#i feel like shep and i are going to be giving a LOT of people the wrong impression 👀👀👀

[ageless-aislynn]

A question for my Mass Effect fan pals out there... Is there any way to play as Paragon and NOT make every character you can romance think you must be SUPA INTO THEM? Because Male!Shep and I were just trying to be sensitive souls™️(and rack up those sweet, sweet Paragon points 😘) and I'm pretty sure that Ashley is picking out our wedding colors right about now.

I mean, I'll probably romance her eventually and all that but the fact that the Paragon responses seem to also be "flirt" responses is making me anticipate some trouble down the line once we really get a bunch of potentially romanceable characters in the mix and my sweet, slightly naive Cmdr Shepard has to start breaking hearts. 👀😉

[monarchofandromeda]

tann calling ryder a pretend pathfinder is really such a big dick move I can’t help but respect him for it even though it pisses me off

[study-trash-child]

Nonbinary Characters in Polish Dubbings

It's a very short list, there's a LOT more they/them characters in media but for many, I couldn't find any dubbed scenes of, and I can't afford to purchase every streaming service ever just to watch a short scene with that character so-

Onto the topic

I so stupidly enjoy finding out translation differences between languages, and what better topic that Nonbinary characters translated to a language that genders everything.

In Polish, if you say you did something, you change it depending on the gender

I was reading - czytałem (male) or czytałam (female)

I feel like it is becoming more popular to use "o" as a gender-neutral way to say something (czytałom) but it's still faaaaaaar from being legally(?) recognized by many many other people and dictionaries.

But more on it later (kinda)

Some examples I found throught the years on how different shows handled the gendered words and characters in Polish translations.

RAINE WHISPERS - The owl house

One of probably most popular characters here, Raine Whispers.

It's Disney. I think it answers a lot already.

The show already had one queer couple, why make another, Raine throught the show is using male pronouns but was voiced by a woman.

On my own note, I really was not a fan on how they changed things in the dubbing including many of the names (Amity-Anita, Willow-Witka, Flapjack - Franek)

The Collector's official pronouns are He/They but the They was simply ignored. 'Easy as that'

ANGEL and MEREKID - Craig of the creek

Never properly watched it but when we (aka my sibling and me being a parasite) had HBO I tried to find epsidoes with them to see.

There are 2 nb/agender characters in that show as far as I'm aware (for some reason I though there were 3, so sorry if there are actually 3 of them)

For one (Angel) they just used he/him.

Other episode with nonbinary kid (I believe it was merekid) is completly gone from hbo in my country.

(overall HBO has a strong problem with many episodes of shows missing, like Adventure Time missing around 30 episdoes...)

STEVONNIE and SHEP - Steven Universe

They just refer to Stevonnie as two people (we, for version that includes at least one guy. Since there is difference between polish we for only girls - robiłyśmy - and we for either girls+guys or only guys - robiliśmy - ).

SHEP

Well, uh. I believe there is some kind of dubbing for the "future" series but I don't have prime and so on so I can't confirm it as of now...Sorry :/ UPDAGE: Managed to find an episode with Shep in polish dub. Shep is dubbed by a woman but the whole episode omits any kind of gendered words ("em" "am") by Shep and everyone else.

FRANKIE STEIN (G3) - Monster High

In the new cartoon and movie they are indeed referenced to as they. Even in polish dubbing Frankie uses "o" when doing something instead of just making them a girl (for both animated show and live action movie)

That's also a part of what I mentioned that the nonbinary way of speaking is becoming more 'common' in Poland

DOUBLE TROUBLE - She-Ra

I adore them, honestly

Well, quick note or so on, their polish pronouns is He/Him (since thier body is more male presenting)

Also their name in polish is "Kłopotowski" I had no idea till now and I wish it stayed that way, I laughed

BATTLE KITTY - Battle Kitty

I so, so, soooo love this show/game (the ony interactive options is picking where you want to go next. It changes nothing in the story). It's not so popular because it's an 'interactive game' which means that many people didn't give it a chance or just skipped it but I beg you to watch it. Me and friend had a blast honestly. It's a 'game' so your only chance to see it is to watch it on netflix.

The main character Kitty is Agender and uses they/them pronouns which carries over to polish dubbing!

REVERSED EXAMPLE

Huuuuh, that's honestly unusual.

So-

Nimona, many loved it, it's a giant allegory for transidentity/ and gender fluidity. I watched it with my mom (hence in polish) that's why I even know of the change

In english Nimona refers to herself as a she and others refer to her as such.

!In polish though! (I will use Nimona's english pronouns)

While everyone else refers to Nimona as she (including Balister), Nimona refers to herself as they ("o"). Honestly, unusal, it took me a few takes of Nimona talking to herself to even catch that, not to mention be sure that it's an "o". So yeah, polish made a character even more queer! Honestly unusual.

Hope you enjoyed my little, not really insightful post. It's just something that I'm really interesed in thus decided to make this (albeit) short post. There's a lot of overall different language changes, including how polish really tries not to curse in trasnlation (amazing example would be deadpool 2) or other changes that are really random (spiderverse, the amazing digital circus).

Hey, maybe it will spark some interest in you too. Make check langauge differences as well, have fun! Or suffer. Probably the later one.

If you (somehow) have something you'd like me to check out translation vise, let me know and I'll try to do just that

Cheers!

Edit: Small add on, regarding the analisys.

You could probably figure it out yourself but it seema like big studios like Disney will be the ones pushing for characters to be of she/he pronouns. While smaller studios will have a better chance of character still being referenced to as they/them in other languages.

[frostycatblr-fandom-files]

Hey, Frost! Congratulations on reaching 200 followers!!

This is Carol (@clonethirstingisreal), just asking on anon rather than my main account.

For my request, I was wondering about a fic focusing on Hunter & Omega with a father & daughter vibe (or just siblings is fine too.) I really don't have anything specific in mind. It could be after everyone (including Tech) is living safe on Pabu. Maybe Hunter comforting Omega about something...or vice versa. I don't know...sorry! If you need more to go on, let me know. I'm blanking...

Thanks!

New Night Routines [Hunter and Omega Family Fic]

Warnings and Information: Officially settling into island life after everything they’ve been through since the emergence of the Empire will take time, Hunter knows that. Patience is paramount in times like these, and the people of Pabu’s limitless generosity and neighborly nature make light work of helping all six members of Clone Force 99 lay down roots. Now, the biggest battle for him, his brothers, and Omega is getting a good night’s sleep.  TBB AU where everyone gets to live happily ever after. Reference and allusion to canon-typical injury and violence. Mainly fluff and feel-good family moments. Minimal Star Wars and real-world swearing. Limited Mando’a. Fictional sea creatures. Narrative and stylistic use of italics. 

Word count: 4,020

When the decision had been made to carve out a comfortable life for themselves at long last, Shep Hazard was all too happy to provide the Batch with a proper Pabuan house. He’d been insisting upon it for some time now, but the offer had always been turned down, saying the same thing each occasion.

“There’s still a lot to sort out. We need more time to come to a proper decision.”

They had the Empire to contend with. Brothers to help. Sowing the seeds of a growing rebellion.

So when the time finally came, Hunter was thrilled to take Shep up on the next offer. No more living on the run. No more sleeping and living out of the attack shuttle. They would have a safe roof to sleep under, and a steady supply of surf and sun to fill their days. The island community came together when news broke that they were here to stay, rolling up their sleeves to repay a multitude of favors from repairing Lower Pabu following the last sea surge. 

Without the whip-smart fishermen, rewiring the house would have taken Tech many long weeks of steady work in order to bring everything up to his standards on his own. 

Wrecker had the help of the community’s woodworkers in replacing anything suffering from wood rot and constructing newer, sturdier furniture. 

Artists pooled themselves together and slung paint in every room of the house under Crosshair’s watchful eye; by lunch every room had been given a base coat, and by dinner, detail-work began once it was agreed who slept where, giving those spaces tailored touches. 

Echo, though he would often be away assisting Captain Rex and the Clone rebellion, found ways to contribute to construction, incorporating hidden compartments and caches in their eventual living space for safekeeping their old armor and weaponry. 

Omega had grand plans to decorate not just the room she had all to herself, but the whole of the house all on her own if Hunter didn’t insist upon helping between his own odd jobs. The prospect of having more than just the barest of bare essentials, but now the ‘basics’ was entirely thrilling to Omega, and perhaps more than a little overwhelming at times for Hunter. 

There’s just so much… stuff.

Blankets and pillows had been small familiarities with the GAR, but patterned bedding and special linens? Decorative pillows? Was that all really necessary?

Maybe not to him, but making sure Omega felt like an equal contributor to putting together their home meant entertaining her enthusiasm in other ways when there were no tasks suitable for her to assist with. If there were heavy shelves to hang, Hunter helped her find the best baskets offered by the island’s artisans to use for storage. When the sturdier bed frames were carefully squeezed into the house, he went with Omega on a walk to collect the blankets that had been set aside for them by the many fibercraft artists. 

And every evening after dinner, Hunter promised to do whatever she wanted for an hour to reward her for being so patient throughout all of this. Occasionally, one hour often bled into two, sometimes three before both would be thoroughly worn out and ready to turn in for the night. 

Sometimes she wanted to sit under the weeping maya tree, gazing at the star-crusted indigo skies together. Other nights, Omega wanted to roam the Archium and proudly show off all she had learned from Phee, or Layana, or Tech about each of the valuable items stored here. They’ve crawled through several of the island’s coves in the growing twilight, collecting enough sea glass that Phee offered to find a jeweler who could turn the frosted fragments into beautiful sun-catchers for them. 

Enjoying this nightly routine with her, Hunter considered making this a weekly thing once the house had been finished, which wouldn’t be much longer now. While he and his vode were accustomed to sleeping in the Havoc Marauder during the Clone Wars, he was growing tired of it long term. 

Maker, he couldn’t wait to get into that house. 

As hard as it could be to accept, her brothers knew Omega wouldn’t stay little forever. She was a growing girl who needed more room to grow, to decide what kind of life to make for herself, to simply live. And a gunner’s mount was no place for any of that. 

Laying down roots on Pabu would be good for her. 

For all of them. 

After two weeks of continuous construction and regular after-dark adventures, the morning finally came that the Batch’s new house would be complete by lunch time. Perhaps even before, depending on how many members of this selfless community came together to help the vode furnish each room. 

Omega woke shortly before dawn, too excited to sleep, or think about trying. 

Hunter found himself roused from a comfortable slumber by a bright-eyed pre-teen, her pale, curly hair an adorably bedraggled mess as she gingerly shook his arm. 

“Hunter. Hunter!”

Crosshair, ever the light sleeper, began to stir in the bunk across from Hunter’s just as the other began to sit up and work feeling into his limbs. They had all promised her long ago that if she ever needed anything, and they meant anything, from one of them for any reason, she never had a reason to hesitate waking her brothers.

“What’s wrong?” 

Hunter tugged the blanket over the sniper’s head, chuckling warmly. “Go back to sleep, Cross. I’ve got it handled.” He didn’t even know what it was, but it didn’t matter. By nature of his engineering and training, Hunter had a life’s worth of experience in waking up suddenly and quickly. Alert in just a short time, he came up with something to do to let the others get as much sleep as they could while tugging on his boots. 

“Think we can find something new in our favorite tide pools that Tech hasn’t seen before?”

It should be enough to keep them occupied for an hour or two before joining the others in putting the finishing touches on the house. 

Omega nodded, enthusiastic and eager. 

“Atta girl.” 

Hunter ruffled her hair before sending her up to the cockpit to collect the beach bag Lyana had gifted her. This would give him more than enough time to shimmy out of the shirt he slept in and into something different. Once dressed, he rounded up a few more things around the Marauder he thought they might want - a drybag for when Omega inevitably wanted to splash her feet in the water, the datapad she used for her studies, and laid a change of clothing out for each of them at the foot of his bunk. Just in case. 

They met at the gangplank, Hunter keying in the appropriate sequence to lower the ramp. 

“All set, Havoc Five?”

Omega grinned, giddy and full of energy. “Ready, Havoc One!”

“Good,” Hunter returned the smile with one of his own. “Race you down to the water, then?” 

Scuttling down the ramp together, Omega tore off in a burst of gleeful giggles, Hunter close behind. 

Having been on the run for so long, living hand-to-mouth and facing peril after peril with the bravest of faces, Omega had begun laughing less and less. As their arrangement with Cid crawled to a boiling point, tempers flaring in the backroom of the Parlor, Bolo and Ketch found less and less success in making the adolescent laugh. After their treacherous ordeal on Ipsidon was met with complete apathy, it wasn’t much longer that the Batch parted ways with the Trandoshan without so much as a word. 

Phee selflessly sharing her safe haven had given Omega back her laugh. 

Pabu and the generosity of her people were giving Omega a chance at a normal life, with normal experiences. Making friends her own age exposed her to many new things. When Lyana and other girls their age invited her to her first sleepover, Tech helped her prepare for it the day before with research and reassurance. 

“If, in the event you miss us, just remember that you have Lula. She’s been with the team for a long time. She’ll help you be brave, Omega.” 

It wouldn’t be beloved tooka dolls alone that brought Omega her new-found bravery here in Pabu’s safe harbor. It would be her brothers, too. 

Patiently learning to act less like a team, and more like a family, they were navigating this new life together. Hunter would certainly never take this for granted after everything the Batch had been through to get to this point. 

Just as Omega claimed she was going to reach the beach first, Hunter would catch up in a burst of speed and swoop his sister into his arms. Both of them would reach the beach at the same time this way. The laughter shared between them felt good. Freeing. Racing down to the water without a care in the galaxy, still new and novel to each of them, would become a memory more valuable than any vault of credits he could ever imagine. 

He had wanted that kind of life, once. As a cadet, likely younger than Omega had been when they first met, the prospect of living lavishly with his rowdy band of brothers after the war had been among the grandest dreams. A distraction, really, from the growing pains that plagued him and the endless hours of rigorous training, testing and tweaking of his enhancements. 

Now, settling into an easy life from the Imperial forces that poisoned a predator with fear and slowly turned him into prey was his dream. A dream free of being faced with situations so dire and desperate he would be forced to gnaw off a part of himself to escape, or keep Omega safe. 

Safe to create new routines of poking about the deeper tide pools for shells and strange, quad-eyed crustaceans with her brothers, her family. 

“Look at this one!” 

Omega carefully plucks a large crab out of the saltwater pool, keeping her hands behind its largest claw. She holds it out to Hunter, showing it off like a trophy with the proudest of smiles that she could catch one. They were often lightning-fast, scuttling down to the surf in a flash. Crosshair had figured out how to catch them to make it less challenging for Tech to study them, but not without several pinched fingers, first. 

Once he’d mastered the technique, Cross taught it to Omega and encouraged her to show Hunter the next time he and Omega went down to the cove for their after-dark adventures. (Probably in hopes of scaring the hell out of Hunter, the little shit.) Crosshair had always been talented at finding ways to catch things that didn’t like being caught. It had been a useful pastime during the war. 

“Looks very nice.” Hunter said, verbally applauding her accomplishment. “Can you tell what it is, Megs?”

“This is a false flotsam crab!” she declared, indicating the lack of splinter-like spikes lining the smallest claw. 

Hunter had to stifle a chuckle over how much she sounded and acted like their bespectacled brother. After the sea surge, they had seen a lot of flotsam crabs and the pretenders in the wreckage of Lower Pabu. Upon identifying them, Tech declared both species were perfectly edible - though they would want more of the flotsam crabs than the false ones - and basketfuls of these crabs were collected. People may have lost their homes, but there would be enough food to prevent anyone from going hungry. 

It was like the sea’s way of apologizing. 

It was also the first time the Batch had seen the scale of Pabu’s generosity, and resilience. No wonder they had fled the Empire and come to Pabu; these were good people. Good people who were helping him give his sister a good life. 

Omega brought the false flotsam closer to her brother, holding it out to him.

“Do you want to hold it?” 

Hunter shook his head, smiling. “That’s okay. Maybe another time, Omega.” There would be plenty of chances to catch crabs in the future. Endless opportunities to splash in the cool coastal waters, and bask in the salt-laden breeze and island sun. 

Placing the cranky creature back in the water, Omega returns to the task of finding something new to show Tech before they return to the others, where together, they’ll make their house a proper home. 

When the sun has risen high enough, Omega leads the way to their new house, a large shell clutched tightly in her hands. Wearing her pack, Hunter follows behind, listening to her excited babbling of all the things she thinks her prize find could be. 

Found further down the beach by his sister, it had recently washed ashore, glimmering in the young sunlight of dawn the way Hunter had heard rumors of the appearance of kyber. Opalescent, clearer than ice. Some surfaces were smooth to the touch. Others, jagged and unpleasant. It was unlike anything the siblings had seen before. 

Omega called out their return the closer they were to the house. 

“Tech! Look what we found!” 

Hunter thought ‘we’ was being generous, but he did nothing to correct her. Tech, putting away his tools, takes the shell and examines it for all of ten seconds before announcing what they found. “Another glacial turban. That’s a rather remarkable specimen, Omega.” Omega pouts in disappointment to hear that they did not find something new, but it is soon forgotten as Tech spurs her youthful curiosity with a simple question. 

“Would you like to know what makes it so remarkable?”

“Yes!”

He asks her to wait there while he ducks inside a moment, collecting his datapad, most likely. When Tech returns, he has a second shell in hand rather than his trusty technology. “This is also a glacial turban.” he explains, kneeling beside her. Comparing the two together, he shows her how the first shell has far more opalescence and clarity than the other, and the color is stronger. 

Textbook perfect, he calls it. 

The others have crowded around to see, only opting to hold it once Omega says it’s okay. “S’beautiful, kid,” Wrecker says, carefully turning the turban over in his hands, “A real keeper!” Once he’s had a good look, the turban is passed to Echo, and the ARC trooper says the shell’s a real stunner. Crosshair says nothing, but the way he smiles as he studies the way the light warps and shifts on the surface explains more than enough. 

A teasing smile works its way free when Omega takes the shell back from him. 

“So? Do you like it?”

“Can’t get any better than textbook perfect, I suppose.” he replies, smiling wryly around a toothpick. 

Hunter lays a hand on one of Omega’s shoulders, looking down at her with a soft smile. “Sounds like we should find a special spot for you to show it off, then, Megs.” Now, looking up at his brothers, Hunter says the three words they had become very familiar with before all hell broke loose, once upon a time.

“You boys ready?”

Many hands make light work. Taking it room by room, they lay down rugs, make the beds and fluff up the pillows, and wrestle furniture into place. It would go a lot quicker if there was less fooling around, but making these new memories on what will soon be their first official day in a new house trumps efficiency. 

Phee drops in around mid-morning to check on their progress, finding the six of them piled on the floor, taking a short break in Tech and Wrecker’s room. “Getting tired? Neighbors have said you guys sound like you’ve been having a great time for several hours now.” Arms folded loosely against her chest, their friend is all smiles as Phee gives her report.

Tech adjusts his goggles before he replies. “Decorating a domicile has been more fun than I anticipated.”

Omega’s room is left for last out of the bedrooms, and every item within is a testament of love the people in her life had for her.

They started with the gifts from Phee and Lyana first. The sea glass sun-catcher was hung in a corner of the window, and a soft moon-yo toy was added beside Lula and her trooper doll on the bed. Next, each brother helped Omega fit his contribution to the room in only the most perfect places. 

The traditional telescope Crosshair had found and restored was tucked by the window, alongside other tools for stargazing. The bed frame that Wrecker had worked on longest of all was well worth the splinters when Omega lovingly awed over each embellishment that had been added by hand. The beaded curtains hung around her bed had been fashioned by Echo, worked on each night after she had gone to sleep. Tech gifted her a small set of shelves to display the special specimens she had collected in their travels. And adorning the bed laid the quilt Hunter had commissioned from one of Pabu’s reclusive-yet-crafty artisans, combining the common gray and red tones of Clone Force 99’s armor with the brighter hues found in Omega’s favorite colors. 

In spite of her excitement over her first proper bed since Kamino, Omega avoided climbing on it for fear of getting sand in the freshly-laundered sheets. Besides, they still had parts of the house to finish, chiefly the kitchen and living area, and Omega didn’t want them to lose the current momentum. If they wanted to have things finished by lunch, then they had less than an hour to do it. 

She would have the chance to find out just how comfortable the sleeping arrangements would prove at bedtime. 

Since the two of them had gone down to the beach before dawn, Hunter and Omega opted not to do a part of their nightly routine in favor of making their first night in a proper house an early one. Instead, they stayed with the rest of the Batch, playing a few short rounds of Sabbac or doing other things while waiting on their turn to shower. 

Wrecker would kindly offer to help Omega finish getting ready for bed while Hunter had his turn, but she declined. Her answer was less surprising than she might have expected; Hunter was already halfway to the refresher to get the water going before she had the chance to finish.

“I wanted to ask Tech to help me organize my specimens while waiting for Hunter…”

In good humor, Wrecker chuckles warmly before offering his sister’s hair a careful ruffle. 

“Alrigh’, ad’ika.” 

Ordinarily, Hunter never took long to wash up, but tonight he dawdled a bit more than usual to give Omega and Tech the opportunity to make decent progress. By the time he had dried, dressed, and detangled most of his hair from itself, he found the two of them sitting in the middle of Omega’s room. 

She had changed into a fresh pair of brushed-cotton sleepwear at some point, and was now allowing Tech to finish her haircare for the night. Joining this rather sweet scene, Hunter waits by Omega’s bed, quietly listening as they talk over her collection. Tech, kneeling behind her, is mostly focused on the instructions he is reading over her shoulder on how to start taking better care of the hair-type they have inherited from Jango Fett, the Clone template. 

“This appears to be mostly in chronological order, now. But a few items appear to be… missing.”

“I think some of them are still in your footlockers.” Omega replies, patiently enduring an unpleasant tug from the brush as Tech finds a rather stubborn knot. 

Promising to help her take care of getting the missing items in the morning, Tech asks Hunter to carefully set everything aside on the desk for the time being while he finishes up. He obliges his brother’s request, working quickly as both of them can see how drowsy she’s becoming. Being up before dawn will do that. Once he’s finished, Hunter lifts Omega from the floor, carrying her to bed.  

“C’mere, Megs. Bedtime.” 

He tucks her in, pulling the quilt up to her shoulder after making sure Lula is secure in Omega’s arms. It shouldn’t be long before she’s asleep, so Hunter and Tech don’t linger longer than it takes to say goodnight and shut off the light. 

“Jate ca, Omega.”

There’s little more than a sleepy hum in response. She is well and truly tuckered out. 

Omega sleeps soundly for about an hour before being stirred awake by something outside her window. It’s nothing more than playful moon-yo chatter outside, thankfully. Once they scamper off, she settles back down, but something feels… off. Not necessarily the room itself, but how quiet it is. After living on the run for so long, little more than a curtain between her and her brothers, the utter silence of the room is uncomfortable. Unsure what else to do about failing to fall asleep, Omega climbs carefully out of bed, and slips down to her brothers’ room. 

Hunter stirs before she’s gotten farther than the foot of his bed, waking easily with his keen sense of hearing. “What’s the matter, Megs?” His voice, low and sleepy, is partially muffled by his pillow before sitting up to address the situation. 

“It’s… it’s too quiet to fall back asleep. It’s making me feel uneasy.” she admits in a whisper, squeezing one of Lula’s paws to try to soothe herself. 

“... too quiet?” 

Hunter furrows his brow, wondering why a room being too quiet would make it hard to sleep when you’re sharing a room with someone. Then he remembers that she’s not sharing a room with anyone. She’s been given her own room, and she’s likely not used to being by herself anymore. Of course. All of them, for one reason or another, had forgotten to consider what might happen when she would be sleeping on her own for these new night routines… 

That was their fault, his fault, more than her’s. 

“C’mere, ad’ika. I have an idea.” 

Pillow under one arm and Omega in the other, he carries her back to her bedroom, giving her a choice. “Until we can find a sound machine to help you sleep, I’ll stay with you to help you get used to your room. Now, where do you want me to sleep?” Unsurprisingly, Omega quickly makes space so he can share both her bed and new quilt.

As she pulled it over them, she noticed the backing wasn’t just any old material. Her brothers had taken portions of their old bodysuits, carefully washing the material before donating these pieces to the blanket. Designs dear to them had been stitched in contrasting thread so she would know who particular patches came from. 

In the dark, fingers traced out the words “We’ll always have your back” at the very top of the blanket. The artisan’s neat work made her brothers’ collective loyalty and a promise all the more tangible.

As Hunter lay next to her, it wasn’t long before she was able to settle down again. Holding her close, he listened as her breathing evened out, eyelids growing heavier and heavier. Omega would be asleep before long, but not before she had one last thing to say. 

“Thank you, Hunter…”

“You’re welcome, Omega. Sweet dreams.”

Once she had drifted off, tucking her head under her brother’s chin, Hunter would carefully lay a kiss in the crown of her hair, bidding her to sleep well for the rest of the night. He listened to her for a while longer, quietly grateful that this instance of being unable to sleep was so easy to remedy. Grateful too, in a sense, that that was now among their biggest battles. 

Until their roots were firmer, settling down on Pabu would have a few growing pains. Adapting to change could be hard. Adjusting to new routines could be hard, too. 

But they didn’t have to be, so long as the Batch had each other’s backs.

Thank you for making such a sweet request for this little event Carol. I tried to include most of your ideas without rambling too too much, haha. I hope you enjoyed it! 🩷 (And apologies if the pacing feels a bit "off" in places as things were cut for brevity!)

Fic taglist: @anxiouspineapple99 @dukeoftheblackstar @dystopicjumpsuit @msmeredithrose @lonely-day3636

[Masterlist] [TBB Masterlist] [Taglist] [Requests: OPEN]

[stardustloki]

Being Useful

When Wrecker is injured, the entire Batch agree that he needs time to rest and heal. This is why, when Shep asks the Batch for help with a task that will be sure to make his injuries worse, Omega is baffled when her brothers agree immediately.

The Batch know that they're safe on Pabu. However, they haven't quite understood that their safety doesn't rely on them always making themselves useful.

Tags: Gen, Omega and Wrecker POVs, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending, Found Family, Past Trauma (Kamino was NOT a good place), Non-Graphic Description of Minor Injuries

Read on Ao3 here.

Or under the cut...

“That should do it,” Echo said at last, securing the long bandage he’d wrapped around Wrecker’s torso. “It’ll heal up fine, but-” he fixed him with a stern look- “only if you rest and give the bacta time to do its job.”

Omega watched as Wrecker visibly deflated.

“You mean I’ve got to sit around doing nothing!”

“If you don’t put any strain on your muscles for the next rotation, the bacta will do its job and the tears in your trapezius will heal.” Echo folded his arms. “If you don’t rest them, if you go around lifting heavy things, they won’t heal, and you’ll be bored for much longer.”

Wrecker stared up at the ceiling, letting out a frustrated sigh. “ Fine. ”

“Lyana was going to teach me how to make sushi today,” Omega spoke up. “You could come with me, if you want. It should be interesting, and we’ll be eating a lot.”

As she waited, hoping her brother would say yes, she caught the grateful look Hunter was sending her out of the corner of her eye. Getting any of her brothers to take it slow after an injury in the field had always been a difficult task, and Wrecker, with his boundless energy and need to move, had always been the worst of them. If he said yes to this, at least she knew he wouldn’t put any strain on his back for the next hour or so.

Her brother looked thoughtful for a second, before smiling at her. “Yeah, okay. I guess that could be fun.”

“Awesome!” she replied, feeling the excitement swell within her, jumping up slightly on the balls of her feet.

She waited, hoping she seemed far more patient on the outside than she felt on the inside, as Hunter helped Wrecker get his shirt back on and Echo packed away the medical supplies. Crosshair was sitting on the bench near the door, chewing a toothpick and tinkering with the settings for his prosthetic hand.

Without warning, Hunter seemed to freeze, glancing at the wall of their home, moving his head slowly towards the door, as if tracking someone. A few seconds later, there was a knock. Omega shrugged and went to open it.

Shep was outside, grinning widely at her through the doorway. She couldn’t help but grin back at the man she was slowly coming to consider her uncle.

“Omega! How are you?” he asked.

“Great, thanks. Looking forward to hanging out with Lyana! What about you?”

“Eh, I’m alright. But there’s been a couple problems I’m hoping your brothers will be able to help out with. Can I come in?”

“Sure!”

She stepped aside to let him in, but as she turned back towards her brothers she found herself frowning, brain stuttering in alarm. 

Hunter, Crosshair and Echo were all standing in between Shep and Wrecker. With the way they’d staggered themselves, the pattern appearing almost natural, perhaps to an outsider like Shep it wouldn’t look as if they’d placed themselves in a defensive formation, clearly attempting to shield Wrecker, but to Omega it couldn’t have been more obvious.

What wasn’t obvious, however, was why they were doing it. This was Shep. One of the nicest people they’d ever met. There was absolutely no need to protect Wrecker from him.

“Good morning, how are you boys today?” Shep’s voice was as welcoming as ever, but Hunter was far more guarded when he spoke.

“We’re all fine, thank you.” Omega frowned at Hunter’s words, she wouldn’t class Wrecker as ‘fine’. “How can we help?”

“There’s a house down near the coast, it got damaged real bad in the storm last night. I was hoping you’d help rebuild it. Wrecker would be a real help bringing up some of the building materials from one of the ships in the dock.”

“Sounds good,” Hunter replied. “Just tell us where the house is and we’ll be there.”

Wait, what?

She waited for Echo to speak up, to repeat what he’d told Wrecker just a few minutes before. Neither Echo nor Crosshair opened their mouths to speak. Instead, they watched Shep with neutral expressions, clearly waiting for him to carry on the conversation.

“Awesome, I’ll send you the address on my comm and-”

“Wait, stop,” Omega interrupted, because if everyone was gonna act like they’d lost their minds, at least she could be the voice of reason. “Wrecker can’t help you, he’s-”

“He’s fine, sir,” Hunter cut across her.

She could literally feel herself gaping at him, but he didn’t spare her a glance, keeping his steady gaze firmly on Shep, who surely must be realising this was weird, right? Hunter had just called him ‘sir’, for kriff’s sake. Hunter had never called him ‘sir’.

Thankfully for her sanity, Shep did seem to find this weird, because he was frowning at Hunter, his head tilted slightly.

“If Wrecker’s injured in some way…” he began.

“It’s nothing,” Wrecker said.

“Nothing serious,” Hunter added, the ‘s’ on serious a little too stuttered for Omega to believe that he hadn’t been about to call Shep ‘sir’ again before cutting himself off.

She stared at him incredulously. Not serious? Okay, it wasn’t serious like a blaster wound was serious, or like a chip in your brain was serious. But, even though he’d tried to hide it, she’d known that Wrecker had been in agony before Echo had applied the bacta, and he’d only stop the injury from healing, or even make it worse, if he started lifting things now.

Besides, Shep considered a small cut serious. She knew because of how he’d fussed over Lyana the last time they’d cooked together and Lyana had nicked herself when her knife had slipped. He’d also been way too concerned when Omega had fallen down the stairs during a game of tag with her friend - she’d only had a couple of bumps and grazes after all, they were basically routine on missions! There was absolutely no way he’d consider letting Wrecker hurt himself more by helping - so why weren’t the others telling him?

“If you’re sure,” he replied, an edge of uncertainty in his voice.

“No, he’s-” 

Hunter made a clearly frantic but barely noticeable gesture in battlesign, with one of the hands he was keeping firmly by his side, telling her that she needed to stop, now. She cut herself off, scowling at him.

If Hunter was using battlesign that meant this was important, that his orders needed to be followed. She knew it also meant he must have an explanation for this, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be frustrated, even as she obeyed. It wasn’t her fault his orders made no sense. 

“Omega’s upset because she invited Wrecker to make sushi with her and Lyana,” Echo said, eyes flickering down towards the floor as he struggled with the lie.

Shep fixed her with a kind smile. Omega did her best to look like it didn’t irritate the hell out of her at that moment. “I’m sure he’ll be able to help next time. So,” he addressed the others, “I’ll see you boys in half an hour or so. If anything changes, or you’re not able to help for any reason, just let me know.”

After he’d left, Omega let her brothers feel the full force of her glare.

“What the hell was that?”

She was surprised to hear Crosshair speaking those words, considering they were exactly what she’d been about to ask the four of them.

“I could ask you the same,” she snapped, folding her arms. “Have you forgotten that there are small tears in Wrecker’s back muscles. Do you want him to get hurt worse.”

Crosshair took a step towards her. Omega only narrowed her eyes further.

“Have you forgotten that they allow us to live here, that they protect us from the Empire even after it invaded their home, because we’re useful to them?” He replied. Omega felt her mouth drop open for the second time that day. “Have you thought about what happens when we stop being useful to them?”

“They invited us to live here because they like us, because they care about us!” Omega protested.

Crosshair scoffed, and, as she glanced at the others, hoping that they’d back her up on this, she could see they looked a mix of wary and uncomfortable.

“I’m sure they do, at least a bit,” Hunter told her, voice gentle, as if he was telling her something difficult to hear. Omega supposed it was difficult, if only because they were being so ridiculous. “But they’ll probably like us a whole lot less if we don’t help them.”

“He wouldn’t want Wrecker to be in pain.”

“I’m fine, Omega,” Wrecker said, walking over to wrap her in a hug, which she gracelessly accepted. “I’ve had to deal with worse, way worse. I’ll be back here recovering before you know it.”

“He probably wouldn’t want Wrecker to be in pain,” Echo agreed, “But-”

“There isn’t any ‘but’ to this!” Omega snapped. “He cares about us, he cares about Wrecker. That isn’t going to change because Wrecker can’t help out one time.”

“Sorry, kid,” Wrecker told her, gently ruffling her hair. “You aren’t going to win this one.”

She sighed, allowing her head to rest against his chest. “Fine,” she groaned. “Guess I’ll go make sushi with Lyana myself then.”

The frustration and anger remained within her throughout her walk along the sunny streets of Pabu. It hadn’t abated by the time she reached Lyana’s, not when she was aware that Wrecker should have been there beside her, not walking in the other direction, about to start doing an activity that was only going to hurt him and make his injuries worse.

Whatever Omega might think about Echo’s lying skills, hers weren’t much better, and Lyana could tell something was up almost as soon as she’d arrived. Well, Omega wanted to know the truth, and she didn’t much feel about hiding what had upset her anyway, so once they were both sitting in the comfortable wooden bench on Lyana’s patio, sipping on the smoothies her friend had prepared, she asked Lyana if her dad had ever stopped liking her because she hadn’t helped him.

Lyana was horrified. “No! Why would you even ask that, Omega?”

She shrugged, but felt her heart lighten at the answer. “Has he ever stopped liking someone else?”

“No! Omega-”

“Wrecker’s injured, he’s hurt his back really badly,” she explained, relieved that she’d been correct. “But my brothers think that if they don’t help your dad, then he’s gonna stop being kind to us or something.”

Lyana gaped at her. “But he’d never do that! He loves you guys, we both do!” She thought for a moment, eyes flickering from side to side. “I’ll comm him, let him know what’s going on. He’ll know what to do.”

For the first time in the last twenty minutes, Omega felt like the world was slowly starting to make sense again. And, as Lyana’s call connected to her dad, she let herself smile at that.

Wrecker walked down to the house near the coast, flanked by his brothers on both sides. He felt sad for Omega, for how upset she’d got on his behalf, but really, he’d be okay. Sure, this was going to be difficult, and it was going to hurt, but he pushed through pain on missions all the time. Besides, he knew with absolute certainty that it was going to be nothing compared to the tests the scientists and trainers had put him through back on Kamino. Sooner or later, his injuries would heal and he’d be fine again. It didn’t really matter that making sushi with Omega had sounded nice.

As they approached, Shep waved to them, and they waved back, before making their way down the steps towards him.

“Where do you want us?” Hunter asked.

Shep explained their tasks, one by one, until he got to Wrecker. He passed him the fishing rod he was carrying. “I’d like you to sit on the jetty and catch us some fish for lunch.”

Wrecker could tell by his brother’s reactions that he wasn’t the only one confused by that. “I thought you wanted me to carry building supplies?”

He shook his head. “Change of plans. I got some other guys who’re doing that.”

And, okay, maybe that made sense. But wouldn’t Wrecker’s strength be more useful helping with the rebuilding work instead of sitting around catching fish? He opened his mouth to ask why and was rewarded with a sharp elbow in his left side. Right, Crosshair had a point there, it would be stupid to get himself hurt worse when he was being given a way out.

About half an hour later, Wrecker sat by the sea, holding his fishing rod steady. As the minutes passed, he could feel the pain in his back lessen as his feeling of relaxation grew.

He looked across as Shep moved the bucket of fish backwards, before taking its place beside him.

“Looks like you’ve been doing good work,” he commented.

“I guess.”

“We’re repairing Nixret’s house,” Shep continued, as they both stared across the ocean. “Nix is old, he can’t see, he can barely walk anymore, he relies on the kindness of his neighbours to help him out everyday. But he’s one of the most interesting people I know. Do you think I don’t care about him because he can’t get around by himself?”

“No,” Wrecker replied, brow crinkling. It was obvious that Shep cared, he wouldn’t be organising all this if he didn’t. Then his brow creased further. “Omega told you what we talked about, didn’t she?”

Shep nodded, and Wrecker found himself tensing in a way that sent shocks of pain across his shoulder blades.

“She did, and I’m glad she did. And you should be glad you’ve got such a good sister.” Out of the corner of his eye, Wrecker could see that Shep was smiling at him, eyes full of concern. “You are a part of this community now Wrecker. And that won’t change if you can’t lift heavy objects. I like you because you’re you, not because of what you can do for me. And I’ve been told to tell you Lyana likes you because she thinks you’re her funniest uncle.”

“Oh,” Wrecker said, staring down at the water. He didn’t know what to say. It would probably have been easier to come up with something to say if he’d even known what to think.

“I don’t know what you boys have been through exactly,” Shep continued. “But I know whatever it was, it can’t have been easy. Even so, I’d appreciate it if you told me in the future when helping me out would hurt you.”

Wrecker nodded, still feeling blank.

“Alright then. Shall we get these fish back to the others?”

This right here was easily much firmer ground. “Sounds good,” he replied, managing a smile.

As they walked together, back towards the house his brothers were working on, Wrecker found himself thinking about what Omega had said earlier, and what Shep had said just then. It didn’t feel true, not exactly, and he knew that he’d have to discuss it with Hunter and the others later. But even if it didn’t feel true, that didn’t mean that it wasn’t true.

Maybe, they could be safe here, even when they weren’t useful?

[chaifootsteps]

Hi Chai,

Since I know you are not a transmisogynist, what are some of your favorite transfem characters or characters you hc as transfem?

Btw this is the Malva anon again, I've been sending asks more than once but I realized I may be a regular asker now lol

GL with Bluesky

*Rubs hands eagerly*. Gladly! Let's talk about some ladies!

Rachel Bighead from Rocko's Modern Life

My friend and I were watching this in VC the other night and Rachel's probably my favorite example of how to "trans" a character, especially one that's been around for a long time, right. Nothing about it feels shoehorned or asspulled or like it was done to appease a board somewhere. Ralph's defining characteristic throughout Rocko's original run was being absolutely miserable all the time, no matter how much success in life he achieved, and so when we learn that he went off soul searching and discovered Rachel was the answer? It made perfect, beautiful sense.

Rachel's just...amazing. She's dry as ever, but unflappably confident. She's Ralph at perfect peace, and the journey we see the Bighead family go on? Bev's immediate acceptance, Ed's tearful epiphany that that little tadpole who damaged his retina is still right in front of him, and the three of them hugging? God, this part of the special was so good. Rachel's so good.

Also, I ship her with Rocko like whoa.

2. Grell Sutcliffe from Black Butler

I freaking love Grell. She's absolutely nuts, has an awesome design and a kickass weapon, and was surprisingly poignant and not-meanspirited considering the time period the show came out in. I love how the English dub has her give a kind of orgasmic bird squawk every time something goes right for her. 10/10, would support every last one of her woman's wrongs.

(Incidentally, Grell's one of the reasons it annoys me when people call me transmysogynist based off my opinions on Arcee, because let me tell you, I did my tour of duty back during the Grell Wars.)

3. Jerry/Daphne from Some Like it Hot

First of all, this movie's amazing and if you haven't watched it and don't know the very famous ending, go remedy that right now. And then chase it with this fic. I'll wait.

I'm firmly in the camp that believes Jerry/Daphne is genderfluid, and holy cow, is this a lovely little story of self-discovery and falling in love. It's just so special to me. It makes me smile like a damn fool every single time.

4. Fem!Shep from Mass Effect

Okay, this one's kind of cheating because Shepards are customizable and can be anything you want, but I loved the idea from the get-go. That's in part because fem!Shep's model still moves like male!Shep, and it's especially noticeable when she sits, but it also just kind of feels fitting with a lot of the dialogue options. In conclusion, my Shepard was great and I need to replay that game with Legendary Edition because I miss her deeply.

5. Maevaris Tilani from Dragon Age

Mae's wonderful on so many levels and she's a character I'm very excited to meet face-to-face in Veilguard. She's stunning, an absolute powerhouse, she's good friends with my my beloved Dorian, and her relationship with her late chubs hubby was beautiful. I'm pretty sure she's not going to be romanceable, but if she was, I think my Rook would be doomed.

6. Hana from Tokyo Godfathers

This movie's a treasure and so is Hana. I like that she's old, she's stubbly, she doesn't pass flawlessly, but by god, if anyone deserves to be a mom, it's her.

7. Angel from Rent

Another genderfluid character! At least, that's my best guess. I've always loved that we have no fucking clue exactly what flavor of genderqueer Angel is, that not even the cast seems unanimous on it.

I loved Rent when I was younger, thought it was so deep and profound, and it's kinda not but Angel was easily my favorite character. Still is.

8. The Laughing Cow and the Lactaid Cow

They're cows that don't have udders and they're gay and in love, I don't make the rules.

9. Anode and Lug

Transfem lesbian bots from RiD's (the comic run IDW Arcee is from) much more competently written sister series, they're a demonstration of how to do it right. I like that one transitioned medically and the other didn't. Anode features very prominently in my Arcee fix-it fic and I grew very attached to her while writing it.

10. Marco from Star vs. the Forces of Evil

I'm gonna level with you, I never actually watched this show. But I was very invested in this one back in the day and disappointed when it never came true.

Honorable mention: Art the Clown from Terrifier

While I don't exactly headcanon Art as transfem, there's a fic on ao3 that explored the idea and I kind of dug it. I could see Art much younger, with many possible futures laid out, and that being one of them. I think if something fundamental hadn't broken in his soul/brain, he would have been either trans or a fruity old drag queen, happy as a clam.

Mind you, this is all fanon talk. My jaw would hit the floor with horror if this became canon and Art would go straight on the pile of characters I get yelled at for "misgendering" because if I refuse to swallow rotten food.

[sol-consort]

I think it's really hot how devoted Liara is to shepard, like keeping pieces of her armor and finding shepard's body. Low key they kind of give doomed yuri vibes too idk why.

Liara is the only character who never shows interest in anyone else besides Shepard throughout the whole game. Even if you never get romantic with her, she doesn't go looking for an option B.

Tali and Garrus click together, ashley and James kinda hit it off, trainer's crush on EDI, etc.

Thane used to have a wife, Kaidan deeply loved his ex, Jack and her complicated relationships, Miranda is a serial one night stander.

Everyone had someone else before or after you.

Everyone, except Liara. She never mentions a past lover around you, it's common sense, basic courtesy. She doesn't flirt with anyone else once you reject her, she stays by your side, keeps being her sweet thoughtful and kind self no matter what.

Liara is the epitome of devotion. Shepard and her go through a lot of things together, the whole shadowbroker ordeal, Javik shattering her stained glass view of asari history and religion, only for Shep to be the one to go and comfort her afterwards. Only your words help her see reason again, wasn't it you who comforted her after the passing of her mother, likewise?

While Ashley was struggling to admit her feeling to femshep, refusing the fact she might like a woman. Liara suffered the love of a sick old dog, staying loyal to you no matter what, devoted to your cause. Ready to help you whenever in whatever, praying for you to give her love another chance, waiting paitently for you to see reason one day and realise she was the one who loved you the most.

Even after you were gone, she was the first to act, doing what needed to be done while everyone else was busy mourning or in shock. She fished your body from the abyss of space, offered it to the enemies of the asari, and betrayed her own people! Sold out her own species by aiding cerberus just on the off chance they might succeed in reviving you.

Consequences be damned. She just wanted you back.

[corvusalbus93]

Thoughts & Feelings after the TBB Finale

Loved the show, but there are a couple of things I wish had been different/added. We still got damn good finale; pretty tense at times, action was great, Hemlock died (and Hunter and Crosshair got to do it together. Remember; sharing is caring), the way Rampart and Nala Se met their end, we even had a pretty happy ending for once, lots of good stuff.

However, I am disappointed Rex and his rebellion didn’t really play a part, despite being the reason Echo was gone for so much of the show and the screen time they got in season 2. They were also looking for Tantiss, determined to free their brother, so I’d been hoping Echo would manage to get a message out. Just imagine Rex with his boys showing up clutch, keeping troops occupied, evacuating the prisoners, giving the Batch the opening they need to get to Hemlock or something.

While I like how the show stayed focused on the Bad Batch, and didn’t drag in too many characters from other stories, this could have made Echo’s absence/working with Rex feel more vital. Maybe the Rex-storyline was dropped and they’re saving some of these plotlines for another Rex-centred show; those might also show when Wolffe switched sides or what happened to Cody, after he went AWOL.

Now, am I sad Tech is really dead? Yes and no.

While I am sick of every other character in Star Wars returning from the dead, part of me had hoped he’d survived somehow. As mentioned in previous posts, it felt like he died in the middle of his character arch (which his death certainly didn’t complete); Romar in the first episodes of season 2 gave him inside into the value of culture, and how people weren’t defined by what side they were on during the war. Phee added to this with her own love of history and culture...and then it didn’t go anywhere. They also teased the possibility of a romance with her, but it was ended with an awkward goodbye and we didn’t see her react to his death. She mentions him, but its business as usual for everyone at that point. Tech could have been on vacation the way everyone acted most of the time in season 3.

Seriously, the main reason I’m unsatisfied with his death is the lack of reaction and consequences in this season. Even in the episode he died in, it was kinda overshadowed by Omega’s abduction 5 minutes later. Not to mention that it ended with Emeri revealing she was her sister; you lost a science-inclined sibling with glasses? Well, don’t worry, here’s another. Bit overdramatic on my part, I know, but I really didn’t like that reveal, not at the time. Should have been in season 3.  Though honestly? Emeri didn’t need to be related to any of them; just have her be a not morally bankrupt person and the story wouldn’t have changed. She didn’t need to be related to the other kids to care about them, so what really was the point of her being another clone?

Going back to Tech, it’s a shame we didn’t see Crosshair or Phee react. Like, did Crosshair blame himself for what happened? I’m sure he did on some level, but we have not really seen it. Even in episode 5, when he argues with Hunter, Crosshair says he risked everything to send the message, but Hunter ignored him and allowed Omega to get abducted...but nothing about Tech’s death. They all just silently look down a few episodes later, when Tech is mentioned, and in the final episode Crosshair points out the team died with Tech. It’s something, but I wish there had been more. Maybe show different ways they deal with loss and how to support each other. Maybe Phee and/or Shep show them what funeral rites on Pabu are like, as a way to say goodbye to the departed. Compare how clones and civilians handle death, something like that. We had a little mourning in season 2, but again, was abruptly ended/undercut by Omega’s abduction.

Concerning consequences; the team operated pretty normally, once Crosshair was back with them. I think it would have added weight, if there had been more things they weren’t able to do at all without Tech. Really make his loss be felt/shown in the way they approach their missions, but there was only like one instance, when they were trying to find out about M-count and otherwise they operated pretty much as usual.

Now, even if Tech had survived there still should have been consequences. I have made posts like a year ago, talking about the possibility of him being permanently disabled (e.g. paralysed below hip/unable to walk), but still able to help the team, as his mind has always been his greatest asset. Still, I’m okay with him staying dead, so I’m not going expand on this further here.

Moving on, we never learned why Omega was created the way she was. We know why she was useful for Hemlock, but why did Nala Se made her to begin with? Did she have similar goals/did the Kaminioan have a similar project at some point? Was Emeri like a failed test-version of Omega? Just things I wish they had answered, rather than spending two episodes on finding out what M-count means, something the audience already knows.

Which brings me to my next point: why Ventress was in the show? The Batch found out what the M-count was, which honestly is a piece of information Shand could have given them at the end of her episode. Testing if Omega was force sensitive or the taming of that sea creature, didn’t set up anything in the finale as some suspected, so despite enjoying Ventress’ episode, I wish they’d used the time on other plot points. 

We also never did find out what exactly Project Necromancer tried to accomplish (though we got a good idea), or how close Hemlock was to achieving his breakthrough. Could have added tension, if we’d known how far along he truly was, added catharsis to see him fail so close to his goal.

Overall I’m not quite happy Omega got brought to Tantiss and escaped twice with minimal help (really undermining the place as a whole). Why did infiltrating Tarkin’s “summer home” feel more dangerous/consequential than the secret mountain-base they built up so much? I love we finally got a happy ending, but one named character on the good guys’ side should have died, not just nameless prisoners we only just met. This is where the clone rebellion could have come in, some sacrificing themselves, helping the Batch, or maybe have Phee (who felt underutilised) get shot down, after getting them to Tantiss.

If you’ve seen previous posts, you know I’m pretty mad about what they’ve done with Scorch overall. What happened in the final episode can be summed up like this:

He’s unrecognizable from the games and books, to the point I wonder why they even bothered to include him. He didn’t even really do anything. Was it just because he was recognizable? And where is the rest of Delta? We never got closure concerning Sev and now this, a waste of a pretty fun character.

Speaking of clones working for Hemlock.

While I don’t mind the CX-clones being no one special, they had no personality, and except for CX-2 perhaps, no rivalries with the Batch either. They didn’t even get voice lines, so they looked cool for 5 minutes of screen time and died, but were pretty forgettable overall. They are this far down on my list, ‘cause I legit forgot about them. If only they’d been introduced sooner.

Anyway, those are some of my thoughts. I still like the show and would recommend it to any Star Wars fan, but there were a few things I just needed to get off my chest.

[originalcollectionartistry]

Your Echo fic broke my heart and patched it back up again, the smile it brought to my face I adore him😭💙 I lowkey need a part 2 where they finally get married, a nice moment in the midst of chaos and meeting the Batch? If you’re interested of course!!

When All is Said and Done

Of course there's a part 2 my dear! I've had a lot going on the past few months so I'm sorry this didn't come as quickly as it should have! My next fic is coming quickly which will give context as to why I haven't been writing as much.

Anyways! Here is part 2 to SOS! Some loving fluffy goodness! A little making out but nothing too spicy. Memories of sexy time but non descriptive.

Word count: 2603

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

“Echo! What are you doing?” you laughed.

Your love had been adjusting the flowers for over 2 hours and it seemed nothing was quite right with any of the arrangements, to which you reminded him that Omega had made the flower arrangements. You didn’t want Echo to unknowingly hurt her feelings.

“It needs to be perfect cyare. I’m not letting anything screw this up. We lost too much time already!” Echo responded, while fluffing some greens in a bouquet.

After the fall of Rex’s base of Teth, Echo took you to Pabu where you were properly introduced to his squad. Hunter and Wrecker were all smiles and welcoming and much to your understanding, Crosshair was a little withholding. Echo filled you in on the basics of what his poor brother went through, so you gave the sniper a pat on the shoulder and an assurance that you’d be there when he was ready to talk.

Omega had become your favorite instantly. You felt for her and noticed a trend with Echo and his brothers and sister. Omega hadn’t been actively tortured like Crosshair, but she had experienced her own set of horrors that left mental and emotional scarring and you made sure she felt safe with you. Which she must’ve as she let it slip that Echo was planning a ceremony.

You had cornered him in your new home and asked him what Omega meant. Sighing, Echo finally asked you to marry him, and that the ceremony was just a little get together. You laughed a little, pointing out you had just gotten back together and now he wanted to get married.

“We’ve lost so much time together mesh’la. I don’t want to waste another second.”  He’d said.

So, you started planning a little wedding. Omega was on it when it came to flowers, seating, and guests. You didn’t know many people on Pabu and so asked the young girl if she could limit it to her brothers and a few friends; just not the whole island. You didn’t want to put all the planning on her, but it seemed with Hunter and Wrecker leaving her and Crosshair behind on missions made her bored. Crosshair was fine to stay behind and help you plan while your fiancé was out finishing up some urgent missions. Besides a revolution and a wedding don’t happen by themselves.

Omega had finalised the guest list and the guests she selected made you happy. It was just the boys, Rex, Phee, Shep and Lyana and some other clones you haven’t seen in a while. You were grateful she kept it small. Omega showed you the flower arrangements and the general idea she was going with was beautiful. It was simple, gentle, and elegant. You were happy to let her plan the ceremony. It clearly gave her an outlet to deal with whatever trauma she came back with from Tantiss. It seemed to be helping as the day crept closer and closer.

Which came to today. You were supposed to be getting ready, but Hunter called you to ask for help in getting Echo into his damn suit. You searched your home and Hunter’s, but he was nowhere in the domiciles. You eventually found him by the reception area, zhuzhing up anything he could and making little adjustments to everything.

“Echo, you need to be getting ready. The ceremony is in like an hour. I should be in my dress by now! You need to get into your suit.” You gently pulled him away from a pot, holding his hand and scomp in yours.

“Everything is going to be perfect love. I have no doubts. Now, go get ready!” you pushed him in the direction of Wrecker who had been waiting patiently for you to grab Echo and carried him back to the hut.

Phee and Omega helped you into your dress. It wasn’t much; it was a halter neck in a soft white. It came just below your knees with a floral lace pattern. Your hair was tied back in a lose braid and twisted into a bun. Phee lent you some heels she kept on hand and Omega handed you your bouquet.

“You ready?” Phee asked you, leading you to the door.

“More than you’ll ever know.”

Simple strings accompanied you down the makeshift aisle as tears sprung to your eyes. Seeing Echo, in his formal uniform that you were surprised he still had, made you wish you had done this sooner. He looked so handsome! He’d replaced his scomp link with a fake hand so he could hold both of yours during the ceremony. However, you knew he’d switch back to his scomp tomorrow so you put your ring for him on a chain he could wear around his neck.

Omega and Phee were your maids of honor while Gregor was Echo’s best man. You thought Hunter or Rex would’ve been his best man, but Hunter wanted to give the role to someone Echo had more time with during the war. Rex said he would be the officiant and marry the two of you.

Seeing Echo at the end of the aisle with his closest friend ready to officiate, made tears jump to your eyes. Finally, after so long, you were finally marrying the man you loved.

The ceremony felt like it was both too fast and not long enough. You and Echo were soon exchanging vows and you just wanted to listen to him speak for a long as you could.

“My darling, when we first met I thought you wouldn’t even give a chance to a clone like me. Particularly when there were so many others who had more charisma and experience with women; Jesse and Fives immediately come to mind.”

Everyone chuckled at that, as those two were notorious womanisers. You smiled, remembering the first time you met Torrent company. Jesse had immediately cornered you and was laying the flirt on heavily. You had gently let him down and almost instantly Fives had slid into your space. Those two were so confident in who they were.

“But instead, you went for me. The clone who repeated every protocol, every order, and every plan. Then I screwed it all up. After the Citadel, after Skako Minor, I should’ve commed. I should’ve found you. I let you believe for so long that I was dead when I had just found a new squad. I am so sorry for that mesh’la.”

You nodded, accepting his apology. You now knew he was just scared you would reject his new body, his new scars. But in reality, you would love him just the same. You always would.

“Cyare, my vow to you today is that I’ll never leave you ever again. Even in death, I will find a way back to you in some way. I will forever love you and your amazing mind, your kind and courageous heart, and your steadfast resilience. I only hope I am worthy of your love.”

You swallowed back your tears, your throat tightening as your emotions started to overwhelm you. Rex soon prompted you to speak your own vows. Gods, this was gonna be hard. You cleared your throat, hoping to sound clear for Echo.

“Echo, you silly man. Of course you’re worthy of my love. Considering I never took another lover after you, that should say something. After your ‘death’ I was inconsolable. No one could’ve measured up to you and the love we shared then and continue to share now. I don’t blame you for not calling after Skako Minor. The trauma you’ve suffered would render anyone to their lowest.

That does not matter to me. I love you and will continue to love you. My vow to you Echo is that I will forever have faith in you and our marriage. I will love you and through whatever obstacles come, I will stay by your side. I will forevermore stay loyal to you and your bravery, your gentle and loving soul, and your intelligent and dauntless mind. I will be the answer to whatever echo you send out.”

You exchanged rings as Rex prompted “I dos” out of both of you. Smiling, Rex said the finality of the ceremony.

“It is my pleasure as Captain of the 501st Legion within the Grand Army of the Republic, that I now pronounce you, husband and wife. Brother, you may kiss your bride.”

Cheers deafened your ears as Echo pulled you in close. Your lips met in a passionate kiss, one that would be an example to many of what true love should be.

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

Giggling, you pulled Echo into your room having finally snuck away from festivities. Echo scooped you into his arms, pressing kisses to every part of your face he could reach before dropping you gently on the bed.

Sighing deeply, you both collapsed backwards, laying side by side. The both of you were smiling and laughing, recapping the evening. Recalling every silly happenstance that occurred, including a drunk Crosshair attempting the chicken dance.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Crosshair move like that!” you howled, clutching your stomach.

Echo dragged a hand down his face, wiping a stray tear away. “I honestly lost count of how many whiskies he had. Must’ve been upwards of twenty for him to fail that hard!” Taking a breath, Echo sighed. “Gods, I can’t believe this is real.”

Kicking your heels off, you turned to your side, head propped gently on your hand. “Which part, love? The fact we’re married, or the fact Crosshair is a loud, confident drunk who loses coordination?”

Pulling you closer, Echo nuzzled your hair. “As lovely as the fact we’re married is, a fact I’m still reconciling with, I can’t believe how loud Crosshair gets when drunk.” Stifling a laugh, he squeezed you tight. “For a man who is always so quiet and reserved, he sure becomes loud, crude, and outspoken after 20 Corellian whiskies.”

You grinned, remembering Crosshair’s flailing arms as he attempted the chicken dance, a dance Omega only started as a prank on Wrecker.

You sat up, pulling Echo with you. You started to take your jewellery off as Echo pulled his tie off.

“Darling, did you want to get frisky tonight or just cuddle and pass out?” Echo asked as he started to unbutton his dress shirt.

He honestly wanted to get a little naughty, but it was a big day for both of you and you had had a lot to drink that night. He wanted you to initiate first so he knew your energy levels.

You pulled your hair out of its braid, shaking your locks loose before turning around for Echo to unzip your dress. Your new husband gently pulled the zipper down as you untied the halter around your neck.

“Honestly?” You paused, pretending to think as you turned to face him. Smirking a little bit, you pulled your husband closer by his belt. “I’m down for whatever, husband.”

Matching your smirk, Echo placed his hand upon your hip as he held his cybernetic hand up. A silent question upon his lips, to which you answered by twisting it off and going to pull his scomp from the drawer. You could see Echo about to question you as you twisted the scomp back in and you immediately pressed your lips to his.

“My love, I want to have all of you tonight. Scomp included.” You kissed him again, lingering a little longer. “But, if you really want to use the hand tonight, I’ll switch them back.”

“No. I just wanted to make sure you wanted the scomp. It’s not the easiest thing to use in the bedroom.”

You rolled your stockings off, giving Echo a little show of the lingerie you chose for tonight. “Oh, please my dear. I believe I have found plenty of uses for that scomp in the bedroom!”

Echo’s face flushed at the memories of your usage of his scomp. Since your reconciliation, you had found a myriad of ways to use his scomp, to the point where Echo had considered asking Tech if he could add a neuro pathway so he could have sensation on his scomp… and maybe a bit of vibration too. Course he never did ask… life got busy, and you were too embarrassed to have Echo ask.

“Yes, ahem, I am intimately familiar with your methods my love.” Echo came up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist.

You let your head fall back onto his shoulder as you felt Echo drop his lips to your shoulder. Gently, you allowed your hips to start swaying back and forth which eventually became the two of you swaying together as if you could hear music. It was quiet, intimate. A moment that told the both of you that the day had been action packed and it was finally just the two of you. For once, the world had hit pause, and nothing mattered but you and Echo.

Wordlessly, you turned to face your husband. Your eyes shone with adoration, sparkling in the Pabu moonlight. Brown-gold irises reflected back the same twinkle of love. That was your favourite feature of his. His eyes were warm, kind and full of loyalty. Never did they seem cold or harsh. Those eyes would never hold contempt, never for you. They always held a pinch of mischief, ready to pull pranks and break rules, yet in battle they became hard with determination.

You remembered a time he came to your quarters on Coruscant after a five-month deployment. He hadn’t even been to his barracks yet. He marched off the ship with the 501st, left the Republic Military base, and blindly found his way to your apartment. His gaze was steel. You wondered if he even saw you or was looking through you. Echo stalked into your kitchen, dropped his helmet, turned around back to you and the look in his eyes caused a chill to run your spine. His eyes burned with the heat of battle and an ever-growing heat for you.

Now, you could see that same heat growing alongside the love he held now. You were certain your eyes were the same. Echo pulled you closer, using his scomp to lift your chin so your lips could meet in an ever-growing passion. Tongues clashed as your arousal grew before you felt Echo gently lay you down on your bed. He followed suit, kissing every piece of skin he could find before jokingly collapsing on top of you.

“Oof!” you exhaled suddenly. “Doll, I can’t breathe!”

Echo nuzzled your neck, leaving kisses on the exposed skin. “Mhmm, but you’re so comfy though!”

Laughing, you wrapped your arms tighter around him, forcing him closer. It was becoming clear, that as much as you both wanted to get down and dirty and consummate the marriage, you were both exhausted. You had drunk and eaten both your body weight, danced almost non-stop, and laughed at Crosshair’s drunk tomfoolery.

“Cuddles?” you murmured.

“Cuddles,” your loved echoed. “I just realized how beat I am.”

Nodding in agreement, you crawled under the covers, gently nudging Echo to join you. Once he was, he pulled you into his side, before gently running his fingers through your hair. You sighed contently, tracing his chest with your fingertip, rounding the ports in his pectorals.

Slowly, his breathing steadied and soon he was out cold. Pulling the covers up to your chests, you gave Echo’s cheek a kiss before you settled yourself into sleep. As long as you had your Echo, you knew everything would be alright.

___________________________________________________________

Hope you enjoyed my lovelies!

[locitawritingsblog]

Take The Moment and Taste It

Chapter 8

Emerie followed Echo to their ship "Do we get an urgent call from Rex or Senator Chuchi ?" He shook his head "No. I just want to show you something." He looked around inside the box which Emerie was wonderining whatever was it, must been important to him.

Then he found something, it was a square dark blue thing with a white handprint but has a lot of fillings.

"Before holograms were discovered, people used to wrote this out on this thing. This is called a journal." He passed his journal to Emerie.

Emerie never seen a thing like this before. She had been using a datapad for her whole life. This journal was pretty dusty and getting old so she had to be careful to open it and see a page by page as Echo telling her.

"Journals are usually by some people to express their experiences , feelings and your personal thoughts. I've been writing on this since I was rescued by Rex and The Bad Batch."

She nodded then read "When I figured out I was a survivor from such a terrified machine that I've been hooked for a long time, I also figured out all good men I've been known were fallen. If I was the last domino squad member, I needed to find my own place or for this case, a squadron were rescuing me but I needed to prove them what I do to fit in and I decided to join this unfinished business along with them, as well as Rex and General Skywalker."

"I understand your purpose using this journal to express your personal thoughts without involve the other knowing." Emerie said.

Echo replied "That's right. It has been helping me to deal of my traumatized experience on the past and I think it would be a good start for you as well." He passed another journal with a dark green cover on it.

Emerie was surprised as she acceppting it "Now, you can express all your personal thoughts right here and you don't tell me anything at all. Everybody has their own personal spaces but only some people might make you comfortable to talk about those things, alright ?"

She nodded as smiling at him "Thank you Echo. I will use this for my social attachment drill." "Oh, I suggest to have a secret spot to put your journal for your personal safety." She nodded again.

Suddenly they heard some people were carying some stuffs somewhere. "Did you ask these people to help ?" Emerie asked.

Echo responded "No but Hunter told me these people are resilient when comes to helping hand. Let's find out what is going on out there."

As they were out from the ship, Wrecker carried some carpets "Hey guys, have you heard there will be Kamari's homecoming tonight ?" They shook their heads "No. What is all about ?" "Oh, Kamari said she would sing few songs to entertain all these people including us."

"Sing ? I never heard that word before." Emerie admitted.

"Well, I heard singers are making musical voices with music on and words with a set tune." Wrecker said.

Then Kamari appeared "Hey guys !" They waved at them as she asking Wrecker "Did you tell them about my homecoming tonight ?" "Yeah, we were just talking about it. We are excited to hear your musical voices."

Kamari chuckled "Oh, Wrecker."

Next, she stared at Emerie "By the way, Shep asked me to give this for you." She passed a box to her. Emerie opened the box and saw inside. It was a green dress with a purple tight in the middle.

"Hope it fits for your size and if it's not, I'll let him know to switch."

"That's... very kind of you, thank you."

"You're welcome. Gotta go to practice. See you all tonight at the sunset." Kamari waved at them.

Few hours later...

Emerie worn a green dress that she just got and looked through the mirror. This dress looks so nice to her with flower patterns around but she also felt she didn't deserve any of this.

Then she heard a door knock. "Emerie, are you ready ? The party's gonna be started !"

"I am almost ready, Omega but I need your favor so you are allowed to come in."

When Omega entered her room, Emerie was surprised that she worn a same dress as her but different colors. Her dress was blue with a pink tight around it.

"Wow ! Looks at us, we're wearing the same dress ! We must have a secret sister code or something !" Omega cheered.

Emerie gave her sister a smile "I am uncertain about that."

"Well, how can I help you ?" Omega asked.

"Do you think this one matches with the dress I am wearing right now ?" Emerie showed Omega a necklace that she made few days ago when they hung out with Lyana and Kamari.

"Ooh...you should wear that. The color will match with your dress."

"Alright then." She worn a necklace around her neck and stared back at the mirror. "You look beautiful. Kamari will be happy you're wearing that for her homecoming party."

Emerie sighed "I hope so."

"Omega ! Emerie ! Come on ! The sun's setting ! We're gonna miss our best spot !" Wrecker called them.

"We're coming ! We better go !" Omega pulled Emerie to catch up with the others.

Taglist: @photogirl894 , @leosardonyx18 , @commander-tech , @cassie-fanfics , @zaya-mo , @genericficerblog , @kanerallels , @aesira-of-orion , @twinsunstars

[atiianeishaunted]

something i threw together before i go on vacation to give some incentive for people to get into this dumbass au thing i got goin on, the premise sounds insane but once you let go of any common sense its pretty chill over here . i swear !!!! ignore how i type liek a 13 year old on deviant art btw im cringe but free.....

some funfacts to make this ,. worth reading plus to give context:

this started because one of my ex best friends was REALLY into danganronpa and we were rp partners for a hot minute and liek . i ended up having a dream that kazuichi souda and keith kogane went to the mall together, told them about it n we were liek "hah thats funny" n then the danganronpa au was born even though i wasnt even into it at the time (became a major hyperfix and still is :'/)

the reapers canonically do fall within different age groups, all have unique deaths which play into their designs somewhat, uhh liek sheepdog got drowned and he has a lot of blue in his design, rein froze to death and also. is blue.,,,, a surprising amt of blue in these bitches ?.

sheepdog is a fan favorite and also alot of his fans turn out to be some flavor of freak and not in the funpilled way :( .. SIGH

when i mention fan favorites n fandom i mean on pixilart dot com i am .. heh a bit of a celebrity /j [i only have 5k] [ive been on there for liek 7 years atp

theres a whole prequel to the reaper project that follows an artifical god, and also theres technically 3 fake nations i made for this but like 1 of them is a pangea of the other two, also fake religions n cultures YIPPEEE

the reaper concept started with morse because i texted my friend red at liek 2am or smth n was liek "keith kogane corpse theory" and then i was liek "that sounds kind of epic" n now we are here ,,,,

one of my MAJOR dreams is to like see people with reaproj layouts, i make custom art for it n everything so if you end up getting into this request ur fav ill do it man

feel free to ask me questions or what have you, glad to answer, in fact begging for people to get into this i want friends !!!!!!!! and silly people in my phone!!!!!!! also this has been ongoing for liek 5+ years atp ,,,, unfortunately my special interest i fear but like s so epic i SWEARR, theres a lil smth for everyone, theres probably a reaper for your fandom, maybe, hence, the fandom tags, tried to tag every reaper's source media

^ do you see how many bitches there is in here!!!!!!!!! look at that!!

^ heres a further wip el oh el look theres morse and keith kogane normalpilled version, youve seen those two ! i think! sorry in advance if u were jus lookin for cool fanart n stumbled upon this but what is up, im lee,, i make cool art sometimes, known to haunt pinterest with a certain version of shep

anyway if u read all this ily hello! ur free to comment wtf or whatever, i encourage you to express whatever feelings of bafflement you may have, kissing u on the forehead

[katara-stan-club]

Talking over the Ventress episode with my mom has (I think) solidified that as much as I liked Ventress and love the fight sequence, it really felt like the middle of the season got derailed just to have Ventress show up and maybe tease a Ventress show? Whether it be how she survived as part of Tales of the Jedi s2 or in a new spinoff show about The Path or something, this appearance didn’t feel natural for TBB to us. Granted, maybe by the end of the season we’ll feel differently and be eating humble pie, but that’s where we stand right now.

More rambling under the cut, you have been warned.

Like it really feels that they specifically had Rex not know what an M-count is just so Ventress could show up and say it, which feels a little :/ come on now. Between Rex possibly having contact with Ahsoka and being the Captain under Anakin “The Chosen One” Skywalker, it feels very odd to have him NOT know what the hell M-count could be.

It’s also frustrating from a narrative perspective to have 2 episodes dedicated to the gang finding out what M-count means, when we the audience have known what it meant since it was first mentioned! I would’ve been fine with Fennec saying at the end of last episode something like “All I know is M-count is something to do with the Jedi, so good luck with whatever you need that info for cause the Empire will never let it go”, and then the Ventress episode could have instead been “well is it safer to stay on Pabu and hope the Empire doesn’t know where we are, or are we endangering all these people’s lives by being here? Can we ever have a stable place to live, or should we constantly be on the run from the Empire, thus painting a bigger target on us by giving us more opportunities to run into them?” But by having both episodes be “what could M-count mean for Omega?” and basically tell us what we already know: they are never gonna be safe from the Empire because they will never stop looking for Omega, it feels like a lot of ground was lost that could have been dedicated to other things, like letting Omega interact with characters other than Crosshair.

Also it’s such a weird episode cause they kinda had to avoid the whole Ventress died thing because that would bog down the episode by confusing people who hadn’t read The Dark Disciple, but it leaves people who know about it hanging with how the hell it happened?? Like there’s that one line about many lives but it doesn’t really answer anything, which is whatever but at the same time super frustrating cause it feels like such an unnecessary can of worms to open? Especially in the last half of the last season of a show that’s already got A Lot going on.

I do wonder how different I would’ve felt about this episode if it had been Quinlan instead of Ventress, because A) he’s not dead and B) we already know he’s got Stuff he’s doing (The Path) so it’s not unreasonable to see hints of it early on in the reign of the Empire. Also having another character of color come back would’ve been nice, since we STILL haven’t actually seen Phee outside of one singular holocall this season, let alone any sighting of Shep and Lyana.

[zenrobbins0021]

Across the Galaxy: Chapter 5

Hunter x OC 18+ (warnings given before certain chapters)

Please feel free to comment! They make my day.

Omega tapped her foot impatiently, her warm eyes shifting to look at me as we made eye contact. She gave a good-natured eye roll as she listened to Hunter kneeling beside her to give her instructions. 

“I know.” She interrupted, “Stay with Shep and Lyana, don’t leave without comming you first, don’t let strangers inside the house, and go to bed.” 

“Don’t roll your eyes at me, little miss.” Hunter rebuked gently, “All we are trying to do is keep you safe.” “Yes sir.” Omega replied before resting her hands on his pauldrons. Hunter’s eyes softened as he looked at her, letting out a short chuckle before wrapping his right arm around her shoulders and bringing him to her in a hug. 

“Don’t wait up for us, there’s no telling how late we’re going to be.” He instructed, straightening and focusing his attention on me. Omega gave me a huge hug, “Don’t let them intimidate you.” She whispered in my ear, “You’ll get through their initiation. Besides, Wrecker and Echo will take it easy on you because they want you on the squad so badly.” “Oh yeah?” I whispered back, “You saying that Tech and Hunter won’t pull their punches?” “Tech is too by the book. And Hunter won’t compromise the unity of the squad by compromising on an initiation.” Omega darted a quick glance at her oldest brother whose back was turned, waiting for me outside the main door. “Even if he does like you a lot.”

I was surprised at that last comment. Echo had sometimes had a knowing glint in his expression when he saw us on our daily walks but Omega had been the first one to confirm my suspicions that maybe there was something more to what Hunter and I were letting on. Maybe we were close friends now; I couldn’t let my imagination run wild at the thought of us being something more. 

“Noted.” I pushed her blonde hair back from her forehead and pressed a quick kiss to her skin, lightly tapping her on the butt with my toe as she scurried off, “Now get out of here, you rascal.”

I joined Hunter outside and I noticed his quick, observant gaze drop down as he took in my clothes. I had moved away from my looser fitting, cool-toned colors and opted for a tunic that matched the red bandana  wrapped permanently around my right arm. Both Omega and I had commandeered some of Hunter’s old bandanas, an unspoken tangible attachment of the connection we had with Clone Force 99. Hunter had never indicated that he had noticed but now his eyes lingered on the fabric encircling my forearm and I saw the frown in his expression relax. 

“Ready?” He asked as I nodded. “I won’t take it easy on you, you know.” “Omega already warned me. I can handle it.”

Hunter’s eyes glimmered but he said nothing as we walked towards one of the local bars, his hand moving to guide my elbow towards the inside of the busy street. 

Hunter stood a little beyond the crowd of people that was watching Iona and Tech sitting at the bar, his arms folded across his chest with his stance slightly widened in his usual ready-to-go position. Iona had held on longer than he had expected, matching each of his brother’s in every challenge they presented to her. Tech slid a glass of neon green liquid across to Iona, raising his own glass and tapping it against hers lightly as he raised his voice over the din, “What is one of the class of shuttles used by the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars?” 

“What?” Iona sputtered, “Why would I even know that?” “Ten seconds.” “Tech-” “Nine seconds.” Tech said louder, his warm brown eyes glinting with amusement as Iona scrambled. 

“One of the class of shuttles used by the CIS is, uh, Sheathipede-class Type B?” 

Tech paused for a moment before lifting his glass and raising it to his lips, “That is correct.”

“HA!” Iona leapt up, nearly spilling her own cup as she hopped up and down on one foot in triumph, “That was the fifth answer I got right, I’ve passed!” “Fifth out of ten.” Tech added, coughing slightly as he put down the empty glass. The crowd roared and the bartender began pouring more shots into glasses across the glossy surface of her bartop. Iona lifted one hand up in the air as she drank her own glass, despite Tech’s protests that he had lost the question and that it was unnecessary for her to drink, as she had won. 

Hunter’s dark eyes dropped inadvertently down the length of her throat, watching as the liquid moved smoothly down as Iona drank. She finished her glass, shaking her hair back across her shoulders slightly and the movement caused warmth to spread from Hunter’s chest all the way down to his stomach as she turned, flashing him a bright smile. 

“Uh oh.” Wrecker shouted, pumping a fist in the air as Hunter walked slowly over, “Ten credits that you’re going to break under Sergeant’s tests, Iona!” Iona had a familiarly determined expression on her face, holding her ground as Hunter stopped right in front of her with his chin tilted down to look at her, 

“You’re on.” She replied to Wrecker confidently, her aqua eyes snapping with a fire that could not be extinguished. 

For a minute, Hunter and Iona stood with unbreaking eye contact and it was a game to see who would break first. Hunter could feel her heart racing, sense her pulse bounding as her chest lifted and sank with every deep breath she took. Her warm, familiar scent was somehow more enhanced with the heat of the bar and his body unconsciously leaned forward a degree, wanting to be closer. His arm brushed against hers and Iona’s eyebrows lifted briefly before she controlled her expression, doubling down stubbornly as her lips tightened in determination. Behind them, Wrecker whispered loudly to Echo, 

“Geez, is it getting hot in here to anyone else or what?”

Iona’s eyes shifted for a split second at Wrecker’s comment and Hunter took advantage of the distraction, his right hand flashing to the vibroblade strapped to the outside of his left forearm as the blade hummed to life. Iona moved just as quickly, ducking under his raised arm and rolling as the knife struck against the bar where she had been standing. Ignoring the screams of the crowd, Hunter turned around to find Iona with her own blade drawn in a ready position. 

“You’re going to have to be faster than that, Sergeant.” Iona called out, her fingers twirling the weapon in her left hand. Hunter let out a gruff chuckle before bending his knees slightly in a crouch, “Just seeing if you were paying attention.”

The next few minutes, Iona matched Hunter par for par, step by step, in a dangerous dance. Keeping in between the tables and chairs that had formed a make-shift arena, the two blocked and dodged each other’s movements perfectly in sync. Iona was as graceful as a deer, her long limbs moving seamlessly around every one of Hunter’s attacks and he felt a twinge of pride at the progress she had made from his lessons. 

“Come on, Hunter!” Echo called out from his seat on the countertop, “Stop pulling your punches.”

Hunter reached up, halting Iona’s descending blade with a firm grip on her wrist and he pulled her closer, twisting her arm behind her back as he pulled her into him. He rested his chin on her shoulder, watching as she turned her face to look at him backwards as she struggled to free her arm. 

“Omega said you wouldn’t take it easy on me.” Iona said breathlessly, her cheeks flushed in the dim lighting as she fought him. Hunter kept just enough of a grip to make sure her blade was incapacitated but not enough to hurt her. Years of strength and training had the clone very in tune with his own capabilities and the last thing he would have wanted was to physically harm her. 

“You’ve still got training wheels on.” He answered back, suddenly aware of how close she was to him, “You forget that I’ve used these blades for years.” “And you forget that I hate to lose.” Iona shot back before Hunter felt her wrist flex and his eyes dropped down between their bodies just in time to see her drop the blade from her left hand into her waiting right. At the same time, she twisted, making his thumb give way as she moved from his grip and attacked again. Hunter dodged, backing up half a step before meeting her blade with his own, the sound of metal on metal ringing throughout the bar as the audience roared. As quick as a flash, Hunter rotated his core and with an expert eye and with a flick of his wrist, his weapon left his fingers. It hummed through the air and with a thud, it pierced the handle of Iona’s knife and pinned it against the wall of the bar, quivering and handle-deep in the metal. The crowd screamed and rose from their chairs, the sound of glass clinking and individuals yelling for their winning bets echoed throughout the building but for Hunter and Iona, the noise was barely noticeable. 

Hunter didn’t even realize his feet were moving until he was toe to toe with the medic, looking down at her as she stared wide-eyed up at him. Almost as if she were in a daze, Iona followed the movement of his arm as he held out his hand to her. She took it, her fingers sliding around his wrist in their customary salute but this one felt different than any of their handshakes. The air between them hummed with energy and it was like Iona’s touch traveled from Hunter’s hand all the way down to his toes. 

“You did well.” He told her quietly, speaking close to her so she could hear over the noise, “Better luck next time?” “I know better than to try and beat you in combat.” Iona replied, “I guess it’s a good thing you’re on my side, huh?” Hunter gave her a sideways smile before turning to face the crowd, lifting her arm up with his, 

“We got another member of the team, boys.”

I had just enough time to take a deep breath before Wrecker scooped me up into his arms, lifting me high onto his shoulder in triumph. I grabbed his shoulder pauldron as far down as I could reach for stability, ducking so my head wouldn’t touch the ceiling as he paraded me up and down. Effortlessly, the huge clone set me back down on solid ground where Echo clapped me so hard on the back that the wind got knocked out of me. 

“Congratulations, cadet.” He grinned, “Welcome to the family.” “Thanks, Echo. Feel like another drink?” 

“Absolutely.” 

Tech had already ordered another round, adjusting his goggles as he gave me a proud smile, “I had no doubt that you would excel at whatever we threw at you. Even if you didn’t succeed all the time.” I rolled my eyes, “The day I best your brains is the day that hell will freeze over, Tech. Still, I appreciate the compliment.”

As the night went on, more patrons began to trickle out but the Bad Batch lingered, swapping stories and enjoying each other’s company. I was acutely aware of Hunter leaning against the bar behind me, the back of his arm against my back as his hands gripped the cool countertop. He made no move to remove his arm and I made no move to lean away; in a way, it was comforting to know that he was so close because he had been uncharacteristically quiet tonight. My eyelids started to get heavy and when I stood, my head felt swimmy and I had to reach blindly for the back of my chair as the dizziness kicked in.  

“Whoa there.” Hunter’s gravelly voice floated into my consciousness and I raised my head, looking into his concerned expression that had suddenly become fuzzy. “Sit back down, Iona.” “I have to pee.” I explained. “Really badly.” “I’ll take you then.” “You can’t follow me into the ladies’ room.”

A chuckle rumbled from Hunter’s chest and his hand still pressing against my back in between my shoulder blades was the only steady thing in the room currently. 

“I’ll bring you in and then leave.” He promised. 

“Judging off of her slurred words, imbalance, and reddened cheeks-” Tech had his visor lowered, peering at me curiously, “Iona is quite intoxicated at the moment. Perhaps it would be best if Hunter stayed with you while you relieved yourself.” “I am not peeing in front of Hunter.”

“Maybe it’s time to go home.” Echo offered, his gaze moving between the leader of his squad and the medic, “We can clean up here.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” I agreed, thinking of the cool sheets and breeze floating through the open window in my bedroom. 

“Thanks, boys. I’ll comm if we need anything but for now, I’m going to bring Iona home.” “See you ladder, boss.” Wrecker smacked Hunter on the back but leaned down to give Iona a swift peck on the cheek, “Welcome to the Bad Batch, Iona.” Iona smiled slowly, her reaction time slower than normal as she reached for Wrecker and leaned her forehead against his chestplate in an affectionate headbutt, “G’night Wrecker.”

“Come on, now.” Hunter gently herded her out the door, keeping a steadying hand on her back as the cool Pabu air hit their faces. “Let’s get you home.” 

[finallygaveintothesirencall]

8, 18, 28 and 38 from the fifty more shep questions if you’re taking em!

I am ABSOLUTELY still taking them if anyone wants to send any in. Thank you so much for sending these!!!!

Questions taken from here.

Other questions answered here

Sticking with Serena (Infiltrator who gets given biotics by Cerberus (against her will)) and Seamus (engineer).

8. Does your Shepard like to be alone? Are they prone to isolate?

Serena:

She absolutely likes to find a nice quiet spot to hide on whatever ship she's on from time to time. After being around people so much growing up and then going straight into the Alliance, privacy and being alone is something of a luxury that she likes to indulge in. During 2, she's definitely prone to isolate due to being on a Cerberus ship, and I think in 3 as well during the Tuchanka arc because she doesn't want to get in the way of Wrex and Eve (even though there's nothing to get in the way of, she isn't about to do ANYTHING to jeopardize Wrex getting to be a father).

Seamus:

Seamus HATES being alone. While it seems like he should enjoy being alone as a quiet lil engineer nerd, the opposite is true. A lot of his childhood was spent by himself, and after he met and grew to trust people in the Alliance, he ABHORS that absence. Being around people he doesn't trust feels like being alone to him, so 2 is rough until after he bonds with Ken and Gabby more. The only times he'll isolate is if he feels like he's been foisting himself on people too much, and thinks he needs to give them space.

18. Obligatory gang beach episode! What’s Shepard doing?

Serena:

Swimming in the ocean, scouring the sand for pretty shells. Once she's gotten a lot of therapy post-war, trying to use her biotics for body boarding and the like. I think she very much ditches everyone to just have some quality time with the unforgiving force of the ocean.

Seamus:

Slathering on sunscreen while wearing UV protection clothes. Baby boy is very fair-skinned Irish, he was not built for this. Jack is having a fantastic time trying to force the ocean waves to crash the way she wants with her biotics, and he's just enjoying watching his woman. Ashley and Kaidan do drag him into a game of beach volleyball, which he gets VERY into.

28. Who is your voicecast for Shepard? Is it Jennifer Hale/Mark Meer? Do they have an accent?

Serena:

I don't really have one for her, but I don't think it's Jennifer Hale. Something to think about!

Seamus:

Robert Sheehan's natural speaking voice. His first language is actually Gaelic, which his mom spoke to him while he was growing up

38. If Shepard is dropped into the middle of the wilderness for a week, how do they handle it?

Serena:

It can't be worse than N training, but she's EXTREMELY annoyed about how much more food she has to find for her stupid biotic metabolism

Seamus:

He's not mad, just inconvenienced. It's fine, really it is, but does it have to be for a week?

[tunastime]

hey tuna ^-^ do you have other rare pairs you like ^-^

(I'm giving you the mic to ramble as much as you want hehe ^-^_ 🎤)

hiiiiiiii artsy :3

so I actually sat and thought about this all night and into the morning today to think about this because I really need to get MORE than I already have. because I love to provide <3

recently got on the casual cleosuma train as you know because I really love how cleo and xisuma interact so playfully with each other. and I think cleo cares a lot about their friends in general and the way they show it is sometimes not so obvious/kind of mixed into how they act with people in general. i think it's also what makes cledubs so intriguing, because cleo is just kind of playfully mean to their friends and collects these (often argumentative) guys they can mess with. they're very "yes and" to me. I like the dynamic a lot, and I think cleo wouldn't let xisuma beat himself up at all.**

I don't think it counts but I fell very deeply very quickly into exhels, which I assumed was a lot more popular than I later found out on ao3 LOL. I think all that needs to be said is they should not be with anyone else. their toxic yaoi is there own <3

um. looks around. been getting really into uh. welsno. I'm afraid I'm not allowed to speak much on the topic lest someone bite me but I really like how hypno kind of brings out wels' silly. wels is already a cheerful guy with a pranking streak, but I think when it comes to hypno he's willing to go above and beyond rules lawyer with him, which I loved in season 10 so far. them being neighbors changed me. I think they would gossip with each other.

and if it wasn't already clear, tangtho is so near and dear to my heart. yes they are friends. but I think they could also be not just friends. I think redstoners should fall in love, and I think etho and tango match each other's freak very well. there's something between them that just kind of clicks with how they handle intricate redstone projects and how they build, and I feel like they understand how each other's minds work really well. plus etho's obsession with decked out and now he has the minigame curse. telling!

if it counts at all, since it was the only yogs related ship I could think of, shep and myke got me horribly into bangarry (bedgar/angorytom/brryhrry (ben, tom, and harry)) and I'm still here fawning over them. I think they're a criminally underrated trio and there's something wrong with them. they're also only together because shep and myke said so and then brought me along for lore reasons. <3

**kind of partially related to xisuma and co, but I found after watching stress I think her and xisuma kind of sound similar! and I started to run with a sibling theory that i think more people should investigate :3c

OKAY! that unfortunately was all I could think of and is dreadfully lacking in lesbians. please submit to me all of your favorite ships so I may partake in the joy of knowing them. this has been a tunastime PSA.

thanks artsy!!!!!

[literallyjustanerd]

The Sun Still Sets In Summer

Omega wants to join The Rebellion, and Hunter must learn to let go.

Fresh off the finale, and the epilogue got me feeling things. Mostly feeling that Hunter would not have let Omega go without a whole lot of struggle first.

This is just part one, the finished fic will have a chapter for each season :) I really wanted to explore Hunter's state of mind and thought process when faced with Omega growing up and wanting to leave for The Rebellion.

Set post-TBB finale, beware of spoilers!

Words: 1,022 Content: angst, communication issues, overprotective dad Hunter, implied PTSD

The sun is still warm, though the wind carries a slight chill. Just enough to nip at Hunter's fingertips, an omen of the coming winter. Still, he keeps the window open for the view. Pabu is ablaze with reds and yellows, the changing leaves incandescent under the setting sun. 

He’s enjoying the warmth on his face when Omega enters, laden with a heavy basket of produce from the market.

“Careful with those. You look like you’re about to tip over,” Hunter chuckles, only briefly glancing up from the filleted fish on the cutting board.

“Lyana says it's a good harvest this year,” Omega replies brightly. She sets the basket down next to the fish with a barely-disguised grunt, and hops up to sit on the counter. “Even the meilooruns are cheaper than usual.”

“Don't tell Wrecker, they'll be gone in a day,” Hunter jokes. “Get down from there and help me with dinner.”

Hunter had never thought of himself as someone who would enjoy routine, let alone thrive on it. But in the years since they had found their peace on Pabu, he has been lulled by the simple, easy rhythms of daily life, found comfort in the small rituals they create. He rises early in the morning. He works, he tends the garden. He sews patches in his family's worn clothes. And he's never been happier. 

Omega hops off the bench and pulls out a pot to start on the vegetables. As she does, she flicks on the subspace radio and tunes it to her usual station. The music puts a bounce in her step as she slices the vegetables and sets them in the pot to stew, and Hunter can't help but smile. It’s a familiar song, a tawdry pop tune Hunter had always found overloud and irritating. A favourite of Omega’s, though, and she hums along as they work side by side. The moment is mundane, like so many thousands over the last five years. They have never stopped feeling like blessings. 

“Wrecker and Cross should be back from the docks soon,” Omega says, giving the pot a shake. “Think they were going to help Shep repair some of the ships after their haul.”

Hunter adds the first fish to the pot as the song fades out. It's replaced by a news bulletin, read in a strong, stern voice. 

At the first mention of Ryloth, the sun's warmth is stolen from the room. Hunter glances to the side: Omega's hand has tightened on the pot handle, frozen in place. There's an anxious flutter in Hunter's ear: Omega's pulse has quickened. The radio speaks of the smothered rebellion on Ryloth as a cause for celebration. The announcer espouses the joy of a coming peace, of unity within The Empire's broad embrace. Under the flowery language, Hunter can hear the Twi’leks’ desperate struggle for freedom.

‘Rebel extremists have attempted to retake the system's capital, though losses have been minimal. Sources say Imperial casualties are far outweighed by those of the insurgents.’

“I've been speaking to Hera.”

Omega's words bring a lump to Hunter’s throat. She's not looking at him, not even facing him. Her words are icy around the edges. “It's getting really bad out there.” 

He can't say he hasn't been expecting this for some time. But not now. Please, not now. He's not ready. 

“Omega—”

“They need pilots. The Rebellion are doing what they can, but people are still suffering.”

“The Rebellion will find its volunteers. People will go. Your place is here,” Hunter says, his tone clipped. The scrape of his knife against the fishscale grates against his nerves. It only drives his hand harder on the blade. 

‘Imperial reports predict that the rebel terrorists on Ryloth will be eliminated within the month.’

“People out there are suffering. They’re giving their lives. How am I supposed to sit here when I know I could be helping?”

The sun through the window is losing its battle against the horizon. The room has begun to dim, the light turned cold and blue. 

“It's not safe for you out there.”

“I know it's not! That's the point, I—”

“I said no, Omega!” Hunter’s knife impales the cutting board, cleaving the fish's neck from its body. His words are harsh, a barking command, and it feels discordant, out of place. Hunter hasn't used that voice in years. Not since the battlefield. As much as he instantly regrets the outburst, it still has its desired effect: Omega has fallen silent, her protests all but dried up in her throat. 

For longer than Hunter can bear to count, neither of them move, neither speak. His jaw is tight, his nerves frayed against the silence. The sharp staccato of Omega’s heartbeat hammers in his ear. She inhales softly, trying to smother it, but still Hunter can hear how her breath trembles. Outside, the last dregs of warmth have abandoned them, the sun slowly drowning in the black ocean below. Hunter wants to apologise. He wants to explain. He wants to take his little girl in his arms and hold her so close to him, have her bury her head in his chest like she used to after a nightmare, trusting him, asking him to keep her safe.

But many seasons have passed since she had last needed him for that kind of comfort. And now when she hugs him, her head reaches higher than his. 

He wants to apologise. He does. But the words don't come. They're smothered, crushed between the weight of the past at his back and the future ahead. His mind swims, a sordid mess of tangled thoughts and feelings he can't hope to decode into anything logical. So instead, he reaches up with unsteady hands, and closes the windows against the twilight chill. He switches off the murmuring radio. He continues slicing fish. Over his shoulder, he hears Omega move. She bends to the bottom cupboard to pull out plates and cups, and, stoic and wordless, with eyes downturned, she begins setting the table for dinner. 

For all his guilt, Hunter can't help but feel relieved that the conversation is over.