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Siobhán McSweeney as Sister Michael in Derry Girls (2018—2022)

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DERRY GIRLS (2018 - 2022) Season 2 | Episode 1

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if you’re having a bad day, here’s a cute little marching band

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i have no self control when it comes to lotion. im either bone dry or crawling across the floor leaving a slime trail like a slug

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By Rachel Schragis

All of these things are true. Denying the truth of any of them will not help anyone.

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A probably non-exhaustive overview of minor and major ships and dynamics in the Les mis fanon (some are canon rooted but it's been a while since I've read the brick and fanon has permeated my brain deeply so there might be inaccuracies here, also my biases will show deeply so I apologise for that in advance)

Okayyy: Main ships time - exR / Enjoltaire (Enjolras x Grantaire)

Everyone vaguely familiar with any version of this story probably has stumbled upon this one. They are dramatic foils, they are semi-canon (Grantaire is in love with Enjolras, Enjolras is in love with the Revolution, they die holding hands, they're compared to every tragic gay greek cousin-couple ever). In canon they're a wild ride and would probably make each other absolutely miserable, so some of their rougher edges usually get smoothed out in fic. Common motifs/themes: Enjolras as an untouchable marble statue (slowly warming), Reverent and Pining Grantaire (probably drawing E a lot), The Believer and the Sceptic (stories can draw either R to Faith or E to Resignation, but usually only the first lasts), Apollo and Dionysus, Order and Chaos, Happy Blond•es and Depressed Brunett•es (A Victor Hugo Classic), Enjolras Fasting and Grantaire Drunk etc etc. Shippers will cry over "permets-tu?" Until they are severely dehydrated.

Alternatives for these: very seldomly employed - Grantaire x Eponine (they're often besties and in these stories they tend to console each other about not getting Enjolras and Marius): Enjolras x Eponine (or so I'm told, I'm not entirely sure where this one comes from. Enjolras canonically isn't interested in women, but I could see an argument for those two appreciating each other politically); Enjolras X Patria (this is a common joke, as Patria is named as E's mistress in the brick. It just means Fatherland, so this is simply E x France); sometimes Combeferre gets involved in a throuple with those two because the fandom loves its non-monogamy (as it should)

Marius x Eponine

Semi-canon aswell, with Eponine singing of her unrequited (or rather unnoticed) love for Marius all through the show / her heartbreaking little confession during her death scene in the brick. Lots of fic I've stumbled upon will actually include Cosette and give those three a throuple arc - sometimes working through Eponine and Cosette's childhood together and sometimes disregarding it. Themes and Motifs include Eponine finally being valued and loved the way she should be and learning that for herself, as well as Marius opening his eyes.

Alternatives: obviously Marius and Cosette which I will not get into too much here, since their relationship is explicitly characterised in canon. In fanon, Cosette is usually given even more power in this relationship but other than that it usually follows canon beats; Marius and Courfeyrac: Probably based on them being besties in the brick, usually very fluffy, may or may not include Ep and Cosette in a chaotic polycule situation; Eponine and Combeferre: having decided that the whole Marius situation is honestly not working out, Eponine finds someone who is much less emotionally constipated. Good for her; Eponine and Cosette - that's right girls, ditch that loser (affectionate).

Valvert (Javert x Valjean)

Homoerotic old men ship, back to the literary foils. I'm assuming a lot of this is based on Javert basically making chasing Valjean around his life mission, the thick tension in the scene where Valjean spares his life and of course Javert's suicide. In fanon they tend to have a slightly confusing marriage situation with Cosette adopted between them, terrifying Marius to no end.

Alternatives: I'm not aware of any other ships for Javert, there are probably some where he marries a star or something. For Valjean there's Valjean and Fantine, as far as I'm aware, these stories likewise tend to focus on Cosette, with some having Valjean adopt her and Fantine (having had to give her up at some point) coming back into their life once Cosette is grown.

Popular Side Ships yeyy

(Courferre) (Combeferre x Courfeyrac)

Best friends in the Triad with Enjolras in the brick, the warm center and the calm intellectual guide (but the other way around from how I put them in the title). Combeferre in canon as in fanon is a lovely moth nerd, Courfeyrac in canon as in fanon is simply charisma incarnate. In fics they're usually either complete idiots in love (which brings a hilarious break to their characterisations of genius and emotional intelligence core respectively) or well-functioning and serving as a contrast to exR being a mess.

Courfeyrac x Jehan - I was contemplating just making a Jehan section but alas I began with this format and will keep it like this. Those two seem a very natural choice, since they both serve as emotional guidance and sources of easy affection and love to their friends. Usually some jokes about them both being way too pretty but Courfeyrac slightly despairing over Jehans clothing choices can be found in fic. Overall, soft and wholesome

Jehan x Bahorel I am told in the olden days of this fandom before other Jehan ships took over this was actually the most popular pairing for them. I can definitely see the fun contrast between soft pretty fae who could fuck you up and bear of a man with the meltiest kindest heart, so good job old fandom. In canon, Bahorel has a laughing mistress, she sometimes shows up in fic aswell.

Jehan x Montparnasse

I won't get into the tiny side ships of patron-minette, but this one should be mentioned. This seems like the old Writer dates Career Criminal trope that floated around Tumblr ages ago, plus I think they can respectively appreciate each others black candles, shinies and morbid humour. Probably listen to Hozier, Florence and the Machine and Emo rock on a very nice record player together.

Bahorel x Feuilly

Best friends who sometimes drink a little too much and fall into bed together core. 10/10 no notes.

Joly/Bossuet/Musichetta

I wasn't sure if I'd include them here since they too are fairly canon (I think in the brink Joly and Bossuet are both dating Musichetta and they also live together usually). Very fun fanon Interpretations though and always a joy those three. They share or take Eponines fanon spots of Grantaire Cheerleaders number one and quite frequently engage him in a platonic foursome for health and happiness. Just great friends.

i need someone to make a presentation and rant at me about every les mis ship cause there are too many and i understand maybe 3 of them

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Yeah, the paint could peel, the glass could shatter Let it rain 'cause you and I remain the same

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This is very important and is not often talked about. Please watch and share this as much as you can.

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Okay. I’m going to wait to do a second watch before I articulate most of my other feelings here, but I want to address one thing.

I’m seeing a lot of posts like, “I related to Izzy because I am also queer and older/disabled/depressed. By killing him off, the writers are saying that I deserve to die.”

Guys.

I’m not saying your feelings aren’t valid. I totally understand grieving a character that you relate to. But speaking as a writer, I just want to point out that trying to write with the shadow of “what is the absolute worst and most harmful way a reader can interpret this” will smother your ability to create. Twisting yourself in knots, trying to think up the worst-faith takes possible and scotch-guarding all your writing decisions against them is exhausting to the point of making you just not want to write anymore.

And we’ve seen the writers deliberately choose not to do this in Season 1. Remember all those terrible “Izzy is racist” takes that the writers and cast seemed completely blindsided by? That happened because the writers and directors and actors weren’t going over every scene with a fine tooth comb, ferreting out every shot or line of dialogue or micro expression that could possibly be interpreted as racist, and scrubbing it off. Because there comes a point where your story is what it needs to be, and you have to accept that some people will interpret it in ways you didn’t intend them to. And if you can’t accept that, you’ll never find the courage to put your work out there.

The point of diverse casts and writing teams isn’t to achieve a state of, “Nothing bad ever happens to a character from a marginalized demographic ever again.” It’s to achieve a status quo of these types of characters just being people in the world of the story. Not symbols, not representation boxes to tick, not tokens that you can point to so that you can say, “Here, we acknowledged this type of person exists, now where’s our woke points?”

OFMD is full of characters of color, queer characters, older characters, characters of differing body types. And in stories, things happen to characters. Some fall in love. Some make the same mistakes over and over. Some turn into birds. Some die.

Izzy’s character represents a lot of things, but he does not represent every older, disabled fan or fan who has struggled with suicide, any more than Jim represents all genderqueer fans, or Olu represents all black fans. That’s not how the writers were handling him. They were handling him like a character, because that’s what you have to do.

Again, I understand being sad. I am so, so fucking sad. But this idea of, “Any time something bad happens to a character I relate to means that the writer thinks I deserve these bad things to happen to me,” will poison everything you engage with eventually. Because stories are full of things happening to characters, and they won’t all be good things. And the more representation we get, the more often bad things will happen to characters we relate to.

But good things will happen too.

Queer couples get married. Disabled women run off with their favorite husbands. Middle-aged characters change careers. A multiracial polycule finds a home at sea. A fat man covered in tattoos stars in a drag show and all his friends cheer. All these things happened in the same show as Izzy’s death. This is what this world is.

Anyway. I know emotions are running high and I’ll probably get blocked or unfollowed by a few people for this. But I’m just trying to find my peace where I can, and if anyone else finds this useful, cheers.

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Our Flag Means Death, Season 2, Episode 7

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dear god please just give the pirates their quiet seaside inn and the angel and demon their little cottage in the south downs before I lose my mind completely

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i need to look like a man so i can dress like a woman

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u people on this website are so fucking stupid god bless

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#me

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I appreciated Stede getting mad at the wanted poster. That is not his perfect princess

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With the WGA announcement of the possible end to the strike, I do want people to remember that the union's general membership still has to vote for the deal. The workers still have to agree to it.

This isn't the moment to stop paying attention, especially while SAG-AFTRA is still on strike, and let's not forget that The Animation Guild's contract negotiation is right around the corner.

Don't get complacent now.