#skamfr analysis

[eliottdemaurys]

i love how alexia brought back the “you can’t choose who you fall in love with” quote from season 3. obviously it can be connected to sexuality, but this season she also reminded us that while we can’t choose who we fall in love with, we can choose to put ourselves first and never settle for less than what we deserve

[lucasnapaspeur]

okay analysis time on todays clip !! 

this scene was so hard to watch but so well done and i think there's three important aspects that make this scene so intense

personally, i think one of the best changes to the scene was the conversation between lucas & yann. I really liked how yann not only noticed that something was wrong with lucas, but took the initiative to confront him about it. even after lucas said that everything was fine, yann knew he was lying, and conforted him and told him that he’s there for him. this was a really sweet moment and i think this is gonna be really important for lucas next week. he’s gonna remember that yann wants to be there for him and support him and help him through whatever he’s going through. i think this convo is gonna make it maybe a bit easier for lucas to come out to yann.

secondly, the confronting chloe scene was hardcore. like hard to watch. personally i felt bad for both chloe and lucas in the moment because we know that lucas used her and treated her like garbage, but we also know how much he’s struggling internally. but goddamn, when she literally yells out that lucas is gay, it feels like the world stops. unlike in the og, where emma more so said just to isak that she knew about him, here chloe YELLED out the fact that he’s gay. then the camera just pans to lucas looking around, knowing that people heard her, and you see people staring at him like he’s an alien. its so hard to watch but here we know, shit’s about to go down.

but most of all, the last minute and a half of lucas. WOW. axel’s acting is SUPERB. you can just feel the frustration, anger and hurt that lucas’ experiencing. my god the way lucas just punches the wall (or fence) its so intense. he just drops the floor and breaks down and god my heart broke. those last few moments of lucas just looking forward and not saying a word. it tore my heart to pieces. you can just tell everything thats going through his mind. his friends are angry with him, he lost eliott, everyones gonna find out he’s gay, and thinks are bad at home. wow. axel just delivers this superbly and you really feel the characters pain. this is definitely if not the best moment of axel’s acting so far. SO GOOD.

overall, i love this scene. i think it was really well done, so full of emotion and really made you feel the pain and anger that lucas’ experiencing. bravo skam france.

[nicolasnelson]

Anxiety/paranoia is a tricky beast. Lucas naturally felt betrayed after Eliott went back to his girlfriend, but he didn’t go and punch Eliott. His first reaction wasn’t to be mad at Eliott. He was angry, yes, but he took it out on his friends and then himself.

Lucas believes in his heart that he and Eliott shared something special. At first he thinks Eliott was scared (after the text message), but once he sees Eliott with Lucille again, the blame actually shifts to himself and not Eliott. He starts to feel that he read the situation wrong. Maybe Eliott didn’t feel the same way he did. Maybe Eliott just wanted to experiment. Maybe Lucas did something wrong to make him leave. Maybe Eliott lied about never taking Lucille into the park, or maybe that’s where he takes all the guys he wants to hook up with. Maybe Eliott lied about breaking up with Lucille. Maybe they stayed together and Eliott only told him they broke up so he could mess around with Lucas.

All these thoughts run through his head over the whole weekend, and he wants to be like “no, this is stupid. i know eliott. he wouldn’t do that. this is just anxiety talking,” but the more he thinks on it, the more he starts to worry it’s true. And Lucas feels like the world’s biggest fool. He let this boy into his life, risked it all, and now Chloe outed him at the party. He feels like it’s all his fault. He trusted Eliott. Heck, he even trusted Chloe, even though he was using her. Cute, sweet Chloe. He didn’t consider that she would be capable of doing something so ugly, and he feels so stupid for not worrying enough about it before.

He was reminded of how terrible people can be. Chloe just makes it all worse, because she confirms the fears he had about what someone would do if they learned he wasn’t straight. Suddenly he feels like if he was wrong about Chloe, maybe he’s wrong about everyone else. So his friends, Alex, and Eliott himself appear in his mind as potential enemies.

It isn’t a conscious thought he has, that oh, these friends of mine are actually bad people. It’s a reflection on himself and his poor judgment. Both Chloe and Eliott triggered these fears that have been lingering in the back of his mind to come to the forefront and now he’s having trouble distinguishing between reality and the fiction of his paranoid thoughts. Because some of it was justified. Chloe found out he was gay and was nasty to him about it, so why shouldn’t the others act that way too?

He’s afraid. He doesn’t believe Eliott would treat him this way, but Eliott’s actions do not add up in his head. So Eliott must have lied, and Lucas must be the idiot who fell for him. Maybe Lucas doesn’t get Eliott in any of the parallel universes. 

[tophatdizzee]

i think the reason why arthur told his friends about his “sudden” hearing loss is because he truly believed that it would pass and that everything would be like before. he didn’t tell them he lost hearing in his left ear 2+ years ago and he keeps acting like things are getting better when they are not (telling basile his hearing is improving when he’s actually just using the app...) yes arthur tried to communicate but he’ll only be more closed off from now on because things aren’t going as planned

[lallemanting]

theories on what's up with daphne: go

ooh okay so nothing you probably haven’t heard before but I’d bet it’s something going on with her family, probably her mom (like we saw in og with vilde) that would make it so she has to not only take care of herself but also take on other responsibilities that a kid shouldn’t have to. im assuming that whatever’s going on has escalated since she got that voice message at the end of s4 so she’s probably been dealing with that on top of having to face the end of high school, so I’d imagine she’s under a lot of pressure (mostly from herself)

the thing with the vildes (and with daphné now) is that they’re really good at constructing this exterior of bubbly perfectionism. they spend so much time exercising control over their lives (we see that too with the eating disorder stuff as well which no remake has managed to handle properly for me) that I think stems from a lack of control in most other parts of their life. we see it in early seasons: daphné really wants charles because he’s the “perfect”/“popular” guy and it fits the narrative of the life she’s trying desperately to create. even the control she exerts over loosing her virginity, the extreme planning, the way it fits into her ideal narrative plays into this as well.

that’s all to say that I think something’s happened (maybe her mom has gotten worse) that has made her control slip and she’s spiraling. she’s supposed to be thinking about her future, the way to play out this plan she’s been building for YEARS but instead of being able to focus on that like her friends, she’s having to spend most of her time dealing with this problem so her facade is slipping. that and she’s clearly not told anyone what’s been going on (it seems like even basile is in the dark), so she’s stopped herself from having a support system and an outlet for whatever she’s going through.

anyway, I’ve always had complicated feelings about the vildes because I think sometimes they can be written as ignorant in a way that comes off cruel, and often are not given the chance to redeem themselves. but I think there’s a lot of complicated pieces here having to do with someone who’s so afraid of not being the person people think she is, who’s so afraid of losing control that it can spiral out in ways that are unhealthy and damaging and should be explored.

sooo...daphné season when?

[halfhiddenmermaid]

the moment lucas gently lifts eliott’s face up is soaked in utmost tenderness. it’s not the same full of passion drunk in love gaze he focused on eliott a week ago. it’s the look full of relief, warmth, concern, faith, devotion, intent, fondness, will to take care of, and to be brave for both of them. 

[flying-elliska]

The transformation of Lucas Lallemant pt 1 : Hell Week.

Skam OG S3  can be more or less divided in three acts, and this is even more obvious in Skam France, which has a more...dramatic style of storytelling, let’s say. Act I : Lucas meets Eliott, struggles with his internalized homophobia, develops feelings, ends with Eliott’s apparent betrayal. Act II : Lucas is isolated, struggles, finally comes out to his friends and to the world, Eliott and Lucas reunite. Act III is what’s yet to come, the revelation of Eliott’s MI, possibly elements related to Lucas’ parents and religion, and the resolution. 

I want to take a look at Act II as a unit and the essential character developpment that takes place within it, starting from the disastrous party scene at the end of Vendredi 19h21 and ending with the paint scene in Vendredi 18h34, because this is really where we can see Lucas’s arc pivot, as he is left alone to confront himself, and the nuance with which it was done is incredible in terms of storytelling. 

Fair warning, it’s going to be a long one. 

Vendredi 19h21 : Fête de trop 

It has been pointed out by many that, whereas Isak and Martino punched into bushes and garbage cans during this scene, Lucas hurts himself until his knuckles are bloody. He’s angry at the world for sure, getting in a fight with his friends, but it’s ultimately himself he blames - for having feelings, for caring, for thinking he had a chance with Eliott, for being attracted to a boy, for wanting a family that supports him, for wanting to be loved. Chloe possibly outing him by yelling Lucas is gay in a crowd, Arthur joking about his family, Eliott kissing a girl - it brings all his worst pains and fears to a head, and things he’s been repressing for the longest time just boil over, in the shape of rage and inarticulate despair. He punches his hand into the wall because he cannot speak, cannot think, cannot do anything else. It’s violence and self-harm as a symptom of powerlessness. The look on his face at the end I read as him being totally overwhelmed.

 In the background the song talks about partying to pretend to be alright - but emptiness and chaos catch on eventually. It’s ironic in a sense because the singer is talking about glitter and kissing boys in public, things Lucas very much shies away from, but in the end the result is the same, loneliness and alienation. The association of the two brings up very old themes in queer culture, specifically things gay men have had to deal with - feeling adrift, disconnected from family and people and feelings, internalized hatred, self-harm, feeling like you have nowhere to go, putting on a happy face even when you’re spiralling out, partying as a substitute for connection, and what happens when the facade breaks. At the same time, the drop after excess can have a revelatory effect. 

Even if it’s painful, this scene is necessary and kickstarts the part of his journey where he is facing his fears on his own. The hurt is a recognition of what is happening to him and how important it is. 

Lundi 08h52 : Scared but doing it anyway

That's the definition of courage.  With his bandaged hand and the slow opening, as he puts his hoodie up, he looks like a boxer stepping into the ring. Lighting is at its most overcast, blue-tinted, dark and depressing. This clip is heartbreaking, bringing Lucas's worst fears to the light. Being mocked and ostracized, turned into a vulgar joke, having been played for a fool. 

Fear number one. He sees his friends laughing at him. Lucas is a character with huge abandonment issues, understandably. As his familial situation went sideways and his sense of self was put in turmoil, he’s relied on the normalcy of his friendgroup to keep him afloat, going to great lengths to preserve their view of him - even declaring love to a girl he feels nothing for. Them laughing would feel like the ground disappearing under his feet. 

Fear number two. We can see Alex mimicking a blowjob. Through his rant to Mika about dick shaped confetti or his reaction to “Krindr” dick picks, we can see that he seems to be uneasy when it comes to the overly sexual way the gay community is often presented. And homophobic jokes and behavior tends to be overly sexual too, reducing gayness to a series of sexual acts presented as disgusting, instead of the whole love, identity and culture aspects (not that there is anything wrong with gay sexuality in itself, but when it’s reduced to only that, it would be understandable he has issues with it, especially for a teenager who’s just discovering things, belying the cliché that all men are naturally horndogs.) He's afraid of his intimate feelings and process of discovery becoming a vulgar joke, that’s very understandable. 

Fear number three. Eliott looking at him smugly. Basically confirming that he’s a player,  that this very special connection they had, something that allowed Lucas to open up and be vulnerable and artistic and bold, and muse about alternate universes and play the piano and feel comfortable enough to be happy kissing another boy - was a lie. Eliott doesn’t care and now he’s able to be on the side of the bullies because to him - like the cliché “bisexuality” Lucas had in mind talking to the girls - his attraction to boys is just a fun side piece, he can just go back to his girlfriend afterwards, whereas Lucas can’t. He’s “stuck being gay” and he’s failed at maintaing a straight façade. 

To close it off, there’s Chloé, fulfilling the narrative purpose of a ticking clock and a reminder of Lucas’ failure at straightness and imminent outing. This of course, is not really happening, but this paranoia is very typical of being a closeted queer person, of constantly having to wonder who is going to love you anyway and who is going to reject you because even when your people are mostly liberal and tolerant, there is no way to really know because of how deep homophobia is rooted in our society (see my meta about French humor). It really is Schodinger’s unconditional love. 

And then there’s Daphné. This is the first of several ‘tonal breaks’ in this arc, in which the angst is cut with moments of levity, randomness and wacky jokes that seem a little out of place but do serve a purpose narratively and in terms of themes. In this one, she goes out of her way to praise Lucas’ masculinity. It wouldn’t surprise me she already heard rumors, going from the alarmed look on her face, and wants to reassure Lucas he is still a man in her eyes. Daphné is an interesting character to do this. Because she has little brain to mouth filter, she tends to say stupid things and offend people, but at the same time, she can break through people’s walls and isolation - the foyer, meant to bring different people together, is a symbol of this. She’s a key representative of Skam’s central theme of people being flawed, able to learn, and of -trying and reaching out, even with mixed results, being a super important thing. Therefore, it’s interesting she’s the first to reach Lucas in this difficult phase, and this will happen again later. At the same time her words about defenseless women needing a strong man is a reminder of the overwhelming clichés about gender roles that make Lucas’ life so difficult. 

Lundi 14h03 : Ennemies and Allies

Chloe's threat of outing Lucas whenever she wants gives the whole episode a feeling of urgency. She is extremely hurt and he can’t catch her, either physically or symbolically. She’s a loose cannon, and her holding Lucas’ outing hostage as revenge feels very violent. It's not clear that anybody knows yet, but she could take Lucas's choice from him any time now. His harsh and terrified words (”I’m not a f*g”) illustrate the level of denial he is trying to stay in as it’s slipping away from him, the powerlessness he feels. The scene taking place in PE class with people throwing balls at one person standing in a goal reinforces the overal symbolism of being put on the spot. 

On the opposite side, Yann's reminder of support sets up what happens later. He wants to be there for Lucas, but he’s also been hurt by his silence. He doesn’t want the squad to be Lucas’ punching ball if he can’t verbalize. 

Mardi 13h08 : Miscommunication. 

Eliott is trying to make a joke about the time they met and he couldn’t chose what to get from the vending machine ; Lucas interprets it as him saying he wants both Lucas and his gf, and he responds harshly. Lucas is pretty much standing up for himself here, as painful as it is. He signals to Eliott he's not game to just forgive and forget, to do as if what happens didn't matter. Him alluding to a choice that Eliott needs to make - there's still a sliver of hope there though, as agonizing as it seems.

Lucas not finding a place to sit and leaving the canteen represents his worst fears about coming out - being left alone. It’s a classic high school story trope, not knowing at which table to sit, eg. not fitting in anywhere, so he chooses not to feed himself. (Again, hurting himself). 

Mercredi 13h37 : Sorting through your old shit

This moment of levity after the heavy angst serves as a reminder that life, whether you are ready for it or not, goes on. It’s also the second time that the show subverts horror tropes - first in the first kiss scene for romantic purposes, here for comedic purposes with the creepy dolls everywhere and the guy with an axe. The theme is that things that look scary at first often aren’t, and can even bring unexpected gifts. The overall scene doesn’t have much impact on the plot, but it can symbolize several things - the need to do away with the messy things of the past (like all the shit in the shop and internalized homophobia), giving things that are still useful a new place where they can be better appreciated (the couch is a metaphor for Lucas being gay lmao), the difficulty of dealing with grief and your baggage alone and the need for outside help (like the shopkeeper who can’t get rid of his brother’s things), the importance of playfulness and unexpected gifts (table football). 

The girls opening up about their dating woes puts Lucas’ struggles in the larger context of teenage boys being trash, normalizing what he goes through. On the other hand, again, Daphne’s comments and Imane’s joke show that the girl squad have their own problems with gender clichés. Manon denouncing them marks her as a safe place for Lucas, as well as her going through the deeper kind of turmoil of love troubles. 

Lundi 01h48 : In the abyss

The scene is dark and drenched in blue light, giving it an oceanic, almost submarine vibe. This is Skam taking full advantage of its real time format, showing the story at a time where viewers are very likely to be in the same state of exhaustion and half-consciousness as the characters. 

Even though he doesn't show it much, Lucas is a deeply caring character. He's just been extremely burned out, possibly by his family situation, and what happened with Eliott. And yet, it's still there. We can see it here in how he comforts Manon, trying to be stoic, but it's getting to him in the end. Compassion is often much easier to extend to others than to yourself. He might punish himself for feeling too much, but he would never do that to Manon. 

This scene is, to me, the most pivotal moment of the season yet along with the piano scene : they're moments where we see Lucas's soul come to the surface. And as vulnerability is key to the plot, those moments of openness really move things along. The piano scene was Lucas letting out his more passionate, artistic, sensitive side ; this moment is more raw and ugly, about what lies beneath the anger, the despair of caring too much. And yet there is beauty and relief in owning it. In this particular context the shell of anger Lucas protects himself with is meaningless - it’s just the utter loneliness of the night and two people who are broken and lost. Manon is also from a broken home of sorts, she’s also been given a lot of reasons to give up on love. The fact that they’re able to share this intimacy of letting themselves feel like that, at a moment where words are beyond them, is however a sign that they’re not giving up. They’re feeling the feelings, as painful as it is, and they have a witness. It’s beautiful. 

Vendredi 09h14 : Exhaustion

Lucas's body is basically close to giving up on him. He can front all he wants, but he's still only human. So he goes to see the school nurse for insomnia. He thinks maybe if he can solve the physical problem, maybe get pills, he can go back to being tough and pretending nothing is wrong. The nurse’s answer - not exposing himself to any screens or blue light before sleeping - is laughably unadapted to his problems, which in turn makes the idea that Lucas can solve his problems this way ridiculous as well.

The nurse is a mess - is she cheating on her actual husband there ? Why is she talking about her (murder)fantasies to a student ? Teacher’s back acne ? She illustrates that adults still have problems (again, normalizing what Lucas goes through) and that life in general is messy and you need people on your side who can be there even though you are going through ugly, difficult things. Lucas cannot talk to her, they’re not on the same wavelength at all, but there’s still someone he can talk to. The medecine is not pills, it’s human support and trust. 

Vendredi 17h05 : Trust issues 

This clip is very painful to watch. 

First Eliott’s drawing. At this point in the story it feels like a cruel joke. This guy played him, and now he’s talking about destiny ? Lucas really bought into the whole Polaris thing, we could see he was starving for a real connection, and maybe he thinks Eliott is using that against him, tugging on the heartstrings like a true artsy fuckboi. At the same time, the loneliness that emanates from the drawing is heartbreaking for us, who know what’s up with Eliott. 

Lucas decides to go talk to Yann. That’s his destiny. I thought he was going to walk up to Eliott for a moment, the filming is deliberately ambiguous, but no. In a way, he’s choosing himself, deciding to bring stability to his life by opening up to the guy who’s been his main support system for years : Yann. And he lays it all on the table - his problems with his family, his insomnia, the mess with Chloe, the difficulty talking, having a crush of sorts for Yann, falling in love with Eliott. He’s so brave. He banks on his ability to trust Yann, he wants to believe he’ll be there for him. He’s finally coming out to someone on his own terms, with clear words. 

It doesn’t work. Now, I never believed Yann was homophobic - his face only shuts down when Lucas starts talking about all the people who already know. But after Lucas’ slow, painful journey towards opening up, it feels like a bucket of ice water in the face. However, it is thematically appropriate. 

This story arc tries to balance two concepts very delicately : on one side, as a teenager it’s important to realize that you’re not as alone as you think, not alone struggling. On the other hand, both internalized homophobia and French culture’s latent homophobia (that makes people do shitty things even though they’re not homophobic at heart, without realizing it) make this process of teenage alienation vs self discovery and acceptance, a thousand times more painful than it needs to be. Ending the episode on this note signifies that the struggle is real, that however brave you might be, sometimes the world is going to try and slap you down anyway. Thankfully, the story doesn’t end there, but for Lucas, this is the bottom of the pit. As his instagram post says ‘god needs your lifeboat as an ashtray’. Sometimes your best efforts mean nothing. This seems like a very pessimistic and cruel conclusion but I believe it’s an important beat in the story, recognizing that sometimes things go wrong through no fault of your own. It’s the system that is to blame, that has not given the tools to Yann to react properly and for the both of them to communicate better and for Lucas to accept who he is and not hurt people around him in order to hide. They’ve gone the road of validation over comfort and I think it’s a very interesting choice. (Even though I can also understand people who needed a more positive message and were hurt by this). But like a lot of queer people, I’ve had my share of half-botched coming outs and it’s important to show how you come back from that. 

...

So in a nutshell : this week, we bear witness to the slow death of Lucas’ tough, uncaring, player straight guy facade. His feelings have reached a boiling point, and he can’t ignore them any longer, it’s taking a toll on his body and isolating him from his friends. The moments of levity serve to dedramatize and normalize what Lucas goes through, encouraging him to reach out, while at the same time, the show takes his pain and fear seriously, by showing the minute toll it takes on his health and the less than ideal reaction of the people around him. However, through it all, he finds the courage to keep facing his feelings and opening up. He is staring his worst fears in the face - abandonment, ostracization, having his feelings used against him - and he still manages to choose trust. Eliott might have been a catalyst, but in the end he chooses to do what’s right for himself. He talks, even though it’s almost a moment of symbolic death, but the transformation can take root from there. Honesty is grueling sometimes, but it’s still necessary.  It’s better than letting the lie ruin your health and your relationship, better than hurting yourself in an attempt to push down the truth, better than violent powerlessness or night time devastation. Lucas is so good at wearing a mask, but how he reacts in this crisis is revelatory of his own deepest need for change and love. 

In short, I love this character with the intensity of a thousand suns and even though it's super painful I love that we got to go on this journey with him.

Thank you for reading this monster of a post, and see you next time for pt 2 : Acceptance ! 

[ahomeganeyatsu]

Okay, I had a dream about Lucas. The details are vague like most dreams are but what I do vividly remember is that:

At some point Lucas messages Eliott asking if he did something wrong. Eliott doesn't answer back.

Lucas begins to isolate himself more because he feels like everyone hates him, who wouldn't with his behavior? It also proves beneficial to him since he wants to figure things out on his own.

He visits his mom.

He goes to Eliott.

Lucas messages the boy squad that he's leaving the group chat for awhile. They all asked why. His only answer was Eliott and leaves. They call for Lucas to come back but he's already left. Yann asks who tf Eliott is. And it's Arthur that says, "Wait, was that the scarf guy?"

I know I'm in deep when I begin to dream about it. My desire for Lucas to be alright, to piece it together and go chase after Eliott to talk to him. For him to have a good relationship with his mom and be able to communicate with her. For the boys to know more and reach out to Lucas more, to let him know they're there for him instead of simply implying that they'll wait for him to just cut the bullshit and open up by ignoring him because, from Lucas' perspective, that just made it worse.

Fuck, I need tea.

[ghiblicottage]

i reallllyyyy love emma (and philippine’s acting) ???? shes cute and kinda awkward, nice and funny and highkey relatable 

[odi-et-amo85]

edit: Yes, the weird contrast between Aurélien and Max caught my eye too. And I’m not here for it. At some point, Tiff must have really liked Aurélien right? And apart from the weird filming choices, I can’t see what is supposedly so bad about this dude. (on the scale of Skam🇫🇷 anyway...🙄)

I don’t know exactly what to add to this, expect that I completly agree.

Yes, a proper apology from Tiff to Lola is very important. I too would like to see this sooner rather than later. Especially, because all attention should be drawn to Lola in such a scene: the actual victim of the bullying.☝️ And not primarily on Tiff, who “is also pitiful and having a hard time”. The thing is, right now Anaïs and Tiff are not on the best terms. And Tiff’s insta updates certainly won’t have helped. But essentially, she knows Tiff’s secret. (Anaïs may have thought it was a joke, but Tiff did tell her about the baby.) And tbh, I am not sure how far Anaïs’s rancour may go, but eventually may be at the receiving end.* But imho, the apology to Lola needs to happen before all of that. I am just sick of the “I never understood how it was for you until it happened to me” trope. 😒 It’s possible to acknowledge your own wrongdoing, without experiencing it yourself. You don’t need an IQ of 200 to pull that off!! 🤦‍♀️ Arthur understood it’s not cool to run someone over, before he was about to get up close and personal with 🚘.

And yes, I would also like to know more about Max’s journey, such as the administrative process. 🏳️‍⚧️ (Mainly bc I’m curious. ☺️) I think it’s pretty clear that this the most important thing in Max’s life right now. And if he is as comfortable with Tiff as it seems he is, it would make sense that he would discuss that with her too. Besides, it will probably also play a role in the future.. imho, the subtle hints that Skam🇫🇷 gives of Tiff’s support (her liking his post, her outfit today and the “cool” of s3e3c4) are just a bit too subtle. But perhaps all of that will come up in the future. 🤞

*.) Maybe I’m completely unjust and villainising Anaïs for no reason; for that, I am sorry. However I think in time the secret about Tiff’s baby will come out and so far Anaïs is my prime suspect to spread the word.

so the new writers clearly have a season 6 problem. and if they didn’t like the characterization of the characters (tiff as a bully, max/jo being super protective of lola), then i wish they did more in these early episodes to write themselves out of these established storylines. 

i definitely don’t have a problem with happy, aesthetic, “filler” clips (in fact, i wish there were more in other remakes’ seasons) but only when they serve to fit in and still further the narrative in some way. i think my biggest gripe with today’s clip was that i expected…more. skam france doesn’t have a ton of social media chats, etc. so today’s date with tiff felt extra hyped up. pairing that with the major max storyline developing over social media related to official gender change, it narratively feels out of place. 

if instead they intercut these drone shots and happy “touristy” scenes with conversation, it would be more impactful:

max mentioning the bullying of lola and jo. tiff confiding in max that she wants to change and knows she needs to apologize to lola. i really do think the writers need to address this sooner rather than later because it really doesn’t make sense for max to appear so head over heels with respect to tiff when the bullying was never resolved. i also fear the dichotomy it paints between max and aurélien with every scene with the uwu white love interest in pastels and brightly colored shots compared to the much darker palettes with aurélien (e.g. bathroom confrontation).

max talking about the administrative process related to his gender change being officially recognized by the state and tiff being supportive, etc. not only is it a big deal but it also clues in viewers who are not following the social media as closely.

or, you drop a follow-up clip closely thereafter and just give us more. we are now running on hour 3 of this date…

[eliottdemaurys]

it hurts me to know that Lucas (probably) has deep-rooted abandonment issues because of his past experiences but I completely understand why he cried when Eliott left. even when he knows that Eliott loves him, any goodbye must be 10x harder for Lucas to handle

[lucasnapaspeur]

i want to take a moment and talk about the look on lucas’s face after eliott says “are you scared of the rain too”

lucas just stares back at eliott with such intensity it’s breathtaking. just by the look in his eyes and facial expression, you can just understand and feel everything that lucas is thinking in the moment. he doesn’t even have to directly say it, but we know, he's not scared anymore.

he’s not scared to finally be himself, accept himself & be with eliott. he's not scared anymore.

props to axel for his insane acting !!!

[sotorubio]

Honestly a new gen was the best thing to happen to the tag because the only people left are bitter with braincells and just watching because they like the characters. Everyone that made it unbearable and all their shit takes left with the old gen. Now at most you get a few Tiff stans but its easy to ignore. Controversial maybe but I think the france tag is more fun than any other remake tag because it’s just critical thinking, memes, gifs, analysis and no one taking the show seriously lol

no genuinely this like 1000000%%0%%0 percent. and like if u know me u know i quite dislike the idea of "the tag" in the skamverse fandom or more so how it's treated and policed by ppl but as someone who doesn't follow a lot of skam blogs, even the good funny ones (bc i don't wanna see skam content 24/7) it is where i find most of the posts i rb n it's been sooo much funnier after like s6 when the let ppl enjoy things crowd left. u can even find some actually good discussions abt the characters that go deeper than "the way this ship looks at each other 🥺"

for the record there isn't like anything wrong w that type of posting either like if that's what u wanna talk abt go ahead but i just find it sooo 🤪funny🤪 how ppl like me & my mutuals & the others who are still here posting abt it have written borderline essay length posts abt cinematography/character arcs/web weaving stuff/speculation etc since s5 at least but still get labeled "haters" n got sent genuinely vile anons bc we also dare to talk abt the problems of the show such as age gaps/classism/racism/misogyny or just.. simply mentioning things we didn't like or posting a meme (seriously. remember when i had like a twitter call out thing for posting a la mif meme). but then the True Enjoyers of the show who let ppl have fun and are watching the show in the Right Way only ever post abt their ships and how much they love a character and how genius the directors are for filming a sunset and then get stressed irl when they find out the story might involve conflict for their fave couple likeeeeeeeee....... genuinely it seems the haters have always just had more fun n actually watched the show more closely instead of just blindly consuming the words the funny fictional ppl say. bc if ur brain doesn't short-circuit immediately when someone says "critical thinking" bc u think it means negativity, then u just might find out that critical thinking is what leads to some real cool (positive) analysis of the plot like the stellar posts ppl have been making abt today's clip. genuinely like once u stop taking the show so seriously & personally u can have so much fun w it everyone should try being a hater. or at least what tumblr's definition of a hater seems to be bc truly in my experience that's the winning team besties.

also yeah i agree like for example season 6 of skamfr is one of the worst skamverse seasons so is s5 but every day i miss the times when they were airing bc i was laughing like every day at the memes & shit posts ppl made n the crazy analysis was so cool. even now ive had more fun in "the tag" just this week than i did during the whole 10 weeks in the druck "tag". like absolutely hilarious content now that nobody there takes it seriously.

[lucidpantone]

What are some of your favorite blogs?? Skam blogs or not. :)

So skamverse wise I am a big supporter of wtfock/skamfr/skamit fic writers so I tend to follow a lot of fic writers especially those producing a ton of content. Especially prompters because my god they churn word count like crazy. Mad respect.

Prompters across verses:

@ayellowcurtain(This woman is a machine she deserves all the love mainly on the wtfock/skamfr/skamit train but some davenzi in there too). @vearthling(prompts are mostly above rated R so just FYI) @skamsnake& @zaddyskam (prompts are mostly above rated R so just FYI) @azozzoni(skamit specialist)

Chaptered writers am currently stalking for an update but they don’t know that(whoops...):

Errbody who is writing in the wtfock fandom literally

(But this bunch is currently on rotation)

@ravenbrenna09 @luludemauryyy @musicofsilentkisses @dearrobbe @srta-pepa @robbesdriesen @fockinglevendcliche

Rebloggers (doing the lords work for me. I see you boos!)

@tim-tay-skam @lovelylinks @gemm-333 @dinsdag1631 

People I follow because I don’t speak dutch. Please translate, thank you.

@hopetofantasy(I would know nothing about Belgium without her or the flemish language)

@wtfockinternational

People I follow because I don’t speak French. Please translate, thank you.

@mysterystardust

People I follow because of their crazy anons (mainly wtfock sometimes skamfr)

@tehkatie(Katie once said she was taking a break from wtfock that lasted a week) @sander-klaas (Why your anons so crazy?)

People I follow for analysis or hot takes

@lesbianmayla @skamamoroma

Kunstenaar (They are all so talented)

@chemdoodles @cottonsdraw @puhnatsson @scinnlaece @o1o0o0o

Yoga/health/wellness blog: https://padmasurya.tumblr.com/

[littleweirdoss]

hi!!!! i love ur skamfr analysis!!! do u think you could write up what it says? i have a hard time seeing it

Hey love!! 🌌 i actually reworked on the set and recolred the text in yellow!! I hope it's better that way!❤

[surrealsunday]

Hi Jaime! Why do you think there’s such a difference between people from twitter who I think mostly have like season 7 a lot and tumblr where it seems people didn’t like it as much? I’m curious because there’s such a contrast (and not just in this season but previous ones except for season 3 in which i think it was pretty even) I actually enjoyed it and I think it was pretty well done (that’s just my opinion because I didn’t have any expectations about it and it end up suprising me). Hugs!

Ohhhh twitter lollllll. Twitter is such a terrifying place, my friend 😂. I’m not on twitter but I am used to hearing that the thoughts and opinions over there are pretty different. 

So first I want to say, something I’ve spoken about before is that the enjoyment of media of any kind comes down to expectations. It’s really that simple. And expectations can be so easily influenced by the opinions of others (not a bad or good thing - just sort of a reality of life I think). So for me personally, I had very particular expectations of skamfr because of s3. That forever coloured how I saw the other seasons and as such, I’m not a fan of the show (beyond s3). But that absolutely doesn’t make me right and someone who enjoys the current season wrong. It makes sense that people are going to want different things out of the show, and it’s either meeting your expectations or not. I’m just not the audience skamfr is looking for. It just took me a hot minute to realize that lol. 

As for why twitter opinions are different. I’m just spit-balling here, but I’d say twitter lends itself to a more superficial, easy-going conversation simply due to the brevity of posts/ conversations. Yeah, you can have long threads of convo or analysis in twitter but it’s not a format that does well with that. Tumblr is the opposite. Tumblr is all about the ease of longer posts, more critical (sometimes negative) engagement with media, and in a lot of cases when there are things to be critical of (as there has been with skamfr). I’m not advocating for one over the other. I think both platforms have a place and likely attract different fans for that reason. Tumblr can be a bit overwhelming and a lot negative, Twitter can be a pile of garbage on fire 😂, but both can also be the most fun when you have quality topics to discuss and an engaged fandom. 

And I’m glad you enjoyed the current season of skamfr! That’s always the best. I miss the days of 6 remakes airing all at once and finding my place as a viewer 😭. Hugs right back to you! 💞🌷