When April turns around in Spanish class and Sterling gets giddy and has to control herself was adorable lmao
It really was! It’s absolutely on my list to gif to do the whole little scene and April, JUST as aware of Sterling behind her and worked up but dryly being like, I’ve sat here all year.
Omg, so you noticed it too! (I thought I was going crazy) But April did get hotter once Sterling became interested in her and their conflict got resolved lol Oh! and speaking of the Dorito moment I kinda saw that as Sterling being attracted to April even when she was going through her lowest point (e.x Sad cause or her dad, Dorito in hair, etc) and as you mentioned her styling kinda changed. It’s sad they didn’t stay together I think Sterling could’ve been a big support for April
She did look different! More ponytails, the school polos and button-ups seemed gayer, lol, the casual woodworking and painting outfits.
And aww, you’re right! April entered the room looking messy as hell and they literally did the choral clouds parting music for when Sterling saw her and sighed dreamily:
And then had Sterling proceed to be SO mesmerized while April sat next to her acting like a wounded badger. April in any form for her, I guess.
For sure, I wish they had ended the season together, but I don’t at all think their story is over, not least because her dad will play a part. And yes, it’d have been nice to see April’s support through the family drama but I don’t think they were really in a place where April would just be there as a partner and offer support, where Sterling’d vent and April’d just be like oh wow, that’s wild. That’s not good TV drama, right, conversations work better when people are bouncing info or arguments off each other, especially these two, so I think maybe the family messiness will be more effective if it gives them a reason to reconnect, like Sterling’s acting out or feeling especially abandoned/alone, something that gives them an actual arc. I dunno, I can tolerate a lot more on TV shows as far as drama and TEMPORARILY unhappy ships go, as long as there’s some kind of journey and movement and preferably pining and thinking about the other.
(1/2)Teenage Bounty Hunters spoiler* I saw your gifs April was talking about “he lied” omg I started to watch and the whole time expected it was April that is in a relationship and in that scene she was talking about her bf. Who knows it turned out that it was her dad, and Sterling is the one that in a relationship!! Also even though during the enemy phase, their relationship aren’t that all bitter to each other! (They both agree on violent against womans are bad regardless their jobs,
(2/2) Sterling couldnt go along to let April take the fall about the condom, April talks about her dad/family situational home to Sterling) Also what do you think about how their memories were different in 5th grade (April remembers it that Sterling gave her away to another friend, that heartbreak in her voice!! “and you walked away”, but Sterling clearly didn’t remember the part she gave April away and only remember that they just stopped hang out. Thanks
Oh, haha, I was afraid people might think she was referring to a bf, but didn’t really want to spend the time or gifs to clarify that. It wouldn’t really make a difference either way in the story.
Hmm, I don’t know that I would necessarily say the relationship wasn’t bitter just because they both individually agreed on certain things. Although, yeah, I don’t think Sterling particularly hated April, she didn’t think much about her except when April was bothering her, but April clearly did resent her, because of that 5th grade incident (and also envy at seeing everything always seemingly coming so easily for her). I think I already addressed my confusion at their wildly different interpretations of it but actually, this anon as a pretty solid theory:
And another anon:
(Pt 1 of 2I had to rewatch the scene, and I don’t think its that Sterling remembered it incorrectly, I think they put it in totally different contexts. Sterling, Blair, and their friends were playing soccer, and April decided to sit by the swings to do some studying by herself. I think Sterling felt bad that April was all alone while the rest of them were playing, so she took her to Jessica’s group so she wouldn’t be by herself. She probably thought she was helping April out- like when (cont’d)
(pt 2 of 2) she and Blair made up an excuse to bow out of working to try and get Bowser and Yolanda together. And then she just thought they grew apart because April had more in common with Jessica. Meanwhile, as we see, April totally thought Sterling was ditching her and they weren’t friends anymore. I don’t think Sterling ever intended for them to stop being friends, so I think she was shocked that April accidentally thought that.
That’s…a really interesting and possible interpretation. I was going to say at first that she didn’t need to tell April that she was now part of Jessica’s group, but bringing up the excuses they made for Bowser and Yolanda…could be, could be. I’m not entirely convinced but it’s the best theory we have (until we find out Sterling has her own identical twin who was the one who actually did that :P).
Hmm, just rewatched it because I thought Sterling said something harsher but “April’s in your group now.” I can see what you’re saying! STERLING could have been thinking she was adding more friends to April’s group, but APRIL thought she was being moved from one group to another. I kind of hope we get more on this next season, but I suppose as far as the characters are concerned it no longer matters.
I’ve watched through the 7th ep so far and I just really like how its been playing out, particularly the reveal of the root of April’s animosity. She was obviously deeply hurt that Sterling “gave” her away, because she’s still holding on to it this whole time, describing it like it was yesterday. And Sterling had no idea she hurt April like that, and was so mortified. And then Sterling caught feelings and is just immediately super dorky about it and its pretty cute.
Right, though! I loved how slowly it unfolded and you really got to see how much dislike there was and then it’s revealed why.
The whole arc was honestly like one of those fics in which we queer characters with Type A personalities, e.g., Paris Gellar or Quinn Fabray, where it’s like, there’s something underneath driving that perfectionism and unhappiness and adding all these extra layers and tension to the supposed rivalry and it’s canon here! With the added trope of the former childhood best friend who was done wrong by (although I still don’t understand how Sterling remembered it so incorrectly, is that supposed to be another reveal at some point or?) to add that extra history with a Betrayal. Although of course the Sterling we know is a super nice person and, as you said, a huge dork about her crush so you still want her to get the girl.
It’s kind of neat that we would naturally sympathize with those characters, any girl that behaved in a way that was Too Much, and write in these extra reasons and motivations for them and here this show’s done just that. And it’s especially fun to see, because usually we just have to do it in fanworks, but once Sterling started seeing her in a romantic light, she becomes a more romantically rootable figure? Styled different (barring the Dorito moment, lol), behaving differently. Like, this is how it is when the source material itself goes there, huh. Childhood friend to rival to person you have a same-sex crush on and she returns those feelings…amazing.
i was also kinda annoyed that sterling was so insistent on coming out but then i though that maybe that’s the point? that a lot people think that things have gotten so much better for the lgbt community (and they have) but the reality is that its still really sucks and can even be dangerous even in 2020. i feel like sterling’s insistence is a stark contrast to april’s fear which really highlights the struggles our community still deals with. just my 2 cents ?
Yeah, possibly, it’ll depend on where they go with it. In fairness, just taking this season on its own, especially April’s points during the little convince me debate, it’s pretty thoughtful and so far NOT insisting on a full public coming out from a narrative point of view. I didn’t mind Sterling’s personal insistence, she hadn’t made it an ultimatum, in so many words–as some other shows’ characters literally have–but generally, she was coming from a place of naivete and optimism and wanting to be open and happy. That’s understandable, she’s a young girl in actual love for literally the first time and whose parents and sister probably DO love her unconditionally, that’s her experience of the world. She has no roadmap on how to do this and her next move is to want to do things like holding hands and be with April in public the way she was with Luke and well, that requires them to come out.
Honestly, I wouldn’t even have been thinking about this so much if I hadn’t also been thinking about GLOW and all those other shows. For the time being, it’s sympathetic and understandable on both sides, made more complicated by the role Sterling played in April’s dad’s getting caught. That final convo on the bench wasn’t just about April and Sterling but the surprise reveal that the dad was out and setting that up for next season. Presumably April will find out and that’s just gonna make things even more complicated.
coming out could go really bad for April. Not only because she would end up being an outcast, but worst case scenario it could even get violent or she could get kicked out of her house for good. It annoyed me a little bit how Sterling didn’t seem to get it. It was sweet that she wanted to date April for real, to be open about their relationship, but… the consequences.
Right! Even though the writers are addressing these possibilities, I’m not sure they’re really thinking them through? Like, they’ll write it so there are all these obstacles and it’s the triumphant end goal of the character’s arc to come out and that’ll be their happy ending and then when the camera stops rolling…what? What would have happened to that person?
This is a particular issue that bothers me a lot and it seems to come from not just straight writers but queer people privileged enough to not have to deal with it, OR, the unlucky people who HAVE dealt with it and projected that as the desirable outcome for everyone. I still remember this scene from The Bisexual where for once, they wrote the opposite.
In April’s case, yeah, to an outsider losing her family might not be a big loss, but it should be on her terms. Maybe she’s counting on a scholarship for which she needs to stay in school and do well, or wants to wait till she’s financially independent, or maybe she super does love her parents anyway. But that’s always narratively secondary to Coming Out, which is treated too much like this rite of passage that has to be done as soon as possible no matter the consequences and like, this is something real queer people (and the allies around them) see and internalize and feel pressured to do! Where else are they supposed to be learning how to deal with all this? Media’s still our best source.
I get why the writers do that, why people in real life encourage it, I get that side of it, it isn’t healthy, it DOES do a number on you, I’m sure it IS super freeing to come out, but it just really needs to be more nuanced than the way it’s being done right now. Like, as if it’s shameful to be closeted, as if you can’t be in a relationship at all if you’re closeted. It’s just one or the other, closet or happy out relationship.