#And Daphne is pretty cool too when she’s not . being annoying for the sake of propping HxP up but then I could say that about literally any

[teamfortresstwo]

I’m thinking of an art thing that would really mischaracterize him but this would be self indulgent in a way that caters to me specifically which clearly makes it better

[wearesungreenmylove]

Unexpected Calls, Roommates, and Scones

Word Count: 1121

A/N: Thank you @cenvast for looking over this and helping me with the tenses! This was based on the dialogue prompt “You’re not all bad so stop acting like it” sent in by @jessethejoyful

Also on AO3

“Honey, why did I just get a call from Headmistress Bunce about you being in trouble for the sixth time this year? It’s only December for Merlin’s sake,” Daphne said over the telephone.

Mordelia sighed into her mobile. “It’s not my fault my roommate doesn’t like my music.”

“No, but it is your job to try not to annoy the life out of her. Just try and get along, okay?”

“Fine. Love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too.” Daphne hung up.

It’s not my fault my roommate is the exact opposite of me. Long blond hair and pale skin dotted with freckles, Abigail was everything that Mordelia was not.

But despite her complaining, there was one thing that she did like about her roommate. Her music. Not her music taste, Merlin, that was awful, but her music.

She played the viola, which reminded Mordelia of home and Baz and the late nights he would stay up just to practice a little bit more until the sweet sounds lulled her to sleep from the next room over.

Abigail walked into their room, her plaited braids bouncing over her shoulders.

“Hey, Mordelia!” she said in her sing-song voice.

“Hey, Abigail.” Mordelia nodded at her.

“Do you mind if I play?” Abigail pointed to her viola case.

Mordelia shrugged. “It wouldn’t bother me in the slightest.”

Abigail lifted the bow and spread resin along it, ensuring it wouldn’t squeak as it forcefully brushed past the strings of metal. Abigail picked up her instrument and placed it safely between her chin and shoulder.

A sweet melody soon played in the soft air of the room. Their window looking out at the courtyard was open and a cool breeze wafted in with the smell of roses.

Mordelia’s phone started buzzing in her pocket and Highway to Hell started playing, interrupting Abigail’s practice.

“Uh, sorry,” Mordelia said. “I’ll just stay in here and let you continue.” She closed the bathroom door behind her, turning on the light simultaneously.

Baz is calling.

She picked up.

“Hello?”

“Mordelia, what have you done now,” Baz interrogated her.

“What do you mean?”

"I mean why are you in trouble for the sixth time this year? You’re not all bad so stop acting like it.”

“It’s not like I had the best role model,” she said pointedly, then regretted it.

Baz sighed.

“Let me talk to her,” a familiar voice from Baz’s end of the line said.

Baz handed the phone over.

“Hey, Mordelia!” Simon’s voice rang out loud and clear. Thank Merlin Watford had good service.

A smile broke out on her face. “Hello!”

“How are you doing?” He asked, putting his therapist voice on.

Mordelia almost wanted to say don’t try that shit with me, but she refrained. “School’s fine. Abigail’s playing her viola right now, which I was listening to before Baz called.”

Simon laughed. “Are you regretting making his ringtone Highway to Hell ?”

“I mean, it was kind of funny.”

Baz scoffed.

“Have you perfected your sour cherry scone recipe yet?” Mordelia asked Simon.

“I am so close. Give me another couple days and I might have it down.”

“Love, you say that every time anyone asks,” said Baz.

“Well, every time it’s true.”

“We’re gonna have to have a bake-off next time I come over to prove to you that orange cranberry scones are the best. Christmas is gonna be awesome this year!” She exclaimed. The viola suddenly stopped. Oh shit, I was too loud. “Alright, I have to go. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.”

“Goodbye,” Simon and Baz both said and hung up.

Mordelia pocketed her phone, putting it in her back pocket, and walked out of the bathroom.

“Sorry if I was too loud.”

Abigail waved a hand at her, facing the wall. “No worries. It’s fine. I’m just gonna head out to the library, so bye.” She closed the door behind her.

---

“We are not having your nasty cranberry orange scones, Mordelia.” Simon crossed his arms in front of his chest, puffing them out.

“Baz agrees with me. They’re so good.”

Simon looked over at Baz, who was sitting on their sofa, his legs crossed one over the other. One of his arms was over the back of the sofa and the other was resting on his ankle. He raised his eyebrow amusingly, a smile dancing across his lips.

“You cannot be serious,” Simon said. “I can’t believe you’re not with me on this.”

“To be fair, I’m not taking either of your sides just yet. But perhaps one of you can persuade me.” He rested his index finger on his lips, bouncing it off every couple seconds. He stopped when he spoke. “Well, let the games begin.” He winked at Simon, who gave him a thumbs up. “Whoever can make the better scone will have the prize of finally settling the feud between sour cherry and cranberry orange scones.” He hummed, and Simon and Mordelia both walked into the open kitchen, taking out their ingredients and measuring them with care.

By the end of their time in the kitchen they were both covered in flour, even some was splattered across their foreheads and their hair, though it was far more noticeable on Mordelia’s dark hair, which was put up in a bun, instead of hanging around her shoulders like it usually did. Simon had a large patch on his cheek, which Baz lovingly wiped off.

Simon and Mordelia each had a plate full of scones that they carried to the kitchen table, butter already set out. They each took a seat, putting down their plates on the table with care.

Simon groaned and leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs out underneath the table.

“C’mon, Simon. You have to try them. They’re delicious.”

He eyed them wearily, a small wrinkle above his right eyebrow coming into play. Simon begrudgingly lifted one of Mordelia’s scones to his mouth and took a bite of it. His eyes opened in amazement. “These are actually pretty good.”

“Told you so.” Mordelia stuck her tongue out at him.

“Nobody told me that all the ones from the store were shite.”

“Oh love, you’re hopeless,” Baz said, putting a hand on Simon’s thigh. “Of course they’re shite. Homemade scones are the only good ones.”

Simon shrugged, then thought about it, and nodded. “They are pretty good.” He took a scone off his own plate. “But they will never beat the best.” He plopped a chunk of the scone into his mouth and chewed it.

Mordelia crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair. “And yours will never beat the citrusy taste of mine.”

Baz sighed, the corner of his mouth upturned. “You two are insufferable.”

[lightsandlostbells]

Skam France episode 5

Wanted to say thank you to all translators of this show … it’s really generous to keep up with the clips, especially on top of how many social media updates there are. You are the best <3

Episode 5 reaction

Clip 1: coffee with Lucas

This scene felt so sterile to me? Largely because of how it is shot. The coloring is cool and blue, not bright and warm (watch the original clip and notice the stark difference), there are these big windows taking up part of the frame and this table with almost nothing on it that puts all this space between the camera and the characters. Part of this conversation is filmed at table-level, not at eye or face level, and it feels so removed. The space between them and their body language makes it look like an awkward first date and one of them is going to fake a sick grandmother in order to leave in 10 minutes. 

I don’t know what to make of Lucas’ performance here. It’s like he enters the cafe knowing something is up and he’s alert to any relationship dysfunction. Almost like he’s humoring Emma. And he’s holding back amusement at her troubled romance with Yann.

I mean, if they’re keeping Isak’s involvement in this season much the same as in the original, Lucas bothers me a lot more? Because honestly, Isak’s meddling seemed more opportunistic than anything. I don’t think he had a grand master plan to break up Jonas and Eva, I think was just stumbling onto chances to mess with them and (with telling people about Eva and Chris) acting impulsively/drunkenly. That doesn’t excuse him, but I also don’t think he was sitting down and making bullet points about how to break them up. Lucas … I’m not saying he has a grand master plan and he’s writing bullet points, but this seems like he’s putting more effort into playing her. Like his “good advice” feels more like an act. Maybe it was Tarjei’s acting but I think he did a good balance of Isak being a snake but also kind of not keeping it entirely under control. You can see him start to smirk a little when he questions Eva about why she’s with Jonas. With Lucas, the way he walks in kind of smirking about Yann and Emma’s problems and then puts on this wide-eyed, concerned tone once he’s feeding her bad advice is a little alarming. 

Might be worth asking whether people have a different read on that original scene with Isak and Eva. Because I always thought Isak met up with her not really anticipating that she was going to ask about Jonas, and only caught on due to the nature of her questions, and pounced on that. But maybe other people thought he was expecting this conversation when he walked into the cafe?

If I wasn’t aware of the storyline, I’m not sure what I’d think here. On social media, Lucas and Emma seem to be pretty close and always doing goofy stuff together with Yann, but this really doesn’t feel like a conversation between friends. 

Clip 2: Daphne’s O-tales

I did like the opening shot leading into the girls on the bench.

FOR FUCK’S SAKE, CHARLES. Wrap up your dick. You grown-ass man.

Actually, adding a scene in which they establish Daphne buying condoms, only to tell us that Charles didn’t bother, makes him seem so so much worse.

Between Emma and Manon, the hat game was strong in this clip.

I wrote a post about this but Manon does seem like a more genial, easygoing kind of person than Noora. I like her and found her sweet here; her feminist comments are more gentle than Noora’s. But she’s also less forceful and confident, and that’s perhaps why some people are finding her more forgettable.

Wow Charles comes across like a MASSIVE dong here. Way more so than William. William kind of hurriedly walked by Vilde and kept his eyes averted and muttered hello. Charles seemed like he wanted to establish eye contact with Daphne for the specific purpose of ignoring her.

I did like that Emma approaching Alex seems like a more deliberate fuck-you to Yann. 

Daphne is so cute.

Clip 3 - Emma and Yann argue, then make up

The POV. …. ARGH

Whyyyyy did the camera follow Yann. Why.

Rewinding a bit, Yann and Emma are so much more forward then Jonas and Eva. Eva was a little hesitant to bring up the issue with Ingrid and Jonas was floundering a little when coming up with a story. You could see he wasn’t totally confident in his lie. Emma just gets straight to the point and Yann fires back at her. They’re very assertive in this argument. It’s way more confrontational, as are many things about their relationship.

Though it’s worth mentioning that when Eva did bring up Ingrid to Jonas, she was pretty assertive. She was reluctant at first but she held her ground.

Yann is so much more of a giant asshole in this conversation! He keeps telling her she’s annoying. Now Jonas told Eva to stop being insecure all the time and that also stings, but Yann is really out of line. He also seems a lot more aggressive when he asks if Emma wants a break. Jonas seemed fearful that Eva really wanted a break. Yann doesn’t say it like he’s scared of her saying yes. He just throws it in her face. 

I’m glad that Emma sticks up for herself and tells Yann not to speak to her that way because it was really inappropriate. (To a degree, though, I’m like … Eva’s character arc doesn’t exactly map onto Emma, it won’t feel as earned if they try to keep it exact.)

I do like this song. I’ve liked it before the show and when I saw it in the credits I was waiting for it to show up.

So this part in the original is very distinctive, when the camera keeps Eva and Jonas at a distance, and we watch them fight and make up without hearing them. It’s especially memorable because of how Skam tends to put us up close with the characters’ emotions, and in this instance they don’t let us in on the conversation. And I can see why Skam France didn’t want to just recreate that, because even though they’re redoing much of the original series, to redo that scene exactly as the original is … sort of pushing it. So I get it, they wanted to find a different outcome for the scene, but it really annoyed me that they went with this because of the choice of POV.

Emma walks away and they keep the camera on Yann. We see him make the decision to go after her while the music plays dramatically. But this is so strange, because it puts the emotional emphasis on Yann and his thought process when this is Emma’s season. We should see her thought process, we should have seen her walk away from the table heartbroken and upset and angry, done with Yann’s bullshit. It’s her decision not to put up with it anymore, it’s her development, her emotional state as a character. It’s just really odd that all of a sudden they gave this moment to Yann.

A comparison would be toward the end of season 2, when William is leaving for the airport and we see Noora walk away and call Eva on the phone. We see her emotional reaction to William leaving, all the way up to the car pulling up in the background and William going to her. We could have had that here, where we see Emma distraught and eventually see Yann run after her in the background. I just don’t like that they shut us out of this very important emotional moment for our lead character. We didn’t even see her face as she was walking away.

I know the original show didn’t stick to the POV of the protagonist 100%  of the time, but it did for the most part, and when it diverged during the season they were typically very brief moments. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a comparable scene where most of the camera work and the emotional emphasis went to the love interest rather than the protagonist. It would be as if William got in the car and we saw him thinking it over as Penetrator Chris drove away, and we saw him tell Chris to go back, and we followed him as he went back to Noora. Or if, for example in season 3 when Even leaves the hotel room, we follow him as he goes out in the streets naked and we leave Isak behind. IDK, it’s just bizarre and a blatant divergence from the show’s structure. 

Clip 4 - Daphne, Daphne, Daphne

The intro effect was kind of odd, as if the girls had been plunged into a nightmare from which there was no escape and it was all about Daphne nonstop telling us about Charles.

I don’t know if we’re supposed to take Charles’ texts as legitimately about his basketball game or him just giving Daphne some BS excuses, but the part with him saying “the coach is putting so much pressure on me” is a thing I hope is real. Give Charles some motivation outside of his love life.

Alex asking for the topless pic of Daphne - well hello. Can this be foreshadowing for gay/bi Alex?

I actually like how this scene was paced and how the girls were kind of humoring her until it got to be too much.

So I found some of Imane’s previous interaction with Daphne unnecessarily mean, because it felt like she was putting down Daphne even when Daphne hadn’t merited that reaction (rather than being a response to Daphne saying something ignorant) but I liked her more here even though this is the most blunt she’s been so far. Maybe because she had a real reason to be blunt.

Also I haven’t commented on the social media much but there are texts where Imane acknowledges how harsh she was and says she will apologize to Daphne, which is nice. 

I think some of why Imane can come across harsher than Sana is because Daphne doesn’t really push back as much as Vilde did. Vilde would seem pretty steamed about the way Sana talked to her (like shushing her) even if she didn’t argue to her face. She was still mad about it to the other girls. In this scene she openly asked why Sana is rude to her. Daphne doesn’t even stand up for herself here, she just leaves upset.

Imane’s words about guys also resonate with Yann’s dramatic speech (showering you with compliments, etc.)

Clip 5 - Horror Comics

Right off the bat, I LOVE the costumes. Love love love. I would have the time of my life going to a party like this.

Alex as Annabelle and Manon as Georgie from It <3

The opening is a fun way to set up the party vibe and establish Daphne looking wistfully at Charles. I don’t know if this was intentional, but Harley Quinn is absolutely the costume you would wear if you were trying to get a guy’s attention. I don’t mean that in a “fake geek girls” way or that Harley cosplayers do so to look good for men. There’s just a sexual connotation with the character that doesn’t exist in demonic dolls or little boys in rain slickers who get murdered by evil clowns.

Alex sitting on the couch and not moving, just smiling creepily, is so perfect and IC for her costume, I love it.

Not to sound like a creep but Ingrid looked kind of hot in her horror makeup. 

I waver between whether they’re trying to make Raptor Alex/Emma a legit ship or to make him more of a jerk. Because kissing her forehead might seem kind of sweet, but then it’s like … oh yeah, that is actually inappropriate to do to a girl you barely know who has a boyfriend. And he doesn’t seem happy that she pushed him away.

It’s kind of funny to me that Camille is giving her this very, very teenage advice. Honey, at least one of you is in her 20s.

Camille is a sweetheart and I liked that she offered her number to Emma.

But also … the look of her confusion on her face as Emma left … c’mon dudes. I don’t mind little things like this, but you know, you can establish that suspicion/confusion while Emma is in the room witnessing it, like when Camille first walks in on her and Alex. That’s enough. We’re good.

The shot of Daphne watching Charles (with some random girl, btw, not Sara) was very Dramatique~ but I thought it was well done. Daphne sold it with her heartbreaking reaction.

Oh, Charles dressed as the Joker! That is actually great. Did Daphne know that he was going to dress that way, and planned to go as Harley Quinn accordingly? Or was it a coincidence? I’m going to take it as planned; she found out and decided to have a matching outfit with him, as a sort of couples’ costume. Even though he probably didn’t know about it. Ouch, Daphne.

(Was that an Edward Cullen at the party when Emma leaves? Lmao.)

The reveal of Yann smoking weed is dumb when Emma straight up saw Not Elias smoking with Yann and Lucas at the cabin. Like did it not occur to her…

And Yann posts about smoking weed on IG, what the fuck, this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.

It really doesn’t make sense when Yann says that he didn’t tell Emma about smoking weed because of exactly the reaction she was having that moment, when Emma is just like, okay you’re smoking weed, meh. Eva actually got upset that Jonas was smoking weed and treated it like it was a big deal, so that made sense for him to say he didn’t tell her due to her predicted freakout. Emma barely gives a shit about Yann smoking weed and openly says so. She was more upset that he hadn’t told her and had lied. Yann is then like, well I didn’t tell you because of the reaction you’re having now. What?? So you lied to her about smoking weed … because you were afraid of her reaction where she is upset that you lied to her about smoking weed. The fuck? 

Sometimes I get the sense that they go through the scripts and make superficial changes but don’t bother with follow-through. Like someone said, “I don’t think Emma would care about him smoking marijuana,” so they changed that part, but stopped there without considering whether the dialogue and character motivations still made sense. This isn’t the first moment like this but it’s probably the most important, since Yann’s behavior in the first half of the season hinges on it.

Props to them for having some silence in this conversation, and for having Yann kiss Emma on the forehead - repeating the gesture Alex did earlier, unintentionally twisting the knife. Although the dialogue went a little OTT, as did Yann’s following text message, in terms of dramatic irony. I TRUST YOU SO MUCH EMMA, I’M SO HAPPY WE PUT THE LIES BEHIND US, I WAS STUPID TO THINK WE COULDN’T TELL EACH OTHER EVERYTHING. We get it. You don’t have to bang us over the head.

General Comments:

Daphne is still my favorite part of the show. Between her stealing the show and Lucas being not all that great so far, give her S3. 

Maybe I should get used to the POV not being as tight, but then you have to ask … what is the point of sticking to the story from Emma’s POV, other than the original doing it? For example, I’m watching the new season of Jessica Jones. The show is about Jessica Jones. She is the main character and has an arc. But she’s not the only character with development. The supporting cast has scenes without her, with their own story arcs, where they acquire information and do things that Jessica Jones does not know about. There’s nothing wrong with this because it’s the setup of the show. In fact it’s the setup of most shows. 

On the other hand, Skam’s one-person POV is pretty rare in terms of television shows. Actually I am struggling to think of another series told exclusively from another person’s perspective for more than a special episode. If you think about it, it’s rather inconvenient for most overarching plots. So why would you consciously choose this rather limited format? What is the benefit of it? To immerse yourself in the main’s head, to walk through their struggles and triumphs. If you’re going to cut that character out of their own emotional reactions, then why not do the multi-POV? And if you’re sticking to the single POV, then yeah, it is sloppy and worth mentioning. 

I mean, if you’re writing a book, you’ll be advised to keep your POV consistent. A novel with third person limited POV will receive criticism for messy writing if it strays. Harry Potter books don’t randomly jump to Ron’s POV in the middle of scenes. I feel like the same mindset is applicable here.

Not to Start Shit but at this point I definitely think the whole song and dance about “contractual obligations” to be faithful to the original Skam were mostly said to appease fans who didn’t like that the remake was such a close copy. I was skeptical about it when it was first said, but I mean. We’re now past the halfway mark, past when we were supposedly going to have the season diverge, but uh, it’s not. They have clearly been able to change some small things and add a few scenes here and there, so what exactly were these nebulous conditions that the remake had to follow? Did Julie Andem hand them an outline and say, “Here, you gotta do all the stuff on this list but go wild with everything else?” 

I’ll happily admit to my mistakes if there are more official details on the remakes’ obligation to the original, and with four episodes left they could still throw a few curveballs. But do I think that’s likely to happen? Nah, not really. Possibly a slightly different outcome for Yann and Emma. I think maybe they’ll omit some scenes and some smaller story points for time reasons, but that’s it.

[remmyswritings]

Did ya miss me?!? I have updates!!! Updates!!!!

Theodore nott: JSDJJDJD SO THE HOLD OR NOT TO HOLD HAPPENED I AM S C R E A M I NG. His hands were so soft. Before he held my hand and stuff he would like pat me on the head, or cup my face. Whenever we walked he had an arm around my waist n stuff. Also he pays for everything even when I tell him no

I think hes gotten more comfortable with me (yay), in contrast to how he was the first times. Because he was always so distant and a little cold but hes warmed up alot. Hes very very very observant (like he noticed I was in a bad mood and he just knew somehow). During the scene where he held my hands and stuff he was so DELICATE. I didnt like him that much before you so props to you for being awesome and my theodore nott introducer!! Hes taking me to the yule ball, and he got me a flower crown and a necklace with a lil snake on it. He says its because so people know but also dont know you like a slytherin and will not bother me or anything.

He shared his childhood too but that's for a seperate message

1000/10

Blaise: the person who made theo confess the first time, he thinks we're really cute and warmed up to me too. He talked to me about his crush on daphne and stuff (hes been keeping the name a secret from theo to annoy him). Incredibly nice person, and hes the push theo needed alot when theo was too shy to talk to me andnms. Blaise told me that sometimes he had to be dragged out of the common room just because theo found out I liked something and was going to attempt to get it. But hes very kind and hes such a great best friend to theo. I'm like a half-blood there and hes not judgy

10/10

Pansy: Shes nice!! She actually has a big ol crush on Hermione (cause I scripted that too happen) she actually likes me (?!?!). But she can be a bit judgy on the half-blood (she only accepted because my fathers from a pureblood lineage) thing but I've never seen theo glare so hard at those comments. Hes behind me but I can literally feel his burning glare at her. Shes very nice alot though, she brought me to hogsmeade and bought me butterbeer. She thinks I'm pretty cool. Theo was annoyed at her since he was supposed to go to the lake with me but pansy annoyed him enough that he just gave up.

Also I found out that she can dance really well?! Nsnans shes really cool once you ignore her superiority yknow

8/10

Draco is eh on me, so I wont say too much. Hes nice for the sake of theo,pansy,and blaise. Hes iffy on the half-blood thing but its better than being a muggle . He dosent go bully me atleast (I dont think so) so hes a solid

5/10

If theres anything youd like to know about like...anyone please ask me! Or experiences and stuff cause it's fun. I hope you have a really awesome day ^^

OMG BOO YOURE BACK YAY AHHHHHHHHHH I LOVE IT ALL I LOVE IT VERY VERY VERY VERY MUCH I CANT WAIT FOR MORE