justafangirl

Skam (2015-2017)

                                     The beginning and the end, thank you and goodbye.

Dear Sana, this speech is to you. And you get this speech, because the fact that you’ve invited us here to today, topples over American presidents tomorrow. We live in a chaotic world where it’s hard to understand the rules. Because why are some poor and others rich? Why do some have to flee? While others are safe? And why are people being spat on at in streets. And why is sometimes, when you try to make something good, it’s still met with hate? It’s not strange that people give up. That we stop believing in the good. But thank you for not giving up Sana. Because even tho it sometimes may feel like it, No person stands alone. Each and every single one of us, is an important piece in the big chaos, and what you did today, will have an effect tomorrow. It can be hard to say exactly what kind of effect, and you usually can’t always see how it’s all connected, but the effects of your actions, will always remain somewhere in the chaos. In 100 years we might have machines that manages to calculate the effect of each and every action. But until then, we can trust this:

• respected her personal space while they slept in the same bed and never once tried anything 

• looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen while she was playing the guitar 

• left her alone as he said he would if she told him she didn’t like him 

• “i actually have a hard time believing that. that they don’t love you? that’s practically impossible" 

• respected her decision to not have sex and never once sexually forced her • respected her request that she needs time away from him to think clearly 

• not only did he stay by her side for 15 hours taking care of her while she was sleeping but he also wrote a whole goddamn article for her which was so good 

• when her facebook notifications kept going off while he was on her laptop writing her article instead of looking at it he respect her privacy and simply closed it 

• made sure she attended the breakfast with her friends and picked a dress for her 

• is looking at her everytime like there’s nothing more important in the world 

• after she left him in london without anything he respected her decision and left her alone but the second he got a mail from her he ditched london and came for her to norway 

isak ending the kisses

+tarjei

I still remember the first gifset I saw of Skam on my dash. It was the girls, discussing the russ at Eva’s place. Sana was planning for them to get some “cred” and I laughed out loud. It was an anomaly for me at the time - I have severe anxiety with depressive tendencies, and that was one of the lowest periods in my life. But there I was, laughing, everything forgotten for that one moment, the voices in my head miraculously silenced for that one moment.

I looked the tag up on tumblr. A group of friends, laughing and crying, all together.

Uhh, Norwegian teen show? How will I ever watch this? I remember thinking and closing the tab, believing that was that.

But I was intrigued, despite the many teen shows Hollywood has thrown at me. I was intrigued because of Sana (Sana! A hijabi Muslim girl on tv with a regular teen life?! Consider me, a woman of color, in tears), because of Noora and William (yes, I know, let’s move on), because of Isak and Eva, Isak and Jonas, Jonas and Eva, Vilde and Eva, Chris(tina) and Vilde, Eskild and Linn, Chris and his ‘Halla!’ ‘Awkwaaard!’ and the beloved ‘Draaama!’, and later Isak and Even, Mahdi and Magnus, because of the Hartvig Nissen building, because of everything.

When I finally started watching the show, that first shot of Jonas criticizing capitalism, made me sit up. This isn’t your average entertainment, I thought. And even as I was still amazed at Jonas’s speech, the loneliness that was apparent in Eva within the first few minutes dug its hooks in my heart. And from that moment, I didn’t turn back.

Eva, Chris, Vilde, Sana, Noora. All of them were lonely. Every single one. And together, they’ve become the family that holds your hand through the worst of the worst.

We don’t all agree with some of the characters and that’s okay - I love them all. (With the blatant exception of Nico, of course.) Every one of them gave me something to keep in my heart forever.

Eva gave me strength to persevere and find myself, Vilde taught me to continue believing, Chris taught me to understand my friends, Sana taught me to stand my ground and take no shit, Noora taught me it’s okay to hurt and doubt, William taught me to love and be better even if you’ve been a drittsek, Isak taught me to face my internalized prejudices, Even taught me to accept my mental health does not define me, Magnus taught me to compassion, Mahdi taught me sometimes simply being there for your friends can mean the world to them, Jonas taught me to stay true to my convictions, Elias taught me the love of family, Yousef taught me that goodness isn’t always about social rules and faith can come in different ways, Linn taught me that I can despair if I that is what is in my heart that moment but those who truly care for me will be there, and Eskild, sweet Eskild, taught me that good people are everywhere.

To the editmakers - I don’t know whose gifset I saw that first time, but whoever you are, know that because of you, my life is that much brighter.

To the cast - you are some of the most beautiful people, inside out, thank you for bringing these characters to life.

To the translators and Google Drive heroes - thank you, thank you from the bottom of heart. You guys didn’t have to do this, but you shared the joy of this story with the world.

To Julie Andem - what can I say that I haven’t already? You gave us a story that we will carry in our hearts forever. You’ve impacted people’s lives around the world with Skam, and you are forever.

But, she saw it in his eyes. She knew that if she said it, he would have stayed, for her. That the whole speech about him needing to use his head over his heart wouldn’t have mattered anymore. Because, he finally would know the truth. That she loves him just as much as he loves her.