#favevanityscenes

I said this would be a series and it’s going to be a series if it kills me damnit! Thanks to the great and good @iwatchforher who made me a gifset featuring part of this scene that inspired me to finally work on this second post.

This is my favorite Vanity scene period, which might be a bit of an unconventional choice, but it was the scene that turned me. I was pretty on board with Vanity from their first kiss, but this scene made me realize that they were something truly special (heh). What I’m generously counting as the “scene” begins the moment Vanessa sees Charity at the club through their kiss in the next room. Here’s why it’s my favorite:

 1.      Charity and Vanessa are hilarious together. I grew up on American soaps and didn’t really know what to expect from the UK, but Emmerdale is way funnier than anything from my youth, and Charity is especially hilarious. This scene highlights how she and Vanessa play off each other in such a beautifully funny, flirty way. Their exchange here—“Aww, she cares if I die or not” “Hey babe, let’s not runaway with ourselves yeah”—kills me every time. By now Charity has realized that Vanessa has much more of an edge than Charity ever expected—she keeps up with Charity’s wicked sense of humor and doesn’t put up with mind games—which is the main reason why I think Charity falls for her (among many others).

2.      All the flirting. Guess what most wlw ships don’t have? Intentional, obvious flirting. Guess what (especially early days) Vanity do non-stop? Flirt like their lives depend on it. The flirty look Charity gives Vanessa after she says Charity cares is everything: even though Charity is going to feebly protest a second later, she’s completely charmed by Vanessa drunkenly calling her out on her bullshit. Charity is doing that crooked smile thing she does because she already likes Vanessa so much but she’s trying so hard to be cool about it. And the way she chases Vanessa’s kiss at the end completely gives up the game (and is so hot)! You’re very transparent Charity, but nice try.

3.      I’m a weak lesbian and they’re really hot. I’m really shallow guys, what can I say? The club lighting, Vanessa’s eye makeup, her dress, the way that Charity looks at Vanessa like she could eat her alive, etc. etc. make the collective Vanity hotness in this scene off the charts for me. The way Charity looks at Vanessa before they kiss is so seductively gorgeous, I can barely handle it. How do you survive someone looking at you like that with all of your faculties intact?! How do you survive Charity? (I could maybe survive this from a lesser mortal.) And surprise surprise, Vanessa’s knees buckle just slightly at the end when Charity leans into the kiss. She’s as weak as the rest of us.

4.      Drunk!Vanessa. “You came to find me though...and you caaaaaaaaaare!” That quote is iconic™️ and kind of speaks for itself, but it raises the question: is this the moment I fell in love with Vanessa Woodfield? Very likely yes. Drunk!Vanessa is not only the most adorable and charming Vanessa, but without her, Vanity never would have kissed and they wouldn’t be girlfriends.  So she’s basically the relationship MVP. I spend this entire scene smiling to myself like an idiot, and Vanessa’s drunken antics are 95% responsible for it.

The amazing and talented @authorette44 requested that I tackle this as my next fave scene, and to be honest, I’m a little intimidated because I can tell that she’s thought about it a lot and would probably do a better job than me, but I said I would give it a try, so here. we. go.

When this scene first aired, nobody knew how long Vanity would stay broken up (perhaps permanently? *shudders*) or how Vanessa could possibly begin to apologize. For me, the scene marked the narrative shift from—”Vanessa is somewhat more than a bit of fun for Charity” —to— “Vanessa is probably the love of Charity’s life”—because it so clearly demonstrated that Vanessa cared enough to be different from everyone else in Charity’s life (past or present): enough to take the time to learn to see Charity, not because she wanted to possess or control her, but because Vanessa genuinely liked (loved) her and wanted their relationship to work.The depth of Vanessa’s understanding was likely the only thing that got Charity through the trial (including everything that led up to it) and these moments are where it all started. Here are some other reasons why it’s a favorite scene:

1.      The perfect set up.  The scene works as well as it does because the writers laid the foundation beforehand for us to believe that both Charity and Vanessa had a sense of where the other stood, and that Charity could be open to forgiving Vanessa. So I’m cheating a bit by mentioning some things that occur before this scene: (a) Vanessa learning that Charity hadn’t really slept with Jeff (and immediately knowing what it meant); and (b) Charity learning from Megan that Vanessa was crying over her. Vanessa was able to formulate her successful plan of attack because she already knew that Charity was intentionally pushing her away to protect herself. At the same time, Charity was processing the fact that Vanessa cared enough to be devastated about their break-up; and realizing that Vanessa cared that much before she even arrived at the pub allowed Charity to stop and really hear what Vanessa was saying when she finally did.  Without those two important set up pieces, the quick reunion would have been far less convincing.

2.      Vanessa is (really) different.  Charity already knew on some level that Vanessa was different from anyone she had ever been with before—it’s why she was able to tell her about Bails in the first place. But this scene underscored for Charity and for us just how different Vanessa was, completely throwing Charity for a loop in the process. Before Vanessa, everyone in Charity’s life assumed that she was at least partially responsible for any row, so why would she ever deserve an apology? But Vanessa fully owned her mistake here, not blaming Charity even a little bit for what happened. And you can see Charity sort of mentally buffering at certain moments, trying to wrap her head around what Vanessa is saying. Charity had become so accustomed to being blamed for everything that went wrong in her life—whether it was fair or not—that she had no frame of reference for what Vanessa was doing. Hence the look of shock on Charity’s face through most (all?) of the scene. By the end of it, Charity has a much greater inkling that Vanessa is completely unlike anyone else, and that feeling will only grow over the coming months. 

3.      Cracking “Charity Code.”  Vanessa had Charity’s number from that first night in the cellar—calling her out for poking at people because she was bored and lonely. And she continued to demonstrate her ability to read Charity, and where necessary, to deftly steer her in the right ways to move their relationship along through the aftermath of the skills auction and the night at the gay club. Vanessa had been cracking Charity code for months! But here, she had to be very explicit about it; there was no room for subtlety or miscommunication because this was Vanessa’s one shot to fix things. She knew she had to tell Charity as directly as possible: “I’m paying attention, I see you, I understand what you’re doing, and it’s okay because I was in the wrong.” Could Vanessa be a bigger lesbian in this moment with the communication and processing?! She could not. (One of the many reasons I love her).

4.      Charity is amazing.  Beyond Vanessa simply taking responsibility for her actions, which was in itself a unique experience for Charity, Vanessa went further to show Charity that she wants her because she thinks Charity is amazing and wonderful. It’s clear from Charity’s reaction that no one had ever said something like that to her before (or if they had—she hadn’t truly believed it). This could probably be a sub-point to “Vanessa is different,” which is the major theme running through this entire scene. When Vanessa first arrives at the pub and starts talking, Charity tries to keep moving around, not looking Vanessa in the eye, clearing glasses, and then suddenly has to stop to make sure she’s heard correctly. Because even with Vanessa, Charity struggles to believe anything good about herself; the difference with Vanessa is that she keeps trying to convince her. (Though it’s sort of sobering that a year and half later, Charity still finds it hard to believe that Vanessa loves her...ouch). Here, Vanessa telling Charity she was “amazing,” and letting Charity look into her face and see that the sentiment was utterly genuine, healed some of the broken pieces that had started to crack and scatter since Charity had reopened the Bails box. Their relationship is so strong now (in part) because Vanessa has continued to show she meant it ever since.

5.      Vanity have no illusions about each other and still like (love) each other so much.  Perhaps the most iconic part of this scene is when first Vanessa, and then Charity, list each other’s main flaws and then say that they  like the other so much, each using their own colorful turns of pharse. I love the specific language here—“so flaming hard I sometimes think you have concrete running through your veins” is now my go-to description for Charity (though Vanessa has softened her, let’s be real). And “I flaming well like you too” will always be quintessentially Charity and Vanessa for me. The way Charity says it so softly, as if realizing it for the first time, destroys me. But most importantly, the sum total of what they say in these few moments will permanently define what is special about their relationship for me: that they each see the other for who they really are—even the ugly parts—and love that entire person, not in spite of, but including those parts.

While I’m working on part 2 of my long “why Vanity resonates” post (thanks to all for the great reception!) I wanted to write a few shorter posts about some of the scenes I’ve been obsessing about over the past few weeks.  

I love when Charity returns home to Vanessa after Cain tries to kiss her because there are so many little details in that scene that underscore how Charity’s relationship with Vanessa is different from any that have come before it, and it’s clear that a lot of thought was put into the scene.  I’m not sure how much of it was in the writing or just from Emma’s and Michelle’s acting choices, but the combination of the two conveyed so much about why these two are so good for each other, particularly at this point in their relationship.  

I can’t resist a list, so here it goes:

Charity seeks physical comfort in Vanessa before anything else. Before she tells Vanessa anything, Charity is clearly rattled by the experience and just needs to be physically reassured that her safe place is still there, and she has this person she loves, who loves her, who will always make her feel okay. I love the initial cuddle so much because my read is that it had nothing to do with warming Vanessa up before Charity tells her something potentially incendiary, but is entirely about Charity seeking her own comfort because she’s upset.  She is so vulnerable with Vanessa, and it makes my heart clench every time.  Also, Vanessa’s sweater looks so cozy to cuddle in and I am jealous of Charity :P

Charity immediately wants to come home and tell Vanessa what happened. This is the type of plot point that on another show or with another pairing would usually be played for conflict, even though nothing actually happened--Charity would keep it from Vanessa because she would be afraid of upsetting her, and keeping it would make it look more suspicious, and they would get in a fight over it, etc., etc.  With Charity’s past tendency to keep things bottled up, you would have expected that type of fallout even more.  But Charity trusts Vanessa so much to listen, to be patient, and to understand what actually happened.

Vanessa’s first thought is to be worried that Cain hurt Charity.  I’m     pretty sure I’ve never seen a romantic partner in any fictional pairing     (straight or wlw) react to a “he/she tried to kiss me” revelation by first showing concern for their partner’s safety, and it was so refreshing.  It felt particularly appropriate in the context of a wlw relationship: as a woman herself, Vanessa understands unwanted advances in a way a male partner likely would not.  It was also such a smart nod to Vanessa’s understanding of everything that happened with Bails.