#phallusophical

It’s also frustrating because I feel like some of their ideas were good and had potential — I like the setting of the trip they went on, I love the whole art school thing, and I loved Noor so much and was really hoping they’d have Robbe open up to her. The flat share dynamic is so fucking cute, and I thought the buildup to the pool scene was also beautiful. It just makes me sad that they’ve gone so wrong with the drama. Idk why they packed so much shit in in such little time :( disappointing

exactly! i pretty much agree with all of this. the situation is so frustrating bc it’s not all 100% bad ideas, it would’ve been much easier to say it sucks and dismiss it completely if it was. but that’s not the case, there was some real potential here!

there have been some good ideas executed well - the flastshare ‘found family’ dynamic, for example, is the highlight of the season imo; the willems are believable to me as teens, their (great!) chemistry is what made the robbe/sander relationship seem less underdeveloped than it was, and when they’re allowed to be cute and loving with each other, they SHINE (this latest clip, for example). 

there have also been some good ideas executed badly tho - the week at the beach??? i will never understand why they waited TWO WHOLE EPS to introduce sander, the character who’s basically the catalyst for s3′s storyline - it made the first two eps feel repetitive and slow, it messed up the pacing of the whole first half of the season (first slow, then fast af when packing so much sander content all at once), it cut out one of the best things about the evak development (the slow burn! isak seeing him for the first time, the nerves when he talks to him a few days later, seeing him around school and the lowkey stalking him trying to find out everything about him and becoming even more enamoured, *more* nerves when he asks him over to his place and they spend all afternoon together getting to know each other….ahhh, lovely), and it made their relationship feel underdeveloped and rushed (an almost kiss after 6 days of knowing each other in which they interacted twice, kissing naked in a pool after a week and a half…..etc etc. realistic? maybe. good storytelling? less so). which brings me back to the week at the beach - they took away two weeks of sander, ok, at least make up for it by featuring him A LOT during that week at the beach??? use that week to focus on robbe and sander making eyes at each other, getting to know each other, talking, hanging out, listening to music….unlike all the other evaks they were on vacation TOGETHER, they were in the SAME PLACE together, it was such a ROMANTIC setting, the opportunity was RIGHT THERE. but instead that whole week was sander/britt and robbe/noor nonstop, with a bit of sad pining on top. which speaking of noor!!! yeah, the way she was introduced seemed like she could be one of the better emmas, i’ve seen people say they loved how they built up their relationship and the development they got, and like…..what a waste that ended up being?? if he’d ended up coming out to her and they’d become friends (since his own friends were being blah), then ok, i get giving them all this focus. but that didn’t happen. she ended up being like every other emma, confronting him about being gay and telling him to get out of the closet. so why did we spend so much time on her and robbe??? was it really that important to show them making out numerous times, even trying to go all the way twice….?? being gay and fighting your true self is sad, we get it, we got it watching og s3 without seeing isak force himself to make out with emma numerous times (and without lashing out at even accusing him of taking advantage of him and calling him a slur….and without watching him and even get gay bashed….and without one of his friends being homophobic to him when he came out….).

So far, Robbe seems /too nice/. He worries more about others than himself, to the point where he lets them walk all over him, including the cursed boy squad . Sander may teach him to be more selfish + stick up for himself, which will help him come out &dish the shit back to his dumbass friends. Sander seems the kind of asshole who looks after himself and his own. We don’t know how long he &Britt have been dating; he probably doesn’t consider her his own. He just seems full slytherin to me lol

Maybe because Sander is a bit of an asshole, he will teach Robbe to be more self-serving, while Robbe will teach him to be more considerate and softer. I can only hope for mutual character development. 😍

I agree with a lot of this. Quite a few of the things Sander has done make him look mean. I'm just counting and judging different things in different ways than you I guess ^^

The whole manger shtick was weird to me, but not mean. Like something I'd ramble off because it sounded cool in my head and then I just try to go with it to not make it too awkward. I wouldn't say, he "crashed" Robbe into the boxes, but just walking away after was weird. And I'm not feeling strongly about him dismissing Amber's food choices. Like, they're teenagers who want to party. None of the others would have been into whatever Amber would have cooked for them and nobody is stopping her from getting her own food... (I'm an asshole about this... I totally know how bad it is when there are things you can't /shouldn't eat, but I had to learn to take care of my needs myself...)

But like hurting your girlfriend and playing it off as a joke. That's mean. Were Britt my friend, I would have yelled at him. Were I Robbe, I'd try hard not to fall for him, because if that's how he treats his significant other (unprovoked as far as we've seen), I wouldn't want to be his significant other... (I said that about Matteo after he dumped Sara too btw)

All of those things don't have to be deal-breakers though if the show puts them into the right context. I'm sure we're supposed to be a bit questioning about Sander at the moment.

even: idk i just want to have sex

Honestly re: wtfock tho I really do wonder if they had like one good writer in the room surrounded by fools. Bc it really does feel like some group projects I’ve been in where I feel like I’m the only one who’s not a fucking fool and carry the whole thing while having to fend off bad ideas (but when the majority rules, those bad ideas/execution get put in). I wonder if that’s what happened w wtfock.

re: wtfock, lol group projects are the worst….idk what wtfock’s writing process was like, but i’d love to know it. according to their wiki there were 3 writers this season? all seem to be male, naturally. did the two other writers have good ideas but there was a main writer who overruled them and did his own thing? or maybe they’re the rl one brain cell squad, that would explain a lot :p in any case, i’m unimpressed (friday’s clips did not help with that).

as for the other part of your ask….oh damn i have so many Thoughts on that, lol. this is probably gonna get long and messy, but you asked for it!

* druck - my absolute favorite. it’s the only one i’ve watched since s1, so that definitely played a part in my emotional investment and attachment. still, there was more to it than that. it was the closest to og imo in vibe and style (it felt small, real, lowkey, quiet, natural like og, as opposed to - as you said - overwrought and overdramatic + overproduced like the others); they cast an actual trans guy to play a trans character, if you wanna talk about a skam remake doing something REVOLUTIONARY? druck is the one; i loved matteo’s and david’s characterizations, how they both had a bit of isak and even in them, and the role reversal in some scenes, made things feel fresh *and* fit their characters/story; i LOVE that teens matteo and david were played by actual teens michi and lukas!! they’ve completely ruined me for all other remakes, bc thissssss is how it’s supposed to be! thisssss is how it should look like! THEY ARE KIDDOS. and they (druck and michi/lukas) truly captured what it’s like to be young and fall in love for the first time, the awkwardness and the nervousness and stuttering and fumbling around, the softness and pureness and innocence of it all!!! also they have THE BEST dynamic - other people might prefer all the hot kissing and steamy making out and the smouldering looks, but me? i just couldn’t get enough of their dumb chaotic energy, best friends who love each other deeply and are also constantly little shits to one another. gimme them pranking each other and playfighting every day! and then being soft and THE HANDS and matteo being a clingy koala basking in david’s affection :3 i also loved how for the most part they didn’t just copy/paste og’s storyline, they made some changes and knew how to make *other* changes accordingly for it to make sense and fit the story *they* were telling - for example, replacing the ‘call your gf’ scene with matteo’s panic attack/breakdown (one of my fave scenes), or their reunion at the end of ep 7 (replacing the desperate kissing + sex with a comforting and relieved yet also bittersweet and melancholic hug), or even matteo getting advice from his drug dealer instead of the school’s doctor, lol. also THE BEST BOY SQUAD, hands down. and matteo is my favorite isak bc to me he felt like his own character instead of just another isak, he was different and reletable and a constant Mood. that being said - it wasn’t perfect and it had its issues. there were a few times when i did feel they stuck too close to og scenes and it didn’t *entirely* work for me, just felt a bit off; i will forever be disappointed that they didn’t directly address and acknowledge matteo’s mental state/depression, bc there were enough signs imo to indicate that he did suffer from something. they mentioned ‘therapy’ in mia’s, alex’s and kiki’s cases, i truly thought they would with matteo as well, but alas, they dropped the ball on that one; i was extremely upset with david’s outing, but i’ve since calmed down and have managed to see it in a more positive light, tho i still have mixed feelings about it and am not fully on board with that decision, still wish it had been done differently (but at least! it wasn’t brushed off and was addressed immediately and eventually led to david having agency and yelling out his pain!!! which was good and important and cathartic); also eps 8 and 9 were pretty messy writing-wise, things either didn’t make sense or would’ve made more sense had the clips were organized differently (that random ping pong clip….?). overall tho, the good outweighed the bad, and it remains my fave <3

* skam france - now that’s a tricky one. the way i felt about it in the first half of the season, is different from the way i felt about it in the second half of the season, is different from the way i feel about ever since watching druck’s s3. it’s funny you should say how similar it is to wtfock for you, bc i’ve been thinking the same thing for quite some time. those neighboring countries sure have a shared flair for the dramatic! fr’s s3 was pretty much the first s3 i watched (i gif-watched half of skamit, couldn’t get into it). i wasn’t planning to (i was extremely unimpressed by the couple of s1 eps i tried watching, and same by axel’s acting in those first two seasons), but even is the loml and they got me gooood with their eliott pov trailer, which might have affected my excitement over it during the first half. back then i really enjoyed it for the most part, despite some clips being rushed or missing the point thus not fully having the required effect (their locker room scene, for example, or the ‘generalizations are bad’ convo), or how much i hated basile (a character so obviously written by a man it’s amazing), or the cheesy piano music. there were enough good things for me to focus on instead (more in a bit) that i could ignore the things i didn’t like or weren’t as good imo. however, all the positivity got sucked out of me when yann noped tf out after lucas came out to him bc WAY TO MISS THE POINT OF SKAM!!! and things went downhill after the director’s IT’S NOT DISNEYLAND IT’S FRANCE 2019 comment. i’m getting all upset just thinking about it, but to say *that*, to explain that horrendous decision bc lowkey homophobic reactions are realistic!!! only to THEN be all ‘haha jk yann isn’t homophobic! we just wanted you to *think* he was! he’s actually an awesome friend who took several days to reflect on all his past wrongdoings while his bff was at home having a nervous breakdown bc he believed his bff hated him!’ ughhhhhhhhh, miss me with that shit. great that they had yann apologizing for his past comments, but the way in which it was done was for pure shock value and angst, completely ooc for his character (all season he was all ‘tell me tell me tell me let me help let me help let me help’ only to do *that*?? nahh), and interesting how out of everyone the only black character was the only one with a negative reaction (remind you of anyone), highlighted even more during ep 7 aka the ott lucas coming out tour. then ep 8, that should have been 100% all lucas and eliott and building up to eliott’s manic episode suddenly had that weird random pov changing clip in the middle of it which truly wtf, basile was still basile, lucas thanked chloe for outing him, more scenes felt rushed, they had sex in school where people could come and go in front of huge windows in broad daylight and luckily didn’t get poisoned from licking all that paint! and i did not like the flatshare, i absolutely hated mika and lisa kicking lucas out of his room - which he pays rent for! - and manon not even trying to put up a fight, and them being like ‘roommate isn’t just a place, it’s a way of living. that’s a family, and you’re more like a cousin.’ ‘a second cousin.’ ughhhhhh and then when eliott was recovering from his depressive episode, they *still* didn’t give lucas his room back or at least let eliott stay there, he was sleeping on the couch, i’m aldjlajdafj. can’t believe i’m gonna say it, but TAKE NOTES FROM WTFOCK. tl;dr there were some good moments in the second half, but i was feeling bitter more often than not about certain things, so my enjoyment wasn’t as high as when it first started. and after watching druck, druck’s brand is definitely much more my style. plus, i was already struggling with making myself believe axel and maxence were in their teens, but after druck it’s completely impossible, so i just pretend they’re in college or something lol. all my issues with it aside, i’d still rate it higher than wtfock, bc overall the writing was better, more coherent, and made much more sense. i also liked lucas’ friendship with the girls; i loved that instead of copying the underwater kiss + 21:21 like some others have, they came up with their own thing i.e. polaris, which i thought was lovely; the lucas/manon crying in the middle of the night together in front of the tv was one of my fave scenes of the season; also love how we were introduced to eliott on the first week! and they spent time together! and specifically the piano playing scene, ohhhh; and in general elu are sweet and i reeeeally like axel and maxence and their friendship. so yeah, it had some major issues, but i’d rather have a coherent story with something done for shock value and drama ONCE than an incoherent story with several shock value moments.

aww thank you! it’s nice to know people out there appreciate my thinky thoughts 😊 and yeah, i totally get it, when *i* get emotionally invested in something and it’s something i really really love, i’m not always fond of criticism either, sometimes i just wanna ignore the bad enjoy the good and not let anything harsh my buzz. that’s why when i feel like maybe i’m being *too* negative, i keep it out of the tag. i don’t wanna ruin the fun for anyone else, y'know? but there are some things that truly frustrate me, things that i feel like *should* be heard and discussed even if they’re not all positive, and as long as i’m not shaming anyone for disagreeing with me, i think that’s fine? if it’s too much, just keep scrolling and skip my posts, that’s what i do! but ultimately i’m not being hateful just to be hateful, and while some may be a personal subjective preference, other issues are simply objectively not good? i get trying to be optimistic about the show redeeming itself, but at some point you gotta acknowledge when things aren’t good (you can still enjoy bad things w/o deluding yourself into thinking they’re great, i speak from experience), lower your expectations so you don’t get disappointed if/when the show fails you, and just hope for the best. and if we were on say ep 3 atm then ok, i’ll accept it might be too early to judge, things could still change and get better. but wtfock is halfway through ep 8…there’s just some things that you can’t change. like, even if they have robbe going to the police with zoe by the end of the season, it’s not gonna change the fact that they showed a graphic gay bashing, only to then focus most of their attention on the standard isak/even/sonja relationship drama from og instead, barely addressing it and barely dealing with robbe’s trauma this whole time. i truly hope they bring it up again at some point, i hope they handle sander’s mi storyline with the care and respect it deserves, but based on what we’ve gotten so far, can you really fault people for *not* being as optimistic as you about it….? bc i can’t! but hey, everyone should keep doing them, just realize that most of people’s criticism is valid!

Ahoi!

Thanks for reading my thoughts on Druck and WTFock. I'm glad you like some of my musings.

I'm very late to the WTFock party today because I slept in 😅 but I was already really happy about and impressed by the first clip. It had everything I wanted and needed to feel like I'm finally in Robbe's perspective. Which made me realize just how fucking sad my sweet gay Belgian son is 😭😭😭

I made a post about it already and I'll continue to write down my opinions as they come to me. It's not quite analysis, just thoughts I can't keep to myself.

I've actually watched parts of Skam NL season 1 and all of season 2. I love the characters, especially Liv, Isa, Engel, Noah and Lucas vdH. I would have loved to see a season 3...