Sleepy Hollow

This is the one that’s bad and the only one that will contribute directly to my dropping a show from my viewing rotation. Per THR, Nicole Beharie’s Abbie sacrificed herself in the third season finale largely because Beharie wanted out of the yet-to-be-renewed Fox drama. But if Beharie wanted out, it was largely because in the long gap between the first and second seasons, the writers lost track of how to handle the core of the show, which was the Abbie/Ichabod relationship. And I put the names in that order for a reason. To me, it was Abbie’s show. Ichabod was the wacky and lovable time-traveler. The various robots and Kyle Reese are not the stars of the Terminator franchise. Sarah Connor is. Abbie was Sarah Connor, she was the character grounded in the real world whose life was turned upside down by the discovery that these supernatural forces, forces Ichabod always knew all about, were real. Sleepy Hollow was Abbie’s story and the decision to give up her life and her soul to stop this season’s apocalyptic event shouldn’t have been required of her…

Why Did So Many Female Characters Die on TV Last Week?

I really like this point about Terminator being Sarah Connor’s story in the same way Sleepy Hollow is Abbie Mills’. It’s disheartening that the Sleepy Hollow writers themselves were among the people that didn’t understand this.

(via geejayeff)

Eulogy

I loved you, show.

I have never felt closer to a character than to Abbie Mills.

The color of our skin was different, but I felt her in my soul. She was beautiful. She was strong. She was weak. She was kind. She was closed. She was everything I hoped to be and feared to be. 

There is no show without her.

I wish Nicole nothing but the best. I pray this was her decision and she moves on to other things.

I am grateful for what the show gave me. A chance to write things I think are lovely. That I am proud of. A chance to meet people I know are wonderful.

I’m crying over a TV show. I wish I were not.

I believed in this show. And I can never be bitter for what it gave me.

But I can and will be angry about the racist, awful, pointless, casual way it tossed aside a character who will never die for me.

Abbie Mills is alive. She is happy. And she is with the person her soul was made for.

What happens to Sleepy Hollow is immaterial. I will not watch.

I hopelessly hoped. I believed. I rooted.

And this.

Good luck, Nicole. You do deserve better.

But Abbie Mills also deserved better. 

New Motivator: Just know that anything you write will never be as bad as the Sleepy Hollow Season 3 finale.

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.

“I recently went to Comic-Con in London, I was invited without the white male counterpart of my cast. And it was packed. They knew it was just gonna be me. So that shook me. I went back to the green room and I was like… I’ve always been told, and I believed, that this doesn’t work without him.” (x)

I dug through some old boxes. I don’t have a lot of stuff from the old days, but I did find this. I thought you might want to know more about who you are, where you came from.

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.

Sleepy Hollow Episode 317 - Delaware promotional photos.

Ichabod and Abbie confess that they’re in love with each other, get married, move to California, and open up a bookstore specializing in rare & antique finds. They’re happy. Season 3 never happens. The end.

So cute! ❤️

i don’t even know where this came from but i really want to draw more polaroids from thedas now. also couples sleeping on public transport