This Is Beautiful, You Did An AMAZING Job @just-another-dreamerr

this is beautiful, you did an AMAZING job @just-another-dreamerr

37th Battalion (The Lucky Batch ☘️)

The idea reminded me too much of your works @lavenderstaars so I sprinted to the docs to put it down.

(I wrote this at 2am aaaaaa)

Blooming in the ashes

Luna stood in the middle of the field in silence, a single whisper of wind making the tips of her hair brush softly against her cheeks. Her eyes, usually bright and starry, were clouded as they gently traced the outlines of the land, her lightsaber hanging from her hip heavily.

The sun was quietly setting in the horizon in strokes of sorrowful red, flooding the plains where the fierce battle had been fought for days; chaos of screams and blaster fire and explosions. People had died—people had killed—in this corner of the galaxy, and it had been shredded and torn apart by the pandemonium of the roaring fight. Now it was as if they had never been, every bit of sound stifled by the quiet of a land in mourning.

She could feel it. There was blood tainting this soil, this place. The earth was soaked in tears and cries, life stamped to death under heavy tanks and harsh boots. It had been helpless as bodies of flesh and metal had hit the floor with a final cry, flattening the vegetation and denting the soil under their weight.

There had been grass growing in this field, before they had come with their armies and destruction and ran it over without a second thought. Now, not a single splotch of green could be found among the scars of explosions on the ground, or the sad husks of walkers and droids scattered throughout it. It was barren, disfigured by the horrors of battle still fresh in her mind, haunting. Luna lightly wrapped her arms around her body, suddenly aware of how small she was compared to the battlefield; how young.

Just a little girl standing in the ashes of war.

She knelt into the tainted ground, the burden on her shoulders unbearably heavy. Her fingers brushed against the earth, copper dust clinging to the tips and smearing over her robes. It was as if this world was branded her as an enemy, a bringer of destruction, and not the peacekeeper she was supposed—meant— to be. And maybe, a part of her whispered harshly in her ear, it was right.

Tears slid quietly down her cheeks as her conscience reached out blindly into the stars, the universe, trying to ease the coldness crawling up her throat and the stinging in her stomach.

She found only another kind of emptiness, similar to the one now carved deeply into her chest. The Force was still, as if it too was bleeding for the ones who’d fallen.

“Take heart, little one,” her Master had once said softly.

(So many lives, lost in the name of peace and justice.)

Kenhla had smiled sadly, a steadying hand on her trembling shoulder. Her eyes had been filled with burrowed sorrow, and the girl could sense how much it pained her to see her padawan being forced to fight.

(So much blood spilled by men bred and raised for war; by brothers with nothing to lose but each other and themselves.)

“War is not an easy burden to carry.”

It wasn’t. It was stifling and suffocating and painfully crushing. She hadn’t been aware of the toll it would take on her body, on her mind—on her heart. Despite the dampness on her cheeks, she didn’t utter a word.

How do you comfort a grieving land?

Luna grieved along with it, her sorrow stretching out into the skies, burying itself deep into the broken ground as if trying to piece it back together, bit by bit; a shattered field mended by the tears of a stranger.

She opened her eyes again, tears thick on her lashes as she stared down, devastation drowning in her chest.

Between her guilty fingers, stained by ash and violence, a little white flower bloomed.

@lynnpaper @maygalodon @radbatch @monako-jinn-stories @lusiawonder @foxlock @letsunity @catboy-tech @burnthashbrown27 @oo-hazel-oo @longearedowlfromouterspace @mango-peachjuice @namesmox @cosmicghostie @generaltano

Honestly, this is a great argument. have faith though crosshair stans, there IS a season 2 on the way and lets be honest here, crosshair is still incredibly conflicted, so there's a chance we'll get him back with his brothers or at least form an alliance with them

I'm seeing a lot of people panicking and being upset... I understand but I don't think you guys need to?

Spoilers below the cut for the season 1 finale of the bad batch

Okay. This did not go exactly as I expected, but I was right about Crosshair deciding not to go with them. Still, let me just address the things people seem to be most upset about.

- Crosshair chose the empire

Guys... he already had. Go back to the start of episode 15. The exchange he and Rampart have once he arrives on Kamino indicates that he knew about the explosion, and that he had a time frame to get his friends back to the imperial side before the facility was... er. Decomissioned. That is why it made no emotional difference to him when they followed through with the plan. He knew about it.

But let's say he didn't. I played with that idea in my other posts as well, since I expected him to realize he was wrong once he woke up. The memories he had of Kamino were mostly of being harassed by the regs, and of being left behind. The good memories he had of home were tied to his batch.

Notice that when they wander inside their room, aside from the clean smell, everything was left where it used to be, (safe ofc from the shuffling of the explosion). Why? Because it was comforting to him. Their things had emotional resonance to him, and he missed them.

But now his family chose a completely different side than the one he was on. They didn't choose him, and so that connection was shattered. Even if he didn't know, the reason he doesn't care about Kamino being blown to pieces, is that there's nothing left there for him anymore.

- They're painting him as the villain when he's a victim

Are they? I didn't really get that from this episode. They're showing he chose the empire for all the reasons I already stated in other posts, but they also made a point to show he's not evil. He saved AZ and Omega. He made the plan so that they could escape. He's visibly emotionally conflicted about his choices, and the entire situation, even if he gets defensive when called out by Wrecker and Hunter.

I can be wrong. I'm not a writer. But I don't think the idea is painting him as the bad guy. Rather, just showing that he's making the wrong choice even if he has all the right in the world to feel that way about it. I think what they're aiming for here is a Kallus-ish arc.

Sure, he thinks Hunter is a bad leader and that he left him behind, as well as putting everyone else in danger, as he said. And you know what? He has the right to feel that way. Hunter messed up, and he got hurt. But Hunter cares about him. Admiral Rampart does not. It's a matter of time before he realizes it.

And wait. Wasn't that just how their bickering went?

"You're just a number to them"

- Wrecker scene.

Okay. Let's get into the story for a bit. What Wrecker knows is that Crosshair's chip is not working anymore, and he's still behaving the way he is. Let's remember he's not the brightest person in the universe, so he's not going to read between the lines, or analyze the situation. That is Tech's thing, and Tech acknowledged Crosshair's right to be hurt, but not the response he had to it. (Remember, being hurt does not give us the right to do whatever we want in retaliation. Not even in real life.)

So what Wrecker does know is that Crosshair willingly stayed and did not choose them. That idea really upsets him, because Cross is one of their brothers. That's why he goes "You should have come back, we'd have taken you in" or something along those lines. He's not blaming Crosshair for being brainwashed. He's blaming him for the things he himself chose to do, (as he told them he did).

Should Wrecker judge him? Probably not. But this character is far more about emotional response than he is rational thinking. Crosshair choosing the bad guys is very upsetting to him.

- Gun scene

I have to say I was as confused as you guys. I didn't see it as Crosshair shooting Hunter down. I thought he was going to stop him from jumping off the capsule to rescue Omega, because he didn't want Hunter to get hurt or die.

But in the story, their brother just chose the empire over them, and they know he specifically has an issue with Hunter. It's logical to be weary. And all this did accomplish was show the size of the crack in their relationship.

I don't think the story is praising their reaction, but just showing us that there's no trust between the batch members at the moment, which is a sad thing. It's meant to be.

And that is yet another reason Crosshair chose to stay behind. If there's no trust between him and his team, what's the point? They'd just treat him like a weapon, ready to go off at any second. And he doesn't trust Hunter to make decisions anymore, meaning he doesn't trust Hunter not to leave him again.

Unfortunately, Crosshair is a grown man. They all are. Tying him up in the back of the Marauder and... what? Forcing him to stay with them until he complies? How is that different than the inhibitor chip?

No. It's his choice, and if he doesn't trust his family quite yet, it's his right to leave. Even if it isn't a very happy outcome. It's an adult one. And it doesn't mean he's evil, or a villain, or that he's never going to come back. It just means relationships are complicated, and he needs more time.

Now, I don't want to tell anyone how to feel. My goal here is just offering a different POV, that hopefully will comfort some of you. Crosshair stans, if you want to, please hang on in there. I genuinely think the story is still pointing in the direction of crosshair coming home. It'll just be a bit longer.

because i'm a piece of multifandom rubbish, here's something for my bbc ghosts stans- if you haven't watched it i highly recommend you do!

If anyone is unable to use iplayer or the Google Drive link, here’s a site that lets you watch season 3 of Ghosts for free! It has virtually no ads, and everything’s super high quality + available with captions!

https://www.divicast.com/watch-tv/watch-ghosts-2019-online-free-43402.4565710

divicast.com

Watch Ghosts online free

Watch Ghosts online free and download Ghosts free online

please take this on board, loves! you're all beautiful, and i hope you know it xx

those little things on ur nose aren’t blackheads, don’t try and get rid of them they’re sebaceous filaments and they’re permanent and literally everyone has them

every girl has that little pouch of fat on her lower tummy, despite what magazines try n show u, you have important organs there that need to be protected don’t try and get rid of ur pouch

ur body is smarter than u think and it knows what to do when u eat more than normal. one bad day, or even week, of eating poorly isn’t gonna ruin anything at all I pinky promise

if u think u look good up until u try taking a selfie, it’s not ur fault - our faces are asymmetrical and when u see ur face flipped it will look unnatural to u, since u don’t see it that way when u look in the mirror. to everyone else it looks perfectly fine

no one’s stomach looks the same at 8pm as it does at 8am. no one has a chiseled six pack after a day of eating, not even the super fit people u see on tumblr, because ur stomach naturally expands after eating and expecting to have a flat tummy before bed is very unrealistic

no one notices if the bags under ur eyes are bad today. no one pays attention to the bump in ur nose or the zit on ur chin or the piece of hair that u missed when u were straightening. literally no one notices these things except you so stop worrying about it ur gonna be fine

sometimes u just gotta get over urself

yet another found family fic i can hyperfixate on- this was so cute!

37th Battalion (The Lucky Batch ☘️)

@mango-peachjuice you’re grounded for the self sacrifice talk. This is the consequence of your actions.

Babysitting your superior officer

Brisk huffed again, her feet tapping restlessly on the floor as she paced in the hangar, stopping only for a few seconds before then going back again. From the way she was fuming and the loudness of her steps, Pepper didn’t know what would wear out first: the soles of her boots, or the durasteel floor.

“I can’t believe she left me here,” the padawan muttered under her breath, fingers clenching and unclenching in the air. “Her padawan. Why does only Luna get to go?”

Pepper looked up from the manifest he was checking to point at the bandages wrapped around her torso, eyebrows raised. “Probably because she didn’t break three ribs after almost getting blown up or gave the General and us a terrifying scare.”

The girl stopped her pacing to look at him, a frown settling in her face as she pressed her lips into a thin line, his words irritatingly true and reasonable. She tried to cross her arms over her chest and winced at the sharp sting on her side; the bacta might have made them heal faster, but it still took bones an annoyingly long time to heal completely.

Noticing her discomfort, Pepper clipped the datapad on his belt and patted the lid of a crate across him in a quiet instruction. With another huff, she took a seat and let him examine her bandages and the scrapes on her hands.

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” she finally defended herself, lifting her chin as if to make a point while he adjusted the wrapping a bit. “I sensed someone was alive in the wreck, I had to go help them.”

But the ship had exploded just as she had jumped over some broken tanks, trying to spot whoever was trapped inside. Thankfully she hadn’t been too close when the wave of heat and fire had sent her crashing backwards.

The medic sighed and took a seat next to her, mindful of not brushing against her tender ribs as he slipped his arm over her shoulders protectively, trying to offer comfort.

“You cut it pretty close, kid.” His voice was gentle, but she could feel the concern etched in his tone. She pressed her lips tighter, avoiding his eyes. “You managed to get out of the way just in time to not get killed, but when Rane found you lying on the ground…”

He didn't need to continue talking for her to understand. From what Luna had told her in the medbay, the clone had screamed for help through the comms and Pepper had rushed in immediately right behind her Master—who had torn apart every clanker in the way to get to her. The other padawan’s voice had been a tight whisper as she mentioned there had been a lot of blood and shallow breaths and a too quiet pulse.

You looked dead.

“I just wanted to be useful,” she murmured softly, her fingers rubbing the hilt of her lightsaber with frustration as the memory played back again and again inside her head.

She could have saved them, if she’d been fast enough; if she’d been better. If only she’d followed orders.

If only, if only, if only—

A hand settled on her head and interrupted the darkness poking at her mind, making her look up and into Pepper’s kind, mismatched eyes. He gave her a half smile and promptly ruffled her hair, making her yelp in surprise and quickly turn her head before his fingers got tangled.

“You’re amazing, kid,” he told her as she tried to pointlessly fluff down her short locks, cheeks pouting offendedly at his attack. The medic’s smile only softened. “But you tend to dive in without realizing the limits of your abilities or the danger of your surroundings. You charge forward as if you’ve got something to prove to us and the General.”

I do, she wanted to say, memories of training with her former master clawing at her chest. I have to prove to her I’m good enough; that I’m worthy of being a Jedi.

Brisk kept quiet, those awful words choking at the back of her throat. Shut up, I already know.

“But, as much as I agree with the General’s decision about keeping you from unnecessary danger”— Pepper added, cheerfully placing a star sticker on her cheek — “I don't think making you sit out on missions is the best way to teach you how to take care of yourself on the battlefield.”

The girl smiled brightly at that. “Does this mean you’re going to let me go on my own in the next battle?”

He gave her hair another fond ruffling and chuckled, standing up to continue working. “Not a chance, ad’ika. You still have to figure out how to rush in without your feet getting tangled in the air.”

@lavenderstaars @mango-peachjuice @namesmox @lusiawonder @monako-jinn-stories @foxlock @oo-hazel-oo @generaltano @radbatch @letsunity @longearedowlfromouterspace @maygalodon @catboy-tech @lynnpaper @cosmicghostie @burnthashbrown27 @namesmox its the other baby!!

you wHAT???

If you ever need reassurance that you’re smart I’ll share the fact I found out rice isn’t a noodle and it’s actually a plant literally last year