They Are So Comfortable With Each Other And Their Chemistry Is So Natural And Apparent. I Feel Like I’m

The Death of Hope and the Murderers Who Killed It

As a person who watched this show consistently for the past 3 years, I can say that the biggest draw to this show was the equality in the partnership. As much as the Sleepy Hollow story is about Ichabod Crane, this show didn’t take place in his time period. It took place in hers. She was the touch stone. She was the audience’s point of reference. The human in the inhuman. The natural in the supernatural. They made her into a support beam when she was the foundation. Everyone loved the chemistry between the 2 characters and to have that constantly being thrown aside in season 2 and 3 was rude and oblivious. Sleepy Hollow had one of the largest minority supporting cast of any show right now, especially in the Sci first genre. Abbie was supposed to be a main character, the witness wife to Ichabod’s witness husband, but they treated her like a side chick. And on top of that, they played with us, the viewers, the fan base, so disgustingly.

They took all, that was sacred in this show burned it with Greek fire, had it dipped in acid, and fed it took Moloch’s minions. They went back on the biggest point of the serie’s mythos. It was the point that was hammered home every season. It was the reason the show was what it was. Every episode, every moment, every action was held to this idea. It was the reason Ichabod was saved in the first place. If it was not Abigail Mills he would fail. It was her presence, her existance, her partnership with him that made everything possible. She is not an interchangeable character. Yes, the witnesses support each other mutually, but the way things played out made Abbie’s character a stepping stool in HIS journey, rather than than a partner.

Sleepy Hollow writers made Ichabod into that kid in a project that gets all the credit for simply doing the easy half. They made him a coward. And on top of all that, after ship baiting all season, they couldn’t even be bothered to have him admit his feelings. Not even once. They tried top capitalise on us without giving us anything. They exploited the fan base and the fan base is very upset. They exploited Abbie and the fan base is livid. But because they exploited Nichole, there is no words for the hurt and rage the fan base currently feels.

At this point, it doesn’t matter who they bring in for the possible season 4. No one trusts them anymore. There is no fan base anymore. And a lot of people feel that even if they continue and bring in this relation of Abbie, she’s simply going to be an “appropriately white” relative. It will be the lightest of light skinned black girls. And who’s to say that they won’t just disregard their own timeline and mythos again and simp,y find some white girl who is going to be again distant relation? No matter who she is, she won’t have the same chemistry. She won’t be Abbie.

While I don’t particularly like this analogy, Ichabod is the brain and Abbie is the heart. As much as each one is important, the brain simply can’t survive without its heart. Abigail Mills stood for so much in an industry and genre the doesn’t love the Abigail Mills and Nichole Beharies of the world.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/G-wVaQwrOU0

Emergency from “Dawn’s Early Light”

Ichabbie - Sleepy Hollow Season finale [X]

To the Fandoms Helping Out:

We want to keep this event Abbie Mills specific. We are joining together to combat systemic discrimination in the media. However due to Abbie Mills’ unique place in television we want to make sure to keep this event focused on Abbie herself. 

Please remember when speaking of the discrimination that Abbie faces, speak directly to her blackness, while Abbie is woman of color she faced discrimination specific to that blackness. In 3 seasons of television:

Abbie Mills was not kissed and had no onscreen romance

Abbie sacrificed herself thrice for the world, her partner Ichabod never did

 she was repeatedly sidelined and displaced while white women were pushed into her place (said women were then horribly written besides)

Sleepy Hollow itself was originally promoted as diverse show making their treatment of the black actors and characters on this show that much more egregious

the “don’t need no man trope” which is specific to black women was applied to her by the writers room: “Abbie loved Ichabod, but Ichabod was in love with Abbie.”

Abbie also faced colorism from her own fandom as some viewers repeatedly called for her to be replaced by her light-skinned, acceptably curly haired sister

originally Abbie was supposed to die mid-season, that’s right as far as the writer’s of Sleepy Hollow were concerned this co-lead, only black woman leading a genre show, arguably fan favorite’s death didn’t even warrant a season finale

her final words to her partner were that “her purpose was to carry him forward and she had nothing more to do”, in an interview with one of the writers they said: “she had served her purpose”

she existed solely for the benefit of a man

while she started strong Abbie was diminished in every way as her S1 love interests were written out apropos of nothing to make room for story line’s that centered the conflict around her white male partner (now I like Ichabod, but their storylines needed to be equally important)

all POC supporting cast were either killed off or slowly disappeared from the show: John Cho, Orlando Jones, Jill-Marie Jones, Amandla Stenberg,Nicholas Gonzalez. 

Nicole Beharie herself was not invited to the season 2 DVD commentary, she recently had to ask the Sleepy Hollow fox twitter account to follow her, she was told that no one wanted to see her at conventions without Tom Mison

Essentially they hired an amazing Julliard trained actress and diminished her and the character she played in every conceivable way. The simple human wastage is disgusting, the constant slights are an outrage, and the blend of racism and sexism she endured us beyond the pale. And all of it is specific to her blackness so remember that when we work this trending event. 

She is not simply a WOC, but a black woman. The strong woman who doesn’t need a man trope is specific to her blackness, being a pack mule whose feelings are not considered is specific to her blackness, being considered disposable is specific to her blackness and being only considered for her usefulness to her white co-workers is specific to her blackness.

Listen...

If you don’t think Abbie crushing the Eye in front of Pandora and subjecting herself to endless monotony ain’t the most gangsta shit to happen on this show, I feel sorry for you.

Thanks American Girl!

“My job was to carry you forward.” –Abbie Mills’ last words

I quit the show in season 2, and when I heard about this I wasn’t gonna post about it, but it’s just so awful on so many levels. as a black woman, I was so excited to be represented in a TV show, let alone as a *lead* in that show. I loved Abbie Mills as the wonderfully three dimensional, engaging, and strong woman she was, with her own significant ancestry and storylines.

everything in me rejects that line. as much as I shipped Ichabbie, Abbie Mills did not exist for Ichabod Crane. BLACK WOMEN DO NOT EXIST TO PROP UP THE STORIES OF WHITE MEN. it is a lesson history, and our media, have yet to learn. when I started the show watching the pilot, I had hope Sleepy Hollow would understand that. instead, it did worse – it pretended it did, and then revealed its true colors. We waited for Abbie’s storylines to be focused on, and we got a gradual sidelining of her character for a parade of bland white women that went in and out of Ichabod’s life, and the show’s focus on them.

RIP Grace Abigail Mills. You deserved better.

You know, I had the most bizarre dream last night. It involved me dying. I won’t bore you with the details–at least, the ones I can remember–but it was something about Pandora and Betsy Ross, and I don’t even know what. And I even went out with some bullshit line, which I can’t quite remember, but kind of implied that my entire existence was about Crane, which, like, I love the guy and all, but I have my own life. WTF, subconscious??

But I woke up, and Crane was in the kitchen complaining about “Why is the recommended serving size upon the package of this frozen pizza a fifth of the pizza when the pizza is a rectangular shape and will obviously not be cut into an odd number of segments?!” and I knew everything was fine.  

Dreams, amirite?

–Abbie

Abbie Mills Deserves Better

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