#absolutely my favourite scene in dr s2

[laylajeffany]

Hi! As you can probably guess, I completely love Chaos, and I have a few more questions. Thanks for the playlist by the way, it’s been all I’ve listened to since you linked it. Sorry for all the questions, I’m just curious.

1) In the Spotify playlist, the first song is “Sea, swallow me”. Is that song referenced somewhere in the fic, or does it just give off a general Chaos vibe? I’ve been trying to remember if it was mentioned somewhere but cant recall. As an additional Note, it is my new favourite song, so thanks!

2) You mentioned that all the OCs appearances are physically based on real people. Who are Dr Zypher, Emiliana and Holly-Jane based on? Is Emiliana based off of Eva Green, because thats how I imagine her. You’ve done an excellent job with the OCs, they’re just so perfect.

3) When you describe clothing, do you make them up in your mind or doe they actually exist? I get that some, like the custom ordered dresses in the latest chapter, must be made up, but are some of them real? Do you have some Pinterest board with all of their clothes just to keep track? 😂

4) How do you find time to write? I write 1000 words for my fic every day, and it takes me about an hour. 50K chapters in 2 weeks is a miracle. Do you sleep?

I’ve probably forgotten a question or two, so I hope you don’t mind if I ask more in the future😅

Thank you for all you do, I’ve never been so invested in a fic before. Just remember to relax and take breaks when you need it, don’t force yourself to write on 2 hours sleep!

I am happy to answer questions about Chaos for the Fly, the writing process, and other fic/writing related things. Thank you for your interest! 1. I think I referenced near the beginning somewhere that Wednesday had discovered some music on her own outside of classical when she accepted an algorithm to suggest songs for her. It had been 80s imports of some kind - and that was probably the one that I had in mind, even if it wasn’t mentioned specifically. There’s probably a few songs that weren’t actually mentioned by name but were alluded to in the fic - meaning I didn’t say the title in dialogue, but had something playing in the background for myself, and there you have it. 2. You have opened a VERY DANGEROUS can of worms with this question, lmfao.

You are a dead ringer for Emiliana! That’s Eva Green, 100%, the ONLY person who could play the role. It would be like a touch of Penny Dreadful for the out-of-her-damn-mind demon possession vibes, but mostly, just as herself (she’s cray and I love how socially awkward and accidentally funny she is in interviews) not so much Vanessa Ives. Eva Green has worked with Tim Burton a ton of times and wouldn’t even need a single line of direction in this role. Emi is SO easy to write because she is pure chaos both in physicality, mentally, her linguistics, her magic, and personality. I honestly think she’s one of the characters I’m saddest isn’t real because she’d fit in to drive Wednesday absolutely MAD as her big bird. I have a feeling we’re not going to explore Raven lore in S2 and the two of them trying to figure out their powers together, after Emiliana spent half her life suffering alone, has been some of my favorite parts of the fic to write. I always write scenes with Emiliana the fastest. Her love of Beanie Babies and bad influence is entirely, too much fun. Her voice is so easy and she will never truly understand American idioms. 

Dr. Zypher is AMY ADAMS, because GAY-ME, for Amy Adams. She’d absolutely crush the role, the fact that she doesn’t have a closet full of Oscars is just despicable (6 time nominee bro). SHE HAS THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL and I don’t think anyone ever lets her sing enough in movies. Put this woman in some broadway revival of an old musical and you’ll catch me personally saving the economy from collapse by taking the train up to see her every weekend. She's so adaptable and different in any role, and I just feel like she’d volley SO WELL with JO’s Wednesday. She's a professional who understands character layers that sweet and angsty Josie requires.

Dr. Holly is Emily Blunt plucked right from the Jungle Cruise movie in terms of how she’s styled but a far cry from her character there with her boldness - even if they would likely have competing career ambitions. ALSO HAVE YOU SEEN EMILY BLUNT IN ALL THE SUITS IN THE NEW NETFLIX PAIN HUSTLER MOVIE? I’m deceased. This is a ghost writing. Holly is really in the story 1) because I needed a plot line for Larissa, post-transformation, that didn’t involve Wednesday and was TRAGIC but beautiful and could GO SOMEWHERE, and2) we REALLY do need something to stabilize the molecular structure of shifting-type Outcasts, and 3) it helped give some context as to how desperate Larissa was to hire Normie "Thornhill" and why she took that chance against her usually better judgement- so there she was! Emily Blunt is a CLASS. ACT. In everything she does and I imagine her in a scene with Gwendoline COULD NEVER exist because it would be too powerful, solve all the world’s problems, and capitalism would break, societies would collapse. It could never happen. It wouldn’t be safe. Here’s her glow up, from fresh-out-of-the jungle, to letting Larissa buy her some new clothes and maybe letting her hair down every now and then, to nerdy botanist bombshell, at the New Nevermore Network, helping her girl rebuild things to be a more fair society for Outcasts. GORGE. 

ARE THESE ALL JUST WOMEN IN THEIR MID 40s THAT I HAVE A BIG LESBIAN CRUSH ON? YEAH, YEAH THEY ARE. There’s obviously more for staff at Nevermore and the Network but I have a solid 5k to get to writing still this evening. The rest of my OCs are pretty minor (well villain aside), and I don’t really care enough about any man to spend the time looking for pictures of /boys/. These are the 3 OCs that are featured the most, anyway. Some day I’ll find enough energy to do the rest. I have extreme face-blindness when I read, and the ONLY WAY I can thusly write an OC is if my beta makes a powerpoint presentation for me with an actor/ress in mind for me to visualize in the role. When I tell ya, she hit the nail on the head with those three above? Unbelievable.  Another favorite not-OC, but someone I HARDCORE RECASTED FOR THIS would be Granny Frump. We went from Margaret Hamilton (OG Wicked Witch of the West from Wizard of Oz) in the 1960s Addams Family, which is EXCELLENT CASTING, but to fit the more modern-era Wednesday 2022 adaptation, and to give a flair of the drama as to perhaps where Morticia “gets it from,” I decided to cast someone only two years older than Catherine Zeta-Jones to give that “Frump Homespun Magic” storyline some weight of ‘the potions and beauty charms work’ and went with a non-actress, for the aesthetics (though she could KILL IT her appearances are small), and that is the one and only, What Not To Wear’s Stacy London.

Like IMAGINE that matching vibe with CZJ’s Morticia? Stacy has similar build/some features in common, and with the all black hair BUT WITH HER SIGNATURE gray stripe? Iconic. (And that was also Grandpa “Clint’s” backstory last chapter, as in Stacy and Clinton’s dramatic saga. HEY - IF YOU DONT HAVE INSIDE JOKES WITH YOUR BETA in your writing, what’s the point??) Stacy’s voice and CZJ’s Morticia voice together would be SO GRATING and Wednesday would just be so in-her-element between them, I LIVE.  3. I usually just visualize what I’d want the characters to wear! I don’t often have picture inspiration - though sometimes I am writing and it says in bold highlight DESCRIBE THE DRESS - TRACEY FIND ME A DRESS, and she sends me some pictures to go through so I can just describe a garment without having to make it up. I don’t have a Pinterest I’d be willing to share. It’s just a binder full of women in a way that would probably unsettle most. 

4. I usually write about 2-2.5k an hour if that is all I’m focused on. I probably average 4-9k on a work day without a second job or social obligation after work, and the most I’ve ever written on a single day that I had no work, other ‘sponserbilities, or social plans was 21k. On an average weekend with like one thing to do during the day and some chores and relaxation time not writing, I probably go around 14-16k per day. At the same time I started this fic, I set a new year resolution to myself to only work my contracted hours, so with the exception of a few crazy times in the school year - like conferences - I work from 8:00-15:30 M-F, and I live a three minute walk from my school, so I don’t even lose time commuting. I also stopped working on weekday evenings on the side in August, and starting in 2024 will not be doing any extra side work at all. I don’t sleep great but I do try! :) Thanks for the questions! I've been meaning to give some faces to those 3 OCs. I strongly encourage you to print out pictures of them and post them on your fridge, you will be 100% happier if you do.

[sushigal007]

Just finished watching the LA Avatar, still enjoyed it quite a bit, will probably watch it again. Thoughts under a read more in case people are avoiding spoilers.

Some things landed better than others - I do genuinely like that it's not a scene-for-scene remake, and I'm not sad to lose things like the desecration of the Northern Air Temple, or Aunt Wu's 'you will marry a powerful bender' prediction, or The Great Divide (lying to everybody makes my problems go away!). I like that this Aang takes things a lot more seriously. Suki awkwardly flirting by putting Sokka in a headlock was something I didn't know I needed until I saw it, Teo was utterly adorable and Zuko getting smacked about the head by a furious bystander genuinely made me laugh. Zuko and Uncle Iroh were great, far and away my favourites.

Of course, it was not without its flaws. I'm disappointed we lost Jeong Jeong, it was important to see that people in the Fire Nation disagree with the war too, and while we did get with the rebels, it was something the Gaang needed to learn too. I have no idea what they're trying to do with the Fire Lord and Azula here, the thing about Azula is that she was perfect and she knew it, she had absolute confidence in that, and that's why she was so badly thrown when Ozai turned on her in the finale. Undermining her confidence and pitting her against Zuko right now feels strange. I still don't like how toned down Zuko's scar is. Could've at least lost the eyebrow. And WHY didn't they learn any waterbending!?!?

But my biggest problem, one that I've seen a lot of other people mention too, is that Katara has been completely watered down. Where's her righteous fury, where's her passion? Even when she was fighting with Pakku, she seemed more concerned than angry. The only times she really felt like Katara were when she was arguing with Sokka. And I'm really not a fan of how her bending only improved after she was given pep talks by boys. Bah. Hopefully that's something they'll listen to and take into consideration for S2, and maybe then we'll get the girl who deliberately got herself thrown into prison so she could bust them all out - we got the secret tunnel in this one, so it could happen.

Anyway, tl,dr, it was better than I was expecting, better than the movie, and better than the comics. Not perfect, but then, the original was not without its flaws too. I would like to see it get a season 2, because it is different, and I want to know where they're going with the changes. I know the original had 3 seasons, which is generally Netflix's limit, but who knows with Netflix.

[lumaxramblings]

hard to pick one so here’s some to choose from lolol. that scene in ep 1 s4 where she’s listening to his game & ep4 s4 where she’s writing the letters & that scene in s3 where el comes over to her house & takes her to the mall i think ep 2 & the scene in s2 where they’re on top of the bus talking. pretty hard to pick one scene

THAT'S A LOT OKAY. LETS DO THIS. IM HONING MY MAX MAYFIELD ANALYZING SKILLS YOUR HONOR.

so that scene is clearly the show telling us that she still cares for our favourite teen dork, which is absolutely true (and very well done imo). she doesn't care about the game as she switches it off as soon as it ends but she listens to it for lucas, showing a care that she doesn't want to admit she still feels because... well, vulnerability. but here she lets herself be weak. she listens to the whole game until lucas's name appears - and keep in mind he's a benchwarmer. there's a high chance his name wouldn't have even been said, so she clearly cares about him, or else she wouldn't have listened to the entire game. tl;dr she cares about him a lot more than she lets him know

as i already answered the bulk of this in a previous ask, i'm gonna just do a brief version. she's resigned herself to her fate, and uses all night + all morning to write letters filled to the brim with emotions her emotionally constipated ass has been avoiding for months, which just shows how much she's accepted what's coming, hinting more at her implied suicidal ideations.

a reason why i love analyzing st3 max in particular so much is because she's more relaxed in her opinions than in the other two seasons. i'm going to explain the advice scene because it's really quite fascinating. so, max's parents are divorced, and max's stepdad is a piece of shit, and depending of how much runaway max is canon, max's mum has had several relationships with guys who lied. i've talked about max + honesty here so i'm not going into detail about that. what max does is very interesting here - as a result of both being young and having trauma, it's resulted in her being a little narrow-minded, so while hopper and mike genuinely do want el to be safe, max automatically assumes bad intentions due to having rules imposed upon in her by the men in her life (neil, b1ll7). she projects not only herself onto el, but also projects her mum and her failing relationships onto herself. in runaway max, max describes susan as 'her personality blending into every guy she meets', which i think is pretty canon (which is why she is the way she is in st4), she's afraid of that happening to el, which is why she tells her to dump him. also, that's something that's worked for her against the people controlling in her life, as with b1ll7 and the nailbat. tl;dr max's bad dating advice is a result of her trauma

i think it's explained pretty well in max + honesty, so.

[mingying]

[spoilers] hospital playlist s2 ep 11; ikjun/songhwa

I can’t believe this finally happened. And it happened in arguably the best ways possible for us IkSong shippers. As usual, this post is just basically my own thoughts and opinion of the episode and my interpretation of things - feel free to disagree, and I hope you enjoy reading this musing of mine!

22 years later, finally they found each other again <3

TL;DR: Everything happens for a reason and we have finally reached the rainbow end <3

Let’s begin by addressing the ER scene, but before that, I would like to point out that since Ep 10, Songhwa has been shown to be somewhat forgetful and a klutz - in Ep 10, she was searching for her socks and insisted that she wore them for her rounds. She also seemed to have forgotten to take off her surgical cap until Seonbin pointed it out to her.

In Ep 11, the episode starts off with Songhwa leaving her handbag in Ikjun’s office, and subsequently her handphone, followed by her handbag in the car again. This is not a dementia arc, guys (haha) but I genuinely think that this is her mind being occupied by her newly realised feelings for Ikjun that her normally composed self had started to crumble (and that’s entirely ok!). Another interpretation of this scene could be that unintentionally and subconsciously, she just wanted to remain in the hospital knowing Ikjun may return to collect his gift later.

Can I also point out her sixth sense in this scene? When she peered out of her window and heard the sound of ambulance, followed immediately by Dr Bong calling, she looked disturbed. Normally, she would have answered her calls immediately without hesitation but this time you could tell that she frowned and waited for maybe 2 seconds before answering Dr Bong. Well, never messed with a woman’s intuition I guess!

The ER Scene. Gosh. I actually have a lot of things to say about this. I know some people do not like this trope and that it is a typical trigger for characters to realise their feelings. But, I’d have to say that ShinLee did not intend for this scene to be a trigger of Songhwa realising that she likes Ikjun.

Because she already knows and had realised, somewhere around Ep 8-9 but more obviously 9, that she does like him as a man (all over again). If anything, this ER scene was meant to give Songhwa that one last push to confess, otherwise she may end up regretting not to. Another reason why I felt this scene was necessary was that Songhwa has been too comfortable in Ikjun’s constant presence by her side -- perhaps she has been wanting to confess but still lack the courage to and she didn’t think she needed to act on it rightaway because Ikjun would always be there by her side.

Gosh, the way she rushed to Ikjun and didn’t even hear Dr Bong trying to report to her that he actually wasn’t in such a terrible state. The way she slipped her hand in his and was so gentle in her questions - you can really just tell that she was trying her best not to crumble.

(side note: Jeon Mido, your acting was truly stellar during this scene. That suppressed professionalism vs personal feelings. I really felt her worry and regret in this entire scene. I loved it so much)

Now, why do I firmly believe that Songhwa already intends to confess to Ikjun eventually? Other than the fact that Songhwa herself confirmed during her confession that “I should have told you that I liked you”, it’s because of the Gift that she has given him for his birthday. It’s a cap, and initially we don’t think much of it until the flashback sequence showed and we realised that, a cap was what 99z Songhwa wanted to give to Ikjun but never did because he had turned her down for dinner and lied that he has a blind date.

Present day Songhwa gifting Ikjun a cap can be interpreted as her having let go of the hurt he had caused her in the past and that she was willing to try, again.

Interestingly, I’d like to also point out that the 99z flashback in this episode was truly necessary for us to understand Songhwa’s aversion to ‘Sad Sea’ and why she has rejected Ikjun in the first episode. 99z Songhwa didn’t give up when Ikjun stood her up for her birthday but mustered the courage to confess to him - she tried twice too, asking if he really has to go on that blind date that evening and couldn’t he go another time? Ikjun, in that scene, was playing Sad Sea. 

I would like to apologise to Ep 7 Songhwa because I had been frustrated with her then, but now that everything has been rolled out beautifully, I do not blame her at all for her hesitancy and year long passiveness. Ikjun kinda deserved it after breaking her heart twice (HA!) and remember this shot of Ikjun in Ep 7? 

I now interpret this scene as him realising that he knew Songhwa’s reasons of rejecting him. Because there was no way he didn’t know that Songhwa had liked him in the 99z, and he was perhaps regretting turning her down for dinner that day during his birthday. He knew he had a chance with her then but blew it, and that is perhaps why he never faltered in making Songhwa happy now. Not that he expects anything in return, but perhaps he wanted to make up for the indirect hurt he had caused her.

Bab Meokja had been something initiated by Songhwa back then. And now, it is a treat he gives himself -- I really do think that is the reason why he keeps asking Songhwa out for meals in the present time, because Ikjun probably wanted to indrectly make up for what happened in 99z.

Let’s move on to another great scene! The card game scene!

For some, it may seem to be a random scene but for me, I saw it in a different way and I’m glad Kfans and some users on Twitter pointed out this theory as well. 

As you all know, the card game IkSong was playing was “Bluff/Cheat”. Here, you could see that Ikjun could read Songhwa so well that he knows when she would lie. But Songhwa on the other hand, could not read Ikjun as well -- and this is further affirmed by Songhwa’s confession when she said “If your feelings for me haven’t changed,”. This is beautiful because it makes Ikjun’s expression during the confession scene even more sense -- a user on reddit pointed out that his expression at that time wasn’t more of a “omg she likes me after all”, it was more of a “she has realised her feelings for me,” and I think that’s absolutely beautiful. He even nodded subtlely a few times as Songhwa struggled to get her confession out, as if encouraging her and saying “you can do it, just a bit more”. 

Back to the card game - Ikjun even threw down a 9 Hearts - which I believe is a metaphor of his feelings for her, steady and still unwavering. 

(Bonus note: I absolutely love how Iksun caught on to them being lovey dovey at once and Junwan’s expression catching them was HILARIOUS)

On to my next scene which was absolute favourite.

Songhwa had finished a difficult/challenging surgery, and out of excitement (she even skipped omg whipped girlie), she called Ikjun first to convey the good news to him. Her tone here really depicts a difference in how she talks to Ikjun before. This scene alone tells you that Songhwa has pretty much fallen for Ikjun again and I love love love that finally she has someone she would want to immediately call to share her good news with! 

And the best part? Our best boy Lee Ikjun never went to Changwon. Instead, he waited for her for probably hours (it was bright day when they said goodbye, but night when Songhwa returned to her office) and even told her straight that he has to see her before he leaves because of how worried she had been before. Good lord find me a man like Ikjun please? 

image cr: iksongarchives @ twitter

This entire shot, with I Knew I Love playing in the background pretty much hits. It is in this exact moment that Songhwa has probably made up her mind to confess for real, that she wasn’t going to waste another second because I am sooo sure she would have ran to hug him if not because of their status at that moment. I love this scene so much. It is the personification of the lyrics of I Knew I Love, which goes “I called you out of habit today and you answered warmly, you make me the happiest in the whole wide world, I love you so much”.

And finally. 

Finally.

*takes a deep breath*

SONGHWA CONFESSED!!!!!!!!

AND THEY KISSED!!!! UNDER THE RAIN!!! 

The whole directing of this scene, with the slow camera panning into them - Ikjun was restless, probably breaking into cold sweats (he commented it was cold) while Songhwa was nervous and trying to muster enough courage to confess (she commented it was really hot). I held my breath for so long I felt like I was about to faint I swear to god.

Songhwa looked legit terrified that Ikjun was going to reject her man, and it all makes sense why after we got the 99z flashback this episode. 

And Ikjun, he really waited for her cues. Even after she was done confessing, he looked at her and waited for her to look at him back before he went “I’ll give you my answer”. And it was only after Songhwa nodded in fear and anticipation, that he swooped in to kiss her!!!!!

Songhwa definitely also leaned in first before Ikjun pulled her closer. She wanted this just as much as he did and it showed through their first kiss. Gosh I’m still shaking just thinking about how perfect that entire sequence and kiss was. They really went all out for it (yes I believe there was tongue involved) rather than soft and gentle. 22 years of suppressed yearning and feelings really popped out in that kiss alone and I am so blessed to have been a part of their beautiful journey.

And now, with only one episode left, we are finally able to see IkSong as a couple and on dates. I have a feeling Songhwa would be the clingy gf man, judging from the Preview keke. I cannot wait to see the rest of the boys finding out, and for sure, I cannot wait to see how their dynamics would change now as lovers rather than just best friends. I do think their transition would be seamless, only that now, they get to do what other lovers could.

This post is so long but I felt the need to address another matter that I have seen roaming around the internet. Apparently, some people are annoyed that Songhwa was ‘forced to change her mind’ and that we cannot accept her ‘No’ in ep 1. I would humbly and respectfully disagree on this point. Songhwa’s ‘No’ in ep 1 was not a “I don’t like you therefore I am rejecting you”. It was more of a “I do not know how to sort out my feelings yet, and am not ready to revisit the past, so it is best not to tamper with it”. 

Songhwa did not change her mind overnight or weeks. It took her one year and a few months. She has had all that time to weighs her decisions again and properly thought out how she wanted to bring forward her relationship with Ikjun. She was not forced.

She may have said that she liked being single in S1, but she has never been averse to love. In fact, she is always encouraging other people to go for it. I for one, am single and absolutely enjoying it. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to ever change my mind if I find someone worthy enough to share my space and happiness with. I like being single now because guys around me are idiots and I’d rather save myself that headache LOL.

Her conscious decision to accept Ikjun now does not and will never invalidate her decision to reject him back then - in fact, it goes to show that as human beings, we constantly undergo character growth and our minds are often changed to suit the present circumstances. 

ShinLee did not portray Songhwa in that light where ‘women needs to say yes if a guy treats her right’. Ikjun did all of those things for her without expecting anything in return. He never once crossed the line and never once forced Songhwa into accepting his love for her. Songhwa said yes because she likes Ikjun and is now ready to move their relationship to that of romantic. It is as simple as that.

And one last point to make is that Songhwa being in a relationship does not in any way invalidate that she is a strong and independent woman. Please do not associate the relationship status of a woman to her being ‘strong/independent’. A woman in a relationship and a woman not being a relationship are still BOTH strong AND independent. Love is a universal element in life, why deprive a person of it simply because she’s portrayed to be a “strong” female character? If that love brings her greater joy and ardent happiness, why stop her from enriching her life further?

Anyway. I digress. 

If you made it until the end of this ridiculously long post, thank you. I hope it was an enjoyable read! Till Ep 12!

[milenadaniels]

Hi! I saw your tag on your informal buddie lap makeout poll (Which, exceptional scientific inquiry. Cannot wait to see the results. Especially if it leads you to write something...)

Anyway, what is your thinking on lonestar and a potential buck +e ddie sex scene? (FWIW, I don't watch LS. I tried, but just could not. Not yucking anyone's yum, just didn't work for me.)

Curious what you think?

Thank you! The study is going well, I look forward to analyzing the results in depth!

(Please note: after three hours of writing out this response, I realize I may have misunderstood your question 😂 If you meant "what do you think a buddie sex scene would look like given tarlos", please let me know and it would be my genuine pleasure to describe that in great detail. What follows is not that.....)

I have been thinking about the potential of a buddie sex scene more than I ought to, I'm sure. You could say I've been a smidge preoccupied since realizing all the legit sex scenes in the show happened in season 1/early season 2. In seasons 3/4, the closest I think we've gotten to textual sex is Madney having sex to induce labour and that consisted of Maddie throwing her shirt at Chimney from off-screen.

Someone on that post (can't find it now of course) said that 911 Lone Star took over the original 911 later time slot and thus took over the ability to have sexier content.

As someone who hasn't watched a television show live in like 5 years, your ask has prompted me to do actual research to confirm this 🤓 According to pogdesign, 911 currently plays Mondays at 8pm and 911LS plays at 9pm which supports the theory.

That said, it kind of strikes me as weird that 8pm is considered too early for sexy content? But maybe I'm just out of touch with cable television??

So I did more research! So much research omfg this took 3 hours of my life. 😅

First we define the issue at hand

I'm defining a "sex scene" as a scene that involves two or more people mackin' on each other with any of the following:

the beginning of clothing removal onscreen

the movement towards a bedroom or bed

getting into someone's lap as a sign of escalation

post-coital pillow talk or cuddling

actual shots of naked skin and writhing (softcore porn essentially)

So 911 got moved to 8pm. Do any other 8pm shows have sex scenes?

CW - The 100 🔥 (I know there was a minimum of 2 wlw sex scenes, though they may have been post-coital)

CW - Riverdale 🔥🔥 is another teen show that I don't watch so I youtubed "Riverdale sex scenes" and I'm led to believe at least one couple is banging semi-onscreen well into season 4 (it has 4 seasons???)

NBC - Chicago Med 🔥, a procedural show not about teenagers and seems to have a least 1 couple with sexy scenes (the other Chicagos air at 9pm and 10pm) and I saw lap sitting for a hardcore makeout for the other couple!!!!! TIM TAKE NOTES!

NBC - Superstore 🔥, a half-hour comedy that played at 8pm on NBC, did have at least this one cut-away sex scene

So 2 teen shows, 1 procedural and 1 comedy all had something in the way of "sex scenes" while airing at 8pm.

But what if Fox the network is the sex-scene-killers??

Apparently Fox literally has only 5 scripted dramas of which the 911 is one and the others are:

The Resident 🔥🔥, a medical drama that plays at 8pm as of season 2 (9pm for season 1) and the main couple seem to have several sex scenes, but interestingly from what I can glean from YT, they may have stopped after s2 (though the couple stays together until at least s4 from what I can tell)

LA's Finest 🚫, a rebroadcast through Fox, it airs at 9pm and YT didn't show me any sexy scenes

Fantasy Island 🔥🔥 which plays at 9pm and looks to have sexier content based on the trailer

911: Lone Star 🔥🔥🔥 which plays at 9pm. Tarlos have had like 2 heavy makeouts/implied sex scenes plus a pretty hardcore-for-tv sex scene in the s2 finale

So it seems like even for Fox, the 8pm timeslot isn't necessarily what's vetoing the sex scenes in 911. But just to hammer that home, I did even more researching into the watershed hours, which is apparently the designated time broadcasters can show sexiness, but in the US that's 10pm to 6am so if the restrictions were such that they couldn't show any sex scenes before 10pm, Tarlos wouldn't have gotten that finale action (thank you, IRL bff who watched 911LS so I didn't have to!)

TL;DR - a summation of our findings

The 8pm timeslot is not the sex-scene-killer I once thought it was (see: all them filthy shows)

911 being a cop show is not a sex-scene-killer (see: dramas, procedurals and comedies all had sex scenes)

Fox is not anti-sex in their 8pm scripted dramas in general (see: The Resident)

Fox is not anti-sex homophobically (see: Tarlos, Hen/Eva)

However!! There seems to be a somewhat weird, somewhat isolated trend of Fox shows either cutting off or tapering off sex scenes (see: 911, The Resident) after 2 seasons or specifically after 2019.

So what are the theories (from least to most favourite)?

Theory #1 (Buddie loses 🚫): "Something" happened at Fox in 2019. The Resident is the only true analogue to 911 as it's also on Fox, also premiered in January 2018, also started at 9pm but was moved to 8pm (in season 2, not season 3 like 911). If my very brief googling can be trusted, The Resident saw a lot of sex scenes in season 2 (at 8pm) but after 2019 there isn't much to write home about. That lines up with what we've seen in 911. If something happened internally at Fox that changed broadcasting guidelines for 8pm, then canon Buddie will not get sex scenes unless the timeslot changes back.

Pros: It would be a hell of a coincidence wouldn't it?? Both shows airing around the same time, both stop showing sex scenes around the same time???

Cons: It's pretty weak, I can't find anything that supports "something" happening in 2019 that would affect an 8pm timeslot but not the 9pm one.

Theory #2 (Buddie loses 🚫): Sex as a short-term sales tactic. Fox uses sex in the first two seasons of shows to boost ratings and get people hooked because sex sells. But then, for whatever reason, they taper it off. If so, Buddie being canonized would not produce any sex scenes as we're far removed from season 2.

Pros: The Resident and 911 both stopped showing sex scenes after season 2 from what I can gather

Cons: If sex sells, why wouldn't it keep selling all the way to the bank?? There's no reason to stop something that's working.

Theory #3 (Buddie wins 🔥): Actors are the roadblock. Fox is fine with sex scenes at 8pm but the actors aren't comfortable! If so, Buddie sex scenes could be in the cards as both actors have had on-screen sex scenes previously.

Pros: Angela Bassett, Peter Krause and JLH are bigger names and they presumably get to not get naked on screen or simulate sex scenes if they don't want to. Aisha Hinds as a (criminally) smaller name wouldn't have had that kind of leverage in season 1, nor would Ryan Guzman in season 2? And Oliver Stark knew what he was signing up to to play a self-diagnosed "sex addict" so.

Cons: This is absolute, complete conjecture. I have zero idea what each of their comfort levels with sex scenes are or how that might relate to the writing/direction of their characters.

Theory #4 (Buddie wins 🔥): Stable canon relationships kill sex. Fox dramas use sex only pre-maritally to build relationships and the network or the showrunners/writers decide it's not as important once characters are in stable relationships/married. If so, we will get Buddie sex scenes as their canon relationship develops.

Pros: The Resident couple did get married post-season 2 I think? Athena stopped having onscreen sex after she married Bobby. Hen had sex but out of her marriage.

Cons: That's dumb, let married people bone. And we technically do have a Madney sex scene, tame as it was (but maybe they straddle of the line of stable but pre-marital???). Also if sex = building relationship, EddieAna have been excluded from that formula oops 😌

Theory #5 (Buddie wins 🔥): We're overthinking all of this. There hasn't been sex scenes past season 2 because the stories haven't called for it but when it does, such as the start of a new relationship, then we'll get some!

Pros: We haven't had any "new" relationships other than EddieAna since season 2 and their lack of intimacy is a glaring reminder they aren't well suited - they're not boning for plot reasons. While not strictly meeting the aforementioned definition of a "sex scene", we could use Albert coming out of Veronica's shower as a use of sex-as-relationship-building.

Cons: That's dumb, let married people bone, the sequel. Especially since HenRen is criminally neglected in terms of development and could use a fun playful sex scene.

So what have we learned?

Should Buddie go canon, 3 theories indicate we'd get some sex scenes for them, and only 2 say we wouldn't. The odds are in our favour. 🤡

I will do literally anything to procrastinate writing this damn fic that's been tormenting me for weeks. Please someone, anybody...send help...

[drivingsideways]

Melo is My Nature Review

Well, as usual, I’m late to the party! I picked up 2019′s Melo is my Nature/ Be Melodramatic with some trepidation since I was (am!) still smarting a bit from the disappointment that’s Hospital Playlist S2, and I wasn’t quite ready for another. 

I’m so glad I gave it a chance! While it isn’t a “perfect” series- in the nature of the world *sigh*- its combination of quirky, clever, self-aware humour and heartfelt performances won me over from the first episode. 

More thoughts under the cut (along with some spoilers)

I’m very fond of ensemble dramas that love their characters, and “Melo is my Nature” does that very well. Perhaps a little too well, to the point that you feel the writers letting themselves be more than a little indulgent during the middle stretch of the episodes. But I can’t complain too much, because yes, I know the feeling!  “Side characters” that refuse to stay in the lane and take over the narrative are also my favourites, as a writer and a viewer. I loved, loved, loved Lee Joo-bin as the flighty-but-amazingly-smart Lee So-min; that felt like such a delightful  clap-back against the prevailing sentiment that often goes against young, successful women and the ridiculous levels of expectations of them, in how they need to perform gender and  femininity and smartness. I loved that (like Emma! There’s a lot of Jane in this series!) the writers managed to make her likeable even though they never disregard her flaws or its consequences.

 Another performance/ character that I totally adored was Baek Ji-won as Jeong Hye-jeong, the industry maven who may be (?) a nod to Kim Eun-sook, I suppose! I was afraid at some point that they’d just trash her character, by making her a little too ridiculous in an unkind way, but I found some of the loveliest scenes involved her- like the one where she tells Jin-joo to do the work, but not be too successful. In the end, there was a love and fondness for her, a genuine empathy, that really was core to what made this show so successful. 

Shout out also to two of the weirdest characters I’ve watched, but thoroughly loved- Heo Joon-seok as Director Dong-gi & Lee Ji-min as Nutritionist (?) Da-mi. I absolutely adored that the only wedding in this series is between these two, and they do it in a completely predictably-unusual way. 

Re: the “main” characters, I loved all of them without exception, though some more than the others :) One of the things I love about the show is how real and present the three female leads feel; they feel like whole, entire people rather than caricatures of them, even when the show reaches almost unusual levels of quirky. I love that a through-line of the narrative is how important women’s labour is- to themselves. The work they do, which is acknowledged as a part of their identity rather than just something they do to pay bills (though of course there’s acknowledgement of that aspect too!),  their hunger to do it well and for it to matter- all of that is portrayed in a way that’s charming  but still taken very seriously. And the way you know that its taken seriously is in the things they focus on- how Oh Jin-joo struggles to write alone, and how Han-joo’s learning to be someone’s mentor while struggling with her own insecurities, and how lost Eun-jung feels, when work which was supposed to give her purpose fails her in a time of crisis, and how unmoored she feels without it. 

Re: the romance- I’m someone predisposed to dislike heterosexual romance, especially at the present moment, so it’s always with a great deal of hesitation that I start watching shows that I know have a large romance component. It’s always a bit of a coin toss for me whether the show will end up making me hate the romance or just about tolerate it. I rarely expect to *like * it.  So “Melo is my Nature” was a pleasant surprise!  This is  one of the few series where I felt the writers put in the work to sell the “main romance” of the show. You get to know the Oh Jin-joo and Beom-soo in sharply etched sketches before they move into the romance part (with a lot of tongue-in-cheek meta humour about the formulaic nature of tv romances). I genuinely felt that thrill of  “oh this could go platonic or romantic and I would like either” slowly ease into “oh my god these two are MEANT TO BE”, because the Romance is clearly in the all the ways they are NOT meant to be, but also, very, very definitely are. DELICIOUS. Just my cup of Jane Austen in a different context/ time.

Through most of the show though, my heart was divided between two characters- Jeon Yeo-bin’s stellar Eun-jung and Han Ji-eun’s pitch perfect Han-joo. Jeon Yeo-bin brought edginess, dark humour and a deep, almost- inconsolable grief to Eun-jung. Some of the stand out scenes of the entire series are hers: the moment where she watches herself on video talking to an imaginary person, and the moment she breaks down in front of the psych after talking about her mother. Watching this show, it really felt like- oh, she’s a star. Consider me sold on her for life (though, no, I will not watch Vincenzo unless there’s a Hong Cha-young supercut out there, in which case, please put it in my eyeballs now)

Han Ji-eun, imho, actually pulled off the toughest performance, because I think Han-joo’s strength of character is so often concealed by her “silliness” (in a similar vein to So-min’s), and that often makes her someone you’d overlook or not take seriously.  But god, she broke my heart, from the scene in the first episode where she’s sitting alone at a table after a rough day and watching her horrible ex live his best life to the hilarious and excruciating  “Oppa” scene, to the one where her kid is quite unconsciously cruel to her in the way kids can be. I was disappointed in the way they dropped the “reveal” about whom she’s dating in the last episode- not that I wanted her to be in an romance with Jae-hoon, god, NO- but it felt quite clunky.  This is one of the two complaints I have with the show. 

The second one is that starting from the middle, episodes began to noticeably feel like scenes/ sketches spliced together. Each scene is, within itself, perfectly written and performed, but the seams between the stories began to show. I felt one of the main reasons was that Eun-jung’s trauma tonally felt like it belonged in another show, but instead it had to get stitched into the mostly happy/ frothy storylines of the other characters. Sure, we had Hae-joon and his girlfriend’s terrible relationship, but the show had an easier time integrating that by way of Han-joo.

That said, I love how clever this show is! I love that it loves its own cleverness and can’t resist the urge to show it off- from all the meta references, in-universe jokes, and oh, that entire episode devoted to farting, complete with a song about it,  which I think maybe my fave episode of the series. A great look at the place of performance in intimate relationships (and how the women bear the burden of it more than the men), but coming at it from a place of compassion and humour rather than anger. Love that choice, for the show and us! 

I think @rain-hat mentioned in a comment here or twitter that Melo feels like a part of a triangle of shows along with Run On and Search : WWW.  I’m inclined to swap out Run On for Rookie Historian, or huh, maybe change the triangle for a quadrangle? Rookie Historian dares to imagine a past where our protagonist is (mostly) unshackled by the patriarchy and in the “modern” ending to its main heterosexual romance, reminds us that people have always found ways to find joy and thrive outside the rigid bounds of society. Search: WWW goes about it in the opposite direction- placing us in a present/future where the patriarchy doesn’t  and hasn’t ever mattered. Melo, I think, doesn’t quite do that, but in common with both these shows, it refuses to focus on the trauma of living under such structural violence, and instead talks about how we all (irrespective of gender) can find a way to remain unbroken by it. And while both Search:WWW and Melo do well at queer-platonic relationships as an alternate to the heterosexual project, it’s Run On, I think, which goes furthest there- firstly because though ostensibly structured around a het romance, that romance turns out to be falling in love with yourself/ loving yourself;  secondly because it’s most explicitly queer in the choices that the characters make and the lives that they choose for themselves- Min-joo & May are each others darlings and will be for life, Yeong-hwa and Ki Seon-gyeom are allowed a tenderness in their friendship that feels like an explicit repudiation of toxic masculinity, and of course, you have May being asexual, but not aromantic, and Goh Ye-jun’s whole arc of accepting himself as a gay man, and finding acceptance of that identity from others. 

Anyway! tl;dr would recommend (and have recommended!) Melo is my Nature to anyone fond of women, clever story telling and also ridiculously happy songs.

[raymondebidochonlifechoices]

Portrait of the FBI trainee as a young adult

or Some thoughts on how Riverdale aged up their teen protagonists

Jumping seven years in the future over the span of just seven days is not an easy feat, but it can certainly be done: changes in physical appearance and “adult” stories are very useful tools. But this is Riverdale, which means that, while all characters are adults in season 5, some characters are more adults than others.

Jughead Jones, Veronica Lodge and Toni Topaz, in particular, come to mind.

Adult Veronica has been blessed with a new sensational wardrobe befitting a more mature character. To be honest I’ve never met a 25-year-old dressed like Ronnie, however, her clothes are those of a grown up. Character-wise nothing has changed for adult Veronica. However, she had always been portrayed more like a young adult businesswoman than a typical teenager. So, in a way, post-time-jump Veronica hasn’t so much changed, as grown into her age. As a result, she might not be different from her pre-time-jump self, but she is convincing as an adult.

Toni had a similarly drastic change of wardrobe, accompanied by equally drastic changes in terms of her character: Toni is now pregnant but -most importantly- in a position of authority. She might not have her own story line yet as advertised (so far, she has supported the plots of Big Bad Hiram, Hero Archie, Investigator Betty and Isolation Queen Cheryl), however, in every scene she has been portrayed as someone dealing with adult responsibilities and being successful at that. She runs the Whyte Worm, she used to work at Riverdale Social Services, she’s Riverdale High School’s guidance counselor, she secures financing for the school and its activities, under her captaincy the Vixens have become a winning sports team heading out to championships. Adult Toni is drastically different from teen Toni.

The most adult character, however is Jughead. In terms of physical appearance, he has ditched his trademark beanie and very recognisable wardrobe for a new set of clothes, a couple of tattoos, glasses and facial hair (that some love and some hate). In terms of story lines, like Toni, he has the most adult ones. And the most different ones from those of his youth. He has meetings with his agent where he talks about his job. He no longer investigates to unravel Riverdale’s mysteries as much as he interviews people for a book, for which he already has a contract and a deadline. He takes a second job to make ends meet. He faces debt. He (supposedly) drinks a lot. As a teacher, his storyline has been the most realistic of them all. Instead of condoning dance-offs with 25-year-old Cheryl or being given a class of minions like Veronica (wasn’t that a very taciturn and obedient bunch …), Jughead is shown staying out late to prep for class and giving pop quizzes to students who are actually unprepared/bored/rude. Mobster-like debt collectors and alcoholism aside, his “adultness” is the most relatable and the most easily recognized as such.

And then, there’s Betty … Who, apart from her longer hair, has been given a mixed wardrobe of 1. new adult capri pants and heels, 2. her old high school combo of sweaters and collars (that she often wears when she investigates – which makes for quite the visual throwback to her high school sleuthing years) and 3. an FBI jacket than makes her look even younger than when she was blackmailing Donna back in the day. Betty’s natural make-up makes her look especially young. (Hadn’t Lili commented once upon a time about how they had gradually darkened Betty’s make up in s2 or 3?) In terms of characterisation, unlike Toni and Jughead, and much like Veronica, Betty is given the exact same material: in her case that’s: “investigating sleuth usually barging into places demanding answers”. Unlike Veronica, however, Betty has not grown into her role, because from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Nancy Drew, the teenager-badass-investigator-played-by-an-older-actress has been an effing trope, and, so far, the writers have failed in differentiating between 18-year-old Betty and 25-year-old Betty in terms of dialogue, set ups, story lines, agency. In other words, FBI trainee Elizabeth Cooper lacks adult gravitas.

Disclaimer #1: this is in no shape or form a diss on the actress, whom I like a lot. This is a diss on the writers, who didn’t bother to update an extremely tropey character, when they updated her on-screen age.

Disclaimer #2: neither is this a diss on the actor playing Jughead, whom I also like a lot. Just because he’s getting better material, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t put in the work: from suggesting the glasses to Jughead’s fed-up, weary, disbelieving or conspiracy-excited new mannerisms.

Then there’s also the matter of how Veronica, Archie and Jughead, all have regular partners for their post-time-jump story lines, whereas Betty has been given the short end of the scene partners stick.

>> Veronica’s foe is daddykins/Chad (who is, anyway, just another version of daddykins).

>> Archie’s story is Archie & his posse against the world. His partners even dress alike to reinforce the idea that they act as one unit! In 5x5 it is Archie and his posse of similarly leather-clad friends against the Ghoulies. In 5x6 it is Archie and his wannabe Bulldog students against the illusive football funding. In 5x7 it is Archie and his similarly dressed merry band of volunteer firefighters against the blazing inferno that is Riverdale.

>>Jughead shares half his scenes with the same new, exciting and extremely likable Tabitha Tate.

>> Betty’s scene partners, however, are seemingly whoever is available at the moment. Polly. Alice. Kevin. Archie if naked. Glen. A trucker. Dr Curdle Jr, A victim’s mother. Reggie. None of them stands out. As this is Riverdale, it’s hard to tell if this is bad writing (focusing on other characters and letting, for some reason, Betty fend for herself, counting on her popularity to maintain the viewers’ interest) or a conscious choice to portray her as being isolated. If, however, it’s the latter, it does the character no favours at all. Jughead’s also isolated, but his plot is new and exciting. In Betty’s case, 1. we’ve already watched the story of her searching for her missing sister when she was a sophomore and 2. I don’t particularly care about any of her scene partners, who are either secondary characters or people we’re not going to see ever again! And this makes her storyline, for lack of a better word: boring (or, in naked Justin Gingerlake’s case, extremely annoying).

I’m absolutely elated to see Betty investigate with Jughead, not only because this will eventually lead to Bughead, but also for the possibility that her mystery plot line will finally become more engaging. That’s not a very nice thought to have for your favourite female character. That’s not a very nice way to treat your most popular female character, especially when you have previously “gifted” her with a cheating story line and the least popular ship (yes, barchie, that’s you).

5x7 came and went and I’m still waiting to see what’s new about Betty Cooper and her storyline. (This is true about Veronica and Archie too, however, this is a bughead blog, so Jughead and Betty take priority! – and, also, let’s be honest, I never cared much about Archie.)

I do not appreciate that FBI trainee Cooper is written exactly the same way as teenager sleuth Betty. Why affiliate her to the FBI if you’re not going to give the character real authority? I do not appreciate the writing choices that make 5x5-5x7 Betty’s plot boring. Why come down so hard on your show’s most popular female character? I love Betty Cooper, both with Jughead and on her own. Likewise, I love Jughead both as part of bughead and on his own. Adult Jughead definitely has my attention. So, when may I have my interesting adult badass female character back?

[panncakes]

ah, i was wondering if tumblr ate my ask abt s2, lol. glad u saw it in the end! since u asked, GOD i have feelings abt the finale. i watched it on my phone whilst at work yday bc i just couldnt wait until i got home. although there are a few things i had issue with, the good parts outweighed them for me and i just loved it so much!!!! two of my favourite things: bun showing affection to tan (the hug after the commander was arrested + his romantic line in the last scene) made my day bc we know he's stupid and in love but having him display it like that is just lovely; and the absolute euphoria of watching the m/oat scene - IT WAS SO CUTE? i mean i wish m quit being a cop but still. i'm happy for them. also as soon as tan turned up with that box i just KNEW he was pulling some dramatic gay shit and Boy. fjskcjkdf I LOVE HIM HE IS SO FUCKING STUPID AND HE LOVES BUN SO MUCH. literally tan has become one of my fav characters of all time and i'm so surprised considering mod is relatively short. i wish we had more time with them but what we got was lovely and enough for them to worm their way into my heart permanently. i'm rly gonna miss mod and maxtul as well, but i know they'll continue being idiots with each other in the future even if they don't work tgt again bc their friendship is so strong. it's at least comforting to know that. thank u for letting me rant with u each week, it's honestly been a pleasure. i'm excited for ur voted gifsets!!! hope all the content creators in this fandom don't leave so soon 😭 i'll still need my fix for a while to come. - 🐢

fully agree with you!! there’s a lot of things that i could criticise about the finale but honestly i’m so happy with the ‘happy ending’ portion of the episode (including the kids/nam/dr oat etc) that i don’t even care aldjfjsk

and yessss affectionate bunn 🥺 we truly were blessed

i think tan just spoke to a lot of us because he’s so crazy and loud with his love from day one; like yeah he might be shady and yeah he has his secreta but he’s so genuine and unashamed with his interest in bunn from day one it’s truly refreshing to see in a character like that (especially since it never once is referenced as a problem). i love them both deeply but yeah i agree; tan truly is something else!

and thank you for ranting with me each week!! it’s gonna take me a minute to let this show go so i’m definitely not planning on shutting up about it any time soon; and from what i’ve seen i’m not the only one haha ❤️

[littlespoonevan]

thinkin about how fucking phenomenal teen wolf season 3a would’ve been if they’d stretched it out to the full 24 episodes. Like, look don’t get me wrong, 3a is a Good season - it’s definitely my favourite alongside s2 and i think it’s the closest to the fanon pack dynamic that we ever came. Likewise, I just finished rewatching it and I can definitely admit some of the plot holes we pored over while it was airing don’t seem nearly as massive when you binge-watch BUT they could’ve done so much more if they’d actually dedicated the whole season run to it instead of just half.

Imagine it. There was such a strong big bad storyline with the darach, I still remember eating up every single theory fandom came up with from looking into celtic mythology and the druids and they could’ve played on the mystery of it so fucking well!!! Like really drawn it out and left smaller hints along the way for us (and the characters) to pick up on so that there was still this constant underlying tension even if the episode didn’t include a sacrifice. and then ofc this also introduced the concept of the emissary which could’ve been delved into so much more (as well as the possibility of stiles being the pack emissary) had they had more time to explore how deaton/morrell became emissaries and how that role was fulfilled within the pack as well as the past between Kali/Jennifer. Not to mention Harris. it’s been years and i’m still so annoyed we never found out what he actually knew and how he was connected to everything asdkjh

Also. 3a was massive for really forming the pack and having each of the characters make personal connections with each other. we had so many new dynamics even if they only got one or two scenes - isaac/allison, lydia/cora, lydia/derek, scott/isaac, derek/cora, boyd/cora, stiles/cora, melissa/sheriff/chris - as well as more fleshing out of pre-existing dynamics from earlier seasons - scott/stiles/derek, scott/stiles, stiles/derek, derek/isaac/boyd, allison/lydia, lydia/stiles, scott/allison, scott/lydia. Imagine if there’d been more breathing room given to these dynamics where we could’ve seen these crucial moments of development. eg. scott literally almost died and wouldn’t let himself heal bc he thought he was responsible for derek’s death yet we didn’t see the moment they reunited after he found out derek was alive. 

On that note: we could’ve actually had follow-ups on the stuff that did matter. We found out this crushing backstory about boyd in motel california only for him to die an episode later in currents. we could’ve seen the characters have an opportunity to mourn erica (and later boyd) rather than the action propelling them forward without a chance to breathe (even just one scene of derek, isaac and boyd having a conversation about erica would’ve been Enough). we could’ve seen stiles broaching the topic of paige with derek since they made it seem So significant that stiles didn’t believe peter and wanted the truth from derek himself. these are all just examples off the top of my head but again, all of these moments wouldn’t have just furthered personal character development but strengthened the bonds between the characters involved. and the strength of the pack is ultimately where we leave off at the end of 3a so SHOW more of that!!!!!!

Just sdkfjkskdj 3a could’ve been PERFECT but it was too full. between the alpha pack and the darach and the main ensemble cast there was too much there. It was a goldmine of possibilities (as evidenced by the hundreds of novel length fics people wrote based on even the tiniest morsel of 3a canon) which meant we did get these moments of absolute perfection but that also sometimes they never got re-visited again because there just wasn’t time!!!!! 

TL;DR 3a came out seven fucking years ago but rewatching it just reignited a visceral feeling in me of how much it was and could’ve been absolutely everything

[starship-imzadi]

S2 E19 Manhunt

Here is our second episode with Lwaxana Troi

The dress uniform look shown here is the one that becomes normal for TNG. The last time it we saw the dress uniform was "Coming of Age". There are a few alterations this time 'round. Notice the gold edging is only as the top, not along the side, and it now has rank pips like the regular uniform.

Ultimately, and by that I mean by the end of the series, I love Lwaxana. But she really does get better with time and right now: is not that time. I don't mean she's a bad character, but damn does she get on my nerves.

Picard looks like he's going to burst a blood vessel.

They look so good in their dress uniforms. I really wish they'd f*cking give one to Troi. (Tasha wore wear one.)

I get the sense that Riker is carrying this for Deanna's sake more than anyone. He moves to intervene after she exhibits notable signs of distress, and he glances at her ever so briefly.

I'm not sure if she's joking or not but just the idea that Deanna might "own" Riker in marriage or servitude is really distasteful to me. Will and Deanna's relationship is one of mutual respect and support.

Lwaxana thinks men are a commodity. That alone puts me off of her. (And don't you dare say anything about Riker! He doesn't not treat women as a commodity despite his reputation, and by the end of this rewatch I'll have done my best to support that conclusion.)

Looking back at "Haven" Riker doesn't interact with Lwaxana at all until the very end of the episode; she laments that she doesn't want the trip to be wasted and suggests she take a new mate. She says Picard is a bit too old, and when she goes for Riker, Troi interjects saying Riker has other obligations.

I mention all of that because Riker's relationship with Lwaxana is curious; his joking about her comments to Picard and Picard's rebuke over the jokes cast their different relationships into contrast for me. Obviously Riker had a romantic relationship with her daughter, which she knows about as revealed by her question of Troi's ownership of him (though that relationship predates the arranged marriage in "Haven" so that doesn't really make sense). I'm pretty sure it's not revealed until "Second Chances" that Troi and Riker had been together on Betazed... So, it's feasible to assume Riker had met Lwaxana prior to "Haven" but it's not a certainty.

I find Picard's devious choice to include Data in their dinner plans very satisfying. You'd think with telepathy Lwaxana would know Picard's intentions before he went about fulfilling them. As a whole I don't think anything has endeared me to Data as much as his actions here.

Not many animals other than humans go through menopause. Currently the hypothesis as to why females of some species go through it is because they are beneficial to the survival of the species outside of purely reproductive functions. However, off spring require resources, so limiting the number of offspring deceases the total resources needed. Also having one child at a time and limited span of fertility suggest a higher vitality rate (as opposed to bunny rabbits).

The Betazed female increased libido is certainly a gimmick to add species variety so they're different from all the other humanoids in the universe....but in-universe this could be: to lead them to seek younger mates (assuming Betazed men don't have any reciprocal age related sexual changes), it could be that once they have an older offspring they're driven to have more that the older offspring can help care for, or perhaps they're better off having children later in life because they're not mentally mature enough to really care for offspring prior to that.

This scene with Troi, Riker, and Picard is one of my very favourite, perhaps most of all because of Riker's smile.

It's a fantastic marker too in their friendships. Picard is a man who enjoys his privacy, as shown by his desire to keep his heart surgery private in "Samaritan Snare". He goes to Riker and Troi for their counsel not just because they're his officers but because they're becoming friends and knowledgeable on the subject (because of their respective relationships with Lwaxana). He could have used the computer or Dr. Pulaski for knowledge on Betazed women.

Dixon Hill, last seen in "The Big Goodbye"

Money in the 24th century is such a fickle thing. Half the time they don't have it and the other half they do, depending on how progressive the writers are feeling that day or something.

I love that Riker and Troi are protecting Picard.

Riker's look of subtle panic as he realises Lwaxana is staring at him is absolutely priceless.

But really, is Lwaxana so blind to Troi's feelings or does she enjoy tormenting her?

Majel talking to herself as the computer is like a weird Easter egg.

I'm glad Picard and Riker got a little pay back for Lwaxana's tormenting them. After all her entitlement and arrogance she needs some embarrassment in her life.

[bunnyikol]

My opinions about some characters in DW

   I only started watching Doctor Who(only new Who) recently, and so far I've covered S2, 3, 4, 5, 10 and 11 and some of the specials, and I find that my feelings towards some characters are not... the same as the popular opinions? But of course these are only my personal opinions.

   1. I don't like Rose, well at least the Rose after S1 because I haven't seen that. I just think she's kind of selfish and clingy? She gets jealous of other women that the Doctor contacts with so easily, yet she still hasn't broken up with Mickey? It's so easy for her to leave her family in another universe and go with the Doctor. I get it that the Doctor is brilliant, but it's never seeing your family again! That decision comes so fast for her as if she didn't care about her family and friend. And how can she be laughing after witnessing a man sacrificing himself to the werewolf for their safety? I know the Doctor is also insensitive in that scene, but I think a companion is supposed to bring out the more compassionate and human side of the Doctor? And she ignores the Doctor's warning about the parallel universe to see her father, though the following trouble is definitely not her fault. But I think since in the first season she's already caused some trouble to see her father, and I guess I am sounding so cold blooded now, doesn't she ever learn?

   For me the goodbye between the Doctor and Rose is heartbreaking, but I guess I'm not so sorry that she leaves the show. But of course she's repeatedly mentioned in the following seasons and also comes back. She obviously has been told that meddling with the walls between parallel universes is dangerous, still she uses the dimensional canon to go back to the Doctor and consequently weakens the barrier between worlds? I mean, how come there's nobody talking about this? I feel quite annoyed by that. Then the bad wolf appears again in the Day of the Doctor, and I'm a bit miffed, but maybe that's only due to my dislike.

   So overall, I don't like this character. I don't think she deserves that much credit.

   2. I don't like Clara. It's funny that I seem to dislike the two most popular companions, but still. I must admit that I have only watched a little bit of Clara, in the 50th year special, Deep Breath and several short clips.

   I was so uncomfortable watching Clara talking to the Doctors in that cottage in the 50th special. She must know that it is a very difficult decision for the Doctor to make, and he's been grieving over it for centuries. If I've got a say, I think this is a very brave decision and also seems to be the only way to save the universe.  Actually if at the end of the day Gallifrey wasn't saved and the film ended in the three Doctors shared the weight of that decision, It still would be fine for me. But Clara, in my view, outrightly reproachs the Doctor  at his most vulnerable point saying this is the wrong decision, and something like "any fool can become a hero". I was like "wtf"? How can she say that, how can she be so condescending? If the Doctor couldn't think of a better way, then Clara would be just condemning him. And if the Doctor's been thinking about saving Gallifrey for ages, what's the use of Clara's speech? Showing that she's so a very good person?

   And then, I want to talk about the "impossibility" of Clara. Honestly, this canon is so fan fiction. I hate the fact she's written to be the reason why the Doctor chose this Tardis. I just feel that it is unacceptable for a show that's been going on for decades that a companion has been influencing the entire life of the Doctor.

   And if she's been in the time line of the Doctor, why does she ask how to fix him after 11 regenerates into 12? That episode makes me so angry that until now I still don't want to watch Season 8.

   In a word, I also think Clara gets too much credit.

   3. I absolutely adore Martha, Donna and Bill.

   Why, why, why isn't there more love for Martha Jones? She is so brave and capable and compassionate. I feel that she's very much underrated. The girl who walked the Earth is such a legend, and she's wise to leave the man who doesn't love her back and to have her own small world. She became a better and braver person after the adventures with the Doctor, and personally, she was willing to use the Osterhagen key (though struggling), is formidable and so "Doctor". Dr. Jones is a clever,  independent, caring and courageous woman that I admire. By the way,  I think Season3 has really good music.

   I guess Donna's many people's favourite? Well she's my favourite. She's funny, sassy, surprising in some skills (kicking open the door lol), and very noble indeed. I especially love her in the episode about the Ood, in which she is shocked by the darkness of the universe, angry at the humanity and determined to help the Ood, just so human for me. I was so sad seeing Donna had to live on never knowing the amazing things she'd done. I just think she deserves so much more.

   I also adore Rory. He's kind of awkward, a little bit ignored, but he's capable and reliable and faithful. I think he's a very good man.

   I love 12th Doctor! But since I dislike Clara I've only watched a part of his bit, and Bill Potts is an amazing companion. She's a little bit inquisitive, tends to overreact? But she's always kind and warm. I love the student-teacher relationship between she and the Doctor.

Basically, that's just me rambling, because I need to get some feelings off my chest. I hope I haven't offended anyone (Well I probably have? But I'm entitled to have personal opinions.) And I am not a native English speaker, you might have already realized it.

[adazzlinggirl]

ADazzlingGirl’s 2019 Top 10 Anime

Hey! I did a “top 5 anime list” last year, and this year has had some great anime that I’ve really enjoyed, so I wanted to share my favourites with you all and maybe help anyone who wants recommendations for anime to watch! As I did last year, I’m not including new seasons of anime that have already aired (such as One Punch Man S2, Mob Psycho S2, BNHA S4, etc) or remakes (Fruits Basket, Dororo), because while I enjoyed these anime, I want to give the spotlight to new series. I’m also not including movies. Also I’m not putting this list in any particular order, as I can’t really decide which shows I’ve liked more.

Carole and Tuesday

Basically the only music I listened to this year was that from Carole and Tuesday. The show is about two girls who live in the future on Mars, who want to make music. The first half of the show focuses more on a talent show for them to get recognised as artists, while the latter half focuses on familial and political problems. The characters are adorable and the music IS SO GOOD!

The Promised Neverland (Yakusoku no Neverland)

TPN is so good if you’re looking for a suspenseful, gripping show. I’m sure most people know the plot by now, but without spoiling it, it’s about a group of children in an orphanage who find out the dark secret of the world outside their house. The characters are so good, and I immediately read the manga soon after finishing the anime, so I’m really excited for season two next year!

Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba)

First of all, this anime is GORGEOUS. It’s a shounen show with excellent fight scenes, mixed in with many silly and funny scenes. The show is about a pair of siblings, Tanjiro and Nezuko. Nezuko is turned into a demon, and Tanjiro is trying to find a way to turn her back into a human. I’m caught up with the manga for this show too (which is a surprise since I don’t really read much manga), which is heartbreaking but also great.

Dr Stone

I put off watching this anime for ages despite my friends nagging me to watch it, but I finally did and I’m definitely glad! A strange phenomenon causes every human on earth to become encapsulated in stone for thousands of years, until a science-genius boy (Senku) breaks out, and attempts to rebuild science from the stone age. The show teaches you science in a fun way, and the process of Senku gaining allies for his “science kingdom” is fun to watch.

Given

Given is an adorable LGBT anime that revolves around four guys forming a band and performing, each with their own struggles. The portrayl of LGBT is not just fanservice as it is in many other series, and it deals with topics such as suicide and moving on from past lovers.

Sarazanmai

This show is absolutely batshit crazy. But hilarious. And maybe will also break your heart by the end. It’s great. I most definitely traumatised my anime society showing them the first episode but it was worth it. It’s about 3 boys who stumble upon the prince of the kappa kingdom (a Japanese mythical creature that’s kind of like a frog - but don’t tell Keppi that), get turned into kappas themselves, and have to pull people’s desires from their buttholes while singing. Yep. Don’t ask. The show has LGBT representation, as one of the boys likes his friend, and there’s gay otters. Just. Don’t question anything if you want to keep your sanity.

My Roommate is a Cat (Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue.)

My Roommate is a Cat is a calming anime about a man (Subaru) with social anxiety who doesn’t like to leave his house (sound relatable? ;)). He ends up adopting a stray cat (Haru) who takes care of him more than he does her, and it’s really adorable. Half the episode is told from Subaru’s point of view, and the other from Haru’s, as she tries to get her idiot human to eat and sleep. It’s not super action packed, but I would recommend for happy fluffy feels.

Stop This Sound! (Kono Oto Tomare!)

This show has actually come out with two seasons this year, the second season airing currently (winter 2019). Kono Oto Tomare is about a high school music club for a traditional Japanese instrument called the Koto. The show shows the struggles of the different student’s situations, as well as allowing you to listen to the beautiful songs from the koto.

Stars Align (Hoshiai no Sora)

This anime technically isn’t finished yet as I’m writing, but I’m still putting it in this list. I initially thought this was just a typical high school sports anime, but the ending of the first episode immediately proved me wrong. While the focus is a boy’s soft tennis team, the anime explores family problems of the members, such as parents who are abusive or overprotective. There is also some real good LGBT portrayl, with a non-binary member of the club who discusses their feelings about their gender.

Vinland Saga

This is another anime that isn’t yet finished, and another that a friend recommended to me. I wasn’t sure about the first few episodes, as the main character is a little bratty child who kind of annoyed me, but it’s definitely gotten better as the episodes have gone on. The show is about Vikings, where a boy’s father is killed, and he swears to get revenge by growing up and learning to fight under his father’s killer. I would recommend if you enjoy animes with lots of fighting.

And that’s ten! I feel that I watched more seasonal anime this year, but it still doesn’t feel like I watched very much anime in general as I’ve been busy with uni and I’m currently on a year abroad. But the anime I have watched have been really great. Other mentions I wanted to make were Enen no Shoubutai (although I don’t like the oversexualising of the girls in it) and Run With the Wind (Kaze ga tsuyoku fuiteiru).

Add me on MyAnimeList, I love having a look at other people’s lists for recommendations! https://myanimelist.net/animelist/ADazzlingGirl And merry christmas/happy holidays!

[beautiful-rebellious-sunflower]

season two episode 3, aka ‘Reapercussions’ aka ‘MY FAVOURITE EPISODE IN THE ENTIRE SHOW PROBABLY’

honestly every single storyline in this one is gold - Anya and Clarke teaming up to escape Mt Weather, Kane and Abby dealing with the consequences of their choices, Octavia and Indra meeting  for the first time...I am always on the edge of my goddamn seat right from start to finish

I love every single Clarke/Anya scene in this episode honestly, they were such a fantastic team, with such amazing chemistry and believable conflict

ahahaha I love how Kane knows immediately that Abby was the one who helped the others escape

it’s just so...exciting?? to see all these storylines kick off...I honestly can’t remember another time in this show where I was SO invested in every single scene, where I was desperate to know what would happen to every character...

MONTY I LOVE YOU, YOU ARE TOO GOOD FOR THIS WORLD

honestly I low-key wish I wasn’t so drunk for this, I adore this episode so much

LMAO @ BAIT!MURPHY

‘She’s not just my friend’ OH HELLO AMBIGUOUS LINE BELOVED BY KABBY SHIPPERS THE WORLD OVER

‘The most respected person in this camp’ - verbatim quote from S2 Marcus Kane there, and honestly an aspect of Abby I wish we had seen more? The way that the people of the Ark would love and respect her as their chief doctor, the woman who healed them when they were sick, the Councillor who stood up for them....Abby Griffin would have been SUCH an important figure on the Ark, and I wish we had gotten more of a feeling of that going forward tbh

god DAMN Abby looks so good, I don’t mean to keep harping on about this but I can’t help but be a Useless Lesbian

also I didn’t mention this before but this whole ‘creepy growing paranoia inside Mt Weather’ storyline with Jasper and Monty is ace too

I mean this episode just has it all

Clarke and Anya was the One True Pairing we were denied tbh - I mean...I liked the whole Clexa thing fine but these two had such sparks flying and Anya was so relentlessly unimpressed by Clarke it made for such a great pairing

on that note, Indra and Octavia are one of the great relationships of this show

actually there is something really fascinating in the line from that random Mt Weather dude when he says ‘Get the hell away from her!’ to the Reaper that is threatening Clarke in the tunnels; it really doubles down on this idea that the Mount Weather people have so dehumanised the Reapers that even Clarke as a Rebel Element is seen as inherently worth protecting against the Savage Monsters

OH SHIT THE SHOCKLASHING SCENE OH NO

friendly reminder that Jackson my son was apparently ready to throw down with Major Byrne when she came to  arrest Abby

lmao guys you’re supposed to be nemeses maybe stop staring into each others eyes dramatically for like five minutes straight

Abby's hair is SO Good

once again I find Major Byrne ripping Abby’s shirt kind of hot well goodbye friends I am 100% Going To Hell it’s been nice knowing you

the music in this scene is so incredible btw

it’s hard to watch but I also can’t tear my eyes away

don’t wanna harp on about this but I 100% believe that Marcus Kane would have taken Every Single Lash a hundred times over for Abby if he could

by the way, who the fuck is that random kid who is with Bellamy, Murphy, Finn and Monroe? It’s just like...some dude...

OH HELLO RANDOM CRAZY ASS FINN

oooh Marcus being all authoritative with Major Byrne ooh Chancellor Kane<3

honestly I am All About this incredible Indra/Octavia/Nyko storyline

and I am also All About this Clarke and Anya as reluctant allies and fellow escapees storyline

okay well it is time for my Favourite Scene of my Favourite Episode

it’s just...it’s the way that Abby and Marcus both understand each so perfectly, and the way that neither of them apologise for their actions, and yet they come to a kind of detente anyway, and the level of absolute trust and respect they have for each other even in the most dire of circumstances...

Kane knows why Abby went behind his back and gave the guns to those kids. Abby knows why Kane had her shocklashed, And there's this sense that they don't judge or resent each other for those choices, but accept each other for who they are, and only believe that they can do better next time

also Abby is still hot as hell in this scene sorry to be shallow but God Damn

also also Marcus Kane’s little smile when Abby says ‘I’ll go with you’ is a Big Mood, like...he loves her so much?? Whether you believe he realises it as something romantic yet or not, you can’t deny the obvious affection he has for her

sidebar, but ‘Chancellor Abby’ is a great track from the OST, and I have it on my ipod

legit, this episode has five distinct separate storylines  and they’re all incredibly compelling and complicated and wonderful and I love this episode?? So much???

oh hey Sudden Murderer Finn

OCTAVIA AND INDRA THE REAL PLATONIC OTP

by the way Dr Tsing, the ‘Cerberus Program’ is the most unimaginative name ever, I get that it’s a gatekeeper thing but I mean come on

[shaydixons]

wlw queerbaiting survey results!

thank you to every wlw skam fan who took mine and @aliciqvikander ‘s survey! we ended up with 313 responses! below is a summary of each question.

disclaimer: though it was explicitly stated that the survey was for wlw, there were several straight people that decided to take the survey and give disrespectful/homophobic answers, and they were deleted from the survey pool. this survey is by and for wlw skam fans, and the below statistics will reflect that. the point of this survey was to give wlw skam fans a place to share their thoughts, not for straight people to spout homophobic rhetoric.

part 1: demographics

what is your sexuality?

the survey consisted of 121 bisexuals, 109 lesbians, and 29 pansexuals; other identities included queer (17), sapphic (11), asexual (11), gay (5), questioning (4), and several other sexualities including demibisexual (1), bi ace (1), ace lesbian (2), and aromantic pansexual (1).

where are you from?

there were many different answers for this, the most common being sweden, usa, uk, germany, finland, norway, spain, canada, and australia.

how old are you?

the most common answer was 17-19 (138), then 14-16 (97), then 20-24 (63), then 25-30 (7), then under 14 (4), then 31+ (2)

part 2: opinions

who are your favorite characters?

the most common answers in order are: sana (240), isak (157), eva (139), even (127), noora (78), vilde (71), jonas (45), chris (35), eskild (21), elias (15), yousef (11), linn (7), magnus (2), and mahdi (1). there were a few people who specified that noora from season 1 is their favorite, not noora from the later seasons. there was also one vote for dr. skrulle. no one voted for william.

who is your favorite canon ship?

evak was the clear winner (237) the rest of the answers in order were yousana (55,) none (11), and joneva (8). there was also one vote for noorhelm, though it’s worth noting that this person also put noora down as a lesbian so it’s possible it was a mistake. no one voted for vagnus.

who are your favorite non-canon ships?

(apologies for the way this one looks)

the most common non-canon ships in order were nooreva (285), evilde (252), sanoora (104), evana (86), noorvilde (63), chrisana (52), jonas x mikael (41), noorevilde (35), chrilde (34), youkael (32), sonja x emma (31), sana x vilde (29), johdi (29), yousef x elias (25), iben x eva (20), noora x mari (14), joora (13), iben x mari (10), sonja x linn (7), chriseva (8), elias x eskild (5), and various others including mikael x adam, the whole girl squad in a polyamorous relationship, and noora x literally any woman.

do you like any of the following canon straight pairings? check off as many as you like.

yousana had the most votes by far (274), followed by joneva (190), then chris x kasper (64), then vagnus (22), then mohnstad (20), then noorhelm (11), then pchris x emma (8), then jonas x isabell (6), then jonas x emma (4). there was also one person who wrote “none bc julie cant write het ships to save her life”. it’s also worth noting that the majority of people who put vagnus also put vilde down as a lesbian. 

Do you think that Vilde is a lesbian?

the overwhelmingly popular answer was yes (286 responses). there was one vote for no, about 10 people thought she is bi/pan/queer, and several other people were undecided.

did you think lesbian vilde was going to be canon?

the most common answer was, “i had confidence it would happen after all the hints but wasn't 100% sure” (148), then the rest in order were “i didn’t think it was gonna happen but i had hope” (82), “after julie andem hinted at in that interview i was 100% sure it would happen” (55), “i had confidence lesbian vilde would not become canon” (6), and also several type-in responses about how people think she’s a lesbian or didn’t see it until people pointed it out but now they do, and my favourite one, “She was lesbian-coded and I strongly believe she is a lesbian, but I don't think Julie knew that because she probably hasn't talked to a lesbian in her life.”

in an interview with DR, julie andem was asked if vilde was a lesbian, to which she responded "no comment". do you feel that this is baiting?

the most common answer was “Yes, because she gave wlw fans hope while she wasn't planning to follow through” with 194 votes, followed by “Yes, though I think she was originally planning to follow through but couldn’t find time to include it” with 79 votes, only 7 people thought this wasn’t baiting at all. some of the write-in answers included “i actually took that as her treating lesbianism like it was inappropriate to talk about in a way”, “I don't think THIS was baiting this was just Julie being an asshole and dismissing wlw fans. Like even the idea of Vilde being gay is just so ridiculous that she's not even gonna make a comment. The queerbaiting was literally lesbian coding Vilde throughout the entire show and throwing so many hints but not going through with it.” and “I feel like she thought saying no comment was funny bc the idea of vilde being gay is sOOoOoo ridiculous to her and the idea of a canon wlw character hadn't crossed her mind in a serious way. she wasn't thinking.” regardless, the overall response by wlw fans is negative.

do you feel like the way eva and vilde's relationship was built up was paving the way for evilde to become a canon couple in the end?

the most common answer was yes (125) but the opinion on this one was pretty split as a total of 138 people said no, 112 of them still had hope though but 26 people thought evilde was strictly friendly. many people also typed in saying that they think that evilde could have been a plot point for a sexual discovery for vilde but not have been endgame.

do you think that noora is a lesbian?

the most common answer is yes (178), there were also 56 people who voted no, and most of the write-in answers either said that they think she’s bi, or that they think season 1 noora in particular is a lesbian, and in later seasons she’s either bi or straight.

when noora was first introduced, did you think she was a love interest?

a majority of people said yes (232), 48 people said no and most of the type in responses were people saying they had watched season 3 first and therefore couldn’t say since they already knew noorhelm was going to be canon. several people also mentioned how eva looking noora up on facebook mirrored the way evak and yousana stalked each other on facebook and that if noora had been a guy her introduction would most certainly have been romantic.

please watch the season 2 trailer if you haven't. do you feel this is an example of queerbaiting?

the most common answer was “Yes, this is explicit queerbaiting” (145), followed by “No, but I do find it disrespectful to wlw to act as though sleeping with a woman is a scandalous thing” (84), then “Yes, this is accidental queerbaiting”, and only 3 votes for “No, this isn’t queerbaiting and doesn’t bother me.”The write-in answers included: “can i just say how gross it is that they took noora possibly sleeping with another girl as something for willhell to get off on??? anyway yes this is queerbaiting bc the entire season was abt noorhell”, and “WTF WTF WTF I JUST WATCHED IT FOR THE FIRST TIME AND WHAT.THE.FUCK. LIKE WHY WOULD SOMEONE DO THAT WHY WOULD YOU BAIT THE GAYS KNOWING THEY WOULD HATE YOU LIKE IF YOUR MAKING A SEASON THATS BASICALLY A LOVE LETTER TO ABUSIVE STRAIGHT MEN WHY WOULD YOU NOT MAKE THE TRAILER SOMETHING GROSS AND STARIGHT LIKE THE SEASON SO AT LEAST THE STRAIGHTE ARE HAPPY LIKE ASIDE FROM HOW CRUEL AND IRRESPONSIBLE THAT WAS TO QUEER FANS IT JUST MAKES NO SENSE ON A ADVERTISEMENT LEVEL LIKE IDK A LOT OF STRAIGHT PEOPLE WHO ENJOYED THE SEASON WOULD WANT TO WATCH IT AFTER THAT TRAILER??? I AM SO UPSET AND I CANT BELIEVE HOW STUPID PEOPLE ARE WTF !!!!!!!!”

in addition, I had someone message me after they took the survey with new thoughts about the trailer and I quite like what they said so I’m going to include it here:

okay so i answered this in the survey, but i had new thoughts abt the s2 trailer. the more i think abt it the more pissed off i get b/c: okay, from what i heard, fans from s1 were interpreting noora as a lesbian right? (if s1 fans could weigh in that'd be gr8) & that makes sense since fans interpreting noora as gay is brought up p early in s2 in the form of vilde, so we know that they were aware of these theories. so, when deciding on the s2 trailer, when deciding to present a scene in which noora wakes up naked w/a man & a woman, knowing the theories abt noora being gay (& since scripts are finalised only slightly before filming, they had time to change it after hearing what fans were saying) they decided to only show her w/the woman??? despite the man being much more important to the story? (& like it wouldn't've been a spoiler to see nico. u don't see mari's face, it could've easily been hidden) they had to have known how that would be interpreted!! they had to!!! they absolutely had to have known that showing that would be baiting fans w/the promise of lgbt+ content w/no follow up. i did say in the survey that i saw the trailer as explicit queerbaiting but. when i put more thought into it, it was actually even worse than i thought? i mean, s2 trailer is gayer than s3's & SEASON 3 ACTUALLY HAS GAY CHARACTERS. i can believe that the lesbian coding of noora in s1 was an accident, but the s2 trailer was absolutely intentional & it pisses me off so much.

please watch the season 1 trailer if you haven't. do you feel this is an example of queerbaiting?

this question had no type in answers and most people agreed it was queerbaiting, “yes, this is explicit queerbaiting” was the most popular answer with 165, “no, but i find it disrespectful how kissing girls is treated as something dramatic and surprising” was the runner up with 85 and “yes, this is accidental queerbaiting” was third with 48 and last came, “no, i don’t think it’s queerbaiting and don’t find it disrespectful” with 12.

opinion on queerbaiting & skam?

the overwhelmingly popular choice was that there was explicit queerbaiting, with 200 votes, there were also 88 votes for “they originally meant to have a canon wlw character but decided not to follow through”. there were NO votes for “there was no queerbaiting”. There were many type-in answers, including “who honestly makes a character say they get horny when kissing a girl and then make her straight? if that is not the biggest fkn queerbaiting idk what is”, “I honestly don't think they intentionally queerbaited at the start, but when it's been explicitly stated multiple times that they took audience response into account when writing the show they should have looked at how much wlw were identifying with some of the things vilde has said/done and taken that opportunity to represent wlw in the show. We know they see what people say about Skam on social media so there's no way they didn't see all the posts about lesbian Vilde or bisexual Eva, etc. They just chose to ignore it.” and “skam continuously brought up the concept of two women being in a relationship but never took the time to explore it; it feels like julie thought she'd done enough by simply acknowledging that wlw exist”

part 3: long answer questions

i just want to say that there were so many beautiful responses to these questions and I wish we could include them all! So many of you are so insightful. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and I’m sorry we can’t include all the ones we like!

what moments did you feel most baited by?

the most common responses were the evilde kisses; the entirety of noora and eva’s interactions in season 1, in particular the first meeting; and when vilde said “I made out with Eva, the feelings that arise don’t necessarily mean you’re a lesbian.” Here are some of the responses:

The evilde kiss in season 4 cuz like at that point, they knew exactly what they were doing, they knew they weren't gonna follow through, and it gave wlw false hope when in the end both of them were shoehorned into forced straight relationships.

u g h. 1. all those extremely Gay looks between noora and eva in s1 were absolutely unreal. they had so much chemistry and were always looking at each other so appreciatively. 2. vilde going on and on about how cozy a lesbian couple would be, her getting turned on by kissing eva when she couldn't get turned on by boys, her and eva actually kissing - passionately - which was unlike something ive seen before tbh. they had this sort of fiery passion but at the same time there was a gentleness and familiarity to the kiss and the way their bodies just meld together. that's what really made me feel baited. also, all the social media updates from vilde.

When I first watched vilde commenting on Nora's sexuality and making out with Eva I thought they were explicit hints at her being lesbian, but watching them again in context they definitely feel like Julie making fun of the fandom thinking nooreva would happen and then acting like women kissing is scandalous or a joke

the way noora was portrayed in the first season came across to me as if she would be a love interest and showed interest in eva that seemed to go beyond just friendship. the repeated kisses between eva and vilde and the whole "feelings that arise" thing that followed.

if you think vilde is a lesbian, why?

this question had many answers but most of them touched up on vilde and evas constant making out at parties and the way vilde talks about men. Many people pointed out that vilde is obsessed with being popular and liked and that she picks the men that will fit that image and doesn’t actually feel attraction to them. there were also very many people who said that they can relate to vilde’s experiences. here are some good responses:

(I've spent way too much time pondering this but: shortened version). The main thing that almost convinces me that lesbian!Vilde would've been canon if she'd gotten a season is the contrast between how she talks about her "crush" Willhelm, & Eva. Like having her basically say "guys don't turn me on, thinking about feminine-coded objects does" & "making out w/my female friend makes me happy & horny but the prospect having sex w/my One True Male Love makes me nervous & uncomfortable & drives me to drink" (WHICH ISAK DOES WHEN TRYING TO HOOK UP W/EMMA)  & how upset she looks when she sees Eva kissing PChris instead of her! I mean, w/o lesbian!Vilde what's the point of those scenes????? & "my orgasm felt like a sneeze down there" r e a l l y. & then there's how she doesn't want to hang out w/her bf magnus, how she seems to choose either a guy who's already explicitly into her (magnus) or the "hottest guy in all of third year" (william) as crushes, the former after her friend points out that she's not hooking up w/guys!!!!! & then there's her obsession w/noora being gay (like straight girls fetishize gay guys sometimes, yea, but they don't react like that to gay girls). And I mean, w/her desperation to be popular & fit in, it'd make perfect sense for her to bury her sexuality b/c she feels (perhaps subconsciously) that it'd ostracize her from her peers more than she already is. There's just!!!!!! So! Much! Evidence! (Eva-dence 🌚🌚🌚)

Okay, so I'm ace, I don't feel sexual attraction towards anyone and I'm positive Vilde feels the exact same way about men. I do however think she does feel attraction towards women ('the feelings that arise'?? Hello??). But I do recognize myself SO MUCH in how she is towards men. The way she forces herself onto men and over compensate, how she sexulizes herself because she doesn't feel it so she tries so hard to act like she thinks it should be, talk about what she should feel, what she should like. Because isn't that what everyone does? I did that shit for years before I figured it out.

have u heard her talk ever

well yes everything about her screams closeted lesbian/struggling with compulsory heterosexuality. not being turned on by men, describing stereotypical girls clothes when saying what makes her horny, admitting she was turned on while kissing eva, her obsession with noora being a lesbian, claiming she's so in love with a boy but being "relieved" when he doesn't want her, having to get drunk to have sex with a boy, also "feeling relieved" if said boy doesn't have sex with her. the entirety of s3 she didn't hook up with anyone but the moment the girls joked about her not getting dick she hooked up with the first that showed interest. her relationship with magnus didn't even feel genuine on her part or even healthy up until like the last clip that they tried to make the audience sympathize with them together lol.

she obviously cares a lot about what other people, particularily girls, think of her, so she would struggle with coming to terms with her sexuality. her crush was the most generic popular older boy because he's who she was supposed to be into, she wanted to sleep with him so that her first time would be with a popular guy (also to help out her bus friends) (if wanting to hook up with guys to impress other girls isnt lesbian culture i dont know what is) yet when she finds out he and noora are a thing she feels relief (she also expressed that she'd feel relieved if he never called for sex and while that could mean she just had butterflies the fact that he didnt turn her on at all makes it v questionable), she felt feelings for eva after making out with her, she is turned on by traditionally feminine things... The way she behaves around magnus reminded me of my romantic/sexual interactions with men which only appealed to me when i could discuss them with girls or go on double dates with other girls or show off to other girls (it was always about girls!!!) and just julie why do you hate us

many lgbt people got into the show because of the gay representation. was this the case for you, and, if so, do you feel disappointed in the lgbt representation as a whole?

the response to this answer was mixed. most people said they got into the show for the gay representation, though many say they got into it because of the girl squad, or sana in particular. the general consensus is that people are very happy with evak and the portrayal of mental illness, but that there are no wlw characters and no trans characters, so the lgbt representation as a whole is lacking. here are some responses:

I had high hopes when Vilde talked about how cosy a lesbian couple at the cabin would be but I don't think the show creators ever took their responsibility to queer women seriously. What little respect there was in the few comments like Vilde's was eroded by their queer bating. Looking back I wonder if they thought Vilde acknowledging the existence of lesbians and making statements about lesbians not being weird WAS positive representation.

I did! Skam actually helped me figure out I liked girls, watching season 3 first then circling around and watching all of vildes "gay" scenes kind of made it click and I lived season 3 but when I look at the rep as a whole, it seems Julie only recognizes gay/pan white men as worthy of exploration or mention outside of humor and it's so strange for me because I know vastly more wlw than I do mlm so for there to be 0 cannon wlw characters is almost mind blowing

Yes and yes. Fuck that lesbophobe honestly I'm done with this whole cute gayboy trope if it means it's only meant for the straight fetish af gaze

yes, part of the lure of the show was the gay rep and the fact that there were no gay girls is a let down, mainly bc andem has said that the show was made for teenage girls. if so, why are there no gay girls as part of this teenage experience??? why would a sexuality struggle or a picture of finding urself not include them??? but the worst of all is the disappointment in the fact that andem EXPLICITLY said "no comment" about vilde. she should've said outright no, that was rlly irresponsible and almost mean bc it gave people hope. honestly until then i liked gay hcs but i didn't have much hope it would be canon and didn't mind too much if it wasn't but it was specifically that comment which made me think "ok, vilde is going to be lesbian in canon for sure!!! that's exciting".. like i wouldn't have expected any more from the show than evak if she hadn't sent that expectation??? it's like,, ok, if u only want to show a limited part of the lgbt community in ur rep, make that clear from the outset and i'll take it for what it is, but to keep up this pretence and bait fans and then for canon to fall short and not deliver is truly so embittering and disappointing, or it was for me at least

how do you feel about the way lesbians are represented on skam? do you feel they are treated respectfully?

most people here answered either: which lesbians?, or talked about all the lesbian jokes in season 2. so the overall answer was no, two girls making out is a joke and something for penetrator chris to stare at.

No, not at all? Eva kissing girls at parties is treated as frivolous (which it often is irl, but I would hope that fictional media would give a purpose to that plotline?), & despite her bf obviously freaking when she kisses a guy at a party, his ex making out w/eva & ingrid at parties apparently didn't bother him at all, b/c it's not cheating if it's two girls!!!! And the jokes about how Noora can't possibly be gay in s2, which I didn't mind at all when I thought that they were set-up for Vilde's coming out arc, but now that that's gone nowhere, it's genuinely upsetting. & for a show that was apparently created in order to represent teenage girls, the fact that they had an entire season about male lgbt+ characters, & yet never delivered on making any female ones? That's ridiculous. If they wanted to represent the underrepresented, as they claim, maybe they shouldn't have focused on the adventures of the white cishets?

No in no way it was like there was no possibility that there could be lesbians so fuck you julie andem for this

Lesbians are as a punchile of a joke like girls making out it's not and it should not be as real as boys kissing boys or girls kissing boys. Skam actually enforces compulsory heterosexuality and laughs so while doing so. Whenever lesbians are mentioned, it's never seen as valid but more as a funny joke.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA- ahem. On a serious note. I think the writers used specific themes and close female friendships to bait wlw viewers. So many of the storylines are explicitly coming out / questioning / discovering yourself storylines and yet they were all wrapped up with random-ass "men! *heart eyes*" conclusions. ESPECIALLY Vilde x Magnus.

i feel HORRIBLE and betrayed. it feels as though julie decided that teen lesbians don't exist? don't matter? are disgusting? don't deserve representation? are only there for the purpose of straight guys or as a punchline? the answer is all of the above. this hurts even more cos this show was targeted towards teenage girls. i;ve (unfortunately) grown used to this sort of lesbian queerbaiting/fetishization in shows targeted for men/teenage boys, or as distasteful and hurtful jokes in comedy, but in a show that i thought i would see myself represented in it stung even more. there are also 3 queer boys, but no girls? julie took it upon herself to write a whole season dealing with coming out and dealing with homophobia as a boy, but she couldn't even just make one of the characters a lesbian? thanks???

do you feel that the lack of wlw representation on the show is just a coincidence, or do you think it's intentional? is it part of a wider trend of lesbian erasure and lesbophobia in media?

This question in particular had so many insightful responses. The consensus is that with all the care that is put into Skam, it’s either intentional or completely careless. It’s incredibly disheartening to have so little lesbian rep in media, and the little rep we do have is often stereotypical, morbid, or, as in Skam, the lesbians are treated as jokes. The reason the lack of wlw representation in Skam hurts so much is for two reasons; first, we were baited very hard (see the previous responses); and, two, there is SO much care put into Skam, they interviewed 1000 teenagers, they read social media reactions, they put a ton of care and effort into the show and incorporate fan reactions, so to not include wlw characters despite knowledge that many wlw saw themselves in vilde, noora, and eva; feels incredibly intentional and disrespectful. here are a few great answers:

I think Skam is such good at showing diversity and realness in young women in every aspect but sexuality. It seems like Julie Andem has drawn on personal experience without much filter which makes the show authentic and relatable, as we all know. But with that said, the way sexuality was treated feels not so much like a personal experience as it does a personal fantasy - and in general, season 3 seems like a fantasy with the Baz Luhrmann theme and big, romantic gestures. Somehow it felt lazy? At least in terms of breaking boundaries, because it definitely would have been more groundbreaking to show a lesbian main character, defy lesbian erasure and talk about the lesbophobia in teenage girls. I think somehow that would have been too much for the show to handle? Too controversial? The same way that they never really dug into Islam or islamophobia in season 4 - it hits too close to home. So, I think the lack of wlw representation is partly because of the mystification of LGBT people which led to this big, fantasy-like season 3 (also a representation of straight, teenage girls' fantasy), and partly because it would be too difficult or controversial to have one of the mains be a lesbian, be forced to tell her story and make people examine their much more subtle lesbophobia. This also makes it a lot easier for the creators to queerbait because they can show that they know wlw exist but at the same time feel no obligation to actually tell the stories of wlw. So, it is not only lesbophobia in the media, but lesbophobia in society.

I don't think it's intentional in the sense that Julie thought to herself, "oh, let's see, hmm, no lesbians on this show", but I also do believe that the decision to leave the girls' sexualities unaddressed is intentional and lesbophobic; we all know that Julie and the crew spent time reading fan theories and shit. They knew we wanted it and cared jackass about it. Even in Vilde's clip, it could've been confirmed just by her mum asking if she's met any cute girl. Or that Magnus and her exchanged a text message that left us knowing their "relationship" is bearded. Or that even Eva is confirmed bi. They could've continued that storyline off show and on social media, with just slightly addressed (for the casual viewers), because they knew that the fans following the show religiously were expecting the rep. The decision to leave wlw rep out in the final season is complete lesbophobia and awfully disgusting of them.

for sure its lesbian erasure and lesbophobia in the media. 100%. theres no way julie can have isak, even, eskild, have her lesbian coded character say the word lesbian several times, exhibit lesbian behaviour and compulsory heterosexuality throughout a whole series - and then randomly and coincidently forget to include an actual lesbian character. nope. there was all the time in the world, she just choose not to - whether by her own prejudice or total disregard for lesbians, i dont know.

I think it's intentional. I think this is why, even when the original plan for the show was to have each of the girl squad have their own season plus isak, the season with the big coming/LGBT storyline featured a gay boy and a m/m couple, because that content is more palatable to an audience of mostly straight girls, and also non-straight sexuality in younger girls is almost never taken seriously. And I think apart from the queerbaiting, Julie was straight up lesbophobic in how she treated the concept of girls loving girls as a literal joke and something to laugh about that couldn't possibly be real; you know, the feelings that arise /can't/ mean you're a lesbian because that's just preposterous, apparently. And this is definitely a wider problem in media, because people cannot fathom girls liking each other romantically and wanting to be with other girls and whatnot, and then there's the whole thing about (straight) girls being sooo comfortable with their friends that they can kiss each other at parties and cuddle and all that but God forbid one of them isn't actually straight.

PART OF A WIDER TREND OF LESBIAN ERASURE IN MEDIA AND SHE SHOULD GET BACKLASH FOR IT IN THE NORWEGIAN PRESS AND BY NORWEGIAN LGBT ORGANIZATIONS BUT INSTEAD SHE IS TREATED LIKE THE PERFECT ALLY AND WINNNS LGBT AWARDS AT OSLO PRIDE

Wider trend. I think creators acknowledge the need for queer community representation, but then go with the easy option of two cis white boys kissing and think that's ticked the box. And I get it, because the two boys option will be popular, there's plenty of evidence to show it. But if you're not giving us the option to root for two girls written with the same care and depth and multi layered story, you're never giving us the chance to show how hard we would support a wlw relationship and create actual change across the media. We as wlw viewers would've defended the show creators if they copped flack for representing wlw or torpedoing a popular straight ship, and a lot of us have done stuff like vote in polls for Evak to show our support for that. We have their back. But they don't have ours.

it's not a coincidence. it cannot be coincidence when while having a mlm relationship on the show there isn't any wlw relationship or even just a lesbian/bisexual/pansexual girl. and there where plenty of time to make a wlw on the show. (they could have made eva bisexual and make season two about nooreva with a strong and self-confident lesbian noora, but okay, whatever) why couldn't they make sana's muslim friend a wlw?? it would mean so much not only to wlw fans but also to muslim wlw fans??? or give sana a wlw sister?? it wouldn't hurt the plot but would give at least some wlw representation. the conclusion is while having more and more gay representation (and i respect that, i do realise that is just as much important as wlw representation) a lot of shows just want to get attention and only give a gay couple so that young straight girls could fetishize them and don't give them proper storylines. and most of the shows that have a gay couple do not have a lesbian couple because i suppose they think there is "limit" on the lgbtq+ characters. and skam isn't the exeption. wlw fans have been queerbaited and humiliated by julie and skam multiple times and i fucking hate it. i also hate julie since hates lesbians.

conclusion: queerbaiting is very common in media and gay people are naturally more in tune to it. the majority of wlw skam fans who took this survey feel that there was queerbaiting on skam, specifically with vilde and season 1 noora. the majority of people who took this survey are incredibly disappointed, and got their hopes up during seasons 3 and 4, only to have their hopes dashed. it would have meant so much to many wlw skam fans to have a wlw character, but instead many feel disheartened, disappointed, and even hurt at their existence being treated like a joke on the show. vilde and noora were both explicitly lesbian-coded, so to make jokes around their sexuality feels like adding insult to injury.

bonus: some nicknames for william we saw: willfurry, mr. dicky, limpdick, richdick, dickface, trashelm, willphlegm, willdemort, willtwat, shitdick, dickface, and one person called him a naked mole rat.

THANK YOU again to everyone who participated!

[annavolovodov]

So I read Keep the Home Fires Burning Part Two and I have a few thoughts...

...and when I say a few I mean 2825 words worth. You can probably guess whose storyline most of them are on.

The thing is, the vast majority of this instalment was incredible with two character’s storylines in particular standing out as real highlights for me. Yet the fact that the quality of the rest of the book is so high makes those chapters so glaringly disappointing.

Spoilers under the cut!

Starting with the positives and one of my two favourite characters in the books so far - Pat. Her scenes have been utterly engrossing and I am so, so proud of the way she’s developed since 1x01. She may still be stuck with Bob but she sure as hell won’t let herself be trapped by him. She knows her worth and she’s biding her time.

As I predicted, Pat’s using the Mass Observation columns as an outlet to keep her sane. Since we know she has a literary background and has worked in publishing before, I am PRAYING that the observations she’s been detailing of her life will take off and the series will end with her as a hugely successful writer. Think about it: would it not be the ultimate vengeance against Bob, for her to achieve what he lacked the skill to? Of course I would love Bob to die but that  seems a tad contrived for Home Fires and forcing him to watch the woman he’s abused for years moving onto bigger and better things would be both a satisfying victory for Pat and would fit with the tone of the show.

Side note: I find Pat’s insistence to stick solely to the truth when writing to be an interesting contrast to her husband’s technique. Bob has a tendency to overdramatise aspects of his life and portray himself to be heroic and exciting when in reality, he’s the exact opposite. There’s probably a good meta in there for someone smarter than I am.

I can’t forego a mention of Pat’s quite frankly iconic dragging of Bob for almost a whole chapter. The revelation that she almost straight up murdered him a couple of years ago was unexpected but totally relatable. And some of the quotes from her writing?

“In my experience, men often like to sit around talking about doing great things, but it’s the women who get on and do them.”

“It makes me ashamed that we can be at war with fascist Germany yet exhibit the same base impulse to discriminate against people who simply don’t look like us.”

Pat is a great character.

AND THAT CLIFFHANGER. MAREK’S BEEN WRITING TO HER. HE’S ALIVE. THEY WILL BE TOGETHER AGAIN. FUCK YOU BOB.

As for my other favourite? Erica has been an unexpected highlight in the novels. Of those involved in the crash, I was pretty certain she’d make it. She never quite acquired her own storyline in the show, instead largely popping in and out of others plots as needed. I already had Will marked for death since he'd be killed off sooner or later with his illness so it was a nice surprise when he made it out (after saving Vivian!!! I still cry).

Or at least I thought it was a nice surprise right up till we found out his cancer had worsened and he had mere weeks left to live. When Dr Mitchell explained to Erica and Laura that he was nearing the end? When they went home and Erica decided she had to shoulder the burden and remain strong for the girls? Erica finally breaking down whilst the women of the WI held her? I full on sobbed at every single one of those scenes.

I think a lesser series would’ve killed Will instantly when the spitfire hit the house for the sake of drama and words can’t express how grateful I am that Home Fires didn’t, instead choosing to leave us with a poignant and painfully relatable exploration of terminal illness and grief.

I did appreciate the touches of humour in the Campbell’s storyline. Will literally pulled a “Surprise, bitch. I bet you thought you saw the last of me” on Erica like 70 years before the meme was invented. Incredible.

Dr Rosen is... intriguing, I guess. I don't dislike her. I think she has potential, even though I’m sceptical at the addition of yet another character when we have mains from S1 who have yet to make a significant impact in the book.

OH AND THE BATTLE OF WILLS BETWEEN HER AND MIRIAM??? The sort of content I paid 99p for. Poor Erica, getting caught in the middle of that. There were many great lines in this book, but I think this might just be my favourite:

“Erica felt a sudden rush of adrenaline, knowing Dr Rosen might get away with a comment like this with some patients, but not with Miriam Brindsley - a woman the rest of the village knew could single-handedly hold off a horde of invading Nazis with a gutting knife for a solid half-hour.”

If that doesn’t sum up Miriam as a character, I don’t know what does.

Speaking of the Brindsleys, do you know how satisfying it is to see them alive and flourishing after spending 15 months mentally preparing yourself to lose at least one of them?

I do.

I mean, they still have a huge target on their backs (Mim’s words in part one about how they’re blessed and are defo making it through the war? Yikes. An omen if ever I saw one) but considering their lack of page time I’m gonna gamble that we can quit worrying about that until Book 2 at the very least.

Moving on, I really did not go into this book expecting to care so deeply about Frances and Noah’s growing relationship yet here we are. Frances excessively calling to check on him every day was adorable. And this entire exchange with the head teacher was legendary:

"Frances didn't want to have an argument. She never wanted to have arguments with all sorts of people she eventually had arguments with; it was simply in her nature to be more challenging of other people's positions than they were used to. It put them on the defensive, and an argument would inevitably ensue. ‘I don’t wish to be confrontational –‘ There was a sudden snort at the other end of the line. Like the sound of someone choking on their tea, perhaps.”

I laughed.

However, despite the many, many positive aspects of this most recent instalment, there is one storyline in particular that singles itself out as Home Fires’ most glaring weak spot.

Of course, I’m referring to Teresa’s story and the awful place she’s currently occupying in the narrative.

Back when the whole Nick debacle began mid-S2, I figured I might as well give it a chance and see where it went. Simon Block was adamant on Twitter that Teresa’s endgame was not a man and what would be unfurling over the coming episodes was a historically accurate depiction of the trials lesbians faced during such time periods. It wasn’t ideal, nor was it what I expected for Teresa based around the promotional material released for S2, but the show hadn’t let me down yet.

And so I have waited, I have given it a chance, and based on the back half of S2 and the two instalments of KTHFB available so far, I am SO disappointed in what Simon Block has done with Teresa. Sure, things may improve in future novels, but right now I’m not sure I can adequately explain how much I hate this goddamn marriage.

Simply put, it is totally unnecessary. Every single aspect of it. Teresa’s chapters in Part Two were awful. I’m pretty sure we’ve established at this point that she is not into men. We do not need to read about her trying and failing to repress her attraction to women whilst having sex with Nick. Even if we absolutely unavoidably had to hear about Nick and Teresa’s sex life, we do not need aforementioned sex scene spread across the whole chapter.

I know this might be hard for Straight Guy Simon Block to understand, but I’m pretty sure exactly zero lesbians are going to want to read about a lesbian character who is struggling with compulsory heterosexuality having sex with a man. I’m bisexual and I found it sickening so God knows how that chapter is going to make lesbians feel. I strongly suspect that some are going to find it triggering, and if the storyline is triggering to the group it is supposed to represent you really have to ask yourself why you are even bothering to write the representation in the first place.

Teresa’s arc in the books so far has consisted of getting married, blaming herself for the crash because she feels like she isn’t taking the marriage seriously (seriously what the fuck was this???), Teresa having conflicting feelings about Annie, Teresa stuck at home worrying about her marriage, Teresa feeling awful whilst having sex with Nick, Teresa worrying about having children, Teresa having more conflicting feelings about Annie and Nick... Do we see a pattern here? Do we get any meaningful scenes of Teresa at school? Do we get any meaningful scenes of Teresa with her canonical close friends Alison and Steph, who she spent S1 and S2 building strong relationships with? Yeah, she occasionally gets a throwaway line in a group scene at a WI meeting, but what does Teresa really get to do outside of being emotionally tortured about her marriage? The change in format to the books has led to characters being isolated in their individual stories whereas the series could allow them to interact more freely, but it genuinely feels like Teresa is stuck in some sort of heterosexual hell and is allowed no reprieve.

And all of this feels completely divorced from S1 and the first half of S2??? S1!Teresa didn’t appear to have any sort of desire to marry a man in order to cover up her sexuality. From the limited screen time we had with them, the main reason the relationship between Teresa and Connie failed seemed to be due to interference from outsiders (aka the headteacher that blackmailed Teresa) and the simple fact that Connie and Teresa wanted different things. Nothing in the series suggested that Teresa was unsure or struggling with her sexuality. Nothing. When the synopsis for 2x04 came out and mentioned Teresa would be asked on a date, everyone immediately assumed it was Annie involved. The prospect of it being a man never crossed our minds because it just seemed so ridiculous.

Another aspect I’m struggling to comprehend is why Alison pushed Teresa towards Nick. There’s no logical explanation for this. Alison knew about Teresa’s sexuality. Alison was fine with it and explicitly wanted her to stay because - and I quote - she “enjoyed having her around”. So how on Earth did we get to this point, with Alison encouraging Teresa to marry a man she barely knows and can never love? The fuck did that come from? The reasoning was murky enough in the show but it’s even worse in the books. Chapter 17 is essentially Alison sitting alone in her house feeling depressed, missing Teresa, lowkey regretting telling her to go but consoling herself because “at least Teresa is in a happy marriage now” or whatever...

In what universe does any of this make sense?

Yet another person being screwed over by this whole shitshow is Annie. Marek was also introduced in S2 as a love interest for Pat yet he’s somehow obtained significantly more screen time and development than Annie. Despite appearing in four episodes and two instalments of the book I feel like we (and Teresa) barely know her, which is absolute bullshit if they’re seriously intending for her to be Teresa’s endgame. They’ve had three conversations! Any romantic relationship between two women should get equal, if not more focus than the hetero ones especially if they’re the only f/f romance on the show. One of the central themes of Home Fires is relationships between women so I cannot understand why the ball has been so spectacularly dropped here. It’s not fair on Teresa to get all this suffering and a half-baked romantic subplot, it’s not fair on Annie to be essentially non-existent as a character beyond her possible relationship with Teresa and it’s certainly not fair on any wlw reading/watching, desperate to see themselves represented and being given scraps.

Even if Teresa's marriage is over soon (which I'm not holding my breath about), I can't see how she'll get a happy ending with Annie in the village. I highly doubt Nick would be okay with her continuing to live with him whilst she was in a relationship with Annie. Getting a divorce and moving in together would arouse a ton of suspicion and defeat the purpose of Teresa’s marriage in the first place. The only way for them to be able to live as a couple would involve moving away and starting afresh... Exactly what Connie proposed in S1, only for Teresa to turn down because she’d feel much more comfortable living a quiet life in the village than going off to a strange place. Having her suddenly change her mind now after clearly explaining her decision to Connie would result in everything post-1x04 feeling utterly redundant.

I just... this whole plot was totally avoidable. It didn’t need to happen. In a more logical universe:

After the First Aid course, Steph notes Teresa’s discomfort at the casual homophobia, and when coupled with her Meaningful Look at Annie as she cycled away, Steph promptly puts two and two together (remember Steph noticing how quickly Teresa wanted to get away after that comment? Remember the close friendship Steph and Teresa have? Simon Block sure doesn’t).

Once she hears about the impending wedding, Steph gently asks Teresa if she’s sure she wants to do it. Teresa half-heartedly assures her that she loves Nick, so Steph - because she’s a good friend and this show is supposed to be about women helping each other - decides to go and speak to Annie.

Annie and Steph end up staging an intervention and in an important and touching scene, tell her she deserves better than having to hide herself in a marriage to a man.

Teresa, feeling supported and loved by her friends, calls off the wedding.

Nick fucks off and becomes irrelevant.

Steph and Annie’s intervention forces Alison to consider why she pushed Teresa away (spoiler alert: it only really makes sense if it was because she was trying to push away feelings of her own).

Teresa, Annie, Alison, Steph and later Joyce start a wlw group during which they talk about how gay they are and how straight people suck. Nothing bad happens to any of them ever.

See how easy that was? The evils of heteronormativity are depicted in a way that doesn’t cause a lesbian to suffer for months trapped in a horrible loveless marriage.

I really can’t express how disappointed I am in this storyline. Home Fires has handled numerous other sensitive topics well but this marriage plot is an absolute mess right now. I do apologise for going on such a rant about it and I hope my comments make sense. As a bisexual, I’m not as qualified to speak on this particular matter as others in the fandom may be and I hope I’ve not stepped out of turn, but I felt that something needed to be said about what’s happening with Teresa right now and I wasn’t sure if anyone else was going to say it.

Miscellaneous things I’m not going to elaborate on because this is far too long already:

I badly miss Sarah, the Farrows, the Brindsleys, Claire and Spencer, and everyone else who is currently out of rotation. Hope you’re all doing well, folks.

Also missing some of the best dynamics of S1/2. As mentioned earlier, everyone is kinda stuck in their own bubble interacting with the same people over and over again. I particularly want more Frances/Joyce, Teresa/Alison and Teresa/Steph interactions.

Of all the random secondary characters in the show, of course it’s Mrs Talbot who returns for the books. I groaned when I saw her name.

Maybe in some ways I’m glad the show got cancelled because at least I don’t have to witness the Teresa/Nick sex scenes with my own eyes. It was bad enough having to read it thank you very much.

If you’ve made it this far you deserve a medal for your stamina and, as ever, my inbox is always over if anyone else wants to discuss/theorise/rant with me.

See you all again on September 21st for what I’m sure will be another 2000+ word rant!

[zoetekohana]

(Putting my answer under a read more as it became a tl;dr love rant on voltron shipping, haha.)

@chipofmintchocolate replied to your post: 

Bb I’m so proud of you!!!! Way to power through it in a night of passion haha. Let’s talk theories when I’m more awake. And it’s okay I’m weak for fire+ice pairings in general so I was made to be Klance trash; not everyone is as trashy 😆

Thank you! ♥ *takes a bow* Yes, it was a night of passion, haha. I continued watching ep6 and I just couldn’t stop, I had to watch them all so I did. 

Yes, I want to talk theories!! 

Sorry, I think I phrased what I wanted to say wrong. (It was almost 4am after all. I edited it in the post.) But I do like Klance, I just expected to like them more than I actually do? I saw all those Klance posts on my dash before watching VLD, and granted I shipped them a little in Voltron Force as I liked their bantering (though I was much more a fan of Kallura and Hidge in that adaptation), so I was so certain I was going to hardcore ship them since I love my ships that have a strong trusting bond at its core but who do like to challenge each other through banter. But so far there was too much of just the bickering (and yes saving each other), but not so much actual casual bonding? Maybe we’d get that with the shirtless scene in S2? Omg, I would so love that. :D  And I’m sure if I get to see more of that, I would in fact end up adoring them.

That said, I do think Sheith is my most favourite ship. I just love the fact that they have a history that hasn’t been told yet (since Keith knew Shiro personally already in the first episode) and I absolutely love that they trust each other so much and that they wordlessly work together so well. Plus there is the potential for many angst plot with their Galran connection. This ship really hits an awful lot of my likes. 

And there are the space parents. I love Shallura as well. They have so much in common. They are both so focused and determined, but still so emphatic and kind. I also love that they instantly trusted each other’s leadership capabilities. Plus can you imagine the banter with them? I do and I love it!

I know you’re not into this ship, but I like Kallura as well hence me ot3ing Shiro/Keith/Allura so much right now. While I didn’t like Voltron Force much (those bratty cadets were annoying af), there were redeeming factors and Kallura was most definitely one of them. I loved how obvious it was that they loved each other, but how they kept it to themselves because of their duty and responsibility. They always watched over each other, even on missions without jeopardising it. They also always confided in each other about anything, because they understood each other and were the perfect person for each other to turn to make an important decision, etc. And then there was the fact that Keith, mister mission, wanted to step down as Voltron’s leader to be with Allura. Ugh, I loved that ship more than the show itself. In Voltron Legendary Defender, however, they had some nice scenes in the first few episodes. I especially loved that scene when they both returned to the Castle to help Shiro and Pidge fight against Sendak and when Allura screamed, “Keith, now!”, he knew immediately, without any further directions, what to do. That scene reminded me of the ship I loved in the previous adaptations. However, it dwindled a bit after the Balmera arc? Keith was willing to leave Allura behind, something he’d never do in Voltron Force (and I’m sure in Defender of the Universe neither, but I haven’t watched that one completely yet). Anyhow, if the creators do decide on making them canon (as they are the canon ship of the franchise), I’ll be very curious as to how they’ll handle that. So yeah, despite them not having so many scenes (besides from standing next to each other an awful lot), I can’t help but still ship them. 

Oh Hance, my Hance. I never expected to like this ship as much I do. They’re total besties, they are so comfortable around each other and they’d have such a loving, understanding relationship with (lbr) the most random fun conversations.

Shaynk was so adorable, hands down, no one can dispute this. They helped each other so much. They both helped each other into seeing the bigger picture. Hunk really grew as a person and as a palladin because of her.

Lastly there is Hidge, which I also shipped on Voltron Force because they’re dynamic was so fun and interesting to watch. Pidge being a technical genius and Hunk being a mechanical genius, along with their fun-loving personalities, completed each other so nicely. I’m not really feeling it on VLD (yet?), but I loved seeing their friendship, especially in the “Venom Crystal” episode.

LONG RANT SHORT: I LOVE AND SHIP EVERYONE IN THIS SPACE BAR!