran from your location to the back of the building, quickly finding an open window. Pulling the window open more, you forced your way inside as Hunter followed. The room was empty, and most of the lights were off. Pulling out a flashlight you scanned it across the floor quickly before turning it off again to not be spotted, even if there was a small chance of that.

"It looks like we are in some type of living room," Hunter says before making his way away from the window and peeking his head around the corner of the door and into the hallway. "The hallway's clear, I would say split up to cover more floors, but seeing what happened last time I told everyone to split up... I don't think that's a good idea."

Nodding you made your way over to him to look out into the hallway as well. "I say we go to the basement if there is one. It would make sense to keep people prisoner there," You say before stepping foot into the hallway.

"Yeah, but the only problem is finding stairs that could lead to a basement," Hunter says while stepping into place behind you.

"It shouldn't be that hard, plus if Tech was still bleeding by the time, he got here, wouldn't you think there would be a trail of blood where they brought him?" You shuddered while stating the possibility out loud, just as Hunter made a noise of acknowledgment.

After what felt like hours of walking the hallways on high alert, and checking most rooms as you come across them, you staggered trying to stop yourself from walking as you finally caught sight of some blood on the ground. "Hunter," you whispered, "Look."

Hunter looked around your form to get a glance at what you were looking at, before shining his flashlight down the rest of the hall. "There's a trail too," he said while keeping his flashlight trained on the spots of blood.

"C'mon," You say as you grab him by the hand and pull him the rest of the way down the hallway.

Stopping at the end of the said hallway you are greeted by stairs to the left of you, and you turn to Hunter before silently agreeing to walk town together in sync. The stairs were solid sandstone, so you didn't have to worry about any creaky stairs, but you did have to worry about footing. Pulling out your vibro-knives at the same time as Hunter, you two started making your way down the stairs. The sight that waited for you and the bottom of the short walk would stick in your head forever. The basement was one single connected holding cell, with prisoners lined up against the bars trying to get a look at you. Some of them were crying, others wailing in pain, and some had fallen into silent spells. Noticing this, Hunter and you quickly put your knives away before you rushed to the gate with the main lock at it. While you made fast work of the lock and quickly picked it, Hunter had begun reassuring the people that we were here for help and that he was looking for someone who looked like us. With the gate, open people poured out in a mass exodus and began to make their way upstairs, without a single care of what could happen to them.

Once almost everyone was out, you and Hunter made your way into the cell where you were greeted with another terrible sight. Tech was there on a stone table in the middle of a cell with one of them, now freed, prisoners hovering over him. His armor was off and tossed to the side as he was only in his blacks, and he had a bacta patch wrapped around his torso. You rushed over to him as Hunter escorted the prisoner out of the cell and couldn't help but let out a sob for the second time today. Tech looked frail, and you hesitated to even reach out to touch him fearing that it would break him. You were immediately relieved after placing two fingers on his wrist and feeling his pulse. It was weak, but it was still there. "Hunter! I need some help down here," you call out before starting to run around the table to grab Tech's armor. Hunter came running back down the stairs at your call and once you saw him you continued, "I need you to carry him out of here. I'll get his armor, but we need to move fast before the droid realize that this was all a diversion."

At this Hunter makes his way to Tech's side without a word and picks him up and slings him over his shoulder. Grabbing the final pieces of Tech's armor, both of you begin to make your way up to the stair. Tapping the comlink on your wrist you hear blaster fire permeate through the room around you. "Crosshair, we got Tech. If I know Wrecker, he probably has some explosives, so as soon as we get out of the house, give him the word to blow this place up."

"Got it," Crosshair says before the comlink closes with a beep.

"Let's try a nearby window and get out of here as fast as we can before we tell them to set the chargers," you say to Hunter as you force your way ahead of him and into the closest room. Hunter follows you before grunting as a noise of approval. Making your way to the window, you grab Tech's helmet from where it sat under your arm and smashed it. Hunter gives you an exasperated look as he walks past you and out the window first, to which you only say, "What? It was a lot easier than putting everything down and opening it.

Once both of you are outside, you make your way to the location where you two started the mission. Reaching the spot a few meters away, you open the com with Crosshair again, "Crosshair, tell Wrecker to light it up. Now!"

Instead of getting an actual response as an answer, you could hear the various explosions coming from the area behind you.

"Nice work you two but meet up with us where we made camp before, it will be quicker to get back to the Marauder with Wrecker carrying Tech," You say into the com again before forcing yourself to walk in the direction of the temporary camp from before.

"Rodger that," Both Crosshair and Wrecker's voices come through the comlink before the transmission ends again with a beep.

-

The four of you, plus an unresponsive Tech, met up quickly and rushed back to the Marauder as soon as you could. Reaching the ship was a relief as Hunter had immediately gone into the cockpit and got you guys off the planet, and Wrecker took Tech to the bunks with you in tow with medical supplies.

Once Wrecker placed Tech on his respective bunk, you immediately rushed him out of the room and got to work. Removing the hastily applied bacta patch, you assessed the wound that Tech had got before he was captured. It was nasty at first glance, but you assumed it was even worse before he had the first batch patch applied. The cut ran from his left shoulder across his torso, coming to finally stop at the bottom of his right ribs. Luckily, the cut wasn't that deep, because there would have been hardly a chance, he would've survived that. Continuing your work, you cleaned the wound before wrapping it up again in another bacta patch. Standing up and observing the handiwork of your terrible medical experience, you run a full body scan with your datapad just to check for any other injuries that could internal. Thankfully, the scan came up negative and you could assume that Tech had just passed out due to blood loss. He still looked extremely pale as you stood there and stared at him, but some color was starting to return to his body.

Sitting back down, you grasped his hand in yours and looked at both hands together. As the weight of the day's events slowly started the catch up with you, you could hardly help yourself as you began to fall asleep. In a state of half-consciousness, you could've sworn you felt Tech's hand squeezing yours, but you were too tired to even process the notion that he might've.

-

The feeling of someone pulling your hand to their lips pulled you out of your nap and caused you to pick your head up from the side of Tech's bunk.

"Good morning Tech," you said before you could even process what was happening, but as soon as the words left your mouth your head snapped up and your eyes immediately widened. "Tech! You're up!"

Tech let out a breathy chuckle before trying to force his way up, only for you immediately to place your hand on his good shoulder and force him back down, "Nope, no getting up for you just yet. You had us all worried sir," you say while shifting your position to get a better look at him.

"I never meant to cause you guys any trouble," he says sincerely, "We had all got split up when those droids attacked us, and they caught me by surprise by sending in reinforcements."

"It's okay Tech, you don't need to justify your actions, you're alive and here back on the Marauder with us. That is all that matters," you say before gripping his hand again and squeezing it.

"Y'know while the droids were dragging me away as I was bleeding out, I couldn't help but focus on one thing," he says while squeezing your hand in return.

"Oh? And what was that?" You ask with a smile on your face.

Tech smiles back at you before bringing your hand to his lips again and placing a firm kiss on your knuckles, "I couldn't stop thinking about how I hadn't told you how much I love you."

Freezing in your place at the combinations of the words and the sincerity in Tech's tone, you couldn't help but find yourself smiling wider at what he had said. "I love you too Tech, too much. I thought I had lost you today but I'm so glad I didn't," you say with finality in your tone.

Leaning down to place a kiss on his lips you find yourself in a state of relief. Tech was back and safe out of harm's way, and he really does love you. Pulling away from the kiss, but still holding eye contact with him you say, "You still need to rest up, and don't think that kissing me will be a distraction."

Tech rolls his eye and lets out a groan before smirking and saying, "Well after I'm all healed you better make it up to me."

You smack his leg and let out a huff of frustration and as you go to walk out of the room you say, "We'll see about that one Tech. We'll see."

taglist: @bandaid-bunny @haloangel391

a/n: once again i feel like this is meh but i still dont know. i meant to have this done 2 days ago but almost passed out because of my second dose of the covid vaccine, plus i had a 6 page paper due so likeeee. anyway TAKE THIS right after the new episode, also if you guys watched it already... HOLY SHITTTT 🙏

#the bad batch x reader #the bad batch #bad batch #bad batch x reader #tech x reader #clone trooper tech x reader #bad batch tech x reader #tech bad batch #tech bad batch x reader #the clone wars #clone trooper tech

[woahajimes]

So I have this little headcanon (well,,,, not really a headcanon but more of a nice-to-think-about headcanon because it would never happen but it’s- like the title- nice to think about so im sharing it here) in which they’re all going to the beach in this sorta mini-van that bruce rented. And take in mind that this is the wayne family, but at the same time most people that wear a bat on their chest,,,, so they had to whack some things up.

BUT ANYWAYS, it was Bruce’s dumbass idea to buy a van and call it a road-trip, and honestly? no one was ready. That usually happens with big families, even with one that has most kids over 18. And how everyone was on board with the idea doesn’t matter because this is my headcanon and they are all now squished in a minivan and there are bags in the back and towels in the seats and there’s a cooler on top because it didn’t fit. 

and just for reference the van was like SMALL. it was sort of like the school buses but way smaller, so they’re like buses in which there are three seats in front, driver, and then like two others (the middle one doesn’t really count because that’s where you put waterbottles and stuff). There’s a sort of space in the back, where you usually put the backpacks (these are like elementary school buses and every single kid has those backpacks with wheels and it’s a pain in the ass-) and then there is another set of four seats (that’s more like a sofa but no armrest- god please have patience there is literally not a single image on google im trying to be specific- and those are facing the back of the bus (so the backrest (?) is facing the place with the bags).

THEN we have another seat that’s close to this one but facing the opposite way but it’s only THREE seats so there’s a space for the next row of three seats and then there’s the back one that’s four again.

In conclusion, you can fit 18-ish people, driver counted. 

and continuing with my story, it’s Bruce driving, Alfred as shotgun, a water-bottle or two in the middle, the bags in their respective places... and then... 

disaster. 

Babs is the only one sitting in the four-seat closer to the bags, harper is in the three-seat, Dick is there as well. 

and then there’s the rest. Steph, Cass, Duke, Jason, Tim, Damian, they’re all screaming in the back and they’re throwing towels around and there’s an “OW! THAT WAS MY HAIR YOU DICKHEAD!” and a “THAT’S MINE!” and so many other things because. the back of the bus, it’s cURSED. And Bruce is just driving with a strained smile because he wants so badly to turn around and throw a waterbottle at each of their heads to get them to shut up (of course, it wouldn’t work because not even god can calm down the back of the bus)

Tim and Jason somehow get into this argument of how tim ‘has no friends’ and Tim shoots back that in fact he DOES, that he’s calling them right this instant. And bruce doesn’t even have a chance to yell at them, because now there’s a speedster and a cloned kryptonian right beside the moving minivan and Bruce is lowkey freaking out because none of them (the ones in the van and the ones out) are wearing their superhero costumes, and then Tim is just with his hands pressed on the window and he’s like practically banging the glass and waving and they can’t hear him but he’s like “HEY! HEY HYE HEY YOU GUYS MADE IT!!!” and then dick is just telling them to cut it out and slow down because you know, identities, and Steph is like HOLY SHIT THEY DID MAKE IT and Damian is just sitting upside down with his legs in the backrest off the seat and Duke is in the same position, making fun of Damian because his feet don’t reach. 

Kon and Bart seem to get the hint because they slow down, but not before bart has literally jumped towards the MOVING VAN and vibrated through (i’m like 99% sure he is able to do that so-) and then he literally landed on Tim (tim actually softened his fall, because Tim’s back literally made a ~crack~ sound by hitting somebody’s knee) and stood up real quick and then started waving and laughing at kon, who was now running normal-speed beside the van. 

And then bruce went FASTER and kon was like WHAT THE HECK OLD MAN and he can’t use his powers so he’s literally running behind the van and bart is laughing his ass off and then tim is like “BRUCE STOP THE VAN!” and then Bart is already calling cassie and telling her what happened and you can hear cassie laughing from over the phone and then Tim is just yelling at bruce in the background. Bruce eventually DOES stop, and Tim opens the door for him and Kon crawls in and Bart’s still laughing, and he’s practically leaning onto Dick and Harper, and they’re squished together and bart’s just laughing on the phone while Kon sits on the really far end of the opposite seat (practically on the door) so he’s the furthest from babs as possible because he’s actually terrified of her. Tim is just sorta awkward because he now realizes that he was a bit TOO excited to see kon, and then the back of the bus/van is staring at them and like what the hell and then Tim goes “who doesn’t have friends, huh?”, and Jason goes ‘pfft’ and he calls roy but he’s spending time with lian; he calls artemis and she goes, “but wasn’t this a family trip? what do you need me for?”, SO jaosn calls bizarro and then he barely answers the phone when bizarro goes “RED HER SAID NO. BYE” so Jason slumps and it’s quiet for a second when steph goes “is that GUM IN MY HAIR”. And then jason laughs and its chaos all over again. (i might make a ‘things that were heard from the back of the road trip bus post bc i have so many ideas oh my god)

and then they are at the beach, the bus barely stops and there’s a few bags thrown out the window, and people yelling at Kon to open the door, and Kon not being able to work under pressure so tim opens it and everyone’s pushing each other and Steph has an uneven strand of hair, because Damian went to ‘extreme measures’ and cut it so now steph’s hair is uneven and they were going to keep cutting it “to make it even” but then Alfred was like “you’re all going to clean the van afterwards so think carefully” and then nobody did anything and there’s literally a ziploc bag with steph’s strand of hair (damian didn’t even cut to where the gum was, he cut even FURTHER but yes, the gum is in the bag). 

As I was saying, they get out of the van, and the bags are out and Bruce has NO IDEA what to do. none. It’s alfred that rents a tent and then Damian’s chasing duke into a random restaurant’s changeroom and showers and then cass is dragging harper that’s dragging steph that’s dragging jason and tim is getting the bags with Kon and bart and bart realizes that he doesn’t  have a swimsuit and then he stops walking and Kon seems to realize too and it’s like OH MAN and they can’t run back (because no powers, rule set by bruce when two super-powered bros came in the bus) and They’ recarrying the bags to this tent (do you guys know what im talking about? i feel like we’re imagining completely different things- it’s this but much more people and there’s a bunch of people selling stuff like sunglasses and doign hair, piercings, tattoos even - for the tattoos thing it’s just promo for an actual shop they don’t tattoo you in the actual beach - ) and It’s literally Kon, tim and bart carrying the bags (which they CAN carry between the three, it’s not like they packed up half the manor) and then a minute later or so Steph is sprinting towards Tim and she’s yelling something Tim can’t understand and then Steph points at her bag (that tim’s carrying) and she screams something like “SAND! HOT!” and then she’s like high-knee-ing/sprinting even faster and Cass is just walking barefoot in the sand, super calm, but she’s got Harper on her back. Damian and Duke are racing towards the shadow (because the sand is cooler there), and next thing you know Jason’s aready in the tent with a coconut. 

And if you haven’t thougth about how the Batfam would be in the beach then let me tell you, you don’t have enough spare time because i know for a FAT FACT that: 

It was Jason that insisted on Bruce buying sand toys (a whole bag, i swear)

Damian tried coconut water, didn’t like it all that much (altho he loves the inside- idk what it’s called but it’s edible i swear)

Bruce put on an excessive amount of sunscreen

Duke has swimming trunks with the robin logo just to piss damian off (also Damian has matching ones but with the batman one)

Steph, Cass and Harper rented a banana boat (here’s a picture) and they dragged Jason and Tim along, just to toss them off in the end 

Jason 1000% got stung by a jellyfish 

Bruce bought like seven friendship bracelets from this guy that made them because they looked deadass cool 

They played beach volleyball and let me tell you Damian can throw a really mean overhand serve (actually, i don’t think you THROW a serve, but like,,, serve one-)

dick got buried in the sand, courtesy of Jason

bart was pissy because he couldn’t go in the water, so he and Kon sprinted with normal speed (they both had water-proof anklets that sucked their powers, so it was REALLY  a no-powers vacation, courtesy of Bruce, again.)

the only ones in stock were neon, and they settled real quick so now theyre sprinting back and cardying a bag of keychains they thought looked rad as hell and now tim caught up to them and all three are practically skipping towards the water

,,,,they forgot to put sunscreen on.... all of them,,, they forgot....

tim made a sand castle

in teams of two (kon/bart, tim/cass, duke/harper, steph/jason, dick/damian) got on each other shoulders and basically spent five minutes trying to see who would be the last team standing, splashing water everywhere and stuff

first team to go down was Dick and damian, because steph pushed damian and by trying to keep himself on Dick's shoulders, damian accidentally poked dick's eye (sort of CLAWED in so you know what i mean).

second team to go down was steph and jason, because damian doesnt play fair and so he swam down and literally just scratched Jason's ankle, knowing damn well that the jellyfish sting was there. Jaosn shrieked and steph lost her balance. so much for vigilantes at night with stealth and talent, huh.

third team to go down was tim and bart because kon insisted on being on bart’s shoulders and that’s easy peasy because i mean, bart’s not WEAK, but he’s not TALL either and it’s not like Kon weighs a feather and they’re on the deeper side,,,,, you can imagine the rest

Now there’s two teams, and they call it a tie because otherwise someone’s gonna end up injured (altho tim likes to say that he and cass won)

There’s music playing in the background, with really vulgar lyrics that alfred disapproves of, but you know. It’s not his beach. 

THIS IS REALLY JUST A SCREAM POST SORRY IT’S NOT WHAT YOU GUYS SIGNED UP FOR BUT TAGLIST ANYWAYS: @red-hood-redemption @screennamealreadyused @bikoncon @catxsnow @thesporklecat @thesesickfics-justmakemesick @hauntingsonofrobin anddd i think i forgot someone sorry 

#i would actually sacrifice any of you to go to the beach right now #damian wayne #dick grayson #jason todd #tim drake #duke thomas #cassandra cain #bruce wayne #stephanie brown #harper row #Alfred Pennyworth #barbara gordon #conner kent #bart allen #batfamily #batfamily headcanons #jason todd x reader #timkon #young justice #batman #nightwing #batgirl

[jasontoddiefor]

AN: Season 2 The Mandalorian finale but Din/Luke.

Yavin was peaceful.

It was peaceful when the thunder roared above like the drums of war, blaster shots against beskar. It was peaceful when the children screamed in delight and not despair. It was peaceful when Din wore his armor despite not needing to fight anywhere but in the sparring ring.

Din had known peace. His childhood, before he had become a foundling, had been flecked with peaceful moments even in the middle of the slaughter that had been the Clone Wars. And later, among his siblings, he had also found moments of joy and rest.

Still, he wasn't quite sure if any of that compared to the calm he found in Yavin's temple. The tranquility was built into the very foundations of this construction. He knew the stories by now, those narrated in old books, datapads, and strange objects called holocrons that he couldn't use himself but had to ask one of the students to open for him. The Jedi and the Mandalorians had been at each other's throat often enough throughout time, Ahsoka's words came to mind, and yet Din found himself wandering their halls, being greeted by the few members of Luke's budding Order as if he were one of them. Maybe it was because the past was so distant, now that both their people knew the pain of having to rebuild from the ground up, from less than nothing.

It was not a pain he wished upon anyone.

The sun had not quite risen yet, tinting the temple's outside in a light golden hue. The building was beautiful, half overgrown as it still was. They had made some efforts to clean it out where the Alliance hadn't done managed to all those years ago. The temple was more of a refugee center, a place to restock, and a New Republic base than it really was a Jedi temple, the number of Force-sensitives low and the number of people Luke was actually teaching even lower.

They would get there someday.

He continued his path, walking further into the jungle, past the greenery, and along a river he had crossed more times than he could count already.

(That was a lie. He knew exactly how often it had been. Twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, stepping into his old footprints.)

The river led him to a wide and open clearing, framed by small flowers in all colors of the rainbow.

They had cleaned it up a little after they had found it, made it more comfortable while ensuring it remained a part of nature. 

Luke had insisted that it was important.

The more you changed the environment, the more you disrupted the flow of the Force, that had been his argument. Din didn't quite know whether to believe him. Luke certainly looked as if he was a Master of that unexplainable power regardless of the environment.

The clearing was empty, which was a surprise for one.

Often, Din would find two or three other students practicing with their Master. All of them had their eyes closed, meditating in whichever way was the most comfortable to them. Luke tended to do handstands of all things and Din knew another girl danced an Alderani ballet she was desperate to pass on to another person.

Right now, Luke was sitting in the middle of the clearing, legs crossed and moving a few stones in a slow circle around him. A few more stones gently floated in the wind in a smaller orbit, carried not by Luke, but by the child on his lap. It fascinated Din that Grogu, despite being the mentally youngest trainee, was the one who was actually working with Luke. When he wasn't with Din, he attached himself to his teacher. A couple of the other kids did, at times, fall asleep next to their Master. Passed out with their heads on his lap, or leaning against him in some other way, drooling.

Gently, Luke and Grogu set the stones to the floor, then opened their eyes.

When they had first met, Din had been too preoccupied with everything surrounding him, the darksaber, which was still clipped to his belt, Moff Gideon, saving his son— he hadn't been able to pay too much attention to Luke Skywalker.

He had taken notice of his strength, of his kindness.

Not of his deep blue eyes, or his smile.

"Come to get us for breakfast?" Luke asked and picked up Grogu as he slowly rose to his feet.

He walked over to Din, ease in his steps that would fade as the day continued on, and only returned when he repeated his ritual.

"As always."

Luke smiled at him and, once he was at Din's side, gently put his forehead to Din's. They remained just so for a moment, then they fell into a comfortable silence, returning home.

Home, what a strange expression. Home had been his ship until he lost it. Before that, it had been the dorms he had shared with the other children, and before even that, it had been his parents' arms. Now it was a temple full of people trying to figure out who they were and who they wanted to be.

He wondered, briefly, what he would have done if he hadn't gone with Luke. If he had hesitated to ask, decided he could leave his son with another. Despite his worries, his love for his child, he had never, not even for one second, expected Luke to take Grogu away. Not without Din's permission, not without the child's own, and even after, when Luke had flown them here, he hadn't thought that he might overstay his welcome someday.

Perhaps that was the reason why he didn't want to leave, why he struggled so with the decision he had to make.

Life here wasn't comfortable, soft, but it was happy and bright, and despite their struggles, Din could feel himself relaxing more and more. He didn't miss the tension in his muscles, the constant anticipation that followed his previous lifestyle.

He was a Mandalorian.

Education and armor, self-defense, our tribe, our language, our leader.

His creed was calling him and Din had to obey it to the best of his abilities. He was following its tenets, took care and protected his own and yet—

The blade at his side burned with the heat of a thousand suns and Din knew his responsibility, but he did not want to follow it. Could not follow it without getting permission first, so that he knew in his heart that he need not fear.

"What is troubling you?"

Luke and Grogu were both looking at him, heads tilted ever so slightly in the manner that Din had come to associate with Force-sensitive people. There was just an edge of sharpness to all their movements, all their words. Like they were seeing and feeling more than everyone else and were so connected to the galaxy that they were not stumbling blindly, wondering what everyone else was thinking and doing.

"I still carry the darksaber," Din said, slowly, deliberately.

Luke hummed in reply. "I know. Leia has sent me a few very urgent messages regarding the state of Mandalore."

Din snorted. Of course, she had. Leia Organa was a force onto herself. While most people were quite happy to leave Din alone here and not bother him about outside responsibilities, she was decidedly not. He feared the day she would meet the Armorer.

Leia called him a coward to his face, but what else to expect of the woman who carried the title of princess as if it were a weapon of destruction.

"I am thinking of leaving. Just for a short while to try to settle the manner."

Din already knew there would be nothing short about it. Mandalore had lain in ruins when he had been only a child. There was no quick or easy solution to its state.

"If you do, we will be here, waiting for you to return," Luke replied. Grogu cooed, reached out for Din, and was quickly transferred into his arms where he could place one of his hands on Din's helmet.

"And if I don't?"

Luke shot him a look, bemusement and fondness all in one. "I suppose then we will have to come to follow you. I crossed half the galaxy for you once, I can do it again."

Alright.

Okay.

Din let out a breath he hadn't noticed holding. All would be well then.

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