The telling of ghost stories has been an important part of Hawaiian culture since ancient times. One of the most popular tales are the Night Marchers. The Night Marchers are an apparition of people marching to the beat of a drum often recognized my drum beat, chanting, and bright torches. What the Night Marchers exactly are is debated. Some stories say they’re a band, others armed spirit warriors, or the ali’i spirits spirits going to greet new warriors. It’s also said that they’re restless spirits looking to reclaim territory, replay a battle, or maybe avenge their deaths. Legend says Night Marchers usually march through specific places. A few notable places happen to be, Nu'uanu Pali Lookout, Ka'a'awa Valley, Kalihi Valley, Oahu’s Pali Highway, Kamehameha Schools campus in Kapalama on Oahu, Kualoa Ranch on Oahu’s windward coast, La'ie on Oahu, La Perouse Bay in South Maui, and the town of Kaunakakai on Molokai. There are also two nights in particular which the Night Marches tend to appear most frequently. These nights are Po Kane and Po Akua. Po Kane and Po Akua are both nights of the new moon just at different times in the moon cycle. When the night marchers come about, a few characteristics of their arrival are, heavy wind, rows of spirits carrying torches, alternating male and female rows, lightning and thunder, heavy rain or high surf, chanting and drumbeating, bright torches and mist or fog. When coming in contact with the Night Marchers it is important to not disturb them. Do not get in their way. Don’t even look at them. It is best to crouch low to the floor and avert your eyes. It is vital that their procession is not interrupted. I hope you enjoyed this spooky bit of Hawaiian folklore!
Read this multiple times and love it so much!
Hunter's Moon 🌘
Fanart for Hunter's Moon, written by the lovely @lavenderstaars
I implore you guys, please please read this masterpiece. I have no words that will ever encompass how deeply I feel for this fic. It is truly, soul crushingly, heart rendingly, breathtakingly beautiful.
Omega has concerns, and Echo can’t sleep. Their conversation leads to talk of a certain teenager Echo hadn’t heard about in a long time.
(This summary sucks, just read the fic)
Keep reading
Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Cartoon) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Clone Force 99 | Bad Batch & Omega (Star Wars: The Bad Batch) Characters: Omega (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Hunter (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Tech (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo, Wrecker (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Crosshair (Star Wars: The Bad Batch) Additional Tags: Episode: s01e16 Kamino Lost, Drowning, Team as Family, Whump, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, episode rewrite, Jealousy, Hurt Omega (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Protective Team, Planet Kamino (Star Wars), Blood and Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD Summary:
They don’t escape Kamino’s remains unscathed, especially Omega.
My of my top favorite subjects to learn about in all of Star Wars!!!! What I would be!
Just exactly what I needed as these are my favorite characters and pairing!
(I kinda wrote this for @groguandthebadbatch after they reblogged my other fic so I was like "Fuck sleep" and quickly wrote this down, hope it doesn't have typos anymore. Have fun!)
"You're always so grumpy."
Crosshair didn't answer. He pretended to sleep. He didn't really know what to say, but Omega knew he wasn't sleeping. How could he? They were both kept awake by their thoughts. They were similar in ways he didn't even wanted to understand really.
"It's like you're hiding something", continued Omega.
Crosshair hesitated. "Like what?", he finally asked, not really out of curiosity, but to lead the conversation to an end.
"Not... a secret. More like... a feeling." She thought for some moments. "Hunter gets grumpy when he can't figure out something. Tech does too. But mostly it goes away when I talk to them."
"Is that why you talk and not sleep."
"Maybe?"
"We got a long day tomorrow. I won't carry you."
"I can walk."
Crosshair turned his head. Omega layed on the other side of the fire, hands crossed behind her head, looking up to the stars. A slight smile covered her face. It's something she almost always does. Smiling.
Crosshair chuckled. "I'd sure like to see how you see the world. Must be interesting."
He was sarcastic, but she didn't care. "It's nice", she says. "The world, I mean. All the planets and people and colours... there is just so much out there."
"There is a lot of bad stuff", Crosshair said after a pause.
Omega paused to. "Echo says we have to think about the good things", she finally said.
"You really do rely on what they say huh."
"Don't you miss them?"
"Hm?"
"If you miss them."
Crosshair looked back at her. She stared at him too. She didn't smile anymore, her face was more concerned. Full of pity. He didn't like that she pitied him, so maybe purely out of stubborness, he said: "No."
"I would miss them terribly if I knew I could never go back to them. And I've just been with them for a few months. You've been their brother for years." She paused and sat up. "I can't believe you."
He tried not to look at her. He didn't wanted to blurt out his feeling infront of this young thing who were with his brothers now instead of him. But she had something on her that grew the strong urge in him to do exactly that: Tell her the truth.
Because the truth was a yes. Of course he missed them. But they made a choice he could not agree on. And they took her with them instead of him.
He should be angry at her for replacing him. His eyes turned back to her. He tried to find a single bit of something bad in her, something he could truly hate without it feeling like he betrayed himself. But all he could find was two caring eyes in the same colours as his were, and a smile that made him feel like an idiot.
Because he was. Osik. He turned his face to the stars again and closed his eyes.
How should he find something to hate in her at the exact same time he was trying to bring her back to Hunter? What did he try to proof to himself. He knew what Hunter saw in her, what he tries to protect so desperately. But Crosshair could not do that. He already bet all his coins, everything he had, on the wrong side.
The wrong side? Is that really what I am thinking now?
He opened his eyes again, just to stare directly in his sisters face.
He would have banged his head on hers if she would not have been quick and stepped away when he sat up. The words to yell at her for startling him got stuck in his throat somehow. For some moments, they just stared each other, face to face, waiting for the other one to do something.
"Fear?", Omega finally said. "Is it that? Are you afraid of something?"
"Your steps are damn quiet."
"Just like yours." She smiled in an odd way Crosshair couldn't really interpret. Like she did learn something new. Thankful, somehow.
"I'm not afraid of anything. Go to sleep. I ain't singing you a lullaby."
"You know what I am often afraid of? To be alone."
She didn't speak out the "Are you too?" but it stood between them like she did. They just stared at each other, eye to eye, waiting again.
Then her eyes suddenly got real tired. She started to look around like she waited for something. Crosshair sighed.
"What."
"I'm cold. I can't sleep."
"I already made a fire."
"It's still cold. Like, on the side where isn't a fire."
Crosshair fought the urge to sigh again. He pointed with his chin on his backpack. "There is a blanket in there."
Cheerfully but still tired, Omega kinda jumped to the backpack and opened it. "Where?"
"Under all the other stuff."
"Woah, is that a knife? Can I use that?"
"What? No! I -" Crosshair sighed again and got up. "Don't touch the knife. The blanket is under everything. Hold on, step back. Here, hold this." She gave her a bunch of things to hold and she smiled again. He pulled out a blanket. "Here. Put the stuff back."
She grabbed the blanket and went back to the place where she slept, laying down and snuggling in. He went back to his place too.
After he layed down and watched her some moments he asked: "Better?"
She just mumbled something into the blanket, already half asleep. Crosshair figured she was fine so he stared up at the stars again.
But after a while, Crosshair heard her voice again. She mumbled something he didn't understood so he didn't react, but she didn't give up and said it louder.
"Crosshair?"
It was odd how she said his name. But in a way that was okay with him.
"What is it?"
Silence. A thoughtful moment.
"Nothing", she finally said, closing her eyes again.
But Crosshair turned his head back to her. He knew what she wanted to say. And he kinda was glad she didn't say it because he knew he would not have known how to react, that's why she might not have said it.
But he knew. Omega loved him. After all he did, even though she doesn't even knew him that good, she still does. And he had no idea what to do with that knowledge.
Hi everybody, I’m back with this weeks post on our favourite father-daughter-space-duo, the third instalment of the series! Thank you all so much for your positive feedback and discussions that have taken place over the last couple of posts, it means a lot to me to see my insights so neatly examined! I don’t really think the post itself needs much of an introduction, itself quite self explanatory! And I hope you enjoy!
(Pasted paragraphs: I would just like to add a disclaimer here. I am, in no way whatsoever, slating the other batchers for having differing relationships with Omega. I absolutely adore everything single one of the boys, and I think they all have wonderful and unique interrelations with her. Although I may point out these different approaches in comparison to Hunter’s, I am not stating these engages are wrong, just different is all!
I’m going to separate this into a little series- covering each episode in a separate post, which I’ll have tagged as the series progresses. Once I’ve tackled these two, as they’re my favourites, I’m going to move on to each individual Batcher and perhaps a few other dynamics such and Hunter and Crosshair, or Wrecker and Omega! Let me know what you guys would like to see!)
The opening scene in this episode is everything for these two. This is Omega behaving like an authentic child, a child in the midst of winding down with her datapad, leaning against Gonky, just…existing. She isn’t expected to be on hand for medical assistance, she isn’t studying, she isn’t working, she’s just living within herself, enjoying herself. Hunter makes a light comment, observing she doesn’t look too comfortable, allowing Omega the option to respond, she can either agree and ask to sit upfront, or she can stay if she’s happy to do so, but it already opens the door to a certain amount of communication between them. Of course, she insists she is fine and accepts her ration bar, yet before she can return to her seat on the floor Wrecker joins them, allowing their brief ordeal over the ration shortage to occur. I love both Omega’s immediate selflessness as she offers Wrecker her food, and Hunter’s sudden interruption in this little sequence. He doesn’t even l allow room to consider her proposal, instead his immediate thought is to ensure this little girl can eat, especially considering she doesn’t even have anywhere to sleep (as we see this has been weighing on his mind by the mention of its necessity)
Omega’s response to Wrecker’s denial to accept her food- “Okay 😇.” Bless her little heart, she projects so much innocence with every word, and we can see from Hunter’s endeared little smile that he absolutely adores this about her. Upon Wrecker admitting that he hasn’t quite gotten use to Omega’s presence (which he looks very upset about, poor Wrecks 😔), Hunter insists that none of them have, but Omega isn’t making much fuss or complaining. This suggests that their brief conversation after leaving Saleucami is still heavily weighing on Hunter’s mind, he has taken his promise to both her and Cut quite seriously, and although both he and the rest of the batch are all still educating themselves in regards to Omega, she isn’t holding any resentment, and trusts them to make correct decisions in regards to her best interest.
I only want to briefly address the crash scene as their interaction are minimal, but I absolutely love how despite the fact that Wrecker is a lot closer to Omega, and ultimately does help her strap in, it is Hunter who takes presidency when addressing the situation. Although, as the leader, he has a lot of orders to cover to ensure they land without too much damage and every member of the squad is safe, his first priority is to ensure Omega is secure before he can move on to his secondary concerns. This relates back to the parental relationship of putting the guardian’s life second to the child’s. (To quote Shelby from ‘Glee’ “parenthood is about accepting the fact that your feelings and that your life and your body, that they all come second to making sure the child is happy and safe” which Hunter demonstrates perfectly here.)
I love how both Omega and Hunter look to Gonky as he slides past her and into the cockpit where Hunter is seated and is easily able to stabilise the unit once they finally land, (thanks to Tech’s amazing manoeuvring of course). I immediately noticed that when addressing the squad, Hunter’s head is veered more so towards Omega rather than Wrecker, where he asks her “are you alright?” with extreme emphasis on the “you”. This ties back into the previous point that Hunter’s new priority is her, as out of the entire squad she is in need of the most protection and reassurance. Alongside this, I discerned Omega’s body language as primarily Hunter-centric, she hangs her head in his direction throughout the entire crash, despite the fact Wrecker is much closer to her. She still finds the need to seek out Hunter specifically. This also mirrors their heavily pronounced relationship, which we see much more of throughout the season.
“I-Is…it…over?” Oh Bless. I love how she looks between both Hunter and Wrecker, unsure of where to direct her scattered and fraying attention.
Swiftly shifting towards the power capacitor hunt and Omega accidentally dropping Crosshair’s weapon kit, we see the entire batch deflate at the awkwardness of their sudden situation. Unknowingly, she has just resurrected a resented emotion for them, something they haven’t learnt to completely handle in the short amount of time they have been separated from their brother, and yet although his face falls harsh for a mere moment, Hunter is the first to immediately soften and approach Omega’s ‘mistake’ with a gentle tone, kindly explaining the device and its origin to her. And while everybody else completely avoids eye contact with the child, Hunter tries his best to meet her eye, most likely to add reassurance and strength to his explanation, for her sake.
I won’t delve too deep into this, but I’d also like to note that throughout the explanation in regards to Crosshair’s actions, Hunter seems to be the most…tense, this supports the later revelation that he has taken his own actions very personally, and is deeply frustrated with himself for leaving his brother behind, and bringing Crosshair up revives these feelings, which he has no doubt been trying to suppress. Omega immediately notices this, as she watches him retreat into the cockpit, with a clear sense of curiosity and concern for him. I love the effort by the animators to mirror the looks these two share behind one another’s back.
Maybe this is me potentially entering headcanon territory, but I speculate Hunter was the one to allow Omega to play with the oxygen masks. It isn’t uncommon for guardians of children who have come out of a traumatic experience to allow said child to play with a positive association to their ‘safe person/people’, in which case Omega’s safe people would be the batch, and therefore their association to the use of the oxygen masks would help her calm down after an upsetting crash landing and a tense conversation in regards to Crosshair.
Omega’s little lip tremble when the lights cut out….this poor kid isn’t use to pitch black :( no matter the dreary atmosphere of Kamino’s torrential storms, Omega was always kept inside the brightly lit walls of Tipoca City, and although Nala Se’s lab isn’t particularly well lit, it isn’t plunged into complete darkness like the Marauder was, sparing the emergency dim lighting which barely cast a shadow.
Her explanation of the Ordo Moon Dragon is so juvenilised with a small sense of dramatics- “it was THIS big, with a LONG tail!” This gives a gentle hint back to Omega’s childlike immaturity and her true age, both physically and mentally, which we see Hunter truly consider throughout the rest of the episode.
When Omega insists she wants to go with Hunter to retrieve their missing part, Hunter doesn’t even have to think twice before he denies her request, and his sole reasoning is because, “that thing could be dangerous.” and as we know his top priority is keeping her safe. But, of course Omega being Omega, she gives Hunter a pretty decent response, she is a part of their squad, and should be allowed the chance to prove her place amongst clone force 99, especially for something as quaint as a retrieval mission. Instead of outright denying her once again, Hunter ponders her reply for a moment, before agreeing, with the additional gentle reminder that she MUST stay close. Her excited little smile as she jumps from her standing position on the co-pilot’s seat to the floor, rushing past Hunter and straight for the exit, highlights her excitement to finally participate and assist Hunter on a mission of their own, which we see perplexes, yet intrigues him.
While exploring the moon’s surface, I immediately notice that sparing a brief moment of watching the floor, Omega’s eyes never leave Hunter, not even for a moment. She is completely complacent in regards to his rule to stick close to him, which is further continued throughout their second chat over Crosshair.
Without surprise, Omega copies Hunter’s actions a few times too, especially when tracing his hand throughout the dust. This is where she asks, “could I learn to track like you?” and here I’d like to specifically focus on the “like you” segment of her sentence. It shows a clear connotation between Omega’s desire to be just like Hunter, which we’ve seen she already had in episode one, and the natural desire to be considered a soldier amongst their ranks. Equally, I love how Hunter doesn’t outrightly reject her request, he simply says “it’s an enhanced skill,” which suggests he probably couldn’t exactly teach her how, but he appreciates her enthusiasm and finds her request almost quite cute.
Moving right along to their secondary Crosshair conversation, I absolutely love Hunter’s facial expressions throughout this passage. He isn’t harsh or crude, instead he is quite sullen, yet in a sympathetic tone. His entire demeanour is taken down slightly, and I believe this is to shield Omega from Hunter’s true self-hatred and deprecating emotions towards their situation. He is careful to explain himself to her, without adding too much honesty in hopes that he won’t unnecessarily worry her. Once again, this ending furthers the blatant protective connection between them. Furthermore, Omega’s reaction is so pure, yet extremely wise for her age and knowledge level. There is still a sense of juvenility to her widened eyes and the movement of her hand snaking it’s way around Hunter’s forearm comfortingly, and yet she still does her best to comfort him in the same way that he has done for her on multiple occasions in their scarce time together, sparing the Nexu event. We see this immediately makes Hunter smile, which is a pleasant thing to notice after the intensity of their conversation. In short, she makes him smile, she helps him, and vice versa.
After Hunter is attacked by the dragon, I can’t help but notice Omega’s worried little face as his mask is knocked aside and he begins to gasp for air. Even after he falls unconscious and she rushes to fix his mask, she still manages to push aside her anxieties to secure his safety and design a brief plan in her mind after backup becomes unavailable, I personally see this as a matter of Omega taking Hunter’s initiative to complete the mission, after assuring herself he is once again breathing and safe for the time being. I also love her little double take, one final look at her guardian before she takes off into the dragon’s nest, she’s so sweet.
Skipping ahead slightly as there isn’t much to cover in regards to Omega’s little lone adventure into the cave, upon Hunter’s return to consciousness I absolutely LOVE how after sucking in a few puffs of necessary air, his first, almost immediate, thought is Omega. He doesn’t even notice his blaster is missing (which we see later on when Omega returns it to him), his instant reaction is to call her name and start tracking her. And his worried expression as the realisation that she’s gone after the dragon dawns on him :( this man cares SO much.
THEIR. REUNION. IS. EVERYTHING. As her little head pops up out of the nests opening , he immediately scoops her up, crouches down to her level, pats her shoulders, rubs her triceps, and the first thing he says to her is “are you okay?” None of this angry shouting from the previous episode, no reprimanding for running off or disobeying orders, instead he makes sure she’s unharmed, and he’s so caring about it. This is character development at its finest. After assuring that she isn’t injured he, very tenderly, asks what she was thinking, insisting he was extremely worried about her. I’d also like to note Omega’s reaction to this, she doesn’t shy away from Hunter like she does in the second episode of the season, instead she excitedly explains that she completed their mission, even going far enough to say that she “tracked the dragon, like you did.” Further complimenting their close and confident bond with one another, she truly looks up to him. The realisation on his face that although small and somewhat dependable, she is no liability and can support herself and the others if needs be. The look is so…parental.
Upon their return to the ship, I love the way Hunter automatically lifts his arm to allow her little blonde head to rush past him and make way for a seat in the cockpit. Kiddo knows the rules, strap in before we take off, Hunter doesn’t even have to tell her.😇
I absolutely adore Hunter’s curious smirk as Wrecker leads Omega to her surprise, alongside the fact he is the first to follow them to see whatever their injured batch member has planned for the little one. I’d also like to note that he actually stares at Omega as they approach the gunners nest, only briefly breaking to take a look at Wrecker, but primarily his sight falls to her.
Her face…when she discovers her room, his face when he watches her jump up and giggle as she turns to thank Wrecker, these two absolutely melt my heart, I swear. He’s admiring her happiness, that splash of childlike innocence he and the batchers never got to have, exactly what he’s seen Cut give to his children, what he wants to give to her. It’s absolutely beautiful.
“I’ve never had my own room before.” Hunter’s split moment of realisation here, before he steps forwards and reassures her that she is “a part of their squad” their family, it’s just so charming to his character and role as her custodian. Omega’s equally gentle smile as she looks back to him, head resting against Lula’s ears shows her clear sense of peace in her new environment. I also think it’s absolutely adorable that while the other batchers share glances between themselves to silently thank Wrecker for his sweet act of kindness, Hunter only partakes for a moment, before he continues to watch Omega settle in, her head now falling against the wall, staring out into the inky black of space, with the new addition of her comforting fairy lights, which I’d like to specify are a warm yellow, in comparison to the bright white of the Kaminoan facilities. This contrast provides a nice device between Omega’s new comfort with her family on the marauder, and her cruel upbringing on Kamino. She is happier here, and Hunter and the others will do whatever they can to ensure she is always happy with them, as we can see from his consistent looks of admiration for her.
I hope you liked my analysis of Hunter and Omega’s relationship in episode three of The Bad Batch! Of course, I’d love to discuss these two with anybody who might be interested, so please feel free to drop me an ask or a DM, and if you’re captivated enough I’d totally recommend looking out for my future posts on the topic!
As always, much love to our ‘Megs and Hunter, thank you for reading! 💛
Part One: Aftermath
Part Two: Cut and Run
LOVE Grogu aka Baby Yoda aka The Child (well the whole show lol)!
THE MANDALORIAN APPRECIATION WEEK ✯ Day 7 Free choice: THE MANDALORIAN: A summary
yes
YES
LAY THAT COMPLICATED REDEMPTION ARC ON ME FILONI YOU GLORIOUS STORYTELLER
IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE NOW WHY HUNTER AND THE REST ARE TAKING SO LONG TO PICK A SIDE
THIS IS NO ADVENTURE OF THE WEEK WITH PRE-DETERMINED MORALS
YOU TRUELY ARE ALL FINDING YOUR WAY IN THE GALAXY AND I LOVE YOU FOR IT
---
CROSSHAIR YOU STUBBORN CONFUSED SELF-VALIDATING FOOL, YOU'RE A BLOOMING ZUKO AND I'VE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY TO BESTOW THAT TITLE IN ALL MY LIFE
TECH YOU GLORIOUS ANALYTICAL ODDBALL, YOU'RE MAKING SO MUCH SENSE NOW, I'M SLOWLY BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND YOU AS A PERSON RATHER THAN A STEREOTYPE
WRECKER YOU OVERZEALOUS SOFTY, I AM DELIGHTED AND DEVISTATED AT YOUR DEPTH
HUNTER YOU POOR CONFLICTED DAD-BOY, YOU'RE TRYING SO HARD, AND I KNOW IT'S ROUGH TO BE MADE TO QUESTION THE VALIDITY OF THE NEW IDENTITY YOU'VE BEEN POURING YOURSELF INTO
OMEGA YOU DARLING SISTER, SPENDING SO MUCH TIME LONGING, WILLING YOUR BROTHERS TO GROW UP WITH YOU, WANTING EVERYONE TO BE HOME AND BELONG
Wow this gave me chills! I absolutely LOVE Crosshair and Omega, both characters especially as a pairing are my favorite SW characters besides Grogu and Ahsoka Tano! The person who did this is AMAZING and hope they have one for each of the bad batchers (including Omega of course)!!! Not sure how to look lol.
Probably one of the best edits I've seen.