Would that this hoodie were a time hoodie!

HOLY CRAP. That was way better than I had been expecting. I loved all the eps except for the Effy one, mostly because the counselor dude creeped me out more than I could handle, and, well, NOW I KNOW WHY. OMG, so ridiculous. WHY IS EVERY MAN IN THE UNIVERSE IN LOVE WITH EFFY? SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME. Anyway, fandomsecrets had me thinking that the whole Freddie thing was going to be so epically tragic, but uh... it was mostly just grossly melodramatic, and it would probably have been slightly shocking had I not known about it beforehand. But, I didn't know how it was going to happen, or when, so, pretty much every Freddie scene had me going "Is it going to happen now? When is it going to happen?" Of course, when we met the counselor dude, I knew it would be him. GOD, that guy was creepy. And the finale, while it didn't exactly give us closure there, I did like how it ended. Somehow this series really made me like Cook, and that last moment there was just so, so awesome, and it showed how much he really loved Freddie. Honestly, that whole Cook/Effy nonsense was always about Cook/Freddie to me, and I think the show kind of failed by making it about Cook/Effy and Freddie/Effy. But, anyway, I like how it ended. And the Naomi/Emily reconciliation was so utterly beautiful and suddenly so much of what Naomi did throughout series 3 made sense. Thomo and Panda! ♥ Also, I really enjoyed the Freddie/Effy dynamic in this series since it really emphasized why they are so drawn to each other (which the show failed to do in series 3). Freddie's mother was clinically depressed, and here's Effy having the same problems that his mother had. For Effy, Freddie takes care of her much like her brother did, and from the beginning one of the strongest Skins relationships was Effy/Tony, so, finally, FINALLY Effy/Freddie made a bit of sense past the whole "let's just pair up the two prettiest people" thing.

In short, I really enjoyed series 4 of Skins. Totally made up for the craptasticness that was series 3.

Am I the only one that finds Jim/Pam porn disgusting? I can't even explain it. They just... they're so innocently sweet that the thought of them and porn has always turned me off, and yet the shippers have always talked about them like they'd have wild hot sex and I have to quickly click off the page and go running away from my computer screaming and trying to erase the images from my head. And then today, I clicked on this. *shudder* I think I threw up in my mouth a little. And, when their sex life is eluded to on the show, I get so uncomfortable. I don't know. They're just not sexual! Why does the show and fandom at large force their sex life on me? Why? It's icky. Yech. Ryan/Kelly, no problem with their sex life (because that's pretty much all they did with each other), Michael/Jan, no problem with their sex life. Michael/Holly, on the other hand, I had the same problem as I have with Jim/Pam. In fact, I probably have an even bigger problem thinking of them in sexual terms since their relationship was made to look like ten-year-olds crushing on each other (whereas Jim and Pam were more like 13-year-olds, so... slightly less icky?). And, Andy/Angela was just plain wrong, so... I definitely had trouble thinking of them in sexual terms, but Dwight/Angela I had no problem with because they were always sexual with each other. I don't know. I just have an aversion to childish couples being viewed in sexual ways. I even have that problem with some of my own OTPs, like Daniel/Betty from Ugly Betty. Unless a fic manages to do it right (which, they usually don't), I prefer to keep their sexual life private. I don't even elude to it in my own fics, because... well, they're too innocent. I have no problem thinking of them as a married couple raising a family and growing old together, but the sex would be such an intimate thing for them that it just shouldn't be shown. But then I have OTPs where the chemistry is so physical that I yearn for porn, like Uther/Morgana. And then there are ships like Jack/Liz where the UST is sometimes so strong that I'm just like, "OMG, they need to make out" and other times their affection for each other is so innocent that I'm just like, "Awwwww, they're so sweet," but Jack is so open about sex that I don't really have a problem with Jack/Liz porn (and in fact I read quite a lot of it). I don't know. A lot of people say that fanfic is purely for porn, but... I much prefer emotional development to the porn. Although, emotional development plus GOOD porn for a couple that I can picture in a sexual light is an added bonus.

Anywho, I finished Skins, and series 3 ended up having a few brilliant episodes (Pandora, Namoi, JJ, Emily and Katie) but the rest of that series was crap. I just didn't get why everyone loved Effy. None of them knew anything about her. There were no emotional bonds there, it was purely hormones. So, I didn't care one bit about the love triangle, and that was the main plot of the series. Boring. The most moving story was definitely JJ's episode. The most moving romance was definitely Emily/Naomi. The sweetest one was Pandora/Thomas, until it got ruined. :'( But, yeah, I just wasn't invested in this one like I was for the first two.

And, because it's been too damn long, random ASH:



GOD, I love his hair. *dreamy sigh*

PS

I adore this song with every fiber of my being. Hadn't listened to it in years then it came on my ipod yesterday, and now I can't stop singing it:

AAAAAAH, I LOVE THIS SHOW! SO FREAKING MUCH! I swear it just keeps getting better and better. VICTOR AND SIERRA!!! Also, Boyd was totally giving Topher the love eyes in this ep. THEY ARE SO IN LOVE, YOU GUYS! SO, SO IN LOVE! How am I the only person I know that ships those two? Their manlove is undeniable. NOVEMBER! OH, HOW TRAGIC THAT WOMAN IS! My heart will forever break for her. The Adelle/Echo showdown was EPIC. Also, Boyd is still making me swoon without even saying anything. Oooooh, this show. I love it. Whoever abandoned this show before ep 6 should really get back to it, because it's kickass awesome.

In other news, I've gotten through the first two series of Skins and found them to be absolutely brilliant and epic and amazing in every way and was totally wrapped up in every single episode, but then I got to series 3. I was expecting the cast change because I had read about it, and it makes sense story-wise since series 2 completes that stage in their lives. But... series 3 is like a completely different show. It's just nowhere near as good. It's way too over the top and lost a lot of its relatability and it's failing to keep my interest. It's just too ridiculous. I don't know what happened. I enjoyed the whimsical feeling of the first two series, but they also held enough reality and drama that I really fell in love with the characters, and both series had very clear plots from the get-go. This one is just so random and the characters aren't quite as lovable. Pandora, Thomas, and JJ I love, but everyone else is pretty much a snooze-fest. I liked Effie in the first two series, but only because her relationship with Tony was really touching, and the show beautifully delved into her battle of not wanting to care about people but not being able to help it, and it did it subtly, and we learned all we needed to know about her. Now she's just... boring. And Cook is so freaking annoying that I couldn't stand his episode. That's the first time an ep ever failed to make me care about the character it was focusing on. I think my main gripe about the series so far is the gangster character (played by Gareth from the British Office). Is that dude in everything? Because he played this really annoying villain in Demons too. He's just... annoying. In this one I think it's just that the character doesn't mesh well with the show and it's throwing it off. I don't know. It's just too ridiculous. It's like series 3 turned into a show for little kids, even though there's drugs and raunchy sex scenes. Oh, and, just need to say it, the level of incest subtext in this show is insane. The incest shippers must have had a ball with it. Series 1 had that crazy guy trying to get Tony to have sex with Effie, and then series 2 had that girl ask Tony if he wanted to have sex with his sister, and series 2 also had Michelle's new stepfather and stepsister being incestuous to a disturbing yet hilarious degree, and then series 3 had the twins' brother spying on them while they were in the shower (and he wasn't ashamed one bit) and it also had the gangster!Gareth being disgusting with his daughter. WHAT is up with that? It's insane. My favorite though was definitely Michelle's stepfather and stepsister. Oh god, those scenes were so, so wrong. Especially the naked hot tub scene. Oh, this show. I'm moving through series 3 a whole lot slower than the rest. It's just... not as satisfying. I kind of wish I hadn't started watching series 3 and could just remember the perfection of the ending to series 2. Gah, Tony and Sid made me cry. And Max and Anwar made me smile. Chris. Oh god, Chris. And Jal. I ended up not liking Cassie in series 2. She was so sweet and beautiful in series 1, and then in series 2 she just... went crazy and I was saying "WHY does Sid love her?" Seriously, a relationship with her takes a whole lot of effort, and Sid doesn't like making an effort. They are doomed for all eternity. Also, where did these kids get the money to just randomly take off to New York??? Especially Cassie, who couldn't even afford her own place. And, what was up with all these nice people in New York? Psh, Sid's experience was way more realistic than Cassie's. I don't know, I just felt like the series steered her in a horrible direction, and she's the only one I ended up not liking, despite the fact that she was one of my absolute favorites in series 1. But, I understand why she did the things she did. She... has issues. And she's terribly dramatic. So... yeah, it didn't surprise me, it just made me see that she is seriously screwed up and it would take a whole lot of patience to be her friend. Tony, however, I went from despising to absolutely loving. So, I guess one cancels out the other.

ETA: Okay, I just watched the Pandora ep of series 3, and... I no longer dislike Cook (he made Pandora happy!). And, this episode was of the same caliber as series 1 and 2. And Effie got some layers again. And I loved the exploration of the Pandora/Effie friendship. Awesome ep.