#and ig she dies between s5 and s6 so like????

[bittwitchy]

i’ve now had alcohol so the complete lack of a shit that the writers of mcm/illain and wife had back in the 70s is funnier now bc how the fuck are you gonna have a chick be preggers for an entire season, pop a baby out, and the baby straight up vanishes an episode later never to be spoken of again lmao

[codename-adler]

Dear Tumblr toxicity,

Hi. Adler here. We need to talk.

- TW: mental health issues, depression, bipolar disorder, self-harm, homophobia, transphobia, coming out, xenophobia, islamophobia, racism, implied sexual content, rape, non-con, addictions, abuse, parental negligence, depictions of violence, swearing (please message me kindly if I forget anything)

- What prompted this message: The release of Skam France S7 teaser (emphasis on teaser, will get into that below)

- Where I’m coming from: I will talk from the pov of a white, cis and queer 22-years-old woman (she/her); this is the pov that affects my experiences and the opinions I will share below; but my message comes from a place of deep hurt, and love

- What this is about: My goal is to share a recurring experience that has hurt me in order to spread a message of awareness, maturity, peace and love

- Central content: Skam France, Skam Wtfock, and Skam/remakes in general

From now on I will assume people have enough information for me to talk about the topics without explaining every plotline/character. There are plenty of wiki pages to help you out and I will gladly answer any (respectful) questions asked if a plothole bothers your comprehension of my message. I’m only making these assumptions in order to alleviate the text.

January 9th, 2021.

The francetv slash YouTube channel releases an unexpected teaser video for an equally unexpected seventh season Skam France. The video features Tiffany, a white, cis female teenager, going into labour from denial pregnancy just after winning what appears to be a gymnastics championship. Overall, the video and its release are very dramatic.

The character of Tiffany, also called Tiff, was previously seen on season 6 of Skam France as a bully who persecuted the main character, Lola, both at school and on social media. Outside of this characterization, nothing is known about her. It is majorly accepted that Tiff is not a liked character; she rather poses as one of the antagonists of Lola’s arc.

Now you know the details of what happened, in the most objectively possible way. 

Now I’ll speak for myself.

Before I went digging around for people’s reaction, here is what I initially thought of this video.

1) Shock: I thought Skam France was over, so... Big, big shock.

2) Excitement: I hold this web series very close to my heart. It has gotten me through depressive episodes, anxiety attacks, coming out to my best friend. To see this new development? It couldn’t bring me more joy.

3) Curiosity: I recognized Tiff immediately. I was intrigued as to what would happen to her to set off a new season in true Skam Fr fashion. As soon as she started gripping her stomach, I knew she was pregnant and wasn’t aware of it. Big, big surprise here again.

4) Numbness/Overthinking: As I stared at my screen, motionless, my mind went off. What did it mean? How did she not know? Who is the father? Do we know him? Will the baby survive? Where are the other characters? Will Lamifex be present? What? How? When? Why? Who?

5) Disappointment: No, I did not like Tiff one bit in S6. Yes, I sincerely wished for a season on either Jo (ambiguous and funny teenage girl, cis + white), Sekou (seemingly neurodivergent teenage boy, cis + black), and my favorite, Max (mysterious and grave teenage boy, trans + white) So why Tiff? It felt to me like a missed opportunity, but I did not lose hope.

So, these were the five stages of my emotional process. And then I made the terrible mistake to go look for the fans’ reaction. I didn’t even look at the YT comments, I didn’t go on Instagram, I went directly here on Tumblr. Why? I’m still asking myself that. From S1 to S6 of Skam Fr, I kept my love for the show to myself and only looked at ig and video edits. I tried once, and only once, to look it up on Tumblr, and was greeted by fervent agressivity, disrespect and hate. Why did I ever forget that after watching the S7 teaser? I still don’t know.

The reactions on this platform were wild. People are furious (I get that). People are disappointed (I get that). People are anxious (I get that). People are also verbally agressive, insensitive, hateful, disrespectful and bullies. I don’t get that.

Comments along the lines of “What she gonna do with a fucking baby?”, “Are we gonna watch the baby do nothing all fucking season?”, “Wowwww, teenage pregnancy, so new and relatable!” (note the sarcasm made in the comment here), “Who gives a shit about Tiff?”, etc. 

And then all the mistakes Skam Fr ever made flooded back onto the feed. The wlw misrepresentation, the whitewashing, the overdramatization, the dubious sex scenes between minors, all of it.

Let’s take a break here. Do I condone these mistakes? Nope. Am I a white-bully apologist? Nope. Did I forget every horrible action Tiff has made in the past? Nope. She manipulated a whole school against Lola, she profited from Lola’s mother’s death, she bullied her, harrassed her, pushed her deeper into mental distress. Tiff was a despicable character that I never once liked. The way she was played by the actress made it clear that Tiff was not intended to be a good guy. If I could replace her as the main of S7, I would, in a heartbeat. I’d choose, as I said, Jo, Sekou or Max.

Skam France deeply lacks diversity and made mistakes when attempting to diverse the issues represented. This is not an opinion, it’s a fact. 

Poc representation is very, very low. Only one season has a woc of Islam beliefs as mc (Imane, S4) with poc entourage/family. Only 2 other characters not related to Imane were poc (Sekou and Sarah, S1-S2). These 2 characters were very in the background and served to further the mc’s plotline, they had no real content. (I am not a poc, and so my opinion does not matter here. If you are not poc, your “opinions” don’t matter here, this point is not for you to debate. These are facts.)

While I do not particularly find the wlw representation bad, I do understand how it hurts/bothers other queer women. From my perspective, the bar was very low regarding my expectations of the Lola/Maya pair (none of them died *yay* they had a happy ending *yay* they were not typically overfeminized or overmasculinized *yay* Lola  and Maya were respectful of each other, understood each other, accepted each other with all their flaws and their beauty *yay* I truly believed in their love and it gave me confidence and hope *yay* I ould really go on but this is not my main point so I’ll stop here) Regardless of my opinion on Mayla, I understand that to some queer women, it was bothering/hurtful. (If you are anything other than a woman / wlw, this point is not for you to debate. Keep your “opinions” to yourself, it does not matter here. These are facts.)

Like every remake of the original Skam where the S4 was given to Sana/Imane, the Muslim community was not represented at its best, at its most beautiful and respectfully. The character of Imane, although she is my favorite girl of the series, was not portrayed in a way that respected the majority of the Muslim community. (If you are anything other than Muslim, this point is not for you to debate. Our opinions do not matter here. These are facts.)

And so the same goes for the portrayal of sexual assault and child pronography in S2, of mental illness and homophobia in S3, of disabilities in S5, of addiction, transphobia, self-harm and neurodivergence in S6. Again, if you are not part of these communities, your opinions do not matter on these issues. These are facts that are not up for debate.

In other words, Skam France, as well as the original Skam, Skam Wtfock, Skam España, and probably all the others I haven’t watched in their entirety, are NOT perfect shows. They (maybe) tried their best to portray issues of the younger generations that are ugly, shameful, taboo, hard-to-swallow-pills. Of course they made mistakes. Of course they have to be held accountable. Of course they can and should do better. Of course it must be spoken about.

Here is my problem.

The so-called “fans” shamelessly SHITTING on the WHOLE show because of ONE TEASER TRAILER. (btw, this is where I get angry)

I am not talking about the fans making fun of the show and this season’s premise like “Better MCs than Tiff for S7: a romance between the car that almost hit Lucas S3 and the car that hit Arthur S5, or the school’s nurse, or Imane’s dad, or Elu’s rabbit” (that shit’s funny and I’d watch all of these).Or the joke about Wtfock and Skam Fr shaking hands while signing the same contract to disappoint the fans with white MCs (it’s funny cuz it’s trueeeee).

I am not talking about the fans criticizing the producers’ choice of Tiff as MC. There is a difference between shitting on issues and adressing/discussing them. I WANT to talk about how this season’s issue would have been so much better if a woc, specifically a black woman, had been the MC, because black women and doctors are a whole different level of issue than white women and doctors. Add on top of that an unplanned teenage pregnancy? It would have been IMMACULATE. I WANT to talk which wlw couple was better represented, Mayla or Croana/Crisana, and why is that. I WANT to talk about disabilities in black and poc communities. I WANT to talk about headcanons, AUs, to rectify the missed marks. I WANT to talk about our takes on seasons about Max, Sekou and Jo, instead of Tiff’s.

I DO NOT WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOUR SHITTY, NEGATIVE, UNHELPFUL, HURTFUL COMMENTS.

Just because the protagonist is white, doesn’t give you ANY right to dismiss the issue that is unplanned teenage pregnancy. This is a problem that affects countries WORLDWIDE. Do you know how many deaths are related to minors giving birth? Do you know how many babies die at birth from these pregnancies? Do you have any idea the trauma it puts you through, to go into labor without even knowing you were pregnant in the first place, and then giving birth, and then having to care for a defensless human being? The dilemma of keeping it, or giving it away? The fear that lives in every person able to give birth, that one day they’ll become pregnant, because society turns sych a shameful look to that? No matter your ethnicity, your gender identity, your sexuality, your political stance or whatever shit you bring up to justify your disgraceful and downright degrading comments, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY THAT A MINOR GIVING BIRTH IS NOT AN ISSUE. 

You think the topic has been covered plenty before? Yeah, because shows like “16 and pregnant” and “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant!” are such good examples and show the reality with such an objective point of view! 

Bullshit. Teenage pregnancy is still a taboo, it still kills, and people are still morons about it. 

“Well I guess everybody is secretly pregnant now!” No, Jessica, but you wouldn’t know about it, would you? Because I wouldn’t tell you shit if you were my “friend” and I was going through it. The whole message of all the Skams is not that it presents super relatable issues of teenagers, although it is a big topic of the show. They present some issues that affect the youth in an authentic light, but that’s not it.

Tous les gens que tu rencontres mènent un combat dont tu ignores tout. 

Sois indulgente. Toujours. x x x

//

Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.

Be kind. Always. x x x

THAT’S THE MESSAGE. THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT OF THE SHOW.

And you all missed it.

All of you making dead baby jokes and death threats, degrading people who give birth, shaming teenagers for their pregnancies... Listen to yourselves.

“Well she deserves it, she was such a bitch!” No, Michael, you shit stick. Let’s rewind a bit for you, yeah? It was a GOD DAMN TEASER. We literally know nothing! Nothing at all! Why are y’all getting mad when we saw 3:25 minutes representing a whole ass season! Listen to yourselves. Y’all judge so fast for people pretending to love Skam and its authenticity and its motto.

You say Tiff is irredeemable?

Emma cheated on her boyfriend.

Manon lied and manipulated her friends.

Lucas was homophobic and prejudiced agaisnt mentally ill people.

Imane was homophobic too and went behind her friends’ back to get what she wanted.

Arthur cheated on his girlfriend too.

Lola dragged Elliot down with her in her addiction, lied, was verbally abusive, etc.

ALL THE MAINS ARE PROBLEMATIC.

Any guess why?

BECAUSE THEY ARE TEENAGERS. THEY ARE STILL GROWING AND LEARNING.

Yet we still loved them all. 

So don’t you dare tell me that Tiff deserves this, that her baby deserves to die, that teenage motherhood is irrelevant. Motherhood is not a curse in the first place, nor is it something to wish to inflict upon anyone. Motherhood is different for every single person and nobody except the person living with it can have an opinion on that. We don’t even know if the baby survived, for God’s sake!

There is no excuse for this kind of behavior..

It makes me so angry. Women are discriminated against in a fandom I thought was safe, again and again and again. 

I have to stop here because, well, this is just too much. There is much wrong with Skam (the original AND all the remakes), but there is even more wrong with the fans. I’m done.

You don’t support the show anymore? Fine, then don’t watch it! If I really am wrong, the number of viewers will go down and the show will die, just like you wished. There is no need to be vicious about it. 

I hope y’all are proud of your misogyny. 

Sincerely,

Adler.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

8x04: Details, Odds, and Ends

Hey Everyone! I said on Monday I wouldn't do a details post, because most of the details I saw I put in my original Analysis post. Buuuuttttt...my FB peeps, as usual, are geniuses and caught things I missed. So I'm going to talk about a few details they picked up on and then some odds and ends that I think are important to note after this episode. 

Details:

Remember how I said Carol asking Ezekiel if he's okay mirrors a convo Bethyl had? @getkath pointed out that Richonne also had it in 4x16. So each of our power couples have had that convo, and in each of these three cases it was before the romance actually went canon. Just saying.

From M-Nonny:

When Carol is in the building, she's listening to the Saviors argue. One of them is angry that the others aren't moving fast enough. Another says, "We're almost done. Jesus!" Yeah, how did I miss that one? Daryl's line: "Almost done." Let's hope and pray that means we're almost there! 

Then there's the "Jesus" thrown in, which is curse word, but still. AND they're loading weapons for the war. The weapons Rick and Daryl were searching for when they discovered Gracie. Kind of interesting. 

There are a lot of 3s around Carol and having specifically to do with the weapons/ammo. One of the saviors says "There's another THREE up at the Sanctuary, and then some." He says that while he loads the ammo into a hatchback car. So he's putting it in the trunk. 3 in the trunk? Perhaps it could be symbolic for Beth being at the Sanctuary? Carol tells the Saviors hiding behind the truck that they must only have 3 or 4 rounds left. 

Gunther says to Ezekiel, "You took you're shot. It's over." Callback to Coda, after someone took a shot that hit Beth, Officer Shepherd said, "It's over." Very interesting. I really like that connection!

Carol has an A on her paintball gear. 

@bluesandbeth pointed out that, with the line, "There's another three up at the Sanctuary, and then some," the "and then some" sticks out. Why add that? It really doesn't add any meaning to the sentence. Is there three, or more than that? Feels like it's hinting at something, but hard to say what. 

Abraham said something similar in S6. "Rick knows every fine grain of said shit, and then some." Makes sense when Abraham says it, but not so much when the Savior in 8x04 says it. If it's meant to be a callback to Abraham, why? Of course that was said in the finale of S5, and Abraham was a major Beth proxy. Just saying. 

@wdway caught that when Ezekiel talks to the crowd, Jerry is eating an apple in the background. (Apple theory). And guys, I gotta say, something is up with Jerry and Beth symbolism. Not sure what it means yet, but I'll illustrate. First there's this apple. And this is the second time we've seen this. The first time was in 7x16 when Aaron handed Jerry an apple after the battle. Aaron is a sometime proxy for Beth, but we can also clearly see a 76.  Episode 76 of the series is Heads Up. You know, the one where Glenn is revealed to be alive, and his dumpster death was a fake out? Makes me think Jerry will have something to do with Beth's reveal, but not sure what yet. I'll come back to Jerry. 

Remember the red drum of poison? I missed some things about it. 

@wdway noticed there's a diamond on it. Remember that Beth is the queen of diamonds (X). There's also an upside down 5 on it. (Think S5). But this is a super-cool connection. Remember that at Grady, when Beth and Dawn talk, they sit on red containers and there are lots of chemicals around them? I believe Beth was even mixing chemicals (probably for cleaning) when Dawn walked in.

Maybe we could even tie this to her doing the mopping? So they showed us all these chemicals at Grady, and now we're at a defunct chemical factory? That simply HAS to mean something. 

@wdway also made the excellent point that we see the tunnel, which is FG's title card, right? It looks all pretty and tranquil. But on closer inspection, there's poison in the water and things really aren't all that tranquil. In other words, things aren't really what they seem. 

You could say that about Grady too. Granted, pretty much from the second Dawn opened her mouth, we wanted to punch her in the face, but on the surface, it's a working hospital that saves people. But when you look closer, there were a lot of shady things going on there. Not such a great place after all. Kind of like this tunnel.

And of course we could apply that to Beth's "death" as well. Even the dutch camera angles are used in filming to show that not everything is as it seems. (X)

I said I’d come back to Jerry. I didn’t do a TTD post this week because I really didn’t see much TD stuff in the episode. There was one major thing I missed, though. They mentioned randomly that Jerry/Cooper Andrews has a wonderful singing voice.

Now, TD tends to pounce on anything musical, but this wasn’t about Beth and it didn’t really occur to me to read into it. But guess what? Just before bringing this up, Chris Hardwick said to Jerry (Cooper was on via satellite) that he’d probably be the last man standing. Seriously? That’s what Beth said to Daryl. And then directly after that they started talking about his lovely singing voice. (Which btw @Brynn_81 (IG) confirmed. She met him and heard him sing.)

See what I mean about Jerry maybe being involved in Beth’s return somehow? No idea how yet. Just saying that’s twice in this episode that I’m side-eyeing something around him. I was also thinking that that ax of his (which he lost this episode) is kind of reminiscent of something a woodsman or huntsman would use. And that character also figures in the Snow White legend. Thoughts?

I think that's it for details, but they give me hope!

Now for odds and ends:

I also wanted to talk about this: 

It's Melissa McBride's tweet from Sunday. (Thanks to @katkhaos for bringing it to my attention.) I've talked about the "tomorrow" theme before, so this immediately caught my FB group's eye. The tweet doesn't make tons of sense, and we're not sure what it means, but it's yet another thing that points to a shift coming between episodes 4 and 5. Gimple said after ep 4, things would get "acoustic." Let's hope that means what we're hoping for. 

Now, I'm not saying this Tweet has anything to do with Beth. But it suggests something big during or after this episode. And what happened with Carzekiel here? Well, Ezekiel is obviously going through some stuff, and as I said on Monday, this may lead to Carol leading for a bit. All I'm saying is that "tomorrow" seems to be coming, and that gives me hope. Can't wait to see how this all plays out. 

Finally, my good friend @brynn_81 (IG) posted this yesterday:

Just made my day, so with her permission, I thought I'd share! 

Also wanted to add that last night, Amber Dawn Fox (who played Officer Bello at Grady) followed me on Twitter. 

I don’t think it really had much to do with me. My friend @sparklepoodles tweeted that we needed Grady nation back on the show. Not only did Amber Dawn Fox retweet that, I think she just followed those who liked it, which I did. But I’m taking as a good sign that the Grady actors are still liking and following and retreating those who say they hope to see Grady on the show again, rather than denying that will happen.

Finally, I just wanted to reiterate one more time that there’s no reason to give up hope just because episode 4 wasn’t what we hoped it was. I know a lot of people are disappointed. You’re not alone. And a lot of that is my fault because I was gunning for episode 4. I was disappointed too. But remember that things are supposed to get acoustic AFTER episode 4, according to Gimple. And we have tons of things to hope for still.

I’ll put my thoughts together about the MSF and hopefully post them on Friday. Hopefully that will help. 

@thegloriouscollectorlady was talking about this in our group last night, and I heartily agree with everything she said. They’ve opened lots of new story lines this season (Gracie, for example). Until we see where it’s going, I’m not giving up hope. 

Daryl’s arc hasn’t been resolved. Quite the opposite. He’s in a worse place than he’s been since he was with Beth in S4. Until he either dies or something else restores his faith and humanity to him, I’m not giving up hope. 

Gimple said Daryl will find love. (Another reason among MANY to rest easy that he’s not dying yet.) Until he does, I’m not giving up hope. 

Many of you have asked about the logo being white, which I still believe is a resurrection thing. I simply don’t believe they would do such a huge symbol for one measly resurrection (Morales) that last all of 5 minutes. 

In fact, we have proof that they wouldn’t. If that were the case, we would have seen it when Sam from 4a showed up at Terminus. We didn’t. So until I see the rest of the season and figure out what this was all about, I’m not giving up hope.

And if none of that works for ya, just go back to our core arguments that still haven’t been resolved. The opening credits flash, which contains what we’re pretty sure is Daryl’s arm. No way it’s a general representation of Grady. The dialogue foreshadows, which we’ve proved over and over again are thing. “I am strong.” “I’m getting out. Just like Noah.” I was thinking about Sasha last night and her final arc. Remember that in 5x10, with the sunrise, Maggie told her, “you’re gonna make it. We both will.”

Did that mean Sasha would never die? Obviously not. But she wasn’t dying right then. She survived another 2.5 seasons, and when she did die, we saw the end of her arc with the same sunset. Nothing remotely like that happened with Beth after she proclaimed that she, too, would survive. There were four element that were part of that sunrise in 5x10. Sasha, Maggie, Aaron (who represents Alexandria at large) and the music box. Only one of those arcs, Sasha’s has ended. The other three are still going.

And then there’s Morgan. Remember the Sugar Plum Fairy song. I’ll be watching Morgan closely when we see him again. I don’t think that will be this episode, so yet another reason not to give up hope yet. What if we don’t see him until the MSF? That would mirror his appearance after Coda. Again, I’ll put up thoughts/predictions about the MSF in a few days.

My point is that I don’t blame people for being disappointed. I was too. But that doesn’t mean I’m ready to give up. Not remotely.

That's it for today, peeps. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Special thanks to the peeps named above and the rest of my FB group for their insights.

[hellyeahomeland]

Dreams I’ve had about Homeland that I’ve shared on social media

From most to least recent. Consider it an inner line to my psyche.

I woke up at 5am from a homeland dream last night. This is what I documented then (time stamp is me editing it for clarity because 5am) pic.twitter.com/Xs4bE5UgMT

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

February 12, 2017

I had a dream last night that we were all sitting in a room with Gansa and the writers. And there were 2 white boards in front of us.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

December 20, 2016

And on those white boards they had drawn these diagrams for us to write in pros/cons and priorities of past seasons.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

December 20, 2016

It was my turn to write something. I grabbed a marker and on the “Priorities” side of S5 wrote, “Jonas & Carrie were doomed from the start.”

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

December 20, 2016

I had a very weird CQ dream last night. C + Q were fully grown adults on some kind of study abroad trip with a bunch of college students!

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

October 8, 2016

At the end I was unable to find my own car in a multi-level parking garage.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

October 8, 2016

my crazy TCA homeland dream last night produced these nightmares: 1) Carrie dreamt all of S5 2) Carrie is the one who died (cont)

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

August 6, 2016

3) the S6 time jump is 6-8 years 4) Carrie is committed to a psych ward after going crazy (attempting to kill ppl???)

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

August 6, 2016

it was an honest 2 god mess and people ask why i don’t need TCAs in my life…

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

August 6, 2016

Had another Homeland dream last night

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

July 4, 2016

This one was better than the one I had the other night but probably stranger.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

July 4, 2016

It was like the premiere of S6 I think. They kept showing this scene of C+Q having sex (and, like, hot sex).

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

July 4, 2016

I forget what it was meant to show but I think it was a Clue.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

July 4, 2016

Also there was some story about how the Letter Quinn wrote was actually not for Carrie but for someone named Rebecca.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

July 4, 2016

No one else believed me but I insisted because they flashbacked to Rupert with long hair and Carrie never knew him like that so: Rebecca.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

July 4, 2016

Let me tell you about my AWFUL Homeland dream last night.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

July 2, 2016

So, first of all, Carrie is like… in the hospital? Is she injured? Hurt? I can’t remember. She’s there.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

July 2, 2016

The episode then goes into dual flash FORWARDS: one in which she grows old with Brody, the other with Quinn.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

July 2, 2016

And let me tell you an aged Damian Lewis is not that great.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

July 2, 2016

In present day I think the flash forward was supposed to get her to choose between them (lol). “In which life will I be less miserable?”

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

July 2, 2016

Anyway I think she used it as justification to pick Quinn and I (in the dream) was embarrassed to be watching (dream!HL).

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

July 2, 2016

Had a dream they announced next season of HL to start next year but on March 2. Dreams are funny.... 🔮

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

April 27, 2016

I had a dream last night that in the last scene of the finale, after the light comes through, Quinn OPENS HIS EYES and NONE OF US NOTICED

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

January 7, 2016

Like I was just casually rewatching the ep and was like “IS THAT HIM WITH HIS EYES OPEN” and I’m not sure if I had the guts to say anything

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

January 7, 2016

Just woke from a freaky Carrie/Quinn dream.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

September 29, 2015

@Devbos it was so bizarre. i only remember certain details... there was like a car explosion... idk

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

September 29, 2015

Last night I had a true Homeland nightmare. I was watching tomorrow's episode with a group of people who wouldn't stop talking. Horrific.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

October 17, 2015

@hyhomeland i just remembered paris geller was in my dream bc apparently she's in hl too??

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

October 18, 2015

I had a dream that they released like 5 clips from the first episode. Just unconvincing enough to seem real.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

September 18, 2015

I had a dream last night that someone posted a video on IG of the C/Q scene and Quinn pulls a GUN on Jonas and Carrie it was great/awful

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

June 29, 2015

i had a dream they put up the la times envelope series videos… it seemed so lifelike

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

April 20, 2015

last night i had a dream that i saw the first 4 episodes of homeland and carrie was addicted to heroin and in a relationship with a woman

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

April 12, 2015

glad i woke up from that dream i mean nightmare

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

April 12, 2015

OH SHIT y'all I had a homeland dream last night it was very meta and so true to life. Lemme try to remember (I know you care...).

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

January 19, 2015

The thing was that 4.12 was NOT actually the finale. There was another episode after it. It was like a crossover with The Good Wife.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

January 19, 2015

So the first half was like a courtroom storyline on TGW (a show I don't watch btw). Everyone was talking about how the finale would break me

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

January 19, 2015

And dream me was like "fucking great. just what I need now..."

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

January 19, 2015

I think the general plotline was that some older guy (who's not on Homeland... I feel like it was Jeffrey Tambor?) was berating Carrie about

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

January 19, 2015

her relationship with her father and she was like fighting with him and it was all about that. Then at the end she makes it seem like she's

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

January 19, 2015

totally fine with what the guy has said, it doesn't phase her, but she storms off in that Carrie way up the stairs. And IN MY DREAM the

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

January 19, 2015

camera pans up to her at the top of the stairs having a full-on breakdown. She goes into her bedroom and cries herself to sleep w/ Franny.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

January 19, 2015

It was very depressing.

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

January 19, 2015

I had a dream Alex Gansa said "Sara" in an interview and we were all like "WAIT!? Is he taking about *that* Sara or a different Sara??"

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

December 30, 2014

my homeland dream last night had hugh dancy in it why did i wake up

— Hell Yeah Homeland (@hyhomeland)

November 7, 2014

And last but not least, this beautiful gem.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

7x16: Details - Sasha’s Segments

Good morning! Can’t wait to get into this, y'all. I went over the episode with a fine-toothed comb yesterday. Probably took more detailed notes than I have all season. There was just so much good stuff in this episode. I’m going to focus on the three segments of Sasha’s story before her death.

First, the segments themselves: 1) the flashback to her and Abraham, 2) Sasha listening to music in the coffin, and 3) the flashback of her and Maggie in Them. Each segment was divided into four parts (one technically into six). Let’s go through each of these.

Sasha and Abraham Flashback: So, remember what I said yesterday. Sashraham was used to retell Bethyl, so that makes them proxies. Keep that in mind as we go through these.

1. So in the first part, we see Abraham wake Sasha up. She sits up and kisses him. She also says, “You’re here.” He then tells her something’s wrong with Maggie and he’s going to go with Rick to Hilltop. He says he knows they just started this (meaning their relationship–they emphasize this a lot in these flashbacks) and Sasha interrupts him saying, “Don’t go.”

2. He says he has to go. She tells him she had a dream that he died. (He gets excited about it in an adorable way. ;D)

3. He says, “You what’s gonna happen, how this is gonna end. We’re gonna walk out that door together. We kick shit and eat snakes. That’s us.” She argues that they should sit this one out. He asks how he died. She explains that they were at the beach and he got pulled under and didn’t come back up. Sasha: “I was trying to find you, but you were gone. Then I started to drown.” Abraham replies that he hates the beach. “Luckily, the seaside ain’t on the agenda today.” She once again begs him to sit this trip out.

4. Sasha says, “It felt real, like we lost this. And this just started.” Abraham hugs her. He shows how well he knows her by guessing what she’s going to say next, and then they both head out to go to Hilltop. We get some dialogue callbacks to their arc. “I like the way you call bullshit.” “That is living.” “You’re an idiot.” Abraham also says, “alpha to omega,” and “battlefield to beach.” Sasha: “I knew how this was gonna end.”

So here’s what I’m seeing. Think of it this way. This trip Sasha and Abraham take results in Abraham’s death. She’s having  kind of premonition about it and begging him not to go. He says they simply have to. It’s just who they are. I think this represents Beth and Daryl’s journey, from the prison to Grady, which led to Beth’s death. Remember that Sasha is Daryl’s proxy specifically while Abraham is Beth’s. It’s almost like Daryl begging Beth not to go because he’s afraid he’ll lose what they have, and he did. What brought this all together for me is this dialogue parallel:

Both said at the beginning of their journeys, which ended in Abraham’s/Beth’s deaths and Sasha/Daryl lost them. So with all this in mind, go back and watch those flashbacks with Sasha and Abraham again. They keep talking about how “this just started,” meaning the romance and how they don’t want to lose it because it just started. Yeah, kind of applicable to Bethyl.

In the third segment, he says they’ll kick shit and eat snakes. Yeah, they did that in Still. Very obvious reference. Then there’s all the drowning stuff. Sasha says, “I was trying to find you, but you were gone. Then I started drowning.” Daryl tried to find Beth, but she was “just gone.” Ever since then he’s been perpetually drowning.

I also don’t think the beach/drowning references are an accident. The invoke Oceanside. That’s pretty much the only beach they’ve ever had on the show. More evidence that Beth’s arc will be tangled up there in some way. I even think Abraham hating the beach and being Beth’s proxy is interesting. She won’t like the beach much, perhaps because of a ship wreck, or a bad experience there. It’s just interesting the way they shape this.

Abraham even says the word, “seaside,” which isn’t the same as Oceanside, but it’s damn close.

Then he says “alpha to omega” and “battlefield to beach.”

Alpha to omega is not only a biblical reference and a reference to Christ (who is the Alpha and Omega, greek for “Beginning and End”) but we’ve seen this theme before in the show. In S6, when Maggie and Carol were taken by Paula and her group, they used greek letters like this to communicate, including both alpha and omega. Also, Deanna’s death episode was called “Start to Finish.” It’s a fitting thing to say in this episode as Sasha, Abraham, and to a large extent Glenn’s arcs are wrapped up. Especially as Maggie talks about the beginning of Glenn’s arc and the beginning of the series at large. Alpha to Omega. Battlefield to beach. Kinda gives me chills, actually. But the biblical reference is still there, and not strictly necessary. And the “battlefield to beach” suggests more beach stuff to come. I figure this was the battlefield (probably not the last we’ll see, but still…) and obviously Oceanside is still in play for next season. So I think this is also something of a foreshadow.

Anyway, really great stuff here. Awesome writing. Loved it. Let’s move on to Sasha listening to music in her coffin.

Sasha listening to music: Each time, she says a line that Abraham said to her and then it flashes back to their conversation.

1. “Hey Darlin. Wake up.”

2. “Oh, I gotta go.”

3. “You know what’s gonna happen. How this is gonna end.”

4. “It felt real.”

Those are the official ones. There’s technically two more, but in these, she doesn’t say Abraham’s lines.

5. She doesn’t say anything but takes the suicide pill on the way to Alexandria.

6. Technically this came first. Before the opening credits, we just see her listening to music and sweating. Then she dies. Did you all catch that. We actually witnessed Sasha’s death BEFORE the opening credits. Then, of course it went back and showed us everything.

Each line Sasha says can be applied to Beth and Daryl in some way. “Wake up, Darlin” simply reminds me of her waking up at Grady. The first time, in Slabtown, we saw. But it could also be applied to her waking after being shot.

“Oh I gotta go” as I already said, parallels to when they left the prison together. “You know what’s gonna happen. How this is gonna end.” For some reason, this makes me think of the line from 5x09, “It went the way it had to, the way it was always going it.” I think those two lines are part of the same theme. “It felt real.” At first, I was just equating this to romantic emotions. Nothing really happened between Beth and Daryl except the spark, which felt real. But then I thought about this a bit more logically. She’s not talking about her feelings for Abe here. She’s talking about the dream in which she saw him die.

Really think about this, guys. I know that Abe really did die after this flashback scene. But putting that aside for a minute, this is a scene where Sasha only dreamed Abraham had died (and they’re comparing it heavily to Beth’s arc in S4-S5) but when Sasha (*coughs Daryl*) wakes up, Abe (*Beth*) is alive and well. It was all just a dream. But it felt so real. Anyone else thinking Daryl is going to wake up and realize Beth is alive real soon? Yeah, me too. Hopefully 8x01-ish. ;D

A couple more things to point out here:

1. Suicide. ‘Nuff said? If not, see episode 2x10, Eighteen Miles Out.

2. The wonderful @chemical.nymph (IG) pointed something out to me yesterday that I hadn’t connected. I already talked yesterday about how Sasha in the coffin, yellow tarp, coming out of the coffin, etc. = Beth, right? Another detail? She’s listening to music in the coffin. As in, songbird in a coffin? Not so different from Beth walking through a graveyard and then singing to Daryl while he lays in a coffin. Yeah, totally didn’t connect that. Go @chemical.nymph! 💖

3. The fact that they showed us Sasha’s death before the credits. It’s like that came before, then there’s the credits (where we see the flash of Beth running). Then they go back and show us what happened. So there’s a lot of things we could pull from this. First, it has a very coda-esque feel. Second, they’ll have to give us flashbacks at some point to show us what happened. (In terms of Beth’s arc, we’ve only seen the death part. For Sasha that was about twenty seconds before the opening credits. Look how much more they still had to show us after that. There’s a ton more of Beth’s story that we still need to see.) And finally, there will definitely be more to come of the arc after the “death” part.

I think this episode is super-significant. The fact that they’re showing us all this now tells me Beth is REALLY close. Hopefully within only a few episodes.

Maggie and Sasha in Them. These are mostly very short clips.

1. The first time, we just see Sasha and Maggie sitting here: 

Maggie looks hopeful, or at least resigned. Sasha, on the other hand, looks sad. The thing that stands out to me most here is the juxtaposition of red and green behind them. That’s SUPER important here, guys. Tomorrow I’ll talk about the non-Sasha parts of this episode and we saw red and green in a few other places. But remember I always say red = death and green = life. The two are often seen side by side in the show. Usually it’s because lives hang in the balance and it’s hard to tell if TF will live or die. I think we also see it in situations where some will live and some will die. In this case, I think it may be to show that even though Sasha is dying in this episode, someone else is about to live. (And of course this was the scene where the music box woke up.)

2. Another very short clip. We see their faces from their left sides. 

The picture focuses on Sasha, while Maggie’s face in the foreground is somewhat blurry. (Btw, there was some confusion about what they were looking at. After showing the two of them, we see a shot of Alexandria. But Maggie and Sasha weren’t looking at it. They were looking at the sunrise the entire time. It just showed Hilltop in order to tell us that the next scene (of Maggie, Jesus and Enid trying to decide whether to go help Rick or not) took place at Alexandria. That’s all.)

3. In the third clip, Sasha says, “Why are we here?” Maggie replies, “For this.” When it comes to literally in the plot, I think she was talking about the sunrise. It always represents hope, new life (Maggie’s baby) and the future. A new start. But chances are there’s a double meaning there. It’s really fascinating because now we see that having specifically Sasha and Maggie watch the sunrise in Them was a setup for Sasha’s death. Gimple already knew about this episode back in S10 and planned accordingly. What does that tell you about Beth’s arc?

4. We finally see that they’re looking at the sunrise. 

Then it changes to their right side, but now Sasha is blurry and Maggie in focus. Both are smiling. 

I think that’s interesting. It’s a subtle detail, but it’s like the focus has shifted from Sasha (because her arc is over) to Maggie, who will be front and center in leadership now. This last part is also where Maggie talks about living for each other. This is a great fulfillment of Sasha’s arc because of what she’s learned. Sasha, at this point in season 5, but being quite selfish. I don’t say that to be critical of her. Everyone understood. She’d just lost her brother and her Bob. She was angry and lashing out at people. All the characters go through that. We’ve seen it with Daryl, certainly. With Rosita this season. Ty went through it in season 4 after Karen died. But remember Michonne kept getting mad at Sasha because she came close to getting others killed? So she was in a selfish mindset at that point, wrapped up in her own grief. In this episode, by taking the pill and sacrificing herself for her family, it’s exactly the opposite. Sasha has learned to put her family before her own well-being.

As Rick says to Maggie at the end of the episode, that act did save them. It gave them the distraction they needed to start firing and get out from under the Scavengers’ guns. Granted, they didn’t win right away. Negan got control again. But then the Hilltop and Kingdom showed up. It was like they needed the distraction and first part of the gun fight to stall long enough to get there. Without Walker Sasha lunging at Negan, that probably wouldn’t have happened and more people would have died. So it went the way it had to…

I do think these clips from Them were mostly about Sasha and Maggie, but I also think it’s significant that they didn’t show the sunrise until the very end. And I reiterate, the music box waking up was the VERY NEXT thing to happen.

Also remember that Gimple said this was the end of a story, and it definitely felt like a wrap up of certain arcs. By using this scene and showing the sunrise it suggests that what comes next–the sunrise and music box–will be the next story. Just saying.

That’s all for today. Thoughts?