#if i had creative control of s2..

[lokiinmediasideblog]

If you were to rewrite Season 2 how would you do it?

I'd include drugged addictive pie that alters the TVA employee's moods in there and makes them more compliant. Wasted opportunity!

Sylvie would have fucked off to another planet and stolen a bunch of shit, not that megacorp's fast food restaurant. And I'd have included aliens that don't look human in there (another wasted opportunity that was probably wasted to save on the budget...).

Having Loki want to see his family again and actually make Loki's attachment to the TVA crew believable. For better or for worse. I know Loki left on bad terms with them, but it is WEIRD that he doesn't bring them up often and people he seems more attached to people he just met or captured him. Also please actually mention B-15's name and have her interact with Loki. The BTS stuff with the actors talking seemed more in-character than the actual series.

I think it'd have been very cool if they applied the concept of archetypal bias in the TVA's policing of the timelines. And they should have brought up more Loki variants, and even other villains that are over-represented. And it'd have added more weight to Miss Minutes telling Victor Timely "You'll never be him."

I think it should have been brought up more that Sylvie's eaten people many times before. Have her say incredibly unhinged shit out of nowhere. Also, let her cuss people out!

It's low on my list because I don't trust Disney with it, and I have a very specific HC about Loki's time in the Void and with Thanos. Basically dying in the void and being brought back by the Black Order, cultivating some fucked up sense of gratitude enmeshed with coercion (because they could take it away). I dig the thematic resurrection thing, and Loki and Thanos kept mentioning resurrections in all the movies and even in the series. And ok, on Thanos thing, I am team coercion and manipulation was involved (particularly when it came to the Cube because it'd hurt Asgard), but it's not like Loki was very attached to Earth in the first place or cared for human lives.

I'd have explored Ravonna's mysterious origins more because they didn't answer any questions in S2. Why the hell was she a school principal in S1 but also HWR's right hand woman? I'd have made HWR grieve her death (she was a school principal and his wife), and trap a variant of her forever within the TVA. Unable to let her go.

It'd be funny if they drop hints that Asgard's pretty fucked up. Like Loki not being bothered by the TVA's surveillance because "We have that on Asgard."

Dark-haired Sylvie like in that concept art! And IDK better costumes for Loki and Sylvie.

The series ending with the TVA burning to the ground as everyone discovers it's all a lie and the staff stop eating the pie (look at my rhymes!).

Also, have Loki variants ask each other about their pronouns while introducing themselves as [adjective]!Loki or any chosen name. Or remark that though they may be surrounded by lying thieving Lokis, at least they know they won't get shit about their personal pronouns because they understand each other in that regard.

[t4kalcvr]

VAMOS A BAILAR — k. tsukishima smau

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ S2, EP 4 . peek-a-boo

“SUNA! GET OFF YOUR PHONE!” bokuto shouted, “Y/N AND NOYA ARE KICKING OUR ASSES!!”

Suna snapped out of his rage-fueled trance, realizing his health bar was rapidly depleting under Nishinoya’s relentless barrage of attacks. Meanwhile, you and Bokuto were locked in combat, but your health bar remained significantly higher than his.

you guys were playing mortal kombat.

the scream signaled “Finish Him,” and Suna threw down his controller in frustration as Bokuto began furiously pounding his hand on the table.

“NOOOOOO, THIS GAME IS RIGGED,” bokuto cried.

Suna glanced around the room and yelled, “HEY! TSUKISHIMA! get over here!”

Tsukishima shot a glare at Suna, “why?” he asked.

“just get over here.” suna demanded.

Tsukishima waltzed over to Suna, placing his hands on his hips and raising an eyebrow in question. Suna handed him his controller, “play for me,” he said.

Tsukishima took the controller and settled into the seat beside you. You were busy texting someone on your phone, and though he tried not to be nosy, he couldn’t resist sneaking a glance. When he caught sight of the contact name, his mood instantly soured.

you looked up at him with a smile, “let’s kick some ass,” you said. Tsukishima couldn’t quite pinpoint what he was feeling, but a wave of flutters coursed through his entire body.

as everyone settled in and started eating, a knock sounded at the door.

“I’ll get it,” Suna said, rising from his seat and walking over to open it.

suna opened the door, and his demeanor immediately dropped.

“Peek-a-boo,” came the teasing greeting, leaving Suna feeling taunted.

suna wasn’t the only one seething with anger. Across the table, a certain blonde had a vein bulging on the side of his neck, his hands now clenched into fists on the dinner table.

[ cue dramatic music and end credits ]

CREDITS —

previous episode ‧₊* ‧₊ masterlist ⋆·˚ ༘ next episode

translations 🪇 : none.

🗒️: i told you guys we were back 🤗 im finally making it juicyyyyy, ENJOYYYYYY !!! finally got the motivation to be writing again! the creativeness is flowing!!

ko-fi :: soobinz, all donations are tremendously appreciated <3 and SOCIALS !

🏷️: @mjustag1rl @ast4rg1rl-deactivated20241103 @empress-pug-pug @softpia @yuminako @kagtobis @tsukistopglazer @yessimo @spicana @juie13 @whosmarjj @yamsverse @g-l-1-t-c-h-3-r @gravetomb @wearecooler @punkhazardlaw @theycallmenanamisgirl @mimisweetz @zahrawr-writes-fanfics @jojo23allegra @rory-cakes @ghostgoosygoose @hycuye @walllflowerrrsss @axquella @brithedemonspawn @anqelkoz @lsunncy @dudekiss3r

[hugmekenobi]

S3: The Bad Batch (4)

Chapter Four: A Different Approach

Gif by @azertyrobaz

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Summary: Ever since Eriadu, Clone Force 99 had been a fractured squad. Months have passed but you're finally back with the Batch but Omega is still out there and you won't stop until you find her again.

Chapter Summary: A reunion may be on the cards sooner than you thought

Masterlist for S1 and S2

<Previous Chapter

Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers (we're in the lovers stage now)

Chapter Warnings: Canon-typical violence, gambling, again we have my interpretation of headspaces, limited use of y/n, fluff and mild angst, discussion of character death, protective reader and Hunter, reader and Crosshair kinda get into it

Word Count: 5.3K

Author's notes: Now we're getting into part of the series where each episode allows for a bit more creative license which I'm very excited about! It starts with the end of this one and I hope y'all like it! Also, with regards to tagging people, I'm only tagging the users who still officially register when I do it. Please, please let me know if you want tagged/for me to try your username again!!

Sparks flew from the control as Omega did her best to stabilise them, but it was proving to be a rather challenging task. “I could use some help up here! Our comms are down. I can’t contact Hunter!”

From down below in the shuttle, Crosshair was also doing his best to get things under control but the smoke, electrical malfunctions and the persistent screech of the alarm told him that was a very unlikely outcome. He analysed the screen dictating the state of the ship. “That’s not the priority. The ship sustained heavy damage.”

“I can see that.” Omega retorted.

Crosshair made his way back up to the co-pilot’s seat, with Batcher following close behind. “Get the stabilizers back online!”

“That’s what I’m trying to do.” Immediately after she said that a large spark of electricity crackled from the console and the ship was torn out of hyperspace and spiralled towards the planet ahead.

“We have to land.”

“A little hard to do when nothing’s working.” Omega snapped at him as she fiddled with the steering but to no avail.

The ship entered the atmosphere and started to plummet towards the ground.

Omega pulled hard on the lever to even out the ship as the ground grew ever closer. It was all she could do before it crashed landed and skidded along the surface.

When it finally came to a halt, Omega opened the glass roof to allow them all to get some air and eventually exit the wrecked vehicle. She looked in dismay as the controls fully shut off and the last dying spark flickered. “This will take forever to repair.”

Crosshair exhaled a sore sigh as he got his bearings, but that soreness was soon replaced by irritation as the hound pushed insistently on the back of his chair. “No. there’s no time for that.” The dog’s fussing got too much for him. He stood up to allow her to jump past him and off the shuttle.

“We need to get the nav reader online to extract the coordinates to Tantiss for when we go back.” Omega said, turning to look at him.

He couldn’t understand how she’d only just escaped that hell and was already talking about returning. “We’re not going back.”

“We left the other prisoners behind.”

“And the Empire is going to be searching for this ship and us.” He grabbed the pack with the blasters and hopped out of the shuttle. “We have to move. I scanned a spaceport a few clicks east. We’ll start there.”

Omega followed his example and let him lead the way to the spaceport.

--

With the establishment of the new plan being they would get to the spaceport and sneak onto a shuttle, they acquired their disguises and the two of them blended in with the civilians of the town.

They walked past the various troopers in the town as casually as they could so as not to arouse any unnecessary suspicion.

Omega warily analysed the situation ahead as they reached the spaceport. “It’s too well-guarded. We’ll never slip past all those troopers undetected.”

“I can take out at least half before they know what’s happening.” Crosshair stated confidently.

“Or… or we could try a way that doesn’t involve blaster fire.” Omega countered.

“Like what?” Crosshair asked, his voice filled with doubt.

“Watch and learn.” With that, Omega calmly led the way to the ticket attendant.

“Oh, I can hardly wait.” Crosshair said with a sigh as he followed a few paces behind.

“Hello. We’d like two tickets on the next shuttle please.” Omega requested pleasantly.

“Chain codes?” Came the standard reply from the attendant.

“About that. We lost our chain codes.” Omega said coyly.

“No chain codes, no passage.”

“Right. But you see, a problem for us could be an opportunity for you if, say, you knew of an alternate way of booking passage without a chain code.” She advanced towards the desk.

The attendant leaned forward. “Are you insinuating that I should take bribe?”

“If that’s what you want to call it.” Omega replied, feigning innocence.

“I do. And that could be arranged… for 15,000 credits.”

Omega’s composure slipped slightly upon hearing that price, “For two tickets?” She exclaimed.

“Per ticket. And it’s non-negotiable. You’re lucky I’m not charging extra for the creature.”

“Where do you expect is to get 30,000 credits?”

“Sounds like a you problem. Don’t come back without the credits.” The attendant waved a hand in dismissal.

Omega hung her head in defeat and left the port with Crosshair.

“Well, that went well.” Crosshair remarked sarcastically.

“Stow it.” Omega grumbled.

--

“Storming the spaceport would be easier than finding 30,000 credits.” Crosshair hissed as they aimlessly wandered the streets of the town.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“Don’t be naïve. Every second we’re here, we’re at risk.”

They came to a stop outside a bar.

“The quite wasting time complaining.” Omega argued before two troopers exited the bar and they both averted their gaze, but the opening of the door had given Omega another idea. “I think I know how we can make some fast credits.”

“Of course you do.” Crosshair mumbled as he saw her getting ready to make her way into the bar. The fluttering of a scrappy piece of paper caught under a nearby crate grabbed his eye before he entered, and he came to a sudden stop as he picked it up and saw what- or rather who- was on it.

Omega noticed he had stopped and when she turned back to enquire what was wrong, the question died on her lips as she saw what he was looking at. Only half the information on the sheet was news to her, but the rest made her eyes widen in shock. By the looks of things, you had been on your own for the time she’d been on Tantiss and clearly, you’d stopped hiding. And judging by the harsh language and substantial reward offering, the Empire wasn’t too happy about that. Now, not only was there the trouble of how exactly this information would go down between you and Crosshair but she also couldn’t count on the fact that you were back with Hunter and Wrecker. She glanced up at Crosshair and, despite the fact that most of his face was covered, he could not conceal the emotions that flashed behind his eyes. “Oh… um… she- well back when- I’m sure she would’ve told-” She broke off with a sharp breath as she struggled to find the words to say.

“Doesn’t matter.” Crosshair said dismissively, crumpling it up and putting it away before he carried on into the bar. The fact that Omega seemed to already have an idea of what your… situation… gave him enough of a timeline to go off of.

“One thing at a time, right girl?” Omega said with a shaky breath, patting Batcher’s side as the hound nuzzled into her. Putting her mind onto the task at hand, she too entered the bar.

--

The bar itself was relatively busy, especially compared to how Cid’s had usually been, and it gave Omega the chance to study her potential adversaries from their booth by the wall unnoticed.

“That’s your plan? You want to hustle someone?” Crosshair repeated sceptically. What had they taught this kid?

“I’ve done it before, and I prefer to think of it as a temporary requisition of funds.”

“And bet with what? We don’t have anything.”

“They don’t know that.” Omega said with a cheeky grin.

“And if you lose?”

“Well… I guess we’ll be in more trouble.” With that, she made her way to the card table in the middle of the bar and sat across from the Trandoshan and got her performance ready to go.

--

To say that Crosshair was surprised would be an understatement, the kid was winning every hand against the Trandoshan and securing credits within a matter of minutes. Whatever experience she’d gained with the rest of his squad was clearly something to be admired. Although the mental image of Hunter even allowing her to hone such a skill felt very out of place, he was quietly grateful for it right now.

The bar came to a sudden hushed silence as the door opened. Omega heard Crosshair clear his throat in warning and she looked to the entrance to see an Imperial officer flanked by two troopers enter. She studied them carefully but remained at the table as she won the next hand much to the Trandoshan’s disappointment. “I think I’ll quite while I’m ahead.” She said in response to his pleas for another game. Having an Imperial official here complicated matters and it was time she, Crosshair and Batcher left.

“Leaving so soon?”

Omega turned her head to face the officer as he stood by the table.

“You’re in my seat.”

The Trandoshan let out a low snarl before he departed and gave up his seat to the man.

Crosshair tensed as he saw the Imperial sit but Omega waved him back.

“So, you think you’re good at this game?”

Omega replied with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders.

“Want to try against a, uh, real opponent?” He suggested to the young girl. “I insist.”

--

“Your mutt don’t seem to like me.” He said as the dog released a series of growls.

“She’s harmless.” Omega said in reply as she organised her cards.

“She’s a distraction. Get rid of her.” He demanded.

Omega signalled to Crosshair to take her out.

Crosshair got to his feet, clicked his tongue, and led Batcher to wait outside.

The Imperial watched them go. “Never seen you or your dad around before.” He commented.

“We’re just passing through.” Omega replied as she watched him flip the next card and the rise in murmurs indicated that both he and the crowd seemed to think her time was up.

“Eh, I’ll admit you’re not bad. But you seem to have misunderstood your enemy.”

Omega only smirked, “Did I?” She placed her cards down and flashed the set of the three Eastern Stars. Game over. “I’ll take those 20,000 credits.” She grew nervous however when his two guards made to approach the table.

He held a hand up to stop them. “I concede. You beat me fair and square.” He gave her the credits. “Nicely played.” He left the table.

The Imperial went back to his men and one of them addressed him.

“Sir. Patrol found a crashed Imperial vessel on the outskirts of town.”

“I wasn’t notified about any shuttles arriving today.” He angled back to look at the two strangers with a newfound sense of suspicion. “Now, hang on a minute.”

Omega gathered the credits in her bag and, now that Crosshair had returned, she got up to leave with him, but the familiar voice of the Imperial stopped them both.

“We’re not done here.” He chuckled coolly. “You haven’t paid your fine.”

“What fine?” Omega asked.

“Gambling’s illegal in these parts.”

“What?” Crosshair snarled as he made to step forward, but Omega’s arm stopped him.

“The law is the law. Now, all you gotta do is pay the fine. And I’ll be on my way.”

“How much?” Omega asked him as she did her best to keep her disgust at bay.

“Ten thousand credits… unless you prefer to be arrested instead.”

Omega got the credits out and handed them over.

“Excellent. Consider your fine paid in full.” He said smugly. “Try and stay out of trouble.” He dipped his cap and left the establishment.

Omega sighed in relief. “Let’s get out of here.”

Crosshair caught her shoulder. “How many credits do we have left?”

Omega checked the bag. “Thirty-five thousand. Enough for two tickets and a little extra.” She made the first move to leave.

--

“Crosshair, where’s Batcher?” Omega asked anxiously as she scanned the area for her companion.

“Oy. You looking for that hound?”

The two of them turned to look at the young boy speaking to them.

“You know where she went?” Omega queried.

“Sure do, but the answer’s gonna cost you. Ten thousand credits.”

The fact that he was a child made no difference, Crosshair sighed and stood intimidatingly over the boy. “I’m getting tired of this.”

“Okay, okay.” The boy backtracked. “Five, but that’s my final offer.”

Omega touched Crosshair’s arm to call him off before she gave the boy the money.

The boy examined the credits before he supplied the information, “That Imperial officer and his troopers snatched the creature and headed for the cargo docks. Down that way.” He pointed. “Nice doing business with ya.” He ran away from them before they could change their mind about the money.

Omega started off in the direction of the docks.

“Omega.”

She angled back to face Crosshair. “You heard him. Batcher’s this way.”

“And the spaceport is that way. Forget the hound. We have to get off this planet.”

“We never would be escaped without Batcher. I’m not leaving her.”

“You’re making a mistake.”

“I’m not abandoning her!” Omega angrily tossed the bag of credits at him. “Take the credits. If you wanna go, then go. I’ll find my own way.” She stormed off.

Crosshair watched her go but before he got ready to go his own way, he felt guilt coil in his gut. It was becoming very clear as to the impact she could have on someone and explained why his squad had cared so much for her since he too found himself following her rather than doing the more sensible thing of leaving from the spaceport.

--

“Fine. We’ll do this your way.” Crosshair agreed begrudgingly as he placed the bag down before Omega scaled the gate to the cargo docks herself. “But my skills are being wasted.” He offered his hands as a means to boost her over the top.

Omega gave him a warm smile, “Noted.” With his assistance she was able to climb over the gate with ease.

Crosshair made the quick climb after her and together, they snuck through the docks looking for where Batcher was being kept.

Omega then heard a series of whines and she saw Batcher’s cage. “There’s Batcher.” She signalled to Crosshair before she analysed the situation around her. “Shouldn’t we free the other animals too?”

“Don’t push it.” Crosshair replied.

--

They had managed to covertly make their way around to get better access to the centre console but before they could make a move, that dull voice spoke up.

“I thought you’d come searching for your mutt. Yeah, unfortunately for you, Lau has a very strict pet policy. No license means a hefty fine.”

“How much this time?” Omega asked, pretending to play along as the two of them were swiftly surrounded by troopers.

“How ‘bout you give me all my money back? Credits won’t do you any good when Hemlock shows up.” He saw the shared looked between them. “Oh, did you think I wouldn’t piece it together when I found that crashed shuttle? Nothing gets by me. I run this town.” He drew his own blaster. “So, hand over the credits and surrender.”

Omega sighed, “Alright.” She chucked the bag to the Imperial. “Let’s try things your way.” She murmured to Crosshair.

“Finally.” Crosshair waited until Omega ducked to cover before firing the first shot, but he noticed his hand was still no unsteady and his aim was more compromised than he liked.

Omega used the chaos of the firefight to get to the controls and release all the animals, the resulting stampede thinning out the Imperial forces and reuniting her with Batcher.

“I’ll handle this. Take Batcher, and power up the ship.” Crosshair ordered. He provided her cover fire as she got the ship ready and when he saw a break in the blaster fire, he made his move towards the step.

Once he was on board, Omega got the cargo ship in the air and into the safety of hyperspace.

--

You had remained on the ship to study Tech’s datapad and the various planets and their coordinates whilst the other two dealt with the lead on this particular planet, but its name escaped you- you’d been to so many in this sector already, the names of them were beginning to blur together.

You were doing what you could to try and determine the next, more efficient course of action whilst the others were out but the words and data on the screen were moulding into one pile of unintelligible information. You put the datapad down for a minute and rubbed your eyes as you huffed a tired breath from your lungs. You stretched your neck and adjusted your posture but before you picked the datapad back up, a faint chirping caught your ears.

You swivelled in your chair to see the communications light flashing and you knew you weren’t supposed to be hearing from Echo any time soon. So, when you patched the encrypted message through and untangled it to find coordinates to the moon just outside of Ryloth, you knew there was only one other person who could’ve sent it.

You jumped out of your chair and cleared the steps of the Marauder in one leap before you sprinted to find Hunter and Wrecker.

--

“What’s wrong?” Hunter asked urgently as he saw you come running towards them.

You shook your head as you glanced between them. Your breath was heavy from the running but also from excitement as you said, “It’s Omega.”

--

“Look, I hate to be the one to say it, but what if this message is a trap?” Wrecker broached carefully as the ship flew through hyperspace.

“Who else would know those codes?” You disputed.

“But if the Empire has her…”

“If it’s a trap, then we’ll get out of there but if it is her… we need to be there, Wrecker.” Hunter said as the ship disengaged from hyperspace, and he entered the landing cycle. There was no sign of another ship yet, but he opened the door anyway.

“There’s no one here.” Wrecker murmured, wringing his own hands anxiously.

“Then we wait.” You said calmly though your own heart was pounding.

--

“The Empire will be able to track this vessel. We need to ditch it.” Crosshair advised as he entered the cockpit after getting rid of the hat and face covering that he had donned back in Lau.

“We will. I’m heading to a remote location, and I sent a coded transmission for Hunter and Wrecker and (Y/N) to meet us there.” Omega responded. She only hoped you’d be with them too.

Now that this reunion was approaching ever closer, he found himself unprepared for what was to happen next. “Omega. It’s- it’s been months. You don’t know if they’re still ali-”

“They’ll be there.” Omega interrupted sharply.

The ship exited hyperspace and as she peered out the window, she saw the welcomed sight of the Marauder waiting there.

Omega dashed down the ship’s steps but paused as she saw no immediate sign of any of you.

--

A few hours had passed but there was still no sign of the ship and nerves were starting to get the better of you all.

Hunter had begun pacing the length of the cockpit, you had not stopped fidgeting with your vibroblade and alternated between that and examining the hilt of your lightsaber, and Wrecker was busying himself around the rest of the ship.

You saw the uneasy expression on Hunter’s face, and you pulled yourself together enough to be there for him. You caught his shoulders and looked deep into his eyes. “Just wait, take a breath. She’ll be here, Hunter. I know it.”

“But-” He broke off as he heard the sound of a ship landing and a whole different type of nerves overtook him.

Wrecker made the first move to look outside and what he saw filled him with pure joy. “Now there’s a sight!”

Take your time. You caressed Hunter’s cheek with a comforting and utterly relieved smile before you ran outside to join Wrecker.

Hunter braced his hands on the back of the pilot’s chair. He needed a minute to gather himself. This was the moment he had been seeking out for months but part of him couldn’t quite believe it was happening.

--

“Wrecker!” Omega cried in relief as she ran towards him and let him pick her up.

“I wasn’t even sure your message was real!” Wrecker said with a happy laugh as he held her close.

“I knew you’d show up.” Omega closed her eyes and let the comfort of his strong hold overtake her.

“We wouldn’t have missed it.”

Omega opened her eyes to the sound of your voice, and she smiled brightly as she saw you standing just behind him.

You knelt down with your arms open as Wrecker lowered her.

Omega fell into your embrace and nuzzled into your shoulder. “I wasn’t sure if- I thought you might’ve been-” She pulled away with a teary sniff.

You tilted your head as you tenderly wiped away the tears that had slid down her cheek and stroked a hand through her hair, the longer length of it a painful reminder of how much time had truly passed. “I’m right here, nothing happened to me.” You didn’t need to worry her about past events right now- that rehashing undoubtedly would come up later- but this current moment was something to be celebrated and not clouded by anything else.

Omega went to clarify what she meant but Wrecker’s words stopped her.

“We crossed the galaxy four times looking for you.” Wrecker revealed, wiping his own tears away.

“Five.”

Omega glanced past you as she heard Hunter’s voice and the sight of him created a feeling of pure elation that she wasn’t sure she would never experience again.

“But you’re the one who found us.” Hunter said with a smile from the doorway of the Marauder.

Omega started to run towards him.

Hunter darted down the steps two at a time and came to his knees as he held his arms out to her.

Your heart swelled and the emotions of the moment got stuck in your throat. That sight had been one you had been waiting to see for quite some time. You sensed and visibly saw how relaxed and content he looked, and you felt tears prick at the corners of your eyes.

Wrecker put a friendly arm around your shoulder as you both go to your feet, and he saw your reaction to their reunion. He too felt himself getting caught up in it all. Finally, things were looking up.

“We missed you, kid. We never stopped searching.” Hunter said affectionately and as he tightened his hold on her and felt her reciprocate, for the first time since Ord Mantell, he felt truly at peace. He pulled away but kept his hands on her shoulders, “But how did you escape?”

Omega hesitated before saying, “I had help.”

Hunter looked past her to see… well to see his brother descend the stairs of the ship, but what hit him was far more complicated than the relief he had been experiencing a mere second before.

You all followed his eyes and whatever happiness and lightness that had been surrounding you all immediately vanished and was replaced by a palpable tension as you all faced the clone that walked down the steps.

Your hand automatically came to cover your lightsaber.

Omega gaze darted between you all and she saw the shift in body language as well as the serious and distrusting expressions on all of you. It appeared she may have miscalculated as to how this smoothly this particular reunion would go.

“We can do this now and remain by a ship the Empire will be currently tracking, or we can get out of here.” Crosshair said simply.

Hunter placed a guiding hand on Omega’s back and jutted his head to Crosshair as the rest of you boarded the ship.

Crosshair followed them, with Batcher now close on his heels and the Marauder entered hyperspace once more.

--

Omega stood in the middle of the hallway. None of you had so much as made a sound or really moved since the ship had begun the journey back to Pabu and it was getting rather unbearable. “So… I got a dog! Her name’s Batcher.” Omega said with an uneasy laugh into the dead silence of the ship, but it got no reaction. The four of you continued your standoff with Crosshair positioned down the hall of the ship closest to her room/gun turret and the rest of you closer to the cockpit. All of you had your arms crossed and you, Hunter and Wrecker looked particularly guarded. She took that resulting quiet as her cue to perhaps let you all have it out right now. She took a seat and called Batcher over to sit by her feet and waited.

It was Crosshair who broke the silence first, “Where’s Echo?”

“Working with Rex.” Hunter replied briskly.

Crosshair released a soft hum in acknowledgement before he asked the question that he’d been putting off since he’d deduced it from how Omega had talked to him all those months on Tantiss, “And Tech… he’s- he’s really gone?”

“Yeah. It-” Hunter released a sad sigh, “It was a mission gone wrong and he- he sacrificed himself for us so we could get away. He knew what he was doing but… yes, he’s gone.”

Crosshair’s jaw tightened. He knew exactly what mission Hunter was referring to. “So much for Plan 88.” He couldn’t help but say, the grief and tense situation getting the better of him.

“What?” You remarked with a glare.

“You were supposed to stay hidden.”

“We couldn’t do that.” Wrecker said grimly. “Not when it looked like you were in trouble.”

“We couldn’t leave you behind, Crosshair.” Hunter added quietly, some of the fight leaving him as he recalled the events of Eriadu.

“Why? You never had trouble doing that before.” Crosshair retorted harshly.

“Excuse me?” You growled.

“Hey, it’s okay, don’t-” Hunter came to stand in front of you, but you stepped past him.

You couldn’t help it, the protectiveness that hit you was all you could act on. “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to throw your choices back in his face. You were offered a different path, but you decided the Empire was where you wanted to be. And yet, despite all of that, the moment we found out you needed us, there was no real alternative. We never knew what had happened to you, but we didn’t need to. All we knew was that you were in trouble. We all knew the risks of ignoring that plan… Tech knew the risks. Don’t you dare-”

Crosshair wasn’t prepared to explain what happened to him yet, so he kept up with his provocation instead, “You want to talk about risks? What are you playing at staying around with them?”

Hunter and Wrecker both looked sharply towards Crosshair.

Your posture stiffened. “I don’t know what-”

“I may have been out of action but I’m not blind. If the lightsaber on your belt didn’t give it away, the wanted poster I just saw sure as hell did.” Crosshair spat as he flung it towards you.

You unfurled the paper, and your breathing became irregular saw this was one of the more detailed wanted ads that had been circulated. You crumpled it back up and then glanced to Omega who could only offer an apologetic grimace that she couldn’t warn you earlier, “That’s what I was trying to tell you.”

You looked back to the clone, “Crosshair, I-”

“You’re a Jedi and that wasn’t something you felt the need to share?”

“Every day.” You said tightly, “But I couldn’t chance something happening-”

“Well, something’s happened now, hasn’t it?” Crosshair bit back angrily. “Do you have any idea the danger you’ve put us in? Do you even care? You’d be doing us a favour by leaving.”

Even Omega joined Wrecker in shaking her head at him this time.

“Crosshair.” Hunter cautioned as he saw the guilt and shame that flashed across your face as your mask of composure slipped. “She’s not going anywhere. We’ve handled it so far.”

“You don’t know what the Empire is capable or what she is. I read what she’s done, and they won’t stop-”

“We’ve got it handled.” Wrecker repeated again as he noticed the way your shoulders started to heave.

Your jaw clenched. “You weren’t there. You don’t know-”

“I was there on Devaron.” Crosshair snapped. “I was there when you decided to join us. I was there when you decided to spend every day lying about what you are.”

“Crosshair.” Hunter warned again and there was no mistaking the protectiveness in his tone or his stance now.

Crosshair picked up on Hunter’s reaction, but he wasn’t to be dissuaded. “You want to judge my decisions, but you betrayed-”

“You don’t get to talk about betrayal, Crosshair.” Hunter interjected coldly as he came to stand by your side.

You only let out a bitter laugh. “Yeah, I made my choices in the beginning but when would you have liked me to tell you, Crosshair? On Kaller? But would that have been during or after your attempts to kill the Padawan? Or perhaps you would’ve preferred it on Kamino when Tarkin was there, and you were talking about how great the Empire was and how the Jedi were traitors and what happened to them was justified? Or would you have liked to have a sit down during one of the many occasions you were already actively trying to kill us? Tell me, when should I have entrusted you with this part of me?”

This time he didn’t have a response for you, he just shifted uneasily on his feet and glanced down at the floor.

You continued to speak but there was a distinct sadness to your voice now, “I wished I had been honest with all of you from the start. Truly I do. But after everything that’s happened, I’m glad you’ve only just found out because looking at you now, knowing what I do, I can’t be certain that if you had known what I was on Kaller, that you wouldn’t have tried to kill me too.”

Crosshair went to speak but found that he couldn’t immediately offer the reassurance that was needed.

“You’re our brother, Crosshair, and you’re welcome to stay on Pabu with us but don’t expect any of this to be easy.” Hunter said, placing his hand on your back in support.

“He helped me get out of Tantiss. He’s different now.” Omega remarked quietly.

Wrecker grunted and nodded towards his brother, but you and Hunter made no such moves, instead you both retreated further into the cockpit.

You sat in one of the passenger seats and stared at the paper again as you read the painful reminders of how you’d acted when you’d been separated from them. He’s right, you know.

“No, he’s not.” Hunter disagreed firmly as he knelt before you and untangled the wrinkled piece of paper from your hands. He paid it no attention as he threw it away. He came back and placed his hands on your shoulders as he crouched before you. “Are you alright?”

You breathed deeply and nodded. And you?

Hunter also nodded before he got to his feet and sat in the seat across from you.

--

“So, when did this happen?” Crosshair asked, gesturing to the two of you. The way you both were behaving wasn’t totally different to how things had been in the months before Kaller, but there was a definite shift that marked something more official. There had been a lot he’d missed out on.

“After Tipoca City.” Omega informed him as Batcher eagerly greeted them.

Wrecker enthusiastically petted the hound as he moved closer to Crosshair and Omega. “About time, right?” He added with a hint of humour in his voice, but the stern looks from the two of you had him clearing his throat awkwardly.

Crosshair simply hummed in reply and found himself wondering just quite how difficult things were about to be.

Next Chapter>

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @andreaaxy, @dominoeffectsworld, @nightmonkeysstuff, @arctrooper69

[izzydaninja]

Laying on my couch, thinking about turtles ~ Analysis BWEUH!?!

[Don't question this shot: I just love it, okay?]

Okay, so... I've had this thought on and off my mind for a while now, but actually just made the complete connection now, for some slow-brained reason...

The turtles each have their own mystic abilities they're strongest in and the most skilled at.

Donnie - mechanized tech projections (creating anything techy within a second; whatever he thinks of, becomes real)

Raph - self projections (a way of putting himself into his fights more; whether it be smashing or shielding)

Mikey - self extension (imaginative creativity dialed to 100~ I have no clue how to describe his skills aside from what he calls 'Razzmatazz')

Leo - portal/teleportation (he uses to control layouts and setup: very reminiscent of chess for some reason)

These abilities aren't the only things they can do, but it's their strong suits.

Something this show has liked to try hammering into the characters' heads is that they're strong, yes, but they're stronger together. Each of them is great in their own feats. but with their team at their side, they can push boundaries and break limits.

My point is: the show and movie, alike, show us the others can pull off other stunts with their mystic-ninpo-stoof, but only if they have the support from their team to back them up.

S2 Finale: Part 3

The others immediately run in to save their brother, while Raph is completely unbothered: he's got full trust and faith in them.

(Raph is the one with the ability to project himself; use himself as the shield or catch them when falling.

Which he's done on multiple occasions.

S1: Bug Busters

Rise Movie

Raph knows this ability is his specifically, but that doesn't stop him from knowing his brothers (even without their own powers) would do anything to protect him in return.)

S2 Finale: Part 3

(Kamehameha anyone?)

And the others do save him; not only getting their powers back without any help from mystic weapons, but they pull off something that we've only ever seen Raph do up till now. Of course, it's not completely stable, and is a combined effort of all three of them, but they still manage to do something they're not uniquely able to do on their own with some help from their brothers.

Could they pull something like this off on their own? Maybe? But who's the say the result won't be worse off?

Rise Movie

When Leo ends up trapped in the Prison Dimension trying to stop the Kraang, Mikey refuses to believe that's the end for him.

Arms outstretched, Mikey tries to open a portal just as Casey mentioned his future self had done to send Casey back. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, his future self had given his everything in creating that single portal to send Casey back. Except, this time, Mikey has his brothers to back him up, and that's what they do.

Sure, Mikey drove this one, but he would've undoubtedly died if he'd done it solo. Donnie and Raph stepping in to help was the sole reason this didn't either fail, or end with Mikey taking Leo's place in death.

When working together, Donnie, Mikey, and Leo managed to do something only Raph had been able to do. And in a paralleling situation with Leo and his 'waterfall stunt,' Raph, Donnie, and Mikey were able to create a portal to save their brother; something only Leo's been able to do.

They each stand strong in what they do and know, but they can't do everything; they need each other. That's the whole point: they're stronger together.

Even in the bad future timeline, and Mikey's doing all sorts of mystic stuff, he's floating and creating his chains from nothing; basically, not needing his physical weapon anymore, but even with all this, he doesn't do anything that would suggest he's mimicking his brothers' powers and the first moment he does...

it kills him.

Their mystics have always had me curious. What it is they do and how they work. [I've read a very interesting post regarding Leo's mystics here, and I couldn't stop thinking about how each ability might work.] And really thinking about how they'd be able to grow in their powers, but even as Casey had told them their mystics were on a whole other level in the original future, it's clear, even as the greatest mystic warrior, not even Mikey could mimic his brothers' powers without it tearing him apart. Not even Leo, as the world's greatest ninja and leader of the resistance, could do or know everything. They need their team to back them up, even if it's not mystic related.

Even when they're all fully grown and plenty experienced and knowledgeable in what they do, they still need each other in order for things to work. We already know how things would go if they don't. There's a whole other timeline standing as proof.

Thankfully, we don't have to worry about that timeline becoming reality in this one. [They even gained family here! No one can stop them now!]

*I know this seems like a point-blank thing in the show/movie that it really doesn't need mentioned or pointed out, but it took me a bit to really think about the detail of the others being able to use the same abilities as each other as long as they have support. This is purely for anyone who hasn't had that click yet, or for anyone who wishes to share their thoughts as well. It's a neat thing they managed to tie into the series, and I love it!*

[pinkerthings]

neverending story & stranger things?

Just rewatched the neverending story in the theatre for the 40th anniversary rerelease and……my my my i had forgotten how many parallels there are.

Will vs Bastian & Will the Wise vs Atreyu?

Will being Bastian: a quiet, creative kid with bullies for no other reason than just being himself.

And Will the Wise being Atreyu, the “hero” of the story.

The Mind Flayer/Shadow Monster being the Nothing:

The real world being Hawkins, and Fantasia being the Upside Down, attacked by the Nothing (manifestations of evil thoughts, the loss of hopes and dreams), otherwise known as the Mind Flayer, a manifestation of Will’s imagination.

Gmork, talking to Bastian: “Foolish boy. Don’t you know anything about Fantasia? It’s the world of human fantasy. Every part, every creature of it, is a piece of the dreams and hopes of mankind. Therefore, it has no boundaries.”

aka, the Upside Down is everywhere? Not just in Hawkins?

Atreyu: “But why is Fantasia dying, then?”

Gmork: “Because people have begun to lose their hopes and forget their dreams. So the Nothing grows stronger.”

(The Upside Down leaking into the real world.)

The more you give into your despair (Max, Chrissy, Patrick, Fred), the more susceptible you are to Vecna’s (the Nothing’s) antics.

Atreyu: “Fight against the sadness, Artax. Artax, please. You’re letting the sadness of the swamps get to you. You have to try, you have to care.”

Artax died letting the sadness of the swamps get to him. Max escaped Vecna’s grasp in s4 e4 because she DIDN’T let the sadness get to her.

Upside Down vs Fantasia:

Was the Upside Down (Fantasia) a place Will went to hide from his bullies? His abusive father? But when things got too real, when Will started giving up hope, did it turn into the twisted, dark plane of existence we now know as the Upside Down?

Gmork: “Because people who have no hopes are easy to control; and whoever has the control…has the power!”

Will being mind controlled/possessed in s2 because he has given up hope:

Gmork: “I am the servant of the Power behind the Nothing. I was sent to kill the only one who could have stopped the Nothing.”

If the Nothing is the Mind Flayer (being controlled by Vecna), then Gmork is a mere demogorgon—a puppet of the Nothing’s—just as a demogrogon is a puppet/soldier of the Mind Flayer, sent to kill Atreyu (Will the Wise) because he is the only one with the power to stop the Nothing (the Mind Flayer).

D&D campaigns:

We all know the Party’s D&D campaigns (written by mostly Will) foretell the future in Hawkins. So in this case, if Fantasia = Upside Down, then the Neverending Story = the campaigns, a story that Bastian (Will) thinks he has no control over, but actually has complete control over.

Atreyu isn’t the hero of Fantasia, it’s Bastian—the human boy who thought he was useless. Just like how Will the Wise—a fictional manifestation of who Will wants to be—won’t be the hero of this story. It’s Will, the once-bullied, possibly neglected, quiet, creative kid who has the power to decide how his own story ends.

In this parallel, the Nothing is the Mind Flayer, being controlled by Vecna. But in this case (Will taking the reigns of his own story) does this mean that Vecna isn’t in control of the Mind Flayer, but Will is?

Bastian made his wish of getting Fantasia back to normal, including destroying the Nothing. If the Upside Down is a collection of all the dark thoughts/lost hopes and dreams of Will’s, then the Mind Flayer is a manifestation of the complete and utter despair Will feels for himself and everything around him.

The Ending:

This means that Stranger Things (the Neverending Story movie) can only end once Will (Bastian) rewrites his own campaign (the Neverending Story book) and fights that despair, erasing the Mind Flayer (the Nothing) completely so the Upside Down (Fantasia) can get back to what it was before—an escape for Will. A peaceful, imaginary land to escape from the real world—a world of pain, suffering, and sadness.

[iludusyou-x]

I am so HONOURED and FLATTERED to learn that the gorgeous @veoomdoaoq is binding my 457/Squid Game Love Thy Enemy fic series..... I mean look how GORGEOUS the cover is which they made!!!!! 🤩😍

I started writing for this ship as a bit of silly fun but I cannot put into words how grateful and happy I am that our little fandom is filled with such talent and creativity.. whether that's fic writing, fan art or the talent of book binding! 🖤

Thank you @veoomdoaoq for making my year! 🥹🥹🥹

If anybody would like to read!

Note: this series is rated Explicit

Part 1: What's the Name of the Game?

What would have happened if Gi-hun had agreed to find the control room with In-ho? Essentially a re-hash of S2

Part 2: Chasing the Dragon

After the riot, In-ho finds that Gi-hun is a habit he just can't break. In-ho POV.

If you don't fancy a re-hash of S2, you can start here for a new storyline.

Part 3: Going for Broke

Once again, Gi-hun is prepared to bet it all. Gi-hun POV.

🤍

[freedelusionshere]

Syd is staying at The Bear

Started thinking about this after getting into a meta discussion with @gingergofastboatsmojito, but I would really love it if Syd chose to stay at The Bear and turn down Chef Adam entirely for sensible business reasons in addition to the fact that she has deep feelings for what she built with Carmen?

Her dad constantly puts pressure on her about the financial side of things and finding a good partner. I think this is a reference to Sheridan Road and maybe someone not holding her down in the past when she tried to have her own business, and it blew up in her face.

The show makes it clear that Syd does understand how to run a business right out of the gate but has avoided saying exactly what happened with Sheridan Road up until this point, and that has to be intentional. Some thoughts:

She writes that whole huge business plan for The Beef and hands it to Carmy in S1 and it has charts and numbers and everything. Carmy has never done this himself but does understand how to make the kitchen run like it's been run at other fine dining places he's had an open door to work at. That becomes very clear in S2 when he buys $11K worth of Dystopian Butter (LOL) like he's Chef David or something.

Carmy is bad with money and operations. Syd and Sugar are not, but Carmy wants to be in control, so Syd is starting to not trust that he's going to be a good partner. Then, what does she do? She goes around in S2 and talks to other owners and chefs and does her research and they all tell her their horror stories and give her advice. She is thinking about all this stuff in the background when Carmy ditches for Claire, which leads up to S3.

Carmy, after losing it in the walk-in in the S2 finale, is terrified because they finished the service just fine without him, and he knows Syd has every reason to leave him now. His pivot is to tell her that he will get her the Michelin star and offers her a partnership, but of course he has to be creatively in control because he's retained stars (never won them). But really, this is all about impressing Syd and also competing with her, and it mirrors the story Syd's dad tells her about her mother in S2 when they got a flat tire, and he was fumbling around trying to pretend he knows what he's doing while her mother just got out of the car and changed the damn tire.

Syd avoids signing the agreement, because she doesn't want to read what is in it. She's already got one foot out the door mentally and is afraid it will give her a reason to stay, and she knows these people are sincere and cares about them. The same people that repeatedly bring it up and try to get her to sign it, but things are starting to get too real real, and it's triggering all her shit about Sheridan Road all over again. Chef Adam approaches her to poach her from The Bear and it gives her an out that promises the financial stability and promises of the control she's always wanted. But at what cost?

With all of these things taken as a whole, Syd has access to Nat and Pete, who can help her run numbers, she can figure out who the backers are, Richie worked around people who worked closely with Chef Adam who she has now been introduced to. She can look at the timeline Chef Adam is presenting, and the show has told us that Syd should know Chef Adam is "off" (he's applying way too much pressure already) and will turn him down. But it also would be great if Syd makes Carm have to counter-offer, to give her more creative control, hash out their differences, etc.

Also, Syd can present her own business plan to someone like, say, Chef Terry, for The Bear, and possibly secure financial support for The Bear when Cicero's money goes sideways (and make Carmy fall in love with her even more than he is already). This allows Syd resolution to her past so she can move forward with Carmy as her partner, do the family style with the cola ribs and risotto like they originally planned, and fend off stuff like Chef Adam trying to poach their staff in S4 for his fine dining underworld nightmare restaurant.

[happylikeasadsong]

syd x carmy in season three

i’m back here cause i have way too much to say than it can fit on thread on twt

this is just what i could come up after sitting on s3 for the past few days, i was spiralling, it was bad.

this will be a long one, so settle in!

for me, regardless if this season was supposed to be a two parter or not, one thing that’s clear to me is that we were meant to watch this rupture in their relationship develop throughout the season.

listen, he was locked in that freezer for hours, and in those hours he spiraled beyond control. we can’t expect sydcarmy to have the same dynamic as the past seasons cause they’re not in the same place they were before. Carmy locked in the walk-in changed him and therefore, changed their dynamic too.

he promised syd in the first episode that he was never gonna leave her alone again, but in his fucked up mind, this means never let her make a solo decision when is comes to the menu, is having him make all the decisions himself and have the last say and change her every input. For him, this is how he honours his promise and for syd is how he makes her feel under appreciated and undermined.

he makes it look like it doesn’t matter what she does, as great as it is, he’ll always change it and make it about him. the decision of having her as a partner takes her by surprise cause they have never discussed it, he dumps all of these things on her, first thing in the morning, she can wrap her mind around the fact that’s that same guy she left a few hours before. He’s completely changed.

And though she tries to at least get on board and support his non-negotiables list and the menu changing every day and all the bullshit with richie, by “doors” she’s already exhausted of trying to keep up with him, tired of being his babysitter.

so when that new opportunity is presented to her, she actually considers it because it’s a way out of working in a stress free environment where she has full creative control to shape the new place as she sees fit (also the pay and benefits?? I’d be signing that shit right there lmao). It really is an incredible opportunity.

so yeah, i feel like we were meant to see how they crack under pressure and this was something chris storer had said in interviews before when talking about s2 on how hard it is to open a restaurant and keep it running once you do. he always wanted to explore the gritty stuff and I felt like he accomplished that in this season.

from a narrative standpoint, at some point we had to see syd and carmy’s partnership is put to test, we need to see what falling out to the point of almost no return looks for them in order to see how they are gonna find their way back to each other. and i can’t see a better time to do it than now.

it can feel hopeless, yes, and feel like they’re not gonna make it to the finish line, but let’s remember this is a story about finding new ways to reconnect to the things/ people you love, found family and generational trauma.

we see carmy is at his lowest, sydney is at her lowest, so logically the only way we can get to is up.

i believe that after carmy confronted his abusive boss, he had some sort of breakthrough from the way he sighed after their talk. i took it as his way of beginning to process his trauma.

as for sydney, we saw how deeply the idea of leaving has affected her, even though she knows is for a better place where her ideas will be respected and appreciated they way she knows it deserves. hopefully her panic attack will be enough to make her realize she needs help making the decision (if she can’t have her best friend and partner for this, then she’ll have her dad).

all of this to say that i am hopeful and excited to see what’s coming next year, and i truly believe sydcarmy is on the right path (this is a slow burn doing slow burn things ffs). We can’t let go just when things gets interesting. im dying to see their big fight, it’s something I’ve been needing since s2.

they’re still soulmates (after we saw the invisible string scene, there’s no going back) and they had significant scenes this season too, just not the way ppl thought it would be.

let’s have them work it out on the remix

[perseruna]

About the Witcher sex scenes I knew Henry was uncomfortable with them but I didn't know he was nasty to Anya about it. Is there a source for this?

the topic was initiated by the deuxmoi leak about his firing, which also alleges that his aversion to intimate scenes wasn't actually out of being uncomfortable but more likely out his "incel-y" beliefs. It was actually never stated that he was uncomfortable with the sex scenes in The Witcher. Sure, that might have been a factor, but it was never the reason given by him or the press. In S2 he refused two sex scenes because in his head "the characters wouldn't behave like that" which I discussed here, and I didn't agree with his stance.

"Female writers and directors were suddenly being completely ignored on set, unable to do their jobs. Every department head was complaining. He started making comments—it wasn’t a sexual thing, he wasn’t grabbing anyone or being lewd, but it was disrespectful and toxic all the same. He was distracted, he was late, he was obsessive, and a lot of people think the misogyny came from gamer world. [...] Eventually his disrespect escalated. He would rewrite scenes without even alerting the other actors in the scenes until it was time to shoot. He decided that he didn’t want any romantic scenes at all—no kissing scenes, no shirtless scenes, et cetera. He wanted complete control of storylines but really had no idea of the limitations of TV, structure, budget, et cetera."

He also just has a very weird way of talking about women when in comes to sex scenes. During his Tudor days he refused to wear the appropriate harness underway and this is what he had to say:

"It's only happened to me once, and it was very embarrassing," he admits to the magazine. "A girl had to be on top of me, she had spectacular breasts, and I hadn't rearranged my—stuff into a harmless position. She's basically rubbing herself all over me and, um, it got a bit hard."

Like, I don't really have an unbiased explanation, but his answer is giving me the biggest ick.

He's also gone on record that he "doesn't understand" sex scenes. And everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and it's totally okay to like or not like sex scenes, but to say, as a creative professional, that you don't understand them is embarrassing and weird in my opinion.

And when it comes to him being nasty to Anya, this was commented on reddit which correlates with the deuxmoi leak.

[in-my-loki-feels]

Traffic Lights Tag Game

Thank you @distracteddream and @loki-is-my-kink-awakening for the tag! This one took a while to get around to doing, but it was fun!

rules: talk about something creative you're working on of any kind.🚦 green: what is it about, what excited you about it, what sparked the idea? orange: slow down and share something from it: a photo, a few words, some more background info etc. red: what is the roadblock currently? what is one thing that is a necessary evil in making it?

GREEN

So, I've mentioned this one before and teased it here. It's a Lokius plus Frosthawk WIP, set I don’t know when. Probably in S2 but somehow before the race to save the Loom. Mobius and Loki are together, but it's a semi-recent development (whatever that means with TVA time, lol) but it also wasn't that long ago for Loki that he slept with Clint.

The spark for the idea came when I was rewatching Avengers obsessively while writing the Avengers AU. Seeing Clint again rekindled that love for Frosthawk (also watching the Hawkeye TV series) but I’m still very much obsessed with Lokius.  

What excites me about the idea? I think it’s the mix of porn with feelings and canon divergence that allows for a happy ending. Also, I’m a sucker for an OT3 (poly is probably the better term, but I default to OT3 because I'm old.🙈) Poly relationships can explore how love is not something simple that looks the same on everyone. It takes different forms, can meet different needs, form connections with more than one person, etc. 

ORANGE

I wish I had a cool graphic to share but that's not where my talents lie, so instead I'll share another snippet. This is in a Time Theater, where Clint was brought because they don't know what to do with variants now that the TVA doesn't prune them anymore. Loki wanted to see Clint after catching sight of him, and Mobius went with him before being called away by a Minuteman, leaving these two alone.

“This senseless killing," Loki began cautiously. “It won’t bring your family back.”  “Don’t.”  “This isn’t you.” “Yeah? You’re sure of that? You knew me for three days.” Loki thought of how intimately he had known Barton, both inside and out.  “You’re not a weapon—” “No? Isn’t that why you wanted me on your side back then? Because I’m such a good weapon?” Clint’s teeth were bared in a smile that held too much pain; it snapped Loki’s control.  “Fine, a weapon, yes,” Loki hissed, “but one to be wielded with precision. A tool to be looked after, not carelessly thrown at any problem as your previous masters were so fond of doing. I took better care of you for two days than they had for years. They didn’t deserve you.”  His vehemence caught them both by surprise.   For him, it has been mere days and the full force of his desires were still burning under his skin. Clint, however, was years removed from that time. It was no wonder Loki’s anger came as a shock.  Loki felt a flare of shame, not only from having lost his control, but for what he wanted. He had no right to claim Clint as his own, not then and certainly not now.   “But you do?” Clint said, his tone neutral.  “No,” Loki said firmly. He sighed, wanting to rub at his eyes but refusing to show weakness. “I shouldn’t have spoken. I only wished… It doesn’t matter.”

RED

What are the roadblocks? Well, there are a couple. The elephant in the room is that Frosthawk is a tricky dynamic to navigate. How can you consent if your will has been warped? My hc (which informed the Avengers AU) is that the Mind Stone didn’t make anyone mindless puppets. It took their loyalty and focused it on Loki, but anyone under its control could have feelings of their own. And I think a person with heart could look at Loki, see how thinly he was stretched, and feel compassion, not to mention physical attraction. 

So we have Loki, who feels stuck between two relationships, two versions of himself. He’s grown enough to know that what he wanted—and took—from Clint was wrong, but he can’t help that those feelings are still there. For him, it’s only been days or maybe a couple weeks since that Battle of New York. He’s still attracted to Clint and seeing him in so much pain makes him want to do something to help, but, at the same time, he doesn't want to lose Mobius because that love is genuine as well. 

Then we have Clint, who’s in this broken part of his life. Plucked from that, dropped into the TVA where he’s told there are countless versions of himself across the multiverse, I can see him feeling so overwhelmed he just wants to give up. He’s been trying to lose himself in vengeance, but it hasn’t worked. Faced with Loki again, he has this tiny voice in the back of his mind reminding him that when he was under Loki’s control, he didn’t have to think about anything. Loki was the lodestone that gave him purpose, direction, and it would be so much easier to return to that time.  

And then there’s Mobius, who knows Loki inside and out, who loves all sides of him, and who would be more understanding and willing to give Loki what he needs than Loki realizes. 

I really want to finish it because I have chunks of text I really like, and a plan for the ending that I love, but it’s been a struggle to get it to all come together. 

[monocle-teacup]

What personality do you see in the Terrans? Aside from lack of depth and development, I don’t see much personality, style, hobbies, or traits. Nor can we fully ask ‘who’s most likely to do’ in order to understand their character. How much introverted/extroverted are they? Or are they omnivert?

I more or less wrote short paragraphs of what each Terrans are like. Here’s what I came up with.

Nightshade: very introverted and creative. Interested in the science/technology field. Enjoys passive activities like watching tv, playing board games, bird watching, not TF tag. They dislike the military training the most.

Jawbreaker: shy, introverted or omniverted. Least assertive. Most anxious. Most likely to forgive a bully for bullying him. Twitch: Competitive and extroverted. Most likely to give puppy eyes and give hugs. Has the most pressure to do better (leader of her Terran siblings). The best at controlling her emotions in a certain situation (cuz it’s what a leader should do. She learns to become an efficient leader).

Hashtag: very extroverted and tends to be ignorant when socializing others. Loves to share and make the most of connecting with people. Most likely to cry when her fav show ends. More in-touch with her Earthling side than her Cybertronian side.

Thrash: Courageous and confrontational. Extroverted. He’s the most reckless and the most likely to get into trouble and arguments. He would do pranks, do something wild and get revenge if he was done wrong.

I pretty much agree with what you've written. For the most part, Twitch, Thrash, and Hashtag are pretty much the same as their Production Bible (PB) bios although the show left out how Hashtag low-key wants to be human. Nightshade and especially JB were stripped of a few interesting quirks:

Nightshade -Was supposed to be much more eccentric to the point the PB uses the word 'kooky' -Their altmode was originally a gargoyle and they used a war hammer in battle -Actually hacked the cyber sleeves because SCIENCE -Would continue tinkering on whatever they were working on even if there was danger which is what Mandroid does in the show

JB -Idolized OP which they sort of had in S2 -Was supposed to be very interested in Cybertronian history

Unfortunately, the ES staff decided to mostly focus on JB's tendency to break things. However, in the PB it was so bad that the Maltos had a catch phrase "Did anybody need that wall?" In the show, JB was a huge fan of pro wrestling in S1 so he at least has one hobby/interest.

[outmakingmoonshine]

I wrote this in response to this post about Adam Shapiro but I didn't wanna hijack OP's post as I was replying to @freedelusionshere comment anyway so i'll put it here instead.

I agree the way Shapiro's character has been presented seems suspicious. Like a lot of things on this show it's portrayed subtly and indirectly but purposefully.

It's interesting to me that Syd had no idea who he was even after she stopped to look at him, until he said his name and she recognized it as a chef from Ever. But he knew who she was and seemed to know enough details about her role at The Bear to ask her to do an almost identical job for him the next time they met. How did he know she was capable of all that?

All the articles we've seen about in the show don't mention Syd, they don't credit her with helping to build the restaurant or even mention that Carmy is partnered with another chef. As far as we know her work isn't being publicly acknowledged and nobody outside of the staff and Emmanuel (and possibly Claire) know how much Syd's done there, so how does Shapiro seem to be aware of details you don't just pick up eating at a restaurant "under the radar" one time?

Richie worked at Ever for a week in S2 but he wasn't exactly Syd's biggest fan then so if he did talk about her I doubt he made her role at The Bear sound like a good thing or said positive things about the changes she'd made to make Shapiro want to poach her.

Shapiro said he ate at The Bear with friends, maybe one of them told him. But again, how do they know? The show makes it seem like Syd's full role at The Bear isn't public knowledge. Especially not the kind of details Shapiro seemed aware of.

Syd told a couple of chefs Carmy's her partner in S2 and judging by the lack of Syd mentions in the articles, I'd imagine they're probably thinking "I told you so" right now...but this does seem like the most plausible way he could know. It's still a flimsy connection imo bc the show has given us no other outside acknowledgement for Syd's work at The Bear. No other chef mentioned it or congratulated her in 3x10, even Chef Terry who congratulated Carmy then partied with Syd at her apartment didn't mention it to her. I assumed Luca would have an idea through Marcus or Carmy but he didn't say anything about it either and there was plenty of opportunity in their conversation. Shapiro is the only other chef who's congratulated her or mentioned it.

Knowing this doesn't necessarily make him a bad person, maybe he just noticed the negative environment of The Bear and decided to offer Syd an opportunity but it does make you wonder how he knows so much and no one else seems to. Maybe the show just does a bad job at portraying that it's public knowledge but judging by their usual level of attention to detail in storytelling, I don't think that's the case.

I guess Shapiro could know other chefs Syd's worked with in the past but getting info from them then approaching Syd the way he did without mentioning that is also just weird. And how would he know she can single handedly build a restaurant from scratch to the point of giving her complete creative control?

If it was sudden for Carmy to offer Syd such a big role in building his dream restaurant after months of working together in S1, it's very strange for Shapiro to offer Syd an almost identical offer but even better, after only meeting her twice.

Plus he says he doesn't want it to be "a gross poaching" but what else do you call asking someone who's already trying to build a restaurant with a chef he personally knows to basically abandon that project to come build his business full time instead? A decent person with good intentions would've spoken to Carmy and Syd together or at least gave Carmy a heads up that he planned to offer his CDC an opportunity to work for him instead. And Shapiro made that offer hard to refuse, even Syd knew it seemed too good to be true. That in itself is such a shady thing to do.

The definition of poaching in business: "Poaching is when an employer actively approaches, or 'head hunts', someone who is already employed by, or working at, another organisation, as opposed to advertising a vacancy and going through a usual recruitment process." [Source]

Shapiro can dress it up all he wants, poaching is the literal definition of what he's doing and the way he's gone about it is "gross" bc it's not like Carmy is a stranger to him, Syd was a stranger though.

His character has been subtly presented as someone who shouldn't be trusted imo. Kinda like Claire in S2. There seems to be no reason to dislike them on the surface but if you look beneath the surface there are plenty of reasons, too many to be a coincidence. Maybe Shapiro's not a good guy or maybe it's deliberate misdirection, either way I think he's been presented as a slightly suspicious character on purpose.

[neerons]

If you had to pick one favorite scene from the routes of each of the 4 MK guys, which would it be?

Hi! I'm very sorry for replying to this late, it took me time to get to it! I had to think really hard on this one, because this is no easy question haha

My favorite scene from each Masquerade Kiss 💋 route

As I'm still in the "re-reading every season" phase, I don't fully remember the routes in their every detail, especially for S2 and S3. So, I'll just mention the scene that had the most impact on me! Surprisingly, their S3 seems to have been my favorite haha

Kazuomi

Kazuomi has had many moments that are memorable and impactful, and if I had to pick one scene from his S1 to his latest MS, it would be one from his Season 3.

When the MC was a fugitive and was a wanted "criminal" by her own agency, she had an emotional outburst where she vented her anger and frustration to Kazuomi as he was hiding her in his secret resort. I loved this moment because MC had let down her walls completely with him, and showed him her raw, emotional self despite thinking Kazuomi must love strong women.

There’s always the fear of disappointing a man like Kazuomi, who loves to have fun and be with a woman who can play the game of this type of relationship of cat and mouse. That’s why, it was beautiful to see him accept her fully in this vulnerable moment. He let her speak with no interruption, let her cry, listened, and gave her the words she needed to hear to feel confident in herself and in her values, as well as her sense of justice.

The quote he says at this part kind of stuck to me. I think he says something similar to this: "If you know yourself you’re innocent, then you have no reason to let anyone’s accusation get to you. Let yourself be free, no one else matters."

Yuzuru

For my little Yuzu, there are many moments I have yet to see as I still catch up. So far, I’d say the scene that had the biggest impact on me is from his S3 as well. It’s the moment he ultimately decides to choose MC over Victoria, and abandons his precious AI creation by using the code to destroy her.

It was as beautiful as hurtful, when you realize how important Victoria actually is to Yuzu. She’s his inspiration, creativity, his goal, but also a bridge to his deceased family. She was created to be able to mimick the lost ones, to become their virtual selves so that Yuzu’s parents could live again, in a way.

That he chose MC despite all this, really showed that he didn’t want to just be a genius who needed to abandon the simple pleasures and wants of life, such as love. He wanted MC. He sacrificed himself for the first time for a woman, something he never dreamed of doing before. He basically let go of his past, of his most important and world-changing creation to be able to stand by her side, genius be damned.

Kei

Kei, Kei, Kei. He had so many impactful and shocking moments, I’m not sure which one to pick. I’m going to stay in the emotional category though, and say that I also preferred a scene from his S3. I actually don’t remember a lot from this specific scene, but I remember how evident and beautiful his love finally was.

When MC was a fugitive, and went hiding in Russia I think? She was going to deal with her situation on her own to avoid dragging Kei and England into her mess, but he found her and told her that if he had to make a choice between her and England, he would betray his country.

He, who is always so loyal to his country and has everyone under his control, would do this, despite being intimately connected to the royal family? If that man isn't smitten, I don't know what love is

Seiichi

Like I said, my memory is quite blurry when it comes to S2 and S3. But if I had to pick a moment for Boss, while he had that beautiful moment where he revealed his name, there's another one that touched my heart.

In S3 (yes, again), when MC is pinned as a criminal and pursued by her own agency, Seiichi is the one who tells her to run and hides her. There's this scene that comes up later on, when he tells MC that if there was ever a moment her life would be in danger, he would trade places with her and die in her place.

While the EAC is technically only a practical source of information, and that Seiichi isn't okay with everything that goes on there, he was still loyal to the agency all along. It was possible to let her deal with it on her own, and she'd have understood, but he never thought of doing that.

He knows what he risks by covering for another agent that works under him. And at the EAC, betrayal means death. So I really was touched by this scene. He showed where his heart truly was, and he showed that he's fighting for true justice, he always believed in her innocence.

__

Now that I think about it, I loved their S3 because the LIs decided to give up something precious to them for the sake of their lover. They basically had their ultimate dilemma: give up their goal, or give up their woman. And that's beautiful and shows their development

Thank you so much for the ask!

[milligramspoison]

season 4 is that bad?

It’s definitely bad. Worst season of the show by far (imo anyways)

Like I’ve said in the past, this season had no source material to follow other than what happened in s3. S4 does not have a specific volume to be based off of unlike its predecessors, which all have different volumes of the comics to be based off of

S1 was based off of Apocalypse Suite. S2 was based off Dallas. And s3 was based off of Hotel Oblivion

Volume 4 of the comics was being worked on as confirmed by Gerard in 2021. But we also haven’t heard anything about it since 2021 and I doubt we’re getting it now- so the comics would be incomplete

And the one issue/complaint fans have had for years now is the fact that the show also strays away from the comics aka the source material

I go into depth here on a separate ask someone sent me weeks ago. But basically what happened with TUA as a show is what people didn’t want happening with the potential Killjoys show that was in the works between late 2021 and early 2023

Gerard also hasn’t really been part of the show since s2. I feel like things would’ve been different if Gerard had full creative control from start to finish

Ofc I’m not blaming Gerard for the show turning into a dumpster fire towards the end, this is far from being Gerard’s fault

It’s a shame the last two seasons weren’t great, especially s4, and that the show got a really shitty ending (imo the ending of the show was SHIT). Nothing we can do tho 🤷‍♀️

[cherienymphe]

Man queen charlotte runs laps around the regular seasons of Bridgerton. It manages to take the specialness of season 1 and 2 and amplify it to 100. I wish they would give Shonda more creative control with writing because compared to all the other bridgerton content season 3 kind of lost the spark. I hope Netflix offers Shonda the ability to develop another period drama where she has complete creative control because I know with here we won’t have to wait till 3 seasons to get a dark skinned black female lead.

Yeah everything I heard about QC was that it was miles better than any season of Bridgerton. Even my mom watched it (without me I might add) and she talked about how she cried and how bittersweet it was. Mind you, I had been begging this woman to watch Bridgerton (the main story) since season 1

The success and craziness that was QC should really give Netflix a clue and let Shonda take the reigns again bc when it comes to popularity and how much it took over the internet, the only season of Bridgerton that can attempt to hold a candle is S2

[horizon-verizon]

The thing is that Daemon acting as a father figure/mentor to Nettles in HOTD doesn’t work because he neglected and ignored Baela and Rhaena for most of their lives, but suddenly he cares about some random girl he just met ??? Dude, your trueborn daughters are waiting for you to reconnect again. “Given how they lose Luke, Viserys, and Jace in quick succession, it would make sense for him to be protective of her”, and what about being protective of Baela and Rhaena ?

And whose fault is that? The writers. HotD had so many inconsistencies--very critical ones--in their own scripts episode to episode, scene to scene with one episode, that this is the possible inconsistency that people get hung up on? This one?

Perhaps some people who read my posts assume that I think that HotD could be "improved" in S2...nothing could be further from the truth. I happen to think that the changes in S1 made S2 unsalvagable. entertaining, maybe, bc entertainment doesn't always have to be logically consistent. But no, not sensical nor enjoyable in seeing a live version of the actual story as it was.

At the same time yes, people can & even should still criticize the S2 writing and idea of a Rhaena-Nettles merge, esp when it is the direct consequence of writing they have already said was dumb as fuck or mishandled in the first season, played for shallow drama and honestly, misogynoirist in "unconscious" bias. Otherwise we make the mistake of suppressing any observation counter to the praise of actually bad things in this show....which again, is a lot.

From the moment they made these decisions concerning Daemon's girls, they wrote themselves into stupid corners bc they had to create totally different people and motivations to follow through that are so different from their original traits and motivations we can't say that this is show in anyway reflects on real people GRRM created. From the black side of the family that became their own unit through Rhaenyra and Daemon's parenting. That is why the blacks seems so...disconnected before Rhaenys ever died. The greens are meant to be so emotionally disconnected, not the blacks.

Some people (fans and overpraisers of the show) didn't think it was a huge problem that he did that to Rhaena Or that Baela was a ward & living with the Velaryons instead of with her and Daemon (Baela being her father's daughter coming from him directly parenting her in canon and encouraging such self-assertive and daring behavior) for the Velaryons when both break lore and purposefully make Daemon not the good dad that he was.

Honestly, yes, this is karma for how Dany was written in GoT. Of course bc people didn't and still don't majorly take issue or understand with how she was treated and rewritten, we were going to get this bullshit with the people GRRM wrote in inspiration from her existence and narrative role. Of course he'd allow freaks like these showrunners handle his stories, he allowed Dany's end to go uncontested with no blog posts about how it was trash and specifically how/why without giving away the ending of his series or nay other spoilers...which yes is possible. Or didn't fight for more creative control and authority for GoT or HotD. Or at least put off HotD as he writes his penultimate book. So another of his favs gets slaughtered 🤷🏿‍♂️. Good for him.

Unfortunately for me, I have to witness such bullshit anyway in Twitter and Tumblr and TikTok even if I don't watch the HotD episodes.