#like all the ppl in hearstopper are young

[nellienelsonspring]

kit connor's baby face will never stop messing with my head

[if-music-be-the-food-of-love]

I feel like I am the only person who feels more represented by Skam than Heartstopper 😂 where did y’all get such wholesome teenage years

oh anon, this is so funny bc I was part of a group chat that discussed this very topic, and I have to say that in that group at least, you are part of the majority. I don't know which teenage experience ppl identify with more, but I do know that both versions are appreciated for what they offer and who they represent. I see myself in Nick and Sander for very different reasons. I love both shows. Never fear, my skamverse heart is still beating strong even though I do recognize myself more in Heartstopper.

I have to begin this by saying, I was wholly and completely out of the loop by choice as a teenager. Either my friends didn't have parties or they knew not to invite me when they planned to smoke or drink. I don't know which is the case. Not once was I propositioned in high school, not once was I offered anything illegal, and I have to admit I appreciated that my friends respected me enough not to offer or make fun of me for not wanting to do it. I only found out recently that the popular crowd at my school used to throw huge parties in a cow pasture. YES, A COW PASTURE. Bc that's what you do in bumfuck nowhere apparently (we had more cows than ppl). I was so unaware of it all, I didn't even know that I'd been missing out. Now I just think it's hilarious and still don't care.

Heartstopper is very much me. I was studious, a band nerd, athletic (on the team but unpopular), unknowingly bi, a mixture of Charlie and Nick. I kissed exactly two boys in high school, and the idea of sleeping with anyone I'd been dating less than a year or two would never have crossed my mind. Like, my relationships developed very slowly. There was none of the epic romance, the lust, the instant attraction of Evak or Sobbe (This is also probably definitely why we didn't stay together, lol. It was horrid.). It was very much a nerve-wracking slow burn of "oh shit, oh shit, oh shit." I love evak and sobbe for the soulmate energy, but how they went about it is wholly foreign to me, even as an adult. I liked having a different approach in heartstopper, a slower version, where the kids went bowling, drank milkshakes, watched movies, and stressed out about holding hands. ngl, i did all of that. I remember going out for dessert late at night after rehearsals and shows (musicals/concerts), never to parties. We literally went to Denny's and pigged out. It was very classy. 🙄😂

My uni experience was more skam, but I was older and more mature by then (and had changed some). Hearstopper, to me, reminds us of how young these kids really are. Charlie turning 15 on the show really highlights that. It's young love, and the emphasis is on young. Robbe is the youngest Isak, and from what I know from the comics (18 month difference between Nick and Charlie would put Nick at already 16 when they meet), Nick is older than Robbe by two months when he meets Charlie, compared to when Robbe meets Sander. I would never have pegged Robbe as the younger of the two, but wtfock didn't play it young; they played it gritty. It's just a different approach.

I think both shows depict realistic teenage experiences, and we can enjoy them both, love them both. I also find it interesting that though I see myself more in heartstopper, I'm still only writing fics for the skamverse. I have no desire to read or write hearstopper fanfic. Who knows how or why something grips us and takes hold, but it does.

Thanks for your ask anon, and I PROMISE you you're not alone in identifying more with skam. We all have such varying experiences, and I am so excited to see more and more of that variety in shows and films. Have a lovely day/evening wherever you are! 💕💕