#bitterfishies

8. What fic was most meaningful to write

And

10. What fic was most satisfying to finished

8. What fic was most meaningful to write I honestly don't know. I'd like to say my Mermay entry for this year because I proved myself to be able to do it again but there are several other one-shots that held a special place in my WIP folder (one of them is mentioned below actually).

This is one of my favorite Cross/Echo scenes from the first @bitterfishies Bad Preppers fic😁💙 (click for better quality🍱)

One of the stories that I think about all the time is the Codex Pirate AU. I’ve talked a little about it on here and on Discord, but I’ve never fully developed it.

What I do know that is that Cody and his brother, Boba, are the pirate sons of the infamous Jango Fett, known for his kinder nature. Cody is a bright, young lad with big aspirations to become a great pirate like his father. He loves the sea, and knows it intimately.

Cody and Jango’s crew lands on the royal shores of Coruscant, where the people are celebrating their prince’s tenth birthday. There are festivities everywhere, delicious food, games, and merchants peddling their wares. Cody is enjoying the festivities when he runs into what appears to be a street urchin, but this street urchin is a little too well dressed, and they’re rubbish at sneaking around.

This is where Cody meets Prince Rex, heir to the throne. I was thinking that maybe he could be a Skywalker in this AU, but maybe not. I’m not sure how I want to plan that out.

Anyway, they become fast friends, and Cody writes to him and sends him gifts all the time. This continues for the next six years, up to Rex’s sixteenth birthday. Cody fully expects to be there, Jango promised, but Rex’s city falls victim to a rival pirate crew, and Jango refuses to go into battle with them.

Finally, when they do make land on Coruscant, Cody rushes to the palace to see Rex, but Rex meets him on the streets. This is where they share their first kiss.

Fast forward to that night, Rex tells Cody that he has to find a wife to carry on the royal line. Meanwhile, Cody has a decision to make as well, whether or not that he wants to give up the life of a pirate and live a normal life, or join his father and start his own crew. Cody thought his decision was made, but if Rex is being forced to marry, what is the point of staying?

Ten years pass. Cody has his own crew in Waxer, Boil, Wooley, Crys, Longshot, and Gregor. There are others, but these are the men that Cody hand selected. He trusts these men, and his men trust him. He leads like his father, but there’s an anger in him that no one can really get to the root of until an encounter with Boba tells them of Cody’s “lost love.”

So what do these idiots do? THEY FUCKING KIDNAP THE PRINCE OF CORUSCANT TO MAKE THEIR CAPTAIN FEEL BETTER.

(Awww so cute!)

Maybe it’s a testament of how competitive they are, the fact that they always try to outdo each other during missions, but hey, it gets the job done faster, so why discourage this endeavor? Besides, it’s not like they get so competitive that they forget they’re a team, so nothing wrong with that.

 Wrecker knows that he should be sad, because Tech has found a way to outdo all of them before the battle could even start, by commanding a drone of his invention to drop a mine - you guessed it, of his invention too - right inside the enemy’s camp, blowing everything up. It was a very powerful explosion, helped by the heavy artillery the seppies were taking with them, which caused a chain of explosions that blew up the entire camp.

After something like that, it’s going to be hard to outdo him, even during future missions, which sure might be a bit sad, but also…

 “Woo-hoo! Tech!”

Wrecker runs at him and, before he can react, he swipes him off his feet, turning them around a couple of times, still keeping Tech in his arms. “You did it!”

The surprise Tech has felt for such a strong reaction soon vanishes, and he grins. “That was cool, wasn’t it?”

“Hell yeah it was!” Wrecker replies, and before either of them can say anything else, he plants a long kiss on Tech’s lips, who soon returns the gesture, closing his arms around Wrecker’s neck.

He rarely participates in their competition, not because he doesn’t want to, but before, well… You could say that his talents are less battle-oriented, so participating would only make this fact even more obvious. When he’s certain that he can surprise them, though, that’s another story, because in that case hell yes that he participates. It’s a cheap way to feel smug, he knows it, but hey, he’s just human in the end, and some validation is always well accepted, especially when it’s Wrecker the one giving it to him.

 At first he was afraid he’d be sad about not being able to get some action, but thankfully that doesn’t seem to be the case at all: when they pull away, in fact, ignoring Crosshair telling them to get a room - he can go kark himself at the moment - he gently presses their foreheads together and whispers. “I’m proud of you.”

A small smile appears on Tech’s lips, as he tries not to get emotional about something so little, and yet so meaningful to him. “Thank you, Wrecker… I mean it,” he whispers back, before kissing him again, holding onto him like his life depends on it. Good thing that Hunter and Cross have the good sense to leave them some space with the excuse of checking the camp for any survivor, and to get some scrap metal that Tech can play with once they’re back to the ship; not that Tech wants them far, but also it’s nice to be able to spend a moment alone with Wrecker.

 Once they pull away, smugness takes the place of all the soft feelings in Tech’s head. “So, I suppose I’m the winner this time around, right?”

Wrecker barks a laugh. He’s still keeping Tech up in the air, with no intentions of wanting to put him down; not that Tech minds, of course: he quite likes it in fact. “Of course it does! You blew up everything!” he exclaims, then. “We’ll have to celebrate later!”

That makes a smirk appear on Tech’s lips. “Oh yeah, and do you have something in mind?” he teases him, which brings Wrecker to return the smirk.

“Maybe,” he replies, before letting Tech down on the ground. “But first let’s get this over with, okay? They might need our help down there.”

He’s right: the mission isn’t over yet, and they should prioritize it over whatever they’re going to do later, even though Tech can’t wait for them to have some actual alone time. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go.”

 Oh well, sooner or later they’ll have to go back to their ship, and then surely things will get more fun. Oh yes, he’s willing to bet on it; after all, Wrecker has never let him down, and Tech doubts he’ll begin doing it now.

Bingo box; mischief, pairing: tech/wrecker(I'm also happy their just friends), prompt: Wrecker chalenges Tech to a throwing contest. He didn't say Tech couldn't use technology.

(AHsdhshkfdhs I love)

“Why should I even agree to do this?” Tech immediately asks.

“Because it’s fun!” Wrecker replies, as if Tech doesn’t know his actual motive, something that he doesn’t hesitate to make known.

“No, it’s because you like these stupid games because you always win,” he says in fact. For what other reason would Wrecker come to him of all people challenging him to a throwing competition?

This is nothing new however: Wrecker does tend to get restless, and when he does he often turns to challenging the others to some sort of contest, anything to battle the boredom. It’s not like Tech doesn’t understand him, but he also doesn’t want him to get cocky after an easy win, because let’s face, he’d never be able to beat him.

Wait, unless…

 “You know what?” he says. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

“Awesome! Then we--”

“But not now.”

“What do you mean ‘not now’?” Wrecker asks, confused.

“I mean that I need time to prepare. What? You thought I’d be able to do it immediately?” Tech replies, patting on Wrecker’s bicep. “I don’t wanna lose to you.”

At that, Wrecker burst into laughter; it isn’t a mocking laughter though, he genuinely finds it funny but not in a bad way.

“Alright, I’ll give you some time,” he says, jovially slapping Tech’s shoulder and almost sending him fumbling ahead. “Come find me when you’re ready!”

Tech has to fight really hard to hide the smirk on his face, but he manages. “Don’t worry big guy, I will.”

 It takes less time than Tech thought to get ready, which is good because eventually Wrecker would’ve grown bored of waiting and he would’ve sought him out to finally do this challenge.

It wasn’t easy to hide his project from him, given how close they are, Tech had to utilize every single moment in which they weren’t together to work on it. Thankfully he could’ve counted on the others’ help who, having gotten wind of Tech’s plan, did their best to keep Wrecker away from him; they’re true friends.

Now that he’s finally ready, however, he doesn’t need to avoid it anymore, and actually, he goes straight to him. It’s not hard to find him, Tech only had to follow the noise - he never was that stealthy to begin with.

Mh, looks like Wrecker’s doing some weights. Tech almost feels bad for interrupting him so he just leans against the doors and waits for him to be done, which might be just an excuse to admire his body. What? If Wrecker didn’t want to be watched, he could’ve sealed the doors. Besides, those back muscles look so good that Tech can’t help but to stare…

 He chuckles at the startled way Wrecker turns towards him when he finally speaks - he hadn’t noticed him at all.

“Hey there, big guy…”

“Holy-- Tech! How long have you been there?” Yes, Wrecker really hadn’t noticed him.

“A while,” Tech replies, a smirk on his face that gets soon mirrored by the other.

“I see, I see. Enjoying the show, huh?” he comments, flexing his arm. Tech has to bite his lower lip or else he’d say something that would completely deviate from his original purpose.

Concentrate, Tech! Now’s not the time to get distracted!

“Not really, actually,” he says. “I came here for the challenge.”

Wrecker still doesn’t drop the smirk. “Oh? You think you’re ready?”

“I don’t think I’m ready, I am,” Tech replies, trying very hard not to sound cocky, but he can’t help it, not with his secret weapon. Sure, it might be cheating, but Wrecker never set any rule about using technology, so technically he’s not breaking them.

Wrecker picks up on the tone, however, and he looks more than intrigued. He’s figured that Tech must have some sort of plan, which makes him curious.

“Let’s get going then.”

 They walk out of the Havok Marauder, not wanting to break anything inside, and get settled on the clearing they have landed. Miles and miles of plain fields, the perfect zone for a throwing contest.

“What do we get if we win?” Tech can’t help but to ask.

“Huh?” Wrecker replies, scratching the back of his neck. “I didn’t really think about that…”

Typical Wrecker, he throws himself into any kind of challenge without even thinking about what comes next.

“How about who wins gets a kiss?” he proposes.

“But we already kiss all the time!” Wrecker replies. “What would make that special?”

“It would be a victory kiss…” Tech explains, though he himself isn’t that convinced about that. Kissing was the first thing that came to mind, that why he suggested it.

Wrecker thinks about it just a moment, then he nods.

“Yeah, makes sense. I think…” he says, turning immediately towards Tech again. “So, are we doing this?”

“Ladies first,” Tech jokes, though he’s serious about wanting Wrecker to go first.

 They’ve agreed to throw one EMP grenade each, since they don’t want to cause actual harm to the environment. That kind of grenades is harmful only to droids, so they should be safe.

Wrecker weighs the one in his hand, juggling it a bit. His stare is fixed ahead of him, observing a potential target.

The rules are simple: whoever throws the grenade furthest wins.

Tech smiles, stretching his hand. If only Wrecker would’ve noticed that his armor is slightly different from the usual he might’ve questioned what he did to it, which by the way is nothing too major: just a thruster that will help him launch the grenade further and give it a little boost.

He feels a bit bad about what he’s doing, but how does that saying go? In war and love there are no rules. Sure this might not be as serious as actual war, but hey they’re still soldiers, so he guesses it counts. He isn’t sure about that, and actually is pretty sure that it’s just some excuse that he’s ramble-y brain came up with, but whatever. Not everything has to be serious: sometimes he might just want to do something just for the sake of doing it, or just for the sake of general mischief in this particular case.

 Wrecker goes completely still, just for a moment, then he throws the grenade. It flies through the air through an ample arc. Tech doesn’t have his bucket on so he can’t calculate the exact distance, but he doesn’t need it to discern that it’s a lot; it makes him wonder if even the help of technology will be enough to win this. Not that it would be such a huge loss, but c’mon he does have some pride.

They’re barely able to hear the sound of the EMP grenade detonate, which prompts Wrecker to turn towards Tech with an excited gaze.

“Pretty good, huh?”

“Yeah…” Tech can’t help but to admit, sounding genuinely impressed. Ok, maybe he won’t be that mad if he loses after all.

 It’s his turn now.

He takes Wrecker’s place, observing the field in front of him. He didn’t want to use his bucket to calculate the trajectory because he felt that would’ve been too much cheating, but now he finds himself regretting it.

He does his best to understand the wind’s direction and use this information to figure out what his best throwing angle will be. Eventually, however, Wrecker has to yell at him: “We don’t have all day!”

“R-Right, sorry…” he apologizes, deciding to wind it. If it works, good, if it doesn’t, at least he tried.

He almost dislocates his shoulder for who strongly the machinery in his armor pulls at it, and after throwing the grenade, Tech finds himself stumbling a few steps ahead before finding some semblance of equilibrium back.

In a moment Wrecker’s by his side, holding him up.

“Shit, Tech! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I think I am,” the other replies, not wanting Wrecker to worry for nothing.

 They wait, they wait and they wait, but after loosing track of the grenade, they still haven’t heard the sound of its detonation, which means…

The realization hits them both at the same time, making them turn towards each other, Tech with a cocky gaze and Wrecker with a surprised one.

“Looks like I--”

“No way!” Wrecker immediately exclaims. “Something must’ve gone wrong!”

“Yeah, like?” Tech challenges him.

“Oh I don’t know… Maybe it just didn’t detonate!”

“Wrecker, they’ve never not detonate, so why it should’ve done it now?”

“I just…”

“Face it, big guy, I won.”

 Every bad feeling Tech had about this dissipates into nothing as he watches Wrecker try to make sense of all this. It’s really fun to watch.

“You used some trick! There’s no other way!”

“So what? You never mentioned anything about them,” Tech points out, the smile still on his face.

“… Shit, you’re right,” Wrecker finally realizes. This is as close as an admission that he lost that Tech is going to get, so he’ll let that be enough. Besides…

 He turns his face towards Wrecker, exposing his cheek.

“So? I’m waiting for my prize.”

He hears Wrecker huff, then he suddenly grabs Tech by the chin, forcing him to turn his face again so that he can press their lips together, which isn’t what Tech was expecting - not that he’s complaining, of course.

When they pull away, Wrecker’s still pouting, though it’s obvious that he’s forcing himself to keep it up.

“Happy now?” he asks, and Tech can’t help but to laugh, leaning closer for another kiss.

7. If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most? lol I'm soooooo simple and unoriginal that the two main artists I use in my fics is either Sonata Arctica or Nightwish. Here, lemme show you:

have my sunlit day and moon = In the Dark by Sonata Arctica

just you and me far beyond the sea = Turn Loose the Mermaids Loose by Nightwish

A Siren Came To Me (modified) = Ghost Love Score by Nightwish

But this year the winner's Nightwish, it seems. There's one rogue title based on a song from Old Gods of Asgard, but mostly? If the fic has a lyrics in the titles and/or as inspiration, it's from those two.

🍙 Is there a fic you wish had gotten more attention?

Here you are. Something sweet just for you~

33. A kiss to a scar, birthmark, injury, or other marking

Crosshair was roused from his nap by a low hiss of pain.

Blinking slowly, the lanky clone turned his head, easily locating the source of the sound that had disturbed his sleep; in the middle of the barracks, Tech sat by the table, surrounded by what looked more like a droid carnage than -- scratch that, it was a droid carnage.

Crosshair frowned when he spotted not only two dissembled mouse droids, but a powered-down gonk droid, and what Crosshair guessed to be the chassis of a B1 battle droid.

Crosshair kriffing hoped it wasn't and he was just seeing things.

The last time Tech had smuggled a piece of Sep technology in Kamino, Hunter had all but hurled it off the Marauder's hangar and into the storm to keep the Batch safe.

Tech, who hadn't noticed Crosshair staring at him, had a grimace on his face as he shook his right hand. In the bright artificial light of the barracks, Crosshair saw the red fingertips when Tech paused to blow air on them.

Deciding that his nap could be postponed, Crosshair unfolded himself from the bunk and made his way to Tech.

"What happened?" Crosshair drawled, looming over Tech.

"The Separatists have done an upgrade in their models," Tech replied, and Crosshair held back the urge to groan as his suspicion was confirmed. "There should be no current running through this area anymore and yet..."

"And yet you ended up zapping yourself," Crosshair finished and he grabbed Tech's hand by the wrist. "Show me," he said only as he pulled the hand toward him, ignoring the uncomfortable angle Tech's arm ended up in.

Sure enough, the skin on the tip of Tech's fingers looked a little singed.

"Could you please let go of my hand so that can continue with my work?" Tech inquired, not even looking at Crosshair as he picked another tool with his left hand, poking the B1's innards with it. "If you want to help, you could go and fetch the med kit for me.

Rolling his eyes, Crosshair huffed. "Since you asked so nicely."

Before he did so, Crosshair bent to kiss the reddened fingertips. He smirked a little when Tech's left hand froze for a second before moving again.

"As much as I love your kisses, the bacta would help me better," Tech commented but despite the neutral tone, there was a light dusting on his cheeks.

Sighing, Crosshair let go of the hand. "I feel so loved right now," he mused but moved to get the med kit.

"Good because I do love you quite a lot, Crosshair," Tech replied almost absentmindedly.

The fact that Tech tended to declare his love so openly without much fanfare never ceased to amaze Crosshair, the corners of his mouth twitching with the need to smile as he grabbed the beaten-up box from a shelf next to Tech's bunk.

"Just so you know, I'm going to kiss you when I get back there," Crosshair informed as he opened the med kit to get the bacta. "So you better not be touching any live circuits when that happens."

"That's fair," Tech agreed before adding matter-of-factly, "the only "zap" I want you to experience is when I bite your lip."