#immediately thought of skam when i saw that

[i-darling-amaflower]

Skam, Norway | The Eighth Sense, South Korea

[eliottdemaurys]

same energy

[drewstarkey]

blushed - r.c 🌅

- in which you finally made the move on your forever crush -

rafe + y/n

2.3k of mutual pining, tension and nervous looks

mentions of alcohol, kissing

a/n: aaaah i wrote something for the first time in ages. it is kind of slow burn for as far as that's possible for a 2.3k blurb ahaha anyways. i was inspired by this scene from skam (starting at 12:18) so if you want to watch that i highly encourage you to do so!! i also want to thank @marveloussensations for helping me out when i got stuck <333 she is an angel.

Rafe has had the biggest crush on you for ages, and you have had the biggest crush on him for ages. Yet you two have never made a move. Your friends are getting tired of the flirty remarks and tension shared between the two of you.

“Hello to you too Y/N” he smiled, snapping you out of your thoughts. “You know you can just take a picture, it’ll last longer”.

You rolled your eyes, “Oh come here, Rafe, don’t act like you didn’t miss me!” Once you hugged him you whispered in his ear “I saw the drunk dm’s on insta before you unsent them”.

His cheeks flushed pink, something you missed seeing so much. “So can we get some drinks?” Kelce asked. “Yeah, It’s getting hot out here” Topper said while looking at you and Rafe. Now it was your turn to blush. Fuck. Okay focus, this crush was over. You are not crushing on Rafe fucking Cameron anymore. Something that’s easier said than done. You gave them the drinks, and Rafe vaguely mentioned something about a party but before you could ask what he said other people on the course were calling you over.

Once you clocked out, and checked your phone you saw a message from Kelce.

Once you clocked out, and checked your phone you saw a message from Kelce.

party at rafe’s tomorrow - 19:21

pls come i will not survive without you 🥺 - 19:21

neither will rafe actually - 19:22

Parties at Tannyhill were always eventful to say the least. You texted back that you’ll think about it, knowing you will most definitely be there.

The next day your high school best friend Florence, or as everyone calls her, Flossie came over to get ready with you. The smell of make up, perfume and a dyson airwrap fill the room. Several pieces of clothing lay on the ground.

“God, I feel like I’m 16 again, getting ready for a party at Tannyhill” Flossie said while deciding between two dresses. You sat on the bed doing your hair and sighed deeply, “tell me about it”.

Flossie turned around and gave you a questioning look “what’s wrong?”. Sometimes you hated that she knew you so well.

“I mean just the whole-” you started.

Flossie gasped, “oh my god, don’t tell me you are still into him”.

You looked up at her, opening your mouth to start defending yourself before you were cut off once again.

“Stop, don’t even try to act like that’s not true” she laughed, “Jesus christ you know he’s actually into you too right? like I have literally never seen that man blush for someone else."

You smiled. Flossie was right, you knew that. This thing between you and Rafe has been going on for as long as you can remember.

“I just really don’t wanna mess up the friendship between us” you said. Once again your friend laughed “Friends don’t flirt the way you two do.”

“Whatever, just shut up and help me choose a top” you said while holding up two different ones. “Definitely the green one” Flossie smiled, she knew it was one of Rafe’s favourites.

When you were walking to the party you were happy that you went for platform loafers instead of heels. One, because you saw Flossie struggling and two because it was actually quite a cold summer evening.

You could hear the faint sound of deep bass music in the distances and the closer you got, the stronger the smell of alcohol became.

Flossie opened the familiar fence door you have walked through too many times. You were immediately welcomed by Kelce who already had a drink for the both of you in his hands. You thanked him while scanning the area. You recognized so many people you hadn’t seen in ages. Nick from math class, Sophia from art, Lucas from track.

And Rafe. Next to the beer pong table, with Allison of course. Some things never fucking change. “Hey Kelce, didn’t you say he won’t survive without me?” You got Kelce’s attention as he looked over to where you were looking. “He looks perfectly fine, if you ask me” and as you said this Allison leaned into Rafe even more. “Oh, that. That’s because he doesn’t even know you’re here yet” You downed your drink, feeling far too sober for all this.

“Okay Y/N, fuck this, let’s have some fun” Kelce grapped your arm and dragged you over towards the beer pong table. This dragging resulted you to bump into Logan. “Oh hi Y/N, long time no see” he smiled looking you up and down, “College looks good on you”.

Logan was the guy you would occasionally hook up with at parties, to forget about a certain someone. He looked good, you weren’t gonna lie. Still got the wavy brown hair and puppy eye look to him. You remembered him taller.

You laughed, “Great seeing you here too”. Kelce rolled his eyes and muttered something about you and Rafe being pathetic while leaving you with Logan.

“I actually…” you vaguely gestured to the beer pong area. “Perfect, I was looking of a pong partner” he said. Fuck it, you thought thinking of the interaction between Allison and Rafe.

Before he lead you the way, he brought your hand up to his lips and gave it a kiss, making you slap him on the chest playfully. You literally felt like you time traveled to your senior year of high school.

What you didn’t see was that Rafe saw the whole thing happening. Annoyance all over his face he pulled the girl next to him closer.

When he sees you and Logan setting up the game he wastes no time in dragging Allison over to the table.

“Looking for some opponents, Y/N?” The familiar voice made your heart skip a beat. You look up to lock eyes with the one and only Rafe Cameron. This crush was far from over.

“Always, it's not like you can beat us anyways” you cocked your head to the side. “Shouldn’t be too hard this time with your poor choice of a partner” He said, immediately blushing.

You rolled your eyes and tried to hide a smile. “I think he makes a great partner actually”. Now it was Rafe’s turn to roll his eyes.

Rafe and Allison were in the lead.

“Y/N, your top is distracting me from the cups” Rafe argued while adjusting his hat. “Good.” you said while throwing the ping pong ball with shaky hands and therefor missing the cup.

“Elbow!! Shut up Rafe, that was literally over the line” You walked over, a wave of your perfume hitting him, and adjusted his arm noticing the way he tensed his jaw and his cheeks turned pink. Your cold hands against his burning skin. “Keep it like this” You said looking up at him. He just stared at you.

The game went on like that for a while.

“Fuck off, how are you so good at this” you said while giving yet another cup to Logan. “Oh Y/N, I’m good at many things you don’t know about yet”. The alcohol was definitely getting to the both of you but still, neither of you broke the tension.

During all this Allison and Logan shared knowing looks, they've known since forever what they got involved in.

In the end, against all odds, you and Logan won. You cheered and pulled him in a tight hug, him giving you a peck on the cheek. "Congrats Y/N" Rafe said downing the last cup of beer and walking away.

Now that the game was over and you felt some alcohol coursing through your veins you told Logan you were gonna check on Flossie inside.

Making your way through the crowded hallway to the kitchen, pushing the occasional person out of the way. You knew your friends would be hanging out in there. You saw Rafe and Kelce in a somewhat heated discussion. Right next to them Topper and Flossie are making some kind of new cocktail recipe.

"So I told you just fucking ask Y/-, Kelce paused mid sentence, "Y/N, hey we were just wondering where you were." You greeted them, feeling a bit of awkward tension hanging in the air. Rafe's lips parted as if he was going to say something but before he got the chance Flossie suddenly announced "Let's do shots" while Logan, who appeared next to her, held a bottle of vodka. Kelce and Logan immediately taking theirs, Topper handed you two shots, one to give to Rafe. Flossie and Topper took the shot while linking their arms together. That inspired you.

You looked at Rafe, back to them and to Rafe again raising your eyebrows. Your fingers brushing against each other when you handed him the shot. He saw what Flossie and Topper did, raised his eyebrows while smirking and you intertwined your arms, stepping closer to each other. His cologne being the only thing you could smell. Looking at his blue eyes one last time before taking the shot. When detangling your arms, Rafes lips parted again but before he could say something Allison showed up out of no where dragging him to the dance floor, him leaving you nothing but an apologetic look.

Disappointment filling your body, you heard a "Looking for me?". Logan smiled hugging you from behind. It's like he knew. You took his hand this time and pulled him to the dancefloor.

-

Call your girlfriend by Robyn was playing. Moving in sync to the beat of the music, Logan and you got closer and closer until there was barely any space left. Trying to forget how badly you wanted him to be Rafe. Inches away from making out. In the corner of your eye you saw Rafe dancing closely with Allison, stealing glances at you. Logan's hands around your waist, your nose touching his. Trying to forget Rafe's blushed cheeks. The beat dropped, your hands in Logans neck, his lips on yours. Eyes closed. Trying to forget the tension felt during beer pong. Hands roaming your body, you pulling his hair. Trying to ignore Rafe's eyes burning in your back.

You couldn't ignore it.

With nothing but alcohol induced confidence running through your veins, you opened your eyes, looking straight at Rafe. His jaw slacked, forgetting all about the kiss with Allison. It felt like time slowed down. You swear you saw his cheeks burn crimson. She tried to continue the kiss, but he has completely lost focus. Your heart is beating out of your chest. Rafe closed his eyes and mouthed fuck.

Fuck indeed. You had no idea what possessed you to do that or what to do now. You kept dancing with Logan, Rafe kept dancing with Allison. Maybe if you both acted like nothing happened, nothing happened.

-

The party was coming to an end, most people had left at this point. You had said goodbye to Kelce, Flossie went home with Topper, which was truly unexpected. The sun was rising but you couldn't leave yet. Not without even having a proper conversation with him.

The sound of empty beer cans and movement of glass bottles was coming out of the kitchen. Footsteps on the sticky floor. You moved closer to the sound. Rafe was stood in the kitchen cleaning up, his back to you. The first sun light coming through the window. It was different to see him in the early summer sun after the dimly lit party. You observed for a bit. He was wearing a yellow coloured Ralph Lauren polo you recognised from his instagram. The hat he had been wearing earlier discarded on the kitchen counter. His usually gelled back hair was exchanged for a messier version.

"Hey Rafe" you startled him. "Jesus, can you move any quieter?". You walked towards him and emptied a few cans of opened beer in to the sink. "Why are you still here, it's literally 5 in the morning?" he asked confusion written on his face. “Couldn’t leave without talking to my favorite beer pong opponent.” You said, looking down. Rafe laughed, “Still your favourite? Didn't meet a better one in college?” You looked up at him. Close enough to see the faint freckles on the bridge of his nose. His hair golden as the pale morning sun hit him from behind. The cool blue eyes in stark contrast with his ever rosy cheeks. “Still my favourite.” You smiled. He looked down at you, tensed jaw, hand running through his hair in an pathetic attempt to put the loose strands back in place. “Good, I was getting worried I had to find a new favourite.” He dropped the empty can of beer in the sink, the sound harsh against the quiet room. "I won't ever find a new favourite." He almost whispered. You stepped closer.

Once again time moved in slow motion. You leaning in, him stepping closer. Tension so thick you could feel it from miles away. You pulling him even closer by the belt loops on his pants. A faint gasp leaving Rafe's lips. Bodies touching. Him playing with your fingers. The smell of his cologne. The sunrise coloured the room golden. Nervous eyes, blushed cheeks. Him looking at your lips. "Are you sure?" barely a whisper left his mouth.

And the tension dropped. It was as if the two of you melted together.

Your lips touched his.

tagging some mutuals/blogs i love <3 @proactivetypeofperson @bigdrewenergy @stfukie @pogueslandia @lurkymurker @barrysjumpsuit @mentalpolaroids

[anaisanais-stuff]

So, as @kosegruppie shared today in an Instagram post, the original fanfic mentioned in the SKAM season 4 script for the Evak windowsill/classroom make out scene is actually mine. So I thought I’d share a little bit about it here:)

Back in January 2017 (after SKAM season 3 ended and before the trailer for season 4 dropped), I joined a SKAM Facebook group and I’d regularly (like daily, lol) post little “scenes” in real-time like what’s Even and Isak doing right now? At some point in January/February Julie Andem joined the Facebook group, which by then had about 1000 members. Andem would once in a while comment on a thread but mostly stay low key. In start-February (I don’t remember the exact date but around 12 February), I posted a little “clip” in the group about Isak and Even making out in an empty class room between classes.

This is the original “scene” in Norwegian posted on Facebook in start-February 2017:

English translation:

When season 4 aired, I watched in real-time, and when I saw the windowsill make out scene I immediately thought that looks really familiar! The setting, the making out, the start of the dialogue (the stuff about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and “I’m thinking about our future, Even!” was improvised by Henrik and Tarjei, though <3). When the script for Season 4 was published with a note for the scene describing how it was based off a fanfic found on Facebook, I was sure - Julie Andem had read the little fic, I’d posted in the group where we were both members.

A few months later, I met Andem at a book signing for the script books in Copenhagen and she remembered me and my “fics” from the Facebook group. She gave me a copy of the Season 4 script and signed it with “For Anne, thank you for helping out with the script <3 Together we managed! Hugs Julie Andem.”

Ps. As you can see in the original little scene, I did write Even kissing Isak on the neck. So, sorry for neck action in the bloopers, Tarjei!

[shameforskam]

[press-theshift-key-unlimited]

My Marauders Fancast

Hey everyone! I think this is my first non story related post on here. I’ve just been reblogging a bunch of stories lol.

Speaking of stories, over the past month I've been reading the Harry Potter books for the first time. I honestly prefer the books to the movies, the movies were good but there’s something about the books. Like there is more lore and backstory in them and everything just feels right in a way (Hagrid did a good job writing those books).

I’m on Prisoner of Azkaban right now and I've made this marauder’s collection on tiktok with my fancast for the group, and idk I thought it would be fun to share them.

I’m going to be doing James Potter, Lily Evans, Remus Lupin, and Sirius Black. I don’t have a fancast for Peter Pettigrew so sorry about that. 

Alright let’s go!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

James Potter

First up we got Reiky de Valk as James Potter!

At first, mainly when I watched the movies, I had seen Harry as white. Because the only person I had ever really seen portray Harry Potter was Daniel Radcliffe (love him). I had seen poc Harry before and I thought he was cool but I personally saw him as white. 

And then I started to read the books and that slowly morphed the way I envisioned him. And then this man pops up on my fyp and someone is saying he’s a James Potter fancast, and immediately I knew, Harry and James are poc and no one is changing my mind.

I looked at some videos of this guy and he to me definitely seems like a good fit for James Potter.

Lily Evans

Now naturally since I found a fancast that I was actually interested in for James, I went on a search for the rest and found Karen Gillan as Lily Evans!

Not much to say about her, she's really pretty, like reaaaally pretty. And the edits I saw with people saying she was Lily was enough to convince me she is.

Remus Lupin

We have Paul Ahrens as Remus Lupin!

I found him yesterday while I was looking for a new Sirius fancast. I’ve only really seen him in Wolfstar edits, but I mean does he not look like Remus to you? He does to me.

Sirius Black

And last but not least we have Eren Güvercin as Sirius Black!

I had been looking for a new Sirius Black fanciest cause I wasn’t really feeling the old one I had and then I found him on tiktok. That’s actually how I found the fancast for Remus because both of them are on the same show! And there are edits of them.

I believe the show is called Skam. I have not watched it and don’t know it well at all but from what I saw in the comments of edits that’s where they are from.

This Sirius just makes sense to me idk why. If I were to ever read about a young Sirius I'm going to think about this one right here.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And with that, that concludes my fanciest for the Marauders!

I’m not gonna lie, last night I was very tempted to read All The Young Dudes after going on a hunt for these fancasts. But I'll just wait until I'm done with POA before I do that.

Anyways hope you enjoyed! Bye!

[moonysmovies]

afterthoughts💜 - Druck

It's time to get back to cringey German dialogue & the big yellow letters - Druck Mailin aired the first episode yesterday & I am here to share my thoughts on it.

aesthetically, this episode reminded me more of the original version, Skam, than any other Druck episode before! i thought the shots were very beautiful, especially the one with Mailin & Finn at the party - it reminded me a lot of Noora & William watching penetrator Chris in season 2 of Skam. major throwback to 16-year-old me.

speaking of Skam, i'm guilty of scrolling through the comment section while watching youtube. i thought, maybe i'd find someone also being reminded of the original skam aesthetic but i was a bit disappointed since i saw now reference at all. has anyone who watches Druck seen Skam? if so, reach out to me, i'd love to chat about it :)

i'm excited to see where the plot is going with Mailin - i liked that they showed her clearly being uncomfortable when the other girls started talking about sex, whether she might be asexual or not, i think it is generally really refreshing to see characters who are not "all about" dating or hook up culture, we see enough of it on tv already!

while i see a lot of people highly praising the actors' performances, i'm really not sure about it yet - i like the "one on one" scenes, for example Fatou & Mailin before they go to the party, but something is off about the group scenes, but that also might be because i'm really bad at enjoying german dialogue; for me as a native speaker, it just always sounds unnatural & somewhat stelted

hopefully, this season won't focus on whatever is going on between Mailin & Finn - until now, Druck (& Skam, too, but they only had 4 seasons) always told the story around a potential love interest. it would be really cool to see them moving away from that, but i probably should not have that high hopes.

i loved the football scene! i mean- was that an action scene? in Druck? it was really different to how they usually shoot the show & they did a great show in making the other players being fond of Mailin in contrast to them being like oh shit a girl is better than me in football, how come? - so yeah, thanks, Druck, loved it!

however, why did Mailin just straight up run away? she could have said something to them? things like that always take me out of a show immediately & i'm like why? why did you do this?

Mailin is literally me at any social event ever.

in general, i am looking forward to next week. fingers crossed, they might not only focus on a relationship this time. 🤞

also, if you have not seen Skam but you like Druck, oh boy do i recommend it to you!

[alexiaugustin]

But jokes aside im curious about Elliot returning and Lola's dad like hopefully it doesn't have to do with Lola having a relapse but then again why would they be there

im gonna be honest when i saw therry in the credits my first thought was "oh they're gonna hang out at lola's apartment at some time" and im still convinced that this is why he's here. but then again it's skam france so they could also have him get hit by a car in the exact same moment maya and lola are about to get back together. their lips r inches away from touching n suddenly lola gets the call and has to get to the hospital immediately. comedic AND shock value at the same time etc etc

[inmyarmswrappedin]

The good: 

Skam España set up Amira’s crush on Dani (and Dani’s crush on Amira) in s2 and, regardless of how it ends, they are following through with that storyline, instead of dropping it like a hot potato.

The bad: 

Okay, so first off I have to say I’ve never vibed with Lucas Nabor (Dani)’s acting. And by never I truly do mean never, as in the first day of Cris’ season, I found the way Lucas N played Dani in the confrontation with Cris after they get home extremely cringy. This was way before I could’ve ever dreamed that Skam España would whitewash Yousef’s character and turn him into a white character. 

So, for me, it’s not just an issue of whitewashing (which is already bad enough on a show with no meaningful male characters of color), but eskam pairing one of my favorite Skams character ever with the character I like the least for acting reasons.

But I figured eskam wouldn’t really have the audacity to whitewash a love interest and not give us a Yousef of color in another form. Just like the way we got that 5-second glimpse of Lucas Rubio hooking up with a boy named Iván in the s2 finale, so people could see the male Isak had also found an Even, or the way we got a full season of Miquel being the abusive boyfriend that Spanish viewers saw William as, but for Noorhelm fans, Alejandro still got to be Nora’s endgame. 

And so, when Sofian in the trailer was blatantly posited as a love interest, juxtaposed with shots of Dani with the same expression and filmed from the same angle, I thought, “Okay, so Amira will have an additional love interest who is actually Moroccan, and he’ll probably be around much less (like Iván in s2 and Alejandro in s3), but he’ll be the endgame.” 

Like... Never in my wildest nightmares would I have thought that Skam España would take... idefk... Lito from Skam and turn him into a full fledged character who’d play the fuck out of Amira and attempt to talk her into bearding. 

When Kasim was introduced and people immediately noticed the look between Lucas and Kasim, I thought, “no fucking way Skam España would pull an Elite.” WHEN, when has Skam España looked towards Elite for inspiration before? Not even just to “fix” Elite storylines and turn them into good storylines. Elite and Skam España have never existed in the same sphere or tried to do the same things or impacted each other.

When the spoilers came out, I thought back to the time in s3 when the same hackers said that Alejandro would hit Miquel with a bottle. At the time, I heard of the Alejandro spoilers and wondered to myself, “is this something Skam España would ever do?” And I thought nah, no way, Skam España has never been concerned with toxic masculinity or romanticized it. And I was right! 

So I did the same thing with these spoilers, and I was SO SURE that I had understood the show, that I had understood what Skam España had been trying to do all these three seasons, that Skam España was so disinterested in men as a whole that they’d never try something so complex with either Dani (a conversion storyline) or Kasim (a closeted storyline). Both of those storylines are storylines Skam España gives to GIRLS. Because men in eskam have always been more about what they symbolize for the girls, than their own entities. And I liked that! So, on that level I feel betrayed, because Skam España had been telling it was one thing for three seasons, until in s4 they decided Amira didn’t deserve the same treatment as all the other mains, where she doesn’t get to be by far the most complex character in her own season. (I’m not saying Amira isn’t complex - she is. She is the most complex Sana and the most nuanced.) 

There are a couple things that gave me a bad vibe about this season from the start: one was the fact that Kasim wasn’t introduced in episode 1. Skam España always introduces the characters that are significant for the main in episode 1, so for Kasim to not show up in episode 1, that was a sign. The other one was that Skam España gave the bonus clips to Alejandro. This is a show that refused to give Lucas bonus clips in s2, because his experience as a gay boy just wasn’t relevant to Cris. Not in the same Viri’s experience was relevant to Nora. And suddenly, Alejandro (and not Nora) gets the bonus clips in a season about Amira? Like, it was just fucking weird. It is weird as shit that a show that has always gleefully centered the female experience to the detriment of the male experience, would decide in their Muslim woc season, that it was time for the whitest, straightest, cisgenderedest, richest character on the show to be the first one to get some focus.

Because Sana seasons across the board have underperformed compared to the seasons that came before them (because of racism and islamophobia in Europe), I thought that maybe Movistar had decided to lean on the romance a bit more heavily this season, in order to make it seem more appealing. Kinda makes sense, no? We’re tired of seeing straight white girl seasons, so making Nora’s season lean a bit more on the educational side of Skam isn’t a risk. People will still tune in. But a Sana season is a bit of a harder sell, so we have to sweeten the deal with romcom tropes and all the other couples in the show making out and about to have sex, to make up for Amira not getting those scenes. I thought I could live with that.

But like, there’s adding some background fanservice from established couples and then there’s this monstrosity that leans into EVERY islamophobic Muslim trope ever (because it’s super commercial and high stakes drama and excitingggggg). Like, in Western media, Muslim men are either oppressors (abusive, strict husbands who beat their wives and are terrorists or thugs or thieves) or oppressed (closeted gay boys who resort to extreme means, such as bearding or dealing drugs, in order to stay under the radar). They never get to be the leading love interest. I have never seen a Muslim man of color on Spanish TV be the male love interest, and especially not the love interest to a Muslim woman. And Skam España will be no different.

I also hope people understand the way it undermines literally every other thing they’re trying to do with the show. Amira already explained at length both her own stance towards gay people and Islam’s stance towards gay people, in s2 and her bonus video with Lucas. if you want to be a Muslim in good standing, you can be gay as long as you don’t act on it. But you can also be a Muslim who eats pork, or a Muslim who doesn’t fast in Ramadan, or a Muslim who doesn’t pray five times a day, because ultimately it’s about every individual’s relationship with Allah. To go back on this for a homophobic Muslims storyline undoes everything they did in s2. 

It also undermines Dounia as a character. Here’s a practicing Muslim who longs for a safe space, who doesn’t want to answer questions from non Muslims, who thinks it’s better not to even open the door to a relationship with a white non Muslim, and who’s really confident in all those decisions. And if you think the show isn’t setting her up to be confronted with the fact her brother doesn’t feel safe among Muslims, who prefers questions from non Muslims over telling the truth to Muslims, who has happily opened the door to a relationship with a white non Muslim, who thinks that Dounia is a homophobe in short, and that she will be made to reexamine all her beliefs because of her brother... I just don’t know what to say to you tbh.

And also, this clip made it seem like Amira’s Muslim world wouldn’t accept her crush on Dani, undoing everything the show has done until now. Dounia didn’t disapprove when Amira told her she had a crush on a white non Muslim. She understood and shared her experience. Amira’s mother knew about her crush on Dani and never tried to stop it, nor did she discourage it when Amira told her about it. Why is Skam España suddenly acting like Amira can’t tell anyone about her budding relationship with Dani, when every anon on tumblr dot com will tell you that relationships between Muslim women and Christian men happen all the time?

And finally, it just makes me reexamine previous Skam España seasons and wonder... Did they make Amira only start wearing hijab in the first day of s1 because they knew a character like Sana wouldn’t contemplate a relationship with a white character who makes islamophobic jokes, drinks and makes out with the Sana’s friends in front of her after specifically inviting her to a party? Did they make Amira the show’s Isak’s best friend just so they could whitewash Yousef? Was the whole purpose and trajectory of Amira on the show, everything they did with her, a justification for whitewashing one of the few positive men of color on Western TV? For refusing to show a Muslim girl in a happy relationship with a Muslim boy? To only portray and devote time to Muslim poc/white atheists relationships? (Amira’s parents not withstanding.) As if the most positive outcome for a Muslim person living in Europe is to marry a white atheist. That is what Skam España did to Sana’s season, to Sana, to the balloon squad. 

[alittleemo]

I wanted to leave valentine asks in all of your inboxes but it’s late and im tired so im making an appreciation type post instead!!!! long post under the cut bc i dont want to subject yall to that lol

@shades-of-blue- faith you add so much positivity to my day and you show so much love for me and all of your other mutuals and i hope you know how lovely you are <3 i love your art series and how positively u interact w your mutuals and followers, and seeing u in my notifications reminds me that other people are interested in what im saying and it really means a lot to me so thank u, sending u all of my love <3

@lunawedlers- audrey you bring so many new movies and shows to my dash and i adore it. you are so kind and supportive of others and your talent is out of this world and it brightens my day to interact w you or even see u on my dash and u deserve the world and all of its beauty. I may have no idea still what the plot of succession is but i thought i saw Tom when i was watching Star Wars the other day and thought of u and i think thats what love is yk? (it wasnt actually him but its the thought that counts <3). i love u sm bestie, im rlly glad we’re friends <3

@12monthoctober- grace you have always been one of my fav mutuals, you show so much consideration for others and your enthusiasm for the AO3 remakes brings me so much joy and u are such a friendly, supportive, and caring force on my dash and i love u and miss u. you were one of my first mutuals and quite honestly in the early months i was on tumblr and we were mutuals were able to ground me and bring me so much joy and ive stolen so much of my music taste from skam nt and the fact we already had similar tastes rlly enhances the vibe. I love seeing u on my dash and on my Spotify bar and i hope u are doing well, i love u sm <3 

@lesbeanfatou- clara you provide such a chaotic and kind whirlwind force on my dash everyday, and your boundless love for all of your friends and followers is so wonderful to behold. literally the joy i had in u immediately following me back and interacting w me in the beginning meant the world to me and i hope u know im here for u always. your love for 1d passed on to me and now i actually follow the convo when ppl talk abt them and my sister and bestie love me for it and ive saved too many of ur reaction images to use myself so ty for that too <3 love u queen u deserve the sun and all of her stars

@coffee-and-moo- grace i literally cannot describe how much joy i get from seeing your Star Wars and marvel posts on my dash, u share and encapsulate so many of my fav interests that i feel like we were destined to be mutuals. your enthusiasm inspires me and i love seeing u on my dash and in my notes—i feel like at this point we are equally spam liking each other’s posts and i love u sm for it bc i see posts to rn specifically for u now lol. you are so lovely and sweet and i hope the world is treating u well and i love u <3

@pianoandcookiedoughlover- you’re such a lovely presence on my dash, and it means so much to me that u took time to check on me after some of my rant posts, j the feeling of knowing other people care enough to check in and your calm, rational way of looking at situations was so important to me. im so excited for skam colorado s2 and i hope you’re doing well and ily <3 (also ive taken to calling u honey in my head bc of ur profile pic color/bc u have no name displayed lol but if u would prefer smth else lmk!!)

@maade-of-stardust- val you were my first mutual and literally the rush i got from a person following me for the first time fueled me for weeks. we don’t talk a lot but i love seeing u on my dash and your fics are incredible and deserve so much love and attention considering all of the love you’re put into them. I hope you are doing well, there are so many people who love and care for u and i love u <3

@paint-dreamscapes-on-the-wall- iris you are such a sweet person, and i still havent forgotten how u took time to give me phoebe bridgers recommendations when i didnt expect to get any—your thoughtfulness and excellent music choices really brightened my life a lot. i happened to find skam boston in the middle of quarantine (may or June i think??), and waiting for your updates everyday grounded me and added a sense of stability to my life as i watched graciela navigate her season. u are such a lovely being and i love u a lot <3

@fakieu- aj u are so creative and your sense of humor is immaculate and you have been such a positive influence on me (that sounds weird lmao but fr your calmness and creativity have inspired me and helped me so much). skam dc was the first remake i actually listened to with music, and i j have to say literally my music taste this summer was almost entirely stolen from u, so i appreciate that a lot. I hope you’re doing well and that school isnt beating u down to much, love u <3

@womenstan and @nori-in-pink- we haven’t interacted a lot but both of u are so sweet and the support u have for your friends and the enthusiasm u have for others is so affirming and rlly helped me feel like people cared about what i had to say here. em- it meant the world to me that u actually made something out of my gif suggestions, i have lots of ideas bouncing around but actually seeing them was mind blowing and i loved them. courtney- i love the cheerfulness u bring to my dash and u are such a lovely soul and i hope u are both doing well

[bucksblr]

tagged by @leonzhng​ thanks for making me dig through my most embarrassing crushes 😭✋

i’ll tag @highwarlockkareena​ @yibobibo​ @lan-xichens​ @purplexedhuman​ @aheartfullofjolllly​ @lanzhansmiles​ @nyx4​ i feel like i tag you guys in everything i am so sorry please ignore this if u don’t wanna do it !!

putting this under a read more for reasons

MEN 2010 – 2016

literally nothing more embarrassing than falling on the same type of white man over and over again (with the exception of minho from shinee bless his heart)

tommy joe ratliff → he was the bass player for adam lambert during his glamnation era (think of songs like for your entertainment and if i had you) idk why exactly i liked him so much but i just did.... however i searched him up again quite recently and found out he’s one of those republicans that says the dumbest shit on twitter so Big Yikes

harry styles → “baby you light up my world like nobody else, the way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed, and when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell...” and BOOM 13-year-old me was sold for well over two years

louis tomlinson → basically i liked harry most until around 2013 when for some reason i started to like him a little less, and i got more focused on louis tomlinson, and although i didn’t like one direction anymore louis tomlinson always had a special place in my heart

ashton irwin → so ashton is 5sos’ drummer, i discovered 5sos through one direction & i stanned them until late 2014

harries twins → the harries twins (jack & finn) are basically the reason i started spending a lot of time on youtube, they were funny and pretty and they just had good videos in general, so for almost two years i’d watch their content regularly

choi minho → my first steps into kpop happened bc i was watching videos on youtube (most probably the harries twins) and suddenly i saw the sherlock mv in my recommended videos so i clicked on it and then 14-year-old me proceeded to fall for minho like an idiot

brooks twins → still youtubers, the brooks twins were 3/5 of the janoskians (jai & luke brooks, beau brooks, daniel sahyounie, & james yammouni), an australian youtube comedy group that was active from 2011-2018 though i was only around from 2012-2014 (when jai brooks was dating ariana grande)

jc caylen → surprise! another youtuber! jc caylen was part of o2l (our2ndlife) a youtube collaboration channel on which each of the 6 members posted videos on a certain day in the week (mondays with connor, tuesdays with ricky, wednesdays with sam, thursdays with jc, fridays with trevi (my 2nd favorite member bc she participated on the x factor), saturdays with ricardo, and then they had surprise sundays every week) and i remember how much joy jc & the others always brought me with their silly videos

misha collins → up next, you might know him as the gay angel that was sent to superhell after confessing his love to the homophobic hunter on supernatural, it’s misha collins! basically misha was a huge source of comfort for me, and i even went around calling myself emmisha for almost two full years (cringe)

henrik holm → he played even bech naesheim in skam and my crush on him reached that level of ridiculousness where i actually tried my hand at learning norwegian (i can only remember how to introduce myself and some curse words i would make a great first impression on him)

MEN 2016 – 2021

min yoongi → okay so my baby steps into kpop happened through shinee’s sherlock, but i only got really invested when yoongi dropped agust d 1 because Holy Fuck y’know??

kim namjoon → oh man i remember thinking namjoon was cute and a very good leader and then BAM he dressed like THAT at the 2016 mma’s and i fell in love. hard

park seojoon → i started liking park seojoon whilst i was watching hwarang (you guessed it, i watched it bc of taehyung), although he wasn’t my favorite character by far, but he was very silly off camera & i liked that (i’m not that into him anymore tho </3)

kim seokjin → OH BOY LET ME TELL U i liked seokjin from the very beginning (i got to know bts in late 2014) and i always liked seeing him perform and be himself and god once i realized i had a crush on him it just hit me like a mf truck, and he’s still one of my favorite people to this day

jung hoseok → god fake love era hoseok really hits different.... also yes i know i have all of bts’ hyung line on my list BUT bts was a really big part of my life for almost 6 years soooo honestly they deserve it i still think they’re great guys

choi san → when ateez made their debut in 2018 i immediately fell in love with san, he was such an amazing dancer and he captivated me right from the very beginning, to this day he’s still my bias in ateez uwu

xiao zhan → AND THEN, OCTOBER OF 2019 HAPPENS AND I WATCH CQL AND... i fall in love with xiao zhan, something i’d never expected would happen bc when i watched cql for the first time i wasn’t as invested in the story, but i really really really liked xiao zhan and one thing led to another and now here i am as a xfx

wang yibo → the thing is, i’ve known yibo since eoeo except i didn’t know cql yibo was uniq yibo (bc i’d forgotten his name) and when i looked it up i can tell you my jaw dropped to the floor bc holy shit????? also he is very silly and i love him loads ok

lee minho → ah, the man who has been my skz bias since 2018, not only is minho my bias i also kin him (there’s a lot of aspects of myself that i see in minho and vice versa) and he’s very comforting to me

bang chan → honestly, it was only a matter of time before i’d fall for bang chan, i knew the moment i got into skz again that i’d start biasing him and, well, here i am, double biasing chan & minho

WOMEN

this list is shorter bc i’ve in general always had less crushes on women than on men??? blame society forcing me into thinking i was straight for a LONG time

ariana grande → remember the 2011 layout of twitter?? where u could not only have an icon and a header, but also a background and ur twitter page was smack in the center of ur screen with the big ugly menu bar at the top??? yeah ariana grande was always my background for my l*rr* st*l*n*s*n layouts

perrie edwards → this was right around the time she was dating zayn & little mix was breaking out into the spotlight, yeah i just really loved her

andrea russett → okay so remember o2l?? andrea russett was kian’s girlfriend for a pretty long time and they always did videos together and i always thought she was super pretty

lily collins → maybe i don’t like clary in tmi all that much but i sure liked the way lily collins looked

alona tal → MY BISEXUAL AWAKENING, it’s only when i saw alona tal in spn that i realized, fuck i might be gay

park jihyo → i discovered twice (my 2nd jype group after day6) through the like ooh-ahh mv and red-haired jihyo really did something to my heart (i just rewatched it and god zombie bang chan is so mf cute)

kim jisoo → when bp made their square two comeback i was immediately smitten for red-haired jisoo in playing with fire, it’s also when i realized she was my bias out of the four members

shin ryujin → the reason that i have blue hair is partially bc of ryujin and her amazing intro in wannabe :D

xuan lu → her portrayal of jiang yanli was SO ON POINT and she’s just such a kindhearted wonderful person wow i want her hand in marriage

lee yoobin → god i’ve known dreamcatcher from back when they were still called minx and ever since i’ve always looked at dami that bit more than the rest, i was also able to see dreamcatcher live in october of 2019 and the whole experience was just so amazing !!

FICTIONAL CHARACTERS

there’s a whole lot more than just these 10 but i wanted to fit the evolution into one (1) slide as best as i could lmao

peter pan → this movie came out in 2003 (?) and he’s honestly the first fictional character i remember ever having a crush on

legolas → i was really doubting between placing haldir or legolas here but i only really got a vague haldir obsession when i was like 14

zuko → LOOK. ZUKO IN ATLA? HOT. ZUKO IN LOK? HOT EVEN IF HE’S AN OLD MAN.

will turner → man was annoying sometimes but i really liked him and his relationship with elizabeth was cute

jo harvelle → gosh i can’t believe she’s the only female character in here???? yeah she was one of my two spn faves and i’ll never forgive the screenwriters for the way they killed her off

castiel → does your fave ever get sent to super hell for being gay? no? well. mine did

kili → fili and kili’s storyline tore my heart out, spit on it, and then laughed straight in my face, KILI WAS LITERALLY MY FAVORITE DWARF

howl → i only watched this movie for the first time in 2020 so i kinda fucked up the tl cause i watched cql in 2019 but shh, anyways howl with his blonde hair was good looking but howl with his black hair just hits differently. i want a howl

lan jingyi → MY BABY BOY, TINIE LITTLE BABIE WHOMST I MUST PROTECT ok no but seriously this kid. i love him a lot

mu qing → BARK BARK. that’s all (that’s not all i love him a whole lot and it hurts me to see so many people misunderstand his character and only see the bad parts of him when they can forgive others for fucking up (eg. xie lian himself & feng xin) but bc mu qing doesn’t deal well with emotions suddenly he’s the bad guy??? i s2g if ppl are gonna do to him what they did to jiang cheng in the tgcf la i will RIOT)

[geffenrecords]

Rate the skams IMMEDIATELY :))

ohhhh i love being ur friend sometimes tenk u for listening to my bs 

n e ways.... ranking the ones ive actually seen bc i have not seen skam austin or skam netherlands cos im a loser and was here for the romance [its so embarrassing.....gnite.....]

1. og skam. LISTEN. ITS NOT THAT GOOD. ITS REALLY NOT. but its the original so im biased 🙄🙄 and i actually thought it was pretty decent. used to rewatch it daily in august wtf was i on.....also i latched onto isak so fast lord almighty......i still like it but its def not the best. but personally.....i love shitty things. the romeo and juliet refereces were so good????? like i didnt realize they were references to tht until i saw a post about it, buttttttt they were so good.....the part from isak leaving the church to him finding even....oh g*d......r*mance............also the minute by minute scene is.....so good. the dialogue at that part....”i don’t want you to lie here and feel sad” “im not sad.” YEAH. hmmm yeahhh.....also isak and even r ugly as hell and i love tht for them <3 also isaks relationship w sana....ICONIC.....druck was the closest to nailing it like that i think hehe....

2. this ones a tie between druck and wtfock. druck is not higher bc it didnt have a minute by minute scene and wtfock is not higher for the goddamn disaster that was s4. never forgiving them for that. anyway,,,, wtfock was just. good. i love the aesthetic belgium had in it. it was so pretty. robbe is still one of my favorite characters ever....i miss him so much.....i loved the way he dressed, the soft click noises he made in certain scenes, ohhh baybieeeeeeee. the scene w him and milan after he and sander got gaybashed....girl i cry. wtfock also did a really good job of outlining just how absolutely lonely and isolated and MISERABLE robbe truly was.....and also the comparison of him in ep1 to the last one.....oh my ghod......they also get points for the found family-esque dynamic zoe, milan and robbe all had [and senne kinda..] so yeah <3. ALSO. da scene of robbe finding sander in the art studio and softly Holding him and reassuring....girl im in tears. goodnight.

and druck.....oh druck <3 same w robbe, i LOVED matteo and i still do....im in love w david hes so epique.......but also same as wtfock, druck did a really good job of showing just how.....depressed matteo was? idk lucas angriest matteo saddest....the scene of him and the dude talking where he forces matteo to talk about his issues instead of letting him buy more weed....i really enjoyed that scene.....hmm yeah and also just the general vibe of druck <33. matteo and davids goofy playfighitng they did a lot....the 378347 layers.,.....i adore it.....and obvs it gets points for david being trans gener.....i got so emotional the first time i watched it sdfhsjsfs....oh to be hugged like david in the scene of the morning before he tells matteo......[sighs]..also i just liked hans?? i feel like w the eskild characters theyre either untolerable or Adore.....and i liked hans a lot, no real reason. he was just really nice, and i really liked how he handled matteo having a small crisis when david came out. thank god for you sir. matteo i love u but Bruh.

3. skam espana. women <333333 joanna prettyyyy. i really enjoyed skam espana for what it was actually!!! i really liked cris and her friends, they were super fun, and she and joana were so cute.....i have good memories of watching it too hehe <3 i remember freaking out randomly and texting lola and she Did Not Care About It.....good times.....

4. s.....skam italia..........LISTEN.......personally....i felt like martino and niccolo didnt really connect that much??? i was super zoned out when i watched it, so maybe id disagree if i went back and saw it again, but at the time....it just didnt feel like it? also martino is. the most average looking guy ive ever seen........like im sorry i actually did like martino but good god......anyway they score some pretty good points for niccolo being pretty cute w martino, the underwater kiss beign actually super lovely.....the cinnamon tography ooohhhhhhhh its stilll one of my favorite scenes ive ever seen in general <3 they do however lose points bc i cant stand filippo. he will die by my hands. also the scene where they play with puppets. it was SO bad and i want to know what the FUCK the directors were doing ❤

5. sk*m fr*nce........this may be controversial but i Do Not Care. it was just weird sex and royalty free music and strobe lights. thats it. everyone was so goddamn annoying too. mickael....oh i cannot stand him. hes dying by my hands too. and ofc lucas <3 besides being literally the most average phineas from phineas and ferb looking white twink ive ever seen he was just....goddamn. to quote myself from when i first watched it, “does this bitch ever stop crying”. remember when he cried because eliott had to go home? remember when he punched a table whe eliott told him he need time alone? remember when he didnt apologize to chloe until like the end, but instead just got mad at her for saying he was gay? and of course, remember how he decided to be misogynistic and homophobic as a Cover Up for like a day before yann shut his ass down? yeah <3. tbh, i didnt HATE lucas, hes just.....pretty unlikeable. i just love bullying him hes a piss baybie <3. i was so shocked to see people like actually really loved him i was like WH. HUH???? and i...really dont have much to say on eliott. we know like 4 things about him idk how yall got attached. my friend also told me he looks likerobert pattinson so i cant take him seriously anymore. theyre also on thin ice for having basile say he’d fuck his cousin and yann for straight up just LEAVING when lucas came out to him. he would never i hate it here. redeeming things about it? imane, arthur being hit by a car, and lucas and eliott being cute or whatever ig.....idk they were a little likeable in a few scenes ig.....i also did like the scene where eliott was like “im not always gonna be perfect ill be a bitch sometimes okay?” and lucas was like no thats okay.....speaking of which remember when eliott admitted to having a fursona and lucas was like wow.....what would i be 😍😍 and ofc eliott offering to play queen but lucas being all no thats okay 🥰😍😋 we can listen to your shitty computer music.....more points revoked for the paint scene too because i had to see lucas’s bare ass and now im in therapy

[birthdaysentiment]

The music in wtFOCK season 3 - Song #30

Zaterdag 09.41 // "Past Lives" - BØRNS

Up until this point, season 3 had been a roller-coaster of emotions, and after weeks with several ups and downs, it finally seemed like things were going in the right direction for Robbe and Sander. After spending weeks apart, they finally reunited the night before, and made a promise to each other, that it would always be the two of them in every universe. And as we learned months later, that night meant something very special to Robbe and Sander, because they consider it the beginning of their relationship, the day they chose to love each other.

That's why it came as a surprise to Robbe, that he woke up alone in his bed, without any signs of Sander. At first, he seemed a bit confused, and for a split second he wondered if last night actually happened, but he knows it was real, that they spend the whole night holding each other close, not wanting to let go, not wanting the moment to end. So, waking up without any trace of Sander, considering the nigh they had, was painful for Robbe and just when he was about to lose hope, thinking Sander had left him again, he came back, and the smile on Robbe's face was so heart-warming; he's so in love with Sander and there's no way for him to hide it.

But even though Robbe was relieved to see Sander again, he couldn't deny the emotions that emerged, when he thought Sander had left him. Because at some level, I think Robbe was a bit unsecure about their relationship and if they were going to stay together this time, and that's understandable, given everything they've been through. But Sander tries to reassure him, that he has nothing to worry about, that he won't get rid of him that easily and that everything is over between him and Britt. Maybe Robbe was doubting Sander, because he had made similar promises before, but there's something inside of Robbe, that believes Sander this time, that it's going to be the two of them from now on. And how can Robbe stay mad, when he sits in Sander's lap, while Sander looks up at him, with the most stunning eyes, making him look more beautiful than ever before.

At that point, I think Sander's words was enough for Robbe, because he didn't necessarily need a big explanation, Robbe just needed to know if Sander had meant what he said last night, that it was going to be the two of them forever. And Sander knows that feeling better than anyone, he understands the need for reassurance, because he sometimes feels the same way. He knows that he needs to erase the doubt in Robbe's mind, because for Sander there is no other option than Robbe, so he tells him, that from now on, it's just the two of them.

A sense of relief goes through Robbe's body after hearing those words, and you can see how his upper body seems to relax, while the firm expression on his face disappears as it gets replaced by a smile. Robbe closes his eyes, slowly leaning down towards Sander so their lips can collide, and everything feels intense and powerful, especially since the camera is, once again, so close to them. Because when their lips meet, it's the best feeling in the words, as it is a mixture of safety, comfort, passion, desire, love and so much more.

As they continue their passionate kiss, the music starts in the background, beginning with a high tone that blends with the soft melody of the song. It's sweet and tender, but when the melody gets higher, Sander flips them around, crawling up to lay on top of Robbe, so he can look deeply into his eyes. And at that point, the higher tones seem to come down from their peak, which creates a more mellow and loving atmosphere. Robbe is a bit surprised, but at the same time he giggles lightly, before the moment becomes more intimate and intense, as they look deeply and longing into each other's eyes.

When Sander whispers to Robbe, that he's holding him close and that he's never letting go of him, the softer melody fills the background, and it seems very fitting for the situation, that, in some way, need a deeper and more intimate feeling.  As they're lying close to each other, lips almost touching, the melody creates a calmness that surrounds them, almost resulting in a feeling of relief, but also a feeling of closeness, romance and happiness, and in that moment, it was impossible for my heart, not to skip a beat.

But what I find interesting about the song is the lyrics and the meaning behind them, which seems, not only, fitting to this clip and to Robbe and Sander, but the song could also be interpret to have a connection to the theory about parallel universes, a theory that's a huge part of season 3 in general. As Robbe and Sander deepens the kiss, making it more passionate and loving, the lyrics below can be heard in the background:

Past lives couldn't ever hold me down

Lost love is sweeter when it's finally found

I've got the strangest feelin'

This isn't our first time around

If you don't interpret the lyrics, they could indicate, that this isn't the first time Robbe and Sander kiss, or the first time they're being intimate with each other. But if you interpret the lyrics, they might indicate that Robbe and Sander have met in another life, that this isn't their first time around. However, in their current lives, they found each other, where all the time they've spend apart, only made their reunion even sweater, as we saw the night before this clip, where they finally found their way back to each other.

The artist, behind the song, talks about reincarnation, but I think the lyrics also can be seen in connection to parallel universes, because in some way, this isn't the first time Robbe and Sander have meet each other, this isn't the first time they kiss, because they're also together in other parallel universes, just with different names and looks. And I think that's the beauty about season 3, because Isak and Even's conversation about it in SKAM, actually became true, when the remakes made their own version of season 3.

Maybe I'm overanalysing, but I just remember hearing those two sentences and I immediately started thinking about parallel universes, and maybe that's why wtFOCK chose the song, to somehow acknowledge the other remakes with a very small detail. It's just interesting, that they only chose to have those lyrics in the clip, and once again I have a hard time believing it's a coincidence. But maybe the song got chosen, because it just fitted the vibe of the scene, the intensity, the intimacy and the closeness between Robbe and Sander.

The clip ends with Sander kissing down Robbe's neck, obviously having something in mind and Robbe just takes it all in; the pleasure, the enjoyment and the desire he has for Sander. And even though we had something big waiting for us, at the end of the week, it made emotional to know, that in that exact moment, Robbe and Sander were so in love with each other and just so happy to finally be together.

[flying-elliska]

Skam France Season 6 Review

It’s that time, I guess. My feelings are, like many, mixed. I think I enjoyed the season more than most people here, but the ending was a massive let down. Overall it boils down to this : Skam France is great at moments and very bad at structure. A lot of my issues with the season is what is not in it. I saw so much potential that never quite materialized, and it left me frustrated. At the same time, Lola is a really cool character, her arc is really interesting, her relationship with her sister is one of the best things they’ve ever done, and the actors killed it. Loved La Mif, discovering other sides of Eliott, the urbex backgrounds, and Maya. A lot of fascinating character moments. This is definitely my second favorite season after s3 - at times I even thought it would equal it. Sadly, though, Skam France will remain a bit of a one hit wonder for me. Because they are so good at bringing up problems in a nuanced layering way - be it addiction, grief, eating disorders, internalized ableism, racist microagressions - but when it comes to resolving what they brought up, they default towards a ‘let’s all be nice to each other, hug or kiss, love saves the day yay !’ story. Which is, when you claim to deal with real world issues, simplistic, immature, and at times quite offensive. It works for s3, which is at its core a tale of self-discovery, self-acceptance and romance. But niceness doesn’t solve racism, and family problems aren’t solved with a hug, and addiction recovery doesn’t hinge on having someone to kiss, and the series came dangerously close to implying that at times. 

All in all, this is a show that often manages to be both brilliant and terrible at the same time. At least it’s not dull. 

Positives/Negatives/Meh breakdown :

Positives :

- Sisterly love : My favorite thing without a doubt is the relationship between Lola and Daphné. Flavie and Lula killed it. Almost all the clips that made me cry were the ones with the both of them in it. At the beginning their rivalry is so relatable to me : the responsible sibling who takes on too much burdens and is too controlling and parentified vs. the problem sibling who acts out to express the issues the rest of the family are repressing - i have been in both of those spots. you can see how they slowly realize that the gap between them didn’t need to be there, that it wasn’t their fault, that it was the result of their parent’s bullshit and even shittier circumstances. seeing them make little gestures to recognize each other’s pain, to nurture each other, to give each other support, but also to tell each other some unpleasant truths, was so incredibly powerful. Relationships between sisters can be just so...complex, and loving, and petty, and jealous, and supportive, and feral, and annoying, and understanding, and ugh, they made me feel all of that and more. I have a sister, and I have a relationship like that with her, and this season gave me some very important perspectives. Really, relationships between women aren’t explored enough, and this season really did this one thing excellently and if only for that, it deserves to be watched. That moment where Lola talks to Daphné about her self destructive tendencies...so important. I am so happy that Daphné was the one finding Lola in her tower of solitude, and the moment where she says ‘you pay too much attention to what other people think, Lola’ was the emotional turning point of the season for me, because it was Daphné recognizing Lola really cared behind her mask of coldness, but also that she was hurt by that and that she needed to love herself regardless of the love her parents didn’t give her ; and also that she heard Lola saying it to her and that it inspired her too, so there is this amazing reciprocity. It was so powerful, I’m still reeling from it. And it was a beautiful full circle from the beginning of the season. 

- Family of outsiders : the urbex gang was such a wonderful new group this season. It was bound to be tricky getting us to like this new generation, and I think they did a pretty good job. Even tho I wish we got to know them a bit more, they were all intriguing and interesting on their own, and the vibes of Lamif as a whole were just so fun and lovely. Loved the neuroatypical vibes I got from Sekou and Jo. Love that they introduced a trans guy character. Loved Maya as group mom. And seeing them warm up to Lola was really sweet. The social media of them hanging out was more or less the only good social media we got this season lmao. The urbex thing was a great symbol for Lola finding a home with the outcasts, a bit on the fringe of society, and the start of acceptance, of bringing her in from the cold. Maya and Lola’s relationship fit in that really nicely, especially the bits about them talking about their shared experiences of grief, and my favorite scenes with them is showing Lola that her scars can be beautiful and that her rough experiences are part of who she is. The way she didn’t take Lola’s bullshit was great, and even tho I think their relationship was rushed, overall they really fit well together. Love Maya’s character as a concept in general, this funky purple haired lesbian environmentalist with amazing sense of style, and I really hope we see her again in upcoming seasons. And finally, I also really liked Eliott and Lola’s friendship (except for the ending) - the fact that they understand this darkness that they share, but that Eliott has succeded in climbing over it, and so he can give Lola support, understanding, guidance. I loved that we got to hear a bit more of his perspective on mental illness, the good and the bad times, that we saw his passion for movies become more real. I loved the fact that they bonded over creative things and photography, too, and that she found a safe space in the video store. And even tho it wasn’t resolved properly, the scene where he comes to get her and punches Aymeric really made me cry. Also, BASILE. Best bro in law ever. Their scenes together were so homey and warm and sweet. They will have such a good relationship in time. Overall, I really like how central friendship was in this season, shown as so powerful and important. They could have done more with it but I love a lot of what we got. I am just a sucker for found family, man.

- Lola herself : I know she was a controversial character right from the start. She’s been called manipulative, selfish, out of control, toxic. And honestly at times...maybe she was a bit. I still love her. She is just so interesting to me. The lack of compassion towards her in the fandom was seriously depressing at times, and often felt like a symptom of something I’ve seen in a lot of different fandoms, ie the capacity to only tolerate moral ambiguity when it’s attached to attractive white male characters - and to only tolerate mental illness symptoms when they can be romanticized. In the end, she’s a struggling teen from a deeply dysfunctional family who’s had a very rough life, of course she’s not going to be well adjusted. All in all, I think she’s so brave, and she is a fighter. I adored her feral energies in the trailer. I also really liked her blunt honesty at times, even if it was sometimes hurtful and excessive. I think because I have the opposite tendency to be afraid to speak my mind, I really dig a character who isn’t afraid to speak the ugly truth. Even though, again, ‘the truth’ isn’t always cut and clear, and what Lola is often doing instead is listening to ‘depression voice’ who tells her to believe the worst in people. I find that fascinating, because in my experience, yes, depression comes with this terrible lucidity that makes you see through a lot of bullshit but at the same time, is distorting your perspective because of fear and shame, and kicking that, and disentangling your perception from that fatalism, is very complicated. I loved how genuine she was, how mature too sometimes through the pain, more mature than she should have been. It was rough watching her relapse, but I think the portrayal of addiction was pretty very well done overall, not romanticized and explained in a very coherent way. I wish the show had given her a bit more of a clearer view of her inner thoughts towards the end and let her apologize a bit more. And a clearer realisation that her parent’s lack of well expressed love didn’t doom her. But...yeah Following her really made me question my own - more hidden - self destructive impulses, linked to family shit, that pushes me to sabotage and isolate myself. Like Eliott said to her - it’s really a lifelong struggle. I think overall her arc was pretty satisfying, learning to step away from the edge, letting people in, seeing that she isn’t alone, accepting she deserves better and that her failures don’t doom her. That it is about getting up and trying again. Love her using her mother’s camera and wanting to get a phoenix tattoo, a perfect symbol for her. Also Flavie was amazing, she’s got a bright future ahead.

Negatives :

- No follow up to the assault storyline : The thing that I am, without any single doubt, most mad about, is the fact they didn’t bring up the sexual assault again. Along with Charles’ rape apologism, this creates a very dubious pattern of trivializing the issue ‘as long as it’s not real rape’. The fact that the morning after immediately turns to Elu drama is what sort of started my disconnect from the season, and the fact that they don’t bring it up afterwards even once made me angry. I think Lola, before going back to the hospital, should have told someone about the abuse she endured there, and should have told someone about Aymeric, even if only to acknowledge she wants to be done with that part of her life. Aymeric is like...Lola’s biggest villain, in a sense, he is a horrible predator but he also somehow represents her worst impulses, that part of herself that tells her she doesn’t deserve better, and I think that as a character, he was interesting, and he should have been adressed/exorcised better. If Lola was a real person, of course, she would probably have to deal with this in therapy, down the line, later, but as a story, never adressing this again left it unfinished. And this is really the kind of event you NEED catharsis and resolution for. Otherwise, it’s irresponsible.

- A generally overstuffed and disjointed structure : My biggest problems with this season are about what isn’t and what isn’t it. I liked most of the clips, I don’t have an issue with them going dark, strangely enough, but the way they were put together was just...messy. Like many people have said, too much stuff not properly adressed. Palm of most annoyingly useless subplot, the whole Tiff thing. Yes, it was cool comparing her clique to Lamifex and Lola realizing she wants nothing to do with those shallow fake bitches. Sekou hacking her account to replace it with pigeons, amazing. After that though, it should have been DONE, and in general, it should have taken a lot less time and attention. Comparing Tiff’s social media addiction to Lola’s issues felt like some trivializing bullshit. The whole thing was just so annoying. It would have been good if it had led to some discussion of social inequality but like...not this shit. Char, equally useless (although, cool actress, cool style). Another MASSIVE problem is the lack of follow through on big clips. A great thing about SKAM, usually, is that it shows you the aftermath of big moments - characters lying in bed, cuddling, talk to their friends, crying in the shower, etc. It allows the viewer to breathe and really get into the character’s perspective, to be comforted and process drama, and for the emotions to resonate better, to have space to develop richly. Here...we had Lola brush off her assault, we saw nothing after Daphné got her back from the tower thinking she could have killed herself, we learned that they had money problems and the father didn’t go to work and then that was never adressed again and the light was turned back on by magic (????), we saw Eliott go on a major bender and didn’t really see how he got better, etc. Big lack of introspective clips in the latter part of the season took me out of Lola’s head. It was all stressful and breathless, all intensity and no pause like one grating high pitch note instead of music, it felt oppressive, with poor contrast, and very badly paced. It made everything blur together and feel less relevant. The problem with that is it really takes you out of the story ; it’s hard to care when you know whatever is happening might not have a resolution, and it doesn’t put you in the shoes of the character. This was compounded by how mediocre the social media was, when it is usually used to bridge in the gaps. And then to finish : the structure was so uneven, especially in the second part of the season. Towards the middle we had some very short episodes with very underwhelming endings, and Vendredis that felt like non events, and there wasn’t a lot happening - and then, bam, ep 9, drama overload, almost like misery p*rn, and then a super rushed resolution in ep 10. Like they cared more about twists and giving the opposite of what was expected instead of solid coherent narrative and rhythm. The romantic back and forth felt repetitive as hell too. All in all, it made for a very unsatisfying live watching experience, pretty sure anyone who didn’t watch live would like it a lot more. 

- The last two episodes : Really, I could have overlooked all the problems with the season if they had given us a good ending, but...they really really didn’t. And contrasted with last season, where my problems were focused on the middle, for me the ending is really the worst part of this season. I didn’t dislike the controversial club clips, I liked having the insight into Eliott’s insecurities, but they should never have brought those up if they weren’t going to let him adress them properly. Having everything go to shit in Lola’s life at once felt like overkill - they really should have solved those problems earlier, and then dealt with a few ones properly, showed us Lola freaking out on her own, and taken out the bullshit at the high school. Thierry slapping her was also too much, he could just have said these clumsy things. She could have distanced herself from Maya instead of pushing her away again. Also, they really should have had this happen in episode 8 again, and given us a proper resolution. While the tower sequence was incredibly powerful, I pretty much liked nothing after that. It was so annoying that Eliott brushed off Lola’s apology because while he wasn’t wrong that he decided to get drunk himself, she still needed to apologize and actually state that she wanted to get better so she didn’t hurt her friends, so as a resolution it was very mediocre. Thierry recognizing they should have given Lola the choice to go the hospital was a step but really not enough. And the moments with Maya were cute sure but mostly cheesy and unearned. Same for the ending clip. Mostly it’s such an unsatisfying farewell to the old generation, and it really feels like they wanted us to force to move on - didn’t want to properly recognize the end of an era, gave us almost nothing about their BAC or their future plans, etc etc. Also, letting Charles talk and having Arthur and Alexia kiss again ? SO BAD. UGH. I will be forever disappointed they didn’t give us a Multi POV or at least sth better on social media. And not having Eliott’s POV or at least a real Elu conversation (pretty much all season...) so frustrating I will never not be bitter about that. So yeah. The season started so powerfully but went out with a whimper instead of a bang. That whole ‘romantic love solves everything!!!’ shtick...very undercooked tbh. 

Meh : 

- Mayla’s development : I wanted to stan them SO BAD. Like, wlw in skam (that doesn’t turn into a panphobic mess?) YES, all the way yes. Maya and Lola had great chemistry, great dynamic. I loved their first few clips, the kind of confrontational flirting, the boldness, it was like...damn girls ! we love a non useless lesbian ! But...somewhere along the way, their relationship really suffered from the wacky plot structure. They should have shown us more bonding before we got to the angsting (esp during first urbex night). Also, their first kiss was sweet but I hated the ‘you’re my addiction’ line and that kind of put a damper on it. I liked the scenes where they open up about difficult things, the love Maya showed to Lola’s scars, the dandelion symbolism was lovely, but it wasn’t balanced enough with other stuff, and I felt Maya was way too stoic at times. And I really, really didn’t like the ending, honestly. They kept a good balance all season showing Lola wasn’t relying entirely on romantic love, that her family and friends were also important - but saying ‘i’m okay as long as you’re here’ at the end...honestly that sounds unhealthy and codependent as fuck. I really wish they’d done a more subtle, taking it slow ending for them.

- The financial issues : Again a storyline with much potential that wasn’t dealt with properly. It’s really good that we got a main that wasn’t from an economically priviledged background. Especially it felt very relevant to Daphné’s storyline, with the shame she felt at her friends seeing her place, the pressure to make it work, tying into her ED, etc etc. But cutting off the power, the father not working going nowhere...it’s like the plotline meandered and then vanished into thin air. Instead of that, they could have given us a scene of Daphné freaking out over the bills like in OG w Vilde, keeping the focus on her for that plot because she’s the most affected ; and then in the end of the season the father taking them over from her and telling her he’s found another job and that those things shouldn’t be her responsibility. That would have been relevant, instead of just...a loose end.

- Family issues : The Lecomte family dynamic seemed fascinating to me at the start. The mom being this shadowy complicated figure. The inability of the father to deal with anything. Daphné being parentified, Lola becoming the symptom child. They could have done a lot with this, but in the end, it felt like it was brushed aside too easily by saying the mom sent letters so she wasn’t too bad and Thierry is making breakfast so he’s trying. Not enough. I wanted them to let Lola acknowledge she deserved better and that their parent’s crap wasn’t on her. That her mom should have looked for help and the other two shouldn’t have pretended everything was okay. In general, there is way too much pressure to overlook toxic parent behavior and I wish they’d been clearer about this. 

- Mental health portrayal : Some parts of it were really good. Showing Daphné’s ED, letting Eliott talk about his episodes and relapses, showing some of the dark sides of depression and addiction. They just needed to show more of the recovery, because that is often the representation that they lacked the most. I don’t blame them for showing the bad sides of the mental healhcare system (which is terribly outdated and dysfunctional in France, I’m speaking from experience) but they should have shown the good too. Like do they find recovery boring or something ? Because as a person w MI, that’s actually what I’m dying to see, and they’ve been a real letdown in that department. I also think they should have acknowledged that the Lecomte family has mental issues as a whole, that the mother should have gotten help, and the father probably needs it too (still think they should have gone to therapy as a group lol).

- Elu and Eliott’s development : Honestly, not a big fan of how they wrote Lucas in s5&s6, in a lot of clips he was the angry guy with a temper, I miss s4 Lucas who was so compassionate and showed real growth and emotional intelligence. Here it just felt like they were fitting his character to plot needs, and it’s so sad for a character who had such an amazing story development. Now, I loved the glimpses of domestic Elu we got, how Axel and Maxence really showed the intimacy that had grown between them, they really felt married with all the nonverbal conversations and touches, that was sweet. But it’s so annoying that they hinted at Lucas’s insecurities and Eliott’s lack of communications and just brushed it away with ‘oh they love each other they will be okay’ sure bitch but then show us how ? that’s the interesting stuff ? it really feels sometimes like the writer(s) didn’t like how strongly the fans focused on the romance when they wanted to be talking about MATURE dark stuff not that frilly fluffy romance shit *eyeroll* male writers who think they’re above that stuff is so annoying as is the conflating of dark and mature - anyway. Again I liked seeing Eliott in his element this season, he is really thriving, with his movie and the video store, and that made me very happy. I don’t think it’s unrealistic he didn’t make a lot of friends in uni - French university can be so isolating, there isn’t a campus or a vibrant social life like in the US, it’s a very common experience to feel lost and isolated for newbies and it was also my case - but ? Sofiane ? Idriss ??? They could have found a better excuse to implicate Lamifex in the movie making tbh, like Jo egging him on about her passion for directing or whatever, and Sofiane could have been there chilling with them it would have been so cool. I just wish Eliott would have had more of an arc like Daphné did. It wouldn’t have taken much, and since he is my favorite character, I will never not be disappointed at all the wasted potential. 

Yeah so in the end i think this was a very good story they didn’t entirely give themselves the right storytelling tools to tell. Like there is something in the way they prioritize certain moments over others that...I just find very frustrating and weird. So...flawed, but still very interesting overall.

[skammovistarplus]

Let me tell you a story.

When a production company is interested in buying the rights to adapt SKAM, they are invited to come to Oslo for a workshop. In this workshop they are told how SKAM came to be, about the research Julie Andem conducted for six months, about casting unknown actors and adjusting the characters to fit them, about the lack of promotion. 

They are told that Eva’s season was watched by 8000 viewers (in a country of 5 million), and that Noora’s season was an unprecedented success, with 1 out of 5 Norwegians tuning in for Noora and William. They’re told about #williammåsvare and about teachers having to reschedule exams because a clip had dropped or it was an important Fredag.

These are some of the things the remake teams learn about Noora’s season before they’ve even signed a contract.

Movistar+ was ready to produce a remake based not so much on the original Norwegian series, but following the steps taken when creating SKAM. The research, the unknown actors, the lack of promotion (remember how the actors couldn’t even post to their instagrams until season 2? And how that was supposed to last two years?). So, to that end, they conducted research among local teens and found that they would have to make some adjustments to SKAM.

And so began a second research campaign in which they contacted fans of SKAM to find out whether they’d be amenable to certain changes. And what happened is that Begoña Álvarez walked into a room of SKAM fans and told them she’d watched SKAM and had loved it immediately. She loved everything about it. She completely understood why they were all so obsessed with SKAM because she felt the same way. She asked them, is there anything about SKAM that you feel doesn’t fit Spanish teens?

And these fans, who had been selected at random and not because of allegiance to one ship or another, told them that noorhelm was awful. That if a guy who had done what William did to Vilde started courting one of their friends, they wouldn’t think it was cute or funny, like Eva seemed to think. They wouldn’t tell Noora to give William the benefit of the doubt after they saw him break a bottle on someone’s head, like Sana did. They would be worried, and they would do their best to talk their friend out of such a relationship. There were noorhelm fans in that group who agreed that they didn’t like some of the things that happened between them.

According to a person who was in that first group, Begoña Álvarez was absolutely taken aback. Because remember, the production companies are told that noorhelm was immensely successful, it made SKAM a household name in Norway. So no, she didn’t expect that response nor was she looking for it. 

There were other meetings held in Madrid, Barcelona and through Skype, and over and over, the feedback that the team consistently got was that noorhelm was toxic, noorhelm was unhealthy, and that people wouldn’t like to see their friends date someone like William. 

And I’ve waited to tell this story, because the very first thing a SKAM España fan account said about the director (whose name he didn’t even know) was that she hated noorhelm, she thought it was abusive and she wanted to get rid of it. This is not true. Begoña Álvarez loved SKAM exactly the way it was. She just learned, both through her research with local teens and with local SKAM fans, that she had to adjust the story to meet demands. Just like the team did with Isak and Cris.

Was this the season I was expecting when the trailers dropped? I can say it was not. But do I think the SKAM España team is commendable for taking a risk in creating a season that incorporated the feedback they received, even knowing it was going to make them unpopular with many? Hell yes. 

[evakuality]

Druck s5, episode 3 - belated thoughts

I really like the dynamic of this first clip - it’s such a nice combination of awkward confessions and getting to know each other and also of the fact that they just accept each other.  Nora’s not sidelined at all for not enjoying drinking (which says a lot about her old ‘friends’ and how they must have treated her when she didn’t drink around them either), and Fatou is readily accepted when she says says she likes women.  Even Mailin’s confession that she didn’t want to seem clingy is just taken as it is.  It all sets a nice groundwork for this group.

Again, I know everyone’s said it before but it truly is fascinating just how much Nora is affected by how people perceive her.  We’ve seen it in previous episodes, but we’re also seeing it in the dance clip.  When people see and judge her, she feels awkward and ill at ease and messes stuff up.  But when she feels comfortable and accepted then things go better for her.  In this case, it’s Zoe who sets this off and I do think a lot of this is connected to family.  She hides a lot behind her facade to protect both herself and her mother from judgement.  She was quite taken aback in the first clip that no-one judged her, and it’s obvious that Zoe taking part in the antics of her friend group bothered her a lot.  There are obvious things there - Zoe getting drunk must bring up fears around if she’ll be like their mother, for example, but she really does try to hide anything about her that’s not perfect and her facade cracks in the moments when things don’t quite go right - when Constantin confronts her at Zoe’s party, when he pushes her over running, when she messes up the dance here.  She always recovers and kind of blusters her way through things or covers them up, but it’s interesting that these cracks start to appear.  I do wonder how much of her mental health stuff she has dealt with by brute forcing her way through the moments.  Even the cinematography here does the same thing - slightly out of focus as it has been in other moments and other times when things aren’t perfect.  The slight offsetting of her from perfect clarity is already happening even if she’s not aware of why.

I find the next clip quite.... hmmmm.  Zoe getting on Nora’s back about their mother seems really unkind and hypocritical when a) she herself drinks fairly heavily and often and b) has clearly made the decision to stay away and so she has no say at all in how Nora gets through her time.  That Zoe (and Kiki, apparently) has had enough with their mother and won’t give her another chance is fine.  But that she judges Nora for it is really harsh - Nora is still in the situation and she’s trying to get through it in any way she can.  But ‘why can’t you tell me the truth’ is really interesting because it shows however hard Nora works to pretend things are fine (and she does work very hard at it), things are starting to slip.  But also - how can she tell Zoe the truth, when the truth makes her angry and aggressive and unwilling to be back at the family home?  For Nora, who we already saw needing connection and contact, telling the truth makes Zoe leave and stay away.  Why would she willingly risk that?  You can see how much ‘we’re not a family’ hurts her, so it makes sense that she’d double down and try to paper over the cracks.  Family/connection/togetherness is important to her and here Zoe is trying to tear that all down.  The family know it’s important to her as well, witness how careful they were about how and when to tell her that Kiki was leaving.  So Zoe must know that what she’s saying is going to hurt Nora.  And again, it’s when she loses the connection she really wants that Nora starts to dissociate again.  

In many ways it feels like the clips with Nora and her new friends are a bit ‘filler’-esque, in that they don’t progress most of the plotlines much (this one is some discussion of the money raising, playing around with mystery guy stuff and that’s about it).  But that’s part of their charm - that we get to see this group of people coalesce into something effective.  It’s a nice way to introduce the dynamics between them (we do see their characters all sharpening as they get more comfortable with each other), and it’s like life where small moments are just as important as big ones.  Obviously it does serve a plot purpose (we do need to learn these new characters) but it’s an organic way of doing it.  Skam was always very good at the little moments which built character and I think it’s something Druck has managed to transfer effectively into their own world.  

It’s interesting that Nora is quite defensive when she comes to the roof in the next clip.  Before this we’ve seen her chase a random guy there without fear and she’s been back more than once without worry that he’s going to hurt her.  I guess the thought put into her head that this could be Constantin taking revenge has shaken her.  But it’s nice that as soon as she knows it’s Josh she goes back to being super chill about meeting someone she doesn’t really know that well.  She’s just really not afraid of much at all.  Part of me wonders how much of that is her personality and how much is that she’s already starting to slip and not feeling fear is a sign of all that stuff.  Still.  This little thing they have is really sweet, and what I find most interesting about this is how little we knew of him before this.  He’s been in a few scenes but Nora (and so by extension us) hasn’t really paid that much attention to him.  It’s nice that despite this, that she’s sort of immediately intrigued by him, but it was kind of inevitable considering that she wants connection and he’s been playing into that and offering something ongoing and stable through the stickers even before they met here.  And yet... here she still is with the lies again.  It’s second nature to pull on that face and protect herself and just like with everyone else it’s not a healthy long-term strategy.  

And yet again we see that she’s slightly out of focus for a lot of the end of this clip.  The amount of times that’s been happening, both deliberately (as in the end of the clip with Zoe and her mother) and more subtly like in the dancing scene or here when she’s rushing to help her mother, is getting more frequent and I really like that there’s a lot of stuff hinting at where this is all going.  None of the later stuff comes out of nowhere.