moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

Catherine Earnshaw you absolute diva there is something so wrong with you and I love it

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

Perhaps the wilderness in Yellowjackets is not just a symbol of death. Perhaps it is also—in its own way—freedom.

In the wilderness, Lottie didn’t have to hide her visions for fear of being called crazy. She was exalted as a leader and a prophet. But when she returned, they called her crazy and locked her up.

In the wilderness, Misty didn’t have to be ashamed of her intensity and eccentricity. She was helpful, she was needed, she was important. But when she returned, they called her a freak and exiled her once again.

In the wilderness, Tai didn’t have to pretend to be something she’s not. Her other self was not a weakness but a strength, it gave her power, and kept her alive. But when she returned she had to suppress her urges and hide her other self, or lose everything.

In the wilderness, Shauna didn’t have to be small, and hide the fire inside her. She was angry, and violent, and powerful. But when she returned, she was forced back into a supporting role, forced to contain her darkness and her drive in order to fit a role she never wanted to play.

In the wilderness, Travis didn’t have to put on an act to fit the societal expectations of masculinity. He was feminine, and emotional, and soft—not the man of the group, but just another Yellowjacket in the hive. But when he returned, he was forced back into the cage—back into the closet—isolated, hardened, closed off and separated from the girls once more.

In the wilderness, Natalie didn’t have to feel guilty for surviving. She was the hunter, the provider, and the gun in her hands made her a savior, and a leader, not a killer. But when she returned, she was a killer once again, haunted by guilt, and outcast by society for the things she did to stay alive.

The wilderness gave them the freedom to be their truest and most authentic selves, but the cost was the blood spilled. The cost was their old selves. The cost was a place in the world upon their return.

Maybe the wilderness did not destroy them; it simply changed them into something new, something irrevocably different, something that would never—could never—fit back inside the narrow box of their old lives, and because they could no longer fit, society called them broken.

The wilderness freed them, but it never let them go. Because once you’ve tasted flesh and blood, once you’ve stared death in the face and overcame, once you’ve been to the very brink and seen the true depth of your own capacity for violence, once all the former markers of morality and success have become meaningless, in a world where survival at all costs is the only law, how can you ever go back to a world ruled by pointless, hollow, conventions? Once you’ve shed every remnant of your humanity, once you’ve run with the wolves, and howled at the moon, and become one with the ancient wild gods, how can you ever be a human again? Once you’ve had a taste of complete freedom, how can you ever be satisfied with a fake, insignificant, half-life, made up entirely of half-truths and haunting?

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

MY Cathy and Heathcliff

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

just remembered roman roy and now I’m unwell

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

Nightbitch and Ginger Snaps and Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead and lycanthropy as a metaphor for female rage, and the horrors of girlhood, and the blood, and violence, and monstrosity inherent to the condition of being a woman

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

Marauders ships as The Magnetic Fields songs:

Wolfstar as Andrew in Drag:

“A pity she does not exist, a shame he’s not a fag, the only girl I ever loved was Andrew in drag… I’d sign away my trust fund, I would even sell the Jag, if I could spend my misspent youth with Andrew in drag.”

Prongsfoot as You’re My Only Home:

“I will stay if you let me stay, and I’ll go if you let go, but I won’t go far away, because you’re my only home.”

Jily as Time Enough for Rocking When We’re Old:

“There’ll be time enough for sleeping when we’re dead. You will have a velvet pillow for your head, but tonight I think I’d rather just go dancing.”

Dorlene as Queen of the Savages:

“My girl is the queen of the jungle folk. You should see the things we see when we smoke. We think all of life is just a funny joke.”

Marylene as The Night You Can’t Remember:

“You said ‘nobody loves me,’ and I said ‘wanna bet?’ The night you can’t remember; the night I can’t forget.”

Remadora as The One You Really Love:

“You’re dreamin’ of the one you really love. I made you mine, or so it seemed. Though he is dead, he haunts your dreams.”

Jily as Sweet-Lovin’ Man:

“Some have broken down and cried, some have turned to dust inside, but I’ll stay right here and hide in the arms of my sweet-lovin’ man.”

Prongstail as All My Little Words:

“I could make you rue the day, but I could never make you stay.”

Marylily as The Sun Goes Down and the World Goes Dancing:

“Well, I don’t know why, but I just feel like dancing. I can’t imagine why but I feel like dancing, and there is nothing in this world that I’d like better than a twirl across your rickety old floor.”

Jily as Abigail, Belle of Kilronan:

“I’m off to the war, but you can be sure, I will know you’re what I’m fighting for. When I come home—if I come home—you’ll be grown woman.”

Dorlene as Long-Forgotten Fairytale:

“You beat me once again, and I know what happens then; you raise the ante. And a long-forgotten fairytale is in your eyes again, and I’m caught inside a dream world where the colors are too intense, and nothing is making sense.”

Snily as Epitaph for My Heart:

“This is the epitaph for my heart, because it’s gone, gone, gone. And life goes on, and on, and on. And death goes on, and on, and on, world without end. And you’re not my friend.”

Lilylene as Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing:

“Dance with me, my old friend, once before we go. Let’s pretend this song won’t end, and we never have to go home, and we’ll dance among the chandeliers. And nothing matters when we’re dancing.”

Marylene as Strange Powers:

“Our hair in the air, our lips blue from cotton-candy—when we kiss, it feels like a flying saucer landing. And I can’t sleep, ‘cause you got strange powers; you’re in my dreams.”

Wolfstar as Deep Sea Diving Suit:

“I never thought you’d turn on me, ‘cause you’re my best friend.”

Dorlene as Two Characters in Search of a Country Song:

“You were just like me; you were one big bruise in the game of life, with your playing too loose. You were Jesse James, I was William Tell.”

Remadora as My Only Friend:

“Hey, Lady Day, can you save my life again? My only love has gone away. Will be my only friend?”

Marylily as The Saddest Story Ever Told:

“You say I can find someone else, but I just wish I was dead… Those days are gone. You and I were young those summer nights.”

Jily as The Book of Love:

“The book of love is long and boring, and written very long ago. It’s full of flowers, and heart-shaped boxes, and things we’re all too young to know. But I, I love it when you give me things, and you, you ought to give me wedding rings.”

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

Mother from Nightbitch, and Janina from Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, and Shauna from Yellowjackets should all become best friends and form a “rage-filled, vaguely supernatural, feral women club”

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

“Round Here” by Counting Crows getting a little too relatable this time of year…

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

Every day I relate to Janina Duszejko more and more. She did everything right, and my only complaint is that I wish she had murdered more men.

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

using subtle subliminal messaging mind control tactics to manipulate them into falling in love with me (carefully curated aux playlist of niche indie-rock love songs)

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

The parallels between Yellowjackets and the myth of Persephone and Hades…

The Yellowjackets are Persephone, ripped from their old life in the sun, and trapped in hell. The Wilderness is both Hades and the underworld itself. Both the kingdom and the ruler. The only way to survive is to eat the fruit, but by consuming the pomegranate seeds, they’ve sealed their fate. Once they’ve tasted the food of the dead, they can never leave. A piece of them will forever remain trapped in the Wilderness, always calling them back. Those who didn’t partake in the feast never made it out, but at least they found escape in death. Those who made it out will never truly escape, they will be tethered to the Wilderness for the rest of time. This is a vow that can never be broken. This is a tie that can never be cut. This is the price of survival. Eat and be consumed, or abstain and be eaten.

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

*muttering incoherently while rocking back and forth on the floor of my padded cell, ripping out chunks of my own hair*

jackieshauna elena ferrante parallels jackieshauna elena ferrante parallels jackieshauna elena ferrante parallels jackieshauna elena ferrante parallels jackieshauna elena ferrante parallels jackieshauna elena ferrante parallels jackieshauna elena ferrante parallels jackieshauna elena ferrante parallels

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

i need to munch box right now or i’ll DIE

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

Keiran Culkin my son, my poor baby, my number one boy, my sassy man, my pathetic little meow meow. He is physically incapable of not being my favorite character.

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

Sorry I lied there’s nothing gay about Dead Poets Society. They’re just two straight best friends. No you don’t need to ban it. I was just playing before. There’s no queercoding. I made it all up. You don’t need to censor it. I promise bro. It’s just a nice conservative movie about heterosexual male friendship. I swear bro. Walt Whitman? No, I don’t know him. Never heard of him. Sounds like a nice heterosexual fellow to me. Nothing queer going on here. Anti-establishment? I don’t know what you mean. There’s nothing anti-establishment here. The progressive teacher got fired in the end, remember? If anything it’s pro-establishment. No, no, I swear. It’s practically republican propaganda. I swear bro. You don’t need to ban it. C’mon man. Let’s be reasonable. There’s no need to be hasty. The theater kid died, remember? Remember? There’s nothing to worry about bro. I swear on my life bro. You don’t need to ban it bro I swear.

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

Yellowjackets as famous artworks

Misty and Crystal as “Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan” by Ilya Repin:

Shauna and Jackie as “Saturn Devouring His Son” by Francisco Goya:

Lottie as “The Wounded Deer” by Frida Kahlo:

Doomcoming as “Fire Dance” by Joseph Tomanek:

Javi as “The Sacrifice of Isaac” by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio:

Laura Lee as “Joan of Arc” by John Everett Millais:

Coach Ben as “The Desperate Man” by Gustave Courbet:

Natalie and her dad as “Judith Beheading Holofernes” by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio:

The Jackie feast as “The Golden Apple of Discord” by Jacob Jordaens:

Shauna’s marriage as “The Reluctant Bride” by Auguste Toulmouche:

The team during the winter as “The Potato Eaters” by Vincent Van Gogh:

Travis during Doomcoming as “The Flaying of Marsyas” by Titian:

The card drawing as “The Execution of Lady Jane Grey” by Paul Delaroche:

Coach Ben witnessing the Jackie feast as “The Scream” by Edvard Munch:

Travis and Javi as “Anguish” by August Friedrich Schenck:

Tai and Van on the expedition as “The Dead Miner” by Charles Christian Nahl:

Shauna as “The Lunatic of Étretat” by Hugues Merle:

The final few survivors as “Cannibals” by Odd Nerdrum:

Natalie as “Death and the Soldier” by Hans Larwin:

The team and the Wilderness as “Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle” by Arnold Böcklin:

[moonagedaydreamsofrhiannon]

Just a reminder that the “tortured artist” trope is a myth. Vincent Van Gogh’s most famous and beloved works are not bleak and depressing; they’re filled with hope, and reverence for the beauty of the world around him. He was not a great artist because of his pain, he was a great artist because of his hope, in spite of his pain.