Well NOW I DO

I wanna know how Hunter became the leader of the Bad Batch. Like, not saying any of the others would have been better, I just mean, there were only four options: a sassy little iPad kid, a trigger-happy man bear, the problematic guy with the toothpicks, and Space Rambo. We can’t assume it was because he was the least chaotic, because nothing could be farther from the truth. In TCW season 7, Anakin asks him who they report to and he’s just like “idk man, if I knew how to fill out a report maybe I’d try and find out” and when Anakin gets snatched up by that lizard dragon thingy, the first thing his brothers do is get set up so that Hunter can windsurf behind it like a maniac because apparently that’s something he tends to do. In TBB S1 when Omega starts that food fight, Hunter tries to de-escalate the situation for approximately 3 seconds before throwing hands. All of his interactions with any sort of leadership involve a minimum of 70% sarcasm. The man has a blaster to shoot droids and chooses to stab them with a knife instead. He left cadet training and the first thing he did was get a massive face tattoo of a skull.

Like, I’m trying to imagine how that conversation went and all I can think of is, “Sir, it’s time to promote one of the members of Clone Force 99 to sergeant.” “…*long sigh*”

Echo’s First Moments with TBB, Part 4

*the whole room is dark and silent, Echo is fast asleep*

*all of a sudden Echo feels something touching his leg*

Echo: *bolts upright, sees Tech measuring his prosthetic legs* AHHH TECH WHAT ARE YOU DOING

Tech: *adjusts goggles* oh, Echo, I apologize for waking you. I simply had a stroke of inspiration on modifications to make to your legs and required some precise measurements.

Echo: modifications?

Tech: yes. *begins pulling blueprints out and laying them on the bed* I’ve had several ideas tonight, but I think this one is my favorite.

Echo: that’s great, Tech, but honestly I’m really happy with—wait, are those rocket boots??

Do you think Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair, and Tech understand how attractive they are

Like, it took Phee all of three seconds to look at Tech’s eyes and be like “wowwwww”

Was that a common occurrence?? Did the boys get hit on frequently on their adventures?

I mean with the number of seedy places they’ve been to, you can’t tell me that not a SINGLE person looked at Hunter and was like “ooooooh.” You can’t tell me someone on Pabu didn’t see Crosshair’s five o’clock shadow and drool a little. You can’t tell me somebody didn’t just GAWK at Wrecker’s muscles and brilliant smile for like five minutes straight. You can’t tell me Phee was the only one who noticed Tech’s pretty eyes (and the fact that the man is literally BUILT).

I said this to a friend once about Mandalorian S3, because I saw/heard people shipping Din and Bo-Katan and like. Idk if I really get the romantic vibe from them but I do get the “married for no other reason than tax benefits and are completely fine with that” vibe. Din wants to go bathe in the water of their obliterated home planet for moral redemption? Bo-Katan is like “ugh fine but you have to let me navigate.” Bo-Katan wants to take back their obliterated home planet? Din is like “do it homie, I’ll bring my kid, it’ll be fun.” No romance. Just support and tax benefits. It’s lowkey such a vibe

It really is so cute and sweet how the bad batch collectively works really hard to teach Omega everything they know, even though (they don’t seem to realize) their knowledge and skill set is literally so unhinged: how to disarm literally any bomb ever, how to hack into any computer, how to steal locate valuable data, breaking and entering, extensive knowledge of every weapon in existence, stealth and reconnaissance. These super soldier brothers suddenly find themselves in a position where they are raising a child, and they don’t know much about raising children, except you’re supposed to teach them right?? So teach her they do, but they go straight from “this is dirt” to “this is how to aim an energy bow, don’t worry about stun settings lol” but in the most heartfelt and genuine way possible because for them, that is the most important thing and that is how she will survive in the galaxy when they aren’t there to protect her anymore. Like Hunter, babe, most dads are out here teaching their daughters how to ride a bike, but sure, you teach Omega the fastest way to disembowel a droid with a vibroblade, that is valuable knowledge

I wasn’t a die-hard Tech Lives believer (more of a “I HOPE Tech Lives” believer) but the end of the show has me grieving hard all over again, so here’s my little ode to Tech based on things I’ve noticed about him from rewatching the show:

Tech LOVES his brothers, and he genuinely misses Crosshair. When he has his heart to heart with Omega in the ipsium cavern, the way that he mentions Crosshair—even though that wasn’t even really what they were discussing—shows how often Crosshair is on his mind, so much so that he can’t really talk about people leaving and changing without bringing him up. When they get the Plan 88 from Crosshair, Tech is vocal and insistent about doing whatever they can to bring Crosshair back—because “he is still our brother.”

Tech is incredibly moral. Not that he’s any more moral than I think generally TBB is, but he’s not afraid to speak up when he sees something that he disagrees with fundamentally. “The systematic termination of the Jedi is a big one for me.” “There’s a fundamental different between taking fire in battle and being used for target practice.” Even in just the first episode, we see how firm his opinions are, based on what he believes: that people are people, that HIS BROTHERS are people, that they deserve better, that there is such a thing as right and wrong.

Tech may be practical, but that doesn’t make him any less crazy than his brothers—in fact, I would argue he is one of the more unhinged members of the bad batch. His plans and ideas see everything factually, factoring in risk not as an emotional factor but as a numerical one. He knows their skills, and what they are capable of, and he pushes them to those capabilities, even if the resulting strategy is absolutely insane. The best part is, as insane as he may be, his brothers trust him, because, as Tech himself said, he is seldom wrong.

Tech has a beautiful sense of wonder and awe for the world around him. How many times do we see him go wide-eyed as he encounters something that absolutely fascinates him—even if that thing is a Zillo beast that just ate an entire Imperial crew.

Tech is INSANE. Not unhinged, like I said earlier, but skill-wise, ability-wise, he is an absolute powerhouse. I will forever be grateful to the writers of TBB who gave us a techy, intelligent character who is not your average scrawny computer guy that we get in action movies. You have to have a lot of guts to be the guy in your squad who turns your back on the fight to bend over a computer and hack into a file or break an encryption or alter the programming—already a delicate operation, but with the added risk of getting shot with your back turned. He frickin wields double blasters so that he can shoot more clankers more efficiently (if that’s not practical Tech, I don’t know what is). He DOESN’T WEAR LEG ARMOR SO THAT HE CAN CARRY HIS TOOLS WITH HIM INTO THE FIELD. In “Faster,” we see his hand inching towards his blaster, ready to defend and protect the second it’s necessary—and you know he would’ve beaten anyone to the draw. He fought a group of Imperial troopers!!! With a broken leg!!!!!

Tech was amazing, and I hate that he’s dead, that we never got to see him grow old, that he never saw Crosshair again. But WHAT A LIFE HE LIVED.

You know what just occurred to me?? When Crosshair said “clone force 99 died with Tech” it implies that, to him, his brothers continued to be CF 99 after HE left, but not after Tech was gone. He was a disposable part of their team, Tech was not. CF 99 could exist without Crosshair. It could not exist without Tech. And him returning did not revive CF 99, because Tech was still gone. So it wasn’t about numbers/size, it was about the people in the squad. Without Crosshair, it’s the same. But without Tech, it’s not. And I just—

Season 2 Bad Batch’s wardrobe change has so many fantastic implications:

I bet Tech quit wearing armor first, man literally never wore leg armor, I fully believe that he just walked off the Marauder one day in his cute little vest and ignored everyone’s stares

Wrecker probably got jealous though and was like “Hunter why can’t I not wear armor” except he literally doesn’t have any other clothes. So Omega is like SHOPPING!!

Echo, frankly, was concerned, but Omega was so excited about it that he just gave up

Hunter, at some point, saw a red scarf and was like “…I like this. a lot”

Finding clothes that fit Wrecker was like IMPOSSIBLE. Hunter tried doing the alterations but all the seams ended up crooked. They really missed Crosshair for that part

Shopkeepers kept asking Hunter, “Why are you buying clothes for your droid???” Which made Echo very salty, except the shopkeepers were usually so mortified at their mistake that they would give the batch a huge discount (“this is just Pantora all over again” “come ooooon, Echo, you’re really helping us out here” “fine, but next time, I am worth 60% off!!”)

Omega, again, was VERY excited (“I’ve never picked my own clothes before!”) and the boys definitely got carried away making sure she had EVERYTHING (“Omega, come here and pick out a raincoat” “Omega, do you have enough socks??” “Look, Omega, this is a nice sweater, you like sweaters, right??” “How fast are you gonna grow?? That’s it, we’re buying jeans in every size”)

Not that they didn’t customize their armor before, but now that they are dressing themselves in civilian clothes their own personal styles really come out. That is when they discover that Tech is actually extremely fashionable, and Hunter is literally a mountain hippie man

“No matter how badly led, ridiculously under equipped, under appreciated, no matter how doomed their mission, they take a bizarre and quite beautiful pride in at least being screwed more than everybody else and doing it with style. They seem to do what they do for themselves. It’s not a job. It’s a calling.” —Anthony Bourdain

This quote just reminds me of the bad batch 💛

Does anybody else badly want a TBB novelization or is it just me