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If you're an adult Yellowjackets fan who also happens to like Melissa, I own a YJ 18+ discord server, and you're welcome to join!

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Check out the The Hat House 🐝🧢🔞 community on Discord – hang out with 75 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.

(ps: if you use an apple phone, you need to join on pc because the server got flagged as nsfw)

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Since I mentioned Shauna making Nat butcher Ben in my previous post, I wanted to elaborate more on that. This is yet another time Shauna has been called cruel (which, yes, she was), but it held deeper meaning than just being cruel for cruelty's sake.

Let's recontextualize the scene. Shauna had just been made leader, and everyone is upset at Nat and expects her to be punished. So Shauna is the one who has to find a punishment for killing Ben. And to Shauna, there is no worse punishment than being forced to walk into her shoes: being the butcher.

Yes it is cruel, but it's also a punishment that fits the crime. Something that will satisfy everyone mad at Nat and prevent a far worse punishment (like death). Just like when Shauna suggested Nat should be the one shooting Ben, she wants Nat to experience what she went through. Having to butcher Javi, someone Shauna cared about, parallels Nat now having to butcher Ben, whom she bonded with. In a twisted way, Shauna wants Nat to understand and connect with her trauma, by making her go through the same. And I do think Nat's refusal to be the one expected to execute Ben since she was the hunter is partially why Shauna made her butcher Ben. Because when it came to butcher Javi, she wasn't allowed to refuse and instead ask for a draw. It's vindicative but also coming from a place of hurt, and wanting Nat to know how she felt.

But, even if it was cruel, Shauna wasn't unsympathetic to Nat. When Nat asked to butcher Ben, Shauna stayed with her and guided her, providing assistance and even a trick to make it easier by covering Ben's face, similar to how she had to cover her eyes while butchering Javi.

That's the thing with Shauna. She can be both cruel and empathetic. But due to her trauma, she forces herself to swallow back her sympathy for others and over-exaggerate her cruel side, to protect herself. As I said in an earlier post, she isn't " cartoonishly evil", she is "performatively evil". See the contrast between the scene where she said Nat will "prepare the feast" compared to when she helps Nat butcher Ben. Around others, she looked gleeful about it, but alone with Nat, she was impassive, but judging by her demeanour, sympathetic to Nar. She just can't show it.

And I do think it made them connect more, by now sharing a similar trauma and knowing how it feels to have to butcher someone you cared about. Hence why, as adults, Nat decided to help Shauna butcher Adam's corpse, because she can now relate to Shauna and how awful it is to do.

So, yeah. It WAS cruel, but came from a place of hurt and a desire to be understood in her trauma by someone who previously refused to share the same burden. And in the end, Nat did come to understand Shauna better, as we saw in the adult tl. So, 1 point in favour of shaunanat!

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People love to say Shauna was cruel to suggest Nat, but... is she wrong to suggest that the hunter should be the one to shoot Ben? Sure, shooting a human is different from shooting animals, but also... so does butchering animals compared to humans, and yet Shauna was expected to butcher Javi's corpse because she was the butcher. Sure, she chose that role, but under the assumption she'd only butcher animal corpses, not humans. So it is fair for her to expect that Nat, who chose to shoot animals, should be required to shoot a human if needed.

And yet Nat decides that it should be a draw, and she added "just like with everything else". This must have stung for Shauna, because she knows it's not true. There was no draw for who had to kill Nat after she drew the queen, or to butcher Javi. Shauna was instantly expected to do it because she was the butcher, but the same expectation was never extended to Nat being the hunter.

That's why Shauna looks so happy when she didn't draw the king, because she knew that for once, it wouldn't be her who would do the dirty work. Someone else will know how she felt.

That explains a lot of Shauna's growing resentment towards Nat, because even if Nat doesn't realize it, it was hypocritical to request a draw and claim this is what they always do. And Shauna is aware of that. Of course, it would have been traumatizing to make Nat do it, given what happened with Nat's father. But that was also traumatizing for Shauna to have to butcher Javi, a child, right after she lost her baby. So I think Shauna wanted Nat to understand what she had to go through, and making her butcher Ben in a later episode was essentially that.

But for this episode specifically, even when it was time to maim Ben (which was a group decision, btw, Nat sanctioned it), Shauna is the one expected to do it. I doubt there was a draw. Shauna is always expected to do the dirty work nobody else wants to do. So it must have been satisfying for her to make Melissa do it instead, and why she was so annoyed at Nat lecturing her for "enjoying" it. Because they expect Shauna to do all that brutal stuff others don't want to do, and not consider how it affected her. Then shame her for being mentally scarred.

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ShaunaHat Scene Analysis: s3ep5, part 1

(for the shaunahat scene analysis masterpost, click here)

Before going to the major shaunahat scenes in this episode, there is a brief yet important moment between Shauna and Melissa I’d also like to analyse first. It’s when the group are discussing what they will do with Coach Scott, given he was voted as guilty in the previous episode. They have to decide on his sentence. More specifically, how they will execute him.

Then Shauna proposes death by burning, given how he was accused of burning down the cabin. Mari compared this to the witches who were burned at the stake, while Nat objects to the suggestion, calling it torture due to being a very painful way to die.

But then, Melissa chimed in, quickly agreeing with Shauna as soon as she was facing pushback. She claims Shauna’s idea is fair because it’s what Ben would have wanted for them, when he allegedly burned down the cabin. I can’t tell if this is how Melissa truly feels or if she’s just willing to say and agree with anything if it means Shauna would notice her. It’s worth noting that Melissa only said that once Nat rejected Shauna’s idea, then immediately looked at Shauna afterward. So it’s fair to assume this statement was mostly done to show support to Shauna rather than how Melissa truly felt. But at the same time, it is very telling that she’s willing to condone burning a man to death simply to increase her chances of getting with her crush. 

Right at the same time that Melissa is looking at Shauna, Shauna also looks at her. Melissa softly smiled at her, then looked away, maybe she got shy when she realized Shauna was looking at her, or maybe because Shauna didn’t smile back, so she got nervous. Unlike their last interaction post-trial, they aren’t in that same thrill anymore. Melissa isn’t as bold here, and Shauna is back to being distant.

Shauna’s expression isn’t super clear to me, but I don’t think she was “annoyed”, I’d say she looks more perplexed. I think Shauna might have been put off by Melissa’s enthusiasm and how easily she agrees with her. I think part of Shauna is still in disbelief that someone might actually like her. Shauna struggles with a lot of guilt and self-loathing, so the idea that someone might actually like her despite how “unlikable” she feels she has become within the group might be jarring for her. And with her growing paranoia, I can see her starting to be a bit suspicious of Melissa’s intentions, and being uncertain if she is truthful about her feelings for her or simply deceiving her. 

Then, once Shauna focused her attention back on Natalie, Melissa is seen staring at her when she isn’t looking. I think Melissa is also perplexed here, because of Shauna’s apparent coldness. Shauna didn’t reciprocate the same way she did, after the trial. After they shared that handholding, Melissa probably assumed they were getting closer, only for Shauna to go back to looking indifferent to her. She was hopeful, but now she’s back to being unsure of where she stands with Shauna, which worries her. She might be thinking of what she should do next to get back in Shauna’s good graces. This is something we will see later in the same episode, which I will elaborate on in a future scene analysis.

As I said, this was a brief moment where they essentially only exchanged a glance, but it carried a lot of meaning regarding their relationship and individual characters. For Melissa, she is putting her own interest over the well-being of another person (here Ben) for the sake of furthering her relationship with Shauna. And this isn’t the first time she prioritizes her feelings for Shauna over other people. She did so when she insulted Mari behind her back, stepped on Akilah’s gift for Shauna, and pressured Gen to vote guilty. But this time, there is an escalation, where it isn’t just causing harm to someone, but going as far as condoning killing someone (by burning him alive, no less). This is a continuation of the darker turn her crush for Shauna took during the trial, and this is only the beginning. It will get even darker later.

As for Shauna, this short moment showcases that even though she has started to open up to Melissa, she still doesn't fully trust her, due to her own insecurities and self-loathing. Even after everything Melissa has done for her so far, it is still not enough for her to earn Shauna’s truth. And it’s both because of Shauna’s low self-esteem and her growing paranoid tendencies. Melissa will have to prove to her that her feelings are sincere and that she is loyal to her. Which will happen later in this episode and I’ll elaborate on that once I reach those scenes specifically.

(If you are interested in more of my commentary on this ship, feel free to check out my extensive shaunahat analysis.)

[rickyriddle]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Yellowjackets (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Melissa/Shauna Shipman, Gen & Melissa (Yellowjackets), Jeff Sadecki/Shauna Shipman Characters: Melissa (Yellowjackets), Shauna Shipman, Gen (Yellowjackets) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Teen Timeline (Yellowjackets), Post-Rescue from Wilderness (Yellowjackets), Love Triangles, Jealousy, Unhealthy Relationships, Cheating, Period-Typical Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Drunk Sex, Dubious Consent, Vaginal Fingering, Cunnilingus, Gen lives, Angry Sex, Hate Sex Summary:

Melissa is with Gen now. Or rather, she wished to be. Turns out that Shauna doesn't take it well and decides to come back into her life, despite being with Jeff now. This gives Melissa some hope, but also makes everything so much more complicated for her.

or

Shauna/Melissa/Gen love triangle, post-rescue, in a "Gen lives" AU.

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ShaunaHat Scene Analysis: s3ep4, part 3

(for the shaunahat scene analysis masterpost, click here)

The trial of Coach Scott ended with a guilty verdict for Ben, much to Shauna’s satisfaction, as well as Melissa’s. Once the trial is over, Melissa is quick to go talk to Shauna. Since she did contribute in pushing for a guilty verdict (by pressuring Gen to vote guilty), she must have felt emboldened. This is different from how Melissa used to approach Shauna, all shy and hesitant. Just like Shauna, she’s on the high of what she perceived as a “victory”, and also hopes that this will benefit her in her pursuit of a relationship with her now that Shauna got what she wanted. She gets very close to Shauna for a moment during that scene, then steps back a little, because even if Melissa is more daring now, she is still dealing with Shauna. She still has to tread carefully even if she’s more forthcoming.

Then she tells Shauna “this is what I'm talking about. Look at what you just did. Do you feel that right now?” which I believe is in reference to what Melissa previously told Shauna in ep2, about how she was “resilient” and how important it was out there. Melissa views Shauna’s resilience as power, and she is pointing out to Shauna the impact she had while also letting her know that she always believed in her. Shauna looks around when Melissa says that, like she isn’t really sure what Melissa meant, until she makes it clear with her next line: “That’s fucking power!”

Melissa has such an intensity when she says that, and I’d even say she was unhinged in her delivery. And this was intentional on Jenna’s part to play it that way. The whole “crazy eyes” was on purpose, and as mentioned in the previous scene analysis, the trial was Melissa’s “stage” and she was putting on a performance to impress Shauna. And now that it is over, she is showing her that she can match her freak and won’t be “boring”. There’s also excitement in her voice, because as we know, she is very much attracted to Shauna, even more so when she views her as powerful. But there’s also the fact Melissa also feels that power, and I do think she wants to share it with Shauna.

Shauna does feel it. The power. She feels like she did influence the outcome of the trial, and successfully got what she wanted. She had power over the others, and over Ben’s life. Shauna always lamented that Nat was chosen as the leader instead of her, so she must feel vindicated, especially given how much Nat tried to protect Ben. Not only did she get revenge against Ben for abandoning her, I could see her also feeling like she won against Nat. This is the first time in a long time that things go her way, and that makes her feel powerful. She’s on a powertrip, and I do think she is conscious that Melissa helped her get there, and is starting to warm up to the idea of having her as an ally, and see the benefit of having her support.

And then they shared a rather intimate hand-holding. I think Shauna did this in the spur of the moment, she’s still feeling that rush and part of her is grateful to Melissa for this. So in a way, it is a reward. A little crumb of affection she’s giving her, to ensure her loyalty. The hand-holding is brief though, and Shauna doesn’t try to go further than that. And I think it’s because Melissa hasn’t fully earned her trust yet. But for now, at least, Shauna is willing to give a little treat. And even smiled while doing so!

As for Melissa, she looks surprised by the sudden handholding at first, but once she processes it she looks absolutely thrilled. She is finally getting some sort of acknowledgement. Handholding might not seem like a lot but to Melissa, this is intimate enough to give her some hope of a potential relationship between them. And after how invested she was in the trial for Shauna’s sake, this makes all her efforts worth it. This is basically adding fuel to the fire that is her crush on Shauna and making her feel validated in her pursuit. The handholding remained brief and they both parted ways afterward, and I’m sure Melissa remained extremely giddy for a while after that.

(Also yes, Lottie’s reaction in the background, haha funny meme. I do think she’s just taken aback because she has been trying to get closer to Shauna for a while, only to realize someone else did and it ended up being Melissa of all people. I don’t view it as jealousy, maybe a bit of envy but mostly, she just did not see it coming. And she’s just surprised to see Shauna seemed to have opened up to someone, in my opinion. Anyway, back to shaunahat!)

This scene really cemented shaunahat taking a darker turn, showing the more enabling nature of it. This is a good example of how it is mutually toxic, where Melissa is enabling Shauna’s worse impulses, while Shauna is rewarding Melissa’s more violent tendencies. It is important to remember that Melissa is also toxic in this relationship, where she validates Shauna’s more aggressive behaviors, both because of her crush on her but also for her own benefit. I like to view this relationship as “enabler x corrupter”, and this scene showcases this. And it will be further shown in a later scene in the next episode.

(ps: there might be some symbolism/foreshadowing with the feather on Melissa's clothes, but I'll touch on that more in a later episode)

(If you are interested in more of my commentary on this ship, feel free to check out my extensive shaunahat analysis.)

[mikeyyyssgf]

when mel told nat to shut the fuck up... OOO bitch who you feeling like?? shauna was right when she said nobody gave a shit about her until she was with shauna. like mel always was and still is NOTHING. dont diss nat ever again irrelevant hoe

its ok when shauna does it bc shes hot and actually relevant

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"Shauna was right when she was abusive to her gf" really wild claim to make over not liking a character. That's be like saying Lottie was right to assault Travis.

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my YJ sexuality hc (+ canon ones)

not featured: Jackie (lesbian) and Laura Lee (sapphic)

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may I interest you in my ace Lottie hc?

There was a time when I felt like I was the only one seeing Lottie as asexual. But now I'm seeing more and more people awakening to the ace Lottie hc. Finally, more people need to see the vision! Lottie is the most asexual Yellowjackets character that has ever asexual'd! AMEN!

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My latest attempt at drawing Melissa Hat after months. Yes I gave her the trial outfit because it's one of my favorites (+ the hat because duh, she can't see without her hat).

Full-body version and paper version, too.

[rickyriddle]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Yellowjackets (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Melissa/Shauna Shipman Characters: Melissa (Yellowjackets), Shauna Shipman Additional Tags: Cunnilingus, Biting, Bruises, Unhealthy Relationships, Dubious Consent, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Porn Magazines, Teasing, POV Alternating, Canon Compliant, Hair-pulling, Verbal Degradation Series: Part 9 of shaunahat fics Summary:

Melissa always dreamed of eating a girl out. Shauna isn't so enthusiastic at first, until she changes her mind thanks to some porn magazines. or First time Melissa goes down on Shauna.

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ShaunaHat Scenes Analysis Masterpost

A while ago, I wrote a 20k shaunahat analysis (which you can read here). I still stand by what I said in it, but given the length, I always wanted to split the analysis into "parts" to make it more accessible. But since it's been a while and I know I can go deeper, I decided to review all their scenes and re-analyze them individually. So here's a compilation post I'll be editing as I go through their scenes!

s3ep1

s3ep1, part 1

s3ep1, part 2

s3ep2

s3ep2, part 1

s3ep2, part 2

s3ep3

s3ep3, part 1

s3ep3, part 2

s3ep4

s3ep4, part 1

s3ep4, part 2

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ShaunaHat Scene Analysis: s3ep4, part 2

(for the shaunahat scene analysis masterpost, click here)

For this scene analysis, I’ll be considering the whole trial as one scene. Everything that happened post-trial will get its own separate analysis. There isn’t really any direct interaction between Shauna and Melissa during the trial, but we do see Melissa react a lot to what Shauna says and does, so this is what this analysis will be focusing on.

First detail I’d like to point out is that Melissa sat close to Shauna. Assuming everyone chose where to sit during the trial, then it means Melissa purposefully sat near Shauna. Other interesting detail is that Gen is sitting next to Melissa, so Melissa is quite literally between Gen and Shauna. This is a good visual of where Melissa is, where she is currently stuck between her friendship with Gen and her blooming relationship with Shauna, and how she will ultimately choose Shauna over Gen.

Not necessarily shaunahat-related, but when Misty made the “assumption” joke, Melissa is one of the people not laughing. She even looked confused and annoyed by the joke. Given that Misty is Ben’s lawyer, and Melissa knows how much Shauna wants Ben to be judged guilty, it makes sense that she would not want to entertain anything coming from Misty. It isn’t the first time Melissa has been seen not laughing at a joke when it comes to Shauna. That, or she did not get the jokes. Which could also be on brand for her.

Melissa is also seen to be visibly smug when Misty is losing an argument to Taissa (the prosecution), showing how invested she is in seeing Ben get a guilty verdict. And that’s primarily because she knows that’s what Shauna wants. She probably hopes that if Ben is judged guilty, it will benefit her relationship with Shauna.

Then, once Shauna takes the stand, Melissa is seen visibly more focused, or as we say online, she “locked in”. Shauna is her main concern in this trial, after all.

Then, once Misty started being more pushy while questioning Shauna, Melissa suddenly stood up, and then looked upset. She was clearly mad at the way Misty was talking to Shauna.

Then she looked on edge (even fidgeting in the background) when Shauna got questioned by Taissa next, and had to talk about and re-live her trauma regarding her pregnancy and giving birth. When Taissa continues to push the narrative that Ben is a bad person for abandoning Shauna when she was in labour, Melissa is seen nodding in agreement. We know Melissa has a lot of sympathy for what Shauna went through, so she must have felt bad for Shauna at that moment.

 Then, once the public opinion is more in favor of Ben being guilty and they are taking a break from the trial, Melissa is seen to be satisfied. She knows that if Ben is voted guilty, it will please Shauna. And a pleased Shauna is good for her. So, despite Melissa having genuine empathy for Shauna, she is also thinking about herself and how the trial can benefit her. She probably hopes she might get to kiss Shauna again if she’s satisfied with the trial’s verdict.

When Misty started pointing out how everyone had motives to have burned down the cabin, using their belief in the wilderness, she also mentioned Melissa, saying that she could go “either way” (about her faith in the wilderness). It is true that Melissa has rarely ever shown interest in the wilderness cult, especially during season 2, where she only participated in a prayer circle twice. Misty is implying that Melissa could either be a believer or a non-believer, but the way she phrased it almost sounds like a joke about her sexuality. I think most of them are probably aware that Melissa is a lesbian, that might be an unspoken fact that they joke about with or without her knowledge (it was the 90s, after all). So it wouldn’t be surprising that Misty slid in a gay joke in that statement. Because the way she phrased it sounds really close to “going both ways”, usually an euphemism for bisexuality. Which goes to show that Misty’s gaydar isn’t the best (she didn’t figure out on her own that Ben was gay, so).

I’m not sure if Melissa viewed it this way, but she did get mad at the implication that she might have burned down the cabin and even lashed out at Misty. Other interesting detail, both Gen and Shauna are seen looking at her when she had her outburst.

Then when things started to go in favor of Ben, Melissa was visibly upset about it. Once again, because she doesn’t want him to have a non-guilty verdict.

She is seen discussing with the others once they take another short break, which she didn’t do the last time, probably because things weren’t in favor of Ben back then. Now she has more incentive to go discuss with the others, potentially to try pushing for and arguing in favor of a guilty verdict.

During said break, Shauna shared with Taissa that according to Misty, Nat knew that Ben was still alive and was protecting him. This is something Taissa uses once they are back on trial, putting Nat on the stand (despite her being the judge), and exposing the truth. Shauna used that opportunity to accuse Nat of endangering them, and Melissa is quick to agree with Shauna, like the good little simp she is. It does seem like Gen is disagreeing with her, given that at that point, she was still loyal to Nat. Unrelated, but I love how Robin always looks on the verge of crying.

Ben is next to be called on the stand, his last chance to appeal for his innocence. When he does his speech, most characters are shown to be moved by it (except obviously Shauna), but Melissa is also shown to be impassive to what he says. It’s unclear if she genuinely didn’t feel moved by his words or if she forced herself to remain stoic because she wanted to stay on Shauna’s side. Her priority was Shauna, so it is possible that it made her unable to empathize with Ben, because she was so concerned with how Shauna felt. We do see her glance at Shauna from time to time, probably to check how Shauna is reacting so she knows how she should react, too.

This is even more apparent when Ben directly apologized to Shauna for his inaction when she was in labour. While yes, most of them did glance at Shauna at first, they focused back on Ben, while Melissa stared at Shauna the entire time. I do believe she wanted to gauge how Shauna would react to said apology, to see if Shauna was moved by it or if she was still mad at Ben. Melissa needed to be sure in order to remain on Shauna’s side, meaning voting for whatever Shauna was going to vote for.

Then the vote happened. Shauna voted guilty as expected, and Melissa is quick to raise her hand, too. She is eager to show to Shauna that she is on her side.

She also nudged at Gen and tried to pressure her to vote guilty, too. Let it be reminded that Gen is unaware of Melissa’s crush on Shauna by that time, so this must have been extremely confusing for her. Since they didn’t manage to reach a majority, Nat kept making them vote and vote again, until someone changed their mind. I'd like to point out that Melissa does look bothered at the people voting not guilty, as well as annoyed at Nat for making them vote so often. Most likely because to her, they are getting in the way of achieving her goal. Which is, get Shauna what she wanted.

Shauna started to lose patience and tried to convince people to vote guilty. This time, Melissa and Shauna are successful in intimidating Gen into voting guilty, which the latter seemed to feel bad about it.

Then, Lottie also decided to change her vote, leading Travis and Akilah to do the same, securing a majority for a guilty verdict. Seeing how satisfied Shauna was with that result, Melissa is also visibly happy, pleased to see that she contributed to getting Shauna what she wanted. And possibly hopefully she’d get something out of it, too.

Melissa’s behavior during the trial is showing how far she is willing to go in order to gain Shauna’s approval and how insidious her crush on her can get as she's making more questionable choices because of it. I don’t think she truly had a strong belief about Ben’s culpability, but she chose to prioritize her desire for Shauna at the expense of Ben’s well-being. She also prioritized her crush on Shauna over her friendship with Gen, completely disregarding how she felt in order to push her into voting guilty. It shows that Melissa is someone who will ignore her morals and the well-being of others for her own benefit. I don’t think it is out of genuine malice, thought. As we said, love can make you blind, and in the case of Melissa, it’s like she has blinders on and can only see Shauna. Now that Shauna has given her even just a crumb of affection, Melissa is willing to risk it all to get with Shauna. The trial also showed how Melissa is both motivated by genuine sympathy for what Shauna went through, but also her own interest, which is, gaining Shauna’s approval, and hopefully getting into a relationship with her.

And it does seem to also be Jenna Burgess’s opinion, as she said in an interview that the trial was basically Melissa’s “stage” and she was putting on a performance to impress Shauna. To show her that she wasn’t going to be “boring” and can match her freak, so to say. And despite not having many lines during the trial itself, I’d say Jenna did a good job at conveying this with her body language, with little actions she was doing in the background. Love or hate Melissa, you can’t deny that Jenna wasn’t giving her 100% in her performance.

I’ll keep the “after trial” moment between Shauna and Melissa as its own scene analysis! Oh, and before I end, I just want to point out how absolutely horny Melissa was about Shauna acting aggressive and assertive.

(If you are interested in more of my commentary on this ship, feel free to check out my extensive shaunahat analysis.)

[rickyriddle]

ShaunaHat Scene Analysis: s3ep4, part 1

(for the shaunahat scene analysis masterpost, click here)

Alright, this scene analysis will also be relatively short. Let’s call it the “pre-trial” scene. The episode begins with the group on their way back to the village after capturing Ben. If you look closely, we can see Melissa turning around to take a look at Shauna, probably still worried about her after she was intoxicated by the cave gas. Once again, showing how Melissa genuinely cares about Shauna and is concerned for her well-being.

Then later, once they reach the village, Shauna instantly wants to punish Ben for supposedly trying to kill them. Nat, who secretly protected Ben by pretending that he was dead, is quick to oppose that. Then Lottie chimed in, claiming that life or death is for “It” (the Wilderness) to decide. 

Melissa is quick to object to Lottie’s claim, and repeats Shauna’s claim about Ben trying to kill them. Which in return, Shauna agreed with her too. I don’t think Melissa particularly cared about what they did to Ben, but since she saw how hell-bent Shauna was about punishing him, she felt compelled to agree with her. And even express it and make it clear where she stands, so Shauna has no doubt that she is on her side. And I bet Melissa must have felt satisfied to see Shauna agree with her afterward.

Another interesting detail, after Melissa said that, it zoomed on Gen behind her. As you may recall, Gen is not aware of Melissa’s crush on Shauna at that point. So Melissa’s sudden outburst must have been confusing to her. Melissa, who is usually more of a wallflower, isn’t the type to express her opinion like that, especially not this assertively. I don’t think Gen necessarily made the connection with Shauna, but if so, it might have been odd for her to see her best friend be on the same wavelength as Shauna. Especially since Gen isn’t particularly fond of Shauna.

Then the scene ended with Nat proposing a trial, which I’ll be analyzing for the next scene analysis. This was an extremely short scene analysis, but also very important for what’s to come next. We see Melissa’s devotion to Shauna becoming more aggressive, even enabling Shauna’s more violent tendencies. And also, how eager she is to show her loyalty to Shauna. And with Shauna actually acknowledging her point and agreeing with her, I think this did influence how adamant Melissa was in her support for Shauna during the trial. But that’s going to be for the next scene analysis for this episode, which, hopefully, should be longer than the last two scene analysis I did. 

(If you are interested in more of my commentary on this ship, feel free to check out my extensive shaunahat analysis.)

[rickyriddle]

ShaunaHat Scene Analysis: s3ep3, part 2

(for the shaunahat scene analysis masterpost, click here)

So, technically, there isn’t another proper shaunahat scene in this episode, but there are still some minor interactions between these two throughout the rest of the episode. So let’s just say that the whole “let’s go find Coach Scott” sequence counts as a scene.

Once Mari comes back to camp, Shauna is quick to be suspicious about her previous whereabouts. Shauna doesn’t seem particularly happy that Mari came back safe and sound. And it seems like it’s the case for Melissa, too. She is also acting suspiciously of Mari. I do think it’s possible she’s acting this way to support Shauna, it wouldn’t be the first time Melissa expressed dislikes for Mari to seek Shauna’s approval. But also, it is possible that Melissa is simply annoyed that Mari’s return interrupted her moment with Shauna. She definitely put a lot of effort into finally talking to Shauna again after their kiss, and it was going well, until they were interrupted.

Also, interesting detail, but when Mari made a joke at the expense of Shauna (about fucking her dad), Melissa is seemingly the only one not laughing or being amused. I don’t think she would have found a joke targeted at Shauna funny, or wanted Shauna to see her laugh about it. Or she just didn’t get the joke. I could see that too.

Also, there was apparently a deleted scene where Shauna asked who would join her on her search for Ben, and Melissa quickly raised her hands. I do think it’s a shame it didn’t make the final cut because that does sound funny. Though it might have been deleted because it would have made Melissa’s crush on Shauna too obvious to the others, or to keep her more intense display of devotion for the next episodes. Let’s just say, this wouldn’t have been the first time Melissa frantically raised her hand because Shauna asked to.

When they are about to enter the cave, there is a shot where we can see Melissa staring at Shauna, perhaps with concern. They are about to go find and confront someone they believe has tried to kill them, so it’s reasonable to be worried. That and the weird screams they heard once again coming from the woods (which they do not know are actually coming from frogs mating).

Fast forward a little, and we have Shauna, Van and Akilah all falling victim to a toxic gas and having weird nightmares while being intoxicated. When they got rescued from the gas, Melissa was actually standing near Shauna, staring at her with worry. We can’t really see it in the episode itself with the way it was shot and cut, but we can clearly see it in certain official stills. Once again, I wish they’d have shown it clearly in the episode itself, because it showed how much Melissa genuinely cared about Shauna and her well-being.

This was definitely a short scene analysis, but interesting and relevant to their dynamic nonetheless, mostly from Melissa’s side. We see the early signs of her devotion to Shauna, and that her feelings for her are genuine. I’m specifying this because I’ve seen some people claim that Melissa’s crush on Shauna wasn’t sincere, and it was all a ruse to get on her good side and gain more power. Which doesn’t make sense, and this scene alone proves it by showing Melissa being worried and concerned for Shauna even when the latter can’t see it when she is unconscious from the gas. 

(If you are interested in more of my commentary on this ship, feel free to check out my extensive shaunahat analysis.)

[arsonistsfirefly]

:)

[rickyriddle]