#|| matchsticks rambles

[windup-dragoon]

Me gripping my head: I will not hyperfixate on ocean goddess kiri

Timeline: MERMAIDS AND PIRATES!!

Me in the Akira meme: auuughhh

[quiet-nocturne]

^^^utterly obsessed with how Arakawa said Mustang has a couch in his house, and not much else. He's so pathetic, he's a sad dumb uwu baby, he's self destructive and doesn't care about his own health and won't bother to buy himself a fucking bed, he's literally the incarnation of fox mulder. What an absolute idiot. I bet he sleeps head down on his desk in his office like an absolute sad dork. I bet hawkeye has to wipe his drool off the paperwork and he complains of a stiff neck in the morning like a big grumpy baby. I'm dying, this little look into his life is absolute gold.

(and also really sad as he probably didn't give a fuck about buying a new bed once he moved to central, utterly obsessed with hunting down hughes' killer. asjkhahsjsja my heartttt 😭)

[gaylactic-fire]

Thought I put into my fursonas: spider diagram of themes, character traits, animals, colours, all woven together to create something that deeply encapsulates a part of my personality and passions in two legged animal form.

Thought I put into my tattoos: that's cool. I will put that on my body Forever

[walkman-cat]

CECIL RAMBLE!!

This is Cecil Meyers! He's Kit's sworn brother, one half of the Nonesuch Detective Agency, and one of the protagonists of Eidolon Vetch.

Here's some (actually Much, because I am incapable of Not Yapping) Cecil Lore (in bullet point form)(also under a cut because it is Sizeable I am so sorry):

In comparison to Kit and Orpheus he seems normal. Kit and Orph consider him to be normal. He is not normal. Kit and Orph are just much more extreme in their weirdness

Cecil's very curious and very nosy and loves eavesdropping, people-watching, and gossiping

He's got a great memory for other people's business, and collects secrets. The Nonesuch Detective Agency has a system where, if a client is unable to pay, they can either owe Orpheus a favour or give Cecil a secret (though Cecil does prefer being paid).

Cecil's habit of poking his nose into other peoples' business means that he's stumbled across a fair number of crime scenes and become witness to quite a few crimes (he likes looking into the windows of buildings)

He actually met Orpheus because he saw Orph sat on a fire escape in the rain and approachd him to find out what was Up with him.

He's the darling of a certain group of washerwomen/embroideresses who live in the city's Old Quarter. Instead of doing his job (ie. selling newspapers or shining shoes or any of the many jobs he took up while living on the streets with Kit) he used to come watch them work and listen to them talk. They continue to have regular gossip sessions to this day, and Cecil's considered family.

Most of his clothes are hand-me-downs or gifts from their families.

Because of this, pretty much everything he wears doesn't quite fit him right

Kit and Cecil grew up together. As children they lived in the same tenement (Cecil's parents and Kit's mother were close and shared in the responsibilities), and after the deaths of their parents they stuck together. They may not be siblings by blood but they are siblings!! Do not separate!!

Kit was always a better newsboy and a better pickpocket than Cecil (Cecil's poor vision made it hard for him to read the headlines, he's more awkward than her, and he'd often get distracted while eavesdropping). Kit often had to steal to make enough for the both of them. Cecil was the distraction.

When Cecil met Orpheus, he was basically working as an errand boy and a mudlark.

He's always preferred scrambling up buildings and across rooftops to walking down the street. If he has an idea he wants to tell Orph about he will just climb onto the roof make his way over to Orph's building and climb in through his window (this has jumpscared Orph multiple times)

Kit's afraid of fire, and Cecil's afraid of the cold, so whenever they were staying somewhere with a lit fire Cecil would mind the fire while Kit slept

Cecil's got insomnia. He spends a lot of his nights wandering the city or going over cases. Orph sometimes helps him sleep (god of dreams things)

Cecil knows nearly all of Kit's secrets, and is also well aware that she's Hermes Vetch.

He just pretends he Does Not See It. Nor does he help Orph during heists. It's a conflict of interest he does Not want to deal with

He's always wanted to be an artist (Kit's mother used to give him art lessons before her death) and he used to doodle on scraps of newspaper. Orph usually asks him to draw details of corpses now, which he's more than a little chagrined by, but he also has the funds to buy an actual sketchbook and watercolours (so he's happy enough).

He's drawn Orph. A Lot. (it gives him opportunity to stare)

His hands are covered in graphite and charcoal a good portion of the time. So are the pockets of his trousers. Because he keeps his pencils/charcoal in the pockets of his trousers

Speaking of Orph! Cecil's been pining after him pretty much since they met. Kit's had to deal with him for nearly six years by the start of Kit's part of the story and she is Sick of his Shit

He's literally all the 'kinda gay to be a detective' memes its so silly

Regardless of his romantic feelings, he's still perfectly happy with them being unrequited as long as he can still be close to Orph. Their friendship matters above all.

That being said, his feelings aren't necessarily unrequited.

He's also friends with Ophelia (somewhat)(she doesn't really Do interpersonal relationships for haunted-by-a-friendship-that-ended-abruptly-a-decade-ago reasons, but it counts)(sometimes they sit in the same room in silence)(it's pleasant).

he's my beloved and I love him

i've probably forgotten things but yeah! that's my boy my bestfriend my silly guy

[slugghee]

Brb reevaluating my Matchsticks headcanons

[rarestdogebutmemey]

Successfully pulled off this glitch for the 3rd time! Practicing is goin good, goin pog

[ritzthesleepy]

imagine, slightly pudgy matchsticks

[akirusu1]

Akira chuckled at their comment and shook his head "I wouldn't worry about that, I just know the regulars, new in town or just heard about the place from a friend?" he explained stepping over to start making a cup of coffee for himself while he talked. "well, I'm not one to pick favorites, but we share a similar taste it seems for sweeter coffee, the other day I picked up some Guatemalan Strictly Hard Bean, it has a kind of chocolatey taste, with a bit of fruit to it." he rambled fondly, recalling the lessons Sojiro taught him back his first year, back when he still lived in the shop's attic, having picked up the man's habit of sharing trivia while he worked.

"Should I make you a cup as well?" he asked as he returned his attention to Chara with a lazy smile

A match in the coffee

( @lovelybunchof-roses

The Boss was going to be gone for a couple days on a short vacation with his daughter, leaving Akira in charge of the store while he was gone, while he had moved out of the stores attic a few years ago he still frequented to pick up shits and help the old man out, at least sojiro had let him put up some help wanted signs while he was gone.

Café Leblanc from the outside was rather tucked away, some would say hidden in the city, despite this it was something of a local famous spot for its regulars who came for its outstanding coffee and curry.

Although today looked to be a departure from that as Akira heard the bell above the door ring and someone with distinctive Red hair and eyes came into the room

“Welcome, don’t see too many new faces in the shop, what can I get you?” Akira smiled comfortably at the stranger completely at ease.

[stellar-collective]

Ok so in your matchstick au what if Ollie has never joined Zoraxis, and Roxana never left the agency (or worked for Zoraxis and then left)? What if Ollie proved to be an amazing field agent, sneaking in and out undetected, as much stealth and control as Matchstick does sheer destruction. He shines especially bright in retcon, though he can knock out a few operatives if he needs be, he doesn't leave a trace, and earns the code name Phoenix for how he always rises above the ashes. When Handler Prism thinks she's lost him at last, he'll slide out of the vents with that slightly sky smile and sneak out like cobra on fire.

Roxana didn't aspire to be a handler, but after so many agents coming to you for how to dismantle several types of bombs, what kind of electronic they'd seen in the field, or how to best take down one of Zoraxis' newest robots, the agency started to take notice, and put her on a trial run with a rookie agent who seemed to have more nerves than training. But as she led him through a mission, she was able to guide him exactly through what he oughtn't touch, and to her surprise he was pretty darn good at following through on exactly what she meant, even improvising when the situation called for it, though admitted it wasn't his strong suit, that was why he was sent on retcon missions mostly, where everything was quiet, and he could blend into the shadows as well a bird in the night.

Srry for ramble, I am unwell about this au

ooh, i do like the idea of an au where Ollie is a field agent and Prism ends up being his handler a lot!! Ollie has a lot of the same quirks that make Phoenix such a great agent (he treats danger just as casually as they do and seems unable to be fazed by literally anything) so i think that it definitely has potential! although… i’d perhaps suggest that alongside recon, Ollie’s thing is that he’s a bizarrely adept negotiator and has turned several Zoraxis operatives to the Agency’s side. might be more fitting to call him Agent Siren the way he keeps stealing away both people and valuable information!

i actually already have the vague storyline for the rest of the games mapped out in my head for the Matchstick AU, though; like @blueorchid-95 suggested on my original post, Reginald’s betrayal leads to the Agency being FAR more willing to embrace Roxana’s perfectly obedient robots and thus she stays with them and remains the main antagonist for the third game (though she’s a good guy this time!)

but this isn’t a complete role reversal au! Ollie (and Juniper too… sort of.) both still join Zoraxis, things just play out a little differently for them! i’m still working out the details but at the very least, know that Matchstick and Ollie do get forced into working together and Matchstick has NO idea how to handle being around someone as nice as he is. they may or may not end up having to escape the underwater lab together after one of Prism’s robots crashes the party… who’s to say?

[itzme-thefaust]

Hey uh, your IEYTD swap stuff is really cool! If you want to share more about it I'd love to hear!

since u asked so nicely … :3

[•Atlas Phoenix]

[He/They]

•Used to be a highly skilled Field Agent, codenamed Agent Matchstick for their bright personality and highly reactive nature.

•Forced to retire after lung damage, semi-verbal due to damage as well. Placed in handler job to encourage new agents to pick up their old tricks.

•Transmasc, supported Jade in her gender exploration.

•Avid smoker and alcoholic. Only recently making attempts to quit.

[��Icarus Mason]

[Any pronouns]

•Codenamed Agent Crane, for ability to complete missions “unscathed” and “with unmatched grace”. Only Atlas knows just how chaotic the missions really get.

•Rambles when nervous. A lot.

•Hydrophobic, which has only worsened over the course of his time working for the Agency.

•Legs damaged after almost dying at end of IEYTD 2. Cannot walk for long, has a wheelchair.

[•Dr. Jade]

[She/they]

•Turns gems into jewellery as a hobby when not inventing.

•Necklace is kinesium! Had made a matching one for Atlas, which exploded during a mission. Led her to studying kinesium and its properties afterward.

•Transfem, has only been out for a short time. Faced harsh transphobia after ditching the Agency.

•Names all of their robots, even while treating them harshly during a time of her self-destructive spiral. Robot positioned to work in their house is named Gibson.

[• Roxy Rhinestone]

[She/her]

•Does her best to maintain a demeanour of politeness when not performing. In a way, she’s always performing as a result.

•Refers to her underlings by their job titles first and their names second. Insists on doing so (eg. “Butler Roland”)

•Has only expressed intense amounts of bubbling rage she’s collected over the years once, to Crane during Operation: Safe and Sound. Crane has never forgotten it.

•Closeted lesbian. Keeps relationship secret.

[also these havent been fleshed out yet but solaris is swapped with ollie, hive mind is swapped with charlie caliente, and zor is swapped with morales. solaris craves to reach the stars, but is stuck under the ocean. charlie looks after fire ants. zor is the most evil-seeming non-evil individual alive]

thank u for the ask !!! itz appreciated a lot , and faust hopes to flesh out this au more :3

[thehyperrequiem]

A random Herbert Higginbotham Headcanon

So pretty much, Herbert has quite an appetite judging by some of his rambles, and a sweet tooth going on in one of his matchstick teeth. And he has quite gained bits of weight (my Headcanon on his body shape is that it falls into the “He Chomnk” of the chonk chart) from the sock eating and possibly some snacks (He’s a little bit of a foodie). And yes, he sometimes has habits of quickly eating the food when no one was looking, like if you left something small next to him and turn your back for a bathroom/something quick, there is a great chance that he ate it in 2 seconds with no or little evidence on his face. But he always watch his figure so he doesn’t go overboard, so no big deal, he just takes some naps from food coma and shed some pounds after a big meal he had.

It’s no wonder that Eve wasn’t kidding about Arcade Peepaw’s body being unusual. 🍭

[sedgesnuggles]

Little lore droplets for sustenance

The Beggars:

- Souls of the greedy and selfish

- Bodies said to be made of dust, ash and other debris

-Constantly aching and lethargic, barely able to move

- Only way out of this form is for them to buy their way out

- But their mortal possessions mean nothing to the Warden Lurkers, who serve as their supervisors while they’re in the living world

- They now have to rely on the charity and kindness of others to be able to eventually escape

- They can only ‘pay’ the Warden Lurkers in used matchsticks that people gave the Beggar

- It’s a metaphor for the chance for warmth and survival they might have taken from others in life through their selfishness (idfk I’m rambling)

- They can sometimes be seen on the side of poorly-lit roads or in dirty alleyways during foggy weather

- Very pathetic, almost sad until you remember what kind of people they were in life

- The kind of people who would steal a homeless person’s cup of change for fun

- Pretty safe to say that they deserve it

[walkman-cat]

im so tempted to make matchsticks a newsies oc…

[monstrousproductions]

I would listen to a audio drama about "your boy jonah" but also, tell me about your boy! Here is a free space to ramble. Please info-dump.

Free space to ramble?! Don't mind if I do!

So, in case anyone is unfamiliar with the story of Jonah, it begins with Jonah minding his business and suddenly being called upon by God to go to Ninevah [the capital city of the Assyrian empire] to call them out for their sins. Instead, Jonah seals his place in my heart by running away from God.

I just find it so immediately endearing that his reaction to being given a divinely ordained job to do is to absolutely nope the fuck out and run for the hills. It's not just hilarious, but it also feels so honest? Like yeah sometimes we know rightly what we're supposed to do, either because of the leading of the spirit or because of our own morals, and sometimes it's fucking terrifying!!

So he runs away, he gets on a boat to sail off to Far Off Lands (poss. southern Turkey) and obviously... God knows. Because it's God. You can't just duck behind a tree and suddenly God forgets you're there lol And God is big mad and sends a storm that threatens to break the ship into matchsticks. The sailors are terrified - I imagine them as these hardened sea-faring men who are used to all sorts of things, and this storm is so fierce they're absolutely terrified.

And Jonah... is fast asleep. Conked the fuck out on one of the lower decks, like he isn't moments from being smithereened. Running away from God is a tiring business, I guess! Also, as a chronic procastinapper, I can't help feeling like he just felt like he had too much on his plate and decided napping is way less scary that That Whole Mess.

So the captain drags him up and demands that he pray to his god because clearly the gods of the sailors are not paying attention lol But they also want to know where the storm came from and why, so they draw lots to see who's to blame? And of course Jonah draws the short straw.

And then this bit I imagine Jonah being super sheepish about OK. Because in this era and place, it was quite normal to accept that other people's gods were real and powerful, but they just weren't your gods. But different gods have different areas of power, so the sailors ask Jonah who his god is. And very grudgingly, Jonah admits that ummm yeah ok so actually his god is... the one who created the sea and the land.

And I imagine there's this moment of absolute silence as these sailors take in the fact that this guy has pissed his god off and who's his god again? Oh yeah, only the one who MADE THE OCEAN which is currently trying to KILL THEM.

"So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea."

But Jonah doesn't drown! God sends a fish to swallow him up, and he sits in the fish for three days and prays while he's in there, because actually all things considered it was pretty neat of God to send a fish to swallow him instead of letting him drown and he's like "I think maybe I have got close enough to death and I would like to stop having an adventure now and go back to being all the way alive."

Which is very cool having his time in the fish being this sort of pseudo-death? Like he was getting a little taste of it. And he even talks about it as being in Sheol, and being out of sight of God and longing to be alive and back where God can see him.

So God tells the fish to vomit him up and tells Jonah again to go to Ninevah, which this time he does! It's a huge city, it takes three days to walk across it, but Jonah made a promise and he sticks to it. He walks and talks and the city repents and God relents from whatever punishment he was going to send.

Which, in a turn that never fails to touch my heart, makes Jonah... absolutely fucking livid. He is so mad about this decision. He's like, "I fucking knew it!! I knew you weren't going to smite these fuckers!" and God is like ??? excuuuuse me ???

And Jonah - I love him so much - he storms off, he stomps out of Ninevah and builds himself a little hu and he sits in his hut and he stares at the city, wishing hellfire and damnation on everyone in it, and sulking like nobody on earth. He is raging and I love it.

But it's the fucking Assyrian desert, it's hot as balls and even in his wee hut, Jonah's got the sun beating down on him. And God makes this plant grow next to him for shade, which Jonah is pretty pleased about - until the next morning, God sends a worm that attacks the plant and kills it. And also throws in some scorching winds and fiery sun for good measure.

And Jonah's lying there about to pass out and he's like, "I would literally rather be fucking dead" and then we get my favourite exchange in the whole Bible:

But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

I just love it!! He's having none of it! He is furious and he is feeling more righteous and miserable than any angsty teenager ever could and he's telling God straight out, "You have pissed me off like nobody has ever pissed anyone off before" and I love him so much!!

And God points out that he's that angry about the plant dying, which he didn't even grow or tend to, but somehow it's not fair for God to not be particularly keen on destroying an entire megatropolis full of people and animals who by the way God is responsible for and cares for? Double standards much? And the book ends! It's made its point and off it fucks.

Also there's a bit at the end there where it describes the thousands and thousands of people in Ninevah as "not knowing which is their left hand and which is their right" which I assume is a metaphor for not knowing right from wrong but which I also just love as such a read. Like, "Really? You expect me not to look after these people? Look at them. They're morons, Jonah. They're the kind of morons who would think, oh, I don't know, that they could hide from God in a boat."

I just love how angry Jonah is, and how afraid, and how human! And I love that he has this sassy back and forth with God and that he gets angry at God and argues and has to get put in a fish for a time out. It feels like such a close, bickering sort of relationship and I think the world would be a better place if more people felt like they could look God in the eye and say, "YES! I AM ANGRY!! I AM SO ANGRY I COULD DIE!!!"

[rarestdogebutmemey]

11th place on the leaderboard, fuck yeah!

[kartaylirnaak]

Might I be able to ask about Match the 212th ARC. Why the name? Do they like to match things? Or is it like matchstick and fire is their friend?

You most certainly can! I will very happily ramble on about him.

Match is my 212th ARC Trooper OC. He's a Sergeant and is in an ARC pair with Wooley, who is also an ARC in this AU. Match is quiet, reserved, and doesn't same much, if at all. There's a quiet, shuttered sadness to him and he can be a little intense sometimes. He cares and worries deeply but isn't always the best at expressing it. Match is an expert in wilderness survival, especially jungle survival, for Reasons (I put him through The Horrors). He's fairly lean and wiry for a clone and, when fighting, has a viciousness and brutality to him, along with a keen eye, sharp intelligence, and heightened situational awareness. But he wasn't always this way.

I have no idea where the name came from. It just sort of morphed out of thin air when I started coming up with him. Initially, I wasn't that keen on the name but it kind of stuck and now he's Match. I haven't come up with any in-universe reasoning behind his name yet but I have come up with plenty more backstory and information about him. I was organising my OC's in a spreadsheet to try and keep track of all of them and decided to open a new doc to collate my thoughts about Match. It wasn't going to be much, just a little more than what I could fit into a spreadsheet.

16k+ words later

I now have a lot more backstory and detail about Match and I'm still nowhere even close to finished. It also evolved from ramblings into actual chunks of fic. I'd love to be able to write a whole fic and more about him but that's be a mammoth undertaking that I'm not sure I'll ever manage. So now I have all these sections of fic about him that I wish I could share but there's no context to them so they don't make a great deal of sense in isolation.

Below the cut is the condensed version of Match's backstory, which is still over 2.2k words 😂 It's very rough so there's definitely some clunky writing in there.

I've also included a section of fic I wrote about Match's backstory, where I introduce a different OC, mention another, and the 212th's fandom CMO (Helix) also makes an appearance.

Match's backstory

Match starts off as a shiny in the 212th fairly early on in the war. He’s very loud, brash, cocky, arrogant and egotistical. Thinks he’s top shit and knows everything. He’s constantly getting disciplined and being dressed down by his CO’s for doing stupid shit that endangers his brothers, but it never seems to get through to him. During a battle, his squad is ambushed by droids and he and the commando droid he’s fighting are thrown off the path and down a cliff by an explosion. Match is badly injured but manages to survive and shoot the commando droid, who ended up wedged in a tree. He collapses and is then stunned and captured by Trandoshans, has his wounds perfunctorily treated while he’s out, and wakes up in a cage on a ship, dressed in civies, and with a bunch of other caged natborns. They’re all dumped out onto a beach near a jungle and then shot at, so Match and the natborns that survive all bolt for the jungle. (If this sounds like that episode from TCW, yes that’s where I pinched it from). Match then has to survive in the jungle all by himself while being hunted by the Trandoshans for sport. It’s brutal and terrifying and he has to do some truly fucked up things in order to survive. It’s a constant fight for survival, everything is life or death, and he’s constantly being hunted by the Trandoshans or creatures in the jungle. Match is forced to adapt in order to survive and stay alive. The experience changes him and he becomes quiet and withdrawn, not talking for days at a time. He’s completely alone and isolated and he knows he’s never going to be found. Match survives for over a year and a half in the jungle. He crafts his own weapons, armour, camouflage, supplies, gear, shelters, traps, and everything else he needs to survive. 

The jungle forges him into something new. 

Something different. 

Over a year and a half after Match was captured, he’s watching the latest batch of natborns be dumped out onto the beach and spots that one of them is different, likely a Jedi. They drop down silently in front of him a day later and as very little gets the drop on Match in the jungle these days, he nearly puts a knife and axe through them. Turns out the Jedi is the 212th’s padawan (Jedi OC), who joined the 212th after Match was captured. Something something “will of the Force”, picture a bunch of Commanders rolling their eyes at their General’s here. Bit clichéd but let's be real, it’s not as bad as some of the nonsense that happened in TCW. Anyway, Match now has a baby Jedi. Accidental ad’ika acquisition has been foisted upon him. He teaches them how to survive in the jungle and looks after them, fiercely protecting them against everything. The baby Jedi looks after Match, helping with jungle survival but also helping him slowly remember a little of what it’s like to be around others again. He has someone to talk to now and he relearns, in a way, how to talk again (rocks don’t talk back to you). He has to learn to deal with touch and human interaction again, for when they have to hand things to each other or help each other through the forest or huddle for warmth when the wind picks up and the storms rage and the temperature drops. This lasts for about a month to six weeks until they enact the padawans' plan to escape. There’s a bit of angst around that because Match knows he’ll never be found but the baby Jedi keeps going on about hope and plans, which is all just futile to Match. They have a bit of a fight about it but reconcile and then go and steal the transponder and some electronics from the next Trandoshan ship that arrives. The padawan gets a message out to the 212th, who turn up and rescue them. Match gets shot protecting the baby Jedi during the rescue and nearly dies. 

He wakes up in the medbay on the Negotiator, having had surgery and spent over a week in bacta. He’s survived but his body and mind are fucked. He could never find enough food in the jungle so he’s skin and bone for a clone. The results from all the tests the medics ran on him are all over the shop. He’s covered in scars, has a bunch of old injuries that didn’t heal properly, and picked up all kinds of mystery jungle diseases and parasites. Match is also deeply traumatised from everything he’s been through. The jungle never leaves him and it’s always there in his mind. He still thinks in terms of relating everything to the jungle and has to actively remind himself that he’s not there anymore. 

But the jungle is always there. 

Waiting. 

There aren’t many clones left who remember Match from before he was captured. When Cody visits him in the medbay, Match apologises for how he behaved before and asks to be punished, to which Cody’s response is ‘absolutely the fuck not’. While Match is deeply fucked up, he’s still functional, so he has a long recovery as he heals and gets back into shape. He’s never able to fully return to the baseline body mass of a CT and he stays wiry and lean for a clone. The jungle also shaped him into a brutal fighter. He’s now fast, ruthless, and lethal, easily capable of putting down most clones quick and hard, even while recovering. He struggles to adjust though, still stuck in the mindset of the jungle where everything is a fight for survival. There is no room for practice or training in the jungle. There is only life or death. It causes some problems initially but Match was put in Waxer’s platoon for a reason (he often gets the tough cases) and everyone tries to help him adjust as best they can.

Match has changed. The arrogant little shit of a shiny from before is gone. Replaced by a quiet, reserved, and watchful clone who doesn’t say a great deal and often falls back on protocol because he doesn’t know what to do in social situations anymore. He’s a highly effective and efficient trooper now but outside of that, he struggles with a multitude of issues, including hypervigilance, dissociation, overtraining, and nightmares. He’s also filled with an immense amount of shame and guilt at how he acted and behaved as a shiny before he was captured. Match doesn’t paint his armour for quite a while because he thinks he doesn’t deserve it. That is until Boil basically shoves a can of armour paint at him and makes him turn up to an armour painting session. 

Match ends up having to be an acting Sergeant in the field during a battle because two squads both lose half of their members and he’s the oldest left and he has four shocked and injured vod’ika staring up at him. So he cobbles them together, gets them through the battle, makes his report on what happened to Waxer, and then goes to make sure they’re all as ok as possible and looks after them. It’s only when they won’t leave him alone that he realises he’s accidentally acquired vod’ika. He ends up being promoted straight to Sergeant of his cobbled together squad because they worked quite well together and bonded as a group, plus Match performed well under fire. Match doesn’t think he deserves it because he just did what he always did in the jungle. Survived. But the vod’ika keep looking at him like he’s hung the stars and there is no way in hell he’s behaving like he used to, so he takes on the responsibility and teaches them what he knows. 

Cody’s been keeping an eye on all of this and has been conveniently dropping by with various other experienced clones when Match is doing his own training. Match can last the longest out of the standard CT’s when sparring with commanders, ARCs, or commanders, like Cody, Wooley or Gregor. This is how Match meets Wooley, who will end up being his future ARC partner, even if Match doesn’t know it yet. He likes Wooley and has a healthy respect for him and his skills, even if he does think he’s too bright and cheery and talks too much. 

You can’t talk in the jungle. 

They’ll hear you. 

Match ends up having to be an acting Lieutenant during a later campaign when Waxer is injured and Match is the only Sergeant left because the rest are gone or too badly injured. At the time, Match does what he has to do. During a campaign or battle, the same mindset from the jungle returns. He does what he has to do to survive, just now it’s mixed with doing what he has to in order to keep as many other clones alive as well. Match has now somehow acquired more vod’ika but he absolutely does not want to be a Lieutenant. He still doesn’t think he deserves to be a Sergeant, let alone a Lieutenant. There isn’t a space for him to be promoted to anyway once Waxer recovers. Cody has been keeping an eye on all of this and decides now is the time to send Match to ARC training. Match has a massive internal crisis about this because he thinks he definitely does not deserve the honour of even being considered for ARC training, let alone being an actual ARC. Cody puts Match through his own preparation training for ARC training so Match spends his evenings being thrown around the mats by the Commander and Wooley, learning as much as he can, and getting to know both Cody and Wooley better. He still doesn’t think he deserves to be in this position but he doesn’t talk about it because that would involve Talking To People. Rocks never talked to him in the jungle. Both Cody and Wooley clock this and try to get through to Match that he does deserve this. Match still doesn’t entirely believe it but he can understand their more rational arguments that he now has the skills, ability, and potential to be an ARC. 

Seventeen is inspecting all of the ARC candidates who are lined up in the training room at the start of this round of ARC training. He stops in front of Match, who internally is freaking the fuck out, but outwardly does not even fucking blink. Match is very good at staying completely still now, especially in the presence of a threat. The jungle beat that lesson into him. Seventeen just looks at him before stating, “You saved the little Commander” (referring to the 212th’s padawan). Match, who is looking straight ahead with a dead stare, having reverted back to survival coping mechanisms that he developed to survive on the island, answers with an automatic “Yes, Sir.” Seventeen gives him a look, grunts, gives Match the tiniest of nods, and moves on, which for Seventeen is high praise. All the other ARC candidates in this round of ARC training are internally freaking out and wondering who the hell this vod is that already has Seventeen’s approval. Match just wants to be left alone and avoid any kind of attention and make it through ARC training. 

Match tops almost all of the categories in this round of ARC training and is top 3 or 5 in the rest. He sets a new record in jungle survival and is equal second of all time in wilderness survival. His main competition during training is a vod named Jesse from the 501st, who is far too friendly (idk what the timelines are doing at this point so we’re just rolling with it). At least the giant Republic cog tattooed on his head would help him camouflage in the jungle a little. 

The jungle is always there. 

Waiting. 

Match lasts the longest in their final no holds barred hand to hand spar assessment against Seventeen and is one of the few that doesn’t technically lose because the Alpha Medic supervising the spars (which are basically just fights) calls an end to it because Match refuses to stop. He must survive. Match joins Jesse and another vod in the medbay later who also had their fights stopped before they were turned into paste. Jesse was quite pleased with himself, even as he bemoaned the reception he was going to get from someone called Kix, who is apparently going to kick his ass even worse. The other vod is completely out cold. Match paints his kama in a camo pattern similar to the camo pattern on the ARFs armour in the 212th, with only the barest hint of gold paint lightly brushed through it. It’ll help blend into dappled light. The rest of his armour might be too damn bright but at least some of his legs will be camouflaged.  

Match and Wooley work as an ARC pair as part of the 212th and Ghost Company. They go where they’re needed and complement each other well. They’re also both part of the specialised squad that accompanies the 212th’s padawan on missions. There’s a pool of troopers in Ghost Company with various specialisations that are drawn on depending on the needs of the mission. This will pretty much always involve Match and Wooley because wherever their padawan goes, they go. The General has the Commander and their padawan has at least one ARC. They’re all very serious about keeping their jetii alive, Match especially so about keeping the baby Jedi alive. That’s been with him ever since the jungle and will never leave. 

Just like the jungle. 

It is always there. 

—

Section of fic about Match Context: This is after Match has been rescued and is recovering in the medbay of the Negotiator.

Waking is easier this time. 

Match comes to a slow awareness of his surroundings. The white walls and bright lights and beeping machines are still there. The mask on his face is gone, replaced by tubes that fill his nose and do not feel welcome at all. Match think’s he’d prefer the mask back. He gingerly shifts his jaw and it immediately cracks, making his eye twitch and drawing out a pained grunt. His side twinges at the noise but the slicing pain from before doesn’t return. He carefully shifts slightly and is relieved to find that it doesn’t feel like he’s being stabbed again. Instead, there’s a deep penetrating ache in his shoulder, thigh, and ribs. The rest of his body feels like one big bruise. Deciding to risk a little more movement, Match turns his head to the side to confirm that, yes, there are machines next to him. There’s also the door along with a wall with a window that gives a view out into what looks like a larger medbay.

Why is he in a room by himself?

Turning his head to the other side reveals more machines, cupboards, and a chair for some reason. Match is pondering the existence of the chair when a vod with eye searingly bright blue hair and a splash of patterns on the side of his face pokes his head around the door.

“Eeeyyyyy, he’s awake!”

Yes?

The vod hollers out to the medbay at large with a string of words and letters that make absolutely no sense to Match and then bounces over to him.

“How you doin’ bud? I’m Fluid, but everyone calls me Flu because they all think they’re sooooooo funny giving a medic the name of something we can’t catch. Fancy heightened genetically engineered immune systems and all that.”

This vod is far too loud, in every sense of the word.

“But you managed to pick up some very interesting mystery jungle flu down there. That produced some wild results in the battery of tests we had to run, let me tell you.”

The jungle gave Match a lot of things. 

It took away even more.

The vod keeps nattering away as he looks at a datapad and does things with the machines and rifles around in the cupboards like he’s trying to make every noise imaginable.

“So on a scale of being ripped apart by our friendly neighbourhood Force wielding Sith gremlin, to being thrown around the mats by the Commander for his sadistic pleasure, to stubbing your toe on that little lip of the door on the last training room that really shouldn’t be there because everything’s supposed to be standardised, what’s our pain like today?

What the fuck is a Sith gremlin?

“Are we gonna have to use numbers? Numbers are so boring. Utterly useless too, seeing as they don’t accurately convey pain and, despite us all being clones and all, we definitely process pain differently. But you try telling the longnecks that and just watch them get all pissy. That’s a recipe for being recon’d at the very least so let's keep that between you and me, pal.”

The loud, blue haired vod is looking at him expectantly so Match guesses this is where he’s supposed to respond.

“What’s a—”

His voice gives out, cracking into a rough croak and a hacking cough that makes his ribs really fucking hurt.

“Oop, one sec, here ya go, that should help.”

The straw from a hydro pack is brandished in his face and Match sucks down his first gulp of water that hasn’t come from somewhere dubious in the jungle.

It tastes plastic.

“Alrighty, howzat then? Bit better, yeah?”

“Thanks,” Match manages to croak out. Fuck, his voice sounds and feels rough. Flu seems to be of the same opinion and decides to make it known.

“Damn vod, that is some heavy gravel you’ve been garglin’. Don’t worry ‘bout talking too much at the moment, your voice is in about the same state as the rest of you, which is to say, pretty damn beat up.”

This vod has said more words in the past few minutes than Match has said in over a year and a half. 

Repeatedly honed instincts mean Match doesn’t miss the movement across the window and his eyes track a familiar clone as they hand a datapad off to another medic and then walk through the door. 

This is someone he remembers from before. And someone who remembers him.

“Flu, stop terrorising him.”

“Now, Sir, would I ever do something like that?” Flu answers, clutching at his chest and somehow managing to be even more dramatic. 

A deeply unimpressed look is all Flu gets in return.

Match would be more confused at whatever is going on but right now he’s more occupied with looking at Helix in trepidation. He can’t run from a threat. Isn’t even sure how well he can move, and there’s only one way out of this room.

“Go be a menace elsewhere.”

“But at least I’m your favourite menace,” Flu replies, as he cheerfully slaps the datapad against Helix’s chest.

“No, that’s Pinch.”

A scandalised gasp.

“Wounded. Deeply wounded, Sir. So deeply and fatally wounded. I am in the death throes and seeing the light.”

“No dying in my medbay.”

Flu leaves with an exuberant “Yessir” flung over his shoulder as the door closes on his exit and finally brings about some peace and quiet.