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treesnutsandleaveswrites · 3 years

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Could you please write a Wrecker x Reader where he wants reader to teach him how to dance cause he wants to be more involved in her interest but he's just so bad at it that the Batch just laughs and snickers as they watch please?

A/N: Hello, anon! Of course, thank you so much for requesting! I wish I knew your pronouns, but for this one I just used neutral pronouns. I also wrote this in a different timeline where Omega and Crosshair exist on the team together with no Empire matters. This is sort of just a one-off I guess haha.

Masterlist

:::::::

Just Go With It

XPairing: Wrecker x Reader, The Bad Batch x Reader

Warning: fluff, some violence and danger, mentions of shooting

Word Count: 1586

XXXXXXX

You sat on top of the roof of the Havoc Marauder, looking up at the starry sky. You had just finished another mission with the Batch and were relaxing at the ship before you had to take off. There was a small fire just beside the ship that the others were sitting around. You kept your gaze averted towards the sky, thinking about your home planet; however, your thoughts were interrupted when the sound of scraping metal against metal reached your ears. You turned your head to see Wrecker struggle to climb on top of the ship, which caused you to laugh quietly.

“Wrecker, you’re scratching the ship!” Tech exclaimed.

“Ah, kriff!” Wrecker caught himself as he almost fell, “I’ll buff it out later, Tech!”

You furrowed your brows as Wrecker approached you, “What are you doing?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, “You looked lonely.”

You nodded before looking back up to the sky.

“You connecting the dots or somethin’?” “No,” You whispered, “Just thinking…”

“About what?”

“My home… around this time, there would be a huge festival.”

“Why?”

“Harvest season… the crops would have grown prosperous so we would celebrate.”

“What do you do at these festivals?”

You shrugged, “A lot. Eat, play games, dance…” You smiled as you thought of when you used to dance in the open fields with your friends, “I used to dance during these festivals…”

“Yeah?”

“Yes… it was the time where I felt I could fly. No need for a ship or anything. Just being able to lift off and take my path towards the stars.”

Wrecker nodded, not being able to find words as he admired you while you talked. You sighed before looking over to him, “Silly, right?”

He shook his head, looking to the sky, “I… it sounds nice. If I weren’t so scared of high places, I’d want to try it.”

You nodded before heading towards the rest of the batch with him.

*******

You looked over the data on the computer, rapidly typing. Omega was rushing around the ship doing who knows what, but you hardly minded. She was a kid and you knew she had more energy than the batch combined. Well, at least four out of five of them combined because Wrecker was nearly unmatched when it came to excitement. You continued your work until you heard Wrecker’s familiar footsteps approaching you.

“Hello, Wrecker.” You greeted without looking up.

“Uh-I-Hi, ad’ika.”

“You alright?”

“Yeah. I just-” He huffed, looking around awkwardly. His shuffling caused you to turn in concern.

“Wreck? What’s up?”

He laughed sheepishly, “The other night, while we were on top of the ship. You-you mentioned dancing…”

You close down the stuff you were working on to give him your full attention, “Yes...?”

“Well-Well, I was wondering… I was wondering--dank farrik! Nevermind.” He turned to walk away, flustered.

“No, wait!” You grasped his wrist--well, what you could grab--before speaking, “Are you asking me to teach you how to dance?”

He hesitated before nodding gently, “Yeah…”

You smiled, “Okay. I’d love to teach you.”

He grinned, “Really?”

“Of course, Wrecker.”

“Okay! Okay, great!” He laughed before heading off to another part of the ship.

*******

You set the charges against the metal panel.

“Ok. Charges set. Heading to you now.” You spoke into your communicator while moving through the corridors, trying to avoid any battle droids.

“We’re heading towards the east hangar, stay on guard.” Hunter responded.

You found doors to a lift and went to the panel, “Tech, I need help with a lift on floor-”

“Hey! What are you doing here?” A battle droid called, followed by a few others.

“Kriff,” You muttered, pulling out your blaster, “Nevermind with the lift.”

“Get them!” The battle droid ordered.

“Which one of us do you want to do it?” Another battle droid questioned.

“Any!”

The lift opened and Wrecker stepped out with his large gun before shooting them down.

“Let’s go, ad’ika!”

You nodded and rushed through the halls with him before making it to the hangar.

“The charges should be off right... Now!” You called, hearing a loud boom.

“Get on the ship!” Hunter called, picking Omega up and carrying her with him. He, Omega, Tech, and Crosshair got on the ship, where Echo was waiting. You and Wrecker were trying to delay the battle droids.

“Come on, Wreck!”

“Right behind you!”

You got in and Wrecker was right at your tail before shutting the door. You both looked at each other before laughing.

“I could hardly say that a near death experience is funny.” Tech scoffed.

“It was exhilarating! C’mon, Tech, where’s your sense of adventure?” You grinned, taking a seat as the Marauder left the planet’s atmosphere. Wrecker laughed and sat next to you.

“I think this earns us a drink at 79’s!”

“Wrecker, we can’t take Omega into 79’s.” Hunter explained, “She’s too young.”

“Oh, yeah…”

You laughed before walking into the cockpit and overtaking the controls Tech was working on, “I know a place we can go. Won’t take more than 5 parsecs to get there.” You input the coordinates before sitting down. Tech looked to Echo before nodding and going back to the ship’s controls.

*******

You walked down the barren streets of the town, the Batch following close behind you. The lot of you arrived at a worn out building and you walked through the door. The others looked around the near empty Cantina then looked to each other with confusion.

“This is the place?” Hunter questioned and you nodded with a smile.

“Yeah, serves some great drinks!” You walked up to the bar and spoke to the rusting bar droid. The Batch took a seat at one of the booths, still examining the place. Omega looked around also and saw multiple Loth cats roaming throughout the cantina. She got up and started to play with a few of them on the ground. You had finally come back with a tray of drinks and food.

“There you go!” You grinned, “Come eat, Omega. Also, try not to feed them, they won’t leave you alone after.”

She nodded, taking her seat and popping food into her mouth. You took a seat next to Wrecker, looking around the bar.

“How’d you know about this place?” Echo wondered.

“My parents used to work in the trade business. I’d go with them off-world sometimes and they liked coming here after.”

“Is it always this...lively?” Omega giggled.

You shook your head, “There used to be more people, but then they stopped coming around after a separatist attack. Even my parents. They were scared because the Republic never paid attention to planets like this.”

The rest of them nodded, enjoying their drinks and food. You smiled as you watched them, happy to share a piece of your past with them. You then turned to the small music droid that sat in the corner. You got up before crouching down in front of it to turn it on. It had a radio built into it, and you were sure that your home planet would be broadcasting their music around this time. Once it started playing clearly through the speaker, you rushed back to the booth and started pulling at Wrecker.

“C’mon, c’mon!” You laughed.

“Wh-What?”

“You told me you wanted me to teach you to dance!”

“I-yeah, but not here!”

“We can’t do it on the ship! C’mon, Wrecker, before the song ends!”

He grunted as you pulled him out of the booth and stood with him.

“Just watch me, okay?”

He nodded, extremely flustered and looking back at his brothers, who were watching closely with sly smiles. You circled around Wrecker with a rhythm to your step.

“C’mon, Wrecker. This one just so happens to be a partner dance!” You laughed, still moving. He nodded and cautiously copied you, watching your feet and his own so as not to trip. You grinned as he mirrored your movements, then grabbed his arms.

“Now, place your arms like this…” You positioned them gently before placing your hand in one of his hands, “Let me lead for now, okay?”

“I… I don’t know, ad’ika…”

“It’s alright!” You assured before pulling him along with him. The boys cheered and laughed almost mockingly, which caused Omega to smack them upside the head.

“You guys are next!” You teased as you looked over your shoulder. They all started to stammer and their posture turned tense. You looked back up at Wrecker as he still looked at your feet.

“Chin up, Wreck.” You smiled, hooking his chin gently. He looked at you and laughed gently.

“How-how am I doing?”

“You're getting there.” You shrugged. The music started to die down, so you and him came to a stop. You laughed as the two of you pulled away.

“It’s been so long since I’ve done that!”

“It was bad.” Wrecker groaned.

“Oh, Wreck, don’t say that!”

“You just gotta… practice?” Omega tried to reassure him, but the others were snickering quietly.

The two of you made it back to your seats and continued drinking. After a bit, you all headed back to the Havoc Marauder. You sat in one of the chairs while the others occupied themselves. You were looking over your holopad when Wrecker took a seat next to you.

“Ad’ika?”

“Yes, Wrecker?” You looked up at him.

“I was wondering… could we keep practicing?”

“What do you mean?”

“When we have time, could you still teach me how to dance?”

You smiled gently, “Of course, Wrecker…”

XXXXXX

Please feel free to request, my ask box and dm's are open! guidelines are found on my masterlist which is my pinned post, if you are under 18 please do not request any 18+ content for I will not write it for the sake of propriety! -Tree <3

#the bad batch #the bad batch x reader #treesnutsandleaves writes #trees requests #wrecker #wrecker x reader #tbb wrecker #star wars #clone force 99 #clone wars #hunter #crosshair #tech #omega #echo #tree's asks

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rainydaydream-gal18 · 3 years

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Hello there, I was wondering if you could do a bad batch headcannon that involves (either a mission or experiment gone wrong) them dealing with a de aged Omega until the effects where off

It's basically a movie called "Five Soldiers and a Baby" up in here.

Hunter: I can imagine Omega being de-aged to a toddler or even a baby, and he'd probably go into panic mode because of the drastic change. Suddenly, the kid is waddling around and ready to put anything she finds on the floor of the Marauder into her mouth. She cries at seemlingly random times. He'd probably lose his cool and stress out so hard, picking her up in his arms and refusing to let her touch the ground while he demands Tech find a solution fast. It's hard for him to settle down and enjoy the time because every little thing concerns him. If she makes a funny noise, he'll have Tech look it up to make sure she's not sick or something. He can't get over how absolutely fragile and needy babies are. It's scary to him, and mostly because of how sudden the transformation occurred. If the de-aging were to last for a while, he'd eventually get better about it and worry just a tad less.

Wrecker: While Hunter is discussing aging Omega back to an older kid, Wrecker finally gets his chance with baby Omega. He is very responsible and vigilant in making sure she doesn't get into anything dangerous, but he is also a little more relaxed and lets her have fun. He'll play peek-a-boo and talk to her in a baby voice to watch her in triumph as she smiles and laughs. He's so good at keeping her entertained, but when it comes to the practical stuff like feeding and diaper-changing, he's as clueless as the others. His big arms also prove to be a good place for her to fall asleep, though at times he forgets to lower his voice when talking to the others. Usually, when she falls asleep, he'll pass her to Echo.

Echo: He rivals Hunter in stress levels. He already had his doubts about having a kid onboard, but a baby??? The group takes turns holding her to give each other breaks, and when it's his turn, he gets all soft and tender, maybe humming a quiet lullaby to help her sleep in his arm... If someone is accidentally too loud, they'll get such a death glare, and if baby Omega wakes up crying, he'll exclaim, "oh, that's just great!" at whoever woke her up. He'll still go through the process of rocking her back to sleep all over again without a grumble. Sometimes, the group will find him leaned back in one of the cockpit chairs with baby Omega laying comfily across his chest and both are sound asleep. The others will catch him smiling and playing a quick baby game with her when he thinks no one else is paying attention. He can't help it. He always wanted kids, and he realizes that this would be what it's like if it were ever to happen.

Tech: Saves the day by doing all the necessary research on caring for an infant right off the bat. He knows about feeding, changing, and nap times for the baby, but he'll try and pawn off the responsibilities because he's busy trying to reverse the de-aging process. Of course, there is only so much you learn about babies from reading. Most knowledge and wisdom comes from the experience, so even though logistically the squad has all the info they need, everyone -even Tech- can be unsure at times about it. He'll give Omega a check up and maybe hold her for a short while, but he'd rather leave it to the others while he works.

Crosshair: He's mildly annoyed at first. Omega was turned into a baby... All of a sudden, she's laughing on minute, crying for no reason, and screaming on occasion. Somehow, at the end of the day after everyone's had to contribute their fair share of baby duty, someone gives her to Crosshair and runs off, leaving him protesting. He's annoyed, face twisted in a skeptical expression as she stares at him. And then all heck breaks loose. She starts crying, wailing, and then he realizes she stinks so bad. He'd look at Tech expectantly, who merely replies that she needs a diaper change without looking up from his de-aging reversal device... No one else is around to do it, so Crosshair is Mr. Drama queen as he does the change. He grumbles to himself, pulls the neckline of his blacks up over his nose, and complains the whole time to Tech about it even though the genius is definitely not listening or caring. Pretty soon, he finds himself just tlaking to baby Omega about any and everything. He'll talk to her about the ship, about shooting, about random things he heard on the holoscanner. He imagines that he's re-teaching her things to help the aging process along, but it turns out to be a bondiing experience. He gets fussy with the others about handing her over and makes sure that she's getting the best care.

#the bad batch #bad batch omega #bad batch hunter #bad batch headcanons #bad batch wrecker #bad batch crosshair #bad batch echo #bad batch tech #de-aged omega #deaged omega #the bad batch headcanons #hunter headcanon #tech headcanon #wrecker headcanon #omega headcanon #echo headcanon #crosshair headcanon

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bimormondisaster · 3 years

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A list of random headcanons I have about the Bad Batch. (This came out longer than expected but I have many many more so if you want to hear them let me know)

-Hunter can easily get overwhelmed by touches because of his senses so after a rough mission while everyone else is piled together he’s right off to the side, as close as he feels comfortable.

-On the same note he often wears earplugs when they know the mission will include a lot of fighting

-(also I think that’s why he uses a knife more often than a blaster)

-Crosshair was the closest to Tech because he let Tech talk without interrupting him. He would often clean his guns wherever Tech was working so Tech could talk.

-I also feel like Tech was the one to get into the most fights when they were cadets. He could keep his cool until a reg insulted his brothers then he’d escalate.

-whenever Hunter gets overwhelmed Crosshair would make him tea and sit just outside of the door in case he was needed. Tech (and eventually Echo) would keep Wrecker as quiet as possible on the other side of the ship.

-He usually sits in the Cockpit. Sometimes in his bunk.

-before he was dragged away Wrecker would give Hunter Lula because it always helped him so why wouldn’t it help Hunter?

-Now with Crosshair gone Echo makes the tea then leaves to the other end of the ship.

-Hunter won't admit it but he misses hearing the breathing and heartbeat right outside the door (and the tea never tastes right)

-Tech can read Crosshair better than anyone and vice versa

-Crosshair was extremely protective of Tech (and still is)

-Crosshair has anxiety. That’s why he chews on toothpicks

-Hunter is Demisexual

-Crosshair is gay

-Wrecker is Pan

-Tech is bi with a preference for women

-Echo is bi with a preference for men

-Once Echo joins the team Tech can be a little overbearing for him. Tech just wants him to feel accepted and part of the team but it can be smothering.

-On the flip side Wrecker tried to hold back his affection (especially touches) because he didn't know how Echo felt about those. So for a while Echo thought Wrecker hated him.

-Eventually they find a relationship that works and become pretty close

-Hunter and Wrecker love to dance. sometimes they can convince Tech and Cross to join them. Once Echo joins the team he gets invited to dance. At first he feels stupid but even just the fact that they asked him to join in helps him feel like he belongs.

-Don't get me wrong Hunter and Wrecker are awful dancers but that doesn't stop them.

-In fact, Tech is the best dancer but only because he had to learn for a mission.

-Echo is pretty good once he gets used to his new body (Or lack thereof)

-When Omega can't sleep or wakes up from a nightmare Wrecker or Hunter will hold her close and sway to some slow music.

-If it's Hunter he'll hum along

-Omega feels close to Crosshair despite only knowing him for a short time.

-When Tech is alone he'll talk to Crosshair's stuff.

-Echo asks his old squad to take care of Crosshair while he can't

-Echo loves seeing space. Or really just looking out of the big window in the cockpit. It doesn't matter if they are in space or on a planet he's most likely there.

-He usually sleeps in there as well because he finds it relaxing.

-Crosshair would always say that Hunter was the touchy-feely guy who dealt with the squad's emotions however more often than not Cross was the one to sit with his brothers when they couldn't sleep or had a nightmare.

-They don't talk unless it's Hunter (if it is they talk about anything and everything both working through whatever is bothering him and distracting him) But he's just a calming presence.

-Omega loves to sleep in Crosshairs shirts. It helps her feel connected to him.

-Echo lost a game of chance to who was going to teach Omega how to shoot. No one wanted to do it because they all felt like it should be Crosshair. However they couldn't put off her training.

-Whenever Omega shoots, the boys (Especially Hunter and Tech) feel guilt because it reminds them of Crosshair.

-The Bad Batch never says I love you. Their version of it is "I'm proud you were created" (Yes it's from Oliva Rodrigo's I hope you're okay)

#the bad batch #bad batch #clone force 99 #tbb headcanons #tbb tech #tbb wrecker #sargent hunter #crosshair #arc trooper echo #tbb omega

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itsclydebitches · 3 years

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Hello again! Im the tinfoil hat anon with the long ass asks and I finally had the time to read your response. Thank you, it makes my day reading your answers. I honestly just enjoyed them over a cup of coffee like a good book.

Now, the gun pointing scene I mentioned was in fact the one from the droid fight facility like the other anon suggested. But I really liked that you covered the boat scene too, I haven’t thought of it much myself and now I definitely have!

I also would like to mention I love your “candy bar” choice analogy and I 100% agree Hunter’s “invitation” to join back wasn’t welcoming in the slightest. It is very likely just an obligation as you said. Sort of “you gave us a chance, we owe you a chance too”.

And the problem with it is now I am struggling to figure out how the batch members might change their attitude toward Crosshair going forward, especially Hunter. As of right now Crosshair’s best relationship is not with his brothers but with Omega(as surprising as this is). And I think he does realize now she cared about him the most out of all of them during the short time they interacted(both 1st and last episodes). Even between themselves(not counting Omega) I find most of the bad batch members to be cold and distant to each other. They feel less like a family than Rebels for example. And they aren’t even a “found family”(a trope everyone loves) but an actual one! And I get that they’re soldiers and supposed to be tough, I don’t expect them to share all “the feels”. I just can’t put my finger on it but something feels off. I agree with your previous post, the show doesn’t do a very good job showing or even telling they love each other.

Will Hunter and co only start caring about their brother again only after he leaves the empire?(assuming he does at some point). What about Disney’s prevailing theme and message that “family always love and care for each other no matter what”? I guess it’s “family always love and care for each other but only if you’re good guys making right choices”. There is no room for mistakes or wrong decisions. In the last episode everyone form the batch seemed to have given up on Crosshair(besides Omega). For now their attitude seems to be just “you’re not our enemy” and that’s that.

I realize Crosshair is a “bad guy” and consciously made his choice(and we know it’s the wrong one) but to me it felt like he thought he didn’t even had a choice or rather became so lost and confused he actually thought he chose the empire as “the lesser evil”(as in the less shitty choice out of all the other bad ones). We as audience have the benefit to know exactly how atrocious the empire really is but maybe Crosshair still doesn’t realize that.

So what exactly must Crosshair do to get back “in their good graces” as you say? Start saving “the good guys”? Save the bad batch multiple times? There is a popular opinion on how Crosshair can redeem himself. That he eventually heroically sacrifices himself to save them. I personally REALLY hope it’s NOT what’s going to happen but I heard so many people speculating his story is set up to be redemption=death. I know you mentioned you don’t want “Vader style redemption” either. Personally I think it would be a waste of a character who has a lot of potential. And I just think that the batch kind of don’t really deserve his sacrifice(maybe save for Omega) after how they never tried to save him themselves and how they treated him overall. Maybe he will risk his life to save Omega at some point and that will “prove” to Hunter he cares? Although he has already shown he cares by saving her(even if in Crosshair’s own words it’s just so they’re “even”). And the thing is, he doesn’t need to prove that he loves them, he already did that in episode 15 and made it clear he does care. He actually went to extreme by shooting his squad to prove his loyalty. What were the moments the batch demonstrated they care about him? Hunter saying “you never were our enemy” and taking his unconscious body to safety? To me Hunter “not leaving him behind” during bombardment felt more like guilt about the last time it happened and an obligation to Crosshair for helping them with droids, rather than them showing care. And I kinda of think if that was any random civilian(or anyone other than an enemy or a threat) they would carry them out too just because that’s what good guys do and not because it’s their brother. You also mentioned that minutes later Hunter snaps at him with “if you want to stay here and die, that’s your choice” which I agree can be interpreted in different ways. And I think it’s one more point to it being an obligation that in Hunter’s eyes is fulfilled now. He corrected his mistake of leaving a brother behind and saved him this time, now his guilt won’t burden him any longer.

Anyway, I can’t wait for season 2 and I appreciate you and all the anons sharing the tinfoil hat, interacting and speculating together. Those discussions have been a lot of fun!

TLDR: How do your think the relationship between the brothers will mend or evolve in the next season? Do you think S2 will improve in portraying the batch more as a family rather than a group of mercs doing missions together? What are your thoughts on the popular idea of Crosshair’s redemption by ultimate sacrifice? As in, how likely do you think this scenario is?

Anon, that is just wonderfully hilarious to me. Ah yes, the sunrise, a good cup o' joe, and the overly long character analysis of a snarky, fictional sniper. Exactly what everyone needs in the morning! 😆

You know, TBB is far from the first show I've watched where there's an obvious, emotional conclusion the creator wants the audience to come to—the squad all love each other Very Much—yet that conclusion isn't always well supported by the text. It creates this horribly awkward situation where you're going, "Yes, I'm fully aware of what the show wanted to do, but this reading, arguably, did not end up in the story itself. So what are we talking about here? The intention, or the execution?" It's like Schrödinger's Bad Batch where the group is simultaneously Very Loving and Very Distant depending on how much meta-aspects are influencing your reading: those authorial intentions, understanding of how found family tropes should work, fluff focused fics/fan art that color our understanding of the characters, etc. And, of course, whether someone saw TCW before they watched TBB. I personally wouldn't go quite so far as to say they're "cold" towards one another—with Crosshair as an exception now—but there wasn't the level of bonding among the squad that I expected of a show called The Bad Batch. Especially compared to their arc in TCW. The other night I re-watched the season seven premiere and was struck not just by how much more the squad interacted with each other back then, but how those interactions added depth to their characters too. For example, Crosshair is the mean one, right? He's the one picking fights with the Regs? Well yeah... but it's also Wrecker. While they're trying to decide what to do with Cody injured, Jesse calls out Crosshair on his attitude—"You can't talk to Captain Rex like that!"—and Wrecker's immediate response is, "Says who?" and he hefts Jesse into the air. And then he just holds him there, clearly using his superior strength to do as he pleases, until Hunter (sounding pretty angry) tells him to put Jesse down. If Wrecker had put him into a more classically understood bullying position, like pinning him to the ground, it would probably read as less funny—less "Haha strong clone lifts Jesse up in the air!" and more "Oh shit, strong clone can do whatever the hell he wants to the Regs and few are able to stop him." It's such a quick moment, but it tells us a ton about Wrecker. That he's going to stick up for his brothers, no matter the context (Crosshair deserves to be called out). That he will gleefully assist Crosshair in bothering the Regs (something that is reinforced when he later throws the trays in the mess hall, after Hunter has already deescalated the situation). That he's likely been hurt by awful treatment from the Regs too. That he'll only listen to Hunter when it comes to backing off. Little of this work—that interplay among the squad that shows us new sides to them other than basic things like "Wrecker is the nice, happy brother"—exists in TBB.

Or, at least, little exists after Omega becomes an official member of the squad.

Because, as said previously, she becomes the focus. I don't mean that as a total criticism. As established, I love Omega. But if we're talking about why the squad can feel so distant from each other, I think she's the root cause, simply because the story became all about her relationships with the Batch, rather than the Batch's relationships with each other. Having dived headfirst into reading and writing fic, it occurred to me just how many of the bonding moments we love, the sort of stuff we'll see repeated in fics because we understand that this is where the story's emotional center is, are given to Omega in canon:

Someone is hurt and in need of comfort. Omega's emotional state is the focus + moments like her being worried over Hunter getting shot.

Someone needs to learn a new skill. Echo teaches Omega how to use her bow.

Someone reveals a skill they never knew they had before. Omega is a strategic genius and plays her last game with Hunter.

Someone is in serious danger and in need of rescue. Omega rescues the group from the slavers + is the most vocal about rescuing Hunter. (Which, again, is a pretty sharp contrast to the whole Crosshair situation.) Omega, in turn, needs rescuing from things like the decommission conveyor belt.

Similarly, someone is kidnapped and in need of rescue. Omega is kidnapped twice by bounty hunters and the Batch goes after her.

Someone saves another's life. Omega saves Crosshair from drowning.

Someone does something super sweet for another. Wrecker gives Omega her room. Omega gives Wrecker Lula.

A cute tradition is established between characters. Wrecker has his popcorn-esque candy sharing with Omega.

Someone hurts someone else and has to ask forgiveness. Wrecker is upset about nearly shooting Omega and they have that sweet moment together.

Note that most of these examples could have occurred between other Batch members, but didn't. Someone could have created a space for Echo on the ship too. Wrecker also could have apologized to Tech for choking him, etc. It's not that those moments shouldn't happen with Omega, just that there should be more of a balance across the whole season, especially for a show supposedly focused on the original squad. Additionally, it's not that cute bonding moments between the rest of the Batch don't exist. I love Hunter selling Echo off as a droid. I love Wrecker and Tech bickering while fixing the ship. I love the tug-of-war to save Wrecker from the sea monster. Yes, we do have moments... it's just that comparatively it feels pretty skewed in Omega's direction.

So, as a VERY long-winded way of answering your question, I think we need to fix the above in order to tackle Crosshair's redemption in season two. Now that we've had a full season focused on Omega, we need to strike a better balance among the rest of the squad moving forward. We need to re-established the "obvious" conclusion that the rest of the Batch loves Crosshair and that's done (in part) by establishing their love for one another too. To my mind, both goals go hand-in-hand, especially since you can develop their relationship with Crosshair and their relationships with each other simultaneously. Imagine if instead of just having Wrecker somewhat comically admit that he misses Crosshair (like he's dead and they can't go get him??), he and Tech had a serious conversation about why they can't get him back yet, despite very much wanting to. Imagine if Echo, the one who was rescued against all odds, got to scream at Hunter to go get Crosshair like Omega screamed at them to go back for Hunter. Imagine if we'd gotten more than a tiny arc in TCW to establish the Batch's dynamic with each other, providing a foundation for how they would each react to Crosshair's absence. Instead, what little we've got in TBB about Crosshair's relationship with his brothers is filtered through Omega: Omega's embarrassment that she knocked over Crosshair's case, Omega treating Crosshair's comm link like a toy, Omega's quest to save Hunter that just happened to involve Crosshair along the way.

Obviously, at this point we can't fix how the first season did things, but I think we can start patching over these issues in season two. It would be jarring—we'd still be 100% correct to ask where this "Brothers love you, support you, and will endlessly fight for you" theme was for Crosshair's entire time under the Empire's thumb... but I'd take an about-face into something better than not getting any improvement at all. It is frustrating though, especially for a show that I otherwise really, really enjoyed. For me, the issue isn't so much that the show made a mistake (since no show is perfect), but that the mistake is attached to such a foundational part of the franchise. Not just in terms of "SW is about hope and forgiveness" but the specific relationship most clones have with each other: a willingness to go above and beyond for their brothers. The focus on Omega aside, it's hard to believe in the family dynamic when one member of the family was so quickly and easily dismissed. I couldn't get invested in Hunter's rescue as much as I should have because rather than going, "Yes!! Save your brother!!!" my brain just kept going, "Lol where was this energy for Crosshair?" It messes with your reading of the whole story, so in order to fix that mistake going forward, we need to start seeing the bonds that only sometimes exist in season one. Show the guys expressing love for one another more consistently (in whatever way that might be—as you say, soldiers don't have to be all touchy-feely. Give us more moments like Wrecker supporting his brothers' bad habits) and then extend that to Crosshair. Which brother is going to demand that they fight for him? Which brother is going to acknowledge that they never tried to save him? Which brother is going to question this iffy statement about the chip? In order to buy into the family theme, Omega can't be the only one doing that emotional work.

Ideally, I wouldn't want Crosshair to go out of his way to prove that he's a good guy now. I mean, I obviously want him to stop helping the Empire and such, duh lol, but I'm personally not looking for a bunch of Extra Good Things directed at the Batch as a requirement for forgiveness. Simply because that would reinforce the idea that they're 100% Crosshair's victims, Crosshair is 100% the bad guy, and he's the only one who needs to do any work to fix this situation. Crosshair needs to stop doing bad things (working for Empire). But the Batch needs to start doing good things too (reaching out to him). Especially since Crosshair made a good play already, only to be met with glares and distrust. He saved Omega! And AZI! And none of them cared. So am I (is Crosshair) supposed to believe that saving one of their lives again will result in a different reaction? That doesn't make much sense. And no, his own life wasn't at risk when he did that, but does every antagonist need to die/nearly die to prove they're worth fighting for? As you say, he's already shown that he loves them, far more than they've shown the reverse. Every time Crosshair hurt them (attacking) it was while he was under the chip's influence. In contrast, the group has no "I was being controlled" excuse for when they hurt him (abandonment). Season two needs to acknowledge the Batch's responsibility in all this—and acknowledge that they're all victims of the Empire—in order to figure out an appropriate arc for Crosshair's redemption.

Right now, the issue is not Crosshair loving his brothers, the issue is how Crosshair chooses to express that love: trying to keep them safe and giving them a purpose in life by joining the organization that's clearly going to dominate the galaxy. The only way to fix that, now that his offer has been rejected, is for him to realize that a life on the run from the Empire, together, is a better option for everyone. And the only way for that to happen is for the Batch to seriously offer him a place with them again. They need to make the first move here. They need to fight for him. And yeah, I totally get that a lot of people don't like that because it's not "fair." He's the bad guy. He's with the fascist allegory. He's killed people and has therefore lost any right to compassion and effort from the good guys... but if that's the case, then we just have to accept that (within the story-world, not from a writing perspective) Crosshair is unlikely to ever come back from this. When people reach that kind of low, they rarely pull themselves out on their own. They need other people to help them do that. Help them a lot. But with the exception of Omega's reminder—which Crosshair can't believe due to how everyone else has treated him—they leave him alone and seem to expect him to fix himself first, then he gets their support. It needs to be the other way around. Support is what would allow him to become a good guy again, not "Well, you'll get our love when you're good again, not before." That's unlikely to occur and, as discussed, it doesn't take into account things like this bad guy life being forced on Crosshair at the start. If the story really wanted this to be a matter of ideological differences... then make it about ideological differences. Let Crosshair leave of his own free will, right at the start. Don't enslave him for half the season, have him realize he was abandoned, imply all that brainwashing, give him no realistic way out, and then punish him for not doing the right thing. This isn't a situation where someone went bad for the hell of it—the story isn't asking us to feel compassion for, say, the Admiral—it's a situation where Crosshair was controlled and now can't see a way out. That context allows for the Batch, the good guys, to fight for him without the audience thinking the show is just excusing that behavior. They should have been fighting from the start, but since they didn't, I hope we at least start seeing that in season two.

Ultimately though... I don't really expect all of the above. The more balanced dynamics and having the Batch fight for Crosshair rather than Crosshair going it alone... I wouldn't want to bet any money on us getting it, just because these are things that should have been established in season one and would have been more easy to pull off in season one. (If the Batch wouldn't fight for Crosshair while he was literally under the Empire's control, why would they fight now when he's supposedly acting of his own free will? It's backwards in terms of the emotional effort involved.) But again, it could happen! I'd be very pleased if it did happen, despite the jarring change. I don't want to make it sound like I think they're going to write off Crosshair entirely. Far from it, I think there are too many details like his sad looks for that, to say nothing of Omega's compassion. But the execution of getting him on Team Good Guys again might be preeeetty bumpy. I expect it to revolve around Crosshair's sins and Crosshair's redemption, even if what I would like is balancing that with Crosshair's loss of agency, the Batch's mistakes, and their own redemption towards him.

Honestly though, I just hope that whatever happens happens soon. It's a personal preference, absolutely, but after a season of Crosshair as the antagonist, I'm ready for him to be back with the group, making the Empire (and bounty hunters) the primary enemy. Whether his return happens through a mutual acknowledgement of mistakes, or through Crosshair being depicted as the only one in the wrong who has to do something big to be forgiven... just get him back with the squad lol. Because if the writing isn't going to delve into that nuance, then the longer he remains unforgiven, the longer some of us have to watch a series while going, "Wait, wait, wait, I really don't agree with how you're painting this picture."

#TBB #The Bad Batch #SW #Star Wars #mymetas #long post

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