#the comms major in me hates this so bad

[jentlemahae]

-

[lazycats-stuff]

Okay hear me out, reader x batfamily okay? The reader is 2nd youngest (like 14) and recently during a mission, they got sent to alternate reality where they’re a bad guy, and witnessed themself kill the batfamily? Obviously you don’t have to write out that part if it makes you uncomfortable, but any ways. Once they return they distant themselves from the family beacuse they’re scared they’re going to hurt the family and turn out like the other evil them? The batfamily has enough of this after a while and corners them and kinda pressures them into telling what’s going on with them, and the reader kinda breaks down and says what they saw and that they’re scared they’re going to hurt their family. The batfam comforts them and tells them that, their nothing like their evil self? Somethin like thattt

Oh yeah... My poor reader is going to be traumatized.

Summary: (Y/N) gets thrown into a an alternate dimension. He didn't expect to be evil.

Warnings: murders, major characters death, but not really, alternate universe, angst and fluff,

(Y/N) had a bad feeling about all of this. He was back in Gotham, his home city. But there was something that is off. His family encountered Klarion and that's when the fighting started.

The fight was a blur for (Y/N), but he remembered that Klarion threw him into a portal. After an uncomfortable travel, he landed on top of a building, near GCPD.

And something is so off. It's too quiet for (Y/N). Now he felt like Bruce, knowing how the city felt. Was he turning into Bruce? (Y/N) shuddered a little bit, not wanting to be Bruce.

It isn't a necessarily bad thing, but still... One thing is for certain.

This is not his Gotham. Nope.

" What is going on here? " (Y/N) asked himself, trying to calibrate his comms. When he couldn't find their channel for their own comms, now he knew.

This is an alternate universe. Of course Klarion would throw him into an alternate universe or reality. Now there is a new question that he needed to answer.

What has happened with his family?

Were they still the same? Did somebody go insane? Did somebody turn into a villain? (Y/N) shook his head.

Nope. He won't think like that. He is going to hope that his family is fine. But where should he go first? GCPD? Should he find Gordon? Or his father?

What about the rouges? You know, Two Face, Penguin... Is there still Joker here? He hoped that there isn't. He didn't have any will power to deal with him.

Well, James Gordon is going to be his best choice. And besides, there is a bat signal up in the dark sky. He started moving, eager to move and get back home quickly.

Should he go to the Justice League HQ? You know, to find doctor Fate?

If Bruce was here they would have a plan set in place already and 5 different strategies how to approach this entire thing.

He landed quietly on the roof of the building, dusting his cape off. Gordon saw him and pointed a gun at him.

" What are you doing here? " Gordon asked, voice full of anger. What the hell has happened? (Y/N) stayed calm as ever.

" Okay, I'm assuming I'm not liked here. " (Y/N) said, trying to figure out what is happening.

" What the hell are you on about?! We hate you. " Gordon said and (Y/N) didn't know how to feel.

" Can I ask what happened? " (Y/N) prompted.

" Why are you wearing a suit? Are you working with Batman? After everything you have done?! "

Okay... He is a villain then. Oh no. Oh God.

" What if I tell you I'm not from here? I'm from another universe. " (Y/N) said bluntly and Gordon looked at him in shock.

" What? "

" Yup. I know how it sounds, but back in my universe, I'm a good guy and Batman's kid. " (Y/N) tried to explain and Gordon lowered his gun.

" Oh God. " Gordon said, rubbing his face.

" Now that we have gone over this, can you explain to me what the hell happened? I want to know why you pointed a gun at me. " (Y/N) said, moving closer to Gordon.

" You are a villain. You would make Joker jealous. " Gordon said and (Y/N) couldn't keep his reaction in anymore.

" What? What do you mean would? " (Y/N) asked, tilting his head.

" Joker is dead here. I made sure he burned. Then you, well, the other version, if that's even correct term, stepped onto the Gotham scene. You made a lot of waves and Batman is probably working overtime in order to bring you to Blackgate. " Gordon said, rubbing his forehead.

" I want to ask what I've done, but honestly I don't want to know. " (Y/N) said, looking at the city skyline.

" How screwed is Gotham? " (Y/N) asked, looking down at the Wayne Enterprises, the highest point in Gotham.

" Very. With you in it, even more than usual. " Gordon explained and (Y/N) couldn't help but sigh.

" Oh God. "

Gordon was going to say something more, but a broadcast from the building nearby. It was him. With his family on their knees, masks off. What the fuck?

Oh God. This a public execution. (Y/N) paled. No, nononono- A shot after shot rang out and (Y/N) couldn't keep his tears in anymore. He covered his mouth with his hand, sniffling quietly.

What has he done? Oh God, what has he done? Gordon was silent, forcing himself to stay calm with a stoic look on his face.

(Y/N) fell down on his knees, forcing himself to breathe. Just breathe. He looked up and jumped back.

" Doctor Fate? " (Y/N) asked quietly, trying to get up.

" I'm here to help you get back home. Your father contacted me, telling what Klarion did to you. "

(Y/N) nodded, standing up. He felt so lightheaded.

" Gordon? " (Y/N) said, taking a deep breath, trying to compose himself.

" Yes? "

" Honor them. Please honor them. Don't let him win. " (Y/N) requested and Gordon nodded, eyes glassy.

" Thank you Gordon. " (Y/N) said, before allowing Doctor Fate to send him back to the same universe.

(Y/N) shuddered as he was back in his universe, falling down to his knees again. He noticed that he was in the Batcave and while he is relieved to be back home, he couldn't look Bruce in the eyes. Nor his brothers.

He brushed past everyone, making a run for the locker rooms. He basically ripped the suit of off him and made a run again for his room. His brothers shouted for him, but (Y/N) didn't hear it.

He locked his room and got under the covers. Nope. He is not leaving this room for the life of him. Not happening. Patrol and any other missions are going to be out of the question.

How can he work with them when he can't even look them in the eyes?

Bruce really wanted to know what happened, but Doctor Fate didn't have an answer. Bruce knew that he would need to talk to (Y/N), but that is not going to be easy when (Y/N) refuses to be anywhere near them.

Bruce could see that the others were worried. (Y/N) has never tried to distance himself from them.

" What do we do B? " Dick asked, crossing his arms.

" We have to talk to him. "

" You know, he was taking his suit off as if it burned him. " Damian chimed in, looking down at his crossed arms. Bruce sighed quietly, waving four of his sons forward. All of them shared a hug.

" We will find a way to talk to him. We will find out what has happened to him. " Bruce said, squeezing his sons a bit tighter. After he let them go, they were all a little bit emotional. Even Damian. Damian and (Y/N) are close and it hurt him when he ran passed everyone.

He knew that (Y/N) becomes withdrawn when he is upset or angry, but they confided in one another.

" We will find a way boys. We will find a way... " Bruce said, closing his eyes for a moment.

It has been a week since (Y/N) came back and the situation is alarming. (Y/N) closed himself in a room and didn't allow anyone to enter besides Alfred.

Alfred was trying to figure out what was happening with him, but (Y/N) closed himself off. He made so many walls, so many defenses on and Alfred wondered what could have traumatized his adopted grandson this much.

Bruce and everyone else knew that they had to take this head on and make an intervention. No one wanted to see (Y/N) spiral, but he is on a good way to spiral completely out of control.

They made sure that (Y/N) had left the room. They watched him to pinpoint the time when he would be in the kitchen. After they saw (Y/N) in the kitchen they all steeped in, blocking all the exit points.

" (Y/N), " Bruce started, trying not break as he took in the appearance of his son. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked so tired. So emotionally drained. " We are worried for you. We wanted to give you some time to come to us, but you are spiraling and I won't let you go down that path. " Bruce said, heart clenching at the panic in (Y/N)'s eyes.

" Talk to us please. " Bruce pleaded with (Y/N). He knew that (Y/N) was looking for a way out, but he couldn't let him out.

(Y/N) shook his head. Bruce isn't going to yell.

" (Y/N), please. You can tell us. We are here for you. You can confide in us. " Damian pleaded and (Y/N) started crying. Bruce was mortified as he watched his son break.

" I don't want to hurt you! I don't want to become like him! I don't want to! " (Y/N) cried out and Bruce quickly stepped closer to his son, allowing him to wrap himself around him and (Y/N) refused to let go.

" Tell us what happened. " Damian said, moving closer.

And (Y/N) did. Everyone was horrified at the story and they all hugged him.

" You are nothing like him. " Jason started.

" You won't turn into him. " Dick added.

" That version sounds like an asshole. " Tim said.

" I'm going to end him. " Damian chimed in, hugging his brother.

(Y/N) chuckled quietly as he was being squished. Even Alfred joined, giving him support too.

" Now, how about you eat something and then go to sleep? You look like you are going to pass out at any moment. " Dick said and Alfred led him to a table.

[kandisheek]

Cap-Ironman Rec Week 2024

Time Travel Tuesday: July 23rd

Prompt: Rec all those great fanworks where Tony or Steve (or Tony and Steve) travel to the past or the future or to an alternate past or future and discover unexpected realities and new truths!

I absolutely love this trope! And we are truly blessed in this fandom to have so many fantastic authors tackling it. Here is a very small selection of my favorite time-travel / timey-wimey-shenanigan fics:

-- And Has Time Enough by wanttobeatree

Tony asks if they have met. It's a matter of perspective. (A Time Traveller's Wife AU.)

-- Double Time by Sineala

Cassino, Italy, December 1943. Special Agent Tony Stark, former Marvels adventurer, is sent to investigate a Cosmic Cube found by the Invaders -- and it's the perfect opportunity for him to rekindle his secret romance with Steve Rogers. But when Hydra attempts to steal the Cube, an inadvertent wish for help leads to the appearance of a Tony from the future of another world: Director Stark of SHIELD. This Tony is a man with a lot on his mind. He refuses to tell them anything about the future, but he seems to know much more than he should about Captain America. And something's happened that's clearly killing him inside, but he's not talking. When Director Stark's failed attempt to return home leads to the unexpected appearance of another visitor from his universe, all the lies come undone. Now there are two wars to fight, and the second one could ruin all of them.

-- A Shadow Hanging Over Our Fate by CaptainDean13

The Avengers get sent back in time to WWII where they run into the Howling Commandos... complete with Bucky and Steve. Little hard to explain that away, especially when you are trying to keep some major secrets. Secrets like how you ended up in the future and why the hell Bucky is now a scary (reformed) assassin with a metal arm, not to mention that you married your friend's son.

MORE RECS BELOW THE CUT:

-- The Good or Bad Thing by petreparkour

“It’s the metal suit,” Thor informed Steve, his normally-booming voice tinny over the SHIELD comms. “What did Stark call it—Iron Man?” “But he’s down here,” Steve protested as the Hulk roared in Stark’s face, startling him into waking with a shout. “How could—” “It’s damaged,” Thor reported. “But it looks different. More advanced. And he—ah. He’s carrying you, Captain.” “Please tell me nobody kissed me,” Stark breathed out, and then Stark’s voice suddenly came over the comms, but the man lying next to him hadn’t moved.  “Guys, come on, you’re killing me here. What is it, 2012? God, I hate time travel. First, I'm fighting Thanos. Now, I have to deal with my past self and Thor's bad haircut? Oh my God, Cap, yes I hacked their comms, they’re my comms.” Steve nearly opened his mouth to protest that he hadn’t said anything when he realized that this replica of Tony Stark wasn’t speaking to him.

-- Calls Me Home by steve-capsicle-rogers (adorable_lab_rat)

Tony can't help but notice the far away look on Steve's face. The visible pain and loss. It wasn't right and giving Steve back everything he'd lost was the right choice. The right thing. And honestly Tony didn't do the right thing near enough.

-- A Hundred Times, Once by FestiveFerret, SirSapling

The shrill tone of his SHIELD beeper pulls Steve out of sleep and into battle. He fights robots, he fights Tony's shameless advances, he fights the exhaustion that threatens to take over him, drown him. And then the next morning, he wakes and does it again. Exactly the same. And again. And again. And again.

-- hunters seeking solid ground by laramara

In the wake of the battle with Thanos, Steve feels unmoored in a way he hasn’t since before he ate shawarma with a group of virtual strangers and thought maybe, maybe he could one day find a place here. Steve returns the stones, and has a few unexpected interactions and makes some decisions along the way.

-- The Butterfly Effect by itsallAvengers

While fighting with Loki, Steve Rogers from 2012 hears the two simple words: "Bucky's alive." And the whole universe ripples with the aftershocks.

[kipperlillyforpresident]

Okay so number one. Super cool that you wrote your paper on the American dream. Single-handedly it is my favorite antag from any season.

And two. Well it is true the back to back filming probably definitely made them have less nuance for this. I absolutely agree with your statement. If your players can't engage in a story something is probably wrong. Honestly I've just come to the conclusion that the reason that episode 19 felt so weird. Is because it felt more like it was the intrepid heroes killing the rat grinders. Instead of the bad kids killing the rat grinders. Like I don't know if I'm just going crazy here?? I know it happens where your characters blend together so much in your mind That it's hard to differentiate the character from the player. But things felt so mean spirited in like a unique way. Like a unique way that you can only get from hating a villain as the viewer. Instead of like the character. Because besides Kristen trying to see if Buddy was still in there. It felt as if, the bad kids. Who have notoriously all been put into difficult situations at different times because of various adults. Saw what is basically just them without the support system. And hit it with a nuke. It's not like a Johnny spells type thing where You can be like "this guy sucks. kill his ass." Cause besides Kipper Lily. We don't actually know any of the rat grinders motivations. Like people can say that the rat grinders were just power hungry All they want. But the more likely answer is probably, Porter saw a group of vulnerable children who were actively unsatisfied with the situation they had been put in. And prayed on that!

It's frustrating definitely. But there is always fix it fics. And these final episodes aren't going to stop me from loving the rat grinders. I do not care what anyone in the fandom says. Because half of the time they're just spitting the same misogynistic bullshit we got with saccharina frostwhip. I'm genuinely hoping That at least the adventuring party clears up some things??. But my hopes are low unfortunately. Mary Ann forever though. She got that dog in her

a) IT WAS REALLY COOL!! i also wrote a final paper in a different class about the cubbys . Communications is kind of fake as hell as a major (if youre thinking of becoming a comm major dont </3 its great for student athletes who dont need jobs. as for me. um. well. 1 year out of college no new job), but it meant I was able to write a lot of interesting papers and my professors gave me room to run with it.

b) That's a really interesting thesis, and I haven't thought about it before, but that honestly makes a lot of sense...? Like, in that Really Uncomfortable Speech that was given before Ruben died, he was blamed for wasting a season on him. Which is an extremely meta/IH thing. It makes no sense for Fig to say that. But it does make sense for Emily to say that.

[xecutivecucumber]

Executive Cucumber's (sorta) thoughts about the Bad Batch 03×10 & 03x11!

Spoilers under the cut

All right guys, I'm not doing my full list of thoughts. These episodes were really, really emotional for me for many reasons and I do not have the emotional energy to do my usual dives. I'm stepping away from the fandom in general for this week. Honestly, for my mental health, I just do not need to be around Fandom discourse right now. I've already left the pertinent subreddits and hopefully I'll survive.

But my brief thoughts!

So, I majored in the Humanities in college. I saw and read a lot of amazing art. But there was a category of art that I like to call, 'this was beautiful and poignant and life changing, but I never want to consume it again.'

These episodes fall under this category. They were art, and they were excruciating.

I also am still firmly in camp 'CX-2 is Tech.' Because it actively makes The Point of No Return less tragic if it is not him. Part of the reason I was sobbing during it was that it was TECH who was being so cruel, destroying the home he'd nearly had, destroying HIS ship, nearly killing his brothers.

And it's Tech, who gave Omega her first comm, who loves her, who would die to keep her safe, who takes her comm and takes her back to Tantiss.

Plus, who the heck else says 'domicile?'

(On the plus side, he gets his revenge on Cid)

My heart is broken for Omega. I hate that she has to make this choice. I KNEW she was going to sacrifice herself. If anyone says 'the Empire did nothing wrong' to me, even as a joke, they're losing a finger.

I dread how the rest of the Batch are going to confront each other about this. Crosshair was also the only one who would let her do this. In a positive way.

...I loved seeing Phee.

I wish I had more to say about Identity Crisis, but I spent that episode trying to overcome my disappointment that it wasn't about Tech. It was still an exceptional episode, regardless of my expectations.

But I do want to say, Cad Bane takes a lot of kid jobs. What's up with that? Weirdo.

Anyway, happy birthday to me! I get: Omega getting taken and Tech destroying everything he loves. Yaaaaaaaaaaaay.

[aspitefulwriter]

OUT OF TOUCH [Ch. 3]

(Poe Dameron x AFAB!reader)

warnings: reader kills punches people again, also spoilers…but character death. my bad, y’all. kylo ren is a little bitch

word count: ~7.2k

author’s note: running running and running running and running running and RUNNING RUNNING.

and for new folks, i post on ao3 first, so be on the lookout :))

Series Masterlist

By the time Poe managed to get outside, hoping to at least catch your tail, you were long gone. With a curse, he runs his hand through the curls atop his head and frustratedly kicks at the dirt beneath his feet. He takes a moment to think through the Order’s robbery, his mind fleeting to hatred surrounding you before he quickly stops it. It wouldn’t be fair to hate the person who saved his life.

Poe lets out a heavy sigh–but then an idea comes to him. The First Order has several private locations situated around Coruscant to shuffle their high-profile people in and off the planet. A few haven’t had activity for months, but he’s sure he could take his chances with one of the more active ones. He runs to a nearby open speeder, racing it along the streets deeply hoping he’ll see the familiar face of the person haunting his every waking moment. 

When he gets there, Poe realizes how foolish that hope was. The lot sat empty, save for a few pre-Imperial ships that wouldn’t be able to take off even if they tried. Of course you’d already left. The lead you had on him was hefty, minutes had ticked by before he had even stepped out of the club. The frustration from earlier mounts within him again, mixed with a heavy dose of disappointment that sits deep in his gut. He takes one last look around the lot before clearing his throat and throttling the speeder back into action, deciding to just take the loss back to base.

In hyperspace, his thoughts scurry around the two of you seeing each other for the first time since the wreck a few weeks ago. His face burns to recall seeing you walk through the door, somehow knowing at that point he’d be going back to base empty-handed, but it doesn’t make the disappointment any less strong. The information on Senator Camboon had been a needle in a haystack that was scrounged up by General Leia seemingly out of thin air. His cooperation would have been a major success for the Resistance, and the guilt of not having him ate at Poe the more he thought about it. The beep of his comms took him out of the cannibalistic nature of his thoughts, now settling them on landing him back on land.

As Poe steps out of the undercover recon jet, he hears a short burst of coos before he’s knocked off balance by BB-8. His droid recovers quickly from hitting him and starts to spin circles around him and prattles off about Poe’s decision to leave him on base.

When BB stops, Poe rubs his droid’s head apologetically, “Yeah, I know buddy. It had to be done–I promise I’ll find a way next time.” Sounds of footsteps ricocheting off of the hangar’s walls bring his attention up to the source. General Leia stands at the entrance to the hangar, hands clasped behind her back. 

Poe quickly walks to face her, even though the shame starts to crawl up his neck and clutches at his throat to make him not acknowledge his defeat. He runs through a list of apologies in his head–things that worked to get other people off of his back even when he was clearly the problem. But before the words could cross his vocal cords, she silenced him with a noncommittal wave of her hand.

The two stare at each other and her lips are pulled into a tight line before she softly smiles. Definitely not the kind of look Poe expected when he thought of the conversation on the flight back here. His eyebrows pinch together in confusion and he’s about to speak when she interrupts him again with a sigh that falls into a chuckle.

“Glad to see you’re back unharmed, Commander Dameron. I had been worried when intel sent me images from your quarrel in the pick-up spot.”

He laughs and flits his eyes from Leia to avoid the pressure her eye contact brings to him at his points of failure. “Unharmed except for maybe my ego. Don’t tell my squad that though,” the two laugh together, and it’s silent for a moment before the apology actually comes forward. His fingers seek the loose thread at the bottom of his shirt, rolling it between his pointer and thumb.

“Sorry for coming back empty-handed. I know you had to go through a lot to get it set up with the Senator.” 

There’s a twinkle in her eye as she gives him a single nod before grabbing the top of his arm and leading him with her.

“As much as I love to finally hear you apologize to me after all of the crazy business you like to get into, I don’t need to hear it. Honestly, Poe, you’re making me lose respect for you.” She teases with a wink. BB-8 questioningly beeps behind them, asking ‘Who?’ Nosey droid. Maker, he loves him. 

His eyebrows furrow as he ignores her comment and BB. “You know who she is?” She leads them to her office before she speaks further, looking down the hallway before closing the door.

Leia walks to her desk and hits a button so a hologram shoots up to fill the room with a blue hue. His eyes rake across the information, or lack thereof, given the lines of [REDACTED] that fill the screen. However, he settles on your familiar face. Your eyes look dead and riddled by horrors, dark circles beneath them in the picture meant to be your ID. 

Leia walks to join him in the middle of the room, crossing her arms across her chest as she joins him to look at your picture.

“She’s a commander of Canis Squad, a team of the top pilots in the Order. From what I’ve been able to gather, they’re sent for high-status missions from high command. They carry a heavy hand and I’ve heard they’re usually sent for missions that demand executions.” Poe’s hand goes to rest on his chin, nodding at her words thoughtfully. “Imagine my surprise when the mission log was intercepted by one of my constituents on Coruscant and I see her name as lead. And then to see her face in the cameras, holding a blaster to your head?” She laughs lightly again. “I thought you were a goner.” 

Poe looks at Leia bewilderedly, “You don’t have faith in me?”

“Oh no,” she pats him softly on his shoulder, “I had plenty faith in you, Poe. Doesn’t mean this old woman can’t get scared every once in a while.”

Poe doesn’t believe her, humming in response. “Thank you for the concern, General.” He says boredly, but when he catches her eye, his humor betrays him with a smile. 

“So this is why you aren’t disappointed with the Senator’s absence? You’re glad I’m alive?” Poe questions.

“Among other things,” she pats his shoulder again before letting it fall beside her again as she looks back at your picture. Silence fills the room as thoughts flitter through their minds, and he wishes he could take a peek in hers.

Leia breaks the silence not long after, “I’m going to tell you something that I don’t want to leave this room.” She settles a scolding gaze on BB-8, who rattles off with a few sentences expanding on how he’s insulted she doesn’t trust him. 

She looks back at Poe. “I’m waiting on news that may revolve around getting her to our side. I need you to tell me more about what happened when you crashed on Planet 523039.” 

____

That night, he and his squad are scattered around a caf table, several drinks floating in their systems. Poe’s eyes are closed as his head rests upon the table, listening in on his squad’s different conversations– ranging from raunchy to just recollections of their day. His mind strays to you, your image from earlier ingrained into the backs of his eyes. Leia wanted you to join the Resistance? Would that even be possible? The drinks in his system make him want to ask his squad, and his better judgment had yet to kick when he quickly sits up, drink in his hand slightly sloshing over the sides from the disturbance.

“I have to tell you guys something.” Maker Poe, shut your mouth. 

They stop their separate conversations and take drinks from their mugs, looking at him expectantly. At that point, his senses started to come to him, and he looked pensively into his own.

“I wasn’t alone,” Poe pauses, still trying to will himself to shut up, “those few days I was stranded.” All he got was silence and blank stares before the less stoic members burst out laughing.

“You think we’re dumb, Poe? How else would we have been able to get our hands on a TIE silencer if you were alone?” Karé chuckles, hitting the shoulder of Jessika while she laughs along. 

“And there’s no way you would’ve survived that planet otherwise.” Snap follows, taking another sip from his drink to hide his grin. 

He rolls his eyes before he looks at Snap, “Don’t act like you wouldn’t have cried like a kitten calling for its mother if you were put in my situation,” the smile on Snap’s face is replaced by a scowl while Jessika snickers at Poe’s comment, hiding her grin behind her hand while she turns her head from Snap’s eyesight. 

“But seriously– you guys weren’t a little curious about how we hit the jackpot?” He refers back to Karé’s comment about the Silencer as his eyebrows tilt up expectantly.

Karé lets out a small groan, “Fine, I’ll bite. What do you want to talk about so badly?” She teases.

Poe simmers on his response, now that he’s already started to dig his grave. And he can’t help but be curious to know what his squad would think about having someone like you join to fight against the reign of the First Order. 

“What do you guys think about second chances?” Poe asks, resting his cheek on a closed fist.

“What do you mean?” L’ulo speaks up, almost suspiciously.

“I just–I–” Poe stumbles on his words, “It’s just– We all have backgrounds where we thought we might be someone else, but the galaxy called for help. We saw people die–planets fall to the destruction of not just the First Order, but also the Empire. The consequences both brought and are bringing to us now. And it might be a different world had some people not gotten their second chance.” His eyes space out and become unfocused as he recalls the conversation he had with General Leia just a few hours ago. 

“Where are you going with this?” Jess asks, eyebrows pulled in question, humor from earlier long gone.

Poe clears his throat and stands up, his sobriety hitting him. It made him want to recede to his room, especially as his squad confusingly stared up at him. “I was only curious. See you in the morning.” He gives a single nod, and turns around, walking out the doors of the caf. 

_____

“You’re being demoted.” The sentence rings in your ears, vertigo overtaking your vision as Kylo Ren blurs out of focus. “Be lucky you’re half your father. Anyone else, and you’d be floating in space with your head sat by the Supreme Leader’s side.” He pauses like he’s baiting you to interrupt him, eyes raking your form to see any kind of crack in your stature, but you’re frozen in place.

He stalks closer to you at your silence, the force of his movement causing his cape to whip around your legs as he gets close enough to have his modulator by your ear, “Did you think I wouldn’t find out that there’s a traitor?” At that, your vision unblurs and you step back to peer at him with a mix of confusion and disgust. Is he insinuating that you’re a traitor? For what? Not being the frothy-mouthed homicidal dog they used to have?

His mask garbles out a scoff, “You’ve knowingly helped the Resistance. Twice.” He stabs an accusatory finger to your sternum before pulling away, “It’s treasonous behavior that deserves far of a worse punishment than a demotion…a captain of all things.” He turns from you and you can feel the familiar clench of your muscles as the Kylo begins to constrict the matter around your body, but he stops.

“They give you too many chances.” He mumbles, hand starting to settle on the handle of his weapon, but you’re stuck in place. Your mind begs you to move your legs, to run out of the room, but Ren is too unstable to be able to accurately predict what he wants.

“Leave!” He yells, lightsaber activating, and you scatter out of the room. 

The doors loudly close behind you, and the breaths you were holding escape from your mouth in rapid succession. He thought you were a traitor? Someone who killed and clawed up the ranks all for the First Order? The First Order is all you knew and was all you were. To you, it didn’t matter that the man from the planet you crashed on was from the Resistance. Maybe it did at first, but the squad likely wouldn’t have had their commander if you hadn’t agreed to the man holding your blaster to your head as his droid’s electricity crackled through your veins. 

With a huff, you start your way down the hallway, anger growing towards Ren, especially as the sound of his tantrum echoed through the halls, loud enough to the point it masked your footsteps. Mindlessly, your legs carried you down familiar hallways as your thoughts swirled around Ren. How had he found out about Poe anyway? Sure, he hadn’t stated his name, but he said that you helped the Resistance twice. Your Silencer could have been taken by any number of people around. The fight before you fell was mainly against a local planet’s fighters first before the Resistance and a few other stragglers took the opportunity to cut in. The only thing you could actually understand was on Coruscant. It being Order-affiliated, Ren had access to the cameras. But only a few private rooms contained cameras attached to audio, so you felt safe acknowledging him by name at the time. Granted, the old you would have killed anyone in your way, it wasn’t entirely suspicious to leave a man who surrendered alive. But then it clicked. 

Jazkrin.

She must have fed all of the information to Ren. You seethed–not only at her, but also at yourself. You should have known better than to say ‘good to see you.’ What were you thinking? Stupid stupid stupid stupid. The doors opening to the training room snapped you from your thoughts, and as fate would have it, the first person your eyes locked on was none other than Jazkrin herself, a cocky smirk slowly building on her lips as you see the shiny new Commander jacket sitting on her shoulders. In the snap of a finger, the hatred you harbored toward yourself mounted over to her. 

She knew. The moment the three of you had gotten into a taxi to go back to the ship, she had been short and curt. She no longer wanted to hold conversation, and she avoided all contact with you. How did she know who he was? Your mind was a screaming mess of blind hatred as you maintained eye contact walking towards her, the smirk still sitting there. You wanted to rip it off. 

Everything went quiet, your thoughts included when you swung your fist back to make a final crunching impact on the side of Jazkrin’s face, her body crumbling to the ground. 

“Do you know what you just did?” She screeched, holding the side of her face as a few of your (former) crew shuffled around her and helped her off of the floor.

“Treated you like the rat you are, Commander,” you seethed, venomously emphasizing her rank.

She scoffs and rolls her eyes, “Oh please, Captain,” she returns, “I did what I had to do. You let yourself grow weak.”

“Weak? Must be why my superior officer is still cradling her jaw.” You say, stepping towards her again when Denel comes forth and holds you back with a shake of his head. 

“And unstable,” She says exasperatingly, pointing to her face, “You’re not right as the leader anymore, your calls are putting the First Order in danger.”

You let out a laugh devoid of all humor, “Because one man was kept alive?”

“That’s the most important part, but it’s not just that!” She throws her hands up as if she can’t believe you’re not getting the idea yet, “Even on the way to Coruscant, you let the pirates go. If you give two types of people who rob from the Order made-up exceptions, how many more will you allow to pass? They’re already growing stronger, you’re just letting them keep the fuel.”

You scoff, “The fact that you don’t know the capabilities of the ship tells me you’re not fit to lead the squad either. People in charge have to make decisions that every member of their command won’t understand, even if it’s in their best interest to learn the ins and outs of different machines.”

Jazkrin crosses her arms across her chest, offense taken at your digs, “I’ll lead this squad to greatness you could never have even dreamed of, Captain. Good day.” 

You look at all of the faces you used to command, and all but a couple stare back at you with disgust in their eyes. In some way, it breaks you, but you fight back the feelings that want to bubble to the surface with a sarcastic smile.

“Good day, Commander. Let’s hope you don’t break under that pressure.” Her eyes narrow as you take one last look at all the faces, shaking your head as you turn to leave for your quarters. 

What a disappointment.

____

You had lost track of time, days that turned into weeks, turned into two months. Each was filled with exhaustion, meals consisting of quick hunger fixes and caf to fix the exhaustion, but neither worked to get it out of your system. It was getting to the point where you were craving the days of meal bars and bug bites back on the planet with Poe. At least you had good company.

Then there was a point right after your suspension when Ren further sought revenge against you and assigned you to a case with Jazkrin, much to your confusion. It had been on a backwater planet around issues surrounding a mining population’s revolution, but it had been simple enough to where a few units of stormtroopers could’ve handled it themselves. Canis squad seemed to be morphing into a less respectable team under the new command, and the part of you that fought to make it a name to be wary of seethed at the changes. But it wasn’t yours anymore, you told yourself.

Your efforts to convince yourself didn’t work very well either, since somehow Jazkrin made her own efforts to try to get you to see how ‘well’ she was doing as the commander. It was awful on the mining mission, but back on base it was worse. She conspired with several other officers and smaller ranks to make your life nothing but pond scum, isolating you and then having someone mention a member of Canis did the best practice run they’ve ever done. You rolled your eyes each time, feeling like the methods were rather child-like. After all, practice runs were nothing like high-stakes missions that the squad saw while you were under command. She knew that. But her pride was clouding her vision. 

Eventually, you were given a day off. Rather than taking it as a day to relax and rot in your quarters, you decided going into the base’s lower-ranked gym would properly blow off some steam. It might even help you sleep through the night tonight. The thought of that raised your spirits.

However, your spirits quickly fell when you heard the hydraulics to the door activate, turning to see who had a similar idea of burning off steam when you made eye contact with a familiar face. Letting out an aggravated exhale through your nose, you don’t acknowledge him, instead speeding up on the treadmill. Denel stops right next to you in the open space between the machines and whispers your name. After a few moments of only your footsteps in the quiet of the room and another whisper of your name, you sigh and slow the treadmill to a stop.

“I know I shouldn’t be talking to you,” you turn your head to look at him and he looks as if he’s in pain, causing your concern to mount, “But I’d rather you hear from one of us than by Kylo Ren or someone else.”

You waited expectantly as he took a deep breath and ran his hand over his head. “Kole died. Today.”

You sharply inhale, eyes shutting closed, “How?” You open them again, looking toward the door as you dismount from the treadmill.

He swallows before starting, “The squad was doing a simple training exercise. Command said the sector was in the clear and so we all let our guard slip when we were pulling some turns.”

“Before we knew it, we were surrounded– no one got any warnings, and Jazkrin froze. So we all separated and dealt with as many as we could at one time.” Your eyebrows pinch in confusion. No warnings?

“Did you recognize anything about the ships that attacked you?” He shakes his head.

“Eventually we got down to the last few, Jazkrin had started to give us orders but they were unclear.”

He shudders as unbridled grief cuts into his normally stoic features, “The orders she gave me and Kole sounded similar through comms and…” he chokes down a sob, “And I shot him… I--I killed Kole.” As if on instinct you pull him into a tight hug as silent sobs wrack his body, not sure else how to express comfort. Minutes pass before he pulls away and wipes his cheeks on his shoulders. 

“I’m confused. Were you guys not spatially aware of where you were while fighting? Why didn’t you guys comm your confusion?”

He shrugs and shifts his eyes to the floor, “Everything was a blur,” he says your name, “I don’t know what I’m going to do or what’s going to happen to me. This is eating me alive.”  A tear streaks down his cheek, “And I can’t help but think that whatever does happen to me is deserved.”

You bring your hand to his shoulder and rub in soft circles, “No, what happened today was an issue on command. This was entirely avoidable if comms were clear.”

“But I hit the trigger,” he whispers weakly, looking defeated. “You drilled in us that our reflexes were meant to be quick. Had I had quick reflexes, Kole would still be alive.”

”You were in a battle–and you had quick reflexes. Please don’t beat yourself up about this,” you plead. “Denel...It’s on her. Don’t let guilt cloud your judgment.”

He squeezes his eyes shut, sniffling and nodding his head once. You’re just about to back off and give him some space when the doors open again, causing the two of you to warily look at the entrance. Leading a small unit of stormtroopers marches Captain Phasma, their presence making you step away from Denel.

“You can’t help but be drawn to people who wish harm on the First Order, can you Captain?” 

Your eyebrows draw together, “Wish harm? You know just as well as anyo–” 

“Spare me the monologue,” She interrupted, signaling to the troopers behind her. Two fell out of formation and started toward the pair of you.

“TN-3459, you’re under arrest for killing a member of the First Order. All that you say will be recorded and studied by Kylo Ren while you’re under further investigation,” The troopers slot themselves between you and harshly grab his biceps before motioning him forward with their blasters to his side. Denel gives you a distant look and you’re about to speak about how ridiculous this is before you’re interrupted again by Phasma. “It’s in your best interest to cooperate, TN-3459.” 

As they lead him away, you shout after them, “You can’t be serious!” However, your interjection was futile, everyone ignoring you and folding Denel into the group seamlessly to take him to where you could only guess was Ren’s interrogation cell. All you could do was helplessly stand there, staring as their backs became obscured by the door.

This was quickly becoming overwhelming. Everything was changing and it felt personal. Accidents within Canis Squad were historically handled by the Supreme Leader since they happened incredibly rarely, save for the ship crashes that seemed to happen more following Kylo Ren’s position change to the Supreme Leader’s right hand. You started to pace.

Maker…Kylo Ren. You dreaded Denel’s outcome with him overseeing his interrogation, knowing that he has a personal bone to pick with you. There had to be something you could do–try to at least have people see reason. Destroying more members of the Order’s superior kill squad would only harm the organization more. 

Having made up your mind, you take off from the gym and barrel through the hallways of base. Any person you pass is harshly asked about Ren’s whereabouts and left without any further acknowledgment from you.  But the longer you walked, the more you thought about it. Was there really anything you could do–a demoted commander, now captain? Kylo Ren seemed to be doing his best at making everything you built with your bare hands crumble to the ground. It happened with every crash, every mission, your squadron–and even with your demotion, his demolition still continued. It made you confused. It made you furious. How dare he?

Before you knew it, you stood at the entrance to his meeting room, anger giving you renewed vigor. The steam from the door announces your visit, swirling around you as you yell out, “You’re pathetic, Ren!”

The stormtroopers standing guard snap to attention and draw their weapons to point at you, which Ren immediately quells with a wave of his hand. 

Other than that, he gives you no reaction. “You’re out of line, Captain.” 

“No, you’re out of line!?” You point an accusatory finger at him. At that, he slowly turns to face you.

“Me? Out of line to a captain?” His modulated voice is amused as he turns back to the holograms to switch them off.

“You know exactly what I’m referring to. My squad? All of the crashes and take-off orders that should never have been cleared. Jazkrin’s wrongful promotion.” While you were talking, he had turned back to face you and stared silently, even when you were finished. With an unnerving chuckle, he leaned against the table and relaxed.

“You must’ve been hiding your intelligence from me.”

Rage fills your body and you sneer at him. “What gives you the right to tear down everything I built for the Order? Everything that has to do with Canis is out of your jurisdiction.” Ren starts to walk to you leisurely before stopping not even two feet from where your toes point to him. 

“Did you know I’ve dreamed about crushing your skull a thousand times over? It fills my every waking thought.” He picks a piece of lint off of your shoulder and flicks it away, his touch making you flinch away. “Just hearing your voice and seeing your name on a screen fills me with a rage I haven’t felt in years…” He trails the sentence off as if he’s looking into the distant past before stepping away from you. All you can do is silently watch him, your anger still hot, but now curiosity overpowers how you felt only minutes before. Why did it get to this point?

He hums lowly, appraising you, “But you have no idea how untouchable you are–the power of the voices that keep you still standing.”  

Your brows furrow. “What? What does that mean?”

Silence fills the air as Kylo signals the troopers, ignoring the question, “I doubt you’ll ever find out.” The troopers come to your side like they did for Denel half an hour ago.

“Take her back to her quarters and set up guard. Make sure no one leaves or enters.” When they grasp your arms, you squirm to get out as you give Kylo a heated glare. 

“You’re a coward for what you’re doing. All you’re doing is ruining the Order.”

He scoffs, “I’m doing the Order a favor by getting rid of a squadron of Resistance sympathizers. The Supreme Leader agrees with me, allowing me to give you the justice you deserve. After all, if I can’t kill you–-might as well kill everything you ever loved.” He signals for the troopers to take you away as you struggle, yelling curses to the back of Ren as he opens the holograms again.

You’re drug out of the meeting room, and the butt of a blaster kicks you into the ribs, making you lowly groan, “shut your mouth,” the trooper to your left says.

Defeat starts to fill your body, turning your limbs into lead and causing the troopers to have to truly drag you to your quarters, the toes of your boots scraping the floor. You couldn’t recognize this place anymore. What happened to the organization that you grew up in? Or was it truly ever good? Were the good experiences only because of the unspoken protection that Ren mentioned? 

The thoughts of protection brought your mind back to Denel; he probably lay attached to Ren’s interrogation chair, chest heaving at the torture that Ren was putting him through. That thought made your heart ache, knowing your teammate suffered because a superior had a problem with you. You have to get him. You have to escape. 

Still slack in the trooper’s arms, ideas spin in your head, all of your knowledge about the First Order coming together to craft the perfect escape plan. Based on what you know from previously caught traitors…using the word liberally given the circumstances… he should have about two more days until Ren has exhausted him enough. That gives you a small window of time to see guard changes and finalize the escape.

You’re taken from your thoughts when you’re thrown into your room without a glance, having to catch yourself to not hit your head. Just when you throw a glare over your shoulder with a fleeting insult, the door closes and blocks you off from the rest of the ship. A simmering hatred toward the Order was starting to boil over, and you couldn’t wait to leave. Unfortunately…that is what you had to do…wait.

A heavy sigh escapes from your lips as the exhaustion you’ve felt since your demotion crashes into you all at once. You lean your back against the wall and look between the refresher and your bed, picking between the two becoming one of the hardest decisions you’ve had to make all day. Washing off the actions of the day would probably melt off a lot of the stress, and the thought of the hot water streaming down your back immediately convinces you the shower sounds like the best option. With a huff, you grab your injured side and make your way to the refresher, stripping off along the way. You’ll just pick it up later.

Not sparing a glance at the mirror, too scared to see what would look back at you, you turn the handles of the shower and step in without waiting for it to heat. Eventually, the shock of the cold seamlessly becomes replaced by a comforting warmth that lulls your eyelids. You lazily wash yourself, taking special care of the side that was hit with the blaster. 

Getting out came too soon, but the prospect of getting into bed overpowered the comfort of the shower. Shuffling yourself under your sheets, you took a peek at the clock. 13:48. It was too late for lunch and too early for dinner. Plenty of time to get sleep before any sort of guard would come in and see you. 

Finally relaxing, your eyes fluttered closed. 

Hours later, you wake up with a start. Your room is left exactly how you left it, the only thing that changed being the time on the clock. 20:09. Dinner rations begin at 19:00, and you doubted your meals would take precedence over the guards given right now you’re only a higher rank in name. Not really in any other manner.

As if on cue, a stormtrooper opens your door and you quickly sit up in bed. Without passing the frame or a spoken word, they set the tray of food down to the ground before shutting you off again. Your eyes flit to the tray and the sound of your stomach fills the room. 

You needed the food and its energy, but knowing Ren, you were paranoid that an immobilizing drug was mixed in. The threat of that becoming reality outweighed the grumbling your stomach was doing. However, you still tread over to the door, grabbing the utensils given to you with the meal and toeing the tray away before sitting with your ear to the door. 

You sat like that for hours, silence and the low hum of the ship mostly being the only thing you hear. At times the hum was comforting, causing you to jolt yourself awake with high-movement exercises, not wanting to sleep in case another guard change occurred. You heard one guard at 00:00, but otherwise, there was no other activity. 

That was until 06:10, when echoes of footsteps filled the hallway your door attaches to. Standing up and quickly sliding the tray back to where it was put, you slide into bed just as soon as the door glides open. The trooper releases a scoff and they pick up your dinner to replace it with breakfast. They glance at you, and you can imagine you make eye contact given the stare you maintain on their form. When the door closes, you hear their mumbles behind the door, likely reporting the uneaten meal.

Deciding you’ve seen enough of their routine, you slide further down into your bed to stare at the ceiling and twirl the utensils between your fingers. It seemed that they brought meals about an hour and ten minutes after each ration block. That gives you roughly seven hours to finalize your plan…when you really only need one. You sigh impatiently, rolling in the bed and choosing to dress in clothes that would allow you to maintain comfort on the run. Getting up, you walk to your closet, pull out your black Order-issued set, and slide them on before sitting on the side of your bed to put on your boots. 

With another impatient sigh, you fall back down onto the bed to stare at the ceiling. Now you just had to wait…again.

Eventually, they bring lunch, and at that point, you were poised to strike. As soon as the stormtrooper stepped in to pick up your untouched breakfast, you took the handle of the spoon and jammed it into the weak point of the armor covering their knee, followed by a kick to the ground. They groan as they fall and you take their blaster, aiming it at the guards who were alerted by the groan of their counterpart, drawing their own weapons. You manage to shoot one before they can do anything, but you duck and roll away from the other, who retaliates with a blaster shot. You land a kick to the side of their knee, faltering them, and you take the chance to shoot a hole through their chest.

You grab their blaster too and take off running to the interrogation rooms, alarms now blaring through the halls as the people you run past let out exclamations and yelps of surprise. Some take the chance to run after you too, but leap for cover as you shoot behind you.

You’re panting as you reach the interrogation wing, quickly glancing at all of the signs next to each door before your eyes settle on Denel’s designation. Smacking the button, the door opens with a cloud of smoke, which causes a very injured and very sweaty Denel to flinch.

“Hey, hey, it’s me.” His eyes bolt open, allowing you to see how bloodshot they are. Your heart yanks again, the urgency to get him out pumping through your veins. You rush over to him and your energized fingers shake as they try to release him from his prison. 

His chest heaves as his eyes study you as if he’s looking at a ghost, “Wha-How are you here? Ren told me you were dead.” His voice is strained as if he’s been yelling for hours straight, which he probably has.

Your face pulls into confusion and you try to comfort him, “I am very much alive, fortunately.” You crack a smile and take a deep breath to will the shakiness away. It’s successful, causing the grips around his limbs to unlatch. 

“And we’re leaving. Together.” You say, hoisting him up to lean his weight against you. 

He winces, tightly gripping your shoulder so he can keep himself steady, “How are we going to do that?” 

You hand him a blaster, “On a jet.” He weakly lets out an airy laugh.

“If you say so, Commander.” 

You give him a smile and the two of you exit the room, making your way down the hall. At the sound of several stormtroopers rushing to you, you stop and hide the two of you behind a panel. Sneaking a look at Denel, you see his face screwed in pain, perspiration starting to glide down his face. Maneuvering him to lean more onto you, you wait with bated breath for the troopers to pass. 

You watch them pass, quickly bringing Denel along with you to continue your way to the hangars. When you pull him in the opposite direction of where the TIE fighters are held, he shoots you a confused look.

“I thought we were leaving on a jet?”

You nod, starting to pant with the exertion of holding him, “The supply hangar. You don’t think they’ll expect us to try to get in a fighter?”

His eyebrows lose their furrow as he thinks about it, “You’re right, less resistance there.”

“I’m glad someone else sees the vision.” You smile at him and he tries to give you one back, but you can tell the exertion is getting to him too.

“Don’t worry,” you say, “We’re almost free.”

However, you said it too soon.

As you pass one of the last corners, a sizeable crowd of troopers sees you making your escape and jump into action after the initial shock of being the ones to find you wears off. All at once, a sea of red heads straight for you, and you push Denel with your shoulder out of the way, narrowly missing it as you slot behind a panel. 

Peeking your head off of the side, you shoot some shots that land at their marks, Denel soon joins you and the numbers in the crowd rapidly fall. The ones that try to make their way to you are clipped before they can get too close, and before long, only a handful remain. 

To your horror, your blaster stops responding and you let out a frustrated groan. Just what you needed. Looking to Denel, you ask him for cover and he nods, knowing that he is probably running out too. Scrambling out of your hideout, you toss your empty blaster at the head of a nearing trooper, knocking them off balance as you bounce back and forth on the balls of your feet to avoid the shots from the others. 

Quickly grabbing a blaster off of a dead trooper, you shoot up at one of the other members of the unit just as soon as they shoot theirs. They drop dead as soon as searing pain radiates through your arm, but you don’t spare a glance, even as Denel yells your name. Letting out two final shots, the other troopers drop to the floor and you run back to grab Denel. 

He talks to you, but your mind is much too focused on the objective at hand: getting out alive. 

You’re both panting when you get to the supply hangar, sweat rolling down your back and face, starting to feel lightheaded at the blood loss. Shutting your eyes closed and shaking your head, you try to get the feeling out. It’s slightly successful, allowing you to poke your head through the door and glance around without insane vertigo gripping your vision.

With your assessment, you see the odd custodian here and there unloading a ship on the far corner of the hangar, away from the small line of ships without a crew. There’s your escape. You signal Denel to follow you, motioning with your head to the line. He gives you a single nod and you turn your head back to your destination, keeping your eyes peeled for someone who might see you as you crouch and move lightly to keep noise at a minimum.

In perhaps the luckiest thing to happen to you in your career, no one notices you, and you both load onto the carrier and head up to the cockpit, frantically beginning the takeoff sequence as Denel joins your efforts.

“You ready to be a fugitive?” He gives you a look filled with trepidation as he opens his mouth, eyebrows beginning to pull together.

You interrupt any ‘no’ or idea of surrender, “It’s now or never.”

He breathes out deeply, nodding his head and closing his eyes, “Yeah, yeah I know that. Let’s do this…let us be the traitors they want us to be.”

You breathe out a laugh as you look away from him and press the button to kickstart the engine, causing the personnel unloading supplies to snap their heads to you. Your lips tilt into a smile as you watch them run, waving their arms as you pull the controls toward the exit, steadily increasing speed. 

Unbeknownst to you, a few levels above, Kylo waits eagerly for the moment he’s dreamed of. You lying dead at his feet. 

Your signature feels nearby, and it gets closer before rapidly starting to fade away. At that feeling, he twists around to see a cargo shipping steadily getting further and further away, knowing it had to be you.

“Get them!” He screams, voice crackling the modulator and ricocheting off of the walls as available pilots scramble to get into their TIE fighters. However, just as the first few breach the field to chase you, your ship enters hyperspace and far out of his grasp.

TWO POVS! YIPPEE

[zahri-melitor]

Batman Eternal

I think for a weekly, event comic that was promising to deliver the Bat Family, it underperformed. Some people had a good event, some people had a mediocre event and were underused, and there were a few absolute shockers.

The Good:

In terms of a 'push Bruce to the limit' event, it was interesting in that this one pushed Batman, the Bat Family AND Bruce, separately, to their limits. I'm used to events being 'pick two of the three'. That said, it still underestimated the effectiveness of its supporting cast.

Bruce had a solid event, in that it was focused on him and broke him down to build him back up by running him ragged and keeping him guessing on 'who caused this'. Honestly I don't have a lot to say about Bruce's plot, sorry. It was an okay mystery running through various rogues? I think making Cluemaster Who Dunnit was not the right choice (Arthur should always be a bit pathetic), but I can see why they picked him in the story that's returning Steph and after making Riddler the big bad for Zero Year.

Selina actually had a reasonable event. She got her entire backstory rewritten and ended up controlling crime in Gotham at the end of it, but eh, the former happened to a lot of people during n52 and the latter is something Selina ends up doing every now and then. Her plotline involved organised crime and Carmine Falcone, so it was even something associated with her long term story arcs.

Jim Gordon: look, once we get past the incredible miscarriage of justice that was Jim being arrested and convicted for manslaughter (please, please, explain to me how Jim shooting the signal box input was what caused the trains to crash, rather than the railway routing that meant there was timetabling and no fallback override for two trains SHARING TRACK while running in opposite directions), it was essentially just an excuse to put Jim in Blackgate and start up the plots there. Which you know, went pretty well. Jim got to be the strong man, show off his personality, and presumably this all sets up the Superheavy plotline (sigh).

Julia Pennyworth. Look, I don't hate the idea of Julia, so much as am confused by the very tight timeline constraints required for her existence (post about this coming), and I resent that DC let the team basically invent a new Oracle without being allowed to acknowledge that Oracle is Barbara Gordon. It's like it's an important role in Gotham! Anyway. In terms of what Julia brought to the page, I did appreciate that the writing team seemed committed to increasing the number of women characters populating Gotham, I am happy to have someone not Alfred running comms for the Bats, and I can see several ways she'd be an interesting character to have around, long term, for storytelling. I could grow to like her. But man. I had a really hard time swallowing her existence while Barbara's in the same event having her character destroyed.

Harper Row is so clearly Scott Snyder's pet. Honestly, I really enjoyed her design and the general arc of her story; adding an electrical engineer to the group is actually a relatively unoccupied niche and gives her points of differentiation, but by handing her such a major part of the plot while other, fan favourite characters were appearing and getting not much at all was setting her up to fail in the eyes of the audience.

Steph ranks up in the 'had a good event' category. She essentially reran her origin story combined with aspects of her War Games plot (before everyone yells at me, I particularly noted the correlation with the part of the story where Selina hid her with Holly coming through here with Steph hiding from Arthur and her getting dumped at the Rows for protection. Go actually read War Games). I liked the concept of the Spoiler blog being what she used as her name inspiration here. I again wouldn't have minded if she had actually interacted more with other Bat characters (everyone got very siloed here) but you know what? The story brought her back and set her back up in her default sort of background state. Seriously, they picked from Steph's biggest stories here (her origin, War Games, and actually parts were in conversation with War Crimes, which is a phrase I never thought I would say), and that was a reasonable decision imo.

The Mediocre:

Luke Fox got an interesting plotline with Jim Corrigan and the Spectre. Unfortunately it rarely interacted with the rest of the story (apart from leading to Arkham blowing up). This could have been a separate mini.

Tim got to appear in actual Bat titles, doing actual Bat things, and while being abrasive I could squint at him and see his original characterisation. Tragically despite this he basically didn't get to interact with existing characters he knew for most of the plot. Got handed the idiot ball on occasion to show off Harper. I wish he'd had more opportunities to spend time with characters I know and enjoy him with.

Kate Kane was there, for this event. She got to spend some time with Barbara and Jason. She also really didn't do much of anything. It felt like an obligatory 'you currently have a solo' appearance.

Jason Bard: look this is where I'm conflicted. If this was simply Random Cop #34, I'd have probably bumped it up to good but unrealistic (in terms of the speed run to Commissioner), but as a Jason Bard story? About all they kept or knew of Jason was that he's a cop, he was mentored by Jim Gordon, and that he Has A Limp. I am still outraged they made Babs give him the limp, I think making him a minor antagonist of this was a waste of bringing back Jason Bard, and the endpoint left him in a position where he's moderately unusable by other writers (there was a slight set up for 'transition him over to a detective agency' but there was no resolution on why anyone in Gotham either among the GCPD or the Bats would trust him after this).

The Bad:

Hush. No, not so much in his story (it was boring, it was Tommy being Tommy, yawn), but in the fact for no apparent reason Tommy is running around with his head bandaged. WHY? No reason was given. Using the bandages as his 'costume' is actually painfully irritating, because he wore the bandages during the original Hush as he was healing from facial reconstruction surgery. Here, he was imported into New 52, with his face wrapped in bandages, and no reason given. He wasn't trying to become Bruce and steal his identity. He was just...in bandages. Because that's how he looked in Hush and the fanboys think of him, despite the fact he basically never appeared in bandages again AFTER the initial Hush storyline. I'm infuriated in the pointless iconography that misses the original intent that this is.

Barbara had a terrible event. Even if I excuse everything as she was still grieving over Dick's 'death' and Jim being in jail, and the fact she was undergoing personality surgery in her own title (Batgirl #35 sigggghh), a complete random 'ship Barbara and Jason together' plotline came out of nowhere premised on the fact Barbara was missing Dick? Or something? And their age gap in n52 nonsense is only a couple of years, rather than Babs being ABOUT TEN YEARS OLDER and having babysat Jason. Ugh.

Speaking of: Jason Todd did somewhat better than some of the others in that he got to actually hang out with Barbara and Kate for a storyline, and honestly pairing him up with Kate is a route DC should look at more often in terms of character mediation, but lost 1000 points for the Jason/Barbara stuff. Also had a terrible costume (but what's new there).

Crystal Brown I am so sorry. Not only did you get yet another completely new look and personality, you lost all the few characterisation elements we had for you, you collaborated with your ex-husband, and you betrayed Steph at one point. You should be awarded damages for pain and suffering.

Lincoln March/Owlman: you were in this event SOLELY to confuse Steph and delay her cooperation with everyone else. I resent your entire existence in this timeline and it irritates me that Scott Snyder set up an entire previous event essentially to introduce you to the main universe and then waited going 'did you get it?' You are not Thomas Wayne Jnr sorry.

[pinkyjulien]

Hey! 👋 I wanna talk about social media and interactions in general

It happened a few time now that people would ask me why I unfollowed / did not follow back / did not interact on certain posts etc

First; I'm aware unfollow, non-interaction and blocks can be sources of anxiety for some people, but in my case it's RARELY tied to my opinions of you as a person.

I'm busy through the days; either working in the house, outside, working on comms, modding- that means I often miss content on Tumblr, especially now that the weird "algorithm" is in testing and throw the majority of posts in the "for you" page.

I'm also neurodivergent and have a lot of different icks, since I come online to have a good time, that means I curate my spaces a lot.

Those icks and triggers are MY responsability, and are in NO WAY indicative of your content or yourself as a person!

If someone is scared of cats and avoid them online, does it say anything about cats? Are cats suddenly bad because this one person don't interact with cat related stuff? Of course not

This is the same here, there is no secret meaning in my actions; no kinkshaming, no gatekeeping. I was always transparent with how much I curate my space, but talking about it caused me a lot of hardship in the past so I won't dwelve into details and specifics.

If I once followed you and unfollowed, if I did not follow back, if I didn't liked X or Y posts, if I did not reblog, etc: No, I do not hate you (especially if we never interacted) and No, you didn't do anything wrong 🙏

As a final note, I will say this; Monitaring people's online life isn't healthy, and I mean this in the most mindful way. I know just how much social medias can affect the brain, how easy it is to become "addicted"

It leads to overthinking every interaction (or non-interaction), the brain start to create scenarios and fake beef with people, trying to find reasoning in interactions, simple clicks of buttons, and it's never that deep!

This post serve as a general reminder/information, but If you still have any doubts about anything, feel free to ask in DM 🤲

[frostycatblr-fandom-files]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

I saw @clonethirstingisreal's version and (since tagging was open season) I thought this looked fun and wanted give it a go!

**Some questions have been modified slightly since I have an account but don't post on Ao3.**

1.) How many works do you have on [Tumblr]?

Excluding an OC storyline, my breakdown looks something like this:

The Bad Batch: 23 published fics The Clone Wars: 11 published fics The Mandalorian: 2 published fics + four more Clone fics in a "mixed" category

Assuming I did my math right: 40 published fics

2.) What's your total [Tumblr] word count?

Excluding same storyline as before, drumroll please........

Upwards of 186,744 words! [Four fics did not have word counts] That's a lot of yappin'.

3.) What fandoms do you write for?

Within the Star Wars franchise, TBB, TCW, and Mando.

4.) What are your top five fics by [Notes]?

I didn't check specifics, but the earlier chapters of my Sorry, Wrong Comms! series have likely racked up the most likes and reblogs of anything I've published.

5.) Do you respond to comments?

I do! 🩷 I do my best to respond to everything; but things have inevitably slipped under the radar I'm sure...

6.) What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I would say an installment out of the OC storyline has that achievement, currently. Non-OC, I'm less certain, if I'm honest.

7.) What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Maybe the Hunter x Reader request I'm currently working on?

8.) Do you get hate on fics?

It's happened a (small) handful of times. Unfortunate, but expected.

Once was racially charged in nature, think it was after I published Tide Pools? Deleted it. Don't remember what it said anymore.

The other was just today, accusing me of "disguised clonecest". Meh.

9.) Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No, I'm not quite comfortable with writing smut outside of a fantasy side project I've been working on. It's... not really all that spicy, anyhow. 😅

10.) Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Haven't written a good ol' crossover in a long time, I'm afraid!

[ERROR 404: QUESTION 11 NOT FOUND]

12.) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

13.) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Also nope. But I would be willing, with the right person.

14.) What's your favorite ship?

Clones x Happy AUs.

15.) What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have a Savage Opress fic buried somewhere that I think about time to time... but I don't know where it is saved, sadly.

16.) What are your writing strengths?

Coming up with a lot of creative ideas. Descriptive writing.

17.) What are your writing weaknesses?

Sticking to an idea... Maybe too much descriptive writing...

18.) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

Has good narrative uses! I like doing it myself for SW fics. Just have to balance a wobbly line of not overdoing it.

19.) First fandom you wrote for?

The Avengers, most likely?

20.) Favorite fic you've written?

Maybe the S,WC! series honestly. There are parts I've looked back on a year later and know I could write a whole lot better now, but given that the series was my first major fanfic project after years of writer's block, I appreciate it for what it is.

A standalone fic might be Fireside Friendship.

No Pressure Tags: Open season! 🩷

[navysealt4t]

HI BLUE!!!! im here with some silly plotting thats been driving me up a wall but i love it and its so very soft to me. i love these guys. little world building things. zam making jam in his spare time because its a long process that can be relatively hands off but is also very rewarding...

- Vitalasy sits down in the chair beside where Zam had been, idly fiddling with his comm - "Do you know where Subz is?" Vi asks, and it confuses Zam for a moment, since he could've just messaged Subz, but he answers earnestly - "He said he had something he wanted to take care of, it might've been something to do with the villagers?" - Vitalasy just hums and turns off his comm, no longer focusing on whatever was going on in chat and instead just idly looking around the kitchen - "I guess it can wait until later then - What're you doing up this early?" - "Couldn't sleep, so I was out watching the sunrise, but now... I dunno. I need to find something to do until I crash, I guess?" Zam sighs, leaning on the counter near Vi, the smell of coffee isn't his favorite one, but he doesn't mind it as much these days - "Make yourself some tea, then? That should help, unless there's something weighing on you?" - That startles him out of the quiet calm as he denies anything being on his mind, though the raven he saw earlier is a figure that he isn't sure is going to leave his thoughts until he sees it again - he remembers hearing once that they're a bad omen - "No, no! Nothing on my mind, just -" He pauses, tapping on the brooch with his nail to indicate what he's talking about, "- a lot to get used to, you know? I mean, this is so... Different to Team Awesome." - He hates bringing up his old team, but its unavoidable if he's going to be honest - and he promised himself he'd be honest about how he felt and what he thinks, he isn't going to fall into that same spiral all over again - "You have all the time in the world to figure it out." Vitalasy says, and it really sounds like he means it, even if Zam isn't fully sure he believes that - But, the coffee is done by now, and he doesn't want it to get cold, so he pulls out two mugs from the cupboard and sets his mind to pouring out an even amount for the both of them, leaving enough headroom to stir in sugar and milk, handing Vitalasy his cup before going back and cutting a small piece of bread for himself, finding the single remaining jar of the sweetberry jam he made a while ago buried in the back of the cabinet and deciding to put some on the bread - He can hear Vitalasy gawk, and knows now who it was thats gone through the majority of it, and that puts a smile on his face

there's something so soft about it despite the slight tension between them... zam's so anxious but trying to find the right way to weasel his way out of talking about it while vitalasy isn't even trying to get that much info out of him.. ovufbnjmkd

ALSO i would send my usual "i listened to this while writing" but i genuinely just put on an animal crossing music thing that plays the songs hourly

soooo instead you get the initial spark song for this fic <3

^ criminally underrated... only like 1k monthly listeners on spotify!!

OGHH the like… hesitant affection… biting biting. even with tension between them they r still fucking soft i love this so much. u put so much detail into ur outlines i could never lmao i just wing it. i put in so much detail and headcanons and world building i love it

also this song is so good HELLO

[firebrandthestubborn]

*neck crack* havnt written anything here in a while.

Tw: Slight angst (I’ve never written that before bear with me), Blood, Zombies, various weapons, language, and Major character death(s).

Reader is American.

When I talk about Simons face I am talking about the face that was leaked recently in the games files.

No explicit “romance or ship” mostly just platonic

Pairing: Ghost x Gender Neutral Reader (They/Them)

Zombie Apocalypse AU

Some military terms might be used wrong, sorry <3

NOT PROOFREAD

Human

After a while everyone just gave up, the 1-4-1 and various memebers of the Los Vaqueros all came to a mutual agreement to disband the any group. Everyone heading back to their respective cities/countries to help with the cause. Ghost didn’t have anywhere to go. No family to protect and his “friends” are far to busy protecting what they had, they didn’t need another mouth to feed and protect.

Except you, you were in the same boat as Ghost. You had no one back home waiting for you and neither did he. So you both decided to head back to your home town, on the off chance your estranged parents who you cut contact with moments before joining the military were still alive.

The town was overrun so soon, you don’t know if it was because of how small/large the town was or just because people gave up. Days had gone by before the both of you managed to get back to your old childhood home. It looked the same except it was empty not a sign of life anywhere.

Ghost propping his M4 Carbine up and cautiously peeked through windows before glancing at you. Staring back you (unceremoniously) kicked the flimsy wooden door down. You paired with a similar Carbine stepped into the house. It was weird, you done a sweep and clean numerous times but now this was your childhood home. Getting to the kitchen you could hear the oddly familiar sound of your boot hitting blood. Being in almost constant warfare and bloodshed, boots on blood is an all to familiar and unique sound.

There was a lot of blood, but no body. Holding your breath you let out a huff of relief. Lowering your gun and pulling down ur dark (color) balaclava, the thin piece of fabric was suffocating feeling your own breathe for hours at a time can make any man go mad.

“Clear.” You heard the gruff accent call from upstairs, heavy boots walking back down and meeting you in the kitchen. Staring at his skull balaclava you wonder how he is, years in that thing yet he’s still…normal?

“They aren’t here. I don’t know why we bothered.” He didn’t break eye contact with you when you muttered that. You hated the eye contact. You shook your head and look away walking up to the fridge and opening it, the powers been off for about five weeks now. Useless.

“I’m glad we came. It’s.. good…. that you wanted to help your parents. Better then leaving them to die.” Ghost was so bad at speaking, his emotions were distant. You know he cares but he doesn’t know how to vocalize it.

“Fuck, thank god. There bottled water in here” Avoiding what he says is a good thing. Grabbing the bottles of water and stuffing them in a reusable Walmart bag that was lying aimlessly on the counter.

_________

The first few days after everyone split off they tried to keep contact. Ghost and the other had access to radios that (despite the distance) they could communicate. But eventually they all trickled off. It started with Alejandro he stopped answering and eventually the radio couldn’t be found at all, the Price he was the same way eventually stopped answers Ghost on comms.

Then it was Soap. You were with Ghost when the news broke Ghost just went silent but you could feel the anger and guilt radiating off of him. Hearing that Soap was bit and had to be “put out” was disturbing. A chill ran down your spine and you froze staring down at the comms. The stupid jokes you and Soap would crack in times of serious missions flooded back to you. But for some reason you knew this was gonna happen.

Ghost in the other hand was shook, he stared of at his boots under his Mack you could see him destroying his bottom lip with him teeth and his breathing got shallow. I’m his eyes it was just him again. You were still there and he knew it but soon enough he’ll lose you.

Shutting off comms and standing up straight, letting out a shakey breath and blinking absently a few times. You opened your mouth to speak but some moments don’t need words or love. Just silence so you stood there trying to comfort Ghost without pushing him over the edge. Eventually it got dark and you both had to leave. There was no reason to stay on the military base. You and Ghost never spoke about that but you both knew it.

___________

“Ghost?” You glanced at him from the drivers seat of a small gray truck you both ‘commandeered’. Ever since this whole apocalypse started Ghost was zoning out and disassociating a lot more. His body would be there next to you but mentally he wasn’t. Everytime you would bring him back down and ground him.

“You good buddy? Do you want me to pull over and we take a break..?” Trailing off and glancing around the town you stumbled into. Almost like clockwork the truck let out a little tune and the ‘need gas!’ light flickered on. Letting out a “fuck” you pulled into a Casey’s parking the truck at the gas pump and staring at the ‘prepay with card or inside!’ sticker, the sticker was mocking you.

“Come on big guy let’s go raid this gas station for food…and gas” you smirked at him trying to lighten the mood.

The gas station was clear and looked almost hn touched despite a knocked over shelves and obvious animal markings. Walking over to the register you punch in 100$ worth of gas and select ur pump. Watching Ghost wander aimlessly around the gas station poking at the American snacks and expired foods.

“Okay I got the pump ready are you gonna grab an-“ You let out a yelp as you felt arms grab you from behind whipping you around and throwing you into the back counter against a display of various coffees in glass bottles. The sudden attack made you drop your gun. The sound of you getting thrown to the ground and glass shattering triggered Ghost he came around the corner to see the zombie quickly heading towards you.

‘Damnit, for a fucker missing a foot your fast as hell.’ You thought while getting pinned to the corner. Second later it’s head is blown open and your covered in rotting brain and glass. The corpse fell to the ground with a thump and you scurried off, terrified.

“Jesus FUCK (Y/N) YOU ALMOST DIED.” Ghost yelled as soon as you came back into his vision you shrunk back slightly not hearing him yell like that since this all started. You let out an apology and go to grab your gun, sharp pains shoot through both of your hands and you drop your gun with a sneer back looking down at your gloves you can see all the bits a pieces of glass stuck in the and you can feel the glass under the gloves digging into your skin.

“Fucking hell. Si, will you help me out?” Slowly pulling the gloves off and see you hands bleeding profusely you cringe. A few second passed as Ghost walks over to you with a first aid kit setting it on the floor as you both take a seat on the floor behind the counter.

You held your hands out infront of him, he grips them and stares down at you before pours the alcohol on the wounds. Letting out a string of choice words attempting to pull your hands away but Ghosts grip wasn’t letting that happen.

“Stop. They will get infected.” Ghost said sternly putting the alcohol down and grabbing the bandages and bandage tape. Wrapping your palms up tightly and finally letting go. You both sit in silence for what felt like hours. Both exhausted, hungry, and basically on the verge of death.

“I’m… sorry.. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.” Ghost avoided your stare and looked ahead of him at the light brown cabinets. He reached up and hooked a finger under the mouth part of his balaclava and pulled it down exposing his full face.

“You don’t have a reason to be sorry Si.. I should have swept through the back rooms. You have a right to be upset.” He could feel your eyes locked onto him and Ben if he’s long since ditched the skull mask he still wore the balaclava religiously.

The air in the Casey’s got tense despite him staring off you saw a spark in his eyes. Somehow you could tell he was about to dump a lot onto you, but you were ready. You always told him after the others had passed you were always gonna be there for him.

“After Soap died I feel like everything I had was just fading away. That team.. all of them, they were my friends and family. Closest I’ve ever had to family.” He stares off and just spoke his mind, this stuff has been bottled away inside of him for days? Months? Maybe years. You sat silently and listened intently. “ I feel like I should have stayed with them or at least voted no against us splitting up, maybe they would be alive, maybe if I had gone with Soap he would still be alive?”

He felt a cold hand creep onto his as you kept listening holding his hand letting him know that no matter what you were there for him. He looked back at you staring into his eyes you could see how wet his eyes had gotten.

“Ghost..” He cuts you off still staring at you.

“But if I went with them who knows what would have happened to you. They’re gone I’ve grieved them and I still am but now I have to protect you. As dumb and corny as that sounds I feel like when I was with them I had to protect them before myself. And now it’s the same with you.” He stared off again getting caught up and confused in his own emotions “I shouldn’t have said any of this.”

Ghost starts to stand up before getting stopped and pushed back down.

“Ghost. Never apologize for speaking like this. What happened to the others wasn’t in our control. It never was and never could be. You chose to come with me and god fuck I am so grateful.” Ghost looked scared hearing all of this the flood of unfamiliar and lost emotions made him sick to his stomach.

“Yes you are Ghost, that will never change.” A bandaged hand came up to gently stroke his face. “But you are still Simon. And Simon is human.”

[fictional-love-is-my-life]

May I have hotrod, Bumblebee, and Optimus reactions by headcanon of them running into eachother while in their alt modes ( car form) during a Decepticon chase? Like they are chasing the same con and they end up crashing into eachother by accident? Not fatally, just like a major dent and skimmed paint or broken windshield or lights out. Who crashes into who is up to you to decide.

Warnings: Mentions of small car crashes. Accidents in cars, cars hitting each other while driving. Mentions of swearing.

Hot Rod:

Hot Rod and Bee are driving side by side behind a Decepticon.

He tells Bee that he's going to go around and cut the con off, Bee acknowledges. Now he assumed that Bee was going to continue going straight, or perhaps go in a different direction. But that's what he gets for assuming, and also not indicating which way he was going to go.

He starts to speed up to try and get in front of Bee. Bee decides to drift left and catches Hot Rods bumper.

This surprises Hot Rod, startling him, the hit was also enough of a bump to push him off course making him swerve.

He brakes and controls his steering so he doesn't spin out of control. He drops back losing the con, but he'd rather that then get into an accident.

He proceeds to swear in French over the comm link. "Really Bee? Merde!"

He feels grumpy and petty so tells Bee to go and catch the con by himself. He does still follow after them, in case Bee gets ambushed. But he stays a far distance behind, not wanting to get hit again. He starts to drive the speed limit, still complaining over the comms, making remarks such as 'I've never been hit by a human before, only you Bee' and 'Do you know how much effort it will be to fix that?'

He hasn't seen the damage. It doesn't feel like a lot and it doesn't hurt or impair his ability to drive, but it was still uncomfortable. He's almost scared to look, hoping it really isn't that bad. But he feels annoyed, his alt mode was beautiful and perfect and now it was ruined.

When they do get back to base he points it out to Bee. 'Look what you did to me!'

He demands that Bumblebee be the one to fix it. Bee caused the damage so he should spend the time and effort to repaint his bumper

"I'm never driving with you again." He's being dramatic about it, and a little over the top sure. But that's how he feels. He hates getting his paint scratched, so he's going to make sure Bee never hears the end of it.

He complains the whole time Bee fixes his paint. As soon as Bee is finished he walks off without a thank you. Why should he thank him? Bee caused it. He proceeds to give Bee the silent treatment for a couple days.

Finally after 3 days and a million apologies from Bee, Hot Rod forgives him. He was just frustrated and needed time to cool down. He does forgive Bee as it was an accident and knows Bee didn't do it on purpose.

Even though it was forgiven, it was not forgotten and Hot Rod is now very careful anytime he drives with Bumblebee. Sometimes he'll tease Bee about it. "Remember that time you hit me?"

Bumblebee:

He was chasing the con with Optimus. They had done this dance a thousand times and had never had an incident before, so he wasn't expecting one now. So he followed Optimus, watching him drive in and out of the traffic with ease. Bee was following quite close behind Optimus as he trusted his driving.

What he never expected his leader to do, was brake suddenly. The con had pushed an innocent car into Optimus' way, causing the truck to brake. Bee tried to stop, but was too close behind, so ended up going into the back of Optimus.

His front bumper pushed inwards, his headlights smashing from the impact. He slowed way down, pulling away from Optimus and the con to regain himself. It was not the worst he had experienced, and it did not cause him great pain or cause and energon leak. His bumper would be able to be popped out easy enough, but his lights were gone.

He swore and grumbled, complaining to himself. He knew it was not on purpose, but damn it sucked.

He also hated the fact it was Optimus. Any of the other bots and he would have cursed them out. He also would have gone back to base and scratched their paint, making them feel what he felt. But he couldn't do that to Optimus, so he had to just suck it up and accept it.

Optimus called him over the comm link and apologized. Bee accepted to apology, but continued to grumble to himself. He was almost tempted not to accept the apology out of spite, but he knew Optimus really was remorseful.

He continued to follow Optimus but now driving beside him. He made a promise to himself to never drive behind Optimus ever again.

Bee knew accidents happened, but he never wanted to get into one. It just took time and effort to repair damage and was a bit of a bother to go through. He was not looking forward to going through it.

He was also not looking forward to the other bots making comments about it. He knew Crosshairs would say something about it. Fine, he would just take his anger out on Crosshairs instead of Optimus.

Once the chase is over he goes straight to Cade, getting his help to fix up his bumper and replace his lights. Optimus came over to apologize once more and Bee really wished he didn't. It was awkward that they hit each other and he was trying to be polite, but he felt angry. Optimus could have gave him some warning and he would have swerved, but he didn't.

Once his repairs were done he looked himself over. His bumper was a slightly different color yellow to the rest of him. He tried to not let it bother him but it did. It was going to be a reminder that it happened.

He seeks out Crosshairs, needing to take out his frustration on someone.

Optimus:

He had never driven with Hot Rod before. But he thought he was probably a good driver, Bee tended to give him high praise. So he was fine chasing after a con beside Hot Rod. He was also used to the speedsters chasing off since they were a lot faster than him, and he was fine with that.

Optimus was focused on the Decepticon, expecting Hot Rod to speed off like Bee usually would. In reality he forgot Hot Rod was beside him. The fact that Hot Rod was so low to the ground, also didn't help. Optimus decided to drift right, trying to go around a civilian. He heard a complaint over his comms but it was too late.

Out of fear of being crushed Hot Rod quickly transformed, but going that speed he still collided with Optimus. Hot Rod fell on Optimus, landing on his roof before rolling over and off him.

This left Optimus with both a dented roof and a cracked windshield.

He groaned in complaint. Slowing a little to regain control of his steering. Once he was safe and not in danger of hitting any civilians he sped up trying to catch up to the Decepticon. He radioed Hot Rod to make sure he was ok and not greatly injured, but he continued to drive. He could not let the con get away.

He also tried very hard to ignore his own 'injuries'.

He was not hurt, but he knew his dented roof was going to bother him. He was not looking forward to transforming, knowing it was going to be awkward with the giant dent. For now though he pushed the thoughts to the side and focused on the con.

Once the chase was over he caught up with Hot Rod and drove back home. He felt a little rude, but he kind of wished he had been with Bee. Just because he was so used to driving with Bee.

He apologized to Hot Rod, mentioning that he did not see him. Hot Rod accepted the apology, which Optimus was thankful for, he did not want Hot Rod to hold any resentment to him.

Hot Rod offered to help with the dented roof. Optimus was thankful for the offer and allowed him. While still in truck mode, Optimus opened his door. Hot Rod put his servo through the door and pushed the roof of the cab upwards popping the dent out.

It was a little uncomfortable, like a pinch. But Optimus felt relief once it was done. He transformed and looked himself over. The only indicator he was in an accident was the cracked windshield.

That bothered him. He would have to ask Cade to source him a new one. Unfortunately it could take a while, meaning he would have to drive around with a giant crack.

He didn't need to see through the windscreen, but he didn't need any cops pulling him over for it. He tried to think, maybe he should stay at home until he could get a new one. He didn't want to. He hated being cooped up and didn't want to be stuck in one place. But he didn't want to risk getting pulled over. This made him feel a little annoyed at the situation but he was the one that caused it so he could only blame himself.

He felt embarrassed and awkward, so spent a few days avoiding Hot Rod. He never wanted to be the cause of an accident to any of his Autobots. He knew Hot Rod forgave him, but he still felt awful about it.

He just needed a few days to get over the incident. Deep down he hoped that at some point both he and Hot Rod would just forget about it.

He also made mental notes to himself. From now on, whenever he drove with another bot he would make sure they stayed in front of him the entire time. He was never going to let one get into his blind spots ever again for fear of another accident.

[nerdyenby]

Blue time :D I’m watching Aimsey

Pregame

Oh my goodness their costume is so swag

“As you can see, I can’t” HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THE FUNNIEST MAN ALIVE AIMSEYTV???

I’m watching in my university’s library but I burst out laughing when xe took off her glasses, my goodness they’re so silly <333

“Grandpa’s first tweet” HE NEEDS TO STOP IM DYING

“I can’t see, this is gonna be awful, I’m so excited!!” I love them so much

This is way funnier considering I know absolutely nothing about Adventure Time

Skipping to the actual event lol

Shelby <333 I’m so excited for Aimsey and Shelby interactions this event :)))

Elaina jointing the vc at the worst possible moment lmao

“I’m a little bit of a grid runner” fbm is so cool /g

Holy crap I’ve never heard Shelby say fuck before, I wasn’t prepared

Parkour Tag

I love this team’s energy

“And if we win, we can laugh at them”

I love them so much, the hype, the positivity, the humor is everything

YEAAHHHHHH aimsey and shane surviving???? Hype!!!!

Rocket Spleef

Aimsey popping off!!! Can’t believe he only learned how to elytra hop a couple hours before the event, she’s doing great!!

Sands of Time

They were all so upset, stars should’ve called them transphobic, do it

The blue key is under the hourglass Shane ;-;

He figured it out don’t worry

Aimsey’s comms are supreme, I’m so proud of xem <33

Legit, dunking the last place team is such bm

I’m so glad they’re all hyping Aimsey up, she was having such a time but this team has superb synergy <333

Sky Battle

“It is a great day to be on blue bats, we have gotten every game we don’t want” “Ohana means family” HELP??????? SHANE 😭

You’re doing amazing Aimsey, you’re incredible and handling your overload with such grace. If you somehow see this I want you to know that you should never be ashamed to stim on stream, it makes me and so many others feel normal and even watching it is so calming, we love you so much king <333

“Is anyone good at bridging?” “No!!” “Firebreath, are you good at bridging?” “NO, it’s the only thing I’m not good at” peak comedy, honestly (also we love a man who owns both his strengths and his weaknesses <3)

Aimsey killed 3 people?!!!! THATS MY STREAMER

SHANE POPPED OFF HOLY CRAP!!!!

BLUE BATS FIRST PLACE <33333

Wow I can’t believe Aimsey is exploiting best friend privileges, smh /j

The absolute property value of MCC29 Blue Bats’ sky battle round 2 <33

BLUE BATS SKYBATTLE COMEBACK!!!!

Blue bats pvp main, real and true!!

Ace Race

Something about them just talking music makes me happy :)

Aimsey’s vod is muted so I skipped to the end but she did so well!! Xey popped off!!!!!

Shane 3rd!!!

LITERALLY WHY DUNK BLUE

Can’t believe Tubbo’s sexist AND homophobic, smh

Battle Box

“Feminine rage but it’s just me yelling at MCC every ten minutes” so true aimseytv

Them shout-singing All Stars <333

“I’m killing Sniff, lesbian on lesbian crime” *kills Sniff* “LESBIAN!!!!” I love them so much

Aimsey is popping off, holy crap, he’s literally slaying

Elaina and Aimsey tag teaming H was crazy

“I’m going straight despite me loving women” Elaina my beloved!!!

Shane getting exactly 1000 coins is crazy

Grid Runners

That light the lamps was CLEAN

Aimsey running headfirst into the walk was so head empty of them /aff

Golf references???

That final room would stress me out live but it’s so clever and fun to watch

THIRD :D that room feels so long but they killed it!!

They KILLED the mob room!!

8th!!!! :D

TGTTOSAWAF

Second team!!!!!

Aimsey :((

I hate georgenotfound, I don’t even care, he sucks

FIRST FULL TEAM!!!

Them all hating on Reddit culture and then AIMSEY GOT SECOND?!!!!!!!!

THEY GOT FIRST?????? THOSE ARE MY BLUE BATS <333333!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SIXTH!!!!

What is with fbm and getting the same individual rank as the team?? This happened at least twice this event lol

Guqqie protective girlfriend mode <33

Dodgebolt

“You know Reddit, just because majority of a team is afab doesn’t mean they’re bad players, fuck you” SAY IT LOUDER!!!!!

“Of course I’m proud of Aimee. Aimee could’ve come in last and I would’ve been proud of Aimee” I could cry they’re so sweet <3333

Guqqie saying she’s babysitting us lol

“Aimee got 26th overall?! Look at him go!! Aimee is a really good MCC player and it makes me sad when people put them low” real and true <3

There is so much sexism in the MCC community, it’s absolutely disgusting and it needs to get talked about more. People treat afab players like death sentences for teams without even treating them as individuals. I’m so glad Guqqie is talking about it because so many people don’t acknowledge how horrid it is.

As they say, “it’s very cool that people take these competitions so seriously but I don’t think it’s an excuse to be cruel towards people. Take that passion and use it positively, not negatively.”

GOD Guqqie stop spitting so many facts you’re giving me too many quotes /lh

Guqqie talking about how balanced the teams are and how good of a job Scott did <33

[red-mercer]

(original reblog from deleted blog, pasted in in order to cut off that fucking post tumor prisbell)

As a mass comm major, IF THERE IS SOMETHING UNJUST OR IMMORAL BEING DONE CALL YOUR LOCAL NEWS STATION THEY WILL HELP MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE

Cities and government agencies HATE bad press. This story that was told to me by the journalist that covered this, and he showed us the piece:

There was a traffic light that was set up on the far side of an overpass, but it was improperly hung so you couldn’t see the light until it was too late. There were accidents there EVERY SINGLE DAY and calls to the city did NOTHING.

Someone had the idea to call the local news station and this dude went out to see. As he was interviewing someone, there was a wreck.

Guess what happened after that piece aired?

Suddenly the city had the time to lower the traffic light and the accidents stopped.

Journalists get a bad rep, and while big stations like Fox deserve it, I think more thought should be given to who you’re actually shitting on when you say “I hate journalists.” Because we’re overworked, underpaid, constantly shit on, but we still do the job because we want to help people. All professional, prestigious journalists that I’ve met hate the government and will do whatever they can to get the information and change that’s needed. Being a journalist is a dangerous profession: at every professional convention I’ve been at there’s a fund for the families of journalists that have been killed (there’s a lot!) and a long memoriam roll.

SUPPORT LOCAL NEWS STATIONS

[frostycatblr-fandom-files]

What am I grateful for, and what does The Bad Batch mean to me? Gosh, honestly, where do I start...?

[Just like your request fic I've been working on, Dragon, this is likely going to be not-so-brief. 😅]

Credits where credits are due: The Bad Batch and The Mandalorian got me into Star Wars again. TBB gets slightly more credit than Mando when it comes to what made me willing to engage in fandom spaces again.

I saw (and experienced) so much negativity, misogyny, and gatekeeping following the release and aftermath of The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019) that I shied away from the franchise and fandom almost as a whole.

I wasn't seeing a lot of "support" for people with my viewpoint of the sequel trilogy at the time. People just couldn't accept nuance; it felt like you either had to hate them or love them from what I saw, no in-betweeners. (I'm able to acknowledge they were the weakest "leg" of the franchise, but I still enjoyed those films for what they were (inherently ridiculous sci-fi). I accept that I may be something of an oddball for that.)

I got so sick of experiencing gatekeeping and/or misogyny in just about every discussion I (perhaps incorrectly) thought was safe to engage in, too. If people (read as: mostly men) I was discussing things with realized that I was a woman, they saw it as an invitation to try QUIZZING ME on my knowledge of the franchise to see if I was "actually a fan, or just some casual".

I didn't really have an interest in keeping up with a franchise I "previously" loved following all that mess as closely as time went on. I grew less and less interested in SW and Marvel became my big thing for a while.

Star Wars was just kinda. There. I didn't feel like entertaining the fixation with any kind of urgency anymore.

Then The Mandalorian dropped in 2019. Like most of the world, I fell in love with Mando and Baby Yoda. That tided me over until 2021, when we got season 1 of The Bad Batch. And oh boy.

That's when things really clicked again. I fell in love HARD with the franchise again and a whole bunch of things fell into place once I decided the Clone Wars era was were I felt most comfortable being and found the most interest (because so much ties into and branches off from that three-year period!).

I started writing fanfiction again, slowly, and Sorry, Wrong Comms! became my first major series following season 2 of TBB.

I started making a few friends and connections in fandom spaces again. Better friends who showed me *support* and *ENCOURAGEMENT* rather than *veiled mockery* in hyper-fixating on a 15 year old animated show and it's spin-off. Friends who've never made me feel like I was enjoying the material in the "wrong" way, or that I wasn't allowed to like certain characters.

I started making art again last year because of Star Wars after years of letting those skills lapse! I taught myself Aurebesh for my art upon realizing that while I may not be able to draw people anymore due to skill degradation, I can still make fanart of the characters I love by using their helmets. (Hell yeah for symbolism!!)

I have a pretty nerdy family. Nerdy stuff makes up a large part of how we bond and spend time together. (I should talk about how my sister and I have been parallel-playing Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sometime.) My dad has been into Star Wars for a long time and I used to go to him with all my SW questions because he was "the" family member for it. Now it's gotten to the point that I've dug so deep into all this stuff that follows after TCW (TBB, Rebels, Mando, Andor, Kenobi, Ahsoka, even Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi Survivor) that I know more about some of this stuff than he does! So now I get to talk about it with him. Nearly every Wednesday morning (or shortly after) I get to tell him about the episode(s) I watched once they released.

I know people have expressed worry that once TBB ends, the fandom's gonna go dormant again, which will be partially true as some people will lose interest and move on.

But I do not see myself breaking away from the franchise any time soon. Not when Mando and TBB brought me back in. There will still be plenty to talk about. Make art about. Write clever and/or silly AUs for. Fix-its. The works.

I will still be here because while I'm not the target audience for a couple of kids' shows, this is the stuff that makes me happy, and (not to get too dark) gave me something to use to get me out of bed each day when my depression got terrible in the winter months, not too long ago.

A goofy space opera of all things was what I used cope with my Seasonal Affective Disorder while it absolutely kicked. my. shebs.

And it worked. Depression's back to its baseline as the temperatures slowly rise where I live (there's no shortage of sunshine!) and things feel "normal" again as we're creeping into May.

And though it may be the end of the line for our beloved Defective And Effective Clones come the 1st of May, the love will last for a long, long time.

Before TBB Ends...Regardless of HOW it Ends...I've Got to Say Something...

In 2021, TBB was released, and over the last few years, it's grown to mean a lot to me. Not just the stories, the storytelling, the characters whom we've fallen in love with and hope to see more of someday, whose stories we've learned important lessons from, but how it profoundly affected my life.

And it is something I am incredibly grateful for.

Regardless of how the show ends, if it's something I'm going to love or be totally heartbroken over and hate, I'm so glad it happened and went on this journey.

For one, it gave me the plug to start writing. Writing was always a dream of mine but it wasn't until I discovered fanfiction, because of TBB, that I actually realized it. I had this idea of writing and thought I'd never really be able to accomplish that. The show enabled me to move past that and I've been able to be enflamed by my love for writing. It brings me so much happiness. No other show pushed me to write like this one.

Secondly, my writing has allowed me to touch and interact with people. I can't tell you how much it means to me and how thrilled I am to hear and learn my work has touched you in some way. I'm humbled by your words and taking the time to actually read and appreciate what I've written.

Thirdly, I've gone on so many adventures, crazy amazing adventures because of what other brilliant minds I met through the show have written. There are SO many great stories that just hit me so.....I was touched by your stories that you wouldn't have written if you hadn't watched the show!

Lastly, but CERTAINLY not the least, I have made SO many friends and writing buddies because of this show. It has connected me to so many cool people that I otherwise may never have found. I've grown really close with some of you, while others, though we may not be friends per say, I hope we can someday. In the meantime, I will admire your work from here. You guys mean so much to me and I can't even begin to express how wonderful it's been getting to know you over the past few years. The fun experiences we've shared, the theories, the stories, all of it. I am not putting this as well as it was in my head so please forgive that.

This includes but isn't limited to: @eclec-tech @photogirl894 @apocalyp-tech-a @lizartgurl @jedipoodoo @arctrooper69 @carolinetano7567 @trapezequeen @ghostofskywalker @masterjedilenaaa @ladysongmaster @moonstrider9904 @klmwrites @techs-stitches @ovaa-bi-bia @frostycatblr-fandom-files @imabeautifulbutterfly @sverdgeir @oceansssblue @marvel-starwarsfangirl @jedi-hawkins

How about you? What are you guys grateful for? Reblog and share what TBB meant to you!

Copy and paste the red as your header and let's see how many people we can get so share their stories!

I will end with no other quote than this!

"With love comes loss; it's part of the deal. Sometimes it hurts, but in the end, it's all worth it. There's no greater gift than love."

[nahoney22]

I was wondering if you could conjure up a situation where fem!Reader and Omega are summoned from the Havoc to assist the boys in a mission they thought they didn't need girls' help, and the girls came to provide medical help. However, upon arrival, turns out the issue the boys are facing (Idk, negotiations with an unbearable overseer on the behalf of the natural inhabitants?) needs a ~feminine touch~. Aka Aggressive (persuasive) negotiations. Tbb perspectives? Tbb looking at each other like:

Thanks for the request @agenteliix ♥️ hope this is okay

Rescue Mission

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁 𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁 𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁 𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙

Bad Batch Boys & Omega X F!Reader

word count: 3.2k

You and Omega find the Batchers in trouble and now it’s time to prove your worth in this squad

warnings: SFW, mentions of mild misogyny, threats, mild canon-typical violence but nothing major, imprisonment, platonic relationships.

Masterlist

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁 𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁 𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁 𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙

“Omega, stop pacing.”

“They should be back by now! I don’t like this.”

Admittedly, you could no longer ignore the terrible anxious feeling brewing in the pit of your stomach.

You were all given a mission by Cid, a simple trick of negotiations against a sly dealer in exchange for valuable goods. However, this was two hours ago now and yourself and Omega were told to stay on the ship.

“Try comm them again.” You instructed her and she hurried to the control panel to patch a signal through to them but to no avail.

Truthfully you hated how the boys would dismiss you and Omega. There had been plenty of times you had helped them out on missions when they were in a tight spot and if they’re not back in the next ten minutes, you had a feeling that you would be doing it again.

And so the ten minutes passed and you could not hold out any longer. So whilst you and Omega packed your stuff, you revisited the details on your holopad about where this buyer is. It wasn’t too far, luckily and maybe you could try and get a signal to them on the way. You informed Omega that they may need medical assistance and since yourself and Echo had been training her more on this field, perhaps it’s time to put it to good use.

As you’re both walking once you leave the Havoc, Omega is a few steps ahead of you and you soon hear her starting to pant. “Omega, take a small breather. I need you strong.”

She’s reluctant, you can tell by the way her shoulders tense but she does stop and so do you once next to her. “They should’ve let us come with them. They could be hurt.” She mumbles.

You agreed with her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder as you pull out a flask of water and hand it to her. She gratefully takes it, gulping the water down before handing it back to you. “Kriff, I hate how they think we’re weak.”

“Language, Omega.” You frown at her but not because of the profanity but because of what she said after. “And what do you mean by that?”

She’s shuffling her feet this time, a heavy burden that had been lingering on her shoulders for a while finally coming to light. “Remember when we stayed at that Cavan back on Ferrix? And I was playing with that group of boys?”

“Yeah, that was around two months ago. Why?”

“Well, they said girls were weak. And for a job to be properly done it should be by a man.”

You watch her look down at her shows, kicking her feet into the ground when you turn to stand in front of and kneel. “Look at me, Omega.”

Omega chews on the inside of her mouth because she knows she’s going to be reprimanded by you. You have done nothing but show her how much of a force you can be in battle and she respected you, a lot. When she does look at you, her eyes are teary and you feel a horrible twist in your gut.

“Since when did you let that define what actions you partake in this galaxy, hm?” You question, arching your brow.

She thinks for a moment before shrugging.

“Answer me, Omega.” You push her with an answer quietly.

“Never.”

“Exactly.” You smile gently and cup her cheek. “You’re just as strong as your brothers. Don’t let a group of little boys tell you differently.”

She smiles, sniffling a little but you could see her be content with your words of encouragement. “But, why did they leave us? Why tell us to stay on the ship?”

To be candid you were unsure why you were told to stay behind but it could have been for a reason. Maybe they knew they were going into a dangerous situation and needed someone to hang back. Or, it’s because they thought the two of you could need a break. After all, several missions back-to-back had been starting to take its toll on you. The boys were used to it since it was in their blood and you were a mere civilian at one point who needed saving from a bad situation. They knew you were strong and capable but still, you didn’t like being told to stay back without reason.

“I’m unsure.” You say as you return to your full height and look to the sky. “The sun is setting. We should be there before nightfall when we save them. Come, we’ll teach them on telling us girlies to stay on the ship.”

Omega watches you take off and feels a wave of courage bolt through her. When she gets older, she wants to be just like you: Fearless, bold and hopeful.

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙 𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙 𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙

Upon arrival, yourself and your fellow companion scout the area out first. “Tell me, what do you see?”

Omega glanced at you as you stared ahead through your binocs and she was determined to show you how she had improved when it comes to surveying areas. “A mildly armed compound. No signs of any cameras outside so we won’t get caught sneaking in unless there’s a guard.”

“Very good. Let’s go.”

With such ease, the two of you sneaked in through a lazily guarded window that was open. You both crept along the stone floors and walked into a hallway. You place your hands on your hips and shake your head.

“I don’t understand.” You mutter.

“What is it?”

“Look at this place… there’s no guards even here. How did they get captured? If they did that is.” You frown, hands extending out to show how deserted the place seemed to be.

Omega nods slowly. “Let’s keep goin’.”

“After you.”

Still sneaking, you both hug along the walls but half at a corner when you see a heavily armed sentiment being guarding a room.

“Set your blaster to stun, we don’t want to harm anyone… yet.”

Omega follows your orders and takes out the guard. You grab their feet and wait until Omega opens the door and allows you to slide inside to hide the body.

The young one looks around and you turn once you hear her go ‘look!’. In the corner was the boy's armour and weapons. However, they looked unscathed from any blaster bolts so by the looks of it they’ve been stripped and are being held captive somewhere else.

“Stay close to me and if anyone speaks let me do the talking.”

You both come to a hall and for a moment you both freeze as in your view is a long queue of what looked like sellers of some kind. All different species holding baskets, sacred looking jewelry, fancy pottery etc.

“Looks like the dealer is in that room there.” You hum quietly to Omega.

Omega looks from behind your back and frowns. “That’s a long queue for just a buyer.” She says and you’re inclined to agree.

“Yeah… must have a lot of credits.” You mumble.

You’re in deep thought, thinking of a plan but then you spot a vent which was conveniently big enough to fit you in. To the left were some old wicker baskets and rags and that’s when a plan springs to mind.

“Hey Omega,” you turned to look at her and she could see the mischief on your face, “how good is your acting?”

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙 𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙 𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙

“We need to make contact with the girls.” Hunter growls slowly, on his knees with his hands cuffed to the wall behind him.

“That would be a good idea but since we don’t have our weapons or comms…” Echo grumbles beside him in the exact same position.

What seemed like a sound plan completely went up in flames. They had thought that they could swindle their way with a fake vase in exchange for something Cid’s buyer had wanted.

Instead, they’re now being held captive. The guards had left on patrol but still they had to be cautious as the buyer was across the room, speaking to sellers.

Tech is thinking hard on how to escape or how to contact you and Omega whilst Wrecker is trying to use all his strength to free himself from the binds but to no avail. However, all their heads are turned when the last seller of the day comes in and they recognised that head of blonde hair anywhere.

“Is that…..?”

“Omega?”

They watch her walk straight ahead, completely ignoring the sight of them to her left as she carries a small basket in her hands, a cloth over the top.

The buyer is watching her curiously. He’s an older species of the planet you were on and wore sparkling jewels around his neck that were an eyesore. He screamed wealth but he also screamed arrogance.

“Speak.” He orders once Omega stops a few feet away from in front of his table.

Omega is holding her breath, legs shaking with nerves. Not only was she trying to pitch something she didn’t even have but she had four of her brother's eyes trained on her back.

Show them who’s boss, show them who’s boss she repeats in her mind like a mantra and takes a shaken breath.

“Hello sir! How are you today?” She says aloud, putting on her brightest smile.

The man blinks at her, uninterested.

“I… I am here today to sell you fruit from my home planet. A delicacy.” She wriggles the basket in her hands as if to entice him but she grows hot in embarrassment as he erupted into laughter.

“Fruit, girl?! Fruit?! I have no time for this.” He stands and is ready to call it a day and call for his guards to take the Clones away when Omega steps closer to him.

“Wait! Please, I can explain why they’re so good.” Omega protests and glances just for a second behind his head and then back to his gaze.

He’s practically mocking her with a smirk and this irks something in Hunter as he watches. He knows that she’s here to help but had no idea what she had in mind.

“Do I look like I care for fruit?”

“What if I tell you that it keeps you youthful for a hundred years?” It didn’t sound believable, not one bit in her mind but he had actually arched a brow. Ah, now his interest has piqued.

He moves back to where he was, taking a seat “And what do you mean by this, girl? Speak up.”

Omega feels her confidence shoot up. “These are grown in a marsh on my plant, uh, Kurgstor, and legends have said one bite of this fruit will stop you ageing. Eternal youth.”

The buyer is tapping his fingers along the table, looking to the covered basket and then to the young and seemingly innocent girl. “Is that why you’re young? You’ve eaten one?”

“Uh… no. I want to save mine for when I’m a bit older.”

Omega can tell he’s interested. She’s trying to stay cool and calm but she’s waiting for your lead.

“Very well. What is it you want for them?”

Ah, she did not think of this. She’s tapping her feet somewhat anxiously and idly glances over to her shoulder towards her brother who was watching her intently. Could she ask for them in exchange for this ‘fruit’ or would it be obvious? She’s thinking deep in her mind until she remembered what her brothers were here for.

“I would like the Vase and Trinket from Naboo in exchange for these fruits.” She said proudly, head held high.

“You’re not the first person today to require these items… may I ask why?” He questions, casting a gaze towards the men he had chained up with a disgusted glance and then back down to Omega.

“They’re… nice.” How stupid. She cursed herself mentally at her stupid excuse but for the dealer, it was a better excuse than any.

“Very well, it seems like a fair exchange. A vase and trinket for eternal youth.” He claps his hands together over his enlarged stomach and stands to his feet. “See those fools over there?”

She nods for him to continue. “Tried to sell me a fake. Ha! As if I could not tell the difference. They think they can try to pawn me a fake heirloom for something as valuable as anything from Naboo.”

They’ll be disposed of soon for trying to swindle me.” He scoffs, rising to his feet again with both hands placed firmly on the table. “Agree with me that they’re fools, child.”

Despite the fact she hated being called ‘child’ she smirks a little and turns to her brothers and tilts her head. “Yes, they are fools.” Clearly, he had some kind of authority and satisfaction i

Wrecker was almost laughing, knowing that his best friend and sister were right that they got caught how they did. The others however… a mix of annoyance and embarrassment.

“But before I make the trade I would very much like to see these fruits of yours. I’m hoping they’re delicious looking and not just powerful.”

She tenses and her eyes go wide. The plan that you conjured up was replaying in her mind and as a subtle clang echoes through the room, the buyer is about to turn around when, “Of course! Do you mind-?” She nodded down towards the basket in her grasp and the rag over it, suddenly pretending it was heavy.

He turns back and with a heavy and lazy sigh he nods and walks around his desk and stands with his back to it. His hands are reaching down towards the basket and Omega prepares herself for what’s about to happen.

He rips the rag away and instead of the fruit he was promised, he is instead face to face with a blaster that she had been hiding.

“W-what is the meaning of this?” Terror is evident in his face, his hands began to shake as the young girl pulled a blaster on him. “Guards! Guards! Intruders!” He calls out in a panic but Omega pressed the barrel to her weapon to his gut which soon shut him up.

“Release my friends!” She hisses at the man. He looks to the clones who are now sat upright, ready to fight once freed. Then, a smirk appears on his face and he laughs. Laughing at her.

“Nice try. Do you really think I’m gonna let you get away with this? Do you even know how to use that weapon, child?”

“I’m better than you think.” Omega defends her honour and does not hesitate to place her finger on the trigger.

He’s watching her intently, arms folding over his wide chest and belly laughs at her. “I know you don’t have the guts to shoot me.”

“No,” Omega says quietly, a satisfied look on her young features, “but she might.”

“Who-?”

He stops still, a horrible chill running throughout his body as something cold and familiar is pointed to the back of his head.

You’re on the table behind him, crouched and attention focused merely on the man in front of her. “Put your hands in the air.”

“THOSE ARE MY GIRLS!” Wrecker cheered, all of them watching in pure amazement at your cunning plan of rescuing them. They had seen you sneak through the vents behind the dealer.

The dealer does what he’s told and you hop off the table, switching places with Omega who begins to look around for the valuables they originally came in for.

As you’re looking at him, you look down to the necklaces around his neck. With your eyes narrowing and looking closer, you reach out and yank one from his person with much protest from him.

“Give that back or I’ll have your head!”

“Yeah, yeah whatever. You know this is a fake right?” You hold up the jewel into the light, inspecting you casually and turn to him in amusement.

He gulps, blood running irritatingly hot. “I never wear fakes!” He growls and this time it was your turn to laugh at him. How ironic, the boys are caught trying to sell a fake and this idiot is wearing fake jewels.

“Trust me, I know a fake when I see one. How many others have you conned?” You excuse, throwing the necklace back at his feet.

This time he doesn’t answer and hangs his head in shame. You’re watching him closely when Hunter calls out your name.

“Hey, you uh, fancy freeing us?” He gestures to his bound hands and you can only roll your eyes and smile. You were so glad they were alright and so ordered Omega to go help free them once she found the valuables.

You’re too busy paying attention to watching the boys get freed when a sudden hand wraps around your neck and you’re flushed against a large and protruding stomach. Echo calls out to you at an offensive stance with the others following suite but you knew you could handle this yourself.

You didn’t even have time to hear what the dealer was threatening you with when you slammed your elbow into his nose, breaking free and twisting his arm around his back and kicking his calf to make him crumble to the ground.

“Wanna try that again?” You snarl, blaster aimed at the back of his head once more and now he’s a quivering mess and apologising profusely.

Omega looks at you, wide eyed. “You alright?”

You sigh and nod, now knowing not to ever turn your back to this slimy nerf-herder. “I’m fine. Thanks, Omega.” You nod gratefully to her and that’s when you stunned the dealer.

Once you walk over to the boys, they thank you and Omega.

“Well, since that’s dealt with we should try and pass the guar-.”

“Already dealt with.” You shrug casually in reply to Tech, leaning into Wrecker’s side as he engulfed you into a proud side-hug. Of course beggire you started your endeavour in the vents, you stunned and hid away every guard in your view for a swift escape.

“What about our amour? They locked it away-.” Hunter begins, rubbing the tension out of his now freed wrists but again, you interrupted.

“Found and secured.”

Hunter felt a small wave of guilt. He knew what you were getting at since he was the one to tell you both to stay on the ship and now he had the sore job of apologising to you and Omega. Also, a massive slap of ‘I told you so’.

He says your name and then Omega’s sighing a little and steps towards you both. “Thank you for saving our arses, couldn’t have done it without you.”

Omega grins at her brother's praise before handing him the valuables they were initially here to get but you only hummed and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, next time maybe you boys can stay on the ship and let us girls handle it.” You playfully pat his shoulder and make head towards the exit, Omega following after you quickly.

The boys remain and each share the same glance that could only scream their amazement for you both. More than before, they were in awe.

“Despite being saved, I believe that we may be in more trouble.”

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁 𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁 𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁 𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙

Masterlist

Requests are Open. Please read my Masterlist at the bottom to see what I won’t write about to avoid disappointment. Please also tell me if you’d like female, male or gender neutral reader and if you’d like NSFW or SFW. Thanks ♥️

tags: @twistedstitcher27 @teletraan-meets-jarvis @jennamelinda12 @nunanuggets @andyoufollowyourheart @littlefeatherr r @kaitou2417 @eyecandyeoz @captxin-rex @cwarssimp @jesseeka @ashotofspotchka @oohyesplease @megafrost4 @adriiibell l @theroguesully y @equalityforcats @rexandechosandwich @mustluvecho @inagalaxywickedfahaway @misogirl828 @ladykatakuri @sadspring @chxpsi @alexandrisonfire @arctrooper69 @salaminus @by-the-primes @torchbearerkyle @tech-aficionado @shawtyitsyou @in-the-crosshairs @therealnekomari @cyarikadarling @a-c-lee @autumnleaves1991-blog @tech-depression-inventory ntory @mylifeinthetardisforever @brynhildrmimi @greaser-wolf @lucyysthings @fiveshelmet et @the-good-shittt t @photogirl894 @buddee @s1st3r @imperialclaw801 @cosmic-persephone @imalovernotahater