#i decided to fake a marriage with my junior to shut my parents up

[yuripoll]

S3 ROUND 1

NOTE: Composing Spring […] is about death and grief, and additionally depicts depression and suicidality. I Married My Best Friend […] contains suggestive scenes as well as homophobia and some misogyny.

[yuribuny]

Hello resident Yuri expert that I follow. I am looking for some good Yuri anime/manga that features adults instead of high schoolers. Do you have any recommendations?

why is this the only question people ask, please learn how to search tags https://dynasty-scans.com/tags/adult_life?view=groupings asumi-chan throw away the suit together

does it count if you lose your virginity to an android how do we relationship

I decided to fake a marriage with my junior (♀️) to shut my parents up

[akamaru01]

Ya'll I've been on "vacation" from streaming for about 10 days and in that time I've read 10 whole romance manga 9 of which were very very gay the gay ones all recommended by kdin

It's been wild and dear god am i apparently really weak to these stories

Catch These Hands, Love Is Hard For An Otaku (the only not gay one), I Can't Believe I Slept With You, Goodbye My Rose Garden, Scarlet, Doughnuts Under A Crescent Moon, I Decided To Fake A Marriage With My Junior To Shut My Parents Up, Shiki-san Is So Handsome, Our Teachers Are Dating, and the one that broke me the most Hello Melancholic

And there is still more on my list to read

[gardenofava]

Maitsuki, Niwatsuki, Ooyatsuki

I Married My Female Friend

My Mom's a Superstar

My Cute Little Kitten

My Dearest Nemesis

I Decided to Fake a Marriage with My Junior to Shut My Parents Up

Even If It Was Just Once, I Regret It

Cheerful Amnesia

Ring My Bell! (Not on mangadex, official translation here)

Still Sick

Ebisu-san to Hotei-san

2DK, G-pen, Alarm clock.

Renai Manga

Maitsuki, Niwatsuki, Ooyatsuki Ongoing (last update Jul 11, 24) Asako moves to a new house to get over her recent breakup. She finds a great little place a bit removed from the city with a lovely garden, but there’s a catch—the house also comes with a live-in landlord!

I Married My Female Friend Complete Two women who are just friends make a pact… "If both of us are still single in 5 years, let's get married." Five years later, they meet again, and their married life begins.

My Mom's a Superstar Ongoing (last update Jun 16, 24) What will happen when an overly-supportive daughter discovers loads of photos of her mom, a famous actress, on the internet posing with her female co-stars in ways that "friends" would not do?

My Cute Little Kitten Ongoing (last update Jun 22, 24) A story of two close friends living together.

My Dearest Nemesis Complete The whole company knew that they they were polar opposites who fought like cats and dogs. Yet during the year-end party, the wall between them shattered after they got drunk! And so the two of them went from always being close to going off on each other to feeling very strange things following the accidental mishap...

I Decided to Fake a Marriage with My Junior to Shut My Parents Up Complete Morimoto is getting bugged by her parents to marry (a guy). Her (female) kouhai suggests she fake her marriage so her parents would stop but they will scrutinize every guy she might choose no matter what. Since there's a new law that allows homosexuals to marry, her kouhai suggests herself; only this kouhai has confessed to her before. What will become of their married life?

Even If It Was Just Once, I Regret It Complete One day, a jobless Kozuka Chiyo is wallowing in self-pity and trying to escape from reality when her landlord bangs on her door – she's three months behind on rent. Her landlord's solution? "Please have sex with me." Thus the two begin living together – a romance comedy that appears to start with sex.

Cheerful Amnesia Complete Mari's girlfriend, Arisa, loses her memories of the past three years, including all memory of their life together. However, it turns out that being crazy in love with someone transcends all realms of possibility.

Ring My Bell! (Not on mangadex, official translation here) Complete Hell yeah! A major publisher wants Mai Sohn to write a webcomic on relationships. But she’s struck with heartbreak as her girlfriend abruptly dumps her. It’s hard writing about relationships without being in one, so she needs to find the inspiration for love — and find it fast. And what’s up with her possibly homophobic neighbor? Why is she cool with Mai one minute and then so awkward and weird to her the next?! Can’t a girl catch a break?

Still Sick Complete Shimizu Makoto, a well-paid R&D lead for an industrial firm, has a secret - she draws and sells gay fanfiction on her days off. But when her sweet summery colleague, Maekawa, accidentally enters her secret world of girls who like other girls, Shimizu has to come face to face with some serious realisations… and deal with just how much of a weirdo Maekawa is!

Ebisu-san to Hotei-san Complete 'Ebisu-san and Hotei-san' is about two female office workers. Initially Hotei is not pleased when Ebisu is transferred to her branch, but gradually those feelings begin to change.

2DK, G-pen, Alarm clock. Complete A mangaka and her salarywoman roommate come to realize that their feelings of friendship might actually be something quite different.

Renai Manga Complete New manga editor Haruka has just been assigned to her favorite manga artist ever, Kuroi Ritsu. Kuroi-sensei's manga, "With You" motivated her to turn her life around. When she finally meets shut-in, mopey, entirely unfashionable Kuroi-sensei, Haruka is in for a bit of a shock.

Not that there's anything wrong with stories about adorable baby lesbians but does anyone have any recommendations for yuri about, like. Grown women?

Right now all I have is Superwomen in Love, and Does it Count if your First Time is With an Android, and that second one is basically just porn.

[blindbeholder]

Yuri review:

"The guy she was interested in wasn't a guy at all" is the best thing it's very slow burn but it also has an evolving status quo and every character is likable, there are no homophobes in it at all. However, the chapters are ultra short and the romance has been pretty one sided for a while now.

"I decided to fake a marriage with my junior(♀️) to shut my parents up" only three chapters and it's finished, but they're good chapters, easy read and reread material. Still wish it were longer.

"The moon on a rainy night" deaf girl x dumbass, the romance is secondary to being a story about disability. But when it's being a romance it's good. It's also good as the other thing but that's not what this is about.

"So are you going to ask me out, or?" Two college girls drunkenly confess that they're lesbians and hook up. And then it goes wrong. The status quo changes every chapter, lots of conflicts are introduced, not as many are solved. Hits every note it possibly can with realistically portraying the couple's life together. I want rika to go away and stop causing problems.

"Even though we're adults" STOP TELLING PEOPLE ABOUT YOUR AFFAIR. I feel bad for the husband here, he did nothing wrong. But also i want his marriage to die.

"Young ladys don't play fighting games" this is a parody where it sets up obvious yuri situations, but then instead of romance they have violence. Its about some girls in a nightmarishly strict boarding school making a secret illegal fighting game club. All of the girls are awful people so it's cathartic no matter who gets hurt. Also funny.

That's all the yuri I've been reading, have fun.

[george-kinstanza]

[dmoreswiftie]

[lilianavk]

Precious

[yuripoll]

SEASON 3 ROUND 4

NOTE: […] Green Tea Bitch contains suggestive scenes and references to BDSM, as well as blackmail, homophobia, and one scene referencing attempted csa. I Married My Best Friend […] contains suggestive scenes as well as homophobia and some misogyny.

[shoujoaigirls]

Bobs

[shoujoaiforlife]

I Decided to Fake a Marriage with My Junior (♀️) to Shut My Parents Up by Kodama Naoko

[thewangxianlibrary]

Wangxian Fic Recs - Modern Setting AU

Plant a little happiness (let the roots run deep) | Words: 47,638 | E

After thirteen years away, Dr. Wei Wuxian is back in Gusu. A car accident near his apartment brings someone unexpected back into his life and everything changes for the better.

and so my heart beats wildly | Words: 106,435 | E

“You know, you’re the one to beat this year,” Jiang Cheng offers helpfully, having seen the glare from right next to him. “Hanguang-jun’s been through juniors with the rest of us, he knows all of our tics. You’re an unknown variable, since he’s never competed against you before.” 

“Thanks,” says Wei Wuxian drily. “That’s very comforting.” 

Or: five nighthunting competitions where Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were rivals, and one where they weren't.

Unstrictly Ballroom | Words: 47522  | T

Thirteen years ago, Wei Wuxian brought scandal and shame down upon his head and was thrown out of the competitive ballroom dance circuit. He vanished, never to be heard from again.

Lan Wangji aches when he remembers the way Wei Ying danced--like a laugh given movement and form. He has never stopped searching for him.

Let You Love Me (Always) | Words: 14853 | E

“I can't even imagine what kind of person Lan Wangji fell in love with,” Wei Wuxian admitted.

He felt his stomach being tied in knots, and it almost felt painful and definitely unpleasant, just trying to imagine the person that probably had Lan Wangji on his knees.

Or the story where Wei Wuxian was a bully and Lan Wangji was patiently waiting.

Some of You | Words: 60,640 | M

It can’t be that bad, he thinks. There’s no way he would have done that. But the doubt still lingers, turning into full-blown anxiety as he scrolls down his twitter feed, finally arriving on his latest tweet.

Lan WangJi ✔ @lan_wangji

Some of you have never fallen in love with a boy only for him to go missing after his parents die and pine away for three years waiting for him to come back, then continue to pine when he’s back after you realize you’re too scared to confess, and it shows.

23,043 retweets | 73,328 likes

Lan Zhan’s face pales and he buries his head in his hands, letting his phone drop on the table.

This is bad.

This is very, very bad.

-

Or, Lan Wangji gets drunk and tweets a love confession, Wei Wuxian panics, and all of twitter decides to matchmake Lan Wangji and his mystery guy.

Out of the Bin and Into Your Heart | Words: 27,675 | T

"Lan Zhan!” Wuxian exclaims as soon as the door to Lan Wangji's apartment opens. 

“Fake-date me!” The door slams shut in his face. 

or, The Best Laid Plans of Wei Wuxian.

nginal Equivalents | Words: 23,444 | E

He always gets the feeling there is something there, beyond the occasional jabs and the mostly one-sided banter and the way Lan Wangji has tolerated his rambles and teasing all these years and how he has caught him looking at him sometimes with his eyes softer than he has ever seen them. 

But whatever that is makes his heart clench painfully and beat a million miles an hour, and that can’t be good for you, can it? As a self-respecting neurosurgery resident he can’t ignore the symptoms of an imminent heart attack, can he? 

Or: How Wei Wuxian learnt to stop worrying and love his co-resident.

the moon lives in the lining of your skin | Words: 9,143 | M

“Let go,” Lan Wangji says.

“Huh?” Wei Wuxian tightens his hold on Lan Wangji. “Why?”

“If you don’t let go,” Lan Wangji tells him, reaching up to cover one of Wei Wuxian’s hands with his own, squeezing lightly, “then I can’t get up.”

“And what will you do once you get up?” Wei Wuxian asks. “Will er-gege punish me for being shameless?”

(Or, oh my god, they were roommates.)

boyfriend material | Words: 41,689 | M

Lan Xichen would do anything if it meant his brother was happy, which is what lead him to eavesdropping on the Jiang brothers as they discussed their requirements for a partner. 

Or; Lan Wangji attempts to woo an already infatuated Wei Ying using bad pickup lines, and a few more things.

Love wakes me | Words: 42,812 | E

It starts with a bet. All mistakes, Wei Wuxian thinks, start with a bet. 

It’s starts with a bet and ends with Wei Wuxian losing everything. 

Nine years ago, Wei Wuxian made a bet with disastrous consequences. Now, he is part-owner of the popular and eclectic Yiling Cafe, years and miles away from his old life, making the best of things and trying to leave the past where it belongs. When Lan Wangji walks into his cafe by accident, Wei Wuxian finds himself doing what he thought he'd never do again; reclaiming some small part of his past, and hoping for a future he'd given up as lost.

These Things Stay the Same | Words: 29,937 | E

After a career covering news across the world, journalist Wei Wuxian is unexpectedly on his way home with a child in tow. Unfortunately, the path home isn't without obstacles.

your heartbeat, across the grass | Words: 44,278 | E

To his unbridled horror, Wei Wuxian sees his face up on the giant screen in real time for the entire stadium to see. Still laughing as his face takes a moment to catch up with the sheer mortification he’s feeling, A-Yuan perched on his shoulders as the Lan Wangji cape drapes over them. 

There’s also commentary. 

“—scenes from the stands here, this dad and his son making for an adorable twosome all decked out in support for local hero Lan Wangji—” 

“—Speaking of, our man seems to have taken a little tumble—” 

Wei Wuxian finds Lan Wangji on the field. The ball is nowhere near him but he seems to have fallen inexplicably backwards, sitting on the grass as he looks up at the giant screen. 

Right up at the footage of him. 

(AU where A-Yuan is professional footballer Lan Wangji's biggest fan, and his babysitter Wei Wuxian wants nothing more than to forget his days as the photographer of their school football team, calling out to the captain from the stands just so he'd look around at him.)

with you, I am home | Words: 47,049 | M

“I can’t go back home alone, Lan Zhan.”

Wei Wuxian gets a summons to return to Lotus Pier for marriage proposals. To avoid this, he convinces Lan Zhan to come with him and pretend to be his cultivation partner.

it's the little things, you see? | Words: 30024 | T

Hot Stuff’s lips part and his voice— God, his voice —flows past his lips like honey dripping from its jar.

“Are you—”

“Will you marry me?”

Nailed it.

Where single parent Wei Ying greets his son’s preschool teacher— on the first day they meet —with a marriage proposal.

Wei Ying spends the changing seasons wooing said preschool teacher in full-force, no holds barred.

Lan Zhan’s life does a full 360 degree turn when two balls of unrestrained energy land themselves in front of his classroom.

And as the seasons change, so do they.

The Simplest Way Forward | Words: 71,008 | E

It’s a really unfortunate thing, developing a crush on your husband. Wei Ying had assumed this would be easy. Lan Zhan had been so icy and unpleasant to him, it had never occurred to him that he might end up spending the next however many years with this dumb, burning feeling in his chest whenever he looks at him. 

“Okay,” says Wei Ying. “But tell me if I…if the pretending gets to be too hard, okay?” 

“It will not,” says Lan Zhan, quietly certain.

Pretty Things | Words: 25,520 | T

The thing was...Wei WuXian was right. It did suit him. Jiang Cheng took in everything—from the lively red of his nails, to the way he had braided and wrapped his hair in twin buns, leaving his bangs to curl becomingly over his cheeks, to the red silk of his calf-length silk cheongsam with black chrysanthemums blooming over his right shoulder and down the split on the left side of the skirt, to his shapely, shaved legs. And what tied it all together was the way he carried himself. Wei WuXian smiled impishly, pleased to know he was right, that he looked good, and that others would agree. Doubtless, he would be out drinking until the early hours as patrons vied to buy him drinks after the end of his shift.

Operation Old Men | Words: 37645 | NR

An ill-fated parent teacher conference reunites Jin Ling's wayward uncle with Sizhui's father. AKA: A matchmaking disaster as told by Jin Ling, Sizhui, and Jingyi.

Jin Ling knows he’s in deep trouble even before reporting to Headmaster Lan’s office, but the words “your uncle will be here soon” still strike the fear of God in him. His only consolation is that Jingyi and Sizhui’s guardians are also in the office, Jingyi’s mom already lecturing her sheepish-looking son. Lan-ayi only stops when Sizhui’s father, a quiet and tall man in white, clears his throat, causing her to engage him in one-sided smalltalk.

This is a disaster. Jin Ling had spent such a nice break at home for Mid-Autumn Festival, and Fairy’s presence had soothed his homesickness after returning to boarding school in Gusu. He knows pets aren’t allowed, but who is going to report Jin Ling when his father pays good money for a private suite in the dorms? Then there was the incident with Jingyi, a box of mooncakes, and a door left ajar. Long story short, he spent an hour chasing Fairy down the halls with Sizhui and Jingyi before finding his dog nosing up to a very angry Headmaster Lan.

[glcaps]

Later:

I Decided to Fake a Marriage with My Junior (♀️) to Shut My Parents Up (親がうるさいので後輩（♀）と偽装結婚してみた) by Kodama Naoko

[floatingcatacombs]

Some More Adult Lesbian Mangas Because They Are My Lifeblood At This Point

12 Days of Aniblogging 2019, Day 12

Thanks for reading Floating Catacombs in 2019 thus far! Just like in 2018, I had to take yesterday off to pursue other artistic endeavors. I’m concluding this year’s set of blog posts the same way I concluded last year’s – a list of yuri manga with interesting adult characters that I read this year. So I hope you enjoy this year’s selection and maybe find something new to read this Christmas.

Still Sick

no homo

Two women working in systems development gradually open up to each other about their weird niche creative interests. You see, Shimizu draws yuri doujins and is terrified of sharing that with anyone, but her coworker Maekawa finds out, and reveals her own secret that she used to be a burgeoning manga artist. Before you know it, Shimizu is helping Maekawa start up her manga career again, getting close to her and exploring romantic and artistic boundaries one and the same.

Still Sick has a lot of uniquely good themes! It deals very directly with the mortifying ordeal of being known, and the positives that can come out of that. I’m really a sucker for any decently written manga about artist’s block and the battle between unbridled artistic ambition and having to make money to survive. The art isn’t always the best, and the relationship between the two main characters yo-yos like crazy, but overall it’s a quick and worthwhile read to catch up on!

 Office Romance: Women’s Division

This one’s the intoxicating stuff: the sickly sweet yuri fluff that can just melt someone in pages. Office Romance: Women’s Division is about office ladies who work at a wedding dress shop. Through lesbian statistician magic, every single woman in the office is interested in other women, which leads to plenty of slightly intertwining stories about fledgling relationships between working women. The backdrop of weddings and marriage adds a surprising longevity and strength to what should be fleeting vignettes describing how two women fell in love. The art is adorable, and while some of the stories fall flat, a handful are truly memorable, such as the woman who wants to look pretty for the first time and her beautician. With all of the ladies pairing off with each other and working through their feelings, it’s amazing that any work actually gets done at their office.

 I Decided to Fake a Marriage with my Junior (♀) to Shut My Parents Up

The title explains it all, really.

[pynkhues]

Say Dean did give her the necklace. Out of all the horrendous things he’s done to her, why would she decide to wear it tho?

Well, assuming that he is the one to give her the new necklace, which Istrongly suspect he is (although I’ve been wrong before!), I think there are afew reasons she’d wear it. And hey! I’ve had five or six asks since 2.08about Beth and Dean’s relationship, history and age gap, which I had a fewdrafts of, so I’m so sorry! I’m going to highjack your ask to combine/answerthem all! Hope that’s okay. 

Putting all myheadcanons and theories aside (at least for the first half of this post haha),let’s just talk about what canon has established about Beth and Dean and theirrelationship over the last 18 episodes. 

This is like, verylong (seriously 2,800 words), haha, so I’m putting it under a cut to save all your feeds. 

The Marks’ Family ValuesWhile 2.08 clarified a few things about the way Beth, Ruby and Annie wereraised, there’s still a lot that we don’t really know, so let’s look at what wedo know: 

1. Beth as a youngteenager crashed her mother’s car out the front of Ruby’s house with her kidsister in the passenger seat because there was no food in the house, and theirmother wasn’t getting out of bed. The implication, from Annie’sdialogue “She just really likes it there” is that this is not a new thing.(2.08)

2. Annie was areckless kid and had a broken arm during a time it’s implied she and Beth were neglected.(2.08)

3. “You knowwhat my mama used to say? You get what you get and you don’t get upset.” – Beth(2.01)

4. Beth played pianofor six years after her parents dropped $$s on it, despite changing her mindand wanting to play violin, which on its own I think can be written off as generalchildish indecisiveness, buuuut I think means a little more than that in thecontext of everything else. (1.05)

5. Beth worked heronly legitimate job in highschool at the Dairy Queen. (1.03)

5. Annie used to gethigh and was sexually active in highschool, and had gossip/rumours spread abouther. Their mother came into the school to address it and, it’s implied, madethe situation a lot worse, causing Annie not want to do the same to Sadie with Sadie’sbullies. (1.04)

6. Then Annie gotpregnant in highschool. (mentioned multiple times)

7. Beth has alwaysbeen the one that Annie has called to bail her out of trouble (mentioned a fewtimes).

9. Beth had postpartumdepression with at least one of her children. (2.05)

The Boland Timeline

While we haven’t gottenconfirmed ages of the characters, we do know that Dean is, at the very least, ayear older than Beth, although I think it’s more likely around three yearsgiven the way it’s framed in the episode. SO. 

1. Beth meets Dean atschool when she’s either a freshman, sophomore or junior. He’s a senior. It’sat a point in time where we know her mother is bedridden and Beth spends a lotof time looking after Annie (she even took Annie to Ruby’s father’s funeral,which I think says a lot as to how much Beth – and by proxy Ruby – were lookingafter Annie). (2.08)

2. Beth and Dean havebeen married for 20 years during S1, so that puts them likely at gettingmarried when Beth is somewhere between the age of 20-22. (mentioned multipletimes)

3. Somewhere in thistime period, Dean takes over Boland Motors from his father (one of the photosin the screensaver Dean’s looking at in 2.04 looks like it’s from a grandre-opening, and Beth’s holding a baby boy, so it looks like this could bearound the time Kenny or Danny is born) and Beth becomes a stay-at-home motherand a housewife. Dean also has full control of their finances, and Beth is onan allowance that he also controls. 

4. Kenny has hiseleventh birthday in S1, so Beth would’ve been in her late twenties when shehad him. 

5. We don’t know theage gap between the rest of the kids (and in fact, those age gaps have obviouslychanged between S1 and S2 lol) but it looks like Jane is now the youngest, notEmma, and that Beth and Dean hadn’t had sex in the two years before gettingpregnant with Jane, and then that they hadn’t had sex since she was born until2.06, which seems to be about five or six years. (2.05 / 1.05)

6. Beth had postpartumdepression after at least Emma (it was the specific given reason as to why theyhadn’t had sex in the two years before getting pregnant with Jane), although Ithink the implication is that it was with more of the kids than just her.

7. Somewhere in allof this, Dean had multiple affairs. He says four, but the implication fromAmber is that it’s more than that, and then I think Beth basically confirmsthat when she says “Dean’s slept with half of Detroit” later in the episode.Plus Dean being a pathological liar isn’t exactly a secret. (2.05)

8. Beth finds out hesleeps with Amber in 1.01 and that he’s mortgaged their house three times andthat their savings are gone. She kicks him out, takes control of theirfinances, and robs Fine & Frugal. 

9. Dean tries to winher back a few times - first by appealing to her pragmatism (and I’ll beexpanding on this shortly) - by talking about how they’ll both be worse offfinancially if they separate - before telling her that she’s the love of hislife, then by showing up unannounced to mow the backyard (a traditionally malehousehold job), then by using Kenny’s birthday wish that they were backtogether to try and guilt her (another point I’ll be expanding on shortly!)

10. Cut to Kenny’sbirthday party. He implies Beth’s having an affair with Rio (lols for so manyreasons), they fight, Beth insinuates that she’ll be filing for divorce soon(”You’re still my wife” “Yeah, I’ve gotta get on that.”) and Dean drops TheCancer Lie. Beth is obviously upset, and lets him move back in, but he’ssleeping in Kenny’s room. (1.04)

11. Dean doubles down on the cancer lie by bribing a doctor to tell Bethhe has prostate cancer, but he also covers for her when Turnerfinds the Boland Motors car the girls stole from the lot. He then confronts herabout it in a very paternalistic way (”Why don’t you get a job?” “Sit down!”“These people prey on good, innocent people” “I’m sorry I yelled at you, buteverything’s going to be fine. I’ll take care of you.”). Beth plays along inthe moment, but Dean changes the locks without telling her (and also doesn’thelp her bring the grocery bags in which is sooo telling), reveals he’sswitched hours with a guy at work to be around to ‘protect’ her, and Bethfinally stands up for herself “You have no idea what I’ve done or even who Iam”. (1.06)

12. Dean asks her ifshe’s doing it for the kids. She says yes, and he says it’s all he needs toknow. It genuinely seems to comfort her in the moment. It’s one of their fewnice scenes and I think shows what they were like when they were at their verybest. (1.07)

13. Rio shuts down,Beth is back on an allowance. She tries to get a loan, but their credit hasn’trebounded enough and they still have too much debt. Dean solves the problem bymoving the botox via the doctor he bribed. Dean won’t tell Beth how he did it,but she’s grateful enough to end up coming clean about what she does for Rio.They have their second nice moment. “You don’t deserve anything I did toyou.” + “I think you’re incredible.” (1.08)

14. Dean obviouslyfeels like he and Beth are getting back on track, and is annoyed that Annie’sliving with them temporarily. He builds Beth a craft table with hiddencompartments to hide her fake cash! (1.09)

15. Dean tries toorganise something for their anniversary, which Beth doesn’t agree to rightaway, but does later in the episode when he tries to help her after realisingshit’s going down in the crime world. Dean gets into a car accident whilechecking out another woman, Beth finds out he lied about the cancer (like thatgrenade was never going to blow, Deansy), he came home, Rio shoots him to getback at Beth, but not before revealing a certain degree of intimacy and trustbetween the two of them, which Dean clocks instantly. (1.10 / 2.01)

Then Season 2happens, haha.

So let’s talk about Beth & Dean

I’ve said it a fewtimes before, but when it comes to Beth, we’re ultimately watching somebody whohas been disempowered and disenfranchised for a really, really long time tryingto reclaim a sense of identity and control over her life. Even before 2.08, wewere looking at that through the sense of her marriage to Dean where she had noreal independence. Her entire life was dictated by decisions that he made forthem, personally, professional and financially, and a lot of the first half of Season1 was devoted to her realising exactly how many of those decisions had been bad ones. As the series went on, she reallydid start to gain a sense of financial independence (which is incredibly important)as well as a sense of her own identity and agency, only for that to becompletely crippled again across that four episode arc - 1.09 through to 2.02 –firstly by thinking Rio had played her for a fool (the empty truck), then Rio firingher, then realising that Dean hadplayed her for a fool again (thecancer lie), and then her plot to put Rio away falling apart, Dean being shot,and her realising that she was newly indebted to both of them.

I think what 2.08contextualised was that Beth has never really been allowed to explore who sheis, because there’s always been somebody she’s had to look after. She’s alwayshad dependents and she has lived a life of constant compromise, making her incrediblypragmatic and sacrificing of her own needs and wants. The episode establishedthat Beth spent most if not all of her adolescence caring for Annie and theirmother, married young, and then spent her entire young adult life looking afterDean and their four children.

Likely the appeal ofDean was that he was older, gave her attention in a way that seemed to ‘see’ herat a time where her needs were neglected at home, and likely popular – he’s goofyand fun, as the show’s establishedmultiple times, which I think would be more likeable at that teenage age, and Ithink he probably appealed to Beth as a way out of a troubling home situation.At the end of the day, the show has established pretty firmly that Beth is, whenit comes to her and her own, a survivor. And when I say survivor, I don’t meanthe badass, action heroine sort of survivor - I mean the desperate, do-what-she-has-tosort of survivor. She has an uncanny ability to lie and perform to get herselfout of situations, and also a tendency to sacrifice her own happiness for thoseshe loves. I think when it came to Dean, for a very long time, Beth sacrificedpower and control for a security and safety that she hadn’t had growing up,first for herself (and likely in part for Annie too), and then for her fourchildren.

And I think Dean, priorto the start of the series, had never truly been challenged on any of thecontrol that he wrought over their lives. He’s your classic embodiment of whitemale privilege, and I think he has all the baggage that comes with that,including a firm belief in gender roles, a heady sense of entitlement, and asubconscious expectation that things will usually work in his favour. The factthat he started dating Beth when she was so young, that he inherited BolandMotors from his father, and the fact that he blames Beth’s postpartum depressionfor his affairs too I think drasticallyemphasises that. We talk a lot about the power play between Beth and Rio, butBeth and Dean, since 1.01, have been in a power play of their own – Beth in herdesire to break out of their traditional roles, to ‘steer the ship’, and toreally put her family in a more secure position in life (something she realisedDean was incapable of doing), and Dean in his desire to keep them in their traditional roles, to ‘steer the ship’, and tokeep the status quo (I mean, hell, the fact that he was checking out anotherwoman on his way to his anniversary dinner with Beth in 1.10 says a lot about exactly how little he wants things tochange).

In what is typical ofpeople who are nurturers/carers or have been forced into nurturer/carerpositions in their life, Beth also seems to feel guilt to a disproportionatedegree, and in a way that often seems to cancel out any other emotion,including her anger. This is established pretty early in season one in smallways - her snipping with Annie then immediately back pedalling when sherealises Annie might lose custody of Sadie, with not being able to throw Kennythe birthday party he wants, with her telling Dean about what she does for Rioafter Dean offloads the botox, and then reiterated in big ways this season -nursing Dean after he’s been shot, crawling into bed with Kenny after he gotcaught binge eating at school, going above and beyond to get the dubby backafter Jane feels neglected, I’d even argue that the whole situation with MaryPat has partially been fuelled by guilt for putting Mary Pat in that situationin the first place when she’s a widow with four young children.

And I think Dean knows this! He has guilted her so much across the course of this show, often in a way to deflectfrom his own shortcomings or to ultimately playher. He gaslights her all the time,and she often doesn’t even realise it, which demonstrates, to me at least, howoften he’s done it over the course of their 20+ year relationship. The wholething about the cancer lie in the first place was to back her into a corner,which he succeeded in doing. He guilted her about being at Boland Motors andaway from the kids. When Jane went missing, he immediately blamed her and guilted her for her involvement with Rio(instead of………you know……….looking for his daughter), in 2.08, he guilted Beth for checking on her moneybefore untying him after he’d tried to organise a hit on her partner and gottenher robbed blind in the process.

And when the guilt and the manipulation stopped working, he did thething he knew she couldn’t ignore (and that would hurt her the most) which istake the children. Beth is, like I said earlier, a survivor and a sacrificer whenit comes to her and her own. There’s no way she won’t give up everything togive those children what she didn’t have – a mother who she could rely on. I thinkDean’s ultimatum won’t just be about them either. I could be wrong, but I thinkhe’s going to tell her that they have to try again as a couple, and I thinkthat’s what that necklace is going to be about (seriously though, if he givesit to her as a part of the ultimatum, everything about it symbolically is acollar), and she’ll put it on for her children, and I think it’s all honestlygoing to push her over the edge in a really big way before the season’s over.

I’ve mentioned this in other posts, but I think Beth fully was intendingto leave Dean before the cancer lie, but then she needed to care for him(again, a manipulation I think Dean knew would work because of Beth’s historycaring for her mother and Annie), and then the shooting (same reason, plus theadded bonus of her having caused it). Since then, I think she has almostcompletely emotionally divorced him – having sex with Rio, taking over BM,checking on the money first, not letting him back into her bed – is all verytelling of this, and I think she had likely had her pragmatic hat on and waswaiting until she could feasibly balance all the pieces in her life on her ownbefore filing for divorce. Of course, that’s now blown up with Dean holding thechildren essentially hostage.

And look, do I thinkDean loves Beth? I do actually, in his own way. Do I think Beth loves Dean? Ithink she did, but like she said to Ruby – Dean’s not a soulmate for her, oreven a partner. Beth and Dean should’ve maybe briefly dated in highschool andthen broken up, but they’re both in too deep now, and I don’t think anythingshort of a bullet or an arrest is going to easily disentangle them.

[dmoreswiftie]

By kodama naoko