#amira baby i love you and you deserve the world okay

[quicktelling-blog]

Amira’s Vanished Hustle, Perceptions of Missed Opportunities, and What Everyone Should Consider About the Story So Far

[deep dive under the cut]

Some messages I got over the weekend were along the lines of: “No Damira again on Friday whew you must be heartbroken huh?” But, y’all, I wasn’t surprised. And to be completely honest, my reaction on Friday was very different from the ones I saw in the tag. Yeah, I was super happy for the adorable Amira and I was also side-eying the glaring absence of Carlos’s besties at his own housewarming -- but my main thought after the clip was: “LOL OH SHIT HERE WE GO.” Because in my mind Friday was an ENORMOUS RED FLAG that the only substantial thing left to do in Amira’s story arc is the cute Bon Voyage party to send her off on her dream trip. Even before this big POV shift happened, Druck hadn’t given us any reason to expect much more than that in her remaining plot, and I’ll elaborate on that here.

I don’t wanna jump to the conclusion that Druck can’t possibly stick the landing, because hey, they might! We have no clear idea what will happen between now and the final goodbye party, so maybe good things are coming that will subvert all of our worst imaginings! But I feel like this is a hinge point in the season to do a little reassessing of expectations... and to come clean about one big reason why I’ve mostly spoken superficially about this season up until now.

The very first red flag, for me, was when I realized Druck was planning to basically pretend Amira never had a job. That oversight might not seem like a big deal to most, and it’s not like her job was the first thing Druck ever made disappear unceremoniously (remember when Leonie and Sara had other close girl friends? lol) but to me it was a signal that my expectations for Amira’s story (based on her previous strong characterization) had maybe been too high. And I immediately felt a bit cheated.

Amira was already so fleshed out coming into her season. She was demanding, quick-witted, and nurturing. She was fiercely protective of her friends, and even more fiercely ambitious, with a willingness to work harder than anyone to get ahead in life. She was sunny but tough-shelled, with a well-established resistance to trusting any men. And, loving her as much as I do, I felt strongly that she deserved to have plenty of brand new story elements that reflected all those things. To have her own story shaped around her, rather than she herself being reshaped to fit Sana’s story.

But then it was finally her turn to shine, in a Summer season, when it would make perfect sense for her to be on a job grind to earn cash for her trip, and... she’s not working? Huh? She managed to work all through a tough school year, but not her free summer vacation? Why? Because of Druck’s low budget? Because they lacked cohesion in the writing process? Some combination of the two? Yikes. Who knows. But suddenly, nonsensically, they had flushed away the perfect framing to showcase her work ethic, her daily perseverance, and her varied interactions (good and bad) with lots of strange customers around Berlin.

It felt like a bad omen to me somehow. Which wasn’t a great mindset to start the season with. And that was the beginning of me trying very, very hard not to be confused and salty about every little thing I began to perceive as missed opportunities to give Amira a new kind of substance in her story.

For example: While David, Matteo, and Sam began having fun off-screen, working on an bold alien movie, Amira inexplicably had no involvement. She kinda scoffed at the idea when it came up on-screen, then immediately lost interest in the conversation because her man was texting. Fair enough, right? That scene was moving her story forward while generously giving a little shoutout to the meta insta storyline, right? The problem is: the off-screen story ended up seeming much more interesting than watching Amira chilling on her own texting a bunch, and we weren’t even given a reason for her to not be part of it after the whole crew was invited to join in. Imagine if we had followed her onto a shitty little makeshift movie set and seen her reacting to the chaos and strangeness of it. Imagine her finding a resourceful solution to a production hiccup or mediating a creative disagreement while trying to hide her own inner turmoil from her friends. And imagine her having an extremely important conversation with David (and/or Matteo and/or Sam) about the film’s deeper themes of alienation and otherness that they can both sadly relate to.

That’s just one weirdly specific scenario, but there are sooo many other ways I fantasized about Amira bonding with her friends (particularly the ones who aren’t cishet white kids or brand new characters). Talking with one or more of them about what it means to be dangerously marginalized, or to be afraid of letting someone get close to you, or to feel torn in two different directions in life. Maybe something like that could still happen before the season ends, but I’m not counting on it. And I think the time has passed for it to have the biggest impact. It could’ve been amazing (and really narratively useful!) if it happened before the resolution of Amira’s brief conflicts with Kiki, Erva, and Mohammed. We saw a lot of scenes with her looking angry and sad, but we weren’t really privy to much of her thought process during all that reflection, so it felt uncomfortably unearned when problems she once saw as insurmountable were shortly waved aside. I would’ve really appreciated even a short conversation with some good change-of-heart exposition.

And while other people were cheering about all the controversial Sana season conflicts being blessedly truncated or completely stripped away, the whole time I couldn’t stop thinking: “Okay, awesome, but what are they gonna replace that storyline with? Nothing?” And, for the most part, that seemed to be true.

But the problem clearly wasn’t limited to a shortage of well-integrated story threads with Amira at their center. It was arguably also a failure to capitalize on the stories they did use. Instead of getting to watch the emotional fight with her mother about punching someone, and witnessing Amira faced with the threat of losing Australia, we only heard about the drama afterward. Just like we only heard about her family’s religious holiday together. Just like we only got a few texts between Amira and Jonas about the refugee event. And just like how, as I sat typing this, Amira’s mother re-blessed the trip off-screen. On and on goes the list of examples of this unfortunate tell-don’t-show approach, and I’m sure a lot of it can be attributed to low budget and tricky cast scheduling, but the time limit excuse probably doesn’t apply if Amira’s main plot really has been efficiently pared down to 7 episodes.

Don’t get me wrong, I want to reserve final judgment on the season until the credits roll, and there are plenty of good things to say about it in the meantime. Yes, it’s been lovely to see so many gorgeous shots of Tua praying, and boxing, and expressing everything from attraction to anguish to helpless rage. Yes, she and Hassan both did some really strong work selling the magnetic pull between their characters, even in the face of (what I consider to be) an underdeveloped narrative that didn’t totally sell me on the relationship overall. Yes, it was wonderful to have some aesthetically pleasing scenes of the girl squad loving and supporting each other, even if they mostly talked about boys the way Amira hoped they wouldn’t. And obviously just having a story about a strong, kind, devoted hijabi girl is vitally important visibility. So I really haven’t wanted to say anything negative in the face of all that...

... but now I have to say: if you’re feeling cheated and mad about the POV shift, then take some time to consider what else specifically you think should’ve happened to Amira before we entered this resolution phase of her story. It seemed like most people were perfectly happy for her to not face any complex conflict, and not have any lingering hardship to dramatically and triumphantly overcome. Every obstacle getting a relatively swift and easy solution felt underbaked to me, but it was a big relief and source of praise for most people in the tags right up until Amira disappeared from clips. So: in hindsight, how would you have added not just length, but also more compelling drama and greater social impact to her story, so that the extra length felt well-used? It’s really worth thinking and talking about that, even if you’re hesitant to voice any criticism of Amira’s part of the story (even after the season ends, and even if it’s totally constructive) -- because thinking and talking about it is how we’ll get that kind of richer, fuller story in the future.

#druck #amira thalia mahmood #representation #storytelling #amira baby i love you and you deserve the world okay #that's been at the core of my issues all season

[khaleesiofalicante]

IT'S SELENA'S CHAPTER OH MY GOD

wait im gonna go watch encanto with my aunt then im gonna read this

oh nvm she's gonna take a nap so imma read till then

For so long, sleep had been something she was excited about – or something that made her nervous.

But she had come to learn that sleep is not supposed to make you feel things. It’s supposed to make you stop feeling things.

You stop feeling and you rest.

She hadn’t had the opportunity to rest for a long time.

But now she did.

i just started and this has already made me so-

i sleep to get the day over with

ok im gonna go prepare for tomorrow we're going to the beach and we need to prepare the food

ILL BE BACL

nope i ran away let's read

what is up with ithuriel anyway?

bitch had to get himself captured by valentine

They hadn’t been able to fix the guilt and the terror inside her.

They had told her that those wounds will heal with time ��� slow and steady.

They had told her she would be strong again one day.

But Selena didn’t want to heal or be strong again.

She just wanted to forget.

this!

the moment where you dont want to be strong, you just want to forget it all

even if a small part of you knows you will be okay

LEXI

“Can your alarm clock do this?” Lexi asked and started moonwalking in the air.

Selena shook her head fondly.

“And can it do this?” Lexi asked and then jumped into the bed, hugging Selena very, very tightly.

where can i get a lexi

“I love sleeping now. Shit is sexy.”

so true omg

oh it's the trial today

OH MY GOD IT'S RAFAEL'S FIRST THING AS THE CONSUL

ok ok calm

“I’m not worried about them,” Selena said. “I’m worried about me. You don’t think I deserve whatever punishment I am going to receive?”

Lexi looked surprised. “Selena, you don’t deserve to be punished. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I didn’t mean to do anything wrong, but I still did,” Selena said quietly. “There is a difference, Lexi.”

none of this was your fault

god i wanna hug her

selena when...when people or prince of hell pull this shit, when they manipulate us and gaslight us into doing stuff we don't want to or never would want to...it's not our fault

and you were possessed.

this shit never leaves and comes back to haunt us, makes us think it was our fault but it isn't

you didn't do anything wrong. you're the victim here, love.

don't make yourself the villain

“You said I’m not the villain. You said I was the victim,” Lexi said softly. “So, remember that. You are not the villain. You are the victim.”

Then she hugged Selena tightly again.

“Victims don’t deserve to be punished, Selena,” Lexi said. “So, don’t ever think that.”

YES!!!!

the world isn't kind on us but we need to remind ourselves to be kind to ourselves

AYY RAFAEL

it's going to be ok...

and yeah anjali is cool

“Let’s take one step at a time, okay?” Lexi smiled and jumped off the bed. “The first step is to brush your teeth.”

Yes. Baby steps.

“I like long hair,” Selena smiled.

“Wannabe Rapunzel,” Lexi giggled.

LMAO-

“If anyone tries to ruin our trip to Disneyland, I will drop them from the sky.”

DO IT

hi random person we dont know yet

AMIRA

YESSS

But now they had time.

It meant she had to talk.

With everyone.

It was hard to talk when all you wanted to do was forget.

relieving that shit is hard.

dont

but also do

god it sucks. when all you wanna do is forget but talking about it, letting yourself grieve in a way helps but then it gets way too repetitive

“I came here to see how you were doing,” Amira said. “And to remind you that you still have friends who care about you.”

Amira...I love her

“Selena,” Amira said incredulously. “Fuck the investigation.”

There was a moment of silence.

“I supposed that’s what I did,” Selena pointed out dryly.

I forgot the part about the investigation-

but yeah-

“I gathered everyone might ask you that question. They might want to know what happened and all that,” Amira explained. “I can’t be easy for you to repeat it over and over again. I know you might not have a choice with others. But you don’t have to repeat it to me. I don’t need to know.”

im so glad selena has amira

She was done living it.

She just wanted to forget.

yeah. shit sucks

Finally, whoever would present her in the trial would be going against Anjali – the Inquisitor and the prosecutor of the Clave.

Selena wasn’t sure they had a chance.

no they do not

wait lemme put on the song rec

holy shit the song-

“I only did it so I can be close to Michael,” Selena said, feeling stupid now. “Michael told me it’s a good idea and I just…I didn’t think much. I just wanted to make Michael happy.”

She had done so many things like that.

Little things that came back to her.

The way she started to wear dresses because Michael didn’t like her in jeans and crop tops.

The way she had stopped swearing because Michael didn’t like it.

The way she would smile even when she was sad because she didn’t want Michael to know.

The way she didn’t speak to many others and didn’t make friends because Michael didn’t like it when she spoke to other people.

The way she never cut her hair short like Lexi because Michael had told her pretty girls have long hair.

All those things.

For Michael.

honey that's not stupid

shit this sucks but i hope you find the strength to heal.

and remember to be kind to yourself because you'll have days where you'll fall back into old habits, where you'll cry, when it will hit you but you thought you had healed

so be kind to yourself

fuck becoming a centurion is a permeant thing???

“I don’t want you to,” Amira sighed. “I don’t ever want you to do something you don’t want to do.”

Im sure there is a way right??

even if she's the first one to resign

“So, after you were, uh, gone, I was like moping around in Scholomance, and guess who else was moping around?” Amira wagged her eyebrows. “So, Gabriel and I decided to mope together.”

YESSSS

Selena honey-

“I just told you Gabriel was moping around when you were gone, and you ask me if they are dating me?” Amira laughed.

exactly. bestie they like you

AWW AMIRA AND GABRIEL MADE HER A SCRAPBOOK

"hoping" KHSHJDCKUHFV SELENA-

See you in Idris.

That’s just a thing they told each other now.

Selena kind of liked it – a lot.

This was her dream...

She was wearing a plain mint green dress.

Some things needed time to change.

Yes, they do.

you'll be fine even if right now it seems impossible

shadowhunters always interrupting magnus' vacations istg

selena...you cant avoid him forever

or any of the people belial made you hurt

talking is a step forward

“Give yourself a chance too.”

!!!!!!

One look at him and she didn’t want him to go.

How could anyone look at Magnus and think that?

so true omg

“I’m not really good at this,” Magnus pointed out. "Talking to people."

“Then why did you agree to talk to me?” Selena asked.

“Because I have never been able to refuse your mother my help,” Magnus said.

“I think you have never been able to refuse anyone your help,” Selena wondered out loud.

first of all, same

second of all, selena's so right

He didn't tell her it was okay, or it didn’t matter.

Because it wasn’t okay, and it did matter.

Magnus didn’t disregard his pain to make her feel better. She liked that about him.

Yeah. me too

Magnus deserved that.

A home.

A safe one.

Amen sis

“I know he was a toxic piece of shit,” Selena said. “But he was still your father.”

YES

no matter how shitty he was his father

And suddenly, she didn’t hate that word anymore.

It was the way he said, with so much love and tenderness.

Maybe she didn’t have to forget.

Maybe she could simply make new memories.

and you will!

because you have people who will help you make those memories

“I need you to trust me when I say this,” Magnus said, taking her hands in his. “But you are going to be just fine.”

yes.

Powers or not, we are all capable of hurting other people. At the end of the day, it’s a choice.”

He reached out and pushed back a wet strand of her hair behind her ear.

“It’s not what not what you have, but what you do with it,” Magnus told her. “So, do good. No matter what people think of you, keep making good choices.”

THIS

abusing your power is a choice.

“There are no bad powers,” Magnus said. “Only bad people.”

YES YES YES

The first thing that came to her mind was – oh, their voice still sounds like syrup. How?

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

“He can’t find the pins for Rafael’s robes,” Izzy chuckled. “He is freaking out.”

OH MY GOD I AM GONNA SCREAM

But Aunt Izzy had just walked and demanded to see Selena. The silent brothers had let her of course.

No one dared to stop Isabelle Lightwood.

exactly!

OH MY GOD ISABELLE'S PREGNANT

“I will protect this baby with my life,” Selena said. “I promise.”

Aunt Izzy looked up at that and smiled. “Then it’s already the luckiest baby in the world.”

yes...yes they are

Under Rafael’s Clave, people were changing. Idris was slowly changing with them too.

this makes me so emotional

“I will kick their ass,” David simply replied.

It was not a David thing to say at all. But the way he said, she couldn’t help but believe him.

DJSJKFDJU PROTECTIVE DAVID

“You are worthy of being loved regardless of how you feel about yourself.”

this reminds me of this poem i read

i'll have to look for it

but omg yes! this is so important

nothing thrives in isolation

Whatever happens today, she knew she would be okay. Because she was loved unconditionally.

Yes. Yes you will be okay

It was a little odd to see Uncle Alec sitting with the rest of the crowd. But he seemed happy to be there – by Magnus’ side.

SCREEAMING-

shit it's almost ten i need to wake up early tomorrow

it wouldnt take this much time if i didnt stop and analyze every line

She looked up at the dais. At Rafael.

Her Rafael.

With his Anjali.

Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god

THEM!!!!

i am freaking out

“Every time I look at them, I become a little more pansexual.”

girl same

He looked breathtakingly gorgeous in his red Consul robes. He looked so much like his father that it almost made her tear up.

She waved at him. He gave her a small smile.

She knew that smile.

He was nervous.

oh my god my boy...I am so proud of him.

But then she realized, she hadn’t done this.

This had been done to her.

YES

YES YES YES

When the time came, Rafael stood up. He no longer looked nervous.

He looked like the Consul.

Like a Lightwood-Bane.

I am so proud of him

MAX AHUSDASOIDENKDC

“I didn’t get a say in what happened to me in the past. My voice went unheard,” Selena said, swallowing her fear. “I would like to use it now.”

selena...i love you and good luck

KYLE SHUT THE FUCK UP

ooo she changed the color of the robes to black

anjali that is so cool

Selena took a deep breath and looked at Rafael. “I’m aware I’m not the only one who broke the law for the sake of love.”

oh damn

“No,” Selena said. “I cannot take responsibility for something that was beyond my control.”

“You killed them!” someone yelled.

“I was possessed,” Selena said calmly. “You cannot hold me accountable for it.”

im going to cry. im so proud of her

selena YES

“What are you, an only child?” Lexi asked incredulously. “She choked me to death, and I set her on fire. It’s just sibling things, ya know?”

ikr???

like that's just something we do

chill out only child

she also called isabela a bully to mirabel when she watched encanto didn't she?

smh

istg kingsley need to shut up

oh. oh yeah i guess that makes sense

GUYS COME ON SERIOUSLY??

FUCK OFF

rafael oh my god im so-

Uncle Alec looked so emotional then.

same dude same

“You stood here and exiled Helen Blackthorn twenty years ago for something she didn’t do,” Rafael said. “The rest of you stood by and watched. I will not let that happen again.”

He looked at Selena and looked at the Council.

“Selena was manipulated into losing her own family. She was kidnapped from the people she loved and cared for. She was alone and afraid,” Rafael pointed out. “Your judgment is to strip off her runes and exile her into a world she knows nothing about. Your judgment is to deprive her of love and safety? How are you different from that demon who possessed her?”

The Clave shifted in their seats uncomfortably. Selena wanted to cry.

“Most importantly, Selena is a child,” Rafael said, his voice angry. “I will not be the Consul who hurts children.”

dude i got chills.

literal chills

he...he's perfect for this position

ew who made kingsley the centurion?

OH MY GOD ANJALI KNEW SHE DIDN'T WANT TO BE A CENTURION AND-

YES YES YES

“This is awesome!” Lexi yelled in glee.

“Shh!” Selena said.

“I mean,” Lexi cleared her throat loudly. “Injustice! Unacceptable! I will be complaining to Raziel about this.”

I LOVE THIS FAMILY SO MUCH

There was so much pain.

So many things to forget.

But not this.

She will remember this forever.

god i love her so much

oof what's going on with gabriel??

She knew of the stars. She knew how they were the brightest in Idris since there was no pollution here.

bring me with you

the lake...

YES BESTIE MIDNIGHT SWIMS

is her ithuriel power that she can swim in lake lyn without any consequences?

AHHH THESE TWO

omg omg omg cuddling for warmth

Okay so. This was her superpower then.

Saying dumb shit.

SCREAMING

“Because you are recovering from a toxic relationship, Selena!” Gabriel said incredulously. “I didn’t want to be a fucking pendejo and jump at you the first chance I got. I was giving you space!”

selena we can keep this one

“I wanted to punch those assholes in the face,” Gabriel growled. “Fawning all over you like you were some sort of prize.”

“I didn’t like it,” Selena confessed quietly. “They were making it sound like being possessed was something cool.”

“They were romanticizing your trauma,” Gabriel rolled their eyes furiously. “Don’t mind them. You are better off without them.”

fucking shits

it's not something cool, not something you can have a "i can fix her" attitude with

ooo he has a tattoo

oof the rumors again

people need to chill out seriously

oh fuck the shadowhunters wrote down the wrong thing on their profile because it made the shadowhunters feel more comfortable that's fucked up

“I don’t know,” Gabriel shrugged. “Probably because they are more comfortable with people who kill for a living than people who fuck for a living.”

yeah well...they all kill for a living so-

“That you became a shadowhunter for the money,” Selena said carefully.

I mean- you guys do get paid well so why not?

“That’s why I came here,” Gabriel smiled. “Because for some people, a world full of demons is still safer than their own home.”

yeah.

im glad they are safe here

well...you know aside from the demons and shit

im so glad their mother is okay now

“I don’t know why people were uncomfortable with it,” Gabriel said then. “Sex work was just her job. Being a sex worker, it was what she did, not who she is. Just as hunting shadows is what I do, not who I am.”

Selena looked up at that.

“My mother is neither is a mercenary nor a sex worker. She is a survivor. And that’s who I am too,” Gabriel said. “And you, Selena. You are a survivor too.”

I feel like i say YES a lot

this though. this is so so true

OMG THEY WANTED TO BE A FLORIST???

THAT'S SO AMAZING

they want to name their kids after flowers...dude that's so...

rue...

it's beautiful

not like this selena. they are right

But she didn’t want to say the name.

It didn’t mean she wasn’t brave.

She just had wanted to feel safe again and this was how she could do it.

This was Selena’s journey to recovery. This was her healing.

She had to make her own rules.

So, fuck Voldemort. Fuck J.K Rowling.

Im so proud of her

you'll get there, love

also yes fuck jk rowling

“My mama once said some people come into our lives to teach us what love shouldn’t look like,” Gabriel said quietly. “Maybe Michael is yours.”

Yeah...

“It hurts me. Not the past that was a lie. But the future I lost. The future I dreamed about every night.”

Gabriel looked at her with sad eyes. Selena didn’t want them to look at her like that. She didn’t want anyone to look at her like that.

“There were so many things I wanted to do with Michael. We even made a list,” she said, her eyes welling up now. “I just…What happens to all those dreams?”

it hurts like a bitch, thinking of the future you could've had

because suddenly you're on your own holding pieces of your dreams

“Because sometimes good people think the worst things about themselves,” Gabriel said. “And you are a good person. Maybe even the good-est person I know.”

yeah...

agree on both points

“I would very much like to kiss you, Selena,” Gabriel smiled. “But right now, you want to kiss because you want to forget. And I promise you, no amount of kissing is going to help you forget all that pain.”

Selena looked down in disappointment.

“Only love can do that,” Gabriel said gently. “Love from your family. Love from your friends. And love from yourself – that’s the most important one.”

Gabriel reached out and raised her chin. Selena looked at them and bit her lip.

“I will kiss you one day,” Gabriel smiled, this one incredibly soft. “And when we kiss, it won’t be to forget. It will be a kiss to remember. Okay?”

OMG THEM

THESE TWO SUHDHFJDF

they are so right

omg it means "kissing you is like seeing the stars"

that's so romantic

shit werewolves

they are angry at selena

fuck

They were children. Teenagers.

The oldest was probably eighteen. The girl looked like her age. The youngest seemed no more than thirteen.

They had lost their family.

They had lost their parents.

Selena thought of the parents then. How the two of them must have done everything to protect their children.

How they must have lost their lives to save their kids.

oh...oh my

god im going to cry

She had been ordered to kill Rafael.

But she hadn’t.

She wasn’t a killer.

No matter what these people said, she wasn’t a killer.

She didn’t kill those parents.

She didn’t kill this family.

BABY IM SO PROUD OF YOU

FUCK THEY ARE HURT

YOU ARE NOT DYING

OH MY GOD SHE CAN HEAL???

HOLY SHIT YES

YES YES YES

im so.. i dont even have words. i love her so much and i am so proud of her.

what i do know is that i have to be up at 7 tomorrow and it is 10 57 pm also i have not eaten much today and i am very hungry.

ok bye ily <3

loved, loved, loved this - as always.

ilysm. happy new year.

ps - one of my fave things about your liveblogs is that you always directly interact with the characters (like some people do when they read you know).

It's beautiful. Thank you for sharing these beautiful (and chaotic) thoughts with me. Good night x.

#lbaf #evie boo thang

[norgestan]

norandro, eva/nora, amiris 👀❣️

NORANDRO:

i mean, starting off pretty strong with my favorite eskam couple. oh god. THEM. as someone who cannot stomach season 2 and also skipped william's clip and william's clip only when season 4 of skam came to an end... i will ALWAYS love what eskam did for this couple. i think i explain it pretty well on my season 3 review, but to sum up those thoughts: i think this is what noorhelm was truly supposed to be, they're both pretty flawed characters with great arcs who make their get-together super interesting and organic, alejandro is my baby and the most developed william and i'll die on this hill, etc.

especially i think that norandro, for a ship that got way less screentime that all their other counterparts, is by FAR the most developed couple in all of them and up there in eskam too, and although they weren't the focus of most of the show, it's clear as day that the writers really tried to tell a compelling story with these two - and they succeeded. it's shocking to me that eskam actually got to link the "everyone is fighting a battle" motto that has become a meme for how poorly incorporated it is on the skamverse, as alejandro effectively behaved around that motto: during season 3 and onwards, which is where i believe he's fully reformed as a character and love interest, he never hurts nora - nor anyone - in any way. he struggles to tell nora how he doesn't want a relationship because he doesn't want to hurt her, and in the miscommunication fest that their first clip of s3 is, i've always LOVED that nora calls alejandro a "fuckboy" still, and he's clearly annoyed by this, but doesn't bite back. he's always so mindful of her feelings even though he's struggling himself, BECAUSE he understands that his suffering is not the center of the world! because treating people with kindness is a strength in itself! and it continues like that for the rest of the season. like, at his most petty, he just sends a text to nora calling her a "fuckboy", which is honestly hilarious. he deals with a lot of jealousy because of nora's new relationship, yet he values her friendship so much that he never snaps at her, he never lets it show when he's talking to her, and he's never passive-aggressive about it - you can tell that he's so genuinely glad that they're still friends after all. god, the clip where he realizes that miquel is a shit boyfriend while he's talking to nora... imagine the things any other william would've said there. imagine the ways alejandro could've been petty or overprotective and fuck everything up. instead, he recognizes nora needs space and even though it hurts to be away from her, he does it because he understands it's what she needs - and his own feelings and entitlement (that he previously showed, too!) aren't the most important thing. it's beautiful. UGH. what a great character eskam crafted, there.

i like them well enough in s4, too. i think, for what they had to work with, they took them in a good direction and their happy ending feels deserved. it's just that... personally, i wish there was more introspection of nora's aftermath in s3, which is also one of my complaints with season 3 - and where characters like emma could've been SO good. although i understand the intentions, a lot of nora's internal turmoil regarding her abusive relationship with miquel are only tied to her desire to be with alejandro. it's frustrating that it became so boy-focused when the girl squad was the center of the emotional climax of nora's season. to me, the solution is still in giving the pov's to the girl squad and not... random characters lol, but oh well. i think eskam did good there and i still love this couple the most!!! i just wish there was an universe where their story doesn't have to be wrapped up in one season and we can get actual glimpses of a beautiful slow burn where they can finally get together and make their relationship work - and this is where the fanfic part comes in, i guess! as someone who loves the couple, i liked seeing them lovey-dovey in the background of s4, but also i wouldn't have been too mad if they held off from making them completely canon and only hinted their status as endgame, kinda how they did with eva and jorge. oh, and speaking of eva, i guess...

NOREVA:

i guess, the main thing with them is that i love norandro so much that i can't really see nora with any other love interest??????? now, platonically. UGH. 12/10. anyone who's seen season 3 should know and i shouldn't even have to explain it tbh. i love the focus that is put on their friendship and how emotionally charged it is when it comes to miquel and the aftermath of all that. like, a similar thing is done with norandro - because at that point, nora and alejandro were exclusively friends, but it becomes even more relevant when it's about eva. eva who, you know, was in a toxic relationship herself. i love that she herself brings up her relationship with jorge when she's talking about miquel, and how wary she is of everything that happening. the fact that she's the first one to sense it feels so right!!! i love that eskam really made them close and gave them the window scene, which is both so powerful on its message and a true love letter to female friendships.

i think eva is a really underrated eskam character as it is, like... people really don't understand how great of a character she is and how much she's grown. they are quick to call her a boring, ooc party girl once s2 rolls around, like eskam didn't spend TIME making eva herself declare that hooking up with cristian (and cristian ONLY!) was something she did out of fun and she was decided to stop as soon as it stopped being fun for her. moreover, eva is such a perceptive person: she's been that way since s1 and it has only carried across for the entirety of the show since then. and when pairing two really good characters together, like eva and nora, you really can't go wrong. their friendship brings great things out of both of them and it goes through its own arc during nora's season, whereas other seasons either dump eva as noora's bff midway through or just make them really close to introduce character drama but don't really do anything to their dynamic as it is.

romantically... sigh. i'm sorry LOL as much as i love girls kissing and wlw romance done right... i don't see potential for this relationship outside their platonic dynamic. which is, btw, incredibly strong and beautiful. i'm super contented with how eskam handled their friendship and therefore i wouldn't want anything else from them, and it's not like nooreva where the chemistry was THERE. however! i'm always open to see people's interpretations of what romantic noreva could be. wasn't it you who wrote that beautiful fic of nora realizing she's bi and falling for eva after season 3? because now THAT'S the shit i'm looking for. i think there's a lot of potential there which i'd like to see explored in fic, but other than that, i love their relationship how it is and i've never felt a desire to see them as each other romantic interests.

AMIRIS:

first things first: why did eskam NEVER confirm cris having an embarrassing, sweet, confusing childhood crush on amira? i mean, it's my headcanon that she'll later realize it and she'll jolt awake and think "holy FUCK" but like... it's a thing that isaks are into their jonases. why didn't it happen here :(((((

being honest, childhood friends to lovers has never been my thing? a simple friends to lovers doesn't do it for me: i like my relationships rocky, with lots of character moments and whose survival and success depend only on the people involved making efforts to change and do better. if you've seen s4... yeah, that's not really the case. it's just disappointing because damn, amiris is the realest thing indeed, but also... what case are the writers doing for them? because it was only irene and hajar doing the intense gazing and bringing all the chemistry home. s4 cris is a mess and a half, and while i like the idea of the bench scene featuring both of them, and being more about cris reminding amira the reasons she's made it this far instead of lecturing her about sucking it up better... the result is still lackluster. there are SO many issues on their friendship that were introduced and then dropped, and it's really nice that cris finally is there to comfort amira when shit goes down, it truly is! but what else is there? it's just a small part of s4 being a bunch of missed potential. they could've REALLY done something great with their relationship and bring back and close cris' development in the show, but we only got... well, nothing. back to 0. amira has to live with those problems, now. things like that really make it seem like once amira broadens her horizons, she won't really go back to her friendship with the girls, and cris will be a lingering wound of the past. oh well.

ehem. romantically!!!!!!! as i said, cris was totally crushing on amira at some point. like... canon really makes a point at making cris' brother amira's love interest, where dani has nothing to offer to amira than cris hasn't done yet. iftar on a rooftop? ha, loser, cris did it first. admiring her passion and her faith? cris does it arguably way better than dani. longtime pining? dude. go home. okay, i'll cut dani soto some slack since it's not about him lol. point is, if amira was charmed by all of those things, then what tells me that the option of her and cris being a thing is off the table? at the end of the day, they're indeed a relationship that needs a lot of work and patience to last. the 500k slow burn is writing itself, really.

(regardless of amiris' future, i still think irene and hajar have to do a cute romcom romance at some point. their chemistry is off the charts.)

#skam españa #putting a read more thingy because as usual i've gone in too deep #also yes. i did mark 'i want to kiss them' in every ship. and what about it #thank you so much for your ask adelaide!!!!!!!! <3 #answered