#instead of being specially engineered what if they were regular CTs who were injured and had cybernetic augmentations/prostheses?

[cacodaemonia]

TBB alternate story ideas from local rando who didn't watch the whole show

Anyone who knows me knows I don't like TBB and I generally avoid conversations about the show because I don't want to be negative about things other people like. But after talking with some folks—some who love the show and some who share my opinions—last week, I thought of a few basic changes to the character concepts that could have made the show much more palatable to me and probably a lot of other people who have similar complaints about it.

I'm not going to get into those criticisms here because I'm not aiming to bash the show; I'm trying to present a sort of redo and maybe someone will like the idea and run with it.

One of the main reasons why I was so very disappointed in the show was because it was kind of a bait and switch—Disney said they were giving us a show about clones, when TBB (going forward, I'll mostly be using this to refer to Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, and Crosshair; not Echo or Omega), as presented in the story, are arguably not clones at all. Think about it: TBB dislike and disrespect 'regs' (with the seeming exception of Cody), they don't spend time around other clones, they don't act like them, and they certainly don't look like them. A friend pointed out that Disney could have just made a show about some bounty hunters fighting the empire and it would have required fewer mental gymnastics on the part of the viewers and avoided warping everything we've come to understand about the clones and chips from canon.

With that said, here's my idea (under the cut since it's long):

What if, instead of being superior mutants, TBB were regular CTs from various batches who were badly injured in random training accidents as cadets on Kamino? For example, maybe one lost his vision, one his hearing, one has a spinal injury, one a TBI (traumatic brain injury), etc.

They were injured at different times and the Kaminoans decided to experiment on them (which is of course awful, but so was everything about how the clones were brought up) with cybernetics to mitigate their disabilities; after all, while the Kaminoans are geneticists, they might want to know how their 'products' react to interfacing with technology. But then they went a step farther and created or purchased cybernetics that vastly improved whatever senses or abilities the young clones lost or had damaged—like Geordi in Star Trek, for example, who doesn't see like most humans but whose vision is often superior.

So the Kaminoans end up forming a little squad of clones who were part of clone culture before but have been removed from it because of their injuries and subsequent experimentation and recoveries.

I think this would be key in creating a different dynamic between TBB and other clones because then the show could have put less emphasis on TBB being bullied by the mean 'regs,' which makes the 'regs' come off as straight up villains. Instead, the writers could have come from the angle of making TBB feel isolated because of their own perceptions of themselves as 'less than' or 'freakish' or whatever terrible things they might think about themselves. To me, that's a hell of a lot more powerful and interesting than, "I was bullied by some people in this group so now I hate everyone in this group."

And sure, they probably would have been bullied by some, but I think it's a lot more reasonable to focus on how other cadets, being children, might have stared at them a lot because of their visible augmentations, or would have asked them insensitive questions, etc. For example, I have vitiligo on one leg and as a kid, every spring when I started wearing shorts I always got pointed at and asked "What is that??" Obviously this was due to curiosity rather than maliciousness, but it still felt very 'othering.' A lot of us have experienced this kind of thing IRL, and with TBB, it could have reinforced their feeling of being different and isolated.

Then we get to season 7 of TCW: in canon, after TBB has been derisive of 'regs' and outright questioned Echo's loyalty, Hunter says that Echo doesn't belong with the 501st—people who know him and care about him the most—because he's 'different.' This angle fell really flat for me, because not only is it a 180 in terms of how TBB treated Echo, but they see themselves as different and superior. With Echo, on the other hand, there's the definite implication that he joins them because he is different and inferior (obviously not true, but this is Tumblr so unfortunately I have to spell that out)—so why would TBB suddenly extend a hand to a 'broken reg?' If, instead, TBB were cybernetically augmented like Echo, then that would have created an immediate connection between them, and I think it would have made a lot more sense for Echo to even consider leaving Rex and the 501st to join TBB.

So those are sort of the more plot/character-related bits that I think could have made for a deeper, more interesting conflict. But let me touch on some of the themes this could affect.

Sooo many stories of all kinds have done the, "I was bullied so now I'm a jerk," angle, and to me it just seems like the laziest way to try and get the audience to empathize with or even excuse shitty behavior by protagonists. Again, because this is Tumblr, I feel I need to point out that, no, empathizing with someone and excusing their behavior are two different things, but I can still empathize with someone and think they're a boring trash person. So, to me, the self-imposed isolation of, "I'm a freak and inferior so anyone who's nice to me is just doing so out of pity," is so much more interesting than, "some of those mean regs bullied me so now I hate all of them." Now, I'm sure there's plenty of fanon about TBB being jerks because they actually feel inferior, but that definitely didn't come across in TCW season 7, TBB episode 1, or the other TBB clips I've seen. So don't @ me about that. Not only would that thematic change be more complex and interesting (and yes, they could definitely do it in a kids show), but it wouldn't suddenly paint other clones as the villains just to make the viewer sympathize with TBB.

This angle would, I think, also mean a lot more to some people who have been isolated or bullied. I know plenty of people already relate to TBB because they are outcasts, but isn't self-imposed isolation far more profound and interesting? It offers a lot more opportunities for character development without laying all the blame on others.

I know there is often this narrative in stories of disabled folks 'overcoming' their disability and becoming 'normal,' which is obviously a crappy way to look at it. Yes, some disabled people would prefer not to have their disabilities, while others wouldn't feel like themselves without them and strongly identify with their own community within the larger disabled community. However, the changes I mentioned wouldn't even have to touch on 'overcoming disabilities'—it could simply show TBB struggling from time to time, with certain aspects of their old injuries, even with the augmentations. But they help each other through it, just as IRL society should accommodate people with disabilities.

I think this idea could also avoid tearing down the theme that was present from episode 1 of TCW, when Yoda says that everyone is unique and valuable, regardless of who they are or what they look like. TBB, the show, came along and said, "Actually, forget all that—you need to be special and obviously different to be important or worth telling a story about." But because my alternate version of the characters would have started out as regular CTs and wouldn't have a superiority complex, it doesn't feel to me like it's disrespecting that original, wonderful message.

One final thing I wanted to add just because I think it would be a very cool visual representation of TBB's autonomy and identity: what if their visible cybernetic augmentations are very 'Kaminoan' looking? Imagine them as all white, with lots of curves and no real character to them, and how that could further reinforce the idea that TBB are, along with all other clones, property of the Kaminoans. But after, say, Tipoca City is destroyed and TBB eventually have to do repairs or make modifications to their cybernetics, they start adding all kinds of different pieces and end up with a mish-mash of things, which is aesthetically very Star Warsy? In addition, it could work as a visual representation of them becoming their own people.

Anyway, I'd love to read a fic like this but I have no interest in writing it, so I thought I'd yeet it into the Tumblr void. If anyone finds these ideas intriguing and wants to use them, feel free.