I Care Btw. I Care Abt The Song Ur Listening To Or The Bug U Saw Or How U Just Got Outta The Shower Or

When other Yellowjackets fans, majority who are poc themselves, talk about how weird and frustrating it is that the writers introduced a random yte character and gave them a storyline when there were two (technically three but they killed off Lottie even when there was an opportunity for more) woc, who have been around since s1, that could've fit the mold instead (like Mari) and have actual personalities outside of building up/being the lapdog for another character. Or how often times many of the, limited, poc characters are often either treated poorly and killed off, or pushed to the side (Simone, reduced to the disposable black girlfriend trope and is nearly killed by her partner because she's in the way of a ship; Travis, since s1, had his trauma dismissed or ignored and was overly hated but no one talks about how he was SA'd by the girls he's now stuck with on top of having to eat his brother and not be able to grieve over it). How Taissa's whole storyline is just revolving around Van even with all the potential, especially given she's fighting to be free from her own mind, how Lottie's mental illness is treated so poorly as if it's not the butt of a joke then it's met with heavy criticism (and the only time she is met with sympathy for it, it's through the lens of a yte character embodying her and having an emotional conversation with her father). How you can have all of these reasons (and more) for being annoyed by Melissa's character or the direction of the show, and be met with #those fans downplaying these concerns, or just being overly antagonistic just because they find yte character #243 entertaining so obviously these conversations don't have merit. But this fandom has always had an...."interesting" way in which it discussed the poc characters on the show, so I'm not surprised.

Let's talk about Yellowjackets

And that bad and lazy writing.

Idk if y’all remember when they said they had a story and drafts for 5 seasons? Yeah, fake news.

They may have had a story for the teen timeline, but it’s clear they have no idea what to do with the adult timeline.

1 - Speaking of the adult timeline.

Sometimes I think there might be a script hidden in the middle of so many plot holes. There are the classics, like Tai’s family and political career being completely erased from the narrative. But there are also things that just make no sense.

It makes no sense at all that adult Natalie would get to the point of wanting to kill Misty but be totally fine with Shauna. Okay, maybe in the next two seasons, we’ll see the reason why — but given how the writing is right now...I doubt it

I think y'all already know this, but in case y'all don’t: ALL the actresses from the adult timeline whose characters were killed off left the show upset, and some even said outright they felt misled by the production. They were promised something that wasn’t delivered. Also, Hilary Swank would show up to film and literally had NO script for her character, who to this day doesn’t even have a last name. And where's is the supposed adult Akilah?

It feels like they only have key plot points like “Lottie’s death,” “Callie kills someone,” “Van’s death,” “Natalie’s death,” “Melissa’s return”... But they have no idea how to get there, how to build up to those moments. So when the time comes, they just throw it in randomly.

Not to mention how it was way better when the adult timeline was about them worrying that the truth — the crimes committed in the wilderness — might leak and destroy their lives. Now it’s some Scooby Doo mess where one tries to kill another just because the script says so, with no proper construction. Like… why did Melissa wait until now to come back?

2 - Does that mean the teenage timeline is perfect?

No. The writers still haven’t decided whether there’s a supernatural element or not. And if they really have 5 seasons planned, we’re heading into the fourth without answers to questions like: Who was the guy in the cabin, and why did he appear in Jackie’s hallucination? Why did the bear just lay down and let Lottie kill it? Was Travis speaking for Jackie or just hitting a nerve in Shauna after what she said? Laura Lee, completely forgotten. Same with Crystal. We don’t even get mentions of them. It’s like they never existed. And who was Javi’s friend?

And the worst of all: Shauna’s plot armor.

And if you defend everything she does, you can leave now because the rest is going to be a hate post on her.

3 - That bitch is straight-up EVIL.

“Oh but she’s traumatized.” Who isn’t? Travis was SAed by the girls, lost his brother and had to eat him, and still doesn’t do half the messed up stuff Shauna does. Because Shauna is the ONLY one who turns her trauma into a collective problem.

Yes, she is very complex and still a pathetic character, and even though she stresses me out a lot, I still like her because of that. It’s just hard to swallow the Arya-Stark-level plot armor they give her. EVERYONE knows Shauna is out of control, violent, and therefore a liability to the group. And still, no one does anything about it. It’s not like she’s Rambo — there are like 10 girls there. The fact that not one of them jumped her sadistic ass is the most unrealistic part of the show to me tbh

There are no more excuses. If you say you’re a fan of Shauna and try to downplay what she does, you’re not a real fan — you just like your headcanon of her, not the actual character. A real fan stands by their favs’ messed-up choices and doings.

What Shauna did to Mari has no excuse. Mari died three times: during the hunt, when she was eaten, and when Shauna made a point of dehumanizing her and stripping her late body of all dignity. Why? Because Mari was the only one (along with Natalie) who never bowed down to Shauna’s madness and was never afraid of her.

Worse, like Natalie, Mari saw Shauna for what she really was: a deeply insecure girl who uses violence to take something you’re usually born with: leadership. Her monologue at the end was pathetic but totally in character, because yes, she is pathetic.

And her deep anger toward Natalie? It’s because she knew Natalie, thanks to her usefulness to the group, was untouchable. Mari didn’t have that privilege, so Shauna channeled all her rage toward both of them onto the weaker link: Mari.

I’ve seen people comment that the writers kind of turned Shauna into a racist character, based on how she acts toward POC characters. I personally don’t think the character is racist, but it’s very clear the writers’ room is mostly — if not entirely — white.

“Oh but the girls can’t turn on Shauna because she’s the group’s butcher.” Natalie can do that job. The only thing protecting Shauna from a mutiny is plot armor. And that’s never a good sign.

That scene where Shauna chickens out when Tai stands up to her just proves how weak and insecure she is. Like when a fake alpha acts when a real alpha show's up

To be fair, the group did use her for a while as a scapegoat for their dark desires. The problem is that Shauna ENJOYED the violence. She’s sadistic. That’s canon. And she acts like a dictator. It’s funny being in both the Yellowjackets and Arcane fandoms because Shauna is everything Caitlyn haters claim Caitlyn is, lmao.

Lottie, at least, is clinically ill and acts based on her beliefs, not out of joy. The only time she kills someone and smiles about it is when she kills the hiker. And except for Natalie, everyone — girls and boys — did something bad to survive, whether actively or passively.

The thing with Shauna is that she enjoys what she does.And again, what she did to Mari was sickening. I’m not naïve, I knew a show about cannibalism wouldn’t pull punches. But I personally don’t like seeing such cruel scenes of violence for no reason other than shock value maybe.

And back to Shauna’s plot armor, we can clearly see that some of the girls were really sad about Mari’s death, and maybe even a little angry at how Shauna handled it. And the writers want us to believe they wouldn’t say a single word to her? Again, there are like ten of them, and Shauna isn’t irreplaceable in the group. And that plot armor just makes all the other girls (except Natalie, who really is an angel) look dumb and weak. Which they’re not.

Just for comparison, even in Game of Thrones’ worst seasons, we had Cersei doing insane stuff but without plot armor. People didn’t rebel against her because of her last name and her 7-foot zombie bodyguard. Shauna has none of that. The girls just don’t turn against her because of plot armor.

4 - The missed opportunities

It would be so easy to make Walter being the son of one the hikers and he got close to Misty with the intentions of expose and/or kill them for what they did in the wilderness. He could even be Melissa brother in law, which would make her appearance don't be so outta nowhere. And a lot of good things could go from there.

Callie killing Lottie could be a lot better too.

forever missing the person i could’ve been if i wasn’t sick

testosterone saved me

missing my handsome butch princess

choosing to allocate spoons to hanging out and having a good time at the cost of perfectly completing all your work is not a failing it is in fact an act of survival. “too sick to work = too sick to play” is in fact ableist bullshit that you don’t have to buy into. and the fact that leisure time is treated like a privilege is a fucking travesty

[Image ID: a black and white typography edit. there are two identical white rectangles on a black background. in the left rectangle is text that reads "if you are unwilling to tolerate trans existence i will make your life intolerable." in the right rectangle are two knives and a pair of scissors. they are ornately decorated on the handle & look vintage. the entire image is textured to look aged and photocopied. /End ID]

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while yellowjackets is one of my favorite shows, I have to admit that I'm disappointed with how taissa's storyline was handled — especially in the adult timeline.

she starts off as a prominent politician, separating herself from the other yellowjackets by being a public figure. her son is the first link we have to other tai, and the actions that other tai takes feel a lot more sinister in nature compared to how watered down she's seemed in following seasons.

she starts off as, objectively speaking, one of — if not the most compelling character of the show.

and in s2 and even more so in s3, she seems to me more of a filler character than a main, at least compared to the rest of the adult yellowjackets (save for van, whose storyline fuses with taissa's.)

despite winning the election, she quits her job and seemingly has no more professional aspirations — drawing that storyline to a conclusion despite it being a major part of her character in season 1. she's been married to simone for 15 years, and even as we get real taissa back, her wife isn't even mentioned. sammy is set up as an intriguing character in season 1, a boy that may have a connection to the supernatural to a boy who can tell the difference between his mother and her malevolent other self — only to be near fully axed in the show. the no-eyed man is one of the most compelling themes in the show, yet we don't even see him in the second half of season 3.

season 2 and 3 strip her of her political ambition, her family and eventually even the cryptid figure that's been haunting her — yet other adult survivors still kicking, to whatever extent, do have their own storylines.

she's gone from "I NEED to know more about this character" to "oh, she's there." I enjoyed her and van in the adult timeline, but I'm sure there must have been a way to execute that storyline without alleviating 80% of her previous storylines.

all-in-all, I really do feel like her character has been done a disservice, and I honestly really hope that finale scene sets her up to be a much more prominent and leading figure in season 4.

We've gathered here today in celebration of men with pretty brown eyes