#i really thought this whole season was gonna be them paralleling each other perfectly before ultimately teaming together

[taiturner]

TAISSA TURNER & NAT SCATORCCIO Yellowjackets ◆ 2x09 "Storytelling"

[idkhow-but-im-here]

OK OK OK OK OK

I finally finished Good Omens season 2 and I have so many fucking thoughts which I will list in no particular order:

The Doctor Who references are always golden. (somewhat related: that part when Crowley was bullshitting about war regulations in front of Shax & co in the bookshop? super reminiscent of Ten’s speedy sci-fi jargon)

The music, as always, fucking slaps, especially at the end of each episode when the theme is played in a related style I love it so much

Nina and Maggie!!! I do really like them as a ship (coffee shop + record shop? that’s a built-in au fic) but I also like how they’re not actually together at the end. I love how they’re so healthy in how they go about their potential relationship, both acknowledging how messed up it was for Aziraphale/Crowley to meddle with their lives and how dumb it would be to rush into something headfirst regardless of all the shit they had been through both togther and as individuals. Also Fuck Lindsay all my homies hate Lindsay, as much as I liked what they did with visualising her shitty messages (the blackboard and crumpled notepad sheets? because of coffee shop reasons and how Nina’s work and love life was suffocatingly forced together by the incessant behest of Lindsay)

<The dancing/ball/Jane Austen vibes3

Beezelbub and Gabriel!?!? When I first came across this ship on ao3 I thought this ship made somewhat sense but would stay in the realms of fanon yet here I am disproven and I can’t lie… they’re kinda cute together. I was caught off guard (like every other character) but fair dues to them. Their parallels with the ineffable husbands are just ughh *chef’s kiss*

^alpha centauri!!!^

Peter Davison and Ty Tennant??? Their appearances did make me giggle for meta’s sake. Perhaps a Georgia Tennant appearance in season 3? (if they make it please please please say they’ll make it)

WAS CROWLEY ACTUALLY RAPHAEL??? I thought it was just a headcanon/fan theory (which I did fall in love with after watching this beautiful animatic years ago) but Crowley having access to classified files and the Metatron mentioning that an archangel being cast out has happened before??? it’s becoming more and more plausible.

AND JUST PRE-FALL CROWLEY IN GENERAL HE LOOKS SO HAPPY all he ever did was ask valid questions goddamnit (literally). nebulae are very pretty I would also be indignant if they weren’t gonna stick around for long. AND THE PARALLEL TO THE FIRST EPISODE WITH THE WINGSSS

Crowley just being a good nice decent person all throughout time (the goats, children, helping out elspeth, ect) it makes me happy

ANDD Aziraphale’s reactions (both positive and negative) to aforementioned deeds create a great moral foil to Crowley and perfectly builds up to what we see at the end (I’ll probably write about s2 Aziraphale in a different post because man I have so many thoughts)

Crowley’s callbacks to the date lunch at the Ritz!! Him talking to Nina and Maggie about taking Aziraphale to the Ritz again to him pointing out the lack of a nightingale (idk if that was leaning into meta a little but it didn’t bother me) just HURT so damn much

“Emotional damage support angel” you’re damn right he is/was

The battery-powered candles lmfaooo and literally any reference to the fire, including the absurd number of fire extinguishers, had me giggling

Muriel is a goddamned (or not so in some sense) treasure, a little ray of sunshine with a heart of gold and dumb of ass. I adore her and found Aziraphale and Crowley humouring her hilarious.

THE SECOND COMING??? I’m sorry wHAT WE ALREADY HAD THE ANTICHRIST NOW WE’RE DEALING WITH CHRIST CHRIST? YOU CAN’T LEAVE US WITH JUST THAT MR. GAIMAN

and of course the bloody

K I S S

THAT WHOLE SEQUENCE OF CROWLEY FINALLY FINALLY OPENING UP AND JUST BEING WHOLEHEARTEDLY HONEST (going against his predisposition and entire NATURE to lie/omit or walk around the truth)

CONFESSING HIS TRUE FEELING AFTER COUNTLESS MILLENNIA OF PINING EVEN AFTER AZIRAPHALE DROPPED THAT BOMBSHELL

AND HALF STORMING OFF BEFORE GOING BACK TO KISS THE SHIT OUT OF HIM AND THEN FULLY STORMING OFF

with aziraphale clearly unsure of how to react BUT STILL TOUCHES HIS LIPS IN SHOCK AS HE WATCHES CROWLEY LEAVE

That shit had me fully standing up on the sofa, arms in brace position, gasping, screaming, close to tears, indignantly repeating “NEIL GAIMAN!” every couple of seconds

Truly a brilliant scene and a brilliant season overall.

As always the cast, the writers, the set designers, the effects artists, the costumers, the camera crew, everyone who had a part in creating go2 was fucking fantastic.

[theroyalmisfitmess]

Stranger Things 4 Reax (not an essay format I don’t have the brain cells for that rn)

- MISSED THIS SHOW SO MUCH. I was a JUNIOR in HIGH SCHOOL when the last season premiered it’s crazy to think I’m finishing up freshman year of college

- the writing, cinematography, acting, and overall production is SO GOOD. This is the type of quality shows we deserve and I feel so blessed that I’ve been a fan since the first season

- character developments and storylines were done so well. I liked how the arcs were divided into factions and it reminded me so much of Avengers Infinity War when everyone had their own missions (home-base Hawkins for Vol II, I am so ready for you)

- the way everything wove together in the end was absolutely phenomenal. Everything we’ve found out since Season 1 finally made sense and I am thrilled to see how the last two episodes of the show will wrap things up

- gonna transition to more of the non-important but maybe important things now starting with... I’m curious to know what Will’s painting is and am terrified that he might die given how it fits the trope of gift-giving after someone dies

- Jonathan and Nancy/Jancy is the only couple in the show I actually care about (okay, maybe Joyce and Hopper/Jopper too but I’m pretty sure they’re endgame) so I’m really hoping they see each other soon. It’s so obvious Nancy’s feeling a little bit lonely with Jonathan gone. They’re just really perfect for each other

- okay but speaking of... I find it hilarious that there are Stancy hints. I don’t think it’ll be too deep but closure on Nancy’s side could finally be given. I don’t like everyone else shipping them but we can pretty much say that they need to have a formal clearing of air after their break-up because... It just ended in a snap

- I like how Lucas isn’t just a “side main character” now. Like don’t get me wrong, he has purpose and agency, but he didn’t really have anything super interesting going on his life aside from having a sassy sister before. Now he has his own struggles that we see and I love that

- pretty surprised that Chrissy’s boyfriend isn’t as asshole as I thought he was (LMAO)? Like okay, I don’t like how irrational he is being over hunting Eddie but he’s just a genuine and confused teenager who lost someone he loved. He doesn’t know the situation and I feel sorry for him too

- speaking of Eddie, WHAT A GREAT ADDITION. Right off the bat, he was interesting. He has agency. He fits perfectly. I would really like to see him interact with Jonathan when he finally comes back to Hawkins (they look like they could vibe). JUSTICE FOR EDDIE PLEASE!!

- also since I mentioned Jonathan on my last point, we gotta give it to his buddy Argyle! I didn’t know if he was fitting for the story at first, but I found him so entertaining it worked. I bet him with the whole Hawkins teens squad would be really funny to watch because it’d be so unhinged (ESPECIALLY HIM AND ROBIN THE ENTERTAINMENT PLS)

- oh side note, for some reason I thought there was gonna be a Jonathan-Nancy-Steve parallel with Eddie-Chrissy-Jason (that forest scene was cute don’t @ me)

- so far these are what i have in mind. Will share more if I think of some. I’M SO EXCITED FOR VOLUME II

[elizabethsharmon]

reblog if you feel disrespected by skam france and demand official apology

below a full list of all the offenses:

Manon going back to Ch*rbage after he emotionally manipulated her to not testify against his brother (who got her drunk, took nudes of her, and kept blackmailing her) because “after all nothing happened = he didn’t r*pe her”

Making Arthur and Alexia a couple in the first place just so he could cheat on her with Noee and lie to her for weeks and then having her break up with him, only for them to suddenly being good friends in s6 and kissing in the last clip (which ngl almost made me throw up)

Bringing up Lucas’ insecurities and abandonment issues but never letting him talk about them with Eliott; posting some damage control posts on instagram instead and pretending like Lucas is fine with Eliott kissing Lola for the film (which he clearly wasn’t, the writers seem to not know him at all)

Wasting time to edit Tiff’s head onto different animals and posting things on that cyberbullying account that no one cared about instead of posting something from the grew + the worst social media ever

Not giving us a proper goodbye to the grew and not really saying anything about their future

Lying to the fans about god knows what we will see in s6 and baiting them to watch even though legit nothing of it happened

Not continuing Arthur’s story in s6 (fine, I don’t really care about that but we were supposed to see it so ???? )

Treating some fans more privileged than the others, giving them spoilers about the new seasons, inviting them on set

FranceTV Slash and SkamLaSerie instas mocking fans in their stories - saying stuff like Lola will cause the break up between Daphne and Basile, “addiction can be useful for flirting” (yikes), creating a ship war between fans in s5 by posting two photos of Alexia/Arthur and Noee/Arthur with a caption “we love them both, we can’t choose”, the host of the live of s6 calling people on tumblr “obsessed” and not apologizing when people said they’re offended by that, blocking people who were asking questions about why the SA was never mentioned again during the live

Liking all the praise but constantly ignoring fans when they were asking questions about writing choices and then blocking them

the rest of 50 offenses under cut cause turns out they really disrespected me more than I thought

feel free to add whatever you want if i forgot about something

None of the girls really apologizing to Imane at the end of season 4 after all they’ve put her through and after they took the side of the racist (who already had a history of drama with Emma) instead of their friend

Taking away Noee’s integrity and making her say “I love you” out loud (which was totally ooc cause an episode earlier she said LSF is her language and she doesn’t like her voice) after Arthur (who was leading her on for weeks) told her they can’t be together

Male gaze in s5 because even though the sign language is a body language, the way camera was lingering on her flat, bare stomach, a few times showing a close up on her boobs during the “song-dance” scene was male gaze

Lack of beautiful, slow-mo, piano music scenes for Alexia with Arthur staring at her awestruck because apparently she’s not worthy enough

Completely sidelining the deaf/hoh storyline in favour of cheating/love triangle plot

Reducing Camille to a translator and randomly making him Mika’s boyfriend because why the hell not

Completely forgetting about Mika and Lisa after s5 (did they ever find that roommate????)

Noee kissing Arthur right after he shared his traumatic story with her and overshadowing domestic abuse with cheating

Absolutely no follow-up about P*trick and domestic abuse after s5 

Having P*trick cheat on Arthur’s mom with Emma’s mom because they’re all one big family

Random crackfic farm episode that didn’t make absolutely ANY sense

Killing Fifi rip [*]

Arthur getting hit by The Car and being perfectly fine the next day

The Boy Squad becoming cheating apologists, Lucas giving Arthur the same advice he gave to Emma in s1 and Yann (who got hurt because of it back then) supporting it

Character regression, especially for Lucas, and the whole boy squad acting out of character

Continuously trying to make Lucas look like a bad guy because they knew we would forgive him everything

Arthur suddenly liking art even though it hasn’t been ever mentioned before and his whole instagram was filled with space related posts

Parallels between Eliott/Lucas and Arthur/Noee

Catherine - or lack of her - aka the queerbait from s3

Completely ignoring character’s birthdays - Basile and Manon (second year in a row)

Not introducing Lola before and making s6 about a complete stranger but still expecting the fans to like her from the get-go and watch the show by baiting the fans with the promise of “unofficial mains” (Daphne and Eliott)

Forcing the Lola/Eliott friendship and selling it in the promo as sister/brother relationship instead of writing it in a way that would make it flow naturally

Making Eliott Otteli Urbex King only to forget the plot after more or less three clips; also having Eliott hide the truth from Lucas for months and then pretending to resolve it in a text to Lola ??? which didn’t make sense in the first place but then it turned out that it was just damage control

Making Lola hook up with much older guys than her over and over again and having one of them s*xually assault just so Eliott could play the hero and save her; never bringing that up again

Making Eliott punch people left and right - anything to protect the ladies, Sofiane punching Ch*rbage in s4 can agree I guess

Making Eliott Otteli Urbex King only to forget the plot after more or less three clips; also having Eliott hide the truth from Lucas for months and then pretending to resolve it in a text to Lola ??? which didn’t make sense in the first place but then it turned out that it was just damage control

Letting Eliott talk about his past and insecurities only so Lola could prey on them later and emotionally manipulate him into drinking

Also Eliott not letting Lola apologize and brushing off her apologies because apparently that was nothing at all and it’s okay to let people walk you over and manipulate you 

Not letting Lucas speak for himself

The whole Lux & Obscurus plot, having Eliott write the film about his and Lucas’ relationship and what his love means to Eliott only to have Lola play in it, not adjusting the script so that it would fit the change and still keeping the Eliott/Lola kiss as a big fuck you to the fandom instead of having it end with a forehead touch and fade to black especially that they haven’t even showed it to us again during the screening of Eliott’s film (but it made all the other couples turned on enough to kiss in that exact moment so maybe it had a purpose) (it didn’t what the fuck was that)

Also acting like Lucas can’t spare a few hours to film it with Eliott cause he has to sTuDy FoR tHe BaC when they were filming it in the middle of a night on Friday, how is that realistic

Not giving Eliott any friends of his own and pretending like he’s a lone wolf even though he’s the biggest sunshine ever and he’s naturally drawn to people; acting like there are no other studens at his film school who could help him film his project so instead he let Lola find random people who knew nothing about filming to help him; having a bunch of random people at the screening of his film and if they were supposed to be his “friends” from the film school then I’m gonna throw hands

Acting like we will see what “minute by minute” really means and “see Eliott like we’ve never seen him before” which never happened

Switching POV for two clips only and they all revolved around Lola because they decided to go with su*cide attempt in episode 9

Also ending that episode with a su*cide note even though the next clip was before midnight on Friday

Giving Lola the worst therapist ever and a really poor attempt at cheering her up from the nurse

Enforcing that “having a loved one” is “the real reason to change” instead of sending the message that you should change for yourself first and foremost and showing that reaching out for professional help is a good thing and can really help you

Acting like ED can be cured by italian cuisine and not mentioning it again for weeks; having Daphne ask Lola not to go to rehab because they have each other and a few clips after that she’s suddenly after her first therapy (love that for her but there’s something huge missing here)

Making Lola’s life a living hell and a misery porn for 10 weeks straight

Making P*trick, Thierry and Lola’s biological dads The Worst (men are trash but it would be nice to see some good parenting on the show)

Giving all the members of La Mif two or three personality traits and not fleshing out their characters

Giving Maya a girlfriend because a season without a love triangle is a waste

Not really developing Mayla well and having their first kiss right after Eliott/Lola cursed kiss as a preemptive damage control to shut us up

Never mentioning why Lola was doing

Wasting a good chunk of the season on Tiff and that insta account and ending it with “she’s addicted to social media”

Giving Yann like one line each season after s3

Reducing Sofiane to the background dancer in s5 and s6

Hating female characters

F/M friendships are only possible if the guy is gay, otherwise cheating always had to be involved

and you know. in general. pretty much everything they did after s3.

[blorbosexterminator]

Sergio's not gonna die, he is needed for a possible re-opening of the show. Palermo is too obvious (and that matters to pina), Raquel was already fake-killed. OTOH, Denver: has a lot more protagonism this season, with flashback and all, he is a universally beloved character (always a good candidate to kill), Jaime Lorente has been seen in some town with pedro and alba filming (prob flashback but why with those 2?). 90% sure he's the dead (if anyone).

Honestly, the only thing that would truly surprise me at this point if they indeed don't kill anyone next volume. Would be a move™, I'll give them that. But yes, I do think that they'll go with Denver too, and it has been foreshadowed to be honest. Doesn't change how much I dislike and genuinely disagree with that choice though. I don't think the actor would be up for a spin-off honestly, but anyway Sergio only has the element of surprise and the parallel with his father (the show is too fond of parallels lmfao) not much else to make his death a good choice.

And as you said, Palermo is predictable. And I imagine, with how politically aware™ the show is this season, they might also try to avoid the 'bury your gays' trope.

The thing is, most of what you and I just listed are just meta-textual reasons. I'm not saying those reasons have no place at all when considering writing choices, of course not, but I do disapprove, generally speaking, of writers taking this too much into account when writing their finales.

Sergio would be shocking to a more extent than the others, but that doesn't make him any more a good choice. Denver would guarantee as much of an angry and frustrated reaction as Nairobi (Although I honestly don't dislike Nairobi's death as much as everyone else. I thought it was well-played to an extent) and would have a strong emotional response plus parallels with Moscu, but to me it would be very misplayed.

I wasn't really talking about what I expect from the show as much as what I personally believe is a good writing choice. I most expect Denver to die, but I think Palermo is the most fitting choice.

Like sure, those things are subjective, and they change from one fan to the other as well as from one writer to the other. But just because the death of a character is predictable doesn't mean it's not the most fitting choice for the situation. Not really, I think it means the audience sees something there.

Look, before anyone starts assuming I just *want* Martín to die to see some afterlife scene for my ship, or even a parallel. Yeah, sure, preferablly as a fan of them I'd love this, but I don't think they are in any way necessar. To me, they would just be peppering that would make the death scene nicer stylistically speaking. I don't even think the show canonized the after-life or something of the sort, again I just think they are a mere stylistic choice. I wouldn't be at all actually bothered if we got nothing of the sort.

I just wholly believe the best choice to go with for both textual and meta-textual reasons is Palermo. First, the meta-textual ones, despite the fact that I disapprove of how they got there, I have to admit that the show managed to get him to be more likable this season. General audiences that have previously hated the hell out of him like him enough now. But at the same time Martín is still not Sergio, Raquel, or Denver. His death would cause some sadness and emotional response in the audience but not literal rage and feeling of betrayel, like say for example how GOT fans felt. Also, Martín now has enough alive characters that care about him that would make his death sad. It's unlikely an audience would give a shit about a character's death if none of the surrounding characters do. But now there is Helsinki, who incidentally Martín is also much nicer and caring towards this season, so Helsi would have "good reasons" to react strongly to his death, Sergio supposedly also cares for Martín, and we can say Raquel respects him. So the characters around him wouldn't be indifferent, especially if his death has value in the narrative, say an actual sacrifice for the rest of them. The show itself is VERY fond of the sort of arc that goes along the line 'Selfish character who caused harm and pain to all around them reaches selfishness and then sacrifices their life for the sake of the others.' It happened with Berlin, it happened with Tokyo. And it seems is effective enough. So if I were the writer and wanted a death that is effective but won't anger audience too much, I'd 100% go with him.

And again, a point is Martín even has something that neither Tokyo nor Andrés did, he had a very direct hand in the killing of a very beloved team member. Sure, you can say Tokyo had a hand in what happened to Moscu, but Tokyo legitimately had very little choice because she couldn't find Sergio and she had no intention to do harm, she didn't know her entrance would literally cost the man's life. Martín knew very, very well what Gandia was capable of and this is exactly why he did what he did.

Martín is narratively still responsible for Nairobi's death and took no hand in even avenging her from Gandia. That was Bogota and then Tokyo. And the character seems to be weighted by that guilt to a large extent. And I think the absolute best way for the narrative to resolve this point is by Martín dying directly to save Helsinki, who the show also made a point of also incapacitating, and I'd imagine that would have repercussions on how efficient getting out of the bank would be on him. Characters rarely get injured just for the sake of it, Nairobi's terrible injury from Alicia made her much more susceptible to Gandia, who had a huge leverage on her as she was physically incapable of resisting anything. (I imagine Monica's situation would also have repercussions--hopefully just not on Denver lmfao)

So despite generally not being a fan at all of the pairing in any way or form, and how they generally make no sense to me, with how the show is going now it's definitely best for Martín to die partially for his plan and partially for Helsinki.

Like ideally, what I'd personally most love to see and what I'd personally write a 2573 different fic versions of, is for Martín to die for his plan and for Sergio. I personally believe outside of the plan, Martín's most important relationship in his arc is with Sergio. But the show already ignored their relationship enough this volume as a first and Sergio already got the strong death scenes with Berlin and Tokyo as a second, it could be seen as an excess. But with Helsinki it's meaningful on a different level. The character Nairobi cared about the most is Helsinki (and he's also nearly as well-liked by the audience), so this would balance what he did to Nairobi in a pretty significant way, not completely out-do it, but the two acts would definitely balance each other. To both the audience and to the characters, Martín would be truly "redeemed." Which despite how much I dislike, and genuinely don't agree with it, the show is already putting a lot of focus on his 'redemption'. I don't like redemption arcs generally speaking, I don't think Martín is fit for it, and I don't think it's happening in an organic way at all, and I frankly believe it made him boring, but alas, it is what is is, the show is already half-way there, it already took that route, so the only end for it is to finish it and go all the way. It would be very useless if he ended up surviving lmfao.

And of course the other reason is for Martín's personal arc. The plan is his life's work, the thing he showed most loyality and love to from the moment he showed up 2 seasons ago, the end of his arc is with the end of his plan. Never mind how A LOT of scenes would be useless if Martín doesn't actually die for the success of the plan; the whole reason Sergio opposed it so strongly is because, in his own words, it was completely suicidal. Sure, you can say that they already proved the plan is dangerous by the army going in and all of this "war", but there was no Rio, Raquel, Plan Paris or Plan Roman in the original plan, so there would have been no reason for things to go that bad in that respect, all that happened in volume one is by direct consquence of the plan changing, so that still leaves the question why was Berlin and Palermo's plan so wrong and so suicidal if we don't take into account this war? If there is no answer and if there is no answer that is actually anchored by a death in canon, then those were really all just empty scenes. And of course it's Martín, the mastermind and engineer, the artist who crafted this poem, that has to die for its completion and overall success. Since day one, his arc has been tied intimately to this plan, we barely even know anything about him beyond it. And like, three people died for the mint heist and it was a plan made to work perfectly without a single flaw, where does this put a heist that was just full of romanticism and complete focus on the gold with disregard to the people? All of the scenes we saw of Sergio rejecting the bank heist in the flashbacks on that basis have to mean something now.

Against all of this, what does Denver have? What will his death signify? Nothing, in my opinion. The man didn't even want to be there. Also I guarantee you, if he does die for Monica the way he said, every single fan will turn against her and the hate the character will receive will be insane. Like why end the story of those two characters this way? What is there beyond edginess and grimness for their own sake?

Martín's death, even if it causes sadness, will be satisfying for his character. Besides, Martín as a character is too much like Tokyo, I don't imagine he himself would be very satisfied growing old and dying under the radar somewhere; going with a blaze now, sealing off his life's work and having his death mean something too is a much, much more satisfying ending for him.

Tldr; Palermo in a very balanced position to kill, especially that he is currently the actual leader, a position the show has given him with more space and better, much nicer spotlight now than in the third season. And I imagine with volume two focused more on extracting the gold, his role will get only bigger in that respect. He's still responsible for Nairobi's death. And he should 100% die for the Gold and the completion of his plan.

[gregorygrim]

Dragon Prince Hot Takes

!!! Full Spoiler For “The Dragon Prince” Seasons 1-3!!!

So I finally got around to watching The Dragon Prince. Timely, I know, but better late than never i guess. I’m not completely caught up yet as I only got as far as S3E7 “Hearts of Cinder” in this first sitting. Considering I haven’t binged any series in almost two years, I think that’s pretty respectable. This means I won’t discuss the last few episodes here, except for a couple of things I was unfortunately spoiled for already, hence full spoilers.

These are basically my first thoughts and opinions after the binge and a good night’s sleep. It’s gonna be a lot so if you don’t care or don’t want spoilers…

TL;DR: 7½/10. Generally enjoyable, there are some aspects I’m not exactly fan of, but no dealbreakers

Firstly to everyone who told me that this was the new ATLA: you all need to rewatch Avatar stat! Like seriously. There are definitely parallels and given the cast and crew I think that’s what they were going for too (which is why I think it’s fair to compare the two), but still, no.

Secondly I love most of the worldbuilding and love that the series at least tries to give it to us in a bit of a non-linear fashion, even if it is kind of clumsy at times. I know some people are put off by expository dialogue and flashbacks, but I’m an epic fantasy nerd, I need that sweet, sweet lore to live as much as you mortals need food.

I like that there was clearly an effort made to integrate the worldbuilding in more subtle ways. For example you may initially find it kind of weird that all these different human ethnicities are existing perfectly integrated in what looks like a medieval society, until you remember from the opening monologue that the Human Kingdoms are the result of a massive diaspora following the human exodus from Xadia, so obviously people got all mixed up everywhere. It’s representation with an excellent in-world reason and that just brings me joy.

I also love the magic system(s) even though we haven’t really gone into that just yet. it really feels like there was a genuine effort made to create underlying mechanics for the magic rather than just making each spell a vaguely elemental themed ability. I really hope we’ll dive deeper into that in coming seasons.

I also like the little nods to other works of fantasy: Ezran’s ability to talk with animals is a reference to Tolkien’s world where some royal bloodlines had the ability to speak with animals, specifically birds; Primal Magic and its spells being cast with Ancient Draconic runes and words might be reminiscent of the Ancient Language from the Inheritance Cycle etc.

Thirdly the main cast is great. Callum, Ezran and Rayla are all interesting and relatable characters in their own right and as a group. I’m not going into each of them individually here, but while I think the series as a whole falls short of ATLA, as protagonist parties go I dare say this one is nearly on nearly on par with the gAang.¹

And yes, I love Bait, which I really did not expect following the first few episodes. I love his weird pug-toad-chameleon design, I love that he works like a flashbang whenever somebody says a quote from Scarface (I wish they hadn’t dropped that later on) and I love how done he is with everything and everyone at all times. I’ve only had him for 25 episodes, but if anything happened to him I would kill all of my followers and then myself.

On top of that, and speaking as someone who god knows is really not into shipping, I love Rayla and Callum’s relationship. It’s believable, it’s refreshing and it brings out the best in both characters without changing basically anything about them. Just two good friends who fell in love. A++, maybe even S tier.

Unfortunately though I can’t sing the same kind of praises about the villains. None of them are terrible (as in terribly written, most of them are pretty awful people), but with one exception they just don’t stand up to the protagonists in quality.

I could simply not take Viren seriously. Even now that is probably the single most powerful magic user in the world, he just has such strong Karen energy, every time he finishes a speech I am overcome with the urge to say “Sir, this is a Wendy’s” and it does not help the mood. I’m not even sure why. It might’ve been the voice because the guy who did Viren (Jason Simpson) also does a lot of kinda slimy characters in various anime dubs, it might be that over-the-top walking stick, idk.

What I’m saying is that as a primary antagonist he simply did not work for me. Which is doubly a shame because this kind of tarnishes the real “Big Bad” of this story by proxy. Aaravos, even as an invisible ghost, with his voice coming out of a caterpillar and next to no info on his backstory, has more style and gravity than all the human antagonists combined. It helps that he is by far the best designed character and Erik Dellums has the voice of a young god, but I’d argue even without that unfair advantage he has the potential to be a top tier villain. While he is stuck as Viren’s “little bug-pal” though he is just being dragged down.

(I’m aware that as of the final episode the caterpillar familiar is undergoing metamorphosis, probably to create a new body for Aaravos’ spirit to inhabit outside of the magic mirror, so I’m definitely hyped for more of him in the coming seasons.)

As for Soren and Claudia, I’ve got mixed feelings. This was one more aspect of the show that a lot of people compared to Avatar and while I see the parallels to Zuko & Azula, they are still very different, at least where Claudia is concerned. I’d also just like to mention that a lot of people told me that they thought the direction in which their storylines went were really surprising and I can’t disagree more. I predicted that Soren would defect to the protagonists on episode 5 right after Viren told him to kill the princes and I knew Claudia was going to stick with her father from episode 12 onward. My point is, it didn’t feel like some kind of plot twist, the way some people made it out to be, and which I don’t think was the intent.

I definitely got the sense that Soren was at least a Zuko-type character, though still not a Zuko clone, and as with Zuko I was consistently able to empathise and sympathise with him and his predicaments. I also appreciated that his dilemma is the result of his convictions and not him being kind of dense, which would’ve been all to easy and probably would’ve ruined his character for me. As it stands he is extremely milktoast, but perfectly functional for his purpose in the story and I can definitely see him evolving further and getting more interesting as we go on.

Claudia is where it gets complicated. Again, I can see the Azula parallels. But unlike that character, who is her father’s animal 110%, Claudia doesn’t strike me as a victim of Viren’s manipulation the way Soren undoubtably is. The way she talks about and uses Dark Magic, how she talks down to Soren and how even Viren finds it difficult to communicate with her, tells me as an audience member that she is an independent person. Which tells me that the cruelty and enthusiasm for causing harm she regularly displays is her own will. And that was before she straight up leads Callum on to manipulate him.

On the other hand I can absolutely relate to her devotion to her family, her big sister role (even though she is younger than Soren) and the way both the separation of her parents before the story and Soren’s injury in episode 16 must’ve affected her because of this. I know that, if my brother had become paralysed from the neck down and I knew a way to heal him, I would not have hesitated to kill that fawn either. Then again her relationship with her father is very different from parental relationships I am familiar with, so I can’t really say I see why she is so devoted to him, other than she promised her mother to stay with him years ago? ¯\(o_Ō)/¯

So basically Claudia falls into an emotional grey space for me. I can’t really tell how to feel about her either way and I’ll just have to see where she goes from here, which, while fine, isn’t necessarily great for an end of season cliffhanger imo.

Seeing as I’ve already talked about some of the show’s shortcomings, I think it’s time to dive into some of the what I would consider flaws.

Firstly this show needed at least 12 episode seasons. I have never made a secret out of my dislike for the modern short seasons and while I recognise that in the current climate in the industry giving everything full 25 episode seasons isn’t really doable, the pacing of this show, especially for the first season is just outright bad at times. It works as of the second season, but the first season alternately feels like it’s either rushing through or crawling along the whole way through.

The believability of Rayla’s and the princes’ relationship really suffers from this the most. It comes a bit out of nowhere on the boat ride and is then taken for granted way to quickly. Like Callum, seriously, this girl tried to kill you and your brother not even a day ago and you are currently cut off from all allies you have ever had until now. A little skepticism isn’t misplaced here. I also wold’ve liked if we’d just gotten a bit more of a sense of movement with the characters. I get that this is not the kind of show where we can just make an entire episode about the characters travelling and camping, intercut with plots centred around a more expansive supporting cast, but still I really would’ve preferred if Xadia didn’t feel quite so around the corner.

Another issue is with setup and payoff, which I think is partially a consequence of the pacing as well. A lot of smaller plot points are set up within the same episode as the payoff just wreak havoc on the narrative structure. A good example is the episode where they ride down the river in a boat and Bait tires to go into the water, but is saved by Ezran, who then explains the story behind Glowtoads and how they are pefect bait for large water predators. Then Bait falls into the water and is attacked by a massive water monster. This happens within five minutes of one episode and never comes up again. To me that looks like sign of rushed editing, which is probably not entirely the crew’s fault, given that they are on a schedule from Netflix, but it’s still a point of critique.

It unfortunately also manifests in the occasional line of horribly forced dialogue, often for things we can literally see happening on screen. Again, this is mostly the case in the earlier episodes, but it never completely goes away.

Finally, and this is where i get into serious issues that made me want to write this, we gotta talk about representation in this show.

First: disabled representation, meaning Amaya. Why is Amaya deaf? Because it’s good to have disabled representation.

Why is Amaya deaf and a high-ranking military officer? Because they didn’t think it through.

I know this may be a contentious opinion, but it is my belief that the purpose of representation, particularly of disabilities characters may suffer from, in fiction is to, y’know, represent people as they are in life. That includes especially the struggles they face and have to overcome, sometimes their whole life. This is not just me talking out of my ass either. A couple years ago I discussed this with several people that are disabled, specifically blind or otherwise severely visually impaired, in a different context obviously, and the general consensus was that it’s better to have representation that shows their life and their abilities as they are, rather than how they might wish they could be.

A mute or deaf person cannot be a medieval fantasy army general, no matter how good they might be in melee combat or who’s sister they are, because at the end of the day, they’re not able to give commands while they are holding a sword and shield. That such a massive logical oversight, especially in comparison to the extremely well done example of representation I mentioned above, and has so little impact on the plot that it leads me to believe, this aspect of Amaya’s character was tacked on in the last minute without being given any thought for the sole reason of the story having a disabled person in it. All this does is necessitate the existence of two otherwise entirely unnecessary characters, Gren and Kazi, both of which achieve nothing, aside from sometimes being literal set dressing.

That is where representation ends and tokenism begins.

And unfortunately this generally lacklustre attitude also extends to the LGBT+ representation on the show.

As of S3E7 “Hearts of Cinder” we have had two onscreen gay couples on the show (onscreen in the sense that both partners were onscreen and they were somehow confirmed to be in a relationship on the show). One of these, the queens of Duren, literally die in the same flashback they are introduced in, which incidentally also features them invading a foreign nation to poach a rare animal and subsequently starting the conflict at the series’ core. Not a great look.

Aside from serving as a tragic backstory for their daughter, the most impact they had on my viewing experience was that they made wonder how the fuck royal succession works in Duren. (People who know me are rolling their eyes right now because I’m bringing anarchism into this Dragon Prince review, but I’m telling you, this why fantasy monarchies aren’t compatible with LGBT+ politics in the same setting. Dynastic governments are inherently bigoted, you can’t have it both ways.)

The other couple are Runaan and Ethari, Rayla’s caretakers, although if I’m being honest you wouldn’t be able tell based on Runaan’s treatment of Rayla in the first episode. By the time we actually meet Ethari and find out about their relationship with Rayla, Runaan is suffering “a fate worse than death” (direct quote from the show) trapped in a gold coin.

I mean come on. That’s about as “technically not ‘bury your gays’” as it gets.

I think I need to reiterate here that my point is not that this show or its creators are somehow malicious. As i stated in the TL;DR: I don’t think this is a dealbreaker for liking this show. But it does demonstrate that they are prone to slipping to some potentially harmful tropes and this needs to be criticised and pointed out to them.

In conclusion, I really love this show. It’s not ATLA, it never will be, nothing else will ever be ATLA no matter how badly (and terribly) Netflix tries. But it does and should not have to be.

What it has to do though is improve. A lot of the building blocks are already there, such as Aaravos or Claudia’s development, Callum’s father, the origin of Ezran’s ability, the purpose of the “Key of Aaravos”, the true fate of King Harrow (we all know his soul is in the bird, right?) etc. Some things like the treatment of Amaya’s disability unfortunately won’t be fixable as far as I can tell, but if they at least manage to fix the gay representation I can make my peace with that.

¹ I know I said I wouldn’t go into each of the characters individually, but a) you should never trust a stranger on the internet and b) I really want to talk a bit about Callum. Specifically the “mystery” of why the hell he is connected to the Sky Primal. I write “mystery” because I think it’s fairly obvious from whence this talent came: there is only one humanoid species we know of with innate access to the Sky Arcanum and one of Callum’s parent’s is unidentified, presumed dead. 2+2=4. Callum’s father was a Skywing Elf. That’s why he recognised Nyx’s boomerang weapon. He remembered one like it either from his very early childhood (remember that he has photographic memory) or Sarai kept one and he found it at some point.

On top of that the name “Callum” or at least the pronunciation is clearly derived from Latin “caelum” meaning “sky” or “weather” and I already mentioned that Ancient Draconic is just bad Latin. It’s not very subtle. Unless they pull a complete 180 concerning the lore about Primal Magic he’s definitely going to be a half-elf, which would also just so happen to make him the perfect mediator between the Human Kingdoms and Xadia. Hmm, it’s almost as if they are planning ahead.

My question: How the fuck did that happen? Or rather: how did that fuck happen? I don’t think even Harrow knew or he probably would’ve a) paid more attention when Sarai advised against poaching the Magma Titan, because obviously she’s gotten around Xadia more than him, if y’know what i’m sayin’ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) or at least b) put it in his final letter to Callum. Unfortunately we know basically nothing about Sarai except that she was a soldier alongside Amaya and already had Callum before marrying Harrow. So does Amaya know? This is probably the most interesting plot thread in the whole story and as far as my friends told me it’s not going to be touched on anymore in the last two episodes than it already has thus far, which is basically not at all.

[lilylilie001]

“Old Friends Not Forgotten” Review and Analysis

Spoilers for Star Wars: The Clone Wars S07E09

If you are interested in my reactions while watching the episode click here

If you want to read my rant about the thing that made my cry the most in this episode click here (disclaimer: I was still crying while writing this and that may have clouded my opinion about the scene. In this review I will go into more detail about that)

So then let’s get started! I have calmed down and feel now emotionally ready to actually interpret and analyse the scenes and not just bring across my emotions. But this still is only my personal opinion! So if you disagree that is fine, just please don’t be mean about it.

So the first scene we get is a parallel to the movie (aka the first arc of TCW) which I think is a pretty amazing idea. It shows how Anakin and Obi-Wans relationship has changed and how it has stayed the same. Anakin is as cocky and arrogant as ever. But this time he is not Obi-Wans student anymore. He leads his own men with his own plan and is just coming from his own solo-mission. Yes he wasn’t Obi-Wans Padawan in the movie and Rex was under his command back the too but their dynamic was still different. He still sees Obi-Wan as his former Teacher and as a Jedi Master and part of the counsel he is technically still above Anakin, but they act more on an eye-to-eye dynamic. More like brothers than father and son.

Anakin uses a smiliar trick as Obi-Wan did back in the movie. (I don’t know how the Republic and the Separatists handle that but it is considered a war crime in our world... Since Obi-Wan did it and never got called out for it I guess it is okay in their world...) But of course Anakin puts his own spin on it. That is I think a pretty good way to show how Anakin learned from his master. He did watch and listen but he is not like Obi-Wan. He likes to do things his way. And as long as it works he won’t stop.

Their friendly banter in this scene is also really in tune with the way they act with each other in the beginning of ROTS (especially in the deleted scenes). So it is not hard to believe that this takes place only days before. 

Before Anakin does his own thing Obi-Wan says: “I know better than to try and stop you.” I really liked this line. Not only because it was funny but also because for me it had a bit of an bitter aftertaste. He does not approve of Anakin’s actions (or methods to be exact) but he doesn’t do anything about them. Anakin is an adult and Obi-Wan is done with his education but his former padawan is far away from being a Jedi Master.

Then we have the first moment with Rex. Again a beautiful example of their dynamic. The other clones do what Anakin say (they have to) but they also are a bit annoyed by their general and his plan. Rex on the other had has Anakin’s back, as usual. And he motivates his men to follow Anakin. The trust these two have in each other is just beautiful! Rex trust that Anakin knows what he is doing and Anakin trust that Rex is taking care that everything works. I am pretty sure Rex wasn’t given more than a few instructions haha 

Anakins plan works and he learns nothing except that he was right. Again. I am not gonna go into to much detail about Obi-Wan and Cody but I will say this. As usual they care about and trust each other. Cody is like a friend and not just some clone to Obi-Wan and knowing that makes Cody picking up Obi-Wans lightsaber in a few weeks so logical. Also it makes Order 66 as usual even sadder.

I can’t help but feel that is episode feels like part of a movie. The opening battle. Very Star Wars. That would also explain the new intro and outro. A very nice ending to the show. Staring with a bad movie, finishing with good one. All in all this episode really played on nostalgia about the TCW Movie and I love it!  

Okay back to the episode.

Ahsoka used the name Fulcrum for her transmission. It is a nice callback to Rebels and to the Ahsoka Novel. But with the republic (for example Yularen who becomes a impirial officer) knowing that she uses that name it feels like a bit risky to me to use it in the rebelion as a code name... Maybe I am thinking to much about that but yeah I had to write that thought down. Also Anakin first thinks it is Saw Gerrera, so that means he came up with that name? This just confused me... 

So now I going to try to fangirl not to much about Anakins reaction to Ahsoka, which is hard. But I am going to talk about it because it is very important for his character. I personally don’t remember the last time I saw Anakin this happy. Ahsoka coming back into his life is for him obviously a thing he had wanted and hoped for for a long time. But at the same time he is so surprised that it happened.

The next feeling he goes through is concern. He is just immediately concerned about her and the reason she is contacting him. Perfect Anakin moment. He loves his adoptive daughter and of course he is scared about her wellbeing. He is Anakin! He always scared about the women in his life. So having this poking out under his happiness was a good call.

Obi-Wan on the other hand is just surprised. And Ahsoka herself is very distant. (gonna go into detail about that in a second)

The talk Obi-Wan and Anakin have while walking to Ahsoka’s ship is also very interesting. You can see Anakin trying to find a reason for her leaving. Like it is the will of the force. Meanwhile Obi-Wan has a mixture of quilt and anger. He was partly responsible for Ahsoka being kicked out of the order and therefor also for her not returning. But it also feels like he is mad at her for not retuning. Maybe (that thought had just crossed my mind) he is angry at her for breaking Anakin’s heart. After all Obi-Wan had to piece him together again. (There is an unfinished scene form the original 7th season were they talk about Ahsoka.) And now he feels like she should not be let off the hook just like that. 

Or he really just angry that she left the order that he believes in.

Again we have a nice callback to the movie. I really love those. They feel fitting.

R2D2 is just amazing as usual and greets his masters daughter like a good boy. 

Ahsokas face goes through so much in a matter of seconds. She looks at R2: happy. She looks up at her former masters: scared and unsure. She takes a step: confident. That is genius! I especially love that little moment of fear in her eyes. It makes so much sense when you look at her in the rest of the episode! And I personally think that it is Obi-Wan that she is cold towards. I think she has not forgiven him at all for his part in her trial. And she is not at all ready to face him. But she puts on a brave face because she has a mission bigger than her. 

At first when she stopped Anakin I was a bit upset but i get it now. She does not want to have this in front of Obi-Wan and Bo-Katan. Anakin staying behind for a second and putting himself together again is also really fitting I think. He was so excited to see her and she is cold towards him. He either does not see that it is not about him or he feels the tension between her and Obi-Wan.

Anakin again becomes worried dad when she mentions Oba Diah. And it feels like she would want to tell Anakin but she has Bo-Katan next to her and Obi-Wan in front of her so she doesn’t. She also seems surprised that he still cares so much about her. I think she expected him to be a upset with her and not as open and happy as he is. (Maybe that was why she looked scared in the scene before...) 

“What is one more?” This sentence is big. I mean yes Bo-Katan is not a friend of the Jedi and not a friend of Obi-Wan. But it also kinda shows the overall frustration with the Republic and the Jedi in the galaxy. 

Anakin lighting the mood with a joke...that is just pre-Vader Ani at his finest!

Bo-Katan is not wrong in this scene but after everything she had done to sabotage Satine she should really get down form her high horse here! 

You can just feel the tension leaving the room when Anakin and Ahsoka are alone. They start to banter and she immediately smiles. These two have still so much love for each other and truly enjoy each others company. But after that there is this small moment of silence. Again perfect moment. It just shows that regardless of that there is baggage here.

While walking down that corridor Anakin acts like a worried dad again. “It doesn’t matter to them. It is a sign of respect. They know what you went trough for them day after day. Battle after battle.” I choose to believe that he is also talking about him self when saying that. It is his way of telling her that he is proud of her. I don’t think she picks it up but the way he talks about it...that is his opinion of her for sure!

The Helmets...I just love them. I am not going to talk about them much. Their meaning is obvious and this is getting really long. I will also skip Rex for now (don’t worry he will get his paragraphs) same with the lightsabers.

Ahsokas face...she just feels proven right about the Jedi...

So I am not sure if Anakin’s worry is about Padme or the Chancelor. I mean they talk about the chancelor and he is close to him. But he looks really worried so maybe Padme? 

Ahsokas and Obi-Wan argument. The scene is amazing! I have to say that. It showed their morals pretty perfectly and both are kinda right. Again the tension between them makes sense. It still hurts to watch it.

But also Anakin standing between them awkwardly is kinda fitting with his arc. He is so happy this whole episode that it is hard to see ROTS Ani but I think it still ads up. He knows they are both right. The war has to be won but also Mandalore needs help.

“Unfortunately Ahsoka is no longer a part of the grand army of the republic.” That one sentence made so mad at Obi-Wan. Yeah, he is technically just saying a fact but his attitude. He is partly responsible for that he takes no blame! Even Ahsokas reaction is just like: Are you kidding me right now? She just looks at him for a second and she looks so disappointed and hurt. 

And Obi-Wan, he continues to look at her after she looked away and I don’t know but I see a bit of regret in eyes.

So apparently Anakin can promote Rex just like that. Don’t know why he never did it before. I mean we all know Rex would deserve it. But better later than never, right?

Interestingly enough the tension between Ahsoka and Obi-Wan is gone so quickly. It is fare away from their friendship in previous seasons but still. There is respect there again.

Of course Obi-Wan has to make a Kenobi joke before leaving. That really made me forgive him, at least a bit.

“Thanks for the support, as always.” I have not nothing to add to this sentence. Ahsoka’s words nailed the point I want to make about Anakin in this scene.

Okay now on to the lightsabers. Two things. First, he must have had them with him on the whole siege! So that means that Anakin Skywalker kept her lightsabers with him at all time to either remind him of her or just in case she came back to him! Yeah, attachment is problem with this boy...

Secondly...they are blue. All of Ahsokas lightsabers are green up to this point. So he either got her knew crystals or he played with them so much that the took on his lightsaber color. I don’t know what to say about that. 

Ahsoka rolling her eyes at his braging is just wholesome. Nothing more to add there.

I really love their dynamic when they are alone. It is so pure and happy and loving...

“Good thing I taught you otherwise.” So again a sentence with so much meaning. Filoni just loves throwing these in there, right? Let’s analyse it (bc that is the purpose of the post after all). With this sentence he basically tells her that it is okay to disagree with Obi-Wan and that he is not holding it against her in any way. He himself does it. Especially with the scene from before in mind that is so powerful. 

We have heard a multiple of Jedis saying that luck doesn’t exist so Anakin saying that shows he does not care about what the order thinks is right. He has his own right and wrong. For now that is not problematic but we all know who that ends...

And that means he tells her he raised a good person and not necessarily a good Jedi in her. (it is really late, my english is no longer working properly) Hopefully I got my point across.

The way Ahsokas stands in this shot... She is not a little girl anymore. She is a fighter. A warrior. 

“Anakin! Good luck.” 

I really have to take all my strength to stay calm while writing this. I don’t want this to be too emotional. 

So. Okay. *takes a deep breath* Ahsokas last words she ever says to Anakin Skywalker. The next time she talks to him he is Vader. Good words. Less than I personally wanted but good words. 

After what he told her before it is just so poetic. She wants the best for him. She wants him to be lucky. To succeed. But after what he said it is more. So much more. It is a rejection of the Jedi and an embrace of the light force. And... Damn with everything that is going to happen in ROTS having Ahsoka telling him words that the Jedi reject is just... 

Moving on before I lose my mind. We still have Rex to cover. 

Anakin and Ahsoka think they will see each other again. They think that they will win and be together again and then they can figure out what to do about everything. About them. About the Jedi. About Obi-Wan.They have no idea what the future has in store for them. And it is perfect. I aligns perfectly with other star wars media. ROTS, Rebels, Ahsoka Novel. They don’t hug. They don’t say goodbye. I hate it but it is perfect.

I love that Rex got promoted but he is gonna be Captain Rex for me forever. Captain or Sir. But he really does deserve his promotion!

Because this is really long already I will not talk about Bo-Katan and the Mandalorians but focus on Ahsoka and the Clones. 

We get an amazing banter between Rex and Ahsoka were Ahsoka proves that she is Anakins Padawan after all and that she has Skywalker energy. It is really amazing to see her in her element again. She can use the force whenever she wants and kicks ass! This really was her childhood.

And then she saves a Clones because that is what Ahsoka Tano does. She knows casualties are a part of war but she saves who she can.

Rex is so happy to have her back! He smiles and smiles just like Anakin. And just like with Anakin Ahsoka is so relaxed with Rex. They are her home! 

I just love the cinematography of her fighting. It really is just watching a Star Wars movie. I can’t wait to watch the whole arc in one go!

“Beat you.” “Some things never change.” Wholesome. This is just wholesome.

Okay so that is it for me. I know there is still Maul and Bo-Katan to cover but I will talk about them after next episode!

But I will say this in conclusion: This is episode was stunning! Like everything was beautiful and meaningfull and thought out and detailed! I truly love this episode! I already watched it three times today. And I am so amazed by the animations! The characters facial expressions were on point! I had so much fun analysing them!

I hope that was interesting to read and honestly I am surprised if anyone got this far. Anyway I really loved watching the episode again frame by frame and note my thoughts (this took me 6h btw)

[sunnykeysmash]

The connection between Brian LeFevre, death and macdennis/sunny meta

In my time obsessing over sunny recently I ended up noticing interesting stuff that I’m gonna try to show here, that was greatly expanded in s14 and that I believe gives us great odds over whether dennis will be acknowledged as gay in s15 or not. 

Thesis: There has been an ongoing dichotomy, or “choice”, for Dennis, between Brian/Death/Son/Mandy and Dennis/Life/Love/Mac. Additionally, there has been purposeful ambiguity between what is sunny meta and what is dennis meta in season 14, enough for me to consider them one and the same in most cases. Information which puts Big Mo under a completely new light.

Long analysis under the cut.

Basically, Brian has been symbolically linked to death, thanks to an extensive use of metaphors and parallels, because Brian represents the death of Dennis’ identity. Not a true physical death, but the death of Dennis as a person.

Starting from the very beginning, of course, Brian is a dead guy.

In Dennis’ Double Life, it’s established textually, metatextually and visually that Dennis has an actual mirroring double life (Mandy vs Mac, Brian vs Dennis) and is stuck between the two of them.

This is also thanks to the heavy callbacks to suburbs. Here’s an excerpt from a previous analysis of mine explaining it:

(read more here, seriously I recommend it)

During this episode Dennis’ actually eventually fakes Brian’s death to try to get out of trouble, which is the second clear link to death for the persona.

It doesn’t work.

Mandy: “You can open your eyes now, I know you're not dead.”

Which also works as the first acknowledgement of Dennis not really wanting what the Brian life entails, as it’s a character death as much as it is the death of Dennis’ true wishes. He is not dead, he is not Brian, who IS dead.

Then, as he holds his son, something changes inside him. Suddenly, he is a father. His emotional involvement in choosing between the two lives changes drastically with this.

Nevertheless at the end of the episode Dennis is once again presented with the clear choice, which from this point forward I will address as Son/Death vs Love/Life, he looks at the RPG looming in the background and decides to go, not before a long hesitation and stopping immediately when he thought he was being asked not to go, showing us where his heart lies.

This, him choosing to go away, is because at this point in time, Dennis is still not in the right headspace to accept the right path for him. As Chop will put it, he feels “lonely and needs to do something extreme to feel special”, most of all though he feels lost. The conflicts that started in Boggs and Suburbs still make him unsure, and the presence of his son makes him feel like he has to be better for him, despite himself.

As he goes away, Mac blows up Dennis’ Range Rover with the RPG, car which is later in New Wheels metaphorically linked to Dennis’ identity.

Basically, as Dennis chooses Brian’s life, his actual identity dies.

So during the first half of season 13, he is nobody. He is not Brian and he’s struggling to be Dennis. He’s trying to get back into his old identity, desperate for any semblance of control and to belong, so he ends up looking like a caricature of himself, or rather, precisely who the gang thinks he is and who they see him as, not who he truly is.

New Wheels perfectly shows Dennis desperate to belong when he finds a new group of people, he tries on a whole new and different identity, which isn’t entirely him, but that at least feels welcoming enough. But it’s also a showcase of what Dennis truly wanted, which is to be acknowledged and seen by the gang, but particularly by Mac, feel like he matters to them and to him.

I say Mac specifically because the framing during the beginning scene seems to be fixated on a behind-Mac perspective on Dennis, almost like the conversation were happening just between the two of them, like Dennis was talking to him specifically when he pleads for questions.

These are all different shots, not the same one.

By the end of the episode he finally becomes himself again. And that’s that for s13.

Another thing worth pointing out though is that Dennis apparently has not been kicked out from ND, he himself says “I may go back” in New Wheels, and although in context it sounds more like an empty threat, it’s not empty because he can’t go back, it’s empty because he doesn’t really want to, as can be guessed thanks to his tone. This is because it’s then reinforced at the end of Chop with these lines of dialogue:

Charlie: “I can't believe how quick you gave up Poppins' puppies, though, you know? You didn't even think about keeping 'em.” Mac: “Well, that's a lot of responsibility, Charlie, right? And plus, there's no doggy paternity test to actually prove that they were Poppins' puppies in the first place. But, hey, if Poppins wants to stop by and say, "What's up?" and, like, be a dad for while, he's gonna. Or he won't. Dennis: “Yeah, that's how I do. That's how I do.”

Because of this, it can and should also be argued that the choice I am explaining in this analysis is something that Dennis still has to make, because he is, as it stands, still stuck between the two lives, and he has to settle on one, so choose between them, in order for the struggle to end. During all of s14 he is stuck trying to figure out which of the two he should choose, which is also the cause of his growing frustration. Currently speaking, getting a little speculatory here, I think everything feels like death to him, which is why he is having such a hard time deciding. He obviously doesn’t know the outcome of either option, because he’s not the audience or RCG, which means either of them can potentially kill him, and they both feel like they might to him.

Now, in season 14 is where all of this (the dichotomy of Death/Son vs Life/Love) starts to really become prominent in metatext, and this happens as the episodes start to purposefully confuse meta about the show itself with meta about Dennis. Let’s go through it in order one episode at a time, as that’s easier for me to dissect.

First of all, the backwards message at the end of all season 14 episodes, which is this:

“They leave but they all come back”

Is already a clear example of what I’m talking about. Is it about the show because of the false ending of Big Mo which actually ends with the message that “they’ll never stop doing sunny”? Is it about Dennis coming back from North Dakota? Unclear, but that’s entirely on purpose.

Episode 1: The Gang Gets Romantic

Now, there isn’t any clear connection to the choice as far as I am aware, but it is a first approach to the themes of romantic love, death, sons, as a whole. In this episode, while Frank and Charlie are paired with a father and son, Mac and Dennis get paired with a couple mourning a son (Dennis Jr, the “son” in the metaphor, is dead, but more in general it’s pointing to them slowly healing from the Suburbs conflict in my opinion though).

As a bonus fact, Charlie+Frank have always been set up to mirror Mac+Dennis. It is explicitly said in the Mac and Dennis Break Up commentary, and it shows in a bunch of episodes such as Dines Out, Chokes, or hell that one time Frank got a Charlie mannequin. Anyway, word of god, they are parallels.

TGGR presents us with two plotlines that mirror each other while going in the exact opposite direction, and the mirror element is the “structure”. Charlie and Frank’s plotline follows the romcom tropes closely, its structure, and is thus rewarded with a positive ending. Mac and Dennis’ plotline struggles against them (since the tropes are applying to Mac+Dennis, not Dennis+Lisa and Mac+Greg), which is why their plotline resolves negatively.

At the same time, this episode can have a sunny meta interpretation.

In this perspective, the Mac+Dennis plotline is the option for RCG to end sunny and each do their own thing, while the Charlie+Frank plotline is the option to keep it going, and at the end they conclude with the C+F one, seeing as it’s the option to keep going, which is ultimately what RCG wants.

So when this dialogue happens:

Mac: “You think they're gonna give us a bad review?” Dennis: “Yeah.” Mac: “I guess we're not gonna get that romantic comedy ending after all.”

It is about RCG choosing not to end the show (supported later by Big Mo), as it would not provide anything positive.

Or this:

Dennis: “It just feels like a lot of effort, and it feels desperate, you know what I mean? Like, I never put this much work into banging some cute meat.”

It can be interpreted as the effort to win an Emmy, especially since the Mac+Dennis plotline is the tired one, the one that’s failing.

And then when Alexi and Nikki say they’ll be back “next year”, and Charlie yells back “I love you!”, it can be interpreted that metaphorically Alexi and Nikki are sunny. Which also creates another link between love and the show continuing, or “staying alive”.

Finally, all the talk about “structure” and “acts”, particularly the three act structure, is a writer’s process, which also serves as an additional link to the RCG meta interpretation.

Episode 2: Thunder Gun 4: Maximum Cool

This episode leans heavily in the dichotomy, through various pieces of dialogue.

Starting from this:

Girl: "So, this is the midpoint twist. Thundergun finding out he has a son." Frank: "He has a son?" Girl: "Yes." Frank: "But how is this the twist? I mean, because he's got a kid? I mean, he's probably got a thousand kids, all the raw-dog loads he drops."

Which also calls back to the episode prior, where Dee’s role is called “diversionary plot-twist at best”. Now, all these words, midpoint and diversionary, imply an endgoal that is also opposite of what the twist shows.

The twist, obviously, being that Dennis has a secret life with a girl and a son.

It continues:

Dennis: “We’re feeling a lot of outrage right now, you know, because we want something, and we know we deserve it, - but we’re not getting it. [...] I wanna cling to the way things were, but they’re done. […] Let’s run from this.”

Being now aware of the metatext from Big Mo, once again, is this about RCG not getting an Emmy, being discouraged and wanting to end the show because they’re feeling stuck? Or is it about Dennis running away to North Dakota after he realizes in DDL that things have changed permanently despite Mac’s attempt at keeping them the exact same (the apartment restoration)?

The ambiguity that connects Dennis meta with Sunny/RCG meta continues.

Finally:

Dennis “No-no, you guys don’t get it. It’s a cliffhanger. Yeah? It’s a cliffhanger. We’re gonna find out what happened to John in the next movie, Thunder Gun 5.”

Dennis himself going against what is metaphorically his choice in DDL.

Let’s actually look into that, into what happens to Thundergun. 

He sacrifices himself for his son, and dies in the process. Said film is then leaked by the gang and the audience hates it, so the franchise decides to “go back to its roots”. Very clearly sunny meta, but it can absolutely also be seen as Dennis meta. Dennis hating his choice (his thunderson ending) and deciding to come back (go back to his roots).

Additionally, Dennis literally says “give me dong or give me death” at one point, which in the context of all of this feels rather significant, you know?

Episode 3: Dee Day

Surprisingly, and thankfully for me, not much that I can see.

There is this:

Dennis: “And who cares about her feelings anyway? Nobody, that’s who. What about my feelings? Now, that’s interesting, okay?”

Which implies something going on with Dennis’ feelings, and which will more substantially be addressed by Jumper when it’s implied that Dennis tries to completely disregard them when it comes to choices, but other than that, really not much else.

Episode 4: The Gang Chokes

Once again we see a Mac+Dennis and Charlie+Frank parallel conflict. Charlie and Frank resolve their own with words (that mirror Dines Out) while Mac and Dennis resolve theirs with actions, while also solving the much bigger conflicts started by Suburbs (again, check out the other analysis for more context on this) and DDL. 

It should also be stressed that Chokes starts by saying:

Charlie: “Uh, guys, I'd like to raise a glass to Frank. Frank, another year has gone by since you came into my life.”

He’s making a toast, which implies that they are celebrating their anniversary, as they were in Dines Out, and so the parallel becomes not only implied in dialogue as I’m about to show, but direct. It is unclear whether this is also a monthly dinner for Mac and Dennis or not, as I don’t think it was ever specified one way or the other.

As for the parallel in dialogue.

In Dines Out:

Mac: “I didn't have your back before, but now I'm gonna be the wind beneath your wings.”

In Chokes:

Frank (to the Waiter): “Hey, you had my back. Now I'm gonna have yours.”

and

Charlie: “Look, Frank, I'm sorry, dude. I screwed up, man. I should've saved you, and I'll always save you from now on, I promise.” Frank: “Thanks, Charlie. I knew you had my back.”

With Brian representing a death for Dennis, it is implied that what Charlie and Frank are saying in words is supposed to be fully applicable for Mac and Dennis, as there is a parallel between Frank almost dying by choking and Dennis almost dying by going to ND.

Therefore, this is about Dennis going to North Dakota and how he wanted to be stopped, “saved” by Mac. This is Mac apologizing, Dennis accepting the apology, and them implicitly moving forward from this conflict in their relationship and for any similar ones in the future if they present themselves. Mac learning the tools to deal with it, “I’ll always save you from now on”.

Which in a way further solidifies that the option that isn’t Brian, Death, Son, Mandy is fully intended as Dennis, Life, Love, Mac. Mac plays a role in the second option, so when choosing life, love, etc, Mac will be involved. As he is the savior in the context.

Continuing on Chokes, the episode itself again focuses a lot on death, both real and perceived, and being saved. There are three main points for this.

First point: Frank’s death.

So, he almost dies and no one helps. Sound familiar? It’s what happened when Dennis went to ND. As a result of no one helping him, Frank lashes out and decides to move out and distance himself. It is then shown that Frank keeps missing Charlie and comparing the Waiter to him subconsciously. It is constantly shown that Frank rejects Charlie’s attempts at helping him despite actually needing him. Which is also what applies to Mac and Dennis, throughout the episode Dennis is shown needing Mac’s help and taking it while verbally refusing it.

Charlie proposes to chew Frank’s food, Frank refuses his help, Frank chokes, Charlie doesn’t help.

Mac constantly helps Dennis, Dennis starts to push him away, Dennis “dies” (chooses to move to ND), Mac doesn’t help.

The episode concludes with the acknowledgement that they should’ve helped, and with the offended part forgiving the other.

Second point: Dee’s death

She witnesses death and is subsequently enthralled by it, seeking thrill by living on the edge. We can draw a parallel to Dennis’ enjoyment in “living in another man’s skin”, you know, “getting off”. It’s how Dennis started the double life he then got lost inside after all, it gave him a thrill. Then, it happened to him exactly what ends up happening to Dee. She experiences real death, is scared shitless by it, and decides to never do it again, going as far as to say this:

Dee: “I saw the other side. I didn't like it. I hated it. It was just blackness. There's nothing there. It's just dark. That's it. Just lights out. I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to live on the edge. I don't want to die.”

So once again the choice rests on LIFE, it is like this for Dee, as it is for Sunny, as it is for Dennis.

It’s also interesting to point out that Dee is rescued by a third party, after Mac is able to say “No”; as if symbolically that is what should’ve happened to save Dennis, back when he was about to go. A “no”, to stop him.

Third point: Dennis’ death

Dennis witnesses Frank dying and no one helping him and is immediately reminded of his own situation, which he then proceeds to discuss when at home, with Mac. Thanks to Dennis making this correlation we can once again assume that it is meant to be interpreted as a nod to the ND twist. Not only this but it then keeps linking Dennis to the concept of death and being saved.

This dialogue happens:

Mac: “I would've stepped in, but, of course, I was taking my cues from you.” Dennis: “Why?” Mac: “Well, you didn't tell me whether I should save him or not.” Dennis: “But why? I mean, why do I still have to tell you what to do? Why do I still have to order your dinners for you? And why is it up to me to decide whether or not you're going to save a man's life? You know what the problem is? I can't depend on you. I can't depend on anyone. You know, I mean, if that had been me choking tonight, no one would've saved me.” Mac: “No. I would've saved you, Dennis. I would have saved you. If you told me to.” Dennis: “Oh, Jesus Christ if I told you to?”

Dennis is clearly still upset about no one helping him when he needed it, which is, no one stopping him from making the worst decision of his life, a well established metaphorical death, and is projecting this frustration by applying it to Frank’s situation.

Later on, again:

Dennis: “Christ. I feel like I'm dying.” Mac: “Just let me help you, Dennis!”

Then:

Mac: “Look, all the gluten and the sugar and the dairy just wreaks havoc on his system, you know? And it makes him so weak. And then he's gonna depend on me to take care of him, to bring him back from the brink of death.”

Or “from making a wrong decision”.

Continuing:

Dee: “But if you want Dennis to really depend on you, you’re gonna have to save his life for real.”

And:

Dennis: “So you were still gonna rely on a decision that somebody else made, only, this time, you were potentially gonna kill a man?”

In which Dennis is once again, always without fail, the dying man, and Mac the person who saves him, or tries to. Dennis is very adamant in wanting Mac to choose for himself, which is surprising for a man so “obsessed with control”, and specifically it ticks him off that Mac’s decision was once again gonna provoke the death of a man because he couldn’t take action.

All this implied connection between Dennis, North Dakota and Death reinforces the Death/Brian aspect, while also reinforcing the Life/Mac one, as it is Mac that is supposed to save Dennis.

Episode 5: The Gang Texts

A shorter one, but here things get a little interesting, because the dichotomy is highlighted by one particular joke.

Mac: “Bathrooms at zoos are, like, big Grindr spots for closeted dads.”

Mac says this, then later on, in comes Dennis, a dad, and if it weren’t enough, it’s Mac himself who points to the situation once again by asking if it’s a “grindr thing”.

So going with this, his particular struggle (Death/Son vs Life/Love) is being highlighted with a very fitting choice of words, as he is a dad, and so... also closeted. Going with this. These are the words chosen to describe him in the joke, and it ends up being very telling overall.

Episode 6: The Janitor Always Mops Twice

Nothing, pretty much. lol

I’m gonna use this empty space to write that I just realized that Mac is even more linked to the theme of romantic love because he gifts the RPG specifically on Valentines Day.

Also, generally speaking, Dennis leaving would imply the death of the show, so that’s another way in which dennis meta and sunny meta are linked, because every time one is referenced, the other is automatically implied. The show cannot exist without Dennis in it, and Dennis cannot exist if the show ends. And if that’s not enough, in Big Mo they outright link the end of the show to actual death, in a lot of ways that I’m gonna look into in a bit, so once again, remember that.

Finally, Dennis is very adamant on Mac acting in s14 because if Mac were to do it, he would basically make the decision for Dennis, something that he used to do all the time, if you recall Mac and Dennis Break Up.

Episode 7: The Gang Solves Global Warming

The subject itself can be considered a slow death of sorts, so it feels especially significant that it’s Dennis the member of the gang who cares most about stopping it, despite not being able to because Mac doesn’t help him.

That’s not the only reason he fails at the end though.

He keeps trying to be rational and keep feelings out of it, to rationalize with the situation, which is what ultimately crushes him, as that’s impossible long term.

In this episode, he keeps getting mad at Mac for not taking action and instead trusting God’s will.

Frank: “Where is your God now?” Mac: “He will reveal himself at some point.” Dennis: “Well, is he gonna do it before all these people revolt and destroy the place?” Mac: “I don’t know. I don’t question God’s will. If he wants to destroy the Earth, that’s on him. - I support it!”

I think this is stretching it a bit, but this can also be read as Mac accepting Dennis’ decision to leave despite hating it. Dennis is also frequently presented as “God” so it would make some sense.

The crowd “not wanting to stop” and rioting can be read as sunny meta also, though that’s also kind of a stretch to me, I’m pointing it out.

In the end, the whole episode Dennis and Mac keep arguing about action vs inaction, with Dennis insisting that Mac should take action and being distressed when he doesn’t. They also keep arguing about rationality vs God, something that will come up again in Jumper, surprisingly.

Episode 8: Paddy's Has a Jumper

Now, starting from the very obvious, because that’s what’s easy to me, the jumper is called Bryan O’Brien, and if that doesn’t scream Brian=death, then boy I don’t know what does.

Not only that, but the episode spends a significant portion really stressing and beating you over the head with the fact that the jumper is paralleling Dennis.

Not only is Frank mistaken for the father, but Dennis’ dialogue as a whole really insists on this in multiple points. But again let’s go in order.

Discussing his motivations and intentions:

Mac: ”I mean, maybe God is testing us.” Dee: “He's not gonna do anything. This is a classic cry for help.”

Plus, this episode feels like a writers’ room. When they say stuff like:

Charlie: “It doesn't matter if he wants to or he doesn't want to. He's not gonna die falling from that height.” Dennis: “Whoa. Hard disagree, pal. You could absolutely die if you jump from that height.”

This to me sounds equally about RCG discussing the choice for themselves (implying they did at one point consider outright killing Dennis, or at least argued the theoreticals of it in the writers room, as in “would he actually even die with a decision like that?”) as it is the characters arguing the ND thing in the metaphorical sense, with Dennis insisting that a jump would be fatal while the gang thinks he’s completely fine. So, again, the jump represents him moving to North Dakota, as we’ll see.

Also, in general, the whole episode sounds like RCG arguing over whether they should pull the plug on their own show or not (”become a suicide bar”, because again, without Dennis there is no show, if he chooses death, so does the show), RCG themselves stuck in Dennis’ choice. In particular with the whole “Could he? Would he? (choose one or the other?) Should we?”.

But in addition to this, the algorithm, actually algorithms in general, are once again something that Dennis uses regularly to solve his own problems (D.E.N.N.I.S system, hello), which is his downfall.

Dennis: “Based on the analytical conclusions that we draw here, we're gonna be able to come up with a mathematically-accurate, non-emotional answer to all of our questions. Okay? We just need to think like a computer.”

Speaking of rationality vs feelings.

Mac: “Let's not bring science into it. Okay? I mean, this is life or death. This is God's territory. All right? I mean, there is no science.”

Now, this is very important because it allows me to talk about another thing. If it hadn’t been clear enough by now, this choice Dennis is presented with is also one between rationality and feelings.

Choosing to care for your son and move to ND, that is the rational choice, and rational is everything Dennis has always tried to be, especially in this episode and in Global Warming (which also mentions God a lot!).

But throughout s12-13-14, as I have highlighted in this post so far, we have seen where Dennis’ heart lies, his feelings.

It is funny to notice that both in Global Warming and in Jumper, Mac is the half who keeps arguing for the side of religion, of faith, of feelings, while Dennis keeps arguing for the side of rationality, of objectivity, always wanting to keep feelings completely out of the equation.

Dennis: “I think I have a way that we can solve this argument without human emotion mucking it all up.”

Then:

Charlie: “I think what we learned is that there's no way that the jumper's gonna die from this height. You know? So there's no reason for us to do anything about it.”

Once again the gang not recognizing the gravity of the situation and choosing inaction, to which Dennis seems unsure and wants to do more testing.

Ok so, here’s where things get interesting, the biggest parallel links between Dennis and Bryan are brought to light as they are looking through his social media.

“Yeah, it looks like he likes to travel. He was recently on a cruise.”

Referring to how Dennis actually liked being in another man’s skin in general, and he was recently away to do just that.

The Gang: “Okay, so it looks like he's got a lot to live for.” “He's eating food.” Dennis: “Or-or-or is he? Because is-is that just what he wants you to believe?”

Once again it’s Dennis counterarguing, specifically on the points that sound most like himself, though this irony is lost on him. This also once again sounds like RCG discussing Dennis as a character and how the choice would actually impact him and has impacted him.

Generally, speaking about Dennis, everyone thought he was gonna be fine because on the surface, his choice in the s12 finale sounds like a pretty sweet deal, and exactly what Dennis has supposedly wanted ever since The Gang Misses The Boat, though even that episode itself proves that it simply isn’t what is right for him.

“He's hardly a child, but he's still hanging on to his youth. That suggests to me that maybe he's got some daddy issues. Abandonment, abuse.”

All things that perfectly apply to Dennis and that give us interesting insight on him.

“But recently the girlfriend, she's disappeared from his pictures, which tells me that, uh, she probably broke up with him, you know, because of all his father issues, and 'cause he's an alcoholic, and because of the copious requests for butt-eating, which, she was thinking was more of a one-time thing, and he was thinking, this is a thing now, like, from now on.”

Disregarding Dennis’ surprisingly canonical love for getting his butt ate, lol (despite how that could count as more indication of where his true feelings lie, knowing RCG and what their writing intentions might be), he brings out alcoholism out of seemingly nowhere, another thing that again confirms the link between Dennis and the jumper, Bryan.

Dennis: “Basically, what we've concluded is that it would actually be good for the bar if this guy jumps and dies. So the answer to the question of "should we get involved?" is actually yes. [...] You see, we've already established that this guy wants to die and that it would actually benefit our bar if he dies. Now, of course, from an emotional standpoint, we feel as though we should get involved, we feel as though we should save this guy, but the algorithm is actually telling us that that does not benefit anybody.”

This feels to me like Dennis realizing mid discussion that he should pick rationality aka Death, for the greater good, but being emotionally incapable of actually making that choice because of his feelings, and so implicitly pleading the gang to help him do it, to get involved and push him.

It also sounds like RCG coming to the conclusion that the algorithm, aka the show’s FORMULA, is telling them that Dennis ending up in the bad option of said choice is what would normally happen in a show like sunny, although they themselves don’t really want to go through with it.

Charlie: “Can I say something, though? I think this is for the best. You know what I mean? Like, we were going down a road I was not totally comfortable with.” Dee: “You guys want to go back to watching our show?” Charlie: “Let's get back to our show.”

So, a couple of things here. The jumper does not jump, he chooses life, which implies the same fate for Dennis. Coincidentally, pay attention to how the gang calls it “our” show, not like, “that” show, because this is, at the same time, RCG being glad of the decision to not end the show and kill Dennis off.

But here’s where things get real FUN, because the Melon is also used as a metaphor for sunny. Generally speaking, smashing it would’ve been ending it, it’s not a coincidence that the melon represents the jumper, they’re all one and the same.

Cricket: “Guys, why the hell are you wasting a perfectly good casaba melon?”

Why end a show that is doing perfectly fine?

Frank: “Where's my melon? Where's my casaba?” Dennis: “It's right here, man. Why do you care so much about this thing? What is the deal?” Frank: “It's where I stash my Maui Kush.” Charlie: “You hide your weed in a casaba melon?” Frank: “Yeah. In case the cops ransack the place, you got to find a good, unsuspecting spot to stash your drugs.” Mac: “Pot's pretty much legal now. You don't really have to stash it anywhere.” Charlie: “I don't think you have to hide it, man.” Frank: “When did that happen?”

Ok so, this might be the most speculative point I’m going to bring up, but I will anyway, because it’s my post and I do what I want. I think they’re talking about gay subtext here. It is simply something that is kept hidden (thus, subtext, duh), and that they don’t really need to hide anymore. The reason I think this has a metaphorical value is specifically because of how Charlie words “I don’t think you have to hide it, man” which beautifully applies to a Dennis who is still in the closet in the year of the lord 2020, if you catch my drift. Plus the whole situation reads kinda with a weird vibe in general, almost forced. You have to consider that they chose to include this dialogue over stuff like Frank bragging to Dennis about meeting Jackie DeNardo. He doesn’t bring her up at all, actually.

Mac: “Maybe that's, like, part of the problem of taking the humanity out of decisions.” Dennis: “Perhaps the science just isn't there yet.”

They acknowledge that any choice should be made following your feelings, not like a machine, and Dennis agrees with the point. Now, I don’t know about you, but to me Dennis agreeing that sometimes considering feelings in certain situations is necessary is something HUGE. Of course it is for the thesis I’m arguing, as it implies Dennis following his feelings when making the decision he is currently weighted by, and we know where those stand, but it is huge just in general, also. Dennis usually doesn’t do feelings, at least, he tries to repress them usually.

Cricket: “Where did we land on the casaba?” Dennis: “I think you can eat it, man. I think we're done with it.”

Basically, with the tinkering over, and a decision being made by RCG, they can hand it to Cricket (David Hornsby) to write the season finale.

Episode 9: A Woman’s Right To Chop

The salon’s insigna, pictured above.

This episode is full with dennis/sunny meta (which doubles as abortion meta, so bear with me), but it also has a son=death link once again, as “Poppins” is pregnant and were she to have the puppies (which are later directly used as a metaphor for Brian Jr as I already quoted in this post when explaining why Dennis could technically return to ND) she would die.

Poppins himself is linked to Dennis metaphorically, and as we all know it is a dog that simply does not die.

Mac: “Poppins! He came back! My dog came back!” Dennis: “How the hell is that dog still alive?” Dee: “Yeah, Mac, why don't you just put that poor thing out of its misery?” Mac: “Put him down? What, are you crazy? This is my dog, Dee. I love him.” Dee: “Well, he doesn't love you. Comes around every three or four years, eats a bunch of batteries or whatever, takes a giant dump on the floor, and then leaves again.” Mac: “Dee, Poppins comes and goes as he pleases 'cause that's his right as a male.”

Once again Mac is responsible for keeping him alive, and he does so because he loves him. As for “he doesn’t love you”, I mean, it’s Dee, the Gang’s perspective, of course they think that. They also thought Dennis had no feelings. But we know he does, they are why he came back after all.

Dennis: “And if we decide to leave, we're gonna leave. Yeah, 'cause that's nature. That's tradition.” Dee: “That's bullshit. Traditional roles are ridiculous, and they're made up by men.”

The episode discouraging the option of leaving from Dennis.

Now, cutting hair (while yes, abortion stuff, I’m not talking about that here) can also be interpreted as both a metaphor for ending the show, or Dennis cutting ties entirely. It works for all of them.

Dennis: “With luxurious locks like yours, it could take, oh, three, four years to grow back to its current length. Yeah, if it ever grows back.”

Ending the show with all the risks that it would imply, because it could take a while for them to get another show to get off the ground and a new thriving fanbase (years to grow back hair), that is, if it ever happens.

With relationships as established as those Dennis has, it could take years for him to find other people he can be close with, that is, if he ever finds them.

Dee: “Will you please leave these poor women alone? They're clearly bored and lonely and needing to do something extreme in order to make themselves feel special.”

That just screams “reason why Dennis went to ND” to me.

It’s also funny to consider that the episode as a whole is about choice.

And it’s also interesting that in this scenario Dennis is arguing to stop them from having the choice of “ruining their life”, which sounds rather dramatic and also like a lot of self projection on his part.

Reading the script, it also came to me that other people having a say in whether a haircut is made or not sounds like fans having a say in whether a show ends or not, so there’s that.

So, the burping in this episode is a metaphor for emotional pain.

In this case, Dee wants to get the haircut simply because she can, without understanding the ramifications of her actions, and this upsets Frank who actually does understands. He once had long beautiful hair, cut it and gave it away, and it never grew back. This fits in all three metaphorical perspectives, once again. In the end she ends up getting a haircut anyway, despite people trying to stop her, and ends up with a substitute wig that looks pretty much the same.

Dee: “I'm getting the haircut. I'm getting it.” Frank: “Don't do it, Deandra. You'll regret it! I'm telling you!” Car salesman: “What was that all about?” Frank: “Just trying to save a life.”

This is yes, a metaphor about adoption instead of abortion, but it doubles as Dennis meta for everything else we have discussed.

Not cutting, not jumping, not running away, is saving a life. It all works towards the same message without neglecting the episode’s main message.

All in all, I feel like the parallels and metaphors in this episode are only surface level, and the rest works to make the plot and the abortion stuff make sense. It is still significant though, it’s there.

Episode 10: Waiting For Big Mo

Not even gonna try to make sense of all the metaphors in here as I don’t even think they necessarily make sense at all.

The point of it all here is simple, and it is once again sunny meta as much as it is Dennis meta, which ends up being very important.

They always play the game guarding the base, never letting themselves have fun but following a clear formula (word actually used in the episode), because that is simply what has always worked. They have it down to a science.

Yet the desire to have fun keeps messing with it, getting them lower on the leaderboard, and so on so forth. 

Dennis is afraid that this will bring on a death, if they can’t guard their base from Big Mo, so he keeps discouraging fun, and asks people to stay on track, manipulates them to reach this goal, even if it makes him miserable.

This is about Dennis keeping his perfected facade instead of following his feelings as much as it is about RCG following the formula instead of having fun with it. For Dennis, the goal of doing this is being perceived as perfect, being accepted, belonging. For RCG, the goal was winning an emmy and staying relevant.

So the episode starts by painting having fun (feelings in Dennis’ case) as something that will bring an inevitable death, which must be how it felt to RCG (if you don’t follow the formula they’ll cancel your show) and how it felt to Dennis (who knows what would happen if you opened up), which is what led him to make the wrong choice in the first place, to avoid getting hurt. 

Except the episode then proceeds to make fun of that very notion:

Mac: “Who cares if we're losing?” Charlie: “Dennis said, like, if we leave the base, death is gonna come in the form of a fat kid who's gonna turn us into fart ghosts or something like that. So I got to stay.” Mac: “What?” Charlie: “It sounds crazy now that I'm saying it. Dennis explained it a lot more better. Dennis, we can't leave the base, right? That's the deal?” Dennis: “No. Frank was right. Rutherford B. Crazy's real name was Larry Takashi. Yeah, and he was the founder and owner of Laser Tag Fun Zone. Well, apparently, he killed himself.”

In the episode, Frank is the first to reveal the news to Dennis, and he doesn’t believe him. Up until that point in the ep, he had been using Rutherford/Larry (is it a coincidence that he also has two names? I’ll let you decide) as inspiration for himself and to keep going with his plan to win, the guy was always working towards his goal tirelessly, never having fun. His family hated him, he had no friends, he was completely alone. He died alone and miserable.

This part of the episode in particular feels very heavy, as we notice that Dennis (and it isn’t random that he’s the one having this revelation) is the only one who’s sitting, looking visibly shocked.

Now, Larry Takashi is based on Larry David, creator of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. This isn’t only obvious because of the first name, but also because Larry was the person who Rob met that convinced him to not end the show.

He said this to Rob:

“Don’t be an idiot. Never stop. Just keep doing it. One, because it’s the greatest job you could ever want and two, because if you do a final episode they’ll just destroy you for it.“

So it’s easy to assume that this character is an homage to him.

Anyway, Dennis has this realization, and it feels important that he’s the one having it, as the whole season has been subtly about him and his choice, him feeling like he has to be a father but secretly wanting to be Mac’s “leading man”.

Dennis: “I mean, the guy was miserable. But he spent his life building this empire, and it all meant nothing? Shit. So Rutherford be rich. Rutherford be successful as all hell. But you know what else Rutherford be? Rutherford be right. Because it all means nothing if you're not enjoying it.”

This works both ways, and is the right message, but it then gets twisted into “choosing death on our own terms”, obviously for the sake of tricking the audience with a fake finale; as we now know, they have actually chosen life. The dialogue continues to be specifically about sunny.

And with that, it segues into the fake finale, with them saying “time to end the game”, “goodbye base” and all of that.

And it seems like with that they’re giving up, accepting death as something that will happen regardless, ending the show. Saying “screw it, we won’t let others cancel our show, we’ll end it on our terms if that needs to happen”. Or in Dennis’ case “If I’m gonna have to live a miserable life might as well directly kill myself” as, again, so far the implied death of choosing Brian has been METAPHORICAL, the death of Dennis’ identity. Not, you know, real.

Whereas the show ending would imply his eventual real death.

But that’s not how it ends.

“Oh, what? You thought we'd gone? You'd like that, wouldn't you? We ain't going anywhere. We're never leaving, you little piece of shit.”

They’re never leaving. And so, by progression of the metaphor, neither is Dennis, of course, which implies the choice of the other option. Dennis, Life, Love, Mac.

So as the show chooses to live forever, then so should Dennis also choose the option for life, and everything that it implies with it.

And this is why all of this talk about meta and symbolism was very important for me to make, because this is the logical conclusion I have reached.

Logically speaking, for me, this is where all the signs seem to be pointing, and that’s very exciting.

Because as RCG chooses to keep their show alive, they are also choosing to have real fun with it, and this seems to imply that they won’t stick to the formula as closely.

So in a way, Big Mo, as this fake finale, does end up representing the end of sunny as we know it, if I’m reading into it correctly. It ends up being a proper finale and send off, but sunny is not over because of it. Only the one we are used to, whatever that means.

So not only is Dennis choosing that, but it seems RCG might be taking some real artistic liberties or whatever, not be afraid to sink down in the leaderboards anymore but simply do what they please.

So... macdennis? Well, come back to me in a year and we’ll find out together. That is another reason why I made this post after all, to look back at it in the future and see just how wrong or right I was.

Let’s see how Rob chooses to embrace sunny.

[flowitch]

supernatural and lgbtqia+ characters

DISCLAIMER: i love these characters, which is why i watch the show. i do also have many issues with the show and the writers. this isn’t a hate post for the story or the characters, just the way the characters have been treated. do not read this if you are not caught up and do not want spoilers. this is also kinda a mess but i got very passionate about this and wrote it during classes

Dean Winchester

i’m gonna start with my boy dean!! dean is mine along with many other people’s favorite characters because of how complex he is. and one of the things that adds depth to his character is his “journey” with his sexuality.

there are many examples of dean very clearly not being straight, and he is officially headcanoned (and i guess canon now) as bisexual. you don’t even need to include dean and cas scenes for examples of his bisexuality. here is a video showing examples without any cas scenes:

https://youtu.be/rQSPmmuLJB0

now that we’ve established he is bisexual, let’s talk about the contradiction between the writing of his sexuality and character. the one i’m itching to talk about first is the confession scene in 10x16.

https://youtu.be/IqBHkwi13ic

in this scene, dean says, and i quote, if you don’t want to watch the video and don’t remember, “There's things, there's...people...feelings that I- I want to experience differently. Maybe even for the first time.” there honestly is no other way to interpret this. i’ve tried to put myself in the mind of the writers and the homophobes but i genuinely cannot interpret this another way. this is very clearly about his sexuality, being that there were no love interests at the time that this would apply to (not that this would even apply to a straight couple anyway). and not only does this confession scene occur, but sam even comments on how he was in there for a long time and he could always talk to him if he needs to!!!! they could have easily not had sam say anything about how long he spent in there, being that we as the viewers have no clue as to how long he was in there. they wrote that specifically to show that what he said in there had meaning and importance.

the writers and the crew of the show play into dean’s sexuality consistently with scenes, song of the days from the crew, etc., but then deny that destiel or dean’s bisexuality is real. i think a lot of this has to do with the fact that dean has always been considered as a “macho man” who shows very little emotion and has trouble with vulnerability. and that’s true! he absolutely is. but this show had 15 years to allow him to slowly work through his feelings and his issues with his own sexuality and self. the confession is a great example of the writers being almost there and then never speaking about it again.

even if you aren’t bisexual, you can see how much biphobia there is in the world. and as a bisexual woman i can say that bisexuality in men is so looked down upon it’s disturbing. men coming to terms with their bisexuality, especially if they are considered straight and “manly”, always makes me so happy since it’s not as accepted as female bisexuality. and this is another reason why supernatural exploring dean’s bisexuality would have been so incredible. seeing a man on television who has a lot of internal issues come to terms with something so complex and life changing would have been monumental to so many people. the writers had an infinite amount of ways to go about this because of things that THEY wrote, and instead chose to ignore his sexuality and have him not respond to castiel’s confession in 15x18. it’s very clear he was in shock in that episode so i’m not mad, but it is also clear that they wrote it that way to not fully make deancas canon.

dean winchester is bisexual, and the writers wrote him that way. nobody pulled this out of their ass, destiel didn’t become popular randomly and for no reason, they wrote him this way. this is their own writing that they have chosen to ignore and contradict for 15 seasons and it’s disappointing.

Castiel

this entire post is being written on november 6, 2020. one day after 15x18 aired. castiel is now canonically queer, and was already sent to someplace worse than hell. because he was happy. which directly connected to his love for dean. i honestly don’t even have to write cas’ section because that is enough, but i’ll write about his mistreatment anyway.

we knew the only thing that would make cas truly happy would be something with dean. well we assumed the writers would make up some other bullshit, but we hoped that it had something to do with dean. and sure enough, it was his love confession. and what i loved about this was cas starts it off by saying two beautiful things. one, that he knows he can never have what he really wants (dean), but he’s just as happy telling dean he loves him. he doesn’t need to have him to be happy with where they end their story, as long as dean knows. and the other thing he starts off by saying is that he knows how dean sees himself. he lists off all of these extremely kind things about dean and how dean is what made cas care about the world. he is the reason castiel went from an emotionless soldier to a fallen angel that feels deep love for people.

this confession scene although tainted by the fact that he died right after, which we’ll talk about, and the fact that it took this damn long, really means a lot to me. it was so incredible seeing cas be unapologetically open, honest, in love, and himself. he was for the first time since we’ve known him, completely and totally content. he told the man he loves how incredible he thinks he is and how he loves him, and knew he was saving him from billie by doing it. we’ve never seen him that happy. and it’s heartbreaking. 

misha summed it up perfectly i think: “Tonight, watching Cas talk to Dean, I got lost in the story and forgot for a moment that I’m the one who plays that angel and I thought, “He’s how I want to be. He’s openhearted and he’s selfless and he’s true.”

this was the first time we saw cas living his whole truth, and he immediately died. in terms of just bad taste, sending someone who just came out to angel hell is very disturbing, but it’s just further proof of the writers not caring about their lgbtqia+ characters. it’s like they gave us what we wanted, but there just had to be a catch, right? these writers very clearly do not care about their queer characters or fans, and what they did to cas here shows that plain as day.

obviously i really do want dean to save cas from the empty to parallel cas saving him from hell, but do i think it’ll happen in these last two episodes? no. first off i just don’t think misha filmed for the last two episodes, but also, the writers have made it clear that they do not care about cas in general, nevermind their now love story. it just does not sit right with me that he got sent to the empty for eternity because he was finally his whole self and happy.

Charlie Bradbury (our world + au)

we have seen charlie bradbury die twice, both times for no reason at all. the first time we saw her die, it was by the hands of a NAZI, and her body was THROWN INTO A BATHTUB. like i said before with cas, that was explanation enough i mean come ON. the second time we witnessed charlie die was in 15x18, (along with the whole world i know bare with me), which we did NOT need to see. 

let’s start with the fact that for all of these characters, supernatural creates and writes them wonderfully for the most part. we fall in love with these characters because of the way they were written, acted, and the dynamic with other characters. unfortunately in supernatural, if you are queer or a woman or god forbid both, that dynamic with other characters will be the death of you. 

i’m gonna talk about each other her deaths individually. so her first death. the only reason for her death was to further sam and dean’s (mostly dean’s) man pain. although i eat up the reactions of other characters when another dies, this just felt completely unnecessary to me. the writers wrote a fan-favorite character, and decided that the best course of action was to brutally murder her to further dean’s mark of cain storyline. and i loved that storyline! i loved the scene of dean getting revenge for charlie! but it did not need to happen. the only thing the fans wanted was for her to be alive and well, get more screentime and possibly have a girlfriend. 

when directly asked why they thought killing charlie was a good idea, jeremy carver said: 

“That’s an excellent question, and it, it’s tough just because...any time you have a favorite character on a show...People die on the show. And, and, and...and, unfortunately...So...there’s so many ways to answer that. And I feel, I, I...it’s tough for me to answer. She’s an absolutely beloved character, beloved on the show...And when we’re in the writer’s room...we have to go where the story takes us. And we try and do it without, um...(insert fans booing and the cast laughing at him)...this is the world day of my life. And I’d like to thank everyone up here for the support.” (they were not helping).

not only did he not have a clue on how to answer a question that should have an understandable answer, but then the best thing that he could come up with is “we have to go where the story takes us.” but why would that possibly be where the story takes you? if supernatural had more diversity than straight white males and possibly one woman that dies or is evil, then fine kill off whoever you want even if i don’t like it. but it becomes a gender and sexuality issue when she is not only the only recurring female character at the time, but also the only recurring lgbtqia+ character at the time (minus cas). 

now the second time she’s died. mind you this isn’t our world’s charlie. they brought her back for the fans and for the cast/crew that love her and felicia. we’ve established that she’s here living her life someplace. we haven’t heard anything about her for a hot minute, and then they decide to bring her back for 15x18. i was thrilled! i could not wait to see her, and was even more excited when she showed up on my television. and then, even better, we found out she has a girlfriend who she lives with and is clearly happy/comfortable with. and then what happens, may you ask? her girlfriend, stevie, a queer woman of color, vanishes. boom another unnecessary lgbtqia+ and woman death that could have been avoided if they just wrote in sam and dean calling her for help. 

later on in the episode, everyone on earth excluding dean, sam, and jack are gone- completely vanished where they stood. charlie of course is among those people. bare with me here, i know everyone vanished and it’s not the same as the first one. but here’s my issue with it: she did not have to come back. i would have rather had donna say “jodie, the girls, charlie, they’re ready to go when you need them”, and then they all vanish off screen. but instead they went through the trouble of bringing her back, showing her happy, having her experience a painful loss, and then disappear anyway. what was the point in having her in the episode?

like i mentioned earlier with dean being representation for bisexual men, charlie was just that for lesbians!! the amount of posts i’ve seen on multiple platforms talking about how much they resonated with charlie or how heartbroken they were no longer having representation on their favorite show is awful. there was a kickass nerdy, kind, strong, loving lesbian on your show not once but twice (au charlie), and you blew it. 

Claire + Kaia (Dreamhunter)

this part isn’t going to be long because there are some exceptions: wayward sisters failed spinoff (i’m still heartbroken i want it so bad), kathryn newton’s new status and inability to be in the show, etc.. so i guess this will just be a short thing about wayward sisters and what that could mean for claire and kaia. 

they had already established in supernatural that kaia was claire’s first love. we had gotten some really cute scenes with them, and then wayward sisters was finally a possibility. if the show had gone through, which i’m not sure why it didn’t, claire and kaia’s relationship could have been a goldmine. young girls could see themselves represented by characters already adored by supernatural fans. it would’ve shown a beautiful wlw relationship between two young girls who are also kickass and can keep up with their elders/male counterparts. 

i can’t pin this on the writers sadly (lmao), but i am still upset that we didn’t get wayward sisters. it would’ve meant a lot to women and to the lgbtqia+ community. 

My thoughts

like i said in the disclaimer, i love these characters and the story of supernatural. i always will. but i can’t lie about how frustrating it is seeing women, lgbts and people of color get constantly disregarded and mistreated. the writers had 15 years to get with the times, and the growth of society. stuff that i saw in season one and wasn’t surprised by should not still be happening in season 15. having writers that are all straight white males/women is not enough anymore. it never was. there has to be something for everyone in a show as big as this. it’s not about meeting diversity requirements, it’s about actually having diversity because it’s real. there are no diversity requirements for people in society. these are just people of different races, ethnicities, sexualities, genders, etc. who want to see someone like them represented on the things that they watch. it’s a lonely feeling not being validated by a show that you love.  

i might make another post specifically for the women mistreatment and queerbaiting on this show but that’s all for my essay on why supernatural sucks at not mistreating their queer characters :)

[number5theboy]

ALRIGHT

THIS SEASON

IT WAS A LOT

my liveblogged thoughts under the cut

Episode 1

·         Exhilarating! I love Ben

·         Ben already has more lines in these first five minutes than he had in the first season

·         This montage is good

·         ALLISON BABY

·         Luther yelled for Diego first I love this

·         Diego is immediately in vigilante mode…….hot

·         THE SHOT PARELLING VANYA’S FIRST WORDS

·         Vanya is a mess we love to see it

·         The shot of Five’s feet hitting the puddle? So aesthetically pleasing

·         The battle scene is such a smart way of reintroducing everyone’s powers and their Final Form™ succinctly

·         I love Hazel. So much.

·         The Umbrella Atomic Explosion™ is SO clever I love it

·         ALRIGHT UNCHARTERED TERRITORY LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOO

·         Oh Hazel and Five make me soft

·         Agnes and Hazel had a good life

·         Hazel is so dead

·         Welp that took no time at all

·         “How many times did I say bulletproof briefcases?” ily mister five

·         I love the Swedes they’re stupid

·         Are we ever gonna know what Agnes made Hazel promise?

·         Five is honestly world’s best character

·         FUTURE HEADQUARTERS

·         “Well the truth is out there!” abkdkblhlkbkhl

·         I shouldn’t make quick judgments, but conspiracy nut guy is nice and I hope he doesn’t turn out evil, because I also through Harold was nice in the beginning

·         Diego got himself arrested already what an idiot

·         Asddjgflkflhfl Diego’s problems all put out

·         Okay, set-up for Diego’s character arc of self-actualisation we love to see it

·         Lila is awesome, but I hope they don’t make her crush on him excessively

·         Diego and Five is an underrated duo

·         THEY ARE SO BICKERY

·         Five is jut gonna murder him sometime along the way

·         I LOVE FIVE SO MUCH WHAT A LITTLE SHIT

·         Oof Vanya is so cute in that outfit

·         This scene perfectly encapsulates women having to listen to men

·         VANYA’S GOING TO MILFTOWN Y’ALL

·         I cannot tell white men apart, does Carl look like conspiracy nut guy or is it just me?

·         As usual, Ben and Klaus are bad at everything

·         “neither does your beard” icon Ben Hargreeves

·         I support Ben pummelling Klaus

·         I passionately hate the beard and love the coat

·         Why do all the white men look alike, I thought this poker dude was a Swede

·         I KNEW BEN WAS LYING

·         “Pick a better time to self-actualise!”

·         I still hate the beard, let’s see if it grows on me

·         Yusuf Gatewood………….hot

·         By far the hottest couple so far in TUA

·         Please tell me she’s not still hung up on Luther

·         Yes she is goddammit

·         The moon thing is cute though, I can appreciate that

·         Luther finally gets a well-soundtracked fight scene I love it

·         OI THAT WAS BRUTAL HOLY SHIT

·         Oh Luther is pulling a Five in feeling bad about his excessive violence

·         I already hate his boss

·         Raymond marry me pls

·         Allison marry me pls

·         OH MY GOD VANYA LAUGHED

·         Sissy and Vanya have excellent chemistry

·         Oh I see the deliberate parallel with Vanya, Umbrella Academy, you aren’t fooling me

·         SWEDISH ASSASSINS BABY

·         Do you think they’ll say a single word or?

·         Literally the only way this show knows how to signal danger is through flickering lights

·         Two bopping fight scene and Five hasn’t been in any of them

·         Lila and Diego have no braincells between them it’s beautiful

·         Alright, she knows how to fight……..supicious

·         If this show wasn’t so hellbent on making Luther and Allison a thing, he would be best ace rep

·         Lmao “I don’t give a shit” I love you Luther

 EPISODE TWO

·         ALRIGHT THE HANDLER IS BACK???????

·         Okay so Hazel and Cha-Cha are dead but that pestilence still runs around??? Bruuuuuuuuuh

·         Kate Walsh is still hot though

·         AJ??????

·         THE FISH SMOKES?!?

·         God the Commission is such a capitalist hellhole

·         Oh there we have 743

·         H E R B

·         Okay I am here to see her humiliated but please no redemption arc for her

·         I love the deliberate parallels between Five and the Handler

·         “Like a masseuse?” IDIOTS

·         Oh Five is so lost and vulnerable baby boy

·         Also the character developments in Luther!!!!!

·         “Dad should’ve left him on the moon.” Five is, simply said, an icon

·         Oof Sissy is SO cute

·         I’m already not ready for Five to find Vanya

·         Lila is so extra can we keep her

·         Great now I have sympathy for Carl

·         Luther’s new outfit looks so good on him

·         OH LUTHER IS THE FIRST ONE TO SEE HER

·         Well that was dramatic and didn’t lead anywhere

·         Alright two episodes in, Civil Rights plotline hasn’t been fucked up yet

·         WHAT THE FUCK IS THE SWEDE DRINKING SO CONSCPICOUSLY

·         ELLIOTT IS THE NAME OF MISTER CONSPIRACY

·         “cousins on my robot mother’s side”

·         “Imagine Batman, then aim lower.”

·         Lila is great I love her

·         Diego is gonna throw both Five and Lila through a wall at some point

·         Five is so ready to throw Diego under the bus

·         Klaus Hargreeves, world’s worst cult leader

·         ……….did Klaus built a cult on pop lyrics?

·         Klaus and Raymond bonding I love it

·         DIEGO AND FIVE BEST TEAM

·         REGINALD IS THE UMBRELLA MAN

·         OH LUTHER IS GONNA FIND HER HOLY SHIT

·         THE BARN FROM THE PROMO PICTURE

·         This scene is so good

·         “You shouldn’t be the one to apologise.” I’M GONNA CRY

·         Tom Hopper and Ellen Page are so good in this scene

·         WHY DID HE LEAVE

·         What the flying fuck is up with the Swedes

·         BRO WHAT THE FUCK

·         Is Five ever gonna bring up the fact that he was supposed to kill Kennedy or?

·         Raymond is wasted on someone who doesn’t give him her whole heart

·         What the FUCK, Klaus

·         Why does she remember her name tho

·         The violin starting up when she talks about the callouses on Vanya’s hands

·         Brotherly bonding is my new favourite scene

·         Do the filmmakers know that your scene can be suspenseful and well-lit

·         Okay maybe baby Pogo is cute

·         There is gonna be no Five murdering spree, the blood is solely from Pogo

·         Next well-soundtracked fight scene

·         The choreography of this!!!!!

·         Man Reginald is a shitty dad before he even becomes a dad

·         Diego cannot catch a break poor baby

 EPISODE 3

·         SHITTY WIG ON KLAUS ALERT

·         THE LEVITATION IS BEN I HATE THIS

·         So far, all title card umbrellas have not disappointed

·         You are running in a straight line you really should hit her

·         Yep, Watchmen flashbacks

·         Luther remains cute and awkward

·         THEY ARE TALKING TO EACH OTHER BABY

·         S E Q U I N S

·         SNEAKY LADY ALLISON IS BACK

·         FINALLY

·         A HUG  

·         Allison and Klaus are so cute

·         What in the goddamn Looney Tunes is this outfit lady

·         WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU LADY

·         ALLISON HARGREEVES YOU QUEEN

·         This spooky ghost show is great

·         Everyone going off on Five is great

·         @ this show stop ripping Vanya and Five apart and let them be soft

·         Diego is so naked this entire season

·         Diego and Lila are a good dynamic

·         Elliott is a babe I love him

·         The Handler continues to be creepy about Five

·         So much driving

·         Luther is baby and Raymond deserves better than to deal with all the baggage from all the Hargreeves brothers

·         HE SHAVED THE BEARD

·         Ouch this is awkward

·         I don’t get why they didn’t cast normal Dave to play young Dave they’re not that far apart in age

·         Oh he’s gonna have to let Dave go

·         Oh this scene must be so triggering

·         Oh shit’s bad and it’s only episode 3

·         PUPPY???

·         WE WERE RIGHT ABOUT LILA

·         WHAT DO YOU MEAN THANKS MOM

 EPISODE 4

·         Oh my god the Handler is pure fucking evil

·         She learnt the fighting from her mom alright

·         THE RED BOOTS WERE THERE ALL ALONG

·         Man I hoped that the antisemitism was gone

·         Vanya being protective of Luther :’)

·         Luther only has shitty father figures

·         I can’t believe they were better organised last season

·         Why do you hate the Vanya/Five dynamic so much, show?

·         Five got an extra dose of asshole today this season huh

·         Reggie is probably the twelfth

·         Oh boy Klaus is a trainwreck

·         That marriage is also a trainwreck

·         I understand Ray though

·         Why is there Styx on this soundtrack

·         Oh Klaus baby

·         GALA NIGHT BITCHES

·         Five is a smart young old man

·         Oh baby is eating his heart out

·         Oh the hug makes me soft though

·         Honestly, Tom Hopper and Emmy Raver Lampman have such cute chemistry

·         AWKWARD DARLING MAN

·         “Doomsday” *nervous chuckle*

·         Ballroom lessons as kids

·         This is an excellent dance scene

·         OH MY GOD MOM WAS MADE AFTER A REAL WOMAN

·         THIS SHOW MAN THIS SHOW

·         Reggie is gross

·         Diego’s mommy AND daddy issues are put on blast this season

·         Sissy is such a babe

·         Man we got budget BUDGET for this season

·         Alright, the white violin can revive people now cool cool cool

·         How different her powers are when powered by love

·         I love Elliott I hope he survives the eason

·         I am down for Luther and Elliott getting high together

·         LET’S GO LESBIIIAAAAAAAAAANS

·         God Allison and Klaus make me so soft

·         I am very supportive of Elliott and Luther becoming bros

·         You already shanked one son, go poker stick another one

·         YES EXCELLENT FIGHT MUSIC

·         They both?????? Just left him to fend for himself??????????

·         Ancient Greek??? Bitch what

·         This show is rated for violence and we have barely seen any!!!!!! What!!!!!!!

 Episode 5

·         Okay baby Pogo and Grace is adorable

·         Why is Pogo in space now

·         THEY KILLED POGO

·         AGAIN

·         Hargeeves got a hug before Five did what the effing fuck

·         He might be a dick but his instincts are good

·         Haha old cowboy

·         Ben is so done

·         Vanya……..Sissy……..my heart

·         Wow Reginald continues to be a massive arse

·         Luther/Diego/Five are DUMB and I love them

·         “No, bro, he shanked your heart.”

·         God the Handler!!!!!!

·         THE MUSIC AT THE REUNION

·         We didn’t even see Five reunite with Allison and Klaus!!!!!

·         GOD WHAT A SISTERLY UPGRADE

·         KLAUS VANYA AND ALLISON HUGGING

·         Allison and Diego rights babey!!!

·         Are the Swedes ever gonna say something or

·         LILA AND FIVE TEAM-UP LET’S GO

·         I’VE MISSED YOU ALL SO MUCH I’M GONNA CRY BABY

·         The red-blue dynamic in Luther and Diego I live for that

·         Luther and Diego are gooooooood together

·         What is up with that

·         Klaus, Vanya and Allison are dumbasses and I love them so much

·         Alright where are the Swedes doing and why is that tree so creepy

·         Oh the youngest Swede just went tits-up

·         Please tell me Five is finally getting a fight scene

·         Excellent fight scene

·         Great, now I feel sad for the Swedes

·         They deffo have a cooler aesthetic than Hazel and Cha-Cha

·         This cover is beautiful

 EPISODE 6

·         This wig looks better than Klaus’

·         Also Ben has barely been in this season where is he at

·         Oof Ray is so cute

·         The Handler and Five have such good chemistry holy shit

·         Diego, Luther and Vanya are a god-tier dynamic

·         We love the CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

·         BENNY BOY HAS A CRUSH

·         Wait how is this only episode six I feel like this is already the pensum of the first season

·         Clothing montage baby!!!!!

·         God they look so good together

·         Oh Allison can be RUTHLESS

·         THE BINGO CARDS

·         Oh no no no no I didn’t think Klaus and Dave could be even more tragic

·         THEY TALK

·         God she is so fucking creepy stop lusting after a child

·         World’s most satisfying elevator shot

·         This scene is chaos I love it

·         God everyone just harps on Diego’s daddy issues jesus

·         Oh baby no

·         Oh babies no

·         NO NOT THE DISSOLUTION OF TEAM ZERO

·         Why are there so many antisemitic dogwhistles in this

·         This scene between Five and Reginald is good

·         NOT ELLIOTT

·         Oh no no no no Carl

·         Alright at least this promises a good fight scene

 EPISODE 7

·         This polka music bops

·         Wait how did he get to 1982

·         HE SAID FUCK

·         Man Carmichael was out so quick

·         No fish-eating?

·         Awwwww Klaus and Ben have a heart to heart

·         Oh God, Diego and Luther have no brain activity between the two of them

·         That is a Look

·         Oh this montage of Ben rediscovering touch

·         The writing of this show was oddly prophetic

·         Oh wait Vanya’s gonna be incarcerated too right????

·         Oh this is heart-breaking

·         Really?????? Ben’s the dorky one???

·         Oh my god Ben is getting a hug and Diego is so soft

·         Man why are Five and Vanya so antagonistic

·         FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

·         Dude a fight between them would have been so epic

·         Diego

·         You idiot

·         Oh Allison really loves him and he loves her

·         Oh I am so sad

·         Yeah this episode is infinitely worse than the day that wasn’t

·         FUCK YEAH BACKSTREET BOYS

·         What the fuck

·         Yo that is sadistic as fuck Allison what the flying fuck

·         This scene might ruin the song for me

·         There definitely was an easier way out

·         They fucked it up

·         I am not surprised

 EPISODE 8

·         Oh she speaks Russian

·         Five just snapped and honestly deserves it

·         Yeah I feel for the Swede

·         What is it with commission assassins and axes this season

·         “Your vagina needs fresh glasses.”

·         Nepotism

·         Oh Grace is turning on him baby!!

·         Ha remember when we were all like ‘oh no they’re making Reggie sympathetic’

·         Yeah so much for that

·         Five and Luther are……..soft

·         What the fuck is up with that

·         AYYYY BUTTHOLE SURFERS ON THE SOUNDTRACK

·         Oooooohhhhhhh trippy kid scene

·         Also Reggie is bad at German

·         I love Luther and Five so much

·         We finally get to see older Five’s tie pattern

·         Alright Lila makes me uncomfortable

·         FIVE IS GONNA GO FERAL Y’ALL LET’S GO

·         Man after the last rampage you’d think they’d upped security in this place

·         Herb for president!!

·         Some catch Diego’s ego is going berserk

·         Oh not again

·         Dot is a rebel now

·         Everyone is ragging on Five, even Five

·         This is so trippy

·         Oh yeah the brains. Forgot about those.

·         I……….sad

·         Oh my god oh my god oh my god

·         Of course it’s all the government’s fault

·         Love how they just walked into an FBI building

·         Bro what the fuck is going on

EPISODE 9

·         Allison is always there for Vanya and I love her

·         Hello Klaus and Diego are so cute

·         Oh my heart you go Klaus

·         So much for that

·         BUT BEN

·         YOU ARE CLIFF-HANGERING BE INSIDE AN EPISODE

·         Crazy Five is an idiot I love him

·         “I’m the daddy here” is not the gazelle, but it’ll do in a pinch

·         The 743!!!!!!

·         Oh God, Harlan is in danger

·         She loves him?!? You barely know the man!!!!!!

·         WHAT’S ON THE PAPER

·         Oh it’s her file

·         HELLO LET US SEE THE FIVES TYING TO OFF EACH OTHER

·         This continues to be trippy

·         These visuals are so stunning

·         This is my favourite scene so far, this is so good, this is an excellent talk

·         NO

·         NOT BEN

·         NOT BEN

·         “I’m askin’, Carl.” You go Sissy, love you, you’re doing excellent

·         Alright, we have a mini-Vanya here

·         Oh I hate the Handler so fucking much she is the worst

·         What a plot-twist

·         Oh god so much is going on in this season

·         Oh we get fish-eating, but it’s not Five? That’s lame

·         Why are they all so hell-bent on making stupid decisions

·         Klaus you idiot

·         Oh that SON OF A BITCH HARGREEVES

·         What the fuck what is on the dark side of the moon

·         What the flying fuck what the fuck what tebdjbdgkbjdsgkbjgsdjgnj

·         WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE GOING TO WAR

 EPISODE 10

·         Oh the kids are back for Ben’s funeral

·         I hate this

·         Reginald is just. The worst.

·         My emotions are all over the place

·         Oh……..babies

·         OH MY GOD DIEGO

·         AND FIVE

·         It wouldn’t hurt to go to an abandoned farm

·         God this is a family of shitty choices

·         I don’t want Ben to be gone

·         FAMILY TIME

·         Oh shit I totally forgot about the last Swede

·         BRO THE STAKES

·         YEAH THIS LOOKS BAD

·         ALRIGHT Harland is gonna be alright

·         All these assassins have shit aim

·         HE’S MATRIXING

·         LILA’S ONE OF THE 43

·         SHE CAN ABSORB AND REDIRECT THEIR ENERGIES

·         ONE OF THEM ONE OF THEM ONE OF THEM

·         Awwwwww they love each other

·         Oh great THEY’RE DEAD AGAIN

·         Oh now LILA will have to fix the timeline

·         Wait now they’re all dead

·         The swede to the rescue?

·         Please tell me she’s dead for good this time

·         We love a de facto protagonist saving everyone’s asses once more

·         GO VANYA SAVE THE BABY

·         Dot and Herb are precious dumbasses

·         This is heart-breaking, but I understand Sissy so much

·         WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS CLIFFHANGER

[nodesiretogrowup]

alrighty, let’s recap this bitch!

LAUNCHPAD! I’VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH! PLEASE COME BACK!

I looked up when National S’mores Day is (because I’m a nerd) and it is August 10. So either the photo later was mislabeled or, more likely, Launchpad got the wrong info

Huey with the little baby scouts is TOO CUTE!!

I wonder if Violet’s there. Probably not because she would have been hanging out with Huey if she was. Or this episode was meant to come before Challenge

It’s a baby beagle boy! I wonder if he’s there of his own will or if it is part of some plan

He scared away most of the kids! Now they won’t get to enjoy s’more-y goodness

His s’more sounds DOPE AF, though it probably would give you INSTANT DIABETES

“Aw, not even a modern robot.” MY SWEET SON!

I know it was the bully saying it, but Huey should chill a bit when it comes to doing things EXACTLY and PERFECTLY. It’s just gonna cause stress

 BOYD IS BABY AND I LOVE HIM

“Would you like to be friends?” “Sure. Wow, that was easy.” If only it was always that easy

I don’t know if Huey has the JWG as memorized as he thinks, going by Challenge and Quack Pack

“We’re just kids.” “Definitely!” *uses laser eyes to light fire*

This episode does a good job showing what a trigger word/phrase is like, though I’m not sure if that was the intention

I like that a squirrel with a burnt tail scurries out of one of the trees. It’s the attention to detail that helps elevate this show

Instead of jumping out of the way or hiding Huey jumps straight onto Boyd to try and help him. Huey already sees Boyd as someone worth protecting

The kid that just runs across the screen while his hat is on fire is great

Not sure why they took the time to change before going to Gyro but whatever

BOYD IS ADORABLE AND I LOVE HIM

“I’m more than an intern, I’m a scientist.” I feel like this might be hinting at Fenton’s arc for the season, possibly wanting to be seen more as a scientist than a superhero

I’m gonna pretend that using sunglasses on someone who is shooting lasers out of their eyes is a Cyclops reference. And they look pretty dope too

At least Fenton knows when he is in over his head...this time

Gyro trying to climb up on the table to avoid Boyd was kind of funny. And then him protecting himself with Lil Bulb

“Which one?” Manny is DONE with this shit

“Boyd? What idiot called it that?” Even when he’s not there, Gyro can still burn Mark lol

I figured 2-BO was a reference to something but wasn’t sure what. Apparently it’s a bit of a play on the name of Astro Boy’s in-universe creator’s son. Neat

 Huey stays in between Gyro and Boyd to protect Boyd

Fenton’s face cracks me up. There are NO THOUGHTS in this man’s head lol

“You were an intern like me?” “Nothing like you.” Damn Gyro, why so salty?

I don’t know why Fenton is so surprised that Gyro was an intern. I feel like that’s a pretty standard thing

LOVE IS STORED IN THE BOYD

It make me sad when Gyro mentions how many times Boyd’s core programing was altered. Poor baby doesn’t really get a say in what happens to him

“ROAD TRIP!” Huey, you do these kinds of things ALL THE TIME. I feel like he should be used to this by now

“YOU’RE not going. GIZMODUCK is.” Does Gyro see Fenton and Gizmoduck as separate entities or is this just a no, but yes type of joke?

Huey standing up for Boyd is so sweet. They barely know each other but Huey trusts him

When the episode doesn’t have the theme song you KNOW shit’s ‘bout to go down

I wonder who’s flying the plane. My guess is Launchpad because Della would have been cooing over Huey making a new friend and go into embarrassing mom mode. He probably went of on his own adventure or did tourist things like buying collectables. Or maybe Gyro flew them there. Who knows

As many people have said, the art direction and animation for this episode are BEAUTIFUL. I love the pink tint the lighting has in most of the episode

SAILOR MOON CONFIRMED CANON

I bet Mark Beaks is a Sailor Moon fan

I like that the in-universe Sailor Moon is a bunny because Usagi is Japanese for rabbit

I love that going incognito nowadays means you wear a hat, a hoodie, and sunglasses. Boyd looks good in red (though red is my favorite color so I might be biased)

Gyro-takes one step and the fuzz shows up. NOICE

I like detective lady. She has a cool design

Huey and Fenton are awful at acting casual

“Crimes?” Oh my sweet Hubert. I’m pretty sure most if not all of Scrooge’s employees have had run ins w/ The Law

Gyro is like, move I’m gay

“I’m here on a very important...field trip.” ALL THE KIDS NEED A GYRO FIELD TRIP LIKE HOW THE GAANG GOT ZUKO FIELD TRIPS

Lil Bulb said FUCK THE POLICE

I wonder what it actually says

Fenton just watches as the inspector chases Lil Bulb

Seriously though, Fenton does a bunch of silly stuff in the background and this episode warrants a rewatch SOLELY for him

How did Lil Bulb know where to find them? And how did he shake off the inspector? I want to see his little adventure

FOR SCIENCE!

“Blah!” *arm armor attaches* I want this joke to come back

Fenton and Huey INSTANTLY nerd out. I love them

Fenton being a Gyro fanboy is ADORABLE

“AH, DUST IN MY EYE! The dust of GENIUS!” What a dweeb lol

I like that Fenton keeps the arm on for the whole scene

Poor Boyd, he looks so scared

Huey going into protective big brother mode

Doofus continues to be equal parts hilarious and disturbing

Where are their parents? Like, someone should be looking after these kids! ESPECIALLY DOOFUS!

“Do you need a hug?” I SURE FUCKING DO

Mark is such a prick lol

“NO WAY, A ROBOT BOY! DREAMS DO COME TRUE!” YOU DON’T DESERVE THAT DREAM YOU COCKWAFFLE

SOMEONE HUG THIS CHILD! BECAUSE I CANNOT!

“Seems like the little guy’s had it tough.” MY POOR BABY

Lil Bulb gets SO PISSED he blew a fuse

You really shouldn’t have left them alone, Gyro

Why does Fenton automatically jump to superhero for Boyd? I mean the theme of the episode is letting Boyd choose who he wants to be so of course Fenton would have his own idea of what Boyd should be, but why go straight to superhero? Do you want superbros, Fenton?

Huey already realises this might be a bad idea, because he’s more concerned about Boyd as a person rather than Boyd as a machine

“IN RETROSPECT WE PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE USED THE FIRST HOLE” Fenton, you dumbass genius

Dr. Akita’s setup made me laugh. I DIED when he “enhanced” the image

I recognized the character on the chips though I don’t know their name. I’m more of a western animation fan, so many of the references probably flew pass me

BOOP

I also have a key on my laptop that flies off (it’s the u key)

I LOVE BABY GYRO! It’s so cool they went with his og look (minus the red hair) to show him younger

I LOVE THE OUTLAW COUPLE! SO COOL! SO HOT!

Huey is so DONE with Fenton

I love the stupid G pose he does. PLEASE HAVE HIM DO IT AGAIN. PREFERABLY WHEN DW IS NEARBY

Such a polite boy

“My bones are metal!” This line and Boyd’s catchphrase of “Hi, I’m Boyd/2-BO, a definitely real boy!” reminded me of Olaf. The end of the episode gives Boyd even MORE Olaf parallels

Gizmoduck sliding by those boxes was cool

How did Gizmoduck get himself unstuck from that alley?

I loved the double take the female outlaw does

Huey is TRAUMATIZED

I legit thought Boyd was gonna light the oil on fire the first time I watched and I was like that won’t help

“So, what do we do now?” “I...don’t know.” This is why you don’t leave babies alone to fight criminals

Boyd reminded me of Calculester from Monster Prom when he asked the lady to return the money

STOP LEAVING THE CHILDREN ALONE! THEY ARE BABIES! THEY AREN’T EVEN TEENS!

“Why do we always fight when we’re on vacation?” Because this is Ducktales and there is no such thing as a normal vacation

Lil Bulb just kicking his lil feet

The “lab” safety poster made me chuckle. Then I remembered Akita is also a dog and I laughed more

LITTLE BABY GYRO GRADUATING! My guess is his professor/dean/principal influenced him on a personal level and is partially the reason Boyd is a parrot

Lil Helper blueprints. Nice reference to the og series

Has anyone talked about the poster with the cogs and the dogman in old-timey clothes that says GIZMOS on it? I think it’s a Dr. Who reference

IDEALISTIC GYRO AND BOYD IS TOO CUTE!

How did he NOT notice the second hole in the wall?

That is a surplus of handcuffs. Do you think she uses them for...fun times?

“I’m just a guy! With very bruisable skin!”

Poor misunderstood Gyro inventions

Boyd just politely waves at everyone

Huey is WAY calmer than I would be if I got lost in an unfamiliar city

Boyd says FUCK WORK

 I love Huey stimming. Really hope Disney will let them confirm in words that Huey is autistic

Is it more common for two kids to wonder around by themselves in Tokyo? Because as an American I find it super stressful and would want to find their parents so they could be safer

THE BUNNY! AND THEN THE KITTIES!

Do cats just take buses on their own in Tokyo?

CHERRY BLOSSOM TIME BITCHES

“And I know what you’re thinking, what about ninjas?” I am ALWAYS wondering about ninjas

I like that Huey finally has a friend who shares the same interests and doesn’t mind info dumps

“Boyd, I don’t think you’re a killer robot. You’re just a kid.” “Aw, that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.” T_T

I CAN SHOW YOU THE WORLD

I like Boyd’s motief

Akita is us after the quarantine

When he complained about being stiff I was like mood

I like his Green Goblin disc thingy

The other people don’t give a shit about Boyd just FLYING DOWN WITH HIS ROCKET FEET!

Gyro shows up *dramatic wind*

His tablet has a duckie on it. I wounder if they have a Mac/PC thing going on with Waddle and what brand the duckie represents

When the adults argue and Boyd gets all sad and scared I FELT THAT

Huey doing his best to keep Boyd calm and defend him SO PURE

OH GOD HELP THIS POOR CHILD!

HUEY IS A GOOD BOY AND A GOOD FRIEND

“Because of you I’ve become an outcast.” I feel like you did that to yourself

ANIME HAIR POOF

ngl, that shit was TERRIFYING

“You don’t have to do what Akita tells you. Do what I tell you.” So close

“INTERN! FIGHT BETTER!”

Huey must weigh NOTHING if Gyro can pick him up

Akita’s tail looks like a cinnamon roll

Huey always finding that hidden info

The gibberish Gyro says is great

BOYD SAYS IT BECAUSE GYRO TOLD HIM THAT!

THAT HUG!!!

HOW DARE AKITA HURT BABY GYRO AND SWEET BABY BOYD?!

PROTECTIVE PAPA GYRO

NEEEEERRRRRRRD FIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT

“You’ll never invent anything worthwhile.” LIL BULB HAS ENTERED THE FIGHT

Are doggos recyclable?

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGS

Blue eyes=good robot

ANOTHER HUG

Be Only Yourself, Dude

I like that basically Gyro admitted that he was like Fenton if Fenton hadn’t had support

“That’s not technically how doctorites work, BUT I DON’T CARE!” Do you think Gyro doesn’t have his doctorate or do you think he assumed Fenton already had one?

“The hugging is a ‘just for today’ thing.” YOU CANNOT STOP THE HUG TRAIN!

“Leave. Now.”

Are they gonna go to the plane?

This season has been consistently knocking it out of the park! I’m a SLUT for backstory episodes, so I enjoyed this one a lot. I loved seeing Gyro when he had hope and faith in the world. It SUCKS that Akita took that away from him. Hopefully Gyro will see things slightly less cynical now. Fenton was a dweeb the whole episode and I love him for it. Boyd is SO SWEET AND PRECIOUS and in NO WAY deserved the treatment he got. I have a feeling there is more to Boyd’s creation/Dr.Akita that we’ll get later on. Huey was ADORABLE this episode. It’s really sweet to see him hangout with someone who gets him. Everyone deserves to have at least one friend like that. The fight scene was GORGEOUS! SO FLUID! I really loved this one and I hope we get more Team Science episodes because these characters play really well off each other. 

[lightsandlostbells]

Skam season 3, episode 10 (season finale) reaction

Finally I got this done! Sorry it took such a long time to wrap up this season, I’ve just been tired and busy over the last month. And, you know, maybe I wasn’t in a rush to say goodbye to S3 again.

Thank you for everyone who has been reading these and commenting, liking, reblogging, etc. I have gotten so many wonderfully kind remarks on these posts, and I loved hearing people’s own thoughts on their S3 viewing experience or their interpretation of the story. Not to sound overly dramatic, but it made my day to hear from you. Also, I am aware these posts are not short, lmao, so thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings. 

Also want to thank @skamenglishsubs for doing the subtitled episodes and for contributing clarifications on Norwegian language!

Episode 10

Clip 1 - Minutt for minutt

This is my favorite clip in all of Skam.

O Helga Natt is breath-taking, cinematic, and spectacular. I cried buckets when I saw it the first time, but Minutt for minutt is the clip that puts tears in my eyes every single time I watch it. It is simple, honest, and kind. It’s in this clip that I truly feel like everything is going to be okay.

If O Helga Natt is a parallel scene to 21:21, its mirror in structure and symbolism, then Minutt for minutt is a parallel to Hjernen er alene. In both clips we open on Isak and Even in bed Saturday morning, and the camera doesn’t leave the bed except with the presence of an outsider to the Evak sphere (Eskild in Hjernen er alene, Sonja in Minutt for minutt). In both clips Isak’s bed is a safe zone, a place of comfort for both the boys. In Hjernen er alene we are introduced to Even’s depressive tendencies via hints; in Minutt for minutt we confront them head-on. In Hjernen er alene, Even seems to be the one doing more of the comfort-giving role, holding Isak and stroking his back as Isak talks about what lead him to move into the flat, while Isak doesn’t really understand Even’s hints at depression; In Minutt for minutt it’s Isak’s turn to take on the role of comforting and holding Even, aware of what Even is going through. In Hjernen er alene, Even asks if he can stay with Isak forever; in Minutt for minutt, Isak’s lesson learned is not to think about the future, or forever, but to take things one day at at time.

Does anyone else get chills as the piano starts over the black screen, before we even get to Isak and Even? It’s so haunting. 

The song, “Lantern” by The White Birch, is so beautiful and sets the tone of the scene perfectly. It’s gentle, like resting in bed, watching someone sleep. It’s not too forceful or overwhelmingly powerful, but calm and careful. This is one of my favorite soundtrack choices in the series.  

There’s one lyric in particular that encapsulates part of what I love about this scene:

I prayed for newborn skies / to lift me up so high 

What I think I love about this song choice, and specifically about this lyric, is that it’s not even about everything being okay, or Isak being in love with Even and standing by him. It is about hope. Praying for things to get better. Hoping they will. But it’s a prayer, not a promise. And it’s that sentiment that really moves me. Because of course Isak will be here for Even, of course Isak will try to make things right, as best as he can. But when it comes down to it, there is no guarantee that things will be okay. Everything may fall apart. What matters, what makes this scene so incredibly moving that I’m tearing up just typing about it, is having full knowledge that failure is an option, but believing it’s still worth it to try anyway. It’s worth it to keep a vigil over the person that you love as they go through the dark hours. There’s something very selfless and brave about it.

Just as an aside, I enjoyed how you saw the lighting change at various points in the clip to show the sun coming up - that makes sense with the literal passage of time, obviously, but also as a reflection of the song’s lyrics. Hoping for those newborn skies, waiting for the sun to come out. Getting through the darkness. 

We cut from the black screen to Isak in bed, facing Even, eyes open, while Even sleeps. That one image says it all. If you were wondering what happened after O Helga Natt, Isak took Even home and they went to bed and Isak watched over him. He’s determined to make sure Even is okay.

I remember people were really relieved that Even was finally getting some sleep, after dealing with insomnia all season (his manic episode, as well as “I don’t sleep cuz sleep is the cousin to death”) and then other people explained that no, it’s not really that great. It’s not just about Even getting some rest, it’s that he’s depressed so he doesn’t have the energy to do more than sleep.

Sleep is such a recurring image this season, too, something we see both Isak and Even struggle with, for different reasons. We’ve seen Isak sleep, especially when he had Even in his bed, but so far we haven’t seen Even sleep at all. I think Isak got a lot of peace at certain points when his relationship with Even seemed to be on a good path (not to mention when issues with his family and friends weren’t so fraught), but Even’s big issue has been hanging over his head all season, until this point. It makes sense we’ve never seen him asleep.

I love that they’re so still, Even because he’s asleep, obviously, but Isak is just lying there watching Even. So steadfast. Like he’s so relieved to have him back, and aware of how lucky he is, but also aware that he needs to be there for him, that the hard part isn’t over.

Similar to the hotel scene, we cut to black again, to signify the passage of time, or periods of rest (Isak closes his eyes in the first shot like he’s drifting off). But we cut back to the bed when Even rolls over, as if that startled Isak back to full consciousness.

When Even rolls over, some of his back is exposed, and Isak tries to stretch the blanket and smooth it down so that Even is covered. That little gesture punches a hole in my soul. It’s so small, and like, it’s not even gonna work with the way that comforter is positioned, but he has to do this one tiny thing, anything to make Even more comfortable. It’s so nurturing and attentive.

Then we black out again and when we come back, Isak has used himself to cover the exposed part of Even’s back where the comforter won’t rest. He’s spooning Even to keep him warm. One of my favorite images. One of the smallest gestures and one of the most meaningful.

We get Isak lying on his back looking at Even and holding his phone to his chest as the song ends. He’s clearly considering contacting someone, and soon Isak texts Sonja. He’s very polite, considering where they left off in the hotel clip. He’s being responsible, knowing that Even’s parents might be worried about him, especially since Even is depressed - I mean, who knows what Even was doing or what happened earlier in the week? I hope that Even didn’t also leave his parents suicide notes or anything - I doubt it, honestly. I think if he had, they’d be a lot more frantic, Sonja would know and would be calling Isak.

Isak also apologizes and says that he’s sorry if Even isn’t well because of him. First of all, ouch that Isak would even think this? I know why he would, Sonja implied as much, that Isak was making Even’s condition worse, and Even’s text message suggests that some of this sadness is related to Isak even if it’s not necessarily Isak’s fault, if you get me. It stings. But also - consider reading that from Sonja’s POV. I think now that she’s had time to cool down from the hotel incident, she might realize that her words to Isak were harsher than necessary. And possibly she’s realized since then that Even really does love Isak. She’s had time to think about it or observe Even this week and realize that it’s not just mania causing those feelings. So reading that, she might understand that she should apologize to Isak.

Look how small Even looks in bed, by the way. This whole scene is such a turnaround from the charming, confident Norwegian James Dean we have seen previously in the season, the guy that got Isak’s (and our) attention in the first place. We’ve gotten glimpses of Even’s more vulnerable side, but nothing compared to what we see here and in O Helga Natt.

After sending the text, Isak just lies there with the phone on his chest, as if he wants it to be there at a moment’s notice in case he hears back from her. When the phone starts to ring, Isak gets out of bed. Again, the only time the camera leaves the closeup of the two of them in bed is when an outsider bursts the Evak bubble. (Also, Isak goes into the hall doesn’t shut the bedroom door; it’s like he wants to be aware of Even at all times and be there for him the moment he starts to wake up.)

The acting between Tarjei and Theresa on the phone is really good. I don’t know if how they recorded this conversation, if Julie had them act off each other or if they recorded separately, but I think they nailed the tone of it, especially at the beginning. This is an awkward conversation, but not an angry one. Isak is talking to someone who lashed out at him. Sonja is talking to someone she lashed out at, and is regretting it. They didn’t end on a good note last time. Plus, you know, Even dumped Sonja for Isak. Still that factor. Automatic awkward.

Just a note: Theresa had a tough role this season. For much of it she was playing the obstacle, the person you yell at to go away when she shows up in episode 2 and interrupts the developing Evak relationship (well, maybe not you personally, but I’ve seen my fair share of Skam reactions on YouTube). We don’t know much about Sonja, Even paints her in a negative light, she’s not the one we’re rooting for. So in a lot of ways, that was a pretty thankless task. However, I think she did a good job with the material she was given, and in this last scene of hers manages to give her character a lot of humanity. 

Listen to that awkward “hi” from both of them. Sonja sounds tired or resigned. She explains that Even sent his parents a text message. So she’s in touch with his parents. I wonder if Even disappeared Friday night (or earlier that day) and it got them worried, so they were already texting about it. Because otherwise I’m not sure how Sonja would know so quickly that Even sent his parents a text. Maybe if Even texted her and said don’t worry, I let my parents know where I am. (There’s just a ton that I want to know about this relationship between Even and Sonja - I don’t ship it in the slightest, and obviously it’s a mess in its current state, but it’s so important to Even’s backstory and his state of mind going into this season that I’d love a further peek at it.)

Now with the issue of the text message out of the way, that actually should be the end of the conversation, no? The technical business is sorted out. They could just ignore the emotional bits. But Sonja says she called to apologize for last time. Isak sounds genuinely surprised about this. I really think he didn’t harbor any resentment toward her at all? In fact, I don’t recall Isak blaming Sonja for anything during this season. At most he’s sad when she’s with Even, and I guess he might resent her as someone who has what he can’t, but it’s not like he hates her personally. And he didn’t seem upset that she said what she did because of her. 

But he says it’s fine so quickly. She says she didn’t mean to get angry with him, that it wasn’t his fault at all, and he says he understands that she was just worried. See, this is why I like Isak. Despite his rough demeanor, he listens to people. He has empathy.

And it’s why I like Sonja, too, despite her being a minor character and despite her flaws. She got that she took out her feelings in the heat of the moment on Isak. Even though Isak did wrong her by cheating with Even (and I mean, that’s mostly on Even but I’m of the opinion that if you hook up with someone you know has a significant other, you are doing wrong by that other person, you shouldn’t do that to someone) she still apologized for the part where she had faltered.

Sonja is just kind of like, Mm, after Isak says that he understands she was worried. I think this is a tough conversation, obviously. She probably doesn’t really want to do it for various reasons - it’s not fun to apologize, especially over something so delicate, and she’s talking to her ex boyfriend’s new boyfriend, the person he chose over her. But she makes a point of saying it’s not Isak’s fault Even is depressed, as Isak suggested in his text. He’s bipolar. She really sounds resigned, in my opinion. She has dealt with Even’s bipolar disorder for a while, she has taken care of him, for better or worse. But she wasn’t able to fix him, and now she’s having to let him go. Still, this is kindness from her. She’s not letting Isak blame himself for something she knows isn’t accurate.

I think Sonja really wants to get off the phone at this point, since it’s probably really hard for her on multiple levels, but Isak asks her if he should get Even to his parents. Right now, through this episode, he’s thinking about what’s best for Even. He’s not going to force Even to do what Isak thinks is best for him, but he’s still got that in mind. 

I don’t know exactly when Isak made the connection between his comment about not wanting to be around mentally ill people and Even then breaking things off with him and later hiding that he was bipolar from Isak - I’m sure he figured it out. But I think Isak is also keeping that moment in mind this episode. I think he realized he had been shitty about that, and he’s trying to make up for it. He has to prove that he’s staying by Even’s side and that he was wrong, he’s not better without mentally ill people in his life.

Sonja says that she thinks it’s best for Even to be with Isak. You know … think about the implications of that statement. A week ago she was telling Isak to stay away. I wonder if in the week that’s followed, she’s seen Even, possibly when he was very depressed, and realized Even really did love Isak and want to be with him. I wonder if she’s thought about Even’s behavior when he was with Isak. I wonder if she’s reconsidered not just Even and Isak’s relationship, now that she’s not stressed and worried in a moment of crisis, but Isak as well. I mean, here Isak is contacting her and telling her about Even’s whereabouts. He’s being responsible, and he’s looking out for Even. He’s not just this irresponsible kid who’s making Even smoke weed or who’s so helpless and ignorant she has to come fix things. Isak might have more potential than she realized. And I think she also sees that she’s not the only one who can support Even, that she has to let go of him, and Even should be with the person he really wants to be with.

Isak smiles a little after she says that. It’s just a brief statement from her but he knows that there’s a ton of meaning behind that, considering what she told him last time - she’s changed her mind. How good it must feel for him to hear that from Sonja, Even’s long-term girlfriend, that it’s good for Even to be with Isak. His reaction is a mixture of pride and happiness, maybe. It’s implicit approval of their relationship, implicit acceptance that Even has moved on from Sonja and is now with Isak. That it’s real between Even and Isak and not just a sick idea in his head.

By now Sonja really wants to get off the phone, lmao, but Isak still isn’t done. He asks whether there’s anything he can do for Even. When Sonja says, “Not really,” it makes me sad for her? Like I can tell behind that statement, there’s someone who really loved/loves Even and watched him go through hell and deal with depression, and has realized by now that you can’t just snap him out of it. She’s sad that there’s not more she or anyone can do for him. It makes you think about her actions - and I’m not justifying her being controlling or trying to tell Even how he feels, but you have to wonder if she hoped she could just snap him out of his worst periods. If she wishes she could have done more but realizes she couldn’t. Man, I find Sonja so interesting despite being having such a small amount of screen time!

“You just have to be there for him.”

Sonja gives some of the best advice in the series. She’s been there with Even in the bad times. When everything seems hopeless, just take it one day at a time. Then an hour, then a minute. That says so much about how hard it can get, that sometimes even an hour is too much to bear, you have to go down to just a minute. Like both she and Even went through this, it seemed hopeless for both of them, Even in his depression and Sonja watching him be depressed. That advice is simple but so powerful. It’s so hopeful and such a good way of approaching pain and depression. It’s good advice for anyone struggling, really, not just people who are bipolar or depressed.

As some who has been depressed and who has dealt with a lot of other mental illness BS ... this is one of the most helpful pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten from media. Something that happens when you deal with depression is that suddenly everything becomes magnified in a bad way, and set in stone in a hopeless way. It’s not just that things are bad today, it’s that they will never get better. It’s not just that you messed up this one thing, it’s that you’ve destroy everything in your whole life and you’re going to continue to ruin the rest of it. Your brain traps you in this endless cycle of your past mistakes and your current mistakes and that propels you into your future mistakes, until everything seems bleak. Taking things minute by minute is a way to approach life and its struggles in a more manageable way, it helps to remember that when everything seems too big.

In my last post about episode 9, I included a draft of a post that I wrote about O Helga Natt back in 2016. I also found one that I wrote in either late 2016/early 2017, that referred to this clip.

i’ve been really depressed lately - for no reason, just because that’s how my brain works - and i want to thank the Norwegian teenies for coming along at just the right time, because the way Skam depicted mental illness and especially Even’s depressive episode in the last two episodes actually helped me and I can’t think of the last time a work of fiction gave me some good life advice that genuinely made me feel better

i’m not sure if this was the intended wisdom but not only did “minutt by minutt” help, just the depiction of a depressed character having a string of shitty days and this being … kind of a normal thing - that helped. not that you should be tolerating depression as just a thing you’ll get through, don’t seek treatment for it, bootstraps etc. but in the sense that yeah, sometimes you have bad periods with depression, some days hit you harder than others. but getting to hear about Isak and the flat taking care of Even and Sonja’s being kind of matter-of-fact about it … honestly, that gave me the ability to look at my own bad days as something that i can handle.

the day after Christmas, I didn’t want to get out of bed, I was so tired and empty and I couldn’t even focus on watching Netflix or whatever. but instead of getting lost in my own negative thoughts, I was able to process it as, “OK, this is not going to be a good day. Instead of trying to punish yourself for not feeling good, just accept that this isn’t going to be a good day, and that’s fine. You don’t have to feel like you wasted a day. You can get through this and start again tomorrow.” and that was specifically due to what happened in episode 10. So I want to thank this show for making me feel a little better.

The music starts again over Sonja’s speech, as Isak watches over Even sleeping again. Keeping a vigil, keeping the lanterns lit.

Even stirs and finally wakes up. He takes a moment to take in his surroundings and remember that, oh yeah, he’s with Isak at his place. He seems like he finds it hard to look at Isak and quickly averts his gaze and looks at the ceiling, the wall, not at Isak. Probably because he still can’t believe he’s here, with Isak, and probably because of what he says to him in a moment - he’s convinced he will hurt Isak, he thinks he doesn’t deserve to have Isak here with him.

I know that the thing with Even’s eyes fluttering was apparently just Henrik’s random reflex, lmao, but it’s very effective and makes him seem like he’s struggling to keep them open. He just seems so tired. His normally energetic, charismatic self has been completely drained. We’ve never seen him like this, not even the hints in like the cuddle scene were this strong. Henrik turned off all the light inside of him. He’s staring at nothing.

Not to get super personal again, but his performance in this scene felt so familiar that I got a pain in my gut. I have been in Even’s shoes, I recognize some of how this goes, how you hardly have the strength to muster up speech, or you react more slowly to certain things. He does such an excellent job here. Now that we’ve seen the bloopers, too, working out the positions on the bed for this scene, it seems like he was trying very hard to stay in Even’s mindset throughout, which must have been rough.

Isak asks if Even is hungry. Even doesn’t even reply to that. He takes time to answer, like it’s harder to focus or collect his thoughts. Like he’s drifting. He does ask Isak what time it is after a moment.

Even says, very quietly, that he should go. Because he doesn’t want Isak to lie there and feel like he has to look after him. Even, baby, no. It’s not a burden for Isak to be with you. You aren’t a burden. That says so much about how he feels about himself, that he’s a burden, an obligation, something for people to take care of. He’s preventing Isak from doing other things. Again, this is such an accurate depiction of depression. During this scene I got chills because it was so close to my experience, the fatigue, the guilt. The sense of resigned certainty that things were never going to get better. The emptiness.

Isak says he doesn’t feel like he’s looking after Even. He’s doing this because he loves Even and wants him to be okay, not because he feels like he has to. But also, why is it wrong for Isak to look after Even? It’s so natural for Isak to want to do so because he loves Even and wants to be a part of his life.

Even says there’s nothing wrong with it, but that he doesn’t want Isak to lie there and feel sad. Basically, he doesn’t want to bring people down with him. Evennnnn. Noooooo.

Isak says he’s not sad, quietly. Kinda like how Even said he wasn’t sad in the locker room scene, except in very different contexts. Isak has to do a lot more work to reassure Even here. Isak seems surprised that Even would even think he was sad. Like Isak knows he loves Even, of course he would be here.

Even takes forever to reply. He lets out a heavy sigh. So much sighing, as if it’s a struggle. It’s so quiet you can hear him swallowing.

“I just know that this isn’t gonna work.” This resonates so much. That feeling that you know it’s going to end. You just know. Depression brings about such seeming clarity, like you don’t doubt that everything is hopeless, you feel it in your bones. But damn, Even is thinking that it won’t work out because of him. He already hurt Isak. He wants it to work, he loves Isak, but he thinks it won’t.

Isak doesn’t get too upset, vocally, but you can tell he’s appalled and horrified by this idea. Why on earth would Even say that? That’s the last thing Isak wants to consider.

“Because it’s true.” Again, that certainty. Even says he’ll hurt Isak and then Isak will hate him. Even’s insecurities and vulnerabilities are so painful! He doesn’t want to hurt Isak, it’s something he fears. And he doesn’t want Isak to hate him, because to be hated by someone he loves so much is awful. Like, it’s better in his mind just to cut Isak loose to go find a happy life than to stick around long enough for Isak to resent him (“the only way to have something forever is to lose it”).

Also something that’s accurate to depression - how easy it is to disregard people telling you that you’re not worthless, how easy it is to forget that people love you and care about you. Isak just ran to Even last night and hugged him and kissed him and made his love abundantly clear, but Even is probably already filing that away as, well, Isak won’t feel that way for long, Isak will just be sad, it’s not worth it.

And then - this incredible moment.

After a long pause, in which Isak lies there considering Even, staring at him, working out what Even is saying - Isak just says, “No.” Just no. So forcefully and with such certainty that I want to hug him. Even goes from staring at the ceiling to looking at Isak. He’s taken aback. Maybe he thought Isak might come back at him with more soft words and assurances, but I don’t think he was expecting for Isak to call bullshit.

What I love, love, LOVE about Isak’s dialogue here is that it’s not like … flowery or romantic. It’s not a big speech. “I love you, Even, I’ll always be here for you, we’re soulmates,” etc. All the cliches of a dramatic TV speech. This dialogue is instead so distinctly Isak that it’s brilliant. It’s a 17-year-old boy, who’s often blunt and unsentimental, putting his feelings into words that are equally blunt and unsentimental. In a lot of TV shows, these big romantic speeches are generic and interchangeable, they sound the same across canons, within canons, everywhere. They’re trying to be epic, but they all sound alike because they come back to the same general grandiose concepts. But this speech? You could not mistake this speech coming from any other character but Isak. It’s so specific to Isak and to Isak/Even.

Isak just directly shuts down all of Even’s catastrophic thinking, his negative outcomes. You don’t know shit about how this is going to end! Well, he’s right? Depression makes you certain of hopelessness, and Isak doesn’t sugarcoat it, he cuts right through the cloudy haze and says, nah, you don’t know that.

In Tarjei’s delivery is a touch of fear, like he really wants Even to understand, but in this moment he’s afraid Even will pull away again and he’ll lose him once more, and that’s coming through. Isak isn’t certain of anything. But there’s also this fierceness and determination, this strength, and that’s what truly makes the moment. 

Isak says that maybe a nuke will get dropped on them tomorrow, and this is a waste of time to discuss. Again - he’s right! It’s not a bad thing to discuss long-term dynamics of relationships, of course. But Even’s depressive speculation is pointless. You can never predict what’ll happen. This time they spend debating whether Even will hurt Isak - not worth it. It’s time they could spend together, enjoying the moment.

Even is so taken aback, struck by Isak’s blunt descriptions and his certainty. Like Isak is not pulling away, he’s not letting Even go. He’s just telling Even how it’s gonna be.

“So I suggest you stop talking about the future and then the two of us will take this thing completely chill.” God. GOD. I love it. You know what? Previously this season, we’ve had so many comments about time and forever - Can I stay in here with you forever? and You’re the man of my life and Even asking how many Isaks and Evens are lying in bed right now and Isak answering infinitely many, in infinite time. Big, sweeping statements about long periods of time. And those are all wonderful and beautiful and romantic. But there’s a lot of underlying pressure in them. You gotta get everything perfect, you gotta be constantly thinking about the long run, everything needs to be epic and big. And in this episode, we whittle down those long overwhelming periods of time, the future, infinity, forever, to the short term. Minute by minute. Now. Living in the present. Not putting these huge standards or expectations on oneself, both good and bad. Which is probably the healthiest approach when you’re teenagers in a relationship.

And Isak is again saying, I’m not letting you push me away, I’m not going to let you overthink this and pull back, I’m not going to let you think you’re a monster. We’re just going to hang in here together.

Even is stunned by this, he keeps running his eyes over Isak’s face as if in disbelief. What is even happening? He didn’t expect this.

And here we get one of the most romantic exchanges I have heard in my life. While Even is processing what Isak said, Isak goes on to say, “Let’s play a game. It’s called Isak and Even, minutt for minutt.”

He puts his hand on Even’s cheek. A little awkwardly, like he’s still figuring this out. Like he isn’t entirely certain of what he’s doing or if this is going to work, but he has to try, anyway. Even has initiated a lot of the physical contact in the start of their relationship, but here’s Isak initiating, taking charge. He wants Even to feel the touch and understand Isak is here and he’s not going anywhere. He’s not sure of everything, but he’s determined.

“The only thing we need to worry about is the next minute.” Essentially putting Even’s fears at rest, saying, don’t worry about your worst nightmares coming true. We’re going to get through this together, one minute at a time. 

Isak strokes the hair behind Even’s ear. Even whispers, “OK,” like he can hardly talk, he hardly has the energy. But he’s listening to what Isak is saying. He’s not sure this will work, either, but he’s willing to try.

“What are we going to do this minute?” / “This minute we’ll kiss.” End me. One of the most romantic exchanges ever. So simple! So reassuring! Even being so tentative, like maybe he’s thinking this just might work! Isak not putting a ton of pressure on Even, proposing just a kiss! Something small and easy that they can feel and understand!

And oh boy, isn’t Even’s reaction gorgeous? The pause and then the smallest smile, the first hint of a smile from him in this clip. Even’s smile is one of the most striking features about him and not seeing makes us thirsty for it. But he gives the tiniest smile, a sign that he’s on board, and says that’s chill. Isak says that’s chill. It’s chill, it doesn’t need to be anything else.

They kiss. Isak gets in a nose rub at first. He clutches the side of Even’s face, placing himself there. Even is bundled up in blankets and Isak is firmly planting his hand on Even.

We cut from the beginning of the kiss to the end, as the minute passes - Even looks so vulnerable kissing, like it’s still a lot of energy for him? His hand is clutching the blanket like he needs it around him. When he pulls away, it’s like he’s ready to go back to sleep. But even after Even pulls back from the kiss, Isak keeps stroking Even’s face and hair, and he gives a slow and steady nose rub. Again, it’s their grounding technique, it’s a reassurance that Isak is there for him.

The pacing of this scene is so good. I love the quiet, the pauses. This is just unhurried film-making, not afraid to take its time. Everything about this scene makes me calm. It’s like taking a deep breath of cool morning air.

As an aside, for almost two years the background on my phone has been Isak snuggled up to Even as he sleeps. Helps to have a reminder to take things one minute at a time.

Clip 2 - Fluffy Isak living his best life

This scene is a direct parallel and contrast to the one in episode 3, where Vilde goes up to Isak at the lockers and asks him about hosting a party, and then afterwards Isak sees Emma and goes up to her. In that scene in episode 3, Isak absolutely does not want to host the party and he’s making up excuses not to, including blaming his flatmates. Here he readily and warmly agrees to host. In the episode 3 scene, he goes up to Emma to make amends and spews a lot of fake flirting, with his fake hetero persona. Here he goes up to her and repeats the same line of calling himself an asshole to make amends, but he’s being honest with her. He’s not flirting, he’s just extending an olive branch.

Isak walks into school on his phone, talking to Eskild. He tells Eskild to let Even sleep. Eskild wonders if he should wake up Even. Isak tells him he asked him to keep an eye on Even because he’s depressed, not watch over him like a baby. CHEERS, ISAK 🙌 This is exactly right. Because Even is depressed (and had just sent Isak a suicide note), I don’t think it’s a great idea for him to be completely alone, especially when that’s one of his fears/anxieties. I mean, we’re trying to show Even that he isn’t alone. But Even is depressed, not helpless, and it would be wrong to smother him. He needs his agency. Isak is completely accurate, don’t treat Even like a baby. Isak may not be perfect, but he’s getting so much better in his understanding of mental illness.

Also, we’re trying to show how Isak has learned from Sonja’s mistakes or how Even didn’t like Sonja’s treatment of him, and I think part of that is giving Even space and not hovering or interfering too much.

Eskild leaves because he thinks Even woke up. Isak looks at his phone like, lmao, that’s Eskild being Eskild for you! I think Eskild can’t help but go into nurturing mode, he wants to take care of people. (You know, fandom talks a lot about Isak and Even as parents, but imagine Eskild as a parent? IDK if he’d ever have kids of his own or if he’d have a bunch of unofficial nieces and nephews, or if he’d just consider all the wayward teenagers he “adopts” to be his children, but Eskild would be such a helicopter parent.)

Also, in Isak’s locker of character development - he just opens his locker without any problems. He’s not even thinking about it, he’s just talking with Eskild on the phone. It’s no longer a problem. It’s not stuck, nothing’s spilling out. It’s not giving Isak grief.

What a beautiful and subtle way to indicate that Isak is now comfortably out of the closet. What a great payoff for something that might seem like a running gag but is actually insight into the main character’s mindset.

Isak looks fluffy as hell in this scene. You know how worn down he looks in episode 6? Here he’s radiating good health and happiness.

Vilde shows up. God, I love Isak and Vilde’s interaction, as messy as it may sometimes be. She asks if Isak saw the message she posted to kosegruppa, and Isak starts to laugh to himself, because out of all the drama of his life, all the shit that’s been happening the last few weeks, kosegruppa is still a thing, and he completely forgot about it. I don’t think we’ve heard about kosegruppa since episode 3 with the neon party? It was basically just a setup for Isak and Even to meet and interact. Which is perfectly fine! But it’s great that they brought it full circle and acknowledged it again, like this is kind of meta with Isak acknowledging that he forgot about kosegruppa, much like the audience had. (If only we had seen kosegruppa antics after this …. I wanted to see the squads baking together and spreading that cozy feeling!)

Vilde wants to know why Isak is laughing. Isak says he almost forgot kosegruppa existed. Vilde is aghast, practically. She asks whether Isak isn’t going to quit now. You can’t just join for the parties and skimp on the actual work for the revue!

And here’s one of my favorite Isak moments, a super underrated one. Isak takes a moment from clearly forgetting about kosegruppa to being like “Of course I’m still in kosegruppa! Who do you think I am?” It makes me smile SO much, because we saw Isak be grumpy and unimpressed with kosegruppa before, and give Vilde looks of boredom or irritation when she talked about it, but here fluffy Isak is humoring her and being nice. He’s making her happy, and the fact that she clearly is happy by what he says makes my heart so warm.

Vilde asks if they could host the kosegruppa Christmas party at Isak’s place, and after a short pause, Isak quickly agrees. Vilde is clearly surprised by this, asks if it’s OK with his flatmates, and Isak says he’s sure it’s fine. He’s so warm when he says this and he’s smiling at her, it’s beautiful. Like this is some Scrooge-level transformation.

I think Isak is in such a good place emotionally right now that he can’t help but extend it to other people. He’s got Even back and while things aren’t perfect, they’re taking this thing one minute at a time and there’s hope for the future. Additionally, he’s out of the closet and no longing live a fake heterosexual life. His friends accept him and he can be honest with them. He’s out to his parents and they’re fine with him, and it seems like his relationship with his mom can be salvaged. Basically every single thing, for the most part, that was causing Isak anxiety earlier in the season has now been solved. And because Isak is glowing inside, he’s willing to extend the kindness to others.

When Vilde leaves, Isak retrieves his book from his locker. Then he seems Emma down the hallway. With a little trepidation, he goes up to her. He greets her and the trepidation is mutual. Emma is awkward, too. You have to wonder what she’s thinking. Honestly, I think at this point, she does realize that she messed up? Or that it was her talking about Isak that got the rumors going and outed him to the school, and that it was wrong. Maybe that’s just me wanting to give her the benefit of the doubt that Emma regrets what she did, but Ruby plays it like she’s unsure, not like she’s still angry at Isak or annoyed by him.

I think the vibe between them in this scene is supposed to be that they both made mistakes and hurt each other. And I mean, that is true! Isak did hurt Emma by leading her on. It’s just that Emma ultimately did something I think was a lot worse - like, she would have gotten over that guy she made out with twice turning out to be gay and leading her on. Isak might not have gotten over being outed, it could have really damaged aspects of his life.

So it’s awkward, and Isak then brings up the inside joke of sorts from before, referencing “the asshole” who’s hosting the Christmas party and inviting her along, because he thinks that would be nice. Here he’s not inviting her because he plans to hook up with her, and they both know that. It’s a gesture of kindness. Let’s bury the hatchet.

Emma says she switched to the PR group, but that he should tell the asshole she’s glad he asked. She’s smiling and seems genuinely happy. Isak says the asshole will appreciate that. They say goodbye, clearly in a good mood, pleased about the interaction.

Well, in a lot of ways this outcome is pretty good? I think it’s for the best that Emma switched groups - she was only in kosegruppa to chase Isak, and switching will give her some distance from the experience and help her move on from whatever remaining hurt she feels. And I think that this is about the nicest resolution you could hope for, in a way - I don’t think Isak and Emma are going to become good friends, they don’t have a ton in common personally and they did hurt each other. I think it’s actually good she won’t be at the party (where she’ll be witnessing Isak and Even making out under the mistletoe, lmao) and she’ll get some space. But they’ve made peace and can be on good terms as casual acquaintances. Isak no longer has to run away when he sees Emma in the hallway, they can just smile and nod and acknowledge each other politely. Isak doesn’t have to pretend to be into her, either. He’s done with that part of his life.

But, if I’m gonna tweak this scene - because the Emma/outing plot is the only one that I had any substantial nitpicks for this season - I would make Emma more obviously realize or acknowledge that she had done something really bad in outing Isak. It would be nice if she apologized for it directly. But within the tone of this scene, you could even play it as her going along with Isak’s “the asshole” joke, maybe with her saying something like, “Well, there’s this asshole first year who feels really bad about opening her big mouth and she’s happy that the other asshole invited her.” You know, something self-deprecating like that. I would be fine with that? Just so it was clear she knows she messed up. I think it stands out because Sonja apologized for something wrong she had done, and Isak is apologizing for something wrong he had done, so Emma not apologizing kinda feels a little unfinished, like, hey, she did do something pretty bad, whether it was intentional or not.

I have no problem with Isak extending the olive branch and inviting Emma, for what it’s worth. He’s in a good place, he wants to make amends with people. I think he’s in such a good place that he wants to get rid of any animosity or more toxic relationships or beefs he has with people. Mostly, I wish we got more acknowledgment that Emma messed up, too, so it’s not all on Isak.

I’d also be fine with someone other than Isak stating more directly that being outed was a bad thing. I think they did a fine job of showing how Isak was affected negatively by it, and normally I prefer show don’t tell, but because Emma doesn’t directly apologize for it, I think it’d be worth it to do some ‘telling” if Emma herself doesn’t. IDK, someone like Even or Jonas not being ok with it, even if Isak is. (Although, lol, we know what eventually happened with Jonas and Emma...)

Ruby Dagnall really is a cutie and a talented actress, I feel bad that she plays one of the least popular, most disliked Skam characters. At least Sonja got some redemption and comes across much better in the whole series.

Still, this scene does provide some relief for Isak, that he’s put to rest one of the other problems he’s had recently. I’m sure he feels like there’s another weight off his back. 

Clip 3 - I saw you the first day of school

This delightful and intimate and tender scene!!!!

Isak does a meme-worthy appearance as he creeps into his own doorway to see Even and Linn playing FIFA. He’s so funny because he almost appears suspicious, like he expects to see Even and Linn cooking meth instead of playing video games. Or I guess because Even has been depressed and Linn is always depressed, that it’s very unusual to see them playing games with so much vigor.

Isak also gets this little smile, like he’s so relieved and happy that Even has come out of his depressive episode a bit. And because it’s just a charming moment to come across.

I love Linn getting so into the game, too, since we rarely see her that hyped. She is taking it very very seriously.

We all gotta appreciate Even’s “Hall-AAA” when Isak greets him. How can you pack so much charisma into a simple word?

Linn is just like, good, you’re home, I’m exhausted. Which kinda indicates that she had “Even duty” since there’s no other reason she needs to get up and leave that second. Unless she thinks the Evak make-outs are going to commence. Which they are.

Even says, “Sore loser?” and Linn is like, “I’m going to bed,” because of course she is. Even is so charming when he says that, though, like you really get how everyone just immediately falls in love with this guy, he’s so warm and open and he can tease someone like Linn who isn’t necessarily the most receptive person.

Even says it was good to hang out with Linn. I agree! We only get this one moment between them, but it’s a nice little detail. They both deal with depression and I don’t know if they have big talks about it or whatever, but they probably both get it, understand that part of each other, and it’s nice that we can see them hanging out. I bet it’s low stress to hang with Linn, too, like I adore Eskild but he’s going to want to be in Even’s face pushing him to do stuff. Linn is more chill.

I would have loved to see more clips of kosegruppa taking care of Even. I adore the texts, they say so much, but imagine watching Eskild taking care of Even and making him play board games? Noora bringing Even some tea? It really warms my heart how everyone decided to help Even, who’s essentially a stranger, because they were there for Isak. Well, OK, I think everyone is in love with Even, it’s hard not to be, so they came together to support him, too.

It is SUCH a relief to see Even smile at this point. Even’s smile is one of the most beautiful things about him and we were dying to see it again after watching him be so down, so when you see Even give Isak that genuine smile, it’s wonderful. And the glare from the TV is like reflecting off his eyes making him look even more magical, lol.

He also looks so fluffy in Isak’s hoodie. I think it’s a touch too small for him? But like Even cares, he’s wearing Isak’s clothes and that’s all that matters.

Isak kisses Even hello and we don’t really see it, but we sure hear it, with this loud smack and like this fond little hum from Isak, like he’s a contented cat. Kissing Even is just that enjoyable.

There’s a post that was like “Isak and Even do this thing where they greet each other in front of others and then when they’re alone they greet each other again, just for each other” and it makes my heart melt.

They fall back onto the bed and actually, that little detail is so sweet, too? They’re just getting comfortable, ready to talk about their days, catch up with each other.

L m a o, Isak adjusts his snapback when he lies down rather than just taking it off. Okay, kid.

Isak asks Even what’s up. I think Henrik does some excellent acting in this scene. I mean they both do, Tarjei’s always great, but Even is coming out of his depressive episode and he does some stuff here that’s not always vocalized. But here for instance, you can see Even’s question starting to form before he asks it. That touch of tongue to the teeth. That amusement in his eyes. And then his delivery which is like, a-ha, I caught you, but not accusatory or upset, he’s just amused. 

He asks Isak whether he asked all his flatmates to look after him. Even is not dumb, he realizes what happened with Isak’s roommates all swooping in to check on him, how he’s never alone in the flat. Someone’s always there. But I don’t think he’s upset about it, like he might be with Sonja. I mean … to be fair, Even did write Isak a goodbye text/suicide note a few days ago. And Isak has instructed Eskild at least not to hover and treat Even like a baby, so they’ve probably been getting along fine.

Isak is like, what? No. Even raises his magnificent eyebrows (not Jonas level, but Even can do some damn great things with them) and calls Isak out on being a bad liar. Actually I think Tarjei does some subtle but great acting with “Isak trying to lie.” He wasn’t comically obvious but he managed to convey that “yeah, I’m being too casual about too be truthful” vibe.

Isak and Even both laugh about Isak being a bad liar so you can tell neither of them is upset by this, it’s just a funny thing. Isak is like, no way I’m a bad liar. I’m the fucking master liar, there’s no one who’s a better liar than me! Which in itself is a GIANT FUCKING LIE, Isak, you are a terrible liar. Lying a lot is not the same thing as lying well. (Seriously, Isak almost always gets caught in his lies, or he ends up just fumbling for what to say.)

Also, how funny is it that Isak is again like, oh, you say I’m not good at this thing? Actually I am the BEST at this thing, I am the master of this specific thing Just like him being the master of holding his breath underwater. This kid has such a weird competitive streak and it’s all talk, he just can’t let an insult to his skills go without refuting it in an over-the-top way.

Isak: You have no idea what I’ve gotten away with! Even: Like what? Isak: No, you don’t want know. Which is funny on its own but also funnier if you’re keeping in mind Isak’s S1 shenanigans, of course. Which he did NOT get away with.

Anyway Even is charmed by all of this, his face lights up with laughter and a big smile. In return, Isak is charmed by Even’s happy self, as we all are, for Even is human sunshine. Isak touches Even’s face - Even dips his head so his lip catches Isak’s thumb, and that’s one of those small gestures that makes their chemistry so incredibly fucking good? Did Julie instruct that, or did Henrik react to Tarjei’s touch like that? I can’t tell. I could easily believe it was improv. But that kind of instinctive reaction, not just lying there as Isak touches him but reacting back, moving into it - that is why the Evak chemistry is unparalleled. They keep feeding off each other’s actions and energy, they want to be touching, they are 110% keyed into each other.

“I like seeing you laugh.” DON’T WE ALL.

No really, that’s got to be such a relief for Isak, that Even is laughing and smiling again. There’s the hope, there’s the light at the end of the tunnel. And I think Even can’t help but be amazed that Isak is still here. Isak stood by him through the worst period, and he’s here now touching Even and telling him what he likes about him.

Even’s gaze softens just a little again, like he’s not just brightly burning here with amusement, he’s already getting more fond and mesmerized by Isak. Good job, Henrik.

Isak’s phone is buzzing. He checks it and lets out a sigh of exasperation, telling Even that Vilde nags him so damn much about kosegruppa. Even, too, has forgotten about kosegruppa. Isak tells him what he learned from the previous clip, that Vilde is worried people only joined for the revue parties.

And here’s the bombshell: Isak is amused relating this detail to Even, but Even becomes thoughtful and serious when he says he was only there to meet Isak. I mean, HOLY SHIT. He drops it like it’s just this fact he has no qualms about sharing. In fact, he might even be surprised that Isak DIDN’T realize this by now.

Isak is of course, completely stunned. Wait, what? They are having this lighthearted conversation and laughing and then Even drops this rather big bit of information?

Even: “Did you think I was there to have fun?” I mean, I don’t know, dude, you’re kinda weird and artsy, so maybe it was your scene? Maybe you wanted some buns? (Well, he did want buns. Isak’s buns, baby. 😎)

Isak laughs a little, but he’s still completely flabbergasted by this bit of information. He asks Even if Even saw him before the first kosegruppa meeting. (And I mean, we know Even did, because Isak and him made eye contact in the cafeteria. What Isak means is, did you see me and check me out before kosegruppa?)

“I saw you the first day of school.” BOMBSHELL. CHANGES THE ENTIRE SEASON. Well, maybe not the entire season, but it absolutely re-frames Even’s behavior in the first few episodes and even throughout the later episodes.

Now while watching this season in real time, I figured Even was pining for Isak from the beginning, more or less, from episode 1. Like I really didn’t doubt that Even had real feelings for Isak, I never thought he was playing with Isak or messing around with him for fun. I never thought he was going to turn on Isak or lead him into a hate crime as some of the more bizarre theories suggested. And I had a heavy suspicion that Even went to the kosegruppa meeting to meet Isak. But what I figured was - Even saw this really cute boy in the cafeteria on Monday, they made eye contact, that one group of girls talked to both Even and Isak about their revue group, so hey, might as well be worth it to check out if the cute guy went to the meeting! So it seemed like a relatively short and straightforward timeline where Even spotted Isak for the first time and decided to go after him. But I had a few questions, such as: did Even really think Isak was going to show up? That���s a hell of a chance to take. I mean, the risk factor is pretty minimal, Isak wouldn’t be there and Even would just have to sit through this meeting and eat some bread and participate in some awkward group exercises until he could escape. But still - how confident was he that Isak would be there?

And Even having his eye on Isak from the beginning of the school year makes a lot of sense and helps explain why Even would take that chance! First of all, because he would have had plenty of time to learn Isak’s name from the first day of school, and therefore he could scope the signup sheet for it, because I bet Vilde or Sana put Isak on a list. That’s apparently how Emma found out Isak was going to kosegruppa, after all. Second, because if Even had been pining for THAT long, not just a few days, then I absolutely buy him taking a huge gamble like that. Because Even had a crush on Isak for weeks at this point, and kept his distance, until that day in the cafeteria, when he caught Isak looking back. And I think that was all the incentive he needed to take a chance. That Isak maybe wasn’t just a distant dream, but potentially a reality. Isak might be attracted to him as well. Boom.

Of course Even’s revelation also re-frames a lot of other moments and details, like why Even was there in the cafeteria in the first place (he almost certainly wasn’t sitting near Isak by coincidence, but on purpose so he could check out Isak and maybe get his attention). Why Even entered the meeting and immediately scanned the room to see if Isak was there, and then took a seat near him. It makes all of Even’s affection and actions toward Isak this season so much heavier, because he had wanted him for a while. You look back at their first kiss, for instance, and you realize Even had been waiting for that for months.

Not only that, but consider that this entire season we have been in Isak’s POV. Going through his struggles with him, his anxieties and insecurities and doubts. When Even ran hot and cold, we felt it. When Even ghosted on him, it was like Even ghosted us. So for a good chunk of this season, Isak doubted the depth of Even’s feelings for him - especially after the hotel room, when Sonja said Even’s feelings were fake. And much of the audience doubted with him, making up all kinds of theories about Even toying with Isak or being a bad person or not really into Isak. So after a full season of this uncertainty, we finally learn the truth - not only were Even’s feelings real all along, they were real for much, much longer than any of us suspected. I think a lot of people guessed that Even went to kosegruppa to meet Isak, but NOT that he had been pining for months.

Side note: not to spoil this very popular anime, but Yuri!!! on Ice was airing at the exact same time as season 3 of Skam, and I have to laugh because episode 10 of YoI, like this season, also had the “been into you for way longer than you realized” reveal that changed the entire context of the series and the main relationship. (I just remember fall/winter 2016 as simultaneously the darkest timeline from which there was no escape and some weird fever dream of unexpected gay romance canons as a kind of consolation prize. Like hey, we might as well give you something nice before the world burns.)

Even says the line so sincerely, too. So heartfelt. Just “I saw you the first day of school.” And that’s all we get, until we received the S3 script book where Julie wrote the scene from his POV. But in context of just what we saw on screen - how evocative is that? Doesn’t it really grab your attention? We don’t know where it happened, how it happened, what Isak was doing, any of the nitty-gritty details so we’re free to speculate. But that one line says enough to completely alter our opinion of Even this season.

And Isak is of course, just stunned and touched. He just takes it in and says, “Whoa,” with a soft smile. Not bombarding him with more questions (“tell me everything about that day”) but just soaking in the knowledge. Even saw him and chose him, basically. All this time he was doubting Even’s feelings? Even had it even worse for Isak. Even loves him that much, that Isak caught his eye on the first day of school. Even has liked him for that long. It’s beautiful. Isak is really somebody’s somebody.

And you can see Even smile at Isak, too. They would have laid there looking into each other’s eyes and marveling at how they found each other had Vilde not called again.

Let’s all appreciate Tarjei’s delivery of that UGH, like Isak has a cantankerous old man soul.

Now here’s an interesting detail about the conversation with Vilde: We don’t hear her side of it. Or rather, we don’t hear her voice clearly, as we do in say, Isak’s conversation with his father or with Sonja. And maybe that’s because unlike those conversations, what Vilde is saying is not actually important in itself (though I am sure she would disagree with me, getting that Christmas tree is of utmost importance, how dare you) and it’d be a little bit of a distraction from the main point of the scene between Isak and Even. But it makes the scene different because it’s not completely in Isak’s POV, because Isak would be able to hear Vilde clearly. Actually, it makes the scene seem like it’s from Even’s point of view, not Isak’s. And I’m kind of a stickler for POV but I’m fine with it here, especially in the final episode of the season. Once we’ve sort of wrapped up many of the main character’s problems or issues, it’s OK to start experimenting and diverging a bit more. But anyway, this scene especially seems like we’re really deep in Even’s head, for some reason. 

Anyway, Isak argues with Vilde about the Christmas tree while Even laughs and smiles at Isak, entertained by his grumpy boyfriend. Isak tells Vilde to get the Christmas tree herself (though as we learn through texts, he went to pick it up, because look, Isak may put up a fight with Vilde about it but he ends up doing whatever she asks).

Even asks Isak about the tree once Isak hangs up. Isak explains about the kosegruppa Christmas party on Friday. And oh man, now this is some goooood acting from Henrik. Because so far this scene has been pretty stress free, lots of cute flirting and laughing and looking into each other’s eyes. But once Isak mentions that kosegruppa party he’s hosting, Even immediately gets tense. It’s not over the top obvious, but Henrik does a fantastic job here because his energy just shifts in an instant. His eyes start flicking away from Isak, he squirms a little, his body isn’t still. You can tell he gets this flight or fight response where his instinct is to run away, if not literally, then from this conversation.

This is one of the moments in all of Skam that just resonates with me so strongly. Having depression puts you into so many weird spots like this. You don’t know how to tell people about it, you don’t know how to explain that no, you don’t want to go to the party or the concert or whatever, you don’t have the mental or physical energy for it. Your body and mind are just exhausted. You can barely get out of bed. But - it’s hard to describe that to people. Telling people you have the flu is easy - you have physical symptoms, you aren’t ashamed of it. But how do you explain, especially to non-depressed people, that you just don’t feel like it because of your depression? Or because of your anxiety? Like Even, I have often found myself hedging and making up excuses not to go like this. It’s one of those smaller details that makes me think Skam nailed these final episodes of S3 and the depiction of mental illness.

For Even, he’s still climbing out of the depressive episode, and he’s reeling from the experience itself. How is he going to face people, especially if they know anything about what happened? How is he going to deal with a party, with its potentially overwhelming smells, sounds, and sensations? A lot of people talking and laughing and dancing, music blaring, it’s just … not something where he can relax. It’s something you need energy for.

Isak asks if Even wants to go to the party. Even takes a moment, and he’s still like a deer in headlights, you know his brain is scrambling with how to take care of the situation. Isak waits patiently for an answer, not pushing.

Even starts talking about his mom, using her as an excuse, saying that he talked to her and said he would stop by to eat and stuff, actually he was thinking about staying there for a little while. And you know what? Maybe Even really did speak with his mom. He probably did. But right now he’s latching onto that as a diversion, so he doesn’t have to tell Isak what he’s really feeling - the idea of a party is overwhelming right now. I’m not sure if I want to go. And maybe right now Even is having a rapid descent into depressive thoughts. Like he’s slipping into oh, this is how I’m going to let Isak down, I’m just a burden, I should go away and let him do his own thing, have fun. That’s perhaps a factor, too.

Isak gives Even the time to decide and talk. He does not interrupt him until Even is finished, and then his only response is beautiful. “Just take it one day at a time.” Not putting any pressure on him to answer now more decisively, not putting pressure on him to suck it up and attend the party. Just gives Even their mantra.

I’m not trying to demonize Sonja (especially not in this episode when she’s treated so gracefully) but I have to wonder, going off Even’s reaction to both the news about the party and Isak’s reaction, if maybe this was a common type of argument or debate they had, and if Sonja tended to handle it differently. Like maybe if this were Sonja, she would be encouraging or pressuring Even to attend a party because it would be good for him, or she would be grilling him more about his mindset. If Even didn’t want to attend, time to dig into that, see how he’s doing, ask a bunch of questions. Sonja is the “party planner” who needs to have everything figured out. And that maybe one of the differences between Sonja and Isak is that Sonja, however good her intentions, tended to overwhelm Even with questions, she needed to have everything figured out, whereas Isak’s approach is so much more chill. IDK, this is definitely in the category of speculation, it’s just that the way Even reacts kinda reminds me of someone who’s used to expecting a fight or argument over his attendance at the party, and he’s relieved when Isak doesn’t push him.

Oh, dude. When Isak says to take it one day at a time, and Even lets that sink in and starts to smile - you can see Isak smiling a little, too.

When Even smiles, he’s just so relieved? Relieved that Isak understands. Relieved that Isak isn’t going to call him out on his fib but that he just gets it and doesn’t put any pressure on Even. And Even is so, so happy that he has Isak. Lucky that he’s found him.

At the start of this scene, we have Even calling out Isak on a lie, and Isak saying no, he’s a master liar! We have a discussion about lies and it’s not really that serious because no one’s hurt by the lie in question. Here, in a reversal, we have Even lying, or at least fudging the truth, and Isak doesn’t call him out on it, not directly. He just absorbs Even’s change of mood, the words he’s saying, and makes it clear that there is no pressure on Even, that he meant it when he said they were going to take this thing perfectly chill.

Also, how absolutely excellent is the fact that Isak was able to read Even’s mood and anxiety without Even needing to lay it out in words? That is some serious mutual understanding. A lesser TV show would have the scene go like this:

Isak: Do you want to come to the Christmas party? Even: I’m not sure. I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. Isak: Okay, there’s no pressure to attend. Even: Thanks for understanding, I am so lucky to have you, baby.

And there’s nothing inherently wrong with having so much covered directly in dialogue (and speaking personally, I struggle a lot with that problem when writing - I love writing dialogue, but I always end up with too many lengthy conversations with characters just talking about their feelings. Skam has really influenced me to start working on that and trying to find other ways for characters to communicate that are richer and less obvious.). But I think it is a lot stronger the way it’s depicted in this scene. I mean, this scene is the absolute essence of “show, don’t tell”! The way the scene is portrayed, it allows the actors to really focus their abilities - we can tell what Isak and Even are thinking because Tarjei and Henrik are knocking it out of the park and conveying everything we need to know with their eyes, their bodies, the full extent of their talent, rather than just relying on direct dialogue.

Also, think about what this approach says about Isak, or Evak. Making the realization subtle, relying on the subtext of a scene rather than the text, shows us how Isak has grown. Look at this emotional intelligence, look at the tremendous capacity for empathy he displays here with Even, to be able to read him and be patient and tender and understanding like this. And look how having the message go unsaid in words actually strengthens the depiction of their bond, that they don’t need to spell everything out in words - that they can just read each other that well even when one of them is saying something else. It’s fantastic. This scene puts so many other canon romances to shame.

I suspect that a scene like this stays with you longer than the scene with the direct emotional exposition, too. Because the delivery is more of an imprint, it calls on the viewer to read and interpret more, to pay attention to every nuance of the actors, to pay attention to the subtext. That makes the scene settle into your mind more deeply, causes your brain to spend more time with it, whereas a more straightforward scene with that kind of obvious dialogue and telegraphing of inner feelings will just tell you what you need to know, and your brain can move on.

Anyway. Even looks at Isak and you can tell he thinks that he’s the luckiest person in the word to have Isak. He just glows.(I don’t comment too much on actors’ looks because I don’t care all that much, but Henrik is beautiful in this scene. He looks like a damn angel.) He rolls on his side and gives Isak one careful, meaningful kiss to convey his gratitude and affection. They lie there with their noses brushing, Even smiling a little and sweeping his thumb over Isak’s cheek, both of them looking into each other’s eyes and loving each other. 

Jesus Christ, does Even have the biggest case of heart eyes ever in this scene or what? The amount of warmth and fondness and love pouring from them is just breathtaking. If you had a GIF of Even smiling and looking into Isak’s eyes in this clip, it’s like the distilled essence of love right there.

Also love how natural their touches are here at the end. It’s not just that they kiss and then lay there, it’s the thumb on the cheek that taps and moves and sweeps several times, how Even’s hand shifts its grip on the back of Isak’s neck. Again, when I talk about their chemistry being phenomenal, this is the kind of stuff I mean. It never stops. It’s not just like they hit their marks when it says “Even kisses Isak in the script” and they stop there, it’s that Henrik and Tarjei keep going and stay in the moment. Because I think obviously the script dictates a lot of their actions, and I have no doubt that Julie gives them good direction, but certain things I feel like have to be the actors just bringing everything they have to the scene, there’s no way you could micro-manage those touches to that extent.

Clip 4 - Isak gives nary a fuck

Isak rolls up to his squad in the courtyard all like HEY BOYSSSSS. Magnus asks how everything is going with Evak. Just in case you didn’t know Julie paid attention to the fandom!

Magnus is the #1 Evak shipper. Like I’m sure Jonas loves them, too, but Jonas is always gonna be watching out for his boy Isak first and foremost. Magnus is just ... in love with their love.

More seriously, I love that Magnus asks about them? Because Magnus is the one who filled in Isak about mental illness, Magnus is the one who was knowledgeable about what Even might be going through. He knows that Even might still be dealing with heavy stuff. So it’s nice that he checks in with Isak.

Isak says they’re taking it day by day, minute for minute. Magnus gets the idea to sell that to NRK. “Minutt for minutt” is a reference to Norwegian slow television in the first place (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_television) so obviously, Magnus brings up NRK due to that established Norwegian programming, plus it’s also a joke about Skam being an NRK show. A multi-layered joke!

It’s also really clever for Isak to think of that connection back in the first clip of the episode, like he’s thinking they’re going to make slow TV out of their lives.

“Even and Isak, minute by minute” is Magnus’ suggestion. Just watching their entire lives together, I guess. He’s extremely enthusiastic. He thinks people would watch it - hell, he’d watch it himself! Who is not surprised that Magnus would be interested in a nonstop Evak marathon?

No offense to Norwegians, because I can certainly see the appeal of slow television (I caught my mom watching Nasjonal vedkveld, or National Firewood Night, on Netflix around Christmas: “Watch Norwegians demonstrate how to chop and stack firewood, and then sit back and enjoy the slow burn of a crackling fireplace in a Bergen farmhouse.”) but personally I would find “Even and Isak, minute by minute” more compelling than a long boat journey or train ride, as pretty and soothing as they might be.

Isak says that’s kind of fucked up to think about people watching them. Well, I’m very glad he exists within the fourth wall, because knowing that he had a very fervent audience watching him moon over Even for months would probably freak him out.

Magnus is like, “Why? Because you’re banging on TV? Don’t you think I can handle watching two guys bang?” and ohhhh boy, pull up a chair so we can break this down. 

Magnus … why did your mind immediately go to thoughts of Isak and Even banging instead of, IDK, Isak saying it’s fucked up because he wants his privacy or doesn’t want people spying on his every move? Like them banging was just the first thing that popped into your head? All right.

Magnus, you know you can watch two dudes banging like … any time you want, right? It’s called the Internet. (I’m sorry but Magnus definitely went home and watched gay p*rn. You know, just to prove he could handle it. He could totally handle it!)

If Isak and Even ever decide to mess with Magnus for a laugh and proposition him for a threesome, Magnus is definitely going to laugh nervously in shock before seriously considering it, before Isak and Even reveal it’s a joke.

I’ve said this before, because I know Magnus is supposed to be the clueless straight dude who’s still a well-intentioned ally, but: if at some point in Magnus’ future he’s microwaving a burrito in the middle of the night, staring into the tunnel of radiation as the tortilla turns slowly like his thoughts, and he suddenly thinks to himself, “I am definitely a bisexual,” I’d be like, yep, sounds about right.

I mean, that’s if he already didn’t have an awakening when tall drink of water Even Bech Næsheim strolled into his life with his swoopy hair and denim jacket. Not that he had designs on Even, but like ... it’s Even, guys.

This is absolutely how Magnus will announce his revelation to his friends, I refuse to accept anything less awkward and earnest. (Isak is Paula.)

Isak thinks it’s more of a turnoff that Magnus would be watching them bang. Magnus is offended. “Do you think I’m a turnoff?” Isak is like … well, you’re not a turn-on. OUCH. Isak lives to drag Magnus and I love it.

Magnus is like BULLSHIT, you would bang me if you had the chance. Magnus, you were so desperate and horny this season that literally all Isak had to do was offer and you would probably seriously consider it, no matter whether he was your bro. Isak definitely had “the chance.”

But lmao, I love that Magnus is most concerned about not being a turn-on and needing to know that Isak finds him bangable. No offense, Magnus, but why do you care so much if Isak wants to fuck you? 

Magnus asks him who he would fuck first out of the squad. To absolutely no one’s surprise if you’ve seen S1 (or frankly, even if you haven’t), Isak picks Jonas without hesitation and he and Jonas high-five. Jonas is probably like, ha, I KNEW I wasn’t completely unattractive! Magnus is then like, who between me and Mahdi? Isak is like, “It would be you … MAHDI” and switches his gaze from Magnus to Mahdi mid-sentence. Goddamn, Isak is ice cold. At least Mahdi’s fucking thrilled about being in second place!

More seriously, how marvelous is it that Isak can joke about this with his friends without any kind of tension or fear of judgment? Can you imagine the Isak at the beginning of this season participating in this conversation? Joking about fucking his (male) friends? His internalized homophobia would never allow it. Also consider that the very first clip of the season, the very first conversation we hear, is about Isak talking about which girls he would bang, and now we’re here, talking about which dudes he’d bang. We’ve gone from Isak being fake to Isak being real. We’ve come full circle in the hypothetical banging. This is a funny conversation but it’s also a mark of clear character development for Isak and establishing the good rapport he has with his bros. The boy squad has grown into a powerful force. 

Magnus is upset no one wants to bang him. Isak is like, you’re too desperate. See, Isak presents it like a flaw, Even will assure Magnus to just let all his desperation out there, like it’s an asset. Which is probably why Magnus appears to love Even so much. Even totally gets it, guys.

Mahdi spies the dance chicks coming. I have to say I find this to be an underrated music moment. It’s a quirky choice of song, the lyrics are very strange and comical. It reminds me of a clueless teenage boy’s POV of girls, which very much fits the scenario. Quick, the girls are coming, we’ll need to talk to them! Uhhh, what do girls like again? Shoes, dancing, boys! 

The boys sans Isak gape at the girls as they approach. Isak doesn’t seem too impressed. It’s a parallel to the first dance chicks scene, except then Isak’s lack of interest was funny but stressful, it was something that alienated him from the other guys, it was something he had to hide. Here his lack of interest is something he can just be open about, it’s purely amusement without the stress.

That one dance chick on the end looks a SHIT TON like Taylor Swift.

I do like that these dance girls - while admittedly all white and blond, which had to be intentional - look pretty typical for high school hot chicks. They’re not like supermodels Julie hired for the day, they’re the kind of girls you’d see at your school.

I’m not actually positive all the girls were in the previous dance chicks scene? I think the one who does the talking was in it, I can’t tell if the others were. But - and I mean this respectfully - they were all dancing, and I cannot tell all these blonde white girls in motion apart.

Anyway, the dance chicks go up to the boy squad. One of them seems to be appointed the official dance chicks representative and does the talking. The one next to her gives her kind of a nod and a look that suggests they planned how they were going to approach this, like “Let’s get that one gay guy to come to our party, what do we say?”

The head dance chick says that they know about Isak’s thing with Even and graciously bestows her approval onto him. Two boys together is so cute! Yikes. You know, this is an interesting scene because it goes after another type of homophobia, a “benevolent” one. These girls probably think they’re allies and are progressive, that this a good thing they’re doing. I mean, they think two boys together is so cute, right? Surely Isak would love to hear this! Gay rights!

There’s also perhaps some meta-commentary on Evak fandom here, since it’s in the same scene as Magnus dropping the ship name. Sometimes I think fandom overuses the “you’re FETISHIZING” argument just to shut down debate and bash ships, like do I think any girl who ships Evak is fetishizing by default? Fuck no. I think it’s more what the dance girls do here - “two guys together is cute.” It’s making a generalization, it’s treating gay couples as an object for straight girls’ entertainment rather than seeing them as people.

Also, those girls don’t even know Isak. They had to clarify that it was him when they approached him. With that in mind, it’s extra uncomfortable. I think it would be slightly different if someone like Sana or Eva said, aww, you guys are cute, because they at least know Isak and Even and hopefully were judging their “cuteness” based on their friends’ compatibility and their specific relationship, seeing them as people, rather than these strangers who are just like “boy + boy = cute” without knowing anything about them as individuals or the dynamic of that relationship. (Although we also see Vilde be like, “I love gays!” and she knows Isak and Even somewhat more. But then again, that’s Vilde for you.)

And lmao, they couldn’t have given a shit about the boy squad before Isak was outed, like learning he was gay just made them want to include him as a decoration at the Christmas party, next to the tree and the tinsel. Or suddenly turn him into their gay best friend. (I don’t want Isak to deal with these people who view him so superficially, but part of me also wants him to troll people who try to use him this way and just be the grumpiest, least fun gay best friend ever.)

Anyway, the boy squad exchange some looks. It seems like they are aware of how awkward the dance chicks’ comments are, but I don’t think that’s stopping them from being like “hot girls are talking to us” so they’re also hyped that the girls are here in front of them.

In response to their comment about him and Even, Isak is just like, cool. I love that tiny moment from the dance girls where they’re hesitating or not sure of themselves? Like maybe Isak didn’t react with effusive graciousness, maybe he didn’t instantly invite them to go shopping, so they’re a little thrown. They share another look. Dance rep says they’re having a get together on Friday and invites Isak. Magnus is like, HUNGRY EYES. Isak, completely unfazed, says he’s got the kosegruppa party on Friday, as the boy squad’s looks turn from excitement to horror.

I fucking loooove Isak for this moment. Because he doesn’t even hesitate, he just says he’s got kosegruppa, without any shame. From what I understand … kosegruppa didn’t seem to be the coolest organization around, right? (Even: “Did you think I was there to have fun?”) I mean, it’s run by “the biggest losers in school.” And the dance group almost certainly has more social capital. But Isak just matter of factly chooses the dorky revue group over the hot girl squad. And I love that Isak has been so grumpy and unimpressed with kosegruppa but now he’s embracing it. (I will say it to the end of time: We missed out on kosegruppa antics after this season. I wanted to see sooooo much of them.)

I mean, I’m also sure it didn’t hurt that it was a legit excuse not to hang out with these girls who were probably going to be cooing at him all night, but I like to think that Isak is both rejecting the “fake” party and embracing the silly but real party, with people like Sana and Eva who mean something to him.

The dance chicks seem stunned that Isak has chosen a crappy kosegruppa party rather than their party. They wander away. The boy squad makes faces at Isak.

Tarjei’s delivery of “What?” is truly golden. He sounds like a puppy yelping for treats. He plays it so sincerely that it’s hard to tell whether Isak really doesn’t get the impact of what he just did, or whether he’s that skilled at messing with his straight friends.

Mahdi is like, Christmas kosegruppa get together??? Isak is so nonchalant in how he replies. Oh yeah, I’m hosting it, so you’re invited. There is NO shame, no embarrassment when earlier in the season he hid it from his friends that he was hosting the pre-drink (which I think was a combination of embarrassment at hosting a kosegruppa party and of trying to keep the life with his friends separate from his life with Even in it and not have them intersect). He’s so cute and earnest here.

Mahdi says “the gates of paradise were open” (lmao) and instead Isak chose Christmas kosegruppa. What the hell, man.

Isak considers his friends. Then, like the coolest, sagest motherfucker on the planet, says, “Guys, you have to start getting chicks yourself,” and peaces out, dropping the mic as he leaves. Like he just leaves them in his confident gay dust.

Lmao, I love that, though. The thing is, it’s funny, but it’s not just that - again, it’s character development! Earlier this season we had Isak pressured into organizing a pre-drink with Emma and her friends because his friends wanted it, even though he was clearly reluctant. We had Isak also pressured into heading to Emma’s party in episode 5, when he had made it clear they’d ended on bad terms and he didn’t want to deal with her, because the boy squad needed a way in and they thought Isak had the golden ticket. Now he’s done with that. He’s not going to sacrifice his comfort and happiness just to help his friends hook up with girls. He’s done being smooth ladies’ man Isak, for obvious reasons. Time for the rest of the boy squad to step up for themselves.

We get a little more POV breakage in this last episode, as we stick with the boy squad a wee bit after Isak leaves. Mahdi and Jonas are still baffled, Magnus laments how unfair the world is and asks if they should ditch Isak’s party and go to the dance chicks’ one. It’s just a cute moment. I wonder if Julie liked David’s delivery here so she kept it in. I don’t mind POV breakage when again, it’s the last episode and Isak’s arc is basically wrapping up, and also when it’s something that isn’t an earth-shattering revelation - like there’s nothing here that we couldn’t have guessed ourselves about how the boy squad were reacting to this turn of events. It’s just a nice little coda to the clip.

Clip 5 - Make the Yuletide gay

It’s the last clip of the season, guys. I know I could have watched four more hours of Isak’s story. Get NRK on the phone with Magnus, have him pitch Isak and Even, minutt for minutt, so we can make that happen.

At the same time, this season is paced so well that I can’t fault it for not being longer. Every scene has a point. Nothing feels unnecessarily drawn out. The story clips along briskly. Isak’s arc feels full and realized.

Anyway, I’m getting my tissues out as to say goodbye to S3 and Isak’s POV.

This clip, and the whole episode, make me feel really festive. I associate it with all the sensations of when I watched S3 for the first time. Christmas lights outside, colder weather. 

One thing going into this clip - I thought William might show up. It seemed like the season may have been building to that. Now, regardless of my feelings on Noorhelm, we had Noora struggling with her relationship with William all season, right? It was a parallel to Isak’s relationship with Even. If he really loves you, he’ll choose you. No one is willing to sacrifice anything for love in 2016. Those were also meant to apply to Isak’s thoughts and anxiety with Even. But, of course, Even did choose Isak, Even did sacrifice his existing relationship for one with Isak. Isak and Even get a happy finale. So … if that happened for Isak, it would make sense for Noora to similarly get a happy finale with William. But obviously William doesn’t show up. And I’m perfectly fine with that, although I have to say … if he were going to show up at all this season, I think it would’ve been way better here, in the finale, when we’re wrapping things up, rather than in the middle of the season. I mean, not to throw shade at S4, but William’s appearance in S4 episode 8 could not help but focus Sana’s final POV-focused episode on Noorhelm to a large degree. This finale is closing out some arcs anyway, like Magnus/Vilde, so it’s not terribly out of place.

I wonder if Julie wrote this season finale in a way that William could have returned if Thomas had wanted, but he was not available/didn’t want to.

This clip, and the whole episode, make me feel really festive. I associate it with all the sensations of when I watched S3 for the first time. Christmas lights outside, colder weather.

The first thing we see is Isak and the boy squad being cute. Did Jonas and Magnus acquire those Christmas sweaters in a hurry, or did they happen to have them on hand?

Just a note, that I’m really glad the boy squad ended up at this party. I mean, from a Doylist perspective, they were always going to, because Julie was not going to end Isak’s season without his squad present, but from a Watsonian perspective, I love that they did choose this warm, cozy party with the people they care about rather than what likely would have been impersonal with the dance chicks. (I’m probably projecting. They would have been fine seeing all the hot girls.)

Really, though, we have most of the characters we care about and who were important to this season? Isak, Even, boy squad, girl squad, Eskild and Linn. It’s Isak’s support network, the people who’ve helped him grow.

It’s Penetrator Chris! He and Eva are still friends with benefits, but apparently friendly enough that he’ll go to this Christmas party with her. You know, I didn’t think much about what tension this may have caused with Jonas there. I think they’re probably all over that drama considering Jonas has been to parties with P-Chris present before (in the S2 finale, for one) and that P-Chris reaches out to Jonas in the S4 final episode to ask how to flirt with Eva, lmao.

Anyway, I think P-Chris and Eva were definitely hooking up for the fans. I don’t have any strong feelings about Penetrator Chris outside of finding him kind of amusing in certain contexts, and I ended up being a big Eva/Jonas fan, but lol, this is kind of sweet that he showed up.

Eskild is wearing tights??? Very tight, very shiny pants, at least. And he’s got mistletoe strategically positioned over his ass, lmao. I can’t be sure but I think he is also wearing mascara.

I love that this party is less about getting wasted and making out and more about like ...making ornaments! And cookies! How sweet and wholesome.

Of course I write that right as girl Chris is making like a papier-mâché dick. And Eskild and Linn are putting condom ornaments on that tree. Guys, I think enough sex is happening among the various occupants of your apartment that you might want to hang on to the condoms rather than filling them with glitter, IDK.

Linn has also attended the party, bless her, and she and Eskild argue whether the tree is straight or bent, which seems to be a double entendre, as he concludes by asking her if she’s queer. Lmao, Eskild.

Also love that Linn chimes in that it’s straight right after the song lyrics are “Make the Yuletide gay.”

The girl squad is making Christmas crafts. Noora mentions “Drummer Boy” by Justin Bieber, I’m not sure what the context is, but Noora’s interest in Justin Bieber is kind of a nice running gag they have with her. I wonder what she thinks of him on a personal level?

The girls talk about exams. Chris is failing German and English, having no idea there was a 10% absence limit. So Isak wasn’t the only person struggling this semester. Sana and Vilde are like, we told you about the limit! Chris says that she assumed Vilde said that because she was jealous Chris was hanging out with Kasper so much. So was Chris skipping class specifically to hang with Kasper?

Throughout the season there’s been a pretty understated arc about Vilde not hooking up with anyone and feeling jealous about being alone. In the first episode, we had her eyeballing the hot first years with distaste and being seemingly miffed that Chris brought Kasper to the kosegruppa meeting because they were doing so much together. Then we had Vilde complaining to the boy squad about first year girls stealing the older boys and second year girls not having anyone to hook up with. We had Vilde and Magnus flirting, with her saying that she didn’t have anyone she wanted to hook up with at Emma’s party. Here we come back to that, as Vilde seems pretty jealous that her friends are getting laid and she isn’t.

This is actually interesting in light of S4’s opening clip, because both Sana and Vilde apparently told Chris about the absence limit, but Chris seems to direct her jealousy comment at only Vilde, maybe. Perhaps because the girls assume that Sana has no sexual feelings or desire to hook up with anyone, and don’t realize that just because she doesn’t do it means she doesn’t want it. But Sana is also without a boyfriend and the girls seem to think this is the natural state of things.

I wonder if Vilde was also jealous not just of Chris having a boyfriend, but Chris no longer being so available for her? We know that she and Chris are very tight, they seem to have known each other longer than anyone int he girl squad, and Kasper would’ve taken Chris away from Vilde.

Vilde gets up and stomps away, saying she gets tons of dick. Girl … no, you don’t. Anyway, now she’s on a quest for Christmas wang.

I do love lesbian/bi Vilde theories and I think you can easily twist this scene into Vilde needing to prove something among the girls rather than just her sexual frustration, if that’s more your style.

By the way, Vilde is 10 kinds of cute in that Santa hat. Look at her freckles!

Noora smirks at that comment about Vilde not getting any dick. Girl, you are not getting any dick, either. The dick you were previously getting went cold as an icicle and you refuse to use Tinder.

Chris offers to give Vilde her decorated dick. Noora has been making a condom ornament. I legit wrote about 10 gross jokes but I deleted them out of an attempt at good taste.

Eva is like … is that a used condom? By Eskild? Lmao, I don’t think that’s an actual used condom but Noora’s reaction is funny. The girls are like, get that used condom away from me, and Eva suggests smelling it???? What world do these girls live in that they need to test if a condom is used by smelling it? Like I’d rather just take a chance that I’d throw out a perfectly good, unused condom rather than smelling some random condom that has been ... used. I would not put myself through that.

Now we switch to what’s cooking in the kitchen with the boy squad! What’s cooking is a plan to get Magnus to finally make a move on Vilde.

Can we please appreciate Jonas’ “Merry Crustmas” sweater and Magnus’s Christmas elf sweater? Isak looks very nice in his button-up shirt but I’m not going to pretend I kind of wanted a Christmas sweater on him. Same with Mahdi.

Mahdi tells Magnus that he’s the predator and Vilde is the prey, he’s the lion and she’s the zebra, and it is a credit to the likability and sweetness of these boys that this just comes across as funny rather than creepy. Maybe because they’re basically teasing Magnus rather than this being 100% serious advice.

Magnus says he’s nervous. Isak asks whether he’s in love with Vilde. Magnus says he thinks so. That’s kind of sweet, lmao. I think the boys saw Magnus’ thing for Vilde as a joke but this makes it a touch more serious. Magnus wants to know what if she says no? Again, the uncertainty is cute. Isak says it’s not the end of the world if she says no, but to think of it as a positive thing if she says yes. Which is quite good advice!

Magnus frets over his sweater, whether it looks good, whether to touch Vilde. You know, this scene is even cuter now than when I first saw it? Because it’s easy to dismiss Magnus/Vilde as a joke pairing, and I completely understand why people would dislike that ship - I’m not a ride or die fan of it myself - but Magnus is so earnest and vulnerable here, wanting to get it right, and the boys are so sweet and trying their best to give him good advice. They’re not being sleazy about it, either.

Isak’s gaze changes because who should walk in but Even? Guys, it’s Even!!! No, really, I think Julie was definitely playing with the viewers a little, because Even’s attendance was not set in stone for this scene - I mean, look, there was no way he wasn’t going to be in the last clip of the season, but Even himself seemed unclear whether he wanted to attend. And yeah, we have Isak and Even kissing in the still frame for the clip, but seeing Even walk in here is like relief. We smile because it’s Even, guys!

Compared to the other boys, Even seems dressed down. It looks like he’s wearing sweatpants. His hand is not styled. It seems like he hasn’t been joining the whole party, he must have been camping out in Isak’s room or something. Perhaps talking to his mom. And I think that’s lovely? No pressure to attend, he can come and go at his own pace, he didn’t have to dress up. And everyone is fine with this. The boy squad treats him normally.

Okay, we gotta talk about those gingerbread cookies on the wall. There’s a gingerbread dick, and two gingerbread boys holding hands. 

First of all: what an inspired set choice, and I want to know who came up with the idea, and whose job it was to go home and bake dick-shaped gingerbread cookies. 

Second: in-universe, who do you think baked the cookies? Because my bet is on Even. We know he cooks a bit and I can see him baking during the day when Isak isn’t there, now that he feels a little better, but most importantly: the guy who drops dick references at any opportunity? How could he resist an opportunity to craft a gingerbread phallus? Or proclaim his love for Isak by recreating the Evak ship in cookie form?

It could also be a group activity, of course. I also think Eskild would make a dick cookie, but I do not buy him baking cookies on his own so much. I would love if it were a dark horse candidate like Noora, but the ultimate stealth penis baker: Linn. She has it in her. I know it.

One of those gingerbread dudes looks like he might be jizzing, but I suppose those could also be buttons.

Isak tells Even that the boys are helping Magnus fuck Vilde. Mahdi and Jonas are encouraging Magnus not to be desperate, but Magnus is confused about what desperate means in this scenario.

A detail I have never noticed, and that I fucking love: Jonas suggests that Magnus picture a cool, laid-back guy, and pretend to be him, and Mahdi says, “Maybe picture Jonas?” and points to Jonas. MY HEART. MY FUCKING HEART. Really, Jonas and Mahdi have such a side friendship going on. Of course Isak and Jonas are the BFFs, but Jonas and Mahdi have their own thing happening. Jonas is probably how Mahdi got pulled into the boy squad in the first place.

And now we get Even’s advice. He thinks Magnus should be himself and take desperate to the next level. Hey, he’s onto something! I mean, it worked for Even, being the most desperate dude alive. Now he and Isak are together. Also, man, this is going to endear Even to Magnus even further, when his sage advice is what got him and Vilde together. Even is a miracle worker.

I love that we see Even look into the camera, meaning he’s looking at Isak, while the boys are talking. This is such a small thing, but the fact that Even’s always looking to Isak even in group scenes does SO much for their chemistry. He can’t help but gravitate to him.

But also, that look was definitely putting Isak in on the joke, like, “Remember how my desperation worked for us? Trust me, I would know about taking desperate to the next level.”

Magnus decides fuck it, he’s gonna show Vilde how desperate he is, and Jonas and Mahdi follow him out, laughing. They gotta see this. Recently we had the clip of them cheering in the bloopers and I WISH we had seen their adorable reactions to the Magnus/Vilde hook up.

So now it’s just Isak and Even in the kitchen together, their last one-on-one scene of the season. The last time they interact directly, unless you count the glance across the room they share toward the end.

Even goes for Isak’s waist, and Isak touches his shoulder - good. The physical contact between the two is so casual and natural and makes you feel like these two are really a couple. Also, that casual as fuck domestic kiss, and Isak’s breathy tone of voice - he’s so satisfied being a married man.

Isak asks how’s it going. Even says that it’s fine, but that his mom is nagging because she really wants to meet Isak. We were deprived of that scene in canon, but Julie gave it to us in the scripts.

Isak is like … oh. Clearly a little nervous, taken aback, doing his best not to show it. Even asks if they should drop by tomorrow, and Isak agrees. I don’t think he can entirely shake off his nerves, because holy shit, Even’s mom wants to meet him - and Isak hasn’t been having the best luck with the adults in his life, tbh, and it’s always nerve-wracking to meet the future in-laws and you want to make a good impression - but he’s going to do it anyway. When Even asks if he thinks it’s awkward, Isak says he doesn’t think anything is awkward anymore. Awww. Character development! He’s rising to meet new challenges. Plus I think it might be a little awkward with like … meeting Even’s parents after the hotel scene, like Isak and Even’s bangfest got interrupted by Even walking out naked and getting picked up by the police. Sort of the elephant in the room, that night was a big uncomfortable ordeal, but Isak’s just going to deal with the weirdness of it.

Here we have Even looking at his phone and giving a befuddled look that would inspire countless theories. Why did Even react like that? Was it Mikael coming to ruin Evak’s happiness???? Whatever it was, it was probably just Henrik mucking up something on the phone, or maybe playing it as Even shaking his head at his mom’s nagging, or something innocuous. Maybe Isak borrowed Even’s phone and Even’s found his Google search results, like why is BUTT showing up all of a sudden?? You can project whatever you want on his reaction.

Isak says, as long as you’re smiling and wearing clothes, life is chill. Awww. Of course everything is great when Even is doing well, he just likes it when Even smiles. And of course there’s that little joke about Even wearing clothes. It’s nice how the hotel incident is no longer this terrifying incident in his mind, but something they can laugh about, like Magnus can laugh about his mom messing with the railway guy.

Even’s response to that, his expression of raising his eyebrows and grinning, is so funny and lovely, and it’s good to see from him, too! That he recognizes Isak’s joke, and that it’s not something to be ashamed of, but something he can laugh about, too.

Even promises to wear clothes, which is thoughtful of him, lol. I don’t think Isak has a lot of objections to Even not wearing clothes, but Even’s parents there would make it weird.

Isak gives him a fond-ass look, They kiss and this is the sweetest kiss, it’s a little passionate but ends with these two short pecks. It feels very natural. They start to rub noses because of course, gotta get in one of those, when Sana interrupts.

Man, think about being Sana and seeing Isak and Even be so cuddly and kissy! Isak, the grumpy partner from biology class, who’s now so soft and open, and Even, her brother’s friend who’s gone through some rough shit, smiling and at peace. It must be so nice to see these guys so happy together. Also, think about what a plot twist for these two random dudes on the edges of her life to find love together, lmao.

Isak happily greets Sana, and Even and Sana are “introduced.” I legit am not sure whether Julie had this storyline in mind at this point. Because definitely this scene kicked off a lot of theories, and speculation that they knew each other. I don’t think Iman and Henrik knew this backstory. But I don’t think I can totally write off the possibility that Julei didn’t have it in mind, because of little details like Even’s pictures of Muslim women on his wall, or the line about him learning the Quran. 

For sure a lot of people wanted Even/Sana friendship in the next season. But generally, people were like “Wouldn’t it be cool if we saw them talking about the Quran at a party or something?” not “What if Even had tried to kill himself and Sana knew about it?”

Additionally, that little line when they’re introduced, when Sana says, “kosegruppa” - strangely that feels like support to me that this was planned? Because I mean, obviously they would know each other through kosegruppa. They’re at a kosegruppa party. So in context, it kinda seems like a little inside joke ... Isak asks if they know each other, they play act being introduced, Sana adds “kosegruppa” to reinforce that she’s not going to give away Even’s secret and that of course it’s through kosegruppa they know each other, not any other way.

Anyway, they’re cute, Iman’s cute. Isak introduces Sana as his biology partner ...AND FRIEND. AHHHHH. Gorgeous. Unexpectedly, Sana managed to become a special person in his life.

I love when Even asks how Isak is in biology, and Isak gives him kind of this “really?” look. Like Even’s winding up Isak and Isak is all, ha ha, very funny.

Sana’s reaction! She makes a face and says he’s useful, and of course Isak has to protest and talk up how great he is. I’m surprised he didn’t say, “I’m the MASTER of biology!” Even looks fond and amused at Isak being incensed at told he’s not great at something, yet again.

Sana hands Isak her little gift. It’s the 10%! Awww. Not only is this a funny gift, but it’s a mark of how far they’ve come this season? At the start of S3, she was blackmailing him and keeping his weed. She gave back 90% of it, but only after he’d done what she asked. Here she doesn’t have a reason to give it back here except good will. This is just a warm, friendly gesture with nothing expected in return.

Even: “Cool biology partner.” Damn straight!

While Isak is busy having warm feelings toward Sana, Even has taken the weed. Isak notices and snatches it back. Appreciate Isak’s hand on Even’s because that’s the only hand-holding we’re getting until S4.

So there was a bit of debate over this next part, when Isak snatches the weed from Even and the conversation that follows. Because the opinion that many people took was, isn’t this like what Sonja was doing with Even? Controlling him? And I can certainly understand why people would feel this way and wouldn’t care for this part. I had sort of a kneejerk “hmmm” response watching it for the first time. It’s one of those things that doesn’t bother me now, and I think there are certain differences between what Isak does and how Sonja handled these kinds of issues, perhaps. It has a lot to do with tone, I think.

First, Isak waited until Sana was gone to take back the weed - not sure it was intentional on his part since he didn’t seem to notice Even had the weed until Sana had left, but he didn’t make these comments until he and Even were alone. We saw with Sonja that she would make comments to Even in front of other people, such as asking him to cut down on drinking in front of Isak and Emma. So I think that by itself makes it perhaps easier for Even, that he’s not being embarrassed or scolded in front of other people.

Second, the way this conversation unfolds makes it seem like a joke. It doesn’t devolve into a serious lecture about Even’s smoking and what he needs to do and not do, it’s banter about Isak being paid to date Even. So I think that also takes some of the pressure off, because Even doesn’t feel like he’s being parented or controlled. 

Finally … Isak has been dating Even for not long at all. He’s known Even is bipolar for what, like two weeks? So frankly. he might not get everything perfect at first, although there’s no indication Even is seriously upset with him here. But Isak has time to figure out this relationship and what to do and what not to do. Sonja had been dating Even for years, and even if he wasn’t diagnosed during that entire time, I think the way they acted together was more set in stone, probably it had been a while that this resentment had built up.

Anyway, Even asks if Isak is going to be telling him what to do now, Isak says that’s his job. Their faces are very close to each other’s. They’re flirting hardcore. Pretty sure this was all improv, about Isak finding a poster that said Even needed an assistant and boyfriend, and it’s fucking adorable.

Also, the importance of Isak saying, “Holy fuck, he’s hot!” He went from not being able to admit when a guy was attractive, lest he be seen as gay, to being able to comment on his boyfriend’s hotness openly. Bravo, Isak. It isn’t even a struggle for him here, it’s an easy statement.

I love how they look at each other and how Even leans in for the kiss as Isak is getting his sentence out, I love that Isak grabs Even by the back of the head for the kiss.That tells me how committed these actors were to getting into character, they make Isak and Even look so passionate. Like, Isak is 110% into this kiss!

I want to talk about their chemistry here in particular, because this is what sets them apart from other couples you see on TV. Look at this body language. It comes so easily to them to touch each other! They don’t break away and put space between them immediately after the kiss, they stay in each other’s personal space and keep their hands on each other. Look at how Isak’s hand slowly drifts from the back of Even’s head down his throat, lingering over the Adam’s apple, and stays on Even’s chest. Look how Even goes in for that easy brush of the cheek and tucks Isak’s hair behind his ears - and notice how Isak mirrors that gesture, by tucking Even’s hair afterwards. Now that is really great, like Isak is taking cues from Even on how to act with him, what feels nice, what makes him feel good and loved by Even, and he’s then using those cues back at Even. None of this moment feels stilted or fake. They feel like two people who are utterly in love and want to keep their hands on each other at all costs.

Let’s appreciate Even’s “what?” after Isak says Even’s mom is paying him to date Even, as well as the shove. Precious.

Also what an excellent bit of banter, that Isak brings it back to Even’s mom wanting to “meet” him. Ha! Tarjei’s delivery is so so good here, Isak seems so happy and good-natured. And a tiny thing, but I love that he starts to get his line out when Even is still reacting, and then restarts it. It’s one of Skam’s naturalistic touches, it makes it seem less like a rehearsed, scripted TV show and more realistic.

They tease each other, Even wants some of that money, Isak says it’s his money, this is all flirting. They really really want each other at this point. I think Even’s “drive” is back, if you know what I mean. I felt like he was two seconds away from throwing Isak up on the counter.

And that great kiss! It’s so different from the other kisses in this scene! Seriously, they’ve exchange four different kisses in about 2-3 minutes; 1) the brief, familiar hello kiss 2) the sweet, tender “gonna meet your mom” kiss 3) the passionate, teasing banter kiss 4) the “I can’t believe I’m here with you” entertained kiss. They all have different lengths, different levels of intensity, different gestures that go along with them. Imagine your OTP having this amount of variety. (I can!)

We cut to Vilde, probably because whatever happened next with Evak would’ve melted computer screens. Vilde is hanging up ornaments. Specifically, an ornament with a cute cat on it. Magnus approaches her. It’s a little quiet between them, although Magnus seems happy just to be near her. He asks her if she likes cats. Well, we know she does? She went as a cat for Halloween that one year. Anyway, she smiles as if he asked her the best question ever.

Magnus says he does too. Vilde seems to consider this fact with grave importance. Whatever will she do with this amazing piece of information?

What she does is meow. She meows, everybody.

Luckily, Magnus is charmed and/or turned on by this. He asks what was that, and while at first she downplays it, he asks her to do it again, and she does it again, meowing with perhaps even greater enthusiasm. Where the first meow was uncertain, this meow is imbued with confidence and Vilde’s beautiful smile.

Magnus is getting massively turned on from this, let’s be real. He’s biting his lip and looking at Vilde like she’s a snack. He suddenly gets serious and says he’s never fucked before and he really wants to fuck. Well, he’s being honest, I’ll say that much.

Vilde considers this admission of truth, and says, with dignity, that Magnus is welcome to fuck her, with a satisfied smile. Magnus looks as if she has given him the world and thanks her so it’s barely audible. He swoops in and kisses her.

Okay, look … feelings about the overall execution of Magnus/Vilde after this point aside, this is a funny and weirdly cute scene. It’s dopey and awkward but earnest, these kids are being deadly serious.

So when do we think these two got it on? Did they leave together and go to one of their homes, or did they find an empty room in Isak’s flat? Was there a line of people waiting to use the bathroom as Magnus and Vilde were busy? I feel like Isak would suddenly become Mr. Clean and sanitize the entire apartment if Magnus and Vilde had fucked there. (I mean, maybe that’s how you get Isak to do his duties and pick up after himself around the flat. Rent out the space for Magnus/Vilde private time, and afterwards Isak will go on a cleaning frenzy.)

Eva is painting an ornament and Isak asks to sit next to her. I feel like this scene was here mostly because people wanted Isak and Eva to interact, after going a whole season where they barely spoke, but it works, this scene feels fitting. It’s a conversation between the two of them where Isak gets to demonstrate how much he’s grown.

They even comment on how it’s been a long time since they’ve talked, which is understandable; I think Isak’s actions in S1 did something really drastic to their friendship, understandably, and that even after they talked about it, it wasn’t the same. Plus Eva broke up with Jonas so she wasn’t in Isak’s orbit as much, and Eva had made her own group of friends. Though I do think they were friendly in their own right, there just weren’t as many chances to hang out as they used to have.

They used to hang out so much, and now they only say hi at school. Awwww. Isn’t that the way it often goes? At least Isak and Eva mention how they should hang out more often, that they miss the times when they would hang out, in junior high and summer before Nissen. When there was a lot of drama, lol. That’s when Eva and Jonas would have gone behind Ingrid’s backs and cheated, and when she found out and all that. I can see it being a total mess? I believe Eva, Ingrid, Sara, Jonas, and Isak used to hang out more as a group - like didn’t Isak and Sara have a kind of romance going on in junior high? They dated a little bit? I can’t see that as anything serious, but that group seemed to have a lot of entanglements.

Eva mentions that Isak has gotten a boyfriend. Isak says yes, with some pride, and maybe a touch of astonishment that he’s gotten that far, to the point where he has a boyfriend.

They look over at Even, who’s assisting Eskild hang some mistletoe. Even is the exact person you need to help you hang up anything around the house, let’s be real. Eva comments that Even is very handsome, and Isak agrees - another moment where he can allow himself to admit that a guy is hot. Not even to Even, this time, but to Eva! To another person! 

Eva jokes that she might steal Even. I wonder if the comment about “You better watch out for me, I might steal him,” lighthearted as it was, is what prompted Isak to bring up the S1 drama and apologize again. It prompted some memories of last year and his own behavior. Honestly, I think Isak had this talk in mind before he sat down - we know he’s been trying to bury the hatchet and make amends with people he has hurt. But maybe he didn’t know quite how to bring it up, and this was what gave him the push to do so.

Isak says he’s been thinking about what happened last year, and he wants to apologize for doing what he could to break up Eva and Jonas. It wasn’t right. Interesting that he makes clear he has been thinking about it lately, like the guilt has been weighing on him. I think maybe, because he got a taste of what happened with Eva recently, with him being outed at school versus her being bullied after he exposed that she kissed Chris, he can put herself in her shoes and understand exactly what spilling her secret did to her.

Again, this is why I like Isak. He fucks up but he apologizes. He does have empathy, he does care about how his actions affect people. He may not always get it right the first time, but he’s not some completely selfish little shit.

Eva says that Isak didn’t fuck things up between them, it was her and Jonas who fucked things up. Isak says he still feels like he tricked her, such as saying he had feelings for her. Ultimately, Eva and Jonas had their own issues - if these issues of doubt and lack of trust didn’t exist, then Isak wouldn’t have been able to come between them no matter how much scheming he did. Jonas and Eva did plenty on their own to tank their relationship. But Isak did throw some logs on the fire. And honestly, him lying about why he betrayed Eva, that he liked Eva instead of Jonas - that’s probably the least wrong thing he did, lmao. I can at least sympathize with why he lied about that.

Eva laughs and says she figured that out. She never mentions the BUTT and related content on the phone, which is fair, it would probably be embarrassing and an invasion of privacy. She says that she’s over it and he should be too. Awww. It’s nice of them to really lay it out there and get over this stuff. Isak looks at her so pleased. I mean, Isak apologized and they talked about it at the end of S1, but the thing is, it didn’t really heal their friendship or anything. I think they needed time for the wounds to heal, space from each other … Eva’s gained independence and Isak has found his real self. They’re both more mature people, so this can be some old drama to leave in the past, basically.

Eva wants to change the subject to Isak’s new boyfriend, obviously a very hot topic. Is he the man of Isak’s life, she asks?

Isak takes this question way more seriously than necessary, lmao, though not in a bad way! He says he doesn’t know, and ohhhh boy, while I like this speech a lot, I don’t blame anyone for having a kneejerk WTF at that. Even Eva seems taken aback, like maybe she’s not thinking Evak OTP 4-Ever but she wasn’t expecting this kind of blunt response. She wants to know why.

He asks whether it’s important, and she says no, but wants to know if things are going well with him and Even. Isak says it’s great now, but a week ago it was very bad, it’s up and down. I do want to point out that like, Isak and Even are just settling into their relationship, and two weeks ago Isak was blindsided by Even’s manic episode. This was something he was completely unprepared to deal with. But now he knows that Even is bipolar, they’re more open with each other, Isak has educated himself and risen to the occasion on taking care of Even. So I do think Isak is maybe overstating how “up and down” it will be from now on - obviously things won’t be perfect, no relationship is, but I think it’s fair to think that their relationship will be more stable going forward. Again, Isak is new to this relationship, he’s really new to any romance based on genuine feelings rather than fake feelings. It’s natural to have doubts, and he’s being pretty mature here acknowledging both the good and the bad.

He says the reason it’s so good when it’s good is why it’s so bad when it’s bad. Makes sense. Isak hurt so much at various points of the season because his feelings for Even were very real and intense, and when things were going swimmingly, they were amazing. The thing with love is that you are always risking something. In order to get the happiness that comes with love, you have to be willing to accept the potential pain as well.

“Suddenly it can be over tomorrow.” Isak :( It does make me a little sad that he has to live with this idea, but again, it’s mature in the long run. And frankly you could say this about any relationship, even ones with no obvious obstacles.

But this is also in line with the minutt for minutt approach - take it one day at a time. Don’t put this big stress or these huge expectations on yourself. Like if you’re going to take it one minute at a time so you don’t get weighed down by the bad stuff, then honestly, it kinda makes sense to do so for the good stuff as well? I mean, people get so worked up about what their lives are supposed to be - they’re supposed to be in a relationship, they’re supposed to get married and have kids by this or that age, they’re supposed to get into this university and get that degree and be on that career path according to the calendar. It’s OK to not have it all figured out. It’s OK not to put that stress on yourself.

Regardless, Isak is really happy that he met Even. Not just because he became certain he liked guys, as Eva suggests - and I think Isak was pretty certain about that prior to meeting Even - but because he was fake before. He doesn’t really go into it with Eva, but we know that part of him being fake was pretending to like girls, making out with girls, flirting with girls. Disavowing anything that could be construed as gay. Meeting Even was the catalyst for all of that to change. Meeting Even led to him coming out, to being in a relationship with another boy rather than living a heterosexual lie.

But interestingly, Isak doesn’t limit his fake life to his sexuality. It was him lying at home, watching Narcos and playing video games. Basically being bored and passive. Being detached from the world. He had this secret and I think it led him to retreating from everyone and everything in a meaningful way in order to cover it up. Isak is done with that, he wants his life to be real. He doesn’t want to be an observer or sit on the sidelines, he wants to live authentically and actively. (This explains a LOT about his actions in this episode - why he agrees to host the kosegruppa party for Vilde instead of, say, lying around at home doing nothing. Why he turns down the invitation from the dance girls, the “fake” invite, in favor of kosegruppa, with the people he cares about. Why he agrees to meet Even’s mom so readily, instead of hiding.) Even if his life becomes terrible at times, it’s better than a fake and boring life.

Eva seems very pleased with what Isak says. So does Isak. We get his final lines of the season, which are spectacular: “Whether you believe in Allah, or Jesus, or the theory of evolution, or parallel universes, there’s only one thing we all know for sure...”

How angelic is this music as he’s saying this, by the way? Makes it feel extra profound, heh.

Isak looks to Eva. We hear “Beautiful!” come from Even, which in a weird way feels like it’s a part of this conversation even though it’s not. Even is still helping Eskild with the mistletoe.

Eskild almost steals the final shots of the season by doing some kind of exaggerated check on how the mistletoe holds up. Or else he’s trying to get someone to come and lay a smooch on him.

Even looks across the room at Isak, and at us the audience, glancing between the mistletoe and Isak and grinning like he has plans for the both of them later. It’s much like he did that first time we saw him in the cafeteria, when he looked right at Isak/us. Only this time, Isak doesn’t force himself to look away, but looks back with some fondness. So, so good. We’ve come full circle, from the first glimpse of Even this season to the last. What a subtle mark of Isak’s development and how far he’s come.

Isak smiles and looks back to Eva. “That life is …” cut to black “now.”

CHILLS. MOTHERFUCKING CHILLS. Jesus Christ, the impact of that final line!

That fade to black is Julie reminding us, we the audience, that our lives are now, too. There’s something especially poignant about this talk of living minute by minute, living in the present, for a show like Skam, with its innovative real-time format. Skam literally airs minute by minute, in the present, or at least it did when airing. “Life is now” is essentially the central conceit of Skam’s structure. That’s why we talked about it like it was real when it aired. “Is Isak going to meet with Even today?” “Talk to Jonas already, Isak!” “Even hasn’t been school for a few days, I’m worried.” We fit this fictional show into our own real-life narratives, speculating when clips would drop based on real schedules. And here’s Julie basically reminding us that hey … life goes on when the season’s over. Our lives are still happening. She’s reminding us to live in real time as much as the Skam characters do. Embrace the present.

ALT ER LOVE - look, I realize that maybe this quote has been overused, and maybe people wield it as a get out of jail free card because they see any criticism as virulent unnecessary hatred (“don’t criticize anything about Skam or the remakes! remember alt er love uwu”) but this was so powerful at the time. This was just a quote on Even’s door! And Julie posted it for us on her Instagram after the hotel clip to give us hope, to tell us to hang on, everything would be okay. Here it’s made clear within the show, everything is love. I think this was also a love note to the fans, tbh. Much like “Skam <3s You” from S2.

I love the final choice of song so much, It’s “Thank God It’s Christmas” by Queen. Cool to use a band like Queen given that Freddie Mercury is an LGBT icon, and of course the lyrics fit as well:

Oh my love We've had our share of tears Oh my friends We've had our hopes and fears Oh my friends It's been a long hard year But now it's Christmas Yes, it's Christmas Thank God it's Christmas

How beautifully does that fit Isak’s relationships? With Even, with his friends. It’s been a rocky ride, but they’re here together for this Christmas party. Isak is at a much better place in his life. I think pretty much everyone at this party is in a better place than they were previously, arguably. I guess not Noora, depending on your POV? But she seems to be having a good time at this party compared to how she was earlier in the season. Magnus is getting laid, Vilde’s getting dick. The boy squad knows what’s up with their bro Isak and they’re all closer than ever. Even is in a new, loving relationship with someone who understands him and he’s making new social connections, he’s surviving in a new school, he has hope for the future. Isak’s closer with all his friends and has even made some new ones. He’s out of the closet. He’s on better terms with his mom. He’s in love with someone who loves him back. He and Even have gone through hell to get to this point. This happy ending feels utterly earned.

Social Media/Final Comments:

The texts from this week between Isak and Kollektivet are some of my favorite in the entire series. I think it’s fair that say that the Kollektivet taking care of Even is one of my favorite things in the whole season. I wish we had gotten to see more of it, though I understand why we didn’t (and we did get some hints in the clips themselves, like Isak’s phone call to Eskild, Linn playing FIFA with Even, and Even calling out Isak on asking his roommates to look after him). But good Lord, what a wonderful use of social media this week.

After Minutt for minutt, Eskild texts Isak wondering if he’s in his room. Not a metaphor, he clarifies, lmao. He keeps texting “Answer me” and there’s a nod to S2’s hashtag #williammåsvare, this time with isakmåsvare (William/Isak must answer). Finally, Isak tells his guru to chill. Everything’s OK. What a simple but satisfying answer. Like the clip, it’s reassuring as a cool drink of water.

In a Kollektivet text, Isak reveals he has taken Linn’s pizza to make food for Even. Both she and Eskild ask how Even is doing. Isak says that it seems Even is doing better, he’s sleeping a lot - Sonja told him he sleeps a lot when he’s depressed. Even also ate half the pizza, which I’ve seen people attribute to people overeating during depression (it’s common to eat too much or too little) but also like … a teenage boy eating half a frozen pizza isn’t that wild to me even when he’s not depressed, lmao. So it’s as serious as you want it to be.

One of the absolute best lines from Eskild, or anybody, perfectly summing up Isak’s character: “To think that there is so much care in your little grumpy teenager body.”

And Isak’s perfectly Isak response: “Whatever.” His character in a nutshell.

Isak says he can’t miss any more school but also doesn’t want to leave Even alone, quite reasonable of him. He asks about the others’ availability during the day. Eskild and Noora agree to be there. Eskild offers to create a schedule for the whole week with Excel, lmao - he’s always so over-the-top about everything, but he’s always got to do the most to take care of people. Like he is throwing himself into this project of nurturing. Isak asks if it’s OK if Even wants to stay the whole week, and the roommates agree. When there is room in the house, there’s room in the heart. Isak thanks them.

This is so sweet and so kind. The roommates barely know Even - although, to be fair, he did seem to make quite an impression on Eskild and Noora when he was making breakfast, lol. And there was that one week where Eskild was taking and sharing Evak cuddle pictures! But still they have embraced him and welcomed him into the flat, an already crowded apartment. It’s both kindness for Even and kindness for Isak. They know how much he means to Isak. And as Eskild notes, they know how good Isak is being with Even, how much kindness he is showing. Even is bringing out the best of Isak. Kollektivet is such a warm, loving place to live.

The next day, Eskild gives a status report on his time with Even while Isak was away, as we saw mentioned in the locker clip. Eskild made Even a snack and managed to get Even out of bed to play Yahtzee and watch some Planet Earth. OK, now I really feel deprived of all we didn’t get to see this week. You’re lying if you don’t want to see what playing Yahtzee and binging nature documentaries is like with Eskild and Even. He notes that Even was in a better mood when he left.

As opposed to Eskild’s detailed report, Noora is like, Even was chill. When pressed for details, Noora says he slept and she made him a cup of tea. Eskild is disappointed she didn’t go full status report like he did, lmao. Isak says he took Even out to get a kebab, so that’s good, that Even was able to go out and leave the flat.

Vilde posts a little IG story, I think, promoting the Christmas party. I would not be surprised if Ulrikke made this up on the fly, because there’s something Ulrikke-ish rather than Vilde-ish in her delivery, heh.

Actually, what’s amusing is that this video seems like a direct response to her conversation with Isak earlier that day? I’m not positive that it was posted after that clip, but I think it was. She says that she’s aware kosegruppa isn’t the first thing on people’s minds during the busy holiday season, which is her responding to what Isak said about almost forgetting kosegruppa. And in the description, she makes sure to note that you can’t join just for the fun!

She also says, “Are you finding it hard to get out of bed because it’s dark outside?” and I think it’s total coincidence but damn does that match Even’s mood right now. And the Christmas party will be a mark of him climbing out of his depressive episode.

On Tuesday, Noora texts Isak that Even won’t come out of his room, and that she went inside but didn’t reach him - he must have been too down to respond to her. Isak thanks her and lets her know he’s coming home. When Noora wants to know if there’s anything they can do, Isak says he’s calling Sonja.

I like this text for multiple reasons. First, it establishes the up and down nature of Even’s condition. Even had been doing better on Monday, when Eskild played games and watched TV with him. But he’s not out of the woods yet. Depression can be unpredictable, sometimes you’re down when you “shouldn’t” be. Second, I like this little Isak and Noora interaction, and that she contacted him when she was worried. That’s a relationship we don’t get a ton of, but I like that sometimes we see an understanding between their characters, such as the episode 6 clip where he snaps and then tells her William’s an idiot if he gives up on her. Third, that Isak goes to Even ASAP when he hears Even isn’t doing well. Fourth, that Isak contacts Sonja for help. He’s not holding back out of pride, he’s not afraid to ask for help. It’s important because it’s Sonja and there’s no beef there, he’s not reluctant to contact her to help with Even. And moreover, this is what Isak has learned over the course of the season! He’s realized that he’s not alone, that he can reach out to people for help. Being able to ask for help makes him such a more capable person, it shows his maturity and it keeps him from struggling by himself.

Later, in a Kollektivet chat, Noora checks in with Isak, who says that Even is OK and they watched a movie, he’s sleeping now. Eskild asks to switch Even shifts because he has to”sell krill at Karl Johan.” Errr, so is that an actual job he has? Or is Eskild being Eskild?

Linn offers to take the shift and says that she sees a lot of herself in Even. While Noora laughs at the idea of manic Linn, and Eskild says that if Linn is bipolar, Eskild is straight, it’s not that wild of an idea for Linn to recognize parts of herself in Even. Linn is probably not bipolar, we don’t get any indication of mania from her, but she's likely depressed. I mean, even Vilde was able to pick up on it, lol. Eskild says when they’re done with the “secure Even project,” they’ll do the “activate Linn” project. I mean, I certainly hope so? 

He says that 2017 will be Linn’s year. Not that we got too much of a glimpse into Linn’s 2017, but I’d like to think that Kollektivet looked into getting Linn some help for her depression. (I also remember that some people were like “Linn for S4??” after that text, lol.)

Vilde texts Isak about the Christmas tree after their phone conversation Wednesday. She wants Isak to pick it up. He’s like, stress. Vilde insists that he get the tree because it’s Christmas and Christmas is about love, kosegruppa is about love, all you need is love! Why do I get the feeling love is on Vilde’s mind? I don’t know, maybe because she “casually” tells Isak he can invite Magnus and the others. Since the party is at Isak’s anyway. You know, no big deal. When he’s like, I’ll ask, she wants to know if they’ll have something else planned. Ha, she is really worried that Magnus won’t be there! 

And it’s funny that she’s so obsessed with getting the Christmas tree because it’s Christmas and Christmas means love, and that what brings Vilde and Magnus together is a moment together at the tree, Vilde hanging up the cat ornament.

Also, yet another example of Vilde making a request of Isak, him putting up an argument briefly before agreeing to whatever she says.

One of the most meaningful IG posts in the whole series: Isak’s Friday picture of him and Even. It’s Isak and Even, out in public somewhere - it’s impossible to tell where, but it definitely seems like they’re out in the daylight, on the sidewalk. Even is kissing Isak on the cheek, a hand under his chin. Isak is smiling into the camera. And the caption - “no filter.” 

Of course the meaning is much more than not using an Instagram filter. It’s that Isak no longer has a filter over this part of his life. He can live openly as himself, in love with Even. Consider that not even a year ago, Isak posted couple pics with him and Sara. Consider that just a few months ago, he posted a fuckboy-ish meme: “If you can’t remember her name in the morning, take her to Starbucks.” Then Isak graduated to posting a picture of Even on his Instagram. It was Even by himself, though wearing Isak’s shirt. And now we have Isak and Even together, clearly affectionate, clearly unable to deny the nature of their relationship. I mean, we see in S4 that Sara was all EHHHHH??????? about this picture, very caught off guard that her ex is dating a dude. 

But this is one way that the social media format can add so much to the story! Isak’s character development is charted through his social media posts. It’s fantastic.

Also, it’s a nice bit of optimism, because Even is clearly out and about, so he’s doing a little better, too.

In a boy squad text, Magnus pitches his brilliant idea of an app that watches YouTube videos for you to save time. I genuinely have no idea what the point of that is. Is the app going to summarize the video for you? Anyway, clearly, not the world’s best idea but Isak jokes that Magnus should call NAV (the public welfare agency).

Isak asks if the boys are coming to the kosegruppa party. Magnus doesn’t even know if Isak is serious with that, but of course Isak is totally serious.

Mahdi and Jonas seem unenthusiastic and unsure about the party, but all Isak has to do is drop in that Vilde’s coming to the party, and Magnus is like, OK, done. Lmao, Isak. I love that Vilde was so concerned that the boys would have other plans and then all Isak has to say to Magnus is that Vilde will be there and it’s settled.

The last text message of the season is between Isak and Sonja, of all people. But I love that it is. Isak thanks her for her advice and wishes her Merry Christmas. It’s a kind gesture. Isak is appreciative of the people who’ve helped him, and he hasn’t forgotten that Sonja has helped him. He isn’t mad at her, he doesn’t have a grudge of anything. And Sonja replies back, Merry Christmas to you two as well. Apparently she is definitely clarifying that she means to the two of them, Isak and Even as a couple, and not just Isak. That’s also meaningful. She has accepted that Isak and Even are a duo now, it’s no longer Even and Sonja, it’s Isak and Even. I’m not saying she’s totally over it by now or anything, that she doesn’t have any remaining feelings for Even or anger or sadness over how their relationship ended, but she’s accepted it. I think it’s likely that this is possibly the last time Isak reached out for her, that he didn’t ask her for help after this (and Even seems mostly out of his dark period so Isak might not need help for a while, anyway, and by that time he might have talked to Even himself and been able to get more information out of him on what Even needs when he’s up or down). If this is the last time they talked, it’s a nice final message, both of them respectful, Sonja in the process of moving on.

I’m sure Even talked to Sonja himself at some point. I don’t know if they stayed in touch too much, but I’m sure they had to talk at least for practical reasons, like they probably had some of each other’s stuff that they had to return, things like that. And I think that they probably needed a final goodbye conversation just to clear the air between them. Maybe not right away, maybe they needed a little time, but hopefully they could talk it out so they didn’t have any lingering bitterness or anything. Even if their relationship went poorly in the end, they still had years together, and they were important to each other.

And our last IG post of the season: a group pic at the kosegruppa Christmas party. We have the complete boy squad (with Even!), girl squad, Eskild, Linn, Penetrator Chris, and three randos who are there to make it look like an actual club, I guess (fair enough!) One of them is Tarjei’s friend Rumen. Though it’s funny that almost half of these people are not even in kosegruppa. (Or so they think. Because the rest of the boy squad is definitely getting dragged into it.)

In the pic, Magnus gazes longingly at Vilde - was this picture before or after their hookup? Is he staring at Vilde still wondering how to approach her, or is he waiting for this photo session to be over so they can get to the bone zone already?

Magnus isn’t the only one doing some ogling. P-Chris eyeballs Eva, and who of us can blame him?

The randos seem like the appropriate people to be in kosegruppa; they’re making weird expressions and one of them wields a rolling pin as if she can administer a beating to the first taker. 

Eskild hugs Mahdi around the waist, and Mahdi seems pleased with this! Awww. Again, WHERE was my boy squad/Eskild content in the show? 

And finally, of course we have Isak and Even, looking casually cuddly, Even’s arms around Isak’s chest and Isak’s arms over Even’s. Being able to be together just like that. Merry Christmas, everybody.

I’m not sure what else I can say about this season that I haven’t said elsewhere throughout these reaction posts, so I guess I’ll be redundant: season three of Skam is a masterpiece. It really is. There is barely anything I would change, and honestly even the few criticisms I can make are very small, so much that they’re just tweaks and nitpicks rather than radical overhauls of the material. I’m completely fine with the season as is. A thousand times more than fine, actually.

I watched this season in real time, from the pool scene to episode 10, and all that time I was expecting something to go off the rails. I was expecting something to fall down and disappoint me, and instead this season never went wrong. In fact, it turned out better than I expected every single time. The writing was better. The acting was better. This beautiful relationship at the core of the season developed into the best romance I’ve seen on screen, with electric chemistry. The friendships and platonic relationships became vital to the season’s importance, each one of them different and fulfilling a unique purpose - Isak’s friendship with Jonas is not the same as his friendship with Sana is not the same as his friendship with Eskild. Isak himself is a wonderful character. Yes, he’s prickly and grumpy. Yes, sometimes he does stuff that isn’t kind or likable. Yes, he’s very flawed. But we saw him grow from a repressed, unhappy kid in the closet to an empathetic, determined young man living authentically as himself, able to reach out to others, apologize for his mistakes, and display all the goodness and love that he was capable of. Tarjei made Isak into someone I always rooted for, at his worst and at his best. That’s not to even go into the additional strengths of season three, such as the multifaceted symbolism and the dynamite soundtrack.

This last episode shows why Skam is such a wiser, kinder show than most. We get an ending that is realistic and not exactly a fairy tale - it’s not like Even’s mental illness is cured by love or that we’re supposed to think everything will be all right, always. But we get an ending that is highly optimistic about Isak’s future, and Isak and Even’s relationship. We get scenes of characters quietly understanding each other without words. We get scenes of characters apologizing to each other for past mistakes. We get scenes of characters encouraged to be themselves, and expressing happiness at being able to live like themselves. We get scenes and messages of characters taking care of each other. This is why I love Skam so much. This is why people gripped onto this show so tightly and why many still have not been able to let go. This is why you are reading this more than two years later.

Out of curiosity, I compiled these recaps and the word count from these S3 reactions is 136,721 words. So if you got through all of that, really, I fucking love you. 

Because I’m a cornball, I posted all of these S3 reactions at 21:21.

Thank you again for reading my S3 reactions! Alt Er Love ❤️

[monkey-network]

‘Change Your Mind’ was a fun, messy anime hoot ‘n holler, I reckon. Is it my favorite episode of the season? Nah, that’s a different episode that I don’t wanna spoil. Is it the best episode of the arc? Nah, that’s still Escapism. But nevertheless, there is quite a lot to unpack that I wanted to express and if I did a play by play of this 44 minute special, we’d be here for several hours and nobody got time for that. And if I continuously jabber on about this in spaced out posts, I’d feel more like a SU Critical blog than I typically am and that’s pretty depressing. So, I’ve packed all my stray thoughts into one package to get it out the way. Spoilers ahead.

Small headscratch, but I question why it���s notably four episodes on the wikis but it’s essentially one episode and should count as one episode. Can’t really see one part without understanding everything else so I’m a bit confused. Then again, I’m not that encyclopedic on media production so it’s no big deal.

I liked Blue Diamond in the first part and this arc as a whole. In spite of who she generally is, Blue was a consistently good character in that her regret and more motherly nature never felt out of place compared what we’ve seen of her initially because her devastation over Pink’s “death” never felt superficial and the times when she got serious were eyebrow raising to me. And her turnaround in this felt reasonable compared to the others for she thought more of Pink/Steven beforehand and looked like she was more aware of how times have truly changed, even when the allusion to abusive families fall flat.... you know, if we were thinking realistic. Eh, Blue best Diamond, if that means anything.

I question why Yellow had what appears to be forced fusions or genuine crystal amalgamates if Diamonds were against fusion. I understand the ones on Earth, but why was she keeping them, probably for some time now, if she has no use of them? Again, maybe they’re born crystal amalgamates. It’s unclear.

I would say deep down I felt cheated that Lapis and Peridot are apparently cool now even when Lapis took everything in the divorce and did the reentering parallel to an Irish goodbye. But I guess dropping the barn counted as an act of apology, and maybe we’ll see them interact more in the future, so plbbt. At least they got to be badass and anime together while looking the part too.

In the back of mind, I forgot that Bismuth was in the episode sometimes. Beyond giving Connie her sword and raking up that star punch, I can’t say she added much to the story.

Speaking of which, wish the Diamond’s Pearls got to partake in kickassery of the sort. Homeworld was surprisingly empty in hindsight.

Loved Rainbow Quartz the 2nd. He’s beautiful and I would gladly get strong for him.

Only one thing bothered me about Sunstone, aside from the sunction cup summon. and it’s with their small arms. I thought those big arms were more for her shapeshifting since Garnet’s known to shapeshift her limbs to be enormous, but they’re always big so... what  value do Sunny’s little arms serve? Least with say, Smokey Quartz or Malachite, their multiple limbs added to their ability but Sunny’s two beefy arms carry most of the way. It’s like adding two dormant legs to the side of a grasshopper. And seriously, what was the point of the suction cups.

Though I love Monty Python reference they added in. That got a huge laugh outta me.

Obsidian was a spectacle, being the first genuinely naked human gem of the series, and the design reminded me a lot of Asura’s Wrath. Though one small detail I wish they had was where Obsidian’s fingers dug into the mech, leaving large dents on the ship, which would’ve hit home the struggle of getting to White as opposed to somehow being able to grip onto the mech’s more or less smooth surface.

Overall I’d say the part between the Diamonds reconciling and finally reaching White was hit or miss if we’re talking writing. Like sacrificing logical flow more for providing the fan service isn’t nothing new, but time could’ve been utilized more for more to go on.

I couldn’t take White as a serious threat anymore, she was just too cheeky and Ebersole sounded like she was really enjoying herself with voiced. I just hope somebody dubbed Glados over her sometime.

Couldn’t take the moment where Steven got his gem ripped out either cuz as hardcore as that was, adding a sound effect sort of killed the tension for me and I laughed my ass off. I’m sorry.

But as much as I loved the scene that was well animated by veteran 2D animator James Baxter, I especially loved the scene where after Pink Steven forms, he turns to White and says, “You should’ve gone for the head.” Snapped his fingers and destroys Homeworld to finally end everyone’s suffering. Like holy shit, that was the best scene in the entire series, hands down.

Plus I like the idea that Pink’s gem... actually fused with Greg’s sperm. *wheezes* I’m the worst

As much I like the idea of White Diamond, having been told off by a child, reforming her viewpoint, being a less coerce being and making the family whole again, the fact that she’s still a mass murdering, mass torturing, mass colonizing, authoritarian Orwellian style villain rubs me the wrong way with how much of a 180 things turned out to be. It’s like if the Beaudelaire siblings immediately forgave and thought Count Olaf was a great person all along after he did that one good thing and then died. But I guess if Steven held White under a small lens of contempt, then it wouldn’t be Steven Universe. What also makes this feel hallow is that.... when you think about it, all this amounted to was the Diamonds doing Steven a solid. They don’t really quit being dictators, they never really claim that Homeworld should change its way, or think White should step down as leader thanks to her perfectionism affecting HW harshly. They’re just nice rulers now... like Kuzco except not as cool. This plot honestly could’ve fallen apart if White Diamond was more reasonable while still maintaining her villainous perfectionism. She was kinda stupid in a way but eh, whatever. Like yeah, she’s shiny... but she’s not

Then again, imagine White Diamond’s current position.

Imagine the sense of losing your entire worldview, ideology, and sense of self to a being the size of your big toe. Imagine everything you’ve built up, potentially taking centuries or millenniums to uphold to sheer excellence, all crumble before you in a instant. How would it feel? To lose your purpose and have nothing to show for yourself beyond your now shrill existence and status regardless of your stature, because you feel that if you were to try again, history could repeat itself but 10x worse. That small being that conquered you, could do it again if tempted and what would you do? What else would you do if you have some semblance that it won’t work out perfectly as before? What else would you do if you’re now capable of fearing something with which you don’t and potentially will never understand? You honestly don’t have anything now, you’re nothing now. So what could work out for you besides smile, wave off your loss with integrity, and feel comfortable knowing that you live another day while understanding now that any day could potentially be your last, given what you know.

You feel me? It’s like that.

And I’ll say that while the Diamonds suddenly having a change of heart can seem off putting, the fact that Steven went through all that shit with his real family just to do so is reasonably sound. Can’t say a redemption arc in the making ain’t all bad if the protagonist didn’t put in work as well. And if Naruto can forgive Sasuke after they beated each other’s ass, I feel that this ain’t too different.

“Change Your Mind“ was a good song, better than the new Crystal Gem extension. A nice cap on the sprite cranberry of an episode.

So it seems like this episode marks the end of Steven Universe. Now it’s time for Steven Universe 2. Because if this wasn’t anime enough... we’re gonna be time skipping, babey. Reasonable enough, this episode messy here and there but I have one counterargument to this, given that this show is five fucking years old.....

I’d be a bitter asshole if I said I didn’t genuinely enjoy this, both initially and on the rewatch. It is an all around entertaining finale and I’m glad it embraced the weeb trashiness in itself like I always knew it would. Funny thing about all this is that we’re going into hiatus and I’m willing to bet that excluding the movie, we’re gonna have the same amount of premieres as last year. But I believe the hiatus won’t matter as much since they certainly gave people quite the show and I can’t help but applaud along.

Now if ya excuse me, I’m off to marathon Kirby Right Back at Ya, an anime I believe is better than SU all things considered. Have a wonderful day.

[yuugo]

an essay on homura takeru

logs onto tumblr for the first time in a year just so i can post this

a seriously long post ahead

-

anyway this isnt a ~formal essay~ i’m sorry in advance but i’m just trying to dump all the stuff i’ve wanted to talk about for a long while because i really like takeru in vrains and the new ep reminded me that i still hadnt really wrote out my thoughts yet

(not formally anyway, just in stray tweets)

three points to this essay:

- explain takeru’s backstory and how it relates to the present - the way takeru dealt with his trauma and why it’s important - a little bit about soulburner

for archive purposes this essay was written after episode 59 aired and does not take anything past ep59 into account (because at the time of writing this it didnt exist yet)

-

the way vrains has showed how different characters deal with childhood trauma is extremely interesting to me because every single character that we’ve seen involved in the lost incident so far has dealt with it in a different way, and it perfectly parallels how people respond to trauma in real life. i have a lot of thoughts on this matter bc it’s also personal to me but that really doesn’t matter right now. for today i just want to talk about homura takeru

i’m going to assume everyone reading this is familiar with the lost incident, but quick tl;dr anyway: six kids got kidnapped and held in solitary confinement for 6 months where the only thing they could do was duel. and how well they dueled determined if they ate or not

all of the kids involved in the lost incident came out of it differently: kusanagi jin never truly left the lost incident, as he’s still in a psychiatric hospital to this day due to it. spectre fully embraced what happened to him and decided to return for more after finding out the only thing holding him to the “outside world” (his mother tree) was gone, because the lost incident was the only time when he felt needed (eps35-37, playmaker vs spectre duel).

yuusaku underwent therapy and rehabilitation but never actually recovered. he still suffers ptsd from it to this day (ep19, playmaker vs akira zaizen), and had become (rightfully) angry at what happened to him, leading him to team up with kusanagi shoichi (kusanagi jin’s brother) to deliver justice/revenge.

takeru came out of the lost incident also traumatized, as he mentions he never dueled again (ep52).

takeru is something of a special case as we see in his backstory that not only did the lost incident traumatize him, but due to his disappearance, his parents died while looking for him. in a sense, takeru came out of the ordeal with not only the trauma of the lost incident, but also the trauma of losing his parents at a young age (6), both happening at around the same time

the way takeru dealt with these two traumas was to completely re-invent himself. he “sealed away” his memories of the lost incident and completely changed who he was in order to avoid having to actually deal with it. takeru says this himself that the time after the lost incident to the end of season 1 of vrains--that was not actually him, as in his true self

however, what most interests me about this exchange is the way kiku (the girl) responds to his declarations that he’s “not himself”

after the lost incident, takeru had to relocate and live with his grandparents in another town because his parents were dead and could no longer tend to him. that means that everyone in the town never actually met takeru--that is, who takeru was before the lost incident. everyone in town knew only the post-lost incident takeru

kiku’s responses to takeru’s declaration that he’s going to leave give us a lot of context as to who takeru invented himself to be and how long he held up this facade. kiku is obviously someone who is close to takeru, as she shows worry for him not attending school, and he entrusts her with taking care of his grandparents. he even tells her that he’s been faking it this whole time

however, even despite all this, takeru never once dropped his facade around her before this moment (this moment being takeru reading the news article about playmaker/blue angel/go and the knights of hanoi), which is why she shows such surprise to his declarations and doesn’t understand what’s going on.

but she supports him, because

this is the most important part of their interaction to me. it implies that kiku has never seen takeru so resolute and full of ambition before this, and it’s been a long 10 years since takeru moved to this town. 10 years of keeping up the facade of being someone else in order to deal with what happened

this scene also goes to show just how much the news article about playmaker, blue angel, and go onizuka fighting the knights of hanoi meant to him. he’s willing to completely undo 10 years of his facade because of it. here was someone else from the lost incident (yuusaku), who fought and confronted his trauma head-on. completely opposite of takeru who ran away from it

takeru could have, arguably, gone to den city to meet any one of them, but he chose yuusaku because they know what each other went through

the complete image change is also super interesting, because takeru looks much rougher and tougher, like a typical japanese delinquent, than what he looks like now. the opening for this season even has a still to highlight his persona

and kiku confirms in their aforementioned interaction that he actually doesn’t go to school a lot (she was super happy when takeru said he’d finally “go”). it completes his whole delinquent persona nicely

this image is a COMPLETE 180 from what we see him as now

tamer hair, glasses, and his blazer is even buttoned! yuusaku doesn’t button his or wear his shirt properly (the top button is open). takeru looks much more put together than what he used to be

even the body language of these two are different. the delinquent persona takeru looks aggressive and unfriendly but the takeru with yuusaku and kusanagi is much more open, much more happy

and it’s not like we haven’t seen this style of takeru before, because

he looks exactly as he did when he was younger, before the lost incident occurred

why choose this look? why of all the images he could have remade himself into, why did he go back to what he used to look like before the lost incident?

because he’s finally making up for lost time.

because takeru is finally being who he was supposed to be, or in better terms, who he actually is, not his delinquent persona

in a sense takeru is regaining all the years he missed from his life pretending to be someone he isnt. he felt truly and genuinely inspired by playmaker, go, & blue angel because they fought his oppressors and the people who caused him pain. they fought while he did nothing, and this inspired him. he was truly super happy to duel go until he realized that go had completely changed from what takeru saw him as (a hero)

but reading the article made him realize: i cant keep hiding forever. like playmaker, i have to face it head on, because otherwise it's never gonna leave me. he's still haunted by the lost incident & you can tell because of just how much the article meant to him. takeru reverted once he read the news. he needed to do something

flame & the ignis gave him something to fight for. teaming up with yuusaku gave him something to strive for. he left his town & went back to den city because he wanted to make a difference and confront his past, and that’s exactly what he’s doing now, after all these years of running

and it’s really major! you know why? because dueling is his trauma

and here he is, dueling again after all these years of never touching duel monsters. 10+ years. his drive to try dueling again despite it being his trauma is his first step to getting out of his bubble. & meeting flame in the link vrains helped him realize he could actually do something

takeru is really an amazing character to me, someone who broke free of his self-imposed prison and decided to finally stop running. confronting his trauma firsthand is something that takes a lot of courage to do, especially for someone like takeru who has spent more than half of his life pretending like it didnt happen. it’s harder to convince yourself to do something than it is to convince others

and despite all this, he’s here now. he’s fighting.

and he’s really... someone to be admired. it’s hard to put into words the reason why this character means so much to me. he’s very inspirational

there’s a lot more i could say about how different takeru’s personality is in real life compared to when he’s in link vrains as soulburner (he’s much more shy irl, but soulburner isnt) and how this all relates to who he is as a person who’s just starting to get back on his feet.

but that’s a lot of words that i can save for another essay

anyway thanks for coming to my ted talk

catch me on twitter

[kxlance]

Funny how jds said theres a thrill in liking an antagonistic r/s like keith and lance's, refering to their rivalry and yet didnt see it coming how they got so popular. Dude you just said people like to ship two rivals in any show and yet you say you never thought klance would gain so much attention when their whole r/s revolves around the whole enemies to friends troupe, they really think fans are stupid? They tried to negate the ship so hard I dont even know whether to laugh or cry.

*makes lets leave this in the past sound*

dksfnl ok but no i wanna give a proper answer to this even though it’s been a week and i blocked that out of my mind because you know what i’m here to enjoy this so here’s me rambling

when i read that interview, quite frankly i did get mad i’m not gonna lie. mostly because of the “forbidden fruit” comment from jds (but he apologized for it apparently so i’m not gonna bring that up) and because i was…..pretty confused as to why they would think klance is a surprise. i mean, out of the other pairings in the show, they’re objectively the ones who have had the most development, like as a duo you get what i mean? so it really shouldn’t be a surprise to me, that people like it. sure probably everyone has multiple reasons as to why they like it, but for me at least, it was legit the type of dynamic they had that caught me. it’s the kind of “we’re a lot different and we clash because of this but now i’m slowly getting fond of you” kind of thing. like,,,,, i LIVE for that shit alright.and i find hard to believe that when they were animating certain scenes *cough the bonding moment cough* they didn’t think that some people would have seen that as romantic. ESPECIALLY BC…..other….”“pairings”“ in the show have sort of paralleled moments they’ve had before like.. this is granted but you know damn well there would be no doubts over the canonicity of this ship if it was m/f. it’s just how it is.here’s the deal also: the only couple 100% endgame is hunk/shay. the last time they properly interacted was in season fucking one. season ONE. and yet hunk often mentions her like in his vlog and in the comics and whatnot. because clearly, no matter the distance he’s fond of her and would definitely like to see her (he did see her in s4 bc he and allura were on balmera but it was just like…a screencap so we’re just left assuming things) and yet…people wanna come at me, in my sacred home, saying klance is dead bc they haven’t seen each other in one season. can u believe it?they said recently that they dont wanna shoehorn romance in for the sake of having it because they want the characters to stand on their own first, which hey, it is a perfectly reasonable consideration. now, voltron has 78 confirmed episodes. you know how many of these episodes are left if you leave out the 7 episodes that would drop in june?? 26. 2 fucking 6 episodes left to close out all the plot points and possibly develop an endgame romance. this is just my theory alright but listen. there’s no freaking way they’re gonna develop a romance so out of the blue in just 26 episodes, especially bc of how focused the show is on plot/action. so like…..they needed to have had build up some sort of foreground (”relationships happen over time” “slow burn” they said it not me) BEFORE in order to possibly have an endgame in the end. and i wonder……i wonder……who is this mysterious couple who had that foreground development before the serious plot started kicking in? yep you guessed it. IT STARTS WITH K AND ENDS WITH LANCE. (FUCK YOUR LAITH AGENDA LM)

like this is just…i’m going logically here alright. if the romance is out of the blue, then it would legit contradict everything they said about “not wanting to have romance just for the sake of havin it uwu”. but you know, i’m not sure about klance 100% bc i never was, so, if klance isnt canon, i just wanna know what their so brilliant and well thought out endgame will be. like……. i’m genuinely curious bc even bias aside nothing makes sense quite as klance to me bc of how their arcs interwine very well w/ each other????

lastly, we know lance is gonna fall in love. and that what he’s looking for is different than where he started. y’all know what jeremy said recently. i dont wanna say it in the specific bc we said not to talk about it since the video was illegal and whatnot, but….what he said implies……..you know what it implies. and who else could it be honestly LIKE….. if it is between two side characters what even is the point’??? its gotta be between two main characters. and only those have had solid development together. with this being said, i still believe there will be lgbt rep in the end no matter if there is an endgame or not.(see lauren’s drawing of lance holding the lgbt sign that is not a coincidence giving every chara was holding a sign for a reason and the change of jeremy going from he flirts with everyone to he flirts with ladies frankly is….suspicious) i hate that it’s treated as a spoiler. but it woud be really cowardly of them to vague about it and then not deliver ya know? and also why is it treated as a spoiler if there is no endgame like……..lol

anyways yeah i think this has gotten longer than i wanted it to be but just……i guess my advice is enjoy the ship no matter what happens if it makes you happy that’s what i’m doing honestly and even if they said what they said, 1) they lie all the time so ya know… 2) we have extra information that lead us to believe they’re lying (side eyes jeremy) 3) they are still 5 seasons in, the most developed pairing in the show 4) they’re gonna reunite soon and i feel like then,,,,then we will see for real where they wanna go with this but even if it wasnt meant as a romance i just wanna know the point of many of their (extremely tropey) scenes

so yeah just keep enjoying it cuz like…. theres no way some of their scenes were accidental bc if so it’s the best accidental romance i’ve ever seen dkjnfgndskl

[logh-icebergs]

Episode 33: Fortress vs. Fortress

Love Triangles

“Yang told me not to write the real names even in my diary, so I’ll use pseudonyms, but non-commissioned officer A and non-commissioned officer B had been fighting forever over the civilian Miss C, and that fight was revived on Iserlohn, but Miss C, who hated Officer B, impulsively shot him to death.” —Julian’s Iserlohn Diary, p. 61-62 (From episode 30.)

Honestly, the love triangle between Officer A, Officer B, and Miss C that Julian describes in his diary sounds like one of the more straightforward and classic love triangles in the LoGH world. LoGH love triangles, as we’ve discussed, tend to be rather twisted, tragic, or otherwise subversive. These triangles don’t present an either/or choice between two romantic rivals standing on equal ground, where the choice hinges on the interior romantic feelings of the character at the vertex; rather, most love triangles in LoGH are narrative tools to highlight the ways social structures shape our choices for us, or to add depth to characterizations by showing the ways that people approach these choices differently.

On the Alliance side, the love triangle of season one was between Yang, Lapp, and Jessica, with Jessica at the vertex. And the way it played out set up open questions about Yang’s wistful passivity and reluctance to pursue a romantic relationship with Jessica both back in college and now, despite her professed interest. Many factors were at play in that dynamic: Yang may have believed that Jessica was more interested in Lapp, or been reluctant to compete with his friend; and in the present day, tensions over their past, Lapp’s death, and the war complicated any possible relationship between them. But as Jessica tells it in episode 10, she was disappointed that he didn’t continue to express interest after that first awkward dance; and despite that confession and an almost-kiss, Yang’s reluctance remained a constant, as he made no further move to pursue her.

In season two, Yang is involved in another love triangle of sorts, and this time he is at the vertex. 

The line in Japanese is Teitoku wa itsu ni nattara hakkiri saserun darou? which translates literally as “when will the admiral make it clear?” The official subs translate it as “when will the admiral just tell her?” which is misleading: It implies Julian has a belief that Yang reciprocates Frederica’s feelings, but both before and after this Julian professes not to know Yang’s feelings.

This triangle between Yang, Frederica, and Julian currently exists only inside Julian’s head. But for Julian at this point in his life it is very real and looms very large—dominating his thoughts, as we see in the moment above, even as he rushes into battle against a giant fortress that just warped into the corridor and attacked them. And since it’s foundational to the emotional arc of the whole rest of the show, it’s worth taking time to examine in painstaking detail exactly how it’s set up early in this season. 

The Julian/Yang/Frederica Triangle

(From episode 24.)

The last time I talked about Julian’s feelings for Yang I speculated that, despite seeming to have all the major symptoms of a crush, he probably didn’t frame it to himself that way (although we had no way to know for sure). But that was almost a year ago—in story time, that is—and a year is a long time when you’re fifteen-going-on-sixteen. And uh, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that he’s figured some stuff out.

Have I fangirled about Nozomu Sasaki’s voice acting yet? Well it’s about time I did—the subtitles can’t do this exchange justice, so please go watch it (12:17) right now to appreciate the soft edge behind his “saa” here. Damn. (From episode 30.)

This is one of those times when I’m not sure what my job here is supposed to be: Schenkopp asks whether Yang is interested in Frederica and Julian’s reaction is to say “how should I know” then lower his eyebrows angrily and shoot the target directly in the heart. Tell us how you really feel, Julian. 

Ding ding ding, yes, how he really feels is jealous. Well done Schenkopp. This is the line right before we jump to Schenkopp interrogating Julian on the shooting range, and already here a triangle of some sort is suggested, with Julian and Frederica paralleled to each other as rivals for Yang’s attention. So how is Yang processing this line? How is Cazellnu? We’ll come back to both of those questions in the future! (From episode 30.)

In episode 33 we get another peek inside Julian’s mind, as checking in on the Cazellnu ladies prompts him to recall a recent conversation with Yang. 

Have I mentioned Cazellnu has issues? Seriously dude, pressuring your 30-year-old friend about his love life is one thing; telling a teenager you intend for him to marry your eight-year-old daughter someday is a whole ’nother level. Leave Charlotte and Julian alone dammit.

Yang is totally oblivious here to how his “eh she might seem like a little kid to you now but things change” take might interact with Julian’s own complicated emotions...

...and it makes sense to me that Julian immediately fires back by probing Yang’s feelings for the only obvious potential romantic partner currently in his life.

Julian’s emotional life revolves entirely around Yang. That’s been true since we first met him, and when he was fourteen or fifteen it manifested as relatively uncomplicated hero worship/puppy love, a desire both to be as much like Yang as possible and to do as much as possible to look after him and be useful to him. But that dynamic isn’t sustainable as Julian grows up. And what these two scenes tell us is that a thread of tension now runs through Julian’s emotions, specifically about the development of Yang’s love life. Everything about the narrative framing in these scenes sets up a classic love triangle: Schenkopp’s insinuations about Julian being jealous of Frederica segueing directly into Julian acting angsty about not knowing whether Yang reciprocates Frederica’s feelings; Julian’s thoughts jumping from remembering Cazellnu’s matchmaking schemes between him and Charlotte to solemnly wondering when Yang will make his feelings about Frederica more clear.

...But this is LoGH. And zooming out from the narrative framing to the broader context, to say this particular triangle is “not that simple” would be a drastic understatement. Julian and Frederica are not on equal ground here; while Frederica seems perfectly constructed as a potential romantic partner for Yang, every possible situational variable is aligned against Julian. When Julian thinks about Yang “making things clear” or “making up his mind,” the two options on the table are “yes Frederica” or “no Frederica.” Julian simply isn’t an option. Heteronormativity is one factor in that, sure, but not the most important one—the age difference and power dynamic mean not only that Julian is a socially unacceptable love interest for Yang, but that in fact any expression of romantic interest from Yang’s end would be deeply, deeply inappropriate. And Julian must know that. However… 

Is it too disturbing to say that what this line reminds me most of is a dog marking its territory? Anyway, it’s the addition of “favorite” that really gives it that possessive feel; he could have just said he has to go make Yang dinner, but instead he feels the need to emphasize that he is the one who knows how to cook food just the way Yang likes it. (From episode 30.)

Frederica isn’t a threat to Julian’s role as Yang’s intellectual disciple, or to his role as Yang’s physical protector. But she is a threat to his role as Yang’s caretaker and domestic partner, and it’s no coincidence that he ends the conversation with Schenkopp by emphasizing that position. Sure there’s nothing romantic about their relationship right now, but the status quo is still that Julian is the person closest to Yang, the person who lives with him and looks after him and cooks for him and spends cozy evenings beating him at 3D chess. The two sides of the triangle may be “Frederica” and “not Frederica,” but the closest Julian can hope to come to actually being chosen is for Yang to never choose anybody, for the status quo to just quietly continue.

On Surface Readings

A lot of the storytelling in LoGH has the feeling of a magic trick: It tells one story if you look at it through glasses that assume romantic attraction can only occur between men and women, and completely different stories if you remove that lens. The key to this trickery is that it’s simultaneously true that there exist non-queer interpretations of the things we see, and that if you tally the details of how the stories are actually told, those interpretations don’t quite add up. In the case of the Julian/Yang/Frederica dynamic, there are two different possible non-queer readings, and it’s worth taking the time up front to examine each of them and how they interact with what we’ve seen so far.

Reading #1: Frederica is the vertex. This is the magic trick illusion: If we attempt to interpret the situation starting from the assumption that between Yang and Frederica, Frederica is the only possible object of romantic interest for Julian, then the two scenes I analyzed above suddenly constitute evidence that Julian has a crush on Frederica. More specifically, they constitute the only evidence that Julian has a crush on Frederica.

Yes this gif is super cute; no it’s not sufficient evidence of a crush. (From episode 17.)

Julian is friends with Frederica and likes her. But never (until these two scenes) have we seen his emotions around her seem fraught; we’ve never seen him think about her when she’s not around, or stand in the background of scenes smiling at her. We’ve never even seen them have a conversation in which Julian didn’t bring up Yang.

As I pointed out above, several details about how the dynamic is framed in episodes 30 and 33 reinforce the fact that Yang is in the role of vertex: a) It takes serious mental gymnastics to see Schenkopp’s “Julian will be jealous if you take Frederica to Heinessen and not him” line as trying to imply that Julian has a thing for Frederica. b) In both scenes, Yang is the one whose feelings are unknown, the one who has a potential choice to make. And c) Julian’s none-too-subtle emphasis of the fact that it’s his job right now to cook for Yang makes it even clearer that it’s his role in Yang’s life that’s at issue.

The only reason to think that Frederica rather than Yang is the vertex is an assumption that Julian must be straight. And the only evidence that Julian has a crush on Frederica is the assumption that she must be the vertex of this triangle. This reading falls to pieces as soon as you remove those glasses.

Reading #2: It’s not romantic. This is much more interesting, because unlike Reading #1, it’s not just an illusion created by heteronormative assumptions. It’s a complexity inherent to the actual situation, and incredibly difficult to actually parse out the nuances of, both for us and for Julian.

The show doesn’t bother to give us a lot of details about Julian’s background in season one—we don’t even know at what age Julian went to live with Yang until the beginning of season two—and it’s easy as a viewer to classify Julian early on as “basically Yang’s kid” and therefore assume Julian sees it the same way. But that view bulldozes over a ton of complexity. Julian was raised by his father until he was eight, and went to live with Yang when he was twelve; Yang is his hero, teacher, mentor, role model, idol—all sorts of things, in addition to legal guardian, that create a major power differential between them. But never once does Julian refer to Yang as being like a parent to him as such—if we look at the source material, he’s consistent in referring to himself as Yang’s disciple (弟子) or orderly (従卒), and as I’ve pointed out before, this is reflected in the anime by the fact that his language and bearing around Yang, while affectionate, are more like a subordinate than like close family.

“So far I’ve only lived just shy of fifteen years. Exactly half of Yang’s age. In the next fifteen years, can I catch up to Yang’s pace? [...] ‘Don’t hold back and merely catch up, fly past him,’ Cazellnu said, and Schenkopp teased, ‘You’re running while he’s taking afternoon naps. Surely you’re gaining ground.’ Poplan laughed. [...] All three of them are watching me with interest and possibly some sympathy as I chase after my shifu (a good word, I learned it from Yang) from far behind.” —Julian’s Iserlohn Diary, p. 136-137 (From episode 29.)

Yang, for his part, has never wanted to be a parent or felt comfortable in that role; and the only way he knows how to treat Julian is as some combination of student and housekeeper.

Okay I’m not actually trying to over-analyze Yang’s syntax here; honestly I’m just taking the opportunity to use this gif because it cracks me up. (From episode 6.)

All of which is to say that in Julian’s eyes, Yang is an idol rather than a parent; and developing crushes on idols or mentors is so common as to be cliché. There’s nothing inorganic or unrealistic about the idea that Julian’s puppy love could develop into romantic attraction as he grows up. It would be complicated, awkward, painful, confusing, stressful, all sorts of difficult things for him—but none of that makes it unlikely to happen.

Good stories raise more questions than they answer; and the ambiguity and complexity of Julian’s feelings is one of the beautiful things about this story. Is it precisely accurate to call Julian’s feelings romantic? That’s not meant to have an easy answer—especially once you acknowledge that not all romance fits into neat normative boxes, especially once you recognize that romance isn’t synonymous with sex or lust, the lines become fuzzy and difficult to pin down.

But what’s unambiguous is that the question of whether Julian’s feelings are romantic is salient, both to the audience and to Julian himself.

I mean...come on.

The direct segue from Schenkopp commenting on Julian’s jealousy to asking about Yang’s romantic feelings; the paralleling of Yang and Frederica’s potential romance with Julian’s potential future romances; the visual of the target being shot directly in the heart. All of these details suggest that Julian is struggling with the question of how his place in Yang’s life relates to Yang’s love life and to his own. There’s no simple answer, and we’ll be continuing to look for details that give insight into how Julian himself perceives his emotions. 

<3

Cazellnu

Meanwhile…

“If you think about it, Cazellnu has no deeds of arms at the front lines or anything. Just through desk work he became a rear admiral at 34, so he’s a real bureaucratic prodigy. [...] When he took university entrance exams, he also passed the exam for the business management program at Ale Heinessen University, but he got the date for the enrollment papers wrong and was left with no choice but the military academy; he says this was one of the major blunders of his lifetime. The other one, he says, is ‘something my wife can never know.’” —Julian’s Iserlohn Diary, p. 110-111

Okay, so we’re focused on the anime here and technically Tanaka’s writing is not our Official Canon, but this backstory for Cazellnu somehow explains so much. When Yang left for Heinessen he failed to anticipate that Iserlohn would be attacked by an entire fortress (some “Magician” he is...), and left Cazellnu, Bureaucratic Prodigy in temporary command while he was away. Logical enough if the problems that are likely to arise are that somehow not enough toilet paper rations were delivered to block 74 that week; but it’s safe to say that Cazellnu finds himself a bit out of his depth when Geiersberg shows up. 

Schenkopp just straight-up disobeys Cazellnu’s order here, chain of command be damned—I like this little reminder that Schenkopp (and by extension the Rosen Ritter) has chosen to be loyal to Yang, but that doesn’t mean that he meekly accepts the authority of the Alliance forces in general.

The other admirals aren’t so brazen, but are also deeply frustrated with Cazellnu’s passive, let’s-just-try-to-stall-until-Yang-saves-us approach to the battle.

Mercifully, for Cazellnu and for the whole fortress, Merkatz has finally had enough of this. This is his extremely dignified and polite way of saying “listen kid, how about you step aside and let someone competent handle this.” Have I mentioned Merkatz is the best?

Poor Cazellnu didn’t ask for this and is really doing his best, and I almost feel bad for him…… but then I remember that he believes the ultimate purpose of human life is to pass on your genes to the next generation and that he ships his eight-year-old daughter with Julian, and I feel less bad. 

Yeah that’s right Alex, you brought this on yourself. Shoulda gotten those business school papers in on time, eh?

Stray Tidbits

The liquid hydro-metal coatings of Iserlohn and Geiersberg are one of my two favorite inventions of the anime (the other, of course, being Julian’s cat). This battle is absolutely gorgeous, and I love the Empire’s tactic of using the gravitational pull between the fortresses to submerge the Thor Hammer and expose the back of Iserlohn to attack. Well done anime team, well done.

“In terms of sci-fi concepts, I like the anime-original fluid metal of Iserlohn fortress. Kato Naoyuki (mechanic concept design) didn’t want to just have ships entering and exiting the fortress through an opening, and we started talking about what if they sunk softly into a mercury-like substance, and so it was created. That creation led to the idea of, during the battle with Geiersberg, using the gravitational pull to attack the back side.” —Producer Masatoshi Tahara, interiew in “LoGH: Complete Guide”

Aha, our first mention of Julian’s height, everyone take a shot! Okay, so tracking Julian’s height down to the half-centimeter (really) is more of a thing in the novels than the anime—in fact I think this is the only time we’re given a specific number in the show, although not the last time the topic arises. Anyway, I share Julian’s “where the fuck did that come from?” reaction here. Is this conversation a product of Yang musing about what Schenkopp said about Julian being jealous? A reasonable interpretation of Schenkopp’s line is that Julian is frustrated at being treated like a kid and left out of the fun grownup adventures. Yang may be obliquely trying to reassure him that he’ll get there soon.

Or maybe that book he’s reading just mentioned something about height and the question was totally random? I honestly don’t know.

In any case, after his initial surprise Julian seems quite pleased that his progress toward adulthood is not going unnoticed. And hi Gensui, yes I see you with that adorable yawn in the background; don't worry, Iserlohn’s design is badass but you are for sure the cutest addition to the anime. (Both from episode 30.)

I want to read the rest of this story dammit. Does Rose manage to drive the squirrel away?? This is the LoGH fanfiction the public demands.

Schenkopp, I used to respect you, but weak coffee? Have you no dignity at all?

I don’t blame this random kid for seeming so horrified by the request.

Is it possible that all Alliance coffee is just too weak and that’s why Yang hates it so much? (From episode 17.)

Julian, we can see you. Didn’t anyone teach you it’s rude to stare?

“Haha, my bad.”

Have I mentioned that I love Iserlohn? Damn it’s gorgeous.