Rex: I Put A Wee Note In Your Bag To Tell You That I Love You.

I know clones have force ghosts because during the food fight i could feel fives' presence, hanging off echo and laughing his ass off

I keep thinking about how there is a delicate balance of the emotional behaviors of the Batch and you can see it best in what a lot of people complained was a filler episode, that being The Crossing, and to an extent also Aftermath.

In Aftermath we have the infamous food fight scene, which is preceded by Tech and Wrecker's continuing argument about programmed behavior. This will not be the first time Tech and Wrecker argue if they're left to freely interact; it comes up numerous times in the series, and (IMO anyways) stems from the fact that Wrecker is outwardly emotional and Tech is almost 100% inwardly emotional. Tech doesn't process externally like Wrecker does, and has a certain amount of trouble communicating with Wrecker, and Wrecker with him, as a result. So who steps in most of the time?

Crosshair and Echo, and by The Crossing, both of them are gone.

Crosshair is the one who tries to diffuse their argument in the mess hall, placating Wrecker while giving Tech a blatant look of 'stop antagonizing him and eat goddamnit'. He also serves as an added focus for Wrecker's Wreckerness, which means he's less likely to collide with Tech and have an argument ensue. We can see Wrecker variously joshing with the two of them in the TCW episodes and in Aftermath.

Once Cross is missing from the group, it's Echo who acts as the buffer, standing firm against Tech's chaotic nature and Wrecker's emotional reactions. Hunter wrangles them, but Echo actually manages them. It's a very different approach and we see first hand how necessary it was the second Echo is gone. Wrecker and Tech are bickering nonstop and Hunter barely has a handle on them. For the most part he seems prepared to let them sort it out, and I don't know he can be blamed for that.

This is almost the entire point of The Crossing as an episode: to demonstrate how important the group was as a complete team. Not in the sense of 'omg everyone brings one important thing/skill to the table' way but in an emotional, supportive way. Echo was the co-lead Hunter probably needed the entire time, gelled with him perfectly in that roll and tempered Hunter's hesitation with decisiveness while keeping the other three from setting the Galaxy on fire. Cross, Tech, and Wrecker formed a sort of balanced triangle between themselves which kept things at an even keel. With Cross gone, Echo fell into this role, somewhat naturally. This is all on display in The Crossing when we finally see what happens when that triangle is broken and Tech and Wrecker have to directly interact on a consistent basis. It gets messy.

And yet people complain about it being 'filler' and not advancing the plot.

I haven’t been watching the bad batch, but I’m pretty sure when the Tech Girlies said they wanted him without his goggles, this isn’t what they meant.

A small collection of Crosshair kitty edits!

Omega: I have a plan to escape but I’m not leaving without you!

Crosshair:

Revenge Of The Sith BTS

Hemlock: Who knew that clones were so paternal?

Me: Literally everyone. Everyone knew, but you. Jango knew - where do you think they got it from? The Kaminoans knew. The Jedi knew. Everyone who ever met a clone knew. Those commandos beside you - they've adopted your lab experiments.

Crosshair Portraits

I have been wanting to make a post of Crosshair's facial expressions for a long time, and I will probably end up making several. But, I wanted to just take a moment to appreciate just how ✨ beautiful ✨ this man is, animated or not.

This post is dedicated to @drafthorsemath ❤️

(if anyone wants one of these as a profile pic send me a message and I'll format it for you! Please do not repost these edits without credit.)

On Umbara

Rex: I think we're missing something

Fives: Teamwork?

Jesse: Cohesion?

Kix, in full medic mode: HALF OF OUR FUCKING BATTALION?!

Fives: So I can bake these cookies at 400 degrees for ten minutes or at 4000 degrees for one minute-

Echo: No-

Jesse: Floor it buddy

Echo: Fives no

Fives: How about 40000 degrees for one second!

Echo: You are going to burn the kitchen down

Jesse: Rex is going to murder us