#the episode was all about crosshair and I am 1000% here for that!!!

[timetodiverge]

Excuse me sir, that's my Emotional Support vicious lurca hound

....soooo Batcher is fully Crosshair's puppy now, yes???

-spending the morning at the beach with him instead of Omega -sitting next to him at the table -staying near him while everyone was yelling -squaring off against the wyrm ("YEAH YOU BETTER RUN!!"), then going right to Crosshair to check in, then STAYING THERE while Crosshair has his moment with Hunter

#CROSSHAIR+BATCHER FOREVER #dad and the dog he didn't want #everyone should have a batcher #universe's bestest girl #the episode was all about crosshair and I am 1000% here for that!!! #omega knew what she was doing with this one lol #batcher has made herself part of the squad SO FAST #tbb batcher #the bad batch season 3 #the bad batch #tbb #tbb spoilers #the bad batch spoilers #tbb crosshair #tbb omega #tbb hunter

[drafthorsemath]

Okay so as usual I have been keeping most of my thoughts to myself in my little brain and am finally about to burst.

CW: discussion of cults and undue influence

References to The Bad Batch Season 2 Episode 12.

Not too long ago, I wrote a post about the Empire being a cult and specifically wrote about my beloved Crosshair:

Since The Outpost aired, I'm first of all so, so proud of Crosshair for the love and care he expressed through his actions to Mayday. I think it's safe to say that he had every expectation he would be killed for shooting Nolan (God, that guy was 1000 times worse than Rampart somehow) and I'm glad that didn't happen, but am worried for what's next. But that's not the point I'm making.

Crosshair continues to go through what everyone leaving a cult goes through. You try to cling to what little you have left now that you're stuck in a cult, but each little thing, each new relationship, each piece of comfort is stolen away. Because that's what cults do. They use you up like a resource to be depleted, and then you are tossed out, or quit, or die, whichever comes first. This thing you believed in will spend all its time stealing your life and soul and then expect you to be grateful for it.

In order to get out and break the cycle, you have to be willing to lose it all even further still. (Feel free to send me a message of some kind my way if you are interested in how this dynamic played out when I left my cult, because I'm speaking from experience here.) And that's part of the point. For cults to be successful, they have to make it so that by leaving, you will lose more than you're losing with them, or at least give you that perception. Crosshair was willing to lose it all. The problem for him now is that although it's clear he's not playing by their rules anymore, he doesn't have a way to escape yet. This is some kind of stuck-on-an-oppressive-commune level of cult, but at this point, he's what we former culties would call a PIMO (physically in, mentally out).

I know there are multiple ways of understanding these characters and everyone brings their own perspective, so please don't think I'm putting this forward as the only lense through which we can interpret this arc, especially at this point. I'm just so happy Crosshair's seeing what's really happening. I know he's not out of it yet, but I'm rooting for him.

#come on buddy i know you can do it #crosshair #tbb crosshair #tbb spoilers #the bad batch spoilers #the outpost #crosshair tbb #cult #cults #the empire is a cult