#if you're one of the 'omg i wanted more about maeve' people who shows up after watching the show every so often

[imunbreakabledude]

I've recently finished your long Maeve x Elena fic and honestly I'm obsessed. I've always liked Elena but the show didn't show to much so I was rather indifferent to their relationship until I found the maevelena tag on here and then your fics. You make them both so human . They're just two complicated women trying their best .

I was also pleasantly surprised by Ashley and Maeve's dynamic . I was not expecting to enjoy those 2 together so much . I'm glad that Ashley got over her crush on Maeve . Even though ,maevelena is my OTP but id be lying if I didn't enjoy Ashley's yearning. I would be curious about an AU where Ashley does win over Maeve maybe even with Elena . ( Although I think Elena and Maeve are to possessive of each other for that )

Poor baby Maeve ! All the parts talking about her childhood made my heart ache . I never gave much thought before about her childhood and how hard that would of been . I love the story as to how she came up with the Queen Maeve name . It's a shame her mum died as I would of been curious as to what their dynamic would of looked like

Anyway I'm going to stop rambling now . Thank you for the good read and I will eagerly devour any new content you post ❤️

first off, thank you! I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it. that fic was a labor of love in every sense, and I wrote it for myself above all, but it really means a lot to me to hear when other people enjoy it. because it was a joy to tell a longer, serialized story in the style of a tv spinoff, for an active audience to engage with. (even if a very small audience).

I, too, didn't think much of Elena the first time I watched the show - I mean, she doesn't get a lot to do on the show, unfortunately. but as I rewatched and grew fixated on Maeve, i realized there was a lot more depth implied to Elena than first appears... and grew intrigued at filling in more about her while fleshing out more about Maeve as well, and... even though 95% of the elaborate history I've written for them is my own creation, a decently large percentage of it is actually implied by their few scenes in the show! I find them so fascinating and layered and fun to explore. "Two complicated women trying their best" is a great way to put it. that's exactly why I continue to love to think about them after so long. they're far from perfect, individually and as a pair, but so layered and really need each other.

glad that you enjoyed the maeve/ashley content as well! of course it had to go the way it did in the fic, being a maevelena story primarily (well, it's not necessarily a "ship fic" overall but that is certainly a primary relationship), but that one was very fun for me to write. and if you wanna know a secret... back when I was first conceiving this "spinoff" story idea, including ashley was one of my first ideas, and actually the first hazy version of it WOULD HAVE been maeveashley endgame. because for whatever reason, I didn't envision elena being a major part of it at first - a "guest star" at most. I think because i was taking a lot of inspo from Angel's format as a spinoff and once it occurred to me that Ashley could be the "Cordelia" to Maeve's "Angel", that felt so perfect, and I'm a sucker for their love story in the spinoff, so I envisioned a similar unlikely-but-perfect love developing between Maeve and Ashley. tbh, i think it could and maybe even WOULD happen if Elena was not back in Maeve's life for whatever reason.

As it is, though, Maeve and Ashley definitely have a weird, permanent, deep platonic bond in this story's universe though. a bond which is not the SAME as her relationship with Elena, or Annie, or anyone else but possibly just as important. and tbh even though I don't know that I can imagine an Elena/Maeve/Ashley throuple working (i am very creative with ot3s, but this one seems TOUGH lol), i do think Ashley becomes weirdly a sort of fixture/add-on to their marriage in again, a weird unquantifiable way. like it's Maeve and Elena... and Ashley. she's just always in their lives and even Elena comes to accept and maaaybe even appreciate it after a while lmao.

I'm going off on tangents now because I actually have sooo much more in this universe thought out, from some stuff that happens after the end of that fic, to miscellaneous snippets in the past/time skips of that fic, but I haven't written/posted much of it because... well... there was a small audience for it at the best of times and as more time goes on there's less and less interest in stuff about a character who hasn't been on TV since 2022.

so I wanted to emphasize, thank you for sending this message. for reading the fic and enjoying it and letting me KNOW that you did. <3 it may seem silly but this came at the perfect time, I haven't been feeling the best lately especially when it comes to writing, and I've been looking for a way to enjoy writing again... and getting feedback like this, that someone appreciated something I enjoyed making, helps a lot. and knowing there's maybe still an active desire for it, makes me want to dust off some of the many WIPs I still have about maeve in the pipeline. so, thank you for this message.

[chibigo-ma]

Review of Sex Education. I Guess.

Well, I've just finished the last episode of the last season of Sex Education, and I'm sad that it's over, but everything has to have an ending.

I'm going to share what I like and dislike about the show overall from S1 to S4.

So... spoilers.

Scroll away immediately. RUN AWAY FROM THE SPOILERS.

Ready? Ok.

I might not say every bad or good thing I think about in the show since some are already obvious. For example, "Mr. Groff was so bad! He showered all the personal problems of his students by stealing Jean's journal AND berating poor Adam. Obvious bad." or "OMG, it represents LGBTQIA+. It's a slayyyy ✨," y'know?

Adding what I love below the likes and dislikes.

Likes

Despite having dozens of sex scenes and the like, I like that the plot is engaging, and it made me want to watch more and see the characters grow.

The characters are all unique and everyone makes you "feel," you know? Characters that come into mind that are unique to me are Lily, Rahim, Erin, Isaac, Cal, Jean, Joanna... it's a long list. You can really connect with the characters. It's sad we couldn't see everyone off.

I love Adam's development and his newly-found self-worth of his sexuality. I'm glad he's pacing things slowly and coming out when ready. Even when he decided to stay away from school, he seemed to know that he needed to heal first from the breakup and the broken family he had. The ending for him and his family made me happy to see.

The center relationship that got repaired for its ending was Eric and Otis. It's great that it's a platonic one, and it's the characters that we first "grew up" with. (Romantic endings are overrated! /j)

I CRIED a lot. Especially at S4. Goes to show that this show really can hit you in the feels when you least expect it.

I felt happy for Maeve when she decided to go back to America and let her teacher's comments slide. Not everyone can agree with what you're doing, but there is always someone who absolutely loves the work that you have done. It's sad that the main romantic couple is gone, but it's all for growing to be better people.

How they show people grief can differ, depending on how close the person was to them. Sean sees the negatives since he is the eldest and sees his memories with Erin badly, while Maeve sees it in the middle of both positive and negative since she's the middle child, but gives a respectful and proper farewell to Erin. As for Elsie, since she's the youngest, (just my assumptions) probably sees Erin in a good light since she's been trying to come clean for her and her older siblings.

However, what happened to them in S3 maybe traumatized her, but who knows? They're just my assumptions. We don't know if Elsie knows Erin is dead since Elsie is still very young. Maybe she does since S4 doesn't tackle more of Maeve's relationships with Elsie and Anna. Only briefly in S3, I think. Still in shock and sad that Erin died.

Dislikes

O is quite the problematic character, but I'm glad to see that character development. At first, I thought she mentioned she was asexual as an excuse to answer why she ghosted the students/clients, but it wasn't at all. I still stand that your sexuality shouldn't cloud your mind while you're trying to be professional, especially when talking to someone who needs help. Even when you're asexual or queer, and you know your stuff, don't let your sexuality cloud you too much. Keep doing what you're doing best.

I never liked how Otis can also be problematic, despite being a good kid too. I know that teenagers mess up (from what I call it, the "messing up/fucked up" stage in your life), and here's a word of advice: Think before you act and don't over/underthink.

I didn't like that Eric cheated in his first two relationships. There would have been a better way instead of full-front cheating like... idk... communicate. I mean, Eric did speak to Adam about it, but after Eric cheated. I still felt bad for Rahim. Even though, imo, I thought the relationship was too quick.

There's a lot of couples that get into relationships quickly.

Despite being the main antagonist for S3, I felt horrible for Hope. Maybe it's just the Asian in me talking, but she was only trying to clear the school's reputation of being called "Sex School." Who would want to let their kid attend a school that's being called "Sex School" by the locals? Especially if it was your alma mater. Yes, there's stuff she did wrong as the principal (weird promotion of abstinence, disrespecting the LGBTQIA+, humiliating punishments, manipulating students, etc.), but was she entirely bad? Maybe. If only she was more open-minded and kinder, S3 would have been different. Then again, she was very stressed since she was infertile and wanted to have a baby with her husband, but wasn't successful.

There was a lot that happened in S4. Lots of new characters we will never see again. Old characters we never saw again. A lot of experiences were compiled together, but it's a good pacing, at least. It would have been bad if the entirety of S4 was compiled into one big movie. The pacing would be way off.

Loves

I love the ace representation back in S2. A few months after discovering I was asexual, there was a lot of ace erasure back then, and I felt relieved to see that representation and not to be ashamed to be who I am.

With Otis and Maeve breaking up in the end, it gives us an open-ended interpretation of what happens to them. For me tho, I'm glad to see that representations that breakups can also be a happy yet healthy end (It's always hard for me to share that, and people kept saying "sanaol" whenever I shared that half of my breakups ended nicely).

Breakups are always shared as a negative, but they can be positive if both parties agree without any malice or unshared feelings. Despite missing and still having feelings, both don't want to hold each other back to the objectives the other is trying to achieve. I love that.

Talking about breakups, let's talk about Michael Groff and Maureen. I love that Michael improved himself, not only for Maureen but for Adam as well. I love that the once-broken family is now back together and learned from the experiences they went through.

Aimee finding herself and now standing up against men (cat-calling, abuse, harassment, etc.) through her actions, and a new perspective on art is outstanding, and I'm happy that she can be assertive (in a good way). The same goes for Viv with her latest ex. After that one jealousy moment and it kept coming up, I had the suspicion he'd be toxic AND HE WAS. BROOOO (So proud of them)

Also, proud of Ruby for having the "feels" because of the school. She even declined Otis' offer to be friends again, cuz she knows far too well that it would lead her to heartbreak again. YOU GO GIRLLLL

All the inclusivity represented is powering for everyone who watches it. Addressing the lack of inclusivity made me so proud of Isaac and Aisha. Still made me mad that they left Aisha there (even when there was no fire), and the lift being broken for who knows how long. Not a lot of schools can afford that, but at least others try by adding in ramps. THEY HAVE A SLIDE LIKE 👁️👄👁️...

Despite O being problematic, when she expressed her life and how she felt as a closeted ace, it made me relate to her because I had forced myself to fit in like her but not to the point of bullying others or someone I was close with (My school advocated kindness and being helpful to everyone and anyone, and there weren't any reports or acts of bullying at all).

I wasn't upset when a "crush" rejected me, and we remained close friends. Thanks to the media, I found it bizarre why my response was more chill than the *crying and sobbing like a middle schooler* so I began to pretend around 4th grade. I didn't feel like myself and felt something was wrong with me. Hearing heartbreak, crushes, love lives, and the drama of it drained me, and I didn't relate to the topics. Now that I think about it, I was all alone in my little bubble, and I relate to guys more than girls because of similar interests in video games. To this day, I still regret forcing myself to give this pendant I bought (for myself) to my best friend/ex when I was in 7th grade. My dad asked about it the day after I gave it away, and I pretended to not want to give it to him. Between my dad and the ex, I would have given it to my dad in a heartbeat because he was going abroad, and I didn't know when I would see him again. I love him to bits.

I think that's all I could think about right now. I've been writing for three hours like I'm Alexander Hamilton. That's my review, go watch the show as its final season came out two days ago. If you disagree or agree with my takes, let me know 💖🫰

[serenagaywaterford]

1) Okay, I'm late (bc rl sucks), but I'm back and I'll gradually address everything. "Also do not feel any pressure to respond to my multiple essays! I understand completely!"The same goes to you, bc I feel like I'm bothering you too much. That being said, I truly enjoy talking to you. Not only you offer fresh/perceptive insights into the characters' minds (which made me a. reconsider scenes and motives, b. wanna rewatch S1 --some scenes you're commenting on are SO fuzzy in my head-- mind you,

2) 2) I’m already rereading the book), but you also provide such hilarious, sarcastic lines (some of them are absolute killers).

3) personalities” I know you have an inkling of who’s who. :D But damn, that ‘lesbianing’ bit had me giggling. Kudos, fellow anon. Since we’re on the subject, I have another question about your fic (if you don’t mind): is it post s2 or s1/s2 canon divergent? b) “Add horrid fangirls to that and it’s a big ass no lol.” Ugh. Fandom smh manages to sour my opinion of characters/ships/series I personally like. Especially when fans start pestering the creators to cater to their whims or harass actors

4) or start ship wars. Double ugh. c) “So, that’s the Mass Effect connection!” Two more similarities: i. Mass Effect’s Miranda Lawson got a lot of fandom hate back then (even though she was a famous character), just like Serena. ii. She has a back-and-forth, bickering (hateful but not THAT complex) relationship with another female character. d) “I have seen Westworld! Well, okay, just the first season. I got too tired/confused to get past the 2nd season premiere.” Oh, sorry. I shouldn’t have

5) assumed. Believe me when I say it’s a good thing you stopped watching when you did. The overall quality of the series remained pretty much the same (e.g. acting, cinematography, direction), but, oh boy, some new plot twists (which I usually like) are SO OVER THE TOP in order to impress (?) the audience. It’s reached a point where some characters are unrecognizable, bc they’re servants to the plot. Maeve has a lot bigger arc in S2 and Newton is thriving (imo, S2!Maeve >> S1!Maeve), but so is

6) Strahovski/Serena. :D e) “don’t go around bitching at people who say shitty things or stuff I don’t agree with, or blocking anybody who doesn’t like her."Ah, another thing we have in common. There were times I’ve been blocked by fandom people (with beautiful edits) that I NEVER interacted with (except for maybe reblogging from each other). That’s not me complaining. Like I said, each to their own.I just find this phenomenon funny at times. Story time. Once, an out of nowhere anon (whose msg I

7) didn’t publish, bc drama is SO not my thing) said they’d block me, bc of an uploaded gifset for a canon pairing (which wasn’t to their taste apparently) that was tagged as #[series]edit (although the ship!portmanteau was right there, too, so that people could easily block it). I remember being like: "Okay. Good for you, anon!” LOL. f) “I dunno if you see spoilers but there’s one about them.) She needs therapy so much more than a cutesy feelgood storyline.” I did NOT actually, but feel free to8) enlighten me.

——–

I am sort of back! (RL does get in the way of incredibly lengthy essays about fictional TV shows!) NO APOLOGIES NECESSARY!! I am just so happy I get to read all these excellent thoughts, analyses, and feelings you have! (and that we clearly share lol, including the sheer amusement of your writing!). I really want to write more at the mo but my hands are doing that weird old lady thing where you can see the veins popping out and it makes me v uncomfortable to look at. Especially since I have little baby hands. I hate it.

Ok, I’m now kneeling on the floor and the computer is on the kitchen island. This is better. I cannot see the top of my hands. 

SO. Where was I? OW. my kneeeessss. This is a bad idea.

I’m so lost. Fic question. right. It’s post-S2. Like… quite post-S2. I didn’t even deal with HOW or WHY June is back in the Waterford’s house tbh cos I can’t be bothered to sort that out. (Thanks, show.) So, it just assumes that for some reason, she’s back. Which, if the BTS pics/video is to be believed, that’s the case anyway. 

Fangirls (and boys ofc) ruin so much for me. Even if I like the same thing initially. Ugh. Then sometimes they’ll annoy me so much that I end up liking the complete opposite of what they like. Dunno why.

No worries about Westworld! It’s a reasonable assumption! Please don’t apologise, my friend. I do agree that Thandie was very good in S1. IIRC, her character was my fav (other than Clementine lol). Yvonne S2 was just next level shit to me. Like, what you’re saying makes me wanna give S2 WW another shot but when shows get overcomplicated, they’re not much fun anymore when I’m like “BUT WHAT IS HAPPENING LOL”. 

>> “There were times I’ve been blocked by fandom people (with beautiful edits) that I NEVER interacted with (except for maybe reblogging from each other)”

EXACT SAME. It was actually in THT fandom most recently lol. Like, I reblogged one of their pretty edits once. Ever. I didn’t even say anything snarky or bitchy or rude in tags. I don’t think I added any commentary at all. Next thing I know? BLOCKED. Never interacted with them in any way whatsoever. (Typical N/J fangirl lol.) It’s the strangest behaviour and it’s that kind of thing that sours me towards sects of fangirls, and sometimes even the characters they like. Maybe that’s just petty but I think it actually just reinforces pre-existing feelings I had towards the character or pairing.) The only blogs I block are ones that are gross, RP, or spam. (RP blogs is a long history of them stealing and spamming and adding awful commentary to my posts way back in the day, so I just… block em. lol.)

>> “they’d block me, bc of an uploaded gifset for a canon pairing (which wasn’t to their taste apparently) that was tagged as #[series]edit (although the ship!portmanteau was right there, too, so that people could easily block it). I remember being like: “Okay. Good for you, anon!” LOL.”

Oh. My… WHAT. There’s a very odd sense of entitlement here that seems so peculiar to me. Like, that’s what the blacklisting feature is for? I’ve put every version of my most despised pairings, characters, etc. and it works? Very rarely does it miss on. I guess we’re just dramaphobic, mature old fandom farts. Like, “Kids, let me sit you down and tell you about this site before you could block things. Before even XKit was invented…” Not to mention every other website ever lol.

HOLY GROSS… I just got up and a centipede fell off me!! WHYYYYYY. THIS IS WHY I DON’T SIT ON THE FLOOR. (we live near the beach/woods so we get lots of bugs no matter how clean we are…) no more painful kneeling for me i guess…

OKAY. Spoilers. It’s not much but other than the June in Martha costume (which was shown in the teaser Superbowl trailer anyway by now)… there were set pics of Emily, Sylvia, Nicole, and Luke all happy and smiling. IIRC. I can’t find the post anymore. So it may not have been in character. But I dunno… it all seems… too easy? Like, I’m glad Emily is safe but omg. She’d better not be all hunky dory “I stabbed a lady and threw her down the stairs, murdered another, and ran a dude over with a stolen car, but now I’m Canada, I’m all healed!” (Not including the heart attack/crotch kicking here cos that was fair play to Emily. She deserved that.) Like, honestly, as much part of me was like YESSSS at all of those, still… that’s grievous bodily harm with intent to kill, flat out murder, and vehicular manslaughter. For Emily to do those things, you don’t do those crimes without being really broken and damaged. And… yeah. That doesn’t magically disappear when you hop over a border.