Latest / Besties Do Verticals / Episode 19 - Say Yes to My Tomboy Roommate

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Episode 19 - Say Yes to My Tomboy Roommate · Besties Do Verticals

• Aleta: Hello and welcome to Besties Do Verticals with your besties, Alita and Lucy. Hi, I'm Alita. Lucy: And I'm Lucy. Aleta: How are you doing this week, Lucy? Lucy: I think I'm doing okay. Ooh, update. I'm out of the walking boot. Very exciting. Yes, yes. Greg's merch only hurt me for a few days. So Aleta: Yay. Lucy: We've had lots of exciting things in the fandom this week. a lot of great edits. There's a cute Evan edit of Sisterhood traveling sweater. So if you guys get a chance to check that out, it'll be fun. Aleta: Ha ha ha Lucy: I think that might be it, Alita. But what about you? Aleta: Not a whole lot. It's been a quiet week. My Greg merch finally arrived today. Lucy: Ha ha ha. Aleta: And it's on the bench behind me there. So I'm wearing the old Greg Duffy shirt. Yeah. Well old. The one from a couple months ago. Lucy: Yay. Are you wearing a Greg Duffy shirt right now? my gosh! and then I'm wearing my Evan sweater. Awwww, we both got like merch. It's just Evan doesn't know I'm wearing Aleta: Ha. Lucy: stuff. That's not his merch, but we've made it Aleta: Super unofficial Evan merch. Lucy: unofficial Evan merch because we didn't get McCunter panties, so you know. let's talk about one more fun thing because it's all about Greg and Evan, of course. So Aleta: god. Mm. Lucy: we got a little what is it, Instagram reel drop. From Greg last night and he looks so good. He looks so good. I don't know who's seen it out there, but he showed up as MJ no no no no no MGK Machine Gun Kelly 2.0. He looks so good. He was in a black beanie, fake tattoos, nose piercing. what was it chains around his neck he had like a hoodie on. I have never it's like the anti-Greg. Like Greg does not dress like that and I I I fell so in love more in love than ever. So Aleta: Yeah, Greg's always very natural and wholesome looking. Lucy: Yeah, he did not look wholesome. He looked ready to rumble. so also besties, check that out too. It's pretty great. Aleta: Ha ha ha. Lucy: But alright, besties, I think we are going to get started on our recap today. So I am so excited because we are getting to recap another girl love. Today is Say Yes to my Tomboy Roommate. It was released on TikTok and Pine Drama. And from my understanding, I think this vertical got over 200 million views. I think they've been boasting about this. And I believe it. There's a lot of traffic on TikTok and it's free. So why not? Aleta: Hm. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Lucy: This was directed by I apologize if I I butcher this. I'm terrible with names. Yu Chao Angela Wang. The writers were Yu Choo Angela Wang and Yu Chen Zhao. The IMDB summary, Blair, a university student, has a new dormate, Avery, a tomboy. As they get to know each other better, Blair and Avery begin to wonder whether the feelings they have for one another are simply ordinary friendship or true love. And what's super interesting about that is they say university, but I swear this is high school. Because as I went through the vertical, I was like, nah, they keep talking about getting into university. Aleta: Yeah. Yeah, totally. And also they're like there's a principal and they're yeah, she's it's Lucy: There's not a dean. Aleta: yeah. Lucy: So that is Aleta: It's a boarding school is what it is, right? So Lucy: Yeah, I agree. I think it's more of a boarding school. Aleta: Alright, first episode opens in the hallway of the school. A group of cheerleaders are coming down the hall chatting about their performance. Headed up by one of the two leads, Blair, played by Kaylin Peluso. The villain, Fiona, played by Julia Mason, is lying in wait and trips Blair as she walks past. Classic vertical. Fortunately she is caught by the captain of the tennis team, Ethan, played by Logan Tomat Tomanek, excuse me. Lucy: It's like they try to psych you out, right? It's the guy catching her first in a queer vertical. Hmm. Maybe they didn't want people to know where it was going. Aleta: Ha ha ha. Mm, possibly. the title kind of gives it away, but Lucy: Fair, fair. Aleta: Her fellow cheerleaders say my god, that was straight out of a movie They are seriously perfect together. Blair runs off to the locker room where we get to hear her interior monologue. We learn that although everyone else thinks they're perfect for each other, it feels wrong when he touches her. Dun dun dun. Lucy: Ooh, kind of a telltale sign. Aleta: As she's about to get undressed, someone enters the locker room. Who are they? A boy? No, it's Avery, played by Nare Israelian, a scholarship winner and the tomboy from the title. Lucy: hello naray Oooo Yeah Dim Aleta: Yeah. y yeah, I know. Lucy: She's my type! Finally, there is a hot lady who is my type in a girl love. And I'll do a mini soapbox here. Come on, apps. Come on. I want to see more mask femme relationships. So you're doing femme femme. There's a place for it, but I think you'll get a lot more views if you shake it up, guys. That there's a reason this is 200 million views. It's not because it's just free. Aleta: Yeah. Lucy: It's cause of Nare. Aleta: Mm-hmm. Well, sadly I think that the Fem Femme thing is because it will appeal to men, but there you go. Lucy: And I don't want that. We don't we don't need the we're not we don't Aleta: No, totally. Lucy: want to feed the male gays. They get all the things. It's time to feed us. We're the women. We're the ones who pay you apps. We give you the money. Give us what we need. Okay? That's Nara. Aleta: Mm-hmm. Ha ha. True. So Avery starts undressing, and Blair is transfixed. But she's super uncomfortable and asks what Avery is doing. I love Avery's comeback here. What? Do cheerleaders shower with their shirts on? Lucy: Si. Aleta: Blair grabs her stuff and scuttles away. Lucy: I l I thought it was funny with Blair freaking out about Avery taking off her I guess bra as she's literally open openly checking her out. I'm like, you're like obviously checking her out and then as soon as she gets to that part, you're like, my gosh, like, really? Aleta: Yeah. I think sh just kind of realizes what she's doing. Lucy: Fair. Aleta: The scene switches to the principal's office. He is promising Blair's mother that her grades will soon improve, as he's placed her with a top ranked student in her grade. Maybe I shouldn't say this, but hey Lucy: You can say it. Aleta: Did you did you the did you get that when you saw it the first time? That that they s repeat that joke? Okay, I won't Lucy: No. Maybe. I probably did. I Aleta: I won't do it 'cause maybe it wasn't Lucy: No, say it. Do it, girl. I am here for it. Let's do this. Aleta: Intended. Okay. I I laughed a little at his line here. He says, I'm sure she'll be rubbing off on her in no time. Lucy: Yes. Aleta: But they don't show us anyway. Lucy: I know, you're right. It's YA, so no. Aleta: Blair arrives late, wrinkled and carrying a vape, much to the annoyance of her mother, Victoria. She tells Blair that she's moving dorms, and again repeats the same line Maybe she'll rub off on you. Lucy: Right. I thought it was funny how the mom was introduced as a school board member. Yeah, and not her mom. That was odd. I think her name is actually Victoria. It's mentioned once. Like I think Ethan mentions it. but you you put her name in there. Hmm. I don't remember them s calling her by Victoria at that time. But the Aleta: Yeah. Mm. I put it in. No. Well, you know how they flash up the who the character is on the screen. I think it said Victoria w there. Lucy: see I didn't see that. I just saw a school board member. So good times. And yeah, I might I might I might frustrate some people here, but I gotta say it. I guess I'm old, but the vape on a necklace was personally horrifying to me. I can't believe that's a thing now. Like as a parent, dear God, like it looked like this cute little thing, like this little necklace or mini camera. Aleta: Ha ha ha. Lucy: And the mom's like, what the hell is that? And I'm like, I don't really like the mom in this, but I don't usually like the parents in these. But I was completely in agreement with her on that. I was like, What the frick frack is this? So, dear God. Aleta: Yeah. No. Well, Blair and her goldfish Einstein arrive at the dorm room, and as she opens the door, Avery is coming out. They're shocked to discover that they will be rooming together. Blair heads back to the principal to ask for a room change, and he refuses, telling her that the arrangement was made with her mother. And that being head cheerleader might be impressive to her friends, but it won't impress an admissions committee. She needs to improve her grades. Lucy: So, okay, I can't even hear. The one thing I struggled with with this vertical, besides it needing more spice, I say that with a halo over my head, was this poor freaking fish. So, okay, not only was that goldfish huge, massive. Aleta: Yeah, massive. Lucy: And he okay, so at that size he needs a bare minimum a ten gallon tank, okay? But his freaking water was half full. Like it's so mini whore. Aleta: Yeah. Well, I mean she couldn't walk with a full bowl, but also I don't think they ever filled it up, so yeah. Lucy: No, the entire vertical, it was half full and I just I don't know. I I have lots of horrified feelings about this fish in this vertical. So it was worth noting. Aleta: Ha ha Lucy: You know, justice for the fish. Okay, I hope he's alive. Aleta: Back in the dorm, Blair puts tape on the floor to mark out their spaces. She wants to set some rules for rooming together. Blair tells Avery that she has to change in the bathroom and stay away if Blair is changing. Incidentally, why isn't she changing in the bathroom? As well, if that's the ish anyway. Spoiled girl. Lucy: Uh-huh. Yep. Aleta: Avery wants to know why she cares so much because they're both girls. Lucy: So I really didn't like Blair right here. I mean, it's obvious she's just not knowledgeable, and they made her a very Lolita-like rich girl character who just doesn't know a whole lot about anything. So I'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt. But I just I did not like her attitude towards Avery here. It just felt homophobic to me. I know it's part of the story, and I know she's just try she's about to find out who she is and We all say ignorance, stupid shit sometimes, but you know, I I had my typical like what the fuck feelings, but the logical adult side of me is like okay, but I know where it's going. So there. Aleta: Ha ha ha. Blair says that she just cares a lot about personal privacy. And I know you're a mask lesbian. Because she dresses like a tomboy and has dumbbells. I'm like Lucy: I know, killing me. There's there's straight there Aleta: I I'm looking at my dumbbells behind me right now and I'm like Lucy: I know. And there are there are women who are straight and they're just tomboys. Like that that is a thing. So yeah, I I don't Aleta: Totally, yeah. Yeah. Lucy: know. Aleta: Anyway, small minds, as you say. Lucy: Mm-hmm. Aleta: How do I know you won't try and sneak a peek while I'm showering? Avery asks if Blair is afraid that she might be interested in her, and Blair admits that she is and says she has to protect herself. Lucy: Ooh, what? Huh? Aleta: Yeah. Avery walks towards Blair, gets right up in her face, and is just about to kiss her when What are you thinking about? Ha the spell is broken. Blair was just daydreaming. And hmm, she was very into that. Lucy: Whoop wall Aleta: Avery says, I wouldn't be so sure of yourself. You're the one who might end up falling in love with me. Blair says, How could I like you? I'm not a lesbian. Mm-hmm. Lucy: yeah yeah yeah see as Avery crosses the line in the daydream see Alita see this is swag this is the swag I love and it was a fantasy Aleta: No Lucy: but that's what I mean by when I have a type Nare clearly has swag And that is what I like in my women. It's when they they just do that thing and I'm just like, hey. It was great. So yay, I love Avery. Aleta: Ha ha. Ha ha ha. As she goes to unpack, Blair gets really distracted watching Avery lift those tiny little dumbbells. She tells Avery to finish unpacking for her and runs off to the shower. Lucy: Honestly, I can't believe Avery actually unpacks her shit. I remember watching that for the first time like a month ago. It's like, what? Aleta: I know, I was like, what what wouldn't your response response be like fuck off Lucy: Fuck no. Right, Aleta: like Lucy: right. Aleta: There was a moment there too which I didn't put in, but you were talking about Avery crossing the line. Isn't that the point where she like hops across the line? I thought that was really funny. Lucy: So she did it twice, so in the fantasy she crosses the line with swag and then when Blair leaves she does a cute little hop. And I like that. It was cute. Aleta: Yeah. Yep. While Blair is in the shower, there's a knock at the door. It's Ethan holding flowers with with a piece of paper in them that says something like pretty flowers shop. Yeah. Lucy: Really? I missed that. Aleta: He and Avery are having a bit of a standoff when Blair appears with her hair in a towel. Sh she squeaks and grabs a jacket to cover herself. She's in light little pajamas. Ethan tries to pay Avery to move out and get a place off campus. Avery pushes the credit card that he's offering away, and Blair tells him that he should go. Ethan claims to be looking out for her, and that Avery's family has serious financial troubles. Blair tells Ethan that her life is none of his business and shuts the door in his face. Afterwards, Blair says that she stood up for Avery, who tells her People like you love your moments of kindness. It's easy, makes you feel generous, but the fact is you will never understand what real difficulty is like. So true. Blair asks Avery to tutor her. She can set the price, but Avery says no matter how much Blair offers, she's not going to help her. Blair stomps away and kicks the drawer shut, and the episode ends with Blair struggling to understand her homework and pushing the books off her desk. Lucy: I know you and I talked about our personal struggles when we were watching this episode with Blair's personality and how childish it is, especially at the beginning. I think she really she slightly matures as it goes on, which is nice. It's a really stark contrast to Avery. And here's the thing. I feel like I see and again, guys, I'm sorry, it's gonna be broken record, but I s I In the notes, I say this a bunch and I've I've gotta keep it in. But I I feel like I see this all the time in anime and K dramas. And I do totally accept it in those formats. I I think it's harder for me to accept it easily because this is like a Western queer story for some reason. So I keep trying to tell myself, hey, you have no issues with this type of like personality difference in like this type of media. And I think it's just because I've not quite seen like a Lolita type character in a girl love yet. Aleta: Hm. Lucy: and not in any boy loves. Because you have them in boy loves too. You i in in anime BLs, you have a very Lolita male character a lot of the times. So Aleta: Hm, okay. Yeah. Lucy: I don't know. I'd be very curious. I feel like this is like kind of like really good conversation for those who love anime and cade dramas. I'd be curious what their thoughts are. Aleta: Yeah, I find it annoying. Because that kind of person would I would find annoying in r in real life, right? Lucy: It's fair. I I know, and it's hard to believe that Avery is completely charmed by it, right? Because like Avery is so mature. But I do think Blair does grow pretty quickly. Like they they seem to lose that part of her about 15 episodes in. But at the beginning you're just like, she's kicking things and like fussing and like kind of whining, and you're just like, and I think for me it's the whining. Aleta: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Lucy: Like I do not want to see one of my heroines or like my my heroes, like male or female, whining. I'm like unl unl no, mm, what do I say? Okay, there is a reason I would want to see them whining, but it is not Aleta: Ha ha. Lucy: I mean around the cut. In that situation, in certain circumstances, but not when you're trying to do your homework and you're just having a fit. Like get your shit together, do your homework and stop whining. But if you want to whine under the sheets, fine! It's a different situation. Guys, this is YA, but it's not gonna be by the end of it. And we wanna invite Nari on the podcast, she might not wanna come. I don't know. Maybe this will make her wanna come. I don't know. Aleta: my god. Lucy: Okay. We're okay, we can continue. You gotta read it. You can continue, Alita! I love Aleta: Can I? Lucy: making your face red though. It's the best. Aleta: My God I'm scarlet. Just from laughing. Lucy: It's so red. You are you were way more scarlet with but butthole vagina was the real I love how it's a button. It's just a fucking button. All I have to do is say it. She just go Now she's more red. That's the best part. That's what I was saying. You were more red when I said it's so red- Aleta: At least at least it's just us. I can't believe you said that in front of Craig. Listen, I was just Lucy: You did well! You did well! my gosh! You were zetting it somehow? I don't know how you didn't go that red with Greg, but you Yeah. it's beautiful. Yeah, that's true. There was a lot of makeup. we got this. Okay. Aleta: I did laugh, but I didn't go that red. Lots of makeup. All right. Where were we? Next we see Avery sitting on the steps talking to her dad, telling him not to worry, she has money from tutoring. Blair shows up and catches her smoking. She asks for a drag, saying she can handle it because she vapes, but ends up coughing like crazy, like most people do when they first try a cigarette. The next scene finds them back in the dorm discussing Romeo and Juliet. and we get a cute little romantic moment here when Blair's back hurts and Avery rubs it. But Blair chickens out and says she'll carry on reading alone. Lucy: There is some good lightly heated chemistry here. I am here for it. Subtext. Aleta: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. In class we learn that there's a swimming final, but Avery has never learned to swim. Blair offers to teach her and tells her to be at the pool entrance at 9 PM. Blair shows up in a cute little ruffled gingham swimsuit, and Avery is in shorts and a t-shirt. When Avery is reluctant to get in, Blair pushes her. Mm. Lucy: I didn't like that. I didn't like that. I know it can be realistic of what kids do, but like damn, doing that when Avery well Avery lied, but she said she couldn't swim and Blair's like, You can't swim, I'm gonna push you in that's a douchebag move. Just saying. Aleta: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. However, it turns out that Avery can swim, and when Blair asks her why she won't take the test, she says that she doesn't want to wear a swimsuit like Blair's. Blair has a flashback at this point to where they first met and realizes that Avery was wearing a binder. Lucy: So yeah, she said, I don't want to wear suits like yours and this was interesting to me. Like I this actually hit me emotionally. It was powerful to me because I'm gonna drop her again, but it reminded me of my ex-wife, who is very butch, and she went through very similar issues. It was very nerve-wracking for her to wear anything she was uncomfortable in. So she would have to buy boy swim shorts and she would wear a bikini top with it. But that's what made her feel more comfortable. and she looked amazing. But there was nothing like that for girls. Like she had to shop in the boy section. And there actually are things like that for girls now that are more Aleta: Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Lucy: They're longer and more comfortable. Like I have things like that, and it's really, really nice. But yeah, more for like tomboys. But it it did hit me. I was like, man, like just and I thought Nari did a really good job with her hesitancy and expressions and like how she tried to convey her feelings on that. It was subtle, but my ex had that very similar look, and it's so funny because Aleta: Just sporty versus Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Lucy: It hits me and I remember trying to learn about her feelings as she was going through it. You know what I mean? And there's there's probably a lot of other things that they didn't address. Like they kinda addressed it at the beginning. She walks in and Blair into the locker room and Blair thinks she's a guy at first. I mean, my ex went through that all the fucking time. And it was to the point she was like, I don't go into public bathrooms because she just did not want to deal with the Aleta: Mm. Yeah. Mm. Yeah. People being weird. Lucy: Yeah, and I mean this was like the two thousands. You know what I mean? Like the beginning of the two thousands. So anyway, aging myself, but I'm I'm glad it was in here. I really was. Aleta: Yeah. Yeah. Look who you're talking to. there are a lot of options nowadays. Like they they have them wear wetsuits in this, but there's all sorts of modest swimsuits and you know like instead of a bikini top you can wear like a little rash guard with shorts and there's lots of options. Lucy: Yeah, no, it's true. And I I do like that that we have that now. Aleta: The next scene sees Blair looking at wetsuits online, and at the swim test she shows Avery that she bought them each one. Fiona shows up trying to shame them, and Blair tells her, at least I'm not half naked begging for attention. By the way, I don't think it's working. No one is looking. Avery and Blair both do very well on the swim test, better than Fiona, and Fiona's not happy about it. Lucy: A little redemption here from Blair for me. I thought it was really thoughtful what she did, and wearing it alongside her. Aleta: Mm. Yeah, so that she wasn't the only one standing out, yeah. Lucy: I like that, yep. Aleta: They run back to the locker room hand in hand. So cute. As they are undressing, Blair's zipper gets stuck, and Avery helps her, leading to another little sensual moment. When the spell is broken, Avery goes off to get dressed elsewhere. Blair is confused. She says Avery's not like other girls. She likes girls and She seems to be on the verge of a Lucy: Ha ha ha. Aleta: But she pulls herself back from it. Lucy: Ha ha ha. Aleta: Later in the dorm she's once again sneaking a look at Avery, who tells her to get some rest. We then get a lovely little dream sequence here in which Blair dreams that Avery picks her up, puts her on the bed, is about to kiss her, and then she wakes up. Avery is all dressed and ready to go to class. Haha So close, so close. Lucy: come on guys. Can we have more of that please? So so close. Aleta: Just then Blair gets a text from Ethan asking her out. She does go on the date, and on the date, Blair insists on stopping by the library first. Ethan is impatient, but kind of tries to hide it. Lucy: We see here Blair picking up Allegiant, our young adult book, and I did start laughing because she said she needed to go to study. And I was like, that's what she needs to study is Allegiant. there is a moment here okay, I'm not gonna recommend it because the last book sucks. It's like a four book series, and it was such a great young adult adventure romance series. Like Aleta: Yeah. I haven't read that, so I don't know. Ha ha ha ha. Mm. Lucy: I don't know, you could say it's like a romanticy fantasy. but it was during like my time, my young millennial time, and they fucked it up. Like she really fucked up the last book. So they didn't even do the last movie, which was interesting to me. So there is a moment here when Blair pulls a book off a shelf. And sees Avery right behind it. They give each other longing looks, but Blair turns away and then Ethan gets all prickly seeing that. I found that funny. Okay, bear with me, because in my experience, a lot of the men I know have no intuition whatsoever. But Ethan apparently does, and he very much feels like Avery is competition. Aleta: Hm. Mm. Lucy: So whenever I see him get that way with Avery and he's already been like that with her several times, I just laugh. I'm like, How do you even know? No guys I know pay any fucking attention to that shit. So I don't know, it's interesting. Aleta: Mm-hmm. He kind of sees Avery as more like a boy, I guess. So the same reaction he'd have with a boy giving Blair attention. I don't like Ethan. I'm not I'm not really defending him, but Lucy: I think so. I think that's the competition part. I guess so. I guess. No fair. Aleta: after they leave, Fiona approaches Avery, asking her to tutor her instead. Avery says, if she needs help, she can just ask questions. Fiona's voiceover says Blair's GPA wasn't about to surpass mine, you wouldn't be worthy of my attention. In the hallway and in class the next day, Blair avoids Avery. She's clearly feeling awkward about her little fantasies. That evening, Avery gets a call to help with pizza delivery, and she ends up having to deliver to Ethan's house. And it is super awkward when Blair sees her. Ethan tries to tip her extra, but Avery refuses. Lucy: And she refuses because Ethan definitely tried to make her feel small. Yeah. But when Avery turns down the tip money, I was like, my God, just take it. Like I do delivery work sometimes, and I ain't scoffing at that. So pride be damned. Aleta: totally. Outside, Avery's bike chain has come off and then it starts raining. Meanwhile, Ethan is hitting on Blair, but as he leans in, she just starts daydreaming about Avery again. When she comes out of the daydream, she pushes Ethan away and says she doesn't feel well. Lucy: Ha ha ha ha ha. The line here when he was trying to get her to drink the wine, you can taste it from my lips. Dude, in the words of Gen Z, I got the ick. It was like ew Aleta: yeah. Ha ha ha. Back at the dorm she finds Avery asleep and feverish. Blair offers her some medicine and when she resists asks why she never rejects Fiona, but pushes Blair away when she's just trying to help. Lucy: Just found myself staring at Blair's freaking berrettes. They are all something, those those berettes. Aleta: Blair tucks Avery into bed. She admits that she doesn't like Ethan, and she wishes she knew why she cares about Avery so much. I love the little smirk on Avery's face here, 'cause she clearly heard it all. Lucy: Right. Aleta: In the morning we see that Blair has slept on the floor next to Avery's bed. Lucy: Blair asking here how would she okay, so Blair gets up and like goes to like put her hand on Avery's forehead and she's like, How are you still sick? That just made me laugh. I'm like, really? This is a shock. Aleta: Yeah. Lucy: Like I was she was so surprised. A couple hours, maybe eight hours. I know. miraculously gonna get better in that time. But yeah. Poor Blair. They wrote her character just so my god you know what? Okay. Aleta: And you know, you were talking about the Barrettes. That's very toddlerish. I mean, I I've just the way that those particular barrettes look to me. It all fit with that very little kid character, yeah. Lucy: Mm. Character. Well that's and that's what I'm saying is is that's where it's a K drama. They never properly adapted to Western culture because they very much made her Lolita. And again, I I I don't I don't I don't know like I think there's a lot to be said and that's a whole separate discussion and probably like five episodes worth. But it's just we're talking about it right now because Aleta: Mm-hmm. Lucy: It's in a queer vertical, so we're just surprised. Aleta: Mm-hmm. Blair's mom phones asking why she isn't coming home for dinner, since it's Mom's birthday. Avery tells her that she should go. When she gets there for dinner, her mom has invited Ethan, who announces to Victoria that they recently started dating, and they will probably be family soon. Lucy: Did you hear my eye roll all the way in B Celita? Aleta: I'm sure my eyes were rolling just the same. Lucy: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Aleta: Blair rushes her mom to blow out the candles and runs off with the whole birthday cake. Lucy: That was cute. Aleta: Back at the dorm, Avery is surprised to see her, and to find out that Blair didn't even eat dinner because she was worried about her roommate. Blair lights a candle and tells Avery to make a wish. Lucy: I I laughed here too because I'm like, well look at that, Avery magically got better in just a few hours anyway. Aleta: I don't think that's what she was wishing for though. Lucy: No, no. Aleta: The next episode opens in the classroom. Blair and Avery are passing notes, but they get caught by the teacher. Avery takes the fall, but the teacher assigns them both window cleaning duty as punishment. While they're cleaning, Blair turns her ankle, and we have a classic vertical slip and fall, with Avery catching her. Then a cute little scene where Avery gets soap on her nose and Blair is laughing. Then they have then they're kind of having a little soap fight. Well, they're kind of putting it on each other, right? Yeah. Lucy: Did they have a soap fight? I guess so, yeah. Another very classic K drama scene. just the really open space, the very large windows. I was kinda wondering where they filmed this. You know, I don't know if they filmed this in the States. It might have been out of the country. It was getting super cute, like they're a little flirting, until she turns her ankle, Blair. And when Aleta: Mm. Lucy: Right before that happens, I always always love this in like K dramas and verticals and movies and books. It's in books a lot where they come up behind, you know, the like female main character of the main Yeah. And we get some really cute flirting and yes, kudos to the scene transition here. I liked how they were washing the windows and then when they did that, it shows the tennis court. Aleta: And you're reaching for the Mm, mm. Lucy: And then it transitions and they're suddenly on the tennis court. Mm-hmm, very good. Aleta: Mm. Very cute. Yeah, so after they finish with the windows they're pl out playing tennis. But Avery ends the game quickly after they share a little moment. Lucy: Hmm. I am loving the almost in this vertical. I always, I always have loved those in this one. The actresses both have really lovely chemistry together. It every time they do it, it just makes me want so much more. But damn, these these innocent verticals. They're killing me. ooh. Aleta: I was gonna say, are you really loving the almost? I would have thought you would have been like, come Lucy: I'm struggling. I I I I am Aleta: on, let's go. Lucy: very much like that, but I am very much trying to throw them a bone that appreciate it for what it is because we've talked about this before. Youth need to see themselves represented too. And they don't need to be watching bound to my hot rival. Aleta: Appreciate it for what it is, yeah. Mm-hmm. Definitely. Lucy: So yeah. did you notice Avery's Marijowana Adidas outfit here? Aleta: Isn't that just the Adidas logo? Lucy: It probably is. It looked like marijuana to me I was like is that marijuana And I like saying marijuana so we're an explicit podcast, I can say it But it looks like a marijuana leaf Really it What? Aleta: I'm sure that's just the Adidas logo. Sorry, Adidas. It's technically not Adidas is how it's supposed to be said. Yeah. I always say Adidas too. It's Adidas. It is Ha the people who run own the company. Lucy: What the fuck? I have never heard it say like it's Adidas. No. Who's who the fuck is saying that? Never heard of it. Never he ever f anybody on this podcast? Do you say Adidas? Cause I don't say Adidas. Aleta: They do in in Europe, in Germany. I think it's German company, isn't it? Lucy: son of a bitch, I'm gonna offend Romy. Aleta: Haha We can ask we can ask her. Lucy: But I say Adidas Anyway, moving on, I don't know if I should keep the marijuana in there, but we'll see. Aleta: Well, Avery's having a smoke in the bleachers and the coach comes by. Lucy: I know I'm adding a lot here to your stuff, but y you know what I've noticed a lot in the verticals recently that worries me? I am seeing an increase in smoking and vaping. You know, I really love the stepbrother I hate to love. It's one of my favorite BLs, but it was like almost glorifying vaping. And in this there's smoking. Aleta: That's okay. Mm. Lucy: And I swear to God Like, okay, listeners, we went on this giant campaign for like two decades to stop glorifying a lot of this in commercials and media. And it was effective. Like a lot of people have quit smoking. But now I I don't know if this is showing up in traditional film and shows. it might be. And now I'm like, are the tobacco companies funding some of these? Or is it just a culture thing? Like, this is a not of Western culture, or is our culture changing again to go back towards smoking? Like, I am a parent of younger kids, so I'm kind of like, what am I missing here? I don't know. But let me just say, I don't like it. Okay, kids. Don't start don't start smoking. but hey, I did my own segment of Dare here. Look at that. Dare to keep kids off of drugs and smoking. Aleta: Yeah. So the coach offers Avery a job as a ball kid. Avery happily agrees as she needs the money to help her dad. Later, Fiona comes up as she's picking up the balls and asks if she's dating Blair. She says no, but Fiona doesn't buy it. She threatens to expose Blair as a lesbian, and when Avery denies it, she says that she will find proof. Lucy: I struggle with Fiona as the villain just because she's so good at it. Like every time she comes on I'm like, I really dislike you. And that's her job. So she did a good job. Yeah. Aleta: Mm-hmm. Totally. Blair and Ethan show up, and Blair is surprised to find Avery working. She's worried about Avery doing such a hard job when she just got better. Avery slips on a tennis ball and injures her ankle. Blair rushes to help and Ethan shows his true colors, telling Blair that Avery is not in their world and that people like her exist to serve people like them. Eck. Blair counters that she and Ethan are not in the same world. He's way too full of himself. Blair wants to go to the infirmary, but when Avery demurs, she takes out the first aid kit, and we get the classic vertical first aid tre treatment with a Q-tip. Ha ha ha makes me laugh every time. Lucy: We should do a poll on everyone's favorite Q tip moment. Of course mine is Chris and Lucian. There's a lot of Q tip moments. Aleta: not st not stable boy? Lucy: that is a q-tip moment. No. As much as I love Stable Boy, I still love tutoring my rival boy more. Yeah. Is I don't is there There is Q-tip action in Succum! Yes! we need to rewatch Suck. Aleta: Mine's gotta be succum. Yeah. In the warehouse. Yes. There is. In Prince's First Love there's no q tip, but they he wraps his hand and that's so cute. Lucy: So cute. Aleta: Avery tries to be stoic but is clearly in a lot of pain. Blair says that Ethan took it too far and she never wants to see him again. Avery tells her that he's not wrong. They do come from different worlds. Blair says she doesn't believe him and hugs Avery. She says Look how close we are right now. Would two people from different worlds ever be this close? Lucy: there's a long and drawn out and dramatic hug. Again, very very you know what. I don't even want to say it. But the scene is you know what. Aleta: Mm-hmm. Avery gets uncomfortable or nervous again and pulls away saying, Maybe she should go to the clinic. The next scene shows Ethan and Blair performing a scene from Romeo and Juliet in front of the class. Ethan tries to lean in and kiss Blair, but she can't handle it and pulls away. The director gets really frustrated and calls them out. He tells them if they can't get it together, they can't represent the school during the showcase. Lucy: This part made me laugh. The director tries to leave, but he's sitting in like the school desk, right? And he gets stuck in it. And he's trying, everyone's looking at him. And that would totally be me. I I was wondering if if that was like real. Like he just forgot he could lift the top. I don't know, but it made me giggle. Aleta: Blair apologizes to Ethan and tells him she doesn't think she can be his Juliet. Fiona is seen scheming in the next scene, manipulating the director into giving her the role of Juliet, and recasting Romeo as Avery, so they can stand out in the competition by having a girl play Romeo to show their support to the LGBTQ community. When Blair goes to the dressing rooms to return her Juliet costume, she finds Fiona there positively gleeful, telling her she's the new Juliet and she can just give the dress to her. Blair tells her she hopes that she and Ethan have a great performance. Fiona smiles and says, Ethan, who says he's playing Romeo? And in walks Avery. Lucy: Looking hella fine in Romeo's clothes whoop whoop. Aleta: Avery asks Fiona if they're done for to day. And Fiona, seeing her opportunity, says they should run a scene with Blair there, who can critique them, since Blair is such an expert at the play. Fiona then puts her face against Avery's to make it seem like they are kissing. Blair is very upset and storms off. We see Blair going into an office and asking her mom to cast her back as Juliet. Her mom tells her she can't, and Blair convinces her to hold a public audition instead. We see Fiona and Avery practicing in the classroom again with the other students watching. The director walks in and tells them that due to the change of Romeo, That Fiona and Blair will be auditioning for the role of Juliet. Blair looks very pleased and Fiona tries to call out the unfairness of the situation. Lucy: I like how amused Avery looks here. That was cute. Aleta: Yeah. Blair is asked to run the balcony scene right there with Avery. Avery delivers her lines of love, and Blair is so stunned that she can't bring herself to say her own lines, which results in Fiona being given the part. In the next scene, Fiona comes into the dressing room, strutting in some lovely heels. Avery tells her there's a scene coming up that might be difficult to wear those. Fiona brushes her off and tells herself that Avery's just upset that Blair doesn't have the part. During dress rehearsal, Fiona does indeed fall flat on her face. This results in Blair, the understudy, suddenly needing to step in. A few days later, we are treated to Avery and Blair in the dressing room getting ready for the big show. We get a very sweet scene here where Avery offers to help Blair with her earring. Lucy: I really like this one. The lighting is so beautiful. The girls look beautiful. The longing looks. The tension. Why does this have to be young adult? But it's fine. It's fine. It's so sweet. I've got a toothache. It's so sweet. I love it. Keep going. Aleta: Ha ha Avery gets awkward again and pulls away. They run lines and there's some deeper meaning when Blair says, do you really love me or do you just wish to see me surrender to you? There's a big pause and Avery tells her that that's not in the script. Blair says that she added it. Lucy: It's clear that Blair is using the scene to get her feelings for Avery out there and to see how Avery feels in return. Aleta: Mm. They don't get to finish the scene because the show is about to start. During the show, Avery and Blair get their first kiss. Lucy: I love it. So in true K-drama style, they replay the scene over and over and over again at different angles. It does appear it's a real kiss. It's possible there could have been a stage kiss thrown in for one of the angles. I can't tell, but lips do touch. We like that here at Besties, lips touching. I am happy. They look really adorable together as Avery picks Blair up. They're just so cute. Aleta: Mm. Ha ha. Lucy: I really love Avery's expression after she puts Blair down. Nare's smile, just beautiful. And she brings on all the tingles and butterflies, and her eyes crinkle, and I just melt, and my goodness! Can you tell I like Nare? Aleta: Na really? Lucy: Nah. Aleta: After the show, Avery and Blair run off stage and it pans to Blair's mother freaking out, noticing the chemistry between the two of them. She tells herself it would be unacceptable if her daughter fell in love with a girl. She asks Ethan how dating Blair is going, and he lies, saying it's going great. Blair and Avery run into the dressing room super happy and laughing. They have a touching moment where Blair asks Avery to tell her what she wants, back at their dorm this evening. Lucy: And we think she means tell her if she wants to perform with her again on a bigger stage, but I'm sure it actually means more. That's what I got from it. Aleta: Mm. In the next scene, we see Avery leaning against a counter next to a gorgeous bouquet. She's counting money and tells herself that even with what she spent she still has enough to eat for the rest of the month. Blair's mother shows up and starts spouting off awkward nonsense, telling Avery that Blair won't be celebrating with her tonight, that her and Ethan will be doing a party at home. She tries to make get a dig in that Blair wants a family someday. Lucy: So that made me angry. Like pissy angry. Like hair pulling, let me kick you in the you know what angry. I hate that crap. Seriously, like women literally can have babies together or on their own. We have all the parts, you know. Come on. Ew lady. Ew. Aleta: She then tries to pay Avery off. Later we see Blair in their dorm. It's been decorated so beautifully and everything looks romantic. She's got candles everywhere. But Avery never shows up. Blair goes looking for her, and Avery chooses to hide around the corner. Lucy: And I was thinking, so Avery just stood there the entire night by the flower. It's like she never left. Just stood there. Aleta: We cut to a scene of Blair crying on her mom's lap over the fact that Avery never showed up. Her mom tries to distract her by asking if she made any plans with Ethan for the school dance. Blair is annoyed, but ultimately her mother convinces her to go to the dance with Ethan. Lucy: My bad. Aleta: At the dance, Blair is distracted. Ethan pulls out his phone and shows her a fake picture of Avery taking money from her mother. He lies and says people like Avery are only after her money. Lucy: It's like the quickest dance scene ever. It was like literally like forty seconds. Yeah, was weird. Aleta: We got no dance, yeah. In the next episode we are back at the tennis courts. Blair and Ethan are together, and when she sees Avery working, she goes over to her upset and says, Why are you picking up balls still? Avery says it's my job. Wasn't the money my mom gave you enough? Avery is very confused. But she also just stands there and lets Blair and Ethan say she took the money. Lucy: I always hate that. It happens in books too, and I'm just yelling at the heroine, like fucking say something. And they just stand there taking it. Aleta: Yeah. When Blair walks away, Avery tries to shout after her about the misunderstanding, but Ethan stops her. Ethan tells her that he belongs with Blair because they're from the same world, and he can protect her better, and he pushes Avery. Ethan walks away and Avery keeps working. Lucy: Even though Blair is right there, like she could continue to try and tell her, Hey, I didn't take the money but instead she just goes back to work. Aleta: Also, like, what does she need protecting from? Again, it's the childishness, right? Lucy: Exactly. Aleta: Ethan gets annoyed that Blair is still distracted over Avery and decides to start hitting balls directly at her until one finally hits her in the eye. Ethan gives her a weak ass apology, you can tell who wrote this, and starts baiting her again. Lucy: Ha ha he Aleta: And Avery challenges Ethan to a tennis match. Lucy: This little tennis montage scene. Dramat there's a dramatic fall, there's slow mo, there's a concerned look from the love interest. So anime, so K drama. Aleta: In the end, Avery wins. Ethan is pissed and tries to leave with Blair. Blair pulls away and says she can't be with him, but she has feelings for someone else. Ethan leaves and Blair goes over to tend to Avery. Avery tells her that she doesn't need to take care of her, and Blair says she still cares, even though Avery doesn't anymore. Avery tells her that's not true, and she didn't take her mother's money. Blair asks her if that's true, why has she been avoiding her this whole time? Avery tells her that her mom said she wanted a family most of all, and that she can't give her that. Lucy: I hope when Nari delivered that fucking line she just eye rolled so hard inside because Bo not fucking true Yes you can Avery You guys can be two hot lesbian mamas like you could th that's such bullshit. Anyway, feelings Aleta: Blair tells her that's really stupid and how she's supposed to live the life she wants without Avery in it. They basically start confessing their feelings to each other. Blair asks Avery if she's ever felt butterflies for someone and then butterflies show up, flutter around them. Lucy: Aww What kind of media have I seen that in before? Awww I say it so much in here. I'm trying not to say the word like 20 times, Aleta: Ha ha ha. Blair asks where they came from, and Avery replies, Maybe my stomach. And she then confesses that her heart has been full of butterflies every time she sees Blair. When Avery asks how Blair feels, Blair jumps into her arms. Lucy: Yeah there's there's just a hug here. Just a hug. Missed opportunity. Just saying. More kisses for the girls, please. Nare is hot. Aleta: Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Yeah, the boy ones Lucy: Utilize Aleta: they would have been making out like crazy. Lucy: Like tongues and stuff, like come on. the girls can handle it. We can handle it. Come on. Aleta: The girls go back to the dorm, and Avery sees the mess left behind from what should have been their romantic evening. Blair tells her that her punishment is to clean it up. And there's a really cute moment where the two of them start ripping up the red tape, dividing their room at the exact same time, and they meet in the middle. Lucy: Been such a good opportunity for a kiss Their expressions are so adorable here and look how they meet in the middle. Could have just closed the distance Had a little kissy, but whatever. Aleta: Ha ha ha. They make a little nest out of pillows on the floor and sit down together. They decide to try and recreate the romantic atmosphere that Blair had planned, but she burns her finger on a candle. Avery immediately grabs her hands, which turns into a sweet little montage of kisses, smiles, and Kisses on Blair's cheek and then fade to black as Avery pins her down against the pillows, and the camera pans over to the window where we see butterflies fluttering. I can see Lucy's face. She's like, show me the kisses. Lucy: Well and I also want to say K drama but I'm refraining. Aleta: In the next episode, they're still in the bedroom, but now lying down next to each other. And we get sweet kisses. Stepbrother BL style. when they're like Lucy: on the bed and their faces are like kind of opposite. I didn't know how to describe it, but yeah. Aleta: Mm. Yeah. Lucy: But once again beautiful lighting, great position of the actors. It just looks great on camera. Overall very cute and lighthearted scene. Aleta: They're interrupted by a text from her mom. Lucy: And to be fair, I can't yell at these ladies about it because Blair was using the phone to take pictures of them at the same time the text came in. It wasn't like Hunter who yanks it out of his fucking pocket during boom boom times, okay? Okay? Like it was physically in her hand and the mom's text came in. You know what? I bet you if her phone was not in her hand, she would have ignored it. Like a normal person. Aleta: When did Hunter take his phone out of his pocket? Lucy: Like twice! We're talking about seducing my hawking rival, not succumb. I'm not gonna yell it. I'm not that didn't happen in Succ'em. This Aleta: Okay, wrong hunter. I was like, what? Lucy: happened as seducing. Aleta: This is what I'm saying I was so confused. Lucy: Yeah, no no no no. This this was my my situum away sh guys, we did not do the housekeeping. I'm gonna say this in the middle of the episode and freak everybody out, but okay, really quick. Do you guys do you guys no no, did we do housekeeping for Tyler Mason? No. Okay, hey, hey, hey. We got it from Aleta: No, yeah, we did that, didn't we? Lucy: Kamen himself that in seducing my hockey rival, when I was super confused why it was Tyler and Mason for the same character, he's like, hey, it's actually Tyler Mason. And sometimes he's called by his last name and his first name. I do and so I appreciate thank you so much, Cayman, for telling us that because I was very confused. So it means that there wasn't like some really bad thing happening in that vertical where there was a huge thing missed. But I do want to say I did not feel that they made that very clear. Yeah. Aleta: Mm-hmm. No. Lucy: Anyway, so sorry that was in the middle of Tomboy. That should have been at the beginning, but at least I said it. Woohoo! Aleta: In the text, her mom asks Blair to come home for the weekend and whether she and Ethan made up. She asks Avery to go with her, and she agrees. We arrive at Blair's house where it's obvious Blair's mother didn't know Avery was coming. Lucy: Really bad move, Blair. Way to way to go. Putting Avery in an awkward position. She put her mom in an awkward position too, but to be honest, I'm like, fuck her mom. But for Avery, I'm like, what the fuck you doing? Aleta: Ha ha ha. Blair just walks up, holding Avery's hand and says, Avery's my girlfriend. Blair's mom tells her to go to her room and she wants to talk to Avery alone. And Blair goes. Lucy: What the fuck, Blair? Like aren't these girls supposed to be the same age? This is really annoying. If I was Avery, I would have been pissed as hell to be left hanging like that by myself. Especially if her mom didn't even know she was coming. Aleta: Yeah. Lucy: Damn. Aleta: And I mean, yeah. S again, sending a high school student to their room like like they're a toddler, right? Anyway. Lucy: I don't like it. Aleta: Blair's mom asks Avery why she's still going after her daughter. Avery respectfully tells her that they both care about each other and she loves her and asks for her blessing. The mother then goes on about kids again and starts in on Avery having part-time jobs and how she's supposed to support Blair. Lucy: Okay, fuck this. Dropping an F-bomb. New soapbox. Okay, this may be YA, but the podcast isn't. We'll just have to say that in our little description. Just because it's YA doesn't mean the podcast episode is. Okay. This has to be a cultural thing because first off, they are both about to go off to a prestigious university. When they graduate, it's very likely that both girls should be able to get nice jobs that they can obtain. Aleta: Yeah. Lucy: Next, going off on Avery having to support Blair? What is this nonsense? Why wouldn't Blair have her own job and support herself? Like, what the fuck? She is also trying to get into a prestigious university. Is is she just gonna go to university and be a stay-at-home wife? Like, why would you spend that fucking money? I'm just gonna spend my mom's money, a hundred thousand, two hundred thousand fucking dollars. Aleta: Huh. Lucy: And go to a fucking university, but I'll just be a stay-at-home wife. Like, what the fuck? Like, lady, she I have feelings. Lita's laughing, but I'm I'm I've got feelings. Look, she is gonna support herself. Like, damn, okay? Like, Blair is not a child, it's not Avery's responsibility to support a whole nother human, okay? Especially one she didn't birth, like, seriously. And this stands for straight relationships, too. So mmm. Very annoying feelings again I had to say it. Thank you. Done. Aleta: Yeah, I was gonna say something earlier, I don't know whether I did, about Ethan saying he he could protect her better. Like what does she need protecting from? Lucy: Like she's fine, Ethan. She's good. She's okay. Aleta: Yeah. Randomly Ethan shows up and in front of Avery asks Blair's mom for her blessing to marry Lucy: To Mary Blair Like Like what Aleta: Right out of the blue. And you're in high school. Like the whole high school marrying thing, Lucy: Yeah. Aleta: like Even like again, Princess First Love, it's like he has to marry her right away and it's like he's still in high school. Like what the heck? Lucy: I know. Well even Blair's mom said here, you guys are still in high school which is so funny. So I don't but anyway, keep going 'cause then she fucking does something stupid anyway. Aleta: Well true. Lucy: Okay. Aleta: Ethan babbles on about how people are spreading rumors about Blair and Avery, and this is how they can protect her and make sure she still gets into a good university. Cause universities care about that, but anyway. The mom gives her blessing and Avery tries to protest. Ethan tells her she can be the maid of honor. Lucy: Girl, the way I was ready to throw hands. Aleta: Same You know, we talk a lot about how there's too much slapping in verticals, but Ethan could use a slap. Anyway. No. Yeah, it is. I'm just joking, but yeah. Lucy: Right? There wasn't slapping in this one, actually, and that's really lovely. But yeah, there should have been. There sh I can I I wanna slap somebody. Let the fan do it. Anyway. Aleta: The poor actor. It's not his fault. Lucy: Yeah, I know. I'm sure the actor's amazing. Good guy. Aleta: Blair runs out and also tries to protest, but Avery tells her that she will be her maid of honor. Yeah. Lucy: That was random to me too. That felt random. What in the fucking K drama is this shit? Okay? What the fuck? That was my total thought when Avery's like, I'll be your maid of honor. I'm like, what? You will the fuck not? Sit down, Avery. Sit down and zip it. None of this shit. Shush Shh. Aleta: Ha ha ha ha Ha Lucy: I was very upset. I was just like that's why I was like, this has not been adapted for Western culture. Like this was ridonculous. But anyway. Aleta: Lucy's getting a lot of mileage out of our explicit rating this time. Lucy: I really am. my gosh. It's so sweet and young adult. It's just I have to just drop it a little heavier to make up for it, you know? Aleta: Mm-hmm. We then move along to the engagement party. It's an engagement it's they say Lucy: Dude, that's a wedding. She's wearing a fucking wedding dress. Aleta: I know she's wearing a wedding dress, but they they say it's the engagement party. In the vertical. I know she's got a frickin' veil on, but it's a Lucy: Okay, guys, it is not clear they lie because it's a veil and and an Avery and fucking Avery isn't a made of honor dress. I do not this is a fucking wedding. It's like a wedding dress, like fucking like made of honor dress, but I'm telling you, this was some hodgepodge shit where they tried to say it was an engagement party. I was like I was like no no no no no nah. That's a fucking wedding dress. Aleta: Avery's in a wedding dress too, let's be honest. Like Yeah. Lucy: And she's dressed as a maid of honour. This is a wedding. Anyway, well it's crazy, but Aleta: Yeah. Yeah. Anyway. Suddenly, Avery is standing next to Blair's mom in a white dress. The mom tells her she should wear dresses more often. Avery tells her that she'll keep this up as long as Blair's mom does what she promised, which was guaranteeing that Blair gets into a top university. Lucy: So where the fuck were we when this deal was made? Like for real, okay, as soon as she said that, I was like, where the are we missing an episode? When that that didn't happen. No, it did not happen. Yeah, there was no deal. So at no point in the vertical did I see this deal getting made. Also, fuck the mom. Fuck her telling her she needs to wear dresses more often. Just zzz. Aleta: When did that happen? I don't think so. Yeah. They just sailed over it. Lucy: Zip it! Lady! Feel like s I'm trying to be as YA as possible, but I wanna say bad words. Just wanna Ugh, it is not. It is not. We really need to put that as a disclaimer, but I just Aleta: This episode is not YA Mind you, t I haven't met too many teenagers who don't drop the F bomb like crazy, so Lucy: I know. I just get mad. I just wanna like wrap Avery up in like a big comfy blanky and just cuddle and just be like, It's okay. Fuck these people. Don't listen to them. Anyway. Aleta: Yeah, it's Avery that you want to cuddle. Lucy: Yes. Aleta: Fiona and Ethan both show up and start talking more smack to Avery, who just glares and doesn't answer. All of a sudden, Blair shows up in basically a wedding dress. Lucy: Okay, and this is what we're talking about. This was annoying. The mom said as long as Blair and Ethan get engaged, she will guarantee the top university. But this looks like their actual wedding to me. So where did the script supervisor go to fix this? Blair's dress is interesting. They even slapped a veil on her head with a bow. Just to really ram that Lolita character in there, just a little more. Aleta: Yeah. The she in wedding dress with the ruffles. Ethan goes to kiss her, but Blair can't do it and announces that she loves Avery. The girls run off together, Blair saying she's going to make her own path, and Avery promises to be there for her every step of the way. In the next episode, Blair is seen with the principal, who was also the director of the play, asking for a recommendation letter since her grades have improved. He lets her know that he can't do that because her mother wouldn't approve, so he's sticking with the school regulations, which is only the top three students in the school get recommendation letters. Blair tells him she will earn that letter. We get a few very quick scenes of Blair studying, And she is suddenly back in his office and she's the top third student in the school. Lucy: That was like the quickest scene too. It was so fast. It was like fifteen seconds of her like this mini montage and it's like I'm Aleta: Yeah. Lucy: third at the school now Clearly they were rushing that ending. Aleta: Three days later she's pulled her grades up. Lucy: That's right. That's right. Aleta: She gets her recommendation letter and runs off to the locker room. Fiona follows her and then Blair walks away from her bag, where Fiona can see the letter of recommendation, and she steals it and walks out. Blair is supposed to be going to an interview for a university and cannot find her letter. She realizes that Fiona probably took it. Avery promises to help her and tells her to go to her interview. During the interview, the recruiter stops her and won't speak to her until she has her letter. So he reschedules the interview. In the next scene, Fiona meets Avery and tears up the recommendation letter right in front of her. Avery goes to Blair's mother for help, who refuses. I really don't like these parents. We learn that the reason Blair can't just go get a new letter is because the principal hasn't been at the school and is not responding to any messages. Avery tells her she's going to get it back because she's part of the school's IT group, and she's done this kind of thing for teachers multiple times. Avery is now seen sneaking into the library. And in the dead of night, doing something on the computer to get the letter back. Someone almost walks in and miraculously Ethan is the lookout and stops the person. Ethan and Avery do a a bronaud. Yeah. Lucy: It was a bro nod. Like that nod that nod of acknowledgement that dudes do. You know, like hey, just a little nod, that's what that was. Aleta: Blair is back at the interview with the recommendation letter and does get into the university. Lucy: And as they're walking down the stairs after that big win, the scene ends with like Ethan doing like a cool goodbye wave after Avery tells Blair he helped get the letter. Yeah. Aleta: Yeah. And he's like, I d I did nothing. Like ha ha ha Don't get me involved. Lucy: Yeah, they had to have that cool guy walking away and I'm just like mm hmm, mm-hmm. What does this remind me of? Aleta: Well he did redeem himself a little bit in helping them. Lucy: He did. That's right. Aleta: In the next scene, Fiona's been expelled, and Blair gets her full acceptance to the university by text. We learn that Blair's mom is the reason Fiona was expelled, and that she's been helping Blair quietly for the last six months. During the graduation ceremony, we learn that Blair is the valedictorian. Lucy: Alright guys. Alright guys. I'm sorry, but no No, I'm putting my foot down. Don't don't choke Alina Aleta: I almost spat my water out. Lucy: shit. But okay, there is no possible way that could have happened with her third in the class. This is the vertical disbelief thing. Aleta: Yeah. We get a touching speech from Blair where she thanks Avery and tells her that she loves her in front of everyone. They do a cute little pinky swear. Blair's mom shows up and finally publicly accepts Avery. And Blair and her mum hug. In the last scene the happy couple runs outside in their caps and gowns. We get a super sweet real kiss and a montage of previous scenes of them falling in love to a cute song. The vertical ends with the cute opposite face scene, which is the poster. Lucy: So you Aleta: So, Lucy, what did we think? Lucy: Alright. Well, I'm gonna say this all off the cuff, so let's see how bad this comes out. But okay. I actually really liked it. I know I did some bitching, but I did, I did do some bitching. But honestly, for what it was and what its intention is, it was very sweet. It was very well done. I fucking love K dramas. I fucking love them. Before verticals existed. That's what I spent half of my time watching. You know what I mean? one of the reasons I love Taming the Bullies so much, which is a straight one, is because it's based off of Hanayori Dingo, which is a fucking Japanese manga that got converted into an anime, which is Boys Over Flowers, and then almost so many cultures adapted it, and it's just it's fucking awesome. And so I watched a lot of that growing up. So I really appreciated this part of it. I think where I'm hung up is. Nare reminds me of like she's so like her her aesthetic, the way she carries herself, Aleta: Mm. Lucy: like her age range, like where she's at with that, she should be doing something like the L word. She should be in an HBO Max show, she should be in a Showtime show, like immediate like people keep saying that sh they remind her, she reminds them of Aleta: Mm. Lucy: I think name's like Corky or something. She's from Bound. Like there's a there's a hot lesbian movie named Bound. And people keep like editing her to this hot this hot actress. And I'm kind of like, Aleta: Mm. Lucy: no, when I first saw her, I thought of Shane. Yeah, from the L word. And she's not quite like Poppy. Poppy was my favorite from the L word, but like she was very Shane. And I I just I think Nare Aleta: Shane, yeah. Lucy: should be doing. more than this but I think my biggest struggle with everything is that Nare is the only mask representation that we have had in a vertical so far and we cannot have that apps like you have to get it together. Like I they're okay the Femme Femme ones they're beautiful women they're so beautiful like I am looking at them and I'm like you were lovely you were so lovely But that just doesn't represent a relationship I have been a part of. Like I am very attracted to mask and butch women. I always have been. Aleta: Mm-hmm. Lucy: And that's who I want to see on my TV. And that's one of the reasons the L-word was so good, is there was this huge, like wonderful group of representation of women, right? So you had very femme women, a variety. But Aleta: Yeah. Variety. Lucy: In these verticals, you really only have two people. So I'm like, okay, do some femme femme for those that that matters for. But to just have one fucking mask f like it's killing me. It's killing me. So I've got a lot of big feelings on that. But I really want to celebrate Nare and Caitlin. I think they were really wonderful together. And I know I'm singing Nare's praises, but I think Kaylin did a really good job too. She was very sweet. She was a lovely actress. They both did a great job. I felt like the acting wasn't awkward. Their chemistry wasn't awkward. There is so much about this vertical that I think just gave. Like it it was giving, in the words of Gen Z. And Aleta: Ha ha ha. Lucy: I can see why it's hit over 200 million views. I can see why it's heavily edited. I mean it's pretty much Nare who's being edited. But I mean apps, pay attention. Why is she being so heavily edited? We want to see her. Please put her in more shit. Like my drama. Like I've been so happy with my drama. They've been putting out so many girl loves. Please hire her. Please make us happy. I need to see at least five more verticals. Aleta: Mm-hmm. Lucy: of her in the next year with adorable lovely ladies as her other leading lady. Okay? Like this is what I need. Anyway, I I overall great vertical, sorry. It was just turned into a babble. I knew that would happen. We'll see what I cut. Your turn. Aleta: Mm mm. I thought was really sweet. you know, my complaints about the character are about the character, not about not about the actress's performance. I think they both did great. I wasn't wild about about Blair, but yeah. The Lucy: Yeah. Aleta: yeah, for what it is, I mean I think we kind of have been Slowly seeing more and more spicy things in the B L. And so this was very innocent and it was like, I mean, at least at least let's have a kiss, right? Like but but no, it was it was sweet. Like we say there were some issues, the whole wedding engagement, the yeah, continuity here and there, but overall very good. And it's lovely, I think, that it is on TikTok that young people can watch it for free. Like the cost of of apps is crazy. You know, to to for a week it's like thirty dollars Canadian for most of them. And Lucy: It's crazy. Aleta: kids don't have that, right? Like kids don't have a couple hundred dollars to subscribe for a year. So having things like that that that give them the representation and make them feel seen and it's accessible is really amazing. So I really appreciate that. you know, obviously not I'm not the intended audience of this vertical as an as a an older straight woman. But I still really, really appreciated that. On behalf of the kids. Lucy: No, it was really cute. I mean, here's the thing. I think it is the best GL made so far. Now I haven't seen all of them. There's three more in my drama I haven't seen. But I think because of the casting of Nare and like the sweetness of it and like the quality of it, I really do think this is the best girl love right now. My second favorite's the summer in between. But and then I think maybe Bloodlust is next. But there's like again, there's several I haven't seen yet. But right now as it stands Nare is a huge reason why. So, put her in more so that I can have more favorites, please. Aleta: Ha ha ha. Not that they listened to us. If they listened to us we'd have had Succum two and Pf L two and Lucy: We have it all. We'll just keep we'll keep trying. Keep moseying. Mm-hmm. Aleta: Keep nagging the apps. Well, Lucy, I guess that about wraps it up for this episode. besties, I hope you enjoyed listening to our ramblings and that you'll come back for the next one. Bye besties. Lucy: Bye besties.