#misc. clones answer

[world-class-pizza-pals]

[There is yelling just outside the Bloodsauce Dungeon door.]

-and YOU'RE THE ONE WHO NEEDS LIKE FIVE HOURS TO OPEN A DOOR WITHOUT AN EXISTING ONE ON THE OTHER SIDE!

WE DON'T WANT TO BE HERE!

GEROME CAN YOU PLEASE STOP PICKING FIGHTS?! PLEASE?! WE'RE OUT OF THE VOLCANO TOWN SO LET'S JUST RELAX!

@vigilantes-posse

[Clones that were still in the refridgerated area perked up, and some ran out to go check out what this was.]

[Coincidentally, it was a Vigilante clone to get to the three first.]

{💎} What in tarnation are you boys doing??

[avoliot]

Querying

I got an ask on querying, which I answered privately as it had personal details in it, but thought the info might be useful more widely. As I didn't officially query I have crowdsourced some tips from my agented friends who did (ed: the group chat would like me to say i have 'consulted the sages') so here is the collected wisdom, which I have sorted into categories.

Please note that this is largely based on querying US agents.

Before you start:

Prepare yourself emotionally for rejection. if at all possible, write another book. Really common not to get rep for your first novel and really common for the book you got signed for not to sell. Honestly a lot of the confusion around querying is like, this is not about getting a good mark in writing a book. This is starting a career.

Don't jump the gun - make sure you've polished your book as much as possible yourself, sought feedback from beta readers and critique partners etc.

Finding agents:

Use manuscript wishlist, query tracker etc to build a list of agents, research their sales history in your genre.

If you can: spring for a publishers marketplace membership for at least a month (it's $25 and you can cancel any time). That way you can see who is selling comparative titles and whether they are selling to reputable publishers.

Don't query anyone you're not actually prepared to sign with. No agent is better than a bad agent.

Query letter:

Make sure you actually understand your genre, are reading recent releases, and know where your book would sit on the shelf, the number of people trying to query 200k game of thrones clones and getting nowhere because the industry moved on from there two decades ago is shockingly high.

Have a really solid idea of what the marketable hook for the book is. Which doesn't have to be what you personally like about it or what makes it good.

Use resources to both read a lot of query letters and, if you like, get yours critiqued. QueryShark archives are free and incredibly helpful. r/pubtips is, despite being reddit, a pretty good place to get specific feedback on your query

Pubtips also has wiki resources on query letter structure, vetting agents etc.

More details:

Even if you've got a series ready to go, you'll probably get further querying it as a standalone with series potential, 'this is the first in a seven part series and I love my characters so much and blahblah' isn't as appealing as you'd think.

Don't editorialise and praise your own manuscript, let people decide for themselves whether it's sensitive/gripping/lyrical.

This is a business letter, you don't need to be SUPER formal, but also be polite and professional and don't get overly familiar.

Referring to other authors the agent reps and how you see your work fitting in with that list also can be effective, but on the whole, personalisation is only necessary if there's something you really want to say to that particular agent. "I'm querying you with my fantasy book because you rep fantasy" can just be left out.

Don't comp the absolute no. 1 bestseller in your genre, comping Sanderson for your fantasy book (or, even worse, Tolkein) will make you look wildly out of touch.

Misc:

be prepared to wait a billion years for a response, it is a shitshow right now

also if you don't know anyone in publishing that's normal but if ur serious about writing professionally please god make friends with some writers at the same career stage. not a query tip but truly essential for ur sanity

[lightwise]

Hunter’s Lies and Leadership in Aftermath

(Plus some misc thoughts)

Decided to do a quick little rewatch of Aftermath yesterday morning, and noticed something I haven’t paid attention to before.

(First, I have to say that one of my favorite moments out of the entire series is the first exchange between Hunter and Crosshair when Cross is still in his right mind—“Crosshair, let’s get these tanks moving!” “Sir, yes sir.” Just brings a smile to my face at their lighthearted snarkiness every time. These are their real, unburdened personalities. Ones we haven’t gotten to see since.)

As for what I noticed, I realized how much Hunter lies throughout the episode, and easily. His wartime leadership skills are at their strongest here, the easy, confident, calling-the-shots tone that designates his position as squad leader. He knows his men, he knows what they’re capable of, and he knows what needs to be done in order to accomplish a goal. He’s tactical, perceptive, quick thinking and responsive to what is happening around him even as he is also internally processing things that don’t make sense to him. (This is in stark contrast to his reserve and indecisiveness in season 2, which I’ll save for another post).

However, as close knit as the group is, and as honest as we know the Batch is and that Hunter is not intentionally manipulative, he immediately, easily, and without hesitation lies multiple times. The first time is to protect Caleb as he leaps over the waterfall and Crosshair then comes up asking where he went.

“Where’s the Jedi?”

“I stunned him when he jumped. He didn’t make it.”

Hunter knows something is up with Crosshair, though he doesn’t know what. And he wants Caleb to be safe. But his instant response is a straight up lie and he doesn’t even waver in delivering it. He furthers the lie on their return home when Crosshair questions him about it. He knows Crosshair doesn’t believe him but he’s not ready to open that can of worms mid flight.

He lies again when they land back on Kamino and a shock trooper asks him if they have a problem with what’s going on. This time though he stutters and is much less convincing in his delivery, I think both because he’s becoming more and more confused at what is going on, and also because he’s now lying to authority and could actually face consequences if he doesn’t give the “right” answer. Regardless, it’s interesting that his nerves shine through here but not when he’s talking to his squad, who would know much more quickly his tells and attitudes than a random trooper would.

His next lie is to Tech during the briefing by Palpatine to all of the clone troopers. This is the first time for this show that we see how Tech pays attention to Hunter’s reactions, and when Hunter sees Omega for the first time, Tech asks him what he sees, and Hunter says “nothing” when he realizes that Omega has disappeared.

He also sort of half lies to Omega when they leave for Onderon, telling her that a mission is a mission and that it’s nothing to worry about. He’s churning inside though. He knows none of this make sense. But of course he’s not going to tell a kid that, he wants to comfort her and make her feel at ease.

All of this makes me wonder—is this something Hunter was used to doing? Is he so used to being the leader who holds everyone together, with no one for him to really turn to, that he’ll do whatever needs to be done to keep the peace or complete their mission objective, even if it means lying to his brothers in the moment? Or is this newer for him and he’s using it as a way to cope with the sudden shift in the situations they are dealing with?

And then Saw Gerrera says something interesting when they’re trying to apprehend him on Onderon. He says to Hunter as the leader of the group specifically:

“Take a look at the group of insurgents you were sent to destroy. Makes you wonder what else they’re lying about.”

Now, I’m not saying that Hunter took this to mean “oh man I gotta stop lying to my crew because that’s what the empire is doing to us and that’s no way to lead.” But, he doesn’t lie anymore through the rest of this episode, nor in the next one. I’d have to watch through the series again to remember if there are any other occasions of him directly lying to the Batch (vs to a stranger to keep them safe). There does seem to be a shift in his demeanor after this though. And Saw’s words seem to help him coalesce his thoughts because he quickly comes to the decision that they are going to get Omega and then desert, and he doesn’t hide this from any of the Batch members, not even Crosshair.

Side note 1: This episode also has some really beautiful indications of how much Hunter cares too: him saying “nice work” to Crosshair after their training session, him yelling “no!” when Caleb and Crosshair are fighting because he’s worried about either of them harming the other, and him telling Omega to stay away from them because their squad is nothing but trouble.

Side note 2: Omega tells Crosshair that she knows what he’s going to do before he’s taken away. Then when they are all gearing up in the hanger and about to go look for Crosshair, she hears footsteps coming and tells them they won’t have to look far. She knows that not only are they about to be found by troopers in general, but that Crosshair specifically will be with them. I wonder if as Nala Se’s assistant she knew what the procedure would be to try and enhance Crosshair’s chip and turn him against them.

[ancientforgcd]

"The lies don't need to make sense, they just need to be too exhausting to unpack."

-Verda

General Info:

Name: Verda Velmont Titles: Silent Sinner, Heavenly Stray Occupation: Adventurer, Operative Allegation: Ascendance Team Age: 20~28 Birthday: July 6th Race: Half Vacosian/Half Chaos Demon Gender: Female Height: 184 cm (250 cm in her Devil Trigger form.) Eye Color: Teal Hair Color: Silver, green highlights. Misc: Still answers to Little Green, though she won’t admit it.

Personality:

Verda is quiet, focused, and sharp. She doesn’t talk unless there’s a reason. She pays attention to everything around her, keeps track of details, and moves with purpose. Her reactions are fast but measured. When things fall apart, she doesn’t freeze or panic. She recalibrates. She’s always been the type to adjust rather than push blindly forward. That’s how she survives.

Her loyalty runs deep, but she doesn’t wear it on her sleeve. If she trusts someone, they didn't have to earn it twice. She doesn’t explain herself and doesn’t expect anyone else to. She moves for her people, no questions asked. It’s not about being noble. It’s just what she does. Putting herself second isn’t a sacrifice to her. It’s just how she works.

Even after everything, after having become a Chaos Demon, the doubt still sticks. Verda knows she’s stronger than she used to be, but it never feels like enough. She trains hard, studies herself, and uses her clones to dig into her own weaknesses. It’s not about chasing perfection. She just doesn’t like standing still. Improvement is the only thing that keeps her focused.

Her deal with Vita changed her. Her body, her power, and something deeper that she doesn’t talk about. She lost something in the exchange, and she feels it every day. It isn’t loud. It isn’t dramatic. It’s just there, sitting under the surface. She doesn’t regret what she did, and she doesn’t explain it to anyone. She made the choice and lives with the outcome.

What made it easier to carry was Ruby’s reaction. No scolding. No questions. Just quiet acceptance. Ruby didn’t need an explanation to keep treating her the same. That silence meant more than approval ever could. Verda doesn’t move forward to prove anything now. She moves because it’s what she chooses. She isn’t trying to be someone else. She’s just trying to stay true to who she still is.

Backstory:

Verda grew up in a quiet Vacosian village where strength wasn’t everything. Most people were content. She wasn’t. From the start, she wanted more—wanted to be useful if something ever went wrong. No real threats came, but the feeling stuck. She trained harder than she needed to. Outpaced the people teaching her. The stronger she got, the more she felt like she didn’t belong.

The village tried to keep up, but it wasn’t enough. Verda left before she had a real plan. She just knew she had to get better, and that she wasn’t going to do it standing still. She pushed herself solo for a while, picked up what she could. Then she met Ruby. Watched her fight once and knew that was what she was aiming for. Not raw power, but control. She asked to train under her, not expecting much. Ruby said yes.

Training under Ruby was brutal. It wasn’t just about getting stronger. It was mental. Relentless. Verda had to face herself more than anything else. Ruby didn’t pull punches or give comfort. She just kept pushing Verda to figure it out. There were days Verda wanted to quit. She didn’t. Every lesson stuck, even when it hurt.

The Shadow Clone technique changed everything. It wasn’t just a trick. It became her way to break herself down and rebuild. She trained each clone to focus on something different. Used them to isolate flaws, sharpen instincts, test strategies. Over time, she built something that was actually hers. Efficient, adaptive, and dangerous when it needed to be.

But the biggest shift came after her deal with Vita and Zero ( @warriorsofcrimsonrealms). She took in both Chaos and Demon Ki. In return, she lost something important - something that mattered more than she’d realized until it was gone. The change wasn’t just power. It reshaped her body and her presence. She didn’t complain. She didn’t ask for pity. She just came home, unsure of what was left. Ruby didn’t flinch. Didn’t ask questions. Just made space for her. That was enough. And Verda kept going.

She’s still figuring out how to live with it. Some days it feels distant. Other days, it’s right there under her skin. The silence hits the hardest when everything else quiets down. But she doesn’t let it stop her. She trains. She works. She shows up. Because forward is the only direction she’s ever taken seriously.

Abilities

Shadow Clones: Verda mastered the art of creating Shadow Clones, generating identical copies of herself. The real advantage? Anything they learned, she learned the moment they dispelled. It let her train faster, sharpen skills quicker, and develop a flexible combat style. In both battle and training, the clones gave her an edge - turning one fighter into many and covering every angle at once.

Advanced Martial Arts: Verda was a highly skilled martial artist, combining Ruby’s teachings with a style all her own. She fought with agility and precision, her strikes swift and deliberate, always aiming to exploit an opponent’s weaknesses. Every move had purpose - no wasted motion, no unnecessary force.

Chaos and Demon Ki: After her deal with Vita, Verda gained access to two raw energy types most people can’t even touch. Chaos Ki warps, breaks, and disrupts. Demon Ki hits harder and burns longer. She doesn’t use them constantly, just when needed. Controlled power, not a crutch.

Flight: Verda could fly by manipulating her energy, giving her full mobility in battle. Her control was sharp, allowing for high-speed aerial maneuvers and seamless integration with her Shadow Clones. In the air, she was unpredictable, striking from angles most wouldn’t see coming.

Super Vacosian Transformation: Verda has unlocked and mastered the Super Vacosian transformations through rigorous training. She’s fully mastered Super Vacosian and Super Vacosian 2, while recently achieving Super Vacosian 4 under Ruby’s guidance. Each form amplifies her power and abilities by a set factor, pushing her combat potential to new heights.

Energy Manipulation: Verda could harness her Ki for offense and defense, creating energy blasts, barriers, and enhanced strikes. While she favored precise, close-range attacks, she could fire off energy projectiles when needed, keeping her options open in long-range combat.

Enhanced Speed & Reflexes: Intense training sharpened Verda’s speed and reflexes to the point where she could react in an instant. Dodging, countering, and repositioning came naturally, making her a difficult target to pin down and an even harder one to predict.

Keen Senses: Years of training heightened her awareness, allowing her to pick up on the smallest shifts in her surroundings. Whether it was an opponent’s stance, a flicker in their energy, or a change in the air, she noticed before they made a move.

Ki Sense: Verda could detect energy - Ki, Mana, Aura, and more - giving her insight into an opponent’s power, location, and even emotions. It helped her assess threats, plan her attacks, and decide when to send in clones or strike solo.

Strategic Combat Analysis: Verda had a sharp eye for combat, quickly picking up on patterns and weaknesses. She wasn’t just fast - she was adaptive, able to shift tactics mid-battle and turn an opponent’s strengths against them. In a drawn-out fight, the longer she observed, the deadlier she became.

Devil Trigger: Verda’s Demon Transformation, nicknamed Devil Trigger, is a full release of her Chaos Ki and Demon Ki. She doesn’t use it casually. It’s for when precision isn’t enough and raw power has to take over. In this form, her body is armored and blazing with energy, her presence heavier and more aggressive. She takes on sharper lines, reinforced plating, and overwhelming force. It boosts her speed, power, and durability, but burns through energy fast. She only uses it when the situation demands it.

Equipment

Twin Short Blades: Verda still favors dual blades - lightweight, durable, and built for speed. Made from a special Solium alloy found on Voidal, they hold up under heavy energy strain. She keeps them strapped across her lower back for quick access. Clean, efficient, no wasted motion.

Weighted Training Bands: She still wears them during training. Wrist and ankle bands, dense but compact. They add resistance without slowing her down. She takes them off before missions. Everything feels faster when she does.

Chaos-Tuned Cloak: Same short cloak, but modified. The lining’s been reinforced to help contain her energy. Keeps leaks to a minimum when she’s masking her presence. It still works for deflecting minor blasts and blends well in low light.

Compact Utility Belt: Holds small Ki capsules, basic med supplies, and smoke bombs. Nothing fancy. Just what she needs to reset or reposition if things go sideways.

Reinforced Gloves: Padded, fingerless, and rebuilt post-transformation. The inner lining dampens energy spikes, helping her stay controlled during close combat. She doesn’t like losing precision, and these help prevent that.

Suppressor Ring: Worn on her right hand. Helps mask her energy signature when needed. It’s low-profile, no visible tech. Just something she picked up for ops that require silence over strength.

Field Knife: Small, single-edged, strapped to her boot. Not meant for fights, just a reliable tool for field work, cutting, or when she needs something silent and close.

Trivia:

-Verda had a sharp instinct for reading people and situations, picking up on details most overlooked. It gave her an edge in both training and unexpected encounters, letting her react even when she lacked experience.

-She rarely got lost, even in unfamiliar places. Navigating rough terrain or unknown cities came naturally, making her a reliable guide and adding to her confidence as an adventurer.

-Verda wasn’t a chef, but she knew how to make do with whatever she found. She could forage for edible plants, turn basic ingredients into decent meals, and keep herself and others fed without issue.

-Verda earned the title “Silent Sinner” after becoming a Chaos Demon. It wasn’t about the power. It was about how she used it. No excuses, no explanations. She took the jobs no one else wanted and got them done. Quiet. Precise. People started calling her that on their own. She never corrected them.

-She was almost always up before sunrise, using the quiet hours to train, meditate, or plan. Mornings gave her focus, discipline, and a head start on the day.

-Verda’s Shadow Clones retain full independence. When they dispel, she instantly gains all their memories, experiences, and sensations. It’s her most effective tool for training and analysis.

-She used her Shadow Clones to focus on different aspects at once - one on agility, another on energy control, while she worked on technique. This way, she improved multiple skills simultaneously without losing focus.

-Verda tested risky techniques on her clones before trying them herself. If a move failed, the damage stayed with the clone, letting her refine strategies without putting herself in danger.

-She regularly fought her own clones, forcing herself to counter an opponent who knew her every move. It was a brutal but effective way to sharpen her adaptability and unpredictability in combat.

[wildfyrevalkyrie]

Alright, now onto thoughts of Chapter 2 for @journeythroughjourneytothewest's book club!

Chapter 2

Summary

Wukong studies under Subodhi for a decade, learning many techniques and Becoming Immortal in a Way That Offends Heaven™. He is banished from the congregation after showing off one of the 72 Earthly Transformations he had been taught. While about to leave on good enough terms, Subodhi at the last moment calls Wukong fundamentally evil and burns any bridge between them. Wukong returns to find the Flower Fruit Mountain (FFM) has been pillaged by a demon to the north known as the Monstrous King of Havoc. He challenges and kills the demon (and his imps), burns down his home, and returns back to FFM with the monkeys that had been captured. The monkeys celebrate their king's return and gaining of the surname Sun.

Misc. Notes

Wukong again is being taught manners. I think I need to start a counter

How long does Subodhi usually spend in his room if his acolytes are worried about when he'll next leave it? They don't comment on if the three years he ends up spending there is normal or not.

"The eastern sky began to pale with light,/But golden beams shone on the Westward Way"-- Specifically the second line of this reads as foreshadowing for the Journey to come.

Wukong choosing to learn the Earthly Multitude because there's more of them is iconic

Wukong's Cloud Somersault is named because of his mounting technique. The standard technique is called Cloud Soaring, and you mount the clouds by stamping your foot

Did Wukong learn the Somersault as part of the Earthly Multitude? Because of it? It's not clear to me

Wukong's first experience with an immortal ending by the immortal telling him that Wukong is Fundamentally Evil and if Wukong ever mentions they know each other he'll personally throw him in Super Mega Ultra Daoist Hell definitely won't affect Wukong's opinions on immortals. Trust.

Body Beyond the Body is the official name for his Cloning ability

Progression of the Monster King of Havoc: "you're a 4 foot tall baby" -> "i'd be laughed at if I stabbed you" -> "ima pull out my scimitar during this boxing match bc the 4ft tall baby is kicking my ass"

Wukong at this point needs to recite spells to perform his abilities. Often in adaptations, this is skipped (recent example is Lego Monkie Kid). Does this requirement go away at some point?

Thoughts

On Subodhi asking Wukong what he wants to learn:

Subodhi: Whatcha wanna learn? Wukong: Anything Subodhi: Okay sure fam. lists a bunch of disciples he knows Wukong doesn't want to learn

He's teaching Wukong to ask for what he wants rather than being demure about it and hoping that others pick up on his desires. Will Wukong take this lesson to heart? (The answer may surprise you)

On the Earthly Multitude vs Heavenly Ladle:

I'll probably give more thoughts on this once we've properly seen this, but I appreciate that (Spoilers?) other characters know the Earthly Multitude, but that Pigsy specifically knows and sometimes uses the Heavenly Ladle. It makes these arts feel more like actual techniques that people study and master.

On Subodhi's Farewell Speech

(Specifically, I have Thoughts on what Subodhi tells Wukong after Wukong bows and goes to leave, not the "How can I repay you for your kindness?" "Don't drag me into any messes you get into." part of their farewell)

I am genuinely trying to figure out what lead Subodhi to this speech. Throughout this chapter, he first gives Wukong private lessons, then not only teaches him special arts but specifically adapts these lessons to suit Wukong's unique circumstances (Jowl vs Pouch and Somersaulting vs Foot-Stamping). Additionally, he states that he won't condemn Wukong for his mistake of showing off the pine tree transformation, but that he has to leave for his own safety. Yet at the last moment he declares that Wukong is "bound to end up evildoing" and will engage in "villainy and violence". While what he says ends up being true, as of this farewell Wukong has only committed one crime (the robbery in Chapter 1), two if you count his Immortality. Is this truly how he feels or is he saying all of this to ensure that Wukong will never speak of (and therefore endanger) Subodhi? I want to say the latter, but the speech is so intense I almost think it's the former. Thoughts?

Poll!

At one point in this chapter, Subodhi whacks Wukong on the head three times, folds his arms behind his back, and walks inside, closing the main doors behind him. Wukong interprets this as meaning that he should go in the back door of Subodhi's house during the third watch to receive special lessons. While he does end up being correct, I would like to mention the detail that there is no watch on the mountain, so there was technically no "third watch" for him to arrive during.

[jplupine]

✍🌕 ~Requests Info~ ✍🌕

🐾 Rules:

🐺 You must be 18+ to make a request. 🐺 Send me the full character(s) name with a prompt for drabbles/headcanons/thirsts/etc. State whether it should be SFW or NSFW if the prompt doesn't make it clear! In the case of prompts requiring a partner, add in sex/gender/pronouns for a Reader; I might use an OC if this is not specified. 🐺 I will write some darker topics but not all. 🐺 Specifically no scat/piss/vomit fetish, DDLG/CGL, incest, foot fetish, or vore. 🐺 No pro-bigotry, graphic self-harm, suicide, etc. 🐺 Not all requests will be answered, but the ones that spark inspiration will be!

[Subject to change as I figure more shit out ✌]

Fandoms/Characters I write for:

🐾 Bleach:

Grimmjow || Szayel || Kenpachi Zaraki || Sajin Komamura || Shunsui Kyoraku || Kensei Muguruma || Akon || Kisuke Urahara || Renji Abarai || Ggio Vega || Coyote Starrk || Yasutora 'Chad' Sado || Isshin Kurosaki || + a few others. You can ask if the character you're looking for is not here!

🐾 Dorohedoro:

Kaiman || Aikawa || Kai || Risu/Curse || Noi || Shin

🐾 Haikyuu!!:

Aone Takanobu || Asahi Azumane || Bokuto Kotaro || Kuroo Tetsuro || Kyotani Kentaro || Yu Nishinoya || Tanaka Ryunosuke || Ushijima Wakatoshi || Iwaizumi Hajime || + a few others. You can ask if the character you're looking for is not here!

🐾 Naruto:

Gaara || Kakashi Hatake || Madara Uchiha || Obito Uchiha || Kiba Inuzuka || Hidan || Kankuro || Choji Akamichi || Shikamaru Nara || + a few others. You can ask if the character you're looking for is not here!

🐾 Kimetsu no Yaiba:

Inosuke Hashibira || Genya Shinazugawa || Giyu Tomioka || Tengen Uzui || Sanemi Shinazugawa || Akaza || Hantengu Clones || Gyutaro || Kyogai

🐾 Misc.

Bolin || Zuko || Ban || Zebra [Toriko] || Bakugo Katsuki || Aizawa Shota || Roronoa Zoro || Raian Kure || Sukuna || Gojo Satoru || Yuuji Itadori || Monsters || Any characters I already have a fic for [you can check my masterlist] || Any of my OCs

[clericofshadows]

7 snippets, 7 mutuals

got tagged by @rotschopf-thedrow :D ty!

tagging anyone who sees this and wants to participate!

I have a few misc WIPs I'm working on :)

icy nights, icy lights - Nyx/Kaidan, Noveria

Kaidan traced the lines of black ink on Nyx's arms, wondering what inspired the art. Wispy lines reminiscent of magic–or biotics even–were painted on the muscled arms, weaving together with the long since faded scars of war that also made their home on his skin.  Perhaps they were a sign of his biotics, a way of showing them off without being able to do it himself.  What would they feel like, alongside his, joining as one, combining mnemonics and dark energy to control the battlefield?  Or will he ever know them beyond secret moments of pleasure, flashes of blue held back by years of control and a custom amp and implant designed to keep him safe? Kaidan hated that he didn't know the answer.  A dark part of him, the jealous part that came about after learning about Nyx's history with Hackett couldn't help but fill his veins with cold ice. Hackett may not be a biotic, but he was probably more acquainted with Nyx's biotics than Kaidan will ever be. 

2. face your own enemy - Regis/Kaidan/Zaeed, continuation of my Citadel DLC write-up

Regis wasn’t impressed. “I don’t give a fuck who you claim to be. I’m Admiral goddamn Shepard, not you. You can be your own person!” He sneered, an ugly look that marred his face, twisting his features. “You’re the prize I want. It’s time I had my turn.” Kaidan stepped forward. “And you want to kill us so no one remembers Admiral Shepard.” “Ah, so you aren’t just a pretty-faced idiot,” he taunted. Zaeed stepped forward behind him, getting closer to Kaidan. The clone pointed at his husband. “And it looks like someone needs to put down your guard dog. I don’t like it when they bite. In any case, a personality change caused by the traumatic death of his little cult? Easily explained.” “It will never work,” Ashley said, raising her voice. “Too many people know Regis. You’re just setting yourself up for failure.” “Really? How unlikely it is that he’s surrounded by people he could have so easily killed. All three of you were so close to dying by fire and brimstone, and yet you continue to follow him.” His gaze landed on Ashley. “And you continue to fuck him.” He leered at his husbands. “He made such a terrible mistake in keeping all of you alive. Should’ve left you two to burn on Virmire. And let him burn in the flames of his own mistakes.”

3. LOTSB - Regis/Kaidan/Zaeed, my LOTSB write up.

“You… died in that armor,” Vasir stated, echoing his earlier words.  “How the hell did she get it?” “You tell me, Vasir,” Regis spat, dropping the remnants of his scarf on the ground.  “Take whatever you need, Wren, for your dossier.  I need some fucking air.” There wasn’t exactly a private place to go, so he walked over to the balcony next to the bullet holes.  Zaeed joined him, leaning against the barrier.   Regis moved closer, the shoulders of their armor touching.  “Zaeed, I am going to be the worst goddamn hypocrite right now.” He shrugged.  “Don’t feel like you have to apologize for goddamn Zorya again.  None of us expected to see that.  What a fucking–” he shook his head.  “Don’t even have the goddamn words to say how angry I am on your behalf.” “She has to have my dog tags.  My ring.  God, she tore that off of my corpse!  Cerberus didn’t have the full armor…” Regis swallowed down bile.  “I felt violated before, but this?” He let out a shuddering breath.  “This is unforgivable.”

4. wanna get caught? - Kaidan/Zaeed, PWP exhibitionism and sick!Regis who is tired of their mothering and wants them out of the house.

Zaeed pulled him into a familiar alleyway not far from their apartment, quiet, dark, free of foot traffic. “You goddamn tease,” he growled, pushing him up against the wall, dimly lit by the neon lights of the strip just outside the entryway. “Is this why you wanted me out of the damn house?” Kaidan only laughed, tangling a hand in his hair as he started kissing at his neck, leaving biting, stinging little marks. He got Zaeed exactly where he wanted him. Riled up, horny, and desperate. His favorite Zaeed. A little teasing sitting side by side in a booth was just enough. A hand on a thigh. Leaning on his shoulder and teasing him with a kiss that turns into a nibble. A trip to the bathroom to prep himself with a plug, knowing Zaeed recognized the slight change in his gait. Another reason why Kaidan enjoyed going on dates with only Zaeed. He indulged him and his kinks oh so well, both loving the thrill of being in public. Almost out of sight. Almost out of mind. One stray look is all it takes for them to be caught.

5. nothing will shine as bright - Kaidan/Zaeed, post ME2 prologue, Zaeed meets the Alenkos (i've been working on this for ages rip)

He found himself halfway over to the barn where he and Regis kept their motorcycles. He thought back to the damn helmets Zaeed had made for them, not even knowing about their hobby but wanting them to share in his. Yet another thing that had in common. Yet another thing that would’ve made their relationship great. Footsteps crunched the leaves behind him, and he whirled around to see Zaeed, hands stuffed in his jacket pockets. “Wasn’t about to leave you alone.” “Leaving me alone probably would’ve made them judge you even more,” he sighed, leaning against the wall of the barn. “I’m sorry.” “I wouldn’t make them the damn bad guys yet,” he said softly. “Just worried about their son who lost the love of his life and is shacking up with a guy damn near twice his age.” “Well, I’ll give them more to talk about.” Kaidan unlatched the door of the barn and headed inside. “Let’s go for a fucking ride.”

6. the SR-1 - Part of my Subject Zero!Kaidan series, primarily Regis/Zaeed.

It had been two fucking months.  Two months without hearing anything.  Sure, they’ve gone long stretches of time without talking to each other.  Normal in their line of work.  Not always able to send a quick message, especially with Regis’s N missions that typically required radio silence. But Kaidan’s mission was recon.  Typical UNC bullshit.  And a bit of a training venture for some new biotic recruits, as Kaidan had cemented himself into being an instructor like Regis if a need arose for it. It shouldn’t have been anything to worry about.   It never should have ended like it did. A whole squad, gone.  No sign of struggle.  No sign of battle.  As if they were never there. Nothing to give any sort of hope.   Two months since their last communication, well-wishes and ribbing about trainees and so much love.  And nothing after.   No investigation turned up anything useful.  Everyone lost hope day by day.  But Regis never did.  Zaeed never did, vowing to use what he could to look into it himself.   The Normandy was his only chance.

7. a beginning - Nyx/Kaidan, the aftermath of their one-night stand that turned into more.

Kaidan wasn’t quite sure what to think about the man lying in the bed a couple of feet away from the bathroom, watching him with those deep purple eyes that said a lot about him.  Gene modded, clearly, with a deep hue that contrasted his rough exterior.  He had to have been at least in his fifties, if not more, the skin marked by both war and natural aging. But one thing’s for sure, Nyx knew how to charm a man, even one that wasn’t normally for one night stands. “Doing okay in there?” he asked, making no move to cover himself up, turning towards him with a grin. “Just thinking,” Kaidan replied, dampening a washcloth with warm water, testing it with his hand before wringing it out.  “Dangerous,” he teased, running his hand down his chest, toying with those pierced nipples–and what a fucking surprise that was.  “Penny for your thoughts?” He was thinking about a lot, actually.  About how he thought he saw a flash of light blue rimmed around his eyes while he fucked deep into Nyx, pressing his weight into him, keeping a steady gaze on him, watching for any reaction that wasn't complete pleasure.  Biotics from a man far too old to be part of the first gen, much less any other stable gen.  Far too pure to be a trick of the light.  But maybe it was.

[world-class-pizza-pals]

Are any of you grubs that so happen to live in the soil

{🍄} Are you asking for worms or something?

{🍅} No worms here! Or rolly pollys!

[As for the clones...]

[Back at the refridgerated area in Bloodsauce, all of the clones look toward a particularly worm-themed clone of Vigilante.]

[leftfoottrapped]

The sheer fucking power of that single shot of Chen and chën in the same damn frame I don't think ill ever get over it, the two of them, together, TOGETHER

[gif version here!]

anon. anon. you get me. I’ve been brooding on this body language for hours now. jongdae can’t act his way out of a wet paper bag, but somehow, after being told ‘one of you is good and one of you is evil’, jongdae instinctively understood what body language to use for who.

the way chen embodies lazy power as he splays himself in his seat, uncaring of what’s happening on the chessboard because he’s too busy watching his opponent across the table. and the way jongdae is sitting straight up in his seat, ignoring chen and putting all his attention on the chessboard, intent and focused.

for me, the distinction is so clear and easy—chen can be the way he is because he doesn’t have to care, jongdae is the way he is because he has to care.

jongdae has to care about the chessboard because those pieces also represent his fellow exo members. he has to be intent and focused on winning. but chen? he doesn’t have to care about anything, much less the others around him. chen can sit back and indulge himself, because even if he loses—what can jongdae do? he can’t possibly be stronger than chen because he’s burdened by his anxiety for others instead of only worrying about himself.

it’s that sweet, sweet contrast between chen as distilled hedonism/id and jongdae as the ego/superego—and brings up the question: who would win between them?

[decat2]

I posted 62 times in 2021

37 posts created (60%)

25 posts reblogged (40%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.7 posts.

I added 176 tags in 2021

#sims 2 - 49 posts

#ts2 - 44 posts

#download - 16 posts

#reblog - 14 posts

#ts2 cc - 11 posts

#decat answers - 10 posts

#s2cc - 10 posts

#non sims - 10 posts

#good omens - 7 posts

#wyvernhurst - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 66 characters

#i spend more time decorating in this game than actually playing it

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Present number 2 of 5: wardrobe clutter!

– Deco clothing, extracted from the maxis clothes racks. includes recolours by withlovefromsimtown, Fanseelamb, and Liz. They're no slaved, but you can copy-paste recolours of the clothes racks on to these.

– Dicreasy's shoeboxes recoloured in several plain colours, so they can work in periods other than the victorian era.

– @keoni-chan's extracted suitcases slaved, with Recolours by Keoni, DGandy, Evi, Amaryll, Fractured Moonlight and Davina.

All meshes are included, the clothes have random GUIDs and the suitcases keep their original GUIDs - so make sure they overwrite the originals.

Download: http://www.simfileshare.net/download/2814136/

141 notes • Posted 2021-11-22 03:41:12 GMT

#4

Last Christmas gift from me this year:

The Tiny Twavellers set by Felixandresims & Harrie for TS4, converted for TS2 by me!

Edit: Sorry, but Harrie has informed me that I am not allowed to share these, I do apologize!

159 notes • Posted 2021-12-20 04:22:09 GMT

#3

Criquette's Architecture deco made shiftable - These lovely pieces are from @criquette-was-here's wonderful Feverfew, but they weren't shiftable, so you could only use them with the included windows and doors. I've fixed that, so now they shift up and down to fit any windows and doors!

However, I had to remove the shadow meshes to get this work - so they no longer have shadows - sorry! I've left the names the same, so let these overwrite Criquette's originals.

Download: http://www.simfileshare.net/download/2731041/

161 notes • Posted 2021-09-14 01:47:37 GMT

#2

Today's my birthday... so I'm giving everyone a present!

More conversions from TS4: these storage cubbies are by Ravasheen!

- The storage inserts can be placed in the shelves, and the shelves stacked, allowing for custom configurations. There is also a matching OFB cube shelf, which works like the maxis version.

- The inserts are cloned from the record store milk crates by @m0xxa and @shastakiss. the small shelf repo’d is to OFB shelf, so you'll need that bigger shelf in your game for the small ones to show up. The Shelves are found under Surfaces -> Shelves or Surfaces -> Misc in game.

- All inserts are repo’d to the art insert, and are found in Deco -> Misc, except the empty one, which is in Surfaces -> Misc. This has a slot so you can put objects in it!

- Thank you very much to @hugelunatic for fixing the OFB shelf.

Download: http://www.simfileshare.net/download/2814134/

168 notes • Posted 2021-12-14 02:35:31 GMT

#1

Look what I made! I've always wanted squares panes like these on the bay window, and the other day I realised I could just recolour the glass subset of the window - aren't they so much nicer than maxis' swirly designs? The wooden frame is a recolour by shasta by the way; I only recolored the glass. Download them here: http://www.simfileshare.net/download/2728115/

211 notes • Posted 2021-09-13 04:19:18 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[oftincturedwords]

hello , my name is bayze ! i am twenty-eight years old & a fanfic author on ao3. i sometimes post writing here on tumblr under my writing tag. i reblog lots of gifsets , fanart , & lots of other misc. things i like. usually posts are queued & it's set to post randomly at any time , but i have no queue tag. i at times liveblog things i watch / read.

if you are a mutual & want me to send in an ask meme to your askbox , tag me & i will do it ! i tag everything , so if you ever need me to tag something specifically for whatever reason ( it's triggering to you / don't like something i blog about / tired of seeing / etc. ) , just let me know & i will do it ! if you are a side-blog following from a main blog , please tell me what your side-blog is or else i won't know who to follow.

this blog is multi-fandom !

— & —

ᴍᴀɪɴ ғᴀɴᴅᴏᴍs : tolkien , hornblower , doctor who , aubreyad , detroit : become human , baldur's gate III , star trek ( tos , tng , aos , voy , ds9 , ent ) , star wars ( prequels , originals , tcw , tbb ) , merlin bbc , supernatural , final fantasy xv , the musketeers bbc , assassin's creed , good omens , band of brothers , teen wolf , the witcher , tombstone ( 1993 ) , & lots more fandoms in between !

ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ғᴀɴᴅᴏᴍ ғɪxᴀᴛɪᴏɴ⁽ s ⁾ : detroit : become human

ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ғᴀᴠᴏᴜʀɪᴛᴇ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ⁽ s ⁾ : Connor , Hank , Nines , Gavin , Tina , Chris , Markus , Simon , North , Josh

ᴍʏ ᴏᴄs : clone medic tether ( ct - 30 - 2197 ) , clone cadet snap ( ct - 9913aurek ) , kingsglaive medic aero , tavren ( bg3 tav character ) , & a whole bunch of others that haven't been inserted into stories.

ᴜɴᴘᴏsᴛᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴘ ʟɪsᴛ : corruption , nine-hundred , & two kingsglaive wips

ᴘᴏsᴛᴇᴅ ꮃꮖꮲ ꮮꮖꮪꭲ : just a system hiccup , good intentions , all that we would do , lean on us , a gossamer of pain / a touch of benevolence , flight of a dragon , owed a hundred times over , delicate operation , ties , dash - two , fighting chance , broken power , bound to happen , pushing through ( tenacity ) , orbiter dicta , grief is yours my friends , & of the north.

never will any of my wips / stories be abandoned or orphaned !

— & —

Writing | Ao3 | Writer | WIP Updates

Do Not Interact

Ask Memes | Answered Asks | Tag Games

Spotify | Kofi

discord is available upon request to mutuals !

messaging system is mutuals only please !

askbox is open to all !

— & —

askbox : open | anon : on | messaging : open to mutuals | requests : see requests page | active wips : too many

(re)reading : | writing : dbh & ffxvk wips | (re)watching : detroit evolution / reawakening | listening to : this land is your land | (re)playing : detroit: become human

tracking : #userbayze #oftincturedwords

other blog(s) : @rxwords ( multi-muse rp blog ; hiatus )

fic rec(s) :

an'adee. & burcyan. by sanktuhlina !

hypothermic by solcorvidae !

— &.

[starilicious]

der lagi lekin (hunter x force-user!gn! reader + ep. 8 fix-it)

》 summary: tbb episode 8 fix-it featuring a force-user reader who used to be a jedi. reader is a part of tbb and in a relationship with hunter, but the squad–nor hunter–knows that reader is a force-user. (disclaimer: all of this was written before episode 9 was released! see a/n for an explanation ^_^) (another disclaimer: if you want just the hunter x reader comfort, please let me know and i'll finish it up and post it!)

》 word count: ~8k (yeah, it's a lot LOL)

click here to read on AO3

》 warnings: in-universe swearing, mental breakdown, some slight sensory overloads, pretty mild panic attack, light canon-typical violence, angst + some comfort, survivor's guilt from surviving order 66, no use of y/n, slightly plot heavy because i got way too carried away in writing (whoops?) [if i should add more warnings, please let me know!]

》 spoilers: major ones for tbb episode 8 "reunion"

》 a/n: okay look, i gotta confess: this wasn’t supposed to be an episode 8 fix-it. really. i’m actually glad cad bane won because we get to see that the clones don’t always win every fight... i think it makes for a better and more complex story. anyway, i started out writing just reader and hunter comfort after episode 8 ended. but i’m weak for omega because she reminds me so much of my younger siblings and i ended up writing a wholeass fix-it to save her (even tho cad bane is a downright badass). i kind of liked what i did with building up the plot so much that i might continue this story of force-user!reader with tbb. but that’s a tangent we can deal with later. if you would like a part two with the hunter x reader comfort this was originally intended to be, let me know!

as i said in the summary, i wrote all of this before episode 9 came out–just be aware of that. because it’s so long, it took me a while to edit, which is why i’m posting after ep. 9 was released. but without further ado, i hope you like it! <33

》 misc. notes:

• title of the fic is from the hindi song "der lagi lekin" from the film zindagi na milegi dobara. i linked the song in blue and linked the english translations in green in case you're curious! it's not necessary to listen or understand the song, but i thought it went well with the fic :)

“Everybody get down!” Wrecker yells. You and the squad immediately do as he instructs, diving towards the ground and covering your head. Stars, I hope this works.

The charges the six of you placed around the gigantic cone that surrounds the core cylinder explodes in a deafening blast. You curl into the tightest ball you can manage, breathing so hard that the HUD inside your helmet temporarily fogs up. Metal shards of the explosion rain down on you hard.

For a moment, it seems like nothing happened. But then you hear the telltale, ear-grinding creak of the durasteel and the squad is roughly catapulted forward from the force of the cone beginning to fall down.

You struggle to stand up as you lurch this way and that, trying to regain your balance and stabilize as Tech calls out, “Hold on!”

You quickly glance at the rest of the Bad Batch, trying to see if any of them were hurt. Other than the absolutely terrified look on Omega’s face, all is well considering the circumstances. The metal groans and begins its descent, taking your feeling of being grounded with it. The weightlessness is uncomfortably familiar to say the least, but you ignore it as the six of you scramble to hold on to the side of the cone. You certainly did your fair share of acrobatics back in the war, but feeling it hum around you...it’s too much. It’s too much. You elect to push it back into the depths of your brain. But it doesn’t leave.

It never really does.

Omega’s anxious whimpers come in faintly through your thick helmet and you whip around, frantically trying to find where she is. But before you can find her, the cone lands vertically on its head and the force is so violent that your stable hold on the durasteel is broken. Panicked, you quickly fire a grappling hook towards the ledge where you were previously hanging on. The hook catches and you stop abruptly, the jerky movement almost wrenching your arm out of its socket.

You look down to see Omega falling from someone’s grip and into Hunter’s arms. You can barely tell where anyone is thanks to the lack of light and the incessant motion.

The cone begins to topple onto its side and suddenly, your wire snaps from the tension. You let out a scream of surprise as you plummet downwards, wind rushing past your helmet. ForceIdon’twanttodieohmyMakerohno–

But you never hit the ground, instead being flung sideways as the cone tears into two. On trained instinct, you tuck yourself into a ball to try and roll in order to break your fall instead of using it. That time is long gone.

You land with a sickening thud and hiss in pain as your back hits the metal hard. You hear something crack, but whether it is your armor or something internal, you have absolutely no idea, and don’t have time to check before you black out.

✧✦✧

You jolt awake, a sound making its way into your consciousness. Finally, the damn place stopped moving. You take a few minutes to try and relieve the painful pressure in your chest, reaching up to rip your helmet off because you can’t breathe, you can’t breathe.

You tilt your head back as you struggle to take in air and let the adrenaline subside. You hear voices in the distance and you strain your ears to pick up on the sound as you quickly check yourself over. As far as you can tell, nothing major is broken, and at this point, that is all that matters. Though, your head is pounding, and for more reasons than one

“–nter.. port side... what… status?”

You can’t tell who is speaking, the message too far away for you to hear. But the bits and pieces are enough for you to know that it’s someone from the Bad Batch and that you weren’t unconscious for long. You stand up and dust yourself off before slowly walking to where you believe the origin of the sound is.

“–engine… got company.” A blaster sound and then an explosion rings through the quiet.

Your eyes widen and you quickly pick up the pace, getting your blaster ready as you pick your way through the sharp metal that is jutting out from the ground.

You click on your wrist comm. “Echo, you there?” A faint crackle before his voice comes through, but the signal is scratchy. You frown in frustration.

“–are you? Hunter is... port side,” Echo says and you smack your commlink to try and get the electronics to work, but it’s no use. The device is broken, most likely from the fall, you deduce.

“Meet… Marauder.”

You don’t bother to answer, knowing Echo would probably not even be able to hear what you had to say anyway. Without a signal booster or repeater, there’s no way you can get your transmission across the channel frequency.

It takes a few minutes, but you eventually find the night sky of Bracca blinking down at you at the end of the ripped off cone. You run out to find that you’re in the middle of where the cone broke in half. Okay, new plan. I need to find Hunter. Hunter will know what to do.

You scan your surroundings. The HUD isn’t picking up on any lifeforms near you, and you realize with sinking dread that you have no more options. Whichever piece you climbed through to get to your squadmates, it would take too long for you to search for them since you don’t know their coordinates and your comm isn’t working. Frankly, the Empire–Crosshair–would find you first. You have to use it.

You have to use the Force.

A wave of nausea overcomes you at the mere thought of it and you sway. In an attempt to ground yourself, you tear off your helmet to breathe some fresh air and end up keeling over as the bile rises in your throat. Nothing comes out. You can’t tell if that’s a positive or not.

You could have saved them. Someone. Anyone.

It itches at you in the back of your head, wishing to be let out of its cage. But you can’t. You can’t do it. What’s the use anyway? All you would be doing is saving yourself. The choice of surviving it all has haunted you ever since. Your head pounds in agony.

You saw it happen. You could have helped them. And you ran like a coward. Only ever concerned about yourself.

You inhale sharply as the scene flashes before your eyes, clones shooting at you and the other Jedi. The blaster fire. The confusion. The screams.

How pathetic.

The last statement, an echo of Crosshair’s words, bounces around in your brain. You clutch your head as you let out a heartbroken sob, knee deep in the dirt and metal and grief. Tears create clean tracks down your face as you finally break down, the flood of emotions bursting the dam open. At this point, you don’t know if the emotions are yours or the ones you previously felt through the Force, all of them swirling and blending into one. The bottled up anguish merged together when you attempted to cut yourself off from the Force after the clones–your friends–attacked.

The pain of their death is perhaps the worst of all. Horror courses through you as you finally process your friends and mentors dying around the galaxy, their deaths, their distress, their fear reverberating heavily throughout the Force. Each one cripples you further as you once again struggle to breathe.

It feels like light years pass when you finally calm down to a practically numb state of being. The scenes stop replaying behind your closed eyelids and the echoing shrieks die down to a faint, hollow whisper. You’re suddenly exhausted, limbs heavy and energy sapped. It was almost relieving to finally let the Force once again flow through your body, your nerves lightly tingling with potential despite how tired you feel. You collapse onto the ground and try to recenter yourself.

But despite finally acknowledging the loss, it doesn’t feel right. You didn’t get to say goodbye. You hadn’t been able to even think about them, much less honor them, too focused on going on the run to concentrate on anything beyond the next day’s survival. Even once you joined the Bad Batch, you were paranoid about their chips, about your friends turning on you at any moment. You were always extremely reluctant to engage in the Force, even at the worst of times.

With a start, you realize that you don’t need to worry about your squadmates. Their inhibitor chips are now gone. You… you are safe.

You let out a shocked laugh as it sinks in. A glimmer of hope, of peace. I’m safe.

You sit up then, criss-crossing your legs as you survey the broken landscape of Bracca. Despite the planet being a graveyard, you feel lucidly alive. Perhaps something died in you, that wretched day. But something else, slowly but surely, began growing in its place. It’s meek, but it’s there.

You let out a breath and close your eyes, reaching for the Force like it’s an old friend. It accepts your invitation with hesitation, joining hands with you as if you did not try beating it to death for days on end. You sink into the gentle lapping waves of the Force, extending into it and widening your scope.

There’s something that lurks beneath the surface, in the deep. Dark and sinister and so utterly painful. It calls to you, quiet and low. Enticing. Tempting. And something in you knows that it’s the reason for your previous life’s demise.

But you can feel Hunter’s–and Omega’s, you realize–presence near you in the Force. Even with your relatively damaged connection to the Force after Order 66, the Bad Batch’s Force auras were something you could always hone in on. You let yourself direct your focus to the duo, letting their emotions be your beacon to the acceptance of the Light side of the Force.

In a split second, you decide to not dive deeper into the Force. This isn’t the place nor the time to discover what is prowling in the endless yawning of the Force, to discover why everything happened. So you direct your concentration to the beings on the planet, feeling and breathing your way through the Life Force.

You freeze. There’s something here. No… someone. Your eyebrows furrow as you divert your attention away from your friends and other organisms to the peculiar source. Something about this person strikes you as familiar.

Your eyes snap open and you gasp. I’m not alone. A Force-sensitive. Someone survived. Giddy beyond belief, you snatch up your helmet and begin trekking your way across the wreckage in the opposite direction of Hunter and Omega before pausing. Whoever this person is doesn’t know about your presence on the planet.

And despite the fear you felt emanating off of them in the Force, you somehow knew they were safe, at least for now. And they would remain so if you have anything to say about it. Maker forbid anything that jeopardizes this person’s fragile safety. After all, you know best what it’s like to constantly flee scene after scene.

Staying away is the best thing to do. I’ll come back for you, whoever you are.

You double back and make quick work of getting across the debris as you focus your concentration on Hunter’s and Omega’s Force signatures. As you get closer to the port side, you hear Omega’s high voice. Through your HUD, you can see her small form. You grin. She disappears then, and on closer inspection, you figure she jumped through some broken cargo doors.

The entrance she and Hunter took is too high for you to jump up to, even with the aid of the Force. Combined with your wariness of probe droids, you decide to take a different route from the right side, climbing up the broken ship. The slick oil mixed with the water still present on the metal makes for a difficult trek, and you slip more times than you would like to admit.

Hunter’s gruff voice floats up towards you and you scramble the last few meters to the edge of a hole in the ceiling before pausing. The Force is itching at the back of your head. Something’s wrong.

You peek over the edge of the giant slab of durasteel that created the hole to see bodies in white armor littered everywhere–clones, you realize. Your heart pangs in sadness at the sight.

Slightly to your right, a blue figure and a techno-service droid stand in front of a ship and a frightened Omega stands behind a defensive Hunter. Your mouth drops open. Kriff.

Cad Bane.

A memory from near the beginning of the war hits you in full force. You and Anakin had taken some time on Coruscant to catch up with each other after you passed your trials and were promoted to Jedi Knight. He told you about a mission where he had to stop a bounty hunter who successfully stole a Jedi holocron. You remember how surprised you were when you heard the bitter disgust in Anakin’s voice. The ruthlessly cunning bounty hunter not only threatened to kill Ahsoka, but he murdered Master Ropal.

Judging by the looks of it, Hunter doesn’t know who he is. If the Anakin Skywalker had a difficult time with Cad Bane, there is no way in sithhell Hunter can take him on, even with his enhanced senses. Frankly, you seriously doubt you can either, especially with how rusty your Force skills are now. And that means this isn’t going to end well.

You watch carefully as you tune into the conversation.

“Ain’t you smart?” Bane smirks. “The kid’s got it all figured it out.”

“You’re in trouble now!” the droid exclaims, pointing at Hunter and Omega. You grit your teeth in annoyance.

“Who hired you?” Hunter asks. Stalling. Not a bad move, Hunter.

“Son,” Bane sighs, already done with the brief conversation. “That’s confidential information. Now hand her over.”

Omega stays behind Hunter, taking a knee as Hunter walks forward protectively. You bristle. How am I supposed to help from up here?

“She’s not going anywhere.”

Your eyes drift over the scene in a panic and you take in the fallen clones again. An idea pops into your head. It is desperate, but at this point, you don’t have much of a choice.

Bane mimics Hunter’s movement, walking forward and putting a hand near his belt. The tension is as thick as duracrete.

“That’s unfortunate… for you.”

You grab the long barrel piece from your belt, fitting it over your blaster hurriedly as the showdown begins. Out of the corner of your eye, you see them staring each other down and you can’t help but roll your eyes. Men.

During the war, Crosshair helped you re-engineer your weapon so you could put together various pieces in the field to make a blaster gun that loosely resembled his own sniper. Seeing the clones reminded you of him. A wave of sadness washes over you, but you shake your head. Now is not the time.

You screw on the telescopic sight and set up your makeshift sniper. You peer through the viewfinder and find Bane’s chest. Your finger tenses over the trigger.

You let yourself sink deep into the Force, let it guide your actions. Inhale. Exhale. I can do this. As you relax, the mellow warmth you missed so dearly washes over you, gently eroding the torment in your mind and heart, guiding your focus to the here and now. Trust in the Force.

Wait.

Wait.

Now.

You fire two bolts straight into your target the same exact moment Bane and Hunter shoot each other. Hunter’s shot hits the droid, breaking off its leg. Bane’s shot hits directly in Hunter’s chest, as yours did Bane. Both men immediately fall backwards and slam into the ground.

“My booster!” Oh. So not a leg. Got it.

“Hunter!”

Kriff kriff kriff. You jump down nimbly from your hiding spot in the ceiling and immediately sprint towards the duo. Is he dead? You would unapologetically release sithhell on Bane if he killed the man you love.

Omega panics as she tries to wake Hunter up, continuously calling his name before taking a glimpse of her surroundings. Before you can react, she grabs her bow and pulls it taut, aiming at you. She looks petrified.

“Whoa! Omega, it’s me!” you exclaim, holding your hands up in surrender. She takes a moment to actually look at you before sagging in relief. Suddenly, the droid comes speeding out of nowhere and Omega shoots, the energy bolt whizzing past your waist and straight into the droid before it can attack you from behind.

The shot rings true and the grumpy robot falls. You turn around to grab at its exposed parts under its head and yank them out to make sure it can’t power on again.

“Thanks, Omega. I owe you one,” you say and Omega gives you a proud smile.

You place a comforting hand on her shoulder before kneeling down to shake Hunter awake, but it doesn’t work. You take a moment to analyse Hunter’s Life Force. It’s a bit dimmer, but it’s constant, meaning he’s out cold and doesn’t have the life draining out of him. You let out a sigh of relief. He’s alive. You glance back to see Bane still not moving. Good.

“What’re we gonna do?” Omega whispers as you both peer down at Hunter. His armor is smoking from Bane’s blaster shot and you exhale through your teeth, trying to come up with a plan. You slip off a glove to check Hunter’s pulse–it’s strong. You don’t want to leave Omega alone, even if Bane is unconscious, but you aren’t sure you have a choice.

��Well we can’t carry him to safety, neither of us are strong enough for that,” you think aloud, gears churning in your head. You would have to wait for help, even if you were sitting ducks.

Briefly, you entertain the thought of taking Bane’s ship. The only problem is you don’t know what trackers or other gadgets are in there–it’s too costly of a risk and a price you weren’t willing to pay. You sigh, resigned.

“Omega, you try to comm the others and see if you can wake Hunter up. I’m going to go inside this guy’s ship and see if I can find something that can help us. We have to get out of here before the bounty hunter wakes up,” you instruct and Omega nods, youthful determination flooding back into her eyes.

You leave her to it, walking cautiously towards Bane’s ship. You look down at him. His armor is smoking in two places from the shots you fired. Based on what you see, he’s still unconscious, and his Life Force reflects the same conclusion. How long that would remain, you don’t know. Which means you need to work fast.

You board the ship while you remove the sniper attachments from your blaster and clip them back onto your belt. You keep your guard up as you look around. No droids. Guess that techno-service droid is his one and only.

In an effort to slowly re-familiarize yourself with the Force, you send out a quick pulse through it to see if there are any lifeforms aboard the ship, relaxing when you find none. You rummage through all the cabinets that you discover, looking high and low as you try to locate something of use. The secret compartment in the cockpit proves to be the fruitful reward to your search. With a wave of your hand, you unlock it with ease. Bingo.

Credits. Bags of them. And they’re unmarked creds, which make your score even better. Hopefully, it would be enough to pay off your debt to Cid and give the Havoc Marauder some much-needed upgrades.

Usually, you would feel bad about stealing from someone, but considering this was a bounty hunter – Cad Bane, no less – you figure you can risk treading the grey area of your moral code.

You grab as many bags as you’re able, stuffing them inside your backpack and clipping the rest onto your belt. At this moment, you’re incredibly grateful to Tech and Echo for designing a sturdy utility belt that fits you well. The standard ones were for clones and you definitely were not a clone.

You exit the cockpit and head to the second level of the ship to see if there’s anything else you can find. A stack of crates sits in the corner across from what you assume to be a prison. You scrunch your nose in disgust as you open one to find medical supplies. Bacta patches and gel, vitapaste, rations, water, gloves, sanitary napkins–it was all there. Delighted, you close the crate and click the repulsor to make it levitate. Oh how you love technology.

You turn around and walk back up the stairs to leave the ship. You freeze at the exit ramp. You have got to be karking kidding me.

“Sorry lil’ lady.”

Cad Bane stuns Omega in front of your eyes before rounding on you and immediately fires. In a desperate attempt to save yourself, you throw your hands up and the honeyed power of the Force rushes through every fibre of your being. The blaster bolts slow down to a snail-like crawl and your eyes widen. How did I…?

Never mind how you argue with yourself. Time to get out of here!

You tiptoe around each bolt, the effort of keeping them in stasis becoming more difficult with each passing moment. You grit your teeth as your arms shake, but you keep going until you are finally off the ramp. You lower your arms and the energy hits the inside of the ship, spazzing out the blinking controls inside.

Bane turns to you in surprise, astonished at how you’re suddenly in front of him. You don’t give him the luxury of processing the event and immediately punch him in the face with as much strength as you can muster. Bane pitches backwards and collapses onto the ground, just as he did the first time. You grab your stun blaster and shoot him as extra assurance. You really did not want this to repeat again. Hopefully he never wakes up with a memory of what I just did...

“Now stay down,” you mutter to a knocked out Bane, cradling your now injured hand. You have no idea how Wrecker ever does this because wow your hand is killing you.

You have to say, you’re pretty proud of yourself for being able to render him unconscious not once, but two times. You wish you could tell Anakin–the thought saddens you. He’s probably dead too.

With that vividly cheery thought, you stagger back from the ramp in exhaustion, weary from the sudden surge of the Force still ebbing and coursing through your body.

None of the Bad Batch knew you used to be a Jedi–not even Hunter. It was something only a few of your closest Jedi friends and the Jedi Council knew about.

But after what happened today, with Rex helping your squadmates get their inhibitor chips out, with you finally letting the Force in… maybe it is time to tell them. The secrecy wouldn’t be needed anymore now that you were sure you were safe around your friends. But clearly, the universe wanted to throw a nasty vibroblade in your plans by knocking Hunter and Omega unconscious and having the best kriffing bounty hunter in the galaxy be hot on your heels.

You take a few seconds to get your breath back and regain your mental energy. You aren’t out of the woods yet. You run inside Bane’s ship to grab the crate of medical supplies before sprinting back out towards Hunter and Omega.

You lean down and pat Omega’s cheek gently, trying to wake her up, but she’s out cold. Why is everyone around me unconscious? Frankly, you’re equally amused and terrified by the situation laid out in front of you.

You sigh, looking around to see if you can find some cover. There’s a giant sheet of durasteel to your left, big enough to act as a barrier in case trouble comes knocking. You bend down and pick Omega up before placing her down cautiously, leaning her small body against the metal. You repeat the action with the crate you found.

The third time proves to be much more difficult. Hunter certainly isn’t as muscular as Wrecker, but he sure as sithhell isn’t as light as Omega. You tap your foot nervously, trying to figure out a way for you to lift him. Yes, you could use the Force, but you don’t want to alert the other Force-sensitive on the planet. If they knew about your existence, it could put them in danger, and that was the last thing you wanted.

Giving up, you place your hands underneath Hunter’s armpits and effectively drag him all the way over, propping him up as you did Omega. You cringe at the sound of his armor grating the floor. There are sure to be dirty scuff marks on it now. Sorry Hunter.

Just as you’re about to sit down next to him, heaving deep breaths from the exertion, you pause. A warning is practically blaring in the Force and you tense, urgently trying to figure out the cause.

“Not again,” you mumble under your breath. You can’t handle any more action today. With Hunter and Omega both down, and your extreme fatigue from engaging in the Force, you don’t know how much of a fight you can put up. Not to mention you never trained as a soldier. There was a reason why you left the military planning strategies to the Bad Batch.

You hold your blaster close to your chest as you scan the environment. Bane is immobile and so is the dismantled techno-service droid. So what’s wrong?

Ten nerve-wracking seconds pass before you get your answer. Clone voices waft up to your hiding spot and you bite your cheek in frustration as your head continues to pound. Your headache still hasn’t stopped.

There is no way you can fight them all off, especially if Crosshair is with them. They are too far away for you to get a read on how many there are, and frankly, you’re much too scared to even peek around the durasteel to count.

One of Tech’s previous statements floats through your mind. About three attack shuttles worth.

You can feel your heart thumping wildly in your chest, blood rushing through your ears as anxiety ties your stomach into knots. I can’t do this, I can’t do this, Ican’tdothis.

You take deep breaths, doing your best to clear your mind and focus. You had to do this. There is no other option other than surrendering or dying. No, damnit, you would go down fighting until the Life Force left you.

You peer just past the edge of the metal to see at least twenty clones heading your way. Certainly not ideal, but you bide your time. If you started shooting now, you couldn’t use the element of surprise to your advantage and they would easily overwhelm you. But once they’re close enough, you hope you can at least take a couple out before having to resort to using the Force. It isn’t ideal, but it’s all you have.

Honestly, you don’t know if you could get out of this one alive, much less protect Hunter and Omega too. Maker help me.

It throws you off when they finally come into sight–you see how plain the clones’ armor looked without paint. You never really noticed it before since you were always running for your life in those circumstances. But now that you think about it, you are so used to seeing bright blue or green or yellow that the alabaster white just seems so… odd.

“Looks like a big fight happened here.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. All these men are dead.”

Now.

You whip your body around the metal and immediately begin shooting as fast as you can pull the trigger, trying to make every shot count. The troopers hesitate for just a moment, most likely due to their surprise of you being there. But that second is all you need.

You take out the three men closest to you before jumping back behind the metal as their barrage of fire rains down on you. You do your best to shoot back and manage to take out one more clone, but they’re beginning to gain too much ground too fast. I can do this. I have to do this.

As far as you can tell, Crosshair isn’t with the clones attacking you, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t set up shop somewhere nearby, waiting to shoot you.

You shudder. It’s a chilling thought.

You grab one of your last detonators from your belt and hurl it as far as you can. The rapid beeping rises quickly in pitch before the charge explodes. Anguished cries reverberate throughout the area, and you briefly feel sorry for having to take such drastic measures as you feel their Force signatures dim swiftly. But you don’t have a choice.

Peeking around the corner, you count around eight to ten clones down. Not bad considering the circumstances.

You continue shooting as much as you can but now the troopers are much too close for comfort and you’re feeling overwhelmed. The durasteel you are using for cover isn’t meant to take this kind of damage, and the integrity of your shield is quickly waning as told by the constant creaks and groans. You don’t know what to do. Will we make it?

In your haste of shooting first and panicking later, you don’t notice Hunter groaning, finally waking up. And before you have time to even glance at him, the familiar hum of the Havoc Marauder and its lights shine down on you. Your sag in relief. Looks like Omega was able to comm them after all. Never before have you been so glad to see the beat-up hunk of junk. (You would never say that to Tech though–the Marauder is his baby, his pride and joy.)

Echo, Wrecker, and Tech all race off the ship, guns ablazing. Wrecker and Tech stand guard, serving as cover fire while Echo bends down to help you out.

“Hunter, wake up!” Echo hisses and smacks his helmet lightly. Hunter mumbles in pain as he starts to move, trying to look around as his HUD boots back up. Seriously? Now you wake up? you think sarcastically. But you’re much more relieved at the fact that he has actually woken up.

“What happened? Where’s Omega?” Wrecker bellows, worried.

“She’s right here, I’ve got her!” you shout back at the same time Echo says, “He was shot in the chest plate.”

You pocket your blaster and gather the young girl in your arms with every last bit of strength you have left. You aren’t strong enough to hold her in one arm and shoot with the other. That is much more up Wrecker’s alley.

“We have to get him on board!” Tech exclaims as he helps Echo support Hunter. You pick Omega up in both arms and bolt for the ship as fast as you can while yelling at Tech to grab the crate of supplies.

“Incoming!” Wrecker calls out as a fresh wave of troopers advance towards the six of you. You grunt as you deposit Omega in a chair near the controls before pulling out your blaster and helping Wrecker shoot down the men racing towards you.

“Got him. Tech, fly us out of here!” Echo commands while Wrecker makes a gesture for them to get on the ship faster. Hunter stumbles as he does his best to upright himself.

“Go go go!” Wrecker exclaims. Tech shoves the crate next to Omega’s seat and makes a beeline for the cockpit as you continue shooting, moving to the side to make space for Echo and Hunter to come on board. Wrecker quickly climbs in right after them and the ramp closes shut.

Tech immediately pilots the Havoc Marauder up and away from the scene. You vaguely hear the sound of blaster fire hitting the bottom of the ship while you drop your blaster on the ground and wrench Hunter’s helmet off in a panic. You take his face in your hands as you scan him quickly, trying to figure out if he’s hurt or not.

Hunter bats your hands away. “He... he took Omega,” he says and you shake your head. Wrecker pipes up from behind you to respond.

“Who? Crosshair?”

“The bounty hunter,” Hunter mutters as he rubs a hand over his face. Before Wrecker can answer again, you step in.

“No, he didn’t. I took him down. And no, he’s not dead,” you tack on quickly when you see Echo open his mouth. Echo shakes his head fondly and you just grin at him.

“She’s right here,” Echo says instead, pointing to Omega’s sleeping figure. Hunter turns in surprise to see that his brother is indeed telling the truth.

“How...?” Hunter’s voice trails off. Echo and Wrecker look at you expectantly, and Hunter follows suit. You sigh and take off your helmet, setting it down on the ledge next to the controls. You don’t look at them.

“It’s a long story.”

You don’t have a chance to elaborate any further because Tech walks in, interrupting the conversation.

“I’ve made the jump to hyperspace. There was a cruiser in the atmosphere, but I was able to quietly go past them by disguising our ship as a bounty hunter’s. They didn’t interfere. I put in the coordinates for Ord Mantell. I estimate our time of arrival to be five hours and thirty two minutes,” Tech reports and Hunter nods while you voice your thanks.

“Looks like we got time!” Wrecker says cheerily, pulling out an extra chair. Tech looks to you in confusion.

“Did I miss something significant?” Tech asks, concerned about the information he did not receive as he adjusts his goggles. You shake your head but now, all eyes are back on you.

“She was just about to tell us how she saved Omega,” Hunter supplies helpfully and Tech nods in understanding. He grabs a chair as well and sits down, interested in hearing what you have to say.

You look around the room, realizing you can’t get out of it. You are exhausted and just want to sleep but based on the looks you are getting from the boys, there is no way you can leave without giving a sufficient answer.

You sit down on a chair in between Omega and Echo and begin explaining.

“When the cone fell, it separated. I got knocked out when I hit the ground, but I don’t think I broke anything,” you quickly reassure as Tech grabs a datapad to scan your vitals.

“After I came to, I tried comming Echo, but my commlink was broken – I could only hear bits and pieces of what he said. There were some voices near me so I just followed them and–” you pause, not sure if you should tell them what happened. What you experienced, what you found out. “–I saw Hunter and Omega. The ledge I found was way too high for me to jump to, so I climbed up the side of the wreckage to see them and the bounty hunter facing off,” you say, choosing to leave the detail out. It was too personal. You still needed time.

All of them are listening intently, hanging on to every word you’re saying. Hunter’s gaze on you is heavy and loaded with questions. Tech is still tapping away on the datapad, but you know you have his full attention. Multitasking may not be possible for regular humans, but it definitely was for Tech.

“When I saw the bounty hunter, I knew Hunter wasn’t going to win,” you mumble sheepishly, rubbing the back of your neck. Hunter winces at your statement and you rush to explain why.

“Hunter, you have to trust that I genuinely don’t doubt your abilities. You are much more of a soldier than I will ever be. But this bounty hunter is one of the best, if not the best in the entire galaxy. He’s gone against the Jedi, and won. Based on what Anakin told me at the beginning of the war, Cad Bane is ruthless. He tortured Master Ropal and killed him. Believe it or not, I think he tried to abduct Chancellor Palpatine. Even Anakin had a difficult time fighting him.”

A tense quiet settles over you all as you mentally revisit your conversation with Anakin, and later with Ahsoka. She told you how it was one of the first times she was genuinely afraid that she was going to die, or at least get hurt very severely.

Echo’s rough voice shakes you out of your reverie. “How do–did you know General Skywalker?” he asks, clearly confused at how you referred to him on a first-name basis. You mentally facepalm yourself. How did I forget he served as part of the 501st? You feel incredibly stupid.

You could make up a lie, of course, but it wouldn’t be worth it. Hunter’s enhanced senses and Tech’s vitals scan could probably pick up on your biological signs, not to mention you would feel terribly guilty about not being honest. I promised myself I would tell them…

You blow out a nervous breath, deciding to at least give them something. They deserved that much.

“I’m–well, I was a Jedi,” you admit, staring down at your feet. You can’t bring yourself to look at them, feeling almost… ashamed.

The boys are shocked into silence and you cringe. There was probably a much better way for you to say that, but now it was out there. Yet the pressure that had been weighing down on you since you let the Force back in didn’t lessen.

“What?” Wrecker questions, thrown completely for a loop. “You’re a Jedi?”

Before you can answer, Tech pipes up. “When I reviewed your medical data, there was no note about an elevated midi-chlorian count or any sort of connection to the Force. Additionally, there is no documentation of you serving as a General or a Commander during the war in the Republic military records. How were you a Jedi? And why aren’t you one now? You used past tense in your sentence,” Tech adjusts his goggles as he attempts to register this new information that conflicted with his previous knowledge.

You sigh, drumming your fingers on your thigh. “I left the Jedi Order before the war ended. I promise I’ll explain everything in detail later, but for now, you have to understand that I’m just a Force-user. I trained as a Jedi, but I’m not a Jedi, not anymore,” you clarify, lifting your head up to make eye contact with each of them.

“Aw man, that’s so cool. You have to show us your cool mind tricks sometime!” Wrecker smiles and you agree to his request. It warms your heart to see him so excited.

“It makes sense. You must have seen the regs turn on the Jedi but didn’t know why. When you started traveling with us, you didn’t know if we would turn on you too, even though we’re not regs,” Hunter realizes, and you nod in affirmation. You’re secretly relieved by the fact that he doesn’t seem angry, just… just thoughtful.

“And then when I saw what happened to Crosshair, I knew I couldn’t risk ever telling any of you. But when Rex told us about the chips…” you trail off.

Echo picks up your sentence quickly. “You figured out you would be safe with us if we got our chips removed. No wonder you were so insistent on following what Rex said.”

You smile at the last part, a bit embarrassed. He wasn’t wrong. You were probably even more insistent than Rex was on telling them to get their inhibitor chips out. Better to be safe than sorry you told them. Though at the time, you hadn’t even thought about how removing their chips would impact you and your abilities. You were too focused on keeping the Force out of your body to entertain that thought.

Wrecker suddenly gets up and gathers you in a bone-crushing hug. “Well you don’t have to worry now! We got those stupid chips out of our heads, which means I promise we won’t kill you!” he says cheerfully and you can’t help but laugh as you hug him back, the knot in your chest beginning to unravel. You could always count on Wrecker’s wonderfully big heart to raise your spirits.

“You’re right, big guy. It’s honestly a relief. One less thing I have to worry about.”

Wrecker lets go of you and you pick up where you left off. “As I was saying, Cad Bane isn’t a bounty hunter we can take lightly. Crosshair helped me re-engineer my blaster to turn it into a pseudo sniper with attachable parts during the war. Because I was so high up, I could get a clear shot of Bane. From that vantage point, I shot him at the same time Hunter and Bane shot each other.”

Echo’s mouth drops open. “Damn.”

“What I didn’t expect was for Hunter to be rendered completely unconscious. So I told Omega to try to comm you guys while I went on Bane’s ship to see if I could find anything. And I did.” You pull off your backpack and dump out the contents. Bags of credits come tumbling out. You unhook the few bags on your belt and toss them into the pile.

“Bane had a secret compartment with a lot of credits. So I took them and that crate I yelled at Tech to get,” you explain as you reach into the bag to show off the Imperial credits.

Tech’s eyes widen as he lifts up a bag to inspect it. “I will have to calculate how much you took and mark it in the inventory, but based on my initial deduction, this may be enough for us to upgrade the Marauder and provide sustenance for at least a few months.”

“Nice one!” Wrecker compliments and you grin in response. “What’s in the crate?” he asks, walking over to lift up the top.

“Medical supplies. We barely had any left so I figured I might as well take that too,” you shrug as Hunter gets up to join Wrecker to peer at the contents.

“What happened after that? You said you told Omega to comm the others, which means she was awake. Did she get hurt while I was out? Is that why you look so exhausted?” Hunter inquires, astute as ever.

You bite your lower lip. “When I was getting off his ship with the goods, he had woken up again. Before I could do anything, he stunned Omega and then immediately shot at me,” you pause, wondering if you should elaborate on how you got out of the situation. You decide to come clean on this part.

“I… I don’t know how, but I was able to stop the blaster bolts and keep them – and Bane – in stasis with the Force. The problem was that it took a lot out of me. After not really using the Force for so long, my energy reserves were pretty much gone,” you sigh, absentmindedly rubbing your arms. Your muscles are still sore from the event.

“After that, I punched him and knocked him out again. I dragged you and Omega away from the ship so that I could protect you, and I ended up using that giant piece of durasteel as cover to fight off those clones. Then you guys came and rescued us and that’s that,” you finish, suddenly fatigued from the conversation. You slump back into your chair, perfect posture be damned.

“Wow,” is all Echo says, surprised by your strength. It took some serious stamina to be able to withstand so much for so long. Echo remembered seeing Commander Tano and General Skywalker be exhausted after some especially intense missions where they constantly had to use the Force.

“Yeah,” you mutter, massaging your dominant hand. It is still throbbing from the mean hook you threw at Bane. You don’t have any regrets. You glance at Omega’s sleeping figure and soften. The things I would do for this girl.

“Looks like I taught you well!” Wrecker laughs and you smile. When you first met the Bad Batch, Wrecker took it upon himself to teach you basic self-defense and how to overtake an opponent intelligently. Even though you already learned how to fight as part of your Jedi and military training, you couldn’t say no to him when he looked so excited. But it paid off because he’s right. Wrecker did teach you well.

“You did. You basically saved my ass out there with your amazing teaching skills,” you chuckle, glancing down at your hand. You think you’ll probably have to cover it in bacta gel to speed up the healing process before having yet another realization. (You seem to be having a lot of those today.)

I can just Force-heal. Before, you couldn’t Force-heal because it would look suspicious if something healed too fast. But now that they know, you don’t have to solely depend on medical supplies anymore.

Tech, as always, is right on cue. “Is your hand alright? For you to render Bane unconscious must have been no easy feat. Not to mention that according to the medscan I just took, you have a mild concussion, most likely due to your fall. I can run a medical diagnostic test to start and then run more specific tests to combat your pain...” Tech mutters the last part to himself, brain running light years faster than his mouth as his fingers fly over the datapad.

You debate it for a moment before nodding. “That would be great, Tech–thanks. But right now, I’m exhausted, so I’m going to go and crash in my bunk. Wake me up if I need to punch someone again,” you joke before shuffling away from your squadmates. You ruffle Omega’s hair affectionately as you pass by her and pick up your blaster from the ground before climbing down the ladder. You don’t notice Hunter’s troubled gaze or how his Force signature sours a bit as you leave.

You quickly clean up and throw on some bacta patches on a few nasty bruises. You sit down on your bed and pull the privacy curtain before deciding to open up your secret compartment next to your mattress. You stare down at the objects, the only things you have left as a reminder of the past. You reach down for one of them, about to touch it when you stop.

You shake your head and shut the drawer. Deciding to finally, finally hit the hay, you’re out like a light as soon as your head hits the pillow. Dealing with the Force and healing yourself could be done later. Not even your constant pain and crippling worry about your family friends could keep you up any longer.

please consider reblogging! it really helps me and is super encouraging ^_^

[nrth-wind-a]

((lol I've been wondering this for a while, but how do you think Bernard would react to knowing time travel is real? Or clones? What are his limits of belief essentially in a world as weird as the DC universe?))

Misc. Asks II Inbox: Open II This got really long (1843 words oh god) so a majority is under a cut!

This is a great question! I apologize in advance for how much I’m about to not answer your questions, before I finally get to them! 😅 I just want to establish some context first!

So, the way I see his conspiracy side is that it’s not actually as outlandish and crazy as it might seem at first; he’s a smart guy, so I don’t think he falls for just any crazy old conspiracy out there. It’s just that he’s trying to find answers to questions or mysteries that he sees. (A brief note on that: the closer a person is to the actual world of superheroes, the more ready he is to believe word of mouth; so when a hero tells him something, he’s fairly ready to accept that as truth, unless he catches them being a troll or something).

But back to how his own conspiracies are generated: I want to use the moment when he finds out that the new Robin (Stephanie) is a girl, in order to analyze how he actually forms his conspiracies.

So, the minute he finds out there’s a new Robin, he immediately jumps to explain that the previous Robin must be dead for there to be a new one in town, now.

But then, that leaves the question of where Batman keeps getting Robins. Well, Bernard knows that his parents would never let him do something like what Robin does, so the next logical conclusion is that they have to be kids without parents to get in the way (or to be put into danger by association). But since they also have to have secret identities, they must also be under heavy secrecy—thus:

Secret orphanages.

The next logical question to something like this then becomes “well that sounds crazy; how does Batman even pull that off?”

Well, you see, reader, this is one that Bernard can answer as well, but in order to do that, one must first assume that 1. The Batman is real, and that 2. He is operating with a high level of funding and tech, because that’s the only way he could be so effective, unless he’s superpowered. But he’s obviously not superpowered, because all the superpowered heroes operate with far less secrecy, in the bright of the day, wearing brilliant, attention-catching colors. They’re symbols, paragons. Batman is a shadow, a whisper on the breeze.

So how could one guy be such a thing, while yet also gaining access to incredibly advanced, performance-enhancing technology? Well, that’s actually quite simple: He has a benefactor. Probably multiple. This means there must be some kind of organization that is either centered around Batman, or that Batman works for.

Now, here’s where a personal headcanon of mine comes in. We know almost nothing about Bernard’s parents, but in Urban Legends, Tim talks about how Bernard could never measure up to his parents’ expectations. In that scene, we also see them meeting with Commissioner Montoya about their son’s disappearance in that run, even though we also know that Detective Williams is on this case, as well. Now, it makes sense that they’d have multiple people on this case, so that’s not a surprise. What is a surprise, though, is that the commissioner went to see the Dowds herself. Further, we know that the kids who have been getting into Urban Legends's chaos cult have been relatively high profile. Not necessarily famous, but of fairly good standing in Gotham’s economic system.

Now, I could be just missing some obscure panel in Robin Vol. 2, but if I remember correctly, we don’t know what the Dowds do. My headcanon, with all of this in mind, then, is that one or both of them is/are a local government official. Not necessarily crazy high up, but enough to be notable in the public eye—hence the intense expectations for Bernard, and, as I'll explain further in a moment, his distrust of the actual government.

Because my point in bringing this headcanon up is that I think this would affect how Bernard thinks about said actual government. He knows firsthand how the local government doesn’t actually have that much power, and how their power is vastly inflated by both citizens and fellow politicians alike. Which then causes another few questions: If the local government is like this, what is the state government like? The national government? Is the truth that they’re not actually as powerful as they seem, either? How much power does any known politician really have?

Especially since he knows that changes do happen, and legislature does get passed. But who passes it? How many hoops did it have to somehow survive? How could anything survive the process, unless it was set up to succeed from the beginning?

And that, in my humble opinion, is where he starts to get his ideas about a secret government operating beneath the one we know. It’s the government that actually gets things done, the one that actually holds all the cards. And it controls everything.

Including, of course, The Batman—their chess piece who can act outside of the set rules and regulations that known entities must abide by.

All of this is to say!

He isn’t necessarily wrong a lot of the time; at least not completely.

He’s simply looking for answers to make sense of the world around him, which, to be fair, in DC, is pretty outlandish itself, so I do rather understand how he’d reach some of the conclusions he’d reach.

And now that I’m way too many words in already, let’s actually answer your questions (so sorry omg)!

I’m gonna start with the third one first actually, because I think it’ll help answer the first two!

What are his limits of belief essentially in a world as weird as the DC universe?

The limits of his beliefs are fairly nebulous, because the nature of conspiracy theories is that they cannot be proven or disproven. They will always remain a possibility, because once they’re disproven, they become hoaxes, and once they’re proven, they become facts.

But if I had to assign hard limits, I’d say that the point at which he will no longer believe something is the moment that it becomes clear that the person who has made the theory is not doing so out of genuine belief. He is looking for answers, not “gotcha!”s or scams. As soon as he figures out that someone is just messing around, or is looking to gain baseless popularity, or wants to profit off of frightened or paranoid people, then he immediately checks out of a theory.

This is why he refuses to believe that Batman is Bruce Wayne, for instance. The theory, as I’ve seen in fandom, is mostly treated as a joke by those who suggest it, so he refuses to entertain that one, because it’s obviously just someone messing around, and, in his opinion, anyone who does earnestly believe that one is simply gullible.

But the idea of disposable orphans from a shadow government orphanage, each raised to be child soldiers, while far more unbelievable, is also a real, genuine attempt at explaining the oddities of the Batman and Robin situation, and while it sounds crazy on the surface, if one looks past the phrase “shadow government orphanage,” to the reasoning behind such a concept, then some things about it might start to make sense. How else would Batman keep finding kids that no one has ever seemed to have heard of, or that no one can recognize even when half of their faces are uncovered? How do they always seem to be described slightly differently with each account of someone who got an up-close look at them? How come no one could say how tall Robin is, or what color his or her eyes are? How is the most distinct thing about a Robin up to that point that this new one is a blonde girl? And how come she disappears so quickly after?

Everything he thinks he knows about Robin just seems to get confirmed the more he looks in on the situation.

It could be confirmation bias, but confirmation bias still has holes in it. Bernard can’t find holes in his explanations, yet—because they are conspiracies. Because they can’t be proven or disproven.

With this in mind, let’s move to the idea of time travel!

How do you think Bernard would react to knowing time travel is real?

Keeping it still in the lens of the Gotham heroes, since I think those are the ones he follows the most—it could explain how the Bat seems to be everywhere at once, and yet, nowhere at all. Where does he operate from? It could be from the future. It could be from the past. It could be from limbo.

This could also explain why the Robins never seem to age—that is, if his theory about them dying and being replaced all the time is wrong.

This leads me to conclude that Bernard is firmly on the “time travel is most likely real” team, with the caveat that he wants to find out more information before he says it’s “definitely real.”

As for clones...

Or clones?

That is a solid, 100% YES. He definitely believes clones are real. Because if the Robins aren’t orphans, then they’re most certainly clones (and, in fact, they could even be both). Even the blonde girl could be a clone—maybe her appearance is different, but clones don’t necessarily have to look the same, they just have to share a majority of their DNA structures. The people who did the cloning could have been curious to try something new. To alter the DNA strings a little. To see if they could create a less easily killable Robin.

In fact, to get outside of Gotham for a bit: I would go as far as to say that I think Bernard seems like the type to believe that Kid Flash is a clone of The Flash. After all, they seem remarkably similar, so perhaps Kid Flash is a failsafe for if The Flash ever dies.

And furthering that—the blonde Kryptonian woman? Could be a clone of Superman, who went through the same process as the blonde girl Robin.

Because here’s the thing: we as readers know that he’s wrong in the above assumptions. But he also… isn’t. He’s wrong about who the clones are, but he’s entirely correct about there being Kyrptonian and speedster clones. And that’s the crux of how I play Bernard’s conspiracy theorizing. He isn’t wrong, but he isn’t right. He can’t be proven or disproven (at least, not unless a certain someone in his life ever tells him the truth about his involvement in Robin, and then corrects his theories with the actual facts).

So, there we go! These are my thoughts on Bernard's conspiracies! I hope some of this made sense! I apologize for the heinously long answer to your questions, but I also hope that it was at least an entertaining heinously long answer! :D

[ashlynniis-bracketeers]

Stupid MadCom thought ahead

(See this page for reference)

(Also asked this stupid shit on Reddit lmao)

So, in Madness Combat, the Nevadeans/Grunts were either spawned into reality (Generation 00/01/02, such as Phobos and Hank) or are manufactured/cloned (The limited-model Generation 03s [G03LM] and Generation 04), and all of the Nevadeans lack physical sex (and the only gender identities and character design presentation we’ve really seen characters have are masculine, neutral, or nonbinary he/theys and they/thems). Outside of misc. bugs and birds seen in MPN, we don’t really see animals, either. I had a random realization:

Where the hell did they get the concept of Moms/Motherfuckers from?

Honestly, this is mostly aimed towards Sanford in MPN, though Hank Motherfucker Wimbleton gets a side-eye from me. If they were tube-grown, that’d be one thing, I’d just slap up the MOM EVEREST joke from TTS and be done with it, but Hank, Sanford, and Deimos are all Gen 02s. Sanford sure as hell doesn’t have a mom, but he’s still called a “Momma’s Boy”, who the hell is he talking about?

The answer is probably because Krinkels finds it funny + Johnny Utah ad-libbing lines and them deciding to keep them in lol but I’m talking about in-universe justification

[princess-of-the-corner]

Okay some people asked for what characters in The Crossover would do with TikTok accounts so here we go:

Team Miraculous:

The Heroes have a collective Tiktok they all have access too. It's mostly showing off some parkour tricks, and occasional safety tips. Plus once in a while Honeybee or Chat posts a "we made the team watch fma:b and this is their reaction"(which always has them stealthily holding the camera because if anyone sees the camera they know some shits coming.)

Mari's is mostly fashion and baking. Like in-progress videos and "hey here's how to do this trick".

Adrien's official account is mostly just "look at my partners they're so amazing!!!" But he has a dummy account to watch and like other videos.

Alya's is mostly Ladyblog stuff with the occasional "check out my friends!!" Promotion.

Nino and the members of Kitty Section both use it to show off clips of video/music(sometimes as collabs but also their own stuff) with links to full versions.

Chloé's is.... Oddly positive but in that "look we can't always be all 'it's okay to be sad uwu'! Sometimes you have to be a bitch just be a bitch about the right things!"

Zoé has conspiracy theories of course. Oddly enough she ropes Alix and also Jalil into it and while it does stay in conspiracy territory it is historically informitive.

Mylene is very shy so while she'll appear in other videos, she mostly only makes videos herself as informative videos about current issues and the like.

-

Untitled Alien Team:

Ben's are mostly shitposts but it's onlu because he gives no context. In reality he's complaining about the other forms and their issues or general shapeshifter issues like "damn it I wish I had a tail 24/7". Sometimes gets into dark humor that makes the followers go ??????? Are you okay????

Gwen isn't big on Tiktok but will appear in everyone else's.

Kevin didn't have one at first but then Ben filmed him ranting about stupid car stuff of "damn it while I love having a job I wish some people would do basic fucking maintenance because how dare you treat a car like that?!?!?!?!" And now he has a channel of half "goddamn it don't fuck up your brakes!!" And half legit info on basic car maintenance.

Lilo still does Hula so a lot of her videos involve that, plus occasional shenanigans, plus cute videos of the various Experiments.

Team Phantom:

Danny's account is half shitposts, half "space is awsome!!!". Meanwhile 'Phantom' has an account that is even more shitposts, and also him being so very tired. Danny makes morbid humor jokes on both accounts.

Sam's are mostly informative about current issues. She and Mylene actually kinda know each other through these.

Jazz also makes more informative videos, and it's mostly mental health based.

Tucker's ia mostly a behind the scenes compilation of everyone else's.

Elle gets one to record her reactions to new experiences. Whether it be new foods or movies she's never seen. Her commenters are occasionally concerned how she doesn't know certain things. They think her saying "yeah I'm a clone and only technically like a year old" is a joke.

Valerie has a parkour one obvs.

There's an official Fentonworks one that all the kids show up on which has info on Ghosts, safety tips, and shows off some of the gadgets they make.

The Rainbooms:

Sunset made one to give tips to everyone who suddenly got Magic and answer questions about Equestria. But it got out of the circles it should be and people think it's an RP account.

Sci-Twi shows off so many gadgets.

Pinkie and AJ share a baking channel. AJ focuses more on home-y recipies and such while Pinkie is half "it's that fucking chocolate guy again!!" And half that one where the girl remakes the Webkinz recipie.

Rainbow is partly flight tricks but also has clips to promote the band.

Fluttershy braves the attention to show off proper animal care.

Misc one offs:

Zak goes full "Crocodile Hunter" and makes short documentaries on Cryptids. Someone comments "hey this is like that show 'Weird World' but better!" And a bunch of people reply and Zak just makes a video replying like "Ha! Take that you pale ass bitch!"

Kim Possible has one to show off gymnast/cheerleading moves(with a bonus of Ron cheering her cheering lmao)

Dippee and Mabel absolutely just document all the fuckery in Gravity Falls. With bonus versions where it's like "hold my drink and watch this!!!". Double bonus of taunting Bill when he comes back.

Jack Spicer also has an account to show off gadgets. He and Sci-Twi are in a friendly rivalry.

[phoenixyfriend]

Commander Fox (CC-1010) for the ask meme

send me a character & I’ll answer the following about them!

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life  hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff best quality: Minimal canon presence so we can mostly do whatever we want with him. worst quality: Minimal canon presence so you don't know what you're getting into if you look for fic. ship them with: I have... no opinions here. Very blank-slate. brotp them with: I do want to read more fic of Fox getting help with destroying His Shitty Boss from the other CCs needs to stay away from: His Shitty Boss

misc. thoughts: Fun place to play around but not much to work with from canon. People who talk shit about him for 'being a cop' need to step back and remind themselves that he and the rest of the clones are literally slaves and did not get to pick their jobs. He didn't choose to be a cop, he was literally assigned cop at birth decanting deployment.