So I caught up on the recent Kana today and wanted to answer this.
I’m still so angry and torn between being happy at the good moments and remembering what’s going to happen and being bitter all over again. But very little of that has to do with Bhavna’s suggestion. There is a part of me that’s sad at that, yes, because it seems to speak to a lack of understanding of what this rep means to us and what a death does to it, but it’s been made incredibly clear how much trouble non-wlw have understanding that. And I get what her actual reasoning would have been, that this would seal what a once-in-a-lifetime soulmate kind of love Kana had, that only death could separate them. If circumstances had been different, she might even have been right, but the circumstances aren’t different and we have a very specific history linked to this.
Separately from her, though, my god, the show didn’t have to listen to her, they didn’t have to include Adam plot and then kill her off, what, the day of her wedding? Every terrible choice they could have made, they did. This is on them. My rate is definitely reserved for them.
And another anon:
Ouf man I can only imagine what you went through with Rana. Juliantina was super loving and even then watching them on tv was HARD sometimes. The kidnapping, the tears, Juls kissing that guy (my brain just. Refuse to remember his name) and all the homophobia when all they wanted be together and make each other laugh. I wish writers could understand how hard we latch on wlw stories to process our own experiences and how important they are to us.
Sorry for answering so late! Thank you for the kind thoughts, anon. It really did and does suck and the hardest part is realizing how little the writers care about the effect this will have. It’s easier to tolerate mistakes than detachment, at least for me.
I think often writers do realize how important these stories are to us, but sometimes it’s too late or they just don’t care. Those that pay attention and try to do well by us are the ones I like the most, and I guess that’s why I ended up being as okay with Juliantina as I was. Too many writers will accept the praise but stop listening to the criticism and some will make mistakes so major, there’s no way back from them. At least here, it was a mostly recoverable situation and it was all done when they had no feedback. Hopefully they’ll get a chance to apply what they learned.