#this is about yellowjackets but also the wilds

[siriusblackisdead]

Thanks for the tag @prassino 🤩

Last song: full moon by the black ghosts

Last book: currently reading Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo (will hopefully finish today pray for me yall). So far its very good btw i recommend it

Favourite color: GREEN. GREEN. GREEN. green that reminds u of trees and forests. GIVE IT TO ME

Last movie: i started brokeback mountain last but didnt finish it yet. Last movie i finished was The Broters Grimm. That was some wild shit honestly

Spicy/sweet/savoury: sweet

Last show: squid game, still didnt finish tho (cuz szn2 SUCKS) Last one finished is arcane (which is also my fav show)

Current obsession: all for the game series, the marauders and arcane. also yelowjackets and banana fish. Just take some weird movie/show/book about tragic gays and boom there i am crying in the corner

Last thing i searched up: “grimm forest movie”. Im a girl with a short memory im sorry

Looking forward to: YELLOWJACKETS SEASON 3 FINALLY

no pressure tags: @swampthingking @therapy-requiring-crow @high-queen-of-the-court @andrews-eyebrow-piercing @janwixler

10 People I'd Like to Know Better

Thanks for the tags @gaiaseyes451 and @beerok23!💜!💜

last song: Gloria by the Lumineers

favourite colour: Red, like a deep luscious red that you know would taste good if you licked it. Don't act innocent, you know exactly what I mean by that. Red is a color that you just know tastes good.

last book: I am currently trying to read the Witcher series (per @lickthecowhappy's suggestion) so I am at the start of the Last Wish

last movie: Moana 2 (I have young kidsssss)

last TV show: My oldest is almost 10 which means she stays up late. Which also means I have so little time to watch adult things. So we've been watching the Office with her. I think I want to watch the Good Place with her next tho (I've never watched it!)

sweet/spicy/savoury: Sweet followed very, very closely by spicy. Habanero maple syrup is one of my favorite things on the planet.

last thing i searched online: How to explain a 10 year career hiatus in a cover letter (looking to return to work since having kids. It's been an interesting experience so far).

current obsession: Have not moved on from Good Omens, but recently realized that my obsession may be more in my own little connected universe of fics that I wrote rather than the actual canon at this point😳. I'm sure once we get that first glimpse of red and white hair that will change very quickly.

looking forward to: Going back to work and having a more established adult life again, honestly. I've been so lucky to be home with my kids while they are young, but I am ready. And figuring out how my newfound passion for writing is going to fit into that new life of mine. Another big year of change over here for me, and I am eagerly looking forward to how the growing pains are going to make way for something beautiful beyond.

ten people i’d like to know better:

@addledmongoose, @di-42, @afrenchwriter, @haemey, @eybefioro, @alwaystuesday, @katspause, @alphacentaurinebula, @shadesofecclescakes, @ochre-sunflower and whoever wants to do it (but also feel free to ignore!)

[cowlovely]

creators need to stop making girl besties sooooo much more insane and gay and codependent than their canon f/f couple counterparts

[wistfulwatcher]

misty quigley is a lesbian; a comphet reading of her deprivation tank "realization"

in rewatching misty's deprivation tank therapy, i'm more convinced than ever that misty is a lesbian suffering from compulsory heterosexuality. the entire scene, from start to finish, is about misty accepting that walter has feelings for her (not the other way around), and learning to push through her discomfort with that fact.

the deprivation tank scene begins by establishing that misty is afraid. we see quick transitions and hear bubbling water and see a terrifying fish coming at the camera with sharp teeth. followed by a slightly softer stream of images of walter, interspersed with memories of crystal, and of caligula. misty is thinking about three key relationships in this moment: walter, who is actively pursuing her; crystal, whom she loved and hurt and misses; and caligula, who is the only creature that both loves her, and she loves back.

love is the concept that ties these three together: walter is who she could love, crystal is who she did love, and caligula is who she does love.

and so the memories fade into her fantasy sequence, led by caligula, and he begins to soothe her. this creature that represents real (platonic, obviously) love to her (in that it is true and reciprocated, more than she feels it is with any human) tells her "shake off your blues/i'll set the mood for ya". caligula is acknowledging her fear and her loss, and telling her that he can fix it. that he has an answer that will make all of her problems go away.

which is when walter appears, looking like the leading man in a classic musical; an idealized romantic interest, one her fantasy has turned from a real man into a fictional character. and what does he do? performs for her. misty (per the directions of the song, to just "sit right down") sits and watches. she does not interact with him, because she (and her attraction) is not a part of this. one element of comphet is the inability to picture yourself in a fantasy with a man; misty does not put herself with walter, she does not join him.

and while he and caligula perform, three items float around the screen: the plane axe, a syringe, and the black box (which fluctuates between intact and exposed). these three items are such a fascinating choice, because they, 1) all relate to the actions she took in her need to be useful and appreciated, but 2) also represent some of the ugliest things she has done (at a time when she has recently been thinking about what kind of person these things make her). she is thinking about these moments (her behavior with ben, murdering jessica, and stranding the team/breaking crystal's trust) that cause her great discomfort, at the same time she is trying to convince herself that walter is what she needs. she is comparing the discomfort she has with walter's interest and the validation she would feel from a relationship, to the way she's felt about all of these other bad things she's felt compelled to do.

while these items float, caligula sings, "now sit right down/let your troubles melt away/and you'll be sitting pretty in the moonlight gaze". continuing to tell her to push through the discomfort; just let it go. and if you do? "moonlight gaze" is such an interesting choice, because the moon is most strongly symbolic of women. if she lets go and has this relationship with walter, the other women will think she's normal. (especially after just a few hours prior to this, natalie had said, "we're all like this, aren't we?" this is her chance to prove nat wrong, for misty's own sake and/or for nat's!) this is not the first time misty has displayed behavior suggesting that it's important to her that natalie (and other people in general) see her as desirable as a romantic/sexual prospect: telling natalie about her dates on the road trip to travis, "i bet he thinks we're hookers!" said with glee in the jail, "i have a secret boyfriend, too," whispered to natalie in '96. if she decides to accept walter's interest (a man who is so into her that he is literally fine with her being a serial killer!), then maybe the other girls will see how worthy misty is of affection and attention.

once the dance number is over, misty immediately goes to speak with caligula; again, in her fantasy about loving walter, she doesn't interact with walter. instead she seeks caligula out, because he is the one she feels a real connection to; he is the one who knows her and can reassure her - the one whose reassurance will mean something. (walter, a man she barely knows, has been nothing but a concept to her in this fantasy, and that doesn't change.) misty's conversation with caligula is emotional; she is clearly bothered by the idea that other people see her as a murderer. but caligula doesn't give her an emotional response or solution; instead, he tells her she's a "closer". he points out that, even when things are rough (i.e., even though she doesn't like how walter makes her feel), she can persevere and accomplish her goals. it is this reminder that causes misty to transition the scene to to the final piece.

and oh boy, is that final scene a goldmine. because it begins with a close-up on misty's childhood phone. the phone that becky called her on back in 1992, to tell her that she was disgusting. that no man would want her, and that she would never find "a victim" to sleep with. that moment was foundational for misty's issues, for her desire to be wanted and needed in '96, and her deep need to receive validation from men in '21. this scene is so crucial to understanding misty's relationship to comphet, because one of the key facets is wanting a man to see you as desirable, because that is a woman's value in a misogynistic society. this hits misty so especially hard because she's not just lacking interest and validation from men in school; she hasn't been getting recognition from anyone. (for her to break the black box after just a few hours of receiving positive attention? she was starving for it.)

and so walter calls her on the phone - their backs to each other, literal and emotional distance between them - and starts to tell her that he loves her. but he doesn't say the words. instead he uses morse code to send "uoyevoli": "i love you", backwards. a fascinating choice, because it could be argued that the morse code is representative of their shared love of puzzles as crime solvers. but why backwards? surely the symbolism of the puzzle connection has been satisfied by the morse code.

it's because misty doesn't want to hear "i love you." she wants the implication of walter's desire, she wants to know she has value, but she doesn't want the actual feelings. she wants him to say i love you in a way she can't feel. she wants him to call her and turn his back so she can do the same. she wants to "get the ball over the goal line" and to do that she needs this level of distance.

so this scene with walter? it isn't about walter; it's about recreating that brutal memory. it's about rewriting her past. in her fantasy, walter calls her to prove that becky was wrong, that he is choosing misty because she is desirable. that he does want her. and this is so key because this whole scene is about how walter feels. that walter wants her. in misty's "realization" that she wants to be with walter, it isn't about her feelings at all. the purple flowing line of love comes from walter, the words "i love you" - twisted as they may be - come from walter. misty's only role in her fantasy is to "sit right down" and accept her role; surrender to the fact that walter is the right choice.

and when she does, when she finally, finally comes to the end of this moment, she still doesn't interact with walter. the natural progression of a love confession is physical contact. a kiss, or a relieved embrace. misty seeks neither! in this fantasy of hers where she can have anything, she makes no effort to acknowledge walter at all. instead, she turns to caligula, representative of her real connections. and she celebrates her victory with him. misty can close this deal, can get through this decision she's made, by clinging to the people she does actually care about.

[demadogs]

desperately wish more of you guys cared about my current teenage girl plane crash remote place survival hyperfixation rn. i want asks and shit about yellowjackets or the wilds. i might even reread this book about this girl surviving a plane crash

[bookofmac]

if everyone keeps going 'why arent they more gay?' about class of '07 i'm going to explode.

the show is set in 2017, the year that marriage equality was publicly debated and then eventually voted in it and it was a ROUGH year.

also, they went to CATHOLIC SCHOOL!!! I might just be speaking for myself here, but I wouldnt be getting into a relationship with any of the girls I went to school with if i was stuck on the campus with them, like a non zero amount of the student leadership were young libs (australian conservative party's youth branch).

[librarygf]

something about jackie's death and the fact that it's the group dynamic that is ultimately most dangerous to the girls' survival. something about how teenage girlhood is already an act of cannibalism and wilderness. the world eats you and you eat yourself to be what it wants and your closest friendships feel like a complete devouring. there are rituals attached to this eating, to the way you betray yourself and the way you hurt your loved ones to survive the game of it all. there's something life-threatening about your place within your group. but ALSO something about them going to nationals and the fact that these girls know ambition so well. there's something good but dangerous (to the world) about that kind of wilderness inside a teenage girl; about the primitive hunger for all the things and all the life you want, ready to break free from the confines of trying to be what the world wants from you

[merevide]

crazy how lottie wasn’t beating the co-parenting allegations even in shauna’s fucked up dream state

[pinkleaaves]

Is there a limit on how many fusions of OBX I can do when writing fanfic

Honestly it has seeped into my soul with the Wilds and Yellowjackets

[cottageivy]

i stg if i wake up with as bad of cramps as i had today i will cry

[queernarchy]

anyways finally watching yellowjackets currently on episode 3 and adam is javi right. he's just straight up javi.

[rileyruddock]

Chapter 3

[orangecatsmissingbraincell]

I need a minute to talk about my favorite scene from Yellowjackets

The card game from It Chooses I think is the best scene in the show. The tension as they each draw is so extreme as is, but it also plays on how we already know some of who survived at this point. In theory, knowing that Tai or Natalie or Shauna are still alive should take away from it, since we expect this to be the death of a side character we haven’t seen in the adult timeline. Then, Natalie is the one who draws the Queen and steps up to be sacrificed, so now the question is switched to how does she survive, and at what cost

Another important thing to remember is that at this point, Shauna hasn’t actually killed anyone. You could argue that Jackie’s death was indirectly her fault, but there’s still a huge difference from someone dying because of her own actions after an argument and actually killing someone. Shauna struggles to kill her. We know as an adult she’s a killer, and here we see her when she isn’t quite to that level. She’s struggling to kill someone we know somehow survives anyway

Here, I wonder if Natalie is trying to make it harder for Shauna. She could tell she’s struggling and as an attempt to appeal to her humanity, she makes her stare into her eyes if she’s going to kill her. It could also be a dignity issue. She doesn’t want to be killed by someone she can’t even see. Either way, it gives her enough time for Travis to intervene

This triggers the chase. The girls are howling as they run after Natalie. It’s primal, borderline feral. As much as Shauna struggled to actually kill Natalie, they’re all determined that someone has to die. They have to give the wilderness what it wants

Our question of how Natalie could have been chosen while still being alive in the adult timeline is answered. It’s because Javi died in her place. Javi’s death in it is significant in that they still didn’t directly kill him. They were compliant and his death was their fault, but they didn’t directly kill him. To kill from inaction is different than to kill from action. Not only that, but he’s dying from the wildness itself. He drowned in freezing water. If you’re one of the Yellowjackets you can rationalize this by saying that the wilderness chose, thus the name of the episode being It Chooses

It also leaves us knowing that this is only the beginning and that things are going to get worse

[nataliescatorccioapologist]

Yellowjackets Character Analysis Masterlist

To keep track of all of my yapping. Full disclosure a lot of these are about Nat, I can’t help it I am obsessed with her. But I will make more analyses on other characters soon (including deep dives for Van, Misty, and Taissa!)

🐝Long posts 🐝

Each character’s role in the wilderness and how these roles overlap into the adult timeline

Lottie Matthews Deep Dive

Travis Martinez Deep Dive

What we know about each character’s life before the plane crash

Each character’s greatest strength (and why it is also their greatest weakness)

Nat’s makeup and how it represents her character development

Nat and Taissa’s dynamic

How each character used the crash settlement money

Nat’s mental health

Ranking the characters from least to most corrupt

Analyzing the Season 1 scripts: 1x02 , 1x03 , 1x04

How the Wilderness saved Lottie and Nat’s lives pre-crash

🐝Short posts 🐝

Nat’s coronation scene

Taissa’s hidden empathy

1x08 card draw scene

Yellowjackets characters and their The Wilds counterparts: part 1 , part 2

Nat’s slut-shaming

Shauna and Nat’s dynamic

Nat’s vending machine scene

Van and Nat’s friendship potential

Nat’s lack of close connections with other female characters

Nat’s adult timeline arc

[monstrousgourmandizingcats]

Absolutely WILD question but for some reason I feel like you'd be the person to have good answers??? I need more actually good wlw story recs, books preferred but I'd accept shows and movies! Rec even the most obvious things, I truly have lived under a rock I know tlt and Baru Cormorant and not much else ;-; thank you!!

Not a wild question at all! Sarah Waters is great (Fingersmith especially), if you're not watching Yellowjackets yet you should be, I've heard very good things about something called Our Wives under the Sea but haven't read it yet myself, and if you're interested in nonfiction there's a ton of somewhat-dated-but-otherwise-very-good narrative history work from someone called Lillian Faderman. If you're okay with subtext there's also most of Shirley Jackson's novels and, for similar wlw Catholic vibes to TLT, the opera Dialogues of the Carmelites. (That one is by a gay male composer, Francis Poulenc, and is known to have been That Way on purpose.) Jawbone by Monica Ojeda is very very good, but one of the darkest and most upsetting books I've ever read. If you like Baru Cormorant you should be able to handle it, though.

Oh and there's always Carmilla, especially the original novella but also the significantly better-known mid-2010s webseries.

Summoning @staghunters, @vickythestrange, @marzipanandminutiae, @carys-the-ninth, @rebeccadumaurier,

@sapphicscience, @eucatastrophicblues, @mayasaura, and @maryblackwood for more recs if they have some.

[yellowjacketsfashion]

Yellowjackets Fashion Fact: According to Costume Designer Marie Schley in her interview for Yellowjackets Buzz, Lottie wears lavender* at the end of the season 1 finale to mimic the clothing of the cult members who abducted Natalie in the present timeline. Schley also said that it was the writer’s idea for the cult members to all wear the same color and that the idea was drawn from the documentary “Wild Wild Country” which is about a real life cult.

* She specifically used the word “Lavender” so I’m guessing they hadn’t decided to use the term “Heliotrope” yet.

[disasterarea-podcast]

So given the writer’s strike, some people are concerned about their shows and movies being postponed or canceled, and aside from the fact networks have already BEEN canceling shows for no reason for years (I still maintain a healthy anger about what Netflix did to Sense8), I thought I would suggest some books on disasters you might want to read if you’re into that sort of history. Which you are if you’re here, I imagine.

Note: I’m suggesting these books because most books on disasters don’t get a huge audience, and so I recommend them because this sort of writing can be hard on the writer and requires a bunch of research. We throw so much money at true crime, we can spare a few bucks for the stories of people who died in disasters.

Also, please check with these with your local small bookstore or library. Amazon can be great, but let’s lend a hand to those who need us more.

Recommended books:

“The Circus Fire,” by Stewart O’Nan - This is one my favorite books on a disaster, because the whole thing creates a very vivid image of the circus prior to the fire in Hartford in July of 1944. There’s one specific line in the book which always makes me pause because it’s so affecting, about how everyone who escaped being able to hear the sounds of the animals screaming as they died - except all of the animals were out of the tent by then.

“The Only Plane in the Sky,” by Garrett Graff - This, I highly recommend you get on audiobook. It’s an oral history of the events of 9/11 with a full cast, and it’s incredibly affecting to listen to.

“Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic,” by Jennifer Niven - Ada Blackjack was a badass: flawed and weak at times, but hardy and steady when necessary. Half of her story is how she survived, but half is how she was exploited following her rescue. Both stories need to be known.

“Alive,” by Piers Paul Read - If you’re watching “Yellowjackets,” this should be required reading. If you’ve seen the movie adaptation from the 90s, there is WAY more you don’t know. The story of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 is a tough read, but a worthy one.

“A Night to Remember,” by Walter Lord - This is to disaster nonfiction what “In Cold Blood” is to true crime. It’s not a long read, but it’s a great one. Lord had the advantage of writing the book while many of the Titanic survivors were still alive and could give a very good description of what they went through.

“Dying to Cross,” by Jorge Ramos - I recommend this not just because it is good, but because it is timely. Nineteen people died in an un-air-conditioned truck as they were attempting to make their way into the states from over the Mexican border. It’s a horrific story, and one that humanizes an issue for whom some people need to be faced with the humans involved and what they go through.

“Bath Massacre: America’s First School Bombing,” by Arnie Bernstein - Harold Schecter also wrote a very good book on the Bath school massacre called “Maniac,” but I have a preference for this version. It’s a good reminder that schools in the U.S. didn’t just become targets in the last twenty years or so.

“Into Thin Air,” by Jon Krakauer - I feel like this is a gimme, but it’s a fantastic book from someone who was actually on Mount Everest during the 1996 disaster and knew those involved very well. I happen to like Krakauer’s work anyway - I even like “Into the Wild” despite my feelings about McCandless and his legacy - but it’s understandably my favorite.

“And the Band Played On,” by Randy Shilts - The one thing I will say is that Shilts’ treatment of Gaetan Dugas is *rough* to say the least and outright wrong on some points, God knows. But it’s still an amazing book, and if you come out of it not wanting to dig up Reagan and punch him a bunch I’m impressed at your restraint.

“Triangle: The Fire That Changed America,” by David von Drehle - The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire is one of the disasters I am most interested in, and I would argue this is the definitive book on the subject. Also, if this book introduces you to both Clara Lemlich and Frances Perkins … I mean, talk about badass women.

“The Radium Girls,” by Kate Moore - Look, I’ll say this. If you know of the Radium Girls, this is a great book on their story. If you don’t know, go in blind and prepared to be horrified.

“Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine,” by Anne Applebaum - Ukraine has always been a target. During the Holodomor, they were victims of one of the worst genocides in history.

“Midnight in Chernobyl,” by Adam Higginbotham - Like the miniseries? This is a great source for more information for what happened at Chernobyl and all of the ass-covering involved.

"Boston Strong: A City's Triumph Over Tragedy," by Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge - If you’re interested in the Boston marathon bombing, I really thought this book did a good job of connecting the stories of the victims, the authorities searching for the killers, and the killers themselves.

“Show Me the Bodies: How We Let Grenfell Tower,” by Peter Apps - As I understand it, Apps did a lot of covering the Grenfell Tower fire for the British press, and it shows. He provides a mountain of information, and you will come out of reading this book absolutely LIVID about what authorities allowed to happen in Grenfell and so many other council estates in the UK.

“Dark Tide: The Great Molasses Flood of 1919,” by Stephen Puleo - I feel as though the molasses flood gets treated like a joke a lot of the time, but y’all, twenty people died. That area of Boston was *wrecked*. The photos of the devastation are terrifying. Puleo treats all of this with the proper respect it deserves.

“In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex,” by Nathaniel Philbrick - Forget the movie. Read the book.

“The Great Influenza,” by John M. Barry - Want to read about the 1918 flu epidemic? Want to be mad that a hundred years later we didn’t learn a damn thing?

Now, that’s just a start. If anyone wants, I can always post photos of my disaster book collection on Kindle and next to my recording desk. Or if there’s a specific disaster you’re interested in, I may know of a good book about it you can read.

But just remember if SAG and the directors’ guild joins the strike too - there is so much out there to occupy your time until they come back. Entertainment work is work, and it deserves to be supported financially and fairly as such. Rock on, WGA. ✊