#anyway kind of feel like the conspiracy guy ranting in front of the conspiracy board with this one

[heyclickadee]

@cas-echo Okay, soooo, here’s my set of theories for the skull. Sort of theories, anyway. They’re whatever you call it when it’s halfway between theory and headcanon:

I think there are multiple possible reasons for why Clone Force 99 took the skull motif and then ran with it, especially since those skulls show up in a couple different ways, and I think it’s worth looking at them separately.

First off, there are the skulls we see on the faces of the original four bad batchers’ helmets:

You’ve got the slightly more naturalistic but still angry looking skull on half of Hunter’s helmet; the less human and more monstrous looking skull on Wrecker’s; the very neat, streamlined, stylized skull on Crosshair’s helmet; and then the one on Tech’s helmet, which so heavily stylized it’s basically just the white part of his helmet forming the basic shape of the front third of a skull, with the bottom part of his helmet forming a mandible. The only one of the adult batchers who doesn’t have the helmet motif obviously worked into the face of their helmet is Echo:

The shape is kind of almost there, but it’s hard to tell if it’s deliberately a skull or not—and if it was, it seems like Echo chose not to highlight it as much as the others did.

I haven’t really settled on one headcanon or theory for why Clone Force 99 settled on a skull generally, why the original four have skulls over their helmets, and why those skulls all look a little different, but here’s a general list of ideas:

1. They came up with it when they were developmentally/biologically fifteen and ran and ran with it in a ‘teenagers think skulls are cool’ kind of way. I don’t actually think this is that likely, but it’s a possibility.

2. They came up with it when they were developmentally/biologically fifteen and ran with it in an edgy but justified, ‘we’re all doomed’ kind of way. Again, this isn’t where I’m landing with this most of the time, but it could be a factor.

3. Hunter got really drunk and got a skull tattooed over half his face, and the rest of them ran with it out of solidarity. (I don’t actually think this happened, but it is a little funny to think about.)

4. Hunter, completely sober, got the skull tattoo in a moment of ennui, and the rest of them ran with it out of solidarity again. (I don’t really think this happened, either. There are a ton of nerve endings in the skin on your face, and with Hunter’s enhanced senses, that tattoo probably hurt for a couple weeks. That wasn’t something he did on a whim, and they probably all decided on the skull theme before he did it. But it’s more lighthearted than the rest of these are going to be, so….)

5. It was part of attempt to tie their helmet designs into the designs of the regular clone helmets. There is something slightly skull like about clone helmets. Not to the same extent as storm trooper helmets, but it is about halfway there (Maybe not there enough to make this count, but we’re running with this here). It’s possible that the bad batchers, whose helmets are all shaped to their individual needs picked up on this and went with the skull motif in a, “hey, we’re clones too,” kind of way. I tend to hover between a “maybe no” and “maybe that was one of the ideas that went into it” on this one.

Aaaand, getting into stuff I do think is more likely now (I think of all three of these next things as operating simultaneously. They’re not separate, it’s just easier to list them separately):

6. Medical trauma. I’m banking in this as part of the reasoning behind Hunter’s tattoo and the 8-bit lightning skull on Tech’s earmuffs, too. There’s a non-zero chance that these guys have seen each others’ skeletons, and another non-zero chance that they’ve seen their own.

7. There’s a self-aware acknowledgement of how other people see them to the batch’s use of the skulls, and on two levels. First, there’s the acknowledgement that they, clones generally, are considered dead men walking by most everyone around them. This had to be part of the thinking, even if it was a small part.

And then there’s the other level—tailoring each of the skulls on their helmets to how they think other clones and other people generally see them and using that perception as the mask they wear into battle (and honestly, I think there’s an aspect of this to Hunter’s and Crosshair’s tattoos, too).

And here’s a rundown of how people who don’t know them we’ll probably see them: Hunter—the brooding one who’s scary good with a knife? That’s a guy that’ll kill you up close. Angry impressionistic skull it is. Crosshair, the cold, quiet one who can shoot? The skull on his helmet had better be clean, geometrical, and emphasize the one thing everyone knows he can do. Tech, the know-it-all who talks a little stiffly and way too much (I’m sorry, you know that Tech got shit like this, they absolutely talked about him like he was a computer)? He’s going to simplify the shape of that skull down so much that you really have to look to see that it’s a human skull at all, especially if he’s got the visor down. And Wrecker? Wrecker, who’s larger than life, massively strong, and almost frightening (listen, Wrecker also got the same shit as Tech did, just in the opposite direction; people absolutely talked about Wrecker like he was a brute and probably did so in front of him)? Well, he’s painting his helmet so that his skull has a scary monster face.

And to be completely clear, none of that is who they are—that’s what people who don’t know them well see. And there’s kind of an interesting “up yours” in the batch potentially taking the things people wrongly perceive as being “off” about them and incorporating the look of that it into the helmets they wear to protect themselves. Kind of works on a meta level, too*

8. And, jumping off of that, here’s the main thing I think is going on: There’s absolutely a little bit of Jolly Roger style psychological warfare going on with those helmet skulls, too. You’re on the opposing side and you see those skulls? Better surrender and make things easier for everyone, because these guys are going to kill you. They’re like vultures**—they’re symbols of death, but not their own deaths. Call an ambulance, but not for them.

So, that’s what I’ve got for the skulls on the helmets. Now, as far as skulls being the team motif and this particular skull:

They all have this. At least, at the beginning of the show, all of them have this skull painted on their right shoulder pauldron, except for Echo, who has it stenciled on the left side of his cuirass.

I think there’s definitely something to be made for why Echo’s got that skull in a different place and why his helmet doesn’t do the skull thing as much as the others, but. The other day, I put up a post about how it had been bugging me that the skull Clone Force 99 uses as their squad logo has the proportions of a child’s skull. For evidence of that, here’s the logo overlaid with an adult skull, versus the logo overlaid with the skull of a three year old:

The three year old’s skull fits much closer than the adult’s does.

And it had been bugging me because, well, on the one hand, real world special ops groups using a skull as their logo isn’t actually that uncommon. And, honestly, I do think that was probably where the germ of the idea came from on the production side of things before they really started thinking through it, but I don’t think that’s where it ended. Because it’s usually, you know, an angry skull. With a beret or a helmet. An “I’m gonna kill you” skull with a gun. It’s usually not a completely placid child’s skull. But Clone Force 99’s squad logo is, and I’ve got exactly two theories for why.

1. It’s not supposed to be a child’s skull, it’s just a regular skull that had to be squished to fit, please stop overthinking this. Very possible. Definitely possible. But it’s boring.

2. Just like the way they’re Clone Force 99 when 99 was both 99’s name and the designation given to all the clones who didn’t come out “right”, and just like the way the bad batch called themselves “the bad batch,” that skull is it’s both an in memoriam to other “defective” clones and a gigantic “fuck you” to the Kaminoans.

Clone society is one on which the Kaminoans actively practiced eugenics. There’s a reason there are very few disabled-from-the-tube clones running around besides the batch and 99. Clones who didn’t align to product standards were probably either, well…decommissioned, or they were experimented on. And it’s possible that there was an age cut-off point for that, where certain “defective” clones who seemed normal enough were allowed to develop (and be used as lab rats) until very early childhood (say, physically three or four), and decommissioned if it looked like they wouldn’t be useful. If it looked like they were going to be useful, experimentation would continue. We know from both Nala Se saying “five are all that remain” and the frighteningly large number of tubes in her private lab that Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, and Crosshair weren’t the only clones she experimented on, and I don’t think the experimentation stopped when they were sent to be with the other clones. They’re just probably the only ones who lived to adulthood.

So. That team logo? A gigantic “fuck you” to the Kaminoans. A “look at us, we survived past the age you usually killed us, we’re ‘defective’ and good at what we do, fuck your idea of defective, and fuck you for killing the others,” in their faces. I honestly don’t care if that was intentional on the part of anyone working in production, that’s how I’m interpreting it.

*Kind of an aside, but it’s fun to look at the contrast between the skulls on the faces of all their helmets and the actual looks on all faces in those original season one character posters. Hunter looks a little scared and uncertain, Crosshair looks conflicted and/or in pain, Wrecker’s got this very gentle half-smile on his face, and then Tech has this intense glare aimed at the camera like he’s going to kick its entire ass.

**I have a completely unhinged rant about vultures in my drafts that I’ll probably never actually finish.

#the bad batch #cw child death #eugenics #cw eugenics #sorry the end of this gets dark #you need another reason to hate the Kaminoans? #because I got one right here #anyway kind of feel like the conspiracy guy ranting in front of the conspiracy board with this one #is this intentional? #maybe #do I care? #no

[violetbeachpod]

1x02 / incorporeal girlfriend

CHARLOTTE:

Hello Violet Beach! Charlotte Cranor-Liu here to keep informing the general public–or, the not-general not-public–about how terrible everything is!

So! Let’s talk.

I’m Char, I’m sixteen, junior at the Corielli Academy For Creative Youths, and your new best friend. Unless, like, we’ve already met, in which case, you already know what I think of you.

So. Where to start? Cuz I got stories. Uh. At fight call today, I hit Andrew Meyer for real, which was pretty satisfying. Cuz he’s the worst? AJ high-fived me afterward, and actually told me where he worked? Which was super satisfying, cuz I got kicked out of the Starbucks for fighting in the alley by it? In fairness, the guy stole tips, it was–it was morally an obligation. But the assistant manager was like, “oh, but now he’ll sue us, and why did you claim to be an employee,” which, like, has she never heard of getting into character to add more feeling to a situation? He would be more likely to give it back if he thought he was stealing my money? Just—whatever. I needed a new coffee-source and now I have one.

But, anyway, AJ took me to the Bean Zone today, which, cool, I didn’t know they were even open. Neither did anyone else, though, I don’t think because it was empty. Which might also be because their coffee is kind of the worst? Still.

I kept AJ busy, though. He used his employee discount, so, I only paid, like, ten bucks total for my thirteen drinks. So. After I was properly caffeinated and his two-hour shift ended, which, I didn’t even know they did those, we started biking to his place, and he–he fell. And I got nervous, and I grabbed his arm to help him up once I was sure he was okay, and when I made contact, the–

Well, Teresa talked about this last time, but the sky went that gross purple color. And I assumed tehat–I assumed that the glow was because of us touching, so I let go, and then–I couldn’t.

And then the breeze that’s always there happened again. And we were back on the road, on our bikes, and we were pedalling. Like nothing happened.

And he said, like, uh, “Nice grip,” or something, and I nodded, because my grip’s pretty nice, and we were just, in, like, a really weirdass situation, so.

Anywho. So we went back to my place and my sister was all like, oh, wow, who’s this, your–censored rude term that disrespects AJ, who is, like, maybe my only friend–and so I yelled at her?

I mean. He’s not my only friend. I–he is.

Why can’t I say that I have other friends? Like–I’m trying to lie, right now.

Um. Okay. Cool. So.

We’ll get to that later.

But, anyway, I did scream at her, yes. Cuz she was an ass. As per ush.

So. Anyway. AJ and I went up to my room and started watching a bootleg of—y’know? If this, like, truth serum thing going on’s a thing, I’m not gonna try to name the show. Cuz it’s embarrassing. I wanted to—no. Okay.

Can’t lie! That’s—

Ugh! That’s so stupid!

Um. What else? I think I saw a ghost during photography today, but that’s just how the woods are sometimes. AJ and I broke into some asshole’s beach house back there for this week’s project, because last year the guy who owns it was a creep to me. But I think that maybe his house is haunted? Cuz there was this, like, weird mist in the living room right by the TV.

But again, that’s just how the woods are. I think. That’s not really my zone. But, of all places in this town to already be haunted? That’s, like, top thirteen spots, natch.

Also: Gregory And Janet Wilson Who Live In The Beach House Development In The Woods From May To September Every Year But Who Live In Virginia Otherwise left three spare keys under the lion statuette in their uglyass overgrown garden. So, there. Make of that what you will.

But. It’s a supernatural occurrence, or whatever you wanna call it, so I should put it on here. The ghost sighting. Not his key location. That’s–that’s just a thing that I know. Obvi.

The mist was, like–it was kind of all-consuming? Like, in that way that people are always all-consumed by beauty, but not really, because I was also having heart palpitations. Or something. Not really sure what heart palpitations are, but, uh. I was overwhelmed by the beauty but also? Very, very afraid of it. I felt like I was frozen in place, like I was being swallowed by it–

And then AJ said, “Are you okay?” and I snapped out of it. I asked him if he saw it, and he nodded, was like, “uh yeah, but, like, we could agree before entering that the woods are super haunted,” and I agreed, but, like, he didn’t seem to get the vibes that I did. Swear to god, I heard horror movie music behind me.

Uh. The Corielli board is meeting tonight, and I’m supposed to talk about the theater program, just–I don’t like talking in front of the PTA, because I don’t know any of their kids, like, logically, I should know their kids. There are maybe 200 people in the high school, and I know most of them. I know all of their faces.

But the Corielli board’s faces don’t look like anybody. Like, literally. I’ve talked at Corielli board meetings, like, seven times, and I cannot tell you what a single parent looks like.

Which might be supernatural happenings also? Nice.

[faux-excited]

Mystery! Intrigue! Cool!

[a pause, a sigh]

At least this truth-curse-or-whatever-the-hell-it-is has room for jokes. That’s, like, legitimately cool.

Um. So, I have to talk to the board tonight, and I think that’ll be—that—shit. Shit, it’s in ten minutes.

I’ll record more later.

[static, and a click. CHARLOTTE is out of breath.]

Okay, I’m back. I’m—holy shit.

So, I think the truth curse is off, but—like, obvi, I’m not gonna—I can promise that I’m not exaggerating.

So, the board. The board.

So, I think I said that they might be paranormal activity? They super are. I’m usually late, when I go to meetings? But I was on-time, and, uh, I was supposed to stay in the auditorium, but I went backstage to check on the set, but. Whatever. I was backstage. And so were they.

The board, I mean.

And they were—they were silent, in a circle, staring at each other. All of them. No one said anything, for a minute—like, I started timing a few seconds in, and it was at least seventy-seven seconds.

And one of them looked up, and just—feedback and sirens came pouring out of his mouth, like during an emergency when you’re watching TV or—

And he looked at me, blinked, and said, “Miss Cranor-Liu, you made it!” and he pushed through the circle, and nobody moved, just—and he grabbed my shoulders, and I wanted to—I wanted to hit him, to—

He just said, “The meeting’s cancelled, dear, didn’t you hear?”

I tried to take in his face, just cuz, and—nothing stood out to me.

And I tried to pull away, to hit him, to—to, like, kick him in his balls, or whatever, and my body just—it froze. And then there was that stupid purple again, and—

And I was outside. And I checked my email, and I didn’t get a cancellation notice, so—uh.

Something’s happening at Corielli. And, uh, I think—four or five of us went to Corielli, like, Teresa and Elaine def didn’t, and Benji, like—I’ve seen him on campus before, like, when I was in middle school, but also, I’m pretty sure he’s omnipresent, so. Who knows, with him. But the majority of us involved went to Corielli, so—like. That’s relevant, I think? Put it on your conspiracy board, next to the seven photos of Avril Lavigne and her dopplegangers. Use green yarn, for, like—for my sake. S’a good color for conspiracy theory boards that you never see anywhere.

I watch a lot of conspiracy theory videos, just to—to laugh at that. Also, they’re so consistent to me? So they’re very relaxing. Good to fall asleep to. Like, some folks need white noise or ASMR or whatever, but a good ol’ Andy Kaufman death hoax ten hour loop, y’know? Or, like, a Sondheim is multiple people one. It exists. You have to look hard for it, but, like, it almost convinced me that there are eighteen of him, so it’s worth it. I watched a seven-part documentary on the moon-landing thing when I was a kid, and that thing just, like—it got me so interested. I’m not crazy or anything. But this is ringing major documentary alarm bells. Maybe I can hit up some clickbait site and they can send folks over here to wrap a nice bow on this whole weird situation.

[beat]

Nobody’s gonna listen to this, like—and AJ’s the only person who’ll care, so, like, might as well talk on here.

Mae Babson the new transfer student is hot as hell. Like—I try not to have crushes, because they’re dumb, and they keep my eyes off the prize, which is to say, y’know. College. My art.

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that feelings are pointless and that we’d be way better off without them, y’know? Especially when those feelings are for really dreamy girls who manage to look, like, at least 70 percent like she’s into girls, even though this is Corielli, so, like, she could be the straightest girl on earth, and also she’s weirdly nice, like—nicer than most people. And it’s kind of annoying how nice she is, like, she—she’s nice to everybody. Even to people who don’t deserve it.

But. Anyways. She’s super hot and I’m kinda sorta in love with her. Whatever. Rant over. I’ll edit that out.

So. Ghosts and mystery and intrigue. Woo.

Y’know, maybe Mae’s caught up in this mystery, actually, cuz—well, she only showed up after all that happened. Maybe she’s, like—maybe she’s a ghost. That’s the nightmare, honestly, being in love with a ghost. Like, second only to her being straight? Worst case scenario.

I could write a solid one act about being in love with a ghost and, like, protag comes to accept that she’s dead and is willing to make this work, but ghost girl’s like, “Oh, too bad, don’t like girls. Sorry, honey!” And that’s the plot twist. Sad ending. A tragicomedy for everyone.

But. Incorporeal Girlfriend and playwriting dreams aside, it is weird that she showed up, cuz—we never get new juniors, especially not midyear? So. It’s not entirely out there that she’s involved. Put her pic up next to the X-Files poster, connect ‘em with red yarn. For love symbolism.

Also, she’s like, otherworldly-ly attractive, so. That contributes to Benji’s alien theory. Also, Benji? I don’t care about your alien theory. Or that you wrote your thesis on aliens. Or that you—

Ugh. Just. The email thread is very long and you aren’t Agent David Duchovny On The X-Files I Don’t Know The Character Name But Oh Boy Do I Know Who David Duchovny Is. Also, use the goddamn group chat? Some of us don’t ever check our emails. And I know you’re gonna call me blasphemous or something for not knowing the X-Files guy’s name, which, yeah, I did that on purpose.

So, um, I was helping out the lighting designer—Ollie, the other day, because if the show looks like shit it’s my fault somehow, and they kept asking me about purple lights. I forgot about this, like—

Wait.

God, I can’t stop thinking about the board, actually. I don’t know why I didn’t say anything. I’m—I’m pretty self-aware, I would have said something. I’m me, for God’s sake, I would’ve said something half-charming and half-assholey, and then I would’ve been kicked out, and I would’ve, uh, maybe tried to pick a physical fight, and then—yeah. You know the deal. I told the Starbucks story earlier. I think—I think they somehow stopped me from saying anything, like—just like that force wouldn’t let me lie or let go of AJ’s hand or fight back—there’s always an inability to do something.

I swear, if this interferes with the show, I’ll fight God. Or whatever force is out there, like—I will press legal charges against fate or destiny or the passage of time or aliens or whatever the fuck. And also punch it.

The lighting designer stuff—that’s just me being paranoid, but the—the board, that’s real, and I’m scared as hell. I’m gonna—I’m gonna maybe do some recon, re: that, get those costume slash makeup design elective credits I’ve been trying for. I haven’t taken the class, because it’s seniors only and also because Ms. Dunkers hates me because her nephew accused me of selling him fake Rent tickets, which, I didn’t know they were fake, so, he can’t blame me, so she won’t let me in her classes anymore. She has explicitly told admin that “Miss Cranor-Liu is not to enroll in any of my electives no matter how much she complains to you.” So I asked admin, like, can I just do a bunch of independent studies, and I think they’re afraid of me? So they said yes.

Anyway.

I’m gonna sneak in on next week’s board meeting as an interested potential transfer student. Need an alias, and you know that it will be Faith Deathstrike. Which is an unfortunate last name, but a badass codename.

So. Uh. I’m signing off. Come to the show, week of February twentieth at the Corelli auditorium, and watch me get possessed by an actual ghost during my solo, or whatever. And if I get ritually sacrificed at the board meeting, now you know what led up to my disappearance! This is basically Serial, now, but in real time, right?

Anyway. Cool. Thanks. Bye.

#season one #script #charlotte