#where's jeanette? what happened to kate?? and mallory??? and mallory and kate????

[dylanconrique]

how are you gonna create a show and leave the first season off on such an intense cliffhanger, and then give us a s2 with a whole new cast and characters without resolving any of the millions of unanswered questions from s1????

[theriverdalereviewer]

watching cruel summer and the more I think about it the more I need this show to get a season 2 cause 7 episodes is not enough

[mccoys-killer-queen]

Cruel Summer finale R A N T

spoilers ahead, and these are just my opinions!!

no interaction between Kate and Ashley? cheap cop out.

okay so you’re the police. you get called to a house bc a kidnapping victim called for help. you find her kidnapper dead in the basement from a gunshot wound. the victim’s fingerprints are on the weapon. What do you report happened? A shootout with you, the police, of course. HOW THE FUCK WAS IT A POLICE SHOOTOUT IF THE POLICE KNOW THEY DIDN’T HAVE A SHOOTOUT WHAT EWSPGOMPOTGMTG HOW DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE?? HOW DID KATE LITERALLY GET AWAY WITH MURDER?? No one fucking batted an eye at the possibly she might have killed him??? HOW?? It LITERALLY couldn’t have been set up more obviously for the police to find out the second they walked into the house. Cheap cop out.

the subplot between Vince and whatshisname is cute but also uh- really pointless and a waste of time imo. Cheap.

AND FURTHERMORE- THE ROLLER RINK SCENE WAS SO HOMOEROTIC YET THEY CHOSE A SPONTANEOUS SPLIT SECOND MOMENT AT THE END FOR THE LESBIANS TO FINALLY APPEAR?? CHEAP.

those last ten minutes where they managed to A- solve the Mallory thing B- restore Jeanette’s name C- turn Jeanette into actual Satan for REAL THIS TIME- ALL WITHIN TEN MINUTES? Cheap cop out.

someone on here pointed out how the Mallory twist was so cheap and honestly yeah?

I can’t express how much I fucking hated that final final scene. It seemed so out of character for Jeanette to LEAVE KATE IN THE BASEMENT?? The story wrapped up nicely for the most part, it was SO UNNECESSARY for them to throw that bit in there just to milk out another season somehow. If it weren’t for that scene, there would literally be no reason for season 2. Cheap move to drag it out. “oH bUT jeANetTE acTuaLLy diD sEE kAte oH nOOoO”

why and HOW did Jamie and Janette get back together that’s fucking horrible?? He PUNCHED HER IN THE FACE FOR NO REASON? cheap cop out.

seriously tho why did Jamie even punch Jeanette anyway? I feel like that was super unclear, because they found out Kate was alive, Jeanette sees Jamie, her punches her out of the fucking blue?? Was there something I missed?

I get they tried their damnedest not to have closure in some areas but oh my g o d they could have so easily wrapped up this entire storyline in this season if they weren’t so fucking CHEAP and dragging everything out !! I swear to god there were at least 2-3 episodes that didn’t need to happen

They should’ve hinted that Kate x Mallory (Kallory) may have possibly been a thing but nope. Cheap spontaneous addition as always.

How did they explain Jeanette suddenly dropping the lawsuit?

How did they explain how Kate found out she was wrong?

Does everyone in the country hate Kate now?

How tf are they gonna milk another season out of this like ffs it’s just gonna be the biggest eyeroll ever

I’m getting too tired to rant anymore. I might update this later but it’s midnight and I’ve had enough

[forks-in-a-drawer]

Honestly Jeanette is digging her own grave now. Threatening someone who lets be real the courts more then likely wouldnt really question, lying about constantly being at Harris's house, lying to her parents about the key, lying about the yearbook. Jeanette honey i wanna root for you but god damn do you make it harder and harder. Also just poor Cindy. I wouldn't be surprised if Greg used her "lying and blaming Jeanette" as an excuse to cheat and divorce her. I really hope its Cindy who divorces him though. Also just god i feel bad for Cindy. She like any mother wants to believe her daughter. But seeing the key to Harris's house probably made her question Jeanette. Which makes me wonder if thats why Jeanette isnt talking to her.

I initially didn’t like Cindy because of her speech to Jeanette about how she’ll become prettier and more popular in time and the whole “Kate’s mom was jealous of me in high school but now I’m jealous of her” thing. Now though? Now I’m starting to like her and I think it has everything to do with the fact that she is one of the few characters who has admitted they were wrong. The same thing happened with Mallory. Mallory may still be hiding something, but it was refreshing to see her grow on her own instead of denying and deluding herself. It’s a stark contrast to Vince who is a good guy, yet continues to lie and cover for Jeanette. 

So far, with everything that has been shown, Freeform hasn’t given us enough reasons to root for Jeanette. It seems as if they are actively trying to get us to hate Jeanette more and more. They are def biased towards Kate which kind of defeats the original premise of the show and all its marketing. 

Jeanette is 100% digging her own grave and it makes me wonder what the viewers will be rewarded with. Obviously, we want to find out the truth, but right now, it looks as if we already know the simple truth. All that’s left is how exactly it all went down. 

The twist that Jeanette sued Kate was interesting at first, but the more I think about it, the more it doesn't make sense. I want to know if they ever investigated Kate's claim about Jeanette. I want to know how they found out where Kate was. I know Harris was killed during the rescue, but I wish we could have seen him be held accountable for what he did. Plus, if he were alive, we would have gotten more answers as to why and how he managed to pull it off. And honestly, I'm far more interested in the investigation of Kate's disappearance and how they handled her claim about Jeanette more than I am about Jeanette suing Kate for slander.

[seancamerons]

so last nights episode shed some light on somethings and here's some of my thoughts on last nights cruel summer.

mallory could be just as obsessed with kate as jeannette was but for different reasons.

where jeanette seems idolize or want to emulate elements from kate's life, despite knowing nothing about her life - mallory clearly has some issues with kate from the beginning when she said, "i used to really dislike you" the first time her and kate talked after therapy why tho? because she's either jealous that from the outside she's got it all even a pony at her birthday or she dislikes and its everything that mallory hates because she doesn't have that.

plus once kate became 'different' or 'dark' or renting horror films and stuff is when mallory took an interest in her. it seems like corrupting kate and further driving the wedge between her mom and herself jeanette seems to like that, just something to note.

sidenote - i don't really like how kate's mom treats kate at all tbh

i'm curious as to why mallory used to dislike kate. idk perhaps they used to be friends (attended a birthday party with the pony) and then something happened either middle school or a fallout the complexities of popularity or whatever it was and then when kate went thru everything she went thru mallory felt sort of like 'this girl needs a friend' and since she was abandoned.

mallory and kate's friendship however does have me thinking at times it could be a genuine thing but mallory seems to take a lot of swings at kate's mom who i really don't think is a nice person but sometimes moms know when someone isn't completely 100% genuine, i mean look at cindy and jeanette's situation. cindy knew jeanette isn't completely honest with things.

but when kate has a hard time with mom somehow always mallory is there for her. mallory might not be the easiest person to get along with she's a bit dominant and bossy and out there but sometimes people have the wrong idea about people before they become friends. sometimes the best friends come from people's first impressions being negative to being a friend down the line.

could her dislike for kate be as simple as having been rich daughter of a football player when mallory it's been mentioned has a strained relationship with mom and dad isnt in the picture. seeing kate fight her parents vicariously could bring her comfort because she's driving that wedge to where they're more alike as friends.

last nights ep it also shed some light on kate's stepfather who we don't know all that much about. he feels kate's mom takes complete control of situations and he mentioned that they wouldn't work if kate's mom keeps leaving him out in a way, bc when he married her he also considers kate part of his family and kate's mom joy likes to say he's not her father or discounts because he's not biologically her dad he has no say. he seems to be the only person on kate's side where her mom is using weird tactics such as being the one who printed liar letter but he also thinks it could be good for her to see marcia bailey's show.

i think a part of the reason kate was hesitant to go on is because there's a lot of holes in her story if she went to his place willingly she wasn't abducted but she was taken as a prisoner because eventually she wanted to leave but martin had a lot of power in the situation because he was grooming her to trust him. so then she revealed that kate was seen by jeannette and she named her on national tv causing the case against her. i don't want to say kate brought it upon herself but kate has been victimized by martin but maybe she's trying to deflect that she initally came to martin for help or safety from her mom but he manipulated the situation for his benefit.

this show seems explores the different degrees of obsession from martin's type of obsession the most dangerous of all, then mallory's hateful or vengeance obsession perhaps or attachment to kate, and lastly jeanette's admiration and emulating her and hopes to maybe even befriend kate only to be thrown under the bus and becoming a social pariah.

in kate's absence jeanette changed and while we don't know what happened between her vincent and mallory before this happened unless she ghosted them for the two bobspy twins and kate's boyfriend, but kate also changed too in the aftermath once she returned and even in capitivity.

in 1993, kate was a genuine person. she saw the good in people and now it seesm like kate has established herself most victimized of all but it's not her under the microscope it's jeanette. it's kind of tragic. jeanette is so hated she can't leave her house, did the punishment fit the crime? i don't think jeanette deserves the hatred she's recieving. the harassments the death threats none of that. kate told marcia bailey (and the world) something to deflect that there is a huge discrepancy in her story and it likely has to do with kate not being kidnapped but going to the house willingly. </sorry this is so long

[butt-puncher]

Even after kate sincerely apologized to jeanette whe she realized she didn't see her, I cant help but think abt what couldve happened if Mallory wasn't there that night. Jeanette still wouldn't have seen her and Kate wouldve still accused jeanette of seeing her because jeanette still stole her life and her boyfriend. Like the main reason Kate decided to go on TV and call her out by name is because she caught Jeannette and Jamie kissing. If Mallory wasn't there that night, the scene where Kate and jeanette confront each other at Martin's house there wouldn't have been any resolution to their argument and either way Kate still unjustifiably ruined jeanettes life

And yea I say her choice was unjustified at the time (ignoring the twist ending) bc even though jeanette is a liar who slipped into the role Kate left behind and stole shit from Martin's house for kicks, its not like she personally ever did anything to hurt Kate and she even if she did see Kate in the living room, Kate was living freely in his house, not locked in the basement. This is important to note because Kate also completely lied about being seen in the basement

If Kate actually knew that jeanette heard her calling for help from the basement, then it wouldve been totally justified for her to call jeanette out on tv

[apaethy]

Have you finished Cruel Summer? Interested on your thoughts on it as a whole.

omg you really do?? thank you so much 🥺 weLL quick answer: i wish i got the time i wasted on that show back, because that last final scene literally made me roll my eyes back so far into my head, im pretty sure theyre still stuck there.

here are my thoughts in a longer format:

i wrote my original post on the show while watching ep 7 (before that absolutely disgusting 45 minutes of grooming 101 i had to endure in ep 9 jfc) so the point of it doesnt really stand anymore. i get why kate wouldnt wanna hurt him at first etc but that window is still literally not bulletproof. and the "bars" are still just some flimsy wire. she couldve just broken the window with a plate or her shoes or smth bc what the fuck is he gonna do. HIRE A REPAIRMAN? i dont think so. anyway, i did rejoice when kate finally [redacted] that fucker. but not before the show tried to give him a REDEEMING scene in deciding to unalive himself 👊😊🔪

next thing i take offence to is the whole reveal with jeanette and mallory. wasnt it convinient that she and jaenette where on the same street at the same time on a bike, BOTH wearing hoodies and just putting them on?? also kate thinking anyone saw her WHEN SHE PUT THE LIGHTS OUT idk if she ever looked into a dark house, but you cant sEEE anyTHING???? and then across a YARD? literally dumbest thing they tried to put the main plot point around.

and THEN the final plot twist being that jaenette DID know kate was in the basement...... literally fuck off. how evil do you have to be to hear a girl screaming for help telling you she has been kidnapped only for you to ignore it and just SLEEP WELL AFTER THAT. for me personally this isnt a problem with the character, but a fundamental problem this channel has. freeform made PLL and we aaaall know how those "intricate" storylines went. they just put them in to show the viewers and make them go "ohhh my goood" and hope that viewers dont think about anything that happened even just an episode ago. because that couldve been an OK mini series. but now its a boring ass first season with a cheap "cliffhanger" for season 2. because OF COURSE it got already renewed for s2 🤪

honorable mention goes out to vince, that while the ONLY likable character, DID get mad at his "bf" for not wanting to out himself? in front of the whole school?? in TEXAS??? in the NINETEES?????? this show is bonkers man

[rahnesinclair]

filling the silence

Kate Wallis enters the Monkey Maze to get away from Jeanette, but the disorientation and confusion of the maze triggers an anxiety attack. Luckily, a friend finds her.

Rating: T

Crossposted on AO3

Jeanette had not found her.

Jeanette had not found her because Kate had wound up curled in a corner of the maze, hands over her ears and eyes screwed shut, telling herself again and again that Martin Harris was dead. Dead and gone, not in the maze, not staring at her with accusation in his eyes.

Mallory had found her.

“Shit, Kate?”

Kate didn’t immediately respond. Her eyes were playing tricks on her and she wondered if maybe her ears had begun to do the same. Then a hand touched her shoulder and she flinched away, eliciting more swearing and added apologizing before Kate cracked open an eye to see Mallory’s concerned face swimming in her vision. “I’m so SO sorry, Kate. I thought you were right behind me, I heard Jeanette and thought I should speed up but when I turned around you weren’t there. I didn’t mean to leave you, you gotta believe me!”

Kate didn’t tend to believe anyone anymore so it surprised her that she did believe Mallory. The look of earnest guilt on Mallory’s face was hard to doubt. Mallory kept babbling apologies and Kate uncurled somewhat, eying Mallory with wary curiosity. They’d only talked once but it had been practically the nicest conversation she’d had since escaping Martin.

Kate slowly held out a hand.

Clearly startled, Mallory took it.

Mallory pulled Kate to her feet and together they made their way out of the Monkey Maze. There was no sign of Jeanette as they exited and Kate let Mallory lead her to a quiet bench partially obscured by the side of the Maze.

Kate sat down and ran shaky hands through her hair.

“I know I have a tendency to talk too much but you haven’t said anything yet and I’m starting to freak out a little,” Mallory said as she sat down next to Kate, her gaze skittering from Kate’s pale face to the wider fair as her body blocked Kate mostly from sight. “Oh crap, I broke you. I broke Kate Wallis, of course I did, that is such a “me” thing to do, what a-”

“I’m not broken,” Kate said, a little more snap in her voice than she’d intended. 

Mallory actually jumped at Kate’s voice. “Thank God!” Mallory squawked, then abruptly clamped her hands over her mouth.

Kate let out a sharp laugh, her amusement at Mallory’s foot-in-mouth disease momentarily drowning out the panic still constricting her throat.

Mallory, eyes huge with confusion and relief, slowly lowered her hands. “... I really am sorry. What happened? Did Jeanette catch up with you?”

“You really don’t stop talking, huh?” Kate remarked. She realized how mean that was as soon as the words left her mouth and Mallory’s face briefly crumpled. Something about the reaction told Kate she had hit a nerve and she remembered what Mallory had mentioned in Sylvia’s waiting room. “Run-of-the-mill verbal abuse heavy.” “I didn’t mean that in a bad way,” Kate quickly amended, and off the incredulous look Mallory gave her she doubled down. “Really. I’m not always good at filling the silence these days. And there’s a lot of silence. People don’t know what to say to me. Having someone do the heavy lifting is nice.”

“Well I can tell you with one hundred percent honesty I’ve never heard that before,” Mallory said. “Mostly people tell me to shut the hell up. If you really need someone to jabber I’m your girl.”

“Thanks,” Kate said, smiling. “And thank you for trying to help me get away from Jeanette. Don’t feel bad that we got separated, it was a maze. It’s a miracle you found me again.”

“I couldn’t just leave you when it was my idea,” Mallory protested. “It was a stupid idea.”

“No it wasn’t,” Kate said, shaking her head. “Jeanette wasn’t able to find me, it worked.”

“Oh. Then… um, sorry, but why were you-...” Mallory trailed off, gesturing with her hands trying to encourage Kate to fill in the blank. Clearly she felt awkward saying “curled in the fetal position in a fair maze”, which Kate didn’t blame her for.

“... Thought I saw someone. Got freaked out,” Kate answered vaguely as she avoided Mallory’s questioning stare. 

“Okay,” Mallory replied. It hadn’t been much of an answer and Mallory clearly wanted to question her more but was holding her tongue. Kate missed the babble.

“Thanks for getting me out before anyone else could find me that way. I would have been pretty embarrassed.”

“No problem. Do you want me to help you find who you were here with? Get you back to them?”

“No I- I’m not with anyone.”

Mallory’s eyebrows shot to the sky. “You aren’t? You’re Kate Wallis.”

“I don’t think that means what you think it means.” Kate smiled ruefully. 

“... guess not.”

Kate wondered about Jamie and where he had wandered off too. Perhaps he’d cut his losses and looked for Ben, gone for rides and fuel. Corn dogs! Or maybe Jeanette had made her way out of the Maze to find him and they were kissing now, reveling in the lies Jamie had told and laughing at Kate’s doubt of her own sanity. She wondered about her mom and dad, chaperoning a fair they would have had to sign up to volunteer for months in advance. Did they sign up while she was locked in a basement? Volunteering for a fair that raised money for a school she no longer attended? She wondered about Renee and Tenille, their cackles mixing with the audio of the Monkey Maze, wondered still if they had somehow found her first and left her, stifling giggles as they watched her melt down.

Unfair thoughts. But Kate had come to expect the worst in people and few had proved her wrong since her return.

Except strange, motormouth Mallory, who had come looking for her.

“Um, so, like, I don’t want to leave you alone after that. That would be so uncool of me to do, and anyway I’m pretty done with this lame fair. Maybe… you could come over to mine and we could eat some pizza rolls and try to chill after this shitshow?” Every thought had ended with an upturned note, a question through Mallory’s entire spiel. She looked ready to be shot down and rejected. Still she’d asked, offering Kate somewhere safe to land after her scare. Somewhere to hide from the peering eyes of Skylin as they followed Kate wherever she went.

“Pizza rolls sound good,” Kate replied.

Mallory’s face practically blew a fuse as it lit up so bright, her amazement at the accepted invitation fading fast as she shot to her feet and began to speak. “Awesome! I have two flavors, sausage and pepperoni and ham and cheese, duh you don’t want that one, and we can watch my copy of Dazed and Confused if you’re interested, it might not be your thing-”

Kate hid a smile as she followed Mallory out of the fair, Mallory’s voice a cloud of comfort in a sea of shrieks and calliope music as they left the small word of Skylin behind them.

[backtothestart02]

Same Game, Greener Pastures - 1/? | Cruel Summer fanfiction

A/N: Fic 1 of 2, here we go!

...

Synopsis:  College!AU - Kate and Jeanette never went to the same high school. Instead, they meet in college, and the stakes are just as high.

...

Chapter 1 -

Her face stayed pressed to the glass for the duration of the car ride. She could’ve driven herself, really, but her parents were the sentimental type, and they wanted to drive her. Or, at the very least, her dad drove her. Her mom drove separately, so that she could have a car at school, and they could still return home. It was a little strange not having them both in the car, but they’d had their teary goodbye before leaving the house, so aside from helping her unpack once they got to her dorm room, she supposed they didn’t both need to be there.

“Whatcha thinking, doodlebug?”

Jeanette pulled herself away from the window and turned to look at her dad. She smiled innocently.

“Nothing. I’m just excited to get there.”

He smiled.

“Well, you know, you will have to pay attention to your studies too. Can’t be all partying all the time just because Vince and Mallory will be going to the same school as you.”

“I know, Dad. I know.” She laughed. “Still, it’s a new chapter. I’m putting high school behind me. This is a chance for me to possibly be popular. No one here knows me except for Vince and Mal. Who knows what could happen?”

He was silent for a moment.

“You know, there is more to life than being popular, Jeanie. Real, true friends like Vince and Mallory, they don’t come around every day. And you didn’t find them by being popular.”

“Of course.” She sobered up, then looked out the window again. She couldn’t help feeling that this conversation would’ve gone differently if it had been her mom she’d been talking to.

Before she could wonder anything further though, they turned the corner on the road and there before them lay the large university building she’d been dreaming of re-entering ever since she came here for a tour the year before.

“We’re here,” she said, excitedly sitting up in her seat.

Beside her, her dad smiled and nodded.

“Yes, we are.” He paused then looked at her. “Should we go to your dorm first? Do you know if Mallory is here yet?”

“She said she’d be here early. I’m sure she’s here.” She squealed in anticipation. “Ah, I’m so excited. This is going to be great!”

He chuckled and entered the school parking lot, weaving around the winding roads until they reached the parking lot for her dorm room. As soon as they were parked, Jeanette bolted from the car and ran into the building. Her dad was slower to join her.

There was a long table set up in the lobby of the dorm room where several volunteers sat to help students check in and get the keys to their dorm room. Jeanette got in line immediately. She didn’t have to wait long to get to the front.

“Jeanette Turner,” she told the woman once it was her turn.

The woman was older and seemed to be almost annoyed by having to be there that day. Jeanette wasn’t thwarted though. She was too excited.

In a matter of minutes she had received her key and some paperwork indicating where and when she needed to be for orientation and how to go about getting her student ID.

She spun around and almost ran right into her dad. She saw just past him that her mom was coming through the door. She ran past her dad to her mom and excitedly explained what she’d just received. Then she turned around and headed for the stairs.

“What, is there not an elevator in this place?” her dad joked lightly.

Jeanette’s mom swatted at him playfully, then they both followed their daughter.

“Elevators take too long. And besides, I’m on the third floor.”

“Of course you are,” her dad said, imagining already how carrying all her stuff up the stairs would be more draining and time-consuming than he’d hoped it would be.

Another swat from his wife though, and he shut his mouth on the subject.

Jeanette was to the third floor before her parents, and all the way down the hall when with shaky, excited fingers, she turned the key in the lock and opened the door.

“Mallory!”

Mallory sprung to her feet from the bottom bunk bed where she’d started to unpack, and with a huge grin on her face, hugged her best friend.

“Hey!”

“Have you seen Vince?” Jeanette asked, eager to be with both of her best friends at the same time.

She shook her head. “Not yet. But I told him where we were gonna be. I don’t know if they’ll let him in because he’s a guy, but…”

“Why wouldn’t they?” She laughed. “It’s moving day. Everyone’s allowed in on moving day.”

She glanced around the room, taking in her surroundings. Aside from the bunkbed, there were two desks on the other side of the room and a small mini fridge in the corner. On top of the fridge was a microwave. Then there was one small dresser and a closet.

“This place is awesome,” Jeanette said.

“Kinda small,” Mallory drawled. “But yeah, it’ll work.”

Jeanette rolled her eyes.

“It’s perfect. We have everything we need.”

“No TV, but they have a lounge with a TV on the first floor. We’ll probably be there more than we’ll be here anyway.”

Jeanette nodded, agreeing.

A knock at the door startled them both. Jeanette reached for the knob, certain who would be there and too slow to change the words that were tumbling out of her mouth before they did.

“Vince!”

Her dad blinked slowly, and her mom fought a smile.

“No, it’s just us. Your parents.” He craned his neck to look beyond his daughter. “Hello, Mallory.”

“Hello, Mr. Turner. Jeanette’s mom.”

Jeanette turned around to look at her strangely but stepped to the side to let her parents in.

“This is nice,” Jeanette’s mom commented. “And look, how cute is this fridge?”

“It’s called a mini fridge, honey,” Jeanette’s dad said, which got him an eye roll from his wife and a little bit of a glare from his daughter. Mallory tried not to laugh.

“Well, do you think we could start bringing in your stuff?” he asked his daughter after he’d thoroughly inspected the place and his wife had stopped cooing over everything.

“Yeah, totally,” Jeanette piped up, then turned to Mallory. “We’ll be ri-”

“You want to come help, Mallory?” he asked the blonde, cutting off Jeanette, who sent him a wide-eyed stare that he ignored.

“Of course, Jeanette’s dad.” Mallory strutted out into the hall. “There’s nothing more I’d enjoy doing.”

He got some jabs from his wife and daughter, but he knew they’d get the moving in done in half the time if they had a little help. Plus, Mallory had known Jeanette since middle school. Surely she could afford to do her part in instances like this.

“Great,” he said, and followed the ladies to the staircase leading downstairs.

…

A car door opened on the opposite side of the parking lot, and out stepped Kate Wallis. On the driver’s side exited Jamie Henson, her boyfriend of four years, who had insisted on driving her to their new school instead of her parents.

Kate was stunning. She was beautiful, blonde, well-off, and had Jamie wrapped around her finger. It hadn’t been her idea to drive with him, but she hadn’t been put-off by it either. She loved Jamie, and he adored her too. It had been a miracle that they had gotten both of their luggage into his car, but somehow, they’d managed.

Jamie looked over the car at his girlfriend and smiled, waiting for her to meet his gaze.

“You ready for this?”

“Are you?”

He shook his head.

“Nah, not really.” He laughed. “But with you, yeah, I am.”

She smiled. He was so over the top sometimes, but she loved that about him.

He shut his door, rounded the car, and pulled her into his arms.

“Let’s do this,” he said, then lowered his lips to hers in a sweet kiss.

Kate turned with him and they walked into the building, joined at the hip, passing on their way a quartet of people. A pair of parents it looked like and two younger girls possibly her and Jamie’s age. She didn’t pay them much attention though. There were so many people here today moving in. They were just some of many.

“Long line,” Jamie commented, stopping just as they entered the building, because that was how long the line had become.

“You should go to your dorm and get checked in,” Kate suggested. “This could take a while.”

“No, I don’t want to leave you,” he said instantly, holding her tighter.

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. As soon as I get my key and whatever else, I’ll come find you. You’re just one building over, right?”

His brows furrowed, but he couldn’t help being honest.

“Yeah, I think so.”

She smiled.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked.

“Positive.” She laughed and kissed him again. “Now, go.”

Reluctantly, he untangled from her and made his way out the door just as the line was starting to move forward. He was so distracted by watching his girlfriend, he didn’t even realize he was bumping into another girl trying to come through the door.

“Ah!”

He spun around.

“Oh, my God, I’m so sorry.”

“No, no, it’s okay, that was all me.”

She was all curls and fumbling with her glasses, but she had a brilliant smile as she fought to make eye contact and failed most of it. It made him smile.

Shaking himself free of the brief reverie she had him under, he pushed the door open further so she could walk through. Another girl who gave him a snooty look followed her, and two adults who looked like parents to one of the girls, probably the first one if he had to guess.

He smiled politely until they’d all gone through and then dashed out to head to his own dorm building to get what was needed so he could rejoin his girlfriend again and help her unpack.

[euphcriias]

Was that [OLIVIA HOLT]? Oh no no, that was just [KATE WALLIS], a/an [CANON CHARACTER] from [CRUEL SUMMER]. They are [TWENTY ONE] years old and [ARE] aware that they are not actually from Washington DC. Too bad they can’t stray from this city for long. {kat, 22, est, she/they}

canon life:

kate wallis had it all, or that’s what most thought. to others, she seemed like the girl with a perfect life. wealthy family, two best friends, a devoted boyfriend, popularity. in reality, it was the complete opposite of that. her mother spent her whole life raising the perfect daughter. obedient, always willing to do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. she was the golden girl everyone wanted to be and for one girl, it was all she wanted to be. jeanette turner, the girl who took over her whole life while she was missing.

that was until martin harris ruined her life. he spent every interaction they had making her feel like she was safe with him, that he was her only option when she felt like the world was against her. she felt weak, powerless, & alone without him. the night she fought with her mom, he took her in and took advantage of her & her kindness. they formed a relationship and spent the days hiding from the world. she knew what it would be like for him if people found out. he convinced her that if she left, it would ruin his entire life and they would never be able to be together. all she wanted to do was to fix the mess she caused, to come up with a solution... but the moment people stopped looking for her, he refused to find one. she grew homesick after 80+ days of being locked inside away from the world. this wonderland martin had created for them kept looking more and more like a nightmare with each passing day. she tried to talk to him, to have a conversation, but every attempt she made seemed ignored. christmas eve, she snuck out and went home to see her parents in the window. she saw them in a moment of happiness and was convinced they had moved on from her. when she returned back to martin’s house, he found out that she had snuck out and grew extremely angry. this is when kate had enough and she wanted to leave, that was when he had locked her in the basement.

kate ended up killing martin when he brought a gun down to the basement. he wouldn’t let her leave, even while she had a gun pointed to him. during his final moments, he was rambling about the life they could have together. after everything happened, she was frozen in the basement for the rest of the day until she could finally call the police.

this whole case ended in a trial after kate was spotted at martin harris’ house. she saw someone apparently lock eyes with her outside of his window, this person she thought to be jeanette turner after messing up her bike with jeanette’s ex best friend mallory’s. this whole situation ended up in a lawsuit where jeanette wanted to sue kate after calling her out publicly on national television. after the lawsuit trial with jeanette & kate, kate went on to finish high school. she never got to tell the world that someone else had seen her in martin’s house (mallory,) and that person didn’t see her face. of course, she faced a lot of backlash from those who spoke in defense for her, but it wasn’t long until people moved on from it all.

personality:

most people think she’s mean based off of the upbringing she had and the popularity she maintained throughout high school, but she’s the complete opposite. kate will do anything for those that she loves, even if it means she’ll get hurt in the process.

kindhearted

selfless

putting others first, always

sensitive

how long has your character been here:

kate is currently new in town

what is your character's job

mystic grill waitress

where has your character been pulled from in their fandom: 

after high school, during her college years. (after the show takes place)

has any magic affected your character:

no

and any other information you might find useful for us and the other members to know!!

kate doesn’t remember most of what happened to her for a long time. she keeps having reoccurring nightmares about a man keeping her trapped in a basement but she doesn’t know who he is because she can’t see his face. the nightmares feel all too familiar. 

headcanons based with this muse

in 1995 kate began to become more independent and rebellious. i would love to write her transition from her being a people pleaser & selfless to that confident / independent version of herself 

[aion-rsa]

How Cruel Summer Recontextualizes Our Understanding of Teenage Trauma

https://ift.tt/2Vnau39

This article contains spoilers for Cruel Summer.

The Freeform drama Cruel Summer is undoubtedly one of the best TV series of 2021, an addictive teen thriller with a story spread across three distinct timelines and an ending that manages to feel both completely inevitable and deeply shocking. (Plus, there’s the amazing 1990s soundtrack – truly a gift!)

Set in the aftermath of a kidnapping in a small Texas town, Cruel Summer follows the story of Kate Wallis (Olivia Holt), the high school queen bee held captive in her vice principal’s home, and Jeannette Turner (Chiara Aurelia), the former dorky nerd who remakes herself in her frenemy’s image in the wake of her disappearance (and is accused of failing to report her abduction). The show uses its split timeline format and a series of unreliable narrators to explore what really happened to Kate and what, if anything, Jeannette knew about her disappearance.

Although the series is full of the sort of jaw-dropping narrative twists that make for endlessly compulsive binge viewing, at its heart Cruel Summer is a story that subverts our expectations about what teen television can do. From the deft way that the series plays with our preconceived assumptions about who these girls are – and should be – to the way it uses its mystery framework to tell a complex story about trauma, grooming, and sexual assault, this is a show that consistently surprises in all the best ways.

And nowhere is that complexity more evident than when it comes to the character of Kate Wallis. On a less nuanced show, Kate would likely have been little more than a mean girl stereotype. She almost certainly would have been positioned as the villain of the series and viewers would have been urged to sympathize with the much more familiar teen drama protagonist Jeanette – an awkward girl with a secret dream of becoming popular. But that’s not what happens here at all.

Because while the surprising cliffhangers and time-jump-related twists of its central mystery may have driven internet buzz about the show – and a not insignificant number of truly bizarre fan theories – the question of whether Jeanette knew about Kate’s imprisonment was never the most important story that Cruel Summer was telling. 

Instead, the show fearlessly digs into a much more complex topic: The often traumatic experience of teen girlhood, exploring issues that go well beyond the horrifying kidnapping at the show’s center. Through Kate and Jeanette, Cruel Summer deftly deconstructs how the unrealistic expectations placed on young girls damage their lives in unexpected and often unforeseen ways, encouraging them to chase elusive ideals of perfection, compete with one another for things like boys and popularity, and pretend to be people they aren’t.

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TV

How Cruel Summer’s Ending Changes Everything For Season 2

By Lacy Baugher

On the surface, Kate Wallis is the teen idol of Skylin, Texas. Beautiful, rich, and popular, she’s dating a handsome football player and looking forward to a bright future. But beneath her seemingly charmed life, Kate is devastatingly lonely, trapped in a family and a social position that values her appearance more than her interiority. Everyone around her treats her like an object, happily projecting their preconceived notions of who she should be – a perfect daughter, an ideal student, a popular friend – onto her, without ever asking her what she really wants.

It makes perfect sense that Kate would be an easy target for a man like Martin Harris (Blake Lee), someone who makes sure that she feels seen on her own terms. While his motives are clearly nefarious – not to mention classic grooming techniques – Harris is also one of the few people that actually listen to Kate, encouraging her to share her feelings and fears in a way that no one else in her life really bothers to do.

Unlike some other popular teen dramas, Cruel Summer never glamorizes the relationship between Kate and Martin, working overtime to remind viewers that their connection is one born of abuse and manipulation. Their romance isn’t depicted as a dreamy fairytale or a rebellious act against a judgmental society, it’s a metaphorical prison that eventually turns into a literal cage. And in a world where shows like the mega-popular Pretty Little Liars not only depicts Aria dating one of her teachers for several years but marrying him at the series’ conclusion, well, suddenly Cruel Summer feels pretty revolutionary.

The series is part of a growing swath of mainstream television programs that seek to wrestle with and push back against these sorts of damaging assumptions. From the miniseries A Teacher to the reboot of Gossip Girl, the medium is purposefully deconstructing the formerly romanticized ideal of the teacher-student relationship and the complex power dynamics between young women and the people charged with educating or protecting them. 

One of the biggest shows of the upcoming Fall television season is Impeachment: American Crime Story, a series that puts these dynamics front and center in its reevaluation of the Monica Lewinsky scandal of the early 1990s. The real-life events saw the world’s most powerful man take advantage of a young woman in his employ and then allow her to essentially be blamed for his (disgusting) actions. Its past time for us, as a society, to not only reckon with this specific case – and our collective lionization of Bill Clinton in spite of it – but with our need to put exploited young women into one of two boxes: A virginal damsel whose purity means she’s not responsible for anything that happens to her or a messy (read: normal) girl whose choices make her at least somewhat culpable for the things that did. 

But one of Cruel Summer’s most crucial aspects is that Kate is not required to be perfect to earn the show or the audience’s sympathy. Our culture loves to blame young women for the bad things that happen to them, so the revelation that Kate first entered Martin’s house willingly is the sort of shock twist that all too often precipitates a problematic backlash. It’s her fault she went there in the first place. She deserved what happened to her. Here’s the thing she should have done differently. Why should we believe her now if she lied before? These are all the things that survivors often hear in the aftermath of their traumas.

Cruel Summer determinedly subverts typical TV storylines about sexual assault, never once entertaining the idea that Kate is anything other than a victim. Olivia Holt’s performance is a revelation, heartbreaking and furious by turns, as Kate wrestles with multiple forms of guilt and struggles to figure out who she is in the aftermath of what happened to her. And the show itself displays such consistent empathy toward her character, from the inclusion of the therapy sessions that feature her doctor explicitly explaining the concept and signs of grooming to the desperate chat logs that show her seeking any sort of community that might understand her messy emotions.

By the end of Cruel Summer’s first season, it seems as though Kate has reached at least a baseline level of peace, thanks to a boatload of therapy and allowing herself to remember what really happened during her last night at the Harris house. (She shot and killed Martin.) Though she’s still unaware of the fact that her initial suspicion of Jeannette was actually correct – if not precisely in the way she first assumed – it seems as though she’s finally ready to move on with her life. (Particularly if her kiss with Mallory is anything to go by.) But with the series renewed for a second season – where does Kate’s journey go from here?

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Though there’s certainly a valid argument to be made that Cruel Summer should return as an anthology series and tell an entirely different story in its second season, there’s an equally compelling one that says truly showing us Kate’s journey back to herself is just as important. (There are also probably a fair number of fans who want to see Jeanette exposed, as well.) This show has been so thoughtful about the way it has depicted the effects of trauma and the lingering impact it can have on those whose lives it touches, surely Cruel Summer season 2 would handle the next stage of Kate’s story with the same nuance. And that certainly feels like a story worth telling – if only because it’s precisely the kind of teen story we rarely get to see.

The post How Cruel Summer Recontextualizes Our Understanding of Teenage Trauma appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3yXoluO

[ladyscorpiglo]

SPOILERS AHEAD

So after watching and catching up on Cruel Summer. Here’s where I am.

- I’m Team Jeanette and Team Kate.

- What happened to Kate is awful, and unimaginable but I think she lied about Jeanette seeing her.

- At the end of episode 2 when Kate sees Jeanette kiss Jamie and gets mad, I believe that is how the lie started and we see her tell the police.

- I also think Mallory is somehow involved in this and might’ve helped Katie set Jeanette up. She gives me weird vibes.

- I do think Jeanette is weird for literally copying Kate’s life and might even be sociopathic but I don’t think she saw her and didn’t do anything.

- Jeanette’s mom is weird and a little suspicious.

[canaryatlaw]

okay, well today was decent. didn't really want to get out of bed, but did it anyway. but of an awkward morning introduction, as I had asked my boss to cover a case for me because I had one in another courtroom, but I then realized my other case wasn't until 10, so I sent her another email saying it was covered, but she apparently didn't see it so she popped into the breakout room all confused and I had to explain what happened, which was awkward but oh well, but then I got an email from her reminding me to dress somewhat professional for court because it was the one day I hadn't covered my pajama shirt with something (and I didn't think it was that obviously pajamas) but I just lied and said I was in the middle of getting a better shirt on, lol. I don't generally do court in just my pajamas, so I don't feel too bad about it. that case was done soon enough, but my 10 am ended up taking forever since we're booted to the back of the 9 am queue, so it was past noon by the time we actually got into the courtroom, which is really fucking annoying. we were able to wrap that case up with everyone coming to an agreement they were reasonably satisfied with, and it was a case that was taking up a good chunk of my time, so being able to wrap it up was a relief. the client is an older guy (it's a family situation, which honestly just feel like the saddest cases to me) and he keeps telling me I'm the only one he's been able to talk to through all of this and how thankful he is and it was definitely giving me feelings haha but I really am just glad we were able to work things out, and I hope things keep going well for them. the rest of the day was pretty meh, not much work to do so I just kind of jumped around doing random tasks. we were supposed to have a 2 pm staff meeting that ended up getting canceled because my boss was having some sort of emergency with one of her dogs, it was a somewhat chaotic email. it was supposed to be for the staff in our office, which we do monthly, but next week we have an all-staff meeting with both offices which we have quarterly, and we have one of those next week, so any news will probably just wait until then. but yeah, just hung out for a bit until around 5 when I hopped on the bus to meet friend when she got out of work to go look at another apartment. we were talking about things, and I did say I had noticed on the website for this place that it did have most of the stuff we wanted, but didn't have anything about A/C listed, which was one of our requirements after both having to deal with no central air and apartments that get way too hot in the summer, and when we pulled up to the building there were a bunch of window units, so that answered that. the real estate lady that was doing the showing is nice enough, but she's kind of intense and pushy, so not giving off the best vibes. the apartment was fine, but we'd talked about things, specifically about a moving date, and decided we were going to go ahead and apply for the apartment we saw on Sunday that has an 8/1 move in date. We both have to be out of our places by 7/31, so it's going to take some juggling and storage units, but we're hoping we can make it work. once we saw the apartment we were going to hit up mcdonalds, but friend was hungry and we were passing a burger king, so we just stopped there, which was not the best choice lol. first we almost got hit by another car trying to back out of a space perpendicular to where we were in the drive thru line, so that was stressful, and I guess they just had like two people working, because we legit waited half an hour in the goddamn drive thru, and once we got everything the food was just like, not good, but I had gotten a little cup of their soft serve vanilla ice cream which is my favorite thing so I was happy with that at least. dropped me at home afterwards, and we both filled out the apartment application. the agent we've been working with was able to temporarily secure it for us, which I think means they're holding it for us while they process our applications, so hopefully that won't

take too long. I don't see any real reason why we wouldn't get approved, but you know, shit happens. I watched the finale for Cruel Summer, which (spoilers ahead) was just all around crazy, from the twist with Mallory and Kate fucking shooting Martin, and then the twist with Jeanette at the end was such an OH SHIT moment, so intense, I have to say I did find the series entertaining. after that I watched the new episode of Loki, then to the news and Jimmy Kimmel for a bit until I decided to shower and start getting ready for bed, and now I'm here. I don't have court or clinic in the morning, which I know means I'm going to have zero willpower to get out of bed in the morning when I'm actually supposed to because I know I can get away with sleeping longer, so we'll see what happens there I guess, but yeah I'm feeling sleepy so I'm gonna go to bed now. Goodnight friends. Hope you had an awesome Wednesday.