not gonna lie i'm not liking how they're walking back everything jackie related in the last episodes. can we even still say she haunts the narrative? they establish adult shauna in the pilot of the show as someone who - after 25 years - is still haunted EVERYDAY by the best friend whose death she feels responsible for. and her entire life is essentially built on that guilt and grief. and now in season 2 we not only have no mention of jackie in modern timeline we also get the creators saying that the most profound grief shauna ever experienced is losing the wilderness baby. and i understand that it seems much of s2 is about exploring shauna's relationship with motherhood and pregnancies even if it isn't in the ways i'd like. but i think we can all agree that jackie is literally part of that complicated relationship considering who shauna has children with so it's... interesting the way jackie was erased from that narrative. unless they're planning on bringing her back into it in some way before the season ends it does read like retconning what we already know about shauna and erasing jackie in a way to establish shaunajeff. but i could be wrong depending on what happens in the next three episodes
No you’re right and SAY IT thank you for putting this into words, let me add more words that are probably just reframing your words but I’m BOTHERED lol so here I am!! Listen if you’re of the lesbian man hating variety, no Jeff isn’t likable this season however they ARE making him more likable to the average viewer this season. That’s a thing that is happening. Our flashback doesn’t have Jackie in it AND is used to establish shauna jeff AND a more like…emotional/social/beyond sex component to it. This quote to me, if you told me what happens with the baby in the wilderness and I had only seen s1 adult shauna, would sound INSANE. What do you MEAN the baby loss manifests more in her relationship with her family?? No really, what the absolute hell does that mean because s1 the impact jackie has on her family is explicit, profound, nonstop, unavoidable. S2 and shauna hasn’t seen her or discussed her once yet? That alone is a big narrative change. So maybe you’ll say yeah there’s a lot more side plots there hasn’t been time. But Jackie was woven into EVERYTHING for shauna in s1 present tl. It is a HUGE narrative change so far. It just is. More Jeff, no jackie, this push about shifting the trauma to baby related in interviews idk idk. And if it doesn’t turn around by the end of the season idk what the fucking point of Shauna’s entire s1 present tl was. So like I’m just praying it’s some miraculous bait and switch to hide some return to the narrative we got for the entire first season but it’s feeling…uh…like retcon and I’m s k e p t i c a l baby idk idk idk
it feels like they were only using SHAUNA'S ENTIRE MODERN TIMELINE CHARACTERIZATION to foreshadow 90s timeline jackie death and now that jackie already died they dropped it entirely which. quite literally makes no sense you can't do that. you cannot establish a character as someone so profoundly affected by that loss for the entire rest of her life and then just go okay well the death occurred in that other timeline so we can move on from that theme. no you can't cause you established shauna as someone who can't
I know this is just turning into us having a convo lollll but my final thought is yes YES agree and ALSO I’ve never wanted to be wrong SO BAD in my LIFE
one of the most complex and delicious choices they made with misty is that she genuinely understands what kind of attention is valuable. they crafted this character who is so desperate for love, so hungry for attention and companionship and recognition, a woman who would doom her entire team to a life in the wilds just to hear one more nice thing said about her, and then they put her in a position to grab at fame. when the team is rescued, misty would have been barraged with offers to tell her story. media appearances, interviews, book deals. people would be able to recognize her on the streets, she would have been (at the very least) a local celebrity for the rest of her life. she smiles when she sees the flash of the cameras getting off the plane; she wants to be seen, and the offer is right there in her lap.
instead, she stays silent. she stays out of the limelight, she says as little as possible, just like they all made a pact to do. can you imagine just how difficult it was for her to say no? for her to see that people would be falling over themselves just to talk to her, that she could have used what happened to make connections, make friends, be famous and lauded, sympathized with, talked to, complimented. she could have told the world how SHE was the one who saved them, who got them through the worst moments of their lives when the plane crashed.
and the price for all of that is to admit to some cannibalism? she has no shame about what happened. she eats jerky and wears heart necklaces and remembers the wilderness with open fondness. besides, she knows how to sell herself, how to spin what happened. when she pretends with jessica, she paints the perfect portrait of a victim, the perfectly sympathetic survivor wracked with guilt for what she had to do.
all of that is right there within her grasp. so why doesn't she go public? she displays absolutely zero guilt over breaking the black box, or anything else she did in the wilderness. literally the only reason she never breaks the silence is to protect her team. her friends. to honor whatever pact they made. a pact she makes in '98, when they're still together. when she thinks their lives are all so deeply entangled and their bond is so permanent and unshakeable that it would be easy to choose this family over public attention. it makes sense that she keeps quiet in the beginning.
but the team breaks up, and as far as misty knows they all go their separate ways. still, misty stays quiet. years pass and no one calls her, no one visits. so she goes on unsuccessful dates and works a job where her co-workers seem to barely tolerate her. she gives socks to gross men who still don't call and lives alone and gets a parrot who never talks to her.
she spends her adult life living with her loneliness because the people she loves asked her to, and then forgot she existed.
25 years of this deep sense of loneliness and she never wavers. never tries to tell her story or make a grab for the fame she knows she could still get when she looks at "25th anniversary" splashed over the tabloids. in a world that has grown up around her to create social media and influencers and viral posts. every single day it would have gotten easier for misty to reach out and take even a small slice of the attention she so badly wanted her whole life.
instead, she quietly follows her actual friends. she tracks weddings she's not invited to and the birth of children she'll never meet. she registers to vote for a woman who might not even know she's still alive, and decides that it's enough. that 25-year-old memories of true connection are better than acknowledgement from a million strangers. she collects all of these little details and files them neatly, an umbilical cord of connection that she is the only one supporting. like this information will be important again, relevant again. she sustains herself for twenty-five years off of the mere possibility that maybe, somehow, someday, she will be part of her team again.
and then, like finding the flashing red light of a black box while she's all alone, the universe rewards her.
thinking about how yellowjackets portrays sex & sexual situations gender & the… not unique but certainly rare way this show focuses on men versus women & I know we’re all tired of phrases like “male gaze” & “female gaze” but I think the show almost like… purposefully repurposes the male gaze from the perspective of its female characters.
jackie’s introduction pretty much is a sexual situation but it’s not a fun hot scene. it’s uncomfortable & awkward because it’s very clear jackie isn’t being pleasured. jeff just kind of looks like a tool. then later we get the sex scene between jeff & shauna & it’s different because both characters are into it but also it’s all about shauna, & the focus is mainly on her making jeff tell her that he loves her. it sort of reminds me of the scene in buffy the vampire slayer when buffy is feeling down because she just saw her most annoying ex living his best life so she demands spike tell her he loves her. it’s not a healthy situation. it’s… concerning & toxic. and even a bit manipulative & predatory to use someone that way.
and the other thing we know due to the focused shots of shauna looking at jackie is that this is not about jeff at all. he’s just the guy who happened to be between these two girls. when I first watched the show I disliked him but more & more I’m realizing… this is all about shauna & jackie. this entire relationship between shauna & jeff that turns into a marriage never has much to do with jeff himself at all. jeff is the epitome of literally just Some Guy.
anyway. I’m getting off track. I wanted to discuss jackie’s introduction versus her death. jackie being left to die because she had sex, on the surface seems like misogynistic writing. typical “female character is punished for sex” (not to harp on buffy again but..) trope. especially because the other girls are angry when they see the blood stain from her lost virginity.
but… the other girls aren’t angry at jackie because of sex. it’s because she’s “taken what didn’t belong to her.” & it’s interesting how none of the other girls care about or are invested in natalie & travis’ romance until this point. because it’s not about that. they objectify travis to the point of seeing him as literal food.
the framing of the jackie/travis sex scene is fascinating, the way it’s shot back & forth with the girls in the forest going feral. and the way in the end, travis is disoriented & confused & immediately following this the other girls begin sexual assaulting him & hunting him like an animal. like everything about travis & his arc, it’s such a subversion of the way female characters are so often treated in media.
and that brings me to travis & natalie & how they subvert gender roles. travis starts off seeming a bit sexist but the more we learn the more it’s clear he’s just an inexperienced teenager. he’s a virgin scared for his first time & he’s falling for the experienced bad girl who’s kinda scary. we literally always see that set up but with the shy inexperienced girl falling for the bad boy. even the way travis haunts the narrative & serves as part of natalie’s pain arc is reminiscent of the dead girlfriend trope. he is to natalie as jess from supernatural is to sam winchester. he’s fridged but the boy version. & that’s why he’s a babygirl to me <3
and like… we could talk all day about the pine cone in travis’ mouth & the sexual assault blood orgy scenes but let’s move on to the most functional couple of the entire show with some of the only sex scenes that actually seem like a fun sexy time where it’s just two people in love having sex
taissa & van! their conflict develops throughout the season as van is almost eaten by wolves because taissa is busy being possessed by the wood spirit & taissa’s frustration with van’s belief in something supernatural grows but… beyond that? they’re actually just super into each other. they are constantly talking about how gorgeous the other is, being all over each other, skinny dipping & doing more typically fun & romantic activities than all the other characters. & it’s 2 women
from shauna having sex with adam who ends up dead to whatever the fuck misty has going on with ben (not to mention adult! misty’s introductory scene where she manipulates a man into coming home with her by faking insecurities - or perhaps playing them up & using them, it’s unclear) it’s just totally fascinating to me the way this show subverts expectations with gender & sex
Prompts “I feel like shit.” “You look like it, too.” With Natasha x reader?
When the Walls Come Tumbling Down
Natasha Romanoff x Reader
Word Count: 1.2K
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“I feel like shit.”
Natasha commented from the sofa across the room.
You startled at her unexpected statement. Your cereal-filled spoon froze halfway to your mouth. You’d never had a one-on-one conversation with Natasha since you joined the Avengers six months ago.
Then, you noticed Clint shuffling bleary eyed towards the fridge. Your shoulders relaxed.
He yawned, rubbing his face as he regarded Natasha assessingly. You were perched at the breakfast bar, unobtrusive as usual.
Natasha was on the opposite side of the large space, feet curled beneath her on the tiny sofa.
A purpling bruise on her cheek and a split lip were the painful remnants of her last mission. She looked pale too, tired in an almost chronic way, despite the empty coffee mug next to her.
“You look like shit, too.” Clint decided at last with a lazy grin.
Natasha smirked back, obviously satisfied with his teasing response. You remembered your cereal and took another spoonful. Curiosity always burned inside you when you watched the two of them interact. You’d never had a mission with either of them before. You didn’t understand the lightness of their back and forth.
As you chewed on your breakfast, eyes roaming over Natasha’s injured face, you felt concern build inside you.
Clint gave you a friendly nod as he stacked a pile of snacks in his arms and left the room.
A steady silence returned in his wake. You were unbearably shy around Natasha as a rule. Something about her calm confidence and unreadable expression made you feel nervous.
You knew the other Avengers just thought you were quiet.
Natasha was staring absentmindedly out the large window, her coffee long since finished. You followed her gaze to the burnished yellow sun that was still new in the sky.
You watched her mouth twisted into a subtle grimace of pain as she lifted her hands to try and tie her hair back in a ponytail.
You felt certain as you watched her that her injuries were more than just a bruised cheek. The worry bubbled inside you.
Eventually, Natasha gave up, letting her hair fall back down around her shoulders in a loose curtain. She looked entirely unlike herself. Until today you’d never seen her hair out of a braid.
You slipped off your bar stool and cringed at the way it squeaked on the tiled floor. You hesitated as you put your dishes in the dishwasher. Every day usually followed the same patten. You knew Natasha was paying no attention to you, expecting you to leave the kitchen and go back to your room.
When you turned instead to the coffee machine, you felt Natasha’s eyes turn to you. The hairs on the back of your neck stood up.
—-
When you walked over to her, fresh cup of coffee in hand, it was the first time you’d ever surprised Natasha.
You handed her the mug with a wordless smile.
Natasha’s answering smile was soft but her eyes held a subtle confusion.
‘Thank you.’ She breathed, blowing automatically on the hot liquid.
Nerves fluttered inside you. You forced yourself to speak.
‘Are you really okay?’ You asked, as your worry escaped you.
For a brief moment, shock rendered Natasha silent. Her head tilted to the side as she stared at you.
You didn’t know where your bravery was coming from. A burning embarrassment began to build inside you.
Natasha’s expression softened suddenly. She hesitated and then started to speak.
‘I’m okay. Just one of those missions.’
You nodded in response, your eyes lingering automatically on the painful looking bruise. You bit your lip.Natasha watched you silently.
‘Can I help with your hair?’ You asked at last, in another worried burst that you couldn’t seem to control.
A slight flush caught Natasha’s cheeks. Something like shame flickered in her eyes, gone a moment later.
Your breath caught. She was more human than you’d realised. More beautiful too.
You nodded again, moving to stand behind the tiny sofa. You lifted her hair tie from the side table and slid it over your wrist.
You felt Natasha’s body freeze at your first hesitant touch.
You knew she was expecting you to tie her hair back in a quick ponytail. Instead, hardly daring to breathe, you tried something different.
Natasha breath hitched when she realised what you were attempting.
You started carefully, twisting pieces of hair together.
‘You don’t have to braid it.’ Natasha whispered after a moment, her quiet voice burning with a sudden rawness. You found yourself wishing that you could see her face.
‘You like it braided.’ You answered simply.
Natasha held herself impossibly still as you tried your best to replicate her usual braid. You noticed the light goosebumps raised on her skin.
Eventually, you tied the last piece, your fingers lightly brushing against her neck.
You moved back around the sofa to face her.
You weren’t sure if it was the flushed cheeks or your imperfect braid that made Natasha look so young. Her gaze searched yours, her eyes vulnerable.
‘It’s not very good.’ You apologised quietly.
Natasha shook her head.
‘It’s good.’ She countered simply. There were scars on the back of her hand. You wondered how you’d never noticed before.
Natasha nodded to the space next to her on the sofa. She smiled suddenly, a flash of her usual cool confidence.
‘Do you want to watch some TV?’
You nodded, feeling a warm rush at the familiarity of her tone. A barrier had fallen between you.
As you settled on the sofa, Natasha switched on the TV. The daytime show was familiar, often playing in the background of the room.
Natasha touched the end of her braid as she watched. Her gaze stayed on the show, a picture of relaxed attention.
You couldn’t say the same for yourself. Her light joke to Clint played in your head. The bruises, the scars, the pained movements.
After a few minutes, another question fell from your lips.
‘Was it scary?’ You asked suddenly.
You watched Natasha freeze momentarily, a difficult emotion filling her eyes. You watched her blink the feeling away. She didn’t reply.
You turned your gaze back to the television, stomach twisting for what she didn’t share.
Eventually, you settled back against the sofa cushions, finally beginning to relax in her presence. Natasha sipped the last of her coffee.
Your usual shared silence returned.
You hoped you hadn’t ruined everything with one question.
The show ended and another began.
‘It was.’ Natasha murmured unexpectedly. Your head turned towards her.
‘It was scary.’ She whispered into the air.
This was not Natasha. Not the person everyone else saw. This was someone else. You saw her entirely for the first time.
Unspoken sympathy filled your answering gaze.
You took her scarred hand in yours and rested it on your lap.
here’s an edit bc my bechloe hyperfixation has re-emerged from the tomb it was buried in bc of the sendrick kiss… if ur on bechloe tik tok come say hi! :)
stormborns
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
areudirty
vaporwave
