#also i'm familiar w my local pride but not at all w how it works in paris!!

[ellavaday]

Hello! We're back to Sandra talking too much about DRES3.

I promised myself to make these shorter unless something truly horrific happens in the subtitles lol (which is, thankfully, not usually the first episode, so this is relatively short and sweet)

Here's the reference post for the first episode.

I have a drinking game for you. Take a shot each time someone mentions Torremolinos. (Disclaimer you might die of alcohol poisoning). Think of Torremolinos as the equivalent of Palm Springs. Where all of the gays go on holiday and where all the drag queens go to die retire.

Pinkchadora makes a joke of Supremme's pictures in the work room bc her name is also the name of a McDonald's burger here (yes, the entire name, Supreme Deluxe, hence the bbq sauce comment). People Pinkchadora mentioned as inspiration/references for her drag: Lola Flores (flamenco singer); Sonia and Selena (one hit wonder duo of the early 00s)

Pakita's intro line in the work room is a pun 'i whisked my milk so much' (de tanto batir la leche) ((yes yes masturbation joke)) 'i ended up whipped' (he terminado montada) we call the act of getting/being in drag as montarse/estar montada in Spain

Pakita said she's what happens when you put a Furby and Falete in a cocktail shaker. Falete is a nb flamenco singer.

Bestiah says she comes from the cultural capital of the province... Leganés. Which is a joke but we love Madrid working class neighborhood pride in this blog (sidenote there's a lesbian and a nonbinary flag in their entrance look and they're my comfort punky this season)

Pitita's name comes from Pitita Ridruejo, a socialité (that reported seeing various Marian apparitions when she was alive for which it's safe to say she was not only filthy rich she was also more than a little insane)

María Edilia came dressed like the logo of Harina Pan (the Venezuelan precooked maize corn flour used to make arepas) and in the colors of the Venezuelan flag

When Chuchi entered they talk about how they won the Canarian drag gala of 2019. There's nothing to compare Canarian drag to and it's like saying you won the most ferocious drag competition @supremmedeluxe did a post about Canarian drag if you wish to know more but like. Suffice to say it really is a league of their own

Chanel's intro line in the work room is a pun with badmouthing ("turning someone green") ((she's the one in green skin ofc))

In the mini challenge Pitita says her rat is named Obregón and it's a ref to Ana Obregón, an actress that is better known for the 'sexy sexy sexy' bit Pitita mentions (it's from the romcom Ana and the 7, in which she's a stripper that gets a job as the nanny of the seven children of a widow man, a raunchier version of The Nanny lol)

A bonus fact about how insanely talented Clover is (bc I'm in love and they talk about people thinking cis girls can't do drag): Last year there was an official viewing party hosted by Pupi in which there were also local drag performers and there were mini contests w the audience (think butch queen realness, dance offs, lipsyncs, all that, it was amazing). Clover won that thing when she was like 3 months into drag, she's really that bitch

I don't think there's much to explain for the talent shows but just in case...

Vania Vainilla mentions an app called To Good to Go that I don't know if it exists outside of Europe so we'll just mention it, it's for restaurants to sell a bit more cheaply the food that is still perfectly good but might get thrown away

Spain is Different. Alright. Welcome to my history class. So you might be familiar with how Spain was in a dictatorship for about 40 years. After WW2 Franco realized he needed to get friendlier with the US government if he wanted to keep in power bc money ((Spain was neutral in WW2 so it didn't qualify for the Marshall Plan in the beginning but it got in basically bc Franco was a massive prick that hated anything remotely Communist leaning and the USA gov... Is what it is))

Pitita's was my favorite talent show but I do realize it was the hardest to understand without references. The women in the wheel she was spinning are pop culture icons here, and she was imitating stuff that represents them. The first one was Manuela Trasobares (a mezzo-soprano trans activist) who got famous for getting very angry when discussing LGBT rights on tv on an interview and breaking a glass. Then Carmen Lomana who is a filthy rich woman that made an ad for BK that went viral bc seeing such an elegant woman in that ad was kind of camp. Then there's Terelu, there was a reality tv about how was her life and her mother's (a well known newswoman) called Las Campos (they tried to make it something akin to The Kardashians) and she famously told her mother to go fuck herself bc she asked her if she wanted a churro which became a meme so her eating churros became viral. Ana María Aldon however is a little less clear to me (the time she got COVID maybe? The fact that her disgusting ex who is the one that was actually in the wheel is one of those super macho man and famously said in an interview his sperm was still strong and wanted another kid w her??? Eh still insanely funny)

Part of said efforts was making a very strong tourist campaign under the slogan "Spain is Different" which was used to promote... Literally every single stereotype you know about the country. Toros. Flamenco. All that. So that's how you get Bestiah dressed like jamón serrano, Macarena as a comment against bullfighting (which *chef's kiss*), Hornella in a Goya/locomia inspired fan look, Maria Edilia as a flamenco souvenir doll, Vania and Kelly as homages to Sara Montiel (la Violetera and Sandra Montiel the official Sara Montiel impersonator and an icon of Torremolinos), Chuchi as a disco ball representing the party scene (very Paco Rabane too), Chanel as the dumb tourist shirts, Clover as the 12 grapes tradition on NYE, Visa as La Sagrera and then the Parc Güell in BCN

But we also now use it as a very sarcastic way to talk about things that suck but of fucking course happen in Spain. Like Pitita making a commentary on corrupt politicians (listen people trying to get away w illegal money in trash bags is a surprisingly common occurrence I'm not even going to mention a case there's a dozen), Pinkchadora talking about the Spanish cinema dedicated specifically to juvenile delinquency and in a very heartwarming example, Pakita and her homage to Ocaña (LGBT icon from the 80s that we love and adore thank you very much)

((((SPOILER ON WHO LEAVES NEXT))))

María Edilia's exit line was for me and me alone (and every other Venezuelan bc no one else would have understood it lmao). The national beauty pageant is a huge deal in my country and she sang the hymn song of the contest. It's extremely catchy and I'm now humming it lol.

I think that's all for this episode 😊 if you made it this far, thanks 💖 lmk what you thought about the episode

#drag race españa #rpdr spain #sandra rambles in nerd #dres3 #sandra's translator era

[sweetbitterpdf]

Hi em, do you think you can write a quick fix of eliott and Lucas celebrating pride month together?

ahh, absolutely! i was planning on writing something for pride month anyway. hope this is alright!!

this took forever— way longer than expected, my apologies!! hope it’s alright!

(also @ everyone, reminder that i’m always accepting prompts like these!! they don’t have to be from ask memes!!)

---

“Une vie pleine de couleur”

They’re eating breakfast when a grin stretches its way across Eliott’s face.

“It’s June!” His eyes light up, as if he were a kid waking up to a school cancellation, and not his— very nearly almost adult— boyfriend remembering what month it is. “Lucas, it’s pride month!” Eliott says then, and oh, right. 

“I didn’t know June was pride month.” Lucas genuinely didn’t, Eliott had brought it up a couple of weeks ago, but Lucas had let the thought fall to the wayside, far too busy studying for his French bac and providing moral support to Eliott throughout his several exams to remember such a thing.

“The parade’s at the end of the month!” Lucas can’t help but smile over at Eliott when he gets like this— which he does often— lively and enthusiastic about the things that he cares about. He thinks spending so much time around Eliott has made him a brighter person by association alone.

“Oh, yeah? I’ve never been.”

“Really? Never?”

“Eliott, I was deep in the closet until like, a few months ago. And with my parents? It was never the sort of thing we participated in.”

“Oh, right,” Eliott retreats a bit, deflating, almost. “That makes sense.” But then he bounces right back up again not even a moment later, “Do you want to go this year?” Lucas thinks of it. He thinks of hundreds of thousands of people, of them yelling and screaming as they line the streets, densely crowded together— it makes him feel sick. 

But then he thinks of seeing others like him, of seeing people living their truest and most honest lives, of seeing two boys together. He thinks of the times when he was little, when seeing two boys holding hands made something swoop low and foreign in his gut— something he never even thought about addressing until a decade later.

He thinks of him and Eliott being that, for young boys like he once was.

“I’m not sure,” he says. “Can I think about it?”

“Of course! There’s no wrong way to celebrate.”

---

They’re having a picnic in the park when it happens.

It’s just the two of them— impromptu picnics have become their favourite date— and Lucas looks around the grassy field. There are groups of friends and families laughing and playing and enjoying the nice weather. 

But there’s a boy that keeps looking over at them. He can’t be more than thirteen, his limbs lanky with the beginnings of puberty, and he’s hanging out with his friends, but he looks over to where he and Eliott are sat every couple of minutes. Lucas can catch bits and pieces of the conversation that the boys are having as they kick around a soccer ball. 

“— just going to the bathroom—” Lucas catches, and then the boy heads away from his friends. Lucas pretends not to notice the way the boy gets closer and closer to their blanket, before—

“Excuse me,” the boy says, looking down at them as they sit. Both he and Eliott look up. “Are you two... Dating?” Lucas can hear, in the way that the boy gets quieter when he says the last word, that he’s not trying to be invasive. There’s something there, a certain kind of... curiosity, a longing, that hits Lucas deep in his heart, somewhere.

“Yes, we are.” Eliott says, his smile soft, assessing. He doesn’t seem as aware of what has been left unspoken in the boy’s words as Lucas is, but he’s his warm self nonetheless.

“Oh. I just wanted to say, um,” The boy is blushing furiously, visible even with the redness of his sunburnt cheeks, “You look really good together.”

“Thank you.” Eliott says, his smile growing into a full-on grin. The boy wishes them well, and they do the same— simultaneously, no less— and then he leaves them. Eliott coos and awws after he’s out of earshot, but Lucas thinks about it for the rest of the day.

He thinks of the boy, and how much of himself he saw in him. He thinks he may have done such a thing, once, if he had had a little more courage.

---

“Eliott?” Lucas says, one evening as they lay in bed together.

“Mm?” Eliott asks, half-asleep.

“I’ve decided, about the parade.” Lucas blinks up at the ceiling, then turns toward Eliott when he hears him stir.

“Oh, yeah?” Eliott leans into him, then, his warm cheek pressed against Lucas’ shoulder.

“I think I want to go.” Lucas says, and he can feel Eliott smiling against him.

“That’s awesome, Lucas. Don’t feel like you have to, though.”

“I don’t!” He knows that Eliott would be the last person to pressure him into anything, let alone something like this. “I just... Want to go, and celebrate pride, with my boyfriend.”

“Great, because it just so happens that I want to do the same thing.” Eliott says, pressing a kiss right between his shoulder blades, before nuzzling against him.

---

There are more people than Lucas could have possibly imagined. 

The streets of Paris are packed, the roaring cheers of hundreds of thousands of people are deafening.

It’s the single most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

Eliott gives his hand a squeeze as they walk, an oceanic current pulling them down the street.

Lucas listens to the chants, the cheers, the love.

He joins in.

---

Lucas is stretched out in bed, the sheets thrown aside. It’s far too warm for any sort of covers— but, apparently, not too warm for Eliott to latch himself onto him like a sloth on a branch. Eliott hums softly with each exhale— a sleeping habit that Lucas finds way more endearing than he ought to— and pulls Lucas in every time he tries to move even an inch away.

“Hey,” Lucas says gently, “babe, please, I need to pee.” A moment later, Eliott lets go reluctantly, opting to snuggle against Lucas’ pillow in his absence. Lucas thinks that this side of Eliott is one of his favourites: half-asleep, ethereal in the morning light, and mercilessly cuddly. He pauses for a moment, looking down at Eliott, his heart fit to burst with how full it is, before padding down the hall to the bathroom.

He returns a moment later to see Eliott sat in bed, his eyes blinking open slowly, looking over at him. The smile that stretches across Eliott’s face seems to make the sun shine a bit brighter, and Lucas is already moving when Eliott opens his arms in invitation. When they come together again, Lucas sighs in contentment.

“It’s July.” Eliott says simply, into Lucas’ hair.

“I know, I can’t believe how quickly June went by.” The months move quicker and quicker now— and June was an incredible whirlwind. Another month older, another month together with Eliott.

“How was your first pride month, after coming out?” Eliott asks him over their morning coffee.

“Perfect.” Lucas says, kissing him quick before sitting across from him at the table, joining their free hands together. “Looking forward to many more. With you, ideally.”

“Well,” Eliott squeezes his hand, grinning at Lucas in a way that makes him feel nothing but secure, nothing but loved. “That’s good, because I’m not going anywhere.”

#skam #skam france #elu #lucas x eliott #elu fic #pride is very near and dear to me #both as an lgbt person but also the first pride i participated in was during the worst time of my life #and it was one of the things that kept me going when i was dangerously close to giving up hope #i know you asked for celebration but i also wanted to write about lucas' experiences that give him pride you know? #stuff that isn't necessarily Pride Month events #but stuff that makes him feel good as himself and as a gay man #also i'm familiar w my local pride but not at all w how it works in paris!! #mywriting;