#writing with shauna is like. she only cares about 1 person and it's tai

[lingeringscars]

All jackie wanted and thought about was shauna telling her jackie was the best friend she ever had. But it has never been jackie and has always been tai. Tai sees shauna for who she is, and shauna can tell tai anything. Jackie was her best friend, but tai is the best friend she has ever and will ever have.

[vevobly]

Yellowjackets With Reader Who Always Wears A Cap Headcanons! [Peri-crash] (1)

A/N: This is set during the cabin timeline. Lottie is just starting to unravel, so she's not fully into her prophet role yet. And Misty is unhinged, but not completely yet. She still mostly has it under control, but not for too long ;>

Jackie Taylor:

Jackie notices immediately. I mean, how can she not? Because who wears a cap all the time? At first, she just assumes it's just some fashion quirk of yours. And to be honest, she thinks it's kind of cute in a way. “Is there a bald spot under there or what?” She tried joking about it with you one time. But when she started liking you, she found herself looking at you with it every time. She noticed how you pull it lower when you're anxious or tuck hair under it before sleeping.

As time passed by, it became less weird and more... you. So when she caught you without it during one of the rare times she managed to wake before everyone else, seeing you brush your wet hair out. Jackie just stares. She doesn't say anything and just watches you for a moment. But later in the afternoon when she walks past you? “You look… nice.” She mumbled. It was barely audible, but you heard it anyway. She didn't look at you when she said it, and she never brought it up again.

Shauna Shipman:

Shauna is naturally an observant person. So yes, she noticed the cap. But didn't care about it until she realized you wear it even while sleeping. Even while it's damp from rain. That's when she gets interested in it and starts wondering why you wear it. She even began writing about you in her journal from time to time. “Mystery Cap Girl. I don't know why she keeps wearing that cap of hers no matter what, but she's probably hiding more than just hair under there.”

But then a moment comes when you're in the cabin, brushing your hair with trembling hands and she walks in. Shauna's brain seemed like it stopped functioning for a moment she stopped in the doorway and looked at you like she's seen something she shouldn't. “Why do you wear it all the time?” She ended up thinking out loud. “Because it helps keep my hair from getting messy.” You answered simply, staring at her. Shauna blinks once, then twice before laughing.

Taissa Turner:

At first, Tai doesn't give a shit about the cap. I mean, everyone's got their thing. But then she realizes you never take it off. Not even when you're half asleep. Not even when it's soaked and dripping. However, as time passed, she began to wonder about it. Even making up theories about it, like maybe you have a scar on your head or maybe you have a bald spot. Or perhaps you just don't like not having it on at all.

She tells herself she doesn't care about it at all. But then one day, you're helping one of the younger JV girls out because she got a splinter and your cap falls off. You freeze. Tai freezes too. She sees your eyes flick toward the ground like you're debating whether to bolt as her heart stutters. Tai picks up your cap and hands it to you, slowly and quietly. And later, around the fire at night? “You’re beautiful, you know. With or without it.” She murmurs. You feel your cheeks heat up suddenly.

Van Palmer:

Van is the only one who says something about the cap and teases you for it constantly. “It’s been two weeks, are you growing a second head under there?” She grins at you. She means it with affection, but there's also some curiosity with it. You're so guarded with your cap that she can't help but wonder why. And with how much you wear it? Van starts associating the cap with you. She doesn't think she's falling for you.

Not until she sees how your hands tremble when someone cries and how you always crack a dry joke when things get tense. One afternoon, your cap got caught in a tree branch while you were climbing. Van helped you down, and you didn't even realize it was missing until you were back on the ground. “Wow,” She said, breathless. You looked at her, an eyebrow raised at her. “Nothing,” She grinned. “You’re just… I didn’t think you could get cuter. But I guess I was wrong.” You blush

Natalie Scatorccio:

Nat doesn't comment on it at first. I mean, everyone's been clinging to something since the crash. And she's not one to pry, but she notices. She always notices. And when she started liking you, the hat turned from an odd quirk of yours to something she identified with you. Because you're you with the cap on. Besides that, she's already so used to seeing you wear it all the time no matter what. Whether you're sleeping, if it's wet, or if it smells. You're always wearing it.

So when she sees you without your cap for the first time while you're washing blood off your hands by the river? She stops dead. “You okay?” You asked, turning your head to look at her. Nat swallows slowly, before nodding. “You just—you look different.” She tells you. “Worse?” You laughed. “Nah,” She mutters. “Too good, actually.” Then she lights a cigarette after that, saying nothing more. But later, she does give you her knit beanie when your cap's too wet to wear.

Lottie Matthews:

Lottie doesn't question the cap, but she does wonder why you always wear it, no matter the circumstances. When she started developing feelings towards you, she didn't even notice it at first. Not until she noticed how much she always sat closer to you by the fire, and kept looking forward to doing chores together with you more than anyone else. When she realized it, she was caught off guard. You're not even her usual type (if she even has one), at least that's what she thinks.

One night, when everyone's preparing to go to bed, she saw you sitting by the window and braiding your hair with your cap off as you hummed softly. Lottie doesn't know what happened with her at that moment, but it's like she forgot to breathe for a second. “Something on my face?” You noticed her looking at you. “No,” She says quickly. “I just… I didn’t expect you to be so—” She stops. “So what?” You raised an eyebrow at her. “…beautiful,” She finished.

Laura Lee:

Laura Lee doesn't pry about it. She thinks it's endearing in a way. I mean, she holds onto her bible the same way you hold onto your cap. It's probably a comfort thing for you like her bible is to her. People need what they need out here. And if you need to wear your cap all the time? She'll be respectful of that. But then she starts liking you without even realizing it. The way you're always so kind toward the younger girls. The way you always sit quietly during prayers, even if you don't join.

She's not sure what to do with it, but she doesn't deny it to herself either. And one afternoon, when she went to the creek to wash her hands, she saw you. Capless with your eyes closed, face to the sky. You were by yourself, just breathing in the fresh air around you. Laura Lee thinks this is the most peaceful she's ever seen you since the crash, before quickly looking away and going back to the cabin. Later, when you come back, she gives you her extra hair tie. “In case you ever want to switch things up.” She simply says.

Misty Quigley:

Misty never paid attention to it at first before the crash happened, you were nice to her once. And Misty being Misty immediately took it as a sign that you guys were “friends” with each other. She notices everything about you, and she immediately notices you wearing your cap no matter what. She tried asking about it once, but you just turned your head around and glared at her when she did. Since then, she hasn't tried questioning you about it again.

She assumes that you just like it a lot, hence why you wear it all the time. That is, until one night when you got caught in the rain after getting some firewood. Your cap was soaked, and she insisted on drying it by the fire for you. “You look… good,” She blurted out. You raised an eyebrow at her. “I mean, not that you don’t usually! Y-You just—you have a nice head. Shape,” She looked away from you quickly. “Whatever. I’ll shut up now.” She rubs her arm nervously, cheeks a bit red.

[antlerqueer]

The season ended and I *still* don't understand why people fliped and started to hate on Shauna.

She's got one -if not the most- trumantic experiences out of her teammates- She lost and ate her best friends as a way to cope with her death and lost her baby while almost dying herself due to not have a proper help or an adult (er couch Ben RIP) to help her and other than Tai it seems like she's got no real friends inside the group, than having to butcher and eat Javi since he was the person who was 'chosen' by the wilderness.

So why do people insist of hating her?

I am unsure but in my opinion her behavior comes from the fact she had to deal with all of that.

What are your opinions?

I think manyyy people forgot that in s2 the other girls were doing things that were not likable (like threatening to eat Ben, forcing Natalie and Lottie to have their little hunt off, being weird about Shauna's pregnancy, bullying Misty/Crystal with chores). Shauna is not acting out alongside others, which makes her actions seem a lot more dramatic compared to how everyone was doing weird shit together last season.

Additionally, I think many people who are so loudly hating Shauna binge watched the first two seasons so they don't even think she cares about Javi! I saw someone try to discredit her caring about Javi with "she gave him a piece of paper 🙄". She gave him the KNIFE (huge deal for people who acknowledge that it's one of like 3 weapons total at that point), she was gentle with him when Travis wasn't, she told him to run for his life, she had more positive interactions with Javi than Travis did in season 1. Then they said she's the reason he's dead because she let him drown when he couldn't have survived falling through the ice anyway, he'd still freeze to death even if they got him back up. Then they'd also have killed Natalie and they'd be down two people.

There's a lot of kids (I say kids lightly; I mean people under 23ish) that I've seen on TikTok refer to her miscarriage/stillbirth as "consequences to her actions" and saying she was "never nice" when her whole thing is that her ONE action of defiance (fucking Jeff when Jackie wouldn't) changed her whole life. Her whole bit is once she tries to do something outside of expectation/rule following and outside of being Jackie's friend first and foremost she is punished.

Basically I blame binge watching!

That and people are falling for the little monologue Van gives in the first episode of the season. Shauna is not wrong when she's mad at them for glorifying what happened in the winter, but some audience members want to overlook it because at the end of the day they feel the need to blame someone instead of acknowledging that aside from Travis, they're all responsible for all the terrible things they've done.

Unfortunately, I also blame the writers for time skips. No one comforted Shauna over her trauma and we only see split second acknowledgement of that. Akilah called her Norman Bates when they were so "concerned" (creeped out) by how much time she spent in the shed, they let her sleep alone in those huts when she was so quick to offer to sleep with Taissa in the attic, they all (except Taissa) walked away when she lost the baby and they left when she had to carve up Javi. (She said they should leave during the Javi part, yeah, but I don't think they all should have left her to do it alone.)

I don't think the majority of people are switching up and hating on Shauna, I think it's just a loud gaggle of new watchers. (By new I mean started between season 2 and season 3.)

TL;DR: She is acting out now instead of when everyone else was which makes her seem "worse" and some of the audience is loud & wrong about her base character.

Tbh I could write a whole fucking 10 page essay on how binge watching culture fucked up media analysis and use Yellowjackets as an example 🤪

[beastsovrevelation]

I don't know whether I'll ever actually write Yellowjackets fanfiction (I might have to though), so here's an idea I had... It's weird.

Note 1.: This isn't an actual fic, just a plot of a longfic I've dreamed up, along with some musings.

Note 2.: At the point of posting this, I've seen 3.08, not beyond, so anything beyond doesn't matter.

Note 3.: Yes, I'm quite aware certain details aren't from actual Greek mythology, I'm a damn Classical student, and I'm taking all the creative license I fancy.

-♡-

Basically, when Jackie has sex with Travis, the resident deity possesses him, to impregnate her. The deity is in fact Artemis, so... Of course a Greek goddess would pull something like that, you know how Greek gods are.

The frenzied girls bust into the attic during the process, and Lottie sees Artemis' beast form on top of Jackie. The beast form is an all white peryton by the way, with silver antlers and hooves (yes, antlers, even though she's female), the wings of a buzzard, the tongue of a serpent, and the teeth of a dog.

Jackie and Shauna have their fallout, but Lottie forbids Jackie from leaving the cabin, literally bodyblocking the door. Following Lottie's lead, everyone starts protecting and worshipping Jackie, since in their eyes, she's now a Mary-like figure. They give her the warmest clothes, the most comfortable bed, and the most food. She resists, she's still depressed, and creeped out, but the others don't listen, they objectify her as much as they venerate her. Shauna she stays away from the newfound cult, and the others are irate, but Jackie orders them to leave her be. Jackie's made the official leader, except everyone still mostly obeys Lottie.

So, Jackie and Shauna are pregnant at the same time. There's a gaping rift between them of course, they don't speak to each other. Like Nat, Jackie's frustrated with Lottie for giving Travis false hope about Javi being alive. Deep down, she knows "the Wilderness" is real, and that she's pregnant by "it", yet she refuses to accept it. She grows rather close to Nat, after all, Nat still treats her like a normal person. Jackie's denial is shattered when Artemis visits her in a dream - instead, it's replaced by (very understandable) anger, at the goddess, and about the pregnancy. Artemis keeps reaching out to her via dreams and visions, which she pointedly ignores. She only shares what's going on with Nat, who remains skeptical, but is very supportive. Lottie, who knows about Artemis' efforts despite Jackie keeping away from her, encourages her to embrace "the Wilderness", which causes her to snap. Her rejection of Lottie wavers when sleepwalking Tai locates Javi, and she reluctantly begins attending the meditation meetings, telling herself it's not wise to remain out of touch, though of course, her distrust persists.

When Shauna goes into labor, Jackie prays to Artemis out of despair, promising to do whatever she wants, if she saves Shauna. Artemis grants her wish, however, the baby boy dies. Later, after Jackie retreats outside for a breath, Artemis appears to her. Jackie is furious at her about the baby's death, but so she has to keep her end of the deal, since she did ask for Shauna's survival only. Artemis tells Jackie the baby was never meant to live, and the sacrifice will give their child strength, but instead of comforting her, it does the opposite. Jackie stays away from Shauna, and the chasm between them only grows wider, due to the weight of what Jackie knows, and Shauna's boiling resentment. When Shauna lashes out, Lottie steps in, fearing Shauna may hurt Jackie. Lottie's sacrifice makes Jackie feel extreme guilt, so she cares for Lottie's injuries. In fear of losing the prophet, the others decide on the draw; Artemis warns Jackie not to stop them - Lottie's injuries are too dire for her death to be prevented, her soul may only be replaced by another. When Nat draws the Queen of Hearts, Jackie pleads Artemis to pick someone else. The goddess complies, fond enough of her anointed champion, and causes Javi to perish during the hunt for Nat. Jackie is heartbroken about Javi's death, yet relieved it's him instead of Nat. When Lottie finds out about the hunt and is upset, Jackie informs her there was no other choice, as the group needs her. At last strong enough to rise from her sickbed, Lottie insists she's not the one to rely on anymore - everyone must heed Jackie. To Jackie's dismay, everyone complies this time. Of course, unbeknownst to the group, her authority will only succeed to a point, for it's outmatched by the influence of "the Wilderness".

The fire happens. Artemis asks Persephone for help (the group won't survive in winter without shelter; space in the caves is too tight for that many people, besides, it's not time for Ben to die yet). Persephone ushers in spring, but later appears to Jackie, warning her it won't last forever, and that Artemis craves blood. Jackie asks her about the souls of those who died, and Persephone informs her the mountains does not let go of those they claims. Jackie at last settles into her role as leader, with Nat as her right hand, both of them trying to make the small community prosper to the best of their abilities. Being pregnant slowly grows on Jackie, and she realizes she loves the baby; Shauna can tell, and it infuriates her, since that's exactly what she experienced, except her baby died. Lottie withdraws, no longer feeling a connection to divinity. She desperately looks for a new oracle, at first thinking it's Travis, who insists it's Akilah instead. Jackie and Nat are aware Ben's alive, but keep the knowledge under wraps, until Shauna and Mari's conflict puts an end to the secret. Everyone insists on hunting Ben down. Jackie tries to dissuade them, but fails, as while she believes Ben's harmless, and had nothing to do with the fire, neither she nor Nat can prove it; divinity is of no help, and Lottie, while she stays behind with Jackie and Travis, admits she doesn't know what's right. After Ben's brought back, Akilah informs Jackie and Lottie of a vision she, Van and Shauna had in the caves.

Jackie and Nat insist on a trial for Ben, at the end of which Shauna strong-arms everyone to voting him guilty, largely to spite Jackie. The group decides on execution via firing squad. Jackie employs Akilah, Lottie and Travis to go back to the caves, where Akilah has a vision about Ben being a bridge. Ben is spared, but after he's shut back in the animal coop, Shauna and Melissa sneak in, to cut his Achilles tendon. When the group confronts them, Shauna and Melissa claim it's so Ben doesn't run away. Jackie is angry, but can't bring herself to punish Shauna, instead warning her that if she goes rogue again, she'll face severe consequences. Ben remains in the coop for weeks, begging for death, and going on a hunger strike; in the end, Nat kills him out of mercy. The group, led by Shauna, is furious - thinking on her feet, Lottie claims it's the will of "the Wilderness". Jackie joins in, insisting they will honour "the Wilderness", and that Natalie will prepare the feast as a punishment. The decision appeases the group, and it's up to Shauna to teach Nat how to properly butcher a body. Meanwhile, Lottie wanders back to the caves, begging "the Wilderness" to speak to her. Jackie begins to feel cramps, but decides to ignore them. During the feast, Artemis influences Lottie's vulnerable and desperate psyche, prompting her to start a feral rave, which catches the attention of the researchers. Still possessed, Lottie kills Edwin with an axe; Hannah and Kodi flee, most of the group at their heels. Only Mari, Gen, injured Melissa, and Lottie stay behind - Jackie's helpless to stop anyone, as she goes into labour. Gen cares for Melissa, while Mari takes Jackie to her shelter, terrified, but aware she needs help; Lottie remains whispering to Edwin's corpse. Artemis appears, and with her (and shellshocked Mari) as a midwife, Jackie delivers a baby girl, whom she and Artemis name Aradia. The sweet moment of Jackie holding her daughter for the first time is interrupted by the others bringing Hannah back to the camp. Jackie begs Artemis to let everyone go home, but she claims they now belong to the wilderness, and vanishes. Misty helps the group track down Akilah, Travis and Kodi, via the trail of clues Akilah had left, after Travis reveals to her he had made up the vision of her being the chosen oracle.

Everyone's excited to go home, but Artemis' words weigh heavy on Jackie. Akilah has a vision of dead animals in the coop, which only convinces Jackie and Lottie "the Wilderness" demand they stay. When the group is about to leave, Jackie insists they can't, supported by Lottie. Jackie and Nat fight, which causes a schism in the group, Akilah, Mari, Shauna (to whom, Artemis had sent a vision of a dull future), and Taissa (influenced by her connection to the wilderness, and unwilling to give up the freedom she had experienced within it) deciding to stay behind. When the rest of the group attempts to leave, a giant white moose charges at them out of nowhere, injuring Kodi - Nat and Travis instinctively shoot at it, which does little damage (but a bolt from the crossbow does make the animal wail in pain). The group is forced to turn back, and while Misty tries to nurse Kodi, he dies from his injuries (at one point, the possibility of a draw is suggested, but Jackie points out they'll be asking the same god they wish to abandon for help). With no more hope of rescue, everyone settles back into life in the wilderness. Hannah, of course, is horrified when Kodi is butchered, and Lottie warns her she'll soon understand (they dig Edwin back up, but his flesh is already rotting, so they only keep the bones for broth). Lottie isn't wrong, as animals seem to have vanished from the forest around them, while the ones in the coop don't last for long. When winter comes, the group is forced to resort back to the draw, growing more sadistic and eager with each hunt. It breaks Jackie's heart, especially when Mari, Akilah and Hannah (with whom she bonded, because Hannah was naturally drawn to a confused teenage mother and her baby) are chosen, yet she wears the crown of antlers, and a necklace of teeth, and lets the others bring the spoils to her feet, despite her burning guilt (she's excluded, as she's deemed the bride of "the Wilderness", her baby it's avatar) - she has to think of her daughter's survival after all, whom she cradles under her white cloak. At one point, Shauna is determined to kill Jackie and Aradia, but a pack of white wolves confronts her, tearing her to shreds - while it proves a hallucination, it convinces her to back off.

One night, Jackie has a dream of a rescue team approaching. She understands it's a premonition, and begs Artemis to let the survivors go. Artemis agrees, if Jackie and their daughter join her on Olympus (a divine realm, not the mountain in Greece). When Jackie sneaks out with Aradia, Nat and Lottie hear her, and follow her. Jackie tells Nat that a rescue team is coming. When Nat asks Jackie what about her, Artemis appears in her beast form, to take Jackie and the baby away (back in civilization, at least for a while, both Nat and Lottie will convince themselves it was a mirage, and that Jackie ran off into the woods, bringing her baby along).

I'm not sure what might prompt Artemis to go and terrorize the survivors 25 years later, maybe she's simply bored. Jackie has lived in Artemis' domain ever since. Upon arrival, she was elated to discover Mari, Akilah and Hannah already there - while Artemis is horrible, she's not heartless, and understood her bride would be happy to see her friends (their souls belong to the mountains, but the mountains are Artemis' hunting grounds). Between the survivors' teen timeline and adult timeline, Jackie has become good friends with Persephone; no, they haven't slept together, Persephone and Hades are monogamous, but Jackie probably has slept with Aphrodite. Also yes, in the adult timeline, Artemis actually does reject Travis, since he stopped believing in her, he wounded her that one time, and he's male.

I feel like, Aradia and Callie should meet in the survivors' adult timeline. Maybe, even become romantically involved... Aradia's older, yes, and the consort of Apollo (her uncle indeed, it's nothing strange in Greek mythology), but they probably have an open marriage, not to mention, whatever goes on between her and Callie, would be ten times more healthy than what happens between Aradia's she-father and her mother. Because, in the end, this story is about a teenage girl abused, and used by a cruel, bloodthirsty deity, a teenager girl who sacrifices herself in desperation to ease the fate of others. She ends up among the immortal, yes, but her heart still hurts, even in eternal spring. Her daughter and her friends are the only balm to it (I suppose Mari, Akilah and Hannah are something like her handmaidens).

Artemis' faceclaim is Anya Taylor Joy, Aradia's is Grace Van Dien. Both of their hair is white like the Moon.

[tapestryoftrauma]

it's insane but also very interesting to meee !!

like sure melissa "exists" in season 1 in the sense that none of the team members have ACTUALLY changed. melissa, gen, robin, britt and crystal (kristen) were all there in season 1 in a literal sense

but as characters they were not !! and since our perspective on their time in the wilderness is already deeply filtered through the perspective of the survivors and our central characters, such as the hallucinations and my belief that season 3 is heavily filtered through delusion, its kinda cool.

to the main girls the JV girls WERE background characters in their own lives. their faces and actions were never fully clear -- and for shauna, thats because a lot of her energy is focused elsewhere.

in season 1 she's all in on jackie -- and her friendship with tai -- and so the other girls. dont matter to her. in season 2 she's dealing with the loss of jackie, and then the birth and loss of her son -- and so the JV girls are a little clearer now because there's no space to hide, but still she doesn't pay them much mind.

in season 3 she is completely alone. tai is working more with van and nat this season -- where tai was once shauna's rock, now she's at a distance. it's not surprising all the girls are basically terrified and avoiding shauna due to how she beat the shit out of lottie last season.

shauna is the least desirable she's ever been. she's their butcher -- she cut up and served javi for them -- and shes violent, gross and unpredictable. she's also the only one who both doesn't believe and refuses to pretend she does. where nat and tai go along with the rituals to bring community, shauna ditches their mourning because those are her losses and she's sick of what she deems her own being taken as communal.

so, when melissa follows her -- and their other interactions this season -- its easier for shauna to remember by this point. there was no one else. not jackie, not tai, no one. but melissa was there, wasn't she ? and as they get closer, those details about melissa will be filled in.

and obviously this is partially due to the nature of a tv show. in season 1 the other girls were so undefined because of covid shooting restrictions, and a lot of the recasts and background stuff is due to writing and technicality when working with tv.

but i think it can be interesting to look at it through shauna's lens -- especially when it comes to melissa. the fact she didnt care about this girl before, but then suddenly she comes stumbling into shauna's life and she's literally the only person shauna really has right now. very interesting.

(this is also why i think mari might be pit girl. other people are suggesting it could be robin or gen -- which is fair, because i fully believe they look similar to pit girl to throw us off. but i think the it girl, pit stuff this season is to double trick us. mari has remained the same in the cast, played by the wonderful alexa barajas, which hasn't happened for any other of those peripherical characters. the girls would remember pit girl -- if she really is their final hunt before rescue -- so it being mari makes sense to me, using my weird as hell backwards justification LMAO)

ok but them making a character that DIDNT EXIST in the first season the last (possibly) survivor is really crazy from a writing standpoint lmao

[littlestarlost]

You're Probably Taking Yellowjackets too literally, and there's still time to stop.

So there's like two months until the second season premiere of Yellowjackets, and as someone who was watching the show literally from the night of the pilot premiere, I have some Thoughts about how the fandom reacted to a lot of the show's mysteries at the time of airing, how a rewatch of the full first season feels after getting all that info piecemeal week after week, and how, in my humble opinion, people are simply misunderstanding a MASSIVE part of the show's conceit. So here's that rant, because I just rewatched season 1, and very few shows make me want to write full-blown essays like this one. You should absolutely watch the show if you haven't yet, ESPECIALLY if you are AFAB or femme or were raised and socialized female. Because hooooooo boy.

One: What is Yellowjackets?

Yellowjackets is a television show that made its debut in the last few weeks of 2021. It stars Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Christina Ricci, and Juliette Lewis as four women who, as teenagers, survived a harrowing plane crash with their high school soccer team which left them stranded in the Canadian wilderness for a year and a half. The series opens with a scene that really heavily implies that the girls resorted to cannibalism to survive during their ordeal, but we still do not know the specifics of how that came to be.

The show flips between following the adult survivors in the year 2021 and flashing back to the accident in 1996. The four main survivors--Shauna (Lynskey as an adult, Sophie Nélisse as a teen), Tai (Cypress as an adult, Jasmin Savoy Brown as a teen), Misty (Ricci as an adult, Sammi Hanratty as a teen) and Natalie (Lewis as an adult, Sophie Thatcher as a teen)--are all shown suffering from various levels and types of post-traumatic stress disorder, as you might imagine one would deal with if one had survived a fucking plane crash and cannibalism as teenagers. Without going deep into spoiler territory, let's just say that some shit goes down, and the first season concludes without a single piece of eaten flesh.

Two: Why is Yellowjackets Good?

These things are obviously subjective, but in my opinion Yellowjackets is one of the best pieces of fiction ever made about female trauma, specifically. When we meet the four adult survivors, none of them are doing well: Shauna chafes against her role as a stay at home wife and mom, seeking out an affair with a mysterious younger man because her world feels far too small; Taissa is running for state senate, but the stress of the election is causing the breakdown of her marriage and massive stress to her son; Natalie is in and out of rehab, actively suicidal and incapable of self-care; and Misty is a nurse who uses her role as a caretaker to manipulate and control everyone around her. Their various issues all stem not just from the plane crash, but also from the traumas that have been sprinkled throughout their lives up to the crash as well; Misty was a bullied social outcast, Natalie came from an abusive home, Shauna was constantly in her best friend Jackie's shadow, and Tai is a gay Black woman, with more than enough generational trauma to go around.

As a high school soccer team, all of these characters had their place in the hierarchy; but the crash upends that hierarchy. The queen bee is utterly useless out in the woods; the off-putting weirdo is suddenly the closest thing they have to a medical professional (she took babysitting training twice). Being in the closet no longer matters when you have to know how to hunt and clean a deer if you don't want to starve. Being the golden girl's best friend no longer carries the leverage it once did if you're more useful to the group than the golden girl. One person's hidden mental illness becomes a massive problem because she only took enough meds to cover the few days they were supposed to be away; another girls' religiosity becomes a lifeline in a mire of confusion and fear. The adults in the room are gone, and the already complex social structures of teenage girlhood become even more confusing when lives are literally on the line.

Three: What's Wrong With the Response to the Show?

The thing about Yellowjackets is that it has the misfortune of existing in the world that JJ Abrams has made, and JJ Abrams fucking destroyed the concept of mystery for an entire generation. For this, he will never be allowed to enter the kingdom of Heaven. May God have mercy on his soul.

Yellowjackets purposefully doesn't give us all the answers we want when we want them, and the setup of its many mysteries--how did the girls get rescued? Who gets eaten and when? What's with the weird symbol carved on the trees near the crash site?--includes allusions to possible--POSSIBLE--supernatural explanations. And as a result of JJ Abrams being one of the most irresponsible storytellers on the planet, I watched the media and fan response to Yellowjackets spiral into the same kind of mystery-box-solving, "MOVIE ENDING EXPLAINED IN 10 MINUTES" youtube video type of bullshit. It's dismaying because, at least in my opinion, it demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of what the showrunners are actually trying to explore, which is the fact that trauma does not resolve itself when given a tidy answer, and tidy answers simply do not exist anyway.

There are flashbacks inside flashbacks, pieces of the characters' childhoods that help to develop their backstories. One excellent example is the Man With No Eyes, a spectre first introduced in a flashback with Taissa as she watches her beloved grandmother die.

She sees The Man With No Eyes again in the woods, and then again as an adult spiraling into a psychotic episode. More intriguingly, Tai's son Sammy seems to imply knowledge of the Man With No Eyes too, despite the fact that Taissa has never told him about it. So, the fans wondered--how could he know? What could it mean? Is the Man a ghost? Is Sammy telepathic?

No.

The Man With No Eyes is a visual representation of generational trauma, and a really great one at that. Taissa does not come up with him; she learns of him from her grandmother, who sees him in her last terrified moments on this earth; it is a fear that is passed onto her children and grandchildren, despite having no explanation or origin. And generational trauma passes down to your kids, even when you don't vocalize it; that's what makes it generational trauma. Sammy inherits his mother's trauma, and in the absence of an answer he grasps for his own explanations for the spectre haunting him.

Another issue I take is with people trying to red-string-and-pushpin their way into a full explanation of the events we see. The crash survivors find a lake with an abandoned cabin nearby, where they can take more permanent shelter; why was there a mummified corpse in the attic? Why wasn't there a road from the cabin that they could follow to civilization? How far into the Canadian wilderness could they really be, to not be found for nineteen months?

It doesn't matter. If you're asking those questions, then you're not paying attention. You're missing the forest for the trees.

Four: Yellowjackets is a Show About Trauma

The thing about trauma is that it impacts every part of you. Nothing is ever the same, and the great agony of recovery is having to reconcile that painful truth. Another thing about trauma is that it defies logic and reason; there is no reason for why this happened to you and not to someone else. There is no tidy answer for every loose end. A lack of knowledge in the moment leads to actions which have consequences, and all the hindsight in the world can't change those decisions you made.

But one of the keenest and sharpest observations that Yellowjackets makes about trauma is the rather hilarious fact that we are all somehow supposed to just......go on living after it. Without getting help, without rending ourselves to ash and dust to be remade, without shrieking our anguish to the sky until we spit blood--we're just supposed to move on, to compartmentalize and keep going, to show up at work or school every single fucking day and just pretend that we're fine. And that doesn't just apply to major traumas like a fucking plane crash, but to all the tiny little traumas that come along with being a girl in society: the bullying, the ostracizing, the family issues, the generational trauma, the friendship breakups and emotional schisms. Yellowjackets is a show that demonstrates the absurdity of this expectation that we place on everyone in society, but especially on AFABs, to recover and continue and pretend that we aren't being eaten up from the inside. It's a show that takes great pains to reveal that nothing happens in a vacuum; every survivor of the plane crash arrived there with her own traumas already strapped to her back. It's a show that is willing to talk about how surviving something horrible will make you paranoid and anxious and insecure, even 25 years later, because trauma is continuous and healing is not linear. It's a show about reconciling the fact that answers simply aren't going to help, even if you get them someday.

Conclusion: How to Read Yellowjackets

I can't recommend Yellowjackets enough. It's a phenomenal show, especially if you are Gen X or millennial and grew up with these actresses as a major part of your adolescence. It's also a show that is proving itself to be whip-smart, far smarter than JJ Abrams ever was. It's a show that reminds us how cannibalistic teenage girlhood can be on its own, never mind the stresses of a real survival situation. It's a show that talks, openly and honestly, about how many of us simply are not okay, and shouldn't be considered okay, and probably should not be operating heavy machinery. It's a show that is willing to confront the way we need to cannibalize ourselves, consume our own trauma like Saturn devouring his son, in order to return to the world waiting impatiently for the version of us who will never exist again. It's a show not only about MILF rights, but also about MILF wrongs.

[lingeringscars]

top 5 yj pairings or top 5 canon characters 👀

top 5 yj pairings is becoming ships because @itchose is evil and made me choose dynamics so see here for that.

shauna/tai. they have an intimacy that will never be recreated by anyone ever. they understand each other better than anyone. betrayals by the other feel personal even if they aren't totally. they love each other, they hate each other, they can't live without each other. they're in love and they are not. they're everything.

mari/akilah. they've been gfs from the start. they went from not really knowing each other to clinging to each other. akilah becoming the most important person to mari, the one she can be the most vulnerable around, the one that she trusts the most. mari letting akilah cheat at choosing cards (and akilah deciding against it) because she's her person.

tai/van. they fascinate me sooo much. a casual hookup turned serious that could never be maintained once they leave the wilderness. the conflict in their views and the way tai shoots her down and van learns to speak up. the love that is this common thread between them even when that happens.

lottie/laura lee. laura lee as the only person to actually talk to lottie and make her feel heard and validated. no one in her life has ever done that, and in the wilderness she's probably overheard people talking about how weird she is acting and how she lost it and she's gone crazy, which isn't great when looking at her dad! but laura lee supported her and trusted her and had this long-lasting forever kind of impact on her.

shauna/nat. who am i if i don't force them to be included. they are real to me. they meet in person for the first time and it reeks of jealousy and love gone bad. i am entirely convinced they had an affair idc. they talk shit about each other. they love each other. shauna is jealous of nat, shauna loves nat, nat loves shauna. they cry over each other. shauna nurses nat back to warmth. nat begs and begs for people to help shauna. the hunter & the butcher. they are everything. i love reminding people that when nat picked the queen card we see shauna's reaction <3 it's not just because of what comes next <3 she's second because she's second to travis in this essay i---- they are real to me <3

bonus: shaunajackie. they compel me. they live in my mind. they're in love with each other. they're part of each other. the only reason they were bumped from this list is because they would never act on any of it. also honorable mentions go to: gen/melissa, jackie/nat, & lottie/nat. i also feel like i need to put travis/nat here because they are so deeply connected and influence each other in everything.

i immediately thought this was top 5 yj canon chars and then realized it could be 5 canon in general so you're getting both dohgs

yj:

mari

nat

tai

van

shauna

bonus: akilah, travis

canon in general:

christian ozera (vampire academy). tiffany told me to read this series and thought i'd attach to other people and then i came away with him and have been with him for 9 years now. he's my number 1 forever, really. snarky, lonely, caring, pushy, loyal love of mine.

bellamy blake (the 100). another long timer. been writing him since the season 2 finale in 2015. i've been with him through the trenches. he is a part of me at this point

layla keating (all american). i added her during or at the end of season 2 or maybe at the end of s1 it's hard to remember now and it was mostly for olivia/layla w/ cj reasons but the more we got of her, the quicker she became an actual and instant fave. her depression arc(s) is one of my favorites of all time, and it's handled really well imo. she's so complex and layered and fascinating, and i will defend and love her forever

spencer hastings (pretty little liars). at this point she is also a part of me. i don't even know if i can list the reasons why she's in my top 5, especially when all the pll girls are so important to me, but this show and char are a piece of me.

daisy johnson (agents of shield). while i think mari is making her way into All Time Favorite Chars territory, i need to go with another that I always come back to (and the one on this list that I Do Not Write). daisy's story is just so important to me. she finds a home, a place, a family, and a people. she finds a purpose. she finds love. despite everything she goes through and went through, she has so much heart. she fights for what she believes in, she hates herself despite being the best person ever, she shines like the sun and kicks ass like no other. she's a hacker with a heart of gold. she's everything to me.

ask me my top 5 anything // always accepting