Parents...

Chryed and Syed's family. And Amira.

Watching Chryed I also got reminded of how awful his parents are most of the time! Ok, they are muslim, and the storyline is really important, but I just hate when parents are homophobes! It's the most heartbreaking thing to ever witness! And Nitin Ganatra and Nina Wadia (Zainab & Masood) made a really good job portraing dirtbags! I lost count how many times they disowned Syed! But, fortunately, they came to turns with it eventually. When Christian and Syed finally got married they were almost even sweet!

Sam Strike & Kellie Bright.

And speaking of Eastenders, Zainab and Masood has not been the only ones. When Johnny Carter (Sam Strike/Ted Reilly) came out early in 2014 his mother Linda Carter just couldnt accept it! I mean, in 2014! His dad, Mick (Danny Dyer) was much more supportive and relaxed about it. But Linda was just awful! Ok, she has gotten over it now but I just can't forgive her for it! She is always going to be poison to me!

Lari & Ilkka.

Another classic homophobic biggot is Ilkka Väänänen (Ari-Matti Hedman) from Salatut Elämät. We all thought that he might be ok when he didn't make any fuzz right there and then when he saw Lari and Elias on the sofa when he forgot his wallet. But we were so wrong! Another dad disowning his son and he even tried to "cure" him by sending Lari to an anti-gay camp. Just awful! Poor Lari! I wonder what would have happened to Larias if Ilkka weren't such a jerk?

Clemens Löhr & Alexander Becht.

This is actually quite interesting. When Nik Breidenbach played Alexander Cöster in GZSZ we was a homophobe, but when Clemens Löhr took over the part he was not. Not as much at least. Early in the days, Alexander of some reason believed that lenny was gay and Lenny tricked Alexander that he was just because he was a homophobic bully as a father. Not really nice at all. But when they changed actor and Lenny got together with Carsten everything was forgiven and forgotten. I like the new Alexander better. Definitely.

Jo Weil & Thore Schölermann.

Even the wonderful Oliver Sabel had a homophobic mother. His aunt Charlie was really nomal, but his mother Henriette was bitter and religious and didn't want her son to marry the love of his life. Christian that is. But she finally came around. But she was that unimportant that there's no good pictures of her on the net. That might as well be just as good. I never liked her.

Dennis Grabosch & Hartmut Volle.

Roman Wild in Alles Was Zählt even lied about his parents living in Australia because they were homophobes who had disowned him. It was just because Roman's little brother Florian moved/fled to Roman that we got to meet Roman's biggoty father Egon. I would rather have been without that acquaintance. Really. He never became better. He was just creapy.

Scott & Lisa Evans.

Surprise surprise, there's also American religious homophobic and biggoty parents. When Oliver Fish in One Life to Live finally came out his parents didn't approve ofcourse. Fortunately for us, Fish chose Kyle and not his mother. A fun fact is that it was Scott Evans' real mother Lisa who played barbara Fish for some episodes. We can't really accuse Lisa Evans for being agreat actor, but who is in a soap opera hey? Except for Danny Miller!

Daniel Hugh Kelly.

And I don't think anyone could accuse Winston Mayer for being a cozy and sweet guy. He was just awful! A manipulative stridspitt (that's swedish. Try working out what it means if you can!) that only cared about himself.He even tried to kill Noah's (Jake Silbermann) great love Luke (van Hansis). Luke got shot and couln't walk for while just because of this awful man! Every time he came back the Nuke storyline just got a little bit more angstly. Did not like him at all.

Nicolas Herman & Bernard Allouf.

Words can't enough how much I detest Yves Barrel, the father of Nicolas Barrel from Plus Belle la Vie. He is just pure evil! Homophobic, murderous, violent, manipulative, abusive... He is just it all. And that's not a good thing. The only good thing about him was that he disappeared eventually. The bad thing was that Nicolas disappeared about the same time. I miss Nicolas! It's a wonder he ended up such a nice person (when he wasn't a druggie) with that father. He and Egon Wild is kind of the same character. And that's no good thing!

Joshua Pascoe and Steve McFadden.

And let's go back to where we started. Eastenders. ben Mitchell (Joshua Pascoe/Harry Reid) has not had it easy. Phil Mitchell, his father, is not a very nice man. Ben has a homophobic father who kind of maid him get a beard not to loose him, his mother came back from the dead and he also was in prison for killing his stepmother's best friend. But I believe that was an accident... Anyhow, I don't ever think Phil Mitchel will approve of his gay son. Even though he is trying. But fake it you make it is not reallyPhil Mitchell's strong side. But I am open for being convinced otherwise!

Gays with girlfriends

What I really don't get is when out gay characters in soap operas gets girlfriends. I mean, I know all about bisexuality and pansexuality and that it doesn't always have to be black or white and some people really are just not that scrupulous. But the straight relationships including gay men in soap operas seems kind of like train wrecks.

Javier Calvo and Andrea Duro.

I mean like Fer and Yoli in Física o Química. Who came up with that smart idea? Fer had already been out quite a while and he had already been together with David for a while when he started dating Yoli of all people? Well, Fer did still love David and he really didn't like girls so that romance didn't last long. And it kind of seemed like he started dating Yoli by accident and then didn't want to disappoint her. I really don't think that is a solid band for a relationship Fortunately he got to his senses.

Pete Lattu and Jasmin Hamid.

And how about Kalle and Katariina. That was really not the most fortunate pull Salatut Elämät made. But at least they were cute. Kalle would be cute with anyone, actually. Well, I guess they just really liked eachother. But things got kind of weird when they both dated the same man, Valtteri Elovirta, who as we know ended up raped Kalle. Actually, it happens to be that Valtteri, the bastard, was Kalle's first love, and that he wasn't really a nice guy back in the days either. I wonder if Valtteri was the first guy Kalle kissed, the kiss that made the Finnish people write lots and lots of mails of complaint? Oh why can't just there be more early SE DVD's so someone, like sininentomaatti, could keep uploading Kalle's story? I also read that they show reruns of older seasons of SE during summer in Finland, but I both don't live in Finland and still don't know any Finnish so...

Rami Rusinen, Pete Lattu and Jasmin Hamid.

Anyway, there was some kind of drama between Kalle, Valtteri and Katharina and there also was some kind of sex tape and it just didn't end well. Kalle got raped for one, and the relationship between Kalle and Katariina is only a memory. But they were some kind of friends even after that Valtteri drama, even though they drifted apart.And also, it seems like Ismo bashed Valtteri (yay Ismo) and Valtteri ws sent to jail. An now Kalle is dating Lari! Oh joy!

Caroline Tillette and Nicolas Herman.

And then there's the wonderfull Nicolas and the wavy Pauline. Ok, she was quite cute but, she ws just not Thomas! Ok, so Nicolas faked his death to save Thomas, Thomas moved on and met Florian, the he discovered Nicolas was alive and both Thomas and Nicolas had angst because of one another. Nicolas was of course hoping for Thomas to still be single. But he wasn't and he did comfort himself with a girl. Logical o what? I think not! He couldn't even mange to have sex with his ex wife to conceive a baby. Well, that didn't work out, Nicolas was still sulking for Thomas and Pauline went somewhere with a new identity. That is what happens to maffia-doughters who kill their fathers. And Nicolas also kind of sucked up for Celine when she was his client. What happened to Plus Belle la Vie and what happened to Nicolas? But I still love him.

Harry Reid and Lorna Fitzgerald.

And once again, meet ben Mitchell and Abi Branning. Ben nows that he is gay, everyone else knows that he is gay, his new lover Paul nows that he is gay and I even think Abi knows that he is gay. Otherwhise she wouldn't be so suspicious of Ben and Paul. The only one who doesn't know that Ben is gay is his father Ben Mitchell. And I even think that he knows that Ben is gay, but he is in big denial. He doesn't wat a gay son and ben doesn't want to disappoint him. Kind of. So, Abi is a beard, but I think that Ben is really fond of her, that he do love her, but she just doesn't do it for him. I hope that he will ditch her soon and be with Paul full time. At least Paul seems to want that.Ad it is way to long since Eastenders had an interesting gay romance. EEven if you do count Tina's.

Stephanie Davis and Kieron Richardson.

Bläch. Ste and Sinead. That is really so low from Hollyoaks. Ste's just gay. He has been since Brendan's moustache. I just don't get it! Ok, they have a baby, ok they had sex, but how could Ste choose Sinead before John Paul? I just don't get it! Ok, John Paul dumped Ste, but that was after he had put John Paul second for so long. Sinead is just a really comfused rebound! The only comfort is that Ste will snog Harry soon and that just have to be the end oh Stinead or what they are called. And also, Stephanie Davis has been sacked from Hollyoaks so it has to end quite soon. Oh thank gods for that, because this straight romance was just a low-water mark. Even worse than Fer and Yoli! I'm even quite keen on Starry know. I can't be worse than Stinead!

Hotshots

There are some gay characters in soap operas that have, how to say it... quite fancy occupations! Or at least occupations where I guess being gay is not a walk in the park. Police as an example. I imagine that it is not that easy to come out as a police officer. The story of Oliver Fish in One life to live tells us that, and I do believe that it is not just fiction.

Oliver Fish.

Oliver Fish (Scott Evans) had a really hard time coming out after years and years of denial, and as he feared, his parent were not supportive at all. But as far as I can remember his collegues were alright. And he also had the support of his beloved Kyle.

Menno Kuiper.

And then we have Menno Kuiper (Dave Mantel) in Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden. He was the lover of the regular Lucas Sanders, and they even got married. But I read somewhere that Menno did beat Lucas up and then he disappeared from the series. I still haven't started with this Dutch soap, but it is my summer project, so I have to get back to you on that.

Nicolas Barrel.

And here's my sweetie Nicolas Barrel (Nicolas Herman) from Plus Belle La Vie. I just adore him! Both the character and the actor! A sweeter guy is really hard to find! He started out as a cop, and also had a hard time with his family. His collegues appreciated him a lot, but his father was a real homophobe, and we understand that Nicolas became a cop to prove his manliness to his father. Poor Nicolas. But it seems he enjoyed it anyway. Until he had to fake his death and work undercover. And then he became a lawyer instead! And after he came back to life and chocked the hell of his boyfriend Thomas, he continued working as a lawyer. I like the new Nicolas, but I kind of miss the old police-Nicolas anyway...

Florian Estève.

And speaking of men of the law, Thomas' new boyfriend after Nicolas, Florian (Franck Borde), was even a judge! But I don't really get how judges work in France. I think that he worked more as a prosecutor. He was very much out on the fields. But he was also a cutie and you can't really dislike him, even if you are Thomas/Nicolas-shipper. Florian was a really lovely guy. And also, a little bird whispered that Thomas is going to date a doctor after Florian. But I have to get back to you on that to.

Kieron Hobbs.

The most controversial character has to be Kieron Hobbs (Jake Hendriks) in Hollyoaks who was a priest. A catholic such. And as you know, they have a chastity vow. He broke that a lot of times with Jon Paul, deservedly, because later he got murdered by John Paul's half brother. At least he got some shagging before he died! And love, of course!

Kalle Laitela.

And we do have a lot of doctors. My favourite are Kalle Laitela (Pete Lattu) in Salatut Elmät. He is just such a lovely character. And he also got promoted to some kind of head physician lately. And he has got his fair share of homophobia through the years. His father, Ismo, was a real homophome back in the days and his collegues seem to be assholes! There's a lot of gossip and bullshit talk about him and his boyfriend Lari, just because Lari is a little bit younger. But that is no biggie, really!

Kai Seebach.

Another favourite is Kai Seebach (Alexander Gier) in Alles Was Zählt. He was working as a sports physician in the Steinkamp Sport and Wellness Centre and had a love story with the very closetered football player Joscha. He was just a really nice character and I do miss both him and Joscha very much! When will AWZ have a new gay storyline?!

Tom Seifert.

Another German doctor is Tom Seifert (Kay Böger) in Verbotene Liebe who used to date lli, and then dated Olli and then went back to Ulli, but after the character left the show. But we know that because we got a little sneak peak into Tom and Ulli's lives when VL had their 10th anniversery. Tom was also a really nice character who always wanted all well. From that point, I think he and Olli was very suibtable for eachother. But I am a Tulli shipper. Totally!

Dr Jo Helmke (and Olli).

And it seems like Olli has a thing for doctors, because after things went nasty with Christian Olli had a relationship with Dr Jo Helmke (Mickey Hardt). The sleazebag. I am sying that without knowing anything about him. But he looks sleazy and everyone who takes Christian's place is a sleazebag. And that's how it is.

Lucas Jones.

Last but not least we have Dr Lucas Jones (Ryan Carnes) i General Hospital. Well, he was a bit of a unnapproachable doctor, and it took a while for him to start working as one. He was whining something about not being able to be such a god a doctor as his adoptive father. Whiner. But now it's just as he has never done anything other than working as a doctor When he is not making out with Brad. Then it's just he has never done anything but that. But we don't get nough deama from this couple, I have to say. A slower storyline you have to look hard for!

John Paul McQueen.

And you also get a bonus. It might not be any status working as a teacher in Sweden (hich it should be!), but it seems that it's a little bit better in he UK. So therefor I give you John Paul McQueen (James Sutton). The teacher. And also one of my favourites. I think that John Paul has a very important occupation!

When an OTP follows by an OTP

You know when you ship a couple so much like it almost hurts, and you think that no one can replace one of the ingredients in the OTP and you realise that you are wrong? The new ingredient are just as good as the other! That is just how I feel rght now about Thomas/Nicolas/Florian in Plus Belle La Vie..

Laurent Kerusoré and Nicolas Herman.

I really really did love Thomas and Nicolas together! Nicolas is just the most loveable, kind and cute character and he and Thomas are so sweet together. When I watched their storyline I really never thought that Florian could take Nicolas place. But Nicolas "died" and Thomas had to move on. Really sad.

Laurent Kerusoré and Franck Borde.

But then Florian came along and he was a little bit stiff and arrogant at first, but I actually liked him straight away. And now I just can't stop watching! I really do love their storyline. But I do now that there will be a Bruno as well and Nicolas will come back because he just faked his death. It is really shattering to ship more the one couples at once when at least one of the characters are the same. It's just like Ste and John Paul. I do ship McHay, but what if Craig and Brendan came back? Maybe they cold start a poly-relationship all the four of them. I really wouldn't want Ste and John Paul to break up, but I just can not can't be shipping McDean and Stendan! So I wonder how it will feel when Nicolas comes back. Who will I root for? Can't Thomas be with both?

Joakim Latzko and Laurent Kerusoré.

Is that a wedding picture? Well, I do know that Florian will die and then teher will be a Gabriel Riva. Feh. I was hoping for Thomas to get back together with Nicolas after Florian dies. I don't think I will like that Riva. Or the fling Bruno in between. Well well, I will get back to you on thet when I finished the whole Thomas Marci storyline.

Crossovers

Julia Augustin and Jo Weil.

Did you know that Jo Weil is going to starr in Alles Was Zählt?! And he is going to play Vanessa Steinkamps boyfriend Nick Danne! That is just hilarious. I just have to see that!

Jo Weil and Igor Dolgatschew.

But I think it is a shame Jo is not going to Oliver Sabel in Alles Was Zählt to. He could start dating Deniz and faghags around the world would be so delighted! I told you before, I think it is so crappy that the German soaps have no ongoing gay storylinesright now! Too bad Alles Was Zählt didn't take the chance there.

Joe Gill and Harry Reid.

That got me to think about all the great crossovers we would like to see. I for one would love to see Finn Barton from Emmerdale together with Ben Mitchell in Eastenders. Yes I know that they look the same but anyway.

Parry Glasspool and Sam Strike.

Or how about Harry in Hollyoaks and Johnny in Eastenders. Could we get Sam Strike to come back to the series for such a storyline? I would love it!

Pete Lattu and Nicolas Herman.

Or what would you think about Nicolas in Plus Belle La Vie together with Kalle in Salatut Elämät? I think they are the most loveable and kind gay characters ever in a soap opera, so I think they would enjoy eachothers company. I really really would like to see that storyline!

Pete Lattu and James Sutton.

Or why not Kalle with John Paul McQueen... John Paul is the runner up for the most loveable and kind gay characters I think. If he is not tied with Nicolas and Kalle for the first place. I really do love John Paul. I think Kalle would to.

Pete Lattu and Jo Weil.

And speaking of gay characters to love, Kalle and Olli maybe? When I come to think about it, I really think Kalle would be good with any gay character from the soap world. Kalle is great, what even MissFinlandia says. And the possibilities are endless!

Startitis

In the knitting world there is a phenomenon called "startitis" which means that you start new projects all the time. I suffer from severe startitis. I love casting on a new project, and I love finishing to, but the stuff in between can be quite boring sometimes. But I can assure you, there's startitis in the daytime-faghag world to. I have just suffered from it.

Paulo and Miguel in O Beijo do Escorpião.

A few weeks ago I started watching the portuguese telenovela O Beijo do Escorpião with the storyline of Paulo and Miguel which was lovely! After seeing that I really just wanted some new stuff with new characters and slightly shorter storylines. I started a few. Among others I started the agentinian telenovela Botineras.

Manuel and Lalo in Botineras.

I've already told you about Manuel and Lalo from Botineras which is a lovely storyline, with a happy ending! Blimey! A relatively short beautiful storyline with a happy ending! What's not to like?! So please watch it. You will not regret it!

Conor and Justin from 6 Degrees.

And last week I started watching the Conor and Justin storyline from the North Irish drama series 6 Degrees. The series is about some students living together in a student dormitory in Belfast. One of the main cast is Conor Martin, played by Cillian O'Sullivan who is a closetered football player (but I am not sure about that football. Conor is wearing to short shorts for a football player and I think that they are using their hands a bit too much) who finally is forced to come out. His boyfriend Justin Pollock, who is played by Ben Peel, is unfortunately moving to USA and the coouple has a really long distance relationship.

Liam in 6 Degrees.

In the third season (which is airing right now) a third gay character shows up which is Liam Madigan (Dermot Murphy) and I dont like him. He is complicating things for Conor and Justin. But I like the series a lot. And yes, Ben Peel is the guy who plays Jimmy Olsen i The Fall. I like him.

Thomas and Florian in Plus Belle La Vie.

Well, and this week I had an urge to start watching the Thomas and Florian storyline from the French soap Plus Belle La Vie. I've known about it for a while and I guess they are ranked as a super couple. But, I had to be reminded by dear faghag friend that there was someone else before Florian for Thomas. I was thinking about skipping that storyline but decided to watch it anyway. Before Florian there was Nicolas.

Alexandre Thibault as Nicolas Barrel.

Nicolas Barrel is a cop who works in the Mistral area in Marseille where everything takes place in Plus Belle La Vie. Thomas met him through Leo who Thomas think might be his father for a while, but he isn't and their love story starts quite uncomplicated. They meet, fancy eachother, get to know eachother and falls in love. But their love story is just in the starting blocks when they change the actor who plays Nicolas.

Nicolas and Thomas in Plus Belle La Vie.

Just a few episodes in to their storyline Alexandre Thibault is replaced by Nicolas Herman. And I kind of fell in love with hime immediately! Nicolas is such a loveable and sweet character and Nicolas Herman is really cute! I love both Nicolas and Thomas and I really don't want that storyline to end! But I know that it will... I was really not imagining that I would fall in love in that storyline as I did, so it's was a pleasant surprise! I am wondering what I will think of the storyline with Florian after watching this... I hope I like it to and I hope that Thomas and Nicolas ends as well as it could be so I won't be so bitter when I start watching Thomas and Florian.

Laurent Kerusoré as Thomas Marci.

Thomas btw, is also a very loveable character. He is fun and sweet and I really like him. Even though I have to confess that right now, I am a bit more in love with Nicolas than in Thomas. But that might change to. I am so much looking forward to watch everthing that Plus Belle La Vie has to offer!