#honestly my first reaction when i saw this clip: 'YOU RESEMBLE THAT COMMENT'

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CHUANG2021 » zhou shen + yep, that definitely sounds familiar

[theepsizet]

Let’s talk about Allison and Tom

There’s been a discussion regarding these two characters: an Alice and her Boris and there’s also been a lot of theories regarding them and/or their identities. So this post is basically me slapping my thoughts on the table. And here it is:

Allison Angel and Tom!Boris are in fact Allison Pendle and Thomas Connor. But you can’t take everything about them presented in BATIM for granted.

This theory first came from this video by MatPat, whose main subject was to discuss Henry and even had good backing reasoning/evidence for his status and what-he-is in-game. He also mentions how Allison and Tom’s names aren’t on coffins and therefore can’t be Allison Pendle and Thomas Connor. If anything, they’re actually soulless; Joey was unable to get their souls.

First problem: MatPat completely glosses over a detail confirmed by Joey in Chapter 5 from this audio log:

“Listen Tommy, I know you boys over at Gent are doing your best, but I'm paying for living attractions, not weird abominations! Whatever that grinning thing was I saw wandering around your office, you better keep it locked up tight! I realize it was a first attempt but imagine if the press caught sight of it! Might scare off investors! And in response to your previous memo: If you claim your failures are because these things are soulless, then, damn it, we'll get them a soul! After all, I own thousands of 'em!”

Did you get that? The reason Ink Bendy is off-model is because he doesn’t possess a soul. If they were soulless, Allison and Tom would look... pretty demonic. But they’re not; they’re on-model, resembling their cartoon counterparts near-perfectly (the biggest difference is, of course, their attire such as Allison’s ponytail and dress and Tom’s robotic arm)

Second problem: He never explains why their names are Allison Angel and Tom. MatPat doesn’t elaborate on this fact and just calls them that and moves on with the video.

So, my take. The game files reveal unused secret messages, and these messages do in fact reveal that Allison and Tom’s names are absent; confirming that they don’t have coffins:

(originally posted by thedreamfisher)

So, they’re alive, right? Well...

In Chapter 4 there’s an audio log labeled “Untitled”. The entire audio log is just somebody gruesomely transforming into an ink monster, most likely a searcher if one goes off of the moaning. According to the game files, its Grant Cohen. Not to mention, in the first BATDR gameplay trailer, look what happens to Audrey’s hand when she uses her power:

(originally posted by thedreamfisher)

When Audrey uses her power, her hand changes. It literally turns into ink. Both these scenarios confirm that killing people and stuffing their souls through a machine isn’t the only way to reincarnate people as living cartoons. My theory is that at some point, Allison Connor exchanged enough letters with Joey that he could convince her and Thomas to return to the studio. Similar to Henry, they became so exposed to the ink that it literally transformed them into perfect toons. They were then reborn from the ink produced by the Giant Machine (we’ll get back to this). The dark truth is that, Allison Angel and Tom!Boris are Joey’s best outcomes from his experiment. Not to mention, Allison says this to Henry:

“I... I honestly don't know my name. So they call me Alice.”

“He [Tom] just seems to respond to it [his name].”

It’s a fact that the ink corrupts the mind. Sammy’s Hot Topic Q&A confirms that his memory deteriorated, and considering that these answers come from when Sammy is The Prophet, it wouldn’t be too unlikely to conclude that the ink did this to him. So, when Allison and Tom were reborn, the ink corrupted their minds so much they basically became amnesiac.

Speaking of reborn, notice what Allison says when talking about the ink in general and why she can’t come with Henry for the final battle:

“...you don't want to touch the ink for too long. It can claim you, pull you back.”

“We can't! We're not like you, Henry. If we go in there, well... a drop of water in the ocean is never seen again.”

It wouldn’t be surprising that they were born out of the bigger ink machine (and we have now officially come back to this). Given its size, the smaller one — the actual one, the one that — wouldn’t be able to produce enough ink to fill entire caverns (the underground levels). It also makes a lot of sense given the context: too much ink would make them unable to fight back, and too little wouldn’t do much effect at all. Both would literally become a drop of water in the ocean if they went with Henry. Not to mention that the first phrase is similar to part of Twisted Alice’s monologue when Henry enters her lair:

“Take this little freak for instance! He crawled in here... trailing his tainted ink to my door! It could have touched me! It could have pulled me back! Do you know what it's like? Living in the dark puddles? It's a buzzing, screaming well of voices! Bits of your mind, swimming like, like fish in a bowl! The first time I was born from its' inky womb, I was a wriggling, pussing, shapeless slug. The second time... well... it made me an angel! I will not let the demon touch me again.”

Now, here’s what I mean when I say you can’t take every word of there’s for granted. The truth is that it’s entirely clear what their motivations and there are several instances where things seem highly suspicious regarding these two:

In Allison and Tom’s hideout, Allison’s graffiti contains a list of levels that are crossed out. If one reviews the cutscene at the beginning of the chapter, it is revelated that throughout Henry’s time as prisoner, the levels are listed and then crossed out, as well as more of her drawings being inscribed onto the walls. It’s almost like they’re looking for something

There’s, weirdly enough, graffiti of the Seeing Tool outside the Administration Lobby. Were they done in that level before? If not, why is it there?

Considering that both of them are pretty experienced around the studio (Allison does know what the Lost Harbor is, and is a professional swordsmaster), Allison doesn’t even use her sword to slice off the boards of the prison cell door. Tom even has an axe and doesn’t do anything.

Tom starts off completely distrustful and treating Henry through spite. He almost immediately becomes part of Henry’s side.

Allison asks Henry to lead the way down the floorless hall. Even after she calls out his name, she doesn’t really grab on top him; she just let’s him fall (although this statement is confusing on its own as Henry falls way to fast for him to look up and see their reactions; its probably not even possible to see their reactions without hacking)

(originally posted on this page and this page of the Bendy wiki)

@thedreamfisher​ suggests that they could be manipulating Henry. and to be honest, yeah... that’s exactly what they’re doing. Why they’re doing it, though, is difficult to pin down, but my theory — yes, that is the theory part — is maybe because of one obvious fact: Henry isn’t like them at all. Allison even says this is why she and Tom can’t really trust them, and Twisted Alice confirms he’s “so interesting... so different...”. Compare this to the way Allison talks to Audrey in the BATDR trailers (this and this). She’s a lot more open, honest, more like a mentor and willing to tell her a lot more than she would to Henry, possibly because she resembles that of a lost one (why Henry’s avatar is completely invisible when hacking and what is a subject to debate for another time).

Allison knows Henry is different and may be manipulating Henry because she wants to turn off the machine. Tom too. Why do you think she calls him “the hope [she’s] been waiting for” and tells him that he “[can] set [them] free”. But, here’s the catch: this doesn’t make them bad. There’s been a number of theories that they’re bad people, but this manipulation only shows they have good intentions; if anything, they’re more of the most basic, generic definition of antihero.

And this makes even more sense when the conversation between Buddy Lewek, Allison Pendle, and Thomas Connor is reviewed in Chapter. It’s a lot of dialogue, and I’m not going to copy and paste the entire thing, but the most important anecdotes is that they hint to have more knowledge of the machine and its functions than the average employee. They also imply two things: they seem to be aware of Susie’s fate (most likely what happened after Joey gave her an offer hinted in audio logs in Chapter 4 and 5) and that they can’t stop Joey at all. It’s hinted by Allison that she and Tom both needed the job, and that they committed to his decisions because of the pay. Tom mentions how Joey treated him well, and Joey claims from a memo to clipped in the Joey Drew Studios Employee Handbook that he’s fascinated by Allison and her personality.

So... yeah. That’s it. Feel free to comment.

(One-finale note: The idea/credit of Allison and Tom being born out of the bigger ink machine and the manipulation aspect all goes to thedreamfisher. Do not give me credit for this idea) 

[floral-on-main]

I Would Dye For You

Summary: Lydia needs to re-dye her hair. She gets some help from the resident Ghost with the Most. It goes surprisingly well, all things considered. A sequel to Back To My Roots (No ship!)

Also on ao3. Words: 2279

Getting the hair dye was easy enough. No petty theft or step-mother begging needed. All it took was to ask her dad to pick it up on a grocery run. Then 3 to 5 business days later, Lydia had her box of black dye in hand. She couldn't help but think back to Beej's off hand comment about dyeing his own hair. She had no idea why a demon with color changing hair would want to dye it, but it couldn't hurt to indulge him.

Yes it could. Lydia knew it could, but this seemed relatively harmless.

So on her next mother-daughter bonding activity with Delia the two went to the mall. Of course Delia had to check out the recently opened shop of Spiritual Wellness. And of course Lydia had to go into the store that was blaring metal music and lined with walls with even more metal. She passed by another row of piercings before coming across a lone stand of hair products.

On the shelf was brushes shaped like skulls, neon colored hair clips, animal eared headbands, and a sizable selection of hair dyes. The majority were various shades of black, but a couple stood out with obnoxious packaging and color. Green, red, blue, purple, all colors she had already seen on BJ. She doubt there would be much of an impact if his hair  didn't look any different. It was then she noticed a single box of pink dye stowed in the back behind the red.

Before she could second guess her actions, she purchased the bubblegum pink dye. Delia was near the entrance of the store perusing the crystal jewelry on display. From the look on her face, it seemed she didn't appreciate how almost none of the jewelry had actual stones and was just colored plastic. For once Lydia had to agree with her.

The ride home was quiet, almost pleasant. Lydia and Delia still didn't agree on most subjects, but they were growing closer. A family disaster would do that to people. Lydia now near that Delia wasn't naive or air-headed, just sickeningly optimistic.

As she raced inside Delia wished her the best of luck. It seemed Delia always had to get the last word in when parting. Lydia threw the door open to her room to find it thankfully empty. She knew Beetlejuice would show up eventually, but she didn't want his help right now. She placed the box of pink dye on her bed before grabbing the black dye from her wardrobe. Before leaving, she made sure to leave a note besides the dye that read 'For you. DO NOT EAT'.

Gloves on and brush in hand, Lydia was ready to rid herself of her loathsome roots. The only thing stopping her was the sound of moping on the other side of the bathroom door. Looks like Beej found her note. She took a deep, calming breath before kicking open the door. The sound of a surprised yelp soothed something primal inside her. Serves him right.

Lydia and Beej glared at each other in various states of ridiculousness. One knocked on his ass in a grungy suit, the other in a black stained floral robe and cheap plastic gloves.

“Give me ten minutes and then I'll do yours.”

Beej gave her a thumbs up. With that, she shut the door and made quick work of covering her roots. Beetlejuice leaned against the wall beside the door. He knew he was being a nuisance and he reveled in it. But he honestly did want her to finish up so he could get his hair done. God-slash-Satan, he really hoped the dye stuck in his hair. His suit could stain and he didn't want to look like he took a dip in Pepto Bismol. Never again.

The door opened just a sliver. Lydia's eye could be seen from the crack. Beej gave her big ol' puppy dog eyes, complete with dog tags and being housebroken. “Come in. Keep still or I <i> will</i> tell Delia that you're the reason her crystals have been going missing recently.”

“I told you that in confidence! But I understand where you're coming from.” With a snap of his fingers Beetlejuice was hogtied on the floor.

“Why are you like this?” She rolled her eyes while placing the box's contents on the counter. She donned the crappy gloves and mixed the dye with practiced skill. Beej hovered over her shoulder to see what she was doing, now free of his conjured bonds.

“Sit down, BJ. This is gonna take a while.” With a theatrical groan Beetlejuice sat on the edge of the bathtub.

Despite his normal jittery behavior, Beej managed to stay relatively skill as Lydia brushed in the heavily pigmented color. He even stayed quiet until Lydia was done. “Now we just have to wait,” she checked the box, “thirty minutes”.

That broke the flood gates and the two fell into their usual conversation topics. The main highlight being the chaos in the Deetz-Maitland household.

“I don't see why Chuck got so bent outta shape about Ginger visiting. Her dancing could use some work, but as far as spiders go, she's harmless.”

All Lydia could do was nod in agreement.

“She has nothing on that giant motherfucker Donna found in the closet.”

“Weren't you the one that put it in there?”

“Yeah, but that isn't the point, Lyds.”

Lydia washed her hair in the sink while continuing their conversation. “Bertha got braces recently.”

“What did she break? I didn't take her as the cool type.”

“Braces on her teeth, asshole. Also, breaking bones isn't cool. It's painful.”

“I've broken tons of bones in the name of a good time. You breathers got plenty of bones, doesn't matter if you break a couple.”

“Just because bones heal and carpets can be replaced doesn't mean we should go crazy stupid.” A brief moment passed. “We need to wait until we're alone, at least.”

The timer on Lydia's phone went off. She grabbed the shower head and brandished it it like a knife. “Now lean back so I can wash that excess out of your hair.”

His eyes narrowed. “Over my undead body.”

Just as he made a move to get up, his face was doused in lukewarm water. In that instant Beetlejuice resigned himself to, he shuddered, getting clean. Or his hair getting clean at least. Only two people could get him to willingly bathe and they were both dead.

After seven minutes, Beej was released to shake out his hair. Lydia was honestly surprised that no one came up to check on the sound of a cat being drowned. Looks like everyone had gotten somewhat desensitized to their shenanigans.

The time on her phone said dinner would be ready soon. Might as well head down now and get the questions out of the way. She met Beej at the end of the hall. How the fuck did he manage to get his hair dry already? Whatever, it's probably demon magic.

The dye seemed to be holding in pretty well. There wasn't a single splotch of pink on his hands or his suit. Could all dead people dye their hair? Was a demon thing, a demon that was alive for thirty seconds thing, or just a Beetlejuice thing?

The two descended the stairs in silence, after a quick shove match.

Delia was the first to notice the pair. She set the salad bowl alongside the plate of what looked like green spaghetti. She quickly took a seat with the rest of the adults, mentally preparing herself for whatever would come next. At the same time, Lydia and Beetlejuice prepared themselves for what the family had to say.

The most surprised actually seemed to be Delia. If she thought Lydia was going to use pink dye on herself Delia was delusional. Charles did a double take, but aside from that he didn't act out of the ordinary. It seemed he had already gotten used to the unusual happenings of his family. Lydia and Beetlejuice would have to set something on fire next week to keep him on his toes.

The Maitlands had absolutely no reaction. No gasps of surprise. No lecture about dyeing a violent demon's hair. Not even words of enthusiastic encouragement. The two ghosts just sat at the table and made polite conversation.

Beetlejuice took his now customary seat across from the Maitlands. The three dead members acted just like they normally did. That was somehow the most strange and abnormal thing Lydia had witnessed all day.

The food was tasty, even the pesto pasta. Of course Beej made a comment about its resemblance to moldy worms. Dinner as usual.

The semi-awkward, semi-peaceful silence was surprisingly broken by Charles. “Your hair looks exceptionally vibrant tonight, Mr. Juice.”

For some reason, Adam and Barbra broke into a fit of poorly concealed giggles. Lydia shot a confused look at Beej. He shrugged, but clearly knew something.

She pushed the salad around her plate, acting as nonchalant as possible. “I helped him dye it earlier.”

That got a reaction out of the Maitlands. They both looked confused and then looked at Beetlejuice. Hopefully their couple's telepathy wasn't rubbing off on him. It was weird enough how they always seemed to know what the other was thinking.

“I figured Beej wouldn't want a color he couldn't replicate naturally, so I picked up some bubblegum pink. It was obnoxious enough to fit his personality.” While everyone looked at Lydia, Beetlejuice stuck his tongue out at her.

The Maitlands got a twinkle in their eyes. Now a more common sight since Beetlejuice started hanging around. Adam said, “Pink is a good color on you, cuddlebug.” After that, Barbra either winked or had a muscle spasm in her eye.

For awhile she had figured her ghost-parents had a thing for Beej (she knew he certainly had a thing for them), but this was the final nail in the coffin. She wanted to gag. It felt wrong, but also right, which made it feel even more wrong.

Lydia was pulled from her thoughts by Barbra making a comment. “So it was just dye. And here we thought you were just happy to see us.”

It was with dawning horror that Lydia realized the Maitlands saw a different side of Beetlejuice than anyone else in the family. A more romantic and caring side. The comical sight of the nastiest dead guy she knew with pink hair wasn't worth it anymore. She would never get back her childhood innocence.

After that dinner passed in a blurry haze. Before she knew it, Lydia was back in her room actually looking forward to doing homework. It was mind numbing work, but it was the perfect thing to take her mind off the romantic relationships of her family members.

Things were changing. Like the rug had been pulled out from under her. What if Beetlejuice wouldn't want to hang out with her anymore? What if the Maitlands stopped helping her with homework? Lydia knew it was irrational. Her family loved her and always would. But deep down a dark feeling grew somewhere behind her diaphragm. It was a sick feeling. One that told her she would be unneeded, unwanted. That her family would move on and forget about her.

As if on cue Beetlejuice appeared in her room, hair still as pink as when she first dyed it. He was smiling an impossibly wide toothy smile. Something was behind his back.

“Ta Da!” He held out a box wrapped in pinstriped paper. A slime green bow completed the look. “Happy six month friend anniversary!”

Lydia took the small box from his open hands. A whole different type of tears threatened to spill. She hastily ripped off the paper and ribbon to reveal a matte black box underneath. She felt a single tear roll down her cheek as she removed the lid.

Inside, nestled among red satin, was a switchblade. She picked it up. The engraving on the handle's side immediately caught her attention. In curvy sliver writing it said, 'BFFFFs Forever'. She felt something warm bloom in her chest. Time to deflect with sarcasm. “ You do know you just gave me an implement to stab you with, dumbass.”

“Well, I was hoping you would stab other people. Y'know, for when I can't be there to protect you, ya little gremlin.” He reached out to ruffle her hair, a nasty habit picked up from Adam, but she managed to quickly move away.

With a pout Beetlejuice pulled his hand back. “Glad you liked the gift, scarecrow.” He tugged at his collar as if to stall for time. “And thanks for dyeing my hair. It really means a lot to me.” After that almost heartfelt confession he switched gears to cover up his vulnerability.

He patted down the lapels of his suit, slicked back his pink hair, and placed a hand over where his heart would be. “Now if you excuse me, A-Dog and B-Town wanted to speak to me about something. If you hear groaning and chains rattling just ignore it.” And with the toss of a smoke bomb, Beetlejuice was gone.

If Beej mentioned anything about his sex life she was definitely going to make use of that switchblade. Good thing his brain to mouth filter recently got an upgrade called Maitlands 2.0.

It seemed like some things never changed. Damn being alive was hard, but it didn't seem like being dead would be that different. Lydia just had to stick around and see.

[phosphorescent-naidheachd]

GOT 8x01 liveblog below the cut:

--Love the new opening credits!

--Poor Missandei and Grey Worm look so uncomfortable rn

--Jon: “I had a choice: keep my crown or protect the North.” But that’s... not what we saw onscreen?? Not unless some variation of political!Jon is actually true. But knowing D&D, this may simply be their retconned explanation for the nonsensical writing last year. Well, that or Jon is trying to make his stupid decision look better in front of the lords.

--Sansa, I love you, but do you have to smirk when you raise your (very valid) concerns? It’s not helping anything and you have to know it.

--Yessss, mentions of the food shortage!! Now let’s see if they’ll actually do anything with it...

--Show!Dany, I’m still trying to like you, but you’re not exactly making it easy, what with the whole “whatever they like” reply to “What do dragons eat, anyway?”, and smirking when the dragons swooped in and scared the fuck out of everyone in the Winter Town. The Northerners haven’t given you the warmest of receptions and I understand your frustration over that fact, but that’s no reason to think their fear is funny.

--Ah, yes, the oh-so-subtle handholding in front of the entire hall. *sighs at Jon and Dany* [ETA: never mind, they aren’t actually holding hands... Dany is just resting one of her hands on Jon’s arm. Which isn’t all that much more subtle lol.]

--It’s 100% my shipper confirmation bias at work, but the way that they’ve blocked this scene really does make it feel like a Dany/Jon/Sansa love triangle to me. #sorrynotsorry That said, if TPTB choose to go a belligerent sexual tension route w/ Dany/Sansa I wouldn’t turn it down. ;-)

--They’re actually letting Arya show human emotion again? *tosses confetti in celebration*

--Bran and Jon reunion!! My Stark Feelings heart overfloweth.

--Sansa and Tyrion reunion! I like that they’re keeping that hint of tension between them over the way they parted.

--Tyrion: “Many underestimated you. Most of them are dead now.” Subtext: I have no intention of repeating their mistakes.

--Sansa: “I used to think you were the cleverest man alive.” Talk about a burn!

--OK, Bran is looking at Tyrion Significantly(TM) with music playing in the background almost ominously.

--Confirmation that Yara is alive!!! Also, she and Euron are a disturbing but kind of hilarious dynamic at the moment.

--The Arya and Jon reunion was A++. Sweet and heartfelt, but with a hint of underlying tension. And Arya’s comment that Sansa is the smartest person she knows just made my heart an even bigger pile of Stark Family mush.

--Oh, and the “Have you used it?” line re: Needle just hurts because it shows us and Arya how little Jon knows about what Arya has gone through and who she’s become. And Arya’s “once or twice” line just tore out my heart. She doesn’t want to tell Jon what she’s done, both because she’s afraid of how he’ll react and because that will finally make it real to her.

--I feel kind of terrible for Cersei. Yes, she’s made her own bed, but the fact that Euron Greyjoy is lying in it... *shudders* The fact that she’s still forced to resort to sleeping with a man she despises despite ostensibly being the most powerful woman in the realm is incredibly depressing.

--Ahhh, and now we have The Temptation of Bronn(TM)

--The rescue mission! Theon getting to shoot arrows!!

--Greyjoy sibling feelings!!!!

--And Theon is headed to Winterfell! ...He’s going to die there saving a Stark, isn’t he? *braces self for emotional pain*

-- ...you couldn’t have proposed this Jon/Dany marriage, oh, four or so episodes ago, Davos?? The mind still boggles that no one brought this very obvious diplomatic solution up on Dragonstone last season.

--Varys: “Nothing lasts.” 

Camera: *pans to Jon & Dany* 

Me: I n t e r e s t i n g

Also me: Is this foreshadowing, or a red herring to up the dramatic tension?

--Is that... something resembling a smile from Jon around Dany? And he actually looks like he might genuinely enjoy her presence and/or care about her? It’s a miracle! ...A miracle that we really could have used some of last season too, GOT!!

--“She doesn’t need to be my friend. But I am her queen. If she can’t respect me--” *nods* That’s more or less what I figured their initial dynamic would be like. And their attitudes make sense on both ends of the equation! (Note: I can’t decide whether that was a veiled threat from Dany or not; if so, though, she jumped to them pretty darn fast.) I’m curious to see where D&D go with this.

--Oh, only that many goats and sheep. *rolls eyes* I mean, I get it, the dragons are huge; they need a lot of fuel! But on the other hand, that’s an awful lot of food the people don’t get anymore... It’s a no-win situation.

--“They don’t like the North.” Huh, I wonder what it means that the literal breathing symbol of the Targs aren’t fans of being in the North. [/sarcasm]

--Look, I’m glad Dany feels comfortable enough around Jon to be playful, but... would it have been that difficult for her to give him one or two tips before he mounted this incredibly dangerous flying weapon of mass destruction??

--How are these waterfalls not completely frozen over?! It’s the North and it’s winter. I know, I know, I shouldn’t expect anything resembling realism from this show, but still...

--Ah, so Dany is the one who has the line about how they could “stay here a thousand years and no one would find us”, not Jon. But on the flip side, Jon has his eyes closed for the kiss, not open... at least, not until the dragons start to talk lol.

--Emilia Clarke has such a beautiful smile!

--Yeah, I’m still not feeling the J0n3rys ‘chemistry’. Oh well; you can’t win them all. At least they aren’t totally unbelievable as a couple this episode.

--Ugghhh, yet another joke about balls (or the lack thereof) in this episode.

--Arya and Gendry reunion? Arya and Sandor reunion? Yes!

--Wow, Arya/Gendry are so awkward together right now! Sweet, but awkward. And yeah, here come the shippy feelings again... I’m predictable that way lol.

--“As you wish, m’lady.” *squeals delightedly*

--“You don’t know any other rich girls.” The look on their faces!!

--Can I mention again how much I love that they’re letting Arya and Dany emote so far this episode? It makes a world of difference. Now all we need is for Bran to be allowed to show emotions...

--Ooohh, this must be the promised Jon/Sansa argument scene. 

--Good. I’m glad that there are already some consequences from the lords for Jon having bent the knee... the decision would feel incredibly cheap otherwise.

--And already we have more emotion from Jon in this one scene than in all of his scenes with Dany combined. I’m not saying Jon/Sansa is where the show is going, but it still works much better for me than Jon/Dany does. YMMV, of course, and that’s as it should be.

--”Do you have any faith in me at all?” “You know I do.” <3 <3 <3

--*sighs* Jon, it’s all very well and good to say that Dany will be a good queen, but you could, I don’t know, give Sansa some examples to help her understand why you think that instead of just expecting her to go entirely on your word?

--Ah, this must be the scene with Sam and Dany!

--Oh, poor Sam. I’m so glad they’re letting him be upset about it, though. His dad may have been an abusive dick, but his brother wasn’t... and besides, emotions aren’t always that clear-cut.

--“Now’s the time.” OK, but why now? Why now? Also, is it just me or did Bran’s voice sound different there?

--Jon and Sam reunion!!!

--Ouch, poor Jon. This revelation was always going to hit him hard.

--Jon (in a whisper, looking horrified): “That’s treason.” Uh, Jon, that doesn’t seem like the normal reaction of someone in love with another person? Just saying.

--“You gave up the crown to save your people. Would she do the same?” Samwell Tarly, asking the important questions! This question has always been one of--if not the--cruxes of Dany’s arc, IMO. That and her search for home/belonging.

--Ooo, is this the rumored scene with the WW symbols on the walls?

--Hmmm, this actually looks a bit like that clip from the trailers. Is Edd going to show up soon then?

--Hah! Called it.

--“Stay back, he’s got blue eyes!” “I’ve always had blue eyes!” LMAOOO

--Called it. I knew little Ned Umber was going to be the first named character death of the season. (For the record, I have him slated as the first named character death in my AU S8 fic outline, even though the chapter in question hasn’t been written yet.) Also, wow-- talk about a creepy way to display him!

--Still, that’s odd that he’s just dead rather than a wight-- oh, never mind he is a wight after all!

--Hmm, who are you, tall and mysteriously hooded man? (I mean, realistically everyone onscreen in the North should have their hoods up right now when they’re outside, but this is TV.) Could you possibly be... Jaime Lannister?

--Hah! Called it again.

--They’re going to cut to the credits now that Bran & Jaime have locked eyes, aren’t they? Yep, they just cut to the credits.

Additional Thoughts:

--I wonder where Brienne is... we haven’t seen her this episode IIRC. [ETA: Never mind, she is there in the background in several scenes, she just doesn’t say anything.]

--I wish D&D had given Dany more space to react to the news about undead!Viserion. This should be a big deal for her. Also, why is no one freaking out about the Wall coming down?

--Honestly, the pacing and tone of this episode could have used a little polishing IMO.

--I’m delighted that the show is letting characters speak positively about Sansa and her skills, but I wish the writing wasn’t so very heavy-handed about it.

--Ooo, interesting trailer, though still nothing terribly surprising. I’m curious to see what they do next episode... but not nearly as curious as I am to see what happens in 8x03 and beyond. ;-)

Overall, I enjoyed this episode! So many callbacks to earlier seasons. I may have deeper thoughts on a rewatch.

[lightsandlostbells]

Skam season 3, episode 5 reaction (1/2)

I don’t tend to think of Skam in episodes so much as clips, but this is easily one of the strongest overall episodes of the series, and it feels like a turning point in the season in terms of complexity. Watching it in real time was an emotional roller coaster. We also have the script for this episode with some of Julie’s comments so we can compare the two. I split this reaction into two parts because of the length, sorry if that’s annoying. It’s one of the longer episodes of the season. Second half will be up in a day or so.

SEASON THREE, EPISODE 5 - “At the same time in a completely different place”

Clip 1 - The softest scene you will see in your entire life

Lordag 15:15 for anyone keeping track 

I mentioned in my episode 4 recap that the pool scene was the first scene I got to see in real time. After that first kiss, I was dying to know what came next for Isak and Even. I thought it was likely that we’d get more relationship rockiness, because that’s usually what happens in TV shows, right? Isak was going to freak out, Even might run back to his girlfriend, and maybe they’d pretend it didn’t happen and it would get all awkward between them. Because that’s what I expect from most TV shows, more dramaaaa.

Instead, I slept in the day after the pool scene, woke up, immediately checked the Skam website to watch the pool scene again, and instead saw that there was a new clip. This clip, which is one of the most iconic moments in all of Skam, and which should be prescribed by doctors as a means of lowering blood pressure.

I mean this is the image that greeted me when I opened the Skam website that day. Julie Andem did a detox on my soul with this scene.

This scene is so special. It’s different thinking about it now because Skam went on to bless us with tons of Evak physical affection, but at the time I was stunned, because gay couples in media rarely get these types of blatantly romantic, lovey-dovey scenes. I’m pretty sure this clip is a huge part of why Skam suddenly took off internationally, because people saw gifs of this scene and had a similar reaction to all the cuddling. What the hell is that? I need to check it out. 

Frankly, I’d say romantic couples in media, regardless of orientation, rarely get these types of introspective, slow-paced scenes where the characters can just breathe and be together as long as Isak and Even do here. Typically if a TV show gives us a scene resembling this one, there’s some other reason it’s there; the scene is there to facilitate the plot, or usher in some drama, or carry some exposition. But rarely do we see couples just lying together and talking in this intimate way, with room for pauses, room for silence, room for the characters to just touch and look at each other. And we sure as hell don’t get them between LGBT pairings that often.

We saw long cuddle scenes with Noora and William last season, and a few with Jonas and Eva in S1, and I’m so glad that Julie didn’t have any reservations about showing Isak and Even in similar positions. Think of other shows you’ve seen with canon gay ships. A lot of them contain noticeable double standards as to the level of physical intimacy and affection the gay ships show versus the canon het ships. Sometimes the het couples can get full-on sex scenes while the gay couples can barely kiss. Granted, much of that discrepancy probably comes from people at the top, and showrunners may have to fight just to include gay characters in the first place if the network executives are cowards, let alone show them being affectionate. So I’m aware that Skam is in a unique position to depict these types of scenes between two boys. The format and distribution of the show also allows for the creative freedom to have these long quiet scenes without needing to account for commercial breaks or time restrictions or anything like that. But damn, this simple scene ends up feeling downright revolutionary because of how it commits to show these two boys falling in love with each other, without compromise.

The song choice of “I’m Not in Love” is perfect. I know some people took it literally (thinking that one or both of the boys were not in love and this wasn’t a very deep relationship, or it was evidence that Even was just messing around with Isak for fun rather than real feelings) (yes, I remember reading this) but the whole premise behind “I’m Not in Love” is that the speaker is in love, and all of the protestations he’s not in love are flimsy as hell. Oh, I call you and come to see you but don’t read too much into it. Oh, I have your picture on my wall but it’s just because it covers up a stain. NBD.

Here’s an explanation of the story behind the song from Wikipedia:

(Eric) Stewart came up with the idea for the song after his wife, to whom he had been married for eight years at that point, asked him why he didn't say "I love you" more often to her. Stewart said, "I had this crazy idea in my mind that repeating those words would somehow degrade the meaning, so I told her, 'Well, if I say every day "I love you, darling, I love you, blah, blah, blah", it's not gonna mean anything eventually'. That statement led me to try to figure out another way of saying it, and the result was that I chose to say 'I'm not in love with you', while subtly giving all the reasons throughout the song why I could never let go of this relationship."

Stewart’s description is a perfect fit for Skam’s depiction of Isak and Even’s relationship. I can name a ton of TV shows where the characters rush into saying “I love you” and throw it around in every scene even though the sentiment feels unearned. The words are just hollow and used as a shorthand for writers to say the characters feel deeply for each other, without coming up with creative, emotionally resonant ways to show these feelings of love. Skam is actually pretty restrained on having Isak and Even make a lot of dramatic statements of their feelings to each other. Instead of going for overwritten or showy speeches, Julie writes shorter lines that leave more to subtext and fit the context of the situation and characters better. There’s never a conventional “I love you” scene between Isak and Even and yet I didn’t need it because their actions constantly showed how much they loved each other.

And the lyrics can reflect Isak’s attitude at this point. He has feelings for Even but is still in the closet, still dealing with internalized homophobia. There’s still uncertainty around this relationship and where it’s headed. You can take “I’m Not in Love” as a layer of protection, downplaying this relationship to others and maybe to himself, but of course any protests from Isak are going to be as weak as the singer’s. Dude. We can see the way you’re looking at each other. 

Onto this montage of smoking, kissing, and cuddling. Dreamy sigh. Isn’t this how everyone wants to imagine being in love? Comfort and safety mixed with passion and affection. This is the exploratory period, where you’re with a new person, and you can see Isak and Even testing out new kisses, new cuddles, new affectionate gestures. They’re enamored with each other and there’s still so much more to learn about each other.

Even’s smile when Isak initiates the nose rub = murder me. I still think Isak did it to make the gesture theirs after seeing Even do it to Sonja at the neon pre-drink. Thinking about it from a directing standpoint, I am dying to know if Julie was giving the actors instructions on things to try or if they were told to improv and Tarjei did the nose rub and caught Henrik by surprise, basically how this little detail came to be. Because it’s not in the script and yet it became such an iconic Evak gesture, it was incorporated throughout their scenes as a way they not only express affection but show comfort and solidarity with each other. It is theirs. 

Evak having certain gestures they come back to, such as the nose rub, makes this relationship seem more real and textured. Their relationship is very specific, with its own history and inside jokes and consistencies throughout the series, and it’s one reason why it’s stuck with me so long.

The timeline is pretty ambiguous in this montage. We know that they obviously spent Saturday together, but this montage doesn’t designate a clear linear path, it jumps between their different positions and activities - smoking, laughing, making out, looking into each other’s eyes. There are also parts in some of the editing where we have Even or Isak talking but their mouths aren’t moving, giving this scene a dreamy feel. It’s almost like they’re outside of time, in their little bubble. “Can I stay in here with you forever?” seems like a real possibility.

In part of the opening montage you can see the same kiss from the end of the clip, which could just be Julie reusing footage for whatever reason, but I like it because it’s almost like a loop between the start and end of the clip. Time is irrelevant in their bubble. Everything that’s going to happen, will happen, and it’s happening now.

Tarjei and Henrik deserve so much praise for their acting in this scene. Not just because there’s no skittishness or #nohomo bullshit that you sometimes see from actors playing gay couples, but because they sell the utter adoration between their characters better than a lot of A-listers, honestly. The looks on their faces … wow. So much fond! So much love!

Henrik does a lot of fantastic physical acting throughout this scene, because Even never lets up touching Isak - tracing or rubbing his back, stroking his face. Expressing his feelings through touch. Can you imagine how much Isak is soaking all of this up?

Speaking of Isak, this is by far the softest, gentlest, and happiest we have seen Isak in this season so far, and the whole series to this point. He’s like a completely different person in this scene. Tarjei really lets down Isak’s walls.

Even is wearing the traveling Jesus shirt which is appropriate after a scene where he just played God. You can imagine Isak throwing it to him for that reason. Not because of complex Biblical symbolism and rebirth metaphors, more to be a little shit. Hey God, I found a shirt with your son on it!

I love how Even looks super charmed by Isak blowing smoke in his face.

By the way, I know I’ve said this before somewhere, but this scene always makes me think of a commercial for fabric softener, with that nice soapy clean clothes smell. In reality, though, Isak’s bedroom would have smelled like weed, boy farts, unwashed sheets, and possibly chlorine from the pool.

Eternal mysteries: What is the Nicolas Cage movie where he doesn’t overact??? Nicolas Cage has made some respectable movies, it’s not all The Wicker Man and the Kirk Cameron-less Left Behind, but I don’t know if he’s ever been subtle. What’s a movie that Isak would have seen and Even wouldn’t? Unless they have differing opinions on overacting. This is going to bug me for eternity. (On a non-Skam note: I fell into a Wikipedia hole and while I knew Nicolas Cage was related to the Coppolas, I didn’t know he was a cousin of Jason Schwartzman?)

On a similar note, this doesn’t bother me too much since I’m too enchanted with their acting and the writing, but yeah, that one strand of hair just chillin’ under Tarjei’s chin in this scene… once you see it, you can’t un-notice it. (There’s also the mic that’s visible in the opening montage.)

This scene has no pressing plot, no obvious “point” in terms of communicating exposition or advancing the storyline, but it turns out to be vitally important as a whole bunch of motifs and themes are established, we get insight into both characters, and there’s a ton of foreshadowing.

“I actually think life is like a movie. That you can be the director of your own life.” As we know, Even has a cinematic mind and sometimes takes his advice very literally, aka staging underwater kisses in random people’s houses. But it’s interesting that Even feels this way since bipolar disorder would seem to be something that makes him feel less in control. I feel like he tries to live this way deliberately as a way to handle his mental illness. 

Isak being impressed by infinity, thinking about the fact of being insignificant compared to all the universes out there, though - that’s kind of surprising! Even wants to maintain some control over his life, perhaps due to having this mental illness that makes him feel out of control, but Isak just thinks out there, everything is happening to him, and he’s OK with that. He’s more fascinated by the idea and not like ... struck down with existential dread. 

What’s lovely is that when Isak disagrees with Even’s point, Even is eager to hear what Isak says. They both look happy to be having debates like this. They can disagree on certain topics but it’s OK because they love to hear the other’s POV. This is such a great foundation for a relationship, that they’re not all about physical attraction and desire, but they genuinely enjoy having conversations with each other about big topics.

Have we heard Isak talk at all about Big Ideas like this, with anyone else? I can certainly believe he’s had conversations like this with Jonas, but there’s something really intimate about putting aside all the mundane topics of daily conversation and diving into the bigger, more abstract discussions, things that really reveal a lot about who you are as a person and how you process the world.

And I mean, yes, I know that they’re both stoned right now and that’s helping Isak to open up. Still!

Oh my God, do I love, LOVE, the shot of Even and Isak lying overhead as Isak says, “There’s probably a parallel universe where an Isak and an Even are lying like this…” Because that’s exactly what it is in that moment! A parallel universe! Well, maybe. You can also interpret it as a non-linear moment, since we have Isak’s voiceover (where he was clearly just talking on screen) over a shot where Isak’s mouth clearly is not moving, to a cut back to Isak talking. But I also like the idea that this shot of Isak and Even lying silently together, Even tracing Isak’s back, is from one of those parallel universes that Isak is referring to, and that’s what the AU Isak and Even are doing right at that moment.

Also, nice editing from Julie, because Even moves his head to look directly at Isak as a way to link the two shots and it’s happening in both universes, Isak talking and Isak not talking.

Plus apart from the time/parallel universe stuff, it’s honestly just a beautiful shot, where both Isak and Even are deep in contemplation, and you can imagine all that is on their minds, but they’re not voicing it at this time. Just Even rubbing Isak’s back. Just them lying together.

Both Isak and Even memorized this entire conversation, because it was that important to them, and ended up storing a whole bunch of its references in the Evak museum. Parallel universes, yellow curtains, the boy who couldn’t hold his breath underwater...

Uhhh, that soft little noise Even makes after talking about the yellow curtains? End me.

Even is pretty vulnerable during this part of the conversation, giving his thoughts on parallel universes. I guess this is heading into personal territory, but this is the scene where I first started to think Even might have depression, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were the same for a lot of other viewers. Not just the bit where Even says the only way to escape your thoughts is by dying, though Even saying that was a huge red flag and made me think Even was suicidal, or had attempted suicide in the past. But also when he mentions how thinking about all the different universes feels lonely. And that might be a reach because surely non-depressed people can feel similarly overwhelmed by the idea of being small and insignificant in an infinite number of universes, but it just pinged me (as someone with depression) as immediately recognizable. I can’t even put it into words, it just resonated in an unsettling way. Being alone, with just you and your thoughts, is terrifying when you have depression, because your mind starts to come up with some scary things.

I think that also accounts for why Isak might not understand why Even is freaked out by the idea. While Isak’s mental health has suffered as a result of his family life and his internalized homophobia - the insomnia is a noticeable effect, for one - I don’t think he’s been suicidal, and I don’t think, even with all his stress and inner struggles, that he realizes how bad one’s thoughts can get.

The only time the camera strays from Isak and Even in bed, during this entire scene of almost seven minutes, is when Eskild knocks and talks to Isak through the door. Because that’s an interruption of the bubble. Eskild is the outside world at this point, Eskild is the reminder that people do exist beside Isak and Even. Bless Eskild, but he’s an intruder here. His sudden presence also causes Isak to come up with a lie, saying that Even’s shoes are Jonas’ shoes, reverting to his habit of lying because he’s not ready to state the truth.

By the way, if you were watching in real time and were in the fandom at the time, you’ll remember that there was a theory that actually it was Jonas talking to Isak through the door, and therefore he would catch on to those not being his shoes. Which seems kind of silly now, because Jonas and Eskild don’t sound the same, but fandom sure loved its wild theories. I miss the bonkers shit people would come up with when you’re getting canon in 3-4 minutes increments day by day and are in constant speculation mode.

I love how Even is so charmed by Isak being a brat to Eskild. And that he seems happy at Eskild’s mention of Isak staying in his room all day (because hell yeah, why not, stay in here with me, Isak). And his tightening grip on Isak’s shoulder? My heart.

Also, Even’s gaze is more on Isak’s reactions to Eskild than looking to the door toward the voice, like … he is so enamored of everything Isak does and can barely take his eyes away. (That’s the boy he’s noticed since the first day of school!!! And he’s here, he’s finally here!!)

Isak complaining that Eskild is a babysitter is totally borrowed from what Even said the night before, when he told Sonja to stop monitoring him. Isak absolutely absorbs a lot of what Even says and does and ends up imitating him.

So we finally get the explanation for how Isak met Eskild and came to live in the flat in this scene. I wasn’t watching from S2 but this would have been a dangling topic since the S2 finale, at least.

In the script it’s mentioned specifically that Isak had a fight with his father before going out and getting drunk, which breaks my heart. Isak’s dad really let all of them down. What kind of a father leaves his teenage son alone with a mentally ill mother he is not prepared to care for? All because the dad couldn’t deal with the mom’s mental illness? What the fuck is a 16/17-year-old supposed to do? Not to get too personal again, but I have been a caretaker to a mentally ill parent (and one who had some drastic issues but whose sense of reality mostly wasn’t impaired like with Isak’s mother) and I could not imagine doing it without the help of my other parent. It’s just outrageously selfish to bail like that. 

Isak not being able to remember whether Eskild tried to pick him up is … alarming. And sad. And it’s very good that Eskild found him when he was that out of it instead of someone else with less noble intentions.

Looking at Even’s POV, I doubt he thinks there’s anything going on between Isak and Eskild but Isak living on his own with another gay man, a non-relative, is a bag of unanswered questions, such as - is Isak out to anyone? Where’s Isak’s family? Was he kicked out for being gay? Like this is his way of prodding out some sensitive information. Later when he asks how Isak’s parents will react if they start dating, you can imagine this information is on his mind.

Again, Even’s eyes never leave Isak’s face during this conversation, and he keeps rubbing his thumb along Isak’s shoulder. And he doesn’t ask too many questions, he just lets Isak talk. Isak opens up more than we’ve seen him do in this season so far, but when stuff starts to get too heavy then he plays it off and Even allows it and doesn’t push.

As cute as it is, there’s something a little sad about Isak saying that Even can have his story and make a movie out of it? Like he’s clearly trying to play down how much it really affects him. Oh Even, just turn my sad family history into one of your tragic films, ha ha except not really.

“I am going to make a movie about you!” AHHHHHHHH. So glad we got our S4 YouTube masterpiece because when hearing this line mid-s3 I totally figured it would be foreshadowing and Even would like, confess some feelings to Isak via stop motion Barbie adventures. And I mean, the rest of S3 is so amazing that I didn’t miss not getting any Ken doll smooching, but I’m glad Julie came through with the promised cinematic ode to Isak Valtersen.

When Even’s phone starts ringing they both keep joking and laughing until they can no longer ignore it. Another intrusion to the bubble.

Even stroking back Isak’s hair and pressing his face to Isak’s forehead - some A+ intimacy.

I have to single out their acting again. Henrik is fantastic with all the touches and affection he’s giving, and Tarjei does such a lovely job with the slight shyness and sweetness from Isak. Like this is all new to Isak! It’s a ton of romantic attention and affection from a boy! You can see his curiosity and exploration. Then when they have to deal with the reality of what’s waiting for them outside the bubble, Even is so blatantly unhappy and Isak is just deflating in his subdued way. The actors manage these emotions so well.

Man, you can see how quietly happy Isak gets when Even asks to stay in there with him forever. He’s almost glowing. And it makes sense that this, specifically, is what Even asks him, because that’s what they want at the moment - not just to be together, but to stay inside the bubble away from all outside complications.

This final kiss as we close out the clip is just. The sweetest thing ever. With Isak lifting up his head to ask for it and Even kissing Isak’s forehead and cheek and their hands on the other’s face and neck. Imagine Isak’s growing confidence in asking for the kiss and Even’s generosity in giving Isak more than what he asks.

I don’t necessarily put a timeline as to when these two definitely fell in love (as opposed to liking each other/having a crush/whatever), or realized that they were in love, but tbh this feels like when it might have been it for Even. The act of breaking up with Sonja and asking Isak to be his boyfriend had to be huge for Even, in light of everything he had been through, and realizing he was in love with Isak here was big enough to take a chance, end his stifling but stable relationship, and pursue something new and unknown.

You know when you listen to a song you enjoy so much that you start to hear it and you don’t really love it anymore, it’s more like the memory of loving it? Or a book you read so many times that it’s more that you remember the emotions it used to provoke in you, rather than feeling them in the moment? Sometimes I fear that season three of Skam will get worn out for me like that. After all, I’ve seen it who knows how many times by now, and the show ended more than a year ago - eventually watching it will just be about the memories of how it felt to watch the first time, and not feeling scenes in themselves, right? 

Watching this scene again still feels like the first time.

Clip 2 - Morning after

There has been discussion over whether Isak and Even went further than makeouts during their cozy weekend and I’m 95% in the camp that they did not. I mean, by all means, headcanon otherwise, but I don’t think sex happened at this point for the following reasons:

Narratively it would have been a huge deal, both in the progress of their relationship and of Isak’s personal development, and I tend to think Julie would have shown it or hinted at it more strongly if anything sexual had happened. It seems too important not to make more obvious. If you think about it, the parallel universe conversation could have happened while they were in a state of undress (or something to indicate that they’d gone further than makeouts) but instead she had them talk while in oversized hoodies and sweats. So I think she wanted the main takeaway from this snuggly Saturday to be them talking about their lives and personal philosophies.

Like I said, it would have been a big deal for Isak, going from his first kiss with a boy to being sexual with a boy within a day or so, and since Isak is still dealing with a lot of internalized homophobia, I’d say he wouldn’t progress that fast? It’s true that he seems willing to jump into things with Even pretty quickly, but it also makes more sense to me as a step after he’d come out to his friends and gained a little more self-acceptance. “They’re teenagers and therefore driven by hormones” isn’t convincing enough of a reason enough for me to think they went that far. I mean, Noora and William are also shown waking up in bed in their underwear in the next clip after their first kiss, and it’s immediately established that they have not yet had sex. (Which is why I don’t think Isak waking up in his boxers is proof, either.)

Just personal preference but Even is already cheating on Sonja by making out and snuggling with Isak. I’d rather he didn’t do anything blatantly sexual with him on top of that.

The only thing that gives me some doubt is the crumpled tissue on Isak’s nightstand, because we all know Skam loves to be cheeky about Isak’s toilet paper, lmao.

We’ve seen Isak struggle with insomnia but here he appears to have slept pretty well, and we get the first hint that Even also has trouble sleeping. “I don’t sleep cuz sleep is the cousin to death” is waaaaay more loaded as a lyric than it might seem at first. It’s also quite ominous as we kept getting casual mentions of death around Even. Feels like the Grim Reaper is always trailing him.

Even frequently calling Isak hot/attractive, as he does on his sketch, is so good for Isak to hear. Isak has trouble vocalizing his attraction to men (well I GUESS that guy on Grindr is handsome, Eskild) but for Even, talking about his attraction to Isak is as normal as breathing. Even just does not give a fuck, in a lot of ways, about some of the hangups that Isak currently struggles with - talking about men being attractive, dealing with generalizations, liking “gay”/stereotypically un-masculine things. And that’s really good for Isak to be around, because he thinks the world of Even, and if Even can be like that or say this or do that, then maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world for Isak to admit he finds boys attractive. Even normalizes some of this behavior for him.

Also, it’s just so nice for Isak’s first real love (a boy!!!) to make him feel adored and shower him with compliments. Sincere ones, at that! Even isn’t faking any of this as some people predicted; he’s completely smitten with Isak.

I find it so endearing that cartoon Isak wears a snapback underwater.

I forgot, who did the drawings for Even? Some random on the production team? Julie? Imagine keeping that as a souvenir from the set.

Even has already internalized what Isak said about parallel universes. This one is just a silly joke comic, but later these sketches are going to be something like a coping mechanism for him.

Lmao, Eskild and Noora. Noora is randomly cleaning walls as a way to either alleviate William-related stress, satiate Isak-related curiosity, or both. Both? Both. Julie had to delete a William-related line in the script because it didn’t fit in right here, but by the Looks she gives Isak once Eskild steps in, she wants all the gossip.

You know, not that I condone turning Isak’s sexuality into a fun speculative game, but I so wonder how the girl squad side of Nissen was reacting to the developing Evak relationship from the outside? You know Noora was probably giving Eva updates on everything, Vilde was clueless for a while, Sana was just complaining about Isak forgetting his biology notes, and Chris was like, “Damn, the spirits weren’t smoking crack after all.”

Don’t you wish you could’ve seen the Even-Eskild interaction in the bathroom that morning? Especially when Eskild encounters a random dude in the flat wearing the Jesus shirt. Was Even still wearing the shirt when he left, or did he return Isak’s clothes and go home in his Halloween costume?

Eskild is just. The best. He knows that Isak is most likely gay, and he wants Isak to open up to him, and he’s probably like “it’s finally happening!!!” once he spies Even in the bathroom. But he’s trying to be “casual” and positive about it. Oh, that Even guy was super cool! It’s cool that you had a cool guy over, Isak, we’re all cool with it.

Alas, Isak was Not in the mood to talk about this. As soon as he steps out of his bubble, he gets confronted with questions about Even and has to retreat. But the bubble just isn’t the same alone.

Clip 3 - Isak on the outskirts of the boy squad

Poor Isak just wants to find out what’s going on with Even, to the point of waiting outside his classroom. But he has no idea that what Even’s going through is way more serious than he could have realized.

Isak doesn’t waste a single second in bailing from Emma, lmao.

This scene with the boys is so well done. The tension is evident. Tarjei’s acting is terrific. He rolls up to the boys ready to be bro Isak, friend Isak, and you can see him present a better mood (or faking a better mood) only for the shock to sink in when he realizes he fucked up by forgetting Magnus’ birthday.

When Isak strolls up to the boys, none of them pause to acknowledge his presence, they don’t even know he arrives until Isak starts apologizing. That’s how out of the loop he is.

To be fair, as much as I understand why Isak would lose track of anything except lying in Even’s arms - with someone looking at you and cuddling you like that, who wouldn’t - but he did blow off his friend’s birthday after talking about it with his friends and discussing tentative plans, and ignored their texts to alert him. That’s the problem with the bubble: you’re cut off from the outside world, both bad and good. Isak needs to learn how to bring his two worlds together and not aggressively shut them off from each other.

Not to mention that this is the third week in a row where Isak has lied or canceled plans, after the Emma pre-drink he randomly canceled and the kosegruppa pre-drink he didn’t tell the boys about. Isak’s lie about his family party is just half-hearted. Jonas and Mahdi see right through it and aren’t falling for this BS. Even Jonas, the best friend ever, is getting done with Isak’s shit.

Lol forever at Julie’s script being like “Isak gives (Magnus) a hug or high-five or whatever, how the fuck am I supposed to know what 17 year old boys do.” It’s hilarious but also indicates that she probably asked Tarjei and David what gesture would fit in the context of this scene for their characters, and they went with the hug. Awwww.

The other boys do some good acting in this scene, too. David does a nice job of being a little friendlier than the other two, but in a muted way. Magnus is the most cheerful and good-natured of the boys, the one who doesn’t really get upset, and so he doesn’t shut out Isak to the degree that Jonas and Mahdi do (they both seem mega-annoyed with him) but I think Magnus was actually hurt by Isak forgetting his birthday? I mean, I doubt he went home and cried in his pillow. But it would sting that Isak just completely bailed with no warning, no text message that he wasn’t going to make it. He just totally forgot. 

Isak tries to work his way back into the circle, being enthusiastic, wanting to know what happened, but he’s so blatantly on the outside. The other boys don’t even try to tell the story to him (and Jonas is the one who says this so you know it’s got an extra sting). You can see Isak visibly dim when he realizes he can’t just jump back into the squad - again, great acting from Tarjei.

Also, once the boys have made it clear that Isak can’t hop into their conversation like everything’s normal, we don’t get any more closeup shots of their faces. It’s all on Isak’s reaction. When the boys keep talking among each other, it’s like something happening at the edge of the frame, they move in and out of it, but we’re not able to engage with it fully … we the viewers don’t feel like we’re part of the discussion, either. We’re there with Isak.

So this story the boys tell, about the girl with the facial hair, was not in the script and must have been improvised by the actors or prompted by Julie later. However, it’s an example of how S3 was firing on all cylinders. The boys could have been talking about anything. They could be telling some wacky story about Magnus, a can of beer, and a saxophone. Any anecdote that’s complicated and something Isak can’t be part of, anything where you just had to be there to understand. But it’s not just any story. The incident they’re talking about involves a girl with a facial hair and Magnus almost kissing her. And how this was gross, you don’t want to kiss someone like your father. And what did Isak do on Saturday, instead of going to Magnus’ birthday party? He was kissing a boy. And lol, Even isn’t the most hirsute dude out there, but you have to imagine he has some stubble. But in any case, the message of what they’re saying is clear: kissing people with stubble is gross. Something I doubt a gay guy would think. These are straight dudes who don’t want to kiss girls who remind them of boys. Meanwhile Isak has been kissing an actual boy and found it to be pretty damn amazing, way more satisfying to him than kissing a girl. It’s just another way he’s locked out of the group - not only was he not there for this particular incident, he can’t even relate to the feelings behind the story at all. Julie and the cast are basically multi-tasking here by adding an extra layer of isolation that’s thematically relevant to Isak’s internal struggles. A ton of S3 is layered like this, which is part of why it’s lingered with its fans. And why I wanted to write tl;dr meta about it, lol.

[1ff]

The Society of Multiples, Chapter 8

Second draft of my story about an alternate world where almost everybody is multiple. If you read it, you agree to leave at least two words in response. Constructive criticism welcome. Reblog if you love cake.

Catch up: (Chapter 1) (Chapter 2) (Chapter 3) (Chapter 4) (Chapter 5) (Chapter 6) (Chapter 7)

I think I’m technically supposed to have a polished version of the novel ready when I start passing it around to agents, and since I’ve already done that, it’s probably wise if I hurry the hell up and finish at least the second draft.

Huge thanks to everyone who’s been leaving comments and critique! It’s been incredibly helpful!

Let me know if you want to be tagged when I update so you don’t miss it ( @nevermindbinarity ) or search for the tag #thesocietyofmultiples

-Ronin

Chapter 8

The mood as we entered Jernigan shifted to relief and excitement. Jernigan itself was a large but laid-back city; obviously very rich, with a lot to do for entertainment and relaxation. It was midday when we got there, but evidence of the city’s busy nightlife were everywhere in neon signs and twenty-four hour locations.

We stopped at the hotel across from the studio first, checked in, and slept. All three of us were exhausted.

The next day, Cal and Macy accompanied me across the street to the studio. It was a huge building, very blocky and concrete. Inside, it was abuzz with activity; people rushing in every direction, clutching scripts and props, and escorting actors from place to place. It was clear that a lot happened here besides Amy’s show. We passed by one studio where it looked like they were filming some kind of science fiction show.

I insisted that either Cal or Macy stay with me. I’d grown to trust them over the last few days, and the last thing I wanted was to be misled at this stage of the game by someone trying to convince me that they were personnel when in fact they were here to take me away. I wasn't’ sure if my paranoia had grown beyond the reality of the situation yet, but both of them easily agreed.

I was taken past a desk where bored-looking secretary handed me a clipboard with a waiver on it, and led me down a hall to a small waiting room. Cal and Macy sat across from me; they referred to the space as a Green Room.

The waiver had few surprises; I’d always kept a skeptical attitude to talk shows in general, but at least Amy’s show seemed more respectable and real than most. She’d started her career as a journalist, and kept a degree of journalistic honesty, at least in image. And Julian, who ran the show behind the scenes, had obviously done a very good job. The production values were high. Besides the talk show, they were said to run a media empire that rivalled any of the big Hollywood studios.

Once I’d read the contract carefully and signed off on it, I was rushed back outside to film some stock footage. They had me walk down the street, sit next to a fountain, stare into the distance. An impatient man with a camera told me to act brooding, mysterious, and ponderous, but also natural, as though I was like that all the time. I must have pulled it off fairly well based on an entire lifetime of acting by necessity, because the shooting didn’t take long. The cameraman seemed annoyed to have Cal and Macy hovering around the whole time, but it was as if he didn’t have time to argue with them so he just tolerated their presence.

Back inside, I was seated in front of a makeup mirror. A cheery blonde artist rushed in smiling from ear to ear, and got to work on my face. Ey had a photo of Eron which ey clipped to the mirror, as well as a couple of other similair faces of actors and celebritities who vaguely resembled him. I did my best not to fidget. It was especially strange having someone else put that face on me; I felt uncomfortable enough doing it myself.

Ey did a great job, though- far better than I’d ever done. Somehow ey had captured his look perfectly, even better than my best attempts. I nodded in appreciation. Ey shook my hand, made some kind of awkward compliment or appreciation about my heroism, and my patience in the makeup chair, or something- by this point I was so full of anxiety that I was having trouble focusing. I thanked em and got ushered back to the green room, where a costumer was waiting with a suit. I was skeptical at first, but again they’d managed to capture something about Eron that surprised me. The suit was black, with a dark gray shirt, and no tie.

It seemed strange; heroes rarely wore black in film or television, but the nation apparently saw Eron as a moody, dark anti-hero. They’d created an image of him that wasn’t entirely wrong, but bolstered by a lie they didn’t expect. I was going to go out on the stage in this? Millions would be watching me. Millions would hear what I had to say, and perhaps fittingly- I would be presented as an antihero.

For a moment I contemplated asking for a different outfit, since this would not be the impression I wanted the audience to walk away with. But I shrugged and put the suit on; I had to maintain the lie of my life a little longer. The costumer had to swap out a different jacket due to sleeves too short, but overall the suit fit me well and was flattering. Macy nodded and smiled when I paused in front of the mirror to admire it.

The secretary poked her head in the door. “Eron, Amy wants to have a brief pre-interview with you.”

Macy and Cal walked with me towards the door, but the secretary just gave us an exasperated look. “Alone. Obviously.”

I contemplated my options for a moment. “Can they wait outside the room? They need to stay near. Amy appointed them.”

She shrugged. “Sure, if you want. This way.”

She led us through the maze-like corridors to another small office, and down the hall from there to a closed door.

“We’ll wait here,” Cal assured me. “You’re safe with Amy.”

I took a deep breath and let the secretary usher me in. She put on a false smile as she introduced me to Amy, then left.

Amy was shorter than I’d expected, which is what everybody seems to say about celebrities when they meet face-to-face. She was still imposing, though, but her mannerisms were also gracious and welcoming. She shook my hand, then we sat on a comfortable couch.

“I’m glad to finally meet you, Eron. Before we went out, I wanted to stop and express my gratitude for coming all this way for this interview.”

“I’m not really sure what to say. I’m kind of overwhelmed. I’m not sure why there’s all this attention on me after such a small incident.”

She smiled, offered me a coffee from the urn on the table. I nodded. “Well, it goes beyond that incident,” she explained, “and the incident itself was strange enough. Gun violence, sexual predation, unexpected heroism, all of that got people talking. But then there’s you.”

I added cream and sugar to my cup of coffee, and sipped it gently. “I’m not that exciting.”

“You really are, though. You’ve got the whole world talking. This random stranger barges into a hostile situation, defuses it, then runs off and completely disappears from the face of the planet. Did you know I had four different teams of private detectives try to track you down?”

My head was spinning. The anxiety was building fast; I felt like I was going to vomit. How on earth was I going to get out on that stage and talk about all of this?

“That seems excessive,” I answered carefully.

She laughed. “Maybe. But everything they found just made me more and more curious. You’re a bit of an enigma. I have to be careful- I don’t want you to say too much before we go out on stage. We need to have natural reactions and easy banter, it can’t seem rehearsed. But I’m honestly looking forward to this interview more than most, I’ll admit it.”

I felt tongue-tied. I really didn’t want to go out on stage like this, shaking and whimpering and barely able to speak. I couldn’t get my voice to get along with my brain, so I just took another sip.

“Don’t worry, you’re going to do great. Everyone gets jitters before the stage. Once we’re out there, you’ll be surprised at how easy it all is. And trust me, everyone is going to want to hear what you have to say. Especially-” she paused, and caught my eye- “especially if you’re going to say what I’m hoping you’re going to say.”

There was a long moment when our eyes locked. I think my jaw must have dropped, but she just smiled again, that easy comfortable smile that just naturally relaxes whoever she points it at. And then she winked.

“I also wanted to let you know- Julian will be around. The two of us discuss things internally during shooting- he needs to be around and have his say. He’ll keep out of the way for the most part, so don’t worry about it. I just wanted to let you know for the sake of honesty and disclosure.”

My eyes went wide, and she caught the expression. “Yes, we co-front. Not a lot of people do, or even can, but it might have something to do with being dual. We spend a lot of time together. I’d appreciate if you didn’t make that public knowledge; people get uncomfortable at things like that. They think there’s only certain proper ways to be. I figured I could trust you, though.”

I nodded. “Of course. Your secret’s safe with me.”

I was ushered back again to the Green Room, where a technician fitted me with a lapel mike. It was surprisingly small, but apparently very high-fidelity.

I was the only guest in the Green Room, along with Cal and Macy, but they still brought in a large platter of cheese and crackers. I nibbled nervously. I felt that if I had too many it would just send my stomach into even more convulsions.

Finally, everything was in place, and I was led to the stage. Cal and Macy promised to stay just back-stage; before I went out, I shook their hands and thanked them for all they’d done. I hoped that when all was said and done, they’d still be there, ready to help escort me away, but I knew I could expect no promises.

I heard Amy talking, winding up a brief welcome and instructions to the crowd, who were being prepped to react with positivity and thoughtfulness. I marvelled at how carefully the whole production was put together to create a certain mood. Amy really had a way of working the audience.

Amy sat and began the show’s introduction; a brief description of Eron and the incident, of Eron going into hiding, of her pulling her resources to find him. I saw on a monitor screen various photos of Eron and Lake Victor being shown as a backdrop to her explanation.

A technician pointed at me, gestured for me to go on-stage.

All of a sudden, all of the jitters and the anxiety washed away. I looked out at the audience, at the brightly lit stage, at Amy herself poised so perfectly in one of the two yellow armchairs on stage- and all of a sudden it all changed. I suddenly knew I could do what I had come here to do. My heart slowed down to a relaxed pace, my hands stopped shaking. Nothing that stood in the way was important anymore.

I walked out on stage with determination and a soft smile. The audience applauded. Amy stood and shook my hand, catching my eye again with a knowing look. We sat, and I tried to make myself comfortable without slouching.

After the applause died down, Amy turned to me. “You’ve come a long way to be with us today. Whereabouts are you living now.”

“I’ve been in River City. I’ve lived there since I left Lake Victor.”

“And how have things been for you? Do you get recognized on the street a lot?”

“No, not really. I’ve actually been laying low ever since the incident.”

She nodded. “It’s been pretty clear that you wanted to avoid attention. Before we get deeper into that though, I was hoping you would tell us more about the event itself. We haven’t really heard it from your perspective.”

“Okay. I don’t know that I have much to add. I was working in the hotel kitchen in Lake Victor when I noticed one of the chefs acting strangely-”

“That’d be Jace?”

I nodded.

“What did he do?”

“Well, he switched. A public switch, stress-induced. His headmate Rhonda took front. Supposedly.”

“But you recognized that something seemed wrong.”

“Yes.”

“How did you know?”

I shrugged. “I can’t really say that it was anything in particular. I’ve just always studied people very closely, I guess. I could see that something was off. The switch was fake.”

“Did you have any inkling as to why he would fake the switch?”

“Not at the time. It seemed like he was trying to get out of work, but that’s a pretty drastic way to do it.”

“But effective.”

“Yes, definitely. Everybody was kind of embarrassed. He got out of there in a hurry.”

“And you followed?”

“My shift was almost over, I was planning on going for a hike. I noticed Jace leave on one of the trails, so I decided to follow. Out of curiosity.”

“What happened then?”

“Well, I wasn’t following too intently, so I lost sight of him for a bit, but then I saw him on a ledge further down the hill, and I could see that he had a gun. He was in a little hiding spot above the main path, and I realized that he was waiting for someone to come by and that he was going to shoot them.”

“What did that feel like, in that moment? Realizing you were seeing someone about to commit a violent act?”

“Shocking. Very shocking. It’s just not something you see a lot of. And it was so sneaky, the way he was hiding… it gave me chills. It felt so surreal.”

She nodded. “Go on.”

“So then I saw one of the hotel waitresses coming around the corner with a young man, and I realized that one of them had to be the target. So I decided to act before Jace got a chance to.”

“But in doing so, you must have realized that you were putting yourself in a lot of danger?”

“Yeah. I knew. But I had an advantage on him. He didn’t even know I was there; I was able to get the drop on him before he had a chance to react. Besides, I couldn’t just stand there and watch. I had to do something.”

“A lot of people are considering that a very heroic act. Not everybody would do what you did in that situation.”

“Maybe not. I don’t know. I can’t imagine doing anything differently. I think I was mostly in the right place at the right time.”

“Yes, but how you got to be at that place and time isn’t coincidence either. You saw something that nobody else could see.”

“I guess.”

“So, after all of that was said and done, you disarmed him, and then what happened?”

“I handed the gun over to the waitress’ headmate, who used it to subdue Jace until the police could arrive.”

“And by the time the police came, you were long gone.”

“Yes. I felt I had to get out of there.”

“And that’s the big question that’s been on everybody’s minds. So let’s get down to it; can you share with us why you felt it was necessary to leave?”

It was amazing how much she could communicate with a glance; comfort, strength, encouragement. She shifted forward on her chair, ready to take in my answer.

I looked out at the audience, glanced momentarily at the camera, and came back to look at her.

“My whole life I’ve tried to lay low, stay unnoticed. I’m different from most people. A lot of people would consider me… unwanted. I left because I knew that if people found out about me, I could be in personal danger.”

“What is it about you that makes you feel that people would react badly to you?” I could tell by the even, careful way she asked, that she knew. There was no question now.

I took a deep breath. Here it was.

“I’m a singlet,” I said finally. It was over now; anything that came before this moment in my life would be fundamentally different from anything that happened after.

The audience murmured; the cameramen foundered with their equipment. I could hear gasps of surprise and revulsion and disgust. Through it all, Amy remained stoic, unfazed.

“You realize that by telling the world about this now, you’re putting yourself at risk all over again.”

“I know. I know.” I struggled to keep my voice calm. “I’m just… tired of living in hiding. Tired of disguising myself, of lying just to fit in and feel safe. And for no good reason! There’s no reason why we should be feared. We really are just like everybody else- we’re not the monsters that everyone believes we are.”

She nodded. “I think a lot of people are going to be surprised that, in this whole story, it wasn’t the man with the gun who was the singlet, it was the man who stepped in and stopped him. It’s going to make a lot of people uncomfortable that the singlet was the hero instead of the villain.”

“Yes. And I worried that nobody would understand that. I worried that the whole story would turn inside-out, that somehow I would be blamed. Because people think that we have no moral compass, no ability to empathize. They think we’re cold and cruel and twisted, that we do horrible things to animals and children- it’s all so ridiculous. I know that things will get twisted around now, that somebody will invent a new story out of all of this, that turns my motives upside-down and portrays me as equally evil. But I wanted to give people the chance to consider that-” I had to pause, my voice was breaking up now. “-to consider that we’re... okay. That we should be considered equals, that we’re safe and normal and just like everybody else.” I was losing composure, but I had to finish. I had to raise my voice a little as the unsettled crowd was getting louder. “Nobody has ever really heard about our lives from our own perspectives before. I’m sure half of the world doesn’t even know we exist. But we’re out there, and there’s so many more of us than people suspect, and we’re human beings. We’re all around you; friends, siblings, children. I want everybody to know that, even if they don’t know it yet, they already know a singlet. There’s somebody in their lives that they consider a good person, or a friend, or someone they love. And that they should still love that person even if they know.”

I took a deep breath. The sound of the crowd was growing now. The audience was no longer an audience, now they were becoming active. People were fidgeting with their phones, using them to record and make calls and contact people. The waivers they’d signed on their way in were no longer important; something more important than the show was going on. It might not be much longer before the audience became a full-on mob; there were many people visibly upset, some of them turning angry.

“I think that’s about all we’ll have time for,” Amy said calmly.

[lightsandlostbells]

Druck episode 7 reaction

I fell behind with Druck because the release of the clips from this episode threw me off, lol, but I’m catching up now! 

Some of these comments are outdated as I wrote them before seeing the clips that came out after this episode. 

Episode 7

Clip 1 - Leonardo DiCaprio sweetie...

Sam’s hair!!! Love it.

Unfortunately I do not love that Sam is somewhat encouraging Kiki in her Alexander-related delusions. 

Tbh, I wonder how Sam copes being a friend of Kiki since Kiki is racist, but then again racist people can be selective. They’ll have bigoted beliefs about one marginalized group, but they’re OK with another group.

Kiki referencing Titanic and being like the film is based on a true story!!! And Amira being like, uh, just the iceberg and sinking part. Well, Titanic is applicable to real life, in that Kiki and Alexander are the sinking ship. But also, Jack died at the end of Titanic, so maybe Kiki should pick something with a happier ending, anyway.

Mia has incorporated the famous red lipstick into her style.

Amira asking about the party and Sam saying Mia twerked, good for her.

I adore Amira messing with the girls and saying costume parties are haram. Even Mia, the self-designated progressive feminist of the group, falls for it. But I love that Amira can joke with them and tease their expectations and it’s casual and friendly. Pay attention, Kiki.

Awww, even the Hanna/Jonas guilt making out is too cute! I’m going to savor it while it lasts.

Clip 2 - Hanna confesses to Matteo

Matteo settled on a different hairstyle, I see.

So I guess Hanna did end up joining the refugee tutoring program, and Matteo did too. Despite the less-than-enlightened attitudes we saw from the group representatives in the first episode, I’m glad to see Hanna is involved in another activity, at least. Since she’s very insecure, volunteering and participating in activities can give you some sense of purpose and direction. And Matteo - I don’t think we ever saw Isak really involved in anything at school? Just kosegruppa, which he was blackmailed into. Which is fine, I just like seeing Matteo doing something productive. Also, I enjoy seeing something that Hanna and Matteo do together, whether that was intentional or not on their parts.

After seeing a few versions of this scene, I prefer it when the Isak character needles the Eva a bit into confessing what’s up rather than Eva just spilling her secret unprompted. It makes sense in that Hanna/Eva might need a push and also gives a subtle hint about Matteo’s/Isak’s investment in their relationship status.

I laughed out loud at Hanna being like “I made out with Sam” and Matteo being like “Well yeah, girl Sam is hot.” I mean, she is a babe, but Sam is the one girl Chris character who does not flirt with the Isak character (from what I remember), and it turns out to be the one time that the Isak says that the girl Chris is hot. Even though I don’t think it’ll matter much, lmao.

Also Matteo being like whyyyy are you telling me this right now … in front of a bunch of students within earshot. True!

LMAO AND FATIMA AGREES WITH MATTEO, HOLY SHIT? I hope that this poor girl isn’t going to be like … a red herring as to who spilled the beans.

Clip 3 - Kiki gets a much-needed pep talk

Kiki just cuts straight through the bullshit and figures Hanna has a thing for Samuel.

Well, now we get the “I’m not a lesbian” comments from Kiki. I wish they would go there with her. Honestly, after Skam Austin, this is the version of Skam I would most expect an f/f storyline (other than Skam France which has girl Alex as bi but it’s not much more than Word of God and a couple offhand comments.)

Kiki asks Mia if she’s a lesbian and Mia says she doesn’t think in categories like that … which does not rule out the possibility of her being into girls … I am just saying …

“Just because I’m pretty does it mean I need to have a penis inside me?” Well damn Mia, when you put it like that.

Alexander repeats the same bullshit lines on different girls. I bet he compliments them on their stomachs because so many girls are self-conscious about having rolls or belly fat.

Kiki is near tears, and she gets Vilde’s line about everyone saying it’s not her fault, but it is her fault … because that’s how she feels. I’m glad they kept in that line, and it does make you think about how “of course it’s me” would feel in light of S2. I mean apparently Vilde didn’t care that it was Noora who ended up with William, but if you think about it, William apparently was willing to settle on a girl. It just had to be Noora. And IDK, to me that would kind of sting regardless of my ultimate feelings for this dude - because apparently I wasn’t enough to make him stop acting like an asshole, but for another girl he could act like something resembling a decent person (in certain opinions).

The girls making a Hanna and Mia sandwich with Kiki inside is so sweet.

Clip 4 - Mia tells off Alexander

“You’re a proud, confident pussy!” Aw, that’s a lovely line in context.

Mia is, out of all the Nooras, the one who most feels like a feminist or at least someone who is heavily guided by feminist principles and has done the required reading.

I was going to say it was a bummer that Sam went against Kiki’s idea to stand up to Alexander, but the way the actress played it, plus the line “That’s how I always do it” made it feel like there was more going on with her than just not wanting the party invitations to stop. Like the pressure to be chill and not take anything too seriously, especially relationships, was something that weighs down on her. If she’s like girl Chris, perhaps she feels the need to be the fun party one, too. (Heh, I actually thought of the infamous Gone Girl “cool girl” speech, believe it or not. A lot of these insensitive teenage boys don’t want a girl who’s going to have feelings and inconvenient stuff like that, they just want a girl who’s cool to do whatever. And I think there is some pressure on girls to not be like “those other girls” who cause drama by speaking up for themselves and not taking crap from boys.)

And I like Amira’s point of view, which was the same as Sana’s, but which was explicitly compassionate and trying to help Kiki keep her dignity.

Also Hanna is just like “No idea” which is in-character for the whole not-having-her-own-opinions, going-along-with-what-everyone-else-does theme.

Alexander wasn’t as bad of an actor as I expected, though he needs to work on his dead eyes. Maybe he meant it but it’s going to be hard to deal with that in the long run.

His version of this put-down is one of the cruelest in a way, though. It doesn’t even feel like he winds her up as much, he’s just callous. And he had the temerity to tell her to stop crying. Because crying is inconvenient for him.

He mimics Mia’s smirk back at her when she steps up which was a nice touch.

I’m glad that Kiki stuck around in this version so she got to hear someone stick up for her. It is sad that her moment becomes Mia’s moment but it’s nice to see the girls immediately defending her, Amira stroking her arm.

I’m not sure Mia had quite the fire to pull off that scene; however I am liking her more and more in general because as I mentioned above, I think she’s convincing as a baby feminist character and she’s good with supporting the other girls.

I loooooooove Sam giving him the finger as she walks off. itswhathedeserves.gif 

Clip 5 - Hanna and Jonas in bed

They’re easily the best Eva/Jonas outside of the original. They just have great chemistry.

“By the way, I found out there are studies that prove the danger of cell phone radiation.” Wow, I didn’t know Jonas was channeling my 72-year-old auntie.

So cute with him talking about getting down and asking for her hand!

“Society made me do it, a boy from the streets like me, what can I do?” Jonas is definitely the most endearing drug dealer in the Skam extended universe. Ahem.

That description makes him seem like Aladdin.

Oh god they’re so cute. I don’t have much to say except they’re fabulous together. 

don’t break them up

Clip 6 - Fight!

NO NOT THE SCARF. Wrapping her scarf around his neck! I know what happens next for them, you assholes!!!

The girls are ridiculously cute when they pose for a photo. Mia giving Hanna a kiss!

Also they love Mia so much for her smackdown. And Amira stroking Kiki’s arm <3

Brawl time!

Lol, this is the least convincing Iben.

DON’T TOUCH SAM’S BEAUTIFUL BLUE HAIR YOU JERK

I love that all of them got involved in the fight. Amira seemed like she was trying to stop the fight at first but then it looked like she was trying to put that girl in a headlock. Kiki went all in, too, jumping on that girl’s back and holding on with her thighs.

Lol, a teacher actually yelling at them to knock it off and them breaking it off on their own? How novel.

Clip 7 - Hanna and a reptile

Hanna actually has a bruise from the fight so that’s a good detail.

That line from Matteo about Carlo being friends with Jonas and not with Hanna ... buddy … you’re going to want to consider that line more closely, considering I can think of someone who’s friends with both Jonas AND Hanna who’s also screwed her over.

Jonas asking her to stop calling when her phone background is all pics of her and Jonas being affectionate :( :( :(  You know, just to rub it in.

Matteo were you fucking SMIRKING after you gave Hanna a hug? Is that an actual smirk or is that just his face? Duuuuude, I do not approve.

Clip 8 - Leonie dropping hints

Lmao, it’s not really funny but those are some A+ celebrity sunglasses that Hanna is wearing to presumably cover up her bruise and hide from the world.

Love how shook and upset Hanna gets from just spotting Jonas through the window.

Kiki is probably the biggest asshole of any of the Vildes but not gonna lie, I still kinda like her? She is a jerk but she feels like a very specific, realistic type of jerk, like she feels very believable as a character.

Also, something I’ve never thought much about is how Vilde/Kiki fixates on Eva/Hanna being considered a “slut” to the whole school, and obviously some of that for Vilde has to do with the impact it’ll have on their bus group. But this is also happening right after Vilde lost her virginity to the most popular guy in school, wore his hoodie that marked her as a trophy, and was treated like trash by him afterwards. So for Vilde/Kiki/the equivalent characters, is it possible that there’s some projection going on here? I don’t know if I’d say for certain because she seems so eager to have sex, but the aftermath also messes with her self-worth, and that’s mostly indicated by her eating disorder but I think it’s possible she may have internalized some ideas about slut-shaming that could apply to herself.

Mia loves Hanna so much. I don’t get the mega-flirty vibes between them I got from Eva/Noora or Eva/Eleonora, but Mia just cares for her a whole lot. I’ve had some doubts about Mia’s performance but the writing for her has made me love her quite a bit.

Oh, I love that Hanna kinda snapped at Leonie and that Mia took a bit more of the caring, leave-her-alone approach at first but then got all forceful and told her to go away.

Mia either thinks Kiki needs to shut the fuck up or she’s noticing that something’s up with her attitude.

Clip 9 - Hanna and her dad

Is that plant symbolic of something? “There’s a lot going on and I just forgot to water it”? Or you know, sometimes a plant is just a plant.

The dad! I love him being all concerned by his daughter’s banged-up face.

And he’s being so sweet and supportive when he sees Hanna is having a hard time! Gosh, Druck is really like the sweet and soft remake. The baby lamb version of Skam.

Hanna also freely confesses to him that Jonas broke up with her instead of it slipping out in a fit of frustration like with Eva. The dad is sympathetic and wants to help and tries to reassure her that it can happen to anyone, but Hanna is just too upset and stressed for it to have any effect.

General Comments:

I have no idea what’s up with the production on this one. I’ll be so bummed if it doesn’t get another season. Honestly, this is still my favorite of the remakes - it’s the one where I have the most fondness for the characters. I enjoy almost everyone by this point.

This is also easily the version where I would want a S3 and S4 the most (other than a Shay-focused season of Skam Austin), as I think Matteo and Amira could potentially pull them off; they both have conveyed plenty of youthful vulnerability. Mia/Alexander is the least convincing Noorhelm yet but Mia has grown on me a lot. And I think girl Sam and Jonas are fantastic and would love to see more from them.

Just to say it again: girl Sam is wonderful and I would looooove just a full season of her.

I guess the Druck team posted a little message on IG about Kiki’s eating disorder and a link to a hotline? That’s really great, I’m glad they did that.

Not to compare remakes but when Meg and Marlon from Skam Austin make out: 😒 😒 😒 When Hanna and Jonas make out: 😄 😄 😄

I don’t speak German so if I miss some context, feel free to correct me.

If you got this far, thank you for reading!