#although this is in no way the same feeling as watching skam live gave me lmao that shit was wild

[airenyah]

ngl it does make me a little excited when the dates in shows match with the real date

[elsarah]

Favorite clips of s5

Thank you so much @smblmn​ for tagging me, I love the idea! While the season as a whole was kinda underwhelming, it was full of amazing clips and I do have a lot of favorites. Here’s my top 10 and a few honorable mentions. I tend to have one favorite clip by episode, except for episode 8, which I REALLY didn't like. I didn't rank my picks, I'll just list them chronologically.

And since I didn't have the opportunity this season, I'm also making gifs to illustrate my picks :) I need the practice, as you can see.

Ep.1: Samedi 0:25 - Le choc

One of my favorite things this season has been the symbolism and the metaphors around sound and silence. In the first episode, there were 2 occurrences: Arthur seeing Noée for the first time underwater at the pool and him looking in the street as snow falls and slowly realizing he's gone deaf. I thought this was an amazing idea and that it gave disability more depth and beauty.

And that look at the camera in the last seconds… And the piano music… It was so chilling.

Ep. 2: Jeudi 20:59 - La nuit de

Globally, the scenes at the association were my favorites, even though I have a complicated relationship with them. Before shooting started in October, someone from the crew promised they would invite me on set during the filming of these scenes, but they ended up breaking their promise. I try to be as drama free as possible on the internet so I didn’t talk about it publicly but now that the season has ended I’m like “Why should I bottle this up, I’m not the the one who screwed up and I’m still hurt about it”.

The first time I watched that clip in January, I was heartbroken. Not just because of the missed opportunity but because I realised I never got to experience what Arthur did; there was no association for me, no one. But I still have a really soft spot for this scene because it's just gorgeous. The aesthetic is incredible and I totally understand what Arthur feels (minus the alcohol). Overall, as bittersweet as it is, it's probably one of my top 3 scenes this season (and it looks like it's one of David's too, this man has great taste). I can’t help but feel for the teenager I was and I wonder how I would have felt watching it then.

Ep.3: Vendredi 13:12 - Check de frérot

Arthur and Basile's friendship was one of the highlights of this season, heck Basile WAS the highlight of this season. Basile and Arthur never shy away from hugs and I'm living for it. I'm so looking forward to see more of Basile in season 6 (since I guess we'll see more of his relationship with Daphné). I loved seeing him be so well-intentioned, despite his usual clumsiness. Seeing Paul in a more serious register (for instance when Arthur lashed out at the boys in episode 6) was delightful.

Ep 4.: Lundi 19:02 - Les entendants

This one also belongs in my top 3. This is the representation I was looking for when I learned Skam France would tackle hearing loss and deafness. It doesn't come in the same package for everybody, and I love that they tried to show it through so many different characters. The situations described here are universal among deaf people.

On a more personal note, I loved that the extras were actual deaf people and sone of them well known. The lady interpreting is Jennifer Lesage-David, co-director at IVT, and she helped David and Niels a lot this season. And the girl speaking about her relationship with her dad is Lulu, she has a YouTube channel with her sister where they raise awareness about hearing loss. The instagram post that was published that day also featured a lot of people I more or less know.

Watching this clip was an experience in itself. I was attending a conference that night about deaf TV archives. The clip dropped 2 minutes before it started and I had to wait for it to end to finally watch. It was excruciating. Also, half the staff of IVT was there and I actually ended up watching the clip in front them. There were like "Wait? Jennifer was in Skam?".

Ep.4: Vendredi 20:43 - Ma vie a changé

While I'm still sceptical about Noée falling in love with Arthur so quickly (this sign song is unambiguous), I think this is one of the most beautiful scenes in the whole series. I don't care very much about this being romantically coded, I just choose to focus on the sign song, because I'm so happy they featured deaf visual arts.

My friend and I spent hours trying to decipher what the song could be about and our interpretation differed a lot from Winona's original text but we loved doing this. David was curious to see how my friend would understand it (especially the part where Noée signs a growing love which she cradles) and he was so happy when she understood it right.

For those interested, here’s what we interpreted (roughly translated into English):

Like two souls lost in the storm, Swayed by the tide, Never really seeing each other Until ours eyes meet. Something is growing inside me, something new, That sets my heart beating. You take off my mask and the truth in your eyes, Fills my heart. Look at me, I also see you.

Ep.6: Mercredi 18:31 - Un simple bout de métal

Also one of the scenes I was expecting the most this season, especially when it transpired that Noée was a bit radical. Her letter echoes my own fears and I thought it was really on point. Arthur admitting he needs her made my heart melt, he's so lucky to have met her. And Winona was amazing in that clip.

Ep.7: Vendredi 20:31 - Sourd dating

Just like for "Un simple bout de metal", I was also expecting that scene. I like that they made Noée and Camille voice their opinion like both faces of the same coin. It was a great way to address cochlear implants as they're a sensitive topic in the deaf community. I think this is one of the most shining example of the research work they did. They could have just stopped at Noée’s letter. But since they had deaf actors like Lucas, who is also implanted and has faced prejudices from radical Deaf people in the past, they had to show implants were not evil and that the situation was more complex than just “Doctors who want to act as gods”.

Learning Noée’s backstory was also interesting, although I didn’t expect her to be an "ex-implanted" deaf. She explains that she learned sign language at the association, which can't be more than 3-4 years ago (and if you look closely in ep 3, when Arthur checks the website, she says she joined the association at its beginning), but there's no way Noée would have that proficiency in sign language in just 4 years of practice. Winona's fluency in sign language is clearly that of someone who grew up with it. I loved being able to notice these subtleties.

Like all the clips at the association, it was a joy to watch because of the atmosphere and the sign language. The deaf extras were lovely. I actually got to meet a few of them last month and had an amazing time with them.

Ep.9: Vendredi 20:17 - Choisir pour toi

Coline. singing. Do I need to say more? I like that both Noée and Alexia had their shining moment and as clumsy as the story got, I appreciate that the writers didn't try to pin one girl against the other and make one superior. Noée had her sign song and Alexia her own composition. And both were breathtaking. What really gets me in this scene are the colors. I'm a sucker for aesthetics.

And of course, it was great to see Alexia stand her ground and break up with Arthur. I have nothing but respect for her and I'm team Alexia + happiness all the way.

Ep.10: Lundi 10:04 - La même vie que vous

When Melchior, Laura and the brochure subplot was introduced, I was a bit wary because their introduction scene was really, really awkward (it wasn't very well tied at first). By their second scene, at Arthur's place, I was sold. It was great to address accessibility and show that there's no point putting people with disabilities in the same bag, because there are hundreds of them and the needs are different. What doesn't change is our wish to live our life at the fullest, just like abled people. And this scene was precious. Seeing Arthur endorse this new part of him and support his peers was everything.

Ep.10: Vendredi 20:47 - Le meilleur des mondes

I'm still very emotional about this scene. Like… I don't know what to say, the music still sends shivers down my spine.

Honorable mentions :

Ep.1: Mardi 11:59 - 3, 2, 1,…

One of the only things Robin told me about the season when I met him at IVT was that the first clip would drop on New Year's Eve at 11:59 p.m.. That date became a beacon during fall and oh you wouldn't believe how much I waited for that clip to drop and how much I was looking forward to it. And it freaking delivered. The atmosphere, the tense music, that first shot on the loudspeaker, the confetti clogging it gradually… That teaser was a masterpiece.

Ep.2: Like… the whole episode actually. The alarm clock concept was genius.

Ep.4: Samedi 10:15 - Nouveau style

One of these gorgeous clips without dialogues that still say lots.

Ep.5: Samedi 10:03 - Maîtriser le langage

Oh my, this one was so relatable and a joy to watch. Camille explaining that sign language and mimes are different, Arthur being that dimwit asking about swear words and being told off for speaking… Kuddos to the deaf extras who had to pretend they didn't know any sign language, it was so funny (looking at you, Enzo).

Ep.6: Samedi 8:30 - Mythos

Seeing Arthur lashing out at his friends was cathartic. He roasted them so well, I wished I had his ability to speak so well when I'm angry. A+ work.

Ep.6: Dimanche 14:41 - Envie de rien

Alexia being the real MVP, as always.

Ep.7: Samedi 2:15 - Pool Party

It’s strange, because even though a lot of the story went down in this particular episode, it must be one of my favorites, like… tied with episode 2. It has probably a lot to do with the fact there were mostly deaf characters and that they had so much fun together. It’s something I can relate do, the sheer joy of signing the night away, which is something I didn’t get to experience until very recently.

As gorgeous as the underwater scene is, I'm not a fan of Noée and Arthur's almost kiss. I picked this scene because I love the moment of sheer joy that follows; everyone joining in the pool and having fun together. And of course the rise of Camika. I know it's a bit convoluted to have the two openly gay guys fall for each other first time they meet but… it just worked so well.

Ep.9: Mercredi 21:34 - Frère

This clip was about to make the top 10 cut when I remembered about another one and I had to remove it. Just Basile being lovely Basile.

Ep.9: Jeudi 17:30 - T'es pas tout seul

This clip was so important, bless the nurse and bless Jérôme. I wish Jérôme was my audiologist, to be honest.

Ep.10: Samedi 13:39 - Maman

Arthur's mom was so lovely and I'm so sorry she had to go through this shit with her trashcan of a husband. I liked her relationship with her son and her reassuring him he's not like his father was very soothing. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Arthur at the end of this season and I appreciate he’s well looked after after what he went through.

Ep.10: Jeudi 17:46 - Recommencer

Just like "Nouveau style" from ep 4, it's another one of these silent clips that has lots of meaning. Arthur putting back his glasses, slowly accepting his life won't be the same and that he has to move on. Except now things are clearer. Skam France love its symbolism and while sometimes it's very poorly done (like the love triangle emphasizing on Arthur's balancing between two worlds), more often than not it's very compelling.

Now I want to rewatch everything, so see you soon I guess :)

[all-things-skam]

Title: I don’t want you to see me like this

Ship: Skam France | Lucas Lallemant and Eliot Demaury (Elu)

_______________

When Lucas returned from his coffee rendez-vous with Lucille, Eliott hadn't budged much from where he was when Lucas left the flatshare. He was curled up on himself, facing the window. Behind him, the covers were left in the same way that Lucas had pushed them when he got out of bed.

A smile curled on his lips, content to see that Eliott was still there and hadn't left while he was gone. After waking up three times out of four without Eliott by his side, a part of Lucas is always a bit paranoid that he'll flee without warnings - again.

Removing his jacket, he noticed that everyone was still asleep. What did he expect, it was Saturday morning. Mika went clubbing till 2am, Manon was at Emma's and Lisa...well, Lisa was a big sleeper. She would sleep all day if she could.

Taking advantage of the morning quietness, Lucas crossed the living to sit on the pull out couch, installing himself beside Eliott, back propped against some pillows, and pulled out his literature textbook, making good use of his spare time. He had a test coming next week and he'd rather not fail. Especially so close to the bac.

Mika emerged out of his room around ten to make himself a cup of coffee. His eyes were barely open as he stumbled into the kitchen, still tired from his night out. He saw the young couple from the corner of his eyes, Eliott sleeping soundly and Lucas reading, and smiled. Coming home to seeing the two sleeping on the pull out couch had been a nice surprise.

It was about noon when Lucas felt Eliott stir on the bed. He put down his textbook and caressed Eliott's back gently, encouraging him to wake up. The older one moaned in protest, not ready to wake up yet. Lucas chuckled fondly. The previous times they had shared a bed, Eliott was always up first and he never got to experience this.

Eliott blinked his eyes open, groaning at the sunlight coming from the large window of the living room. He rolled over to avoid the light and hid his face into Lucas's blue pillow for a moment, recovering from the harsh brightness.

The hand on his back ceased its movement and Eliott glanced up, catching Lucas's eyes on him and immediately looking away. ''I need to leave,'' he declared, voice hoarse and small.

''What? No.'' Lucas pulled his eyebrows, scooting closer. ''Stay,'' he added, almost begging. He hadn't seen Eliott in almost a week, Lucas wasn't ready to let him go.

He shook his head, messy hair sticking up here in and there from turning around during the night. ''I have to go. I have to go see my parents.'' Eliot paused, releasing a breath. ''I've worried them enough.''

His disappearance gave them quite a fright. Ever since his parents moved and allowed Eliott to live by himself in Paris, their daily worrying about their son had increased. They didn't doubt Eliott could take care of himself for daily life things. He knew how to cook - semi-cook -, do laundry and vacuum clean. What they were worried about was him spiraling out of control and having a manic episode while by himself. Or, his destructive thoughts winning.

Having ran away before, Eliott had learned to leave his phone at home. It's not like it was charged anyway. The device was probably still on his nightstand with very low or no battery life. The texts and phone calls were easy to ignore, but Lucille had once found him through 'track my phone' and Eliott hadn't been happy about that.

From that day on, he made sure to leave it at home.

Last night, though, Eliott wanted to be found. But, not by anyone. He wanted Lucas to find him. And he did.

Now, as the demons inside his mind had calmed down, he felt bad for worrying his parents. He still didn't want to see them, feeling suffocated by their overprotective behavior, but they deserved to know he was safe.

''They know you're here,'' Lucas informed. ''With me.''

'Lucille told them,' he almost added, but figured Eliott didn't want to hear about his ex.

Not saying anything, Eliott sat up, holding the yellow comforter against his stomach, fingers clutching the soft fabric as memories from La Petite Ceinture flooded his mind. Lucas running up to him, hugging him, kissing his face and drying his tears. The long bus ride to the flatshare and Lucas holding him in the bus. Lucas helping him out of his wet clothes and getting him dry ones before making the bed for them. It all started flooding in and a lump formed in his stomach.

As much as Eliott would've liked to stay at the flatshare with Lucas, leaving was the best option. The only option. He felt good with Lucas and he didn't want it to change. His bipolarity had caused many losses in his life and he doesn't think he could handle losing what he has with Lucas.

There was not doubts, Lucas was strong and had lots of will regarding their relationship, but would he be able to handle it? Being in a relationship with someone who is bipolar isn't a walk in the park. Most of the time Eliott wasn't even able to handle his own dark thoughts and impulsive behavior. How could Lucas?

''I...I can't stay here.''

The insistence bothered the young one. Why was Eliott so keen on leaving? Did he not feel good here, with him? Did he change his mind about them?

Lucas scooted down on the bed and sat so he could face Eliott. ''Why do you want to leave so bad?'' he demanded, searching for Eliott's eyes, the blue-gray irises dull in color. ''I'm not forcing you to stay. I just want to understand.''

Eliott swallowed thickly, his Adam apple bobbing. He had never felt more naked than at this moment. So little people knew about his mental illness and he had never talked openly and honestly about it to anyone before. It was a taboo subject, something he kept from everybody.

Sensing his uncomfortableness, Lucas laced their fingers together as he stared into his empty eyes, still red from last night's tears that stained his cheeks.

''I don't want you to see me like this. All...sad and down,'' Eliott admitted, ashamed of his uncontrollable behavior. ''This is the me I hide from people, the part of myself that I hate the most. T-the part of myself I hate so much that I almost took my own life one year ago...'' Eliott's voice cracked and his bottom lip quivered, eyes filling with tears at the memories.

Heart breaking at the heavy confession, Lucas wanted to pull Eliott in his arms and squeeze him tight. Instead, he squeezed his hand and kissed it.

''I don't expect you to be happy all the time. Even I am not like that. It's humanly impossible,'' Lucas rationalized. ''I don't care if you're lively or down. I'd rather have you here and sleep all day than not having you in my life at all.''

A tiny smile curled on Eliott's lips. It wasn't a full smile, just a curl of his mouth, but it was enough.

In order to lighten up the air, Lucas nudged him. ''You liar.'' Eliott frowned at the sudden accusation and the brunet pursued. ''I thought you couldn't sleep next to me, yet, here you are, taking naps.''

Eliott rolled his eyes. ''You're an idiot.''

Lucas beamed at his boyfriend. ''I'm your idiot.''

In any other circumstance, Eliott would've cringed and shoved him away, but, as they sat in bed, bathing in the sunlight and warmth of the blankets, Eliott accepted his boyfriend's dumbness. It's not like he was any better with the cheesiness. After all, he was the one who texted Lucas song lyrics and made drawings with their spirit animals.

''What should we do now?'' Eliott asked.

He didn't feel like doing anything beside sleeping, not having much energy, but didn't want to make Lucas watch him sleep all day.

''I think that we should say 'hi' properly,'' Lucas suggested, having not had his good morning kiss yet. ''What do you think?''

Despite how grumpy he could be in the morning, Lucas was such a needy baby with Eliott. Always asking for morning kisses and cuddles.

It was okay though, because Eliott was the same.

''I can do that.''

Lucas leaned in and they kissed, sweet and loving, Eliott's fingers releasing their grip on the blanket, feeling his anxiety leave his mind as their lips touched.

''Good morning.''

Lucas chuckled, brushing their noses together. ''It's past noon. It's no longer morning.''

Eliott shrugged carelessly and pressed his face in Lucas's shoulder, the familiar scent of Lucas filling his nose as he nuzzled the grey fabric of his shirt. He had missed him so much. This week apart had been difficult for Eliott. He had been forced to detach himself from Lucas completely although he was craving his touch. He wanted nothing more than to be close to him, to be held by him during his deep and lonely sadness.

The gesture made Lucas smile.

He will always come back to you.

Be there for him. But, only when he wants or needs it.

Lucas wrapped his arms around Eliott and pressed sweet kisses on his cheek and jaw, responding to his boyfriend's demand of affection.

[j4nn4s]

omg so i applied to a job with a writing sample from one of my skam essays and tbh i think its okay enough to post so if ur interested in lengthy 2000 word meta on one of my fave skam themes read below :~)

Right out of the gate, the series opens with a monologue about capitalism and economic politics. The very first line begins a discussion about "market liberalism" and "moving towards world trade." The fact that they chose to use such a political method to captivate their teen girl audience in its first initial seconds speaks to how much regard they have for their demographic. From the start, SKAM goes against common high school show tropes while never once underestimating those watching it. It is way too common of a mistake for shows with this demographic to make, further giving the genre a bad name. 

Continuing with this opening scene, a monologue is read as handmade videos depicting common adolescent antics is displayed. This illustrates the speech while also somewhat referencing the delinquency that’s often displayed in similar shows such as Skins. This speech leads smoothly into the show with it being a school assignment that Jonas, the boyfriend of the season’s protagonist (Eva), is reading out loud. The placement of this serves as an introduction to the series at large while also communicating the level of introspection the show is ready to engage with. 

This monologue introduces a pattern of reflection on aspects of life and our indirect and direct connections to the people around us that foreshadows the themes of the show. As we finish this first season and complete the following three, there are three central themes that are introduced: you never know what someone is going through so always be kind, always communicate with your friends, and no person is ever alone. In a series of three essays, I will be going into each of these with more depth, starting with the former. When I think about where I was in high school as I watch this show, these were the three key points I needed to hear the most. It is much too easy to focus on our particular frame of view and make assumptions on others’ behaviors, not realizing that there might be reasons for these actions that we will never understand. We cannot read minds and we do not know of all the events happening in someone’s life that leads them to make that decision. 

This major theme is first illustrated when a girl, Noora, notices Eva upset after an altercation with another girl. Noora does not know its context and why the other girl had called Eva a slut or why it affected her so much. But she understands that she is hurt by it, and that no matter the context for the comment, being called a slut can hurt. So, she approaches her and as a human, tries to lighten up her night with a lighthearted remark, which introduces herself to her. She noticed that the girl needed a friend and she offered that to her. Through this little action, making sure someone is okay when they’re hurt, there was a domino effect. Eva went to the toilets after and in there she noticed a girl crying, as she was hurt herself. Because of those small seconds of kindness Noora offered, Eva subconsciously passed that on and went to make sure that that person was okay and if she needed a friend. That person, Vilde, gave her a name and Eva went on a mission to find that girl. That girl, Chris, eventually found Vilde. Eva ended up bringing the wrong person, but through this, she became introduced to people she had not known before. Vilde and Chris eventually thanked Eva for that night and Noora and Eva kept up their correspondence. In addition to Sana, who was later introduced to everyone via Chris who saw her as very funny, the five all eventually became friends.

Every time I reflect on this first encounter between those first four characters that lead to them all being friends, it deeply touches me. Because in these vulnerable moments, they all needed friends. Eva did not have friends because of a falling out with her best friend. Noora did not have friends because she just moved to Oslo. And Vilde and Chris were thrown out of their friend group for various reasons and only had each other. And through practicing “radical empathy” (as Rebecca Patton from Reel Honey describes it) and being there for someone who needed it most, they were able to create something so beautiful and positive. 

One reason that made SKAM blow up in the first place, and why it is sincerely the greatest show of its genre, is because they get humanity right where it is least expected: a show about high school. We don’t expect to feel so connected to the characters and for our feelings to be heard and displayed on screen, staring right at us in the face. Our feelings are so complicated, always, but especially as teenagers when we are coming into our hormones and learning about ourselves. And SKAM does a brilliant job of capturing that. We see the main characters in such a vulnerable state at the very beginning of the series and we also see a sequence of events (including in the following episodes) that help them out of this vulnerable state. In its first episode, SKAM teaches its audience unconditional compassion towards strangers. It is beautiful.

Julie Andem expresses the theme of ‘not knowing what others are going through’ again later in season three, though with a more subtle example. In episode five, there is a scene where Isak, the season’s closeted protagonist, and Even, his love interest, discuss Isak's mom's mental health. Essentially, Isak made some not so pleasant remarks. Later on, Even got back together with Sonja, his girlfriend, causing Isak to be very hurt and upset. Andem uses this scene to communicate the idea that you often don't see why people do the things they do and only, instead, see their actions — which we all judge from our own point of reference (like, how we would personally have come to that action ourselves.) This leaves a gap in understanding that is filled with our own judgement that can affect how we respond to that said action. Because the viewer is so skewed in Isak's perspective, we are left just as confused and hurt as he is. All we see is Even's action without fully realizing or considering why. Knowing what we find out later in the season, it can be inferred that he was hurt by Isak's words about people with mental health issues, as he suffers from this himself. He simply went back to what felt comfortable to him — the rocky relationship he has with his girlfriend. However, it is challenging for the viewer to come to this conclusion on their own. This is because one, when the two had that conversation about Isak’s mom, Even didn't come across as upset in the moment. So to us, we are lead to believe that everything is fine, just as Isak does. And two, all we see is his action: him kissing and going back to his girlfriend. We share Isak's pain because we understand why he would feel that way, as we have been with him this entire time. Yet we don't initially feel the same way towards Even as we can only judge him by his words and actions and have already made judgements based on those. 

Andem takes on this complicated task of portraying this very human phenomenon in a quest to make the audience better understand the people they love. She understands that people will put themselves in the protagonist’s shoes when they watch this show and she wants us to learn as much as she wants her characters to learn. Later in the season, Isak discovers Even has bipolar disorder and he reacts a bit poorly at first, but it is because he is uneducated. The only thing he knows about this disorder is what Even’s (at this point) ex-girlfriend tells him, which is highly skewed because she uses her words to achieve a desired outcome: to get Isak to stay away from him. And it works. Until he becomes educated by his friend whose mother has the same mental illness herself, he realizes the disorder does not change how Even loves him. The audience might not have experience with people with bipolar disorder and so Andem takes this opportunity to teach us — as well as her character — how to better understand the people around us. How to better understand strangers. How to better understand friends who might have this, too. These kinds of stories is what I enjoy so much about Julie Andem’s writing; the reason why it is so brilliant. She genuinely tries to understand humans and teenagers through her writing and uses this platform to give her audience lessons that they can bring into their own lives. She displays our personal situations on screen and accompanies it with a solution, so we are able to take it with us into our own lives. [If anything, this is the entire goal of the series.]

In fact, she calls this phenomenon out by name in season two. Noora, that season’s protagonist, sees her boyfriend, William, engage in an act of violence, something that goes against her morals. She seeks Sana’s advice, revealing that she might reluctantly break up with him over it. She says that although she wants to be with him with every ounce of her being, she says she cannot if they disagree on those principles. Sana notices her reluctance and how much she likes him. In that moment, Sana delivers one of the most important quotes of the series itself: “If you haven’t even made an attempt to understand the one you love, then I’ll be pessimistic on behalf of the whole world.” For so much of the season, the idea Noora had of William was hindering the reality of how he actually treated her. On a surface level, the two might disagree about the topic of war and violence. But if you love someone that much, it is worth having those hard discussions. We should not give up on the people we love because of a disagreement on an issue. If we stop seeing the humanity in people, especially our loved ones, we are doomed as a society. This is a tough concept to tackle with adults, let alone teenagers. However, Julie Andem understands how necessary it is to portray it. She realizes that her demographic are the leaders of the future and that we must understand the toxicity of polarization on our relationships to loved ones. Andem uses a digestible scenario such as this one to accomplish one of the most essential moments of its season. As a side note, the rest of this conversation is worth watching as it has such rich writing and important points of discussion that everyone can benefit from, but I digress.

There are several more examples in the show that highlights this phenomenon and each time we are reminded of the dangers of this type of thinking. It is sometimes visualized through consequences (such as in the case of Isak, Even and Sonja) or explicitly said (such as in the scene with Noora and Sana.) But above all, Julie Andem proposes a suggestion to SKAM’s audience — a new mantra to adopt: "Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.”

In the next essay, we will discuss the show’s second theme, that I like to call: for the love of god, communicate with your friends.

[lightsandlostbells]

Skam France season 3, episode 8 reaction

Not gonna lie, I kept thinking “they must taste like ham” during the love-making scene

Episode 8

Clip 1 - Morning after 

Lucas wakes up, still with splotches of paint on his body. I guess he washed off some of the paint, but not that well? I have so many questions about how they got home, like did they manage to get into the locker room to take a shower before leaving the school, or did they just go home covered in paint? 

Anyway, Lucas is alone and checks his phone. His father says their mom wants to go to mass with them next week, so there’s your O Helga Natt clip. I’m trying to think about the religious references in this season. They’ve definitely been carrying through with Lucas’ mom being religious; I’m not sure there has been more in the way of religious symbolism? Luke is a Biblical figure but I’m not sure there’s any connecting with Lucas’ character the way Isak was connected to Biblical Isaac through the 21:21 reference. Not that it means O Helga Natt shouldn’t happen at a church, just that I think you could potentially set the scene somewhere else that’s more in line with what symbolism there is in this season (light and dark).

WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE. Was he on the couch???? In the living room??? Wh- why? So they went back to Lucas’ placed and crashed, covered in paint and seemingly naked (since Lucas is shown putting on his boxers), on the sofa in his living room? At the apartment where he has three other roommates coming and going? The FUCK.

Doesn’t Eliott live by himself? I thought someone involved with the show said that. Why did they not go to his place where they can be alone, rather than going to Lucas’ where they have to crash on the fucking couch? Even if Eliott does live with his parents or whoever, presumably he has a bedroom with, you know, a door. 

I guess after you fuck in public at your school when there are people around, cuddling naked together in your living room where your roommates might see is no big deal at all. Get over it, prudes.

This is one of those times when I think Skam France still sticks to the original script too much, like obviously this part is here because Isak woke up alone after Even spent the night and heard Even in the kitchen. Lucas’ living situation (aka living on his goddamn couch) doesn’t really accommodate for that without some weirdness. So they could have revised this scene a bit - either send them to Eliott’s place rather than Lucas’, or have Lucas actually get his bedroom back by now (why is he still on the couch anyway????) or just have them clothed. Or you could have something where Eliott didn’t sleep over, and Lucas wakes up on the couch smiling about the previous day, except then he hears Eliott’s voice in the kitchen. Surprise! Eliott came over early to surprise Lucas with breakfast, and Manon let him in. And it could be shown as a sign of his mania, maybe, like it’s cute but Eliott came over way too early with way too many ingredients and it’s just a little too intense, it feels off.

Anyway, Lucas hears giggling from the kitchen, and of course Eliott is cooking and talking to the roommates. He’s making a fennel and cinnamon omelette. He kisses Lucas and Mika and Manon exchange a proud look. No more interventions are necessary.

Eliott also wants to make blueberry bacon muffins and Manon is all WTF about it, because she is lucky enough to live in a country where people apparently weren’t putting bacon in every single food product for a few years. 

Mika and Manon pretend they didn’t hear anything from Eliott and Lucas when they came in, but Lisa enters and is like, yes, I did hear you fucking. So they were for real fucking on the couch? I’m just imagining like, Manon wanting a glass of water last night but being unable to leave her bedroom, just waiting for the moans to stop.

Lisa tells Manon to give her room to Lucas since he has a sex life and Manon doesn’t. Cold, but accurate, and also, Manon should give her room back since it’s not hers in the first place and Lucas was clearly distraught over it in the last episode. C’mon. At least take turns.

When the roommates are gone, Lucas says he thought Eliott left this morning (or like … one minute ago), like he did with Lucille. We get this conversation with a big gap between them as Lucas talks about Eliott making out with Lucille at Chloé’s party. Eliott closes the gap and takes Lucas’ face in his hands when he says that Lucille knows him well and made him believe they had to get back together, and Lucas wasn’t ready. Eliott was afraid Lucas wouldn’t want anything serious, Lucas says he does, and Eliott says good, because he’s not going anywhere right now. They kiss.

Eliott comes across as rather self-assured here. Even seemed very vulnerable when Isak called him on the situation with Sonja, and his attitude got very weird and harsh. He wasn’t even looking Isak in the eye as he complained about her; he only looked back when he was asking Isak to understand what he meant. Part of the scene felt very, very fragile for both of them. By contrast, while Lucas here seems uncertain, Eliott seems pretty confident. Although he’s telling Lucas about something that made him uncertain at the time, in the moment he seems to have gotten over it. Either that or he’s completely burying his fears, because I don’t see a hint of doubt or defensiveness.

Also, in the original scene, there were hints that Even was manic. I guessed it from my first viewing, watching the scene in unsubtitled Norwegian, just based off Even’s energy and emotional shifts, and then with the subs we could see how he got distracted, his mind was racing a bit. I didn’t really feel like they were signaling Eliott was manic yet, other than the lines about him going to the fridge and wanting to bake everything. Eliott just seems comfortable in what’s happening. (I’m not blaming Maxence for this, I think his acting is pretty solid, honestly.)

They obviously did not do their version of the Gabrielle lip-syncing, and while I don’t mind if they choose not to, for time constraints or not wanting to copy OG or just not feeling it for the characters, I can’t help but feel a bit bereft that I did not see more of Eliott’s awkward EDM dancing.

Clip 2 - Ass = art

I am honest to God laughing that they hyped up that previous mural as the ugliest shit ever, and then Lucas and Eliott literally threw some paint over it and it’s suddenly acceptable. Oh my God. Different strokes for different folks and all, but you can still see the original goddamn mural!!! It’s not even totally covered up!!!

Plot twist: whoever originally painted that mural in like the ‘90s or whatever also did it while having sex against the wall. And the plucky artists who will paint over Lucas and Eliott’s mural in like 2034 will be doing it as part of an orgy. Why even bother having a mattress when you have a paint-splattered wall to hump against?

I think it’d be a pretty display if it it were not half-assed. It’s not even covering all of the existing mural. They should’ve whole-assed it. Much like they whole-assed everything else on Friday.

Lucas is like, sorry we didn’t go with what was planned. Was there a plan? Because it absolutely came across like the boys just showed up to paint whatever image popped into their heads.

OH MY GOD THERE WAS AN ACTUAL ASS PRINT ON THE WALL

AND THEY DON’T EVEN MAKE UP A LIE ABOUT IT

Eliott’s like, Sorry about that! And he and Lucas kiss. Oh my God, this is ridiculous. I’m happy for your love and all but I legit cringed at that part, it’s too much. I guess if I think about it like how Even said it was good the boys left when Even showed up at Isak’s house, it’s the same thing? Except that’s a lot vaguer than like, yep, we left ass prints on the wall, our butt cheeks were used as sponges. I suppose it’s odd that everyone’s just like ... completely un-weirded out by this admission. (🐭🐭🐭)

Daphne is happy because the common room was decorated by a gay couple, so that made it cool, and objectively that’s not a great thing to say but I confess it make me laugh, because what a Daphne thought. Imane is like, why do we let it slide when Daphne says stuff like that? Good question. I guess because Daphne’s enthusiasm is pretty charming if you just tune out her words themselves.

Eliott is like, we gave it body and soul … you sure did give it your body, as Daphne observes.

Imane says she’s happy for Eliott and Daphne asks if Imane and Eliott know each other. They smile at each other. Precious. So we’re getting that storyline in S4, let’s hope they do a decent job with it. It could be improved.

Lucas gets a text from his dad about going to mass. Dad guilts him, telling him to think of his mother. Lucas texts back that he’ll go to mass with his boyfriend. We don’t get an answer immediately from the dad, like with Isak; Lucas just tells him and looks over to his boyfriend smiling and laughing with the girls, like he doesn’t care what his dad says in that moment, he’s just going to enjoy being happy with Eliott. He gives Eliott a back hug, it’s very sweet.

Clip 3 - Boy squad = cheerleaders

Basile is talking about sending a song to a girl, presumably Daphne, because this is hell. She didn’t reply. Dude. Take the fucking hint. 

I know I keep complaining about this a million times per post, but I keep being annoyed at Skam France for adding yet another no-means-yes romance where a girl’s stated disinterest is continually ignored by a guy. We already had Noorhelm/Marles. And Vilde/Magnus, whatever you think of them, didn’t have this crap tainting their courtship. 

The boys run into Eliott who looks happy. Lucas proudly introduces Eliott as his boyfriend, without any insecurity, and the boys erupt in cheers like this is one of those videos where everyone’s watching as a kid is opening his email and learning he got accepted to Harvard (🐭🐭🐭). I mean, it is cute that the boys react so positively! I don’t want to discourage straight boys cheering on their gay friend getting a boyfriend. Go wild, throw some confetti, bake a cake.

Basile says Lucas made the boys bolt on Friday and is upset he didn’t get to paint. I feel like Basile’s “misunderstood genius” left uninterrupted would definitely have resulted in several big-tittied anime girls on that wall. The boys invite Eliott to the park on Wednesday. Eliott agrees to go even though Lucas points out he has class then. I guess maybe that’s a sign of Eliott being manic? Maybe? Like he doesn’t care about school and is being reckless? 

Basile makes an incest joke. Not his first in the season.

The boys really do seem cute running away, I love Arthur’s moves! But again, I am never letting that “it’s not Disneyland” comment go, because everything is so shiny-happy. It’s not just positive in a realistic way, it’s that song that from The Lego Movie. With Isak, he was still shy after he came out to his friends because you know, he was a human being and turning off internalized homophobia wasn’t like flicking a light switch. He got more comfortable over time. And the boys were very excited to meet Even but in a chill, non-OTT way (even Magnus).  

With content like this, I do think it is valuable to show exceedingly positive social support for a gay teenager coming out and getting a boyfriend, like I do feel a little bad having any nitpicks about this. Likewise, I hate to have any reservations about Lucas getting so totally open and affectionate with Eliott so fast, because this is the end goal, obviously, we want to see Lucas happy and thriving and out and proud. You could make the argument that now he knows his friends accept him, he can let go of his insecurities in full (I don’t know how I feel about that because I don’t think Lucas’ problem was solely about whether his friends would accept him, for instance the Pride scene was more about internalized homophobia). And I do think they wanted to make Lucas as happy as possible this week before bringing him down at the end of the episode, for the impact. But combined with stuff like treating his outing as no big deal, and cleaning house last week and putting the Chloé and Imane clips in that episode so we got those conflicts and plot threads out of the way, and then how Lucas is so 100% okay with announcing Eliott as his boyfriend and joking about their sex life and kissing him and embracing him in public, all of this right off the bat ... to me it almost feels like they wanted to skip over the inner conflict, any hesitation or lingering insecurities, and just get straight to the cuddly ship content. And I mean, I approve of cuddly ship content! It just seems a little pat? You can make something idealistic and realistic. I guess Skam resolved some conflicts easily, too, but I felt like Isak’s character development was gradual and earned, whereas Lucas’ lacks some nuance here. 

Lucas gets a phone call and it’s from Lucille. I find it kinda weird we didn’t even hear her voice because that would be Lucas’ POV in this important moment. Eliott talks to Lucille and it doesn’t really seem like… alarming like it did with Even, that rapid change in mood. He just sounds annoyed that she’s calling Lucas and he told her not to. 

Lucas asks why Lucille called, Eliott is like IDK, to bullshit you. Which honestly, seems like a reasonable enough response? I don’t get why Lucas looks at Eliott like Eliott is the one bullshitting him. It’s not nice but Eliott’s ex calling Lucas just to harass him or tell him to stay away is not a thing that’s all that unusual, it happens. Even was a lot harsher in attitude and weirder in what he said (”she doesn’t like people who live free and genuine”). Anyway, then Eliott says Lucille can’t control him (Eliott) anymore and is trying to go through Lucas. Eliott kisses Lucas, plays with his hair (which seems to be their Thing, which is adorable), kisses him again, leaves, comes back for another kiss. He pulls an Even and walks off backwards. Lucas blows him a kiss after he’s gone. Well, that’s the cutest thing I’ve seen from Lucas so far, and very endearing.

Clip 4 - Het drama? In my S3? It’s more likely than you think

Everyone, both boy and girl squads are having a picnic. There’s a cool effect where someone wipes away the time card as they walk through the frame, I don’t remember seeing anything like that before on Skam France or any other remake. Stuff like that is just a fun way to play with the format.

Is that the same lake as the one in the first clip of the season? Would be nice to call back, since Lucas was feeling detached back then, and now he’s surrounded by friends and literally lying in his man’s arms. Speaking of, Lucas and Eliott are a little ways off from everyone else, and like I said, Lucas is being cozy in Eliott’s arms. They talk about doing something this weekend; Eliott mentions that Lisa blacklisted him from the flatshare and I DO NOT BLAME HER after what happened on that couch. Although I guess you could say the other flatmates deserve it after relegating Lucas to the sofa. 

Eliott mentions his parents will be there that weekend. Wait, so I thought he lived alone? Didn’t someone involved with the show say that? Guess I was wrong. Or are his parents just coming to visit? Anyway, obviously this is setup for them getting a hotel room or whatever their version is. 

Okay: absolutely fucking ridiculous that this 4-minute clip features less than a minute actually focused on Lucas’ POV, in Lucas’ season. At the end of the season? Sure, absolutely, we’re wrapping up the season’s storylines and giving everyone some closure and/or setup for the next season. Switching POVs is perfectly fine then. But in the middle of the season??? What’s more - in the middle of episode 8??????? The end of episode 8 is a hugely important turn of the story. It twists everything we know about the Even character on its head, it’s an intense scene, even frightening. It should have us looking back, noticing the signs we didn’t know were there on first viewing. This is one of the worst times they could cut for an interlude about everyone else - let alone for crappy het romance drama.

They could’ve used these three minutes to hint at Eliott’s mania! Or put in some content about Lucas’ parents, especially with Lucas’ mom since he’s going to come out to her soon! You can even keep the picnic with everyone else, just have Eliott doing or saying something that in retrospect is a big-ass pile of foreshadowing. Considering this week has been very light on those hints so far, this would have been a perfect opportunity. At the very least, if you need that mandatory girl squad content, we could have seen all this het romance through Lucas’ eyes, like he’s not even in the scene with these people, really? It’s not like he’s watching or listening to them, he and Eliott are in their own little bubble. So just stay in the bubble with them, or let others into their bubble, or don’t have them in the bubble - they can be cuddling closer to everyone else and interacting with them. 

Keep in mind that there was no French “5 fine frøkner” either, lmao. They cut that out and we got this scene instead. And like I said, I’m totally fine with the kitchen sing-along not being there, but if what we get instead is shit that has nothing to do with Lucas and isn’t even from his POV, to focus on a bunch of (terrible) m/f pairings ... then I’m going to get exasperated.

Basile worms in between Emma and Daphne, like legit shoves Emma to the side. Daphne is reading a book. Basile tries to make small talk, Daphne ignores him (as she well should) and talks to Emma over him. Basile asks her out for coffee, Daphne is like, I’m studying. With a respectful human being, the conversation would end here. It’s appalling to me that even these little moments are chock full of Basile’s entitlement! Daphne says she’s reading, so either a) she is genuinely trying to enjoy her book or get some homework done or b) she just really doesn’t want to talk to Basile or c) both but IN ANY CASE he needs to get the fucking picture, she is not interested in continuing this conversation. I had to vent after I saw this scene because I’m just astonished by how thoroughly awful this relationship has been depicted, like they are hitting ALL the typical entitled dude moments. 

Anyway, welcome to hell. Arthur gives Basile the signal to keep going (and Arthur’s on my shit list, too, for enabling this behavior - like lol, here’s toxic masculinity for you). Basile asks if she heard the song he sent her. Daphne is like … the song with the deeply inappropriate lyrics? So not only is he continuing to bother her when she wants to be left alone, but the song he sent he was overly sexual? GEE WHY WOULD ANYONE THINK THIS IS HARASSMENT.

Arthur and Yann chide Basile for sending such a forward song, Yann told him to be less upfront so Daphne would want him. Yann is on my shit list, too! Stop encouraging this creepy behavior! This is like a textbook study of how guys enforce toxic masculinity, for real, because Arthur and Yann know full well that Daphne has said no a million times, she said no again 10 seconds ago while the boys were right there, and yet that’s not enough for them, either. They’re not telling Basile to back off.

Basile is like, what’s the point, no one wants me, and gets up and walks away. Lol, so this shit is about Basile’s poor feelings. Not Daphne’s, not how she felt when Basile was trying to hump her on the dance floor or never the shutting the fuck up about how he wants her. Basile being sad because he did a creepy thing and it wasn’t well-received. Of course. (I seriously think you could write that moment of him saying no one wants him in a way that’s poignant and sympathetic, but you have to build it up in a way where we can feel sorry for him without caveats. If you wanted me to feel sorry for him, don’t write him as persistently going after a girl who has said she’s not interested!)

Yann and Arthur talk to Daphne and are like, he probably didn’t even read the lyrics! Er, not Daphne’s fucking fault that Basile was lazy. The song was titled “May she love me.” The boys are like, how cute! OF FUCKING COURSE Daphne smiles a little after that as she looks at Basile walking off. The boys encourage Daphne to give him a chance. OF FUCKING COURSE men are telling a woman to give a poor guy a chance after she’s already said no over and over again. 

Did anyone realize this is some Nice Guy nonsense, too? That Basile, he’s really a decent guy! He’s so sweet and nice with his well-intentioned song choice! So why doesn’t Daphne give him a chance, hmm? I mean Basile is such a Nice Guy and yet no one will love him.

I’m sorry I cannot stop talking about this but it is astonishing how much crap they have packed into every goddamn scene of this nonsense. This is a man’s fantasy, this is a woman’s nightmare. Actually, no, - it’s women’s reality, because it happens often enough that men don’t give a shit about our boundaries and our rejections (however firm or polite) that this is a whole subset of feminist discourse, that we have terms like Nice Guy because these attitudes are so prevalent they merit a common phrase, that almost every woman has stories about some dude who wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Manon’s hat

That’s the comment, Manon’s fucking hat

The other girls are messing with Romain about period blood, heh. Manon goes after Emma when Emma walks off. (We get treated to yet more dialogue from Yann and Arthur trying to persuade Daphne to give Basile a chance, siiiiiiigh. Let the girl read her book!) Emma is bummed because Raptor Alex didn’t respond to Emma’s invitation and he’s seeing another girl tonight. Emma also slept with another guy, Manon is impressed by how she can do that. But Emma said it sucked with that other guy and that with Alex the sex was good, it was just that when he opened his mouth that she was turned off. Lmao, Emma, some things just aren’t meant to be that serious? He’s good in bed but he’s not that interesting of a person. It’s fine. Either keep your FWB thing going or find someone you can bang while also having stimulating conversations or whatever.

Emma says Manon and Alex have more to talk about than she and Alex, and that she saw them the other day. Talking about Charles, obviously. Emma lets on that she knows something is wrong with Manon, and she’s waiting for Manon to talk about it. This scene’s a lot like the talk between Yann and Lucas in episode 5, except somehow I don’t think Emma is going to walk away once Manon opens up.

Manon says it’s complicated with Charles and she doesn’t know if he’s coming back. Emma says she’ll wait for Manon to open up. Manon gets teary. Apart from the fact that this is not in Lucas’ POV, and that this is about crappy straight pairings, on its own this is a really nice interaction between the two of them.

But can we talk about how absolutely awful the het pairings on this show are? We have Manon/Charles with their ramped-up alpha male crap in S2 and then what he did to Manon in London, which was despicable. We have Emma/Alex, who are functional as fuckbuddies but have no real intellectual or emotional connection (fine for what it is, but don’t tell me this is supposed to be a real romance). We have Alex/Romain, the bi girl with the boyfriend who’s fetishizing her and asking her for a threesome the minute after she comes out to him, basically. She seems done with him already, like she’s just dating him out of habit now. And we have Basile/Daphne, at the very bottom of the trash heap. I want Imane to have a love interest who’s genuinely great and who deserves her, but seriously, the bar is so low that French Yousef could basically lie on the ground and roll over it.

Clip 5 - Boat bangin’

Eliott leads Lucas to his surprise at the docks. There’s some cute banter with them; they do have nice chemistry when they’re directed well and allowed to be free with each other (when it’s been off I chalk that up to scenes being rushed more than the actors, but it hasn’t been often). Missed opportunity to do something interesting with POV, though? The boat and the dock are shown immediately, but since Eliott is covering Lucas’ eyes, they could replicate the sense of surprise by not showing the boat right away, just have a closeup on Lucas and Eliott until Eliott tells him to look, so we see the reveal when he does.

Eliott shows Lucas that they’re on a boat and Lucas is stunned and happy. He asks how Eliott paid for the boat and Eliott just blows off that question and swoops in for a kiss, and I mean, when a face that pretty is that happy, are you going to question it? Maxence does seem to be doing a nice job with the manic signs here; he’s just a little elevated and giddy, and it could certainly just be excitement to be alone with his new boyfriend, but it also registers as slightly higher than Eliott’s usual range to me. 

Eliott yells about his hot boyfriend to the water and he and Lucas goof around, it’s very cute. Lucas says no one has ever done anything like this for him. Awwww. But also, you understand why he’s letting the question of how Eliott paid for the boat slide. He’s just thrilled to be with him and touched by the grand gesture.

Inside the boat, Eliott pours champagne for him and Lucas. It’s not real champagne, as it turns out. I do like how this scene is shot, I don’t like a lot of Skam France’s directing but this is working for me. The scene on the deck was beautiful like a romantic movie scene, like it’s supposed to feel for Lucas, a combination of light and dark. But now the darkness inside the boat feels a little more stifling, in my opinion. I like that we see them from the side, considering each other. 

Eliott tells Lucas to try to eat some Italian ham, and I do like how Lucas is playacting like they’re living it up and being fancy. It’s a good thing because there is no fucking way on this planet that eating that ham is a sexy move. It is the opposite of sexy.  Eliott snatches ham from Lucas. Even the literal male model cannot make eating ham look sexy. Lucas describes the ham in sensual detail. Lucas says that it’s so good, you’d have thought Eliott cooked it. Eliott laughs and there’s a long look, which gets kind of intense? There’s something lingering in the air. I guess I was wrong, because these two seem immensely aroused by eating ham. Okay. No judgment. Glad you two found each other.

Eliott lights a cigarette, and like smoking kills and all, but objectively way sexier than eating ham. He shotguns with Lucas like Lucas did with Chloé in episode 1, except Eliott is way more skilled at it and obviously this is way sexier/more fulfilling to Lucas. Lucas is ready to fuuuuuuuuck. 

They smile at each other, very fond of each other, in love, and then we cut to the sex scene. To Skam France’s credit: they’re not shy or coy about showing the gay intimacy. The actors seem to be pretty naked. Stuff happens.

I personally don’t find this kind of sex scene terribly sexy, because the mechanics of bodies are less interesting to me than the characters’ emotions during the scene, usually (unless there’s something really unusual or notable going on, lol). The Evak hotel clip happened to be the exact kind of TV/movie sex scene I like: more suggestive than explicit, more focused on their faces and their expressions. With Lucas and Eliott, I give massive props to the actors for going this far with each other, and they’re not shy or uncomfortable, but I also wish we saw more of their expressions so this scene felt like them and not any two bodies going at it? But anyway, again, not a flaw of the scene, just a personal preference.

Anyway, in the afterglow, Lucas looks totally fucked into contentment and says he wants to live his life on the barge. Eliott says he does too and starts talking about renting it for the wedding and getting lots of ham and crisps, ONLY ham and crisps for their wedding. Lucas thinks that sounds like a disappointing wedding menu. Eliott starts eagerly rambling about how their wedding will be so great that everyone will only want ham and crisps at their weddings and caterers will go out of business and somehow Trump is involved because ham isn’t enough of a boner killer, we gotta have Trump mentioned, too. Lucas is kinda amused, with a trace of “huh.”

He talks more about the Ham Cold War and going off on a barge and the sound effect from the Skam hotel clip happens, or at least there’s this low rumbling like it might almost be the motor or mechanics of the boat? Whatever it is, it’s ominous, it signifies this conversation getting less goofy and idealistic, more like reality crashing on Lucas as he realizes something’s off about Eliott.

I like how they shot Eliott in this scene. He’s facing that camera and we’re very close to him, so it adds to the intensity of what he’s saying. The editing is also slightly choppy, some cuts between what Eliott is saying, it’s fractured and disjointed like the thoughts in his head, harder to follow.

Eliott just keeps going with this story, like he’s writing a novel in his head involving Trump and making friends with a drug lord and having to deliver weed via boat globally. Like, the kind of thing that could be just messing around, inventing a funny story, except for intense Eliott is about it. It’s making him crack up, he can’t stop laughing. And he doesn’t notice (or care) that Lucas isn’t really following or participating in this story, Eliott is off on his own adventure.

Lucas is just like … wow. Now confused. Either Eliott is drunk as fuck or there’s something really strange happening.

Eliott lies beside Lucas and asks about the Eliotts and Lucases in parallel universes. Then he says they should die tonight. RECORD SCRATCH. Lucas is taken aback to say the least. Why would Eliott say that? Eliott kisses Lucas on the forehead and says he’s kidding. He snuggles up to Lucas and Lucas is bothered. I mean, yeah, who wouldn’t be after your boyfriend casually suggests a double suicide? This ain’t Romeo + Juliet. (Although honestly, I feel like this might be more in line with Even’s characterization, since he’s the one who thinks “the only way to have something forever is by losing it” which would go along with the idea of dying at one’s peak, and he’s also the one making references to death or suicide throughout S3. Eliott doesn’t really talk about death or suicide, as far as I can remember?)

Clip 6 - Ship sinking

It’s later, Lucas is sleeping. He wakes up and Eliott is sitting by the side of the bed watching him. If you didn’t know the twist, you might think Eliott lured Lucas out to this boat to murder him. And here I thought Lucas was the one with the serial killer vibe. Lucas asks if he ever sleeps. Er, have we gotten a ton of hints that Eliott doesn’t sleep? I mean thinking about it, there was no reason for Eliott to be asleep in the cuddle scene in episode 5, because their make-out was in the middle of the day. Not unusual for him to stay awake. Did he say something in the kitchen scene that implied he hadn’t slept? We also didn’t get any middle of the night texts, as with Even. But Eliott says he can’t sleep with someone this hot in the bed. He sounds deadly somber when he says it, though. Lucas smiles and goes back to sleep.

Cut to later. Somewhat blurry lens because Lucas is drowsy and it represents his hazy state of mind. Eliott is naked and lacing up his sneakers. He says he’s going for a swim. Bare ass. Lucas is about to fall back asleep when he’s like … wait a second. He gets dressed, runs around the boat looking for Eliott and calling his name.

Was there a splash? I didn’t hear one. Better if there wasn’t a splash, but then you have no idea where Eliott is. And for Lucas, hearing that whole thing about “let’s die tonight” is going to make him panic even more.

Lucas is yelling and in tears, he calls Lucille. Axel does a nice job here. There’s the sound of police/ambulance/whatever those sirens are in the background, so did they find Eliott? Or are they just thematic at the moment? (The sirens were in the original Skam scene, too.) Lucas asks Lucille to come. Lucas screams and freaks out, he’s shaking.

Lucille shows up on the boat and Lucas tells her what happened. He;s more angry and upset and spitting than Isak, which makes sense with Lucas’ temper. But he’s also unraveling and in tears. Lucas describes how Eliott said he was going for a swim, and he doesn’t think Eliott jumped, but he was naked. 

Lucille says they have to hope the cops find him. When Lucas says he doesn’t understand, Lucille screams at him that Eliott is bipolar and broke into the barge. Lucas is like … he said he rented it. Lucille is like, for fuck’s sake, how do you think he paid for it? I dont know, is it totally out of the question Eliott has rich parents who give him a sizable allowance? I assumed Even just charged way too fucking much for that hotel suite or that he wiped out his savings or something, and Eliott could’ve done something similar. Though granted, I don’t know how much a weekend in a French barge costs. Anyway, I guess the point is that Lucas was so wrapped up in the fantasy that he didn’t bother to ask for further details, which is true.

Lucille asks if they smoked, pissed a hell. Lucas says just a little. Lucille says it makes Eliott sick and is bad for him. I mean, as I said about the Skam scene -that’s not Lucas’/Isak’s fault, that’s on Eliott/Even to know what he can and can’t do.

The way they lit and framed Lucille in this scene makes her seem kinda villainous, tbh. Or at least more dominant - it appears like she’s literally looking down at Lucas. I mean, she is very tall, heh.

Lucille gets a call, they’ve found Eliott. Lucas questions if they should call his parents, Lucille is like YES they should, obviously, he was naked in the street after he broke into a barge and he was smoking weed. I cannot disagree with Lucille on this.

Lucas wants to go with Lucille, but Lucille says no, Lucas needs to stay away, Eliott doesn’t love him, he can’t love him, it’s just something inside his head. She says Lucas is nothing to Eliott, he’s just a passing craze. What Lucille doesn’t know is that Lucas ain’t no passing phase, Hakuna Matata. Lucas sits down and cries after she leaves. Deeply dramatic piano music plays as he sobs. It gets a little too soap opera-ish here at the end, although I get that it’s a very intense scene; I just think the impact would’ve been just as great if they dialed it to a 10 instead of an 11. But you know, it’s Skam France.

Yeah, they made Lucille way more of an OTT villain here. I have to assume they’ll give her chance to speak for herself and humanize her like with Sonja, but it felt they escalated her less from someone who was just frustrated and concerned to someone who was operating out of spite, especially with the way they structured the scene. Like Sonja had the “he doesn’t love you” part earlier and she wasn’t like spitting at him. Isak was in disbelief, and she just left him like she was fed up. But they saved that “he doesn’t love you” part here for the final insult, the last knife to the ribs, and they made it more intense, too, like YOU’RE NOTHING TO HIM. Okay, Lucille, we get the picture, you can go back to punishing those kids for eating your gingerbread house.

I was pretty worried that this scene was going to be overly dramatic verging on exploitative, considering Skam France’s tendency to go over-the-top. But actually I think this set of clips was fine, other than the very end which was too much for my taste. The acting was strong and there were some solid directing choices. My biggest criticism is that they could have hinted at Eliott’s mania more before this clip, and that there wasn’t so much foreshadowing for this scene, in my opinion. And with Skam it wasn’t just about the clues that Even was bipolar, either, but the buildup of tension that something was off. Things like Eliott’s texts in the middle of the night about random memes managed to feel ominous, because we knew Even wasn’t sleeping. There are some moments that arguably were supposed to be hints about Eliott being manic, but I didn’t feel like they were so different from the rest of the acting/writing/directing/pacing that they really registered. So overall: buildup weak, payoff good on its own.

Social Media/General Comments

Lucas is shown hacking into the sink from the omelette that Eliott made, but I’m not convinced it wasn’t the paint. He posts a picture of the eggs like “If I get food poisoning, you’ll know why” YES BECAUSE YOUR MOUTHS WERE GUZZLING ART SUPPLIES OFF EACH OTHER LAST NIGHT.

Lucas did like all the meaningful posts on Eliott’s secret IG, like sketches of the rain and piano.

Eliott sleeps and Lucas cuddles him while singing a cover of “Call Your Girlfriend.” Sick Skam reference! (Actually I think Skam France's OG homages are really sweet.)

Lots of Eliott and Lucas couple selfies, with cuddly captions like “Him” or comments like “raccoon <3 hedgehog” emojis. Eliott draws another sketch of their fursonas together in all parallel universes.

Skam France also did something where they posted the sketch with pictures of the three Evaks out at the time, (from Norway, Italia, and France) which was seriously very cute and respectful of them. 

Basile is wearing a Game of Thrones T-shirt (”Hodor Hodor Hodor”) in an IG pic and not to judge because I watch Game of Thrones myself, I’m literally wearing socks with the House Targaryen sigil on them right now, but yeah, that sounds about right for his character.

There’s also a dick print on the mural, it seems? For fuck’s sake, how could Eliott and Lucas possibly have any satisfying sex with paint slathered over their junk? Or did they wait until they were finished and just wiped off the paint by plastering their bodies against the mural? Maybe that’s how they cleaned themselves up. But how could you possibly get that good of a penis shape without just like ... dipping your dick into the bucket of paint itself? How could you position your dick and balls against the wall that way to get the imprint? Anyway, Alex and Emma have a bet over whose dick it is. I don’t think it’s anyone’s actual dick, Eliott and/or Lucas just thought it would be funny to paint something that looked like one. 

Lucas brings up the Lucille call in a text to Eliott, saying that maybe Lucille had something to tell him, and that Eliott told her to fuck off. Eliott brings up that it’s something they had in common: Eliott told Lucille to fuck off so he could be with Lucas, Lucas told his friends to fuck off so he could be with Eliott (on Friday in the foyer). Well. Not totally the same, Eliott, but I feel like this is almost a diversion from what Lucas wants to know. Eliott says sometimes you have to tell people to fuck off to live your life. Lucas seems appeased by this answer for now, because he doesn’t push the topic, just says he’s happy Eliott is going with them tomorrow to the park.

I am not French so please feel free to correct me on translation or cultural notes.

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

[skamamoroma]

I remember, after watching the hotel scene in the original Skam having this awful sinking feeling because I couldn’t help but think “Isak isn’t mature enough to handle this, he isn’t ready to work this out and be what he would want himself to be” and worrying that what happened with Even would make him struggle more.

But then the end of the season came and we saw him grow and mature and learn and still fumble but act out of so much love. He was so gentle and caring and affectionate and understanding and, the best part, fierce. He loved Even so strongly that he flat out refused to let Even back off, refused to let Even downplay what they are and he fought and protected and put things in place to make sure Even was looked after and though all of that, he found actual peace because he could control stuff! He got to be what someone else needed and wanted and it gave him this ability to realise what’s important and how full of love he actually was despite so many people in his life making him question that.

So, when I saw Marti in that same position, I had the same initial worries even if I do think Marti is a strong kid, he’s a year behind Isak. He hasn’t had to fend for himself or live alone or deal with as much as Isak did. He’s handled a lot but he’s in a different place so my worries for him were so reminiscent of my worries for Isak.

BUT, then I always go back to him reaching to stroke Nico’s cheek so early on. Nothing promoted that other than his enormous capacity for gentle affection for the person you love when they seem like they need it.

I just can’t wait to see the same transition in Marti as we saw with Isak because I know it will happen and I know it’ll be different but although it’s unfortunate for any young person to have to experience distressing things (the same way it is for Nico), the lessons that are learned at the end of this story are so so so so beautiful and always make me just want to cry because it all so hopeful.

So yeah, this is the ridiculously long way of saying that I can’t wait for the next 2 weeks, to see Marti grow.

[milominderbindered]

thirty days of skam fic: day five

beginning. accusation. restless. leaves. rainbow. flame. formal. under. move. silver. prepared. knowledge. denial. cans. order. thanks. look. summer. transformation. tremble. tent. mad. thousand. paper. winter. luxury. letters. promise. simple. future.

[ READ ON AO3 ]

Oslo’s pride parade falls three days after Isak’s eighteenth birthday.

The second he finds that out, Even is delighted.  Isak just rolls his eyes at the enthusiasm, but he has to admit he’d had a text from Eskild three days before pointing out the same thing -- little cupcake, I can’t believe you’re so wonderfully gay that the entire city is throwing a pride celebration on your birthday weekend! Let your guru take you to the parade, pretty please? I promise to leave my tights at home!

Even had only laughed when he read the text, but in hindsight, that was probably the moment he started planning .

-----

Isak’s actual eighteenth birthday goes great.  It’s a Wednesday, so they don’t have a massive party or anything, but Even brings him cake in bed in the morning and gives him a blowjob in the shower, and it also happens to be the last day of the term, so school goes by like a breeze and none of their teachers make them do anything.  In the evening, the guys come around to get high and eat pizza and have a Mario Kart tournament, and give him presents -- two cases of beer and a new snapback.  After they’ve gone, him and Even have slightly tipsy, giggly sex, and Isak falls asleep being cuddled to within an inch of his life.

His parents both text him, but he doesn’t meet up with either of them.  It’s probably the best birthday Isak’s ever had.

But then he wastes the whole of Thursday and Friday in that first-days-of-summer sort of haze, and before he knows it, Saturday has rolled around.  That’s where the antics really begin.

After Eskild’s increasingly dramatic texts on the subject, Isak had agreed to come watch the pride parade with him -- from a distance, not joining in or anything, just hanging out there.  The thought doesn’t bother him like it used to, but he’s still not the type to get involved. As far as he knows, that’s the end of it; he’s gonna meet up with Eskild at the parade, and then get a belated birthday lunch together with him and Even, maybe go to a club afterwards for a couple of drinks.  Simple.

Except on Saturday morning, while Even is in the shower and Isak is brushing his teeth over their kitchen sink and listening to the off-beat singing coming from the bathroom, there is suddenly a series of insistently cheerful knocks at the front door.  He freezes, warily turning around and eyeing the entryway.  They’re not expecting anybody, and they don’t exactly live in a great area; he doesn’t think murderers usually knock politely, but you never know.

Then a voice rings through the door.  “Hello-ooo!  Isak, I know you’re in there!”

Now that is a voice Isak knows.  He’d spent quite a few months being very used to that voice barging into his room at every opportunity, and calling to him across the flat when it was Isak’s turn to do the washing up, or someone very vitally needed an opinion on a meme.  Toothbrush still hanging out of the corner of his mouth, Isak swings the door open, and is met with the sight of Eskild -- rainbow leggings, sparkly eyeshadow, pink feather boa and all.  

Isak grins.  A year ago, he couldn’t have handled the idea of going anywhere with Eskild dressed like that, but now he mostly just feels fond.

“Hi, Eskild,” he says, removing his toothbrush from his mouth and rolling his eyes as Eskild pushes past him into the flat.  “What are you doing here?  I thought we were meeting up later.”

Eskild gasps, throwing a hand to his chest as he makes his way through the room and plonks a large carrier bag down onto the bed.

“You didn’t think I was going to let you go to your first ever pride without vetting your wardrobe choices at all, did you?  I mean, just look at you!”  He waves an expressive hand, and Isak looks down at himself reflexively; he’s still in his pyjamas, though, so he doesn’t think Eskild’s allowed to judge his boxer shorts and Jesus t-shirt.

Of course, considering how long he’s known Eskild by now, he probably should have expected something like this.  Deciding to not really be surprised at all, Isak spits his toothpaste out into the sink and puts down his toothbrush before finally following Eskild into the living/dining/bedroom of his and Even’s tiny flat.  

“Besides, Even gave me permission to doll you up.  Now, I have three outfit options for you,” Eskild informs him, guiding Isak towards the bed with a flourish before Isak can manage to get a word in edgeways.  “Before you get all stressed, though, I really have thought about you long and hard while I was choosing!  I know you're not as sure about all this stuff as I am sometimes, so I haven’t got you a matching feather boa or anything -- although if you ever do want to match outfits with me that is amazing and I completely already know what we would wear -- but anyway. You've come so far, and I'm so proud of you learning to be proud of yourself, and for growing from my tiny little baby gay in denial to a big, grown up professional gay with a live-in boyfriend and everything!  So it's completely up to you what you wanna choose.”

Isak is still no good at getting emotional with Eskild in real life. He finds it much easier to send sincere texts at 3am which he then refuses to address in the light of day; the truth is, Eskild has meant more to him over the last year and a half than most people have his whole life, and Isak can't imagine life without his guru anymore.  He goes through a small whirlwind of emotions listening to Eskild’s little speech, but there's no way he can say that.  

“Okay, shut up,” he mumbles, crossing his arms over his chest and rolling his neck around a bit, fondly avoiding Eskild’s eyes. “What are these outfits, then?”

The first thing Eskild pulls out has Isak blinking in shock, which he'd been expecting, but not for the reasons he was expecting.

“Grey jeans, red t-shirt.  You can even wear your snapback,” Eskild announces, dropping the crumpled bundle of Isak’s usual clothes onto the bed.

“Uh. That's your super special pride outfit for me?  Eskild, I wore those exact clothes to school last week.  How do you even have those?”

Eskild rolls his eyes with a level of dramaticism Isak could only hope to one day achieve.

“Your boyfriend keeps coming to do washing at our place because he thinks the dryer here is cursed.  And I know they’re your normal clothes.  Do you think I'm an idiot?  This is my gesture, little baby -- you don't have to be somebody you're not just to go to pride.  You're still gay and you're still allowed to be there and have a wonderful time, even in your wrinkled rapper t-shirt and silly hat.”

“This is starting to feel more like insulting than encouraging,” Isak says, because he doesn't know how to express every overwhelming thing he is feeling right then. Still, he shifts a little closer to Eskild as he carries on, “Uh, okay though. Didn't you say you had three choices for me?”

Eskild beams.

“You do listen when I talk!  Yes, okay, option number two is --” He reaches into the plastic bag and pulls out a weird palette that looks a bit like it could hold makeup -- “You wear that exact same outfit, but I dust off my fabulous facepainting skills and paint a rainbow flag on your cheek.”

Once again, that’s far milder than Isak had been expecting.  He actually -- and it almost surprises him to realise it -- he actually kind of likes the idea.  It’s not some big production, but he is going to pride for the very first time, and he’s learning his own ways of embracing his sexuality.   When he and Even first moved into this flat he'd let Eskild stick a little rainbow sticker on the doorbell outside, and that feels okay.  And after Even lecturing him on the whole history of the colours, he kind of gets why the rainbow thing is cool.

“Okay,” he says, voice still a bit wary, because this can’t be the summit of Eskild’s grand plans.  “What’s option three, then?”

“Option three is wonderful, that’s what it is.  But only if you want to.  No pressure.”

He once again reaches into the bag, and this time -- yeah, that’s more like what Isak was expecting.  It’s a t-shirt, but coloured in wide rainbow stripes, like it’s literally been made out a gay pride flag.

“You could wear it with those same dirty old jeans,” Eskild says, sounding the tiniest bit hopeful when Isak doesn’t immediately set the shirt on fire or anything.  

And honestly, Isak does consider it.  He spends several long moments hovering quietly, considering the hell out of it.  He’s been doing good, the last few months, at honestly just not caring what people think of him.  He’s got his friends, and good grades, and the love of his life -- why should he care about anything else?  Isak is chilling through life, staying in his lane, not stressing out about the millions of tiny things he used to stress about, and it feels amazing.  He holds hands with Even and kisses him in public and frankly, just doesn’t give a shit if someone doesn’t like it.  That’s so many far strides away from where he was even just six months ago, but Isak’s had his priorities completely rearranged since then. In a way, he’d like to be the sort of person who could put on that t-shirt and go to pride and show so boldly exactly how he identifies.  But despite how far he’s come, Isak’s still just not sure that’s him.

“Um.” He says, and he knows Eskild immediately realises it’s a no.  “I think I’m gonna go with my own shirt.  But, uh, it’d be cool if you did the facepaint thing.”

Compromise, Isak thinks a little while later, as Eskild paints rainbow stripes onto both of his cheeks.  It’s okay that he’s still figuring this out.  One day, Isak will know exactly how to be proud while still staying true to who he is.

-----

The parade is insane.  It’s bigger and louder and more colourful and more joyful than Isak could have ever imagined.  He stands with Even’s arm wrapped around him, feeling almost overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people there, people of every single kind, people who couldn't possibly look more different to one another but have all come together with such a huge amount of love.  When Isak was first struggling with his sexuality, it felt like he was the only gay guy in his school -- maybe the only gay teenager in the whole city.   But seeing how many people are here, that can't possibly be true, and it makes Isak feel a swell of compassion for his past self. If only he'd known all this back then.  Of course, if he had, life might not have turned out like it did, so he doesn't think he'd change it.

As a float of women on motorbikes go past in the parade and they watch Eskild hitting on a guy wearing pink boxer-briefs and not much else, Even drops a happy kiss onto Isak’s cheek, right in the middle of his rainbow facepaint.

“Have you ever come to pride before?” Isak suddenly thinks to ask.  Even hums a little, squeezing his arms around Isak’s shoulders.

“Yeah, for a few years.  Not necessarily because I’m bi, though -- some of my friends just used to come, because it’s such a fun day.  We’d watch the parade and just hang out and get food and stuff, enjoy being around people who are so happy.”

The thought of that is somehow ridiculously cute.  He knows, now, that Even’s journey to accepting his sexuality wasn’t completely smooth either, but getting to experience something like this probably really helped along the way.

Isak stays wrapped up in Even’s arms for a while more, watching the amazing, extravagant floats go past in the parade, before Even’s phone buzzes in his pocket.  He lets go of Isak to answer a text, and seems surprised by the time. “Come on, let’s go save that guy from Eskild,” Even says, grinning as he tugs on Isak’s hand.  “We’ve got a lunch date to get to.”

Isak holds tight onto Even’s as they weave through the crowds of celebrations.  “We do?”

“Yeah.  As soon as I told the guys we were coming, they all wanted to join, too.  I said we should meet up!”

-----

A year ago Isak couldn’t have imagined himself at pride, but ten times more than that he couldn’t have imagined himself at pride with all his friends.

And yet, there they are.  When they finally drag Eskild away from the half-naked guy and Even leads them a few streets away from where the main parade is happening, to the nearby park, Isak is met with the sight of Jonas, Mahdi and Magnus all spread out on the grass with a picnic.  There’s less of a crowd here, but still a lot of pride celebrators; people in rainbow outfits stretched out on the grass and groups eating sandwiches down next to laid-down placards and a particularly cheerful group of drag queens dancing to a Gabrielle song blaring out of some nearby speakers.  And in the middle of it all, there are Isak’s friends.  

As soon as they spot him, Magnus starts waving over enthusiastically.  Even and Eskild head right towards the guys, Eskild still loudly relating the story of how he ended up getting that guy’s number, but it takes Isak a moment to find his feet.  

These are his friends.  His best friends.  Sure, he’s close to other people, like Sana and Eva, but for the most part everyone Isak considers an important friend is sat on that old picnic blanket.  It shouldn’t feel scary, but for a split second, it does. Even hangs out with them all the time, and all the guys have met Eskild hundreds of times too -- so why does it feel a bit like Isak’s worlds are colliding?

Maybe it’s because he still has those rainbow flags painted on his cheeks.  Isak’s journey with coming out to his friends was always framed around I like a guy, I’m seeing a guy, okay I have a boyfriend, okay I’m in love with a guy, I’m moving in with a guy.   But to this day, he’s not sure he’s actually said the words I’m gay to Jonas, Magnus or Mahdi.

But he is.  He’s so very, very gay.  And he’s fine with that.  It only takes him that one moment of crashing insecurity before he realises that everything is absolutely, totally fine.  He finds his feet and heads over to the blanket, dropping down with a grin and slapping all the guys’s hands in greeting.

“Hey, man,” says Jonas, as he offers Isak a can of coke.  “How’s it going?  Good day?”

As Isak accepts the drink, Even’s arm falls back around his shoulders, tugging him close once again.  Isak doesn’t think Even has actually let go of him for more than a few minutes since they left the flat this morning.

“Yeah.  Yeah, great day, actually.”

“Isak, this place is awesome!” Magnus interjects, with his usual level of enthusiasm.  “You know there’s all, like, music and art stuff going on too?  For ten days ?  Fuck, I can’t believe we’ve never come before!”

“You’ve never had a gay friend before,” Isak points out.   Gay.   He actually says the word, just like that, and none of them even blink.  He knew they’d all probably figured it out from context, but he wasn’t sure if he was the only one who’d noticed that he was still holding back on saying it.  Apparently, he was.

“Well, consider this a thanks for introducing us to pride,” Mahdi jokes, raising his drink towards Isak.  Isak laughs, which has Even laughing too, as he presses a kiss into Isak’s hair.  Eskild clears his throat.

“Um, excuse me!  I think you’re all forgetting who is introducing Isak to pride at this very moment.”

“Yeah, yeah, thanks Eskild.”  Isak rolls his eyes, but the boys all raise their drinks to Eskild as well, so at least he’s happy.

“Come on, man, let’s eat,” Jonas says, reaching for one of the sandwiches piled up in front of them.

“Yeah, Jonas’s mum made this whole wicked lunch for us!”

Jonas rolls his eyes.  “She loves Isak more than me, I swear.  She told me to make my own food until I said we were taking you to pride, then she was all like -- like, oh, you won’t cut the sandwiches the way he likes anyway, and let me just make a couple batches of cupcakes.”

They all laugh, and Isak’s heart feels light as he reaches out for one of the cupcakes.  They look delicious.  And fuck it, this is his birthday-slash-happy-gay-pride celebration, he can eat dessert first if he wants to.

“Yeah, hurry up and eat though!” Magnus adds.  “I printed out the schedule and, fuck, there’s this dance thing in like -- thirty minutes, that we totally have to go to!”

He hands a slightly crumpled sheet of paper to Mahdi, who looks equally invested, and Isak can’t help but smile.  Eskild starts telling an outrageous story about last year’s pride and how he got locked out of the kollektiv with nothing but a tiny rainbow flag to cover his junk with, and all the guys are enraptured by the story, and Isak just looks around, eating another bit of cake.   Yeah, okay, he thinks.   My life is pretty great.

-----

That night, Isak picks up the rainbow t-shirt Eskild had brought him earlier, and considers it for a moment. It's really not the sort of thing Isak would ever wear out in public. He's not sure if that has to do with the lingering twinges of shame he still feels sometimes about broadcasting his sexuality, or whether he can simply dismiss it as the fact that he doesn't really wear bright colours.  

But he gets it -- he gets that the rainbow means something.  Not just to him, but to an entire history of people, a kind of culture that he actually belongs to. That he's learning to belong to. Isak looks at the shirt for a while, paused in the midst of getting ready for bed, the faint sounds of Even’s shower fading into silence as his thoughts drown it out.

Isak takes off the white Jesus t-shirt he usually wears to bed, and puts on the rainbow shirt instead. It probably looks ridiculous with his grey sweatpants, he thinks, but pyjamas don't have to look sensible.  The t-shirt is soft, and Isak climbs onto the bed, somehow feeling calmer than he has in a while.

Even grins when he comes out of the shower and catches the sight of Isak sat there, scrolling down his phone boredly, new outfit on show. But he doesn't say anything much -- just wraps his arms extra tight around Isak as they climb under the duvet together, and presses a kiss to his shoulder, over the fabric of the t-shirt.

Even falls asleep first, but Isak lies awake in the dark just a little bit longer, thinking. He thinks that he's got his eighteenth year off to a really good start. He thinks he barely even recognises his life a year ago, and that's a good thing. He thinks he's finally understanding some of the things Eskild has always tried to tell him about pride. Most of all, Isak thinks about how scared he used to be, terrified, not because of his sexuality itself, but because of the stereotypes he thought other people would apply to him if they found out.  Whether because of religion or just society, Isak hated the thought of having someone else's ideas of his identity imposed on him just because of who he liked to kiss; it felt, for a while, like coming out would also mean losing everything Isak had decided about himself. The things he liked. The things he found normal. At first, those fears had been what made him push too far in the other direction, desperate to be just a normal guy who happened to kiss guys, not even using the word gay.  

But he's come far since then. Isak is never going to be like Eskild, or some of those guys he saw in the parade today, but that doesn't make him better or worse than them. And as he drifts off to sleep, in his rainbow t-shirt and his boyfriend's arms, smudges of face paint still lingering on his cheek, Isak thinks -- he might finally be figuring out his own balance.

[imyourliquor-youremypoison]

Off Limits (Skam - Chris x OC) Part 21

Pairing: Chris x OC

Synopsis: Mara Magnusson has always had everything she ever wanted in her life, except for one thing. The boyish charm of her brother’s childhood friend had wrecked her poor heart and ruined her for any other guy – you can trust her, she has tried. She could see the way he looked at her, though she knew there were rules about not hitting on your best friend’s little sister. Luckily for her, there were no restrictions when it was the other way around.

Word count: 4.6k

A/N: THE END, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!! There will be an epilogue but this is the last chapter!! It’s longer and it’s fluffier than usual (they fucking deserve it!!) so forgive me for all the mushy stuff, I hope y’all have a sweet tooth! I really like the last part, but I have doubts about the two previous ones (this doesn’t make sense before you read it, but the chapter is divided in three parts because there are two time jumps). Anyway, ENJOY and send me the love because I’m still sick and coughing and seeing double and I wrote this chapter despite it all :(

MASTERLIST

Part 20 <<< >>> Epilogue

“No date tonight?” Chris asked, plopping down on a bench next to William. His friend was busy not looking at Noora, and failing.

“Nothing planned so far,” Will answered, finally detaching his gaze from his unofficial girlfriend – even though everybody knew already – and looking at Chris. He couldn't wait for his black eye to fade away so he could finally turn the page and move on from the hectic last few weeks. “Why are you asking?”

“Because I do.” He shrugged in an attempt to look relaxed but he was a bit tense. “Mara asked me to come over tonight, I was hoping to get rid of you,” Christoffer joked – he was dead serious though.

William was not amused and huffed in exasperation.

“I'm not leaving you alone with my sister in my apartment so you can christian every room,” he groaned.

“Seriously, bro?” Chris complained, frowning and throwing his head back when William gave him a stern look. “Not cool.”

It wasn't the first time William cock-blocked Chris but most of the time he did it because he found Chris fooling around in his bed during a party, not because he wanted to protect a girl's honour. It itched Chris to tell him that Mara's honour was gone since she was fourteen but he kept to himself because Will probably didn't know that. There are certain things a girl doesn't tell her big brother.

“I'll be there the whole time, looming over you guys and coughing whenever it gets too steamy,” he snickered but his smile vanished when he heard Chris grumble something along the lines of 'you might as well start coughing now'.

“Shut up!” William exclaimed, bringing a leg up on the bench.

“What? It's true! If you know your sister at all, you shoul-”

“She usually doesn't bring the guys she sleeps with home,” William cut him off. “But I guess I'll have to get used to it, you sound- serious about her.”

Serious was a massive understatement but that William didn't need to hear – Chris bet it was obvious. From a single look toward Mara, his eyes gave away how hexed he was. And he wasn't even complaining! Same goes for William – if not a little more, his eyes were practically glued to Noora, he looked at her like she was his sun and stars. Chris hoped he didn't look that dumb when he caught Mara smiling at him randomly during the day, otherwise he would never hear the end of it

from the boys.

“You're not the boy she sleeps with though,” William continued. “You're the idiot she loves. Which sounds even worse said out loud.” He winced as if the words stung.

“I don't think you're supposed to tell me that, Mara has yet to say the words,”, Chris laughed at the 'oh shit' face that William made. “It's fine, I won't say anything.”

“Cool, cool-” Will nodded. “You know I'm just messing with you, right?” He then asked, staring a little harder at Chris. “I'm happy if you're happy. Both of you.”

“You don't look too miserable yourself,” Chris said, gesturing toward the group of girls where Noora was laughing at something girl Chris said. “You sure you don't want to take the girl on a date tonight?”

“Quit trying to set me on a date to be alone with Mara!” William rolled his eyes and Chris began to laugh wholeheartedly, catching the attention of the girls.

*

Three hours into the evening, William was regretting his decision of not going out with Noora and staying at the apartment to chaperone the two idiots currently cuddling on the couch. When he saw them slowly dozing off and falling asleep in front of the TV, he began to wonder why he denied himself a little fun tonight. What came over him? What did he care anyway? Those two have been humping like bunnies for months, he was sure of it, what does it change that he knows it now? Did he ruin both their and his night? God, he needed a drink.

“Cheers to me and my brilliant ideas,” Will grumbled and took a sip of beer.

Mara was right, he was a shit decision maker. There he stood, in the living room's door frame, watching Chris and Mara sleeping soundlessly, their features free of tension as though everything was best in the best of worlds. The bottle of beer almost slipped from his hand when he heard a knock on the door.

He didn't think he could get any more confused but when he opened the door and found Noora standing there, all dressed up and smiling, he did indeed, become more confused.

“Noora?” He asked with a smile. That's all he seemed to do whenever she was around – her very existence was enough to make him smile, especially when she was all dolled up and sheepishly stepped inside the apartment.

“Hi, is it a wrong time?” She asked, although he was obviously not up to much. “Oh! Are you sleeping?” She lowered her tone when she saw Mara huddled against Chris on the couch, their eyes closed.

“It's a perfect time,” William exclaimed in a whisper. “It was getting a little boring to pace around in silence.”

“I came to see if you wanted to go out, Eskild bailed on me for a tinder date, so-” Noora stretched the last syllable, waiting for William to get the hint and ask her to hang out.

“Yeah- yeah sure, we can go anywhere you want! I wanted to ask you out actually but- I don't know, I have no excuse, let's just go and I'll make it up to you,” William rambled as he set his beer on the coffee table and grabbed his jacket from the coat hanger.

“Don't you want to say goodby-” Noora began to ask when William grabbed her arm to lead her out.

“No, let them be, at least when they're asleep they can't get in trouble.”

Oh boy, if only he knew how wrong he was. As soon as William closed the door before them and locked it, Chris opened an eye to make sure they left.

“They are gone,” he whispered, for good measure. “Not too fucking soon!” He exclaimed after a few more seconds and stretched his tired limbs once Mara lifted her head from his shoulder.

“I was going to fall asleep for real, Noora really took her time.”

Mara yawed and mimicked Chris' action. Then she pulled her phone out of her pocket and texted a quick 'thank you so much I owe you one' to Noora. Chris kicked off the blanket that was covering them both and grabbed William's half finished beer on the table.

“Isn't sharing a beer a bit like kissing someone?” Mara teased him as she laid down, resting her head on the armrest and throwing her legs over Chris' lap.

“Wouldn't be the first time,” he answered with a wink before downing the rest of the drink.

“Oh god,” Mara whined, covering her eyes with hers hand. “I didn't need to know that, nor did I want to!”

“Serves you right for making dumb jokes!”

Chris put away the bottle and leaned forward until his face hovered over Mara's and he pulled away her hands to look at her.

“C'mon, don't hide your face from me,” he demanded gently. “You've been drooling on my shoulder for the past thirty minutes, I think I deserve a reward.”

His tone conveyed the smirk on his face and even if he looked at her like he was the hunter and she was the prey, Mara knew she had him wrapped around her finger. She brushed back his rebellious hair with her hand then slipped it behind his neck only to pulled him down and kiss him. Their lips met in an open mouthed kiss  tainted with a bit of roughness due to their frustration after waiting three hours for Will to leave.

“I waited just as long as you, why don't I deserve a reward?” Mara asked when Chris pulled back a second, merely to change positions and climb between her legs.

He could feel her welcoming his weigh on top of her, the way her thigh clutched his hips and her legs wrapped around him – there was no better feeling in the world to him. With one hand each side of her head, Chris looked down at her, watched her smile and bite her lip, wondering if she knew what she was doing to him when she looked at him this way. He licked his lips and leaned down again, pressing his forehead against hers.

“Why are you looking at me like you're about to eat me up?” Mara asked playfully, rubbing her foot up and down the back of his leg.

“Because I am,” he growled, rolling his hips to earn a low moan. When Mara's swallowed lips parted, Chris took the opportunity to kiss her again, as if he wanted to absorb all the little sounds she emitted. “That's your reward – and mine too.”

“Promise?” She ushered, barely mustering up the words while being assaulted by Chris' lips, on his lips, on her neck, down her throat and lower, lower.

There was no point in answering when Chris could simply show her that he meant it. Slowly, very slowly, he rid her of her clothes one by one until she lied naked on the couch – oops. And soon, the quiet room was filled with short breathed gasps and heated moans while Chris' head was buried between her thighs, and Mara's hand pulled at his hair.

*

“It's not too late to go out,” Mara muttered, her voice showing more tiredness than she would have liked.

Chris' body kept her warm and his arm around her waist weighed heavy enough to make her feel safe and protected. Mara's bed provided them with much more comfort than the leather couch and that's where they ended up after getting (a little) naughty on Will's precious couch.

“Now?” He groaned in her ear, nuzzling her neck. “You'll have to give me a damn good reason to get me out of bed after this.”

He still didn't open his eyes when he felt her turn around in his arms and started kissing his chest up to his collarbones.

“I love you,” Mara said, and Chris froze. As soon as she felt him tense up she stopped kissing him and looked up, and placed one last kiss on the corner of his lips before looking at him. “How is that for a damn good reason?”

“I have nothing to say to that,” Chris admitted a couple minutes of silence later.

A smile etched his features now that he finally heard those words come out of her mouth and for him. Not because she wanted to prove something to William. Not because William was rambling about how he would have to deal with seeing Chris hanging around at their place more often.

“Nothing at all?” She insisted, pouting a little and smiling knowingly.

It wasn't that she absolutely needed to hear him say it back – because she already knew Chris reciprocated her feelings and Mara was never one to be so dense as to need people to spell things out for her - she could read between the lines just fine. But Chris – Chris was another thing – he looked like the words were on the tip on his tongue, waiting to be said.

“Maybe a few things, four actually,” he said with a shrug.

“You've had plenty of time to think them through since the hospital when you eavesdropped my conversation with William.”

Mara grinned mischievously and stole another kiss from Chris. She was an agile thief and Chris a consenting victim.

“I love you too,” he finally said and buried his nose in the crook of her neck to pepper kisses here and there and leave a very visible love bite as if to draw a final point to his statement.

Mara's crystal clear laughter echoed through the empty apartment and at this exact moment she was especially glad William wasn't in their vicinity and they didn't need to stifle their laugh and be quiet.

“Still wanna go out now?” He asked, pressing his lips to hers again.

“Of course, I'm famished and I want a waffle,” Mara declared causing a wide smile to stretch her boyfriend's lips.

“I expect you don't have a waffle maker?” He sighed, already pulling off the blanket.

“You know Will and I live off of take out food,” she huffed. “Now come, let's get out of here and prove my brother that asleep or not, we always cause trouble!”

“Well said, Mara! Let's get crazy and go down town to eat waffles in the middle of the night,” Chris teased her.

They had to go back to the living room to pick up their clothes and as soon as they were ready, they left arm-in-arm for a night trip to the local H24 diner to have some waffles because the lady requested some. Despite his little experience with serious relationship – or total lack there of – Chris knew that the secret to a long lifespan was to not stand between a woman and food.

“Do you think he'll panic if he sees we've disappeared?” Mara asked once they were in the street. The cold wind did wonders to refresh them after their activities. “I'd pay good money to see his face!”

“Are you punishing him for being a dick to you?” Chris laughed.

“Me? I would never,” Mara pretended to be offended by the sheer thought.  

The familiar crinkles appeared at the corner of Chris' eyes and Mara felt her heart swell in her chest to the point where it hurt her ribcage. With a strange sort of pride, Chris wrapped his arm over Mara's shoulders and let her hug his side as they walked through the streets of Olso, void of people and lulled in a pleasing quiet darkness. The lights of the late closing restaurants illuminated the city, but nothing shone brighter than the spark in their eyes – as freaking cliché as it sounded – because right now it didn't matter that it was half past midnight and below zero degrees, or that they were tired and hungry, because they were still the happiest of all people.

“Do you think we've switched roles?” She wondered out loud as they finally stepped through the door of the restaurant. The familiar jingle of the front door greeted them when they sat down near the window.

“What? With who?” Chris frowned, confused. It wasn't always easy following Mara's train of thought.

“Noorehlm,” she said with sarcasm dripping from her voice as she used the made up ship name she used to refer to Will and Noora. “A few months ago we were complaining about them eye fucking and being love sick puppies – which was true – and now I feel like we're no better.”

“Do you want a real answer to this?” Chris huffed playfully, both his eyebrows shooting up. His left hand distractedly played with the menu and Mara's foot rhythmically tapped on the tiled floor.

“Is it a pleasant one?” She inquired.

He leaned back on his chair without ever taking his eyes off of her. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly upwards and he had to look down to his lap to suppress the smile growing on his features.

“No clues, do you want to hear it or not?”

“Fine, tell me how pathetically in love we are, I can handle it,” Mara told him.

“We'll never be like Will and Noora. First off, we're much better looking – I mean look at us-” Chris began immediately beaming with pride upon hearing Mara's laugh. “-and also because I'm sure no one can claim to understand what we went through just to be here tonight, together, eating waffles with extra whipped cream, let alone pretend they lived the same experience.”

“How many people can claim to have been beaten up as many times as we did, right?” Mara asked, agreeing with his reasoning.

The waitress set their waffles on the table and the two of them dug in the second the walked away as though they hadn't seen any food in days. Chris and his extra syrup and Mara and her extra whipped cream really were the dream team.

“It was brilliant to ask Noora to lure Will away by the way,” he said, using the last piece of waffle as a sponge because he didn't wan to waste any drop of syrup. Chris had a sweet tooth, that she knew.

“It was our joker,” Mara replied. “Next time he'll have to suck it up or wear earplugs!”

“Or we can go to my house. I still have a few rooms we haven't tried out, and I- shit, get down! Get down!”

Mara dived under the table no questions asked.

“What's going on?” She asked in panic.

They attracted the attention of the waitress but Mara quickly told her it was nothing and she shrugged and went back to work, like it was nothing new to have customer hide under a table.

“William and Noora just walked past the restaurant,” Chris whispered.

There was no reason to whisper, but it was a reflex. Just like diving under a table when there was no longer any reason for them to hide from anyone.

“That's it? You scared me, Chris!” Mara shoved him in the shoulder. “I thought freaking Terminator was coming fot us!”

“Sorry, power of habit,” he apologized and sat down on the floor, not really bothered by their position. “Mara, did you- did you take your waffle?”

As she licked away the whipped cream from her lips, Mara said, “Excuse me but I have my priorities sorted out.”

“I can see that, yeah,” he laughed. “Mind sharing?”

“Ugh? Yes!” Mara replied, moving her waffle out of Chris' reach. “Order another one!”

“Or I can just eat it off your lips since you have whipped cream everywhere,” Chris said and connected their lips to illustrate.

She smiled in the kiss, and gasped when Chris used his hand to pull her closer, regardless of the lack of room to navigate. They deepened the kiss as much as politeness allowed and finished the rest of Mara's waffle before crawling out from under the table.

They took place on their respective seats and gave an apologetic glance to the waitress – Chris also gestured her to bring them two more waffles – but she barely acknowledged them, she was looking at something else, outside.

“What's- oh my god!” Mara shouted when she turned toward the window to look at what the waitress seemed to be staring at and met the judgemental gazes of her brother and her friend. Her hand flew to her chest and her heartbeat went into a frenzy as soon as she saw William's scolding expression and Noora's amused one.

“They can't be serious!” Chris groaned and looked away. “Well, so much for sneaking out. Might as well order more waffles.”

Mara smiled at the two of them and gestured them to come inside for a late night snack. A double date – now they reached a new low of silly pathetic romanticism.

*

The usual hustle animated the school at lunch break. It was now warm enough to eat outside, and the Penetrators occupied the central table. From the moment things went back to normal between the two Magnussons and Christoffer, it was like the entire school became more joyful – it became a merrier place. Conversations flowed easily, laughter erupted from the other tables and all trace of tension left the atmosphere.

Chris sat one leg each side of the bench to face his friend Maksim, who couldn't stop asking him questions about Mara, as though he couldn't ask her directly. She hung out with them often enough, yet they all waited for her not to be around to try and get juicy information out of Chris. Most of it was sex-related and a bit gross. It was the kind of questions Chris didn't mind answering when he didn't care about the girl, but he mostly shrugged when someone came up to ask him what Mara was like in bed. What answer were they expecting anyway? Even if he responded, it would be  something along the lines of 'she's fucking fantastic' and that would be it.

Nevertheless, he had to give them credit for trying. It was the closest they would ever get to receive answers to their questions if Chris had a saying in it.

“Do you think it makes a difference that she's Will's sister?” Maksim asked him without even looking up from his fries, distractedly shoving one after the other in his mouth.

“A difference from what?” Chris sighed, finishing his coke and playing with the empty bottle, flipping it around in his hand.

“The other girls. What makes her so special that you went monogamous from one day to the next? Magic pussy or what?”

“You know what? That's exactly it, Maks, Mara has a magic pussy,” Chris said in slight annoyance. His patience was wearing a bit thin and sarcasm fell out of his mouth before he could think about it.

“It glows in the dark,” Mara whispered in Maskim's ear from behind him, effectively startling him and making him drop the fry in his hand.

Chris snickered mockingly as his friend literally made a little jump from the surprise of having Mara creepily whisper in his ear. Chris had seen her walking over there but didn't say anything, and he was glad he kept quiet. Mara giggled satisfyingly and sat down between the two boys, her back to the table.

“Talking about me I see, what else were you saying?” She inquired after putting her bag on the ground and stealing one of Maksim's fries.

Chris bit his lip and raised an eyebrow at Maksim as if to tell him 'go ahead man, you started this, you tell her'. Mara felt the familiar warmth of Chris' palm on her thigh. Since they were at school she knew he would behave and leave it there, just for the comfort of making direct contact, but his hand was a lot sneakier than that most of the time.

“I just asked Chris what made you so special to him,” Maksim ingenuously answered, in order to put Mara's attention back on her boyfriend.

But she didn't budge and continued to look at him as though Chris weren't even there, though she could feel his hand on her and hear him chuckle on her left.

“You don't think I'm special?” Mara asked Maksim with a smile, causing a blush to appear on his cheeks as though she had asked a tricky question. “Ouch!” She faked to be hurt by that.

“That's not what I meant- of course you're special, I mean you're William's sister-” he awkwardly stammered, the blush on his face deepening.

“If the only thing that makes me special is my brother Chris would be dating him,” Mara pointed out, earning an uncomfortable chuckle from the boy she was currently dragging and a teasing stroke of the hand from Chris.

“You're digging your own grave man,” Chris laughed at how red he was by now.

“Thanks but I don't need you to tell me,” Maksim replied, squinting his eyes at his friend. “I mean- you've got to be some very special snowflake if you can deal with this,” he eventually told Mara, pointing to Chris' general direction with his chin. “Full offence dude,” he snickered and flipped Chris.

“He's pretty al right,” Mara shrugged and moved her eyes back on Chris, who tried to conceal his smile. “You'd be surprised,” she added to Maksim's intention.

He was more than al right and a thousand times a better person and boyfriend than all the other guys Mara has met in her life. But that wasn't anyone's concern but theirs. Most people bought the Chris' act of the emotionally unavailable player and notorious fuckboy – which he was in a sense, but not fundamentally – and as long as it didn't come in the way of their relationship, they didn't see the need to prove people wrong.

“Nah,” Maksim shook his head and decided she must be messing with him because everybody knew Chris was the worst, he wasn't boyfriend material. “Wait 'til you find out his flaws, the dude's not even half as fun and easy going as he tries to play it off- aouch!” He yelped in pain when Chris kicked him under the bench, but Mara didn't pay any mind to what he said.

“Trust me, I know Chris' flaws. I know exactly what I'm getting into,” she mindlessly answered while leaning in closer to Chris.

He grinned and met her halfway to kiss her. It remained general audience rated despite the force they put into it, and the underlying eagerness for more than just a chaste little kiss. But when did they ever feel content with a mere kiss? Chris and Mara were both uncharacteristically intense people; God help them they could never get enough of each other. Except that social conventions required that they broke the kiss after a few seconds. With one hand nestled on her waist and the other one on the back on her neck to press her lips against his one last time before they pulled apart, Chris thought that Maksim wasn't completely wrong – she was special.

“Oh no, you stop this, you stop it right now!” Maksim said a good ten seconds after they stopped kissing, making them both frown.

“We're not doing anything,” Mara said in a confused tone, almost like it was a question.

“Don't play innocent,” he warned her, though it seemed that it was directed at the both of them. “I've seen porn that wasn't even half as steamy as the way you look at each other. It's gross, and nobody should have to see this first hand like I am.”

“Shut up and close your eyes if you don't enjoy the show,” Chris scoffed.

He and Mara leaned in for yet another kiss in a synchronized movement, as if they both of them had had the same idea at the same time. When their lips met, it triggered another round of protest from their friend, who stood up to give them some privacy and spare himself the show he was subjected to.

That truly summed up their whole relationship. They knew each other like the back of their hand; they didn't need to check to know that they were on the same page. It was instinctive, completely engraved in their being, in who they were, and without saying a word they just knew, they felt it in their guts, in their bones, and in their heart that their feelings were shared.

If you like my work please consider buying me a coffee <3

A/N: THIS WAS INTENSE BUT AT LEAST THERE’S AN EPILOGUE TO LOOK FORWARD TO

[all-things-skam]

Title: Je t’aime. Je t’aime. Je t’aime.

Ship: Skam France | Lucas Lallemant and Eliot Demaury (Elu)

Eliott had told him he loved him.

A beaming smile spread on Lucas's lips as he walked home, alone. He was sad that Eliott had left, he had gotten so used to having him around the flat all the time. But, he had to see his parents - and change his clothes. Although they were too tight on Eliott's body, a part of Lucas didn't want him to change out of his clothes. He loved seeing Eliott in his clothes, it made him feel something in his stomach. This feeling that he always wanted to feel because it made him feel like he finally had Eliott all to himself, that there was nothing that could get in their way now. The worst part is that he knew that once he got home, he would smell his scent on his bedsheets and it would drive him to tears again. He had gotten so used to having his warmth close to him, the thought of sleeping alone felt foreign to him now.

Despite his sadness, Lucas couldn't wipe off that smile. He said 'I love you' to him. Lucas hadn't thought that something like that would happen to him. He had become so cynical about love after his parents's divorce that the thought of someone saying 'I love you' to him was unimaginable. That empty feeling in his heart was no longer there, it was now just filled with love for Eliott, his Eliott.

Twisting the handle, Lucas let himself inside the flat, finding Mika and Lisa already monopolizing the couch, watching some dumb tele reality show. It's like they were waiting for Eliott and Lucas to leave so they could get back to their old habit and sit on the couch all evening. Lisa had been complaining all week about the damn couch!

Manon, on the other hand, was sitting on the armchair, reading a book.

Hearing the door closing, Mika glanced at Lucas. "And he's back! Took you long enough, Kitten. The bus stop is only down the street. Oh my god. Did you and Eliott get it on at the bus stop." Mika wiggled his eyebrows and Manon gave him a look. She was so done with him.

Ignoring Mika's question, Lucas took off his jacket and took a seat between Mika and Lisa, earning a groan of complain from the latter. "Eliott said he loved me."

Everyone went silent for a moment. Manon and Mika shared a look before pivoting their eyes slowly in Lucas's direction. This was a big milestone in their relationship and, although they were genuinely happy for them, the two were concerned that maybe Eliott and Lucas were going too fast.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Too fast?" He scoffed, giving the brunette some attitude. "Says the one who left the country to live with her boyfriend a few weeks into dating."

Bringing Charles up after everything Manon told them last Sunday was low. She was still suffering from everything that went on with him and Lucas shouldn't have said that.

Setting her book down, Manon pinched her lips, thinking thoroughly about her next words. "Moving to London with Charles was unconsidered and reckless. I made this decision in the heat of the moment and, look where it got me. I'm not saying you and Eliott can't love each other; I just want you to think before saying things or doing things regarding your relationship. I know how easy it is to speak too fast or let your love-drunk heart speak for you."

Lucas's face twisted into a frown. He was so happy ten seconds ago but now, thanks to Manon, his happiness had vanished. Why did she had to kill his good mood? Couldn't she just be happy for him? She claimed to support their relationship but she isn't show it right now.

"Who are you to judge and doubt my feelings? You can't know what I feel, only I can and if I say I love Eliott, I love him," Lucas defended.

Manon frowned, looking up at her friend conflictingly. They had grown so close since her return in Paris that she couldn't bear hurting Lucas. But, at the same time, he had to know the truth, love was a dangerous and unpredictable game. One day you're in love, and the next, everything can change. She had to protect Lucas from what he didn't know.

"I'm not saying it's impossible that you love each other, Lucas. I'm telling you to not rush anything. You're young, you have all the time in the world.''

Before Lucas could bicker sourly, Mika spoke up. '’Manon is right. She isn't saying all this to hurt your feelings. She is saying it because she has experienced a tough heartbreak after rushing into a relationship and doesn't want the same happening to you - I don't want that either. We're just looking out for you, Kitten," Mika explained, passing an arm behind Lucas back to squeeze his shoulder.

Lucas sighed, biting down his lip. "Eliott isn't Charles. He wouldn't say something he doesn't mean. He said it because he meant it. You might think that because he is bipolar that he says things on a whim but, I know Eliott. He would never take something like this lightly, I know that he meant it, could feel it in his voice." By the time he said the last sentence, you could almost hear a tremble in his voice.

"We're not saying that you have to doubt him, just be careful that's all. I mean, the boy must really love you if he is willing to put up with you. Have you met yourself? You're grumpy in the morning, you don't take enough showers and that's only the beginning of it all, » the older boy roasted.

Lucas laughed along with Manon who stood from the armchair to squeeze between her cousin and him, crushing Lisa in the way, and pulled the teenage boy into a hug. "I'm happy for you two."

Mika joined into the hug, being his overbearing, touchy self. Lucas groaned but let himself be hugged by his flatmates.

Their little hug was interrupted by Lucas's phone vibrating, signaling he received a text message.

''Is it Eliott?'' Mika asked, peering over Lucas's shoulder. ''Ask him if he has any hot friends to introduce me too!''

Lucas rolled his eyes in annoyance and pushed him away before opening the messages, seeing Eliott's name on his lockscreen.

[17:51] Eliott: Just got home. I miss you already ☹️

[17:52] Lucas: I miss you too. I love you 🥰

[17:52] Eliott: I love you 🥰

[all-things-skam]

Title: Apologies turned into IV drips

Ship: Skam France | Lucas Lallemant and Eliot Demaury (Elu)

He had fainted.

Manon had come home from Emma's and found Lucas sitting on the couch, his face more pasty than usual. Just like her, life hadn't been kind to him lately. With all the drama with Chloé and Eliott, Lucas had neglected himself to a point where he fainted in the middle of the living room.

''Lucas, you okay?'' she had asked worriedly.

Lucas nodded, standing up to use the bathroom when he suddenly felt dizzy and having hot flashes.

Mika was cooking in the kitchen - aka warming up leftovers from last night when he heard a loud thud followed by Manon yelling the smelly teenager's name. Rapidly, he quitted the microwave and ran over to the living room, calling 911 when he saw Lucas on the floor.

Next thing Lucas remembered was waking up at the hospital. He would recognize those ugly walls anywhere.

''You almost gave me a heart attack when I saw you on the floor. I'm too young to die, Lucas!'' Mika

''Have you called my parents?''

Manon shook her head and Lucas was relieved. His mom would've been worried sick and she didn't need that right now, and his dad doesn't care enough to show up at the hospital. It was better not telling them. ''I called someone else though...''

Lucas pulled his eyebrows. ''Yann?''

''No...erm, not Yann. Do you want me to reach him?''

Yann was like a brother to Lucas. He's rush over to the hospital regardless the time on the clock if he knee Lucas had been admitted by ambulance. But, it was late and Yann had an exam tomorrow. Much important than a Lucas who fainted.

Lucas shook his head. He'll text him later. ''Who is it, then?''

Manon bit her lip. ''Please don't be mad...''

Lucas was more confused now. She hadn't called Chloé, had she?

He followed Manon's gaze, his heart doing a flip when he saw who was standing in the doorway: Eliott.

He stood there, his hands trembling as he watched Lucas closely yet, from afar. He didn’t think sending a simple text telling Lucas that they were taking it too fast would lead to this. He had fallen hard for the boy but he didn’t want to hurt him and now, his worst nightmare had came true. He could still picture it, Lucas's pale face and limp body on the stretcher as they took him to the hospital. But now standing in the doorway, he was determined to make things better - if Lucas allowed him to. He had hurt the love of his life to the point where his body had gave out, he had to fix this.

''What is he doing here? He doesn't give a fuck about me, what is he doing here? Why did you call him, Manon?'' Lucas demanded, eyes filling with tears. Fuck. He had promised himself he wouldn't shed any more tears for Eliott.

Seeing Lucas's reaction, Manon quickly explained her reasoning and why was Eliott there after everything he put Lucas through. It was partly his fault that Lucas was in this hospital bed. ''We ran into him when the ambulance pulled you in. He saw you on the stretcher and...he looked like he was about to cry, Lucas.''

''I talked to him,'' Mika added. ''While the doctors were taking care of you, I did my big brother duty and warned Eliott that he needed to talk to me first before seeing you because no one fucks with my family. I saw how depressed and heartbroken you were because of him and I never want to see you like that ever again. I had to make sure he had good intentions and wouldn't cause you pain again.''

''He said he came over to apologize and talk to you- He was a mess, Lucas. Seeing you there, unconscious shook him to the bones,'' Manon continued. They had told Eliott that if Lucas was up to talk to him, they would let him in the room but, in the other case, he'd have to go home.

''I don't want to see him...ever again.''

Manon bit her lip, looking over at Mika, silently asking for help. ''I know you're mad at Eliott right now and you have all the rights to be but, just hear him out. Everyone deserves a second chance.''

How could Mika judge if he should give a chance to Eliott or not? He didn't even know everything that happened between Eliott and him.

''He's had his.''

''Then, a third one?''

Biting down his lip, Lucas glanced at Eliott again, this time noticing the dark circles under his eyes and his hunched posture, as if he was ashamed of himself. ''Okay. Okay, I'll talk to him.''

Nervously, Eliott stepped forward. It broke his heart seeing the tears in Lucas's eyes. ''Lucas...''

Lucas wiped his eyes and sat up. ''You can’t be here, you made it clear what you wanted. I saw it myself,'' he said bitterly.

Eliott walked in slowly. He wasn’t giving up that easily. ''Please. Let’s talk about it, I-I can explain why-'' Eliott looked at Manon and Mika. ''Can we just have some time alone?'' he asked them.

''We'll leave you two to talk.'' Manon stood, grabbing her bag. ''We'll be in the hallway, just in case.'' She gave Lucas's hand a squeeze and left with Mika who sent one last warning glare at Eliott, protective of Lucas.

Lucas bit his lip and looked up at him. ''You have five minutes.''

Eliott took this as his chance and sat on the side of the bed. That’s when he saw Lucas's hand. He had seen it at school but hadn't had time to ask about it. ''What happened to your hand?''

''What happened to your girlfriend?''

Eliott looked down. ''Listen. With lucille, it’s like she can get to my head so easily. She can get me do anything, she is just that way and I’ve been with her for so long that letting go of that was scary. She convinced me that you wouldn’t love me, that I was just a shiny new toy that you would toss aside...and I believed her,'' he said looking down ashamed. ''She drilled this idea into my head and, instead of listening to my heart, I listened to my brain and...broke your heart.''

''You saw the way I felt about you that morning. I told you things I’d never told anyone else, poured out my heart to you, how could you think that I didn’t care about you. I haven’t slept a wink in the past week, why do you think I ended up here? Every damn time I close my eyes I wish you were with me. I thought you hated me Eliott... You can’t just play with a person's heart like that, especially not someone who is falling for you.'' Lucas's eyes widen, realizing what just slipped. Shit.

Although it was true, he didn't mean to say it. Not yet. It was way too early for big confessions like this.

''I'm deeply sorry for all the pain I caused you, Lucas. This is all my fault that you're here...''

There was now hot tears rolling off Lucas's cheeks. He shrugged gently. ''I want to accept your apologies and forgive you but I can't forget the pain I went through Eliott. When I saw you with Lucille at Chloé's party I felt betrayed, when I saw you kissing her...I was so fucking angry. I was angry at myself for believing and falling for a guy who used me for entertainment. I was angry at you because you...you ruined my fucking life! You're not the one who hears whispers when you walk in the halls or has been dumped by his best friend. You shook my life and left me alone with all the aftermaths. How can I trust you again? How will I know that you won’t change your mind again? Apologies won’t do me any good Eliott.''

The heart monitor was starting to beep faster from how worked up Lucas was getting and Eliott knew that if he didn't do anything to calm his down, nurses would come in to check on him.

Eliott gently took his hand. ''Listen Lucas, I know that I can’t fix what happened but I promise that I’m gonna be better. I talked to Lucille, she is never getting in our way again. It’s done with her...for good. Only want to be with you now, I can’t lose you again,'' he said calmly, his voice about to break.

Love wasn't a switch you could turn on and off whenever you please. You can't wake up one day and decide to stop loving someone. It doesn't work like that...you can't control love, you can't control what your heart wants. And, Lucas's heart wanted Eliott, he loved him - at least, he thought he did - and love makes you do crazy things...like giving the boy who put you through hell another chance. One last chance.

Lucas had calmed down a bit, the monitor no longer beeping as loud. He took a deep breath and gave Eliott a stern look. ''One chance...don’t make me regret it because if I go through this again. I-I don’t know if I’ll be able to survive it.''

A smile rose on Eliott’s lips. ''Won’t make the same mistake twice, I’m not losing you again Lucas. Thank you for giving me another chance.'' He gently laced their hands together, careful to not mess the IV drip on Lucas's hand. ''Am I allowed to do this now?''

Lucas nodded and let Eliott kiss him, keeping it sweet and tender yet, filled with unspoken feelings.

''So...you're falling for me?'' Eliott said, pressing his forehead against Lucas.

''Did I say that?'' Lucas asked, playing innocent.

Eliott nodded and, just as he was about to kiss Lucas, Lisa walked into the room, coffees in hands. She looked around, not seeing her two roommates. ''Where are Manon and Mika?''

[all-things-skam]

18, 14 about elu

Please continue to sent requests from this list of prompt!

18. “I’ll show you how to shotgun.”

14. “Watch and learn.”

Title: Watch and learn

Ship: Skam France | Lucas Lallemant and Eliot Demaury (Elu)

When he moved in with Mika and Lisa, Lucas thought he was done sleeping on couches. First, they weren’t comfortable and, second, it was very cramped. Lucas wasn’t a giraffe yet, his whole body ached after a night on the couch but, sometimes, you just don’t have the choice.

After couch-surfing for weeks, Manon kindly offered Lucas her room at the collective’s and he was overjoyed by the offer. His living situation with his parents wasn’t so great at the moment so this was perfect.

What he did not plan was Manon returning from London a few months later and being kicked out of his own room by Mika. Thanks a lot, Mika. Manon had tried to take his defense but Mika was having none of it.

It was a Wednesday night and Lucas went to bed early - really, it was 11pm -, hoping to get some decent sleep before his big test tomorrow. He had been studying all weekend with Imane and, although she told him he was going to ace it, he was still very stressed about the test, tossing and turning as he tried to fall asleep.

Unfortunately since mika kicked him out of his own room, he had been spending many sleepless nights on the couch. He really didn’t have anywhere else to go so he had to somehow make it work. He was busy in his own thoughts when he heard a loud noise.

“Fuck, Mika, can you make less noise?! I’m trying to sleep here,” Lucas groaned. Lucky for Mika, Lucas didn’t have any unused pillow on hand because he would’ve thrown it at him.

“Sorry, I didn’t know there was someone sleeping.”

Lucas sat up, startled: this was not Mika. In fact, this boy looked nothing like his annoying roommate. He was was much prettier - at least from what Lucas could make out in the dusk - than Mika. He was tall and had fluffy looking hair and a killer bone structure.

The boy bent down to pick up the fallen textbooks, placing them back on the table. “It’s none of my business but, I think you’d sleep better in a bed.”

“Well, I don’t have a bed anymore so…”

Biting his lip, the boy sat beside the couch. “I thought you were all supposed to be roommates. If you’re paying for rent you should have your own room and bed.”

Lucas sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“I have time for a long story. If you’re not tired that is. Seems like you were really trying to fall asleep.” He paused, standing up. “I was heading out for a smoke, join me? Manon is taking a break, we have time.”

The smart choice would’ve been to decline and try harder to fall asleep but, Lucas lost all brain connection when the streetlamp hit the boy’s face. Lucas was about to push the blanket and follow him when he remembered his night attire.

“I’ll join you in a second,” he said, feeling a bit shy to stand up in his boxers and tee shirt.

Manon’s friend gave him a smirk and nodded. “Don’t take too long.” He gently pushed the balcony doors open and walked out.  

Quickly, Lucas pulled the cardboard box where all his clothes were in and grabbed a pair of joggers, slipping them on, almost tripping on his way to the door.

Lucas opened the balcony door and poked his head out shyly. “H-hey…sorry if I took long. My stuff aren’t exactly organized. I don’t know if Manon told you about me, I-I’m Lucas by the way.”

“Eliott.”

“I can’t stay out here for long, I have an exam tomorrow,” Lucas explained, joining Eliott by the railing. “I should be sleeping by now but, my brain had other plan.”

Eliott lifted an eyebrow and smirked. “I might have something what will make you fall asleep better.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a joint.

“How are you a friend of Manon?” Lucas asked, knowing how against drugs the brunette was.

Eliott shrugged. “Being friends with someone doesn’t mean you have to share the same opinions, Lucas.” He reached for a lighter deeper in his pocket. He put the joint between his lips, curving perfectly around the filter, and lit it up, the end catching fire, burning the white paper.

Lucas leaned back, his eyes never leaving Eliott’s ashe took a long drag, holding in the smoke for a moment before exhaling the dark smoke, making smoke rings as he looked at Lucas trough his dark lashes. There was something so mesmerizing about him and Lucas could hardly look away.  

Eliott passed the joint to Lucas, taking a quick drag and handing it back to Eliott, laughing as he did.

“What’s funny?” Eliott asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“The last time I smoke weed, I shotgunned with a girl and it was…not great.”

“How come?”

A grimace foremed on his face, thinking about Chloé. His friend though it was hot but Lucas hated every single seconds of it.

“Maybe you didn’t do it right? I’ll show you how to shotgun.” Eliott took the joint from Lucas, leaning against the railing right next to Lucas, body angled toward the younger boy. “Watch and learn.” He took a long drag, storing the smoke in his mouth and brought his lips only centimeters from Lucas’s parted lips, ready for it. Slowly, Eliott blew the smoke out and Lucas took a deep breath, a line of smoke connecting the two boys.

And, if Manon saw them outside, she didn’t say anything. If Lucas was gay - or bi or whatever -, it wasn’t her secret to tell.

[imyourliquor-youremypoison]

Off Limits (Skam - Chris x OC) Part 1

Pairing: Chris x OC

Requested by anon. I turned this into an OC thing because I'm trying to distance myself from the reader inserts. But you can just overlook the first name and simply imagine it's you. I will probably physically describe OC at some point, since you requested she's William's sister, I figured they'd look alike.

Synopsis: Mara Magnusson has always had everything she ever wanted in life, except for one thing. The boyish charm of her brother's childhood friend had wrecked her poor heart and ruined her for any other guy – you can trust her, she has tried. She could see the way he looked at her, though she knew there were rules about not hitting on your best friend's little sister. Luckily for her, there were no restrictions when it was the other way around.

Word count: 1.4k

A/N: From now on I won’t be able to spend my entire days writing like I did with Play Me, so to make sure you won’t have to wait too long between each chapter I decided to write short chapters (yes, Yours Truly has finally decided to become a reasonable person) Enjoy this little foretaste!

MASTERLIST

>>> Part 2

Other Chris x OC fic: Play Me

Some things are simply not meant to be. Even when people maximized their chances by doing everything in their power to achieve their goal, it wasn't always enough. Like in this maddening scene in Titanic where Jack can't get on the floating door, and after everything he has gone through to be with Rose, he just dies. Well, maybe this was a little bit dramatic, chances are you won't die in real life, you will just be really, really frustrated because all your efforts are thrown into the trash. But she was drifting from the subject.

Somehow, Mara's brother had befriended the one guy who was simultaneously the absolute worst and the best thing that has ever happened to her. William and Chris were inseparable friends since- since always. As far as her memory goes, Chris has always been in their lives. He was like family to a certain extent – and that was precisely her problem.

Mara didn't want Chris to be family, Mara wanted Chris to wreck her body, to put it nicely. Not getting what she wanted was a foreign feeling for the only female Magnusson child. William and Nikolai had always been in competition and the weight of the entire family's future laid on their shoulders since they were kids. Mara had a form a freedom that her brothers would never truly grasp or experience, and that gave her power. Being the cherished only daughter of rich parents was a perk she appreciated too.

Therefore when she hit puberty and when he body morphed into a more womanly shape, drawing the attention of her male counterparts, she was already fully equipped to deal with this new found magnetism. Used to get what she wanted, familiar with her brother's way of life (was it weird for Mara to feel part of the Penetrators after assisting to so many of their meetings at her and William's place?) and not shy in the least, she embraced her new body and the benefits that came from it. Self-confidence was basically a birthright in the Magnusson family and blowing people away with their good looks was tradition. And like lightening, a Magnusson never stroke twice on the same spot, that is to say, they didn't do dating.

Another, more likely, explanation than the lightening theory was that both William and Mara had mad game when it came to everybody except the one person who mattered. For a while now the young girl watched her brother chase after a girl from her class, Noora, and she didn't know how to react at first. She knew Noora was a kind, smart and genuinely good person, and that made it even more unbelievable – that William of all people fell for someone who might actually be able to make him happy.

Mara, knowing better than to mind her brother's business, silently rooted for them, discretely spying of them from the corner of her eye whenever she could and trying not to give it all away when William dared mentioned Noora outside of school.

“The smile is betraying you,” someone said and plopped down next to Mara on the bench.

It was Christoffer – and his infamous, girl-swooning, heart-melting smirk that worked on everybody but Mara, who witnessed the very birth of 'Penetrator Chris'. He was sitting one leg each side of the bench, his back to William and Noora who tried and failed at being subtle at glancing toward each other from across the room. Mara had his full attention, but she kept her gaze locked on the paper on the table that she had to finish before next period.

“It would only betray me if they bothered to look my way but they can't even detach their eyes from each other,” Mara replied and shrugged, not even looking at Chris.

“Someone needs to tell them to just go for it. Everybody knows anyway,” Chris added.

He then grabbed Mara's papers so she would stop working and finally look up. The way her jaw clenched and her eyes narrowed gave away how annoyed she was at that, but he wasn't sorry in the least.

“I don't think that's true. Noora hasn't told her friends from what I've heard. Vilde is still constantly rambling about how dreamy William is!” Mara couldn't help the eye-roll that followed. 3

“Ouch,” Chris said, clasping his hand over his heart while still holding Mara's homework in the other, out of her reach. “Must be really shitty to not be good enough for your girlfriend to tell her friends about you.”

“They're not together!” Mara said before poking Chris' side and quickly stealing her papers back from him when he lowered his hand to cover his side. “Noora is being smart! I wouldn't tell anyone either if a notorious heart-breaker was suddenly running after me and I somehow returned the feelings.”

Chris put his elbow on the table and used his fist as support for his head while he thought about what Mara just said. He seemed to seriously ponder the issue. Mara had always disapproved of the Penetrators' ill treatment of girls while also knowing that her brother and his friends weren't fundamentally bad people. Her status of member by proxy of an exclusively male group of playboys with commitment issues set her apart from the rest of the girls. She often wondered if it wasn't unfortunate for her to be born female. Never filly accepted by the other groups of girls, she was too close to the Penetrators to be trusted, and yet she couldn't claim to belong to the boy's group either. As time flew by, Mara developed an immunity to loneliness. She liked her solitude, she grew independent and self-reliant. And above all, she cherish was few friends she had, and that included Chris.

“I can't find anything to argue with that,” Chris eventually declared. “But it's getting old seeing them drool over themselves like this. Although I've got to say Noora is holding herself together rather gracefully-”

“-a contrario to Will,” Mara finished in a sigh.

Both of them directed their gaze toward William, whose face was twisted in a fond smile only Mara had been the receptacle of until Noora came into his life. She wasn't mad in the least, she was happy for her brother, and glad some of his attention was on another person than her for once – it allowed her a little more freedom of movement.

“Look, I really have to finish this before class begins,” she then said, pointing to her half-finished homework. “So if you don't mind-”

She didn't finish her sentence but instead gestured Chris to walk away. It was a long shot, the guy literally never did anything he didn't want to or decide to do by himself. As expected, he didn't initiate any movement that would lead her to think he'd leave, instead he leaned over the table to get a closer look at her work.

“What is it? I'll help you if I can...” He suggested, earning a playful smile.

“Careful there, I might think you're finding excuses to spend time with me,” Mara teased him, her lips forming that mischievous smile that matched Chris' smirk.

That was the story of Mara's life. Chris and her flirted harmlessly with each other since they were fifteen, and no one ever said anything, not even William because he trusted them and knew it was just their way to communicate. Mara had no recollection of when exactly it lost its fun and harmless dimension and turned into passive-aggressive desperate pay-attention-to-me flirting.

There was no doubt that Chris would not take the first step, whether it was out of respect for William or because he was too stubborn to admit he actually had a fully-functioning heart, thus reducing his reputation of emotionally detached player to dust. The solution was simple really, there wasn't a thousand different ways to deal with this issue: Mara would have to take matters into her own hands.

So far she had never settled for anything in her life; when she wanted something she did everything in her power to obtain it, one way or another, and Christoffer Schistad was no exception to the rule. She was determined to not be the only one struggling to keep it together when he was around, that was unfair and no fun. From now on, Mara would make sure to be both Chris' worst nightmare and his greatest fantasy.

If you like my work please consider buying me a coffee <3

A/N: The rule stays the same: If I get reviews, you get next part ;) c’mon folks, motivate me, my inbox in here!