let’s chat dreamworldgirl lore
Written by Daphne Bryant
One of the things I love about Dreamworldgirl Zine is that we do a lot of photoshoots.They’re all so unique and different, with fun themes and takes on girlhood. I think something that connects all of the shoots is this kind of spontaneous whimsicality and creativity.Even the more serious or #bitter shoots have a certain level of play to them. Take the BEWITCHERY shoot for example; super dark, edgy, vintage clothing, witch vibes all the way, and yet, there’s still something mischievous, spirited and and so undeniably girl about covens in the first place. Or you could reference the TEARIN’ UP MY HEART shoot we just did in LA; yes the song is a melodramatic breakup song about being painfully unable to get over your ex, but boy bands (especially *NSYNC, which I consider to be the most“ poppy” and universally well-known group of the Y2K era) are inherently an exciting, lively phenomenon. Thus, we were able to have a lot of fun on set with the shots, choreography, etc.,What I’m trying to get at is this: all of the photo and video shoots sort of exist in this strange, magical universe. Dreamworldgirl Zine is quite literally creating a dream world, where women, non-binary individuals and other queer people are put at the forefront of stories.
“dreamworldgirl is quite literally creating a dream world, where women, non-binary individuals and other queer people are put at the forefront of stories.”
I’ve been thinking: what would it be like if all these shoots, models, settings, etc., really did exist in the same universe? How would they be connected? What sorts of stories might be able to intertwine in the future? How can we do fun callbacks?
“What would it be like if all these shoots, models, settings, etc., really did exist in the same universe?”
Well, we have actually have done at least one deliberate reference to a previous shoot.Enter Maria and Ileana, the fake couple in our GOOD LUCK, BABE shoot that was released at the beginning of Pride Month this year. We shot GOOD LUCK, BABE at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and some of my favorite shots are in front of these bright blue lockers with writing and drawings all over them. It’s just so schoolgirl (this shoot was partially inspired by Karol G’s“ CONTIGO” music video with lesbian icon Young Miko; watch this and you’ll definitely understand what I mean). When I decided to go with a university/academia them for our first merch photoshoot later in the summer (and realized I’d have both Maria and Ileana on set), I knew I had to make some kind of callback to the romantic shoot they’d done together. For DREAMWORLDGIRL UNIVERSITY, we split all of the models into pairs and one trio, and had Ileana and Maria pose together at a desk. I love that in the particular picture I’ve decided to include in this article, you can 1) tell time has passed bc Ileana has a different hairstyle and 2) gauge that something has also changed regarding their relationship dynamic. In GOOD LUCK, BABE, Maria is sort of playing the part of Chappell Roan’s narrator, hopelessly in love with someone who refuses to accept their queerness. In this picture, Maria’s face is significantly more relaxed, more stand-offish; Ileana is now the one extending the olive branch, resting her arm on Maria’s leg. Still, there is this distance reflected in the shot, this tension. How cool is that?! So yes,the shoot was called DREAMWORLDGIRL UNIVERSITY, but a lot of it was also GOOD LUCK, BABE PT.2! This is the kind of thing I’m talking about! I want more of this.
Truthfully, I think whenever we re-use models there is potential to connect aspects of what I am hereby referring to as the Dreamworldgirl Verse. I also think that settings can serve as common ground for different shoots. Like, say we stick with the school theme. MVP, a photoshoot that is all about women in sports and how they are so much more than just athletes, that they can also be soft and whimsical, was shot at Emerson College, on their soccer field and in the locker room.Any one of those models are fair game to use in another shoot tied to school in some way. Like, can you imagine if we got Maria, and Ileana, and Izzy, and Sarah, and Anna, and Yome, and Maya, and Monica, and Nyla, and Caroline, and Daenli, and so on? What if we just stuck everyone in this immersive shoot and universe, or put them in a music video? I don’t know, that shit’s just so cool to me.
None of these mentioned components are necessities to start connecting things together. It can be subtle, like how they do easter eggs in all the Pixar movies. Once final edits for the TEARIN’ UP MY HEART photoshoot come in from Chloe Reyes, our LA Photo Coordinator and the photographer for that shoot, Natalie Tse, a freelance designer who will be working with us, is going to create both group and solo posters for each of the models.I definitely want to include some of these as foldable posters for the zine, but I also think it would be so sick if we did another bedroom shoot and these posters were hanging up on a model’s wall.You’d look at the shoot, see the posters and think: oh shit, that’s Amber or Dahlia or Nikki from [INSERT IMAGINARY BOY BAND NAME HERE, STILL HAVEN’T DECIDED ON ONE LOL]!
All I’m saying is, we do so many shoots, and there’s so many whimsical, fun, and different characters and personas we’ve given our models. I’m dying to include more references and nods to things for the Dreamworldgirl community and fans.
Now, I’m not actually going to spend the time to do a deep dive on potential lore, make L-word level boards, or start shipping Dreamworldgirl models. But! I do think it would be cool if someone did pitch an idea to us, or if somebody made a fun presentation on how things might be connected.
Because let’s face it...we all really are.
