#no tbb spoilers here

[prahacat]

theory on the fluidity of minds and souls

The first three acts of Asajj’s life. A how-to on finding yourself. Experimental prose, 1k words | Read on ao3

How to be a Jedi

(1) Don’t listen to the old man.

(2) Child, he says, don’t cry. Here on Rattatak, we are Jedi the best we can. Here’s how to be a temple to each other: brush the red dust from your face before you go to sleep. Brush the dust from his face too. Share the dirty water without flinching, like trusting him comes natural and easy to you. Teach him what to eat, cook for him stews of insects and herbs and if he won’t eat those, tell him you’re sorry, this is all you have. This is all anyone has. Sit and guard the fire while he sleeps; trust him to guard you while you do the same. When you move up north, don’t light a fire at night so the warlords won’t spot you.

(3) Learn to be kind.

(4) When they kill him

don’t rage

don’t rage

grieve

but don’t rage, don’t let it consume you

How to be a Sith

(1) Don’t listen to the old man.

(2) All men are liars. So are the women, so is everyone, but the men are more dangerous to you, especially the older ones. Never let him know (he knows anyway). Forget. Never look back. Don’t cry when he throws lightning at you; when you’re alone again, press your fingers against your temples to relieve the headache. Make the silence your friend. Ask questions, but don’t ask too many or the wrong ones; his anger will teach you which are the wrong ones. Watch out for his anger, but learn to watch out for his sharp-edged smiles too. If he offers you food or a weapon, take it; if he gives you a name, hunt them down. If he offers you a glass of wine, sit and drink and look for the lesson: which tool is he trying to shape you into? A blade, a shadow, a shield, a smoke bomb? Be grateful for what you have because he is offering you more power than he offered anyone else, because he thinks you can take the lessons and not fail, the way so many others did.

So this is how you will live: be wary of cups you haven’t filled yourself. Hide daggers everywhere: in your boots, under the folded cloak you use as a makeshift pillow, in your dreams. Keep the holoproj next to your bedroll, make sure it’s always charged, make sure it’s never muted. Here’s a list of essential things you need to have at hand at all times: spare energy cores for your saber, medpacs and bactaspray, stimcaf and sleeptabs, protein wafers in an osmosis pack in case you can’t swallow anything. It’s better not to stare at the stars for too long when you’re traveling. Navigation is all they’re good for. Be grateful for what you have. It’s really all you need: a place for the pain to go and a place to come home to. It doesn’t matter if they’re the same place, and if one day you should catch him pressing his fingers against his temples, pretend you didn’t see. Go skewer some boys instead. There’s that Jedi again: flirt, tease, smile at him with your dewberry-colored lips and painted eyes, so he knows you want to be here, you enjoy what you are. And if you suspect or know that he too has a list of essential things, and that his list is the same as yours, the same as everyone’s these days, don’t let on.

(3) Never forget to hate yourself.

(4) Don’t fall for the blade, it’s not your friend; it will take away everything you own. It’s very simple. He won’t protect you. You can’t protect them. Always expect betrayal; always expect loss.

And when that day comes

—it will inevitably come—

remember your grief and how it was a dull, useless knife to you.

How to be a ???

How to figure out what who you are

(1) Stay alone.

(2) Boil the water before you use it for soup. Strain it and collect the pulp, the gritty dark things you don’t know how to name. Everything tastes like ashes and dust, that’s all you know. Buy some soap and scrub your hands. If you wake with a start in the middle of the night, pressure crushing your chest and your breathing quick and ragged in the quiet of your room, remember to inhale, count to four, exhale, count to four. Lie still and watch the darkness shed from the light. In the morning, roam the markets, buy something against the headache, something to hide your face, something to scrub your hands. When you walk through the streets, pull your hood low. Tell the spice dealers to leave you alone, always stop after one glass of whiskey, tell the men at the corner to fuck off. There will be days when you wake in unfamiliar places; at least try not to have two of them in a row if you can help it. Watch the sunrise. Tell no-one about your past (they know anyway; probably). Always expect betrayal, always expect loss. Forget. Never look back.

(3) Learn to be kind again.

(4) Get some credits, buy a saber; any saber you can find, as long as it’s still alive. Hold it in your hand, gently, feel the worn hilt that has passed through other hands. Were they cruel? Were they kind? Maybe. Did they protect, did they kill? Who knows. It doesn’t matter to you.

Here’s what you need to do to make this saber yours:

calibrate the focusing ring, install a strong core, toss away the parts you don’t need, polish the metal often, swing the saber daily, trust your hand again, close your eyes, listen, be patient, feel how your crystal talks to you, feel it resonate, feel it hum, learn a new language.

Yellow is a good color.

It’s going to take a long time.

[timetodiverge]

Excuse me sir, that's my Emotional Support vicious lurca hound

....soooo Batcher is fully Crosshair's puppy now, yes???

-spending the morning at the beach with him instead of Omega -sitting next to him at the table -staying near him while everyone was yelling -squaring off against the wyrm ("YEAH YOU BETTER RUN!!"), then going right to Crosshair to check in, then STAYING THERE while Crosshair has his moment with Hunter

[barissoffee]

YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT REX SET UP HIS BASE ON THE SAME PLANET FROM THE CLONE WARS MOVIE

[winters-secret-star-wars-blog]

Omega back in her cell pretending like she just didn't go on a trip through the base's walls

[probadbatch]

You know what I really like about Phee?

She is ride or die with these boys and Omega.

Need somewhere safe to lay low now that you're finished with Cid? Phee will take you to her home and see that you are welcomed like family. You need help tracking down intel on a top secret imperial project? Phee's on it. Want to break into an imperial prison and free a world class douchebag so you can break into an even more secure black ops site later? Phee's got you, no questions asked.

Yeah, back in the first half of season two it probably was just that she had the hots for Tech and liked having some extra muscle with her on her adventures. But by the time she takes them to Pabu, it's super clear that she cares deeply about all of them. Lyana tells us that Phee has never brought anyone to Pabu with her but we see her bring the squad there like it was the most natural obvious thing in the galaxy.

Yeah she and Tech had their almost-thing but even now when Tech is (supposedly) gone, she sticks around. It was never just about what she wanted from him. If it was, she'd be gone too. Maybe she stuck around a little for Tech's sake, to honor him, but mostly it's about how much she loves them all as her own family.

And just like CF99, she'll do anything for her family.

[frostycatblr-fandom-files]

I'm maybe a little salty about something tonight. 🧂Just four episodes left to the season and he's had so little screen time...

[leavingkamino]

Crosshair's snark in STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCH 1.05 "The Return"

[gardens-dogs-starwars]

Reasons Clone X is Tech:

-his accent is different from the rest-they are trying to conceal it by layering it with a regular clone voice and the helmet modulation but it's there

-he does a "Tech turn" when he lands his ship

-Cross' attempt to look back at one of the Clone X guys in episode 3 and his mournful look down after he says they come out of reconditioning "different." How would he know this unless he knew one of the clones getting reconditioned and watching them get their personality wiped away? How many clones does Cross know personally to notice such a change?

-while he's strangling Cross, Cross taps his shoulder like you would when you were sparring and want to "tap out." This is a similar gesture that Hunter did when Wrecker's chip activated in Season 1 and he was also being strangled. You would think he would hit him or fight harder instead of "tapping out" if he was fighting for his life. Makes you wonder if he doesn't want to hurt the other person...

-why would they go to such lengths to show us scenes we have seen Tech endure before? Such as getting his leg crushed and limping around through the pain, grunting after moving big rocks around, falling over a waterfall and listening to his little gasps/coughs for air...this would have to be some kind of elaborate misdirect if we weren't supposed to think it was Tech.

-there were definitely strains of the Plan 99 theme as Cross and Clone X went over the falls

-lots of other little things like his leg pouches, the definition of his (very shapely) calves, his helmet being a little different and looking a little "friendlier" around the eyes, his inability to follow orders, the way he can anticipate the Batch's moves

I think Cross acts sketchy about these Clone X types because he knows it's Tech and thinks it's permanent/unfixable so he doesn't want his brothers to be hurt over it. I trust him and his redemption arc, he has proven he has changed and is sorry for his previous choices. I could see how him keeping this from the Batch could cause friction between them down the road and I bet the writers would love to mine the angst from this situation.

It is also possible but less likely that he knows it's Tech and Tech is just in deep cover so he doesn't want to blow it? This theory might just be me hoping Tech is ok.

I have never been more convinced this Clone X is Tech. How much is left of him...not sure.

[morethansky]

CROSSHAIR & HUNTER // Growth —"I've done things. I've made mistakes." —"I have regrets, too."

[dindjarindiaries]

Phee has talked about Tech this season every chance she's gotten, and she's even called him brown eyes while he's NOT AROUND. They are not being subtle about the fact that TECHPHEE HAPPENED THEY WENT ON DATES THEY ARE CANON

[faceofpoe]

Ohh wait okay I get it.

In the early season they're all haunted by failure at the thing that makes them special.

The strong one who just wasn't strong enough.

The sniper who lost his aim.

The tracker who can't locate the thing that matters most.

The exceptional mind who's been brainwashed.

Which means in the end, we're going to see Hunter find her, Wrecker hold on, and Crosshair make the shot.

And Tech rip off the mask and tell Hemlock "I removed my bitey suicide capsule thingie a long time ago."

...right?

[timetodiverge]

but HE STARTED IT!!

...this is PEAK sibling behaviour I am DYING

(and Omega's eyeroll? PERFECTION, NO NOTES)

[barissoffee]

I've waited years for a peaceful bad batch family moment

[theworstbatch]

CROSSHAIR in "A Different Approach" [s03e04]

[alabyte]

Can we talk about the fact that Scorch's death was completely irrelevant because there could've been pretty much any clone commando and the scene would've been all the same

His death had no plot weight

His death had no consequences

His death was unnecessary

I have spoken.

[probadbatch]

Congratulations to our newly minted Crosshair / Ventress shippers