[Report This]Date: Mar 22, 2021 3:40 pm Title: Chapter 7
Now would be a good time to introduce Ethan. Maybe a three-way?
Author's Response:
A Brian-Justin-Ethan three-way? Not in this story, I am afraid...
Date: Feb 24, 2021 5:29 pm Title: Chapter 7
Hey there! This will be a long review! Oh, when I read your last answer, I felt old... In my case, it's not my grandparents but my parents who where born in 1943 and 1945... I could have talked to my grandparents about it and asked them so many questions. But at first I was too young and then too inhibited. Unfortunately, in my family there is not much talk about such things or feelings. And my grandmother always scolded the Russians, partly because of her experiences with the GDR and the building of the Berlin Wall and also because my grandfather was a Russian prisoner of war for a few years. I'm politically more left-wing orientated and always felt the need to defend the Russians (although Stalin really was no better than Hitler). And there were always these thoughts in my mind ... the Germans were to blame, the Germans started the war ... So, yes, there would have probably just been a lot of anger and arguments. All I know is that my two birth grandpas died in the war, whatever they did. My uncle's father (also a different man than my father's father) was a communist and was killed by the Nazis. As I said, I am so grateful not to have lived during this time. And I think it's perfectly okay to be scared and to wonder what would one have done, how would one have acted. I find it much more sincere to have doubts about one's own behavior in such a situation than to stand up and claim that one would have resisted in any case ...
Oh my ... I didn't know what you meant by Jana from Kassel and I googled ... I just have no words for that...
So this chapter. How incredibly sad ... After Brian and Justin, Ted and Blake are my absolute favorite couple and the idea that Blake was killed and Ted then killed himself made me very sad. I don't quite understand Mel and Lindsay's behavior. How could they leave Gus behind. I have two sons of my own and can't imagine that I would go away in such a situation without them, but ... similar problematic question. You just can't say how you would really behave in such a situation. I understand that Mel wanted to try to fight outside of Gilead as a lawyer and of course they left him with Brian and Justin, but didn't they realize that Brian and Justin would also be persecuted for being homosexual?
Oh, I'm afraid we're nearing the time Brian will find out about Ethan. Oh my heart is breaking for Brian. And also for Justin. He's already so desperate and confused. Makes me so sad, especially after the kiss they shared. And I'm afraid of Brian's reaction. I asked myself if he's going to fight for Justin, if he has the strength to do it and if he even wants to.... Looking so forward to Sunday! Stay healthy and warmest regards!
Author's Response:
Oh, I am sorry - I didn't mean to make you feel odd or bad about what I wrote in reply to your review :( It's just that in my family we always talked openly about these things, my grandmother more so than my grandfather as it was harder for him never having known his own father, but even he would answer questions if asked. I sometimes tend to forget that it's not like that for everyone and I am sorry if something I wrote made you feel odd :(
I have to admit that my grandmother used to keep this old shoe box with old photographs going back to her grandparents' childhood and every time I would read something in a book or see something in a movie or in a documentary and mention it to her, she would get out that box and look for a picture to show me that it was true. I particularly remember telling her of my surprise when I read that women used to wear black wedding dresses back in the 19th and early 20th century and she went, got out the box and handed me a picture of her own grandmother getting married in a black wedding dress.
Those are some of my favourite memories that I have of spending time with my grandmother. Sitting at her kitchen table and looking at old photographs and listening to the stories she would tell about how she grew up, what life was like when she was a child... I was always very interested in history, it was one of my Prüfungsfächer when I did my Abitur and it's a way my grandmother and I have always bonded :)
I totally understand that talking about WWII and asking: What did you do back then? would cause trouble in a lot of families... understandably so :(
I also tend to vote on the left and I definitely share more left views than conservative views, then again I grew up in a total working class background where it was all about unions and the like. I definitely grew up in a very SPD attached household which of course left an impression on me. From an early age my parents and one of my aunts took me to pro-LGBT, anti-nuclear engergy, anti-war protests, etc... So yeah, I was raised with very progressive, left ideas and still have a lot of those. Especially when it comes to equality, social justice and to acceptance of people who might have a different skin colour, background, sexuality, religion, etc. than I do. Politik was my Leistungskurs when I did my Abitur, I studied it at university as a minor and I'll always be interested in politics and will always have an opinion ;)
Anyway, back to the story: It broke my heart to do this to Ted and Blake. I absolutely adore them as well and I always loved Ted and his development to become Brian's closest friend later in the show (sorry, Michael, but Ted wins easily!), so killing off both him and Blake here was one of the hardest things I ever did :( But it had to happen. It wouldn't have made sense if everyone we love and like had gotten out. The story is about loss and pain and we needed to understand how brutal Gilead was to its undesirables...
As for Mel and Lindsay - same reason. They had to go to make the emotional impact harder on Gus and Brian. As for their reasons for leaving Gus behind, I thought of all those refugee families breaking up and the men going ahead, leaving behind their wives and children, promising to get them once they have settled and have the money. I am sure Melanie and Lindsay would have fought to get Gus out from Gilead from outside the country, thinking that the rest of the world would be on their side and the pressure would just be too high on Gilead. And for the time being they would have known that he would have been safe with Brian and Justin... but yeah... hard decisions had to be made all around :(
Brian will find out about Ethan in the next chapter. And it will create a whole new set of problems for both Brian and Justin. My heart is breaking for Brian as well, but also for Justin... He will be so torn :/
Thanks for your comment. As always, it's much appreciated :) More will be up tomorrow!