Independent publishing isn't the same as self-publishing. It means she was published by a small press that isn't connected to one of the big publishing houses.

Yes! I thought that too.  Other than the role reversal of him having to dance for Terry, there’s no reckoning there, even in the revenge scenario.

Crazy thoughts:

I also noticed how when she confronts him in the bathroom stall he goes through all possible reactions - justification, minimising it, anger, threats, seduction, breakdown - while Bella basically passively watches. It made much more sense once I realised she was running possibilities in her head to see which one would…

That’s pretty much how I interpreted it.   Bella was working through the ways should could react to remembering her attacker and the events of that night, as possible endings for her book.   That didn’t become clear to me until she started putting post-it notes on her wall.

I’d rather see what she does next with all options wide open than see a continuation of this story. This one felt complete with one season.

It would be one thing if Kwame said he was curious about dating women, but the show makes it very clear that he is disgusted by cis women’s bodies and only wants to sleep with a woman in reaction to his assault. He wants to use a woman to get over his trauma.

It’s not the same as with trans people, because it’s about *who you’re attracted to*, not your personal identity.

idk I think if someone tells you they feel violated, just trust that they probably feel violated. As a gay dude I couldn’t imagine leading a girl on through an entire date knowing that I was deceiving her the whole time, and then to sleep with her? Like multiple chances to get out there.

I made a similar comment above about the show portraying a spectrum of consent and I’ll add to those thoughts here. I don’t think this show is about whether black dude is “in on it.” Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t. I think there’s a far broader (and more sinister point) to be made here: black dude views the event in…

“It’s a dick move, okay, but does it make someone a predator? Awful Lady’s reaction (and she’s still awful, no matter what Kwame’s actions were) makes it clear she’s lumping him in with people like Zain or Terry’s gross threesome buddies, but I just don’t see that from either Kwame’s intent or his actions.”

I am not sure anything will change your mind on this because you seem very certain, but I can tell you from personal experience that a straight woman did this exact thing to me and I felt incredibly violated.

Someone recently pointed out me that in the same scene where young Bella and her friends are talking about helping the boy accused of rape, there’s another Black girl in the background getting beat up who they are completely ignoring—which I totally missed the first time I watched it. So obviously the show has been…

“Nothing Kwame does in “Would You Like to Know the Sex” makes sense and the show doesn’t offer much justification for his attempt to reconcile with the woman he slept with.”

Oh, no, he was clearly in on it. There’s a reason the camera is focused on the Black accomplice and not the primary rapist: the fact that a Black man helped a white man rape her adds a whole new level of trauma and betrayal, shattering the sense of racial solidarity that has been so central to Bella’s friendships and…

Remember when 12 shows was considered a really really short season?

Re: “I do think it was sort of odd that Zain just showed up to teach her some basics of story structure, though. Just some real basic stuff you could Google.”

Susy...Obviously Susy was never going to feel any sort of black kinship with Bella, but I thought she was at least inspired to help Bella grow as a writer.

I was trying to understand — was the man she recognized at the bar “in on it” from the beginning? Or was he just someone who happened to be with the white dude and decided to be a lookout while the white dude assaulted her? In the cab it seemed like he was distancing himself from them — he asked the white dude if she…

why is nobody talking about how good that headwear is tho