I’m still thinking about Mari and her role as the cook. We saw how desperate Nat would get when there was no game, but watching Mari stir a pot of water and boiled belt… Did she cry when she scoured their cabin in search of anything she could find to feed her friends? And how this would’ve contributed to her willingness to offer herself up during the hunt in s3.
Between Shauna, Nat and Mari, the three yjs that had the most contact with food, it’s interesting to think of the impact this relationship must have had on them. Nat’s blind drive to find help, so much so that she wrote off “girl drama” that resulted in death (Mari vs Shauna); Shauna internalizing all her self-hate and the trauma of having to butcher her friends; and Mari who kind of walked this middle ground: she was desperate enough to offer herself up to protect the others but not so much so that she lost herself completely. She was still bubbly and bitchy to the bitter end </3
i am never not thinking about mari these days. as much as it pains me to admit it, pit girl had to be her because narratively she is the only non-confirmed survivor matching the description who would’ve made an impact. AND SHE WAS THE COOK. she was the cook!!! she scavenged around that dirty fucking cabin to find them food, to provide in the only way she could. maybe her job was lower stakes but she provided nonetheless. she did her best. her role has always been keeping them fed and it’s only right that she did it one last time.
thinking about precrash mari hours. Mari who never expected to get pulled from the jv team to play varsity and suddenly playing with these insanely cool talented girls with their own rhythm and team dynamic completely unknown to her. Mari having no close friends but falling to the role of a class clown easily because quips always rested hot under her skin and in a small town like Wiskayok it’s better to make everyone laugh than to be laughed at. Mari who floated from lunch table to lunch table, finding Lottie alone in classrooms, sliding awkwardly next to Jackie and getting shot daggers by Shauna, pulling up with the jv team but no longer knowing all the inside jokes from practice. Mari who was an outsider too. Mari who was lonely, who never joined any clubs or student government or never excelled academically but who always had soccer. And for her that was enough.
What do you think about the scalping discourse? I personally think fandom made a plot point up to get mad at, because why tf would any of them know how to scalp someone, and also why would 'bring me her hair' make anyone automatically think 'oh she means scalp her!' People are genuinely getting so worked up about this, but am I crazy? It didn't actually happen right? I feel like I'm being mass gaslit into believing this happened on the show when it straight up didn't
I think you need to be careful here.
I'm not native, I'm not even american, so I personally haven't commented on this at all. I don't like to wade into discussions on things I don't understand. Instead I've been listening to people who know more than me's opinions and reading up on the history that informs their negative reactions to it to try and come to a conclusion.
Even then, if someone with native ancestry is telling you that Shauna saying "bring me her hair" made them uncomfortable, you don't necessarily have to even understand it in great depth to be able to empathise with them. Scalping, as far as I understand it, was historically about taking the body part (in this case a scalp) of a fallen enemy to wear as a trophy. So yes, even if it was "just" Mari's hair, it is clearly similar. I'm not going to elaborate further on that point as like I said I'm not the most knowledgeable.
We need to be careful that we actually properly read and understand the criticism we're reacting to, because I think it's possible you've taken what's been said too literally and not investigated further. I'm not interested in trying to lecture anyone, believe me, but you did ask my opinion and here it is. I hope you know I'm not trying to demonise or accuse you, but I am encouraging you to approach this with a bit more compassion perhaps.
I am native american and the major issues are that:
1) Mari is not native american
2) Scalping does mean removal of the scalp, it’s in the word. Scalping was often done when someone was still alive. Haircuts are not scalping. Wearing a dead girl’s hair is strange, but that has nothing to do with native americans.
3)I’m a lesbian native american who enjoys yellowjackets for all the unhinged lesbian antics. I was enjoying the finale but as soon as I came on social media non-natives were bringing up native american genocide and atrocities that members of my family and family tree actually went through, and it killed my mood. They were just using it as a gotcha against the writers.
5) What bothers me is how native americans got brought up into this, it seems like people saw a girl with black hair in a pale dress running though the snowy woods and thought “she looks like Pocahontas or Native American” based on subconsciously stereotypes. And then spun themselves a story about how this was therefore a hate crime against native americans.
6) Native Americans are real and we exist in the present and we have tribal nations. It’s not some great great ancestor situation or based on vibes. Mari and actor playing Mari are not from a native american tribe, they do not have a tribal id, and they have never claimed to be native american.
the funniest part about shauna calling melissa boring after she tried to kill her. is the fact that it implies shauna doesnt care if melissa kills her, shes just pissed that she couldn't go through with it. okay shauna shipman you gaywad. wdym you want your ex to kill you while having you pinned to the floor. gayest shit i've heard all day.
Y/n and Mari don’t get along at all. Where is Mari? Y/n doesn’t actually care. She’s in the cabin? Great, she’d rather die. Stuck with dinner duty, Y/n passed time staring at the ceiling— it’s when Akilah sends her on a walk for frozen herbs that she gets stuck in a surprise blizzard, that Y/n realizes she might actually feel more for Mari than she thought.
It’s freezing cold. Misty was being an asshole, mostly because she never wanted to empty the shit bucket. It was nearly night time, which meant dinner. Travis was off sulking over Nat not wanting to get down with him, at least that’s what Y/n assumed. Everyone else was off at their assigned chores, whatever card they’d drawn this morning from Van’s shuffle.
Y/n was sitting in one of the chairs inside the cabin, while waiting for it to be late enough to start food. She’d pulled the ‘help Mari with dinner’ card. It was really the ‘make dinner’ card, but everyone knew Mari was always the one stirring the pot— literally and figuratively, so regardless if she got the card or not she’d be there.
Y/n looks at the ceiling. It was boring, really. The same thing every day all day. Chores, food, cry, sleep. Chores, food, talk, sleep. Nothing else. The cabin was empty. Where was Mari? Mari was— actually, Y/n doesn’t fucking care. The door opens quietly, the wood creaking beneath Akilah’s feet as she sets down some herbs and plants from the last of their frozen stash, onto the table where it could defrost. She turns, dusting off her hands. “I have to go help Gen with the clothes line before they freeze, but.. there’s more plants a short walk straight from the porch steps if you want to grab them,” Akilah smiles.
Y/n sighs, standing. She stretches, “Alright, yeah. Yeah, I can get them.” She pulls her jacket on, preparing for the cold. It really is chilly outside. The air stings at her cheeks, turning them cold and mottled as she walks further from the safety of the cabin and deeper into the woods again. She spots the familiar bundle of herbs, crouching down and sawing at the thick grass around it to snap it off clean and bring back the herbs in bundles— it’s easier that way. A whistle sounds from beside her. She jumps, looking up. The sky is dark, a thick white that practically matches the snow covered ground. A storm, Y/n recognizes. She wipes the flying flakes of ice from her eyelashes, stuffing the herbs into her pockets. The wind is still whipping, whistling loud throughout the trees.
She continues to wander for a bit, picking up herbs here and there, and random things she knew were edible from her science class in freshman year. The wind got worse, and so did the snow and the visibility. By the time she decided it was scary enough out there, she’d already lost her sense of direction back to the cabin. All the trees looked the same after wandering circles for an hour in the near-dark. She bites her bottom lip, tucking her hands closer into herself as she folds her arms. Y/n looks left, right, then behind her. She picks a random direction. Forwards, she thinks. Maybe that’s the way. She starts slowly, afraid of running into trees— or worse— off cliffs. She finds a large stick, using that like a blind man with a cane to see the ground before she puts her feet down.
Y/n was beginning to worry, slightly panicked that she was lost. She was getting too cold. Her hands had been numb since she started out and her ears and cheeks were going too. The snow was so bad she could barely keep her eyes open. Y/n shivers, letting out a breath of air that wisps into the sky. She clenches her jaw, teeth tempting to chatter. She hated this. She hated being out here. She just wanted to go to her damn soccer game, not play survival ‘96 out in the canadian woods with people she doesn’t even like much. She can’t hear anything, not much, at least, besides the wind whistling and whipping— and then there's a faint “Y/n!” In the distance. Mari.
Normally she wants to slap the smirk off the girl’s face and tell her to keep her name out of her mouth, but for once, Y/n was glad to hear her voice. She freezes. “Mari?” She calls, hating how desperate the words sounded on her lips.
“Yeah! Y/n! Where are you?” Mari’s voice, from somewhere right. Y/n turns, she starts in the direction, dropping the stick from her hands.
“Mari!” She calls again, afraid of getting lost. Her foot hits something. She falls forward. Y/n hisses in pain, her hands landing in the snow. Already freezing, she can’t feel them nuch, but the impact was still absorbed and felt painful. She stands, when Mari’s figure emerges from the fog of snow. Her face— normally sarcastic and bitter— is fallen in concern. She immediately picks the shorted girl up from the ground, pulling her with her to the cabin.
They reach inside again, and Mari’s expression is tight. She stops Y/n into a nearby chair, slamming the door behind her. The others look concerned too. “Don’t be fucking stupid again.” Mari snarls at Y/n.
Mari rips her headband off, throwing it down along with her gloves and scarf. She scoffs, slumping back down in front of the small table by the fireplace to wait for the food ingredients. Y/n swallows anxiously, feigning nonchalance as she sets down the frozen herbs from outside. Akilah stands up, storming up to the attic. Everyone else; besides Travis asleep in the kitchen on the floor loser, Y/n thought, and Javi next to him, Misty reading a book in the pantry and whatnot— had gone upstairs to check on what was wrong with Akilah. Mari was the only one still downstairs, putting some snow into the pot to boil into water and start making soup. “Oh, great.” She mutters slowly sarcastically. “It’s all of you now?” She murmurs, alluding to everyone having dramatic moments since the crash.
Y/n stands, crossing the room. She swallows, standing by the table. She reaches out with a shaky hand— still cold, and slightly adrenaline spiked from nearly freezing to death outside— to grab some of the herbs, picking up the knife and attempting her best at chopping them into even pieces. She swallows, hissing at her lack of grip and control over her half-numb hands. Mari subtly glances from the fireplace, stopping where she was stirring the snow to melt it faster. At first, she didn't speak. And then she clenches her jaw.
“You do a nice job of trying to get yourself killed.” She snaps, and Y/n has to resist sneering back. She only glares at the food, trying to gain control of the knife.
“Shut up. Akilah sent me to get herbs, I was doing what she asked.”
Mari scoffs, laughing bitterly. “Yeah, blame it on her.” She mutters beneath her breath, grabbing some of the cut herbs and tossing them into the water.
She then turns and picks up one of the bigger knives, an actual kitchen knife found from the cabin drawers rather than the hunting knife Y/n was using. She pulls the crow meat over from the cloth that Nat and Travis got earlier, quickly dicing it into cubed pieces. She pushes the chunks off the knife with her finger, taking a handful and tossing it into the pot. She grabs the bark from the rest of the ingredient pile, scraping the top layer with the knife before cracking it easily with a hand over the top of the blade, an even pressure to split the bark. She does so until it's in small enough pieces, and then adds that too. Y/n is almost jealous of how easily she manages to just cut everything and throw it all in like some little fucked up wilderness chef. It angers her. But then again, everything about Mari angers her.
She focuses back down on her knife, the handle feeling heavy in her grip that was stinging with pins and needles; coming back from the cold. She yelps slightly, trying not to drop it. Mari clenches her jaw agan, slamming her knife against the table. “Alright, what the fuck is your issue?” She looks up, making Y/n jolt. She swallows.
“I. Um.” She’s unsure. What is she supposed to say? There’s no issue. She’s just bothered by what happened outside earlier. “Nothing. My hands just hurt.” She swallows back anything more, and Mari’s eyes flash with irritation. She picks up her knife and resumes cutting, not glancing up at Y/n for another time.
Mari is just.. Mari. She’s rude, she’s sarcastic, and she’s blunt. But that’s part of what made her who she was. Mariana Sofia Ibarra. But everyone only calls her Mari. She doesn’t mind. Some people call her Mar. It usually pisses her off, buf certain people she’ll allow it from. She tries to ignore Y/n’s huffing and grumbling at her own cutting skills, the way the knife tensed in the younger girl’s hand. Mari doesn’t care. She can’t care. She never does. But reluctantly, she finds herself putting her knife down and rounding the table.
Y/n was trying to cut the stalk of the herbs, still half frozen. She nearly slips and cuts herself. Mari’s hand gently rests over hers and guides the knife steady, the other arm moving to slide around her waist and pull Y/n into her front against the warm fabric of Mari’s yellow ‘Yellowjackets’ soccer merch sweater. Her chin hooks over the shorter girl’s shoulder. “Hey— hey,” she soothes, helping her shaking hands to cut the herbs. Once they’d fallen into a smooth rhythm of even cuts, Mari leans in and presses an encouraging kiss to her cheek.
“Relax.” Mari tells her, “you got it.”
Y/n tries not to jump at the contact. She nods, relaxing back into her. Mari smiles, her irritation fading as Y/n calms down. She stays close, letting go of her hand and moving to meet her other arm around her waist. She holds Y/n close to her front, her chin on her shoulder.
When they’re done and the others are asleep, Mari is only left to stir water, boiling, to clean the pot out. Y/n sits quietly. Mari notices, she blinks. “Why were you so shaky cutting herbs?” She asks, her bitterness threatening to slip. Y/n shrugs, looking at the floor. “Just.. freaked out from earlier, I’m sorry.” She says. Mari nods. She sets the pot off the flames of the fireplace and then moves over to her bed pad. She sighs, seeing Y/n’s hesitation on sleeping. “Come here.” Shs lays down, patting her chest. Y/n crawls over and lays down, too. Mari smiles, her arms wrapping around her again “I wouldn’t let you get lost.” She whispers, “I promise you,” Mari presses a kiss to her forehead. “Go to sleep, jittery toddler.” She says with sarcasm, then grins. “I love you.”
Y/n sighs, sinking into her arms further. “I love you too, idiot.”
Y/n and Mari are friends. Sort of. They hang out sometimes, but they’ll never admit they actually like being together alone. At least not yet.
May 18th, 1997.
“Oh, come on, Shauna!” Nat yells. “Jackie, you're letting her cheat!” She complains. Jackie only laughs, but Mari slams the phone down. It’s a few hours after practice. They were going to meet back up to hangout.
Y/n gives her a look. “What’s that face for?” She murmurs quietly.
Mari huffs, a sharp smirk on her lips, “nothing— nothin’ to worry about, L/n..” she shrugs, and leans back against the wall beside her landline.
She glances at it. “Shauna, Jackie, Lottie and Nat are already playing cards. You know I hate cards.” She mumbles, and Y/n tilts her head.
“So… we’re not going to Jackie’s hangout, or..?”
Mari lights up, “wait, please? Can we just stay in tonight? I really don’t want to have to see Shauna’s ass cheat in slap jack by hoarding all of them in her pile.” She says, grumbling
Y/n snorts, “jeez, you really hate Shauna when it comes to cards.” She relents, resting back on her hands on the carpet of Mari’s room. “Ugh.. fine. I guess we can hangout, just us..” she feigns annoyance, but cracks a smile. “What are we going to do then?”
Mari smiles, her shoulders relaxing— “Oh thank god,” she practically hugs Y/n— but she quickly wipes it away and folds her arms. “Tch. Like I actually want to spend time with you on purpose,” she rolls her eyes. “I just hate the cards.” She then pushes off the wall.
“But uh.. I was thinking.. movie and fast food?” She asks, a slightly nervous smile on her face, as if she’s expecting Y/n to refuse. Y/n almost laughs.
“Of course.” She stands up, dusting off her jeans. Mari looks elated.
“Yes! Oh, god, I could kiss you right now.” She grins, simply at the thought of getting a cheeseburger and that damn slurpee from the gas station. “My mom never lets me get food out unless my friends are over.” She admits, smiling as they head downstairs to her car.
“Really?” Y/n asks, “but she seems like she wouldn’t mind.”
Mari shrugs, sliding into the passenger seat of her car, turning the engine on. “She doesn’t— not really. She just doesn’t like me eating other food when she cooks dinner ‘cause I never eat any.”
Y/n giggles. “Oh.. yeah, my mom is like that too.” She settles into the passenger seat, watching out the window as the car tools down the road. “Where are we getting food from?”
Mari sheepishly smirks, “guess.”
Y/n rolls her eyes, fondly. “You’re going to have a stroke from the amount of slurpees you have, Mari..”
Mari whines, “they’re good!”
Y/n chuckles. They pull into the parking lot and grab some food. After they eat, Mari heads back to her room, dragging Hazel to pick out a movie.
“Come on, I have a shit ton of tapes.” She tugs a box out from underneath her bed, loaded with VHS tapes. “Take your pick, girl.” Mari says with sarcasm, clearly proud of her collection. Y/n snorts.
“What the hell, Mari, you watch ‘Sixteen Candles?’ I thought you hated 80’s movies—”
“—Ay! Hey! Hey, okay, not that!” Mari snatches it. “You weren’t supposed to see that.” She eyes the box, then snatches two other movies. “Or these.” She sheepishly stuffs them behind her. Y/n grins, reaching for them.
“Let me see! Let me see! Come on, Mar!” She laughs. Mari reluctantly shows them.
“The Breakfast Club” and “Pretty In Pink.” Y/n starts giggling. “Oh, my god. What are you, a brat pack nerd?”
“No!” Mari says defensively, frowning as Y/n stands up with a movie picked out.
She folds her arms, kicking the box back beneath her bed, eyeing Y/n. “…What movie is it?” She asks, curiously.
“The Breakfast Club. Duh.” Y/n replies, as if it should be obvious. Mari tries to fight a grin.
“Whatever.” She scoffs, but she can’t hide the slight smile.
After the movie had finished, it was late. Nearly midnight, because they ended up watching almost every brat pack movie Mari owned. She stretches, leaning against her doorway. “Why don’t you just stay the night?” She yawns, rubbing her eyes.
Y/n’s eyes go wide, “really?”
Mari nods, “Uh-huh.. it’s late anyway.” She shrugs, and gestures to the floor. “I can get you blankets, er.. whatever. If you don’t want to share the bed.” She says, typically blunt.
Y/n shakes her head, “Uh. No, whatever works for you is— is fine.” She nods.
Mari smiles slightly, “then get in bed, loser. I’m going to shower.” She stretches up, heading for the bathroom. Y/n swallows, her eyes darting to Mari’s bed. “Get in bed, loser.” That was kind of nice? It felt nice to hear, at least.
Mari turns back around, “oh, yeah. I almost forgot.” She walks back in, looking her up and down. She tugs her drawers open and pulls out a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. “Here. These should fit you fine.” She tosses them at Y/n. She catches them, trying not to blush.
“Alright. Thanks.”
While Mari is busy in the shower, Y/n changes into Mari’s clothes. They’re surprisingly comfortable and they smell nice— like her. It was a sweet smell, like sugar and the shea butter lotion she used all the time— but surprisingly not overwhelming.
Y/n lays down underneath the covers, settling in the bed. It was a twin bed, so she wasn’t sure how Mari expected them both to fit without Y/n getting shoved off— but she wasn’t going to question it. She came back from the bathroom eventually, hair half damp. She smiles slightly at Y/n.
“Comfy?” She asks, shutting off the light.
Y/n makes room for her, settling on her side to face Mari. She nods. Mari lifts the blankets, lying down beside her. She stretches a little, her body still warm and soft from the shower. She wore a loose black t-shirt and some grey sweatpants. Sinking into the mattress, she looks at her for a moment.
Then, she gives her that teasing look, her typical sharp smirk. “Why are you so pressed to the wall? Come here, scaredy cat.” She opens her arms.
Y/n’s eyes widen. Is this actually happening? Well shit, it’s actually happening. With first hesitation, she shifts closer. Once she was in Mari’s arms, the girl relaxed against her chest. Mari smirks at Y/n, patting her head since she was shorter, a small gesture of teasing.
“Now go to sleep, I got ‘ya.”
Y/n buries her face against her shoulder.
As for sleeping? Yeah, they did. And it was pretty damn comfortable.
i’m still sad about mari 😭😭😭😭 i knew it was coming - my baby girl was doomed as soon as they started giving her more of a personality - but i loved her 😭😭😭😭😭
rip to this canonically absolute fucking dumbass (picks fights with the deranged butcher, gets dumped for the guy's cousin, is too sexy for this cave, falls into a pit TWICE)
!!!! SPOILERS FOR FINALE OF SEASON 3 OF YLLWJKTS !!!!!
NO but can we please fucking talk about how it was all planed? how the hunt was planed to distract shauna all along, so nat can go and call for help?
The fact that all the girls were willing to die just for others to go home? even if it was planned that van will mess with the cards so hannah would pick it, but still! they didnt know that for sure and all participated in that, they willingly decided to go with it.
How Akilah literally killed her animals, that meant so much to her and pretended to not know whats going on so they HAVE to hunt to distract shauna from the whole plan they made behind her back?
Can we please talk about how they all pretended to hunt mari? to buy nat time and occupy shauna? If they wanted to they would hunt her in a second, because we all saw how good they got with hunting this season.
How Hannah and Nat literally exchanged clothes after that scene so shauna wont know where nat actually is?
How it was actually Hannah who butchered and prepared Mari the whole time? Meanwhile nat was walking to the mountain? probably the whole day rest of the day, night and again day? nonstop? so she could go to the highest mountain for signal?
How maris death was actually an incident and that Lottie actually warned her by saying "do you see where we are? you have been here already mari" lottie warned mari but in lottie type of way and mari was too focused on surviving/adrenalin to catch on that and told her to fuck off.
Or how Gen literally tried to distract shauna and leading away Taissa and how even melissa as well decided to distract shauna from the hunt to try and choke her to death?
How we can see multiple foot prints on the ground in the snow, to make shauna confused where mari actually went? how it was probably the other girls buying mari time.
They ALL tried to distract shauna from the plan and hunting mari down, noone wanted Mari to die, fuck they all loved eachother and didnt want that at all. But they did that in order for their plan to work out (and it did). They didnt want to hurt mari. she was just a decoy to distract shauna, once again.. they didnt want that to happen at all.
Mari was actually a sacrifice, she was part of the plan, but my poor girl got fucked by shauna one last time because that fucked up bison decided to step and ruin the rotation of the cards.
IM GONNA THROW UP MARI YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE ALIVE
i dont even know if im making sense but i just need to get this off my chest, because i cant- this episode was so fucking good i feel like i might kms about how perfect, incredible and amazing the episode was, every single second was so fucking good, and dont get me start about the adult time line- DOPICI FUCKING YES SHAUNA YOU ARE A PSYCHOPATH AND YOU LITERALLY JUST ADMITTED THAT BY SAYING YOU WERE HAVING FUN-
on mari ibarra's death as pit girl and shauna's aggression towards mari
i understand the whole "she's supposed to be spiraling, let women be evil" argument in defense of shauna, i understand that yellowjackets has been a dark and gory show from the get go, and i understand that mari's death/sacrifice was necessary. but when you are releasing media into the world, you are sending out a message. every choice made in a piece of media is intentional.
mari was stripped of her clothes and dignity, dragged naked through the snow, hung upside down, carved, scalped, cooked, and served as food to the team, with shauna demanding to wear mari's hair as a trophy.
mari was also one of the best written characters on the show, taking her from an annoying jv side character to an important part of the story (her last name reveal i cheered so loud). she never once took shauna's bs and made it clear from the start that she was just the decoy. she was loved by all her friends and teammates, and it's evident when you realize that the hunt was a ploy to keep shauna distracted from nat's venture to get help, and that none of the yellowjackets actually wanted to hunt mari. mari's sacrifice for the sake of the team (despite her pulling the queen card being an accident) was one last act of defiance in the face of shauna's tyranny and the dictatorship that came with her reign.
idgaf about the fact that all the victims have to be naked to be cooked and butchered, and i don't care that shauna was seen using hannah's old hair as a fidget toy in ep 09 to defend the scalping, every choice made with mari's slaughter was an intentional one, and it leaves such a bad taste when you view it in the context of how every other woc in the show was treated.
i don't know what the writers were plotting in the writer's room, but there were better ways to handle mari's death/slaughter.
areudirty
2087
dailybridgerton
stormborns
discoholicmusic
andulkaphoto
dededos
yousharknotpass
