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icarusredwings · 1 month ago

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I know it's like 10 in the morning, but I can't stop thinking about Wade still being a massive flirt at the mansion. No staff is safe.

So I have this oc insert, right? (Similar to Carly), except her power is that she can absorb energy forms and nutrients in order to heal others by giving their bodies what they need to quicken the healing process. She can fix papercuts in 2 seconds and gashes that are less than 1 inch deep and 3 inches wide within 30 seconds, 6 inches a minute, and so on. The deeper it is, the longer it takes because that's multiple layers of replenishing. (She can't regrow your leg but if you get shot or stabbed she can probably fix you up in a couple of minutes)

You'll still have a scar, but at least you'll be okay, and you won't hurt for long. Her mutation bassically allows her to reporoduce healthy cells, not by replacing them but rather giving them what they need to heal themselves. This applies to burns, brusies, some diseases, and spotted infections, meaning a certain someone is in her office often.

A bit too often...

Now.. keep in mind that because of her powers, her weight fluctuates quickly depending on how much she uses it (COUGH kinda like fatgum COUGH) if you get my drift so sometimes her clothes are too tight or too loose for her. Realitivly (and for the ladies 😌 I got you lesbians!! I see you!) Her body is "thicker" as one would say seeing as she needs to store this energy for emergencys.

I just imagine Wade coming to bug this poor woman, jumping up on the table like, "I got a booboo 😁 can you fix it? You ARE the school nurse, right?"

She asks where and he's like "Well. You know. Down. No, down. Double down."

Until she just blinks at him all fed up like

What's even funnier is that she's hard of hearing so when he first came to flirt with her after meeting her she just stared at him dumfound as he goes through all the lanauges he knows before taking it as a challenge, so now most days when she hears him coming she either pretends she can't hear him or takes her hearing aids out.

Which is really funny because it gets to a point where she's just sitting here eating a sandwich and Wades trying his damndest to flirt in broken Portuguese.... Last week was Russian. What's even worse is that she was born and raised in the US, and her first language is English.

Warning: Sad under here but also funny.

Tw: Eating problems, Wade talks about being underweight, cancers a bitch.

I always thought about Wade and how his body is too big for someone who is experiencing cancer 24/7. How his muscle is even made of cancer cells, and I wonder about his joints, if the cartilage between there and the fat within the muscle/tendons/ skin too?

@bougiebutchbitch made me think about it with scientific cancer talking. Blame them for your sad not me /jk give me all the credit for the sad, I love being known as "That one guy who writes really sad shit but its so fucking good" anyway-

Eventually, he starts telling her stuff that would concern most people, that he wouldnt dare tell his friends because its too vaunerable, thinks he doesn't even want to tell Logan because he physically NEEDS to talk to someone but is too afraid. And seeing as he assumes she doesn't understand him what so ever, tells her stuff like how he's trying really hard to keep his weight maintained, but he just CAN'T keep anything down or in him long enough. It's like the moment something is in his gut, the cancer takes every ounce, and immediately, he's starving again, feeling malnourished, and as if he didn't eat at all.

And while Logan doesn't judge him for it, he's gotten various comments about it before. That he eats too much, that he eats too little, that people can feel his ribs, how they "didn't think he'd be this thin" how his strength "dosn't match his body." And it's something he can't really do anything about, but now they're at the mansion, so he's getting meals, a lot of them, but now Logan is wanting him to gain some weight. But he can't. He's trying so hard, and he just... cant. Between the involuntary vomiting induced by the nausea that comes along with stomach and throat cancers, it's a miracle his ribs aren't visible anymore.

"Im used to starving- thats not the point. I starved as a kid, starved in the army, starved as an adult. I've been there, done that, but this place always has so much food, and the kids in Remy's class work so hard to make it, but -" He choked up, making a whining sound. "It's not that I don't want too.. I swear.. I just... can't. I never could. By rights my metabolism should be dead, but it just never stops."

By now, he's fingering at his pants, gripping his jeans, and is semi hunched over, trying not to cry in front of her. He has no clue why he's telling her this, actually. Maybe for sympathy? Maybe because he thinks she could fix him? Or maybe because he knew she wouldn't say anything in return. Either way, he's trying to keep the tears where they belong, but they're being disobedient. Wiping them, he figures fuck it and keeps going.

"I just don't.. I don't want him to be disappointed in me. He loves me so much, and I know that. Sure, deep down, I wonder why, but what if.. what if he doesn't? What if he leaves because I can't because I'll look like this forever? It's not my fault. I can't do anything about it - I... I don't want him to think i'm not trying... because I am trying. Really hard.." He sniffles and notices that she's looking at him, quickly making a joke. "Heh.. you don't have a problem like that, though, do you?"

Wordlessly, she puts her hand on his stomach, looking away as she tries to at least help for today. It wouldn't last. It never did for him. She couldn't "cure cancer" but she could replace this areas cells with new ones so it would take longer for the other cells to infect them. If she could temporarily give him relief enough to eat something and be proud about it? (Just enough to stop his whining?) That would be good use of her energy.

At first, he flinches, thinking she's had enough of him and now is smacking him away only to pause, feeling odd on the inside. "What the hell are you do- Wait a second, you understand me!?"

As a ploy, she shakes her head, only to instantly regret it when he gasps. "You do!! Why didn't you tell me!?"

So, by helping a coworker with an upset tummy, she now suffers the fact that he now KNOWS she understands him and blabs about anything and everything to her. He finds it comforting because she does the same thing that Logan used to do before they started dating. He would act like he's ignoring him but heard and litsened to every word.

If Logan is busy, this is where he spends his lunch, in the nurses office like a chump who can't make friends at any other table, yapping to her about his kids and their progress, telling her the plot to my little pony, complaining that puppins threw up on his pillow today, giggling because next week is his and Logan's first anniversary and hes so nervous about it but he planned this big thing.

She dosn't say a word, letting him rant, responding with head tilts, shrugs, nods and shakes of her head.

"Wait- are you even litsening?"

She nods.

"Why don't you talk?"

"...."

"Can you talk??"

She nods again.

"Do you just not like to talk?"

A shrug.

"It's probably because she's tired of you harassing her."

Wade gasps and squeals happily the way he does every single time Logan came to "deal with him" when he was being disruptive to someone else's work.

"Why are you in here again? Leave that poor woman to her work before she puts a restraining order on you" He teases.

"Oh come on. Ciara, tell him that you love it. Our little talks, yeah? Theyre the highlight of your day?"

"The highlight of my day is when you leave." This is the first sentence she says to him. He gasps drimatically with his hand on his chest, offended. "Oh NOW you can talk!??"

A nod.

"*Bunny fuckin' bitch.." he grumbles as Logan takes him away.

"Cancercock...." She mutters back.

Logan stifles a laugh, looking away from Wade's dropped jaw. "I TOLD YOU THAT IN SECRET!!"

*If you made it this far, congrats! He calls her this because Jackrabbit's (Her daughter Cherri Harper) father is a is a rabbit mutant. She's of Deer mutant descent, which is how she gets her tail and abnormal ears Fawn (Ciara Garcia) has Waardenburg syndrome, which causes her deafness, loss of pigmentation in hair skin and eyes, and her arm growth adnormalities.

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invisible-pink-toast · 3 months ago

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who's who in the zoo wilderness

like many yellowjackets fans i am Obsessed with the flashbacks in the pilot episode - but while many theories are about who pit girl is or who the antler queen is i also wanted to have a look at who each of the creepy cloaked cultee's might be under their masks...

Info

in the flashbacks we have nine characters -

pit girl (called "The Runner" in the script)

antler queen (called "The Shaman")

the one wearing beaver fur ("The Overseer")

the one wearing a skunk fur ("The Hunter")

the one in the pink hood ("The Butcher")

one wearing an owl

one wearing racoons

one wearing what appears to be a wolf

one wearing pants/leggings in a way that looks rabbit-like.

The antler queen is the name the fans have given the mysterious veiled figure - but the creators have been firm in saying that is an interpretation and not a fact. What we know about this figure is she's referred to as "The Shaman" and she's obviously a significant figure in the group - but not necessarily the queen/leader. I don't think this character is automatically the leader of the cult.

The definition of a shaman includes:

A member of certain traditional societies, especially of northern Asia and of North and South America, who acts as a medium between the visible world and an invisible spirit world and who practices magic or sorcery for purposes of healing, divination, and control over natural events.

The term shamanism comes from the Manchu-Tungus word šaman. The noun is formed from the verb ša- ‘to know’; thus, a shaman is literally “one who knows.”

So of these nine, seven of them must be our seven known survivors:

just a note: aside from sammi hanratty (misty) none of the other actors were playing characters in this scene - those roles were filled by body doubles. so i'm not going to be too specific in comparing looks to try and match these characters to our known characters. There's also the fact that these scenes were written and filmed for the pilot before the show was greenlit and since then the story has changed somewhat (for example - van most likely originally dying from the wolf attack but that being rewritten because they loved what liv hewson did with the character and wanting them to continue). So I'll mostly be focusing on the characters we know were absolutely intended to be there: Shauna, Tai, Natalie (confirmed to survive in the pilot) as well as Travis and Lottie (confirmed to survive later in s1).

Theories/Predictions/Headcanons

Only one figure is 100% confirmed - the Overseer being Misty, as she is the only character seen to remove her fur mask at the end of the pilot episode.

The other that is basically confirmed is the identity of the Butcher being Shauna.

Not only was Shauna... literally the butcher in the past and the present ("Shauna, you're the best with the knife, so you'll handle the body. I mean cut it up." - Misty in 1x10) but when Shauna kills Adam she has flashbacks that include the Butcher bleeding the Runner's corpse.

Then there's the Runner, and given that she dies gruesomely she is not one of the survivors, but is one of the yellowjackets who survived past the end of s2.

Aside from her face, she is the character we see the most of physically (so i will mention her physical appearance in relation with who her character might be) - she has long dark hair and lighter/olive coloured skin.

based on this we know that pit girl is most likely either Gen or Mari (my vote is mari, and i wrote a meta on why). now that gen has been recast for s3 :( i'm thinking it's almost definitely mari.

that's 3/9 and where the clearest examples stop.

Owl

I think the animals were chosen with intention, both by the costume designer and within the story by the characters. whereas the other masks seem more for the sake of warmth (like the raccoon pelts sort of sewed together into a hood) this one feels a lot more symbolic. like can you even skin an owl while keeping the feathers??

I think this is a reference to Tai's connection with the "Other Tai" - the one who comes out in sleepwalking, and somehow knows the lay of the land (where the symbols are, where the other yellowjackets are) in a way that Tai doesn't understand. The imagery of having a character appear to literally have two faces just screams Tai to me.

From some very basic research it seems that owl can symbolically mean: wisdom, a guide in the dark, death, visions, etc.

While this could relate to Tai, it could also relate to Lottie.

While as the audience we know Lottie is schizophrenic and without her meds, the others have taken Lottie's visions as signs from the wilderness and treat her as the resident seer. While she's clearly trying to pull away from that role and the responsibility it entails by the end of s2 - the other yellowjackets already look to her as someone with the knowledge to guide them through the wilderness.

There's also the clothing. While most clothes seem to be passed around communally (a sweater Misty & Mari wear in s2 is the legwarmers on the owl and the mask on the skunk) there are some items that are reserved for specific characters (like Shauna wearing Jackie's butterfly shirt).

In the '96 timeline Tai wears a lot of patterned blue and purple clothes, some of which almost definitely become part of the outfit for this owl character.

There's also the vest - it could be an animal fur but it has some of similarities to Lottie's fluffy coat, especially one that's become dirtier while stranded without the cabin. This coat is only worn by Lottie. The raccoon character also wears a similar vest, so it could just be fur, but Lottie's coat resembles the owl character's vest more based on the colour, or the coat could have been split in two.

Overall I think the owl character is most likely Tai.

in doomcoming and in the hunt in the future the upper half of tai's face is covered and it makes sense to me that trend would continue in all her hunt outfits. there's also the repeated imagery of eyes within her story - the man with no eyes, her grandmother's eyes, sammy's doll on the altar missing an eye, so her outfit having a taxidermy owl with no eyes tracks.

Wolf

unfortunately not many clear images exist for this character. i'm not even sure if the pelt they're wearing is a wolf, it could also be a bear, but i'm going with wolf for now.

i think this is Travis. travis is the other hunter of the group and it makes sense that the characters furs might come from their own hunts/kills. symbolism wise travis does fit a wolf as well - loyalty, protection, strength. wolves are closely tied to the bonds of packs and family, making sense that travis would be the lone wolf as he's lost his father and brother out here.

tai and van are also associated with wolves - but i don't think either of them would want to wear one all the time, given that van was attacked by one and tai is haunted by them.

the wolf character also has some small details that fit for travis' character. their face is covered from the eyes down, something travis often does throughout season 2. the wolf, owl and skunk characters are also the only ones (that we can see) wearing fingerless gloves. given that the last time travis saw javi happy was him being gifted gloves by natalie, and that much of their clothes would have been destroyed in the fire (but not javi's, which were most likely still outside) i can see travis wearing javi's gloves.

The Hunter / Skunk

i think this is Natalie. before the season 2 finale i would've said this was 100%. now knowing that natalie is their new leader, there is the possibility that she is the antler queen character, which i will talk about later, but for me this character only makes sense as natalie.

nat's the hunter! even as a new leader, she's still the most capable and knowledgeable in hunting. travis is very much her second while she leads the hunting trips. it also makes sense that as the leader she would be the first one to check The Runner, to stand over the pit. both an 'honour' and a duty.

natalie's also been the one standing over the bodies so far. she's the one waiting outside with jackie's body at the start of 2x03, she's the one who takes jackie's remains and has a short memorial for her. she's the one who stays outside the longest, standing over travis with javi's body. obviously not definitive but does work with the skunk character.

as for the clothes - the hunter wears the iconic co-ed soccer shirt, pink converse, and for a mask the cloth is currently a sweater within the show.

the shirt begins the show as van's - but almost every character has worn it now (including tai, travis, akilah, etc.). the pink connverse have never been quite as clear, but it appears that might have originally been shauna's (a darker colour that most likely faded over the 19 months) and have been worn by at least lottie, gen & tai. the sweater that the mask is made of has been worn by misty, mari & mel. so none of that narrows anything down sdjflsakhfl;h

i think the skunk is quite a specific choice too. could be about seeing things in black & white, about keeping your distance, etc. there's not a lot about skunk symbolism but it mainly seems to involve confidence, courage and direction. these are interesting when paired with natalie, given that she fits some very well but struggles with others.

it's also implied in the original pilot script that this character is natalie.

while we do see the hunter pulling up the runner's body with the rope, the scene with natalie does not make it into the episode. it does suggest that when filming the pilot this character was thought of to be natalie though. of course, as the show progressed this may have changed.

still in 1x10 when it's decided that shauna will cut up adam's body, natalie is the one who volunteers to help her, while misty is the one who directs all of them, mirroring this scene with the butcher (shauna), overseer (misty) and hunter (natalie).

some say that the hunter is van - has a similar build and the general blankness/darkness that van has by the end of s2, as well as being the shirt's og owner. but van wasn't supposed to be there in the initial conception of this character. while it may have changed now, for me this character is natalie.

Raccoon & Rabbit

I'm honestly not sure who these two might be. One is most likely Van, given that we know she survives.

Early on there were theories that Jackie was the Rabbit, due to her association with rabbits, which makes sense, but now we know Jackie's dead. Then they were possibly Javi, but he's dead too. As for symbolism, I'm not sure who of the remaining Yellowjackets fits either of these characters.

I think the creators were purposefully ambiguous to leave themselves with options. If the audience doesn't know who is who, they have the opportunity to change the story slightly as the show progresses (like with Van surviving).

The Shaman / Antler Queen

while initially thought to be lottie, as she is set up as the leader in the wilderness, the season 2 finale revealed that natalie was the new leader. both of these characters could be the shaman, but i feel as though it makes more sense for natalie to be the hunter. even though there are moment that in retrospect hint that natalie becomes the leader (misty's devotion, natalie stating that she lacked a purpose after they were rescued, tai and shauna's conversation about nat being the reason they're alive), there are no clear references to natalie being the antler queen character in the story so far (although that could have been hidden on purpose for the reveal).

in the adult timeline the others are terrified of the antler queen in a way that's different from their reactions to the symbol from the wilderness. when they receive the postcards or realise the symbol is under travis' body they are disturbed, they have a distrust of the symbol and everything it reminds them of.

but their reactions to the shaman are different. she appears in shauna's flashbacks when she kills adam, in natalie's visions/hallucinations after she overdoses, and in lottie's visions/hallucinations after hearing natalie's experience and in her office with the fake therapist. each of them are utterly terrified when she appears.

i think who the shaman is depends on what her role truly is. as i've already said, the "antler queen" is a title made up by the fans.

Leader:

The Shaman does appear to be the leader of the group, sitting in the centre of the semi-circle, being elevated, everyone waiting for her go-ahead to begin the feast, and everyone waiting for her to leave first.

If The Shaman is the leader, then she is Natalie.

This is supported by the editing in the pilot episode - at the '96 party when Natalie gets high, she stands by the fire and sees Misty standing across from her. It then cuts to the Overseer bringing the Shaman the cooked feast.

Chief Mourner:

If the Shaman is the chief mourner, it would depend on who the Runner is. If she's gen, the Shaman would most likely be mel in this instance. if she's mari, the most likely mourner would be akilah. the shaman doesn't appear to have akilah's dark skin, but body doubles were used and her face is veiled. if akilah has already died, the mourner might be lottie or gen.

It would be interesting with the idea that the antler queen changes from person to person. That they're all still terrified of "her" when what she represents is you losing the one you love most, you being the one with the most grief.

This is supported by what's happened with the two acts of cannibalism so far in the series. Shauna is Jackie's chief mourner, she is the one to light her funeral pyre, she is the one to give the go ahead that they should eat Jackie's body ("She wants us to." - Shauna in 2x02). Travis is Javi's chief mourner, and he is also the one to give the go ahead to eat Javi's body, everyone rushing in for the 'meat' after Travis has put Javi's heart on the pan.

However the Shaman is never seen eating. Both Shauna and Travis have the first bite of their loved one, whereas the Shaman only nods for the feast to start. It's possible this is part of a ritual that evolved over time, but it's still puzzling.

Spiritual Advisor :

if the antler queen is some sort of spiritual advisor, then she's most likely lottie. this fits with what we've seen in the '96 timeline already, with lottie's wilderness connection and the reverence shown to her by other team mates. even though lottie abdicates her role of leader in the s2 finale and claims she 'can't hear' the wilderness anymore - it's clear this is because of the weight of the responsibility to keep them alive, as well as her grief and guilt over javi's death.

still, several of the others seem confused at lottie's decision, and only seem to be accepting natalie as the leader because lottie said so. if this is something that creates tension within the group, it makes sense that natalie might appoint lottie a role where they can still look to her.

natalie as the leader/hunter is the one brining in the kill, but lottie as a spiritual advisor/shaman is the one leading the ritual.

this is supported by how in the adult timeline when they are having another hunt, it's lottie that leads it, not natalie. though that may be because lottie was the one to initiate the hunt. lottie also still acts as a spiritual advisor, with the others coming to her for advice.

the other option for a spiritual advisor is Tai. Not necessarily tai though... but Other Tai.

Much about Other Tai still remains a mystery. Is she another personality, a response to the trauma and repression, some sort of possession from the wilderness? In the adult timeline Lottie says that Other Tai is a part of Taissa, but Other Tai's conversation with Van in the woods raises questions about this.

Van: How do you know where you're going? Other Tai: He shows me. Van: Who's "he?" Other Tai: The one with no eyes. Van: Is that who you always follow? Other Tai: Only when she lets me. Van: Okay there's a "she" too, am I "she?" Other Tai: [shakes head] Van: Then who is "she?" Other Tai: Taissa. Van: Then who are you? Other Tai: [gives Van a look before walking away]

Other Tai's ability to track the whereabouts of the other survivors (Javi, Natalie), her connection to the man with no eyes, and knowing where all of the symbols are imply something more supernatural then just "sleepwalking".

Other Tai is the one to participate in cannibalising Jackie, she's strongly implied to be the one who pushes Taissa to continue running for senate even after she told Simone she would drop out, and she is the one to behead their fucking dog and make an altar in their basement. The creators and actors have talked about Other Tai and explain that she has Tai's best interest in mind, but she is willing to do what Tai wouldn't do to get it. Other Tai has a connection to the wilderness and the supernatural, she desires power and can become violent. She could very well be The Shaman.

"I don't know how bad it's going to get this time, but you know how bad it can get." - Tai in 1x06

Group Hallucination:

It's been theorised that the Shaman / Antler Queen doesn't really exist at all.

With the show toeing the line between visions, hallucinations and grief-induced psychosis with multiple characters (including Lottie, Tai, Shauna, Natalie, Travis) it's possible that as the group spirals more and more out of control and into ritualistic cannibalism - a way that they attempt to cope is through this Shaman. A 'physical' manifestation of the Wilderness itself. Something that gives them permission to feast on the flesh of their teammates, but does not eat herself, because she's not really there.

We only see The Shaman during the feast scene, and in other's visions/hallucinations. We know there are seven known survivors, but during the pilot's flash forward scene we see eight. Only if The Shaman doesn't exist, it's our seven survivors and a hallucination sitting around the fire.