Blazing in Squids

In Yellowjackets, “The Queen” exists in 2 realms. As the blinded Queen of hearts, and as the antler queen. I believe they exist as symbols of “the victim” and “the perpetrator”, and that their connection links them together as one and the same to serve the narrative.

In the Life Is Strange comics, Rachel lands a role as Ophelia in a Hamlet play. The symbolism of this is relatively straightforward. Ophelia dies young and tragically, similar to Rachel. This is the surface level interpretation of this choice.

The more nuanced use of this choice is explained by Rachel Amber herself. While reading the script with the rest of the cast, they discuss how Ophelia is defined by her tragedy. Rachel chimes in rejecting that.

Obviously, she’s talking about the Rachel Amber from the events of life is strange 1 (Whose death she had learned about earlier in the issue). She’s asking the audience to not define a tragic character by their tragedy (For example, Rachel and Ophelia are characters described as “worth more to the story in death”) ie, they’re worth more to the story when their death is used as a narrative device.

From a Doylist perspective, this is not really debatable the way Rachel implies. Rachel herself was based on Laura Palmer, another character whose death jumpstarted the story they were in. This isn’t to say Ophelia, Laura, and Rachel are not complex characters in life, because they certainly are. That being said, it’s not reasonable to ask anyone to view these characters outside of tragedy as a whole, because it is their narrative purpose and theme.

I hadn’t thought about these two scenes in relation to each other but now that you mention it, it is really interesting. I think it’s without question tied to how the two of them are intentional parallels. Lucy is the good to Cooper’s bad, Lucy is the optimist to Cooper’s cynic. He sees a lot of himself in her.

I think after Lucy’s “They’re just ghouls” comment, it bothered him for a few reasons. On a surface level, this woman he’s grown close to (whether he admits it) Has clearly just admitted she sees people like him as less than. In Lucy’s defense, I obviously don’t think she said it with malice towards him. But that’s part of why it bothered him, because she has no idea what she’s really saying, and she’s almost proud as she says it.

The secondary, implied reason, which I think we see when he looks at himself in the mirror, is what it tells him about himself. He’s directly said that Lucy reminds him of himself (Pre war, specifically) And I think he sees Lucy’s rejection as him rejecting himself. The Cooper Howard in the pre war scenes would hate and be disgusted by The Ghoul he’s become. He would be horrified, not just on a superficial level, but on a moral level.

Lucy’s “They’re just ghouls” line was one of my favorite moments in all of season 2 because whether they choose to explore it or not, it has fascinating implications for Lucy as a character. I think, if the writers choose to, this would be an amazing opportunity to explore discrimination and its role in the show (Especially in relation to what the show refers to as the war instinct, which I made a separate post about here).

Simply put, the war instinct is where discrimination seems to start. It’s the anxiety that if you’re not on top, whoever is will get the upper hand and hurt you, and you won’t be able to protect yourself. Therefore, you must be the one who hurts others before they can hurt you. We see this with Hank, Barb, Cooper, and frankly every character to an extent.

As of season 2, this includes Lucy. Previously, she attempted to avoid hurting people, and in fact tried to help people, even if she really should’ve focused on herself. The obvious turning point of this was when she was crucified and left to die by the Legion. Had she not been saved by the ghoul, it’s very unlikely she would’ve survived.

This makes it interesting when she kills the kings, saying “They’re just ghouls” to defend her actions. Once she came down from her high, she expressed remorse over killing, so you could argue this mindset was just a result of the fact she wasn’t in the “right mind”.

However, I don’t think that’s the case. For one, it would otherwise be a useless scene to include. Second, it establishes Lucy as a victim of “the war instinct”, something that is again confirmed in the finale when she chips Hank.

I do believe Lucy still recognizes ghouls as a form of human, but I also think this line is setting up that whether she realizes it or not, she’s developing an inherent discriminatory attitude towards ghouls. I think this would be an excellent direction to take her character. Lucy is very kindhearted, but once she is taken out of the vault, a place she is safe and secure, her morals are put to the test. Now that she is in an environment where selfishness and cruelty have benefits, she has the opportunity to take actions that would’ve otherwise been socially reprehensible.

This isn’t to say that Lucy isn’t a kindhearted person, but that her nature has never been challenged at this level before, and it makes it easier to break. At this point in the series, Lucy still seems very kindhearted, but she recognizes, and loathes, that violence is sometimes a necessary action.

I don’t think Lucy is going to start going around killing every single ghoul she sees, but I do think she could begin to dehumanize feral ghouls as a means to protect herself from her own soft heart. We already see with the kings that when she’s free of inhibitions, it’s incredibly easy for her to do.

In the short term, this could merely be an obstacle towards her goal of keeping her golden rule. In the long term, this could progressively get more radical, and be used as a way to force her to reckon with how the wasteland has changed her by the near end of her character arc. Maybe (And if this is the case, likely) Cooper will begin to turn feral. Whether she has to make a choice, or just reflect, will ultimately show us the result of this development.

The finale of seasons 1 and 2 of Fallout both end with Lucy losing one of her parents. Both are lost under very different circumstances. Both Rose and Hank express their love for Lucy in opposing ways, and I think the way Lucy “killed” them is representative of their influence on her.

At the end of season 1, Lucy discovers that despite what she believed, Rose wasn’t dead, and she’d actually been ghoulified in an atomic blast. Lucy intentionally killed her mother to end her suffering.

At the end of season 2, Lucy has complicated feelings for Hank that align more with anger. He had blown up the town of shady sands, leading to her mother’s suffering, and now mind controls people against their will in to a “happy life”. She did threaten to erase his memory (Or at least control him) so she could get the dad she loved back, but Hank erased it himself. Either she was bluffing, or she didn’t fully understand until it happened, because this was incredibly distressing for her. For the purposes of this thread, those specifics don’t matter.

We don’t know a lot about Rose, and a lot of what we do know, at least in reference to her time in Shady Sands, comes from Moldaver. I think what can be agreed upon is that she loved Lucy, and bringing her to Shady Sands was an act of love. Taking her out of the vault and in to the wasteland to find Shady Sands was on the surface a “bad”decision. But with the context that Shady Sands was remarkably safe, and that Hank’s and Vault Tec’s intentions were being rightfully questioned, it can easily be understood as the “right” decision. In other words, the decision itself seems inherently wrong, but the context seems inherently right.

Hank directly expresses his intentions multiple times. He directly states that what he did to shady sands, and the mind control device he’s using, are things he’s doing because he loves Lucy, and he’s trying to create the world he believes she deserves to live in. The context and reasoning of his actions seems well intentioned, but the actions themselves are morally abhorrent.

Lucy as a character presents the question of if she is morally righteous, or if she just isn’t capable of harm (Or harm as she would identify it). In season 1, the answer to this seems obvious. Lucy does not harm until absolutely necessary, and avoids it as much as possible. This is clearly because she is trying to follow the golden rule and be a good person.

This becomes more complicated in season 2, but it started when she killed Rose. For the first time, Lucy is completely under the impression that harming someone is the right thing to do. And in this case, there’s a good argument for it. Rose is a feral ghoul, and doesn’t “live” in any meaningful way beyond sitting in the chair. Lucy’s actions are harmful, but they’re justified, because the good of the action outweighs the bad. (Quick side note, if you mention any moments prior to this in season 1 where Lucy harmed people, those were all self defense.)

Lucy’s actions towards Hank in season 2 mirror this. Lucy is outraged by what Hank is doing with the mind control chip, understanding the action to be wrong. What’s interesting is in the season 2 finale, she puts the chip on him, saying they’ll go home, and she’ll make him the father she wants him to be. This is clearly an entirely selfish action. Lucy has expressed a belief that these chips are morally wrong, yet when given the opportunity to use them for her own gain, she takes it. This doesn’t end up working out for her, as Hank erases his own memory.

This symbolizes the change in Lucy’s morals, as she’s suddenly taking an action for her own selfish gain, knowing she disagrees with it. It’s also possible that while Lucy thinks this is wrong, she doesn’t fully understand why she thinks it’s wrong. This allows for cognitive dissonance, something I expect we’ll see more of from Lucy.

I think this works to show us what Rose and Hank have both taught Lucy. While we would typically associate Lucy with being a kindhearted person the way we likely see Rose, she’s beginning to show cracks. She is horrified by Hank, and yet she is taking the same actions as him when she believes it benefits her.

Disclaimer: This is just stuff that seems reasonable to me, or feels like it’s being set up. If you disagree with anything I say that’s completely okay. Also this list is in no particular order other than just the order I thought of them in.

1) It’s going to be a repeat of last season in the sense that this time the ghoul is alone for the first half of the season before Max and Lucy have to meet up with him in the second half.

2) The comic relief of this season will be memory wiped Hank being taken care of by Lucy, but it will (hopefully) turn in to an emotional exploration of her upbringing and trauma since she’s learned the truth about both Hank and Rose. To add on, maybe Lucy’s relationship with Hank is paralleled to Janey and Cooper? I think when (and I hope this isn’t next season) we find out what happened to Janey post war, we’ll eventually switch from Cooper to Janey’s point of view in the pre war years.

3) Phase 2 is to FEV the vaults, though I think the fact it was left on a cliffhanger as opposed to showing it in the finale means it’ll be a longer process than just instantly mutating them. We might see gas seep in to the vaults and watch them slowly mutate as Steph watches from her office

4) Norm and Claudia romance will parallel Lucy and Max’s, and Lucy and Norm will be reunited. Or at least, have some form of communication.

5) Lucy and/or Max will find the enclave pip boy and have access to Mr House

6) Max will join the NCR (Going back to where he started as the ghoul implies) but like the brotherhood he’ll find his own issues with it

7) Through Lucy and Cooper’s separation, we will see them take on aspects of each others personality to show their growth but this will cause friction (Max might think she’s changed too much from the ideal he had in his head, and Cooper will be vulnerable enough to cause more roadblocks for himself)

8) Thaddeus will transform into something. Not sure what. Some people think centaur. I’m not sold on that personally.

9) I think we’ll see all three main characters take on new uniforms. The ghoul will wear his Cooper cowboy outfit, Max will have NCR gear, and Lucy will either change something about her vault suit, or get a new one entirely

Something I find so interesting about Yellowjackets is the use of passive violence as a gateway in to real harm. Both in the show and in real life, people often express their disdain indirectly as a way to preserve peace among the group, and this rarely if ever works out well.

There’s many examples of passive violence in Yellowjackets, but Shauna’s journals is an interesting symbol because of its role in the story. We are introduced to the journals as Shauna’s means of “making sense of the world”. Journaling is a real, and helpful coping mechanism. The issue comes from what we later learn about it, that she’s been using these journals to complain about her best friend Jackie.

What’s helpful about journaling is that it helps you get down to the real problem. When you don’t understand, you just keeping writing the most honest, and often harsh things you can until you realize what’s going on. This is what Shauna likely started off doing, and technically, it’s what she is doing. However, she is only going so far as acknowledging the problem and taking no productive action towards fixing it.

An often used retort to this is that Jackie’s behavior indicates that she doesn’t listen and just bulldozes Shauna. Which is true, but we still don’t see Shauna take a productive approach. Rather than stand her ground, she allows herself to be bulldozed. They talk about the problem, but never any solutions. This leads to further resentment, which when left unchecked, will boil over and explode, scalding everyone involved in the process, leading to what can be (and in this case is) irreparable damage.

Spoilers for Fallout season 2

While a lot of people, fairly, found season 2 episode 6 to be an episode they didn’t really care about, I found it to be a very fascinating one. It explores a topic that I’m unsure how to word, but Hank refers to as “The War Instinct”. It’s the idea that people have this innate desire to be on top. Hank generalizes it more as a desire to go to war, but I personally think it’s more complicated than that.

Something I immediately locked on to in the latest Fallout episode was when Norm was asked about Phase 2, “Future Enterprise Ventures”. I think it’s no coincidence this happens to have the same initials as FEV, the Forced Evolutionary Virus. I don’t think we have enough information to come to a sure conclusion, but here’s my presumption on what I think it is.

Something I found odd about the residents of Vault 31 is that they seem more naive/well intentioned than say, Steph or Hank, despite all being meant to serve the same purpose. I think some, like the man who asked Norm about phase 2, know more than they’re letting on. I believe he likely meant FEV (Forced Evolutionary Virus) but coded his language to determine whether or not Norman knew.

The forced evolutionary virus was originally created as a way to make a superhuman, which instead created super mutants. We know Vault Tec experimented with FEV (Players of Fallout 3 will recall Vault 87). So, pre war humans wanted to experiment with FEV to create super humans, and the triad of vaults experiments’ is intended to create super managers. My theory is that after the vaults experiment is considered over, phase 2 is to subject vault residents to FEV to “perfect” them.

I’m hesitant about this theory because there’s a lot of factors we don’t know, such as where they would access FEV, especially if other vaults tested it and failed. Or even alternatively if there was a possibility of a vault that “perfected” it, how would they get access to that strain? I’m not positive I’m correct, but I am positive that Future Enterprise Ventures is intended to be code for FEV.

When I first watched season 1 of Fallout, I had a fan theory that Lucy was a descendent of the ghoul, which I kept to myself. Since starting the second season, I’ve tried to make an effort to take glimpses in to the fandom, and was shocked to learn that my theory was not only unpopular, but assumed to be completely ridiculous. Since then I’ve seen other things that lead me to believe it could be possible, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to put it out in to the world.